John N. Gardner Institute Partnerships
Curriculum and Courses in Urban Ecosystems (CCUE)
In Spring 2022, UM-Dearborn was one of the 4 Michigan postsecondary institutions selected to participate in the Curriculum and Courses in Urban Ecosystems (CCUE) program. This program represents a partnership with the John N. Gardner Institute to improve students outcomes in high-risk courses.
What is Curriculum and Courses in Urban Ecosystems (CCUE)?
The Courses and Curricula in Urban Ecosystems (CCUE) project’s broad goal is to eliminate race/ethnicity and family income as the best predictor of who succeeds in gateway courses and the broader curricula of which those courses are a part.
Expected Outcomes
During the 2-year initiative, CCUE will operate as a Networked Improvement Community (NIC), involving faculty and staff from a cohort of colleges and universities focused on improving equitable outcomes in Gateway courses and the curricula of which they are a part. This effort combines the Gardner Institute Curricular Analytics Community and Gateways to Completion to address systemic issues that negatively impact student success.
- The CCUE project will expand access and success for low-income and underrepresented students
- Address limitations of previous gateway course redesign work the Gardner Institute has undertaken
- The project will offer – through the work of Motivate Lab and Damour systems – ways to implement learning mindset strategies and curricular redesign efforts with scientific rigor and fidelity of implementation across the courses.
UM-Dearborn CCUE Targeted Courses
- Biology
- Sociology
- Psychology
- Criminal Justice
UM-Dearborn CCUE Committee Members
- Marilee Benore, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Paul Draus, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Susan Everett, College of Education, Health, and Human Services
- Jessica LaGrange, Director of Academic Success
- Pam McAuslan, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Nehal Patel, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Mitchel Sollenberger, Associate Provost
- Carla Vecchiola, Director, HUB for Teaching and Learning
John N. Gardner Institute Projects
Gateways to Completion
In Fall 2016, UM-Dearborn was one of the 8 Michigan postsecondary institutions selected to participate in the Gateways to Completion (G2C) program. This program represents a partnership with the John N. Gardner Institute to improve students outcomes in high-risk courses.
What is Gateways to Completion?
G2C is a comprehensive process that mobilizes institutions – especially faculty – to substantially improve gateway courses. Specifically, G2C is designed to help institutions gather, collect, and analyze data to craft and implement a plan for enhancing student learning and success in high-enrollment courses that have historically resulted in high rates of D and F grades, Withdrawals, and Incompletes (high DFWI rates). Generally, foundation level undergraduate courses, have been targeted as gateway courses.
Expected Outcomes
During the 3-year initiative, faculty on the course committee’s and the project steering committee work with other support personnel to design and implement evidence-based teaching practices in order to increase student learning, satisfaction, and academic success. The G2C process employs extensive use of student data and evidence-based effective pedagogies in the course redesign process.
Research conducted by the John N. Gardner Institute revealed that higher education institutions which have participated in the G2C project have achieved these positive outcomes:
- Increases in first-to-second term retention rates
- Decreases the number of students in poor academic standing
- Increases in A, B, and C grades
- Decreases in D, F, W, and I grades
- Lower course repetition rates
- Higher performance in the next course in the sequence
UM-Dearborn G2C Targeted Courses
- ECON 201, Principles of Macroeconomics
- MATH 105, Pre-Calculus
- PSYC 101, Introduction to Psychology
- BIOL 130
UM-Dearborn G2C Steering Committee Members
- Stein Brunvand, Interim Associate Dean, College of Education, Health, and Human Services
- Natalia Czap, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Susan Everett, College of Education, Health, and Human Services
- William Grosky, College of Engineering
- Christine Kelly-Williams, Institutional Research and Effectiveness
- Claudia Kocher/Lee Redding /Karen Strandholm, College of Business
- Ghassan Kridli, College of Engineering
- Michael LaChance, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Gail Luera, College of Education, Health, and Human Services
- Susana Pecina, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Bruce Pietrykowski, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Mark Radosevich, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Caleb Siefert, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Dale Thomson, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Mitchel Sollenberger, Associate Provost
- Carla Vecchiola, Hub for Teaching and Learning
- Armen Zarkarian, College of Engineering
- Jennifer Zhao, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Judy Nesmith, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
- Katie LaCommare, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
To learn more about UM-Dearborn’s G2C program, contact the UM-Dearborn co-liaison’s, Gail Luera, or Christine Kelly-Williams.