High-impact practices in community colleges

Abstract

There has been relatively little research published on pedagogical approaches used in the sociology college classroom within community colleges. Community college faculty may face very different challenges than their university counterparts in engaging students in high-impact practices. This chapter examines the available research on the high-impact pedagogical strategies of service-learning and undergraduate research at the community college level. An analysis of each practice, suggestions for assessing the practice, and recommendations for overcoming barriers is presented. Given that large numbers of undergraduate students are introduced to sociology within community colleges, employment of high-impact practices at the community college level are important not just for student learning but for issues of equity and social justice. This chapter ends with a call for increased opportunities for global learning for community college students and a call to action to publish about the scholarship of teaching and learning in sociology at the community college level.