Universities and students increasingly view internships as valuable learning experiences that complement and augment academic classroom learning. Students benefit from the opportunity to apply recently acquired knowledge in the 'real world,' to identify knowledge gaps that they should address in future coursework, and to secure a post-graduation…

Business Statistics is a required course for undergraduate business majors and presents significant challenges for students with weak quantitative and critical thinking skills. This paper shows that changing the pre-requisite for the Business Statistics course from Business Calculus to Probability and Statistics makes a significant positive…

Accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs (ABSN) have grown to meet the needs of the health care industry. These short-term programs attract unique groups of learners that have achieved baccalaureate degrees in other disciplines and are recruited to an intense, fast-paced program that differs from a traditional baccalaureate nursing program. The…

At Georgia State University (GSU), like at most other institutions, corequisite courses must be taken simultaneously--the information in one is necessary to the full understanding of the other. However, the corequisite pairing describe in this article has a unique history; GSU 1010 course, part of the larger Freshman Learning experience, was…

Nursing schools face the challenge of improving student academic performance and completion rates. The current supply of newly graduated nurses fails to meet the increasing demands of society. In 2009, Cochise College responded by implementing a major change in their curriculum to improve student retention and academic performance. The problem…

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a 10-year, multi-million dollar initiative, the Washington State Achievers Program (WSA), to increase opportunities for low-income students to attend postsecondary institutions in Washington State. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted funds to the College Success Foundation…

A study using students' grades was conducted to examine the validity of the prerequisites for the Criminal Justice Curriculum at Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, IA). Using transcripts of all students who had enrolled in selected courses targeted as needing prerequisites, a random sample was obtained, tabulated, and analyzed. The study…

A course entitled "Strategies for Academic Success," conducted in the Division of Developmental Studies at the University of Georgia, is described. The sample syllabus focuses on self-awareness and can be adapted to meet the needs of other institutions. The course is designed to promote awareness and development of psychological, social,…

Asserts that the question of whether high school students should follow a uniform academic program or choose options from a differentiated curriculum has reemerged as a crucial issue. Describes how the Detroit (Michigan) Public Schools enrolled most students in a "general" track that did little to meet actual student needs. (CFR)

The quest for excellence in American higher education has been accompanied by the implementation of basic skills requirements and the corresponding assessment programs. Assessment results could provide feedback for curricular improvement, although they are frequently used as indicators of institutional quality. A study is presented that compared…