An "active learning" classroom design recognizes the importance of students becoming engaged in their own learning. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study compared student-reported data (n = 219) and used the "community of inquiry" framework to evaluate the impact of environmental features on students' experience. Students…

The benefits of instructor immediacy have been well researched over the past 40 years. This study investigated students' comfort with instructors' nonverbal immediacy behaviors. University students reported their comfort with three nonverbal communication behaviors: haptics, proxemics, and kinesics. A series of paired-sampled t tests suggested a…

To respond to the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses, many postsecondary institutions have instituted campus climate surveys, strengthened sexual assault misconduct policies, and created sexual assault task forces to coordinate entities "within" the institutional setting. However, few colleges and universities have engaged…

In the current study, we investigated the ways in which the acquisition and transfer of spatial knowledge were affected by (a) the type of spatial relations predominately experienced during learning (routes determined by walkways vs. straight-line paths between locations); (b) environmental complexity; and (c) the availability of rotational…

This study intends to investigate how multi-symbolic representations (text, digits, and colors) could effectively enhance the completion of co-located/distant collaborative work in a virtual reality context. Participants' perceptions and behaviors were also studied. A haptics-enhanced virtual reality task was developed to conduct…

A significant number of distance students report they "stray" from their home universities by using local libraries, despite the fact that distance education librarians work hard to provide customized resources and services tailored to their programs and needs. Are public libraries and special libraries able to meet the research needs of…

This study examined teaching assistant's immediacy in lecture/laboratory and self-contained classes. Two hundred fifty-six students responded to instruments measuring teachers' immediacy behavior frequency, perceptions of instruction quality, and cognitive learning. No significant difference was identified when comparing lecture/laboratory and…

Scott Jaschik's article, "New Look at the Impact of Diversity," invites the reader to explore the dynamics of racial diversity on the college environment, discussing the findings of a longitudinal study conducted at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) that provides empirical evidence that documents student's racial attitudes. In…