A simple act of motivation priming can significantly impact the validity of test results, which is crucial for institutional accountability. The progression of the studies discussed in this article illustrates a clear trajectory of building upon previous findings to refine and expand the understanding of motivation priming when gathering…

The distressing events of 2020 challenged the United States to reimagine how our social institutions can and should respond to demands for racial justice. These demands impacted higher education and debates arose about whether the classroom is an appropriate place for teaching abolition. I address this debate by introducing a senior-level elective…

Education is essential for solving the complex water-related challenges facing society. The Learning Enhanced Watershed Assessment System (LEWAS) and the Online Watershed Learning System (OWLS) provide data creation and data sharing infrastructures, respectively, that combine to form an environmental learning tool. This system collects, integrates…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has been used at universities across the U.S. and Canada to gather information about the quality of engagement of first-year students and graduating students. Institutions use NSSE's five benchmarks of effective educational practice to compare themselves with other schools and to focus in on ways to…

A survey was administered to undergraduate business students to gain insight into 34 factors influencing satisfaction, divided into curriculum matters, interaction between faculty and students, and activities beyond coursework. Students expressed a desire for experienced faculty, degree customization, and career paths through internships, with…

This study explored what graduating seniors and university staff perceived contributed to high college completion rates of African American and Hispanic students at George Mason University (Mason). To understand what Mason may have been doing to support African American and Hispanic students toward college completion, in-depth interviews were…

A new laboratory course has been developed at the University of Virginia for senior- level chemical engineering students. The new course is based on three 4-week long experiments in bioprocess engineering, energy conversion and catalysis, and polymer synthesis and characterization. The emphasis is on the integration of process steps and the…

Seniors' writing skills were assessed in 1998 at a medium-sized public university. Blind scoring, a standard scoring guide, and trained graders were used. Curricular writing emphasis was assessed through a syllabus study, yielding a Curricular Emphasis Score. Controlling for entry-level skill in writing, Writing Score and Curricular Emphasis were…

The authors describe how their institution revised its general education writing curriculum and how that change not only affected the university's approach to advanced composition but also transformed the roles and relationships among teachers, librarians, literacy practices, curricula, students, and the community. Part service-learning, part…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…