Dra. Aida R. Ocasio has more than 10 years of experience in the Office Systems Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla. She holds a Doctorate in Education in Curriculum and Teaching. Has developed a model of evaluation of distance learning courses.
Also, her doctoral dissertation was presented at Uribe at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo and at the University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla. She has given numerous lectures among these, including: University of Guatemala, Santo Domingo and Panama. In addition, she has written several articles in university magazines.
Contact info:
Dra. Aida Ocasio Pérez
University of Puerto Rico Aguadilla
Phone: (787)890-2681
Email: aida.ocasio@upr.edu
Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY)
Abstract
The vision is to provide creative solutions to address persistence and retention. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the College Discovery Program (CD) on retention for of high risk, low income, and first year students at Bronx Community College. The study was a quantitative study of 281 freshmen students enrolled from the Fall of 2012 to the Fall of 2013. The College Student Inventory (CSI) of the Noel Levitz Retention System was used to collect data on student’s self-reported academic, personal and social experiences in three categories: Academic Motivation, General Coping Skills and Receptivity to Support Services. There were two major findings: The retention rate for Persisters, i.e., students who enrolled in the Fall semester and returned in the Spring semester, was 70.7% and 29.3% for Non-Persisters. The second important finding was the predictive power of the Overall Risk Index of the CSI. The Overall Risk Index significantly differentiated between many of the variables, such as High School GPA, Current Grades, Academic Factors, Sociability, and Receptivity to Personal and Financial Counseling, etc. The conclusion reached is that CD program and CSI were significant factors in improving retention for at-risk community college students.
Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico (AGMUS)
Abstract
Both implementation of best practices and appropriate technological applications can help bridge gaps that college students face on a daily basis. Highly successful peer tutoring and faculty training programs have been implemented in order to prepare students to thrive in an increasingly technological world, as well as prepare faculty members who will be able to help students master academic standards and skills. The creation of a web space for increasing the accessibility of academic support programs and an increased presence in social media platforms to engage students in an interactive format, as well as fine tuning the offerings and their availability, have reaped great benefits, making more robust existing academic support initiatives. Also, the establishment of a revamped Summer Faculty Immersion Program, which has proven highly effective in the School of Engineering (SOE), has been transformed and exported to other schools, providing additional tools for both regular and adjunct professors in STEM+H careers. This paper describes how outstanding initiatives from two different projects have allowed the growth of faculty training and academic support programs for a vast majority of students from the Universidad del Turabo (UT) and its five centers in Puerto Rico to increase retention and graduation rates.
La intención principal de este estudio es investigar las demandas de tecnología en el mercado de trabajo actual y establecer un plan para mejorar la alfabetización, en materia de tecnología de los estudiantes, en una institución de educación superior como es South Texas College. La alfabetización tecnológica es un factor importante en el éxito de los estudiantes y un agente de cambio del sistema educativo. El impacto que tiene la tecnología en la sociedad en general; se ha establecido en estudios anteriores como una necesidad inminente de los estudiantes de alfabetizarse tecnológicamente para permitirles cumplir con las demandas que actualmente la fuerza laboral exige. El marco teórico de este estudio se centra en la teoría social de Toffler. La teoría social de Toffler ha explorado los precedentes históricos de la capacidad de los seres humanos para adaptarse al cambio, haciendo hincapié en la tecnología como un agente de cambio.
Durante la implantación del programa de educación a distancia, Nutrition Live at UPR-RP, se realizó una evaluación para determinar el cumplimiento de los objetivos y medir el impacto. Para asegurar la calidad de la evaluación y por consiguiente la implantación adecuada del programa de educación a distancia presentamos el uso de la metaevaluación: la evaluación de la evaluación. Esta metaevaluación ayudó a identificar fortalezas y debilidades en los planes y la ejecución de la evaluación. Este tipo de evaluación es especialmente efectivo en encontrar la diferencia entre lo planificado y lo ejecutado. El objetivo de este estudio de caso es describir la metaevaluación realizada durante la implantación de este programa de educación a distancia que fue desarrollado en un programa de nutrición y dietética de nivel subgraduado. Se incluye además una descripción del proceso de implantación; así como los factores que influenciaron la implantación del proyecto.
El propósito de esta investigación es conocer la relación que existe entre el aprovechamiento académico y el uso de portales sociales en los cursos de Escritura Rápida en Español e Inglés y Transcripción Integrada en Inglés y Español, del Departamento de Sistemas de Oficina de la Universidad de Puerto Rico en Aguadilla. El estudio consideró una muestra por disponibilidad y se diseñaron instrumentos específicos para medir y relacionar las variables bajo estudio. La población está compuesta por aquellos estudiantes del Departamento de Sistemas de Oficina que han tomado o están tomando los siguientes cursos: SOFI 3215 Escritura Rápida en Español, SOFI 3315 Escritura Rápida en Inglés y SOFI 3020 Transcripción Integrada Inglés y Español. Se recomienda que los estudiantes desarrollen técnicas para utilizar más efectivamente su tiempo dando prioridades a sus actividades académicas. Puesto que el uso de redes sociales puede convertirse en una adicción, se sugiere un estudio dirigido a medir el efecto de integrar estas redes sociales en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.
Kate Wolfe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Behavioral & Social Sciences Dept.Chair
Educational Technology & Leadership Council (ETLC)
Co-Chair Hostos Online Learning Assessment (HOLA) Committee
Faculty Liaison to Education Technology
Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY)
Kate Wolfe earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Houston. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Department at Hostos Community College, CUNY. She is a social psychologist with research interests in quantitative reasoning and quantitative literacy among urban community college students, student perceptions of online learning, using iPads in teaching, linking general psychology and statistics to help reduce the number of remedial math courses taken by students, and urban college student attitudes toward sexual minorities. Regarding quantitative reasoning, she is interested in student perceptions of their own quantitative literacy and student abilities in performing QR tasks such as analyzing pie charts. She co-chairs the Hostos Online Learning Initiative and is chair of the Educational Technology and Leadership Council. This project resulted in numerous conference presentations as well as an article in the Hispanic Educational Technology Services Online Journal in Spring 2016, Hostos Online Learning Assessment: A Survey of Student Perceptions. In 2014-2015 she was a Visiting Scholar at Teachers College, Columbia University as Fellow of the Metropolitan Colleges Institute for Teaching Improvement, a program that focused on the nature of a liberal education at urban colleges. She is beginning the research on attitudes of students in a Hispanic-serving institution toward others based on gender identity or sexual orientation with particular attention on allied health students.
Contact info: Address: Hostos Community College, 500 Grand Concourse B-346, Bronx, NY 10451 Phone: 718-518-6894 Email:KWOLFE@hostos.cuny.edu
Sarah L. Hoiland is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Department at Hostos Community College, City University of New York (CUNY). She has spent five years conducting ethnographic research on motorcycle club subculture in New York City and in Florida. Currently, she’s the principal investigator of a research project on this subculture and is working on a book about the largest “outlaw” women’s motorcycle club in the United States. This research was funded by a PSC-CUNY grant in 2014-2015 and again in 2016-2017. Her pedagogical research interests include online learning assessment and student perceptions of their quantitative reasoning and quantitative literacy abilities. She has been teaching hybrid courses and service-learning courses since 2009.
Contact info:
Sarah L. Hoiland
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Behavioral and Social Sciences Department
Hostos Community College, City University of New York (CUNY)
E- Portfolio (log in required): https://hostos.digication.com/professor_sarah_hoiland/Home
Kate Lyons is Head of Reference and the IT Librarian at the Hostos Community College Library (of The City University of New York). She is also a Faculty Liaison to the Department of Educational Technology. Kate Lyons holds an MS in Management from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a BA in English from Grinnell College.
Contact info:
Kate Lyons, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Technology
Hostos Community College, CUNY
Carlos Guevara holds a BS and Master degrees in Computer Science from CUNY & NYU Poly, and is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in Instructional Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University. With over 15 years of experience in Higher Education, Carlos works at Hostos Community College, CUNY, as Director of the Office of Educational Technology and Co-Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Carlos is also Chair or the HEO Organization at Hostos, and Founder of the Ecuadorian Youth Organization, and Ecuadorian Scholars Fund.
Dr. Kristopher Burrell is an Assistant Professor of History at Hostos Community College. He earned his doctoral degree in US History from the City University of New York-Graduate Center. His research interests include online learning assessment, in addition to 20th Century US and African American history. He has been teaching hybrid and asynchronous courses since 2014.
Contact info:
Kristopher Burrell, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History, Behavioral and Social Sciences Department
Interim Co-Coordinator Writing Across the Curriculum Program
Hostos Community College
Dr. Jacqueline M. DiSanto is an Associate Professor and Unit Coordinator (for Early-Childhood Education) in the Education Department at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. She earned a B.S. and M.A. in Business Education (NYU), a professional diploma in Administration (Fordham), and an Ed.D. (St. John’s University) in Instructional Leadership. Her areas of publication includes: online education, learning styles, translanguaging, and faculty development. She is a founding member of the Peer Observation and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Committees, and a member of the Instructional Evaluation Committee and college-wide Senate. She is a co-investigator in a grant-funded consortium for Open Educational Resources; Dr. DiSanto is coordinating the efforts to convert the complete 60-credit A.A.S. in Early-Childhood Education from for-pay textbook reliance to providing all content without charge to students.
Contact info:
Jacqueline M. DiSanto, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, Early-Childhood Education
Hostos Community College, CUNY
Email: jdisanto@hostos.cuny.edu
Professor Sandy Figueroa has been at Hostos Community College since 1976 as an adjunct and then in 1979 as an instructor in the Secretarial Science Department. Since 1999, Professor Figueroa has been teaching in the Computer Information Systems Unit. From 2003 until 2006, she was the chair of the Business Department. Currently, Professor Figueroa is the Coordinator for the Office Technology Unit of the Business Department. Professor Figueroa is chair of a number of college-wide committees and has served on a number of committees in the Business Department and the College.
Contact info:
Assistant Professor and Office Technology Coordinator, Business Department
Hostos Community College, CUNY
Email: mailto:SFIGUEROA@hostos.cuny.edu
Dr. Aaron Davis is a three-time graduate of the University of Delaware, with an undergraduate degree in Fine Art, and a Masters and Doctorate in Education. As an instructional designer, Dr. Davis specializes in incorporating new media communication techniques in education, by adapting content from traditional education towards 21st century learning.
Contact info: Aaron Davis, BFA, M.Ed., Ed.D. Instructional Designer, Office of Educational Technology
Hostos Community College, CUNY
Website: http://www.aarondavisart.com/education
Iber Poma Coordinator of Student Services, Educational Technology
Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY)
Poma have worked in the Educational Technology field for over 20 years. He have earned an AA and a BS in Computer Science. He had also developed workshop curriculum and taught hybrid and fully Online Workshops for Students; and have participated in the creation of guidelines for Hybrid and Fully Online at Hostos for faculty. The “Are you Ready” tool in Blackboard for online students was created seeking to understand exactly what hybrid or online learning means at Hostos. Through his involvement in Educational Technology, he had seen first-hand that EdTech has the potential to become a catalyst of change for faculty–streamlining time-consuming processes (like lesson planning, reporting, and attendance) and simplifying communication through Blackboard. Poma feels that the engagement between faculty and students are one of the key ingredients to really embrace online teaching by using technology tools to accomplish this modality of learning.
Contact info:
Coordinator of Student Services, Educational Technology
Hostos Community College, CUNY Email:ipoma@hostos.cuny.edu
Dra. Aida R. Ocasio has more than 10 years of experience in the Office Systems Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla. She holds a Doctorate in Education in Curriculum and Teaching. Has developed a model of evaluation of distance learning courses.
Kate Wolfe, Ph.D.
