New Kick Start Classes Offered for Winter Semester

Faculty at Kalamazoo Valley Community College have announced several courses that will be offered in the Winter 2021 semester in a new format called "Kick Start." This program requires students to attend in-person, the first four class sessions at the start of the term. After the first four weeks, the remaining courses in the term will be offered in an asynchronous online format. Students will have opportunities to take science, law enforcement, critical thinking, First Year Experience, and blended English and reading classes in the Kick Start format.

Goals for this innovative approach include: offering low-stakes assignments and assessments that support building community within the classroom; practicing "Netiquette" technology activities that build informational, numerical and computer literacy; initiating faculty and student interaction which supports students’ sense of belonging and success; exposing students to essential support systems like tutoring, Valley Food Share food pantry, bookstore, library, student IDs; and designing content-specific activities, interactions, and low-stakes assessments (group assessments, diagnostic tests, revision activities, collaborative labs) in order to build a foundation for learning.

“Our list of ideas is long, but all of them work together for this reason: We want to welcome students to campus, introduce them to the wide variety of support options available at Kalamazoo Valley, build community in the classroom, and then send them home to find long-term success in the safely of their own environment,” said faculty member Cheryl Almeda.