Few researchers have examined peer mentors in a postsecondary program for students with intellectual disabilities. Peer mentors (N=39) were surveyed regarding their TypeFocus personality type and how the experience of mentoring affected them. The mentoring experience was assessed qualitatively and results are reported. Results indicated a strong…

This paper describes a range of design techniques for standard compensators (Lead-Lag networks and PID controllers) that have been applied to the teaching of many undergraduate control courses throughout Italy over the last twenty years, but that have received little attention elsewhere. These techniques hinge upon a set of simple formulas--herein…

In order to counteract some serious misconceptions in Gary Bell's essay "Honors for Sale," Benjamin Moritz opens this essay with inspirational stories of students who overcame disadvantages to complete their college education The first and most fundamental problem the author notes in Bell's essay is the assumption that privatization and…

Higher education has been a favorite news topic for months. President Obama and the first lady have entered the national conversation, particularly around issues of cost and graduation rates for low-income students--addressing education in the State of the Union, at White House events, and in speeches across the nation. In the midst of these…

The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) believes that the most effective way to advance the actuarial profession is to work in partnership with universities. The CAS stands ready to assist universities in creating or enhancing courses and curricula associated with property/casualty actuarial science. CAS resources for university actuarial science…

Following World War II, North Carolina created public junior colleges and industrial education centers to meet the educational demands of veterans and expand the technical skills of the state's workforce. Despite the creation of these campuses, in the early 1960s North Carolina ranked 47th in the number of citizens in college, and 66 counties in…

The annual number of certificates (non-degree awards that typically require less time to complete than degrees) awarded by community colleges has increased dramatically since 2000, but relatively little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of certificates in the labor market. Based on detailed student-level information from matched…

The Blended Learning Toolkit supports the course redesign approach, and interest in its openly available clearinghouse of online tools, strategies, curricula, and other materials to support the adoption of blended learning continues to grow. When the resource originally launched in July 2011, 20 AASCU [American Association of State Colleges and…

The majority of US university students studying foreign languages are enrolled in introductory courses that are typically part of a coordinated curriculum. Such courses conventionally include the assessment of second language (L2) writing skills. However, given that these assessments can be broadly conceived and vary by program, their design and…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to uncover how high-achieving university Spanish instructors engage in the core practice of building a classroom discourse community at a doctoral-level university in the southwestern United States. The second goal of this study was to determine whether student performance on reading and writing…

Every year, around 120 students of French at the University of Manchester (UoM) prepare to go on their compulsory Year Abroad (YA). They are free to choose between different options: studying in France and the French-speaking world, working in diverse sectors throughout the French-speaking world, or becoming a language assistant. This wealth of…

In the present study I examine meaning-making as an integral aspect of successful writing assignments in political science. Results of a semester-long quasi-experimental pilot study show that meaning-making writing tasks help students in Introduction to American Politics courses become more politically engaged through the inculcation of civic…

Despite an emphasis in government strategy on the provision of later life learning, little is known about the experiences of older people in their pursuit of such opportunities. This paper explores the extent to which middle-class retirees' learning needs are catered for in Northern Ireland. Data from semi-structured interviews suggest that the…

Postbaccalaureate reverse transfer students (PRTSs) are students that enroll at a community college after completion of at least a bachelor's degree. This study expanded the definition of PRTSs by including students that had completed an associate's degree prior to enrolling at a community college. This report is an exploratory, descriptive study…

A new movement in American higher education aims to transform the teaching of civics. This report is a study of what that movement is, where it came from, and why Americans should be concerned. What we call the "New Civics" redefines civics as progressive political activism. Rooted in the radical program of the 1960s' New Left, the New…