Education Commons^™

Basic Needs Insecurity In U.S. Colleges: Human Rights Unfulfilled, Sarita Cargas, Tammy Thomas

International Journal of Human Rights Education

There have now been fifteen years of research on the basic needs of college students in the U.S. The studies have primarily focused on assessing the prevalence of food and housing insecurity. Determining who is responsible and finding solutions have been less emphasized. The scholarship has also not framed the problems of students’ basic needs insecurity (BNI) as human rights violations. This article argues that applying a human rights lens to the issue reveals that the rights to education, food, and shelter are not being realized, but further, higher education institutions bear considerable responsibility for addressing BNI. Human rights education …

Breaking Point: An Exploration Of The Mental Health Crisis On Campus, Melissa Wood

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

In the past several decades, the number of college students who experience mental health concerns has increased astronomically. During that time, acts of campus violence have increased as well. Unfortunately, many colleges have been unable to effectively meet the needs of students with mental disorders. This article explores the challenges surrounding the mental health and wellness of college students. It also analyzes the impact of such challenges on students and the institution. Additionally, this paper examines best practices that colleges may implement to assist students in distress and discusses implications for higher education leaders.

The Effect Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On The Self-Esteem Of College Students, Maggie J. Van Heemst

ELAIA

Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to predict negative health and mental health effects later in life. One in two Americans has experienced at least one ACE. This issue is prevalent across class, race, and ethnicity. However, little is known about ACEs and the young adult population. Methods A survey was conducted to measure ACEs and self-esteem in fifty college students. The hypothesis was a negative correlation between ACE and self-esteem scores. Results A small negative correlation was found between ACEs and self-esteem in college students. The average ACE score was 3.9 and the average self-esteem score was 16.78. …

Evaluating College Students’ Health Literacyand Its Effects On Their Perceptions Of Informationconcerning Mask-Wearing In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hannah S. Ketchum

ELAIA

Background Mask-wearing was a controversial and polarizing phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beliefs concerning mask-wearing differed depending on sources of information concerning the pandemic, levels of health literacy, political leaning, demographics, or other factors. This project attempted to connect college students’ level of health literacy to their understanding of and adherence to mask-wearing in the COVID- 19 pandemic. There is a gap in research connecting health literacy to understanding information concerning pandemics and an even bigger lack of studies conducted that relate college students’ health literacy to their perception of illnesses or pandemics. It is important to understand the impact …

Impact Of Mindfulness Training On Test Anxiety In College Students, Lindsay Alcock

ELAIA

Background Mindfulness is defined as the state of giving full attention to a stimulus, internal or external, without inducing judgment or becoming reactional about the feelings experienced, positive or negative (Davis & Hayes, 2012). Previous studies have investigated the relationship between mindfulness techniques and the reduction of anxiety (Chambers et al., 2008; Macdonald & Olsen, 2020); a smaller number of studies have considered test anxiety (Cho et al., 2016; Sparks, 2017). Prior research has used multiple mindfulness techniques to measure the impact on test anxiety, but few have isolated mindfulness trainings to compare the relative impact of each type on …

A79: Epidemiology Of Athletic Injuries In China College Rock Climbing Athlete, Bingbing Tian, Dehong Gu

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Purpose: Originating from mountaineering, rock climbing has encountered fresh opportunities for growth since its inclusion in the Olympics, and there is a growing awareness of the associated injury risks. Methods: Using questionnaire survey and mathematical statistics methods, this paper studied the epidemiological characteristics of sports injuries among Chinese college rock-climbing athletes by 6 Chinese university rock-climbing teams. Results: The incidence of sports injury was as high as 87.10%, and the annual incidence of injury was 3.39 times/year. The number of injuries was mainly 1 time (43.55%), and the number of injuries was less in 4 (8.06%;) or 5 times (1.61%). …

Co-Designing An Institutional Repository In Kosovo: Soliciting Student Feedback In A Repository Launch, Michele Gibney

University Libraries Librarian and Staff Articles and Papers

An institutional repository (IR) launched at the University for Business and Technology in Pristina, Kosovo in 2019. Students from 2018 and 2019 enrolled in an Information Systems course at the University provided ideas and feedback on the repository development. Their suggestions are captured here by focus group sessions held in mid-2019 in Kosovo and subsequently shared with University Administration and the IR platform company. This case study from the field advocates for continuous feedback from stakeholder groups and an expansion of the underlying data collection methods at other institutions.

Covid-19 Pandemic’S Effect On Occupational Therapy Students’ Time-Use And Occupational Engagement On Returning To In-Person Learning, Jhannell Hannah D. Ocampo, Susan Macdermott, Karen Mccarthy

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The COVID-19 pandemic emotionally and physically impacted students in occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs. College students lost autonomy and access to meaningful occupations and environments. As students returned to campus, they struggled to navigate and adapt to in-person occupations and how they use their time. This study uses a mixed method descriptive research design to understand how the pandemic affected occupational therapy students' time-use and occupational engagement during the transition to in-person learning. Seventy-three students completed an online survey, while 12 of those students additionally participated in a follow-up time-use diary and interview. Eighty-three percent of the participants …

Delivering The Right Message For Maximum Impact In The Student Enrollment Journey, Ashley Miller

University Administration Publications

Meeting today's prospective college students where they are is key to staying ahead of current enrollment challenges. Understanding which messages resonate with which students and at certain parts of the enrollment funnel helps to ensure institutions are getting the right message, to the right student, at the right time in their journey. By utilizing a MaxDiff approach, one can better understand the impact a particular message has compared to others and which combination of messages will ultimately drive action. The maximum difference scaling (MaxDiff) method provides useful guidance on how enrollment professionals can better segment their communication strategies to their …

What’S The Right Move? The Relation Between Relocating And Psychosocial Outcomes Among Latinx College Students, Lisa A. Lozano, Bianca T. Villalobos, Veronica Castro, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The study investigated the role of relocating on the mental health, psychosocial stress, and social support of 159 first- and second-year Latinx college students. Findings revealed students who relocated for college had significantly higher self-reported sense of campus belonging, and social support compared to students who did not relocate. Implications for college readiness organizations and universities with commuter populations are discussed. Future directions to enhance the understanding of Latinx students’ transitionary experiences are also reviewed.

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El estudio investigó la importancia de la reubicación en la salud mental, el estrés psicosocial y el apoyo social de 159 estudiantes universitarios Latinxs …

The Role Of Active Student Responding In Higher-Education Classrooms, Ryan P. Singley

Honors Theses

Active student responding (ASR) is a collection of common teaching strategies used by educators that are recognized to increase the accomplishments and opportunities of students in a variety of ways. Previous research has assessed the role of active student responding in kindergarten through high school classrooms; however, no comprehensive literature review has assessed the effectiveness of ASR with post-secondary education classrooms (i.e., undergraduate and graduate students). This review assessed the effectiveness of four active student responding systems (e.g., guided notes, student response systems, response cards, and choral responding) on activity grade, test scores, class grade, grade point average, and student …

Navigating New Normals: Student Perceptions, Experiences, And Mental Health Service Utilization In Post-Pandemic Academia, Hadiza Galadima, Anne Dumadag, Cara Tonn

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

This study explores the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education, focusing on shifts in learning experiences and students’ intentions to utilize mental health services post-pandemic. Utilizing Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, this study assesses perceptions from a stratified random sample of college students on post-pandemic learning experiences and mental health service utilization intentions. Findings reveal a positive reception to university initiatives and a preference for ongoing virtual classes. There is an evident increase in, and varying intentions for, using mental health services, shaped by demographics, employment, and prior service utilization. Younger and female students showed …

Peer Mentoring Program For Psychology Major Students: A Promising Prospect, Nadia Calderon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Many first-year and second-year undergraduate students face challenges and abundance of college resources they may not know how to use. Learning about campus resources and dealing with these challenges could help students thrive academically and personally in the college environment. We gathered survey data from 87 students from seven sections of the Bridgewater State University Orientation to the Psychology Major (OPM) course. In one of these sections, we implemented a Peer Mentoring Program (PMP). We also hosted psychology-focused events in which 48 psychology major students attended and filled out feedback questionnaires. In this study we aimed to analyze the effectiveness …

Food And Mood: Investigating The Correlation Between Vitamin B12 Intake And Depression, Jana Soucar, Hawley Almstedt

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient that metabolizes homocysteine, which is a potentially neurotoxic molecule when in excess. Studies show that a deficiency in vitamin B12, as well as folate, may be associated with mental health conditions. Additionally, the prevalence of depression is higher in college students than other demographic populations. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate a correlation between vitamin B12 and folate intake with signs and symptoms of depression in college students. METHODS: This study was conducted by first providing participants with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to measure signs and symptoms of …

Social Annotation: What Are Students’ Perceptions And How Does Social Annotation Relate To Grades?, Virginia Clinton-Lisell

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

Social annotation is a teaching and learning technique in which students post comments on electronic course materials in a shared space. The purpose of this study is to examine students’ perceptions of social annotation in the context of motivation and social justice. In addition, the connections between social annotation and course grades were examined. Students in a face-to-face course engaged in social annotation on their course textbook and completed a questionnaire on their perceptions (N = 41). Based on the findings, students had higher overall motivation for social annotation compared with quizzes. In contrast, comparisons of motivation between social …

What’S The Big Fat Deal?: The Experience Of Fat Students In College, Andrea Marie Melrose

Dissertations

Weight-based discrimination is considered the last acceptable form of discrimination in the United States. Fat bias and stigma are present in healthcare, employment, and education. This dissertation study explores the experiences of fat students on college campuses, examining their experiences of anti-fat bias and discrimination. Additionally, this study explores policy and practice implications for improving the experiences of fat college students and supporting body diversity on campus. This dissertation has four overarching research questions that focus on the following topics: fat students’ experiences of weight-based stigma and discrimination in college, the limitations of physical space on college campuses, perceptions of …

Students Of Color And Covid-19: Experiences, Coping Strategies, And Supports, Amie S. Kang, Barbora Hoskova, Chung Yu Liu, Arisa Viddayakorn, Molly Binder, Belle Liang, Betty S. Lai

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The coronavirus disease of 2019, known as the COVID-19 pandemic, is a disaster event that posed significant physical, social, financial, and mental health risks to college students. Disproportionate experiences of stressors position students of color as a population particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of COVID-19, thus, the current study assessed the impact of COVID-19 on undergraduate students of color in the United States. Students participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews about their experiences with stressors during the pandemic. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis and revealed themes including (a) the pandemic’s impact on students; (b) basic needs as college …

Mental Health Education In Higher Education, Chelsea J. Farley

Culminating Experience Projects

This project dives into the current mental health status of college students and what institutions are doing to address students steady and continuous decline of mental health. Mental Health 101: A Comprehensive Guide for Faculty incorporates suggestions from literature and theory to provide resources to faculty members when educating students. Mental Health 101 was created with the social-ecological model in mind (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) by connecting the individual student to their environment, or in this case, the college classroom. The guide consists of information about mental health such as risk factors and warning signs, coping strategies, activities, and assignments faculty members …

Elucidating College Students’ Stressors: Photovoice As A Pedagogical Tool And Qualitative Methodology, Deanne Priddis, Heather L. Hundley

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Traditional research examining student stress relies on surveys using pre-determined categories. This study diverts from that approach by adopting a Communication in Conflict class assignment over seven classes (N = 115) using photovoice to determine if results fluctuate by using a different methodology. Additionally, we sought to understand if the sources of stress vary by gender and semester. The data revealed seven categories as the main stressors of student conflict: 1) time management, 2) mental health, 3) finding oneself, 4) future uncertainty, 5) other, 6) financial, and 7) past mistakes. Regardless of participants’ sex/gender or semester in which the data …

“I Can’T Learn When I’M Hungry”: Responding To U.S. College Student Basic Needs Insecurity In Pedagogy And Praxis, Jasmine R. Linabary, Rebecca Rodriguez Carey

Feminist Pedagogy

Food insecurity and other basic needs insecurities were pressing concerns for U.S. college students prior to the COVID-19 crisis and are even more so now. These issues disproportionately impact minoritized students, making addressing basic needs an issue of educational equity. As feminist teacher-scholars, we reflect in this essay on what it means to teach in the context of student basic needs insecurities, drawing on our experiences from launching an interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to combatting food insecurity on our campus. In doing so, we seek to catalyze changes within and beyond the classroom to better support students.

They Shall Run And Not Be Weary, And They Shall Walk And Not Faint: 50 Years Of The Oru Field Test, Lora Conte, Anthony Domeck, Todd Farmer, Fritz G. Huber, Eric D. Hudgens, Scarlet R. Jost, Andrew S.I.D. Lang, Nancy V. Mankin, Terry V. Shannon, Glenn E. Smith, Angela L. Watson

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

A history of the development and changes of ORU’s field test over the last 50 years is presented followed by previously unpublished percentile values for N=14,076 recent prepandemic (2017–2019) field-test times for the distances for 1-mile, 1.5-mile, and 2-mile field tests for college students aged 18.9 years (N=2,198; 58.3% female), 19.1 years (N=1,574; 58.0% female), and 20.5 years (N=10,304; 57.3% female) respectively. The aim of this study is to establish an updated set of standard field test times that can serve as a valuable benchmark for assessing the cardio-vascular fitness levels of college students.

The College Search Process Of Rural, First-Generation Students, Tia Miles

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

First-generation college students (FGCS) continue to be one of the largest growing groups of students across higher education. Being a FGCS comes with a unique set of challenges when facing the choice of a college or university. This research aims to identify barriers that FGCS face in the college search process to provide student support professionals with information and recommendations on how to effectively support FGCS in the college search process. Previous research has often focused on the matriculation, retention, and graduation of FGCS. It is important to understand how FGCS select an institution of higher education to improve retention …

From Antiracism To Abolition: The Role Of University Culture Centers In Black Students' Academic Identities And Language, Kristin Demint Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

Drawing on focus group, interview, and participant-observer data collected as part of this IRB-approved [19.177] qualitative research project, this dissertation provides insights about how Black American students develop academic identities through coursework and extracurricular involvement in a Black culture center on the campus of a historically white institution (HWI). I apply the lens of “abolitionist education” (Love) to explore the languaging that students and faculty in the Black culture center do to create community and racial uplift in a type of institution where racial identity historically has been marginalized and obscured—and where, the collected data indicate, such occlusion continues despite …

An Examination Of Factors Impacting Student Decisions To Engage In Physical Activity At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Glenn R. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

College students at a large south Texas university have proven consistently that they have a higher-than-average Body Mass Index (BMI), spend less time per week engaged in physical activity, and in general feel that they are less healthy than students in a national cross-sectional survey of college students by the American College Health Association (ACHA, 2021). This project investigates the barriers to activity and the motivators to engage in activity. In this cross-sectional study, the Exercise Motivations Inventory-2 and the Barriers to Being Active instruments along with a demographic survey have identified motivators and barriers. The collection of basic demographic …

Longitudinal Insights Into Student Behaviors And Program Impact: A Multi-Year Analysis Of Post-Program Surveys Pre- And Post-Covid-19, Brendan Bernard Charles Harmon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Substance use is arguably the most pertinent concern for college students. The prolonged use of substances has consequences that may impact many aspects of one’s life. As a result of decades worth of research, multiple evidence-based interventions have been created to help aid college students. One of these interventions includes BASICS, Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students. This study examined experiences of the BASICS program participants with special attention to the impact of COVID-19. It used a convenience sample of 44 after-program survey respondents from 2015 to 2022 at a faith-based private university in Texas. This study found …

Increasing College Students Awareness Of Technologies Impacts In Their Daily Lives, Melissa Gutierrez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many college students today may spend an excessive amount of time on technology. Excessive technology may leave an impact on their mental and physical health leading to poor eating habits or obesity, anxiety and can even have an impact on their academics. When college students learn about how to manage their technology use, it is likely they will focus more on the negative impacts to benefit their health and wellbeing. To address the overuse of technology, I created a one-day workshop for Theta Alpha Sigma sorority college students at Cal State Monterey Bay.

Strategies For Supporting College Students Experiencing Grief, Rachel A. Guimond

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Grief and loss are a shared human experience. However, lacking cultural awareness of the impact of grief and insufficient social support can make managing the loss of a loved one very challenging for students. One strategy to support students who experience loss during college is the development of a course that addresses content related to the experience within supportive academic relationships. This presentation will explore research findings about student experiences of grief on college campuses and evidence-based practices for the development and implementation of an academic course on grief.

Reading Motivation And Retrieval Practice Of United States Undergraduates Aged 18 To 23, Robyn M. Pernetti

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods research study examined the reading motivation and retrieval practice ability of U. S. undergraduates aged 18 to 23, as well as the correlations between the two variables, with a focus on gender, year as an undergraduate, and race/ethnicity. A random national sample of 90 undergraduates and an additional minority sample of 17 undergraduates completed an online survey. Quantitative data on reading motivation were derived from an adult reading motivation scale, and qualitative data on retrieval practice were derived from three college-level reading passages. This study filled gaps in the literature and provided insights for future practice and …

Food For Thought: Recommendations To Create A Food Pantry At Merrimack College, Erin Lamonica

Community Engagement Student Work

The purpose of this project was to explore food insecurity among college students. Research was conducted about the rate of food insecurity among college students and how higher education institutions have addressed the issue. Researchers have found that 33-40% of college students nationwide experience some level of food insecurity, and it disproportionately affects underrepresented populations of college students. With the rising cost of college education, campuses have enacted creative solutions to help improve the effects of food insecurity across this population. Upon analyzing this societal issue locally, a gap in food security resources was identified at Merrimack College. As a …

Talk Debt To Me: An Applied Linguistics Approach To Exploring College Student Preferences For Student Loan Debt Letters, Zachary W. Taylor, Elizabeth A. Rainey, Chelseaia Charran, Gretchen Holthaus, Linda Eguiluz, Ada Horne, Myra Francisco, Karla Weber-Wandel

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Although student loan debt has been rigorously studied over the past several decades, scant research has investigated how institutions of higher education communicate debt to current and former student borrowers. As COVID-19 forced the United States Department of Education to cancel the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement as part of a student’s signing of the master promissory note (MPN), there are no other mechanisms for students to be aware of their student loan debt beyond a debt letter from their institution or reviewing their National Student Loan Debt System (NSLDS) portal. This applied linguistics study surveyed 2,030 current student loan borrowers …