Religious development literature in Christian higher education has successfully utilized Self-Determination Theory to explain how environmental factors predict faith maturity in college students. Recent trends suggest a need to account for more ecumenical perspectives in contemporary evangelical college students, and this study addresses the need…

Background: Social responsibility and democratic citizenship are essential outcomes of a college education. Yet limited research has examined how college experiences may relate to students' moral and prosocial development, qualities that ground responsibility and citizenship. Purpose: This research sought to identify the college experiences,…

There is increasing pressure on institutions of higher education to accurately measure student success. What was once thought of as a way to develop students holistically via a liberal arts degree, higher education is now often regarded as a means to an end: a well-paying job. Lost in the drive for quantifiable data is the holistic development of…

Research has been carried out on students' epistemological development in higher education for at least 50 years. Researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have converged on accounts that describe students' epistemological development in terms of a sequence or hierarchy of qualitatively distinct stages or positions. The rich qualitative data…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the integration of contemplative practice into higher education. The intention of such integration would be to facilitate a students' ability to hear and follow an intuitive "call". Intuition was defined as an immediate, unmediated or tacit way of knowing; "calls" or "callings" as inner directives…

Most of the internal and public scrutiny of college sports involves high profile athletes in sports such as football and men's basketball; yet, recent research on the impact of sport participation on student learning and development has largely focused on comparing all athletes to their non-athlete peers across institutional types. There is a need…

Examined environmental factors in college student development in college freshmen (N=148) who were administered the Student Development Task Inventory-2. Related performance on this instrument to several factors in the college environment: residential living arrangements, educational goals, type of financial aid, and social dating habits. Found…

Examined extent to which developmental theories of Erikson, Chickering, and Gilligan explain sex differences in autonomy and intimacy development in college students. Results from 441 college students suggest that both Gilligan's and Chickering's theories contribute to understanding of autonomy and intimacy development. Intimacy was strongest…

This study compared the levels of student engagement between fraternity and sorority members and other undergraduate students. After controls, Greek members appeared to be equally and sometimes more engaged in academically challenging tasks, active learning, student-faculty interaction, community service, diversity, satisfaction, and on learning…

Measures of social support, personality, and workload were related to psychological burnout among 149 college students. High levels of burnout were predicted by negative temperament and subjective workload, but actual workload (academic and vocational) had little to do with burnout. Low levels of burnout were predicted by positive temperament,…

Examined variables thought to affect handicapped college students' extracurricular activities: projection of negative feelings, substitution of time, prior experience in activities, and severity of handicap. Results indicated the independent variables did not demonstrate any significant relationship to the dependent variable. (Author/ABB)

This study examined patterns of coursework and levels of involvement of 1,099 adult students to evaluate whether some key factors commonly used to predict undergraduate students' academic performance are appropriate for use with this population. Results suggest traditional models are inappropriate for this large and growing proportion of the…

The effect of personality similarity on compatibility and conflict was studied among roommate pairs. Self-reported data were collected for frequency of conflict, liking, personality measures, "morningness," choice vs. assigned, length of rooming together, length of relationship, and socioeconomic variables. Although some variables show…

Investigates the nature of social beliefs and commitments during the college years in relation to developmental orientations as measured by the Dakota Inventory of Student Orientations. Results support Creative-Reflective scale scores as predictive of commitment to the more humanitarian issues such as race and women's rights, whereas…

Examined relationship between developmental tasks and academic achievement among first-term college freshmen (n=83) enrolled in program for students at risk. Results support limited relationship between growth on developmental tasks of young adulthood and academic performance of university freshmen. Sex differences also were found on predictors of…