Academic Improvement Model (AIM)

  • Janet Spence, M. Ed.
  • Executive Director
  • Undergraduate Advising Practice
  • Nora Scobie, Ph. D.
  • Assistant Director for Advisor Development
  • Undergraduate Advising Practice

Since joining the CLC in the 2008-2009 academic year, Nora and Janet have concentrated their efforts on working with three undergraduate units to develop an intervention program for students on academic warning. To teach students on academic warning to use critical thinking skills in developing a plan to return to good standing, academic advisors will use a teaching and learning model which includes an intrusive advising approach, counseling techniques, Socratic questioning, and the Paul-Elder critical thinking framework.

In their own words:

We have worked closely with the i2a staff and a cohort of professional advisors from the Speed School of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Business to develop an intervention program called AIM (Academic Improvement Model) for students on academic warning. Advisors will use the critical thinking-based support program with students on academic warning in the Summer 2010 term and Fall 2010 semester with the goal of helping students create and follow a customized plan to return to good academic standing. The impact this model of advising could have in helping students persist to graduation and improve their critical thinking abilities is exciting and uplifting. Our journey is just beginning!"

It is anticipated that students participating in AIM will be more likely to persist and improve their grade point average. The results of this intervention will be available in early Spring 2011. In addition, a new model of advising is emerging, Socratic advising. Socratic advising may be a model that can be shared with institutions across the country and could result in research and publication.

^ Top of Page