There are two important premises at the core of the American democracy: inclusion and dissent. Focusing on the premise of democratic dissent, the overarching goal of this study is understanding how colleges may encourage desirable civic outcomes. This dissertation is proceeds in an alternative format, containing three distinct manuscripts. Chapter…

Interest has been growing in the role of students' attitudes, beliefs, and dispositions as key factors that can support or inhibit student success. A large body of emerging evidence, including multiple randomized controlled trials, shows that interventions that target academic mindsets, attitudes, and beliefs about the nature of ability and the…

Students whose school environment fits their developmental needs also typically experience academic success and increased motivation. Most investigations of school fit, which focus on teachers' and students' perceptions, have found a general decline in fit across the transition from elementary to middle school. However, little research has…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the role of teacher characteristics and school demographics in teachers' perceptions of children's cognitive abilities. Most researchers find that teachers' personal characteristics are not related to their perceptions of their children's cognitive abilities. In a 2011 study, Douglas Ready and…

This study examined the perceptions of college students regarding the benefits and challenges in interacting with international faculty. A Likert scale survey was administered to students from 13 face-to-face or online classes yielding 212 usable questionnaires. The results showed that students had both positive perceptions and concerns about…