Reacting directly to the fact that even the best syllabus is worthless to the student who does not read it, this essay draws inspiration from research of the past decade, especially from the learning-focused syllabus concept that was introduced by three researchers at the University of Virginia, and uses a questionnaire to gauge our community…

The author of this article reflects on the issues of justice, democracy, and numeracy. As one who has taught statistics in a community college for over 12 years, spent 28 years as a Marketing Consultant, and holds a PhD in political science, the author's thesis is that while an advanced, democratic society can only be just with a numerate…

Community colleges increasingly turn to various types of student success courses for their potential as high-impact practices to foster college completion. Despite commonly held assumptions of what characterizes these interventions, upon close inspection there is an un-scrutinized, circular confounding of their goals and means, which limits the…

Instructional settings (English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL)) may provide different opportunities for learners' meaningful language use. This qualitative study was designed to shed light on this issue. The data included multiple sources collected from a sustained content gastronomy language course taught in an…

Purpose: US community colleges are based on an open-door mission and serve to provide access to students of diverse backgrounds. Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments of community college offerings--serving both local and geographical dispersed students. If the community college system embraces its open-door mission, it must…

This research note provides some basic information about the courses that are typically offered in community colleges, and whether these courses have prerequisites. As higher education becomes more accessible to the general public, community colleges have received more students. Furthermore, an increasing number of students transfer from these…

Binary logistic regression analyses were performed on institutional data from a large urban community college in order to identify predictors of performance in a content course (psychology) that had high literacy demands. It was found that students who completed college English were more likely to pass the content course than students with…

Reviews literature on the sources of math anxiety. Decribes San Bernardino Valley College's course, "Math Without Fear," which is team-taught by a mathematician and psychologist, introduces relaxation exercises, employs guest speakers with math anxiety experiences, and discusses the nature and history of math. Examines results. (DMM)

Provides findings from a literature review and 1977 survey of science, social science, and science-related technology instructors regarding the curricular functions of their courses. Findings indicate that transfer, general education, preparation for work, and remediation functions were being served by the courses, but predominately as combined…

Utilizing the theories of McGregor, Maslow, and Herzberg, presents a model for teaching history which involves students in designing their own course objectives. Includes humanistic approaches, organizational management assumptions, and models with motivational, hygiene, physiological, and safety factors. (DMM)

Suggests an alternative to the civic training, political indoctrination, and descriptive presentation approaches used to teaching American government courses. Recommends a political philosophy approach within a framework of elite theory to help students develop a critical perspective on American politics. (DMM)

Reviews briefly the literature associated with the Conference on College Composition and Communication's "Students' Right to Their Own Language" statement. Explores the status of standard English at community colleges in Michigan, as expressed in first-year composition course objectives and descriptions. Considers the history of the…

Describes the goals and status of developmental courses at Lewis and Clark Community College as they were when the college changed from a private to a public two-year college and relates present goals and status. Discusses growth in remedial enrollment, program expansion, and the importance of student evaluation and placement. (DD)

Discusses the relationship between student assessment and instructional improvement. Describes the development and administration of a Teaching Goals Inventory, which helps teachers clarify what they want their students to learn and helps institutions discover teaching priorities among departments and within the college as a whole. (DMM)

The ongoing integration of instructional technology within community colleges has occurred for a variety of reasons. First, community colleges have implemented technology-based models to make operations more efficient and cost-effective. Second, instructional technology has been used to expand student markets through alternative course-delivery…