The Bridge Laboratory
The Bridge Laboratory

Empowering the Part-Time Student to Succeed in Graduate it Courses

Summary/Abstract: One of the fundamental problems that arises in continuing education is the lack of students’ preparation for master’s level courses. Perhaps there were gaps in their prior coursework, or perhaps earlier mastery has lapsed due to the passing of time or to the bustle of full-time employment and family life that is common among our students.In this article, we suggest a way to overcome this problem. We introduce bridge courses, very short tuition-free courses that cover all the terminology used in prerequisite courses and also present the digest of the material used in prerequisite courses. These courses are fully online, imposing little more than the cost of development, and possibly providing additional exposure and appeal for our programs. They include repeatable self-tests by which the student can recapture or reassure knowledge of the requisite base material. Most of all, bridge courses can improve student success in the courses they take and even in our programs as a whole.Bridge courses will make a fast and thorough introduction to graduate courses for students with deficits, or even simple trepidation about those courses or the topics they cover.

• Details
• Contents