When higher education institutions seek to align their research goals with nationally driven imperatives, various members of the institutional community need to work in concert to achieve them. The identification of effective strategies and the development of a contextually appropriate research culture are fundamental elements to progressing…

The overarching research issue addressed in this study is: what are the pathways and experiences formerly incarcerated people face when trying to acquire and/or use higher educational credentials (for example, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees)? Another important question this study will examine is how ex-convicts successfully access…

In this chapter, the authors discuss challenges and decision-making in the process of conducting quality mixed methods research in higher education, and offer the lessons learned from their experiences. The chapter begins with a discussion of quality and the ways of establishing quality in mixed methods studies. Two examples of studies are used to…

In a symposium at the 2012 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education annual conference, Claremont Graduate University Professor Daryl G. Smith, a pioneer in the study of diversity in postsecondary educational contexts, critiqued the disproportionate framing of diversity-related research around past, present, and future U.S.…

Social media is widely considered to improve collaborative learning among students and researchers. However, there is a surprising lack of empirical research in Malaysian higher education to improve performance of students and researchers through the effective use of social media that facilitates desirable outcomes. Thus, this study offers a…

Universal design in education is a framework of instruction that aims to be inclusive of different learning preferences and learners, and helps to reduce barriers for students with disabilities. The principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) were used as the framework for this study. The purposes…

Much ink has been spilled debating the role of the intellectual. William Tierney's article "Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Role of the Intellectual in Eliminating Poverty" in the August/September 2013 issue of "Educational Researcher" adds to this literature. In his article, Tierney presents recommendations to the education…

Nearly all quantitative analyses in higher education draw from incomplete datasets-a common problem with no universal solution. In the first part of this paper, we explain why missing data matter and outline the advantages and disadvantages of six common methods for handling missing data. Next, we analyze real-world data from 5,905 students across…

The neoliberalization of universities is creating an increasingly instrumental, market-focused approach to higher education. This paper focuses on Masters dissertation supervision in the UK, which to date has been understudied and which recent changes to higher education have left in a precarious position. It presents a collaborative reflection on…

Action research in classrooms can be challenging for novice teacher researchers. This paper reports on a study involving eight action research teacher teams. Analysis of the teams as they conducted action research resulted in the identification of three collaborative action research approaches promoting professional development. The findings…

This article examines the levels of analysis adopted in higher education research, using a database of 567 articles published in 15 leading higher education journals internationally during 2010. Level of analysis is a relatively overlooked issue in this field of research, when compared with methodology, theory and/or topic--to which it is, of…

In this article, I use a Spivakian decolonizing perspective to take simplification to task in two ways--the simplification of methodology with/in grants and the simplification of critique that skirts the impossibility of noncomplicitous research and researchers. I posit that "neoliberal scientism"'s grants culture is colonizing research--narrowly…

The Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010 (CCTA) changed the funding formula from enrollment-based to outcomes-based in order to increase the number of college graduates in Tennessee and as a result altered the landscape of public higher education in the state. The purpose of this qualitative study was to ascertain the impact of the CCTA on…

This commentary reflects on the contributions to learning analytics and theory by a paper that describes how multiple theoretical frameworks were woven together to inform the creation of a new, automated discourse analysis tool. The commentary highlights the contributions of the original paper, provides some alternative approaches, and touches on…

The high value accorded to the research-based development of education in higher education communities means that researchers in the field have an important role in determining the foci of such efforts. However, it is important to ask whether higher education research is providing answers that satisfy practical educational needs. In this study,…