The purpose of this study was to explore some of the challenges associated with mobile phones in college classrooms. A sample of faculty and students was surveyed to assess the extent to which the technology is considered a serious source of distraction in the classroom, concerns about use of the technology for cheating, and attitudes about…

This article derives from local research at two UK universities as part of their institutional strategies to address retention and progression and enhance their students' experiences of higher education. In both Middlesex University and the University of Salford, research has been undertaken to identify factors which influence the retention and…

This article draws on historical and philosophical lenses and interviews with students to question some fundamental tenets underlying the practice of freshman learning communities (FLCs): that they develop community and improve students' learning experiences. The article brings to the discourse of FLCs some critical questions regarding their value…

The college environment appears to encourage heavy drinking. Consequently, correlates of student drinking were assessed at college entrance. First-semester freshmen (N = 520, 54 percent women) completed self-report measures of social affiliation and self/peer drinking for high school and college. Analyses indicated that: 1) increased drinking at…

This study examined the relevance of higher education institutions' existing student activity programming and its effectiveness in promoting students' multicultural learning. Employing path analysis, this study explored the level of undergraduates' participation in selected college organizations and activities and its linkage to multicultural…

This paper will detail three projects which focussed on enhancing online learning at a large Australian distance education University within a School of Business, School of Health and School of Education. Each project had special funding and took quite distinctive project management approaches, which reflect the desire to embed innovation and…

Cooperative learning is viable yet generally underutilized method of instruction at the college level (Paulsen and Faust, 2008). This paper highlights the work of teacher educator Dr. Paul J. Vermette in his implementation of cooperative learning based practices in a graduate level Multicultural education course. In analyzing the "Five…

Although critical pedagogy has been discussed in the Teaching Sociology literature for nearly twenty years, dialogues about the difficulties in practicing and implementing critical pedagogical strategies in everyday classroom life are less common. In this note, we discuss a predominant theme of our workshop: challenges and concerns that may arise…

Using a national sample (n = 643) of Native American students who took the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ), the researcher identified how student involvement and institutional commitment to diversity predicted student learning. Native American students reported higher levels of learning when the institution's commitment to…

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) offers student workshops that range from Cool New Web Stuff (what is on the web that can help make research or just plain life easier) and How To Use Google Scholar. These workshops are brilliant fodder for podcasting. In fact, the initial idea for its podcast project came from a student plagiarism…

In a world progressing with dizzying acceleration into the Information Age, the slow, measured approach of the traditional university can place administrator, faculty member, and student alike at a disadvantage. To move into this brave new world, the academic animal needs tools. "Beyond 2020: Envisioning the Future of Universities in America" is…

This volume begins with an essay by Noelle McAfee, a contributor who is familiar to readers of Higher Education Exchange (HEX). She reiterates Mathews' argument regarding the disconnect between higher education's sense of engagement and the public's sense of engagement, and suggests a way around the epistemological conundrum of "knowledge…

This research anthology is the fifth volume in a series sponsored by the Special Interest Group-Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans (SIG-REAPA) of the American Educational Research Association and National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education. This series explores and examines the patterns of Asian parents'…

Unintended outcomes can derail the best of intentions in the classroom. Designing a new course for Honors students provided an opportunity to change my traditional teaching style. I envisioned a classroom where students enthusiastically became more self-directed learners. I was perplexed with mixed reactions from students; while some joined me and…

In its second decade of education reform and its third cycle of national ICT master plans, Thailand struggles to transform its aspirations into practice. This paper chronicles three decades of Thailand's ICT national plans and their relation to education reform. It also discusses the effect of global trends, Asian cultures, and Thai cultures on…