In a pilot program during the 2016-17 admissions cycle, the University of California, Berkeley invited many applicants for freshman admission to submit letters of recommendation. This proved controversial within the university, with concerns that this change would further disadvantage applicants from disadvantaged groups. To inform this debate, we…

The ability to express scientific concepts in mathematical terms and integrate scientific and mathematical reasoning about a phenomenon is a foundational cognitive process involved in scientific thinking. This process called "blended math-science sensemaking" (MSS) is a desired skill for all science, technology, engineering, and math…

At a small, private school in the southern US, an elective first-year design (FYD) course is offered in addition to the required capstone design course; both courses challenge student teams to tackle real-world problems. In FYD, positive team member effectiveness is cultivated through teaming instruction, demonstrations, and practice. In this…

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the divergent thinking abilities of first-year architecture students who are currently enrolled in a course focused on thinking in architecture. The statistical analysis of student's studio works with Wallach Kogan's divergent thinking pre/post-tests results demonstrated that the post-test score…

Title III Strengthening Institutions Program is a supplemental grant that was designed to help eligible higher education institutions improve and strengthen academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability of eligible institutions. A community college in the Midsouth region was the focus of this quantitative study. Graduation and…

In this article, the authors explore how to support students with disabilities in the transition to higher education by using the metaphor of acquiring a signal to represent thriving. Drawing upon the authors' research on students with disabilities, they share stories of Taylor, David, and Ali as they transition into college life. They then use…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine formative first-year practices and motivating factors that encouraged first-year college students to pursue peer mentorship roles. The examination of peer mentorship within undergraduate populations owes much to Jacobi's (1991) study on mentoring and academic success, which more recently has…

The relationship between spelling achievement and academic achievement in community college students was investigated in this quantitative study. The research questions focused on whether a brief (under 15 minutes) spelling screening assessment may or may not predict student academic achievement of course grade points earned in an entry-level…

The COVID-19 pandemic has displayed new challenges for chemistry instructors and students worldwide. An essential part of learning chemistry involves interactions in a laboratory ambiance. However, nowadays, it is necessary to consider alternatives to teaching experimental chemistry in an online environment. As a course project proposal, the…

When we are young, we are often asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This question is challenging for many to answer. When we are young, our idea of what we can be is often based on what we know given our short life experiences or occupations held by those close to us or where we grow up, such as a teacher, nurse, farmer,…

This case study investigated first-year composition students' perceptions of instructors' written feedback. Participants reported on their understanding of the role of feedback, how they processed feedback, and if and how they used it. Thirty-one participants completed a short online survey; the responses were analyzed to identify students who…

Objective: To examine dose-response associations between use of specific social media sites and the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and traditional cigarettes. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 298 first-year college students enrolled in the fall 2019 semester at a large state university. Heckman selection and Probit model…

Postsecondary institutions hold great potential to cultivate students' well-being. Yet many postsecondary students experience negative well-being and struggle to find socio-emotional support on campus. This study explores the interplay between students and postsecondary institutions regarding well-being and is informed by the following: (1) How do…

Among the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, speaking is particularly challenging for foreign language learners due to the lack of practice contexts. Owing to the popularity of mobile devices and wireless networks, the mobile video-based learning (MVBL) approach, which delivers instructional content via mobile devices (such…

When students graduate, they cannot rely on educators telling them if their work is good enough. To do so, they need well-developed evaluative judgement, the capability to make decisions about the quality of their own and the work of others. There is little evidence about the specific approaches that can develop evaluative judgement--or how to…