October 4, 2022
East Central Community College’s Theta Xi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa was awarded a $1,000 Honors in Action grant funded by the Mellon Foundation to enhance the college’s 2022 Honors in Action project.
Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges.
The purpose of the PTK Honors in Action Grant Program is to support student engagement in Honors in Action which combines academic research, problem solving, and action-oriented service to address real-world challenges. Students gain job-related experience while creating lasting impacts in their communities as they engage the project.
Honors in Action is meant to foster student success and help PTK fulfill its mission of providing college students opportunities to grow as scholars and leaders. By engaging in the academic research process from the beginning, setting research objectives, developing a research question, compiling academic research into the Honors Study Topic, and presenting the project to a wider audience via the Hallmark Award entry process, students gain valuable research and service-learning experience.
For 2022-23, ECCC’s Theta Xi chapter will research a campus-wide peer-tutoring program grounded in gamified learning in support of PTK’s current topic of ‘play’ with a theme of “Play for the GPA: Using Gamified Studying to Increase Student Success” and asking the question “How can the experience of play through gamified studying serve as a catalyst for student success?”.
If successful, ECCC’s PTK students will use their research findings to then pilot the peer-tutoring model with a points system and leadership to encourage student participation in conjunction with the college’s recently established Division of Student Success.
ECCC’s Theta Xi chapter of PTK is advised by Dr. Amanda Walton, director of student success, Renee Boggan, math instructor, and Tanner Felton, instructor and program coordinator for Criminal Justice Technology.
