This paper analyzes the research performance evolution of a scientific institute, from its genesis through various stages of development. The main aim is to obtain, and visually represent, bibliometric evidence of the correlation of organizational changes on the development of its scientific performance; particularly, structural and leadership…

Evaluation must occur at the university level to understand the full impact of undergraduate research (UR). UR assessment is often only completed at the individual program level because of limited technology, time, and/or resources. At our large research institution, we have been documenting a wide variety of research experiences annually since…

A 2013 British Columbia Council of Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) research report suggested the need to continue research on mature students for the sake of ensuring access to postsecondary education (PSE) for adults and other categories of non-traditional students. The 2013 report laid a basis for this study which investigates key elements of…

Australian higher education lags behind other western countries in relation to access and attainment of equity groups (Organisation for Economic Development [OECD], 2010). This is despite major policy reforms in the last two decades targeting better educational outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Australian Labor Government's…

Understanding the suitability of multilevel modeling in the context of institutional research (IR) may ease the doubts of some IR professionals. However, the need for training on how to conduct and report multilevel modeling analysis remains. A major roadblock hindering the proliferation of multilevel modeling in IR is the perception that…

Given the high rate at which students report participation in cocurricular group experiences during college, it becomes critical to have a clear understanding of how these experiences related to both one another and educational outcomes. Existing research examined specific types of group experiences or simple involvement in general, failing to…

Most institutional research (IR) practitioners lack access to direct measures of longitudinal student learning, let alone assessment instruments systematically embedded into the curriculum that yield representative cognitive gain data controlling for student motivation. Typically, measures of student learning growth rest on findings from survey…

In late 2006, SDN Children's Services, an Australian not-for-profit provider of services for children, families and communities, engaged a research team that was "embedded" within the organisation for 1 year. This action represented a significant investment of resources, such as staff time and organisational funds, and demonstrates SDN's…

The purpose of this study was to analyze one high school district's use of student survey data to measure district-wide goal achievement. The premise was that student school climate factors may serve as a more robust measure of district goal attainment than the district's use of discrete item analysis. The data were gathered from archived biennial…

The following paper culminates a year of research conducted by researchers at E[superscript 3] Alliance and Texas State University and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The following reports on promising practices observed and reported at Manor New Tech High School (MNTH), a Texas Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (T-STEM)…

The purpose of this study is to explore key factors that impact the college transition of aspiring underrepresented minority students in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, in comparison with White, Asian students and non-science minority students. We examined successful management of the academic environment and sense of belonging during the…

This report presents findings from a study conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) on how well prepared today's community colleges are in moving toward the greater use of data and research to improve student success. Data for the study were drawn from two major sources: first, an e-mail survey of college administrators…

Differences between Ricks College students taking a study skills course and a control group were assessed, with attention to the difficulty of students' semester load and credit load, and grades. Data on students applying for graduation in 1983 were analyzed by semester. Over four semesters, difficulty of courses was similar for both groups of…

This document reports on a study undertaken to compare the academic achievement of athletes, identified as members of University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) intercollegiate teams, with that of male students not engaged in intercollegiate sports. Academic achievement was measured by the cumulative grade-point average (GPA) for spring quarter,…

Reasons for the underachievement of 44 qualified college freshmen were studied. The students had above-average scores on the American College Testing program examination but earned below-average grades in their first year in college. They were invited to discuss their academic status and perceptions of college life with an academic advisor. It was…