Education Commons^™

Teaching The Syllabus At The Community College, Yuemin He

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Reacting directly to the fact that even the best syllabus is worthless to the student who does not read it, this essay draws inspiration from research of the past decade, especially from the learning-focused syllabus concept that was introduced by three researchers at the University of Virginia, and uses a questionnaire to gauge our community college students’ needs. It suggests specific methods to build the bridge between course content instruction and syllabus teaching. Ultimately, it contributes to the discussion of several important syllabus-related questions: How can instructors use the syllabus as a pedagogical tool to build a strong student rapport? …

Call For Papers And Art

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

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Vol. 21 (Full)

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Front Cover

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Cover art by Kim Correale, an art student at John Tyler Community College.

Back Cover

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Exploring Student Diversity: College Students Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorders, Monique N. Colclough Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Higher education literature advises that college students who have autism spectrum disorders overwhelmingly attend community colleges. However the persistence and retention of college students who have autism spectrum disorders is not well documented. Absent among the existing literature are first-person narratives of college students who have autism. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of college students who have autism spectrum disorders, focusing on the social experiences that impact college persistence and retention. The following research questions guided the study: What are the social experiences of college students who have autism? What role(s) do various social experiences play in the persistence …

Review Of John Shank's Interactive Open Educational Resources, Kim Grewe

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education is becoming more widespread as college educators explore ways to increase college access and affordability. John Shank’s book Interactive Open Educational Resources: A Guide to Finding, Choosing, and Using What's Out There to Transform College Teaching is one of the better nuts and bolts guides available to those in higher education interested in exploring the use of OER in their courses and programs. This review analyzes Shank’s book and finds that although the guide provides useful advice for collecting, curating, and adopting OER, the book falls a bit short on …

Needs And Best Practices For Transfer To Our Four-Year Institutions: The Results Of Survey Research, Patrick K. Smith

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Contemporary concerns for college programs focus on the ability of the program to prepare students to become employable upon graduation. For a community college psychology program, that focus is somewhat muted by the fact that many of the graduates of the community college will transfer to four-year state universities. For this reason, it is imperative for the community college programs to ascertain from those four-year institutions what preparation those transferring students need. This study has captured what fourteen state public university psychology departments desire for transferring students and what they see as lacking in their students transferring from community colleges. …

Oral Communication Competency Across The Virginia Community College System: A Faculty-Designed Assessment, Lindsey Interlante Mpa, Ma, Cynthia De Riemer Phd, Philip Tirpak Ma, Araceli Palomino Ma

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

A full-scale oral communication assessment was conducted by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) during the academic year 2013-14. Key components of this assessment included faculty involvement at all stages of assessment and collaboration with assessment coordinators and lead staff personnel. The VCCS Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness partnered with CST faculty experts to design the assessment. The Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form, a standardized and tested instrument used to assess public speaking competency in higher education, was used to evaluate student speeches. Designed by the National Communication Association, this instrument identifies eight competencies for measurement. The results of …

An Examination Of The Predictive Relationship Between Mode Of Instruction And Student Success In Introductory Biology, Lynette Hauser Ms

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Community colleges, including those in Virginia, continue to increase online course offerings in an effort to provide access and cost effective education to a growing student population. With increased student demand for online learning, community colleges should explore further the possibility of offering more science courses online. This research study investigated the success of non-science major Virginia Community College System (VCCS) students in BIO 102 who had previously completed BIO 101 online. This multi-institutional, multi-semester study of community college online biology students collected data from the VCCS and found that the mode of instruction in BIO 101 was not predictive …

Perceived Barriers To Higher Education In Stem Among Disadvantaged Rural Students: A Case Study, Lisa Henley Med, Ma, Phyllis Roberts Ma

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This case study examined the perceptions of scholarship recipients participating in Southwest Virginia Community College’s (SWCC’s) S-STEM scholarship program which examined whether the program helped remove barriers to students’ educational goals and STEM career aspirations. The study used a focus group and a survey to elicit responses from student participants in the SWCC S-STEM program. Participants were low-income residents of rural Appalachia, and many were first generation college students. Results indicated that students in the SWCC S-STEM program experienced a wide variety of barriers to STEM educational and career success, including economic, geographic, social, and educational barriers, and that the …

Ballroom Dance: An Education Like No Other, Carrie Pledger Ms, Mat

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

As a disciplinary program, dance falls between the arts and physical education. As a result, it can often be overlooked or sidelined by either program, to the determent of its great value for community college students. Dance and its attention to movement, mental focus, and physical control provide important neurological benefits that affect both the mind and the body. This study examines research studies that identify the neurological benefits of dance and evaluates student perceptions of its value on physical and mental well-being. The research on student perceptions was conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Plagiarism In The Community College Classroom, William Mccarter Ma, Michael Murphy Ma

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Notes In Brief

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Community College And University Interprofessional Collaboration: Student Centered Partnership Between Nutrition And Dental Hygiene Faculty, Cynthia Cadieux Phd, Rdn, Fand, Christine Medlin Phd, Rdn, Fand, Gayle Mccombs Rdh, Ms

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Interprofessional education (IPE) is critical in today’s educational and healthcare arenas. This article describes the initial design, implementation, and evaluation of a Community College/ University IPE collaboration that enabled dental hygiene graduate students to satisfy course requirements and service learning competencies, promoted faculty development, and also served the community. Under the direction of a community college dietetics professor, students and faculty from both academic institutions had opportunities to participate in community outreach events. Experiences included teacher recertification training for community college credits in the local school system, paraprofessional workshops, community-based health fairs, career counseling, guest lectures, expanded internship sites, and …

Front Cover

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Cover art by Amanda Layton, a Photography student at John Tyler Community College.

Back Cover

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Cover Art by Amanda Layton. Amanda Layton attends John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Virginia, and is currently majoring in photography. After first struggling to find her career direction, Amanda realized that her passion for the arts and especially for photography were the interests that she should develop and explore further. Her family has been very supportive of her choices, and their gift of her first camera a few years ago has led her along interesting paths as she develops her skills in artistic photography and captures the world around her.

Front Matter

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Cover art: "Adventures in Wonderland" by Kristen Kaltenberg, a Computer Arts student at Thomas Nelson Community College.

Student Engagement And Professional Development In An Innovative Learning Community, Kim Hoosier Phd, Sam Pincus Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

As two Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) faculty set out to create an innovative learning community, they found that they also fostered a complex and rewarding professional development opportunity. This is an account of what it took to create such a community, and some of the lessons they learned along the way.

A Comparative Analysis Of Safeassign And Turnitin, Jared Hunt Ma, Patrick Tompkins Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The plagiarism detection programs SafeAssign and Turnitin are commonly used at the collegiate level to detect improper use of outside sources. In order to determine whether either program is superior, this study evaluated the programs using four standards: (1) the ability to detect legitimate plagiarism, (2) the ability to avoid false positives, (3) the ease of use in design, and (4) cost. After submitting 284 texts to both programs—including a random sampling of anonymous student texts from different disciplines; a sample of autobiographies, which were unlikely to be plagiarized; and a sample of texts assembled from online sources which were …

Reengineering Introductory Psychology For The Virtual Classroom: Qualitative Report On Initial Course Design And Preliminary Student Feedback, Scott M. Debb Phd, Jenny Dozier Ma, Linda Haugh Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

For students of any academic background or vocational preference, introductory psychology is also one of the most popular social science courses. For many students in the community college setting, the introductory psychology course may be the only formal exposure to non- pseudoscience theory a student will receive. The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) has transfer agreements with many of the four-year institutions in Virginia, and there is a reengineering effort underway that, among many other things, will help ensure consistency with regards to students’ exposure to essential course and learning objectives. One component of reengineering is to create default template-style …

Teaching Scientific Writing In The Two-Year College, Arthur Schuhart Da

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This article introduces a new course in the Virginia Community College System English Curriculum, “English 114: Scientific Writing.” The article briefly reviews the concept of “science rhetoric,” then discusses the intended audience and purpose of the course, and explains the basic goals of the course in relation to the two-year science student-writer. Next the article reviews the Course Content Summary, explaining and giving examples for each of the objectives listed, and notes one significant challenge to the success of the class in the VCCS. The article includes student responses, a sample syllabus, two sample writing assignments, and a complete Bibliography …

Nurse Success: A Faculty Intervention To Help Students Realize Their Goals, Karen Bloomfield M.S., R.N., P.M.H.C.N.S.-B.C, Wendy Diment M.S.N., R.N., Kristina O’Meara M.S.N., A.P.R.N., F.N.P.

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Nursing faculty at Piedmont Virginia Community College have developed an innovative and formal mentoring program designed to improve success for their students. Nurse Success was introduced in 2011 and provided support for students experiencing academic concerns. The program highlights findings that demonstrate the complex challenges often faced by students that extend beyond the academic and into personal and financial issues that impact student performance.

Back Cover

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Kristen Kaltenberg is a Computer Arts student at Thomas Nelson Community College. Her Adventures in Wonderland is a composite piece created in Adobe Photoshop for a Computer Graphics I class. Kristen’s winning entry was selected from a competition of student submissions from throughout the Virginia Community College System.

David Rueckert is a full time Associate Professor at Thomas Nelson Community College where he has taught since 2006. Mr. Rueckert received his MFA in Art and Visual Technology from George Mason University and his Fine Arts degree from University of Mary Washington.

Discussing Gender And Sexuality In The Community College Classroom, Jason Barr

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This author’s reading selection for his class provoked an unexpected response: when one of the main characters in the reading “came out of the closet,” the students divided themselves into those who were willing to discuss the issues, and those who weren’t.

Back Cover

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Ana Maria Mendez Ritchie photographed “Mennonite 2” while enrolled in Adjunct Art Instructor Ben Wyrick’s “Digital Photography” course at Blue Ridge Community College. Here, they examine a prop for photography.

Partnership For Math Success: Development Of A Mathematics Readiness Class For High School Students, Yvonne Jessee

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

To implement the developmental mathematics redesign, this author’s College partnered with two public school systems to establish early placement testing and a capstone readiness course, to be administered in the high school students’ senior year.