Existing research explains academic course failure with two contrasting narratives; one narrative is negative, and the other is more hopeful. To reconcile these contrasting narratives, this study explored students' perspectives on failing a course. The findings offer practical implications for higher education policy, student-faculty/staff…

One of the objectives of the undergraduate physics curriculum is for students to become aware of the connections between formal physical principles and personal experience. However, research has shown that awareness of connections between the abstract and the experiential tends to deteriorate, sometimes significantly, after instruction in…

Building on decades of scholarship critiquing scientist representation in classrooms and textbooks, the present study characterizes the lifetime experiences of undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of scientists and science identity. Informed by the theoretical framework of Cultural Learning Pathways (CLP), we conducted 31…

Purpose: Transitions to and within university studies can be associated with heightened distress in students. This study focusses on the less studied transition from a bachelor's to a master's degree. During a master's degree, study requirements and autonomy increase compared to bachelor's studies. The present study examines how students'…

Background: Real-world engineering problems are ill-defined and complex, and solving them may arouse negative epistemic affect (feelings experienced within problem-solving). These feelings fall into sequenced patterns (affective pathways). Over time, these patterns can alter students' attitudes toward engineering. Meta-affect (affect or cognition…

High structure courses ask students to be active participants in the learning process with preclass content acquisition and assessment, in-class active-learning exercises, and after-class review assignments. Although faculty may suggest certain strategies for success in high structure courses, it is unknown what students find valuable and what…

Research shows that students benefit from outside-of-class interaction with instructors (Guerrero & Rod, 2013; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) yet rarely take advantage of visiting faculty during office hours (Abdul-Wahab et al., 2019; Bippus et al., 2003; Griffin et al., 2014). We interviewed 39 students in six focus groups to learn more…

Purpose: This study aims to examine students' experiences of sexual harassment (SH) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ghana as well as their coping strategies. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted the cross-sectional descriptive survey research design and used the convenience sampling technique to sample 926 students from four…

The purpose of this study was to examine student veterans' sense of belonging within higher education institutions, the experiences influencing their feelings of belonging, and strategies that higher education institutions can utilize to enhance student veterans' sense of belonging on campus. Individual interviews were conducted with 10…

Purpose: Using a panel of over 433,000 college students from over 600 institutions of higher education in the USA, we investigate students' opinions of leadership skill development during their undergraduate tenure. Design/methodology/approach: The data used in this analysis come from the Higher Education Research Institute, which runs the…

In an increasingly competitive higher education marketplace, institutions are seeking innovative strategies to grow or maintain their existing student populations. As student interests shift over time, institutions must stay informed of the rise and decline of various sporting activities and the impact those activities have on the student body. As…

Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we explore students' engagement with critical feedback in an authentic university setting. Findings support the centrality of strong relationships in the feedback process. Study 1 was the first conceptual replication and extension of Yeager et al.'s (2014) wise feedback intervention to test the…

Experiencing extreme adversity -- such as homelessness, abuse, or incarceration -- creates barriers for educational success. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on the higher education pathways of students who experienced adversity (SEA). A researcher-practitioner collaboration aimed to understand the structural challenges SEA navigated on campus…

Research on student transitions has traditionally focused on the bookends of the first and senior years of a student's college experience, and a renewed focus on the sophomore year has revealed the important choices students make in their second year on campus. The longitudinal data presented here focus on the grounded theory analysis of a cohort…

Critical whiteness scholars have described whiteness as a system of oppression that privileges White identities above others and perpetuates White supremacy. On the college campus, institutional, social, and historical norms reinforce the educational status quo and work together to maintain a system of whiteness that marginalizes Black students.…