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Student Success, Retention & Engagement | On Course

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History

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Skip PictureThe seeds for On Course were planted at Baltimore City Community College more than 20 years ago. At that time I was teaching English and feeling frustrated as semester after semester I watched perfectly capable students sabotage their academic success. Nothing in my doctoral program in English had prepared me to address this problem, so I set out to discover strategies that would support a significant increase in my students’ academic success, retention, persistence and graduation rates.

Among other things, my quest led me back to graduate school for a master’s degree in counseling psychology. After much trial and error, I focused on two factors that paid the highest dividends. First, I applied an essential finding from brain research that emphasizes the importance of engagement in learning, and I sought innovative learner-centered strategies that engage students at a very high level. Second, I saw that 12 or more years of education had turned most of my students into passive learners, their major question being “What do I need to know to pass the test?” I realized they needed to be empowered to be the active, responsible and successful learners they had been as little children.

The combination of engagement and empowerment had an immediate and measurable impact on student success and retention among my students. For example, developmental English students in this program were 348% (not a typo!) more successful in passing English 101 than developmental students not in this program. A publisher heard about this unique approach and asked me to write a student success text book, which became On Course: Strategies for Success in College and in Life. Educators from other colleges asked if I would show them how to engage and empower their students across the curriculum, so I developed the first in a series of On Course Workshops (On Campus and National) which launched in 1996. Not long after the launch of the workshops, I began publishing the free On Course e-Newsletter, in which innovative learner-centered educators share best practices that they have found to be successful in helping their students learn and thrive in higher education. In 2005, a group of workshop attendees formed a group they called the On Course Ambassadors (which now number about 2000). They volunteered to help create an On Course National Conference to share the many creative ways they have employed the strategies they learned in the workshops, and now about 500 educators gather each year to celebrate and share proven best practices for helping today’s students succeed.

If you’re frustrated by seeing capable students struggle, you’ll relish exploring the gold mine of learner-centered strategies and resources at this site. New strategies are added regularly, so bookmark this site (Control-D) and come back often. And if you have a best practice to share, send an email to workshop@oncourseworkshop.com and request the Guidelines for publishing an article in the On Course e-Newsletter.

I hope you’ll join us in acquiring new learner-centered practices that empower students to become more effective lifelong learners. Enjoy!

– Skip Downing

 

If you teach a student success course, call Wadsworth/Cengage Faculty Services toll-free (800-423-0563) to request an examination copy of my text, On Course: Strategies for Success in College and in Life (used at more than 500 colleges and universities).

 

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National Conference

A Conference for
Learner-Centered Educators
October 1-3, 2020
Now held virtually through Zoom
Register now!

National Workshops

Workshops near San Francisco & Baltimore/Washington D.C.

 

Learner-Centered Strategies that Improve Student Success and Retention

On Campus Workshops

Bring On Course Professional Development to Your Campus

Interactive Workshops are Ideal
for All Educators

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Workshop Testimonials

I have never before felt a workshop I attended helped me to teach. This one will!
Lynn Ezzell
Faculty, English
Cape Fear Community College, NC
This workshop transformed my professional and personal life.
Susan Pitcher
Director, TRIO
Bay College, MI
I’m a better instructor because of On Course.
Mary Lou Ng
Faculty, Mathematics
N. Alberta Institute of Tech., Alberta, CN
I arrived as a skeptic, but by the end of the first day I was converted. These strategies are practical and timely. I am looking forward to implementing them in my courses.
Rodney R. Brooks
Faculty, Accounting
Glendale Community College, AZ
Since first attending one of the summer retreats in 1997, I’ve held nine On Course workshops for our college, and I plan to offer more.
Philip Rodriquez
Director, Student Affairs
Cerritos College, CA
Our college needs to offer this workshop for all faculty, full and part-time.
John McGill
Associate Dean, Biology
York Technical College, SC
This was an awesome experience for an educator who was burning out!
Shay Jones
Faculty, Foundational Studies
Harrisburg Area Community College, PA
This workshop should be required for all faculty, staff, and administrators.
Lamar McWaine
Student Life Coordinator
San Jacinto College, TX
I am so impressed with how well thought out and integrated every aspect of the workshop is!
Kendal Friedman
Director, Student Success
Rider University, NJ
Ways I think the workshop could be improved? You can’t improve on perfect!
Dan VillaireFaculty, EnglishSaginaw Valley State UniversityMI

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