Education Commons^™

Front Cover (Spring 2024), Tina Geissler

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Tina Geissler is a graphic design student at Tidewater Community College.

How Can A Culturally Responsive Discussion Of The Five-Paragraph Essay Help Asian American Students Write Well?, Yuemin He, Catherine M. Gaiser

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The five-paragraph essay is highly controversial, and yet it has also been a useful format for composition. In this essay we explain why, despite its limits, students need to go along with the format to make what use and get what advantage of it. We then demonstrate that valuing the philosophical, historical, cultural, and educational backgrounds of our students can help navigate away from the restrictive nature of the format and lead to equitable learning for all students. Finally, we introduce a few curriculum designs and instructional practices to expand the epistemological and pedagogical frontiers of the format. In short, …

Front Cover (Spring 2023)

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Molly, who is a photography major, mostly takes portraits and product photography.

Front Cover (Spring 2021), Ronald Bentley

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The artwork Albemarle Sunset is a photograph taken with a Sony A7 II mirrorless digital camera and edited in Adobe Lightroom for exposure, color correction, and spot correction only.

Do The Verb. Become The Noun: Writing Towards A New Identity, Mary K. Tedrow

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Abstract

The initial composition course in the community college has the potential to be a transformative space for the identity formation of adult learners towards the linguistic signifier of scholar. Freshman students of variable ages enter a new culture which demands the negotiation of an alternative academic language, an adaptation to the post-secondary culture, and the development of the critical thinking required for academic work. All of these factors can destabilize identity as students confront long-held beliefs and biases in their studies (Bartholomae, 1985; Tingle, 2004; Bracher, 2006). Students who are unable to adapt to the new environment are …

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? …

Front Cover (Summer 2020), Rosemary Gallick

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The cover art is by Rosemary Gallick. This acrylic painting was created as a reflection on losing a dear colleague, friend, and well known national author who was part of the VCCS. When Bob Bausch passed last year, Rosemary wondered where his feisty energy had gone. "Spirits Rising" is a hopeful and uplifting artwork that transcends the physical world. Gallick believes that the artwork embraces the theme of New Horizons and visually imagines the possibilities.

Problem Based Learning: Connecting Sociocultural Theory With Service Learning And Reflection, Lauren K. Foster

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This presentation focuses on the aspects of problem-based learning within writing courses and the interconnectedness to sociocultural theory and its impacts on service learning and reflection. This presentation highlights service learning as an interactive learning tool for students to incorporate problem based learning and introduces reflection as a means of assessment. Through reflection of service learning students can understand the validity of sociocultural impacts within the world around them to help better prepare them to problem solve through writing applications. The goal then is to actively engage students on larger scale by introducing real-world problems and introducing cultural impacts.

Front Cover (Fall 2019), Anne Deangelis

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The cover art is by Anne Deangelis, a student at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Review Of Genesea M. Carter And William H. Thelin’S Class In The Composition Classroom, Christian Aguiar

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Though community colleges enroll the majority of working-class college students, research on how to best serve the interests of working-class students at our institutions is limited. In Class in the Composition Classroom: Pedagogy and the Working Class, the contributors tackle the issue of supporting working-class students in college composition classes from several angles, offering practical pedagogical advice, guidance on college-wide initiatives, and research into common challenges faced by working-class students. While the text will be most valuable for those who teach writing, its insights apply to anyone who serves at a community college.

Massive Resistance And The Origins Of The Virginia Technical College System, Richard A. Hodges Ed.D.

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The 1954 rulings in the United States Supreme Court cases of Brown v Board of Education was a landmark event in civil rights history. As momentous as the rulings were, they were not embraced by many Southern politicians. This was especially true in Virginia where Harry F. Byrd, Sr., U. S. Senator from Virginia, embarked on a campaign to massively resist court ordered school desegregation. Over the course of the next several years, Virginia's leaders would pass laws specifically designed to undermine the Brown rulings. These laws, known as massive resistance would, among other things, grant the governor the power …

Front Cover (Summer 2019)

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The cover art is by Julia DiMartino, a student at John Tyler Community College.

Steps Toward Safety For Students: Sexual Assault Prevention On College Campuses, Rosetta Dudley

Student Writing

The deaths of Wendy Martinez and Mollie Tibbets gained national attention and raised awareness on the current issue of violence against women. Several reports of sexual assault or domestic violence have been reported at Germanna Community College and it is time to act to reduce the number of cases to zero. Movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp have been momentous and one could argue the power of right now to make college campuses a safer place. The risk-factors are many for sexual assault and violence on college campus, but the damage can be a heavy weight to carry. Betsy Devos has …