Objective: Superiority experiments supply a critical lens to probe higher education interventions because they can dismantle the collective effect of a program and identify the relative contribution of the core components. However, such lines of inquiry are generally absent in higher education literature. We draw on experimental data to probe the…

As South African researchers facing HIV- and AIDS-related challenges in our professional lives, we continuously turn to self-study methodology to inform our learning and teaching in our teacher education practice. This article explores how we extended our professional knowledge in relation to HIV and AIDS, starting with our own self-study doctoral…

We introduce a model of the admissions process based upon standard agency theory and explore its implications with economics PhD admissions data from 2013-2019. We show that a subjective score that aggregates subjective ratings and recommendation letter features plays a more important role in determining admissions than an objective score based…

Abstract concepts, such as gravity, may provide the perfect opportunity to bring phenomena into the classroom. As a knowledge generation strategy, summarizing can foster that opportunity. Using phenomena and summary writing together might help student learning since it requires making connections between their ideas and words to explain the…

This study evaluates a "nudge letter" to parents intervention designed to reduce chronic absenteeism among students in one urban district. Using a regression discontinuity design (RDD), it estimates the impact of the intervention on improving student attendance. The forcing variable for the RDD was 2016-2017 attendance rate, with a…

Individuals concerned with subgroup differences on standardized tests suggest replacing these tests with holistic evaluations of unstructured application materials, such as letters of recommendation (LORs), which they posit show less bias. We empirically investigate this proposition that LORs are bias-free, and argue that LORs might actually…

This study explored the relationship between linguistic features and the rated quality of letters of application (LAs) and argumentative essays (AEs) composed in English by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. A corpus of 260 LAs and 260 AEs were analyzed via a confirmatory factor analysis. Latent variables were EFL…

This study employed a novel user experience method, the love/breakup letter, to evaluate the usefulness of an online information literacy (IL) tutorial for students writing assignments with research requirements. Thematic coding of the letters showed that this method elicited revealing responses from students about their confidence in doing…

This article focuses on the concept of "letter" in oral folklore. The main research material is examples from the older folk songs of Seto, where a letter, a book and other items referring to literacy are mentioned. Texts under consideration are poetical and the meaning conveyed in them is not always very clear. The term…

Engaging undergraduate students in internalizing motivation theories is challenging. They live the concepts but have trouble applying their experiences to understanding the dynamics of motivation theories or deriving practical value from applying the theories to case analysis. We have adapted a human-centered design tool for an exercise that…

In 2018, New America partnered with uAspire, a nonprofit focused on college access and affordability, to review thousands of financial aid offers from over 500 colleges and universities. The resulting report, "Decoding the Cost of College: The Case for Transparent Financial Aid Award Letters," recommended several minimum bars financial…

This paper investigates admission procedures of Master of Arts programs of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (MA TEFL) in Iran in comparison with universities around the world. Along with a view of the centralised national MA TEFL entrance exam held in Iran during the past three decades, we investigated admission requirements for comparable…

This ethnographically-oriented, multi-year study examined an epistolary writing relationship between third grade students and the teacher's uncle, known to them as Uncle Billy, who, at the time of the study, was corresponding from prison. Taking place within a Reformed Christian school, this study encapsulates the pedagogy of Ms. Thompson, the…

This collaborative self-study begins with the critical incident that led a collaborative relationship between a relatively privileged teacher educator and a racialized teacher candidate. The teacher candidate, serving as a critical friend, helped the teacher educator become aware of his blind spots and enhanced his critical awareness and practices…

This paper describes a study that aims to understand and characterize the written communication of future teachers through a pen pal experience with elementary education students, in particular the nature of their feedback. To carry out this investigation we followed a qualitative methodology and collected data through observation, interviews and…