This article reports findings from a constructionist grounded theory study with 51 first-year college students. We explored student definitions and development of a sense of belonging during their first year of college. Belonging for all participants was shaped by 3 themes: environmental perceptions, involvement, and relationships. Yet, there were…

This paper discusses a requirements engineering process that exemplifies teacher-led design in the case of an envisioned system for adaptive learning. Such a design poses various challenges and still remains an open research issue in the field of adaptive learning. Starting from a scenario-based elicitation method, the whole process was highly…

Transformational leadership has served as a model for positive, individual-focused leadership, based on its emphasis on motivation and higher levels of organizational performance. Change is a constant for faculty that become leaders within the Land Grant University System. Changes to governance and accountability of institutions and threats to…

Despite the growing body of scholarship on the multicultural dispositions and learning needs of teacher education students, little scholarly attention has been paid to those of multicultural teacher educators: the people responsible for cultivating multiculturally minded teachers. In order to begin filling that gap, using a grounded theory…

Globalization as an increasingly influencing force has led English language to become the lingua franca of the world. However, the global spread of English is considered as linguistic and cultural imperialism of English speaking countries to exert their dominance, power, culture, ideology and language over the periphery countries. The devastating…

This article reports on the views of school nurses (n = 25) and students with recurrent pain (n = 24) in Sweden with regard to school-based pedagogic practices. A number of common categories with implications for pedagogic practice were identified by analysing qualitative interviews with these groups, using the coding techniques of grounded…

This qualitative study illustrates how complex perceptions of identity influence the community college experience for student veterans who have been in combat, creating barriers to their overall persistence. The collective experiences of student combat veterans at two community colleges in northwestern Massachusetts are presented, and a Combat…

The paper investigates the views of Greek university graduates on the link between higher education and productivity in order to determine the extent to which productivity can be considered to be an indication of quality in higher education. It also investigates the perceived effect of the type and content of higher education on productivity;…

To understand the complex factors that influence women's experiences in senior administrative roles in higher education, the purpose of this study was to give voice to how they made meaning of their leadership experiences. We employed a qualitative design in which a criterion-based sample of 14 women senior administrators (i.e., dean, vice…

The objective of this paper is to present two preservice secondary mathematics teachers' beliefs about teaching Geometric Transformations (GTs) using Geometer?s Sketchpad (GSP). The study comprised of series of five task-based interviews with each of two participants, who were senior undergraduate preservice teachers, at a medium-sized public…

Although spiritual/religious identity development is included within multicultural training on the theoretical level, significant gaps exist in counseling trainees' practical preparation for spiritual/religious competence. This grounded theory study explores counseling trainees' multicultural counseling competence within the…

Inspired by Whitehead and McNiff's "living theory" approach and the "Thinking Schools International" programme, this paper focuses on issues surrounding self-evaluation practices in schools and research aimed at school improvement, with specific consideration given to grounded theory and action research. Specifically, the…

The Theory of Formal Discipline (TFD) suggests that studying mathematics improves general thinking skills. Empirical evidence for the TFD is sparse, yet it is cited in policy reports as a justification for the importance of mathematics in school curricula. The study reported in this article investigated the extent to which influential UK advocates…

In 2013, we undertook research in a New Zealand University to gain insights into students' understandings of informal learning, its connection to formal learning and how they engaged in informal learning using digital and mobile technologies. A total of 765 students (postgraduate, undergraduate and first-year students) completed a questionnaire.…

Stress among adolescents in Western societies is becoming an issue of increasing concern, and the global trend of adolescents' health shows a gradual deterioration that is independent of national differences and increases with age. The aim of this study was to explore the main concern of adolescents and about how they cope with demands in everyday…