More FYE Conference Presentations

In College Success Online, Dr. Marsh Fralick, Professor Emiritus from Cuyamaca Community College in San Diego,  gave some really great tips on how to prepare and deliver an effective online course. She continues to teach a totally online college success course for new students. She uses a mnemonic: VOCAL, standing for Visible, Organized, Compassionate, Analytical, Lead by Example. In what I found to be a great tip, she records weekly videos, very simply made, explaining what the class will do each week and posts them on the course blog. Studens know exactly what has to be done and they get quick feedback on the assignments. Fralick finds that if she is relatively strict for the first two weeks the students know what is expected and will generally finish the course.

In the last presentation I attended before running out of steam, Steve Girardot, from Georgia Tech University described the new G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons. This is a brand new, $90 million, facility that has all the lecture halls and labs for first and second year science, engineering and, math courses. Geogia Tech is primarily an engineering and science school.  As part of the new center a new, centralized student tutoring center has been created. It’s a one stop shop for all the students’ academic needs. The school is moving away from a sink or swim mentality, to one where students can get as much help as they need to succeed.  

The center is gorgeous and has all the amenities including a Starbuck’s, many study rooms, full technology in all the classrooms, and a garden on the roof. They have had to make some administrative changes to make all this work. For example, the center is under the administrative control of the library. Faculty who teach courses in the center also have their offices there, instead of in their home departments.  Students can also access the building 24 hours a day and can schedule conference rooms for group work and practice.

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