Nearly all quantitative analyses in higher education draw from incomplete datasets-a common problem with no universal solution. In the first part of this paper, we explain why missing data matter and outline the advantages and disadvantages of six common methods for handling missing data. Next, we analyze real-world data from 5,905 students across…

Research clearly indicates that faculty members have the potential to influence student learning outcomes through their pedagogical practices, but we know less about what influences faculty members' choices to employ specific pedagogical practices. This study, based on data from 2,853 faculty members who teach courses that serve primarily…

The available research on first-year college outcomes remains highly segmented (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) and surprisingly incomplete (Upcraft et al., 2005), particularly as it relates to psychosocial outcomes like social and personal competence. This study, based on data from nearly 6,700 students and 5,000 faculty members on 30 campuses…

Argues that demographic, institutional, economic, and technological changes have altered fundamentally both the way we think about what it means to go to college and the methodologies we use to assess college impact. Discusses the implications of four forces: changing undergraduate student population; increasing importance of community colleges;…

The tendency of higher education researchers to focus on discovery and not practice- and policy-relevant research will not garner the needed public support. Attention should be directed to addressing issues confronting practitioners and policymakers, contributing to the solution of important current problems, communicating better with…

A study of the predictive validity of Tinto's theory of college student attrition is described. Compensatory interaction between levels of goal and institutional commitment indicated that institutional commitment had its greatest positive influence on retention for students with low levels of commitment to completing a college degree, and vice…

A study examined the rate of college students' perceived social and actual academic development during the freshman and sophomore years and the influences on that development. (Author/MSE)

A study investigated the extent to which 210 college students' learning orientations were shaped independently and jointly by their academic and nonacademic experiences. Findings indicated that the two kinds of experience each made statistically significant and unique contributions to gains in intellectual orientation after controlling for…

The relation between residence arrrangement and college attendance patterns was studied. The degree to which the nature of the group with whom a freshman college student lives may influence that student's decision to continue enrollment into the sophomore year was assessed. (MLW)