Review of How College Works (original) (raw)

How College Works

How College Works, 2014

How College Works, by Daniel F. Chambliss and Christopher G. Takacs reports on a 15-year ethnographic study of students' experiences at Hamilton College, at which the authors serve on the faculty. Their focus is on both mundane and notable elements of students' undergraduate years at the College, attempting to elucidate those aspects that advance or constrain collegiate success in learning and degree achievement. Nearly 400 students were interviewed during the study period, eliciting a substantial cache of stories that are analyzed according to the fundamental question associated with the book's title. The authors' intention is to understand how planning decisions and organizational arrangements might be modified with little or no cost to achieve greater educational and experiential quality.

What matters in college

1993

Presents a study which focused primarily on student outcomes and how they are affected by college environments. Details of the study; Issues studied; Findings; Impact of student interaction; Peer group effects with regards to gender and race; Student-faculty interaction; Faculty responses to teaching; Implications for educational reform. INSET: Reflection and learning.

What Really Works in Student Success

2020

Community college students invest considerable time and money into attending college, but too few of them complete their programs of study. This paper discusses how the development of an overall framing vision for student success, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and the establishment of a culture that is both committed to student success and conducive to innovation are useful, complementary approaches that colleges can pursue to improve student outcomes.

Good Practices for Whom? A Vital Question for Understanding the First Year of College

New Directions for Institutional Research, 2014

This chapter demonstrates that the effects of good teaching and academic challenge on leadership and psychological well-being during the first year of college differ for African-American and White students, which suggests that institutional researchers should disaggregate data by race or other relevant student characteristics when trying to understand the relationship between experiences and outcomes for first-year students.

Best Practices in College Student Development

2018

In each essay, subject specialists introduce and explain the classic titles and topics that continue to remain relevant to the undergraduate curriculum and library collection. Disciplinary trends may shift, but some classics never go out of style.-AD