Terri Manning, Ed.D.Center for Applied

ResearchCentral Piedmont

Community College

Our Higher Education Reality

This SessionCombine yesterdays sessions: the millennial generation and improving gatekeeper courses Not so easy when you are already brain dead.

Started thinking about our challenges.Community college faculty and staff are driven by their own internal mission..like herding cats.

We have many challenges ahead of us.Many things we need to take into account in preparing courses.

Changes in Higher Education

We have moved from:

a culture of unexamined assumptions

a culture of implicit, individually held hopes, preferences and beliefs

a model of higher education as primarily a quantitative, additive process

To:

a culture of assessment and evidence

a culture of explicit broadly shared goals, criteria and standards

a model that is fundamentally qualitative and transformative

Source: National Center for Higher Education Management

Changes in Higher Education

We have moved from:a culture that tends to

ignore costs

a teaching culture which has, in the past, ignored what is known about human learning

a culture that emphasizes and privileges individual struggle for private advantage

To:a culture that attempts to

realistically account for direct, deferred and opportunity costs

one which applies relevant knowledge to improve practice

one which encourages collaboration for the common good and individual advancement

Achieving the DreamAchieving the Dream colleges will maintain a high degree of access for historically underrepresented groups while working to increase the percentage of students who accomplish the following:successfully complete the courses they take; advance from remedial to credit-bearing courses; enroll in and successfully complete gatekeeper

courses; enroll from one semester to the next; earn degrees and/or certificates. 

Some our greatest challenges…..

Higher education is on the verge of a major shift.

The culture is changing and transforming.We will probably find more of an environment

that allows for individualization of learning.Will look more like an industry, skills-based

model.Students will learn, assess skills, prove

mastery and then move forward but in small bites – not entire courses.

We will modularize certain skills.Traditional courses may not exist – but related

skills areas.

Our StakeholdersWant something different.Students expect something differentEmployers want something differentYour classroom today doesn’t look anything like college classrooms 40 years ago

Students arrive with a lot of baggage and issues.

Let’s look at a few….

The Challenges that Face

Us TodayAre greater than they have ever been.

The economyStudents are needier and not prepared.

Students are More Needy

Need for remedial courses goes up: Fall 2009

Of the Top 25 Highest Enrolled Courses – Eight were DevelopmentalCourse Sections Seats Capacity Available % Sold

MAT070 43 1118 1092 -26 102.4%

RED090 39 978 975 -3 100.3%

MAT080 37 947 936 -11 101.2%

ENG090 36 910 900 -10 101.1%

ENG090A 36 909 900 -9 101.0%

MAT050 33 830 829 -1 100.1%

MAT060 31 767 764 -3 100.4%

ENG080 27 701 729 28 96.2%

NC Unemployment and NC CC Curriculum Headcount

3.00%4.00%5.00%6.00%7.00%8.00%9.00%

10.00%11.00%12.00%

2000

-01

2001

-02

2002

-03

2003

-04

2004

-05

2005

-06

2006

-07

2007

-08

2008

-09

2009

-10

NC unemployment Rate

230,000

240,000

250,000

260,000

270,000

280,000

290,000

300,000

310,000

2000

-01

2001

-02

2002

-03

2003

-04

2004

-05

2005

-06

2006

-07

2007

-08

2008

-09

2009

-10

NCCCS Curriculum Headcount

Source: State ESC and NCCCS Websites

???

Who Are The Unemployed?

With Poor Economic Conditions, the Students

are More Needy• Displaced workers are different than the more traditional community college students• A greater need for student services

• Need for financial aid goes up• Number with zero family contribution (family cannot help them at all) rose from 2,891 in 2008 to 4,681 in 2009 (increase of 62% at CPCC).

• Different brain – must be “turned back on”

Major ChallengesStudents are more diverse than ever

RaceGenderLanguageAcademic backgroundAge and generationExpectations from students, families, our accrediting agencies and society

Boys Issues in K-12For Every 100 Girls Who….

Number of Boys

Enroll in Kindergarten 116Enroll in Ninth Grade 101Enroll in Twelfth Grade 98Are Suspended from K-12 250Are Expelled from K-12 335Diagnosed with Learning Disability

276

Enroll in the gifted and talented program

94The Boys Project. http://www.boysproject.net/statistics.html

Boys and Their Educational Choices

For Every 100 Girls Who….

Number of Boys

Graduate from High School 96Enroll in College 77Earn an Associates Degree 67Earn a Bachelors Degree 73Earn a Masters Degree 62Earn a Doctorate 92

The Boys Project. http://www.boysproject.net/statistics.html

First Time Freshman Enrollments by Gender 50 Years (numbers in

thousands)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

MalesFemales

(45.2%)

(54.8%)

College Graduation Projections (numbers in thousands) (61% of

degrees will go to women)

250

350

450

550

650

750

850

950

1050

Assoc. Degree MaleAssoc. Degree FemaleBach. Degree MaleBach. Degree Female (37.4%)

(62.6%)

(40%)

(60%)

How Generational Births Impact Enrollments

2,500,000

2,700,000

2,900,000

3,100,000

3,300,000

3,500,000

3,700,000

3,900,000

4,100,000

4,300,000

4,500,000

births

(Boomers)(Xers)

(Millennials)

Things Began to Change for This Generation

Abortion rates peaked in 1980 - slowly declined.Poverty rate for children peaked in 1983 and

began a slow decline (Medicaid began).US divorce rate peaked in 1981 -

began a decline.Homicide rate against children

peaked in 1982 and began a decline.They were born into a better world,

a more optimistic world than the generation before them.

Born in infertility era, parents really wanted them.

Unique CharacteristicsBorn 1982 – 2002, a civic generation of 81 million

Most diverse generation everRaised with technology and casual communication

Raised by better educated older parents

Always told why when they askedKnow lots about lots of things

Unique CharacteristicsTaught that questioning authority was a good thing

Function from the position of “negotiation” and will try to “move you” as much as possible

Have lived in an “outcome-based” world and always want to know “what’s in it for me?”

Want services and access 24/7.Expect to get what they paid for.

Unique CharacteristicsMajor influencing factors

Helicopter parentsFocus on their self-esteemCustomer service that makes them think that everyone cares if they are satisfied (not true in higher education)

Gaming and technologyCasual community and social networking

Unique CharacteristicsThey will dramatically impact “how” education is done before they are through (last enter college 2020)

Have re-established the “haves” and “have nots” with the digital divide

Class is rearing its ugly head and their competition is fierce (30-50% have low skills)

We are supposed to be preparing them for a future that is uncharted, for jobs that haven’t been invented yet

Unique CharacteristicsThey live in a 24/7, small international world where all possible content is on the internet

What they need to learn are the following (can’t be learned from the internet)Application of knowledge to practiceProcess skills such as critical thinking and analysis

How to collect and organize data and information

Information and technology literacy

But How are They Coming to Us?The majority of the country probably feels:The K-12 system is doing well for children whose parents get involved, take advantage of the choices they have, guide and direct their children through the system in a rather “savvy” way

And it is failing all the rest

In Yesterday’s Gatekeeper Session

The participants and I had a “collegial, self-reflective dialogue about the continuous improvement of student learning” in gatekeeper courses (WASC language).

We created a list of our expectations of the learning outcomes for the gatekeeper classes. We stood back and looked at the list….and

We decided that the issues we have with students successfully completing gatekeeper classes was not about their ability to grasp or master the content.

What are the issues?

Let’s look at the list

The key to success is finding a way to address the bottom list while helping student master the outcomes for the courses.

So how do we do that?

Must Address Strategies for Both

Retention and Academic Success

(two different animals

What Some Others Have Done

1. Support activitiesa) Offer supplemental instruction, service

learning opportunities, tutoring, and study groups.

b) Create a series of success workshops (offered through the tutoring center, library or student success center) and require students attend a set number of them as part of their grade

c) Create learning communities or linked classes.

d) Implement an Early Alert System to ensure that struggling students get help.

Others, cont.2. Curriculum and pedagogy

a) Make instruction in gatekeeper courses more related to real life experiences. 

b) Use techniques such as active/collaborative learning, mini learning communities in the class, and computer-assisted labs.

c) Establish learning competencies and share them with students.

d) Allow retesting in courses with sequential content so students can master it.

Others, cont.d) Institute “class conferencing” in classes –

instructors meet with students individually on a regular basis.

e) Used grading rubrics for all assignments and give students a copy beforehand.

3. Faculty developmenta) Offer professional development for faculty

who teach gatekeeper courses. b) Let the faculty with great success teach

these workshops.1) Focus on retention techniques, improving

academic skills and student engagement

Others, cont.4. Next Steps

a) Work with faculty across disciplines to increase the basic skills.

1) How do the paralegal faculty teach students to become better writers?

2) How do the culinary faculty improve computational skills?

3) How do the Nursing faculty improve critical thinking skills in students

Gatekeeper faculty teach students the basic skills based on the content of the course.

Program faculty should say “thank you very much, we’ll take it from here.” Then continuously and in every course, reinforce those skills.

Major IssuesA large percentage of students begin and end their college career in remedial or developmental courses – never make it to the gatekeeper classes.

Another large percentage of students never make it through the gatekeeper courses and drop out before they complete the entire set of classes.

They never get to the majors.

Gatekeeper FacultyAre the most critical and important faculty at the institution. Why?Greatest opportunity to improve skills and promote success.

Greatest opportunity for engagement and retention.

Can help students make the decision … Do I belong here, can I do it?

The Challenge…Seeing these courses for the opportunity they represent.

Program faculty and gatekeeper faculty should come together and make some decisions:What student skills do we want them to have

when they leave the gatekeeper (pre-major) courses?

How can we teach/facilitate those skills?By the time students complete gen ed, we have

inoculated them 10 times.

CautionThe Insanity Principle

Doing what we have always done but expecting different results.

To Contact Me:Terri Manningterri.manning@cpcc.edu(704) 330-6592