This study explores how African American STEM students pursued research experiences outside of STEM disciplines, drawing on nine years of data from the undergraduate research journal "XULAneXUS" at the STEM-focused, historically black institution Xavier University of Louisiana. Findings indicate that a successful STEM education for black…

Students come to class with little understanding about torque, angular velocity, and angular acceleration despite the fact that these physical science concepts are frequently observed. For example, torque occurs when car and bicycle tires rotate, the movement of fishing pole when hooking a fish, and when a person uses a hammer to drive in a nail.…

This qualitative research assesses the success of a unique upper-level course project developed collaboratively by a library faculty member and a history instructor. It resulted in a permanent online library guide and a one-hour public panel event focused on a social justice issue. We situate our assessment of the project in today's higher…

This chapter uses critical race theory as an interpretive framework to explain and operationalize the role of race and racism in the lived experiences and challenges of Division I Black male athletes, and specifically in relation to engagement and achievement at Predominantly White Institutions.

Hoping to increase student engagement, the author decided to re-envision his course on contemporary global issues in a "flipped" format. The results proved encouraging--to a degree. Over the course of five semesters, applying lessons gleaned from the literature, students learned how to read challenging texts outside of class and…

A total of 418 adolescents completed the Revised Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student, the Basic Needs Satisfaction Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Based on self-determination theory, this study examines the relationship between academic autonomous motivation, basic psychological needs…

Discussions in higher education have proliferated in recent years regarding not only how to recruit a greater diversity of students but also how to support their success. The voices of students themselves, particularly those students traditionally underrepresented in and underserved by higher education, have important contributions to make to…

The present study explored the interactive effect of age and gender in predicting surface and deep learning approaches. It also investigated how these variables related to degree satisfaction. Participants were 983 undergraduate students at a large public Australian university. They completed a research survey either online or on paper. Consistent…

In this article, the authors describe how a theoretical framework--the modeling cycle of Bliss, Fowler, and Galluzzo (2014)--came to life in their classroom as students struggled with an open-ended modeling task. The authors share their high school students' work--warts and all. They explain how they used their students' ideas and errors to help…

Quality teaching is increasingly prioritized in higher education. One reason is that government funding requires students to succeed in their studies and be ready for employment. In response, educators throughout the Western world have generated large quantities of evidence-based, practical, often uncritical research about what works to improve…

While all agree student success in higher education is important, there is less agreement on what it means to be a successful student. Student success is often measured by institutional reports of grades, student retention and qualification completion. More recently, broader definitions have emerged; however, these do not incorporate student…

Student success in higher education (HE) is dependent on the possession of a positive learner identity, the development of which is a complex longitudinal process of change. Exploring the growth of learner identity within the transition between school and university is therefore apposite, especially for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds who…

Background: Large introductory STEM courses historically have high failure rates, and failing such courses often leads students to change majors or even drop out of college. Instructional innovations such as the Learning Assistant model can influence this trend by changing institutional norms. In collaboration with faculty who teach…

This quasiexperiment tests the effect of the use of a randomized name generator (wheel of discussion) on course performance in an introductory psychology course. In one section of the course, the instructor implemented the use of the wheel of discussion immediately, whereas, in the second section, the instructor introduced the wheel of discussion…

Learning gain is a politicised concept within contemporary HE, and as such has been aligned with agendas of teaching excellence and learning outcomes but the extent to which it captures actual learning has yet to be clarified. Here, we report the outcomes of a learning gain study which examines how students' knowledge, skills and experiences as…