Minnesota needs drastically different and better approaches to learning in order to meet the needs of all students, and the challenges of the 21st century. That will require a move to more student-centered learning--that is, learning that is built on a foundation of strong relationships, responsive to basic needs, driven by students, respectful of…

In this study, we examined academic outcomes among students from low-income and academically disadvantaged backgrounds who participated in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at a selective four-year public comprehensive college in the Northeast. We found that provisionally admitted EOP students earned comparable first-semester grades and…

This article provides readers with details concerning the implementation of four active learning techniques used to help undergraduate students critically discuss primary literature. On the basis of undergraduate and graduate student perceptions and experiences, the authors suggest techniques to enhance the quality of dual-listed courses and…

Statistics suggest the prevalence of grade inflation nationwide, and researchers perform many analyses on student grades at both university and college levels. This analysis focuses on a one-credit library instruction course for undergraduate students at a large public university. The studies examine thirty semester GPAs and the percentages of As…

Twenty years ago, Pescosolido and Milkie (1995) reported that 50 percent of U.S. and Canadian sociology graduate programs offered formal teacher training. Despite pronouncements that offerings have increased substantially, no similarly thorough and direct investigation has been published since. In this time of dramatic change and increasing…

Today, community colleges are challenged to maintain their historical identity of open access while increasing student success. This challenge is particularly salient in the context of performance-based funding models. These models create student achievements, which determine institutional levels of state funding. Therefore, these new student…

The borrowing and transfer of policies, ideas and practices from one system to another may in part explain the convergence of educational systems. Using text documents as research material, this paper examines the adoption and transfer of Bologna Process (BP) ideas in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) and in the…

To address the paucity of data on the use of MOOCs in "traditional" postsecondary institutions, Ithaka S+R and the University System of Maryland studied the feasibility of repurposing MOOCs for use in hybrid, credit-bearing courses. In this paper we will describe the design of a large-scale study undertaken to examine the use of MOOCs in…

Adapting campuses, classes, and processes to better serve Hispanic students will be a crucial step toward meeting national attainment goals. Since fall 2000, the number of Hispanic students in public colleges has effectively doubled. However, due to a Congressional ban on a student-level data system, the federal government is flying blind when it…

Currently in Scotland, around 66% of learners who enroll on full-time further education (FE) programmes and 71% of learners who enroll on full-time higher education (HE) programmes, complete their programme successfully. A further 11% of learners on full-time FE programmes and 13% of learners on full-time HE programmes complete with partial…

Previous research on attrition has focused on the economic consequences of low graduation rates in terms of costs to students and families (from tuition and fees that do not culminate in a credential), lost time, and income and tax losses from low educational attainment in the workforce. However, no systematic attention has been given to another…

Students face challenges when attempting to transfer college credits; sometimes, the process results in having to retake classes already completed at another institution. A qualitative phenomenological study, grounded in an advocacy/participatory worldview, was used to explore how leaders of higher learning institutions determined reasons academic…

This descriptive study seeks to understand the differing requirements of doctoral programs in educational technology-related fields in the United States. Using a document analysis approach with five data sources, we found 59 different institutions (55 campus-based and 4 online) offered doctoral degrees with 33 different degree titles that…

Patterns of course credit attainment for 2009-2010 Austin Independent School District (AISD) high school students are discussed. Among those most likely not to be on track to graduate in 4 years were English language learners and students in special education.

StudentU is a comprehensive program that provides education, nutrition, and social support services to disadvantaged students outside of the regular school day. In this paper I investigate the effects of this multi-year program on the early high school outcomes of participating students by exploiting data from oversubscribed admissions lotteries.…