The formation of social ties is a major factor in the international student experience (Ramsay et al. in High Educ 54(2):247-265, 2007), influencing student wellbeing and adjustment to the new academic and sociocultural environment (Ward et al. in The psychology of culture shock. Routledge, Hove, 2001). Although a significant body of research in…

Students in communication, and particularly in advertising, are encouraged to value creativity. However, even in programs that value creativity, it can be difficult to encourage creativity in the process of research that guides communication efforts. The project described in this paper--"Street Crossing"--is used in upper-division and…

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDM) have been around for more than a decade but their application is far from widespread for mainly two reasons: (1) CDMs are novel, as compared to traditional IRT models. Consequently, many researchers lack familiarity with them and their properties, and (2) Software programs doing CDMs have been expensive and not…

The purpose of this study was to benchmark the types of Socratic questioning that were occurring in a Socrates Café, an online discussion forum, in a graduate-level diversity course in teacher education. The Universal Intellectual Standards were used to analyze Socratic questioning. Results suggested that the nine Universal Intellectual Standards…

Using phenomenological approaches, the author explored the meanings and essences of a cross-cultural immersion experience in South Africa among counseling master's-level students. Five core themes--the meaning of being American, sociopolitical awareness, engagement with South Africans and their communities, appreciation of life, and commitment to…

This article is a report on research into the role of fiction in promoting transformative learning in higher education settings. Participants were 131 undergraduate and graduate students from two universities in the United States. To determine the type of learning promoted by reading fiction, we performed qualitative analyses on participants'…

Robbins Carter's portrait of the librarian workforce is still true. According to the latest American Library Association (ALA) demographics, the profile of today's librarian is that of a white (87.1 percent) woman (80.7 percent) of middle age (57.1 percent, age 45 or older) (ALA, 2013). Despite these data, support for increased diversity is…

This paper examines the merit of conducting a qualitative analysis of LibQUAL+® survey comments as a means of leveraging quantitative LibQUAL+ results, and using importance-satisfaction matrices to present and assess qualitative findings. Comments collected from the authors' institution's LibQUAL+ survey were analyzed using a codebook based on…

As conceptions of academic development expand to encompass a more diverse and flexible set of supports, traditional approaches to evaluation, including impact studies of formal programming, become insufficient. A program may appear ineffective when evaluation ignores additional supports that interact to counteract implementation or alternatively…

Positive inter-professional collaborations and interactions facilitate the effectiveness of veterinarians working on professional teams addressing a wide range of societal challenges. The need for these interactions extend far beyond the different medical professions, which is the limit of many discussions of inter-professional relations for…

Within this study the author examines factors commonly employed as master of business administration applicant evaluation criteria to see if these criteria are important in determining an applicant's potential for success. The findings indicate that the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is not a significant predictor of student success…

This study investigated whether foreign language lessons coupled with engaging learners in reflective practice facilitates a deeper understanding of second language acquisition (SLA) course content. During this semester-­long SLA course, 14 graduate students were taught eight Turkish lessons for 25 minutes at the beginning of each class. As a…

Because of the intense and unique nature of their military life, military officers face stresses that other students do not need to be concerned about when taking courses online. An institution's ability to understand these military officer students, design online programs to meet their unique learning needs and deliver valuable online curricula…

Online education has definitely moved into higher education with new programs being added continuously. How can institutions ensure that they are offering quality programs? A vital source of information should come from the students who participated in this study. The purpose of this study was to gain insights into graduate students' perceptions…

Facebook status updates provided the data for a study about the transition learning experiences of 1st-year university students. Strict ethical guidelines were proposed by the PhD researcher from the outset of the study. Anonymity was considered important for the approved ethical clearance for both the university and the participants.…