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GRANTS

Innovation and Incubator Grants from the University System of Georgia

Peer-Led Undergraduate Study to Facilitate Student Success In Blended Introduction to Physics Courses

Georgia Institute of Technology

2014

Grant Type: 
Incubate
Project Lead: 
Shannon Dobranski
Director, Center for Academic Success
404-894-1945
Other team members: 
  • Ms. Christy Lock, Assistant Director for Tutoring and Peer Learning Programs
  • Dr. Ed Greco, Academic Professional, School of Physics
Project Overview: 

A CCG Incubate grant would support Supplemental Instruction (SI) for three sections of Introduction to Physics I taught in "blended" classrooms, in which the content traditionally delivered in class lectures will be delivered outside of class to free in-class time for exercises and collaborative learning. The project will allow the Center for Academic Success not only to provide students in these sections with Peer-Led Undergraduate Study (PLUS–the SI program at Georgia Tech), but to experiment with best practices in the largely untested realm of SI for blended STEM courses.

Project Description: 

Impact on Completion:

We expect regular participants in PLUS for blended Physics courses to out-perform peers who do not participate in PLUS sessions, and we anticipate formal presentations on how best to deploy SI in a blended class. We additionally expect to develop effective training modules for TAs who work in this environment.

Potential Lessons Learned:

We will document the process for delivering SI to blended STEM classrooms. Steps include soliciting instructor buy-in, hiring PLUS leaders, developing specialized training and evaluation, and collecting data and conducting assessment. We will determine whether SI is valuable in the blended classroom and what steps can enhance its utility.

Concept Description

 

Background: Introduction to Physics is a gateway course at Georgia Tech, required for most of the Institute's engineering and science majors (22 of 34 possible majors). Along with calculus and computer science, the course has one of the highest enrollments at the Institute. It also has a reputation as one of the most difficult courses in the curriculum. According to Course Critique, a database that uses official Georgia Tech reports to assemble grade distributions information for all classes, the DFW rate for PHYS 2211, Introduction to Physics I, is approximately 27 percent. The average grade is closer to a C than to a B (2.37 on a 4.0 scale). In the current semester, 1140 students are registered for the course, so if the average DFW rate holds true this semester, we can anticipate that 307 of these students will need to retake the course in a future term, switch to a non-STEM major, or leave Georgia Tech.

In 2013, Georgia Tech Physics Professor Mike Schatz and a team of researchers developed a Physics I course that included video-capture technology, digitally recorded spoken lab reports, and peer evaluation. The course was an experiment in Massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) in the lab sciences, but the team concluded that many of the strategies designed for the MOOC could be effectively deployed in "flipped" or "blended" classrooms on campus. Since then, this instruction has evolved into a blended class that includes face-to-face time with faculty but focuses on in-class experiential learning. This blended class is the focus of this proposal.

In the blended Physics sections, students watch video lectures and complete laboratory tasks outside of class. Time in class (3-hour session and three 50-minute sessions weekly) is devoted to group work and exercises facilitated by faculty and teaching assistants. Students use a part of this time to prepare and present small group lab reports and to critique the reports of other groups. Professors and TAs comment on the teams' problem-solving processes as well as their communication skills. Schatz and his team concluded that, while a blended classroom could enhance student learning, it required specialized training for TA facilitators in the class.

Proposal: The Center for Academic Success proposes to support the blended Physics classroom model with Peer-Led Undergraduate Study (PLUS—Georgia Tech's Supplemental Instruction [SI] program). This program will

  • pair Physics I coordinators with PLUS leaders,
  • work with faculty to identify and train PLUS leaders and TAs to facilitate student learning for both traditional and blended classrooms,
  • promote PLUS to students, and
  • assess the results with comparisons between blended and non-blended classrooms, as well as between participating and non-participating students.

PLUS is a voluntary academic assistance program that utilizes peer-led group study to help students succeed in traditionally difficult courses. PLUS sessions are facilitated by PLUS Leaders, peer students who have completed the targeted course with a grade of "A," attend course lectures, and have been trained to facilitate PLUS sessions. During regularly scheduled sessions the PLUS Leader facilitates group study strategies specific to the course. During a typical PLUS session, students compare and clarify lecture notes, review textbook readings, and discuss key course concepts. PLUS benefits active participants by providing a guaranteed study time, offering a non-punitive learning environment, and creating a smaller, more comfortable setting.

The goal of PLUS is to help students become independent learners, who

  • Understand what to learn and how to learn
  • Successfully complete the course by earning an A, B, or C
  • Develop transferable study skills

PLUS Data Georgia Tech has offered PLUS since spring 2009. Since then, PLUS has been integrated all general sections of MATH 1501, 1502, 2401 and ISYE 2027. PLUS data from last year indicates that the ABC rate is higher and the DFW rate is lower for students who attended PLUS (table 1).

Table 1: Percentage of Students with ABC/DFW with and without PLUS

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

 

Visited

Did not visit

 

Visited

Did not visit

PLUS MATH 2401

ABC

82.95

79.89

ABC

91.72

86.35

DFW

16.47

19.83

DFW

7.99

13.65

SIU

0.58

0.29

SIU

0.30

0.00

PLUS MATH 1502

ABC

91.08

88.86

ABC

83.33

80.65

DFW

8.92

11.04

DFW

16.42

19.22

SIU

0.00

0.10

SIU

0.25

0.14

PLUS MATH 1501

ABC

92.04

87.00

ABC

68.49

53.66

DFW

7.96

12.84

DFW

31.51

43.90

SIU

0.00

0.16

SIU

0.00

2.44

PLUS ISYE 2027

ABC

85.62

78.99

ABC

90.35

83.53

DFW

13.70

19.57

DFW

8.77

15.29

SIU

0.68

1.45

SIU

0.88

1.18

Outcomes: We expect to see similar improved performance in PHYS 2211 for blended classes and to generate strategies for using SI in blended classrooms and for training TAs to instruct and assist in a blended environment. We expect to share these strategies with CCG and the greater SI community through formal presentations.

 

Project Plan

 

Goals:

  • To support student learning in STEM courses.
  • To support innovative teaching practices that emphasize student learning.
  • To develop programs to help otherwise capable students overcome common obstacles.
  • To develop and disseminate best practices in academic support programs.

Objectives:

  • To expand PLUS offerings to include PHYS 2211 and PHYS 2211 for blended classrooms.
  • To work with faculty and PLUS leaders to identify unique strategies to facilitate learning in and out of the blended classroom.
  • To work with faculty to identify ways to help Teaching Assistants provide relevant instruction and assistance in blended classrooms
  • To assess student performance in blended and non-blended classes, with and without PLUS

Deliverables:

  • A PLUS program to support blended PHYS 2211 Introduction to Physics I courses with relevant training and assessment
  • A conference presentation (local and national) to share strategies and best practices in facilitating SI in blended classrooms
Timeline  
Summer 2014 work with Physics faculty to plan PLUS for PHYS 2211
August 2014 recruit PLUS leaders based on faculty recommendations and grades in relevant classes
August 2014 conduct two-day training for PLUS leaders, Teaching Assistants
Aug. 2014?Apr. 2015 teach CETL 2001 Fundamentals for Peer Tutoring, invite Teaching Assistants to relevant classes
Aug. 2014-Apr. 2015 bi-weekly training sessions for PLUS leaders
Sept. 2014-April 2015 on-going evaluation of PLUS leaders and TAs
May-June 2015 data collection and program assessment
Spring 2015 presentation of initial findings at CCG events and conference

 

Logic Model

 

Situation

Inputs

Activities

Outputs

Outcomes

Short-term

Long-term

Students earn DFWs in PHYS 2211 in disproportion to their abilities. PHYS faculty have launched blended PHYS 2211. The course would benefit from PLUS supplemental instruction.

  • 3 PLUS leaders to meet with three blended sections
  • 3 PLUS leaders to meet with 3 non-blended sections (as a control group)
  • 2 Center for Academic Success staff members and 1 PLUS Mentor to provide specialized training
  • 1 or 2 Physics faculty members to participate in hiring, training, planning, and evaluating
  • A hiring process that includes a formal application and interview
  • Training (day-long, weekly, bi-weekly)
  • Twice-weekly PLUS sessions outside of the blended classroom
  • Face-to-face evaluation sessions with program administrators

 

  • A PLUS program to support blended PHYS 2211 Introduction to Physics I courses with relevant training and assessment to include grade comparisons between sections and between PLUS participants and non-participants
  • A conference presentation to share strategies and best practices in facilitating SI in blended classrooms

 

  • The percentage of students who score a DFW while participating in PLUS for Physics will be 30 percent lower than their peers who don't.
  • Academic support administrators and Physics faculty and TAs will develop preliminary best practices for serving students in a blended STEM classroom.

 

  • Students who succeed in PHYS 2211 will make timely progress to degree
  • The CCG and SI communities will learn specific strategies for supporting a blended STEM classroom.
  • The Physics community will learn new approaches to facilitating student learning through blended classrooms, SI for blended classrooms, and specialized training for TAs in blended classrooms.

 

Project Budget and Evaluation Plan

 

Project Budget and Evaluation

PLUS leaders  

3 for blended sections x $1500

4500

9 for traditional sections x $1500

13500

extended training for 12 PLUS leaders

600

PLUS mentor(s)

2520

Presentation at CCG or other local event (2)

 

hotel (local) ($200 x 2)

400

ground transportation (local) ($100 x 2)

200

per diem ($40 x 2)

80

Presentation at national conference

 

registration (national)

600

air (national)

700

hotel (national, 2 nights)

500

ground transportation (national)

75

per diem ($60 x 2)

120

   

TOTAL

$23,795

Budget explanation

PLUS leaders  

Class

3

Professor meeting

1

Session hours

2

Staff meeting

.5

Lesson Planning

3.5

Total Hours/week

10 hours x $10/hour x 15 weeks = $1500

   

Extended training

5 hours total x $10 x 12 leaders = $600

Supplies

 

PLUS Mentor

 

Session hours (peer review)

2

Review with PLUS leaders

2

Staff meeting

.5

Peer Training

2

Administrative (data collection)

1.5

   

Total Hours/week

8 hours x $10.50/hour x 30 weeks = $2520

Presentation at CCG event includes hotel stay, ground transportation, and per diem expenses for a Georgia event outside of Atlanta for two professionals.

Presentation at national conference is based on projected expenses for the 2014 SI Conference in Chicago, IL.