Winston-Salem State University incorporates critical thinking and oral communication into general education learning outcomes and assessment. To teach these critical skills, the authors used active learning techniques in a first-year seminar on animal behavior. Students performed simulation experiments and orally presented their findings. Their…

Students' completion of a self-efficacy appraisal inventory focusing on the eight habits of mind outlined in the CWPA's "Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing" can help individual students reflect and improve upon the specific and individualized learning approaches that will assist them as they transition into a postsecondary…

The transition from secondary to tertiary education can be challenging, as students must adapt to independent learning. For students in the allied health and nursing disciplines, this transition may coincide with compulsory first-year courses in anatomy, which are traditionally difficult to master. Students' agency--their capacity to make…

The prime aim of the study was to investigate and understand first-year pre-engineering students' perceptions about mathematics teachers' knowledge and instruction. A case study method was employed as a mode of inquiry and a Likert-type survey for data collection. Participants included 158 first-year pre-engineering students and five mathematics…

This paper investigates beginning BSc Physical Education (PE) students' views and experiences of the outsourcing of PE in the UK. Outsourcing involves the provision of PE by external providers such as sports coaches. PE in the UK (and other neoliberal Western contexts) is a site in which outsourcing has become increasingly normalised. I…

This study used reform theory to teach art appreciation to 35 (n=35) students enrolled in a visual communication program, a unit from the graphic design and multimedia program in the first year. In this study, a quantitative research design and methodologies were used. To analyze a group of students' achievements, the researcher employed…

Objective: To describe an iterative approach to developing an online intervention targeting the intersection of alcohol use and sexual behaviors among first year college students. Methods and Participants: Using the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST), we conducted two iterative optimization trials to--(1) identify candidate intervention…

This study attempted to answer two questions: (a) Are there significant differences in students' motivation for enrollment among freshmen of an education department between universities with high, medium, and low academic levels? and (b) Can the academic level of the universities and enrollment motivation significantly predict students' engagement…

Nationally, community colleges continue to have lower retention, completion, and transfer rates for African American students (National Student Clearinghouse, 2019). Specifically, 55% of African American students who enroll in postsecondary education at twoyear colleges leave without earning a credential in 6 years. Teaching and learning must be a…

This dissertation builds from previous studies of social annotation in first-year composition to link social practice theories of literacy with technologically mediated social annotation practices. Using a design-based research framework, I consider how recent developments in social annotation tools allow instructors and students to share the…

Learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) attach different values to learning EFL depending on their goals. Regardless of their perceived value, a multitude of studies have shown that learners tend to experience anxiety when learning EFL; however, little research has been conducted within the context of distance education. The purpose of the…

Collaboration enhances conceptual learning with multiple representations. However, learning with multiple representations also involves perceptual learning processes. These often-overlooked learning processes are the target of perceptual trainings, which expose students to short nonverbal tasks so that students can induce visual patterns across…

In the current study, we examine the novel hypothesis that perceived stress is a mechanism through which the relationship between attachment orientations and university adjustment can be explained. Present study explored both attachment orientations and perceived stress regarding adjustment; and perceived stress as mediator for the relationship…

Despite the demands for innovation, adaptability, and creative problem-solving as seen in the fourth Industrial Revolution, many institutions of higher education struggle to center creativity in the learning experience. This qualitative, grounded theory study examines how first-year courses using design thinking approaches can introduce creativity…

Placement and support of students in first-year mathematics courses at institutions of higher education has long been a consequential issue. In a bid to address it, many systems and institutions of higher learning have elected to implement a co-remediation framework in place of pre-remediation, due in large part to the prohibitive cost of the…