The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how first-year college students perceive their development of domain identification with, and interest in, their prospective science major during their initial year of college. Four themes emerged from the coding and analysis of interviews with eight first-year science students: Self-Definition…

Misalignment between student preferences and instructor practices regarding writing feedback may impede student learning. This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study addressed postsecondary online students' preferences and the reasons for their preferences. A survey was used to collect 93 responses from postsecondary students attending a large…

Concern about the research and writing abilities of undergraduate students led to the development, implementation and enhancement of four sequential writing assignments in an introductory course. These writing assignments--which included a report on an interview of a professional in the field, a research paper on an aspirational career, a research…

Flexibility in assessment is usually achieved by giving students choice over the assessment weighting, type or format, the timing, the criteria, or the overall assessment result. This study, however, demonstrates the development of a flexible assessment regime where students were given the choice to invest in within-semester tasks designed to…

The global population of students pursuing studies abroad continues to grow, and consequently their intercultural experiences are receiving greater research attention. However, research into long-term student sojourners' academic development and personal growth is still in its infancy. A parallel mixed method study was designed to investigate the…

This study explores the narratives of eight students who served as journal reviewers on a non-course-related service activity. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of their experiences. The review board was multi-disciplinary in composition; the majority of its student and faculty members were from communities historically…

Despite the increase of English learners in the U.S. and of standards for linguistically responsive teaching practices, teacher education programs often fall short of preparing preservice teachers to teach diverse learners. In this case study, specifically designed to improve a pedagogical course on English language development, the researchers…

Oral history is presented in this article as an interpretative exercise for historical events in a Spanish course for heritage language learners at the university level. Through the interview of a Latino immigrant family, students re-examined the history of their own families and increased their linguistic self-esteem. They were guided to become…

During a study abroad experience on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, participants found themselves in an "impromptu learning experience" that extended their learning beyond Puerto Rican culture to real-world debates of tourist development, environmental issues, and the struggles of the native population. In this paper, we introduce…

In this study, six African American female college students were interviewed to explore perceptions about their college learning environment and the beliefs they have about their own competence and value with regard to others in the college community. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted over the course of the academic year to…

The purpose of the current comparative multiple-case study was to understand graduate students' perceptions of the collaborative construction of course assignments. Data were gathered from the graduate student interviews, class observations, and relevant student artifacts. With this collected data, six case studies were generated. The study…

This article aims to address the practical question of whether there is educational value to embedding second-language (L2) learning experiences in intergenerational contexts. In particular, a case study was conducted of a novel, university-based ESL program in Hong Kong in which a group of older adult volunteers with a high level of English…

Colleges and universities remain attentive to developing and supporting ways to foster student academic success. These efforts have taken on more importance as student success, commonly measured by student learning achievement, has failed to meet expectations. For colleges and universities, the flipped classroom represents a student-centered…

In Bhutan relatively few studies at the higher education level have been done and fewer still reported in international journals. This pilot study highlights the present practices and culture of teaching and learning at one of the teacher education colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB). It looks broadly across the issues of…

Past research has shown that informal communications among Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are more influential in shaping their teaching practices than formal induction programs. Yet little is known about how these informal helping relationships evolve and how universities can help support their formation as part of the preparation of future…