Despite the important role organic chemistry plays in a wide range of industries, the undergraduate organic chemistry course sequence is considered to be difficult for and feared by students. Although work has been done to identify and address student difficulties within the cognitive and psychomotor domains, little work has focused on…

Beliefs about conducting research and completing major projects, such as a thesis or marketing campaign, suggest that previous experience, guidance from a mentor, and cohesive teams are particularly important in boosting the confidence to conduct research in graduate students (i.e., research self-efficacy). Although these factors are also thought…

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate how first-year college students describe their experiences with stress and coping. This study sought to understand what coping mechanisms first-year college students use when they experience stress. Prior to this dissertation, it was not known how first-year college students describe…

Community colleges play an essential role in providing student-athletes with the opportunity to continue to pursue athletics and go to college. Community college student-athletes' experiences, specifically those of female student-athletes, are critical to examine. Female student-athletes have unique academic and social experiences that can…

This study explored the lived experiences of Black male mentees mentored by female staff in high school school-based mentoring (SBM) programs. Specifically, it identified how their relationship achieved the four components of relational-cultural theory to improve academic achievement and support graduation. According to TEA (2022b), Black students…

Transfer students are a significant and growing population on campuses across the US. However, little is known about students' perceptions of themselves as transfers and how these may be informed by their experiences. In this study, we used an in-depth qualitative case study approach and the intersectional model of multiple dimensions of identity…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine doctoral student perceptions about an experiential learning summer study away program involving one Texas educational leadership doctoral (Ed.D.) program. Students shared their perceptions about how the four-day study away trip advanced their professional and educational development in…

We report findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) college students' perceptions of their on-campus experiences. Participants reported their lived experiences of campus culture at PWIs Deep South. The data was viewed through a minority stress theory framework. Four major…

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of seven Mexican American community college philosophy students in their journeys to becoming philosophers in the U.S.-Mexico border, between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Philosophy is one of the least diverse academic fields in the United…

Undergraduate STEM retention has been a longstanding concern. Specifically, majors such as engineering have experienced a high dropout rate consistently in the past several decades. This study is aimed at understanding factors contributing to making the engineering major challenging, and individual factors that help first-year engineering students…

Literature on international students discusses the creation of programs to assist with adjustment to U.S. education, explores negative experiences on campus and in the surrounding community, and discusses in-classroom experiences for ethnic groups within the international student population. Within the literature, developmental education articles…

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated many communities and exacerbated existing inequities, particularly for Mexican American communities along the South Texas border. During this tumultuous time, many Mexican American college students balanced coursework, work, and familial responsibilities in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), a Texas borderland region…

Understanding college students' level of ageism is important for older adults' social inclusion and recruiting future workforce. This study extends the understanding of ageism among students of health- and non-health-oriented majors and the factors associated with students' attitudes. 246 students participated in this survey study and were…

Guided by the theoretical assumption that college life is a culturally situated, symbolic process of interaction between students and various others, this qualitative study attempts to explore how minority students' home culture, which is different from the dominant college culture, helps them make sense of their college experiences. The…

A qualitative study with Latina/o high school students was conducted to understand their experiences obtaining information about going to college. The following themes emerged: students encountered difficulty meeting with the counselors and obtaining information; students had little idea of where to start looking for information about going to…