A description is provided of Tennessee's Volunteer State Community College's (VSCC's) approach to defining the goals, expected outcomes, and assessment procedures of individual courses, utilizing teacher-developed course instruction manuals and standardized course syllabi. Introductory material explains why and how the approach was developed,…

Program reviews provide department chairs and faculty with vital information about the need for their program, changes that can improve the program's viability, and needs for resource allocation. In addition, well-designed reviews will determine program effectiveness and lead to improvements in program quality. In recent years, the role of program…

Although the goal of science courses for non-majors should be to increase the scientific literacy of students, many such courses become watered down versions of courses in the major and do not provide enough depth to make science meaningful to students. At the Wabash Valley Region campus of Ivy Tech State College, in Indiana, a project was…

Collaborative learning refers to small-group instruction that incorporates five elements: clear, positive interdependence among students; group self-evaluation; interpersonal behaviors that promote each member's learning; individual accountability; and frequent use of small-group social skills. These elements have been implemented in colleges…

There is a large body of well-conducted research that supports the value of freshmen orientation seminars in promoting the success of first-year students at community colleges. Orientation programs have been shown to improve retention, program completion, and the level of academic performance of these students. In addition to improving student…