An incisive investigation of the often fraught student-transfer pathways from community colleges to four-year institutions—and a blueprint for process reform
The experiences of first-generation college students are not monolithic. The nexus of identities matter, and this book is intended to challenge the reader to explore what it means to be a first-generation college student in higher education. Designed for use in classrooms and for use by the higher education practitioner on a college campus today, At the Intersections will be of value to the reader throughout their professional career.The book is divided into four parts with chapters of research and theory interspersed with thought pieces to provide personal stories to integrate the research and theory into lived experience. Each thought piece ends with questions to inspire readers to engage with the topic.Part One: Who is a First-generation College Student? provides the reader an entrée into the topic, with up-to-date data on both four-year and two-year colleges. Part One ends with a thought piece that asks the reader to pull together some of the big ideas before moving on to look more closely at students’ identities.Part Two: The Intersection of Identity shares the research, experience and thoughts of authors in relation to the individual and overlapping identities of LGBT, low-income, white, African-American, Latinx, Native American, undocumented, female, and male students who are all also first-generation college students. Part Three: Programs and Practices is an introduction to practices, policies and programs across the country. This section offers promise and direction for future work as institutions try to find a successful array of approaches to make the campus an inclusive place for the diverse population of first-generation college students.
The majority of adult learners are looking to attain their desired academic credentials within the shortest amount of time possible. By implementing competency-based programs, learners are accelerated through their designed program or course. The Handbook of Research on Competency-Based Education in University Settings is a pivotal reference source for the latest academic research on the use of competency-based testing in higher education institutions. Focusing on innovative practices, strategies, and real-world scenarios, this book is ideally designed for educators, students, administrators, professionals, and academics interested in emerging developments for competency-based education initiatives.
This volume of New Directions for Higher Education is about linking assessments of students' learning with the patterns of their coursework. The contributors illustrate how and why assessment and curriculcum reform need to be combined, and they describe an innovative way in which to use student transcripts and college catalogues to analyze the curriculum in orcer to associate the coursework of students with the learning that they gain. The contributors also show how such assessment data can be used to examine questions about the curriculum, faculty development, and student advising. This is the 80th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Higher Education. For more information on the series, please see the Journals and Periodicals page.