Summer 2013 - Muskegon Community College

Student Showcase: Mikaela TaylorPlan to Protect Our Natural ResourcesMCC honor student Mikaela Taylorloves the Lake Michigan ecosystemfor more than its beauty. She plansto make a career out of protectingit. After MCC, she will pursueenvironmental studies this fall at theUniversity of Michigan.“I basically want to work on waterquality, aquifer depletion and watercontamination,” said Mikaela, whocame to MCC after attending SeattlePacific University in Washington.At Holt High School, she was involvedwith the Science Olympiad, schoolplays, and competed in soccer. Sheappreciates that MCC offered hersimilar extracurricular opportunities.An officer with Phi Theta Kappahonor society, Mikaela oversees ahealth awareness campaign for itsHallmark Project. She portrayedeight different characters in theMCC Overbrook Players’ recentproduction of The Laramie Project.She also helps with outreach effortsas an MCC Garden Club member.“I’ve taken both the environmentalscience class as well as Biology 104,which is more environmentallybased,” she said. “Those were reallygood courses and got you moreinvolved with the community.”Making a positive impact is importantto her. She shifted her career focusfrom chemical to environmentalengineering before honing in on theenvironmental studies aspect of it.Mikaela Taylor found the ideal collegein MCC for her varied interestsin community service, acting, andconcern for the environment.“We don’t necessarily need toengineer more things to findsolutions,” said Mikaela. “We justneed a better understanding whatthe earth has already given us andhow to use it. When we affect otherorganisms, it in turn affects us." •Early Intervention Program Promotes Successby Mike Alstrom, CIO, EllucianWhen it comes to using technologyto help students succeed, MuskegonCommunity College is ahead of thecurve. MCC implemented CourseSignals in 2012 as part of its EarlyAlert System to warn students ofimpending academic “trouble” andhelp increase student success.MCC is the first communitycollege to use Course Signals on acontinuous basis. Course Signalswas pioneered at Purdue University,where Dr. John Campbell developedthe predictive model it uses.The color-coded “signals” appear onthe student’s Blackboard page andin an e-mail to them, warning thosewho are at risk of under-performingin a course as early as two weeksinto the semester. Students receivea stoplight signal indicating the levelof their performance, and alsoreceive a message from instructorsthat give each group directions onwhat they can do to make changes.How does this make a difference?MCC compared student gradedistributions in classes withCourse Signals to previous courseswithout the program, with thesame instructor and instructionalmethod. Eleven out of 20 coursesachieved a positive shift in success.In courses with 20 or more studentswhere signals were sent within threeweeks, seven out of nine coursesshowed a positive shift in grades.And, where five or more signalswere sent, ALL of those classes hadhigher grades than previous courseswithout signals.What do students and instructorsthink? Participating students weresurveyed, and 75% found CourseSignals an effective way to receiveinformation. More than half saidthe message they received withtheir signal prompted them to usesupport services such as TutoringCenter or the Library.Dan Bialas, the Business DepartmentChair, has been using Course Signalsfor the last two semesters. “Weare trying to help the students besuccessful,” said Bialas. “If theycan be successful, then we can besuccessful. I think Course Signalsis a great tool to help improve thatsuccess rate.” •8 Summer 2013 | muskegoncc.edu