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MCC Daily Tribune

TCC: HIPs Institute Follow-up Interview with Kelly Nagle (CRJ)

Kelly Nagle (CRJ) participated in the Learning Communities strand of 2016 High Impact Practices Summer Institute for Faculty: Growing a High Impact Culture through Course Redesign.  Here are her reflections 9 months after the Institute.

In terms of curriculum, we have tied together one project which is a culmination project for my Law 101 course, and one of four written papers for the TRS 100 course. One of the most important things I tried to implement was to mix up the delivery method for the material. I did not abandon good, old-fashioned lecture but I did integrate tools that we not only heard about but used at the HIP Institute (like a self-taught unit, a "gallery walk" of  cooperative instruction, etc). Some students are fine with the straight lecture, but mixing it up can help get the message to some who don't adapt as well to that , and certainly cuts down on the boredom factor.


What were some highlights from your classes last fall?  Or, what is a highlight that you are working on now?

We did a really cool role play about various people and duties involved in a legal proceeding - with each student taking on a persona and acting out the responsibilities associated with that job so others could identify it.  It worked particularly well because the unit wasn't going so well and this got them more involved in the materials.

What are your next steps with Learning Communities? 

We will meet this summer to work on tying the course even more tightly together. We will probably plan a group 'trip" in the Fall to the Hall of Justice to observe courtroom proceedings together, since between the two classes (TRS 100 and Law 101) we have the students for three hours. They will use this observation for their culminating project. 

 What impact have you seen on your students?

The biggest impact is that nearly all of the students in this unique Learning Community (combining TR-100 with a program course) moved on successfully at MCC and are continuing to work their way toward a CRJ degree.

 

What are some challenges that you needed to overcome?

I needed to get past approaching this course with the business-as-usual attitude.  It was a population that I was not familiar with, and the idea of setting a pace to coincide with another course rather than just doing my own thing was tricky.

 

Eugenia Merliss
Teaching & Creativity Center
05/19/2017