The mission of a community college is distinct from a research one university, where empirical research is valued over investigation of discipline-based teaching and learning. The open-access, affordable, workforce, and transfer emphasis that serves many non-traditional community college students is a rich, meaningful environment for fostering the…

This document describes what Palomar Community College District (California) is doing to address a pressing need in higher education: the need to produce more and better student learning in exchange for the state's education investment. The need is especially crucial in regard to the greater number of under-prepared students who are entering…

This study researched how the characteristics of higher learning institutions affect the persistence and learning of college students. The author examined the extent to which perceptions of students' academic, personal, and career development and their satisfaction with their educational experiences in the two-year college are related to measures…

This document describes the curriculum philosophy of Lethbridge Community College (Canada) (LCC), which integrates several concepts: learning college principles, constructivist learning paradigm , BP'9700 directions, distributed learning characteristics, and curriculum components of learner, setting, and subject. This framework provides all…

Illustrates progress made at Howard Community College (HCC) in the last three years in efforts to improve student learning, instructional effectiveness, and curriculum. Information for this progress report was compiled with input from offices involved in monitoring outcomes assessment of student learning at the college. These include the office of…

This is a study of the outcomes of the professional development initiative implemented in 1993 by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). It attempts to answer the question of whether faculty participation in structured professional development activities results in significant improvements in teaching. The primary objective of the study was…

Assessment of student progress in community colleges is necessary for several reasons; among them are accountability to the public, improvement of decision-making for both students and educators, and planning and evaluation of curricula. This sourcebook focuses on various types of student progress--vocational, social, academic, transfer--and on…