This paper describes key discoveries and lessons learned about the practice of reciprocity in community-engaged learning (CEL). We draw from an example of a multi-partner, multi-year CEL project that addresses a community-identified priority to access jargon-free research findings about their community. Our project benefits community members in an…

In this research, we assessed the impacts of participation in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholars community built around the scaffolding of multiple strategies that fostered belonging and integrated the use of wise psychological interventions to enhance the experiences of college students who belong to groups that have…

Despite being a degree that leads to diverse employment in a wide range of industries, the Bachelor of Arts (BA) has long had a bad reputation when it comes to employment outcomes for graduates. The challenge of overcoming this disjuncture has significant implications for current and prospective BA students, especially with respect to attrition…

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore how students experienced the MOOC-based flipped learning and how should different scaffolding be emphasized in different stages in such educational contexts through the lens of the revised community of inquiry (CoI) framework. In total, 22 first-year undergraduate students were invited for…

Purpose: The goals of this research study included evaluating the outcomes of Interdisciplinary Science Threshold Experience (InSciTE) on student experience of science discipline, level of sense belongingness to a large Faculty of Science (FoS), outcomes in learning science literacy skills and whether a student's background played a role in the…

The first-year experiences of six African American male students participating in a developmental education program at a community college were examined. African American male students constitute a significant proportion of those who struggle with academic performance. The initial year of college can be challenging for African American males,…

In this exploratory study, we took as our point of departure Lori Salem's (2016) call to investigate the factors that affect students' decisions to visit the writing center. Rather than exploring student decision-making through a sociological lens, as Salem does, we drew on insights from social psychology to understand students' motivations. We…

The HyFlex learning model has gained popularity in recent years and, with the outbreak of COVID-19, the demand has increased. However, there are challenges associated with the model, especially related to equity and engagement. A HyFlex model known as Interactive Synchronous HyFlex is being developed and practised by the researchers in their…

Student retention and lack of encouragement are post-secondary institutional barriers that play a critical part in why African Americans are represented in small numbers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) (National Science Foundation, 2017). Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have always promoted a supportive…

The purpose of the study was to learn which activities are effective for producing a community of learners, retaining students, preparing students for the rigors of nursing school, and determining the best practices for Living Learning Community (LLC) housing and academic policies for nursing students. The research utilized a qualitative case…

This article describes All Rise, a career and calling circle (CCC) designed to address first-year underrepresented pre-law college students' sense of belonging. The article focuses on how the practice was designed, developed, and evaluated. Although restorative practices such as the circle process have emerged in response to addressing student…

In this article, we present our findings regarding the course "Research Methodology," offered to 22 first-year undergraduate students studying Administration at the Federal University of São Paulo, Osasco, Brazil. The course, which combined community-based research and project-based learning, was developed during the second semester of…

Historically, storytelling has been a way to pass knowledge between generations and to facilitate an understanding of beliefs. The aim of this current research was to explore the value of storytelling in the higher education classroom, to address the question "how can sharing stories assist students in constructing new knowledge in the…

This article discusses how following graduation, students often enter the job market unprepared to find, evaluate, and use information in the digital environment effectively. Essentially, there is a disparity between the skills students attain in college coursework, including information literacy (IL) skills, and those required in the workplace,…

While there is a rich array of community-based learning activities and approaches across the Portland State University campus, the authors assert that integrating a critical service learning (CSL), rather than traditional service learning (TSL), model in the first-year curriculum benefits both students and community partners. They advocate for…