This study examined gains undergraduate students made in their communication and collaboration skills when they served as peer teachers, i.e., laboratory instructors (LIs), for a General Psychology laboratory. Self-ratings of communication and collaboration skills were completed before and after teaching the laboratory. When compared to before the…

This study compared workloads of undergraduate courses taught in 16-week and 8-week sessions. A statistically significant difference in workload was found between the two. Based on survey data from approximately 29,000 students, on average students spent about 17 minutes more per credit per week on 16-week courses than on similar 8-week courses.…

While researchers have begun to examine the experiences of working class students in undergraduate education more closely, we know less about the experiences of working class students in graduate school. Through a nationwide survey of graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in Sociology, we examined the extent to which working class students…

We predicted that students in a sociology course that included contemplative practices (i.e., mindfulness meditation) would show an increase in performance on higher level cognitive abilities (executive functions) over the semester compared to a control group of students. Change in executive functions performance was not significantly different…

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…

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…

This study compares the extent to which higher education policy analysts and master's and doctoral faculty of higher education and public affairs programs match on a set of competencies thought to be important to higher education policy analysis. Analysts matched master's faculty in three competencies while analysts and doctoral faculty matched in…

We measured student knowledge and motivation at the beginning and end of a three-week general psychology course. Two large lecture sections (N = 215 and N = 154) were compared; one used a cooperative learning process, and one did not. Student knowledge significantly improved in both sections, but there was no additional benefit derived from using…

Ten students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: diversity, academic freedom, political tolerance, affirmative action, and gender. Upon completion of each discussion, they assessed their comfort, honesty, concern for others'…

In this study we examined differences between online distance education and traditional classroom learning for an introductory undergraduate statistics course. Two outcome dimensions were measured: students' final grades and student satisfaction with the course. Using independent samples t-tests, results indicated that there was no significant…

Gains in research self-efficacy for 60 Social Work and 75 Speech-Language Pathology students were compared. Our interest was to investigate whether students enrolled in both research and practice courses made greater gains in research self-efficacy over a semester, as compared to students enrolled in practice courses only. Findings indicated that…

Assessed experiences of full-time technical students randomly assigned to a team-taught learning community or to individually taught, unlinked classes. Results indicated that the learning community did support academic and social integration and commitment to college but did not improve academic outcomes. (EV)

Reviews literature concerning need for and use of strategic planning in higher education institutions, and examines the systems approach as a means of enhancing strategic planning. Compares planning models and outlines a model designed for colleges and universities that uses concepts of the systems approach, combines elements of existing models,…

A study compared student learning in two sections of an introductory college biology course for nonmajors. Groups were taught in the traditional teacher-centered, lecture/laboratory format (n=86 students) and in a student-centered constructivist format (n=98). The latter group performed significantly better on the same tests, maintained a better…

Use of active learning techniques of role-playing and simulation in an industrial psychology course (n=29 students) is described and assessed. Subjective reports and objective assessments of knowledge retention indicate the approach was effective. The differential importance of active learning and passive learning (lecture) in the college…