This chapter describes a model of assessment based on Action Research that promotes and relies on faculty engagement to improve student learning.

Institutions of higher education are expected by accrediting agencies to perform systematic monitoring of student learning and evaluate the effectiveness of programs of study and institutional operations to identify what needs improvement and then enact planned change to improve the institution; however, many struggle to make this connection. This…

This phenomenological study described the experiences of student military veterans in a community college with physical and psychological health needs. Each participant enrolled in the community college by utilizing the benefits of the post-9/11 GI Bill and transitioned from active duty to civilian life. More than 40,000 programs in the United…

In this study, conceptual and algebra-based physics students were engaged in scientific inquiry using Physics Education Technology (PhET) interactive simulations via semester-long group projects. The instructor and students used the Scientific Abilities Assessment Rubrics (SAAR) to evaluate project presentations and papers (formative assessment).…

In writing studies research, automated writing evaluation technology is typically examined for a specific, often narrow purpose: to evaluate a particular writing improvement measure, to mine data for changes in writing performance, or to demonstrate the effectiveness of a single technology and accompanying validity arguments. This article adopts a…

CCRC recently conducted two major studies to shed light on the feasibility of implementing guided pathways reforms at scale and on the association between implementation and improvements in student outcomes. The first is an evaluation of the AACC Pathways Project, which involved 30 colleges from around the country that were committed to making…

Online learning provides students greater access to higher education opportunities when regular, on-campus options are not viable. However, for administrators and educators, online learning can be difficult to assess and ensure quality, which leads institutions to use quality assurance frameworks such as the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program…

Teaching-focused professional development (PD) programs offered at institutions of higher education (IHEs) are uniquely positioned to be levers of change that improve the quality of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in ways that broaden participation in STEM education, workforce development, and…

This dissertation conducts an evaluative case study on a community college's Career-Technical Education (CTE) Cultural Resource Management (CRM) technical certificate program to bridge the CRM workforce gap. The study assesses the program's design and development quality by aligning the program theory with stakeholders' needs, including…

Drawing from Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant evaluations and interviews with the field, this chapter includes examples of three cases that integrated advising and prior learning assessment for adults returning to education, and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

Climate change increases the risk of natural disasters, which requires the design of sustainable and resilient infrastructure. This implies a need to enable engineering students to deal with highly complex problems and uncertainty. These competencies refer to the concept of resilience, describing the ability of a system to adapt to threatening…

Many scholars have sought to measure the effectiveness of diverse supplemental instruction programs. Nevertheless, it is difficult to generalize about supplemental instruction or compare data, given methodological and statistical incongruities and diverse approaches and student populations at various institutions. Quantitative and qualitative data…

The paper presents the results of a randomized experimental study of a writing curriculum for college developmental writing courses based on strategy instruction with self-regulation integrated with practices common in college composition. Students in a full semester course learned strategies for planning and revising based on rhetorical analysis…

Learning assessment at two-year colleges is growing, but not much has been published about it yet. In general, our smaller classrooms, diverse student population, high proportion of adjunct faculty, and academic freedom in teaching methods and tools set the stage for a different approach to assessment than at four-year institutions. This is the…

Adjuncts continue to be an integral part of higher education; however, they are rarely onboarded at higher education institutions. Onboarding involves systematically introducing a new employee to an organization's values, processes, and procedures. For adjuncts, they also need formalized training in pedagogy. Without onboarding adjuncts, higher…