This article examines the transformative educational practices and democratic ethos of Black Mountain College, an experimental institution ahead of its time. Drawing on insights from scholars like Rhea Estelle Lathan and Susan Kates, Muir positions Black Mountain as a site of community literacies, by prioritizing democratic engagement, diversity,…

Every college and university has as one of its clear purposes to develop students' critical thinking. This is, of course, essential. However necessary critical thinking is as a goal of higher education, it is not sufficient on its own. Critical reflection is a vital complement to critical thinking. Critical reflection enables students to…

"How Clear Is Their Path? Guided Career Pathways and Community College Students" explores how prepared community college students are to meet their career goals. Over 90 percent of students responding to the 2023 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) indicated they had chosen a career path. But many of those respondents…

This paper shares findings from a project that examined how schools serving marginalised communities facilitated students' substantive engagement. Through interviews with students, parents, teachers and school leaders, we determined that substantive engagement was supported by formal and informal strategies that enabled access to rich learning…

We begin the last article of this special issue by contextualizing the current landscape of higher education, in 2024. Then, employing a kitchen table dialogue approach, we summarize the diverse articles featured throughout this edition, shedding light on insights that stir both our spirits and intellect. Further, we delve into three key themes…

While podcasting has been around for over a decade, this popular format is experiencing a resurgence. This phenomenon has led many educators to return to this medium and ask questions regarding the meaningful integration for teaching and learning. Podcasting lends itself to the idea of learning anywhere and at any time. The benefits of using…

Students' achievement-related self-beliefs, as manifest in values, goal orientations, perceived efficacy, mindsets, and a sense of autonomy and self-determination, have been the centerpiece of motivation theories that describe learning and development. The premise of the current special issue is that these intrapersonal beliefs tell us only half…

What Black learners hear from their general and special education professionals affect how they communicate and interact in classrooms and other learning situations and environments. Most students, no matter how young, are very perceptive--they can tell if the teacher or the learning environment is welcoming or unwelcoming. When the environment is…

In "The Great School Rethink," education policy sentinel Frederick M. Hess offers a pithy and perceptive appraisal of American schooling and finds, in the uncertain period following pandemic disruption, an ideal moment to reimagine US education. Now is the time, he asserts, to ask hard questions about how schools use time and talent, how…

This article explores the outcomes of using community-engaged learning in a sustainability-focused social sciences research course titled Methods of Social Research. The integrated components of the course were designed to teach students about the research process while addressing sustainability issues at Utah State University. Throughout the…

Propensity score matching and weighting methods are applied to balance covariates and reduce selection bias in the analysis of observational study data, and ultimately estimate a treatment effect. We wish to evaluate the impact of a Supplemental Instruction (SI) program on student success in an Introductory Statistics course. In such student…

Obtaining and submitting documentation related to disabilities to instructors is a known barrier to students accessing necessary accommodations. We assessed whether the implementation of a universal course design procedure, an automatic re-weight for students who missed a midterm exam without requiring documentation, was associated with…

The focus of this paper is learning the language of data science and statistics through the use of simple classroom activities. Many terms in statistics are known to be lexically ambiguous, having one meaning in general English conversation and another, more technical, meaning in statistical English. The main aim is to investigate whether the…

This article views student engagement through the lens of a university wide blended learning initiative. Using the Community of Inquiry framework, student voices help us understand how professors and the institution can increase active learning. Attention is also given to the development of higher order thinking skills as a means of increasing…

As higher education seeks to define and justify itself in a "post-pandemic" world, it is important to understand the role of centripetal and centrifugal forces. The centrifugal approach suggests engagement facing outward and away from the classroom, from curricula, and from campus in favor of service learning, internships, political…