Exploring Reading Success: An Intervention with Entry Level Courses: GEN 105

2009 KADE ConferenceEastern Kentucky University

November 13, 2009

Cathy Leist, Executive Director of REACHMark Woolwine, Coordinator of GEN 105

Overview

• KY Law: 13 KAR 2:020• GEN 105

– Overview of Course– GSA Training– Critical Reading Rubric– Using the Rubric– Examples of Student Work– Portfolios

• Comments from the Instructors• Strengths and Weaknesses of the Program• Discussion & Questions

KY Law: 13 KAR 2:020

• “System wide standard" means an ACT Assessment sub-score of eighteen (18) in English, nineteen (19) in mathematics, or twenty (20) in reading.

• If a student is determined to have not met the system wide standards for readiness, an institution shall use a placement exam to help place a student in the proper course.

• An institution shall place a student who scores below the system wide standard in mathematics, English, or reading in an: (a) Appropriate developmental course in the relevant discipline; or (b) Entry-level college course, if the course offers supplementary academic support, such as extra class sessions, additional labs, tutoring, and increased monitoring of students, beyond that usually associated with an entry-level course.

• Effective with the fall semester of 2010, an institution shall enroll a student who scores below the statewide standards in an appropriate developmental or entry-level course until readiness for credit-bearing courses has been demonstrated.

• An institution shall ensure that a student who completes a developmental or supplemental course shall enroll in a credit-bearing course in that subject or discipline, or in the case of reading, appropriate course work requiring college-level reading skills.

For UofL….

• In compliance with state law, the university requires that all university first-year, degree-seeking students with less than 24 credit hours who are admitted with reading deficiencies participate in placement testing and course registration as determined by their placement test results

Placement Testing for Summer Orientation

• Students with an ACT Reading sub score of less than 20 (or an SAT Critical Reading score of less than 470) MUST take the Reading COMPASS exam. The exam serves as a second predictor of college reading readiness.

• Students whose scores on the Reading COMPASS exam are less than 84 will be required to register for GEN 105, “Special Topics in Supplemented College Reading.”

GEN 105 Description

• Students enrolled in GEN 105 will attend the general education lecture course for 3 hours each week .

• Students enrolled in GEN 105 will attend 2 additional hours each week for supplemented instruction in college reading, critical thinking, and study strategies.

• Students will receive 3 hours of college credit for successful completion of the general education course section linked to GEN 105.

• Students will receive 1 hour of college credit (elective credit only) for GEN 105.

• Students will attend a total number of 5 hours of class each week for these linked courses.

• Students will earn a total of 4 credit hours for attending the 5 hours of class each week.

• GEN 105 will be graded Pass/Fail and will appear as a separate course on the student’s transcript.

Registration

• Use the online schedule of courses:

• General Studies

14890 GEN 105 01 Supp College Reading - Biology

Note: The section above is a supplemented reading course reserved for students in the Reach Supplemented Reading Program. Students will be moved to BIOL-102-01 after the last day to drop/add. Students will remain in a one hour credit section of Gen-105.

TTh 11:00am-12:15pm SK102

TTh 01:00pm-01:50pm SK111

0 of 25 0 of 0 Karpoff, A

4.00

BELKNAP

3 Content Areas- 7 Courses

• Offered 7 sections of GEN 105 for 2009 Fall– GEN 105-01 – Biology 102– GEN 105-02 – Biology 102– GEN 105-03 – Psychology 201– GEN 105-04 – Psychology 201– GEN 105-05 – Psychology 201– GEN 105-06 – History 101– GEN 105-07 – History 101

Details to Remember

• For BIOL 102 only, a “conditional student” is approved to take 15 credit hours

(can register for BIOL Lab + GEN 105 + GEN 101).• GEN 105 can only be taken 1 time for college course credit.• Students may repeat GEN 105 but need a different general education course

to replace an F grade earned in GEN 105.• Students are not required to repeat GEN 105 but the F earned will affect

GPA.• Noncompliant students will be contacted by the REACH ADS staff following

each summer orientation.• Noncompliant students who do not register for GEN 105 in their first college

semester will be administratively registered for GEN 105 in their second college semester.

• Letters informing the students of the administrative registration will be sent out by REACH.

GSA Training

• Each GEN 105 section instructed by a graduate student assistant (GSA)

• Selected to be an “expert” in the content course (Biology, History, Psychology)

• Training – 3 Days•How the Brain Learns•Comprehension Development•Strategic Study- Reading•Note taking From Lectures•Test Taking•Critical Thinking/Reading

with i2a

•Work with experienced GSA

•Developed Reading Prompt for Pre/Post Test

Critical Reading Prompt

• To assess reading comprehension, created critical reading prompt to be administered the first day of class and again at the end of the semester

• Served as Pre/Post Test1. Demonstrate your text book reading skills by marking and

annotating the text.

2. Summarize the excerpt by the following:• Briefly describe the key concepts the author is trying to get you

to understand.• Show evidence from the reading that supports the key concepts.• How can you take this information and apply it to you and to the

study of “X” (X=content area)• What questions does this information leave you with?

Critical Thinking Rubric

Using the Rubric

• “Model answer” developed by each GEN-105 instructor (all “4’s”)

• Student assignments are then scored using ideal responses

Accuracy

• Identifies main purpose and/or concepts in reading

– Purpose:

• The main purpose of this article is to inform us on how high fat diets really work and many misconceptions people have. Also, how they aren’t safe to follow and can damage your body.

• I found the main purpose of the article to be the information that high fat diets are extremely dangerous to your health.

– Concepts:

• The main conclusions for this piece: pay close attention to high fat diets because they are risky and if you really want to lose weight and keep it off you have to make better choices.

• High fat diets can lead to may complications later on in life. And that high fat diets are an unhealthy way to lose weight.

Clarity

• Understands the facts, data, or examples used to support

– Pulling facts that were interesting – needed to be present in the reading

– Being able to define ‘good fat’ and ‘bad fat’

• Examples:

– Unsaturated fat is the “good fat” and saturated fat is the “bad fat.” Although too much of any kind of fat is bad for you.

– A bad fat is dietary and saturated fats and a good fat is something that can be broken down easily.

Precision

• Identifies and uses the content specific vocabulary from the reading or lecture

– Appropriate use of bad fat and good fat definitions

• Examples: a lot of people put down the complex carbohydrates as a ‘good fat’ which is imprecise and somewhat inaccurate – an example of a good fat is olive oil (I mentioned it in class as did Dr. Karpoff)

– Support for your diet – at risk or healthy

• I would say my intake in a week would be at risk while at school if I’m hungry I eat and the healthy choices aren’t all that appealing as say a cheeseburger or something along those lines.

Depth

• Demonstrates complexity of understanding

– Example:

• I would categorize it in between, reason number one is because I fix my own food. I eat rice, salad, grilled chicken everyday but I also love fast food. When I have the chance, I eat it, that would be like once or twice a week.

• Yes, it is giving reasonable evidence that not even running 20 miles are you going to lose more than one pound. So this makes readers think that their high fat diets make effects but in an unhealthy way. They can just lose weight reducing the intake of sugars and eating what they usually eat. The low sugar intake is the key

Relevance

• Identifies or generates conclusion(s) and personal significance based on content.

– Example:

• I agree with this article because there are risks to any diet you come across. You have to pay attention to what is really effective and what is going to leave a healthy impact on you.

• I agree to an extent. This article makes sense. Why would any kind of diet that puts a lot of bad stuff (fat) in your body be good for you. However, my father did the “Atkins diet” and lost almost 160 pounds of fat, not muscle.

Logic

• Applies concepts and content to other broad contexts

– I believe if he used a college students diet it would have had a more personal effect on me. College students’ diets are commonly more high in fat due to stress, not having time, or just simply what is common for our age group. It would have made me open my eyes more knowing the dramatic effects it has on our generation.

– I thought for the general public these examples were great. If the targeted audience was to change the college scene, I feel that examples should also change so that students would be able to relate to them better and base their decisions upon such examples.

Portfolio

• Pre and Post COMPASS Reading Scores• 5 articles scored with rubric at various intervals

during the semester• Pre and Post Reading Prompt scores

Comments from the GSA’s

• “I think that the critical readings have been integral in helping students understand the need for the class.” –Sze Sze Tong

• “I have had several students tell me that they were only so-so students in high school, but, because of GEN 105, they are excelling in college.” -Sarah Jane Bodell

• “What I would change about the GEN105 sections is earlier training for the GSAs who will be instructors in the future so that they are able to spend time crafting that integration.” – Sze Sze Tong

• “Numerous students have commented that by taking the Gen 105 course they have learned how to interpret the meanings of their text, better articulate their understanding of the subject’s key concepts and feel more prepared to comprehend the content of their current and future college courses.” –Tessa Kandikatti

Strengths of the Program

• Direct application to the content

• Provides credit hour towards degree

• Use of skills across the spectrum

• Mix of content tutoring with reading skills

• Helps develop relationships with content course instructors

Challenges of the Program

• Content tutoring vs. instructing skills

• Content-specific skills are not directly transferable to other content areas

• GSA training – limited—”never enough time”

• Motivating students to apply new skills to content area

Looking Forward

• More and more training for GSA Instructors

• Refinement of the rubric• Revision of reading prompt• Creating multiple critical reading prompts • Improving the selection of critical reading

assignments

Gen-105

Questions or Comments?