This mixed-methods study examined urban adolescents' perceptions of gender and racial/ethnic barriers to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) success, and their meaning-making and coping regarding these experiences. The sample includes surveys from 1024 high school-aged students and interviews from 53 students. Logistic…

Community colleges are a critical resource for women seeking to achieve economic security and stability, yet many women who are community college students face challenges that make it difficult to persist in their education and complete their degrees. To understand the circumstances and experiences of female community college students in…

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between participation in federally mandated college and career-preparatory programs--known as programs of study (POS)--and high school achievement outcomes. POS are an organized approach to college and career readiness that offer an aligned sequence of courses spanning secondary and…

Sallie Mae has conducted "How America Pays for College" annually since 2008, providing information about the resources American families invest in an undergraduate college education. This study focuses particularly on the planning and payment behaviors in a given academic year. Now in its seventh year, the study provides a compelling…

Under what conditions are graduate students most likely to learn? How do we, as teachers, best create those conditions? The answer to these questions was the focus of this study whereby 91 masters' students identified learning tasks that were most and least engaging. A model utilizing affective, behavioral and cognitive attributes was developed to…

In this work, we sought to understand ways that students experienced a small-scale portfolio assignment provided to them as an opportunity reflect on their experiences in a project-based class. This work was motivated by research in various instructional contexts showing that portfolio construction results in important learning outcomes. We wanted…

The implementation of web-based learning as a platform for distance education is problematic in higher learning institutions (HLI) across Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries. Despite the fact that this instructional concept has been implemented and well accepted in many western countries, research has yet to suggest whether or not HLI…

The "First Condition Report" provided policymakers and the general public a snapshot of where Ohio stands in providing the higher education services needed to be competitive in today's world. The "Second Report" focused on facilities and technology. The "Third Report" underscores the need to deliver high quality…

Service-learning has been shown to be an effective practice that positively affects students' academic achievement, self-esteem, and problem-solving skills (Billig, 2002; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Wilczenski & Coomey, 2007). This mixed-method action research case study was conducted to explore the possible link between service-learning…

Early in 2010, the E-Expectations research group surveyed more than 1,000 college-bound high school students, polling them on their online behaviors and expectations, as well as other key enrollment-related topics. Highlights of the study include: (1) 1 in 4 students reported removing a school from their prospective list because of a bad…

Purpose: This paper seeks to demonstrate the value and critical importance of negotiating skills within the wider context of "employability". It posits that the intensity, rich context, and ambiguity of juxtaposing ancient and modern cases provides a creative, engaging format to stimulate learning about negotiating and power among…

Three approaches to molecular phylogenetics are demonstrated to biology students as they explore molecular data from "Homo sapiens" and four related primates. By analyzing DNA sequences, protein sequences, and chromosomal maps, students are repeatedly challenged to develop hypotheses regarding the ancestry of the five species. Although…

In this article, I report on the development and validation of a new survey instrument measuring first-year students' perceptions of the advising relationship. I collected survey data from 113 residential freshmen enrolled in a first-year seminar course at a small, public, midwestern university during the fall of 2009. Factor analysis of students'…

In-depth interviewing is now a common method in sociology. Although there are many potential benefits of in-depth interviewing assignments for both majors and nonmajors, few have developed tools one can use to teach this method at the first and second year, especially in substantive classes where instruction in interviewing is constrained by time…

Many instructional strategies exist that address poor student success in the sciences. They often go untapped, however, due to the knowledge or time needed for implementation. This article presents a formula for success that has encouraged a significant proportion of faculty in a physics department to adopt teaching methods, involving the use of…