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

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

Logic Model

Project Budget and Evaluation Plan

Project Budget and Evaluation

Budget explanation

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.