Purpose: The transition to college presents significant challenges for many students as they navigate new academic and social experiences. In the USA, 30% of first-year students drop out before their second year. Research indicates that mentoring programs help students achieve social integration and likely have a positive effect on their…

This study examines children's touch conduct in peer-group interaction in a Swedish preschool. Through a detailed analysis of 100 video-recorded touch episodes from everyday preschool activities, the study proposes an initial description of touch functions in children's peer groups. The results suggest that touch was primarily used to control…

Academic writing is an important skill in the development of researcher identity yet remains a hurdle to many. In this study, we examine the ways in which the exchange of social capital occurs in a writing group in Australia. We use Bourdieu's theoretical concepts to examine data obtained from open-ended questions in an online survey that asked…

This article introduces a framework for transforming Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) through Heterotopic Affinity Spaces (HAS). Our model suggests HAS can shift traditional power dynamics by enhancing learner agency. Drawing on studies of affinity spaces and heterotopias, we present these spaces as free from the restrictions of formal…

Productive Failure is an instructional approach in which students engage in problem-solving attempts prior to instruction. The Productive Failure approach has been found to be more supportive for conceptual knowledge acquisition during subsequent instruction compared to a direct-instruction condition in which students receive instruction first…

In this article we report the results and classroom implications of a qualitative study that explored third-grade students' interactions with each other as they partner read. Participants included 10 students, each of whom engaged in three readings with a partner during recorded observations. All students had been taught structures for partner…

Purpose: The South African vocational education and training (VET) sector is required by legislation to redefine postsecondary education, advance industrialisation and expand the job market to address unemployment in the country. Yet, VET leaders' heterogenous educational and occupational backgrounds do not enable them to address the needs of the…

At the transition to higher education, students from diverse backgrounds develop peer networks that support learning in higher education. However, few studies have investigated how students' background characteristics play a role in social selection mechanisms such as friendship and help-seeking and what drives the formation of diverse peer…

This study explores children's peer touch in a Swedish preschool using video observations. Two main aspects of children's touch in focus: (1) to what extent do children use touch within the peer group and with whom and (2) in what ways do children touch each other (i.e. what touch forms are used and what areas of other children's bodies are…

Completion rates in higher education have historically been low. Colleges and universities have tried many different programs, offerings, degrees, schedules, and more to encourage their students to stay enrolled, complete their programs, and graduate. One such offering is the learning community, a grouping of incoming students into cohorts with…

This study explored the experiences of school counselors utilizing peer-group supervision to assist in analyzing data to determine the effectiveness of interventions. The literature gap indicates that further research was needed regarding the relationship between appropriate supervision and its impact on school counselors' ability to analyze data.…

Objective: Investigate the sleep hygiene and quality of emerging adults with a CMC compared to healthy peers as well as potential predictors of sleep quality. Participants: College students with and without a CMC (n = 137 per group; aged 18-23 years) at a Midwestern university. Methods: Participants reported on anxious and depressive symptoms,…

Research on reflections and their use in academic support programs has highlighted their benefits concerning student leaders or tutors as an evaluative tool to document performance and measure personal growth. Largely absent from the literature is evidence of the possible benefits reflections could have on the students using academic support…

In the current article, we describe the development and validation of the Social Comparison Rumination Scale. This measured was developed as a supplement to existing social comparison measures and to enable us to determine its potential relevance to perfectionism and other personality constructs. The Social Comparison Rumination Scale (SCRS) is a…

This qualitative study explored the benefits of peer group support for first-year South African students who live in university residences. A case study design was adopted and data were collected from first-year students via focus group interviews at a selected South African university. Thematic analysis revealed the benefits for first-year…