April- July 2019

Shelagh Rose, College 1 faculty lead, convened a group of faculty (Dr. Cristina Salazar Romo, Dr. Valerie Foster, Desiree Zuniga) to redesign the course curriculum. They used feedback collected during the inquiry process and from the survey administered to faculty attending the College 1 Faculty Institute in summer 2018.

The group created a student-centered, problem-based framework using case studies:

• The case studies focus on three student experiences at different momentum points in their first semester of college.
• A set of new case studies is implemented every 4 weeks.
• Each study allows students to develop an understanding of and opportunities to apply various themes related to their transition to and success in the first semester of college (e.g., sense of belonging, help-seeking, transportation, textbook costs).
• College 1 case studies utilize the Community Cultural Wealth framework (Yosso, 2005), which acknowledges students’ varied assets based on their experiences prior to college. In addition, College 1 uses a problem-based learning approach (PBL) that helps students navigate college and succeed in their academic goals. Students engage in real situations that commonly happen during the first year of college through the analysis of case study students that were co-created with PCC students based on their own experiences.
• The case studies are based on students’ lived experiences. Several groups of students have shared their experiences through questions generated in consort with the Director or Student Equity and Director of Professional Learning and used by research associate Iris Lucero in a culturally conscious interview protocol called “Platicas.”
• The use of text sets that include texts with varying levels of challenge allows students to develop their critical reading skills supported by a Reading Apprenticeship approach to academic literacy development. As the curriculum was developed, the core team collaborated with colleagues from the library to scaffold information literacy skills and consulted with career counselors to create opportunities for career and major exploration
• At the end of each four-week unit, students are asked to provide feedback on how the college can improve the student experience relative to the themes explored. The data collected will be used by the college to inform policy and practice as part of the Guided Pathways efforts to transform the college.

August 2019

The new curriculum was completed and presented to attendees at the College 1 Faculty Institute.

Fall 2019

The new College 1 curriculum was piloted with the 2019-2020 cohort of PCC FYE students.

The College 1 redesign group, staff from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, and UCLA
evaluators will work together to develop an evaluation plan to measure the impact the new
curriculum has on closing the equity gap identified in 2018.