You Are A Senior Faculty Member In A Large Department At An

You Are A Senior Faculty Member In A Large Department At An Urban Comm

You are a senior faculty member in a large department at an urban community college. One of the courses you teach is a required second-year course that students take just before they graduate. You have been noticing for some time that the students coming into your courses do not seem as prepared as they once did. Although your course has several prerequisites, students coming to your class often do not have the skills and knowledge you would expect them to have if they had successfully completed the prerequisites. You have spoken a few times to your colleagues who teach the prerequisite courses to see if they have noticed anything, or started doing anything differently, and they assure you that nothing has changed for them.

Any number of possible explanations could exist for what you have observed in your class. Think about some of what you have read about curricular design, objectives, and assessment. This is a role play, so you should respond in the voice of a senior faculty member. Please address the following questions: How will you systematically identify the root problem? Do not simply assume that students are lazy or emotionally immature.

You are looking to identify the problem with fact, not just opinion. Do not discuss what the problem is, but what you would do to identify the problem. What are some strategies you might use to resolve the problem? When you respond to your classmates, please respond from a different perspective (new faculty member, administrator, student etc.). Challenge your classmates to look at the issue from all angles.

There are many possible solutions to this problem. In addition, consider how you would advise them if the course or program in question was offered online instead of face to face. What data would you use within an online course to identify the problem with factual data? How would you use the online course data to develop strategies to improve student prerequisite skills? What online strategies would you implement to assess and remediate the prerequisite skills?

Paper For Above instruction

Addressing the decline in student preparedness within higher education necessitates a systematic and evidence-based approach to identify root problems accurately. As a senior faculty member, the first step involves collecting comprehensive data to understand the issue's scope and nature without preconceived assumptions. This process begins with analyzing student performance metrics, such as grades, assignment completion rates, and examination scores from the courses involved, to detect patterns indicating specific skill deficits or knowledge gaps.

In addition to quantitative data, qualitative methods are crucial. Conducting surveys or focus groups with current students can reveal their perceptions of prerequisite coursework difficulty, engagement levels, and perceived barriers. Engaging prerequisite instructors through interviews or surveys helps determine whether they are observing similar trends or if curricular or instructional changes have occurred. This triangulation of data points provides a robust picture, reducing reliance on assumptions about student motivation or maturity.

Furthermore, reviewing curriculum alignment ensures that course objectives, assessments, and instructional strategies are coherent and effectively sequenced. One practical approach is curriculum mapping, which allows faculty to verify that prerequisite courses adequately prepare students for subsequent courses in content and skills. If misalignments are detected, targeted interventions can be designed, such as bridging modules or supplemental instruction.

In terms of strategies to resolve the problem, data-driven interventions are essential. Implementing formative assessments during prerequisites can help identify struggling students early, allowing for targeted support before they advance. Offering booster sessions, peer tutoring, or supplemental online modules focused on identified skill gaps can improve preparedness incrementally. Regular faculty collaboration ensures that curricular adjustments are ongoing and responsive to student needs.

If the course or program is offered online, additional data sources are available that can be leveraged. Learning management systems (LMS) collect detailed analytics on student interactions, such as time spent on specific activities, quiz attempts, and resource access frequency. Analyzing these metrics can identify students who are disengaged or struggling with foundational skills. For example, low quiz scores coupled with limited resource usage may indicate areas where students require targeted remediation.

Online strategies to assess prerequisite skills include adaptive testing, which adjusts question difficulty based on student responses, providing real-time insights into skill levels. Embedding regular low-stakes quizzes throughout prerequisite courses helps track comprehension over time. If assessments reveal widespread deficiencies, remedial modules can be incorporated directly into the LMS, offering self-paced tutorials, videos, and practice exercises tailored to students’ needs.

Remediation in online environments can be enhanced through interactive tools such as virtual tutoring, discussion forums for peer support, and automated feedback on practice assignments. To ensure effectiveness, data from these interventions can be monitored to evaluate progress and inform further instructional adjustments. For example, if students show improvement after engaging with targeted online resources, this indicates the success of the remediation strategies and highlights areas for continuous enhancement.

In sum, systematically identifying the root problem involves a multifaceted data collection and analysis approach—combining quantitative performance data, qualitative feedback, curriculum review, and online analytics—followed by targeted, flexible interventions. Whether face-to-face or online, fostering ongoing collaboration among faculty and employing data-informed strategies are essential to improving student preparedness and success.

References

• Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Gikandi, J. W., Morrow, D., & Davis, N. (2011). Online formative assessment in higher education: A review of the literature. Computers & Education, 57(4), 2333-2351.
• Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112.
• Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities.
• Pardo, A., Jauregi, K., & de la Torre, F. (2017). Multimodal Learning Analytics for Personalization in Streaming Data. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 10(4), 430-439.