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Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is an active-learning pedagogy that emphasizes content mastery as well as the development of process skills like critical thinking and problem solving. Although published POGIL materials are available in several STEM disciplines, there are still a number of courses within a variety of disciplines for which materials have not been written. The authors describe how to write POGIL activities, including details on the learning theories behind POGIL, how to develop a model, how to write guiding questions that scaffold content mastery and development of process skills, and how to refine an activity based on feedback.

Engineering ethics education typically focuses on decisions by individual engineers and case studies of disasters. This does not reflect the everyday decisions that practicing engineers must make, and neglects the fact that most engineers work on teams rather than alone. The focus on safety and disaster prevention leaves little time for discussing pervasive social impacts of engineering and technology. Our research seeks to fill these gaps by determining how ethical decision making occurs in team settings, how it can be influenced by ethics-focused team members, and to what extent a social context influence consideration of social impacts. Over three years, we observed ethics discussions among teams of engineering students. First, we observed undergraduates during their Capstone Design project. We contrasted typical teams and teams with an additional team member trained and educated in engineering ethics. Second, we observed university research laboratory groups composed of undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs in their spontaneous and regular conversations. Data analysis suggests that engineering students have a narrow understanding of engineering ethics, and that their explicit and implicit understanding can be in conflict. We also observed that an engineering expert can improve the breadth and depth of conversations. We also observe that engineering students rarely--if ever--discuss ethical or social implications of their work during routine activities. This also points to the benefits of facilitated discussions.

This paper explores the experience, impression and understanding of student centred learning by 44 business education students at a university in Jamaica. The study sought to establish whether such a learning approach enhances the competencies of students in accord with the demands made by employers for critical employee characteristics in the 21st century workplace, whilst also enhancing learning outcomes in students' current studies. The research reported here was informed through two studies, using complementary methodologies in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. The first study utilised a survey instrument, while the second employed focus groups. The findings revealed that students generally held positive views of student centred learning and that they believed it enhanced their learning experience in their current studies. However, they were not clear as to whether the approach was being utilised fully and/or effectively and whether current resources were adequate to support the effective implementation and maintenance of such an approach. Findings further revealed that many of the competencies developed through the practise of student centred learning are complimentary to not only desirable, but indeed, identified characteristics that the 21st century worker should be ideally equipped with, according to the International Labour Organisation (Brewer, 2013). These characteristics also being in accord with the demands of employers in Jamaica. This latter point being affirmed by a senior figure from the Jamaica Employers' Federation through a one-on-one interview. The importance of "gearing" such learning at the tertiary level to the demands of employers for well prepared and effective employees that complement and indeed enhance the workplace is recognised as a national imperative, and thus policy, as developed through educational leadership should be in accord. This research posits that the utilisation of student centred learning will not only benefit learning at the tertiary level, it will also better prepare graduates for the workplace.

Intercollegiate student-athletes, a distinct sub-population of college students accounting for nearly 500,000 individuals across university campuses, may experience greater mental health issues than their non-athlete counterparts. This study examined the differences in student-athlete mental health and wellness by various biopsychosocial factors. Results indicated that female, minoritized, and Division I athletes reported worse mental health concerns (depression, anxiety, stress) and quality of life than their White, male, other-division peers. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

There are many examples of hybrid simulation models in healthcare education which are designed to simulate specific scenarios. However, there appears to be a need for a cost effective and configurable hybrid simulation platform which can be used by educators of various healthcare disciplines to simulate different scenarios. The purpose of this paper is to develop a proof-of-concept platform that can be easily implemented at little cost and provide flexibility to healthcare instructors to develop a variety of simulation scenarios, and to determine the effectiveness of this platform. Using a standardized patient, a person acting as a patient in a scripted manner, along with wearable and web-based technologies, a congestive heart failure simulation was used as an evaluative exercise for a group of personal support worker students at a Canadian Community College. Personal support workers typically provide care to any person who may require personal assistance with activities of daily living such as feeding, lifting, bathing, skin care and oral hygiene to name a few. Standardized patients are typically used in healthcare education to educate and evaluate soft skills, such as caregiver to patient communication, professionalism, as well as hard skills, such as history taking, examination and diagnostic skills (Rosen in J Crit Care 23:157-166, 2008). Instructor feedback indicated that the platform was easy to use and capable of simulating a large variety of scenarios. Pre and post test results are evidence of initial findings of promise indicating that the platform seemed to be effective in enabling students to meet learning outcomes. Focus group results seem to indicate an increase in student confidence as it relates to their ability to handle a similar scenario in the workplace.

This article discusses the history, purpose, and services that make up the Grand Valley State University Knowledge Market. The Knowledge Market is made up of faculty and staff directors leading four unique groups of specialized student-consultants who collaborate with their peers. While each service has a unique specialty, The Knowledge Market unites to guide students through the collective academic processes of researching, writing, speaking, and developing visual aids. The Knowledge Market is partnered with the university library in mission, service, and location. It provides a unique and replicable model that can be applied at a variety of campuses who have a need and desire for the communication center to synergize with the similar campus services and the bedrock of campus communities--the university library.

Appropriate instruments are required to determine student engagement on an undergraduate course, and in this study we evaluated a 23 item Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ) administered to undergraduate students studying a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation degree. These students were in the first semester of a 3 year degree, and were enrolled in a compulsory introductory Human anatomy and physiology course, as part of their degree. Responses (n = 115) were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, and this indicated that 4 latent factors explained >49% of the total variance. These factors were described as "study habits" (7 items), "performance" (6 items), participation (4 items), and emotional (4 items). Two items did not align with any latent factors. Each scale had good internal consistency, with all Cronbach's alpha values >0.7. The factors identified in this study are consistent with those identified in a previous SCEQ evaluation, and we suggest that this instrument is appropriate to quantify course engagement in Sport and Recreation degree students. Moreover, we suggest that the scales identified within the SCEQ may be used to quantify aspects of engagement in undergraduate students studying a course in introductory Human anatomy and physiology.

This study explores students' experiences of a non-formal living-learning community in a UK higher education institution. The participants were students from different countries and academic disciplines who came together with a shared interest in international development and human rights. The experiences of students were investigated using the capability approach (Sen 1999; Walker 2012) as a framework for understanding students' personal development through their participation in the community. This approach focuses on the ability of the student participants to lead lives they have reason to value, and allows us to consider development beyond employability. The research included participant observations and interviews. We found there were four key features of the learning community that were important in fostering the outcomes they identified as valuable. We argue that it is beneficial to open such spaces in higher education, as they provide opportunities for student-led skills development and engagement with social justice issues.

A positive attitude to a subject may be congruent with higher achievement; however, limited evidence supports this for students in undergraduate chemistry--this may result from difficulties in quantifying attitude. Therefore, in this study, the Attitude to the Study of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI)--a validated instrument to quantify attitude, was used to measure attitude to chemistry in 125 undergraduates studying an introductory course in chemistry, as part of a BSc Chemistry major. The 13 week course contained 4 summative assessments: practical (PRAC), tutorial (TUT), on-line web-based learning (OWL), and a final exam (FE). Sub-scales within ASCI which quantify the "affective" and "cognitive" components of attitude were determined. Firstly, for all 125 students, weak correlations (r) between the affective scale score and FE (r = 0.275, P<0.01) and TOTAL (r = 0.228, P<0.05), were recorded. Secondly, a low achieving (LA, n = 48) and a high achieving (HA, n = 77) group were identified using a cluster analysis procedure. The HA group scored higher than the LA group in PRAC, OWL, FE and TOTAL (all P<0.001), but the clusters were not different in their scores for either the affective or the cognitive components of attitude. There was no correlation between attitude and achievement in the HA group, and only one weak positive correlation (0.409), between the affective score and achievement in the LA group. We suggest that although a positive attitude may be an important part of the undergraduate experience, it is at best only weakly associated with achievement in undergraduate chemistry.

This paper reports on findings of an interpretive study, which used the Kaleidoscope Career Model as lens through which to view the careers of professional women in education. The study used hermeneutic phenomenology, a methodology novel in management and career management to gain a subjective perspective on women's career experience and what career means to them at different career stages. Findings indicated that women did not "opt-out," or adopt a clear-cut gender beta career pattern. Rather, they mirrored an alpha pattern with challenge continuing into mid-career. The three Kaleidoscope Career Model parameters operated in an ongoing way in women's lives, and authenticity was a powerful theme throughout their careers. However, women in late career tended to "lean back"; their desire for authenticity became subjugated by their need for balance. These findings add to extant Kaleidoscope Career Model research and reveal factors, which contribute to women's ability to "opt-in" rather than out of their careers.

Teacher preparation programs have continued to see the ever-increasing control of teacher candidates by policymakers. To control means to regulate. The problem, according to these authors, is that there are currently at least three regulating measurement and assessment obstacles faced by teacher candidates in teacher preparation programs. The first obstacle is being admitted into a teacher preparation program. High school grades, standardized test data, letters of recommendation, and other information are used to regulate this process. The second obstacle is navigating a complex regulated curriculum that is intended to help insure that entering students will be successful classroom teachers. Universities establish general education curriculum content, specialized professional associations require specific curriculum content, state departments of education require specific curriculum content, and education departments require specific curriculum content that are used to regulate the teacher preparation process. However, despite how effective a teacher preparation program may be in selecting potential teacher candidates and programmatically guiding their teacher candidates, the teacher candidates are still faced with a third regulatory measurement and assessment obstacle. The third regulatory obstacle for teacher candidates is passing a legislatively mandated norm-referenced examination (i.e., PRAXIS II) before they are certified as teachers. This study explores predicting PRAXIS II Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge scores required for licensing teacher candidates in many states. The procedures included using paired scores for two hundred (200) teacher candidates who met or exceeded a score of 150 (qualifying score in some states) on the Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge examination during the 2003-2005 academic years at two universities. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure, and 1 note.)

Using an educational data mining approach, first-year academic achievement of undergraduate nursing students, which included two compulsory courses in introductory human anatomy and physiology, was compared with achievement in a final semester course that transitioned students into the workplace. We hypothesized that students could be grouped according to their first-year academic achievement using a two-step cluster analysis method and that grades achieved in the human anatomy and physiology courses would be strong predictors of overall achievement. One cohort that graduated in 2014 (n = 105) and one that graduated in 2015 (n = 94) were analyzed separately, and for both cohorts, two groups were identified, these being "high achievers" (HIGH) and "low achievers" (LOW). Consistently, the anatomy and physiology courses were the strongest predictors of group assignment, such that a good grade in these was much more likely to put a student into a high-achieving group. Students in the HIGH groups also scored higher in the Transition to Nursing course when compared with students in the LOW groups. The higher predictor importance of the anatomy and physiology courses suggested that if a first-year grade-point average was calculated for students, an increased weighting should be attributed to these courses. Identifying high-achieving students based on first-year academic scores may be a useful method to predict future academic performance.

This chapter puts forth a model of student-success-focused policy development at small colleges that elucidates the role of the institutional research (IR) professional, highlighting how the breadth of roles and responsibilities that IR professionals serve at these institutions intersect with traditional training and background.

This concluding chapter discusses the main challenges currently facing institutional research at small- and medium-sized colleges and describes how the field may evolve.

The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1996) chaired by Lord Dearing envisioned a university sector central to the UK's knowledge-based economy. With successive government support the university-business partnership ideology has been put into practice. Widening participation has increased in emphasis over recent years, providing key innovations and skills to support business growth. Yet business schools activities in business growth is marginal against other university schools. The paper reports on an empirical study analyzing the university/business values derived from one small business engagement project. Data collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, memos, and discussions were coupled with critical evaluation of work and action-based learning (ABL) literature. Analysis reveals evidence of multiple value adding factors; it emerged that the existence of knowledge, present or generated through blended learning techniques, was a key value adding element. The findings enabled the construction of a universal process model providing a project framework, detailing areas of collaborative efforts and associated recompenses; this included ease in project advancements and a noticeably advanced project outcome. The study highlights these values in terms of individual and organizational learning, originality and quality of outputs. Given the growing importance of Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to the UK economy, understanding the value co-created by collaborative projects in delivering both work-based and ABL for graduates/students, academics and enterprise management is important.

A cluster analysis data classification technique was used on assessment scores from 157 undergraduate nursing students who passed 2 successive compulsory courses in human anatomy and physiology. Student scores in five summative assessment tasks, taken in each of the courses, were used as inputs for a cluster analysis procedure. We aimed to group students into high-achieving (HA) and low-achieving (LA) clusters and to determine the ability of each summative assessment task to discriminate between HA and LA students. The two clusters identified in each semester were described as HA (n= 42) and LA (n= 115) in "semester 1" (HA[subscript 1] and LA [subscript 1], respectively) and HA (n= 91) and LA (n= 42) in "semester 2" (HA[subscript 2] and LA[subscript 2], respectively). In both semesters, HA and LA means for all inputs were different (all P less than 0.001). Nineteen students moved from the HA[subscript 1] group into the LA[subscript 2] group, whereas 68 students moved from the LA[subscript 1] group into the HA[subscript 2] group. The overall order of importance of inputs that determined group membership was different in "semester 1" compared with "semester 2"; in addition, the within-cluster order of importance in LA groups was different compared with HA groups. This method of analysis may 1) identify students who need extra instruction, 2) identify which assessment is more effective in discriminating between HA and LA students, and 3) provide quantitative evidence to track student achievement.

The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of pre-lecture quizzes in a statistics course. Students (N = 70) from 2 sections of an introductory statistics course served as participants in this study. One section completed pre-lecture quizzes whereas the other section did not. Completing pre-lecture quizzes was associated with improved exam and overall course performance. Students who completed pre-lecture quizzes also felt better prepared for, and less anxious about, exams and believed that pre-lecture quizzes helped them keep up with the course readings. Furthermore, students who completed pre-lecture quizzes rated them favorably and recommended that instructors use them in their courses. Completing pre-lecture quizzes was not associated with the number of hours students reported studying for exams or their attendance.

The attitude towards the study of chemistry for new entrant chemistry students from a multi-national, regional, tertiary educational institution in the South Pacific was investigated using a purpose-designed diagnostic instrument. The Attitude toward the Study of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI) was used to quantify attitude in a cohort of first year undergraduate (n = 144) and foundation (n = 108) chemistry students. A similar, generally positive attitude to the study of chemistry was shown by both groups of students. Exploratory factor analysis using principle axis factoring and direct oblimin rotation was used to identify factors within the pooled data. Three factors accounted for more than 50% of the total variance, while Cronbach's alpha values for the factors 1, 2 and 3 were 0.92, 0.68 and 0.78, respectively. Factors 1 and 2 were consistent with known constructs of attitude, namely affective (factor 1) and cognitive (factor 2). However, the other factor (3) identified in this study was designated ''Value'', which may reflect the students' choice of chemistry as a career path. ASCI may be a suitable tool for monitoring students' attitude throughout a degree and also to monitor the impact of novel approaches for teaching chemistry and engaging students.

Mathematical engagement is a complex process of interaction between the person and the world. This interaction is strongly influenced by the concepts and structure of the mathematical field, by the practical and symbolic tools of mathematics and by the focus of investigation in the world. This paper reports on research that involves a detailed analysis of the process of mathematical engagement by two postgraduate education students working together to solve a number of mathematical puzzles. A process model of mathematical engagement was developed, identifying coherent systems of "thinking in action". Both mathematical and everyday systems were identified, as well as systems that mediated the interaction between the two. Four fundamental subsystems relate to the mathematical system: subsystems oriented to mathematical objects; mathematical actions; mathematical representations; and mathematical patterns and relationships. A further four functional subsystems relate to the interaction between the mathematical and everyday: subsystems relating to linking; orientation; evaluation; and strategic control. These subsystems are detailed through the analysis of a particular episode in the engagement data.

Background: Prior literature has shown that ethnic affirmation, one aspect of ethnic identity, is positively associated with mental health. However, the associations between ethnic affirmation and mental health may vary depending how much importance individuals place on their ethnic group membership (ie, centrality). Methods: Using path analysis, the current study examined the relations between ethnic affirmation and indices of mental health problems (ie, anxiety and depressive symptoms), and tested whether the process was moderated by ethnic centrality among 3,659 college students representing 3 ethnic groups (41% Latino/a, 35% Asian American, and 24% African American) who participated in a large, multisite university study. Results and Conclusions: Results suggested that the associations between ethnic affirmation and mental health were stronger for Latino/a and Asian American students who reported higher levels of ethnic centrality. For African Americans, higher levels of ethnic affirmation predicted better mental health, but this association did not vary as a function of ethnic centrality. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

The community college system is based on an open-door mission and serves to provide access to students of diverse backgrounds. Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments of community college offerings. If the community college system embraces its open-door mission, it must also embrace new ways of providing multicultural experiences within online classes. Yet, little research has been conducted in looking at connections between online learning and multicultural education within community colleges. This study asked if multiculturalism plays a significant role in the traditional face-to-face college classroom--what role, if any, does it play in an online classroom? Literature on multicultural education, distance learning, educational theory, and social psychology were explored within the context of community colleges. Community college faculty who reported using multicultural approaches within their online classes were interviewed and observed. The results indicated that these online instructors generally had a collection of instructional methods that correlated to Banks' (2004) Multicultural Dimensions. This article shares practices used by the faculty that can affect change in online students' experiences with multiculturalism.

While increasing attention is being paid to the influence of specialist and traditional school settings on the emotional well-being and self-esteem of children with dyslexia, there appears to be a need for more attention to how different educational settings may impact adulthood. To respond to this gap, this study by assistant professors Blace A. Nalavany and Lena W. Carawan, and graduate student Lashaunda J. Brown, all at East Carolina University, explores how the role of traditional and specialist school settings may have long-term effects in adulthood. The findings reveal that educational experiences have a compelling impact on the emotional health and self-esteem of adults with dyslexia. Implications reveal that there are important lessons to learn from specialist schools that can benefit traditional school settings.

When we rely upon gains on some measure to support statements of prescription, we have the obligation to ensure that those measures are valid. Nearly 10 years after an influential National Research Council ("2001") report on educational assessment identified an explicit model of cognition as one of three necessary components of a valid assessment system, we note that most measures still lack this fundamental cornerstone. In this paper, we draw attention to the "construct modeling" approach to assessment that strives for coherence and consistency with a model of cognition in which student proficiency varies along a continuum of competence. This approach is illustrated in the context of an assessment of conceptual understanding of certain scientific phenomena given to undergraduates at a large public university (National Research Council "2001").

The effects of meditation, specifically Transcendental Meditation (TM), on college students' experience of stress, anxiety, depression, and perfectionistic thoughts was investigated using 43 undergraduate students. Self-report measures of the variables were completed prior to the start of the study. Student groups were trained in TM and practiced the technique consistently over a two-semester period. Post-TM measures were administered at the end of the two semesters. The groups showed a significant decline on all variables. Suggestions for the use of meditation as an adjunct to treatment in a college population are discussed. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

Process-oriented guided-inquiry learning (POGIL), a pedagogical technique initially developed for college chemistry courses, has been implemented for 2 yr in a freshman-level anatomy and physiology course at a small private college. The course is populated with students with backgrounds ranging from no previous college-level science to junior and senior biology, biochemistry, and forensic science majors. Fifty percent of the lectures in the course were replaced with POGIL activities, performed in class by students working collaboratively in small groups. The introduction of POGIL pedagogy into the second half of a two-semester anatomy and physiology course significantly improved student performance on summative evaluations. Overall course scores increased from a mean score of 76% to 89% in the three semesters after POGIL was introduced. Performance on the same multiple-choice final exam rose from a mean of 68% to 88% over the same time period. Most significantly, the rate of students earning a D or F in the course was halved in the first two semesters after POGIL was introduced and was 0% in the third semester. Student satisfaction with the method was high, and most students perceived the value of this form of instruction. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.)

Purpose: US community colleges are based on an open-door mission and serve to provide access to students of diverse backgrounds. Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments of community college offerings--serving both local and geographical dispersed students. If the community college system embraces its open-door mission, it must embrace new ways of providing multicultural experiences within online classes. The purpose of this paper is to understand if multiculturalism plays a significant role for students in the traditional face-to-face college classroom--what role, if any, does it play for student learning in online classrooms? Literature on multicultural education, distance learning, and social psychology are explored within the context of community colleges. Design/methodology/approach: Using a one-group pretest-posttest design, a multicultural awareness survey was administered twice over the course of an academic quarter to determine if online faculty that teach with multicultural perspectives effected any substantive change in student awareness with multiculturalism. Findings: The results indicate statistically significant shifts in how societal issues of multiculturalism are perceived by the student. However, the null hypothesis could not be rejected in how students perceived any changes to their own cultural self-knowledge. Practical implications: This paper shares how online content might effect change in online students' experiences with multiculturalism. Thus, faculty can use these results to determine how to develop curriculum to meet multicultural course objectives. Originality/value: Little research has been conducted analyzing connections between online learning and measurable student multicultural learning gains. (Contains 4 tables.)

Discussions of intellectual property are often the focus of rhetoric and composition research, and the question of textual origins grounds these discussions. Through an examination of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia anyone can edit, this essay addresses disciplinary concerns about textual origins and intellectual property through a discussion of situated and constructed "ethos." (Contains 8 notes.)

This article presents a description of the African Atlantic Research Team as exemplary of ten years of successful mentoring of undergraduate and graduate university students who are focused on a Ph.D in disciplines traditionally associated with academic research and teaching. The team is distinctive because it is multi-disciplinary in composition, the majority of its members are from communities historically excluded from structures of U.S. higher education, and its activities focus on members working collaboratively and collectively through most areas of their academic learning and socialization. Though the numbers of this case study are small, 95% of team members successfully completed their bachelor's degree with majors that facilitate their application for graduate study in disciplines linked to academic research, writing, and university instruction. These undergraduate majors differ from those focusing upon social problems or applied or professional majors. Eighty percent of the team members applied for graduate study, and only one did not attend graduate school.

Web sites like RateMyProfessors.com (RMP) are increasing in popularity. However, many have questioned the validity of unofficial online teaching evaluations. We first surveyed students about their use and perceptions of RMP. We then compared RMP ratings to official student evaluations of teaching (SET). We found that students believe RMP ratings are honest and representative of instructors' abilities. The results of our comparison suggest that, in lieu of SET ratings, RMP ratings may serve as a practical alternative for students. (Contains 1 table.)

The focus of this study was 1) to identify pre business college freshman observed classroom behavior (personal, technical, and collaborative behaviors) in high school versus college, and to compare by gender (male to male; female to female), and 2) to identify pre business college freshman perceptions of classroom behavior in college, and to document any differences between gender (male to female). A total of 202 pre business freshmen in computer application classes completed a 15-item instrument at the end of their first college semester. Results of the study indicated that reported observations of classroom behaviors change between high school and college. Overall, male to male and female to female observed classroom behaviors were similar in that they were basically significant on the same items. Perceptions of classroom behavior did differ by gender. Females indicated significantly higher levels of agreement that five of the fifteen perception items of classroom behavior were unacceptable. This paper provides implications for business education professionals who are teaching computer applications courses. Further areas of research areas are suggested. (Contains 6 tables.)

This study examines how students perceive official student evaluations of teaching (SETs) and unofficial mid-semester evaluations (MSEs). It also examines whether completing a MSE affects students' perceptions of the course and the instructor. A survey revealed that participants (N = 80) believed SETs are valid measures of teaching; however, they had doubts about whether students or instructors take these evaluations seriously. On the other hand, participants had very positive perceptions of MSEs and instructors who conduct them. Furthermore, completing a MSE positively affected perceptions of the instructor's responsibility, his commitment to teaching, and his desire for the class to do well. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper explores the conflicting philosophies within the widening participation debate. Two categories of inclusive educators are identified, "meritocrats" and "democrats". Among the democratic educators, a subgroup, "transformative" educators, exists, which seeks to invoke changes in society and the education system. The positions taken by some of these authors are weakened by their neglect of sociological theory. For the debate to progress and for inclusion to be successful, a renewed understanding of sociological theory is needed. This will help those contributing to the debate to grasp fully the political and economic constraints on students and institutions that have limited inclusion.

The current article tests a model of proactive personality and job search success with a sample of 180 graduating college students. Using structural equation modeling, the authors tested a theoretical model that specified the relations among proactive personality, job search self-efficacy, job search behaviors, job search effort, and job search outcomes. Job seekers were surveyed at 2 separate points in time, once 3-4 months prior to graduation and once 2-3 months following graduation. The results suggest that proactive personality (a) significantly influenced the success of college graduates' job search, (b) was partially mediated through job search self-efficacy and job search behavior, and (c) was independent of self-esteem and conscientiousness. The findings are discussed in terms of their general implications for understanding the nature of the process through which distal personality factors, such as proactive personality, affect the nature and success of an individual's job search. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 5 notes.)

Assessment of geography undergraduate programs, which incorporate external reviews and concomitant departmental self-studies, attempt to assure pedagogical excellence within uncompromising commitments to successful student learning outcomes, currency of the knowledge and skills imparted, and continuous programmatic improvement. Programmatic assessment underscores the academic integrity, quality, and commitment of universities and their departments.

Vision and mission statements are the foundation for the types of undergraduate degrees departments confer as well as other types of academic programs such as pre-major, certificate, and distance education curricula. Critical to each department should be careful administration of course selections and offerings and management of academic majors, minors, and class enrollments. The key concepts in these processes are detailed planning and conscientious implementation. Ideally, this paper's integrated conceptual model showing administrative relationships within undergraduate programs that link degree types, courses, and enrollments, will become a synoptic guide for departments and nurture a national dialogue about geography undergraduate programs.

Following an integrative model that shows the complex connections of recruitment, retention, and placement, this second paper in a three-part series explores the exigent endeavor of retaining students who undertake geography as their undergraduate major. Survey data of graduating students are requisite in constructing successful retention plans. Although thoughtful advising and mentoring are critical, teaching excellence is key to retaining geography students. To reinforce an environment of supportive "Geography Family," departments should regularly celebrate in public events their students' excellent work.

Following an integrative model that shows the complex connections of recruitment, retention, and placement, this final paper in a three-part series explores the demanding endeavor of placing geography graduates into rewarding professional careers. Employment markets will continue to be robust for geography graduates, particularly for those with geospatial skills. Geography departments, however, must clearly understand employment trends from local to national levels to place their graduates. Survey data of alumni are valuable in constructing productive placement plans.

This chapter focuses on the issues surrounding the growth of online gambling on college and university campuses.

This paper examined the attitudes and perceptions of urban college students regarding Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) awareness and prevention. AIDS has devastated the lives of citizens in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the AIDS incidence rate for young Americans between the ages of 13 to 25 years rose nearly 20 percent, and approximately 50 percent of new infections are among individuals who are younger than 25 years old. Therefore, finding better methods to communicate AIDS risk knowledge to those Americans who are at greater risk of infection is paramount in the fight against this deadly scourge. We measured AIDS risk knowledge, self efficacy, and condom perception using three scales. Regression and analysis of variance techniques were employed to evaluate the hypotheses. Findings indicate significant age, gender and class rank effects for self-efficacy and condom perception among participants. Condom perception significantly predicted AIDS risk knowledge. Males reported higher self-efficacy and condom perception scores than females, and younger participants reported higher self-efficacy scores than older participants.

Addresses the question of whether use of student samples jeopardizes the validity of research. Examines the distinction between univariate and multivariate relationships in a study of identification with Diana, Princess of Wales. Shows that although the estimates of univariate values differed across three samples, the multivariate relationships between the variables were more stable, and therefore the underlying process appears to hold. (SG)