QEP makes positive impact on Math 098 students
Quality Enhancement Plan: “Your Math GPS: Guidance from Peer Tutors.”
In 2018, Gadsden State Community College introduced the Quality Enhancement Plan, known as the QEP. The theme of the QEP is “Your Math GPS: Guidance from Peer Tutors.”
“The mission of ‘Your Math GPS’ is to advance the academic success of all Gadsden State students in Math 098 by providing access to academic support through on-demand online resources, embedded tutors and peer tutors,” said Kelley Pearce, associate dean of Enrollment and Retention.
The QEP focus has certainly paid off for students enrolled in Math 098. From the 2018-19 academic year through the completion of the 2020 fall semester, the QEP has been instrumental in decreasing the percentage of students withdrawing from Math 098 from 22 percent to 8 percent. In the same time period, the percentage of students successfully completing the class rose from 47 percent to 63 percent.
“We have consistently seen improvement in both withdrawals and successes in the Math 098 classrooms since the QEP was implemented,” she said.
Pearce said she is pleased with the results and expects the successes to continue.
“Developmental students need more assistance than students in a college-level class,” she said. “How the instructor teaches and interacts with developmental students makes a difference. We took a collaborative approach designed to assist students with the transition to college-level work, and we were able to equip them with the skills and attitudes necessary to meet their academic, career and life goals.”
Math 098 instruction became the responsibility of those working in Enrollment and Retention with Pearce.
“Our area of expertise along with the instructor and other student support services provided wrap-around services to engage students to help them be successful,” she said.
The Math 098 classes are taught by Sonny Kirby, Candice Davis, Jesse Osborn and Danny Wilborn. Each of their classes was assigned an embedded tutor and an advisor from the Advisement Resource Center.
“An embedded tutor is a trained Gadsden State student who works in the classroom under the guidance of the instructor in an effort to help fellow students understand math concepts,” she said. “The embedded tutors helped with consistency in vision and direction.”
Instructors were also trained on how to utilize the QEP structure and embedded tutoring concept.
“With only one prep, our instructors were able to take advantage of resources and explore new teaching strategies to help students understand the material and be successful,” Pearce said. “They reached out to students on a continuous basis and developed strong relationship before and after class as well as online.”
In addition to proactive instruction and embedded tutors, the QEP was also bolstered by the Cardinal Tutoring Center. The CTC utilizes peer tutors to assist in a variety of areas, including math, English, reading, biology, chemistry, computer science, foreign languages, technical writing and more.
“The Cardinal Tutoring Center is dedicated to creating a learning environment that enhances the success of our students by providing quality tutoring services for all students,” Pearce said. “The CTC serves all students at no cost.”
The most recent numbers provided by the Cardinal Tutoring Center shows that 1,789 students have received tutoring services during the academic year.
“We utilize the knowledge of peer tutors at the CTC to assist other Gadsden State students to be successful in their courses,” Pearce said. “The peer tutors excel in their areas of student and enjoy helping others achieve academic success. They are certainly an asset to our College.”
The tutoring centers are located in the Inzer Student Center on the Wallace Drive Campus, in Room 116 at Gadsden State Cherokee and the Administration Building on the Ayers Campus. It is also available online via ThinkingStorm. The CTC is under the direction of Elise Harbin. Click here for more information.