A primary aim of science education is to teach students how to interpret and engage with scientific information. To do so effectively requires an adequate understanding of the nature of science (NOS)--in other words, what science is and how it works. There is a long history of evidence to suggest that many undergraduate students struggle to…

Commencing students in universities today are very diverse with regards to their academic preparation, language, and cultural background. Some of these students are also first in family to attend university. With such diverse student profiles and previous learning experiences, it is possible that some students may not be confident to employ the…

Background: In Belgium, and elsewhere, the use of portfolios as a reflective practice for pre-service primary and secondary teachers has long been established in higher education. Reflective thinking is recognised as an effective process for examining daily practices, awakening students to the key elements of their profession, and fostering…

Contribution: This article proposes a new theoretical model with a goal to develop future human computational thinking (CT) in foundational computer science (CS) education. The model blends six critical types of thinking, i.e., logical thinking, systems thinking, sustainable thinking, strategic thinking, creative thinking, and responsible thinking…

Most students acknowledge shared responsibility, with the university, for their employability development. Many academics use assessments as the main driver for motivating students to learn. At the intersection between employability, assessment and learning, the emergent research question is -- what are the mechanisms by which course-based…

While there is a rich array of community-based learning activities and approaches across the Portland State University campus, the authors assert that integrating a critical service learning (CSL), rather than traditional service learning (TSL), model in the first-year curriculum benefits both students and community partners. They advocate for…

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's (IUP) course catalogue describes English 101: Composition I as a first-year writing course in which students use a variety of resources--including but not limited to memory, observation, critical reading and viewing, analysis, and reflection--and a focus on writing process to create projects in a variety of…

Cultivating interdisciplinary connections between freshman and capstone students epitomizes a novel pedagogical approach to deepen student understanding of the learning process in a Community College environment. Within such a context, this article focuses on the outcomes of a two-semester collaborative effort that aims to establish and strengthen…

Teaching classes concerned with justice and equity led us to understand that we must model justice and equity in all of our work. In order to ask students to be vulnerable in talking about how they have been exposed to, and impacted by, society's messages about race, gender, and sexual identity, we have a responsibility to first demonstrate that…

Stockton University is a mid-size liberal arts institution in Southern New Jersey. Degree seekers must complete required course work in both liberal studies and core, specialized areas, such as business, health sciences, hospitality, education, social and behavioral sciences, or organizational leadership. Stockton emphasizes Essential Learning…

The moral reasoning development of college freshmen was investigated over the course of a semester. Participants were tested at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester and were either in a course that required active engagement in critical thinking (e.g. perspective-taking, reflection) about social and political issues or in a…

This article explores teaching and learning perspectives in relation to a first-year English Literature module on foundational literary texts and considers the value of certain assessment modes. The essay discusses methodological and pedagogical questions and argues that the module provides a contextual platform from which first-year students are…

This study investigated the lived experiences of first-year college students who kept personal and private journals in an English composition course. The purpose of this study was to provide a description of the lived experiences of keeping those journals from the point-of-view of the journal writers themselves. Forty-eight students were involved…

Problem Statement: In this qualitative small-scale study, I aimed at investigating why students have difficulties in adjusting themselves to English writing conventions. I also examined the possible bilateral effects of Turkish and English writing conventions to determine whether engaging learners in contrastive rhetoric exercises can elucidate…

This study is a report on the learning processes and outcomes of a reading course with a critical literacy orientation. Twenty-seven BA freshman English literature students (four males and 23 females) at the age range between 18 and 21 participated in a "Reading Comprehension 1" course at Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran. Throughout…