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Promoting student success through learning communities (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Promoting student success through learning communities
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Pathways
Mindset
Data & Communications
Category: 
Block Schedules
Data
High Impact Practices
Learning Communities
Student engagement
Strategy/Project Description: 

Establishing Learning Communities to promote student success

Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

Evaluation Plan and measures: Students participating in the FLCs will be evaluated using the successful – unsuccessful metric.  Students who receive a letter grade of A, B, or C will be deemed successful.  All other grades will be considered unsuccessful.  Withdrawals will be included in the unsuccessful category.  Two courses will be used in the evaluation.  The two courses are English Composition I (ENG), and Quantitative Reasoning (QR).

KPIs:

  • DFW rates in ENGL 1101
  • DFW rates in MATH 1001
  • DFW rates of Business majors LC in Cochran
  • DFW rates of IT majors in Warner Robins
  • DFW rates of Health Science majors in Warner Robins

Baseline measure: 

Institution-wide DFW measurements for the Fall 2022 term are as follows:

  • English Composition 1 (All programs – 40%, IT -34%, Health – 44%, Business – 49%)
  • Quantitative Reasoning (All programs – 37%, IT – 55%, Health – 41%, Business – 42%)
  • Cochran - Business majors (ENG – 54%, QR – 51%)
  • Warner Robins – IT majors (insufficient enrollment for baseline measurement)
  • Warner Robins – Health Science focused majors (ENG – 32%, QR – 20%)

Note: IT students may take College Algebra (ALG) instead of QR. The overall DFW metrics for IT in ALG is 64% for the Fall 2022 term.

Current/most recent data (for each KPI): This initiative will be piloted in fall’23.

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • Reduce DFW rates by 2% for each KPI

Time period/duration: 2023-2024

Progress and Adjustments: 

The Learning Communities as described above need to be adjusted. The enrollment in the LCs is insufficient to make any statistically significant conclusion. However, another initiative was launched in the Fall 2023 semester- Knight’s Academy.  The Knight’s Academy is an online academic community focused on engaging the student in a variety of learning activities. The activities seek to assist students develop critical student success skills by participating in learning activities called quests and engaging with other students through discussion posts.  Topics covered in the Knight’s Academy include:

  • Motivation,
  • Resilience,
  • Habits,
  • Study Skills,
  • Mindset,
  • Economic Literacy, and
  • Media Literacy.

This project is a First Year Experience initiative created to improve student engagement and academic progress.

Plan for the Year Ahead: 

Learning Communities as described above will be delayed until 2024.  During the remainder of this academic year, the institution will focus on growing the engagement within the Knight’s Academy.  Measurements used will include:

  • Completed quests within each meta-major,
  • Content completed within each meta-major,
  • Discussion posts created, and
  • Average weekly usage rates.

Correlations between Knight’s Academy participation and GPA will be measured for potential impact.

Challenges and Support: 

Challenges

  • Student participation in the Knight’s Academy.
  • Student engagement with advisors, coaches, and faculty.
  • Student Success and Student Affairs programming.

Support Needed

Sharing ideas and resources used by other USG institutions related to student academic communities

Primary Contact: 
James Blackburn