When you’re considered an “expert,” on something, others often want to know how you do it, to pick your brain, to better understand how you became so knowledgeable about that certain something. When you do something well, often others want to emulate it, study it. Well, CC may be considered one of the “experts” when it comes to knowing and implementing the unique Block Plan format. And this year, someone’s studying us.
Heather Fedesco joined CC during the summer as the college’s first Mellon pedagogy researcher. In a position funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Fedesco’s role is to investigate the distinctive pedagogical outcomes of the Block Plan. The college will then use what is learned to refine CC’s Block Plan model, and share it with others in the sector of higher education who may want to learn from CC’s success in implementing the Block Plan.
“CC’s seen as an expert on the Block Plan and on compressed format courses, so when people outside CC ask, ‘Is it working? How do you know?’ right now we rely a lot on anecdotal evidence. There’s a need to legitimize these anecdotes with empirical evidence: Here’s why it works and here’s the evidence to support it,” Fedesco says of the purpose of her grant-funded position. “This project is really the first to chip away at the Block Plan; hopefully in a few years, we’ll have this rich body of data showing how and why the Block Plan works, and also some ways we can improve it.”
Her Ph.D. work at Purdue University focused on how interpersonal relationships, both professional and personal, influence the health and wellbeing of others, with an emphasis on how individuals can motivate one another to achieve improved outcomes. Before coming to CC, Fedesco worked at the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue, where she helped execute and test the effectiveness of a campus wide intervention designed to help faculty improve student motivation and academic performance. This opportunity at CC allows her to continue that research in a unique academic setting, something Fedesco found appealing.
“I’m focusing on the relational aspect of pedagogy, how relationships can foster improved motivation. We know that people who are motivated can have great outcomes, but how do we foster that motivation? Self-determination theory suggests that if students feel connected to one another, connected to their faculty, to the material, they’re motivated,” Fedesco says of her research at CC. “The culture of the Block Plan seems to really live and breathe that notion, so I’m going to explore those relational dynamics at CC.”
During the first four blocks of the year, Fedesco will be surveying students and gathering their perceptions of the courses they’re currently taking, to find out what is helping and hindering their motivation in the classroom. She will also observe seven classes throughout blocks 1-4, with multiple courses from each academic division, half of them including field study.
“I’ll sit in class and immerse myself in that space, and look for ways that are enhancing or decreasing student motivation. I’ll simultaneously interview approximately ten students from each class multiple times throughout the block, to take a temperature of their motivations and what’s working each week, as they’re reflecting on what they’re doing.”
With the opportunities the Block Plan affords for students and faculty to leave the classroom, whether to a new setting on or near campus, or to a new state or across the globe, Fedesco says the format provides a lot of freedom. “That’s really interesting to me, and my hypothesis is that those experiences really do foster closer relationships and connections, ultimately leading to improved motivation.”
Fedesco says the research is set up in a way that will bring together a wide breadth of quantitative and qualitative data concerning what motivates students on the Block Plan. During the spring semester, she’ll be analyzing and presenting her findings to the campus community, sharing what’s working well and if there are areas for improvement, also sharing evidence and recommendations.
Fedesco says she’s most excited about observing CC students in class. “Based on my preliminary observations, I can already tell these are top-notch, high-achieving students. I was getting goosebumps listening to their class discussions. That’s really inspiring,” she says of her first experiences on campus. “I’m also really enjoying seeing the mountain views everywhere we go and being in a beautiful place. I can’t get enough of it.”
Now in its third year, the Mellon Grant is supporting CC’s work in several key areas: Encouraging innovation in engaged teaching and learning by expanding upon key features of the Block Plan; intensifying collaborative learning through undergraduate research and scholarship; and investigating the distinctive pedagogical outcomes of the Block Plan, using findings to refine the model, and sharing those findings with others in higher education.
Have questions for Fedesco or want to learn more about her research? You can reach her at heather.fedesco@coloradocollege.edu.
