Transfer students are a significant and growing population on campuses across the US. However, little is known about students' perceptions of themselves as transfers and how these may be informed by their experiences. In this study, we used an in-depth qualitative case study approach and the intersectional model of multiple dimensions of identity…

Little is known about best practices to support newcomer students with a history of emotional, behavioral, or learning challenges in their pursuit of school success and engagement. The Enhanced Critical Incident Technique was employed to explore the helping, hindering, and desired practices among nine teachers who have successfully supported…

Student tardiness has not received as much attention as absences in research on school attendance, despite the disruptions to learning it can cause. The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and study an alternative intervention--the Student Training for a Restorative Outlook for Needed Growth (S.T.R.O.N.G.) Program--to the existing…

This paper presents a summary of the entire body of research, 2008 to 2022, from Project Information Literacy (PIL) on the strategies students use for finding, using, and creating information for college courses, in everyday life, and the workplace while navigating a vast, ever-changing information landscape. Major findings from 12 reports and…

This dissertation explores the importance of embodied teaching pedagogy as it relates to peer review practices in the college writing classroom. This work uses autoethnography as a research method, exploring issues of (dis)embodiment and experiences with collaborative learning in classrooms. In addition to a review of applicable literature focused…

The manifestations of institutional and interpersonal racism have been linked to lower recruitment, retention and matriculation rates among ethnic minority students in predominantly white institutions (Harper, 2012). Those who experience racial and ethnic microaggressions have been impacted in numerous deleterious ways. Physical, mental, emotional…

MDRC's Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS) project seeks to improve graduation rates for traditionally underserved students at two- and four-year colleges. SUCCESS integrates components from multiple programs that have proved to be effective at helping students accomplish their goals. The components include…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how the social and academic integration of first-time college students from a midwestern university influenced their decision to return to college. This qualitative descriptive study explored two research questions: RQ1: How do first-time college students describe their role of…

Colleges may not be prepared to support veteran students transitioning from the military to higher education, resulting in more significant attrition levels for veteran students struggling to adapt to their new surroundings. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the experiences of post-9/11 veteran students as they transitioned from the…

For decades, schools nationwide have collected household income data to identify those eligible for free and reduced-price lunch programs. State leaders have long used this information as a proxy for student economic disadvantage--yet this data is insufficient to understand and address students' needs. Measures based on FRL data lack critical…

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Afghan women refugees in community colleges. Using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth theory, the study explored Afghan women's motivation for attending college, the experiences that brought them to the college, the challenges they experienced while navigating the institution,…

Individuals that experience imposter phenomenon harbor resilient doubts about their abilities (Thompson, Foreman, & Martin, 2000). According to Dr. Dena Haritos-Tsamitis (2019), the study of impostor phenomenon has revealed that the success regarding personal experiences were to 70% as defined their internal experience of intellectual…

Although online course enrollments have increased over the past two decades (Berry, 2017), low retention rates persist (Muilenburg & Berge, 2005; Ng, 2019) due to students feeling isolated and a lack of social connection with their instructor and classmates (Baxter, 2012; Lowenthal, 2009; Pinsk et al., 2014). High dropout rates have been…

The Division of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services at Old Dominion University (ODU) submitted a Request for Assistance to examine the challenges sophomore students face that can lead to attrition. A doctoral research team conducted an exploratory, sequential, mixed-methods study consisting of a literature review, focus groups and…

Increasingly scholarship reveals art museums, their exhibitions, and collections, are instrumental in shaping visitors' larger social and cultural values (Hooper-Greenhill, 2000; Luke, 2002; Sandell, 2002) and identity (Leong, 2005; Rounds, 2006). My qualitative study aimed to understand Black students' experiences within a Historically Black…