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MCC Daily Tribune

TCC: HIPs Institute Follow-up Interview with Jessica Strollo (ENG)

Jessica Strollo (ENG) 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.

 I have implemented a great deal of what I learned, even beyond applying it to my learning community.  I have been better able to  integrate my courses and make stronger connections for our students in addition to enhancing my assessments to better reflect student understanding. 

 Some highlights from last fall were the ability to connect my COS 133 course with Laura's TRS 100.  We were able to better utilize technology and help students to strengthen their learning through group discussions, common themes, and support.  Overall, I would say we were very successful in our ability to communicate with each other and our students benefited from our reformed assessments and redesign as a result of the HIP institute.  

 I am unsure what my next step will be regarding learning communities in the future, however, I am sure that I will continue to take what I have learned and apply it to my classes in the future.  

 I was able to see a tremendous impact on our students. Their course work and the increase in connections made between our two classes aided in a deeper understanding and appreciation for their course work.  

 Laura and I worked very well together. We have similar teaching styles that lead to a seamless transition between classes.  As to be expected, time to fit everything you hope to fit in was a bit of a challenge.  This was mostly true because we had so many wonderful ideas we wanted to try.  In the end, we were able to get most everything we had hoped, while saving some ideas for the next time around.  

Eugenia Merliss
Teaching & Creativity Center
05/17/2017