This article discusses how an instruction librarian created an online learning community of adult learners in a hybrid, credit-bearing information literacy course. The Blackboard course management system was utilized for weekly course discussion on ethical issues involving the use of information to promote student engagement in the critical…

Throughout the world, interest in gauging learning outcomes at all levels of education has grown considerably over the past decade. In higher education, measuring "learning outcomes" is viewed by many stakeholders as a relatively new method to judge the "value added" of colleges and universities. The potential to accurately…

What will they learn? That is the simple question the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) asks in this report. The authors do so by exploring the state of general education, those courses designed to give college students a firm grounding in the areas of knowledge they will use for a lifetime. Specifically, the authors evaluate whether…

Content-Based Instruction (CBI) may result in improved proficiency in language skills due to the meaningful combination of subject matter and foreign language as a means of communication. This paper shows how university students improved their level of English by means of a content methodology as they attended a course called Topics in Molecular…

Section 1008.30 (formerly 240.117), Florida Statutes, requires the State Board of Education to develop and implement a common placement testing program to assess the basic computation and communication skills of students who intend to enter a degree program at any public community college or state university. Every year the State provides reports…

This Factsheet highlights recent changes in student fee levels and compares California's student charges to other states. In doing so, it presents responses to the following questions: (1) What does the California State University charge graduate students? (2) What does the University of California charge graduate students? (3) What has the…

This article is based on the perceptions of California State University administrators and provides a comparative study of the challenges and benefits resulting from the implementation of the teaching performance assessment requirement of SB 2042 standards 19-21 on the California State University (CSU) campuses. With 23 campuses and almost 450,000…

Since 1989, when it became legally possible for private higher education to operate in New Zealand, the sector has grown to become a significant part of the country's higher education system. This paper explores the private penetration, traces the changes that have occurred in private higher education, and evaluate the sector's position in New…

Founded in 1855 as the Farmer's High School, the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) began as a small college in Centre County providing agricultural education to young men from regional farm families. Penn State became a land-grant university in 1863 following passage of the Morrill Act. Today, Penn State enrolls more than 83,000 students…

With passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, the Higher Education Act (HEA) is now reauthorized. What effect will it have on U.S. higher education? Students receiving Pell grants will find that college is more affordable while those who feared that the government would exert control over learning outcomes have breathed a…

The Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) provides a framework for public universities to provide evidence of success and increase public confidence. The goals of the VSA are threefold: (1) Demonstrate greater accountability and stewardship to the public; (2) Enhance effective educational practices by measuring educational outcomes; and (3)…

Illinois is the Land of Lincoln. In this great state, Lincoln got his start as a lawyer and a politician. In his 1832 Address to the People of Sangamon County, Lincoln outlined his vision for a practical and general education in which "every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own…

This report examines enrollment and graduation trends at eight Texas institutions, highlights promising programs and strategies for serving Latino students, and offers policy recommendations for improving success rates for the state's Latino students. The analysis was prepared as part of Excelencia's Accelerating Latino Student Success (ALASS)…

The political history of developmental education in post-secondary education is as revealing as its intellectual history. With a University system-wide Developmental Studies program initiated in 1974, the State of Georgia was a pioneer in remedial education and open access. Unfortunately, the program became linked in Georgia media, and in Georgia…

At Montana State University's Master of Fine Arts program in Science and Natural History Filmmaking, our goal is to re-invent these areas of documentary by admitting students with undergraduate science degrees and teaching them both production and film studies in an intensive three-year curriculum. In the course I teach, "Criticism and…