Foundations Computer Assistance Program Encourages Student Literacy

The Foundations Computer Assistance Program (FCAP) is designed to identify ongoing need for computer support services for students in Foundations courses, and to develop those support services. The project, designed as a three-year pilot program, was conceived by Professor Linda Briskin, Professor of Social Science/School of Women's Studies, Faculty of Arts.

The Faculty of Arts Foundations courses are part of the general education requirement and are affiliated with the appropriate Faculty of Arts colleges. The connection to one of the Faculty of Arts colleges - Calumet, Founders, McLaughlin, Stong, or Vanier - enables students to participate more fully in college life and co-curricular events. These courses emphasize critical skills, especially writing, and provide a supportive learning environment. As such, Foundations courses are an ideal place to extend the notion of student "literacy" to include basic computing skills, such as using word processing capabilities to enhance their essays.

FCAP is designed to meet the expectation that everyone be able to function comfortably in an increasingly electronic milieu, and to help students and faculty to work together in an electronic environment in the context of their Foundations courses. This means that eventually, every Foundations course will have access to a computer-assisted component, and that instructors may take advantage of this capability. Of course, while some Foundations instructors may wish to conduct an entire course online, others may prefer simply to offer one or more online components, such as how to conduct a library search, using an electronic mailing list, or learning new software to help students with their research.

Gail McCabe, Calumet's academic advisor and the FCAP Program's Project Development Advisor, sees a need to design computer-assisted programs that will facilitate instructors' development of assignments for Foundations students, working with established entities where possible (such as the Centre for the Support of Teaching). Gail sees a need to build in the routine tools and processes required for completing assignments (such as assisting faculty with lab reservations) and more sophisticated tools designed to integrate the online learning experience into the overall teaching and learning environment.

The FCAP program will take place in the Calumet College Bootstrap Lab.

• Lab is open during regular business hours (hours will be posted on the lab door and at http://www.calumet.yorku.ca)
• Key entry* outside business hours
• Lab monitor staffing begins in the third week in September
• Lab monitor hours will be Monday - Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
• Foundations course students will sign in to their lab space through Manage my Services on York's Computing and Network Services website. Bootstrap lab staff can provide help to students in setting up their accounts during business hours.
  

  *students can rent a key to access the lab after business hours ($20 yearly service fee plus $10 deposit refundable upon the return of the key in good condition).

FCAP Services planned for the fall term

While the program will not be functioning fully until January 2004, some services will be offered starting in the fall term:

• Drop-in facilities for students in Foundations courses, with student lab monitors providing one-on-one coaching on assignments during regular lab hours
• Email help for questions related to Foundations course activities and assignments
• The FCAP website at http://www.yorku.ca/fcap/ provides information about the program's mandate and main activities, lab facilities, and describes support and services for faculty members and Foundations students
  

Needs assessment

The fall term is targeted for a needs assessment study, designed to explore instructors' needs in this area and address those as part of further program development. Focus groups are planned for Foundations course directors and teaching assistants - so please contact Gail McCabe (mccabe@yorku.ca) to volunteer for focus groups. Focus groups are also planned with students in the Foundations courses to establish their needs.

Future plans

What's in store for FCAP in the future? During the three-year pilot, the project team hopes to implement peer learning partnerships - pairing highly computer-literate students with those who are less familiar with an online learning environment and having them work on assignments together.

Online tutorials help make students better researchers

Would you like your students to have a basic level of knowledge about how best to undertake academic research? Yes? We thought you might! The York University Libraries and the Centre for the Support of Teaching (CST) are pleased to be offering a new online tutorial service for you and your students. You can visit http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/ where you'll find links to The Library Research Roadmap and The Academic Integrity Tutorial.

The Library Research Roadmap Tutorial leads students through the basic steps of the research process in preparation for writing an essay in the social sciences or humanities. It takes about 20-30 minutes to complete.

The Academic Integrity Tutorial is designed to help students learn about plagiarism, explaining what they can to do to avoid it, and how to generally improve their academic efforts. This tutorial takes about 30-40 minutes to complete. Both tutorials include a quiz at the end where students can test what they've learned.

Feel free to encourage your students to make use of these resources. Some Foundations course directors are currently engaged in a pilot project that requires students to complete these tutorials as part of their course work. The Libraries and CST are working with CNS to develop a tracking and reporting system that will make it feasible for any faculty member to include these tutorials (or others to be developed in the future), along with a quiz, as a required class activity. For more information about the pilot project, please contact Jody Warner, Libraries (warner@yorku.ca) or Cheryl Dickie, CST (cheryl@yorku.ca).

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