First-year college students in a leadership-themed living-learning community (N= 60) at Texas A&M University were surveyed to examine if participation in the learning community influenced their leadership mindset using hierarchical and systemic thinking preferences. Utilizing a pre-test and post-test methodology, significant differences for…

Critical thinking ability is one among the life skills enlisted by the World Health Organisation. Citizens who can think critically are the need of the nation. The new era warrants persons who can think and evaluate the information correctly. It is the duty of education to inculcate the skill of critical thinking in the students, the future…

This online study determined significant predictors of scores on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) using a convenience sample of college students (N = 403) with a mean age of 21.84 years (min 18, max 57, SD = 4.81), including 77.2% (n = 311) female (58.8% (n = 237) White, 22.1% (n = 89) Latino, and 14.4% (n = 58) African American. (Abstract…

College choice, the decision-making process for students of whether and where to attend college, is complex. The college choice process also affects a range of stakeholders: high school students, parents, public policymakers, high schools, admission professionals, and institutions of higher education. Understanding the influences of college choice…

Rigorous longitudinal research demonstrates that certain Mindsets, Essential Skills, and Habits (MESH) can help students succeed in college, career, and life. Assessing students' MESH competencies can give educators valuable information that helps them understand students' strengths and identify the areas in which students need additional support.…

University campuses are critical spaces where the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in society are discussed, and debated. However, even as campus communities across the world grow more diverse, higher education institutions are facing an existential crisis--high dropout rates, low enrollments, growing disenchantment with…

Colleges increasingly emphasize the importance of socioeconomic diversity, but little work examines the link between such diversity and outcomes important to the campus climate. Using a national dataset, we test the link between two measures of socioeconomic diversity and cross-racial interaction, an outcome paramount to triggering the benefits of…

Noncognitive assessments in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study share certain similarities and provide complementary information, yet their comparability is seldom checked and convergence not sought. We made use of student self-report data of Instrumental Motivation,…

The primary purpose of International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 is to assess systematically the capacities of students to use ICT productively for a range of different purposes, in ways that go beyond a basic use of ICT. ICILS 2018 includes authentic computer-based assessments that are administered to students in their…

In this paper, we will introduce partial results from our 3-year NSF funded grant titled "Inverted and Active Learning Pedagogies (IALP) for Student Success." We will present our results comparing student achievement between inverted (flipped) classrooms and traditional lecture formats in statistics classes at Texas Lutheran University.…

This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of, and trends in, the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30, "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2018. Volume II, College Students & Adults…

As the COVID-19 pandemic is proving, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was open from October 2020 to November 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis were prominent concerns for students as they navigated a mostly remote learning…

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a long-term study of substance use and related factors among U.S. adolescents, college students, and adult high school graduates through age 60. It is conducted annually and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. MTF findings identify emerging substance use problems, track substance use trends, publish…

We published our first set of Connections Academy efficacy reports containing independently assured efficacy statements in 2018. We went on to build on that body of research, and updated our reporting with new findings in 2021. Our latest study compared Connections Academy students' state test scores in reading and math with students in…

The UK higher education has been one of the top destinations for international students over the last few decades, and it is beneficial to the UK local and national economy. However, recent changes of the governmental policies on the way UK universities are funded and the recession that still affects economies around the world have left many…