When we are young, we are often asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This question is challenging for many to answer. When we are young, our idea of what we can be is often based on what we know given our short life experiences or occupations held by those close to us or where we grow up, such as a teacher, nurse, farmer,…

Higher education as a baby boomer brings mental, physical, and economic adjustments, concerns, and insecurities. Additionally, life delivers unexpected challenges and barriers which can cause hardships requiring various types of motivation. Fortunately, there are also catalysts which can contribute toward successes. Literature from four major…

Doctoral students usually exhibit a proven track record of academic success as demonstrated by the completion of both undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, despite that success, attrition rates across doctoral program are high. The challenges inherent in completing a doctoral program are well-documented, but the over-arching concepts that…

Online education today is on the front lines of the massive changes in society brought on by the rise of the Internet and its impact on how knowledge is constructed, who controls it, and how these changes affect higher education. For students and educators, developing a more robust definition of quality in online education is a potential tool to…

This is a study of African American men alumni who were members of a Black Male Initiative (BMI) organization at a predominantly white institution (PWI) in the Midwest. The research explores the motivation and transformational experiences of BMI alumni and how their participation in the organization provided the support and motivation they needed…

Academic success is contingent on multiple factors not the least of which is literacy and comprehension. However, research demonstrates that literacy and comprehension levels for traditional aged high secondary school students, as well as non-traditional adult college students threaten the academic success of these demographics. Identifying…

This study uses the Ideology, Pedagogy, Access, and Equity (IPAE) tenets of critical self-examination (Alfaro & Hernandez, 2016) and the construct of critical consciousness (Darder, 2018; Darder, 2015; Freire, 1973; Freire, 1970; Watts, Deimer, & Voight, 2011; Watts, Griffith, & Abdul-Adil, 1999) as a conceptual framework to explore…

This study uses the Ideology, Pedagogy, Access, and Equity (IPAE) tenets of critical self-examination (Alfaro & Hernandez, 2016) and the construct of critical consciousness (Darder, 2018; Darder, 2015; Freire, 1973; Freire, 1970; Watts, Deimer, & Voight, 2011; Watts, Griffith, & Abdul-Adil, 1999) as a conceptual framework to explore…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and reasons why adult undergraduate nursing students, attending an online university in the United States, persisted beyond their first year. Persistence was described as a student's conscious choice to remain in their program in order to reach their educational goals…

The purpose of this study was to understand if a green chemistry laboratory design facilitated students' transformative experiences in a first-semester general chemistry course for science majors. The study population consisted of 18 college students enrolled in the course at a small, rural, mid-Atlantic university. Traditional chemistry…

Extensive literature on study abroad outcomes documents the benefits of study abroad for all undergraduate students, regardless of academic major. However, engineering majors, at 5% of all undergraduate students nationally who study abroad, are substantially less likely to study abroad than their social science peers, at 17.3% participation (IIE,…

International tests indicate that students in the United States rank lower in mathematical achievement than students in many other countries (NCES, 1998; OECD, 2014). More than one-quarter of American 15-year-olds do not reach a baseline proficiency in math and do not have the requisite skills to effectively participate in day-to-day life…

This action research study is the culmination of several action cycles investigating cognitive information processing and learning strategies based on students approach to learning theory and assessing students' meta-cognitive learning, motivation, and reflective development suggestive of deep learning. The study introduces a reading…

Many inmates arrive in prison with weak educational backgrounds and social skills as well as psychological problems and drug and alcohol addiction. The focus of this phenomenological study was to identify roles of prison educators in helping inmate students overcome their challenges through transformative experiences that motivate the students to…