Your students need new skills to effectively lead in today’s world.
Colleges and universities face challenges in effectively engaging all students and creating space for inclusive discussion in our increasingly polarized society. Touchstones offers you a method to systematically establish a classroom culture of respect in partnership with your students. In Touchstones Discussions, students learn to teach themselves and others, collaborate with those they perceive as different from themselves, gain greater awareness of their assumptions as they become more open to new perspectives, and ultimately share power and responsibility.
Where is Touchstones used in higher ed and for what outcomes?
Students in Touchstones Bridge Programs find an encouraging and safe space where they learn and practice new habits and skills that complement existing strengths. Working individually, in small groups, and through full class discussion, students engage in active listening, critical thinking, and cooperative learning. They discover their place and voice in higher education, while gaining a greater appreciation for their untapped potential.
Touchstones textbooks and academic programs successfully support each student by helping them to identify their challenges and strengths. Learning cooperatively with their peers, students begin to explore their own experiences and knowledge in relation to others, course, content, and the greater world around us. Authentic connections and feelings of belonging are natural outcomes from the authentic engagement fostered in every Touchstones discussion.
From First-Year and Second-Year Seminar
s to leadership courses, undergraduate teacher preparation programs, and advanced degree programs that prioritize intellectual and practical growth and development, Touchstones leads the way. Students in Touchstones programs become more aware of what they need to do differently to drive more personal growth. They learn to be better listeners, respectful participants, self-motivated learners, and critical and creative thinkers. And they gain invaluable practice in teamwork that helps them identify and resolve complex problems through collaboration and shared leadership.
Touchstones provides professional educators at every stage of their professional careers with a proven method for building student engagement and authentic community through a structured, replicable, and highly democratic discussion protocol. As you examine the roles of essential communication, thinking, and self-regulation skills fostered in Touchstones, you’ll explore how those competencies meet goals tied to instructional design, improved classroom culture, and enhanced student development.
Data from Touchstones in Higher Ed
SAT prep in bridge programs – Research conducted at Baruch University examined student performance on the critical reading section of the College Board®’ s SAT. ELL student participants in a two-year bridge program using Touchstones to build reading comprehension and critical thinking skills scored 100 points higher on their critical reading scores on average after their engagement in that program. This independent study and analysis confirms similar data shared by educators using Touchstones Preparation for Critical Reading in both Maryland and North Carolina public high schools with students whose first language is English and whose academic performance in English was in the mid-range of their peer group.
University Oklahoma Honors College – the Touchstones program Mapping the Future was the central textbook for student engagement and leadership development in this course that was run at the University of Oklahoma. All students in the course reported significant gains from participating in skill development tied to civic discourse, cooperative teamwork, critical thinking, and collaborative leadership. An abbreviated, semester-long course of Mapping the Future is now available from Touchstones, as well.
- Review Textbook
- Student survey results from OU
Join the