Journalism educators must make critical decisions about their undergraduate curricula, determining how to best prepare their students for professional careers. Present scholarship indicates that a disconnect exists in what journalism students think they ought to know and/or be able to do upon graduation, what educators think they must teach their…

This article describes factors that influence the success of collaborations involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and Education faculty at research-focused universities who work toward postsecondary STEM education improvement. We provide insight into how interdisciplinary faculty may successfully collaborate given…

In a follow-up study to the ERIAL (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries) Project, librarians at UIC compared the responses of first-generation college freshmen from the original study to those of seniors. The study's aim was to determine whether student information literacy increases as a result of undergraduate education and to…

For valid educational and cultural reasons, many teacher education institutions promote or allow some pre-service teachers to complete their student teaching experiences in a different country. A select, but growing body of literature suggests positive outcomes of these unique international placements. This study extends and refines the data on…

Although the development of digital competencies has become increasingly important in higher education, integrating digital literacies in the college classroom has occurred at a slow pace. Honors programs and colleges represent one area of the academy that typically values a more traditional approach to skill development while resisting…

New approaches for teaching and assessing scientific inquiry and practices are essential for guiding students to make the informed decisions required of an increasingly complex and global society. The Science Skills approach described here guides students to develop an understanding of the experimental skills required to perform a scientific…

Students from farmworker families are often cited as having deficits that prohibit completion of undergraduate degree program. Statistics regarding graduates of the College Assistance Migrant Program in a southwestern university have shown graduation rates that are similar to the general population of graduates at that university. This qualitative…

Recognizing the differences between three discrete distributions (Binomial, Hypergeometric and Negative Binomial) can be challenging for students. We present an activity designed to help students differentiate among these distributions. In addition, we present assessment results in the form of pre- and post-tests that were designed to assess the…

Physics education research (PER) is a relatively new and rapidly growing area of Ph.D. specialization. To sustain the field of PER, a steady pipeline of talented scholars needs to be developed and supported. One aspect of building this pipeline is understanding how students come to graduate and postdoctoral work in PER and what their career goals…

Background: The field of STEM education is increasingly focusing on processes of individual, cultural, and organization-level change in postsecondary institutions, yet current approaches tend to focus on individual leverage points isolated from other factors and the broader institutional context. Research on reform implementation highlights how…

Engagement with current research is essential for the implementation of evidence-informed instructional practices in adult English as a second language classrooms. We explored Canadian administrators' and instructors' engagement with peer-reviewed research articles, perceptions of their impact, and ways in which stakeholders could enhance…

The diverse range of academic, social and cultural challenges experienced by Asian students when studying at Western universities is well documented. This research involved a pre-departure curriculum designed to ease the intercultural transition and adjustment for Chinese international students to a new learning environment in Australia. Moving…

Focus group interviewing is widely used by academic and applied researchers. Given the popularity and strengths of this method, it is surprising how rarely focus group interviewing is taught in the undergraduate classroom and how few resources exist to support instructors who wish to train students to use this technique. This article fills the gap…

The author explores an assumption evident in the literature that "most" college instructors grade participation in undergraduate courses. Instructors (N = 521) at a large, northeastern university were surveyed regarding their attitudes and practices in grading participation in undergraduate courses. A survey instrument was developed for the…

In this study, students and staff involved in an undergraduate science communication course investigated people's responses to a science-rich episode of the animated sitcom "The Simpsons". Using focus groups, we sought to find out if and how the episode influenced our 34 participants' perceptions of science, but our results problematised…