Innovations Library

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Learning Communities and Phenomenon-Based Learning
Evelyn Seiler January 2018
Volume: 21 Issue: 1
Count all 359
Community colleges have long embraced the concept of learning communities to provide meaningful, engaged education for the students passing through their gates. Many colleges have been successful in instituting this educational strategy that “places small cohorts of students together in two or more thematically linked courses, usually for a single semester, with added support, such as extra advising or tutoring” (MDRC, 2012, para. 1). Other community colleges have struggled to maintain momentum in the development and sustainability of their learning community programs.
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Learning Environments, Innovations
Serving Students With Undiagnosed Disabilities: A Case Study
Cammy Wayne December 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 12
Count all 446
One of the primary goals of community colleges is to provide education equality and opportunity through an open admission policy. This requires diligence on the part of both faculty and administrators to provide opportunity to all students, particularly those whose needs for assistance in learning are invisible.
Tags: Student Services, Teaching and Learning, College Readiness, Diversity, Inclusion, Learning Resources, Innovations
What Happens to Students Who Take Community College Dual Enrollment Courses in High School?
John Fink, Davis Jenkins, and Takeshi Yanagiura November 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 11
Count all 597
The number of high school students taking dual enrollment courses at community colleges has grown dramatically in the last two decades as students and their families have seized on the potential of these courses to give students a jump-start on college and to save money by finishing college faster.
Tags: Issues and Trends, College Readiness, Student Retention, Innovations
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: A Perspective on Using Apprenticeship to Study Key Issues in Higher Education
Mark Dunneback October 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 10
Count all 366
At a time when higher education faces a myriad of changes and challenges, a long proven model of success resurfacing within many community colleges might provide valuable insights. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel of higher education, leadership might look to the wheelmakers—namely, apprenticeships within workforce development—for experience and guidance.
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Learning Environments, Programs and Practices, Workforce Preparation, Innovations
Redefining the Learning Experience at Community Colleges
Larry Johnson, Jr. September 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 9
Count all 360
National discourse centered on student success has become increasingly important, as funding metrics—established by local and federal governments—have reinforced accountability from colleges and universities. Student retention and completion have become daily topics among internal and external stakeholders. Tinto (2006) asserts that higher education institutions once employed a pathology of blame in that colleges or universities viewed student retention through a “lens of psychology” (p. 2).
Tags: Learning and Organization, Enrollment Management, Learning Environments, Organizational Culture, Student Success, Innovations
College Capable or College Ready: Multiple Measures for Placement and What Comes Next
Brad Bostian August 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 8
Count all 324
By fall 2016, all 58 of North Carolina’s community colleges were using a multiple measures placement hierarchy. This represents a fundamental change in how students are placed in North Carolina, and results clearly show that the approach is working. But placement testing, which the new policy was designed to replace, was still used to place large numbers of students—about 48 percent in fall 2016 at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte.
Tags: Learning and Organization, Assessment and Evaluation, College Readiness, Student Success, Innovations
Open Educational Resources: Retaining Quality While Lowering Student Costs
Michael Passer July 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 7
Count all 398
The cost of textbooks has been increasing far faster than the rate of general inflation (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016) and poses a significant financial barrier to students. These costs contribute to reduced enrollment and persistence, particularly for community college students, who are often reliant on financial aid. For example, at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the book portion of a full-time student financial aid budget is $1,222, which is over one-third of the cost of in-district tuition and fees.
Tags: Learning and Organization, Learning Environments, Student Retention, Innovations
Native American Students' Attitudes, Normative Beliefs, and Perceived Control Over Academic Success
Erica Moore June 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 6
Count all 255
Native American students have the lowest enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of any student population, even though their enrollment numbers have continued to increase over the past 40 years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013; Thompson, Johnson-Jennings, & Nitzari, 2013). Additionally, most Native American students are enrolled in community colleges or tribal colleges (Mendez, Mendoza, & Malcolm, 2011).
Tags: Community Relations, Institutional Research, Student Completion, Student Success, Innovations
Learner-Centered Teaching: How and Why
Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent May 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 5
Count all 408
Welcome to the college; here’s what you’ll be teaching next semester. Good luck!
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Innovations
E-Learning, the Digital Divide, and Student Success at Community Colleges
Susan Kater, Robert Soza, and Lisa Young April 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 4
Count all 368
The number of students who enroll in U.S. community colleges tends to be inversely related to the economy. When the economy is good and jobs are plentiful, potential (and enrolled) students may put off their education in order to work. When the economy is not strong and jobless rates are higher, students may take the opportunity to learn new skills and continue their education. So the community college enrollment decline that we are seeing across the United States is in part a result of this cyclical pattern.
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Access, Learning Environments, Learning Resources, Student Success, Technology Services, Innovations
The First-Week Experience
Terry U. O'Banion March 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 3
Count all 442
In the list of high impact practices championed by several organizations as programs and practices that will work to achieve the goals of the Completion Agenda, the first-year experience is highly recommended. And, rightly so. A growing body of research over the past three decades reports universally positive findings on the impact of the first-year experience on increases in persistence, performance, engagement, and student satisfaction.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Student Services, Organizational Culture, Student Completion, Student Success, Teaching Strategies, Innovations
New Metrics to Help Institutions and States Improve Transfer
Community College Research Center February 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 2
Count all 302
Community colleges are known for their wide-open doors, providing educational opportunity for students who have not been well served by K-12 schools and a second chance for people whose college education was derailed. But for their many students who plan to transfer to a four-year college, there too often is no clear path through the thicket of choices at the community college and across the divide to the four-year school. Though as many as 80 percent of new community college students want to get a bachelor’s degree, only about 14 percent transfer and graduate within six years.
Tags: Learning and Organization, Access, Student Completion, Innovations
Expanding Opportunity for All: A Toolkit for Launching Campus Conversations
Cynthia Wilson January 2017
Volume: 20 Issue: 1
Count all 227
For three years, the League for Innovation’s Faculty Voices initiative has sought to engage community college faculty into the national conversation about student success and completion.
Tags: Innovations
Out of the Lab and Into the World: Taking Hands-On Science to Military Students
Jim Brinson December 2016
Volume: 19 Issue: 12
Count all 257
Students who serve active duty in the United States Military, especially those who are deployed internationally, and their spouses and/or dependents, offer a unique set of challenges within higher education.
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Evaluation, Learning Environments, Partnerships, Innovations
Impact Evaluation: How to Determine What Nonacademic Supports Help Students Thrive
Brendan Perry November 2016
Volume: 19 Issue: 11
Count all 392
Community college completion is perhaps the most cost effective way individuals can increase chances of employment and higher earnings. Despite the high rate of return on completion, only 38 percent of community college students earn a certificate from a two- or four-year institution within six years after enrollment (Shapiro and Dunbar, 2015).
Tags: Assessment and Evaluation, Innovations

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