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Words Make a Difference:�Essential Glossary for Increasing Postsecondary Student SuccessDavid Arendale, Univ. of Minnesota��

https://www.arendale.org/2022-crla

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Land Acknowledgement

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. The University resides on Dakota land ceded in the Treaties of 1837 and 1851. We acknowledge this place has a complex and layered history. This land acknowledgment is one of the ways in which we work to educate the campus and community about this land and our relationships with it and each other. We are committed to ongoing efforts to recognize, support, and advocate for American Indian Nations and peoples.

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Thank You & Acknowledgement

  • Glossary contributors and reviewers (2018)
  • Colleagues of Color for Social Justice, https://z.umn.edu/ccsjsite
  • Colleagues in the field of learning assistance, first-year experience, TRIO, and beyond
  • Growing professional literature on the words that help define our field

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Recognize Expertise Here Today

Google Images, Creative Commons License

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Session Purpose

Glossaries are dynamic expressions of language. Learning assistance has changed dramatically. So must language describing those changes. The third edition of the glossary includes new categories. We must know the language of our profession or others will define and demean our work.

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Agenda

  • Part One: Why the glossary is important?

  • Part Two: The power of words in our work

  • Part Three: How can the glossary help?

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A New Title for the 3rd Edition

Essential Glossary for Increasing Postsecondary Student Success: Administrators, Faculty, Staff, and Policymakers, 3rd ed.

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Glossary Purpose

Language is not static. It flows like a river in response to the river bank and the rocks that border and run beneath it. In the same way, glossaries are dynamic expressions of current language usage. Developmental education and learning assistance have changed dramatically in recent years. So must also the language used to describe and define them.

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It is critical that practitioners in the field reclaim the language usage and their meanings from outsiders such as politicians and the general public who too often seek to define and demean our work for increasing postsecondary school success. In recognition of the expanded scope of this glossary and broader utility for other members involved with postsecondary education, the glossary title has become more inclusive

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The Glossary Ecosystem

General Collection

Transition

Antiracism and Racism

Assess

Copyright

Less Acceptable Terms

Pedagogy Teaching Learning

Program Manger

Student to Student

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Process to Build the 3rd Edition

  • Build upon the first two editions (2007 & 1991)
  • Recruit expert panel of leaders in the field 2018
  • Review the professional literature for terms to add or delete. Review other glossaries 2018-2022
  • Circulate drafts and receive feedback: 2020-2022 practitioners, journal editors, professional associations, and prominent researchers/writers
  • Develop consensus on additions, deletions, and revisions of previous terms 2019-2022
  • Create the final glossary version November 2022

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How Much Changed with the 3rd?

  • Half of previous terms were revised
  • A few terms deleted, others were designated as deficit and less acceptable
  • Largest difference was inclusion of new ones
    • Alternatives to academic-term length DE courses
    • Antiracism and racism
    • Copyright
    • Pedagogies for teaching and learning
    • Other categories expanded with new terms

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The relative need and usefulness of learning assistance for an individual student depend on the overall academic rigor of the institution, the subject matter studied, or even how one faculty member teaches a particular course compared with another from the same department. Therefore, the same individual could be a major consumer of learning assistance at one institution and not at another or even in one academic department and not another in the same institution. The need for learning assistance services is not a characteristic or universal defining attribute of the student; it depends on the conditions and expectations of the specific learning environment for a particular course. All college students are on a continuum between novice and master learner. Learning assistance serves students located along this continuum through a wide range of activities and services. The same student is often located at different places on multiple continuum lines simultaneously, one for each academic context and skill area. (Arendale, 2010, p. 2)

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Small Group Discussion

At your campus, what is the most misunderstood term that is used to describes your work?

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Small Group Discussion

At your campus, what rerplacement term is used to describe what previously was called developmental education?

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Small Group Discussion

What is your reaction to words less acceptable for use?

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Small Group Discussion

  • At your campus, what is most misunderstood about your work?

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Small Group Discussion

  • What do you think about the terms transitional course and transitional program?

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Small Group Discussion

  • What words are missing from this glossary?

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Summary thoughts�and resources

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Words make a difference. We see evidence daily of how words are used and misused in personal conversations and national debates. Words are used in policy statements, legislation, radio and television broadcasts, debates, personal conversations, and social media posts. Too often words are misused since their definitions and applications are seldom studied and raw emotion bends the meaning to fit personal objectives. This glossary has nearly doubled in size in recognition of the important words and definitions related to student success. It seeks to create common ground for productive discussions at education institutions, policy centers, state capitols, and the halls of Congress. We trust that in some small way we are contributing to a deeper understanding of the words and issues that confront education and the future destinies of our students.

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