Students in an introductory educational psychology course submitted answers to daily homework questions for which they received credit either for percentage of questions answered in every homework assignment or for the accuracy of their answers to 10% of randomly selected questions. Potential credit was the same under both homework contingencies,…

Openness to diversity and challenge (ODC) constitutes an integral outcome of the undergraduate experience. However, ODC may also serve as a form of generalized openness to experience; if so, then it should be positively related to a host of college experiences as well as student success. The study reported here explored this possibility within a…

As student-centered approaches to teaching and learning are more widely applied, researchers must assess the outcomes of these interventions across a range of courses and institutions. As an example of such assessment, this study examined the impact of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in college mathematics on undergraduates' subsequent grades…

For the study we report here we used the theoretical framework of organizational justice to examine academic administrator's perceptions of resource distribution decisions. We asked deans, school directors, and department chairs in one midwestern state about their perceptions of the fairness and likelihood of use of various distribution…

This article explores the organizational impediments and facilitators that influence the implementation of student learning outcomes assessment (SLOA). This review points to the importance of culture, leadership, and organizational policies to the implementation of SLOA. However, we need to approach research differently, both conceptually and…

PowerPoint[R] presentations in academia have a reputation for being less than engaging in this era of learner-centered teaching. The Net Generation also presents a formidable challenge to using PowerPoint[R]. Although the research on the basic elements is rather sparse, the multimedia elements of movement, music, and videos have a stronger…

Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we examined the relationships between three approaches to measuring student learning outcomes (direct-assessment learning gains, self-reported gains, and college grades) and student persistence from the first to second year. Results from a series of logistic…

In the late 1980s a large northeastern university implemented a critical thinking course for undergraduate students. Combining insights from cognitive psychology and philosophy, this class was designed to give students concrete strategies to promote self-regulated learning and ensure academic success. The analyses in this study are based on…

Regional accrediting bodies require evidence that higher education institutions are meeting their stated goals. Institutions have answered this call for accountability by assessing student learning. Managing change in order to implement assessment practices is a challenge, however, particularly when autonomy, academic freedom, and shared…

As more faculty members utilize student-centered methods, we should also expect to see an increase in graduate teaching assistants (TAs) who are asked to co-teach these classes. However, little is written about the challenges TAs face and the adjustments they make when teaching student-centered courses. This study examined a student-centered…

Using data from two rounds of surveys on students in the Washington State Achievers (WSA) program, this study examined the relationship between student engagement in college activities and student persistence in college. Different approaches using student engagement measures in the persistence models were compared. The results indicated that the…

The challenges faced today by U.S. colleges and universities have been accelerated by the current economic downturn, but they are not the result of it. Consequently, we should not expect a sudden reversal of fortune when the economy rebounds. Changing demographics and spending priorities coupled with increasing competition and demands for…

Doctoral student attrition in the United States has reached alarming proportions, with reported rates of approximately 50% across disciplines (Nettles and Millett 2006). Attrition rates of underrepresented populations have been reported at higher rates across disciplines (Council of Graduate Schools 2004), pointing to a disparate experience for…

In researching the exceptional academic performance of 31 female and 19 male low socioeconomic college students of color, three distinctly female approaches to exceptional achievement arose from the data. These included the inordinate degree of familial resistance faced by the females and their approaches to that resistance, the value and…

This research examines the effect of two testing strategies on academic achievement and summative evaluations in an introductory statistics course. In 2001, 63 students underwent an hourly midterm format; and in 2002, 68 students underwent a bi-weekly exam format. Other than the exam format, the class lectures and labs were identical in terms of…