Research clearly indicates that faculty members have the potential to influence student learning outcomes through their pedagogical practices, but we know less about what influences faculty members' choices to employ specific pedagogical practices. This study, based on data from 2,853 faculty members who teach courses that serve primarily…

For years, educators have drawn a distinction between deep cognitive processing and surface-level cognitive processing, with the former resulting in greater learning. In recent years, researchers at NSSE have created DEEP Learning scales, which consist of items related to students' experiences which are believed to encourage deep processing. In…

The available research on first-year college outcomes remains highly segmented (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) and surprisingly incomplete (Upcraft et al., 2005), particularly as it relates to psychosocial outcomes like social and personal competence. This study, based on data from nearly 6,700 students and 5,000 faculty members on 30 campuses…

Frequent informal interactions between faculty and students are positively related to the students' academic performance and self-perceived personal growth. (ED)

This study tested Tinto's theoretical model of attrition. After controlling for student sex, academic aptitude, and personality attributes, freshman persisters were found to have a significantly higher frequency of interactions along six dimensions than were voluntary leavers. (Editor/LBH)

A study examined the rate of college students' perceived social and actual academic development during the freshman and sophomore years and the influences on that development. (Author/MSE)

Perhaps two-thirds of the gains students make in knowledge and cognitive skill development occur in the first 2 years of college (Pascarella, E. T., and Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students Vol. 2. A third decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass). A significant proportion of the students entering America's colleges and…

This study examined whether African-American students who attend historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have different experiences and perceive the campus climate differently than African American students who attend predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The study also examined whether differences in experiences and perceptions of…

A high level of informal contact with faculty members by college freshmen was associated with positive views of their academic and non-academic lives and persistence at the institution. (MM)

This exploratory study was designed to determine whether those students enrolled in courses systematically designed by faculty teams to incorporate nontraditional and innovative instruction differed from students not taking these courses in attitudes toward academic and nonacademic experience. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 400 freshman…

The validity of the constructs underlying the Clark-Trow Typology of College Student Subcultures--academic interests and non-academic interests--are confirmed. However, there are indications that the involvement with ideas dimension does not discriminate satisfactorily among the four student groups. (Author/MV)

Residency in a college dormitory during the freshman year of college positively influences educational and personal growth and academic persistence. The mediating effects of relationships with peers and the ambiance of the intellectual community are noted. (JD)

A five-scale instrument developed from a theoretical model of college attrition correctly identified the persistence/voluntary withdrawal decisions of 78.5 percent of 773 freshmen in a large, residential university. Findings showed that student relationships with faculty were particularly important. (Author/PHR)

The study presents an investigation of the association between freshman year voluntary persistence/withdrawal decisions and different types of student-faculty informal contact beyond the classroom. (JMF)

The relation between residence arrrangement and college attendance patterns was studied. The degree to which the nature of the group with whom a freshman college student lives may influence that student's decision to continue enrollment into the sophomore year was assessed. (MLW)