Being a complex social process, open and distance learning includes many different dynamics and interaction elements. Activity theory provides a comprehensive framework for understanding complex human interactions and the lack of appropriate methods to address the complexity of online learning environments. The main purpose of this study is to…

Higher education professionals with a keen eye and commitment to advocacy face many obstacles through their work. Manifesting the realities of embodiment of these identities, with professional duties and implications can be treacherous. Evidence exists of marginalized voices being silenced by the majority when speaking about their own lived…

College access and graduation results in significant life advantages, including higher lifetime incomes, better physical and mental health outcomes, and greater rates of civic engagement. Unfortunately, trans* youth have been systematically prevented from full participation in post-secondary education due to genderist practices and policies.…

Student engagement has become problematic following the rise of mass and universal forms of higher education. Significant attention has been devoted to identifying factors that are associated with higher levels of engagement, but it remains the case that the underlying reasons for student engagement and, indeed, the notion itself of "student…

"Welcoming Blue-Collar Scholars Into the Ivory Tower" is the first volume in a new book series designed to explore how institutional policies, practices, and cultures shape learning, development, and success for students who have been historically underserved or given limited consideration in the design of higher education contexts.…

Whether political and/or religious academic bias exists is a question with important ramifications for the educational institutions. Those arguing for the presence of such bias contend that political conservatives and the highly religious in academia are marginalized and face discrimination. The question of academic bias tends to be cast in a…

This article presents empirical research conducted with French speaking adults studying for a diploma. Their training took place mainly in e-learning. The goal of this research was to identify and explain the processes of influence existing between two specific dimensions: the degree of openness of the components of the e-learning situation and…

Within academic institutions, writing centers are uniquely situated, socially rich sites for exploring learning and literacy. I examine the work of the Michigan Tech Writing Center's UN 1002 World Cultures study teams primarily because student participants and Writing Center coaches are actively engaged in structuring their own learning and…

Although recent research on multiraciality exposes mixed race experiences in the post-Civil Rights era, higher education scholarship still seems to lack a framework that connects two racial systems of oppression that inform and reinforce each other: traditional racisms targeting monoracially-constructed groups, and monoracism targeting…

Students' collaboration while learning could provide better learning environments. Collaboration assumes social interactions which occur in student groups. Social theories emphasize positive influence of such interactions on learning. In order to create an appropriate learning environment that enables social interactions, it is important to…

Trust is a key factor in enabling effective team performance and, in online teams, needs to be built quickly and early. As universities expand their online offerings students are increasingly working in online teams. Understanding how trust development may differ in online teams versus face-to-face can have implications for online education…

In revealing the transformatory moment of learning technology, a holistic and ongoing critique that is related to a range of socio-cultural factors is required. This critique further uncovers the social relations that frame the place of learning technology in bourgeois capitalist work and the development of the knowledge economy. This article…

In this article, the author provides an overview of existing literature addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and queer issues in higher education. She argues that although colleges and universities are the source of much critical and postmodern writing about LGBT and queer topics, scholarship on LGBT/queer people and…

In this conceptual paper, Diane Gusa highlights the salience of race by scrutinizing the culture of Whiteness within predominately White institutions of higher education. Using existing research in higher education retention literature, Gusa examines embedded White cultural ideology in the cultural practices, traditions, and perceptions of…

Recent educational journals on both sides of the Atlantic have seen a resurgence of debate about the nature of educational research. As a contribution to these debates, this paper draws on theoretical and methodological "thinking tools" of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Specifically, the paper explores what Jenkins [Jenkins, R.…