This issue of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) "Bulletin" describes various academic support services provided by community colleges to strengthen instruction and to assist staff members in their own development. Introductory comments discuss the relationship between academic support services and classroom instruction, with…

Humanists at community colleges, faced with vocationalism and other negative forces, have begun to rid themselves of elitist, insular attitudes and are aggressively pursuing new curricular structures and instructional methods within all areas of the college mission. Enrollment in interdisciplinary humanities (I-D) at two-year colleges, for…

College-bound students who score poorly on the American College Test (ACT) exam (16 or below) are usually required to take an examination that measures the ability to read and interpret college level material since this ability is a significant variable in the prediction of academic success. Many of these underprepared students need specific help…

Surveys the current status of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Discusses intelligent tutoring systems, robotics, and applications for educators. Likens the status of AI at present to that of aviation in the very early 1900s. States that educators need to be involved in future debates concerning AI. (CW)

The University of the Orange Free State (South Africa) is testing effectiveness of group work with tutors as part of independent study modules. The method is based on an experiential learning cycle including pre- and post-testing, self-evaluation, reflective observation, active experimentation. Early indications are that most deficiencies of…

Offers perspectives of four different writing lab personnel, namely: (1) a new peer tutor with writing skills but no formal training in teaching; (2) a graduate teaching assistant in writing with no tutoring experience; (3) an experienced tutor reflecting on what he wished he had been taught; and (4) a director-tutor sharing her lab experience.…

This monograph presents the Strategic Directions Charter of Indiana University, which recommends ways the university should change in order to adapt to constraining circumstances and to emerge as the model of America's New Public University. It discusses in detail the 30 recommendations of the Charter, developed by 250 members of the University…

To meet the needs of changing student populations, respond to the results of current research, and justify their continued existence financially, writing centers must expand their services to accommodate the diverse needs of various academic, business, and civic members of their surrounding communities. Besides offering peer tutoring and…

Programs providing academic support services in colleges and universities and the evaluation of these services are reviewed. Attention is also directed to the need for opportunities in higher education for students with marginal high school academic records, and responses to the need by institutions of higher education. It is suggested that there…

California's Statewide Longitudinal Study (SLS) of community college students reveals that student services are needed and appear to be effective. Evidence supporting this contention were obtained from a special run of data from third-year interviews with 4,120 of the original sample of 6,490 students. These data indicate that: (1) the level of…

The objectives, curriculum, and role of higher education and key policy and practice issues were reassessed against the backdrop of recent and predicted demographic, economic, and political changes and trends in Great Britain. Special consideration was given to the fact that "mature" learners now constitute the majority of entrants into…