Training Student Facilitators to Lead Peer-Led Group Discussions in Computing and the Sciences

Dr. Mandy M. Raab, Ph.D., MSIS, Dr. Stephen M. Jodis, Ph.D. Collaborative Learning Program, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA,15650

CLP Participation

Saint Vincent College offers the opportunity for Peer-Led Team Learning through the Collaborative Learning Program (CLP). Upper-class student facilitators, who were hand-selected by their departmental faculty, lead freshmen and sophomore discussion and problem solving groups in the science and computing disciplines.Each year the CLP provides a summer training workshop for 8-10 new student facilitators.  The workshop is divided into 3 phases. The Initiation Phase helps the students get to know each other through engaging in Ice Breaker Games and Activities.  The workshop then proceeds to the Methodology Phase where students learn the pedagogy of the CLP Program. Facilitators also learn how to integrate various study skills and strategies into their CLP sessions including Time Management, Note-Taking Styles, and Learning Styles. The final stage of the workshop is the Hands-On Phase.  Student facilitators practice mock sessions to feel more prepared and confident in leading a solo session during the upcoming academic year.

Abstract

Introduction to the CLP Program

Saint Vincent College has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) to increase enrollment and retention rates among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. The project promotes interest in the promising interdisciplinary programs of bioinformatics, biotechnology, and biochemistry as well as biology, chemistry and computer science.The project also addresses the significant attrition of students from the biology program during the freshman and sophomore years. The project is anticipated to increase the number of STEM majors at Saint Vincent by recruiting and retaining new students in bioinformatics, biotechnology and biochemistry and retaining additional students in the more traditional majors of biology, chemistry and computer science who would have otherwise dropped out of the discipline. This project combines the strengths of a liberal arts educational approach with a focused effort to nurture interest and seed the career pipeline in existing and emerging STEM disciplines, with the intent of providing a replicable model for other small liberal arts colleges.

Goals and Objectives of the CLP Program

The goal of the project is to increase the number of students enrolling and graduating from Saint Vincent with degrees in STEM disciplines. The project places a particular emphasis on enrolling students in the interdisciplinary programs of bioinformatics, biotechnology, and biochemistry; increasing the retention of biology majors overall; and significantly expanding participation of students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines. Objectives to achieve this goal include the following:•Enroll a total of 30 new students in the School’s interdisciplinary programs of biotechnology, bioinformatics, and biochemistry and support their prospects for academic success in a STEM discipline with a Collaborative Learning Program;•Provide scholarship support from enrollment through graduation for six new students enrolling in bioinformatics, biotechnology, and biochemistry annually, with an emphasis on attracting students from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines;•Increase graduation rates among biology majors from 50% to 70% by supporting the students’ prospects for academic success in a STEM discipline with a Collaborative Learning Program.

Current Problem in STEM Work Force

Literature has shown that there is an increasing need for interdisciplinary, collaborative training of STEM professionals, especially in the biosciences. To be successful, individuals in STEM fields (both traditional and emerging) must have the ability to cross disciplines, recognize synergisms and make connections outside of their area of specialty, and draw on collaboration and networking skills. This is true of the research scientist, the health professional, and the entrepreneur.Equally at issue are the problems faced by most undergraduate institutions in capturing and maintaining a student’s enthusiasm for a chosen STEM discipline long enough to reach graduation. Attrition in the STEM disciplines, along a continuum from high school intent through the undergraduate years and into subsequent career decisions, continues to be a problem.

Project Plan

The CLP project combines recruitment and retention efforts and scholarship incentives with the development of an academic support mechanism that addresses a number of current issues in undergraduate STEM education and incorporates a number of best practice recommendations. Recruitment is focused on students from local high schools and minority outreach programs. The development of an academic support program is an essential element in the project’s efforts to attract and retain these students into the target STEM majors. The project also provides an opportunity to test the application of these strategies in a small liberal arts college and to gauge their success and potential replicability in other liberal arts schools.Project activities include the following:•Development of a Collaborative Learning Program to support collaborative understanding among the interdisciplinary programs of biotechnology, bioinformatics and biochemistry.•Active recruitment of prospective students with aptitude for biology, chemistry, and computers and an interest in bioinformatics, biotechnology, and biochemistry, particularly from western Pennsylvania high schools actively teaching in these disciplines and existing minority outreach programs.•Provision of scholarship assistance, in the form of a NSF-STEP Scholarship program and institutional funds, to students enrolling in biotechnology, bioinformatics, and biochemistry.

Academic Year CLP Sessions

•Students participating in the CLP program engage in weekly sessions designed to create an active learning environment to help students understand the academic coursework of high-risk courses. •Student Facilitators, having attended the designated course sessions with the students, lead the weekly sessions, presenting an applied aspect to the fact-oriented course content. They provide overarching scientific concepts in real-world applications and crossovers between disciplines.

•The composition of the participants is multidisciplinary and diverse as possible to enhance the learning experience and to encourage collaborative skill development.

Weekend Field Trips•Students meet for weekend CLP field trips to interact and network with local scientists and potential employers at nationally recognized centers for biotechnology, bioinformatics, and biochemistry in the local and regional area.

CLP Activities

Year 3: 2011-2012

•In response to the students’ request to have dedicated facilitators for each CLP course, the chemistry and biology departments provided their own departmental funds to support additional facilitators that were beyond the scope of our STEP project’s budget. These facilitators were added to the larger freshmen classes of General Biology and General Chemistry.

•The sophomore CLP sessions were also larger than anticipated by the third year of the CLP Program. To ameliorate the large size of the CLP sessions for the sophomore level Organic Chemistry course, the facilitator agreed to add an additional session time each week. This also will be implemented for Cell Biology next year. The small amount of additional funds to expand the CLP will be absorbed by the STEP grant budget or by department funds.

Challenges 2011-12 Academic Year

CLP Participation

•In Fall 2011, 210 unique STEM students participated in our CLP Program as compared to 93 in Fall 2009.More than 50% of the CLP participants attended > 5 CLP contact hours for a given course with the exception of CIS. CLP provides supplemental instruction in the challenging courses of General Biology I & II, General Chemistry I & II, Introduction to Computer Science I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, and Cell Biology.

• The CLP Program expanded to include 10 upper-class facilitators, each dedicated to a single course instructor. This reduces the stress on the faculty by eliminating the need to tightly coordinate their weekly central concepts. Students are happier for the CLP sessions can be more customized to the concepts covered by their instructor. The program expansion was supported in part by departmental funds.

•Students who attended > 5 contact hours of CLP earned higher grades on average than the non-CLP students. Grade averages increased most notably in General Chemistry and General Biology. The only exception to this was the students enrolled in the Computing and Information Science Course (CIS 110).

•60% of the students enrolled in the CLP high-risk courses, participated in the online Fall ’11 survey conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Collaborative for Evaluation and Assessment Capacity. Results are analyzed by our external evaluator, University of Pittsburgh.

CLP Recruitment

•6 STEM Scholarships were awarded to freshmen (Class 2015) in the interdisciplinary fields of Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, & Biotechnology in Fall 2011.

•The CLP Program launched a new Emerging Research Scholar initiative which encourages underclassmen to get involved in scientific research early in their careers, giving them an opportunity to build strong relationships with the departmental faculty. 6 Emerging Research Scholars were selected for Spring 2012.

Highlights of the Collaborative Learning Program

References

Facilitator Training Program

Arendale, D. (1994). Understanding the Supplemental Instruction model.  In D.C. Martin, & D. Arendale (Eds.), Supplemental Instruction:  Increasing achievement and retention.  San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Haile, J. M. (2005). 26 Devices for Learning Technical Material. Central, SC: Macatea.

National Academy of Sciences. (2003). Improving undergraduate instruction in science, engineering, and mathematics: Report of a workshop. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Senge, P.  (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization.  New York: Currency Doubleday. 

Figure 1: Student Participation in Fall CLP Sessions

Student Performance

1. Initiation Phase 2. Methodology Phase

Figure 2: Impact of CLP Participation on Student Grades This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0856575.

Saint Vincent College holds a Facilitator Training Workshop each summer to prepare the incoming upper-class student CLP student facilitators to host weekly CLP sessions for a CLP high risk course. These peer-led team learning groups focus on the central concepts covered in one of the CLP high risk courses for STEM majors. The summer workshop has 3 Phases, the Initiation Phase, Methodology Phase, and Hands-On Phase.

Facilitators receive supplemental training during the year through several faculty-led lectures and one-on-one mentoring from both the Director of the CLP Program and the individual course instructors.

Students get to know each other by engaging in Ice Breaker Games and Activities.

Facilitators learn how to integrate various studying strategies into their CLP sessions including Time Management, Note-Taking Styles, and Learning Styles .

3. Hands On Phase Supplemental Training Session

Methodology Phase cont.

Students practice mock sessions to feel more prepared and confident in leading a solo session during the upcoming academic year

Test TakingStrategies

Objective vs. Subjective

How to think about science?Learn to get the facts off the page.Don’t just memorize the words !What does it all mean?

How Do You Keep Yourself on Track?

o Keep a planner

o Study between classes

o Find a quiet place to focus

o

o

o

Note Taking Styles

o Concept Mapping

o Cornell Method

o Formal/Informal Outline

o Free Style Paragraph

o SVC Barnett Way

Styles of Learning

o Visual

o Auditory

o Kinesthetic

M&M Game Guess Who Game

Students receive additional supplemental training during the academic year including faculty-led seminars as well as one-on-one mentoring from the Program Director and Course Instructors.

Haile, J. M. (2005). 26 Devices for Learning Technical Material. Central, SC: Macatea

Students learn the pedagogy of the Collaborative Learning Program which merges the Supplemental Instruction model of Deanna Martin at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Deanna with Peter Senge’s Learning Organization model.

CLP

Peer-AssistedStudy Sessions

Cross-FunctionalGroups Working as a Whole

Cross-Disciplinary Groups Engaged in Collaborative Learning