Missouri Course Redesign Initiative
Lincoln University
Course Title: Basic English
Contact: Roseann Grotjan
Lincoln University (LU) students with low English ACT (EACT) scores must complete Basic English, a four-credit course, with a grade of C or better. Previously, Basic English has been required for students who scored 15 or less on the EACT. Effective fall 2011 semester, the Basic English placement score range changed to an EACT of 13 or less. In the past three years, enrollment averaged 430 students annually, with a fall semester average of 232 students and a spring semester average of 198. Based on the last three years’ EACT scores, implementing the new placement score cut-off will mean that an average of 161 students will place into Basic English in the fall and 118 in the spring semester.
Using the Replacement Model, the redesign will address the following problems that characterize the traditional course: 1) Course drift: assignments and assessments are not consistent among instructors. 2) Lack of student engagement: high absenteeism, frequent failure to complete assignments, low quiz scores, little involvement in class discussion characterize student participation resulting in an average failure rate of 48%. 3) Outmoded pedagogy: the traditional model of teaching consists entirely of group instruction, yet writing is a highly individualized activity. 4) Paper grading: though labor intensive, this traditional approach has not been shown by research to have any positive effect on student writing and limits the number of students assigned to each section.
In the redesign, course drift will be eliminated by creating a common course curriculum for all sections and enforcing common exit standards. Interactive software, with automated scoring and immediate feedback, will encourage active learning and individualize instruction, increasing the likelihood of student engagement. Clickers, teaching tools which increase student engagement, will be employed in the lecture/discussion portion of the class. Course assistants and computer lab assistants will be added. Course assistants will use common rubrics to respond to weekly paragraph assignments, providing more specific feedback at the early draft phase of writing. Students will be required to meet with a tutor twice monthly to identify the common error patterns in their writing. Students and teachers will meet in one-on-one conferences at the third, seventh, eleventh, and fifteenth weeks.
In order to assess the impact of the redesign on student learning, all sections of the traditional and redesigned Basic English course will be given a pre-test and post-test in two parts: a locally designed reading and writing test scored with a rubric, and the computerized diagnostic grammar, mechanics, and reading comprehension pre-tests and post-tests included with MySkillsLab. The team will also gather longitudinal data on the retention rates, overall GPAs and college-level English course grades for students in both the traditional and redesigned formats.
Savings will accrue from increasing class size from 20 students to 26 per section. The increase in class size will be made possible by using computer-graded software, adding course assistants to share grading/course management duties and having computer lab assistants help answer student questions and troubleshoot problems in the lab portion of the course. The cost-per-student will decline from $433 to $345, a 20% reduction. The redesign will permit the university to respond more effectively to budget cuts.
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