Student Success

How can you make your first project, and every project, successful? Modeling can certainly be fun, but it can also be quite challenging. You want your first and every project to be successful so you can justify continued work. Unfortunately a simulation project is much more than simply building a model-the skills required for success go well beyond knowing a particular simulation tool. A 30 year veteran who has done hundreds of successful projects shares important insights to enable project success. He also shares some cautions and tips to help avoid common traps leading to failure and frustration.

Introductory computer programming courses are inherently challenging for a variety of reasons. With increased demands for online delivery, the use of effective technologies, materials, and methods that best support online learning is essential to maximize student success. This article describes a recent study conducted at our institution with an overall objective to improve the design and online delivery of a

It comes as no surprise that the students we serve are experiencing heightened levels of stress and anxiety. Liu and colleague’s (2019) research “point to an urgent need for service utilization strategies, especially among racial/ethnic, sexual, or gender minorities. Campuses must consider student experiences to mitigate stress during this developmental period” (p.1) is a call that can’t be ignored.  Many campus leaders are seeking to implement specific ways to heighten students’ sense of belonging and safety as well as reduce their stress and anxiety in- and out-of- the classroom.  Recent research from a number of scholars such as Kang and colleagues (2018), Magyari (2016), Treleaven (2018), and Rothschild (2017) illustrate that mindful compassion practices show promising effects in alleviating stress and anxiety, however they can also potentially have negative impact on mental health and wellbeing when implemented without a heightened awareness of well-researched trauma informed practices.
What follows are a few of the trauma-informed mindful compassion practices that you may consider implementing in your in-and out-of-classroom learning and development opportunities.

In this paper, we present an expert system, called PASS (Predicting Ability of Students to Succeed), which is used to predict how certain is that a student of a specific type of high school in Greece will pass the national exams for entering a higher education institute. Prediction is made at two points. An initial prediction is made after the second year of studies and the final after the end of the first semester of the third (last) year of studies. Predictions are based on various types of student’s data. The aim is to use the predictions to provide suitable support to the students during their studies towards the national exams. PASS is a rule-based system that uses a type of certainty factors. We introduce a generalized parametric formula for combining the certainty factors of two rules with the same conclusion. The values of the parameters (weights) are determined via training, before the system is used. Experimental results show that PASS is comparable to Logistic Regression, a well-known statistical method.

A number of studies conducted in the past fifteen years have concluded that grit, the persistence and perseverance to achieve goals, and growth mindset, the belief that skills and intelligence can be developed, are positive predictors of achievement; however, little focus has been placed on the implications at institutions purposed to educate minorities, first generation college students, and learners from diminished socio-economic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to introduce, describe, and document the methods involved in the preparation of a mindset intervention built into a freshmen development course, and established after years of longitudinal research, that is designed to have a positive impact on the outlook, achievement, and persistence of first generation and under-prepared students. A series of models were created, custom self-assessment scales designed, and a lesson plan prepared purposed to deliver a mindset intervention to edify students about and change perce...

Prevailing modes of instruction, often passive in nature, do not address crucial issues for student success in science: the need for students to become part of an intellectual community, the differences in the ways students learn, and the powerful role that mentoring can play in involving students in science. Furthermore, students who spend most of their instructional time listening to lectures seldom learn to communicate scientific ideas and to become part of a problem-solving team, skills that industry tells us are crucial to success in the workplace. Workshop Chemistry is a peer-led team-learning model of instruction that provides an active learning experience for students, creates new leadership roles for those who have done well, and involves faculty in the process of reform. A modest reduction in lecture or recitation time is replaced by a two-hour student-directed small group roblem-solving and model-building workshop. The Workshop Chemistry Project is a coalition of faculty, learning specialists, and students from a variety of institutions organized around the theme of developing the workship model as an integral part of the course structure. Several brief descriptions of the workshop courses offered in the Fall of 1995 are provided, along with some sample workshop problems. Surveys, focus groups, student logs, faculty interviews, and actual course results provide insight into the enhanced learning in the workshop and the progress of the project towards its goals.

This article reports and extends on an emerging initiative presetned at the 2018 STARS Conference (Auckland, New Zealand). Many universities are invested in student mental health, but solutions can be hindered by concerns about the fit, cost, effectiveness, or sustainability of diverse initiatives. We argue that university staff looking to support student wellbeing should first consider how their specific university contexts can support or diminish wellbeing, and then design initiatives that will fit within supportive systems. This argument is embedded within dynamic systems theory, which considers how relationships between systems can lead to widespread change when any single system changes. We draw on our own experience so far of preparing and developing a whole-of-curriculum approach to wellbeing to demonstrate that a dynamic systems approach means addressing the needs of multiple stakeholders and remaining flexible to changes within surrounding systems.

Much attention has been devoted towards improving the quality of education that a student receives, particularly with respect to those competencies and skills that are widely accepted as essential to a successful career. Regardless of the student's career choice, the basic skills in English and mathematics taught at the secondary education level, as assessed through standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT, determine the entrance course for continued learning in those subjects at the higher education level. For instance, students pursuing a degree in the mass communication discipline are often required to take English courses at the freshman level before taking any courses within their major. English composition courses are prerequisites commonly identified as essential to learning the writing and editing skills of the journalism or public relations profession.Exactly what type of math instruction should be required, however, and exactly which mathematics course should be the ...

IN THEIR BOLD VISION Forward Framework, the Association for College Personnel Administrators (ACPA; 2018) has defined an explorative divesting
of power from colonizers as decolonization. The defini- tion of decolonization is “a long-term process of first recognizing and then divesting bureaucratic, cultural, linguistic, educational, and psychological power from colonizers” (p. 11). ACPA (2018) goes onto explain that “as a part of this process, it is essential to:
􏰀 Be self-aware of our words and practice in order to develop and nurture a mindset different from the dominant paradigm,
􏰀 Honor the land which has belonged to Indigenous people who were exterminated and/or removed against their will [we add here to also hold in reverence the continued existing pain and suffer- ing of the land and the people for it is very much present today], and
􏰀 Not assume Indigenous people need fixing or need to adapt to the currently dominant culture.” (pp. 12-15)
What does it mean to divest power from colonizers while embodying the notion of self-awareness of “our words and practice in order to nurture a mindset differ- ent from the dominant paradigm?” What would it look like for us to see evidence of a divesting of power within higher education? Before diving into this in detail,
consider for a moment that without adoption of a growth mindset, the very concept of divesting power from colonizers may continue to encourage a colonized mindset as Nolan Cabrera, Jeremy Franklin, and Jesse Watson have referenced in their book titled, Whiteness in Higher Education: The Invisible Missing Link in Diversity and Racial Analyses (Cabrera et al., 2017).

My experience as an adjunct is what reawakened my interest in academic advising. Teaching that college skills course for new students reminded me that learners need consistent interaction, and a relationship, with a caring and concerned adult.  This relationship helps them stay connected and engaged with the learning process. It helps them progress towards a degree and persist to graduation.  My advising philosophy statement demonstrates my commitment to a developmental (appreciative) advising model and complements my teaching philosophy.

This study explores what effect a statewide financial aid policy has on the academic outcomes of college promise program recipients at two 4-year public research universities, Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) and Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI). Using secondary administrative data from the Indiana University's University Institutional Research and Reporting (UIRR) office, representing 7,842 low-income students who enrolled shortly before the policy was implemented, this study employs a quasi-experimental, difference-indifferences (DiD) framework to examine the heterogeneous treatment effects of a credit momentum policy that was supported by the Complete College America (CCA) 15 to Finish initiative on the academic progression and completion of Indiana Twenty-First Century Scholarship (TFCS) recipients at IUB and IUPUI, compared to non-TFCS Pell recipients from the Fall 2011 cohorts through the Fall 2014 cohorts. Results showed a modest significant effect on cumulative credits and grades but no effect on degree completion status (Year 4 Graduation Status, Year 6 Graduation Status) at IUB. The policy had no significant interaction effect on the TFCS recipients enrolled at IUPUI. The findings of this research suggest that credit momentum policy did not produce its intended effect, nor did it have any adverse consequences for low-income, first-generation students.

A review of recent research was conducted to assemble evidence on the impact that Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) may have on improving student learning outcomes. IRI is an instructional tool designed to deliver a family of active learning packages via radio broadcast using a dual-audience approach. IRI exposes students to regular, curriculum-based learning content while modeling effective learning activities and classroom organization techniques for teachers. As IRI continues to be called upon to improve teaching and learning in low-resource and hard-to-reach areas, a better understanding of the empirical data available is critical to guide the way forward. IRI has been implemented by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) in over 50 countries over the past 30 years. This paper is a review of existing student and teacher data collected by EDC’s IRI projects. Effect sizes are used to summarize what is known about the effect of IRI on student learning gains in Grades K-4 for En...

Student affairs professionals can play a significant role in ensuring the success of justice-involved students given their historic commitment to the holistic development of college students through programs, services, and resources that supplement their curricular experiences, enhance learning, and facilitate inclusive and equitable campus environments. This brief presents five recommendations student affairs professionals should consider in working to meet the needs of justice-involved college students.

This book is now available for FREE to download at: https://tinyurl.com/MotivatingStudents2pdf

The title of the book, Motivating Students by Design, was chosen because the author explains how instructors can motivate students intentionally through the design of their courses. The two primary purposes of this book are to present a motivation model that can be used to design instruction and to provide practical motivation strategies and examples that can be used to motivate students to engage in learning. Based on decades of research, Dr. Brett Jones presents a framework to organize teaching strategies that motivate students. All of the strategies presented are followed by several examples, which provide readers with over 100 ideas for how the strategies can be implemented in courses. This book will be useful to graduate students and beginning professors, as well as professors who are more experienced and want to refine their instruction or try new strategies.

Ten middle school principals of Title I charter schools were interviewed in this qualitative, phenomenological narrative study to explore the influence of parental involvement on students’ success in Title I charter schools in Texas as perceived by middle school principals. Each interview was analyzed before combining them to develop a complete picture of the phenomenon. Coding and pseudonyms were used for each participant to maintain anonymity and confidentiality of data and records in the study. The findings suggest that most of the principals considered parental involvement as a combination of different expectations set for both parents and school. Thus, school and the parents must work together and take joint responsibility for the students’ education in school. Other findings from this study suggest that charter school principals are experiencing less parental involvement as students move from elementary to middle school. Finally, the findings from this study affirm that all principals strongly believe that parental involvement has a strong influence on students’ success.

Ne te contente pas de devenir un vainqueur aspire à devenir un plus que vainqueur. Ce Livre est Basé sur quelques astuces d'inspiration qui changeront votre vie à jamais et vous conduira tout droit au sommet de l'échelle. Il vous amènera à considérer vos obstacles comme des opportunités et augmentera votre confiance à faire ce que les autres sont entrain de faire, ce qu'ils n'ont jamais faits, ce qu'ils pensent qu'ils ne peuvent pas faire, ce que vous pensiez que vous ne pouvez pas faire, ce que vous n'avez jamais fait. Ici vous apprendrez à aller au-dessus de vos limites ainsi que celles des autres. Votre complexe d'infériorité expérimentera un changement positif comme vous prendriez le temps de lire, d'apprendre par coeur et de pratiquer ce que vous apprendrez ici au point que le monde entier ne serait pas capable de vous arrêter. Souvenez-vous toujours "Plus Nous

Positive school environments and school belonging have been associated with a variety of positive academic, social, and psychological outcomes among youth. Yet, it is not clear how these constructs are related, and few studies have focused on urban at-risk youth with disabilities. This study examines baseline survey data from 136 low-income African American and Latino students in grades 5 to 12, most of whom have disabilities, recently transferred following a school closure. Using structural equation modeling, we tested a model that examined the relationships among school stressors and resources, school belonging, academic outcomes (school satisfaction and academic self-efficacy), and psychological outcomes (anxiety and depression). This model was an excellent fit with the data, and findings indicate that school belonging plays a central role in explaining how school context can affect both psychological and academic outcomes. This model has implications for school-based interventio...

AbstractThe Precalculus Mega Section project was developed with the main purpose of improving the overall performance of the student body in Precalculus, an important gatekeeper course that affects student engagement and completion, with typical drop/failure rates of over 50 percent. Strategies such as integration of technology and additional practice time with TA support, helped significantly reduce the withdraw and failure rates that prevail today in this course. Although it was carried out in a large group format (150 students), the experimental sections had better outcomes than current, traditional sections in smaller groups taking the same tests. Results show the design choices and underlying assumptions to be promising and cost-effective, and recommendations include testing the model as a substitute for current remedial coursework on campus and beyond.IntroductionThe University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez is the second-largest and STEM flagship campus of the University of Puert...

The concept of pastoral care to effectively meet the personal, social and academic needs of students is a complex yet under-researched matter in higher education. Similarly, under-researched and institutionally undervalued is the pivotal role that the caring teacher fulfils in imbuing pastoral care in enabling courses. Using an enabling course in a regional Australian university as the context, this article outlines the concept of pastoral care and then discusses the characteristics of the caring teacher, so fundamental to enabling education. The article draws on Motta and Bennett’s (2018) pedagogies of care, namely care as recognition, care as dialogic relationality, and care as affective and embodied praxis to analyse how the students perceived and valued care in the enabling course in which they participated. Findings indicate that supportive learning environments in which caring teachers nurture their students can promote very positive interactions, and ultimately, high student ...

Institutions of higher education are tasked with the job of accommodating students
with disabilities (Davis, 2015). An institution that empowers the disability community
is expected to boost expectations, support, assessment and feedback, and involvement
of students (Tinto, 2012). Navigating university life presents unique challenges for
students with disabilities in recruitment and admission (Palombi, 2000), environment
(Strange & Banning, 2000), out-of-class activities (Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, Andreas,
Lyons, Strange, Krehbiel, MacKey, 1991), career and academic advising (Belch,
2000), and funding opportunities (Belch, 2000). This qualitative study was designed
to engage both registered and unregistered students with a disability of their
experience in higher education. Themes that emerged from the interviews were:
students and their challenges, self-perception and perception from others, navigating
university life, and the foundation of resilience.

Both success and failure are only temporary events.  Success must be repeated to establish a claim of being successful, and failures are life events of every successful person.  As one elderly lady once quipped, "Son, if the mountain was smooth, you could not climb it".

Abstract: The growing number of on-line interactions between learners and on-line learning systems leaves a trail of data that can be analyzed at a number of levels of granularity and for several purposes. Learner engagement in the program of studies, with the course or with a specific learning activity is one variable thought to highly correlate with learner success. Engagement may be with the learning content, or with other learners and faculty in the socially constructed environment. This paper looks at three specific areas where learner engagement can be measured, and discussed the possibilities for using such information in advising learners and faculty on ways to strengthen course outcomes.
Keywords: Learning analytics, Learner engagement, student success, on-line learning

The Peer group is composed of equal status, where students within a given peer group are of the same age and have the same social status. The performance task is any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding, and proficiency. Performance tasks as part of the student’s performance in school, probably this might be influenced by peers of the students.  The study used a descriptive design to determine the influence of peer on the performance task of the students. A total of 243 Senior High students of Jagobiao National High School answered the Likert scale questionnaire, an instrument used by the researcher to conduct the study. The study used weighted mean and chi-square to determine whether peer influence has an association with students’ performance tasks. The results show that peers can influence students’ performance tasks. It was shown in the study that students get a low grade from skipping classes together with t...

For the majority of undergraduate dance students, success is the realization of a career in performance; however, given that this will be the outcome for so few graduates, should this ideal be redefned? This paper draws on fndings from a case study of Australian dance artists, which sought to determine how dance artists allocate their working time and what skills they use to sustain their careers. Results reveal the multiplicity and diversity of roles in which Australian dance artists engage, and a corresponding need to include career development, self-management and small business skills within pre-professional dance performance programs.

The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of STEM approach on 21st century skills of middle school students and to determine their experiences about STEM. This application, which lasted 6 weeks with 7th grade students, was realized with 35 students. In the study, by using the explanatory mixed method, firstly, quantitative data was taken and qualitative data were tried to be explained. In the first stage of the study, the pre-test and post-test results were examined in the group by using dependent groups t test. “Multidimensional 21st Century Skills Scale” was used as a pre-test and post-test tool. In the second stage of the study, student experiences for STEM application were revealed using the semi-structured interview form, which is one of the qualitative data collection methods. In the findings of the study, it was seen in the results of the analysis that the STEM approach contributed positively to 21st century skills. In addition, a significant difference was observed betwe...