About a year ago, Mesa Community College President Larry K. Christiansen identified a problem we were having in our Basic Skills program. MCC had an increasing number of students enrolled in developmental and other below- college level courses. In addition, the student success rate in these courses was not high enough.
The focus was on individualized instruction, active learning, use of technology, and a more personalized, interactive environment among instructors and students. We wanted a program which would address the different levels of preparation and needs of our students. However, we also wanted a feeling of community among students and instructors.
Pacing is the first key to the program. Instruction does not follow a syllabus with everyone working on the same thing. Instead, work is divided into modules. Students complete and finish the modules individually at their own pace. A pretest allows more advanced students to test out of a module. Those not testing out are given individualized homework based on their pretest; they must pass a post-test before moving on to the next module.
The second key is alternative means of learning. Students no longer receive traditional lectures. Students must choose at least three of four alternative means of learning -- books, computer work, tutoring, and cooperative groups -- for each module. The tutoring and cooperative learning alternative really help build a sense of community in a class based on individual learning.
The pilot program proved a success in terms of both student attitudes and performance. The success rate for the course improved by about 10 percent. Faculty involved in the program have enjoyed increased interaction with students and with faculty from other disciplines. In the future, we plan to expand the number of sections and developmental courses using these new teaching methods.