Field-based education is an integral component of undergraduate geoscience curricula and provides educational and social benefits associated with enhanced learning. But field excursions can too often end up as simple show-and-tell events and fall short of implementing effective teaching practices and achieving desired student learning gains.…

The pedagogy of a servicelearning course is applied in a large urban commuter university to explore the impact of a service-learning course on upper-level students. The study population was engaged in an inmate re-entry program, and students were placed in nonprofit re-entry agencies. Results show changes in students' perception of offenders…

Objective: To examine health behaviors associated with overweight/obesity by race/ethnicity at a diverse urban college. Participants: 270 undergraduates (77.0% female; 26.7% non-Hispanic white) and median body mass index (BMI) of 23.1 kg/m2. Methods: A questionnaire about health-related behaviors as part of the "Get Fruved" project was…

This study examines the impact of a situated learning class framework on student learning and sense of belonging in a first-year introductory computer programming course offered at an urban commuter campus. The framework provided students opportunities to engage in hands-on activities embedded in authentic contexts facilitated or led by students…

Student retention is important to any university, especially keeping commuter students who are traditionally less anchored in campus life. Even more at risk, given the leaky STEM pipeline, are STEM commuter students. In 2016, Valparaiso University launched the Establishing Practices Integrating Commuter Students (EPIC) program, centered around…

While a growing body of research supports active, student-centered approaches to teaching, the implementation of such methodologies in the undergraduate STEM classroom has not been widespread. In an effort to increase student success in an introductory course for biology majors, we developed Biology Boot Camp, a peer-led program based on active,…

Objective: We examined whether perceptions of being bullied during middle and high school were associated with depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during college. We also examined whether perceived social support (PSS) mediated the association between bullying and symptoms, and explored whether parental, peer, or…

Utilizing event history analysis and multilevel models, this study explored dropout risks for first-time nontraditional students who started at public 4-year commuter institutions across a U.S. Midwest state. The study revealed that (a) the dropout hazard rate remained relatively high across college years and differed by gender, race, and family…

The current study sought to investigate possible negative and positive predictors of hypothetically and actually engaging in mental health services for Latinx college students. Online surveys were collected from 145 Latinx students. These surveys assessed rankings of perceived barriers to engaging in mental health services. These barriers, along…

Presented in this article is a case study of Black students' enrollment, persistence, and graduation at Cityville University, an urban commuter institution. We combine quantitative data from the University's Office of Institutional Research and the U.S. Department of Education with qualitative insights gathered in interviews with students,…

With growing concerns over higher education accountability and diminishing resources, student persistence rates and the reasons why students remain at a post-secondary institution continue to persist. Using the Backward Design Model, the purpose of this observational study was to determine the difference between the pre-college characteristics of…

Embedding active learning is a common mechanism for meeting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education reform goals. Researchers have identified student benefits from such strategies, yet these benefits may not be universal for all students. We sought to identify how students at a nontraditional university perceive…

This paper describes the Integrated Core (IC), the University of Utah's version of integrated curricula. We begin with a rationale for the IC, providing a background on the unique student demographics, and University-wide requirements that propelled our design. Our IC focuses specifically on active living, sustainability, and social justice as…

This study sought to explore the lived experiences of five female, first-generation, low-income students who attend a metropolitan commuter university, and investigate how a structured undergraduate research experience exerts influence on the women's academic and social involvement. A qualitative case study with a narrative and grounded…

This study assessed the influence of cultural orientation and cultural ft of 121 Latina undergraduates' help-seeking attitudes. Mexican and Anglo orientation, cultural congruity, and perceptions of the university environment did not predict help-seeking attitudes; however, differences emerged by class standing and self-reported previous counseling…