Many U.S. colleges and universities have established student learning outcomes for diversity education in their general education programs. These education goals, frequently developed for assessment or other policy purposes, convey a range of possible purposes for diversity and multicultural learning. The manner in which these purposes are…

Purpose: The first purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which students in university capstone public relations classes who receive teamwork training demonstrate effective team behaviors, produce quality work, experience satisfaction in the teamwork process, and engender client satisfaction. The second purpose was to determine the…

This paper represents a narrative of the process of department-level reform through the eyes of the initiating agent of change. Over the course of reform, our program has grown by 40%, primarily through retaining students. We exhibit a 10% net important rate of engineering students in the first two years of the curriculum relative to the college's…

Because of their commitment to the voluntary measurement and improvement of student learning outcomes, colleges and universities that are members of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) have been at the forefront of the national shift from teacher-centered to student-centered learning. The institutions participating in the CIC Degree…

This instrumental case study explored the knowledge and skill set levels of adult learners over the age of 35 with an emphasis in emerging educational technologies. The case study focused on EdD students in four cohorts at the Drexel University Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento, CA. This research sought to answer the following research…

We address the emphasis of the California Community College system upon credentials in their effort to document student outcomes. Statewide curricular awards (associate degrees and certificates) were collected over a four-year period. Data were organized descriptively and analyzed in order to identify long term trends. These curricular trends are…

This mixed methods study combined quantitative statistics and qualitative inquiry to determine if any differences exist between how students in face-to-face and online college English composition courses performed on and demonstrated knowledge of the California state curriculum standards, and to explore the online learning environment in this…

The WICHE Interstate Passport Initiative, launched in October 2011, is a pilot project that addresses interstate student transfer. When students transfer from one postsecondary institution to another--both within and out of state--they may be required to repeat courses, which can add to the time and cost of completing their education. Although…

Mark Van Doren, the noted literary scholar, once remarked, "The college is meaningless without a curriculum, but it is more so when it has one that is meaningless." Many current critics of undergraduate curricula in America assent to the crucial need for programmatic renewal in our colleges and universities. They bemoan the cookie-cutter…

Across the United States, community colleges offer millions of students an open-access, low-cost postsecondary education. However, of the students who enroll in community college hoping to earn a credential or transfer to a four-year institution, only about half achieve their goal within six years. For students who enter college needing…

Potential students hoping to gauge the quality of courses at Portland State University might be forgiven for feeling confused. On the one hand, the University Studies program, which uses interdisciplinary seminars during the first two years to develop students' core skills, has been widely praised and emulated. The Council for Higher Education…

Using data for 108 colleges in the California Community College System, this paper poses two questions. First, do California community colleges differ in their missions? Second, if they do, can inter-college differences in missions be explained? We address the first question by developing college-specific measures of curriculum mix, which we use…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Mission Accomplished! The Development of a Competence-based E-portfolio Assessment Model (Shelley Schuurman, Scott Berlin, Jamie Langlois, and Julie Guevara); (2) The Third Rail of Assessment--Dangerous but Powerful (Dale L. Mort); (3) Video Killed the Radio…

The Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T) is the premier international peer-reviewed conference, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) Computer Society, which addresses all major areas related to software engineering education, training, and professionalism. This year, as…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. This report is a companion to "The Condition of College & Career Readiness." This paper traces the college enrollment, retention, re-enrollment, and…