Recent violence in schools and on college campuses has brought into sharp focus the need to address mental health issues in educational settings. Getting students with mental health problems the help they need, without stigmatizing mental illness, may help prevent future tragedies. Children with mental health problems face a host of challenges,…

This dissertation describes and analyzes the work of a semester-long teacher research study of inquiry-based and reflective teaching and learning strategies and their impact on students' preparation for future learning. I explore relevant scholarship on knowledge transfer, classroom ecologies, and student agency to set the stage for a discussion…

This study examined the potential impact of a week-long cocurricular community service-learning (CSL) program on undergraduate students' psychosocial development. Participants in the Alternative Spring Break program and a matched control group completed surveys assessing a number of psychosocial variables immediately before and after the program,…

All native speakers of Arabic read in a language variety that is remarkably distant from the one they use in everyday speech. The study tested the impact of this distance on reading accuracy and fluency by comparing reading of Standard Arabic (StA) words, used in StA only, versus Spoken Arabic (SpA) words, used in SpA too, among Arabic native…

This paper is situated at the intersection of two trends in education research: a growing emphasis on the importance of co-cognitive traits and emergence of research-practice partnerships to more effectively scale effective practices. Our partnership focused on building student ownership and responsibility for their learning, which means creating…

This article reviews the literature on how Chinese turnaround schools are improved in practice. It starts by defining turnaround schools in the Chinese context, and then discusses the essential reasons why such schools exist. Approaches to improving turnaround schools, successful experiences of transforming turnaround schools, and the challenges…

Students at Iowa State University had the opportunity to enroll in a two-year National Science Foundation (NFS) Scholarship for Service (SFS) leadership development program, in addition to their work within their majors. This interdisciplinary program included faculty and students in computer engineering, computer science, mathematics, political…

After serving as a high school math teacher in Maryland for three years, the author moved to teaching sixth-grade math. His high school background led him to differentiate differently than his colleagues. The article discusses his observations and his conclusions and offers a plan to implement changes in the way mathematics is taught through…

Geography graduates face an uncertain future. To help students think and practice as a geographer, we must teach disciplinary knowledge--particularly threshold concepts--as well as skills and attributes. We must role model and articulate our geographical reasoning using signature pedagogies and promote high-impact and signature learning…

Researchers commonly collect repeated measures on individuals nested within groups such as students within schools, patients within treatment groups, or siblings within families. Often, it is most appropriate to conceptualize such groups as dynamic entities, potentially undergoing stochastic structural and/or functional changes over time. For…

This paper reports on a study that investigated understanding of learning amongst a cohort of students entering higher education by engaging them, via drama-based activities, with the process of their own learning (metalearning). The study combined Meyer's (2004) Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI) and Performance Based Research (PBR) in…

Historically, Christian colleges and universities have struggled to incorporate racial and ethnic diversity into White and homogenous campuses. Research indicates that a positive racial climate is essential to promote spiritual growth for students from diverse backgrounds. As a result, diversity is a compelling interest for Christian institutions.…

Research on the impact of outdoor education mostly consists of assessments of self-esteem and social skills in adventure programs outside of academia. The present exploratory study assessed personal and academic development in undergraduate participants of an interdisciplinary, semester-long, study away learning community in higher education. We…

Despite many reform initiatives, including the federally funded initiative titled the Smaller Learning Communities' (SLC) Model, many students are still underexposed to comprehensive guidance programs. The purpose of this mixed method project study was to examine which components in a comprehensive guidance program for the learning academies at a…

Background: By 2009, 99% of U.S. classrooms had access to computers, with an average ratio of 1.7 students per computer, and 40% of teachers report using computers often in their classrooms. However, while K-12 schools are investing more heavily in digital technologies, only a small fraction of this investment is going to instructional software…