Students, KSAs, and Community Colleges

September 2, 2020

Fellows:
Adam Cloutier, Lakeland Community College
David Scheimann, Washington State Community College
Garratt Weber, Ohio Association of Community Colleges

Project Advisor:
Lori Zakel, Ohio Association of Community Colleges

Executive Summary:
When will I ever use this in the real world? This question has likely been asked, or at least thought about, by most students in our classes. Some of the students might understand the information they are learning, but are unable to see its broader connection. As a result, not only are they unable to transfer this knowledge and relation to the world outside of that class, but many are unable to articulate what exactly they learned to others – including friends, family, potential employers, or even within future educational settings. In summary, a problem we commonly face in academia is that students don’t know what knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) they are learning and will have learned when they leave a community college. We propose a solution, consisting of using a combination of first year experience (FYEX) courses, professional development for faculty, and progress tracking that could be used or modified to help institutions better serve general education students in their ability to know and articulate the KSAs that they have learned or will learn upon completion of their community college degree.