The purpose of this paper was to determine the effects of deep approaches to learning on the moral reasoning development of 1,457 first-year students across 19 institutions. Results showed a modest positive relationship between our measures of deep approaches to learning and moral reasoning at the end of the first year of college even after…

Despite substantial efforts across postsecondary education to increase minority participation in study abroad, the homogeneity of study abroad participants remains largely unchanged (Dessoff in Int Educ 15(2):20-27, 2006; Shih in http://diverseeducation.com/article/13193/study-abroad-participation-up-except-among-minority-students.html, 2009).…

Although interest in study abroad has grown consistently in recent decades, study abroad professionals and higher education scholars have been unable to explain or rectify the long-standing gender gap in study abroad participation. This study applies an integrated model of the student-choice construct to explore differences between male and female…

This study applies an integrated model of college choice to better describe students who do and do not intend to study abroad. Although internationalization through study abroad is widely touted as a preferred means of developing globally competent college graduates, very little is known about the factors that influence students' predisposition to…

We investigated curricular conditions and educational practices that influenced the development of life-long learning orientations among 405 undergraduate students. Results suggest that growth in life-long learning orientations was facilitated by instruction that included opportunities for reflection, active learning, and perspective-taking and…

Despite scholars' praise of liberal arts education as a model form, very little research has examined the actual impact of liberal arts education on learning outcomes. The elaborate rhetoric and anecdotal support, long used to advance liberal arts education as the premier type of education with value for all, is no longer sufficient. The practices…

With the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the impacts that attending a work college may have on students while in college and up to 25 years later, this study estimated the effects of graduating from a group of work colleges on alumni educational and employment outcomes. Based on an overall sample of 7083 alumni from 5 work colleges,…

Identified the institutional and college experience variables influencing end-of-first-year educational degree plans of community college students. Found that the average precollege degree plans at a community college had a significant effect on students' end-of-first-year degree plans. In the prediction of end-of-first-year degree plans, there…

Found that community college students randomly assigned to receive instruction at a distance via a two-way interactive telecourse demonstrated learning equivalent to that of students assigned to on-campus, face-to-face instruction. However, students choosing to take the course via telecourse had significantly higher course learning than either…

In this longitudinal study of African American and Caucasian students from 18 4-year institutions, objective tests were used to estimate the cognitive effects of race in college, while applying statistical controls for an extensive set of confounding influences. Found that Caucasian students scored higher than African Americans on standardized…

A study using a path-analytic model compared first-year college students enrolled in remedial-type mathematics courses with counterparts enrolled in nonremedial coursework. Results revealed that students enrolled in nonremedial courses entered the institution with many advantages over those enrolled in remedial mathematics. Background variables…

A study of 2,392 freshman in 23 diverse two- and four-year colleges in 16 states found a number of variables associated with students' internal attribution at the end of the first college year. Variables included college type (two- vs. four-year), exposure to postsecondary education, work responsibilities, course organization, instructional…

A study investigated the influence on critical-thinking skills of part-time and full-time student status. Subjects were 2,076 first-year students at 2- and 4-year colleges. Full-time students developed a higher level of critical-thinking skills than did part-time students, even controlling for other factors. Full-time two-year college students…

The validity of Tinto's (1975) theory of student attrition, which asserts that withdrawal relates most directly to students' integration in the social and academic systems of an institution, is examined. This study supports that theory and also suggests that informal interaction with faculty plays an important role as well. (Editor/LBH)

Freshmen at two institutions sampled had significantly higher ratings of the climate on an intellectualism/scholarship factor than seniors. As length of exposure to the institution increased (comparing freshmen with seniors) assessments of the environmental press by male and female students tended to diverge. (Editor/JT)