Campus-expansiveness, decentralization, cooperative movements in education and nontraditional study all have changed the national picture of education as one to embrace everyone in the new learning society. (Author/PG)

From a goal of academic excellence for the few in the 1950's, higher education moved to a goal of educational opportunity for all in the 1960's. Although the open access philosophy led to the influx of many poorly prepared students, the teaching methods of the 1950's persisted. Only in the 1970's have college teachers begun to deal with the…

Lifelong learning is a movement described as real, necessary, and desirable. A major goal of higher education is seen to be the creation of an equitable learning society in which each individual is helped to become an active agent in his or her own education. (Author/MLW)

Three papers from the American Association for Higher Education conference in 1990 are presented. The first, "Streams of Thought about Assessment" by K. Patricia Cross, discusses three strands of interest in assessment aimed at educational improvement. These three movements are: (1) state-level accountability; (2) institutional assessment; and (3)…

This article deals with the community college movement and the work of the Center relating to junior colleges. Community colleges are practicing what students in the prestige universities are demanding: the democratization of higher education which includes responsiveness to community needs, an open entrance policy, the abolition of the concept of…

The field of student development is currently quite fluid, which means that there is room for almost any carefully formulated hypothesis about the developmental process. The author discusses three models of student development but concludes that none should serve as the only model for student development specialists. There is profound and…

The centerpiece of this book are four cases which illustrate classroom research in the context of various learning issues in college classrooms. The cases are intended for discussion by readers of: (1) how the students in the hypothesized situation perceive what is going on; (2) possible hypotheses about what is interfering with student learning;…

Current trends in higher education, specifically those related to the changing characteristics of students and the impact of those changes on colleges and universities, are addressed. Three distinct trends contributing to the changing characteristics of college students are: the decline of 18-year-olds in the population, the rising proportion of…

The educational reform movement of the 1980s has sparked a renewed emphasis on the quality of teaching and learning, not only in community colleges, but at every level of education. Most teachers embark upon their careers knowing very little about teaching and learning and, unfortunately, remain naive observers of their profession. Classroom…

In the history of this country there have been 3 major philosophies about who should go to college: (1) the aristocratic philosophy, (2) the meritocratic philosophy, and (3) the philosophy of egalitarianism, which came into vogue in the 60's. This has meant that the greatest rate of increase in college attendance during the last 10 years has been…

Although college catalogs contain expressions of devotion to the cause of developing in students a capacity for and commitment to critical thought, there are philosophical, scientific and practical problems surrounding this aim. To measure student values and differences in intellectual dispositions, the Center designed a research instrument, the…

Aspects of the perception that assessment is a large-scale testing program conducted at institutional or state levels to determine what students have learned from college is questioned. Small-scale assessments conducted continuously in college classrooms by discipline-based teachers to determine what students are learning in what class are also…

The educational reform movement of the 1980's has sought to deal with the current problems in the educational system of declining standards, unprepared students, and low levels of morale among teachers by seeking to impose higher and more rigorous standards to restore academic quality. The experience, however, of excellent business companies in…

Though recent research indicates a stronger sense of purpose and satisfaction among faculty at community colleges relative to four-year institutions, criticism of community colleges for alleged deficiency in facilitating transfer to the four-year schools is widespread. This function however, is only one of the many comprehensive services provided…

The current educational reform movement defines excellence in rather narrow ways, seeming content to prescribe measures to correct the perceived permissiveness of the past--more control, more requirements, and tougher standards. But rather than merely retracing old ground, educators should recognize that they are operating on a different plane…