COLLEGE STAFFERS PRESENT AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Two Iowa Lakes Community College employees were featured at a national conference earlier this month. Lynn Dodge and Gary Gunderson presented at the National Association of Developmental Education (NADE) conference in Albuquerque, N.M., March 10.

The presentation focused on planning, implementing, and evaluating the Successful Learning course and sharing active learning techniques. The Successful Learning class is a first year experience course that is designed to help students make the transition to college.

Dodge and Gunderson engaged conference participants in a number of the course’s active learning activities. The Noel Levitz Inventory and the Learning Style Analysis were highlighted, as these components enhance retention and empower students. Students have consistently ranked the Learning Style Analysis as one of the most beneficial activities in the course.

Besides empowering students, one of the goals of the course is to improve retention for Arts and Science students. The college began the course after statistics showed that Vocational and Career Option students had higher retention rates than Arts and Science students. Four years of data have now been collected. The Arts and Science students’ persistence is increasing, and each year, the student evaluation ratings have been more positive, according to Dodge and Gunderson.

Dodge is an Associate Professor of Developmental Studies at Iowa Lakes Community College. She has a Master’s degree in counseling and has taught high school and college for 22 years. Lynn was on the committee that spearheaded the implementation of Successful Learning, the first year experience course, for Arts and Science students.

Gunderson is an adjunct instructor in the Success Center at Iowa Lakes Community College. He has his Master’s degree in Administration from Drake University. He taught high school science for 29 years, retired, and has taught at the college for four years. Gunderson has taught the Successful Learning class since its beginning in the fall of 2001.