With the growing importance of the field of RNA biology, undergraduates need to perform RNA-related research. Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) has become an important method in RNA biology. The principles of SELEX were applied to a semester-long course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in which two…

Guided by the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics and measures of competence provided by the Council on Social Work Education, the social work field serves as a model for strategies that promote collaboration across difference, strengths-based advocacy with communities, and education through engagement. These values and…

Drawing on a longitudinal research project that followed the undergraduate entrants of 2013 into, and through their university time, this paper provides a novel conceptualisation of transformative transitions via looking at the four dimensions of non-linearity, multiplicity, diversity and structure. To do so, it builds on Archer's (2000, 2003,…

A mandatory outdoor experience program (MOEP), involving a three- to four-day outdoor canoe excursion, has been a compulsory university course for undergraduate students for nearly five decades at a post-secondary institution in Northern Ontario, Canada. However, the experiences and perspectives of students who participated in these excursions…

Through participation in co-curricular leadership roles, such as resident assistants, orientation leaders, and student government, students engage in integrative learning, an active process by which students connect, apply, and synthesize their learning (Barber, 2020b). One example of how students integrate their learning is through participation…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study is to explore how college students from the United States describe the motivational factors that influence them to seek a degree in computer science. There is a gap in the research that shows a need to look at the motivations of women from their first experiences in computer science to begin and…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced educators to teach in an online environment. This was particularly challenging for those teaching courses that are intended to support bench science research. This practitioner article tells the story of how an instructor transformed their Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) using the Backwards Design…

The percentage of undergraduate students in the U.S. who report a visual disability is over 3.5%, and worldwide over a billion people claim a significant visual impairment. As more higher learning institutions build Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs), it's critical to understand how these students experience such a different style of learning…

A theoretical understanding is offered to help explore how students attempt to reconcile divergent narratives around the purposes of Higher Education in relation to their own writing. Drawing from the twin notions of centripetal and centrifugal forces, the paper discusses the ways that students both follow and resist convention in their own…

College students have long engaged in various forms of protest and dissent about both structural and human oppression appearing in the form of racial and social injustice, gender inequity, laws, war, and politics. Situating student activism in the context of student learning and identity development is key to fulfilling the role of higher…

While students can learn both chemistry content and inquiry practices by participating in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), it is well documented that prior experiences shape perception. We conducted a case study to investigate students' first experiences with a CURE in an upper-division chemical engineering laboratory…

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of an intercultural communication (IC) course on Emirati university students' intercultural sensitivity (IS). Design/methodology/approach: The participants were 89 Emirati students. The course required student involvement in a variety of tasks and activities, both inside and outside the classroom. The…

The ability to navigate scientific obstacles is widely recognized as a hallmark of a scientific disposition and is one predictor of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics persistence for early-career scientists. However, the development of this competency in undergraduate research has been largely underexplored. This study addresses…

College students have experienced unique life disruptions and losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted this study to gain an understanding of how the pandemic has affected the lifestyle of college students. Findings included: major changes in perceived well-being related to living at home with families, balancing online classes and work,…

Student persistence is a topic that has been studied in the United States since the 1970s. In that time, researchers have attempted to understand the factors and elements that affect student persistence in pursuit of a post-secondary education. One branch of those studies focuses on the persistence of First-Generation (FG) students. Research…