Resources

CTC fellow Rachel Sanchez (English) had students in ENGLISH 201: Research and Writing write a Final Portfolio cover letter that incorporated imaginative, forward-thinking reflection. The Final Portfolio has always been accompanied by a cover letter in which students reflect on writing processes and provides self-assessment of course outcome achievement. Sanchez opted to flip the audience: What if students reflect about their writing processes and advocate for their growth and strengths to a professional audience rather than a faculty member? 

Students were required to identify a professional audience [a graduate or professional program; a scholarship or internship committee; a hiring committee] and prepare their final portfolio, which includes a revision of their semester-long research essay and accompanying cover letter, addressing the selected audience in their cover letter. 

Students wrote to law schools, state school districts, MIT programs, hospitals, etc.

CTC fellow Tomie Gowdy-Burke (English) hoped to increase her Global Campus students’ awareness of the value of the communication skills they gained and practiced in HUMANITY 103: Introduction to Mythology. To this end, Tomie created intentional weekly group interactions. The framework and approach is described in this slide deck (PPTX).

CTC fellow Bill Kabasenche (Philosophy) wanted to increase students’ self-awareness of the process of critical thinking and their improvements in critical thinking in PHIL 365: Biomedical Ethics. To this end, Bill added a reflection component to all graded work.

CTC fellow Kristin Cutler (Sociology) wanted to help students in SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology think more deeply about how identity intersectionality shapes people’s lives and interactions with others and to apply that knowledge to their personal and professional encounters. Here is Kristin, in her own words, describing the interventions in her course revision plan:

“I have always taught my students that the opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural relativism (i.e., being able to understand people by putting yourself in their shoes/ positions), however, I now talk about cultural humility and appreciation. I have also included the Iceberg Identity activity [what identities can we “see”? What identities can we not see?] at the beginning of the inequality units—which span economic/class inequality, gender/sexuality, and race/ethnicity. The Wheel of Power is something that I now continually circle back to. This visual has been powerful in terms of helping students to better understand and be more critical of their positionality and how their various social identities (many of which are ascribed, not achieved) intersect to provide them with either more opportunity (privilege) or less opportunity (discrimination). Overall, the goal here again, is to bring to light the fact that much of where people end up has less to do with individual merit but with where we fall on that wheel and the way in which we as humans have socially constructed gender, race/ethnicity, and sexuality. It also helps students to question how they can better interact with the world around them in more diverse and equitable ways, advancing both their self and career development.”

CTC fellow-turned-facilitator Anna Whitehall (Human Development) sought to increase students’ awareness of, among other career readiness competencies, their emerging leadership skills in H_D 205: Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills. To this end, Anna highlighted the role of leadership behaviors in an existing “Differing Perspectives Podcast” assignment. Note that the adapted assignment prompt below also highlights several other career skills.

CTC fellow Eugene Smelyansky (History) transformed his “Attendance and Participation” grade category into a “Professionalism and Engagement” category for HISTORY 105: Roots of Contemporary Issues. Here is Eugene in his own words, describing the intervention in his course revision plan:

“Assessment of students’ professionalism or even in-class engagement by an instructor can be highly subjective and, as a result, biased. For example, a socially anxious student or a student from an underrepresented community might appear less vocal in class and, as a result, be perceived as disengaged. To limit the opportunities for bias, I incorporated a self-assessment component into the Professionalism & Engagement grade. Early in the semester, students will answer a diagnostic survey and set their engagement goals for the semester. Then, during Weeks 7 and 15, they will self-assess their progress on reaching those goals. The last survey of the semester (during Week 15) will ask students to give themselves an overall Professionalism & Engagement grade and provide a rationale for that grade. Students will be made aware that the instructor reserves the right to modify their grade if needed, but I plan to largely accept a students’ self-assessment, provided it is honest and supported by a valid explanation. Additionally, I will still record attendance and more “traditional” forms of participation (such as speaking up in class), as a backup.”

CTC fellow Emily Sablan (Mathematics & Statistics) sought to help students cultivate teamwork skills in MATH 105: Exploring Mathematics. Here is Emily in her own words in her course revision plan:

In the current math 105 structure, students complete in class activities. In the past, I have encouraged them to work in groups but haven’t required it or given out points for group participation. I want to spend more time working on group work and requiring that students work together on the activities. My goal is to help students learn effective strategies to work together in groups, see the benefits and gain more experience working in a group. Before the first in class group assignment, we will spend class time creating a set of group expectations. As a class, we will discuss group roles and what each role should look like. Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to be in each group role. We will discuss why it is important to experience group work and navigate differing personalities, working styles, etc. The group activities will be weekly in class assignments with three out of the ten points given for group participation. 

CTC fellow Alejandro Prera (Economic Sciences) sought to help students gain confidence using online data sources for a team project in ECONS 102: Fundamentals of Macroeconomics. Students formed groups of 2-4, selected an African nation, and used online databases to gather socio-economic data on the country’s population. Teams then used the data to assess how the country measured up to United Nations Sustainable Development goal 5 (gender equity), goal 6 (clean water and sanitation), and two additional goals identified by the team. Teams then used information from databases, combined with goal metrics, to propose specific policy ideas aimed at furthering the country’s progress toward goal attainment.

While the technology was not the central feature of the assignment series, Prera’s end-of-assignment student self-reflection of the work they completed highlighted technology as a key component of their experience along with critical thinking, teamwork, equity and inclusion, communication, and leadership.

CTC fellow Tammy Crawford (Sport Management) certainly was when she transformed part of SPMGT 101: Sport and Popular Culture: Trends and Issues into an immersive “Core to Career” experience for students. Learn about Tammy’s intervention by downloading this slide deck (PPTX), adapted from a 2023 presentation that Tammy and Core to Career leaders Chris Cooney, Clif Stratton, and Joe Hewa gave at WSU’s 2023 Retention Summit.