CEC FIPP Activity Report
Name Karla Coti
Date 10/13/2010
Department Mathematics and Science
FIPP Partner Holly Schumacher
Class title & section # Chemistry 20, 9185
Name of Activity/Strategy Self-Management
Category: (Please select only one.) (Reminder: You will submit one report from each of
the categories.)
Classroom Activity
Classroom Environment
Classroom Expectations
Feedback & Evaluation
Homework & Out-of-Classroom Learning Experiences
Briefly describe the activity/strategy, providing enough detail so that a colleague can
replicate the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction To increase students' self-management skills and heighten their
self awareness on the time they spend studying for Chemistry 20, I challenged
them to do a three-week assignment and complete a "Next Action List" each
week. As part of their assignment, they were also asked to write a short
paragraph evaluating themselves as to how many of their set goals they
accompished that week. Additionally, the students chose a partner that would
help them keep them on track. At the end of the week the partners were given
15 minutes to discuss their success and difficulties in achieving their set goals.
2. Set-up & Supplies I handed out a chart of the "Next Action List" photocopied
from our On Course text.
3. Directions The students were asked to define their role and goal in each action
list. For example, Role: Chemistry 20 student, goal: to earn an A in Chemistry
20. Then they made a list of all the actions they had to accomplish that week
for Chemistry 20, and if they desired they could also include the actions they
had to complete for their other courses, personal, and professional tasks. Their
actions had to be very specific. Afterward, they ranked each task in terms of its
importance and urgency into four categories: (a) Urgent and important - which
are important activities that have a pressing deadline; (b) Urgent but not
important - which include tasks that had to be completed soon but will not
necessarily contribute to their success in Chemistry 20; (c) Important and not
urgent - actions that are important in achieving their set goal but do not have a
pressing deadline; and (d) Not urgent or important - which are actions that will
not contribute at all to their success in Chemistry 20. Then the actions that fell
under category (a) or (b) were included in the action list. After the completion of
each action, they could cross it out or put a smiley face to indicate that the
action had been completed. At the end of each week the students wrote a short
paragraph evaluating themselves as to their accompolishements and how this
activity was helping them use their time more effectively. They also met with
their success partner to share their accomplishments and any set backs.
What worked well? For some students this activity helped them become aware as to
how little time they were dedicating to study for Chemistry 20 and, as a result, they
began to set aside more time to study for Chem 20.
A survey was administered during the third week of this acitivity to evaluate the
effectiveness of this activity on the students' success and their self-management skills;
23 students completed it and the findings are summarized below
1. Helped me understand the material or topic - 3 Strongly agreed and 9 Agreed
2. Increased my interest in the material or topic - 3 Strongly agreed and 7 Agreed
3. Kept me actively involved in the material or topic - 4 Strongly agreed and 7 Agreed
4. Helped keep my attention in the material or topic - 4Strongly agreed and 10 Agreed
5. Will contribute to my success as a student in this class - 5 Strongly agreed and 8
Agreed.
The following positive comments included the following:
This activity has helped me better prepare myself for my second exam compared to my
first test. I would forget things that I would have to do to prepare myself for the next
class session. This activity was very easy to keep up with because I noticed my study
habits changed and kept me on track when I started this assignment.
The activity helped me realize that I had to make changes to be able to concentrate on the
material of this class.
This activity made me more aware of my responsibility to read the chapters more than once.
It helped self manage my time more effectively and set time aside to study for my exam, the
first time I didn't set time aside.
Yes it helped me a lot and other professors should use it.
What would you change? I would not make it a requirement. I would strongly advise them
to do it. I heard a lot of complaints from some students that it was not going to help
them understand Chemistry.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Undecided. The response of
the students on this activity was divided, some felt that this activity really made a
difference on the time they dedicated to Chemistry 20, while others were utterly
outraged and did not see the correlation of writing their actions and achieving their
goals. From the 23 students sruveyed 12 responded that they strongly agreed or agreed
that this strategy contributed to their success as a student in class and 11 said they
disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.
Please describe any student learning and/or changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. From their answers to the survey, this activity
helped students dedicate mor time to study for class. There were no observable
changes of the students' learning after this activity.