For students to develop the proper attitude, they must first acquire a perspective on what is required to be academically successful (Goal 1), followed by engagement in the processes through which the necessary skills for success are acquired (Goal 2). Once those are achieved, students become part of a scholarly community characterized by their collective desire to enter the world of ideas found in university classes and by completing them successfully (Goal 3). Goals 1 and 2 are directed primarily at freshmen students in developmental classes and University Orientation; Goal 3 is directed toward students who have entered University gateway classes.

The Academics with Attitude (AWA) QEP establishes a set of associated learning outcomes for each educational goal to indicate the degree to which it has or has not been met. At the start of the fall semester of 2008 the University initiated a QEP Pilot Project—a miniature version based on our larger proposal—to establish baseline data for use when the AWA project is fully implemented. Sixty students are participating and another 60 are serving as a control group. A larger pilot (approximately 120 students) that begins in the summer, rather than the fall, will commence in 2009. More on the pilot projects can be found in Section VI. Given the financial difficulties and work schedules of many of our students, we considered the percentages assigned to the action learning outcomes as reasonable and attainable. A more thorough discussion of the particular direct and indirect measures used to assess the learning outcomes is found in Section V: Assessment.

Students recognize and understand effective habits for academic and personal success.

Students advancing to college-level study recognize and integrate the positive, constructive changes in personal and academic awareness that developmental education experiences, knowledge, and skills provide for academic success.

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