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MOUNT HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE (Oregon)

MOUNT HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE (OR)

by Sharon Juenemann, Learning Skills Specialist 

At Mt. Hood Community College, we recently adopted On Course as the primary text for our one-credit freshman seminar course (HD 100: College Success).  The adoption of On Course was part of an institution-wide initiative to increase student persistence.  While HD 100 has been offered at our college for many years, this year was unique.  First, the course was offered for free, and faculty/staff across the campus were recruited to teach the course.  Our college president even taught a section!  Second, advisors actively recruited new students into the course.  Finally, faculty and staff teaching the course had a one-day On Course training in which faculty learned about the On Course Principles, focusing on Self Responsibility, Self-Management, Self-Motivation, Interdependence, and Lifelong Learning. We also provided follow-up training for faculty and staff through Houghton Mifflin, publisher of On Course.

Data on student persistence from Fall 2004 to Winter 2006 was collected via our student data management system.  Below are the results:


Retention Rates for Mount Hood Community College First-Year Students

  Retention of All First-Year
Students NOT in HD 100, the On Course Class (N=9451)
Retention of All First-Year
Students in HD 100, the On Course Class (N=458)
Improved
Retention in the
On Course Class
Fall 2004 to Spring 2005 53% 80% +27%
Fall 2004 to Fall 2005 28% 54% +26%

By all accounts, the effort was a wildly successful effort, with students from the On Course group persisting 27% more the following term than students not taking the freshman seminar.  We also conducted a survey of students taking the course and approximately 75% of students responded that the On Course text was either “helpful” or “very helpful.”

This improvement in persistence is even more impressive when other factors, such as student drop-out proneness, are considered.  The Noel-Levitz College Student Inventory was administered to all sections of HD 100 in Fall, 2004.  On a scale that is correlated with factors contributing to increased drop-out risk, 30% of students in the experimental group scored at or above the 90th percentile.  This is many times higher that the equivalent amount in the comparison group whose results are distributed in a bell curve pattern with relatively fewer students scoring in the extreme ranges.

Our institution continues to offer HD 100 tuition-free to all first-year students.  Our goal is that nearly every incoming MHCC student will take the course so that all MHCC students can experience the successes that On Course students do.

 

 

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Workshop Testimonials

The On Course Workshop was the most productive learning experience I have had in years.
Kelli Rush
Faculty, Business
Campbellsville University, KY
This was an awesome experience for an educator who was burning out!
Shay Jones
Faculty, Foundational Studies
Harrisburg Area Community College, PA
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
Ways I think the workshop could be improved? You can’t improve on perfect!
Dan VillaireFaculty, EnglishSaginaw Valley State UniversityMI
I have attended a lot of workshops and conferences–On Course is by far the best!
Debbie Alford,
Director, Title III and Success Center
Southwestern Illinois College, IL
My first day back I plunged into using On Course materials and methods with my students, and they LOVED it!! And I LOVED it! Thank you so much on behalf of myself and all of my present and future students!
Stephanie Schwartz
Faculty, Humanities
El Camino College, CA
This workshop has taken a hardened, crusty educator and softened her once again to be committed and energized to become the best person and teacher she can be.
Chris Landrum
Counselor
Mineral Area College, MO
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
Thank you for making me a better teacher.
Gregory Walker
Faculty, Anatomy and Physiology
El Camino College Compton Center, CA
You have created a workshop that, in my 25 years of professional development, is by far the best experience I’ve ever had.
Jennifer Meehl
Academic Advisor
Landmark College, VT

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