scholarly journals Do High-Achieving Students Benefit From Honors College Participation? A Look at Student Engagement for First-Year Students and Seniors

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angie L. Miller ◽  
Amber D. Dumford

This study investigates findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), comparing various aspects of student engagement between honors college and general education students. Responses from 1,339 honors college students and 7,191 general education students across 15 different universities suggest a positive impact for honors college participation on reflective and integrative learning, use of learning strategies, collaborative learning, diverse discussions, student–faculty interaction, and quality of interactions for first-year students, even when controlling for student and institutional characteristics. For senior students, honors college participation was related to more frequent student–faculty interaction. Potential experiential and curricular reasons for these differences are discussed, along with implications for educators, researchers, parents, and students.

Author(s):  
John O'Connor ◽  
Julie Owen ◽  
Lisa Gring-Pemble ◽  
Elizabeth Freeman ◽  
Paul Gorski ◽  
...  

Cornerstones is an alternative interdisciplinary general education program forhigh-achieving first-year students. It consists of four 6-credit courses taught insequence. Some of the hallmarks of the program are experiential learning (2-3field trips in each course), information literacy and technology across the courses,an emphasis on inquiry and research, collaboration by both students and faculty,an introduction to competency-based education, and student agency in responseto critical issues (e.g, sustainability). In this session, we will discuss constructingassignments that encourage reflective, integrative learning; incorporatingand assessing experiential learning; implementing our OSCAR "discovery ofscholarship" project; and developing faculty for interdisciplinary study. Throughthis interactive discussion, participants in the session will explore how they mightadopt some of these practices in their own courses. In addition, participants willhave an opportunity to enhance the Cornerstones curriculum and pedagogy bydescribing their own courses and practices. There will also be an opportunity toask about teaching in the Cornerstone program.


Author(s):  
Roberta F. Schnorr

This study examined the meaning of “belonging” or membership in four secondary level general education classes. One or two students with moderate or severe disabilities were enrolled in each of these classes. Participant observations and interviews were used to gain an understanding of participation and membership from the perspectives of students without disabilities who attended these classes. Findings indicated that student membership depends on affiliation with a subgroup of peers within the class. General class participation and interactions influenced an individual's status within the group, but were not enough to create member status. General education students also reported taking active steps when they joined a class to get connected with a subgroup. In these classes, only two students with disabilities connected with subgroups and were, therefore, viewed as members. Considerations are offered for promoting classroom membership for students with moderate or severe disabilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo ◽  
Daniel Romero-Portillo ◽  
Bàrbara Sureda Carbonell ◽  
Francisco Manuel Moreno-Pino

Purpose This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system. Design/methodology/approach ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned. Findings The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics. Originality/value This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.


1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent R. Logan ◽  
D. Michael Malone

This study compared the instructional contexts of 15 students with severe disabilities who were educated in general education elementary classrooms, and 15 general education students in those same classrooms. Results suggest that (a) different instructional contexts existed for students with severe disabilities; (b) more individualized instructional supports were provided for the students with severe disabilities, including one-to-one instruction, small group instruction provided by special education staff, physical and gestural prompting, and teacher focus on the student with severe disabilities; (c) most of the more individualized supports were provided by special education staff. Implications for supporting students with severe disabilities in general education elementary classrooms are discussed.


Author(s):  
Deborah E. Bordelon ◽  
Colleen M Sexton ◽  
Ann M Vendrely

Building a general education program from scratch for a population of first generation and underserved students provided both a challenge and opportunity. Faculty who had limited previous experience teaching and assessing first year students engaged in study of the best practices and research. Faculty designed a four-year general education curriculum that began with a robust First Year Seminar (FYS) course, the focus of this study. This required three-credit hour interdisciplinary humanities course (FYS) was designed to embrace the understanding of what it means to be human, including understanding oneself in relation to the natural world and to others. Full time faculty from all disciplines were selected through a competitive process to teach the FYS course with embedded High Impact Practices (HIPs). Four years of teaching FYS has provided qualitative and quantitative data on the effectiveness of the design, the role of faculty, and application of HIPs. Through the course assessment process and data analysis, faculty have expanded their repertoire of pedagogical strategies to engage the first year student, and as a result, positively influenced teaching in their other courses. This report offers insights on strategies for course design, the role of faculty, and the power of selected HIPs that may be replicated at other institutions.


1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (6) ◽  
pp. S19 ◽  
Author(s):  
B I Krilowicz ◽  
H Henter ◽  
L Kamhi-Stein

Providing large numbers of general education students with an introduction to science is a challenge. To meet this challenge, a quarter-long neurophysiology project was developed for use in an introductory biology course. The primary goals of this multistep project were to introduce students to the scientific method, scientific writing, on-line scientific bibliographic databases, and the scientific literature, while improving their academic literacy skills. Students began by collecting data on their own circadian rhythms in autonomic, motor, and cognitive function, reliably demonstrating the predicted circadian changes in heart rate, eye-hand coordination, and adding speed. Students wrote a journal-style article using pooled class data. Students were prepared to write the paper by several methods that were designed to improve academic language skills, including a library training exercise, "modeling" of the writing assignment, and drafting of subsections of the paper. This multistep neurophysiology project represents a significant commitment of time by both students and instructors, but produces a valuable finished product and ideally gives introductory students a positive first experience with science.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Bradley ◽  
Debbie Holley

This paper reports on empirical research conducted to find out about higher education students’ mobile phone ownership, and the ways in which they are using their mobiles for learning. A survey with a group of first-year students has been followed up by an in-depth study, in which three students were lent Flip Video Camcorders to capture their mobile learning activities and were interviewed to discover more about their practice. The video footage and interview data have been compiled into three rich case studies which help us to better understand students’ practice and attitudes towards mobile learning. The paper focuses on the survey data and the three case studies, which were analysed using grounded theory. The outcomes of this research can inform the work of educators seeking to design effective mobile learning activities that build on existing student practice and extend mobile learning within the blend of learning activities that we offer students.


2005 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian G. Kaplan ◽  
Dewey G. Cornell

We compared threats of violence made by K–12 students in special education (120 cases) or general education (136 cases) in schools that were implementing threat assessment guidelines for managing student threats of violence (Cornell, Sheras, Kaplan, McConville, Posey, Levy-Elkon, et al., 2004; Cornell & Sheras, in press). Students in special education made disproportionately more threats, as well as more severe threats, than peers in general education. Students classified as emotionally disturbed (ED) exhibited the highest threat rates. Nevertheless, use of school suspension as a disciplinary consequence for threats was consistent for students in special and general education, and few students were expelled. Our findings support the use of threat assessment to manage threats of violence by students in special education.


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