Slide 1

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 2

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 3

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 4

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 5

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 6

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 7

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 8

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 9

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 10

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 11

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 12

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 13

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 14

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 15

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 16

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 17

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 18

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 19

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 20

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 21

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

McCabe, R.H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and
community college leaders. Washington,D.C.: Community College Press.
McCabe, R.H. & Day, P.R. (1998). Developmental education:a twenty-first century social
and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
4/07/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2003). Remedial
education at degree-granting post secondary institutions in fall 2000. Washington,
D.C. Accessed on 04/08/2011 from
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
of Education Statistics, 2008 ( NCES 2009-020), Chapter 3. Accessed on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
through 2008-09 Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System. Institutional
characteristics survey (IPEDS-IC:89-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. on
03/26/2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_330.asp.


Slide 22

ACCELERATING STUDENTS’ REMEDIATION AT HARCUM COLLEGE
USING THE DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY MODEL
PROPOSED BY

Saadia Oulamine
OCTOBER 2011

“All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are
entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for
developing their individual powers of mind and
spirit to the utmost.”
(A Nation at Risk, 1983)

Offering developmental courses in higher education is
instrumental to fulfilling this honorable goal, set forth in 1983 by
the National Commission for Excellence in Education. This
education:






Intends to close the gap in students’ college preparedness
Is grounded in developmental psychology theory framework
Promotes “cognitive and affective growth of all post-secondary
learners, at all levels of the learning continuum” (NADE, 2011)
Provides students with the services and strategies to overcome
the obstacles standing between them and the attainment of their
academic and career goals.

There is a continual argument on whether higher education should
be the place for this remediation and whether it is costeffective.
Opponents of developmental education:
 Deem this education to be a waste of time and of federal money
(Richardson, Fisk & Okun,1983; Levin, 1999 as cited in Brothen &
Wambach, 2004 p. 17)




The material presented was taught in high-school or
earlier and should have been mastered then.
View developmental students as “just not college material”
(Grubb &Worthen, 1999, p. 173, as cited in Young, 2002, p.6)

Proponents:
 Deem this education to be a social and economic necessity

Our nation cannot afford losing this group of young
people, whom our aging society so deeply need to
help propel its economy.

This economy is becoming more and more
sophisticated, requiring more specialized skills that
only higher education is capable of providing.
(McCabe & Day, 1998; McCabe, 2000)

Whether one is for the provision of this education at the higher education
level or not, the reality is that more and more colleges are offering it .






99.6% of the nation’s two-year public colleges, and 70.7% of the
two-year non-profit private colleges offered remedial services in
the year 2008-2009 (NCES, 2009).
Researchers foresee these numbers to remain constant or grow
even higher because of the growing demand for higher education
(McCabe & Day, 1998, p. 11-12).
The retention rates of developmental students is not encouraging.
Only 17% of the students enrolled in remedial reading, for
example, are likely to persist and acquire a Bachelor’s degree
(NCES, 2004).









The longer students spend in developmental courses, the less likely
they will persist (NCES, 2004).
The average length of time that students spend in developmental
education courses is on the increase.
There is a change in the demographics of students attending
developmental courses, and college in general:

More adults (19% increase is projected for students aged 25
and over by 2017 according to NCES, 2009)

More females

More students are working, part-time or full time
By Fall 2000, only 13% of colleges offered developmental courses at a
distance. (NCES, 2003).











Unlike other institutions,Harcum College managed to require only
two levels of developmental classes ( 050 and 100 courses).
Students placed in lower-level mathematics, writing and reading
still end up spending at a minimum 1 full academic year before
attempting program-specific courses.
100% of the developmental courses are offered using the traditional
16-week, face-to-face instructional model.
Computer-based activities are integrated into the curriculum of
each course, but only for practice purposes.
Regardless of the extent of needed remediation, all students placed
in a particular level of remediation must follow the same
curriculum.

Developmental Education at Harcum College, as in most
institutions,face the following problems:
 It takes a considerable amount of time and stands between
students and their ability to take regular college-level classes.
 More time leads to more financial debt these students end up
having.
 It does not accommodate the specific,and often different, learning
and personal needs of students.
Consequently
 Some of these students wind up either failing, withdrawing , or
giving up on their educational and career goals by dropping-out.







Expand Harcum College’s remarkable embrace of technology and
distance learning to include developmental education
Condense developmental courses in such a way that students will
have to go through one level web-based remedial course(s)
Combine writing and reading into one web-based developmental
English course

Thus


Develop two developmental courses, Math 100 and English 100,
to be delivered through the college e-Learn Portal, WebStudy

After implementing the proposed distance-learning project:
 students placed in developmental courses will finish their
required remediation in two semesters or less.






students will demonstrate mathematics and English proficiency
levels that are 100% equivalent to those required in college-level
mathematics and English.
students will acquire college-level proficiency with 100% more
flexibility.
The proposed developmental courses will achieve 90% or higher
course retention rates.









Phase one entails a series of discussions and meetings, such as this one,
to acquire support for the project and to identify sources of funding.
Phase two includes the process of working with the content experts
including the Director of Developmental Studies to sift through the
developmental courses and manage to condense them so that only two
developmental courses are offered (one for math and one for English).
Phase three is where the courses are developed on the college e-Learn
Portal,WebStudy. Two faculty members will be hired and trained, and a
partnership with an online tutoring provider will be forged.
Phase four is when the courses will be offered to students. That would
be Fall 2012

Sources of Funding Considered:
Considering the student population the project will be servicing and
the ultimate goal of the project to bridge the gap in the education
of “groups not historically well-served by higher education” (The
Lumina Foundation for Education website), the project fits the
funding requirements of the following grants:
 Carl D. Perkins (The college is already a recipient)
 Student Support Services Federal Grant (Already a recipient)
 The Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

The main direct costs considered in the implementation of this
distance learning project are:
 Course development fee
 Compensation for two part-time faculty members
 Training
 Production material
 Annual fee of online tutoring that will supplement on-campus
tutoring.

EXPENSE

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Total for 2
courses

Source of Funding

Course
Development
Fee

$1,500.00

$0

$0

$3,000.00

Lumina Foundation

Faculty

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$6,300.00

$37,800.00

Perkins Grant

Online Tutoring

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$ 5,000.00

$15,000.00

Lumina Foundation,SSS &
Perkins Grants

Training

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Instructional
Designer

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$ 50,000.00

$150.000.00

College

Production
Material

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 1,000.00

$ 3,000.00

Lumina Foundation Grant

Total

$64,800.00

$63,300.00

$63,300.00

$214,800.00

College, Private & Federal
Grants

The technology required to implement the proposed distancelearning solution is already in place. For over three years,
Harcum College has forged a tight partnership with WebStudy,
the learning management system.
 Over 30 online courses have been offered each semester through
this e-Learn portal
 Some of the programs are 100% online
 This portal is used to supplement some science courses, such as
Chemistry

The following are some of the features WebStudy offers to achieve the
flexibility, interactivity and retention the proposed distance-learning
solution has as goals :






The portal provides the students with an educational environment
that they can access anywhere and anytime so that they can fit
school work into their daily lives much more easily.
The portal offers synchronous and asynchronous communication
tools to keep the communication going between the student and the
teacher, and among students.
An intelligent tutoring technology through MyWebStudyTutor
helps the teacher to monitor students’ progress, help students
remain engaged, and thus help retain them.

To assess students’ attainment of the learning objectives laid out
for each of the web-based developmental courses:


On going graded and non-graded assessment will be given

Multiple choice format

True/false format

Problem-based assessment in the form of word
problems in math, and topics for discussion in
English. Students will work individually and at times
in groups

E-portfolios, which will be instrumental for students
to track and see their own progress toward the goals
set for the course

To evaluate the success of the proposed project:


Qualitative and quantitative data will be compiled and analyzed offer
answers to the following questions:










Whether enough students enrolled and continued to enroll in
these web-based courses and other web-based courses.
Whether the project made a difference in accommodating
students’ learning and personal needs offering them more
flexibility.
Whether students learned what they were supposed to learn.
Whether the teachers were trained enough and felt comfortable
with the web-based courses they teach and its features.
Most importantly, whether the course retention rates of students
improved.

“ If only to keep and improve on the slim competitive edge we

still retain in world markets, we must dedicate ourselves to the
reform of our educational system for the benefit of all--old and
young alike, affluent and poor, majority and minority. Learning
is the indispensable investment required for success in the
‘information age’ we are entering.”
(The National Commission on Excellence in Education , 1983)

THANK YOU

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and economic imperative(ERIC document No. ED 421176) Laguna Hills, CA:
League for Innovation in the Community College.( Reproduction Service No. JC 980
320). Accessed on 04/07/2011 from ERIC database.
National Association for Developmental Education.(2011). Definition of developmental
education. Accessed on 04/07/2011 from
http://www.nade.net/aboutDevEd/definition.html .
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A Nation at Risk . Accessed on
04/09/2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html .

U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004).Student
effort and educational progress: post secondary persistence and progress. Accessed on
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http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/inc/displaytables_inc.asp
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2009). Digest
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U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.(2009).1989-90
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