The heightened mobility of resources, ideas, and cultural practices across national borders--commonly known as "globalization"--entails changes in the contexts in which US research universities operate. We draw on recent developments in neo-institutional theory to understand these changes and their implications for the ways in which US…

The cost of attending college has risen steadily over the past 30 years, making financial aid an important determinant of college choice for many students and a subject of concern for colleges and state governments. In this paper, we estimate the effect of rule-based merit aid assignment on students' enrollment decisions at the University of Iowa.…

In this paper, we analyze how students select particular sections of required undergraduate courses at a regional public university in Texas. Specifically, we study how perceived instructor quality and other course section attributes, such as meeting time, impact enrollment. We find strong evidence that publicly available information about…

Using state administrative data for three cohorts of college enrollees from 1997 to 2008 and incorporating propensity score matching techniques, we examine the effects of attending a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI)--that is, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI)--on college-completion outcomes…

Current higher education is characterized by a proliferation of distance education programs and by an increasing inclusion of nontraditional students. In this study we investigated whether and to what extent nontraditional students are particularly at risk for attrition (vs. graduating) from distance education programs. We conducted a secondary…

Community college students are often placed in developmental math courses based on the results of a single placement test. However, concerns about accurate placement have recently led states and colleges across the country to consider using other measures to inform placement decisions. While the relationships between college outcomes and such…

Evolutionary theory is the central unifying theory of the life sciences. However, acceptance and understanding of the theory have been found to be lacking in the general public, high school, and university populations. Prior research has linked low acceptance of the theory to a poor knowledge base in evolution, to the nature of science, and to…

There has been little to no data indicating that candidate scores on the Nelson Denny Reading Assessment, entrance GPA, and basic skills were effective measures for success in educator preparation programs. This study contributed to the body of knowledge by evaluating whether candidate scores on the Nelson Denny Reading Assessment, entrance GPA,…

This paper addresses the problems facing faculty members, who made short-term international exchange programs in foreign countries; in their attempts to internationalize the campus through teaching, research, and service. Some faculty members who participated in foreign exchange programs try to infuse their international experience through…

The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationship between criminal justice internships and knowledge domains. Kolb's four experiential learnings stages of experience, reflection, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation are assessed using the Experiential Learning Variables and Indicators Scale (ELVIS) to provide a…

The writing of student theses is an important activity at universities and is expected to demonstrate the students' academic skills. In the teacher-education programme, examiners from different academic disciplines are involved in supervising and examining student theses. Moreover, different subject disciplines have different traditions concerning…

This paper explored the journey of three academics as they moved from face-to-face teaching to online teaching over a period of twenty months. From the findings of this study, it is recommended that for an academic to make an effective transition they need to be supported effectively to embrace the changes to their role and to their practice and…

Doctoral candidates often struggle to write at doctoral level. This struggle has many causes, but includes finding the time and support to write. We analyse a doctoral writing retreat aimed to encourage doctoral candidates to develop their academic writing and offer new insights into successful retreats. A comprehensive review of the literature…

In this paper I seek to reflexively theorise the following pedagogical problem: why do so many students adopt a strategic approach to studying and value assessment for the grade awarded rather than as a learning opportunity? Firstly, I differentiate my sociological perspective from the phenomenographic perspective, and argue that the strategic…

Surveys asking Higher Education students about feedback tend to find similar results: feedback should be prompt, specific, understandable and regular. Efforts to improve the feedback experience therefore emphasises that feedback be more frequent, detailed and turnaround times reduced. However, indications that students misunderstand key phrases in…