Developmental courses in community colleges often leave students unprepared, demeaned, and uninspired. These gatekeeper courses need reform, especially in terms of curriculum and instruction. One framework -- Dr. Gholdy Muhammed's Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL) -- could be useful for developmental courses and students. HRL is a teaching…

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the impact of project-based learning on the writing, communication and interpersonal skills of students in a college skills course. This course was required for students who were enrolled in at least one or more developmental courses. The purpose of this course was to equip the students…

Teaching students to think critically is one of the major goals of higher education. Many educators at the college level recognize this and expect students to demonstrate critical thinking early in their college experience, however for some students, a lack of preparation for these expectations poses an immediate and substantial challenge during…

This qualitative study investigated co-requisite courses which pair a developmental course with a college-level course and offer insight into how co-requisite instructors adjusted their curriculum and pedagogy for English language learners. Specifically, it examined faculty experiences teaching a co-requisite course combining a critical thinking…

This paper describes a corequisite pairing of Integrated Reading and Writing (INRW) and Humanities (HUMA) 1301 taught at San Jacinto College North in Houston, Texas. The authors describe their planning process, which combined course learning outcomes with cognitive theory and best-practice resources for effective teaching. These complementary…

An audit was completed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) based on the curriculum audit model developed by Armstrong, Stahl, and Kantner (2015). The audit examined text readiness and text expectations in UAF developmental reading courses and 100-level general-education and career-technical education courses, how well these text…

This project integrates cooperative learning strategy in teaching developmental mathematics courses. This study uses a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control design comparing student's outcomes with and without implementing cooperative learning in these courses. The results of the data analysis shows that there is an increase in student's…

In November 2011, the author--Ivan Fuller, a professor of theatre and associate dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Rider University--attended a joint symposium of the American Conference of Academic Deans and Phi Beta Kappa that was designed to wrestle with the question of why the humanities matter. At one session, participants…

The author explored the developmental courses of deep learning approach and critical thinking over a 2-year period. Latent growth curve modeling (LGM) procedures were used to test and trace the trajectories of both theoretical frameworks over time. Participants were 264 (119 women, 145 men) university undergraduates. The Deep Learning subscale of…

Many developmental students begin college ill-equipped in the social and emotional competencies to be successful. Thus, it is essential that institutions of higher education address the broader needs of these students. The purpose of this article is to present collaborative learning as a tool for addressing the social and emotional inhibitors that…

States that freshmen college students are not developmentally ready to demonstrate higher-level thinking skills, particularly evaluation. Describes the Perry Scheme of intellectual and ethical development and Chickering's seven vectors of college student development as they assist faculty in comprehending the challenges freshmen face when…

Stresses the importance of questioning as a key element in the art of learning. Defines three types of questions: (1) multisystem, which considers more than one relevant viewpoint in thinking through a problem, issue, or question; (2) one-system, which can be tested with a multiple-choice format; and (3) no-system, which are matters of sheer…

Describes a critical thinking course in which students perform ongoing critical analyses of themselves. Argues that developmental students lack internalized knowledge. Discusses four questions that students answer throughout the course: "Who are you?""How did you get that way?""What do you want to become?" and "Who are you now?" (AJL)

Guidelines are provided for the development of a community college course in critical thinking. The first sections offer an overview of the nature and basic concepts of critical thinking, indicating that: (1) the skills developed in critical thinking classes include the ability to formulate a clear statement of a thesis or problem, evaluate…

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…