ACE expands and improves
One of the most important goals for many college students is to pass every course.
To accomplish this task, communication between students and faculty members has to remain open to make sure that students can be successful.
The University of Indianapolis created a program titled ACE (Academic Collaborative Environment) to help establish better connection between students and teachers to ensure students have every tool to be successful.
ACE has yet to become a familiar not just students, but to faculty as well.
Chris Lamar, executive director of library and learning technology said the faculty will be provided a five-week program to help teach them about ACE, and help them gain a better understanding of the program and how it can be used effectively.
“I think that it [the five week program] is going to help faculty have more facility with ACE when they’re teaching,” Lamar said. “So the training isn’t as much about course building as it is about how to teach with ACE and how to use everything in it successfully without getting bogged down.”
Lamar said that faculty can leave the course whenever they felt that they had learned all they needed.At which time, they would no longer have a mentor to help them learn.
Although many students believe that ACE is a program only for use in the classroom, it has other applications.
Lamar said that students can now receive help in various areas, such as with financial aid, in registration and admission on ACE.
Help in those areas in the future will help increase productivity.
“[We’re] putting together a plan to help students to maintain their financial aid eligibility, if they fall down some place. And we’re identifying some courses that will help them do that so they will be able to take them [the courses] in the summer online,” Lamar said. “That plan is sort of pulling together resources across the campus, to allow online students to have all the academic student supports that they fully need online.”
Lamar said making sure that the program satisfies all those who use it is of great importance to her, and she is willing to do whatever is necessary to learn how to make that happen.
“We are looking at doing some slight extensions and remodels on how we help students,” Lamar said. “We’re gathering up Q-and-A’s for that right now, and we’ve been surveying students about what they need in ACE. So we’re beefing up ways we can help students use ACE more successfully. “
Freshman music performance major Alex Osborne, said that he enjoys using ACE, but that he still believes it could use some work.
“I think ACE is a great site where students can look up their grades and many other resources,” Osborne said. “I still would like to see much more activity on the professors part.”
Osborne said that during his first semester as a college student only two of his professors used ACE, and neither one of those two ever provided his grades using the new program.
Students’ frustration with the program and the lack of connection still remains an issue.
Lamar said she continues to work with others to improve the program, ACE and will play a significant and vital role to students’ success here at the university.
Lamar said she hopes the program will continue improve forming a connection between students and faculty, not just in the classroom, but outside of it as well. ACE has made many attempts to help students. Not only have they offered training to faculity, but setting up areas for students to ask questions.
