About the Students and Instructor
Student Characteristics
- As of the 16-17 AY, close to 65% of Channel Islands students are first generation, approximately 45% are Latino/a, and approximately 40% are white, with the remaining 15% comprised of other ethnic groups. Approximately 65% of CI students are female.
- As the course I teach is a required course for almost all students, the students I teach come from every major at CI, which uniquely positions those of us who teach First Year Writing to help students find their path(s) to academic success.
Advice I Gave My Students to be Successful
- In order to ensure our learning community develops, thrives and sustains throughout our time together, please consider yourself a member of a community. A community is a group of individuals who work together to support a common goal or interest. We are working together to support the successful achievement of our learning outcomes.
- Participate regularly in group conversations and activities.
- Treat the diverse contributions made by other community members with respect.
- Have patience and a sense of humor with technology.
- Be a learner. Keep an open mind when introduced to new ideas that may challenge your perceptions.
- Ask for help when you need it, and assist others when possible.
- Be persistent! Remember, becoming a good writer is much like anything else in life: the only way to become better is to practice, practice and practice some more.
- Understand that communications shared through text have a higher likelihood of being misinterpreted than words that are spoken. Therefore, when you write an email, thought or a comment, read it carefully before you submit it. If you question the way it is worded, read it out loud to yourself. If you still question the way it’s phrased, re-write it.
- Contribute regularly to our group dialogue, including blog posts and replies. The contributions of each individual play a role in the collective strength and diversity of our community.
Impact of Student Learning Outcomes/Objectives (SLOs) on Course Redesign
Alignment of SLOs with Course Redesign
Self Development: Students will develop: an ability to cogently reflect on the roles of learning on personal and intellectual growth
- By moving the bulk of the course content and student work on-line, I will be better able to hold students accountable for meeting the multiple draft and research deadlines. An added self-assessment project will help students reflect on their learning and development, as well as to consider how the skills they’ve learned in the course might transfer to other courses.
Assessments Used to Measure Students’ Achievement of SLOs
- I will assess the students’ achievements by asking them to assess themselves, four times over the semester, on how well they’ve met the course deadlines and writing goals. I hope this will lead to fewer students earning repeatable grades.
- I plan to measure drafting and self assessment.
Accessibility, Affordability, and Diversity Considerations
Accessibility
- All of the course tools are fully accessible, and my CRT proposal included funding for captioning videos, which I will use for any videos I include.
Affordability
I’ve designed this class to be zero cost to my students. All of the course materials are available on line, and by moving the course work to google docs, students will not have to print copies of their essays
Diversity
- Channel Islands is an HSI, and 65% of our students are first generation students. As such, we are very cognizant of issues of affordability. This course is designed with assignments that value students’ cultural capital and prior knowlege, and incorporates high impact practices to keep students engaged and contributing.
About the Instructor
- Kim Vose, PhD
- As a first-generation student myself, I am well aware of the challenges that many of our students have overcome. I consider our shared classroom to be a space for all of us to learn from, encourage and support each other. I draw inspiration from my students every day, and for that, I am grateful to them.
- I am especially interested in helping students develop – and develop confidence in – their writing abilities. I firmly believe that everyone has something to contribute to our national dialogue, and it’s my great fortune to be able to help them do so.
