A powerful alternative has been to infuse the teaching of remedial subjects with occupational or everyday applications. The faculty at Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts recognized the advantages of infusing practical uses into developmental level math.[II-18]In a module designed to answer the question, "When will I ever use algebra in real life?," students use examples from the popular press to write equations representing drinks per hour and blood alcohol levels; predict foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury bills; project future generating capacity of local power plants; and analyze the validity of various math approaches to address political, social, and business situations.
Hybrid Courses
One way to provide remediation in occupational coursework is through occupationally related math or reading courses, or ESL courses with occupational content (often called Vocational English as a Second Language, or VESL). Orange Coast Community College in California began with one VESL course and then expanded into other occupational areas. As is typical of urban colleges with a large enrollment of new immigrants, demand for ESL instruction far outpaced available space and waiting lists were often more than a year long. Unable to enroll in language courses, students pursued occupational preparation without a foundation in English reading or writing skills. In addition to delayed enrollment, the faculty was concerned about the inability of students to transfer their new language skills to settings outside the ESL lab. A local anecdote about an ESL completer who enrolled in a health careers course, and who understood the meaning of the color "blue" and the noun "code" but could not make sense of the emergency notice of "code blue," is poignant testimony to the challenges of moving limited English proficient (LEP) individuals into employment.[11] At the same college, the machine technology faculty noted that LEP students were achieving technical competence quite rapidly, but lacked workplace communication and technical reading skills. Using vocational education funds, an ESL and a machine technology instructor collaborated on the development of a VESL course, beginning with the language instructor's enrollment in the machining course to become acquainted with specific terminology and concepts. Based on the success of the VESL-Machine Technology course, the college spent $40,000 to develop and implement VESL for Health Occupations, Computer Information Systems, and Airline Travel Careers. Orange Coast faculty note that by offering language acquisition skills in an occupational context, students are able to move to certificate and degree sequences more rapidly, and are able to appraise their progress in terms of an employable future. [N]
San Francisco City College offers Successful Communication in Health Occupations, an introduction to medical terminology for LEP students. A similar course, English for Automotive Technicians, is a bridge course between basic ESL and the automotive program, preparatory to a student meeting the language requirement for occupational courses in automotive technology. The course focuses on terminology, and is jointly taught by occupational and ESL faculty. [II-19] In addition, San Francisco City College offers VESL for Hospitality and Office Careers.
A novel twist to ESL courses are the "reverse-ESL" courses found at Monterey Peninsula College in California, [N] Dona Ana College in New Mexico, [N] and Southern Arkansas University-Tech. [N] In these courses, foreign-language competency is enhanced so students can use professional idioms and technical terminology to communicate with patients, customers, and clients in a non-English language.
At Las Positas Community College in California, the auto technology instructor noted that poor skills prevented some students from reading technical manuals or passing industry certification, making them less able to obtain employment and stay abreast of changes in the field. An English instructor, formerly a personnel trainer at Isuzu Motors, combined developmental language instruction and career preparation by using high-interest text from automotive magazines, service manuals, certification brochures, and bulletins; students write paragraphs of at least five sentences, practice clear penmanship, interpret referents of pronouns, interpret poetry about automobiles, and find information in advertising publications. The course is coded as an automotive course and taught by a blue-jeans-clad English instructor in the auto shop. Based on the improvement in student reading performance as a result of the course, the college has added it as a requirement for all auto programs. [II-20]
Southern Arkansas University-Tech (the community college branch) offers Introduction to Electronics, Methods of Electronics, Applied Electronics, Basic Blueprint Reading, and Introduction to Industrial Technology as one- and two-credit courses with no prerequisites so that students can practice elementary reading and math skills in career studies related to their interests. [N] Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico offers applied academic courses at the developmental level primarily for vocational students. At Vermont Technical College, a single developmental course intertwines algebra, geometry, and trigonometry with Newtonian physics, kinetics, energy, and momentum so that students attain the math prerequisites for physics and have physics applications for math. [N]
Linked Courses
Some colleges have linked a developmental and a collegiate course as a kind of tutoring mechanism, intended to expand opportunities for practicing reading comprehension. At University Community College in Ohio, "compensatory education" is viewed as a delivery system rather than a particular course level. Transfer courses are paired with compensatory reading courses to assist in understanding vocabulary and content of texts and lectures. The rigor of the transfer-level course is maintained, while students receive the extra assistance they need to succeed in the course--especially helpful to re-entry adults and low-achieving students. The compensatory course is non-credit, but this approach allows students with marginal skills to successfully complete transfer level work. [N]
At West Valley Community College in California, fashion design courses consistently include a group of LEP students seeking employment in regional apparel markets. Because completion rates for this cohort were low due to language problems, the department chair initiated a pilot project for ten LEP students, linking the occupational course with an ESL lab in which fashion terminology was audio-recorded. With the assistance of the ESL staff, the fashion instructor developed informal lecture outlines for the identified students, which also served as study guides during ESL resource sessions. By midterm, the entire class, including native speakers, was using the study guides and terminology tapes as instructional aids. Retention and achievement rates improved significantly over previous semesters, and the instructor noted that the class formed cross-cultural study groups--a new phenomena for that department. The success of the pilot project was the springboard for departmental discussions about teaching approaches, resulting in greater attention to guided instruction for all students in the department. [II-21]
Several colleges, including Lake Sumter in Florida, Northland Community College in Minnesota, and Lake Tahoe Community College in California, found that linking developmental English and computer courses enhanced performance levels. However, among other colleges, a computer-language linkage tended to be relatively mechanical--a technical tool to practice "skills and drills" in an environment short on personal interaction.
More complex forms of linked courses, or developmental education learning communities, have also emerged as a "bridge" between remedial education and the students' pursuit of career goals. Because the attrition rate was so high among students enrolled in ESL courses, a college administrator at Mass Bay Community College in Massachusetts was concerned that LEP students lacked hope of achieving career goals. To address the lack of opportunity for these students, an occupationally related cluster was formed which joined the upper two levels of ESL with Associate level study in "Contemporary Economics" as well as "Introduction to Business," a new career survey course for undecided students, returning adults who needed gradual and successful introduction to college terminology and demands, and students lacking firm language capability. The cluster did not require concurrent enrollment, although ESL advisors strongly recommended it to transitional students, and about 85% of the students enrolled in all three courses. The cluster altered conventional course enrollment patterns, since students who completed the cluster had met both a social science requirement (Economics) and a business elective (Introduction to Business), decreasing potential numbers in other similar courses. Faculty are invited, but not required, to teach in the cluster, which balances joint planning responsibilities with the assurance of full enrollment. [N]
Indian River Community College in Florida is in its third year of an integrated Bridge Program which combines sixteen credits of non-credit courses (Applied English and Math) and credit-bearing courses (Applied Physics, Applied Philosophy, and Principles of Academic Success). In addition to that core, students select a Business or an Industrial Technology Introduction. Teamwork and work-like projects are emphasized within an interdisciplinary context in which students discuss the historical and technological perspectives of either a Business or a Technology operation and practice technical skills used in a variety of careers within their chosen cluster. All of the instructors in this cluster have taken a uniquely thoughtful approach to feature activities which integrate academic and practical content. [II-22] The philosophy professor explains:
My motivation for developing such a course came from the realization, after many years of teaching critical thinking, that conventional methods and subject matter (including emphasis on deductive logic) only benefit a small percentage of students. On the other hand, the present material is internalized and effectively utilized by virtually all students, including those in need of remediation. As one student put it, "This stuff is better than logic." If it tasted like "logic," I doubt it would go down as easily. In my system, the technical terminology of logic has been fully translated into non-technical language.[12]Two colleges adopted clusters of courses and skills which included classroom and work-based experiences for pre-college level students. Faculty at Penn Valley Community College in Missouri noted that re-entry, disadvantaged applicants were not successful in gaining admission to the licensed practical nursing (LPN) program, even though some had earned certified nursing assistant or certified medical technician licenses. Those who entered the program often failed due to academic or personal problems. To boost admittance and retention for high-risk candidates, the college joined with the state welfare-to-work program and the local Private Industry Council to design a transition pre-LPN program. The program has an academic component which meets 32 hours per week for 13 weeks and includes remedial academic skills and a host of support services. The clinical component prepares students to take the state exam for several paraprofessional licenses, as well as the entry exam for the LPN diploma. The program regards participants as complex adults with multiple but not insurmountable barriers to learning, and boasts a Bridge completion rate of over 80%, with 75% of those finishing the LPN program. The cost per participant is about three times regular tuition costs, including counseling and tutoring services, a dedicated computer lab, texts, and supplies. [II-23]
For the past two years, Mt. San Antonio Community College in California has offered a unique alternative path for students who, because of their limited English, are not qualified to enroll in occupational courses at the college. Those students were enrolled in adult education courses in word processing and business vocabulary, which parallel the content of credit courses at the college. Concurrently, at the college, the students registered for a non-credit course in Advanced English as a Second Language, and were placed in internships which allow them to practice skills from the three classes. At the end of the semester, students apply for credit by examination for the two business courses, and about 75% have been successful each semester. The struggle for the students to achieve the course requirements has been great, but if the students enroll for Associate credit status they will have already earned six units, and moved toward career goals in the process. [N]
The examples in this chapter illustrate the varied and flexible ways of incorporating foundation academic competencies into occupational programs. Such efforts can take on any scale, from relatively quick and informal efforts at infusion to college-wide programs of applied academics courses, Writing Across the Curriculum, and linked courses. They can be developed for any level--for transfer-oriented occupational majors and Associate degree occupational programs, as well as for the developmental and ESL education that has become such a necessary part of most community colleges and technical institutes. The extent of faculty collaboration varies as well, with some efforts relying on occupational instructors alone, while others depend on co-teaching among several academic and occupational instructors. But any of them can help provide academic competencies to move all students towards career goals.
[11] Our thanks to Dr. Pat Stanley, Dean of Occupational Education, Orange Coast Community College for this story.
[12] For a further description of the Applied Philosophy course, see Cohen (1996).