While leader identity development (LID) and meaning making are interwoven and essential for student development, little research has explicitly explored their intersection. In this article, we briefly summarize the work of two research projects that explored the intersection of LID and meaning making, including a review of the findings that…

This research investigated the developmental patterns of students' writing and public-speaking self-efficacy throughout their experience in the basic communication course (BCC). Questions were posed regarding (1) whether students grew in their reported writing and public speaking self-efficacy over two semesters; (2) whether growth differed based…

This dissertation examined narratives of seven current and former students of a Southwestern university in the United States who participated in short-term study abroad language and culture immersion programs (3 to 4 weeks) in three different locations outside of the United States. The research explored how the short-term study abroad participants…

Students learn best when teachers get out of the way. Unfortunately, university classrooms continue to be intensely teacher-centric, are driven by the teacher's agenda and calendar, and embrace simple models rather than complex alternatives. These simple types of learning environments frustrate students' development of the risk-­taking and choice…

Why do we do what we do? Why is what we do important? What are the best practices to ensure that our "why" is accomplished? These are questions of philosophy--a topic of immense importance since the "why" behind the work influences everything about the "how" and "what" of daily affairs in the world of…

The authors begin this chapter by revisiting Astin, Panos, and Creager (1967), who developed a conceptual scheme to guide the selection of various types of measurements organized by three dimensions: (1) type of outcome; (2) type of data; and (3) time. In assessing basic skills, general education, and attainment of the major, the focus is on…

The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) promotes standards to enhance opportunities for student learning and development from higher education programs and services. Responding to the increased shift in attention being paid by educators and their stakeholders from higher education inputs (i.e., standards and…

This paper discusses the background and key findings of a two-year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded mixed-method research project (2006-2008) which was designed, within the context of university internationalisation, to provide an investigation of the experiences of first-year international students during their undergraduate…

The contemporary crisis in American Education that has resulted in Bush sponsored federal legislation for accountability and standardized testing is the setting for an essay introducing the work of French philosopher, Julia Kristeva. The comparison is between an "educated subject" that might well come to be constituted in schooling at…

A study of 479 doctoral students at an urban university examined the relationships between 4 educational strategies (divergent, assimilative, convergent, accommodative) of doctoral programs and subjects' perceptions of their gains in 4 domains of professional competence (thinking, decision making, valuing, and acting). Additional variables…

The perceived benefits of college as reported by alumni from 55 postsecondary institutions in the United States were surveyed during 1980-1982 using the Alumni Survey of the American College Testing (ACT) Program. Findings were analyzed for the total group of 12,682 and for subgroups based on college size, student sex, student major area, number…

Earlier work on the enduring effects of education is reviewed, and data are presented from 22 autobiographical accounts written by college graduates. Most importance was attached to learning high-level intellectual skills and to attitudes and values of personal and professional significance. Implications for curricula and teaching are discussed.…

Data from two independent Canadian research studies found that university education produced added value on such dimensions of student development as reasoning, time management, and quantitative skills but not on social skills, supervisory skills, conflict management, and creativity. Universities are urged to develop more than mere competence in…

The inability of university professors to communicate about shared concepts and concerns--e.g., meaning, self, integrity, an ideal of truth--is related to the fragmented university, departmentalized and bureaucratized. The impact of this on the humanity of those involved is sketched, and suppositions are advanced about the nature of education.…

A compilation of 89 structural frameworks or classifications of outcomes of higher education is presented. Each classification system or model is discussed according to the time it entered the literature. The classifications are grouped into three areas: impacts on individuals, impacts on society, and impacts on individuals and society. Some of…