The Essentials of North Carolina’s DRE Courses

Delivering Content in an 8-week Course

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Western Piedmont Community College Morganton, North Carolina

Fall 2013 DRE Courses

23 sections of DRE courses in sequences

• DRE 096/097, DRE 097/098, DRE 098/ENG 111• Students who earn an “R” for the first course can repeat it in

second half of semester

2 sections of Basic Reading/Writing Skills course

DRE 099 phased in Fall 2014

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5 Key Redesign Principles

1. Integrated reading and writing instructionExample: See “Reading and Writing for Organization” in Chapter 9 (pages 388-402) 

2. Accelerated formatExample:  See “Post-Reading Strategies” in Part I (pages 24-28).  Yellow sections are for both DRE 096 and 097.  Blue practice is for DRE 096.  Green section with practice is for DRE 097. 

3. Mastery based curriculumExample: See Practice Mastery Tests at the end of every chapter 

4. Contextualized instructionExamples:  Memo on pages 46-47, textbook passage on pages 391-392, study skills content on page 274, workplace content on page 299, practice life skills content on pages 305-306

 5. Use of technology, supplemental instruction, and learning communities

Achieving SLO’s in 8 Weeks Requires…

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Course formats that allow for quality timeExample: Group exercise on page 432 

Efficient instructional design that groups related concepts togetherExample: Chapter 5 covers supporting details (including fact and opinion and visual aids), transitions, graphic organizers and outlines 

Repeating instructional pattern: zero in on isolated skills, then practice incorporating themExample: In Exercise 2.28 in Chapter 2, students practice recognizing different types of point of view and then rewriting sentences to change the point of view and evaluating point of view in their own writing. 

Individualized approachExample: Aplia for additional practice and remediation; checklists for peer review in every chapter

Course Formats

8-week courses offered in both A-term and B-term

Each course meets 56 hours total/ 7 hours per week

6 hours seated, 1 hour online

6 seated hours = 4 hours instructor-led activities + 2 hours lab time for individual work and conferences

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Course Formats (continued)

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Classes (day and evening) will meet two hours per day M-T-W or T-W-Th (no class meetings on Fridays)

Class times are 8-9:50 a.m., 10:00-11:50 a.m., and 5:00-6:50 p.m.

All classes will meet two days per week in a computer lab. The third day will be in a regular classroom.

Maximum 20 students per class

Full-time Instructor Workload

Option #1 (17 contact hours per week)

A-term (first 8 weeks): two DRE sections

B-term (second 8 weeks): two DRE sections

Plus one 16-week ACA 090 course or one ENG course

Option #2 (average of 17.5 contact hours per week)

A-term (first 8 weeks): three DRE sections (21 contact hours)

B-term (second 8 weeks): two DRE sections (14 contact hours) 9

Instructional Methods

2 hours lab time for computer-mediated instruction, composition/revision, instructor conferences, remediation

1 hour online: lectures (“flipped classroom”), tests and quizzes, peer reviews

Moodle site for each course

Standardized syllabus for each course

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4 hours seated classroom time for instructor-led activities

Integrated Reading/Writing Cycle

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Pre-reading

Post-reading

Pre-writing/Low-stakes

Writing

High-stakes Writing

Repeating Instructional Pattern

Focus on isolated skills and concepts

At regular intervals, practice applying those skills and concepts using integrated lessons and practice mastery tests based on the Integrated Reading/Writing Cycle

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Covers all target competencies of the courses

Organized to give students an easy-to-digest framework for a LOT of content in two disciplines

Organized to group related reading and writing content for more efficient instructional design and integrated lessons

Presents all content in terms of the reading process and writing process

Appropriate Lexile® scores for readingsSee http://www.cengagesites.com/English/1290/nccc-english/

Textbook Requirements

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Additional Instructional Materials for DRE 096 and 097

Aplia online learning system for diagnostic assessments and computer-mediated exercises

Integrated lessons

Tried-and-true, favorite learning activities

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Instructional Materials for DRE 098

A grammar handbook

Collection of readings on a theme

Handouts, videos, and lessons that will be developed spring and summer 2013

Websites such as Purdue OWL’s “MLA Formatting and Style Guide”

Aplia online learning system for diagnostic assessments and computer-mediated exercises

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Contextualized Instruction Focus is on reading and writing for academic environment

and workplace

Almost all readings will be non-fiction• Heavy emphasis on textbook passages and relevant information

that students need now (e.g., study skills, workplace skills, practical life skills such as parenting, health, financial literacy)

• Writing assignments should be designed to elicit third-person, subject-focused or audience-focused compositions

In future, we will create a learning community with a DRE 098 + an entry-level, credit-bearing course that is not ENG (such as PSY 150) 16

Mastery Learning from DRE Curriculum Guide:

“…students must demonstrate 80% mastery of the Student Learning Outcomes on major assessments such as tests, writing assignments, projects, portfolios, and presentations.”

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Assessments Practice exercises, quizzes, drafts of writing assignments. Must have an 80% score on preliminary assignments to take each practice test. Must have an 80% score on Aplia lab assignments to take grammar test. 5-7 practice mastery tests (plus a grammar test) that must be completed with a score of 80% or above.

Mastery Test must be completed with a score of 80% or above.

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Course Policies Standardized syllabus for each course.

90% attendance policy (5 hours of absence or 2.5 class meetings)

Group grading of Mastery Tests

Current policies on make-up work, make-up tests, and make-up absences will remain the same.

Will allow two total second attempts for test scores < 80%

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Professional Development Began meeting with faculty in April.

Faculty attended NCADE Western Region Conference in April and will attend NCADE Conference in October.

Online Moodle training course in April.

June and July: Aplia training session plus sessions on instructional methods and materials, Moodle sites, assessments.

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Questions?

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