Background: Students' beliefs about their ability to grow in STEM disciplines have been linked to better course outcomes. However, such mindset beliefs are subject to the environmental cues projected by the instructor in the classroom, which we refer to as the mindset context. Recent meta-analyses indicated heterogeneity in the benefits of student…

Given its close links to student success, universities are heavily invested in how they can positively influence their students' sense of belonging. One approach to this is through social belonging interventions, where universities attempt to develop student agency. This study takes a quasi-experimental approach by evaluating the impact of a newly…

Drawing on a study involving interviews with 20 students each semester until graduation, this article examines how participants understood and articulated their writing processes and how they perceived those processes changing over time. Although they initially struggled to find language to describe what they were doing when they wrote, falling…

Student success is an integral part of systemic change research. However, students' lived experiences and voices are often subdued in this programme, leaving the change that occurs to be evaluated upon measures that do not capture a holistic view of the experiences students and their shifting identities during the roll-out of those changes. These…

Background: For over a decade, growth-oriented achievement goal constructs like potential-based goals and personal best goals have remained relatively unnoticed. This empirical study aims to highlight that goal theorists might be limiting themselves by not incorporating potential-based goals into their frameworks. Aims: The primary objective of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate students' conceptions of Earth scientists, using drawing as a tool, during introductory Earth science courses. We explored two research questions: 1) What student conceptions are evident in undergraduate students' drawings of Earth scientists? and 2) How do undergraduate students'…

Although it has been established that U.S. students typically enter college unprepared to engage in interreligious conversations, it is unclear whether and to what extent a university course focused on the sociolinguistics of religion equips students to feel better prepared for such conversations. Therefore, this study employs an exploratory case…

This qualitative research study used an interpretivist approach to examine the following research questions: (a) Do Black students experience intersectionality between their racial and academic identities in Catholic institutions of higher education? (b) Do student academic pathways promote their racial identity? (c) For Black students, do racial…

Scholars and practitioners have argued that higher education in prison (HEP) can help transform incarcerated people and prepare them to re-enter society in productive ways. Viewing education as a mechanistic device that can help incarcerated students attain jobs or skills without engaging with larger questions of personal growth and fulfillment,…

Technology is key to making education systems more resilient to disruptions. In the South African higher education sector, technology will continue to play a much larger role than the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology, however, cannot replace the value gained through social contact and concerns about relational disengagement in…

This paper examines the developmental trajectories of students' self-authored worldview commitments over four years of college and the reasons they offered for making associated developmental gains. Through a longitudinal, mixed methods approach, we unearthed four distinctive developmental trajectories of a nationally-representative cohort of…

We examined the mentor-protégé relationship and the foundational pillars that make the relationship effective. Through a phenomenological design, we conducted interviews with student leaders to discuss their relationship with their self-identified most significant mentor. Using leader-member exchange and mentor relationship theory as a lens, we…

In this article, we engage with undergraduate geography students' reflections on their geography education. We begin by examining the position of geography within education across the British Isles. Following this, we critically consider how geography education is shaped by "the gap" between school and university geography and…

Objective: The present study examined the relationships among students' participation in Residential College (RC) activities, their sense of belonging, academic engagement, and academic achievement. Participants: Two hundred and forty-six undergraduate students from a public university in Macau participated in this study. Methods: A set of survey…

This dissertation aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of the distinct challenges encountered by Black first- and second-generation college students within higher education. By highlighting the multifaceted obstacles these students face, this research emphasizes the necessity for a candid and nuanced dialogue that transcends race,…