Capturing Student Voices: ‘Reading Between Lives’

November 14, 2008

A unique example of inquiry emerged at Chabot College, where they aimed to capture student voices in a way that would catalyze improvement for both learners and teachers. Determined to frame basic skills as a challenge cutting across the curriculum-beyond English and mathematics (though they were the central focus of SPECC) and beyond courses designated […]

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Reading, Student voice, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Using Institutional Data to Guide Inquiry

November 14, 2008

What has also become clear through SPECC’s exploration of FIGs is the power of viewing classroom data through the lens of larger trends and patterns. Most campuses have a good deal of information available at the institutional level: data about student demographics, enrollment, retention, and the like. And some institutions seek out information that allows […]

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Faculty Inquiry Groups (FIGs), Institutional Data, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Student Interviews on the Effectiveness of a Method

November 13, 2008

Students approach the math textbook as little more than an (extremely expensive) problem set, expecting to get all of the information they need to prepare for tests simply by attending lecture. A typical college math course requires a great deal of homework, and students are expected to spend many hours outside of class studying. When […]

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Student Interviews, Uncategorized, Video Evidence | Comments Off

Common Exam as Inquiry

November 13, 2008

While one would think that mathematics would be less susceptible to the problem of coordination and grade variability (it is, afte all, more “objective” than reading and composition), that turns out not to be the case. Math teachers also vary in how they teach and how they grade, creating similar concerns about whether all their […]

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Common Exam, Faculty Inquiry Groups (FIGs), Uncategorized | Comments Off