Youth voter turnout remains stubbornly low and unresponsive to civic education. Rigorous evaluations of the effects of adopting civics tests for high school graduation by some states on youth voter turnout remain limited. We estimate the impact of a recent, state-mandated civics test policy--the Civics Education Initiative (CEI)--on youth voter…

To better understand the use of ChatGPT as a tool for learning in higher education, this investigation reports student responses to an e-questionnaire investigating their perspectives on it. In particular, it delves into whether there are any significant differences between opinions based on gender and the level of study of 51 postgraduate…

This case study investigates the effectiveness of paraphrasing guidelines taught in a graduate academic and research writing class at a Thai university. It evaluates the use of paraphrasing strategies, as taught through the guidelines, by students when paraphrasing English-language sources. The assessment considers the students' utilization of…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of first-generation Black women who completed at least a bachelor's degree without student loans. While Black women are most burdened by student loan debt, little is known about the experiences of those who navigate college without accruing student loans. Combining endarkened…

This phenomenological study explored the perspectives of American Indian/Alaska Native students who had all graduated from the same Northeast-Nebraska public school located on a federally recognized Indian reservation and completed at least a four-year degree. To that end, the central research question addressed by this dissertation is, "Why…

This dissertation includes three essays on the economics of higher education. In the first chapter, I study the effects of college transfer. Over one-third of college students in the United States transfer between institutions, yet little is known about how transferring affect students' educational and labor market outcomes. Using administrative…

Data showing what students earn after attending higher education institutions have become increasingly available, bolstering calls from policymakers and advocates that government financial aid programs should be tied to those outcomes. Often overlooked, however, is that these data and policies usually reflect the earnings of only students who…

The Chinese government promulgated several policies to encourage academics to participate in applied projects. As collaboration with industry on applied projects consequently increased, previous research found that the external funders placed constraints on the applied projects in which the academics were involved. Academics have tried to find a…

COVID-19 challenges induced a U.S. meatpacking industry bottleneck. Ohio Extension identified the need and responded by creating a three-step hands-on training for teenage junior fair exhibitors. Ohio Extension Meat Scientist and graduate students assisted in demonstrating an on-farm hog harvest and processing event in collaboration with a local…

This study aims to explore the role of a doctoral supervisor in doctoral candidates' state of methodological preparedness within a specific disciplinary and institutional context. The number of doctoral graduates per million is commonly used as an indicator of progress to high-level competence and growth, and has become a global policy priority.…

Skills in interdisciplinary collaboration are required to address many complex problems facing society. As such, interdisciplinarity is a critical competency for students to develop. However, teachers' effectiveness in teaching interdisciplinarity is often hindered by silo structures within university faculties. To address this in the Experts in…

Using student-level data, we analyze the post-secondary enrollment of high school graduates across 29 states from an online charter provider from 2017 to 2020. We estimate the association between virtual charter student characteristics and the likelihood of college enrollment. We find that students who enroll multiple years in the virtual school…

This qualitative study explores the diverse experiences of Black students who are currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from, various marriage and family therapy (MFT) graduate school programs in the United States. This study uses minority stress theory and critical race theory to explore the lived experiences of Black graduate students at…

Community colleges face enrollment declines, student performance, and accountability metrics, the need to support nontraditional students' career paths, and constraints imposed by limited resources. Community college leadership would benefit from empirical data on students with nontraditional GED credentials and the effects of remedial education…

Multiple-true-false (MTF) assessments can provide granular feedback on course materials, which stems from the format of the MTF question and helps to enhance student understanding and illuminates misconceptions that can be hidden with other assessment types (Brassil & Couch, 2019). The purpose of this study was to document how students use and…