High-Impact Practices classes at Motlow State have been added to the curriculum in order to help students learn how to communicate effectively.
Eighteen Motlow State Community College students were recently given the opportunity to present their own research at a Zoom symposium on topics in the areas of psychology, history, and English.
According to an article on Motlow State Community College’s website, Dr. Charles Wexler, one of the participating professors who helped students prepare for and organized the symposium, described what went into the symposium, and what the students got out of it, saying, “To earn the Undergraduate Research badge for their digital transcript, students have to complete a research project and then present their findings in a public setting. Due to these strict requirements, the Undergraduate Research badge is one of the hardest High-Impact Practices for students to earn at Motlow. This semester, 18 students presented from English, History, and Psychology sections across Motlow campuses. The symposium is conducted via Zoom each semester so that everyone across our service area can participate in the online forum.”
Three other professors helped Dr. Wexler organize the symposium and helped their students prepare to take part: Dr. Stephen Guerin, Ramona Shelton, and Dr. John Butwell. These professors all offered HIP options within their courses.
Dr. Guerin, who teaches Psychology, said, “The individual research projects and papers these students conducted through the semester provided them with their first opportunity to engage in guided yet independent research with scholarly sources in psychological science and to engage in critical thinking using scientific evidence to support their conclusions. Composing their research papers in APA (American Psychological Association) style was also a new learning experience for them. The entire learning experience was intended to spark the students’ interest in research and to help prepare them for future research in their upper division courses.”
Motlow State Community College has made several HIP courses available to its students in order to help students succeed. Students can sign up for HIP courses during course registration.
For more information about Motlow State College, visit the school’s website.