SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURED LEARNING ASSISTANCE PROMOTE STUDENT SUCCESS IN GATEWAY SCIENCE COURSES *Anthony Canger, **Steven DeRosa, ***Peter Hilman, *Renee Haskew-Layton Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry NY *Department of Natural Sciences **Center for Academic Excellence ***School of Education

 Diverse student population at three campuses:  29% Hispanic (38% in Biology)  24% Black  34% White  45% first generation students  Need for Peer Assisted Learning in STEM Courses—Promoting Success and Retention using High Impact Approaches  Approaches for Inclusive Excellence in STEM education at Mercy College—Wholistic Approach to Student Success:  SI/SLA Programs, Personalized advising, Peer Mentoring Program, Summer Enrichment Programs, Undergraduate Research, Use of Inclusive/High Impact Pedagogies, Peer Assisted Learning in STEM Lab Courses, Lab Facilities and Equipment Improvements)  Mercy College Provides a Rich Environment to Test the Impacts Student Success Interventions on Hispanic Students BEST PRACTICES IN UNDERGRADUATE STEM EDUCATION—PEER ASSISTED LEARNING AND STRUCTURED LEARNING ASSISTANCE

RATIONALE FOR IMPLEMENTING OF SI/SLA IN STEM GATEKEEPER COURSES AT MERCY COLLEGE Increasing Need to Support Hispanic Students on Pathway to Graduation in STEM Increase in Hispanic Students in STEM—2000 to 2008 number went from 1.4 to 2.1 million (many attend HSIs) Poor overall retention and success—74% overall and only 51% of Hispanic Students complete STEM degree in 6 years 38% of all Bachelors Degrees Awarded by HSIs but only 13% in STEM Need for Cost Effective Academic Support Programs that are Tailored to Student Needs and Integrated with Support Services and Academic Programs

NEED FOR PEER ASSISTED LEARNING IN STEM COURSES What is SI and SLA?--Brief Overview One Hour Peer Led Sessions—Peer Taught and Use Active and Collaborative Learning Target course with high DFW rates—Gatekeeper Courses (General Biology I, General Chemistry I and II, Psychology 101)

RATIONALE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PEER ASSISTED LEARNING AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Academic Support Programs Can Increase Success and Retention and Provide Sense of Belonging Active and Collaborative Learning Better Support Learning Particularly Among Underrepresented Students o Collaborative Inquiry Learning Involves Nine Processes o ACT and Other Reports Demonstrate that SI/SLA is one of the Most Effective Interventions to Promote Retention o Hispanic Students Engage in SI at Higher Level than White Students o Little Research on Impact of SI/SLA at HSIs

GOALS OF SI/SLA PROGRAM IN STEM GATEWAY COURSES Goals of Program—Determine if Systemic Use of SI/SLA Can: 1.Improve Grades in General Biology I, General Chemistry I and II and other STEM Gateway Courses 2.Decrease D/F/W Rates in STEM Gateway Courses 3.Promote Student Success and Retention Through Acquisition of Study Skills and Sense of Belonging

CREATION OF SI/SLA PROGRAMS AT MERCY COLLEGE Program Involves Unique partnership between Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty, Center for Academic Excellence and Title III STEM Grant Team, College Staff and Administration Pilot SI in General Chemistry I in Spring 2014 Fall 2015—All Sections of General Biology I Lecture, General Chemistry I and II Lecture Featured SLA Pilot SLA in Anatomy and Physiology I Lecture Implemented SLA in Organic Chemistry I Lecture (spring 2016) SLA/SI also Featured in other STEM Disciplines (Intro. to Psychology, Computer Science Courses)

SI-SLA PROGRAM PLANNING— CENTER FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE/NATURAL SCIENCE TUTORING PROPOSAL Students $8-10/hr$8/hr Tutor Managers Bracketed Tutoring (before/after class) Supplemental Instruction Leader (SIL) $12/hr Supplemental Instruction Peer Discussion Leaders (SIPDLs) Open Lab Tutors Push-in Tutors Adjuncts/Professionals Learning Center Tutors Existing services New as of 2013 Testing/experimentin g Proposed SI Promotion/recruitment Management Students Recruiting from the student body, and promotion of existing tutors allows long-term effectiveness SI reduces overall tutoring need, saving money over time

PLANNING A SEMESTER OF SLA Securing Funding for Program Determining Supported Courses Determining Number of Lecture and Recitation Sections Coordination with Registrar Recruiting and Staffing Leader Training Orientation of SLA/SI Leaders and Faculty

SLA BUDGET FALL 2015 Proposed SLA Budget Fall 2015 SLA $2,175/ea (3 sections CHEM 160; 3 sections CHEM 161; 5 sections BIO 160; 1 section BIO 130)$26,100 Training 10 hours10 Class time3 hours/week x 15 weeks45 Recitations3 hours/week x 15 weeks45 Prep1 hours/week x 15 weeks15 Meet with instructor1 hour/week x 15 weeks15 Reporting to coordinator1 hours/week x 15 weeks15 Misc Teaching Materials, Text Books, etc.$1,500 TOTAL$27,600

SLA RECITATION PLAN FOR SPRING 2016 See Handout Recitation Planning Spring 2016 Need to Integrate With Course and Involve Faculty

EXECUTING SLA PROGRAM AT MERCY COLLEGE Meetings—Introduce SLA Leaders to Instructors Student Pre-Course Surveys Recitation Leaders Administer Online Through Blackboard Initial Observations of Recitations—Feedback Managing Schedules and Adding Additional Recitations Monitoring Data Collection—Attendance and Grades Can Assess Recitation Leader Performance, etc Student Post-Course Surveys Final Grades and Attendance Reporting Data Analysis and Preparation of Assessment Report

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Pre and Post Course Surveys Analyze D/F/W rates and Grades in Courses Correlate Performance with Attendance in SLA Sessions Statistical Analysis of Data Discuss and Analyze Results Changes to and Expansion of Program Based on Data Methods for Statistical Analysis: Data were sorted by final class grade and ethnicity. The final class letter grade was converted into a score per the standard 4.0 college grading system. Once the score was assigned the SLA Spring 2015 class data for CHEM and BIO 160 were run against Fall 2013 – Fall 2010 class data in an independent means T-test. Each semester was compared against the SLA Spring 2015 semester to see if the SLA mean score was statistically higher. After the first test had been run for all semesters and all students in CHEM160 and BIO160, the data were then analyzed looking explicitly at the Hispanic student population. Again SLA Spring 2015 Hispanic student scores were compared to each semester between Fall 2013 and Fall 2010.

SAMPLE RESULTS FOR GENERAL CHEMISTRY I— EFFECTS OF SLA ON D/F/W RATES AND GRADES

SAMPLE RESULTS FOR GENERAL BIOLOGY I FALL 2015—EFFECTS OF SLA ON D/F/W RATES

SAMPLE RESULTS FOR GENERAL CHEMISTRY II— EFFECTS OF SLA ON D/F/W RATES AND GRADES

SLA PILOT IN HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY I FALL 2015

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS GENERAL BIOLOGY I, ALL STUDENTS Table 1 BIO160 (all students) Semester and Mean SLA Spring 2015 difference on 4.0 scale P value (p <.05) Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall

DATA ANALYSIS GENERAL CHEMISTRY I, ALL STUDENTS Table 2 CHEM160 (all students) Semester and Mean SLA Spring 2015 difference on 4.0 scale P value (p <.05) Spring Fall Spring Fall < Spring Fall Spring Fall

DATA ANALYSIS GENERAL CHEMISTRY I, HISPANIC STUDENTS Table 3 BIO160 (Hispanic students) Semester and MeanSLA Spring 2015 difference on 4.0 scale Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring 2011No HSP students Fall Spring Fall Table 4 CHEM160 (Hispanic students) Semester and MeanSLA Spring 2015 difference on 4.0 scale Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring 2011No HSP students Fall Spring Fall

SLA PROGRAM ASSESSMENT—POST COURSE SURVEYS Prena was a great recitation progessor. She made everything clearer to understand and went through everything step by step! La’Tai was very engaging with the students so they would know the material. Prena is the best recitation teacher ever! She made sense of everything and made difficult chemistry seem easy, she is the biggest reason as to the grade I received in this course. Recitation is the best thing this college ever did. Stacy is a great mentor and explains the material in a way I understand it! I love the recitation class because it further enforced what I learned in lecture. They should have a course like this for VETC 101.

PEER ASSISTED LEARNING EXPANSION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL SCIENCES—FUTURE DIRECTIONS Expand SLA and SI to Upper Level Biology and Chemistry Courses Sustainability of Program—need for Data Expand Peer Assisted Learning to Impact all Labs in Human Anatomy and Physiology Continue to Work with College to Provide Support for Peer Assisted Learning--Institutionalization Improve Training of Peer Teachers Work with OTEEL staff to train peer teachers Expand observation and mentoring of SLA leaders

PEER ASSISTED LEARNING AND SLA AS PART OF INTEGRATED APPROACH TO IMPROVE STUDENT SUCCESS AT MERCY COLLEGE Inclusive-High Impact Pedagogy (faculty training) Project Based STEM Enrichment Programs Career and Research Seminar Series Personalized Advising and Peer Mentoring Collaborative Learning and Inquiry Based Labs Project Based Learning Undergraduate Research—from Early Stages of Undergraduate Experience Mindset Interventions and Sense of Belonging Grants to Further Expand Effective Practices in STEM Education HHMI Inclusive Excellence, DOE Title II STEM, S-STEM