In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on student success and retention in higher education. To address this issue, many universities' strategic retention programs include first-year seminars. A variety of pedagogical strategies have been employed in these seminars to help students succeed personally, socially and academically. This…

Within the school library community, there have been persuasive calls for school librarians to contribute to science learning. We present a conceptual framework that links national standards of science education ("Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas," referred to as…

This study details the experiences from a pilot program aimed at virtually pairing pre-service teacher education candidates with fifth-grade students for the purposes of raising achievement and creating meaningful field experiences. Researchers paired the difficulties of traditional field experiences with the difficulties in vocabulary…

Building on the empirical work of the previous two studies, this paper describes the development of the Minds In Motion curriculum (MIM), as well as the setting and circumstances of a randomized controlled trial conducted to evaluate this intervention. Throughout this paper the authors emphasize the benefits and challenges of assembling an…

This dissertation examines how nomenclature and the act of naming shapes disciplinary identities for scholars and teachers of rhetoric and composition. The discipline is named differently by many of its members, sometimes called "composition studies," "writing studies," "composition and rhetoric," "rhetorical…

To explore the potential applications of synchronous technology to enrich student learning, faculty members from an American regional state university and a Chinese regional university collaborated to find appropriate ways to integrate synchronous technology (e.g., Adobe Connect) into an educational technology program in the American university…

Given the need for major reform of the higher education programmes in Syria, and answering the voices that question the role of European Union (EU) in assisting the development of the higher education sector, this study presents an analysis of the contribution of (TEMPUS) Programme in modernising higher education in Syria. The study compares the…

This research paper presents a database management system for tracking course assessment data and reporting related outcomes for program assessment. It improves on a database system previously presented by the authors and in use for two years. The database system presented is specific to assessment for ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and…

The field of education abroad has been expanding for years. The numbers of participating students and sponsoring institutions, the variety of destinations and program offerings, and the complexity of the field itself have all increased rapidly. The terminology of the field of education abroad is as diverse as its practices, resulting in a degree…

Research suggests that intervening in the lives of children with an incarcerated parent to preserve and strengthen positive family connections can yield constructive societal benefits in the form of reduced recidivism, less intergenerational criminal justice system involvement and the promotion of healthy child development (Christian, 2009). Since…

To be efficient and effective learners in the information age, individuals must be able to engage successfully with a wide variety of information types and formats. Becoming lifelong learners in a world in which information flows freely and defies the boundaries of traditional disciplines and subject areas, children and youth in particular must…

Participant perceptions of program effectiveness and impact are undoubtedly a popular focus of Extension program evaluations. However, the effects of participants' characteristics and contextual variables on program perceptions and how the resulting data can be used for program improvement are less explored in evaluation studies. Using data from…

In 2009, the economics department at Kansas State University began one of the first department-level Women in Economics groups for female graduate students in the United States. This is particularly important because of the general under-representation of women in the economics profession and especially in the academy. The main goals of this group…

As our communities strive to support community change efforts for survival and vitality, the importance of social capital has become evident in leadership development. Many researchers and practitioners realize that tapping into the inherent power of relationships and social networks is crucial. This paper provides an overview of the design and…

Lopez Island is located in the archipelago of San Juan Islands off the northwest coast of Washington State. Breathtaking mountain vistas, sparkling shorelines, forests, and pastoral landscapes filled with sheep and orchards attract many tourists to San Juan County each year. This isolated community can only be reached by traveling on ferries,…