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Case Study

Engaging Today’s Learners: Gurnick Academy Closes the Study Skills Gap

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Gurnick Academy knew textbooks alone couldn’t engage today’s students. When traditional study methods fell short, the program turned to Clover Learning to meet learners where they are and guide them toward stronger focus, better structure, and lasting success.

The Program

Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts, founded in 2004, provides programs in a variety of diagnostic imaging and nursing fields across six California campuses. The Sacramento and Concord campuses in northern California, as well as the Van Nuys campus in southern California, offer two-year Associate’s degree programs in Radiography. Combined, these campuses graduated over 100 students in 2023 and maintain an average job placement rate of 100%.

Clover Learning is a bit of a cheat [for students] to help them decode the textbook. - Christy Foster Bollman, MAS, R.R.A., (MR)(CT)(R), Program Director for the Radiologic Technology A.S. program at Gurnick Academy’s Sacramento campus.

The Challenge

Improve students' study skills.

Christy Foster Bollman, MAS, R.R.A., (MR)(CT)(R), has served as Program Director for Gurnick Academy’s Sacramento campus since 2017. Prior to Gurnick, she directed the Radiologic Technology program at San Diego Mesa College. Over more than a dozen years of program leadership, Foster Bollman has seen a distinct decline in students' study skills. She notes that students are writing less, using AI to complete their assignments, and forgoing their textbooks. “They don’t think they need to read the textbook - they’re looking for an easy way out,” she observes.  

To develop the robust study skills her students need to complete the program, Foster Bollman needed to bridge the gap between textbooks and her reading-averse students.

The Solution

Integrate Clover Learning to build routines and strong study skills.

Early in her tenure at Gurnick, Foster Bollman discovered a new startup called Clover Learning that made engaging, byte-sized video-based radiography lessons. She began integrating Clover Learning’s video lessons and post-lesson quizzes into her courses using a blended learning approach. After each lecture, students were assigned to watch a Clover Learning video lesson and complete the short knowledge check quiz at the end for a homework grade.

As part of their structured approach to student homework, Foster Bollman and other program educators work hard to ensure all homework is completed on time. Instructors also use Clover Learning’s banks of ARRT® exam-style questions to develop their own quizzes as another mechanism for holding students accountable for homework completion.

The Result

Higher first-time pass rates on the registry exam.

Between 2019 and 2022, Foster Bollman watched as the first-time registry exam pass rate for the Sacramento campus climbed from 95% in 2019 to 100% for the classes of 2021 - 2023 and 2025. She attributes this success to the combination of Clover Learning’s engaging video lessons and her staff’s consistent, student-centered approach to their integration into the curriculum.

“Students love, love, love Clover!” Foster Bollman raves. “Clover has been fantastic for our visual learners, and they can go back and watch videos multiple times.” She notes it can often be helpful for students to hear concepts explained in different ways beyond what is presented in their lecture. Gurnick students and instructors alike also found the questions in Clover Learning’s exam banks to be high quality, and Foster Bollman said she was excited to check out Clover Learning’s newly updated Radiography question banks and mock exams.

Gurnick recently expanded its use of Clover Learning to the Van Nuys campus for the class of 2025. The Van Nuys campus has experienced more variation in its first attempt registry exam pass rates, with a five-year average pass rate of 92%. While many students at the Sacramento campus enter the program having already earned a college degree elsewhere, the majority of students at the Van Nuys campus do not have prior degrees. Foster Bollman hopes that integrating Clover Learning into the Van Nuys program curriculum can help these first-time college students build the study skills they need to become first-time college graduates.

Jessica Silverman - Director of Content Strategy

Dr. Jessica Silverman has been an educator for over 14 years and specializes in helping students create a personal connection with STEM. Her experience teaching across K12, higher ed, and graduate settings gives her a holistic understanding of the skills and supports learners need to be successful at different levels. As Clover Learning's Director of Content Strategy, she also brings deep experience in developing online science learning experiences, having helped create foundational content and launch STEM education platforms with Harvard University and multiple start-ups.