7. Fitness is for amateurs. There is no mystique about it, and experts do not intimidate. Although body builders and marathon athletes may know everything there is to know and do everything there is to do in developing their own expertise, they do not deter the rest of us from knowing what works for us.

%. fitness does not require large expenditures of money. Wearing the right shoes will surely help, but stylish jogging outfits and fancy equipment are incidental, and lack of funds is rarely heard as an excuse for doing nothing.

¥. Fitness is active. No one ever became fit by watching someone else or listening to descriptions of fitness. People who are models of fitness can inspire; experts can demonstrate exercises and skills; and reading assignments can inform and develop appreciations; but in the final analysis, the only way to develop fitness is to engage actively in the activities that are known or thought to lead to that goal.

If the goal of a good college is to prepare students for a lifetime of active learning, what do we know from research and experience about the processes of teaching and learning and how to improve them?

One of the better applications of research knowledge on teaching and learning in higher education is found in the recent NIE Report on educational reform entitled, Involvement in Learning (Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Education, 1984). The committee of educational researchers conclude that "The quality of undergraduate education could be significantly improved if American colleges and universities would apply existing knowledge about three critical conditions of excellence—(1) student involvement, (2) high expectations, and (3) assessment and feedback" (p. 17).

They define student involvement as the amount of "time, energy and effort students devote to the learning process" (p. 17). It doesn’t take research to convince any teacher that involvement in learning is critical; our own learning experiences and those of our students offer ample testimony. But the two fundamental principles derived from research by the authors of the NIE Report bear highlighting:

1. The amount of student learning and personal development associated with any educational program is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement in that program, and

2. The effectiveness of any educational policy or practice is directly related to the capacity of the policy or practice to improve student involvement in learning (p. 19).

Sandy Astin, in Achieving Educational Excellence, contends that students who are involved in almost anything on the campus are more likely to learn and less likely to drop out than students who remain on the periphery. This positive effect occurs in all types of institutions and among all types of students. Holding a part-time job, participating in athletics, student government, honors programs and almost anything else that brings the student into closer contact with faculty and fellow students seems to result in a closer identification with the college with the attendant positive effects on student retention.

Because residential living and student activities are not significant aspects of the community college environment, the burden of involving students falls heavily on classroom teachers. But the typical college classroom doesn’t demand much involvement on the part of students. Therefore, the task for teachers is to encourage students to put forth the exertion that is required for learning.

Research suggests that community college teachers strive for student involvement in the classroom, are significantly concerned about individual differences, are student-oriented, and conscientiously provide feedback on student performance. And while they seem to fall short in holding high expectations for their students, there is now a growing movement among community colleges to raise expectations and to demand performance.

| salute you—community college teachers and administrators concerned about teaching—as the frontline for teaching excellence.

K. Patricia Cross Harvard Graduate School of Education

Abstracted from "Improving Learning in Community Colleges," presented to the National Conference on Teaching Excellence, The University of Texas, Austin, May 21, 1986.

For further information, contact the author at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 406 Gutman Library, Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3704.

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor September 12, 1986, Vol. VII, No. 18 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin,

Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in part by the WK. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terrns and monthly during the summer.

© The University of Texas at Austin, 1986 Further duplication is permitted only by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. ISSN 0199-106X