Civil engineers design structures such as buildings, dams, highways and bridges. Student teams explore the field of engineering by making bridges using spaghetti as their primary building material. Then they test their bridges to see how much weight they can carry before breaking.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the history of Spanish missions in California. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Welcome To The Student Success Library!
Each subject below links to a student success “chapter” of content which includes videos, readings, activities as well as tools for educators. At the bottom of this page, you’ll see a big button that says Student Success Textbook, which has all of the content on each of these subjects compiled into a downloadable PDF. Enjoy and have a great experience.

N.B.: The Student Success Library was customized for Santa Monica College (SMC) in Santa Monica, CA. If you come across an SMC that does not apply to or is not useful to you, search your local resources for similar tools that can help.

Success Strategies for the Adult Re-Entry Student integrates personal growth and values, academic study strategies and critical and creative thinking proficiency for adult reentry students, emphasizing the attainment of lifelong success in academic, professional, and personal development.

At College of the Canyons, this counseling course is COUNS 100 (3 units)

For teachers in K-Grade 5 classrooms, the author of this article reviews the reading comprehension strategies known as Summarizing and Synthesizing. She provides links to web sites and to a book that will provide more background information and lessons. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the seven essential principles of climate science.

Language is not describing our lives. It is creating them.

What lives are we creating for each other? What type of life are we living according to media in our countries? What are the things we are believing in?

Transformation is a compilation of 7 stories from 7 different countries. Stories that we are perceiving through media, stories we dislike and we have decided to alter by creating different stories, optimistic stories, so-called counter-narratives.

Discover what are media instilling in minds of people from Italy, Greece, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Latvia and learn how to protect yourself from manipulation by media.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Texas Revolution. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the polio epidemic and vaccine. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Transitions to Professional Nursing Practice provides a pivotal learning experience for students transitioning from an associate degree education to a baccalaureate degree. Content includes a broad overview of the nursing profession, the role of accrediting and professional organizations with a strong focus on the American Nurses Association’s foundational documents. The competencies of the Standards of Professional Practice and the Code of Ethics are weaved throughout the text.

Topics covered in this text include professional nursing practice, baccalaureate education, healthcare in the 21st century, autonomy and accountability, nursing philosophy, professional development, communication, interprofessional collaboration, critical thinking, introduction to evidence-based practice, and nursing leadership and theory.

Students will create a route for their ozobot to travel using parallel, perpendicular and intersecting lines. They will also create a "trap" to catch a turkey, or other animal, on the route.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

A checklist used by teachers to assess elementary students’ use of heuristics (strategies or routines) to solve problems.

A rubric in student language used by elementary students to meet high standards of quality as they problem solve.

Using critical thinking questions to determine to what extent two stories meet the criteria of their genres as well as how they might compare and/or contrast.

Created by Alan Mitnick, Passaic County Community College (NJ)

This lesson focuses on developing critical thinking skills through reading informational text, determining pros and cons, and making a final recommendation. It is framed within the context of finding a babysitter for two young children, but can be modified to apply to other situations as well.

This lesson will help prepare learners to compare multiple options, decide on a final recommendation, and provide a written justification of their choice.