Many community colleges do not have a formal process in place to offer or support a structured gap year option for students who recently graduated from high school, thereby denying those students an educational option that has been recognized as beneficial to many learners. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore factors that…

The addition of research-focused experiences to undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses has been shown to bolster student learning, enhance student retention in STEM, and improve student self-identity as scientists. In the area of synthetic organic chemistry, the preparation of libraries of compounds with novel optical and electronic properties…

A typical bachelor's degree within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) requires 120 credit hours while a typical associate degree requires 60. If a student enrolls in 15 credit hours per semester, it would take them a total of eight semesters to complete 120 credit hours for a bachelor's degree and four semesters to complete 60 credit hours…

Students' learning experience mainly depends on the knowledge and skills they learned in class. The objective of an interior design program is to teach students innovative design thinking and how to express their creative ideas. Students do individual and team assignments to learn relevant design cases and methods. The main teaching focus of…

Under Utah House Bill 144, some unauthorized immigrant (UI) students who attend a Utah high school are exempt from paying the non-resident cost of tuition at Utah higher education institutions. This analysis examines awards earned by undergraduates who were eligible for the HB144 waiver: UI students who attended high school in Utah. Completion…

This chapter examines undergraduate research (UR) from student, faculty, and institutional perspectives. We explore UR implementation models in community colleges, discuss selected examples of practice, present a summary of lessons learned, and make recommendations to advance UR and its early execution into the college curriculum from a holistic…

There is a steady decline in Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) graduation rates, especially from two-year institutions. These institutions have been an integral part of U.S. higher education system, and access for underrepresented groups has been a top priority in recent decades with the passing of specific legislation. Despite growing efforts to…

Science identity, or one's sense of recognition and competence as a scientist, is an invaluable tool for predicting student persistence and success, but is understudied among undergraduates completing preparatory work for later studies in medicine, nursing, and allied health ("pre-health career students"). In the United States,…

Despite their sizable presence on U.S. college campuses, few institutions have comprehensive programs to support student-mothers' success. However, research suggests that access to even one supportive or encouraging institutional agent can make a difference in a student's college trajectory. Based on interviews with 57 student-mothers at 2- and…

Community colleges (CCs) are important American higher education institutions; however, stigmas surrounding CCs might impact the perception of CC students as they transition to a four-year institution. To profile researcher perceptions of transfer students and develop a conceptual model of the perception of CC transfer students by biology,…

Preprints play an important role in scholarly conversation. This paper examines perceptions of preprints through the lens of students using a simulated Google environment. Data were collected from 116 high school, community college, undergraduate, and graduate students with attention toward the helpfulness, credibility, and identification of…

The syllabus is an essential learning resource for students. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of the syllabus but to date, no studies have addressed whether the syllabus needs to continue as a stand-alone document given the information contained within it can be, and often is, shared with students via the learning management…

This paper is a proposal, project, and dissertation for Kenneth Johnson, Doctor of Philosophy degree in Science Education, in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa. I propose analyzing the writing assignment in an undergraduate online physics course offered by a small midwestern community college (CC). The goal is to study how Writing to…

This qualitative study aims to establish a knowledge base and learn about the experience of first-generation transfer students who have completed their Associate in Art (AA) degree from a community college and have transitioned to a four-year public university. The study aims to examine first-generation transfer students' sense of belonging and…

Student mobility in higher education has garnered much interest by researchers and institutions alike as enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates continue to be areas of interest and concern. Reverse transfer is a unique type of mobility wherein students begin at a 4-year postsecondary institution and subsequently transfer to a 2-year…