This research note argues the outdoor adventure profession needs census research studies. Although conceptually simple, a census is a laborious process needing methodological guidance. This paper provides suggestions for conducting a census. Four previous outdoor adventure census projects are referenced. These, along with the U.S. Census, are used…

As a result of historical trauma, it is an important step for Indigenous communities to take control of the research taking place with Indigenous populations. This is imperative due to the historical dehumanization of Native American people. Decolonizing research happens when researchers work together to foster the idea that they are with…

This chapter examines undergraduate research (UR) from student, faculty, and institutional perspectives. We explore UR implementation models in community colleges, discuss selected examples of practice, present a summary of lessons learned, and make recommendations to advance UR and its early execution into the college curriculum from a holistic…

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in education are common as the design allows for an unbiased estimate of the overall impact of a program. As more RCTs are completed, researchers are also noting that an overall average impact may mask substantial variation across sites or groups of individuals. Mixed methods can provide insight and help in…

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…

To explore the extent at which the published student affairs research in top-tier journals is conducted primarily at four-year institutions at the exclusion of literature on community colleges, we conducted a content analysis to examine the number and type of journal articles related to community colleges published in the Journal of College…

Although college students with disabilities (SWD) represent 19% of all college students and most often access postsecondary education most often via community colleges, there is a paucity of information about topics related to SWD in community colleges in professional journals. Moreover, there is even less information in journals specific to…

This report from the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Network Lead team provides final results from an evaluability assessment of CTE programs that feasibly could be evaluated using a rigorous experimental design. Evaluability assessments (also called feasibility studies) are used in education and other fields, such as international…

Since the George Floyd murder in 2020 and Black Lives Matter campaign, there has been increased interest among evaluators and PIs in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in their projects and evaluations. Our previous research showed a lack of clarity in understanding the distinction between the terms in practice and desire to engage with these…

In this OCCRL Community College Context feature brief, Dr. Francena F.L. Turner calls attention to the need for additional historical study of community college educators, particularly Black women who teach at these institutions.

Discipline-based education research (DBER) has experienced dramatic growth over recent years, but with growth comes concerns about whether DBER efforts accurately represent the education landscape. By many measures, DBER does not feature a representative range of institutional contexts or a diverse array of voices. Numerous professional…

This book highlights the pivotal role that engineering education researchers can play at technical universities. By delving into both theoretical and practical aspects, it showcases the transformative potential of integrating rigorous educational research into technical education. The book begins by outlining the current landscape of engineering…

In this paper, I argue that researcher reflexivity, a common qualitative practice, is a specific tool that institutional research professionals endeavoring to conduct qualitative research studies involving Students of Color can use to unpack issues of power and privilege that exist between the researcher and the researched. This may be…

This is the third brief summarizing results from the longitudinal analysis of the Transfer Opportunity Project (TOP). TOP, funded by a grant from the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), explores the possible factors contributing to the low percentage of community college students who go on to earn bachelor's degrees. The project uses a…

In this paper, we report the description and evaluation of an annual workshop titled "Capacity Building Workshops for Competitive S-STEM Proposals from Two-Year Colleges in the Western U.S." which was offered in June of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with the goal of facilitating submissions to the NSF S-STEM program from 2-year colleges (2YCs).…