It is with great delight and appreciation that I announce the Summer 2013 issue of Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal. The focus on community colleges demonstrates the inclusive and innovative thinking of the editorial staff whose mission is the publication of articles that share insights and assessment results with an international community of educators.
The interview with George Boggs sets the stage for understanding the growing role of community colleges in STEM education, both nationally and internationally. Boggs is President and CEO Emeritus of the American Association of Community Colleges where he served for over 10 years as a well-respected advocate for broad access and success in higher education. For this issue, he offers his perspective on barriers to STEM degree attainment, the global role of community colleges, and the criticality of relationships between educational institutions and businesses.
The issue also features a Teaching and Learning piece by Sreedevi Ande of LaGuardia Community College, that identifies the underlying quantitative reasoning skills embedded in the Project Quantum Leap and SENCER projects. In addition, Abour Cherif and Maris Roze of DeVry University, along with their colleague Dr. Matthew Bruder, have written a Project Report that details a learning activity designed to create healthy meals in order to counter nutrition-related diseases. Another Project Report by Mangala Kothari of LaGuardia Community College describes an essential tool used to measure student success in Project Quantum Leap. And Jeffrey Webb of Southern Connecticut State University has contributed a research article on how to integrate SENCER into a large lecture general education chemistry course. Finally, in a Point of View piece, Dennis Lehman of Harold Washington College in Chicago, reflects on how SENCER’s resources and strategies have impacted and helped improve curriculum, retention and faculty development at an urban community college.
Many thanks to all the contributors to this special issue and the educational champions they inspire!
— Judy C. Miner
President, Foothill College