Homelessness among at-risk transitional age youth is an increasingly growing crisis impacting college-aged students across the United States. Thankfully, along with interest in their local community’s success, universities have the necessary resources that may offer a unique solution to this crisis. This study describes the pilot of a collaborative effort among a local youth shelter,…
Continue reading →While considerable research has examined the academic and cognitive value of journaling, little has examined the psychological impact of journaling on the personal development of college students. Research on cognitive-behavioral therapy indicates that journaling can have a positive impact on individuals’ self-growth and intrapersonal characteristics. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact…
Continue reading →Problem-based learning (PBL) is a small-group pedagogical technique widely used in fields such as business, medicine, engineering, and architecture. In PBL, pre-written cases are used to teach core course content. PBL advocates state that course material is more likely to be retained and applied when presented as cases reflecting “real life” applications of class material….
Continue reading →Many undergraduate programs require students to complete an independent research project in their major field prior to graduation. These projects are typically described as opportunities for integration of coursework and a direct application of the methods of inquiry specific to a particular discipline. Evaluations of curricular projects have usually found that they positively impact students’…
Continue reading →This article considers the culture of learning communities for effective teaching. A learning community is defined here as an environment where learners are brought together to share information, to learn from each other, and to create new knowledge. The individual student develops her/his own learning by building on learning from others. In a learning community…
Continue reading →This article recounts one undergraduate writing tutor’s experience helping a fellow peer navigate an institutional assessment rubric that seemed to contrast the assessment criteria provided by the student’s instructor. This article presents a reflection on that experience, framed by Hutchings, Huber, and Ciccone’s (2011) work on institutional assessment and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Continue reading →A goal of higher education is to advance learning. This study examined the role “comfortability” plays in that process. Defined as the level of comfort students experience with their classmates, instructor, and course material, comfortability addresses how secure a student feels in the classroom. Comfortability was assessed multiple times during one semester with undergraduate students…
Continue reading →This article reports on a one-year research project that used peer coaching and collaboration between two reading professors to study the effects of collaborative classroom activities on student engagement. In order to address professors’ concerns about student participation, two undergraduate reading-methods classes were revised through the inclusion of more collaborative learning activities. Classroom observations were…
Continue reading →This article identifies the strategies used by architecture professors and their undergraduate students to mitigate common issues that students raise about group work. Based on participant-observation, interviews with students and faculty, and analysis of instructional materials and student work, this IRB-approved ethnographic case study complicates the separation of collaborative, cooperative, and problem-based learning into distinct…
Continue reading →This paper focuses on the parameters of a semester-long project called the “Do Good” project, geared towards developing small group communication skills in undergraduate students. This project highlights participation in a social engagement project that allows students to bridge concepts learned in small group communication lectures (e.g., team dynamics, project management, conflict resolution, decision making,…
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