Student Support Activities
A. Peer-Led Team Learning (Kingsborough Community College)
The Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) Workshop model is a component of the Brooklyn Gateway Project. In PLTL, students work in small groups, guided by a peer leader, and are engaged in learning concepts and problem-solving methods. The PLTL model provides an active learning experience, creates a leadership role for undergraduates, and engages faculty in a creative new dimension of instruction. Peer Leaders
Students work through activities designed by faculty. These activities are designed to address difficult concepts and activities encountered by students. The primary goal of the workshop is to actively engage students in the material with other students. This is accomplished by using various techniques for problem solving, offering timely assistance when a group is stuck, and providing guidance and encouragement. Leaders don't dispense answers. They must know when to help and when not to. Peer Leader training Peer leaders receive a one-day training session in which they are introduced to the Workshop model. Several exercises are used to demonstrate some of the important issues in working with students. Peer leaders then attend a weekly meeting with a faculty coordinator where the workshop materials are discussed. In addition, meetings include educational topics in the sciences as well as any problems taking place in the workshops. Biology PLTL Workshop
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The Workshop
B.
Student Tutoring
The
following offices and websites encourage student success in the Brooklyn Gateway
Project:
1.
Kingsborough's
Institute for Tutorial Services (L-605)
Sign-up
for tutoring.
2.
KCC's Physical Sciences Department
Chemistry
Website
3.
Brooklyn
College Learning Center
Provides
students with group and individual tutoring opportunities. Provides
online tutorials in many topics including chemistry.
4.
Other on-line tutorials explain basic
scientific concepts
Chemical
Concepts
Biological
Concepts
C.
Student Stipends
Students
enrolled in Gateway courses for the winter and summer modules at Kingsborough
receive a $300.00 stipend to cover the cost of the semester's books and transportation
to the college. Student
stipends are not available during the fall and spring semesters.
D.
Research Opportunities
Brooklyn Gateway students have an opportunity to
take part in ongoing research programs at both Kingsborough and Brooklyn College
under the supervision of a faculty member. Students become eligible for such research activities after they have been successful in a gateway course and have become peer leaders in a subsequent semester. The number of research positions and
the type of project vary from semester to semester based on faculty interests
and needs and the time students may have to devote to serious research.
E.
Seminars and Trips
At
least one seminar presented or moderated by a professional research scientist,
and one trip to a scientifically-oriented
institution (e.g., the American Museum of Natural History and
the Planetarium) is offered each semester for students of the Brooklyn
Gateway Project. The image below was taken at the South Street Seaport in New York City featuring "The Bodies" exhibition.
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F.
Technology-Based Laboratory Exercises
The
biology and chemistry courses at Kingsborough emphasize the use of instrumentation
for laboratory exercises and for the the collection and presentation of data.
Students have opportunities to utilize computer programs available on laboratory
computers to prepare tables and spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) and to prepare class
presentations (e.g., Powerpoint).
G.
Student Opportunities to Become Team Leaders
Students
successful (at least at the A-level) in the Gateway courses and who continue their
success in sequential majors science courses may apply for Team Leadership positions
within the PLTL model. Team leaders receive $600.00 per semester for their
leadership efforts.
