Question of the Week

Q: What practices can faculty engage in that promote student success?

A: A group of Santa Barbara City College Social Science professors in May, 2000 identified the following eight factors as important to integrate into their courses to promote student success.

The group engaged in a CA Chancellor's Office grant on Student Success from Fall '99 through Spring '00, and shared ideas and lessons on several factors, such as study skills, time management, higher order thinking skills, writing skills, reading skills, intrinsic pleasure in learning, and student reticience.

Professors would do the following:

1. Involve students in class discussion by seeking their perspectives, ideas, and opinions.

2. Lead by example: arrive early to class, set discussion guidelines, apply rules consistently, etc. Share their love of learning with students. See themselves as exemplars of lifelong learners.

3. Provide a syllabus listing due dates for class assignments so students can plan their time effectively. In addition, clearly list expectations and rules for class behavior on the syllabus; discuss “Class Etiquette” thoroughly with students.

4. Provide high-quality, specific feedback on students’ essays. Give students guidelines for writing an essay as applicable in individual disciplines.

5. Problem solve with students by inviting them to office hours to discuss possible causes of and solutions to reticence.

6. Teach students how to learn. Describe and illustrate how to use study skills and strategies with their course content by “thinking aloud”. (Eg., Cornell notetaking, SQ5R, test preparation methods). Provide a variety of models of effective study habits in their disciplines.

7. Provide for different learning styles by integrating multi-modality teaching methods. Use multi-media in class.

8. Encourage active learning by asking students to do something, i.e., quickwrite, share ideas and or notes in pairs, guide discussion in a small group.

You may go to the Learning Support Services website to access three years of Student Success materials.

Student Success Grant Group 1999-2000, Santa Barbara City College

Please send your questions and/or answers for either teachers or students to Gerry Lewin for possible posting.

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