Spelman College was one of 17 U.S. colleges and universities nationally to receive a First in the World (FITW) Grant in 2015. This U.S. Department of Education grant is designed to promote innovation in post-secondary education with an emphasis on examining student learning strategies that are both high-impact and cost-effective.
This project is an outgrowth of the College’s tradition of providing a quality liberal arts education and its strategic goal of achieving a 100 percent retention rate. As Spelman has traditionally used innovative instructional strategies, this project expands that tradition by examining innovative strategies that may positively impact student learning.
Project planners will analyze the effectiveness of specific instructional strategies to be implemented in Spelman’s signature course, African Diaspora and the World (ADW). The course, required of all first-year students, offers several advantages for this program:
The project will be conducted in two phases. The first phase focuses on integrating specific strategies in the African Diaspora and the World curriculum. The second phase focuses on peer tutors’ use of strategies in an ADW tutoring session. It is expected that the project will impact over 2,200 students during the four years of implementation.
The First in the World Grant is funded through the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).
Institutional Effectiveness
350 Spelman Lane, SW
Atlanta, GA. 30314
404-270-5025
mburnett@spelman.edu
Mon. - Fri. | 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The project is administered through the FITW Leadership Team. The members are:
Jimmeka Guillory Wright, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Angelino Viceisza, Ph.D., Research Designer
Bruce Wade, Ph.D., Statistician
A. Nayena Blankson, Ph.D., Statistician
All entering first-year students enrolled in the ADW course who have consented will participate.
The students will not be asked to do anything outside of their typical ADW coursework, except for completing pre-post semester surveys and possibly participating in a focus group at the end of the ADW course. In addition, some information from student college records will be used in the project. The materials and scores generated in the ADW class will be reported as aggregate (group) data in any professional presentation or publication.
Multiple strategies will be used to ensure that students' records are kept private. No identifiers linking an individual student to this project will be included in any sort of report that might be published. Records will be stored securely and only authorized College personnel will have access to the records. Members of the external evaluation team will only have access to information that does not include any names, identification numbers or personal identifiers. We will use a separate secured server to house student data. The ADW instructor will not know whether a student has consented to have her scores included in the analyses and reports.
Regardless of the results, the project will provide evidence to support or refute use of specific strategies. This may influence the teaching approaches that Spelman faculty and faculty across the nation use.
You may contact Dr. Jimmeka Guillory at 404-270-5807 (jguillo1@spelman.edu) if you have any questions or concerns.
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