This chapter contains an overview of the MVP model that is used as a basis for the other chapters in this issue. It also contains a description of key steps in the ARCS-V design process that is derived from the MVP model and a summary of a design-based research study illustrating the application of the ARCS-V model.

This chapter describes a Reading and Study Skills program and course that are offered to first-year students who are underprepared or reluctant and who may be at risk for failure in other courses as well as at risk for long-term retention and graduation. The course is discussed with respect to its parallels to the MVP model, and initial evidence…

This article focuses on curriculum-based learning communities (LCs). In these LCs, manipulation of the curriculum is intentional and often innovative, with the overarching goals of developing meaningful connections among students, between students and faculty, and between students and their coursework. The variety of curriculum-based models…

In 2006, Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) launched a major initiative, the Top 25 Project, to embed inquiry-guided learning (IGL) into its largest-enrollment courses across the university. These are generally entry-level classes and thus affect many students: 75 percent of incoming students on its main campus in 2010 were in at least one Top 25…

Discusses the special needs and opportunities for effective faculty and graduate-student mentoring of undergraduates within an interdisciplinary model. The model was used in a series of large, science-based, interdisciplinary, introductory courses at the University of Michigan, but any interdisciplinary faculty team can apply the lessons learned…

With 138 sites nationwide and over 70,000 teachers participating each year, the National Writing Project offers readily available opportunity for improved writing instruction. Essentially a staff-development program, the project is based on the belief that the key agent in educational change is the teacher. (Author/MLW)

The Metropolitan Area Schools Project offers a model of collaboration built up from the expressed needs of the constituencies it is designed to serve. The project focuses on the improvement of inner-city math and science education. The Project developers' role of broker is described. (Author/MLW)

The integration of learning and knowing is not simply a matter of application but rather an ongoing interactive process in which both knowledge and experience are repeatedly transformed. Two models of the integration of knowledge and experience were used at Alverno College. (MLW)

The Middle College High School on the LaGuardia Community College's campus demonstrates what can be done for high risk students by a full integration of high school, college, and the world of work. The Middle College features flexible pacing, broad curriculum, career education, and a college environment. (Author/MLW)

New Jersey and Washington have developed novel and different approaches to supporting faculty development by bringing faculty members, including many senior members, together to work on revitalizing the teaching experience. The program models are described, and the reasons they have been effective are explored. (Author/MSE)

Among the many teaching strategies that actively engage students are writing tasks, speaking activities, small-group activities, case-study methods of instruction, simulations, role plays, and field studies. The use of writing and small-group discussion by teaching assistants is discussed. (MLW)

A procedure for developing a comprehensive faculty evaluation program is described with examples of various components. Procedures for implementing such a program are discussed. Determining and weighting faculty roles, defining roles and gaining information, and arriving at a matrix are described. (Author/MLW)

Modeled on the county medical society and bar association, the University of Pennsylvania's Academic Alliances Program brings together teachers from all levels of the educational system. Faculty members from the schools and colleges in a local area, who teach the same academic discipline, are drawn together. (Author/MLW)

A course at Hampshire College was designed to simulate the decision-making environment in which constituencies in a medium-sized city would respond to the closing and relocation of a major corporate plant. The project, constructed as a role simulation with a computer component, is described. (MLW)

The MESA Program, a collaborative effort between the University of California-Berkeley College of Engineering and Oakland Technical High School, is described. The program provides evidence of what can be done with early intervention for students' motivation and performance levels and minority recruitment efforts. (Author/MLW)