Reading fluency has been identified as a critical competency for reading success. Accurate and automatic word recognition, one component of fluency, is normally assessed through reading rate (Oral Reading Fluency--ORF). While norms for ORF exist through grade 8, norms beyond grade 8 are largely unknown. The present study attempted to establish ORF…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the preferences and practices of students enrolled in online graduate programs regarding instructional video or visual tools used by instructors. Graduate students enrolled in online courses were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the best and worst instructional video or visual tools…

Following the publication of an updated definition of "information literacy" in 2018 by CILIP, the United Kingdom's library and information association, librarians at Royal Holloway, University of London, began to use the definition with both students and staff. Their aim was to foster a better understanding of information literacy and…

The focus of this research is on values about methods, a specific instructional theory framework construct that represents a person's opinions about the usefulness of instructional methods. Previous studies have shown that values about methods have a "good guy/bad guy" structure, where instructional methods such as apprenticeship are…

Purpose: In recent years, diversity and inclusion in higher education has become a topic of increased interest both nationally and internationally. Given the importance of this topic in today's world, it is surprising that the research is limited, especially with university students in the rural areas. This study examines on-campus students'…

Integrating information from across multiple sources is an important science literacy skill that involves the following: identifying intra- and intertextual ties, modeling relationships between sources and claims and making an evaluation of the claims made. Tasks that involve reading, interpreting and synthesizing multiple sources have been well…

Biopharmaceuticals are gaining high relevance in the pharmaceutical industry and market, due to their specific design for many therapeutic conditions and ability to restore biological functions. As a matter of fact, gene therapy products have been studied and developed in the past several years, and more recently, they arouse real interest as…

Teaching and learning through contemporary art has gained validity as a powerful and effective pedagogy in contemporary art education practice. In this article, we highlight characteristics of contemporary art and rhizomatic learning theory, and then we propose a pedagogical model that combines them for teaching and learning through experiential…

Academic inbreeding is a recruitment practice for universities of hiring their own graduates as future academicians. Despite its benefits, it may have damaging effects on the academy. From this point of view, this qualitative research investigated whether academic inbreeding brings benefits to universities or poses risks. It was also purposed to…

Higher education broadly assumes a conceptual link between generic skills and employability. We accessed a large sample of data collected by the Australian Government to investigate whether the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) subscales Good Teaching (GTS), Graduate Skills (GSS), and Graduate Qualities (GQS) predicted graduates' employment…

An increasing number of Australian universities are committing to Indigenous Graduate Attributes across a wide range of academic disciplines. This paper critiques not only the slow up-take of Indigenous Graduate Attributes in the last 10 years, but also how such attributes may realistically contribute to university students graduating with…

Evidence from the past several decades has repeatedly found that the chemical enterprise presents systemic barriers for people with marginalized identities. Initiatives and actions that remove systemic barriers and support the success of all students, especially those from equity-deserving groups, are essential. However, fostering a culture of…

We describe programs developed and implemented at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemistry aimed at increasing representation and improving outcomes for graduate students from underrepresented minority groups. We briefly describe our Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU), Chemistry Opportunities (CHOPS), Catalyst, and…

Studies of education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) commonly use a pipeline metaphor to conceptualize forward movement and persistence. However, the "STEM pipeline" carries implicit assumptions regarding length (i.e. that it "starts" and "stops" at specific stages in one's education…

This paper reports on how we developed a Writing Commons to support graduate student needs within our faculty. Graduate writers often require more concentrated and specific support than traditional support sources (e.g., writing centres, supervisors) can provide. We argue that local writing support spaces, like a Writing Commons, can meet these…