The purpose of this study was to develop a concise composite measure of mindset and intellectual development in order to inform pedagogical strategies to support students' intellectual growth. A development sample of undergraduate students (n = 295) completed the 37-item pilot Mindset and Intellectual Development Scale (MINDS). The dataset was…

This study examines the extent to which adjunct professors (a) perceived that they have applied six effective teaching principles (Ramsden, 2003), and (b) perceived that they have been educationally prepared to implement such principles. A purposeful sampling of adjunct professors was conducted. Relationships between whether or not the respondents…

Since the advent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs, first in K-12 and now in college curricula, many variants of STEM have arisen to include other disciplines in developing cross-disciplinary literacy among students. This paper briefly defines our own variant STE[A]M branch within the context of cross-disciplinary…

This article reports on the final phase of a three-phase project and investigates the characteristics of high-achieving students at a university. It also reports student evaluations of a low-cost program aimed at supporting them, assesses their levels of satisfaction, and evaluates the applicability of the program across three institutions in the…

The development of critical thinking skills forms an important part of many higher education courses and has become increasingly visible in syllabi and assessment criteria. Yet, in spite of this, students often struggle to understand what it is and to demonstrate it in their work. This paper aims to explore how students understand the term…

In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) called for more interdisciplinary and community-engaged approaches to teaching and learning in the agricultural and life sciences to better respond to the food system challenges of the 21st century. As a result, institutions from across the nation have responded with a number of experiential learning…

Recommendations about syllabi design have emerged over the last two decades. From a Promising Syllabus, to a Graphic Syllabus, to a Student-Centered Syllabus, faculty are encouraged to purposefully set the tone with this document. Few studies examine students' impressions of these documents. In order to do this, we created four types of syllabi…

This study examines the structure of the inventory, the second part of the Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). Three hundred and sixty-four students participated in the study. To strengthen the validation of the ETL, the short version of Approaches to Learning included in the ETLQ was substituted by its widely-used,…

Gamification, which introduces game mechanics into a non-game setting, has been considered a potential way to improve student learning, motivation, and engagement. Empirical studies of gamification often focus on students' outcomes and/or their perceptions of the gamified system while giving less attention to the rationale behind the…

In higher education, despite disciplinary expertise and teaching experience, faculty who are asked to implement curriculum into new modalities, particularly ones that rely heavily on technology such as blended learning, may be intimidated and overwhelmed. However, instructors may be more willing to explore new modalities if they feel that support…

Teacher educators strive for student engagement in their pre-service curricula. Recent studies of university-level engagement have focused on the need for active learning pedagogies. Grounded in anti-deficit approaches that are relevant, responsive, and sustaining for diverse cultures and literacies, this article discusses the use of…

Supervisors' feedback can be taken as the most powerful pedagogical tool in thesis writing. However, relatively little is known about the type of information supervisors focus on and the language functions supervisors use to communicate with their students. Data collected from eight supervisors' written feedback to students' theses at Bahir Dar…

The positive effects of diversity coursework on college students are uncontested and the majority of institutions now require some form of diversity content. However, not all students engage in this content in the same way, and heterosexual White male students may show ardent resistance to diversity courses and the faculty teaching them. Faculty…

This paper illustrates a radical course design structured to create active and situated learning in which students participate in communities of practice within the classroom, replicating real-life work situations. This paper illustrates the approach through a People Management module, but the approach is also used across a range of disciplines…

This case study used qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate challenges of learning and teaching research methods by examining graduate students' use of collaborative technology (i.e., digital tools that enable collaboration and information seeking such as software and social media) and students' computer self-efficacy. We conducted…