The “Fear Factor”

In The College Fear Factor, Rebecca Cox surveyed 120 community college students, noting that many felt “misunderstood” by their professors and suffered from imposter syndrome as a result. She went on to argue that there were several crucial pedagogical practices that could help address this disconnect; namely for us to clarify our expectations of students and provide clear guidance as to how to successfully complete our assignments. But she also pointed to our role in persuading students that they can indeed succeed, that they are “capable.”

Here, what we are talking about is addressing both the academic and social-emotional needs of our students. Parker Palmer calls this the “outer” and “inner” landscapes of teaching and learning; Laura Rendon calls this Sentipensante, or “sensing-thinking” pedagogy. The AACU offered a definition of “integrative learning” calling for reaching “across courses, over time, and between campus and community life.”

The INRW Student

This work is important because the students who enroll in a corequisite course are those who have been designated as “not college-ready” on the TSI. These students are more likely to be the first in their families to attend college, a first-generation American or an immigrant to the U.S. themselves, and, as a result, are less likely to share a common background or culture with their instructors. Often times, these students:

1. 1. Avoid seeking out additional support services (tutoring, office hours, success coaching, advising)
   2. Avoid asking questions in class
   3. Underestimate the amount of time and effort required to complete assignments or study for tests
   4. Worry about being “college material” and lack confidence in themselves
   5. Recall negative experiences of school/academics

As a result of the above, INRW instructors seek to support these students by providing them with reading, writing and study strategies, as well as connecting them to support services and designing course materials that are culturally-relevant and inclusive in order to ensure that students feel a sense of belonging on campus and in the classroom.

Best Practices for Supporting Student Success

Whether teaching both sections or only one, all faculty who take on a CoRequisite course should consider some of the following practices in their classrooms as a way of ensuring all students have a chance at succeeding:

• • Require note-taking
  • Administer quizzes/reading logs over any assigned texts
  • Encourage and/or assign small study groups
  • Require visits to the learning lab
  • Require visits to office hours
  • Take attendance