SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Co-chaired by Patricia Cano and  Gilda Baeza Ortego

A.        STUDENT WORK EXPERIENCE:  Chaired by Gilda Baeza Ortego Other     Members:  Kat Aguirre, Cherell Cooper, Matthew Lara, Onorina Franco, Melissa         Granado, Evelyn Mísquez, Lucy Romo and Mary Billings.

            1.  Completed a survey of work study students in Spring of 2006

                 and received 129 responses.            Findings:

                        a.  The majority of work study students are returning students

                        b.  The largest number of student said they do face-to-face

                             customer service/support followed by answering phones

                             and taking messages

                        c.  Most of the students surveyed believe they have received

                             adequate training to do their job.

                        d.  The majority of students are not allowed to do homework on

                             the job

                        e.  A very large number of students believe they do learn valuable

                             job skills in their work-study position.

                        f.  More than half of the students surveyed indicated that they do

                            not receive training in safety procedures. (This is an area of

                            concern)

            2. A survey of work study supervisors was also conducted.

            3.  Both surveys will be put online in order to get more responses.

            4.  The group has copies of several different work study manuals and will

                  be working on putting everything into one handbook.

B.         English/Writing Project:  Co-chaired by Patricia Cano & Sandra Griffin

            Other Members:  Mary Baumhover, Mary Billings, Marcia Bourdette,

            Rosemary Grijalva-Arzate, Andy Hernández, Matthew Lara, Mary Leen,

            Sharman Russell, Trinidad Tolar, María Trillo, Janet Wallet-Ortiz, Robert

            Welsh.

            1.  Completed a faculty survey having to do with writing and received a

                 32% response.  Findings:

                        a.  What an overwhelming number of faculty believe students have the

                              most difficulty with is research skills.

                         b. What most faculty believe should be taught in English 101 & 102:

                             grammar, basic research paper writing, documentation and citation,

                              how to write paragraphs and correct spelling.

            2.  Results of survey indirectly led to the establishment of a Language                                  Resource Center in Light Hall which should be up and running by                                          Spring 2008.  All faculty will be able to send their students there to                                        work on different writing skills if they find them to be deficient in                                    grammar, spelling, etc.

            3.  Group believes that a Director of Composition is needed to ensure that

                 all students are learning the same skills in English 101 and 102 and that

                 some sections are not easier than others.

            4.  Team was considering increasing the cutoff scores for developmental

                  reading and writing; however, there is a push now to have all the

     universities work together to set the same cutoff scores.

5.  The team has arrived at the conclusion that it is becoming increasingly

     difficult to teach students composition because many of them are so

     under-prepared.  English faculty are considering attending conferences

     for developmental writing in order to discover how to better serve this

     under-prepared student population.

6.  The team has not met this year because many of the members are now

     involved in Foundations of Excellence.  When it does meet, the          

     emphasis will be on what can be done to improve the writing skills of

     the different groups which must be served:

TYPE OF STUDENTS TO BE SERVED BY ENGLISH/WRITING AQIP
Students with above average writing skills.
Students who already have average writing skills.
Monolingual English speakers who are under-prepared in reading and writing skills.
Bilingual English speakers from the United States who learned English in contact with another language and may be under-prepared.
Spanish speakers	Speakers of Native American languages
Immigrant students (primarily from Mexico) who are learning English as a second language in the ABE program.
.  Immigrant students  who learned English as a second language and are in need of advanced courses in ESL in order to be more successful in university courses.
Speakers from Spanish-speaking countries.	Speakers from non-Spanish-speaking countries.
Professionals from other countries who come to WNMU for advanced classes in English in order to score better on the TEOFL.
Prospective teachers who are not able to pass the Basic Skills section of the Teacher’s Exam because of language problems or other issues.
Non-traditional students who are under-prepared because of the gaps in their educational experience.