Beginning this October, faculty in Prairie View A&M University’s (PVAMU) Roy G. Perry College of Engineering will implement an innovative new teaching strategy. Called Formatively Assessed Student-Centered Instruction & Active Learning (FASCIAL), the program aims to increase retention and graduation rates among students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
“For PVAMU students who have a hard time understanding the core engineering subjects resulting in delayed graduation and below-par GPA at graduation, this project will eliminate the problems associated with the current teaching methods,” said principal investigator on the project, Michael Gyamerah, CEng MIChemE. Gyamerah is a professor at PVAMU and interim head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. “The program should prevent students from failing prerequisite courses, not retaining the information learned in prerequisites, losing interest in courses that are taught using traditional lecture mode and an inability to see the relevance of course material.”
“For PVAMU students who have a hard time understanding the core engineering subjects resulting in delayed graduation and below-par GPA at graduation, this project will eliminate the problems associated with the current teaching methods,” said principal investigator on the project, Michael Gyamerah, CEng MIChemE. Gyamerah is a professor at PVAMU and interim head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. “The program should prevent students from failing prerequisite courses, not retaining the information learned in prerequisites, losing interest in courses that are taught using traditional lecture mode and an inability to see the relevance of course material.”