States that initial impressions form student perception of the classroom environment and instructor's communication style. Uses the "Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire" (ICEQ) and the "Components of Communicative Competence Scale" (CCCS) to understand how students perceive their own communication abilities and…

Describes a dissertation model used in teaching a critical-thinking course for developmental freshmen. Students learned how to create knowledge by linking the five-chapter model with the elements and standards of critical thinking, and by writing and defending their own 10-page dissertations. Discusses course strengths and weaknesses. Contains 13…

Discusses the experiences of a developmental mathematics instructor who enrolled in two online courses to help her learn about this methodology, with the idea of later developing an online course in her field. Emphasizes the importance of faculty involvement and the need to develop assignments that are conducive to online learning and student…

Argues that retention statistics indicate that developmental students have the best chance for success when they attend four-year institutions. Discusses the data relative to a new and more successful model for developmental education that eliminates stand-alone remedial courses and instead embeds remedial education in core curriculum. (Contains…

Examines the effectiveness of two writing-to-learn formats in helping developmental students master biological information and in decreasing writing anxiety. Objective measures showed a small but significant decrease in writing anxiety over the quarter, unrelated to writing format. Writing format also had little effect on content knowledge, based…