This qualitative, multiple case study examined how peer mentors at a public, four-year university supported the transition of first-year college students. Using Schlossberg's (Anderson et al., 2021) Transition Framework the study was guided by the following questions: 1) How did peer mentors, in light of the Approaching Transitions phase in…

Higher education institutions commonly provide faculty professional development (PD) in teaching and learning, with the goal of enhancing student outcomes by improving instructional quality. Yet few existing studies link PD participation with student outcome measures. Empirical evidence on the impact of PD on student performance in higher…

Principles of diversity and difference are and have historically been, essential to social work education. However, preparing students with the knowledge, awareness, and skills of anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices has been less central in social work education until recently. In June 2022, the Council on Social Work Education issued new…

This study provides a typological analysis of public, four-year institutions implementing programs for men of color (MoC). The purpose of the study is to expand our understanding of the institutional context and conditions in which these interventions operate. As more of these programs emerge, it is important to understand if and how institutional…

The M.S. Chemistry -- Chemical Education Specialization program at South Dakota State University provides in-depth general chemistry coursework to in-service high school science teachers in a virtual format. The goal of the program is for the teachers enrolled to become more effective teachers while gaining content knowledge in chemistry; in…

The Ritual in Practice Project, adapted from Elizabeth Corrie's Ascetic Withdrawal assignment, asks students in an introductory Religious Studies course at a public university to create a unique ritual practice, engage in it for a month, reflecting on it throughout the project. This activity attempts to circumvent what Jeanine Weakes Schoer calls…

Across the country, many states are expanding their support for and implementation of Dual Enrollment programs, seeing them as opportunities to encourage students to go on to college--particularly those who historically might have had less opportunity and/or encouragement. As these programs expand, so does the need for professional development for…

Recent years have seen an increase in interest with regard to offering music industry undergraduate programs at institutes of higher learning. Such programs typically cover a mix of courses in both music and business areas. An emerging trend in the music industry is the rising application of digital technologies in all business aspects. This makes…

Grounded in self-expansion theory, the Senior Business Consultant Project addresses the gap between career competencies possessed by business graduates and those expected by employers. The project took place in a virtual environment to mirror future business settings. Fourth-year consulting students worked in teams of two to provide guidance to…

This constructivist case study examined how low-income students characterized their experiences with career development opportunities provided by a comprehensive college transition program designed to support their success. Overall, participants described career programming as advantageous since they honed skills (e.g., resume writing,…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are key partners in the education of undergraduates. Given the potentially large impact GTAs can have on undergraduate student learning, it is important to provide them with appropriate preparation for teaching. But GTAs are students themselves, and not all of them desire to pursue an academic career. Fully…

Contemporary approaches to professional development (PD) involve investigating ways of bottom-up, self-directed practices while addressing various needs of teachers. Yet, utilized as a tool in such practices, classroom observation (CO) is not considered to promote teacher professional learning since it is generally regarded as part of the…

During her career as a public university teaching assistant, Ting Fang (Claire) Chien observed many students who were not enrolled in an art degree program ("non-art-major students") struggle with studio art projects. As a result, she developed the Daily Life Object Project (DLOP) to show these students that art is connected to and…

We redesigned our undergraduate laboratories to create a structured sequence that continuously improves the learning experience of students. We utilized a PBL and PjBL approach in which students are progressively introduced to ill-structured open-ended problems, the development of projects, and the creation of research products. We dynamically…

Background: Leadership development is commonly named as an outcome for experiential learning (EL) programs. Some programs have shown success at inculcating individual leadership traits. However, it is not clear whether there is a relationship between certain kinds of experiential pedagogy and specific leadership concepts or styles, such as…