Community College Course
Teaching a class at the community college level, particularly when there is a wide age range among adult students, presents different challenges from teaching in grades K-12. Adults approach learning differently than do children; they have varied reasons for wanting to learn and bring a range of perspectives and experiences to the classroom. Malcolm Knowles gained prominence for his attempts to develop a distinctive conceptual basis for adult learning based on andragogy (Smith, 2002). Androgogy is a self-directed approach, wherein learning is a response to real-world problems. Knowles' work represented a significant departure from the notion of "teaching people" toward "helping people learn."
There are biological differences in the range of learners for the hypothetical course that is the subject of this paper. Students who range in age from seventeen to their mid-twenties are maturing into full frontal lobe development. Their ability to see "the big picture" is not as strong as that of the older students. Older learners tend to be highly motivated and positively predisposed toward the learning process. They understand and retain information more effectively when they have some control over the learning environment (Spigner-Littles and Anderson, 1999, p. 203).
The younger learners may just be starting their college studies. They may view the course as something that must be gotten through to get to the next step. Perhaps the course is a prerequisite for another course, or a requirement towards a degree. They may be less interested in the content than in fulfilling an obligation. Older students may be attending college for the first time, may be returning after a long absence, or may...
(Rosow, 1994, p. 797) From this review there is a clear sense that success with regard to community college students is determined by their ability to successfully complete the first term of study, as well as by their ability to receive financial aide that adequately covers costs. Additionally, offering culturally diverse social interactions through both official and unofficial means also assists the minority student in achieving success through peer relations
Community Colleges & Universities -- Comparisons What are the major differences between community colleges and four-year colleges and universities as far as financial and academic appropriateness for students? For millions of Americans, community colleges have an enormous advantage over four-year colleges and universities -- but what are those advantages? This paper will examine those and other issues relating to the community college vs. A four-year college / university. Community Colleges and Universities
(North Carolina Community College, system 2004, critical success factors) However, it must be mentioned that North Carolina is for the main part a public sector state, and it has a strong and a very well respected group of private Four-year colleges, and Community Colleges. While the four-year colleges in the state serve about 39% of all the undergraduates, the public Community Colleges serve about 43% of all students of the
Minority Transfers to Four-Year Universities In California today, over 70% of public school students and 50% of those in community colleges are black and Hispanic and the entire education system suffered greatly because of budget shortfalls in the last three years. Community colleges have an open admissions policy, unlike four-year universities, but also have a high drop-out rate for poor and minority students. According to the UCLA Civil Rights Project, in
The strength of a multi-level analysis is its ability to analyze how higher levels of variables mediate the relationship between lower levels of variables. Thus, Hypothesis II is as follows: the more 'supportive' a community college is toward vocational education (along the lines described above for Hypothesis I), the smaller the race, gender, and SES gap in wages and use of training on the job." 8. Is the specific research
Although community colleges have yet to be central to the debates over strengthening elementary and secondary education, some educational leaders have seen a role for them in strengthening American secondary education." (Baker, Dudziak, and Tyler 9) Baker et al. further report that Dale Parnell, former president of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), has advocated that community colleges work with area high schools to develop new, intensive technical education programs.
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now