Bridglall, B: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Beatrice L. Bridglall currently teaches at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. Her research areas include higher, international and comparative education; student development, engagement and persistence in K-12 and higher education; school reform; and program research and evaluation. She has co-edited several books, including Supplementary Education: The Hidden Curriculum of High Academic Achievement (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), and Affirmative Development: Cultivating Academic Ability (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008).

Concerns with how students are taught, and whether and how they learn, has become particularly salient in higher education. This is evident in growing awareness of increases in time-to-degree and declines in attainment rates for many students, including those who are underrepresented, in our nation's community and public and private colleges and universities. It is also demonstrated vis-à-vis recent findings that more than a third of college students evinced no noticeable improvement in critical thinking, writing, and complex reasoning skills after four years as an undergraduate. These findings suggest that while a focus on access to and participation in the nation's colleges and universities remain a prominent goal, it is no longer sufficient given persistent disparities in post secondary student learning.There are a few models however, from which we can distill a set of strategies for promoting not only high achievement, but also retention and completion rates. This book examines three such models in higher education - the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the Opportunity Programs at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York; and the Premedical Program at Xavier University in New Orleans - with a proven record of student achievement and completion.

Part I: Persistent Underperformance & UnderrepresentationChapter 1: Current Issues and Trends in Higher EducationChapter 2: Creating Effective Social and Intellectual Communities/Environments in Higher Education: A Theoretical PerspectivePart II: Contemporary exemplars of excellenceIntroducing Chapter 3: Student Underrepresentation in STEMChapter 3: Preparing Students for Research Careers: The Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyBeatrice L. Bridglall, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, and Kenneth MatonIntroducing Chapter 4: The Benefits of High Attainment/Completion Rates in ContextChapter 4: Creating Opportunities to Learn: The Opportunity Programs at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NYSusan Layden, Beatrice L. Bridglall, and Sheldon SolomonIntroducing Chapter 5: A Brief Historical Overview of Medical EducationChapter 5: A Model for Increasing Access to Medical School: The Premedical Program at Xavier University in New OrleansPart III: Research and Policy ImplicationsChapter 6: Recommendations & Policy ImplicationsAppendix A: Overview of the Study