The use of online homework systems that require the purchase of an access code has become widespread. The purpose of this study is to examine student experiences with and perceptions of online homework systems with access codes. Postsecondary students (N = 966) completed a survey about the financial costs, perceptions of quality, engagement with,…

My study seeks to explore the extent that select secondary and postsecondary indicators predict STEM student enrollment and persistence particularly for Hispanic students. Identifying postsecondary STEM success and college readiness indicators with special focus on malleable indicators that can assist educators, administrators, and policymakers in…

In a flipped classroom, an increasingly popular pedagogical model, students view a video lecture at home and work on exercises with the instructor during class time. Advocates of the flipped classroom claim the practice not only improves student achievement but also ameliorates the achievement gap. We conduct a randomized controlled trial at West…

In a flipped classroom, an increasingly popular pedagogical model, students view a video lecture at home and work on exercises with the instructor during class time. Advocates of the flipped classroom claim the practice not only improves student achievement, but also ameliorates the achievement gap. We conduct a randomized controlled trial at West…

The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on the legality of racial preferences, in part thanks to a lawsuit against Harvard College alleging that the school discriminates against Asian-Americans. Proving discrimination at a specific school is an arduous task, requiring access to private, detailed admissions records--as the legal documents in that…

Studies in social stratification have used siblings as a tool to learn about the intergenerational transmission of advantage but less often have asked how siblings impact one another's life chances. The author draws on social capital theory and hypothesizes that when youths attend college, they increase the probability that their siblings attend…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether supplemental instruction and online homework can improve student performance and understanding in a first-semester calculus course at a large urban four-year college. The study examined the metacognitive and study skills and posttest scores of students. The study also focused on students' and…

Introduction to Sociology at a large public university was taught in two separate formats, blended learning and lecture, during the same semester by the first author. While some similarities existed, the distinction was in delivery of course content. Additionally, the blended class had one-third less in-class time that was primarily devoted to…

Two sections of Genetics and Evolution were taught by one instructor. One group (the fully flipped section) had the entire class period devoted to active learning (with background material that had to be watched before class), and the other group (the partially flipped section) had just a portion of class time spent on active learning (with the…

College algebra fulfills general education requirements at many colleges in the United States. The study reported here investigated differences in mathematics achievement between undergraduates in college algebra classes using one of two homework methods: "WeBWorK," an open-source system for web-based homework, or traditional…

As the ACT has become part of North Carolina's mandatory testing program, SAT participation in Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) and North Carolina has declined in recent years. However, SAT performance in WCPSS remains high compared to state and national averages. In 2012-13, students in WCPSS continued to score 50-60 points higher on the…

The student climate survey provides the opportunity to monitor students' opinions regarding topicssuch as behavioral environment, adult fairness and respect, student academic self-confidence, teacher expectations, student engagement, and social emotional learning (SEL) skills. This report examines differences in survey responses by student groups…

The student climate survey provides the opportunity to monitor students' opinions regarding topics such as behavioral environment, adult fairness and respect, student academic self-confidence, teacher expectations, student engagement, and social emotional learning (SEL) skills. This is a technical report on results from the 2016-2017 student…

At the college level, the effectiveness of active-learning interventions is typically measured at the broadest scales: the achievement or retention of all students in a course. Coarse-grained measures like these cannot inform instructors about an intervention's relative effectiveness for the different student populations in their classrooms or…

As online and hybrid courses are becoming a wide-spread option for higher education, researchers are exploring various delivery methods. Hybrid courses involve blending two modes of interaction--both face-to-face as well as online. The exact distribution and timing of face-to-face meetings verse online delivery is a question that instructors have…