HCC INSPIRE: INnovative Science Program Initiatives to Reform Education
As Houston Community College strives to be the most relevant community college in the nation, we have seized this opportunity to develop a comprehensive Quality Enhancement Plan that will transform the nature of HCC´s science education. Our QEP, “HCC INSPIRE”, boldly addresses the paradox that while many incoming HCC students arrive on campus increasingly unprepared for the rigors of science classes, science education itself must become more rigorous to meet the needs of an increasingly technological society.
HCC INSPIRE seeks to change the way we teach based on how our students learn, improving science education quality while invigorating student interest in scientific technological careers. At the same time, HCC INSPIRE will institutionalize new and existing resources, as well as, support crucial for student success, culminating in increasing numbers of high-quality science graduates and transfer-ready students.
HCC INSPIRE: Actions and Goals
Over the last two decades many 4-year institutions have come to the conclusion that the traditional method for undergraduate science instruction – one professor lecturing to large groups of non-interacting students plus closed-ended “cookbook” lab exercises – is not the best way to foster deep conceptual understanding. Central to meaningful academic science course reform therefore is the incorporation of student-centered, real-world teaching strategies proven to foster student engagement, critical thinking, and higher-level scientific reasoning.
Besides widespread faculty development, successful implementation of these techniques at the community college level will necessitate simultaneous development of science student peer support systems, improvements in science student advising, and the creation of a customizable online toolbox of online learning modules for individualized science instruction (HCC eLearning Library):
Goal 1: Ensure science course readiness
Activities include the design of a first-year science-based student success course.
Goal 2: Institutionalize real-world, active and collaborative learning in science courses
Activities include the implementation of learning modules in science courses that are real-world and problem-based.
Goal 3: Offer district-wide science enrichment opportunities
Activities include organization of science clubs that give students a chance to apply science knowledge outside of the classroom.
HCC INSPIRE: Student Learning Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) for the science-based first-year success course
- Students will demonstrate effective note-taking, text annotation, outlining and creation of graphic organizers to aid in the comprehension of scientific information
- Students will demonstrate effective science vocabulary study skills
- Students will be able to interpret scientific information, figures and tables
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method
Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) for the learning modules to be embedded in science courses
- Students will be able to identify and demonstrate basic scientific principles and factual knowledge related to a real-world problem, research question or challenge
- Students will be able to collect and correctly assess the validity of scientific information from a variety of sources
- Students will be able to formulate a testable hypothesis and identify relevant variables
- Students will be able to collect, analyze and correctly interpret scientific data
- Students will be able to solve a real-world problem, answer a research question, or address a challenge
- Students will be able to communicate scientific concepts, scientific principles and/or socio-scientific arguments in a real-world context through written, performance and/or oral presentations
Quality Enhancement Plan
Goal 1: Ensure science course readiness (science-based first-year success course)
Fall 2012 - Summer 2013 - Develop a science module for EDUC 1300
Fall 2013 - Committee approval for module
Spring 2014 - Fall 2014 - First year student success course instructor training
Spring 2014 - Pilot of science module in EDUC 1300
Summer 2014 - Science module becomes a part of selected EDUC 1300 sections district-wide
Goal 2: Institutionalize real-world, active and collaborative learning in science courses
Fall 2011 - Spring 2012 - Establish science faculty ListServs and Forum
Fall 2011 - Summer 2012 - Develop first learning modules for biology, chemistry, and physics
Spring 2012 - Spring 2016 - Camp INSPIRE once a semester for training, team building and dissemination of QEP information among science faculty district-wide.
Goal 3: Offer district-wide science enrichment opportunities
Fall 2012 - Establish a science club portal online for HCC web pages
2012-2013 - Establish science clubs at all HCC colleges
2012-2016 - Student engagement activities as part of the science clubs
QEP Director: Dr. A. Tineke Berends
Dr. A. Tineke Berends earned her PhD in Biochemistry at Texas A&M University, studying light-induced chloroplast gene expression.
After a post-doctoral fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, she joined Houston Community College as a biology instructor in 1995.
While the researcher may have been taken out of the lab, it has proven impossible to take the lab out of the researcher. Dr. Berends has never forgotten what got her excited about science in the first place, and she uses her background in basic research and interest in grant-writing to make her classes as real, relevant and hands-on as possible for her students.
She pioneered HCC’s genetics course and the use of in-class research as a learning tool. She is delighted to be the Principal Investigator on three consecutive USDA grants designed to bring biotechnology, genomics, X-ray diffraction and state-of-the-art research equipment to HCC Northwest. Dr. Berends also enjoys using her grant-funded biotech equipment lending library to provide outreach activities to local elementary, middle and high school kids.
Finally, considering HCC’s teaching-only status, she was both honored and excited to have the chance to serve on two recent federal research grant review panels in Washington, D.C.
QEP Definition and Rationale
The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is the component of the accreditation process that reflects and affirms the commitment of the SACS Commission on Colleges and the Houston Community College to the enhancement of the quality of higher education. It also affirms that student learning is at the heart of the mission of all institutions of higher learning.
By definition, the QEP document describes a carefully designed course of action that addresses a well-defined and focused topic or issue related to enhancing student learning. The document is comprised of the following components:
- A Broad-based institutional process identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment
- Learning outcomes and/or the environment supporting student learning and accomplishing the mission of the institution
- Institutional capability for the initiation, implementation of the QEP
- A broad-based involvement of institutional constituencies in the development and proposed implementation of the QEP
- Identification of goals and a plan to assess achievement
The QEP should become embedded in HCC’s ongoing integrated institution-wide planning and evaluation process.
Developing a QEP as a part of the reaffirmation process is an opportunity for HCC to enhance overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue or issues HCC considers important to improving student learning.
Tineke Berends Explains QEP
Click here to watch the video.
