Many students worry about taking and succeeding in the gateway math courses needed to enter most community college degree and certificate programs. Their concern is not surprising given that these courses have traditionally had some of the highest failure and withdrawal rates at community colleges, in many cases disproportionally affecting…

Achieving the Dream (ATD) is one of 12 higher education and digital learning organizations that make up the Every Learner Everywhere (Every Learner) Network, whose mission is to help higher education institutions improve and ensure more equitable student outcomes through advances in digital learning, particularly among poverty-impacted, racially…

This article describes how community colleges have evolved from early computers to virtual campuses and beyond in just a few decades.

Student retention in higher education has become a critical focus in recent years. This paper describes the efforts of Lone Star College-Online and its Online Student Support Services unit to build and implement a comprehensive suite of services for online students with the intention of enhancing the online student experience and ultimately,…

Students at two-year colleges and small four-year colleges have often obtained their exposure to NMR spectroscopy through "canned" spectra because the cost of an NMR spectrometer, particularly a high-field spectrometer, is prohibitive in these environments. This article describes the design of a NMR site at Trinity University in which…

In this article, the author talks about telepresence, a combination of real-time video, audio, and interactive technologies that gives people in distributed locations a collaborative experience that's as close to being in the same room as current technology allows. In a culture that's still adjusting to iPhone-size screen displays and choppy cell…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

The study sought to test the hypotheses that effective, guided discussions that facilitate meaningful dialogue about math anxiety would reduce levels of math anxiety in college algebra students, and would enhance course performance and course retention at a large community college in South Texas. The study was quantitative with a qualitative…

This study analyzed predictors of fall-to-spring and fall-to-fall retention for 9,200 first-time-in-college students who enrolled in a community college over a four-year period. Findings highlight the impact of developmental education programs and internet-based courses on student persistence. Additional predictors include financial aid, parents'…

The Houston Community College System (HCCS) is one of the largest community colleges in the nation, serving over 52,000 students. Though there is no dedicated full-time distance education (DE) librarian at HCCS, "traditional" librarians are meeting the needs of a rapidly growing population of DE and hybrid students by adapting to new…

In responding to internal and external pressures for accountability in higher education, especially in the areas of improved learning outcomes and student success, IT leaders may soon become critical partners with academic and student affairs. IT can help answer this call for accountability through "academic analytics," which is emerging…

For the thirty-third year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. This is Volume #2 of the 33rd "Annual Proceedings of Selected Papers on the Practice of Educational Communications and Technology." This volume includes…