Teaching College Writing to Diverse Student Populations

When I began working toward a Ph.D. in twentieth-century U.S. history in 1996, I saw my future self as do, I imagine, many graduate students training as college faculty: lecturing, chalk in hand, to a group of note-taking students. Or, perhaps, seated among a group of enthusiastic young adults who have come to college prepared for the rigors of higher education and arrive at class daily with their assignments complete. Th e reality of my personal experience has been quite diff erent, infl uenced largely by the increased use of technology in the college classroom and the growth of online learning. Teaching U.S. history to community college students in the twenty-fi rst century, I have discovered, necessitates a fl exible approach to students’ learning styles and a willingness to embrace technology in both the on-campus and online classrooms. My journey into the use of technology in the classroom began simply with a computer and a projector. No longer did I “just talk” at the blackboard; I moved beyond telling the students what I wanted them to learn to also showing them. For each lesson, I displayed artwork, photographs, or maps to illustrate the key points. Th ough I have no quantitative evidence that my students’ work improved, I sensed immediately upon adopting this practice that the classroom atmosphere was changed for the better. A political cartoon from the War of 1812, for example, could be the foundation for a class discussion on British military relations with Native Americans. No matter if no one in the class had noticed the image in the textbook: I had placed it in front of them during class, and its presence alone fostered discussion. I embraced the use of technology in the classroom as a powerful tool for learning: a way to address diff erent learning styles (such as visual, verbal, or auditory) to reach students who might have tuned out more traditional modes of lecturing. Still, I never anticipated that one day I would be teaching entire courses online. Nor did I imagine a day when my students would have the capacity to access an infi nite amount of data in the palms of their hands. Yet in fall 2008, my second year as a tenuretrack assistant professor at the Community College of Rhode Island, the department

Community colleges have traditionally struggled with student retention. A growing subset of today's community college students seek degree programs that will not only fortify their minds, but prepare them to meet current workforce demands. The post-recession view of community colleges as engines of change, relative to affordability and gainful employment, has prompted government officials and college leaders to explore ways to best meet students' needs from enrollment to graduation. This study examined the effects of infusing relationship-marketing strategies into academic advising practice to improve student retention. The researcher believes that service augmentation and relationship customization can significantly improve student-institution bonds. The conceptual framework for this study is grounded in Tinto's student engagement model (retention), Berry's relationship-marketing approach, and academic advising theory. The researcher used an explanatory mixed-methods design to explore the following research questions: (a) How can relationship-marketing strategies be used to improve the formation of affective advisor-advisee bonds? (b) How does academic advisors' implementation of relationship-marketing strategies impact student retention? And (c) What is the relationship between students' satisfaction with academic advising and retention rates? This research used an explanatory mixed-methods approach and a sample of 93 students and four professional academic advisors to examine the impact of relationship-marketing on student retention. The results indicated that relationship-marketing concepts, namely service augmentation and relationship customization were strong determinants of affective advisor-advisee bonds. The results also indicate that students' retention behavior was strongly determined by advisor-advisee bonds and a sense of belonging to the institution. Student satisfaction with the advising process was also a contributing factor in their decision to remain enrolled at the college. In addition, trust, honesty, and openness in the relationship-building process was a strong determinant of a student's decision to return. The findings of this study suggest that a comprehensive, authentic approach to developing, managing, and maintaining student relationships can impact student satisfaction with the university and their college experience.

Despite the advanced technology on today's community college campuses, the need for sit‐around‐the‐campfire human interaction endures. One way to bring this interesting dichotomy together is through a retreat based on the Great Teachers Seminar model.

Community colleges have become among the most popular public higher education institutions in the nation to provide transfer, technical, developmental, business and industry, and community service education. Once considered the junior partner in the higher education enterprise (and on average receiving less state aid per student than their four-year counterparts), public community colleges now provide education to more than one-half of all citizens enrolled in postsecondary education. In the last decade, they have also become the core workforce development institutions of our nation. In many ways, these institutions have seen their role and mission evolve to the point that they now have goals that in many respects resemble those defined for land grant universities, established by the Morrill Act during the nineteenth century (Cohen & Brawer, 1996). Public community college leaders often lament that their institutions are low on the food chain when it comes to their state's funding priorities. This may be due partially to the lack of attention paid to cost-and-benefit analyses in funding requests. Policymakers around the nation will likely find themselves spending increasing amounts of time validating fair and equitable funding allocation criteria (Burke & Serban, 1998). As the squeeze on available state aid becomes increasingly oppressive, comparing costs outlays to the investment returns gained by states were they to invest more in community college education will become a higher priority for community college leaders. Yet barriers exist to promoting this position (Goodchild, Lovell, Hines, & Gill, 1997), among which include the following: (a) a noticeable inability of college leaders to demonstrate that community colleges are underfunded, especially in the context of their sizable contributions to life in America, (b) the lack of consensus among policymakers regarding efficient and equitable policy options that a state's higher education systems might choose in making resource requests and allocation decisions, (c) a dearth of consistent and timely research that explores, tests, and develops functional theories of state funding, and (d) the absence of ongoing examinations of how existing funding model practices affect postsecondary education institutions and the broader society they seek to serve. Literature Review As the new millennium begins, a variety of methods exist for requesting and allocating state funds to support the operation of public community colleges (Breneman & Taylor, 1996). Practitioners and scholars with an understanding of the theories, practices, and nuances in the finance and funding strategies employed by community college systems recognize that one approach to state aid does not fit all. Indeed, a plethora of forces unique to each state environment shape how funding requests and distributions are made. The rationales and methods that state policymakers use to allocate financial support for higher education can be nearly as important as the amount of that support (Richardson, Bracco, Callan, & Finney, 1999). More pointedly, an acceptable sense of fair play must exist in any funding allocation model. Moreover, the methods selected for allocating state funds typically must be viewed as affordable as well as politically acceptable to those approving and those receiving state financial support. Funding can be complex, highly politicized, and not prone to easy solutions (Kane, 1999). Although seldom discussed in a scholarly framework, politicizing of funding practices can be potent: The history of political parties in power and the relative pecking order of the various sectors consuming public funds, including higher education, play a major role in funding allocation decisions (McKeown & Alexander, 1986). Currently, in many states, the responsibility for establishing state funding allocations to public institutions of postsecondary education lies directly with each state's legislative bodies. …

Having performed research using approaches to learning and studying inventories and become familiar with the concepts they purport to measure, the authors were concerned that existing inventories might not capture the full range of intentions and motivations for learning that exist within populations of medical students. We used semi-structured interviews to explore the approaches to learning of undergraduate medical students at two time points: in the academic setting (year 2) and subsequently in the clinical setting (year 3). A thematic index was created using a framework analysis approach with the data derived from the academic setting and subsequently applied to and developed by the data derived from the clinical setting. Some themes and sub-themes emerging from the analysis fitted well with the deep, surface and strategic approaches described previously in higher education. Others did not. In particular, the importance of the vocational and social aspects of learning was striking in this sample of students, in both academic and clinical settings, and these would be missed by the majority of existing inventories. This study confirms that existing conceptions of approaches to learning within the higher education literature do not account for the full range of intentions and motivations that exist within medical student populations.

This discussion examines some of the major issues and attributes of culturally responsive teaching. It begins with explaining my views of culturally responsive teaching and how I incorporate cultural responsiveness in my writing to teach readers what it means. These general conceptual frameworks are followed by a discussion of some specific actions essential to its implementation. They are restructuring teacher attitudes and beliefs about cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity; resisting resistance to cultural diversity in teacher education and classroom instruction; centering culture and difference in the teaching process; and establishing pedagogical connections between culturally responsive teaching and subjects and skills routinely taught in schools. Excerpts from samples of my own and others’ scholarship are woven throughout to exemplify general patterns, themes, and principles of culturally responsive teaching.

Undergraduate Self-study: Discourse Analysis of Imagesets on Student Blogs. Student writers’ relationship to the screen is initially grounded in their writing experiences in social media, but they come to view their course blog as a connecting space between themselves and their readership, a space which becomes one on which they self-destruct and reconstruct their identity as they learn to write (Serfaty 2004). By asking students to post a digital image of themselves, Ethna Lay initiates an important dataset, one which suggests a great deal about their relationship to writing. Through these images, students construct their independent writerly identities and simultaneously express membership in the class as a discrete discourse community. Students work collaboratively on a discourse analysis of the imageset, categorizing the class’s images as data about its relationship to writing. These imagesets are an opportunity for student writers to stage themselves; they perform how they would like to be seen (or not seen). This performing of the self is at once a private act as well as a communal and public activity (Tifentale and Manovich 2015; Rettberg 2005). The screen then has a dual nature, functioning as either a veil or mirror for student writers (Serfaty 2004). Students classify the imagesets into categories or types, which are fairly consistent across classes. Oftentimes students acknowledge the class had become its own discourse community, its deixis enabled by blogging together and by investigating their blogs, and decide that this result is only possible given the nature of the blog. The students become participant-observers in this respect, and the end result is an auto-ethnography of the pictured self in a social and academic setting. Article history: Received 8 August 2022; Revised 9 November 2022; Accepted 6 November 2022; Available online 20 December 2022; Available print 30 December 2022. REZUMAT. Studenții și auto-cunoașterea: O analiză discursivă asupra seturilor de imagini din cuprinsul blogurilor studențești. Relația studenților-scriitori începe cu experiențele lor auctoriale pe rețelele de socializare, ca mai apoi să descopere în blog (ca sarcină de curs) spațiul în care se produce conexiunea dintre ei și cititori, precum și dezasamblarea și reconstruirea identității proprii atunci când învață să scrie texte (Serfaty 2004). Trasându-le sarcina de a posta imagini cu ei înșiși, autoarea inițiază crearea unui set important de informații în virtutea faptului că acesta sugerează multe despre relația studenților cu scrisul. Prin aceste imagini studentul își reconstruiește identitatea de scriitor autonom, care își exprimă, totodată, și calitatea de membru al clasei, aceasta din urmă constituind o comunitate discursivă distinctă. Studenții realizează colaborativ o analiză discursivă asupra setului de imagini, cu imaginile clasei catalogate ca informații despre relația lor cu scrisul. Aceste seturi de imagini le oferă studenților-scriitori oportunitatea de a se pune în scenă; ei se prezintă în rolul în care își doresc a fi văzuți sau dimpotrivă. Acest joc de sine este, simultan, un act privat și o activitate comună publică (Tifentale and Manovich 2015; Rettburg 2005). Ecranul, prin urmare, capătă o natură duală, el funcționând fie ca un văl, fie ca o oglindă pentru studentul-scriitor (Serfaty 2004). Seturile de imagini sunt clasificate drept categorii sau tipuri, care se regăsesc cu relativă constanță în toate cursurile parcurse de studenți. Adesea studenții observă clasa transformându-se ea însăși într-o comunitate discursivă, deictica fiind facilitată de activitatea de blogging colaborativ și de studierea blogurilor colegilor. În final, aceștia ajung la concluzia că rezultatul se datorează tocmai naturii acestui tip de blog. Astfel, studenții devin observatori-participanți iar rezultatul final - o auto-etnografie în imagini în cadrul mediului social și academic. Cuvinte-cheie: blogging; comunitate discursivă; imagini; auto-cunoaștere; sinele auctorial

New York University School of Medicine

3‐dimensional online learning environments can provide a means for users with limited connectivity to the Internet to participate as fully as their broadband‐enabled peers in collaborative experiences, information sharing and feedback. Nearly 90% of the universities in the USA that support distributed learning programmes use web‐based course delivery methods. Directors of these programmes state that web‐based delivery allows them to handle the wide range of connectivity among student populations. 3‐Dimensional online learning environments can increase online course interaction and feedback beyond current web‐based document delivery in a cost effective and scaleable manner. This article examines attitudes to information technology of students in a 3‐dimensional online learning environment versus those involved in face‐to‐face classroom instruction at the University of North Texas. We were interested in looking to see how the benefits of immersion, interaction and feedback provided by the 3‐dimensional online learning environment would impact on the students’ attitudes to information technology for an established traditional course. Les environnements d’apprentissage en ligne à trois dimensions: un examen des attitudes respectives des étudiants travaillant en 3D basé sur Internet et de ceux qui travaillent dans des classes présentielles par rapport aux TIC Les environnements d’apprentissage en ligne en 3D peuvent offrir aux usagers ne disposant que d’un accès limité à Internet, le moyen de participer aussi pleinement que leurs collègues bénéficiant de la bande large, aux expériences collaboratives, au partage de l’information et à la rétroalimentation. Près de 90% des universités des Etats‐Unis qui offrent des programmes d’apprentissage distribué, utilisent des méthodes de transmission des cours reposant sur le Web. Les directeurs de ces programmes affirment que la transmission par le Web leur permet de faire face aux grandes différences de capacité d’accès aux réseaux, d’un groupe d’étudiants à l’autre. Les environnements d’apprentissage en ligne en 3D ont la capacité d’accroître l’interaction dans les cours en ligne ainsi que la rétroalimentation, de façon plus significative que la transmission actuelle de documents par Internet et ce, d’une façon économique et mesurable. Cet article étudie les attitudes vis‐à‐vis des TIC chez les étudiants se trouvant dans un environnement d’apprentissage en ligne en 3D par rapport à ceux qui reçoivent un enseignement présentiel à l’Université de North Texas. Nous avons cherché à voir comment les avantages en termes d’immersion, d’interaction et de rétroalimentation que présente un environnement d’apprentissage en ligne en 3D, pouvaient influer sur les attitudes de ces étudiants vis‐à‐vis des TIC dans un cours traditionnel. 3 D Online‐Lernumgebungen: Einstellungsüberprüfungen zu Informationstechnologie zwischen Studenten in internetbasierter 3D und Frontalunterricht 3 D Online‐Lernumgebungen können Benutzern mit beschränktem Zugang zum Internet ein Hilfsmittel sein, so vollständig wie ihre Breitband nutzenden Kollegen an kooperativen Erfahrungen, Informationsaustausch und Feedback teilzunehmen. Fast 90% der Universitäten in den Vereinigten Staaten, die Austausch von Lehrprogrammen unterstützen, verwenden netzbasierte Distributionsmethoden. Direktoren dieser Programme geben an, dass netzbasierte Belieferung ihnen erlaubt, den breiten Bereich der Konnektivität unter den Studenten zu überwinden. 3 D Online‐Lernumgebungen können die Online‐Kursinteraktion und das Feedback über gegenwärtige netzbasierte Belieferung kostenwirksam und skalierbar steigern. Dieser Artikel berichtet über Einstellungen zu Informationstechnologie von Studenten in einer 3 D Online‐Lernumgebung gegenüber jener von in direktem Unterricht beschulten Studenten an der University of North Texas. Wir waren daran interessiert zu erkennen, wie die Vorteile von Vertiefung, Interaktion und Feedback, die der 3 D Online‐Lernumgebung eigen sind, die Einstellungen der Studenten zu Informationstechnologie für einen eingeführten traditionellen Kurs beeinflussen würden.

Postsecondary education has experienced rapid change in its student population. College students with learning disabilities (LD) represent a growing presence on college campuses across the country. Traditional means of meeting the learning needs of college students with LD through retrofitted changes and accommodations to classroom instruction have proven limited. Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) offers a new paradigm for approaching equal educational access. This article will describe UDI and discuss its implications for enhancing learning for students with learning disabilities and other diverse learners.

This review of research in college composition divides the field into research focused on the student writer, the teacher of college composition, and the contexts of writing. The period under review is characterized by the “social turn,” an effort to situate the writer within social, political, and other contexts in which teaching and writing take place. The author finds that, early in the 21st century, the field of college composition lacks the sort of monolith—such as the “current rhetorical” tradition that has now been largely abandoned—that galvanized teachers and researchers of college composition in the past. As a consequence, the field presently lacks a clear focus or direction.

BackgroundThe student population on college campuses continues to evolve, including an influx of adult learners. With the specific needs of this student population, states and institutions must assess the current learning environment and explore alternative pathways to earning a credential, including competency‐based education (CBE). This article provides an overview of recent legislation and policy activity regarding CBE. Institution examples are presented as well as policy considerations for policymakers and institutions to keep top of mind when exploring CBE programs.Materials & MethodsPolicies explored were pulled from a databased housed at Education Commission of the States (ECS). ECS began tracking specific higher education policies in 2014, hence this article covers CBE policies beginning that year. The author reviewed introduced and enacted legislation from 2014 to 2017. The author also reviewed institution examples of CBE programs not set in legislation.Results2014 and 2015 saw four states introduce CBE legislation with two bills ultimately being enacted. In 2016, three states considered CBE bills, one of which was enacted. At least five states considered CBE bills in 2017, ultimately seeing three of those enacted. In addition to legislative activity, many institutions implement CBE on their campuses without policy. The article highlights three including Western Governors University, the University of Wisconsin Flex option, and Davis Technical College. Policy and practice considerations include: Institutions should consider moving away from a credentialing approach to an instructional approach; States need to modernize state financial aid policies to allow students to utilize state funds for CBE programs; Institutions offering CBE should support students and enhance the educational experience by providing coaches or mentors to navigate both academic rigor and administrative tasks; and Coordinate efforts between institutions and industry leaders. ConclusionAs this article highlights, CBE policies in states and at institutions are at various levels of sophistication. Many states are continuing to explore CBE through expert committees, research, and legislative action. With the ever‐increasing number of adult learners coming to campuses, states and institutions need to assess the needs of their student populations and how CBE could benefit all students. A change to the instructional model in postsecondary education can increase completion rates and help states ultimately reach their lofty attainment goals.

This research undertakes a meticulous bibliometric analysis, delving into the expansive terrain of stress among students within academic settings. Utilizing the Scopus database, this study scrutinizes publications from 2019 to 2023 to unravel prevailing trends, contributing factors, and coping mechanisms associated with student stress. The discernible upward trajectory in publication volume across these years attests to the growing scholarly interest and the increasing acknowledgment of the significance of understanding and addressing student stress within the academic community. Top-cited articles have been meticulously examined, providing crucial insights into the psychological ramifications of the pandemic on student populations. An exhaustive exploration of the most active source titles sheds light on the prolific outlets contributing to the scholarly discourse on this pervasive issue. Additionally, a nuanced investigation into authorship patterns reveals an intriguing shift from predominantly single author works to collaborative efforts, indicative of an evolving trend toward interdisciplinary research and a collective approach to understanding student stress. The global distribution of research contributions, with notable emphasis on countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, and Spain, underscores the universal nature of student stress and the collective commitment to addressing the challenges it poses. Furthermore, a detailed keyword analysis brings forth critical terms such as "Covid-19" and "female," reflecting a contemporary and inclusive approach to comprehending stress within diverse contexts and populations. In conclusion, this study not only synthesizes existing knowledge but also provides a roadmap for future research directions, thereby informing educators, policymakers, and mental health professionals. As student stress continues to evolve, this comprehensive bibliometric analysis serves as a valuable and expansive resource, contributing significantly to the ongoing discourse and efforts aimed at fostering healthier academic environments and enhancing student well-being.

Cultural diversity in educational settings requires adaptive and inclusive curriculum strategies to ensure equitable learning opportunities for all students. This study aims to analyze the adaptation strategies of the Independent Curriculum implemented by a junior high school in Pendreh Village to address the cultural heterogeneity of its student population. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and document analysis. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and themes related to curriculum adaptation practices. The findings reveal that adaptation efforts were undertaken through three primary strategies: (1) systematic mapping of students’ cultural backgrounds, (2) differentiated instruction tailored to students' individual needs and characteristics, and (3) integration of local cultural values into school activities and learning processes. Despite several challenges, such as limited availability of culturally relevant learning resources and insufficient teacher training in culturally responsive pedagogy, collaborative efforts among schools, communities, and local stakeholders, coupled with the application of flexible teaching approaches, fostered an inclusive and contextually responsive learning environment. The study concludes that the success of curriculum adaptation in multicultural contexts relies heavily on culturally responsive planning and the professional development of teachers in managing socio-cultural dynamics within the classroom, particularly in remote and underserved areas. These insights contribute to the broader discourse on inclusive education and highlight the strategic importance of local culture in shaping equitable and effective learning experiences.

Drawing on her extensive experience in leading community colleges, Judith S. Eaton shows how these colleges can best serve the needs of today's diverse student population by providing rigorous, high-quality, college-level education.Eaton details the key factors that have caused community colleges to shift from crucial sites of higher education opportunity to ambiguous centers of quasi-educational programs and services. She suggests what actions can be taken to strengthen the collegiate purpose across all institutional levels--providing specific suggestions on reshaping the institutional agenda for faculty, administration, presidents, and trustees.