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Meeting the Needs of Generation 1.5 in Learning Communities Joan Blankmann Janet Giannotti Northern Virginia Community College Alexandria, Virginia

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Northern Virginia Community College NOVA

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Located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., NOVA is the largest educational institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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About NOVA More than 75,000 students (32,000 FTEs) and 2,600 faculty and staff members. Students from more than 180 countries.

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The Alexandria Campus The Alexandria Campus offers a variety of academic programs, continuing education classes, events and campus facilities to more than 17,000 students each year. Located seven miles south of Washington, D.C., the campus sits on 51.4 acres and includes three classroom buildings and a concert hall.

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ESL at NOVA In the College ESL Program, we teach more than 4500 students per semester (duplicated headcount) in more than 250 classes. On the Alexandria Campus, we offer more than 90 classes, filling nearly 2,000 seats a semester. Students may take four levels of ESL before entering English 111.

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Developmental English at NOVA In the Developmental Reading and Writing Program, we teach roughly 3,500 students per semester across 5 campuses (duplicated headcount). Fall semester is always bigger than spring. On the Alexandria Campus, we offer more than 25 classes, filling 400 seats a semester. Students may take four courses in Developmental English at two levels before entering English 111.

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Who Are Our ESL Students? Recent immigrants Generation 1.5 students F-1 international students at our higher levels

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Who Are Our Developmental English Students? Recent high school graduates Returning students Generation 1.5 students

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Sorting Generation 1.5 Students Students are screened when they take our placement test. We generally want Generation 1.5 students to take Developmental English. The questions with desired answers follow.

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In order to place out of ESL: 1. How long have you lived CONTINUOUSLY in the United States? desired response: 6+ years 2. How old were you when you moved to the U.S. permanently? desired response: No older than 12 years old

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3. Have you attended school in the United States? If so, which grades? Desired response: Yes, 6 th through 12 th grades. 4. If you finished high school in the United States, what high school did you graduate from? When? Desired response: Within the last 2 to 3 years. 5. (If the student went to high school in the U.S.) What was the last English course you took in high school? Desired response: English 12.

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6. Which languages do you speak with your family at home? Which one do you use the most? Desired response: English. 7. In what language do you read and write the best? Desired response: English.

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Dedicated to making the student success agenda a priority at community colleges and with state and national policymakers and stakeholders. Seeks to improve retention and graduation rate at community colleges. Data driven.

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AtD Colleges

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Achieving the Dream: March 2011 From the AtD website: 30 Community Colleges, including Entire L.A. Community College District, Commit to Rigorous Student Success and Completion

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NOVAs AtD Strategies Focus on First Year Experience, Developmental Education, Gatekeeper Classes New Student Orientation Learning Communities for Developmental English On-line Modular Learning Units for Developmental Math Data Driven

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Learning Communities: 3 Models Model #1: Developmental and ESL Reading and Psychology 201 (8 hours per week, two instructors) Model #2: Developmental English Reading and Writing (10 hours per week, two instructors) Model #3: ESL Reading and Writing (10 hours per week, two instructors)

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Model #1: Psychology and Reading Psychology 201: Introduction to Psychology PLUS ENG 5: Critical Reading OR ESL 52: Reading III

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Psychology 201 Required for many majors or social science elective. Transfers well. Our campus: 20+ sections, enrolling 30-35 students in each section. Lecture format, four multiple-choice + short answer tests, a final, and occasionally a project or paper.

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ENG 5 and ESL 52: Reading Courses use a similar syllabus. Exit level Developmental or ESL reading course. Students may or may not be in a composition class as well.

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Reading Class Design Our reading classes generally Use a textbook for reading skills, vocabulary, etc. Have a summarizing component. Use a novel for journaling, vocabulary, and writing prompts. Major assignment is an essay connected to the novel. Students write an in-class summary to pass the class. We use the Nelson Denny Test of Reading for pre- and post-testing.

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Learning Community Course Design Psychology 201 Follow regular syllabus. Change assignment #1 to a group PowerPoint project. Add an essay. Reading Adjust regular syllabus. No reading textbook. Growing Up by Russell Baker. Bookmarks, a Companion Text for Growing Up, by Janet Giannotti. Summarizing of articles with psych themes. PowerPoint and essay.

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Enrollment: Capped at 22 19 students enrolled. Jeannette, heritage speaker, Spanish Dayana, recent immigrant, Spanish Webit, Gen. 1.5, Amharic Marina, recent immigrant, Spanish Eun Jin, F-1 international student, Korean Erica, Gen. 1.5, Spanish Yelli, recent immigrant, French (Africa) Shatonia, HS grad., English

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Adam, H.S. grad., English Nebiyu, recent immigrant, Amharic Cory, H.S. grad., army reserves, English Alima, F-1 international student, Mongolian Megan, H. S. grad., English Daniel, heritage speaker, Spanish Su Hyun, F-1 international student, Korean Ricky, retired navy, English Wendy, Gen. 1.5, Spanish Genet, Gen. 1.5, Amharic Phyo, Gen. 1.5, Burmese

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Enrollment Overview Native speakers of English, recent high school graduates = 3 Native speaker of English, returning to school = 1 Heritage speakers, recent high school graduates = 2 Generation 1.5, recent high school graduates = 5 Recent immigrants or F-1, recent high school or university graduates = 7

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My Learning Community

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First Day Handout You will receive a syllabus for each course. This sheet explains some special advantages and rules about our learning community. 1. We are a community. All students are enrolled in both classes. We hope to have some out-of-class time together, including lunch, coffee, and study groups. Research has shown that students who work together do better in their classes. Regular class attendance is very important! 2. Youll save some money. In ENG 5 and ESL 52, well use the Psych 201 textbook instead of a reading textbook.

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3. Some assignments count for both classes. Youll have two big assignments that will be graded by both instructors. The first is a PowerPoint presentation that will be presented in the reading class with slides turned in for a grade in psychology. The second is an essay: early drafts will be graded by the reading professor with a final letter grade given by the psychology professor. Other assignments for your reading class, such as text mapping and vocabulary, will be helpful in studying for your psychology tests. 4. Youll save some time. In the reading classes, well work intensively with the Psych 201 textbook, trying out a variety of strategies for approaching difficult text. This may cut down the time you need to study for psychology. In addition, while other ENG 5 and ESL 52 classes are working on their literary criticism essays, youll be working on the essay for your psychology class.

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5. Youll still get the benefits of being in both classes. Your Psych 201 syllabus (assignments, tests) is exactly the same as the syllabus for the other Psych 201 classes. Your ENG/ESL syllabus is parallel to the other reading classes as well. You will do all of the journaling, summarizing, and vocabulary development that the other classes do, just with a twist toward psychology content. 6. Please understand that since this is a community, you may not withdraw from just one class. If you think you may need to withdraw for any reason, please talk to one or both professors immediately so that we can try to work something out. Our goal is for everyone to complete both courses with passing grades and to send you on to PSY 202 and ENG 111.

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Reading the Textbook

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Mapping

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More Note Taking

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First Major Assignment Chapter 2 has a great deal of anatomy to memorize. Research shows that if you relate new information to yourself, it helps you to remember it. In this assignment, you will relate several areas of the nervous system to an activity in your own life. You will work with a partner and select one of the activities below. Create a PowerPoint presentation to explain what each area of the nervous system is doing while you are doing your chosen activity. You need to explain the general function of that area and the specific function during the activity.

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PowerPoint Assignment Playing soccer Riding a bike Having coffee with a friend Going on a first date Painting a room Playing a musical instrument Driving a car Playing tennis Mowing the lawn Playing a musical instrument Somatic nervous system Sympathetic nervous system Parasympathetic nervous system Brainstem Cerebellum Hypothalamus Thalamus Amygdala Occipital lobe of cerebral cortex Temporal lobe of cerebral cortex Corpus callosum Right hemisphere....

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Friday Study Session

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Essay Assignment A theme in PSY 201 is the issue of nature and nurture. We study how our human development is a product of our genes and our environment, and the interaction between the two. In Growing Up, Russell Baker describes various influences on his own growth and development. We see evidence of both his genetics and his environment affecting his development. Your assignment is to write a 3- to 4-page paper in which you identify three environmental influences on Bakers development.

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Paper Requirement: Intro Your paper will begin with a background paragraph that summarizes the nature/nurture issue. You may integrate one quote from Psychology. Do not do any outside research for this paragraph. Your second paragraph will be the introduction to your paper. Set the context by describing Russell Bakers upbringing as hes reported it in Growing Up. You may want to point out that you have seen both nature and nurture shaping his development, but your thesis should clearly show that you are going to describe environmental influences on Russells development.

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Paper Requirement: Body You should then have three body paragraphs. For each element, you need to identify it (including the page number where he describes it). Then use examples from the book (include page numbers) that show how that particular element influenced his life and his development. A strong paper will include references from two or more chapters in each body paragraph. You may integrate one quote into each body paragraph, but please keep it to less than one sentence. Instead of extensive quoting, paraphrase Bakers ideas into your own words. Use your own words and understanding to show how that part of his environment influenced his development into an adult. Your conclusion (final paragraph) should tie back to the beginning of your paper.

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Course Results ESL students did the best, with F-1 students at the top of the class. Native speakers did the worst overall, with several F grades in PSY (with the exception of Ricky). Gen. 1.5 and heritage speakers had mixed results.

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Course Evaluation More time with psychology textbook. Less homework in the reading class. Tell more people about the Learning Community!

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Model #2: Developmental Reading and Writing ENG 5: Preparing for College Reading II (5 credit hours) PLUS ENG 3: Preparing for College Writing II (5 credit hours)

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Common Denominators Both ENG 5 and ENG 3 are the exit-level courses in the Developmental English program. have a standardized curriculum for all sections. The standard ENG 5 reading syllabus includes writing assignments and a research project. The standard Eng 3 syllabus includes reading assignments and a research paper.

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Background on the Learning Community Fall 2010 was the third time my colleague, Barry Selinger, and I had co-taught an ENG 5 + ENG 3 learning community. A feature of the Fall 2010 learning community was that both courses were hybrid courses with a 1/3 online component. The courses met twice a week back to back in the same classroom for 6 hours of traditional class time. The choice of a novel or other fictional work determined the theme of each learning community. In Fall 2010 the choice was a book of Greek myths for a theme of mythology.

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Why Mythology? Timeless appeal of tales of adventure Quests and trials, combats and battles, heroes and monsters Video games and IMAX: Mortal Kombat and Prince of Persia Trilogy; Twelve Rounds and I Am Number Four

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Why Mythology? Cultural literacy Ive always wanted to know what Pandoras Box means? The Clash of the Titans

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Why Mythology? Timeless themes Love, honor, fidelity Deceit, betrayal, revenge

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Course Materials READINGJOINTWRITING Textbook: Master Reader Online: MyReadingLab Online: Blackboard forums (reading journals) Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton (originally published in 1942) Textbook: A Writers Reference Online: Companion interactive site Online: Blackboard forums (writing journals)

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ENG 5 (COLLEGE READING) The Great Heroes before the Trojan War: Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, Atalanta Introduction to dictionary and vocabulary skills reading strategies learning strategies stated main ideas of paragraphs BB forums (reading journals) ANALYSIS 1-2 OF HEROES

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ENG 3: College Writing The Gods: Titans and Olympians, Lesser Gods, Gods of the Waters, Underworld, Lesser Gods of Earth Introduction to paragraph writing essay writing the writing process MLA BB forums (writing journals) REVISED ESSAY ON SUCCESS

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Enrollment: 16 Students Justin, 1.5, Spanish Kais, 1.5 gen, Urdu Stacey, American English, home-schooled Yordanos, recent immigrant, Amharic Siomara, 1.5 gen, Spanish Jennifer, American English, home-schooled Lidia, 1.5 gen, Spanish Kewania, American English Brian, 1.5 gen, French

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Enrollment (cont.) Nelson, 1.5 gen, Spanish Ingrid, 1.5 gen, Spanish John, American English Christian, 1.5 gen, Spanish Ahmed, 1.5 gen, Arabic Truc, recent immigrant, Vietnamese Brandon, American English

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Enrollment Overview Native speakers of English, recent high school graduates=5 Generation 1.5, recent high school graduates=7 Generation 1.5, returning to school after military service=2 Recent immigrants=2

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Learning Environment Assignment Discussion of sign posted in classrooms. How do you act in college? (handout)

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Discussion Board Forums The Greek Gods (About You, Part 4): Enter the world of the ancient Greeks. If you were an ancient Greek, which of the gods would you choose as a patron god and why? I am a person of action; Ares is the Greek God after my own heart. Ares reflects me in my youth, as a young kid I have always been one that wasnt afraid of anything, and I used to believe that the only way to solve a problem was through conflict, hand to hand.

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Other Discussion Forums Hero or Anti-Hero? (About You, Part 5): If you did your homework, you now know the difference between a hero and an anti- hero. How would you describe yourself? Are you a hero or an anti-hero in your own life story?

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Revised Summary Response Essay Write a thesis statement that responds to the main idea of the myth. This should basically tell the lesson or lessons learned from the myth about love and how this lesson or lessons apply to modern-day lovers. A lesson could be summed up by a well-known saying like It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

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Revised Argument Essay Topics: 1. Did the right side win the Trojan War? Why or why not? 2. Who is the greatest hero of the Trojan War? Why?

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Documented Argument Essay Topics suggested by the dysfunctional families of Greek mythology. The topics ask you to examine questions related to dysfunction in contemporary family life, particularly in the U.S. TOPIC 1: Should parents try to work on their marital problems and stay together for the sake of their children? TOPIC 2: In cases of divorce, the court system favors giving mothers custody of the children. Do mothers make the best custodial parent?

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Course Results 4 could not keep up with the work and failed both courses. 3 passed ENG 3 (College Writing) but did not pass ENG 5 (College Reading). 9 passed both courses.

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Final thoughts: Student Reflection The one piece of academic writing I am happy and satisfied with just might have to be my essay on Cupid and Psyche, the summary response essay, I like this piece of academic writing because of how it has a huge piece of me in it. It has my experience and view on how relationships in my life in the Marine Corps were. Christian Alberto Romero, born in Copaipo, Chile, immigrated to Maryland in 1994, returned to Chile, then back to the U.S for high school.