This study examined student learning via the composite measure of intellectual abilities among 1,210 Latina/o undergraduates at 4-year institutions. Longitudinal pre and post surveys were used to examine the impact of interrelated variables on Latina/o' senior year cognitive gains. This study applied Becker's (1993) human capital theory and…

China's higher education system has been marked by dramatic growth since 1999. In response to calls for quality assurance, substantial efforts have been made to improve collegiate environments and enhance student learning. However, only limited empirical research has been conducted to investigate the effects of the college environment on student…

Most first-year seminars exist to ensure that incoming students achieve what is commonly described as "academic success." While definitions of this term vary widely, it most often means socializing students into an academic culture so that they will remain at the institution, achieve a strong GPA, and graduate on time. Most first-year…

With goals of fostering an intellectual atmosphere, building relationships, and increasing students' involvement on campus--and, ultimately, their rates of retention--universities around the country, including Elon, Michigan State, and Southern Methodist, are looking to residence life. House systems, residential neighborhoods, and living-learning…

ACT College Outcomes Survey data were collected from 27,811 students (63% aged 20-22, 37% over 26). Older students were much less involved in campus activities and more in family responsibilities. Adults reported higher levels of academic and intellectual growth in terms of broadening interests, critical thinking, study skills, career development,…

With a knowledge of students' thinking processes, activities advisers and leaders can design environments for maximum learning and development. An interpretation of Perry's model of intellectual and ethical development is provided. (MLW)

A study investigated the extent to which 210 college students' learning orientations were shaped independently and jointly by their academic and nonacademic experiences. Findings indicated that the two kinds of experience each made statistically significant and unique contributions to gains in intellectual orientation after controlling for…

"Politically correct" outlooks are to be neither wholly accepted nor wholly rejected; they are to be learned from. The self-scrutiny bred by concern about political correctness is an important part of the university tradition; and without it, colleges could not experience their current growing diversity. (MSE)

Feminist scholarship, as a contemporary current in academic life, is analyzed from the perspective of research on the formation of intentional intellectual communities. Interview data reveal that faculty conceive of their commitments and sense of community in ways that do not always correspond to idealized conceptions of academic organization.…

Restrictions on intellectual freedom have existed in American colleges and universities from their founding in the mid-seventeenth century through the rise of the corporate and government dominated institutions of today, and intellectual repression is a principal factor in low faculty morale in the 1980s. (MSE)

A study with 101 college freshmen indicates that freshman experience promotes increasing intellectual complexity for both sexes, but more for males than females. Analysis of student expectations and perceptions of environments shows subtle differences that may account for differential growth, suggesting some approaches to creating equitable…

In response to an emerging anti-intellectualism on campus, Saint Lawrence University (New York) instituted an interdisciplinary first-year course built around themes of community and identity. The effort is designed to stimulate intellectual development, bring faculty and students into closer contact, and blend academics and student life. (MSE)

This speech examines the image of the university as a powerful center of knowledge in the contexts of both the traditional university and the modern research university. The institution's role in thinking and research, personal growth, and social change are discussed, especially as these areas interrelate and can create an exciting intellectual…

A college, it is argued, should be a place where basic assumptions are examined; where trained minds weigh options; where schools of thought are developed; and where social, political, and moral ramifications of that thought are tested. (MLW)

The purpose of this study was to investigate how living-learning (L/L) program participation similarly and dissimilarly affects college students' intellectual growth at three large public research universities. L/L programs have been introduced at large universities in order to create more intimate peer communities that help foster students'…