Relevant Research and Writing
Liberal Arts Education
Only Connect...: The Goals of a Liberal Education. The American Scholar. 1998. 67(4)
By Bill Cronon, founding Faculty Director of CRC.
An essay that articulates ten qualities of the liberally educated person
Statement of Liberal Learning
Adopted by the Board of Directors of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, October 1998
Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College
A Report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, this publication provides a wide-ranging and thought-provoking overview of student achievement in college. It examines a set of outcomes that are highly prized both by the academy and by employers, which include critical thinking, quantitative literacy, communication skills, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement. Drawing together research from diverse sources and studies, this report examines what we know—and how much we still need to find out—about student achievement on these and other important learning outcomes across the several years of college.
Faculty and Student Affairs Partnerships in Student Learning
Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-wide Focus on the Student Experience
By The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and
Association of American College Personnel Administrators
Learning Reconsidered is an argument for the integrated use of all of higher education’s resources in the education and preparation of the whole student. It is also an introduction to new ways of understanding and supporting learning and development as intertwined, inseparable elements of the student experience. It advocates for transformative education—a holistic process of learning that places the student at the center of the learning experience.
Powerful Partnerships: A Shared Responsibility for Learning
By The American Association of Higher Education, American College Personnel Association, and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (1998).
Despite American higher education's success at providing collegiate education for an unprecedented number of people, the vision of equipping all our students with learning deep enough to meet the challenges of the post-industrial age provides us with a powerful incentive to do our work better. People collaborate when the job they face is too big, is too urgent, or requires too much knowledge for one person or group to do alone. Marshalling what we know about learning and applying it to the education of our students is just such a job. This report makes the case that only when everyone on campus -- particularly academic affairs and student affairs staff--shares the responsibility for student learning will we be able to make significant progress in improving it.
Connecting the Dots: Multi-Faceted Analyses of the Relationships between Student Engagement Results from the NSSE, and the Institutional Practices and Conditions that Foster Student Success
By George D. Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, Ty Cruce, Rick Shoup, and Robert M. Gonyea
This study, from the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University Bloomington, looks at the relationships between student engagement and measures of college success for students from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It connects colleges’ NSSE results with student demographics and data about students’ academic preparation, first-year grades, and retention to the second year. The study found that engagement in educationally effective practices has a compensatory effect on grade point average and persistence to the second year for students of color and lower ability students.
Faculty Do Matter: The Role of College Faculty in Student Learning and Engagement
By Paul D. Umbach and Matthew R. Wawrzynski
This study explores the relationship between faculty practices and student engagement. Findings suggest that students report higher levels of engagement and learning at institutions where faculty members use active and collaborative learning techniques, engage students in experiences, emphasize higher-order cognitive activities in the classroom, interact with students, challenge students academically, and value enriching educational experiences. In general, faculty at liberal arts colleges are the most likely to engage their students.
Learning Communities Residential Learning Communities International Clearinghouse
A website that contains a bibliography of writing and research on learning communities, and descriptions of learning communities around the world.
National Study of Learning Communities
The National Study of Living-Learning Programs (NSLLP) is a multi-year study that examines how participation in living-learning programs fosters students’ academic and social outcomes. In addition, the NSLLP includes a special focus on how living-learning programs may facilitate the success of women majoring in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). The NSLLP is supported by the following organizations:
- The National Science Foundation (Grant #0521762)
- Association of College and University Housing Officers International
- National Association of Student Personnel Administrators
- American College Personnel Association
The NSLLP provides a cohesive research program that examines living-learning programs using a consistent methodology. It provides participating institutions with credible, relevant, and useful information about the learning and development of their residential student populations.