This author presents variable and stimulating activities using songs to encourage students to connect with language. Seven dynamic activities include Song Pictures, Re-order It, Matching Meanings, Changing the Text, Song Strip Connections, Song Cards, and Pair Watching. All are outlined to facilitate their use, and many have added extensions and…

Primary source material found in documentary film has the potential to richly inform college teaching. This article describes using 2 historically significant documentary-style films to teach concepts in the psychology of persuasion. Exemplary clips taken from "Triumph of the Will" (Riefenstahl, 1935) and "Fahrenheit 9/11" (Moore, 2004)…

Jane S. Halonen is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of West Florida, where she insists on teaching introductory psychology each fall. She was employed in various roles at Alverno College for 17 years and also served for 5 years as the Director of the School of Psychology at James Madison University. Past president of…

As is typical in a recession, many community colleges are experiencing a surge in enrollment, at precisely the same time that they must--like many enterprises, both public and private--contend with choking constraints on resources. The reality for community colleges is this: No matter how good this nation's colleges are today--and they do…

The purpose of this study is to critically explore low-income women's experience as they negotiate post secondary education in community colleges. Three research questions explore the context through which low-income women have entered the college experience, what that experience is like for them, and how the community college experience has…

Discusses faculty development in terms of obligations, barriers, and solutions. (PD)

A need existed to develop a graphic procedure to predict student success in 2-year engineering technology programs, based on ACT scores and high school grades. The study stemmed from the need to help students identify their chances of success, to help students clarify their goals, and to indicate needed institutional responses. Regression analysis…

This collection presents 91 papers or summaries presented at a 1997 conference on self-study and institutional improvement for institutions of higher education. Papers are grouped in the following chapters (with sample topics in parentheses): (1) "Institutional Mission and Institutional Change" (vision statements; balancing quality and change);…

No matter how dedicated they may be, some teachers are daunted by extreme challenges. Carol Agler, music director at the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB), is not one of those teachers. Since joining the OSSB staff 11 years ago, Agler has revived the school's long-dormant band program and created its first marching band. Next January, she…

Designed for use by coordinators of disabled student services at New York State two-year colleges, this sourcebook represents a compendium of ideas, recommendations, facts, problems, and solutions related to serving disabled two-year college students. Introductory remarks describing the sourcebook's purpose and New York's Disabled Student Project…

The study reported in this paper explores issues of motivation and learners' identity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classroom in Vietnam from the perspectives of the learners. It was conducted with thirty English-major students at a university in central Vietnam. While relevant literature appears to place much emphasis on…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The ten titles deal with the following topics: (1) the composing process of adult basic writing students; (2) an integrated approach to reading and writing for college students; (3) the teaching and learning of reading in the…

This article principally summarizes: (1) highlights of some of the "work in progress," or developments taking place, in English programs in community colleges, (2) some of the reasons why changes are likely to continue to take place in community college English programs, and (3) a proposal for a "mosaic pattern" that could provide a relatively…

In this article, the author uses positioning theory to better understand the complexity of teacher learning about culture in the company of diverse colleagues. Analysis of a yearlong dialogic professional development experience among high school English teachers revealed that although an African American male's storyline informed the group of…

In an effort to elucidate the forces behind the emergence of the American junior college, this document reviews the evolution of the structure of American education from 1874 to 1921. The historical review begins with 1874 because the decision made that year in the Kalamazoo Case confirmed the right of communities to support high schools by…