Four-year Degree Research Articles

First Generation Minority Students: Understanding the Influential Factors that Contributed to their Preparation and Decision to Pursue Higher Education

The purpose of this research was to explore and understand the experiences of first generation minority students at Portland State University. First generation students are students whose parents have not earned a four-year degree or the equivalence of a bachelor’s degree in the United States. By looking at factors that contributed to college decision making process, such as family, peers, high school educators, and high school mentor programs, we can better understand how these factors influence students’ experiences. A qualitative analysis was used to assess the responses from 42 students collected through an online survey. This study looked at how these factors influenced students’ preparation and decision to pursue higher education. In addition to analyzing specific factors, some motivational themes that emerged from the data included family expectations, financial stability, and personal/career goals. The findings of this study indicate that if parents, students, and school educators are involved then the student develops higher college aspirations and transitions successfully into college. One overall theme in this study emphasizes the importance of tackling students as early as middle school age.

An Activity Theory analysis: Reasons for undergraduate students' absenteeism at a South African university

The study reported on in this article sought to ascertain the extent of undergraduate student absenteeism; the reasons for its occurrence; and the actions performed afterwards. Activity Theory is the theoretical framework against which reasons for absenteeism of students enrolled in three- or four-year degree programmes across degree levels in four faculties at a higher education institution (HEI) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, were surveyed. A research sampling method was used whereby 696 of a potential 1 428 students responded to a structured and semi-structured questionnaire requiring qualitative and quantitative responses. An interpretive paradigm was used for the analysis. The activity system's mediating elements comprising subjects, rules, community, division of labour, tools and objects, capture the range of cumulative influences and their interdependency. As substantive theory, Allardt's (1989) Sociological Theory of Welfare assesses well-being. The study found that students' absenteeism reflects challenges regarding existence needs, compromised learning quality and a risk to throughput. Consequently, some 'objects' might need to be redefined. Departmental and institutional strategies are recommended.

Is the Community College a Less Expensive Path Toward a Bachelor’s Degree?: Public 2- and 4-year Colleges’ Impact on Loan Debt

Policy makers and state representatives have claimed that, compared to the traditional path to a four-year degree, a course of study that begins in the 2-year sector provides a more affordable option. If this is true, then all else equal, 2-year students who obtained a 4-year degree would be expected to have acquired less student loan debt. To test these claims, this study examines the effect of initial enrollment in public 2- and 4-year institutions on education loan debt conditional upon bachelor’s degree completion. Two quasiexperimental techniques (Propensity Score Matching and Heckman Control Function) applied to official longitudinal loan data consistently revealed that similar 2- and 4-year students who obtained a bachelor’s degree had similar levels of debt and repayment. Among non-degree-completers, initial 4-year entrants had higher loan debt than 2-year students. These findings suggest that the 2-year path culminating in a 4-year degree is not less expensive in terms of loan debt. As such, initiatives that lead traditional 4-year students to the “cheaper” 2-year sector may crowd-out students who truly need to begin in these schools. In light of these results, studies analyzing the impact of the private and for-profit sectors should be conducted following the approach presented in this study.

Teaching Practice at the University of Namibia: Quo Vadis?

Teaching Practice in the four-year secondary education degree is unfortunately rated low in the teacher preparation programme at the University of Namibia due to dependence on other faculties for the prescribed academic content. Teaching Practice has to be arranged around the placement of academic courses which form part of the Bachelor of Education (honours) degree. This study set out to discover the student teachers’ views on the timing, duration and content of the current Teaching Practice of the Bachelor of Education (Hons) degree for secondary teachers, as offered by the University of Namibia. The major objective of the study was firstly, to establish the views of student teachers about their experience during the eight-week Teaching Practice in various parts of the country and secondly, to establish how Teaching Practice at the University could be revised to improve the entire training programme. The population of the study included all the students who have completed their final phase of Teaching Practice between January and March 2010 and January and March 2011. All 225 students constituted the population of the study. A questionnaire was administered in order to explore students’ responses on identified issues. The researcher collected the data personally. The study revealed that most of the student teachers experienced various challenges during Teaching Practice, which influenced the successful completion of Teaching Practice. Eventually, the findings revealed the views of student teachers on their professional and academic preparation; the timing and duration of Teaching Practice; areas where student teachers feel the Faculty could improve and students also indicated the various challenges they have experienced during their placement.

Cops in College: Police Officers’ Perceptions on Formal Education

There is no consensus regarding the benefits of a minimum education level of a four-year college degree for law enforcement officers. No state requires this for entry into policing and Minnesota is the only state to require an associate’s degree. This study examines the unique perceptions of a random sample of 627 Minnesota police officers relative to higher education degree requirements and their level of support for increasing the requirement to a four-year degree. Approximately, 30% of officers think the four-year degree should be required and 70% of officers would have still entered the profession if this were the requirement. Multinomial logistic regression analysis reveals factors that shape one or both of these opinions which include age, position in the department, education level, and agency support. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

“They Always Call Me an Investment”

In the past 20 years, Latinas have begun to outperform Latinos in high school completion and college enrollment, tracking the overall “gender reversal” in college attainment that favors women. Few studies have examined what factors contribute to Latinas’ increasing educational success. This article focuses on gender differences in college-going behavior among a cohort of 50 Latino/a college aspirants in the San Francisco East Bay Area. Through 136 longitudinal interviews, I examine trends in Latinos/as’ postsecondary pathways and life course decisions over a two-year period. Findings suggest evidence for gendered familism, in which gender and racial/ethnic beliefs intersect to differentially shape Latinos/as’ attitudes, behaviors, and college choices. Gendered familism encouraged Latinas to seek a four-year degree as a means of earning independence, while Latinos expressed a sense of automatic autonomy that was not as strongly tied to educational outcomes.

Pre-hospital rapid sequence induction: Factual inaccuracies?

This distinction is of some importance when considering the educational background of those practicing RSI, as ECPs hold a four-year degree in emergency medical care (EMC). On page 633, and again on page 636, the authors describe RSI training as being a ‘two day university course’ and that they consider this to be insufficient. [1] I agree that two days of training on RSI is insufficient. However, this is not an accurate description of current RSI education at all institutions offering the EMC degree programme. The ‘two day university course’ was offered once in 2009 by one institution for those who already held an EMC degree, as a way of incorporating RSI (which was newly-approved at the time) into their clinical practice. The important point is that it was a ‘once-off ’ arrangement intended to update those who qualified with an EMC degree before RSI was approved for ECP scope of practice; it has not been the approach followed for undergraduate students since 2010. At the University of Johannesburg (UJ), RSI has been incorporated into an educational strategy on airway management which spans four years. Our approach in designing and implementing RSI education since 2010 has involved advice, input and involvement from specialists in both anaesthesiology and emergency medicine. Assessments include a mix of theory, objective structured clinical evaluations, simulations and assessments carried out in the emergency centre and pre-hospital environments. While we would like all of our students to have clinical experience in RSI before qualifying as independent practitioners, there is a very real problem of access to critical procedures. The healthcare system caters for a large number of students from a variety of fields and institutions. All compete for clinical experience in a small number of facilities that have suitable levels of clinical supervision. Given these constraints, we are currently implementing the approach outlined in the position statement referred to by the authors in their

Undocumented College Students in the United States: In-State Tuition Not Enough to Ensure Four-Year Degree Completion

Using restricted-access data from one of the largest urban public university systems in the United States—where many undocumented students are eligible for in-state tuition—we review the literature on undocumented college students in the United States and provide a comparison of the performance of undocumented students to that of U.S. citizens and other legal migrants. Overall, undocumented students perform well in the short-term, earning higher grades and higher rates of course and associate degree completion than their U.S. citizen counterparts. But undocumented students are less likely to earn their bachelor's degrees within four years. This finding suggests that, despite their earlier college successes and their access to in-state tuition rates, at some point after enrollment, undocumented students experience higher costs to completing their bachelor's degrees than they had anticipated upon enrollment. We offer a number of policy considerations for university officials and policy makers who aim to help undocumented college students succeed in postsecondary institutions.

From Colors and Guns to Caps and Gowns? The Effects of Gang Membership on Educational Attainment

Objectives:This study examined the effects of adolescent gang membership on educational attainment over a 12-year period. A broader conceptualization of gang membership—as a snare in the life course—is used to study its noncriminal consequences.Method:Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and propensity score matching were used to assess the cumulative and longitudinal effects of gang membership on seven educational outcomes, including educational attainment in years and six educational milestones. After adjusting for nonrandom selection into gangs, youths who joined a gang were compared annually to their matched counterparts from 1998 to 2009.Results:Selection-adjusted estimates revealed disparities between gang and nongang youth in education attainment. Youth who joined gangs were 30 percent less likely to graduate from high school and 58 percent less likely to earn a four-year degree than their matched counterparts. The effects of gang membership on educational attainment were statistically observable within one year of joining, and accumulated in magnitude over time to reach −0.62 years (ES=0.25) by the final point of observation.Conclusion:The snare-like forces linked to the onset of gang membership have consequences that spill into a range of life domains, including education. These findings take on added significance because of a historical context where education has a prominent role in social stratification.

Transforming the Terminal Associates of Applied Science into a Four-Year Degree: A Win-Win Situation for Students, Community Colleges, Universities, and Businesses

Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degrees were once considered terminal degrees and were developed for people seeking technical skills to join the workforce. This paper discusses the transformation from a transferable degree into technical four-year baccalaureate degree. It also discusses survey results of students currently in a degree completion program that includes motives for their progression to a four-year degree.

Voices of Distress: The Emotional Peril of Not Attaining a Dietetic Internship in Ontario

Obtaining dietetic licensure in Ontario requires completion of a Dietitians of Canada (DC) accredited four-year undergraduate degree in nutrition and an accredited post-graduate internship or combined Master’s degree program. Given the scarcity of internship positions in Ontario, each year approximately two-thirds of the eligible applicants who apply do not receive a position XX, XX, XX, XX, XX, XX, in press). Anecdotally, not securing an internship position is known to be a particularly disconcerting experience that has significant consequences for individuals’ personal, financial, and professional well-being. However, no known empirical research has yet explored students’ experiences of being unsuccessful in applying for internship positions. Fifteen individuals who applied between 2005 and 2009 to an Ontario-based dietetic internship program, but were unsuccessful at least once, participated in a one-on-one semi-structured interview. Findings reveal that participants’ experiences unfold successively in four phases that are characterized by increasingly heightened emotional peril: naïveté, competition, devastation, and frustration. The authors conclude that the current model of dietetic education and training in Ontario causes lasting distress to students and hinders the future growth and vitality of the dietetic profession. Further research is required to understand the impact of the current model on dietetic educators, internship coordinators, and preceptors as coincident participants in the internship application process.

Beyond BA Blinders: Lessons from Occupational Colleges and Certificate Programs for Nontraditional Students

Postsecondary education mostly focuses on the four-year BA degree. Community colleges are often promoted as the first step toward the ultimate goal of a four-year degree. However, community colleges have extremely poor degree completion rates. There is evidence suggesting better results for their private, two-year counterparts—particularly for certificate completion. We will focus on occupational colleges—private accredited colleges that offer career preparation in occupational fields like health care, business, information technology, and others. These institutions challenge many of our preconceptions about college. They are less wedded to college traditions, which raises some interesting questions: Do private colleges offering certificates or AA degrees use different procedures? Should community colleges consider some of these procedures to reduce student difficulties and improve their completion rates? For many community college students, earning a more likely, quick sub-BA credential—perhaps followed by a four-year degree in the future—will be preferable to the relatively unlikely pathway from a community college program directly to a four-year BA. In sum, this paper suggests that nontraditional colleges and nontraditional credentials (certificates and AA degrees) deserve much closer attention from researchers, policymakers, and students.

Book review - Saving higher education: The integrated, competency-based three-year bachelor’s degree pro-gram

Bradley, M.J., Seidman, R.H. & Painchaud, S.R. (2012). Saving higher education: The integrated, competency-based three-year bachelor's degree program. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Pages: 219. ISBN 978-0-470-88819-3.One of the reforms that has been proposed to deal with the escalating costs of higher education is to replace many four-year baccalaureate degrees with three-year degrees. Often it is clear whether the three-year degree that is proposed is intended to be a qualitatively different kind of baccalaureate degree than the existing four-year baccalaureate degree, or simply the result of compressing the curriculum of the four-year degree into three years.Most proposals for new three-year baccalaureate degrees fail to spell out the curriculum details of the proposed new degree. The book, Saving Higher Education: The Integrated, Competency-based Three-year Bachelor's Degree Program, is an exception in this regard. The book describes the three-year degree that has actually been implemented at Southern New Hampshire University, a regionally-accredited, private, not-for-profit institution. Although the authors say that the book is not meant to be a case study, they present abundant information on how the new program was developed and implemented, and data on cost implications for students and the institution, as well as on academic performance and retention and graduation rates. The three authors are faculty members at SNHU; one was the first director of the three-year program and dean of the business school, which is where the program resides administratively; and two were members of the team that in 1995, received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to create the program.The book provides Educational Testing Service test score data for graduating students which show that the performance of SNHU's first three cohorts of three-year baccalaureate degree graduates exceeded the national average for graduates of four-year programs in comparable programs at comparable institutions. However, beginning with the fourth cohort, the performance of graduates of three-year programs at SNHU has fluctuated but on average been about the same as the national average for four-year programs. The authors don't speculate on why the scores might have been relatively higher for the first few cohorts. Retention and graduation rates at SNHU have exceeded the national average. For example, SNHU's graduation rate for three-year programs through 2010 is reported to be 78.5 percent, compared to a rate of 39.2 percent for what are said to be comparable institutions. However, no data are presented on the number of students in the three-year baccalaureate program who have gone on to further study or their success rate in getting admitted to graduate schools.As one might expect, the reported savings for students over the cost of a four-year degree is 25 percent, in addition to which students have the benefit of entering the workforce and earning money one year sooner. According to the authors, over 80 percent of the students have indicated that without this three-year option, they would have enrolled at the institution. On that basis, they conclude that a new tuition revenue stream, worth over $2 million in 2010-2011, was created by the three-year program.The authors contrast their Integrated, Competency-based Model with two other models of three-year baccalaureate degrees: the Accelerated Three-year Degree Model, and the Prior Learning Three-year Degree Model. In the Accelerated Model, students compress the four-year curriculum into three years by taking heavier course loads during regular terms and attending summer sessions. In the Prior Learning Model, students are given sufficient credit for prior learning so that they can complete the four-year program in three years. Each of these models has obvious advantages and limitations. An appendix shows that as of June, 2011,43 postsecondary institutions in the U. …

Professional Recognition of Music Therapy: Past, Present, and Future

Across its more than 60-year history of professional training and practice, music therapists have grappled with professional recognition and an appropriate self- and public identity. The blessing and the curse of music therapy is that one is hard- pressed to find a human that does not in some way identify with various physiological, social, and emotional responses to music (Hodges & Sebald, 2010). While this commonality among the public allows nonmusic therapists to understand and relate to the power'' of music, it is also the same understanding that causes some to dismiss the qualifications and training necessary to engage in the systematic use of music to address the needs of clients across all developmental domains, regardless of age or ability.Watching a competently trained music therapist in action provides an opportunity for others to see how a naturally music therapist can elicit responses from otherwise nonre- sponsive individuals. Educating the public on the type and amount of training that enables the process to unfold is a challenge that we face. Moreover, professional recognition is dependent upon the music therapist's ability to impart the harm that can come from someone who is not trained as a music therapist attempting to provide services.Professional recognition is based on a stated set of qualifications and encompasses the formal acknowledgement of an individual's professional status. This recognition includes ones right to practice their profession in accordance with professional standards and is subject to professional or regulatory controls of a governing body. Beginning with the establishment of the National Association for Music Therapy (NAMT), the idea of professional regulation and outlining qualifications for competent clinical practice has been at the forefront of discussion and debate as it relates to moving the profession forward. According to American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Historian, Dr. William Davis (personal communication, March 2, 2012) the 1956 Book of Proceed- ings indicates NAMT President, Roy Underwood, announced the formation of a Certification Committee to study registra- tion of music therapists (p. 312). This new standing committee included such pioneers as E. Thayer Gaston, Arthur Flagler Fultz and Myrtle Thompson. The Book of Proceedings from following year (1957) contained guidelines for registration, clearly stating, after December 31, 1960 all persons applying for registration must have completed a four-year degree in music therapy'' (p. 254). This early establishment of the Registered Music Therapist (RMT) designation laid important groundwork for entry-level qualifications of practicing clini- cians, followed some years later by the establishment of the American Association of Music Therapy. In 1971, this was formally designated as the Certified Music Therapist (CMT) and Advanced Certified Music Therapist (ACMT) designations.The foresight of each of these organizations to establish a mechanism that would outline and measure qualifications and training status was quite visionary. By continuing to assess and adjust these mechanisms for recognition at a national (as opposed to individual state) level, it became apparent that an outside organization was necessary in order to bring an increased level of rigor and legitimacy to the measurement of professional accountability. In 1980, NAMT joined the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) and the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) as an affiliate member in order for the NAMT Certification Committee to explore the establishment of a certification program for the profession as NOCA/NCCA was considered the leading authority on certification (What is NOCA? What is NCCA? Why is CBMT Involved?'' 1994, May, p. 6). It became apparent that administrative independence of a certifying body (in this case, CBMT) from a professional organization (AMTA), addressed three important legal issues: (a) upholding anti-trust law which prevents the profession form imposing weight onto the certification process, (b) reducing or eliminating appearance of conflict of interest, and (c) protection of the certification process from exposure to undue influence by professional issues and decisions that are based on economic considerations of public interest (BC Status, 1992, p. …

‘I Want to Educate School-Age Children’: Producing Early Childhood Teacher Professional Identities

The Australian government's current workforce reforms in early childhood education and care (ECEC) include a major shift in qualification requirements. The new requirement is that university four-year degree qualified teachers are employed in before-school contexts, including childcare. Ironically, recent research studies show that, in Australia, the very pre-service teachers who are enrolled in these degree programs have a reluctance to work in childcare. This article reports on part of a larger study which is inquiring into how early childhood teacher professional identities are discursively produced, and provides a partial mapping of the literature. One pre-service teacher's comment provides the starting point, and the article locates some of the discourses that are accessible to pre-service teachers as they prepare for the early years workforce. An awareness of the discursive field provides a sound background for preparing early childhood teachers. A challenge for the field is to consider which discourses are dominant, and how they potentially work to privilege work in some ECEC contexts over others.

“Our biggest challenge is stereotypes”: Understanding Stereotype Threat and the Academic Experiences of African American Undergraduates

The Diverse Learning Environments (DLE) project was designed to contribute much needed knowledge about factors that impact the graduation and retention rates of African Americans and other diverse student populations in higher education. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the DLE explored how campus climate, campus policies, curricular and co-curricular environments, interplay and impact student outcomes. African Americans were the only group in the study to identify stereotypes and stereotype threat as the biggest barriers to their academic success. This article highlights the challenges African Americans face related to stereotypes and stereotype threat, and contends that interventions designed to improve the achievement and degree attainment of the group must focus on eliminating the power of stereotypes in college environments.Keywords: stereotypes, stereotype threat, degree progressRetaining and graduating students from four-year degree programs is a challenge many postsecondary institutions face nationwide. For years, researchers and practitioners have strived to uncover what factors contribute to students choosing to remain or depart from a college or university. Although the literature offers many insights as to what factors impede the degreecompletion of undergraduates, there has been very little change in the number of students that earned college degrees over the last 70-plus years (Adelman, 2004; Barton, 2002). This fact is evidence that much more research must be done to highlight what institutions can do to support students and increase their chances of graduating.African Americans in particular have one of the lowest retention and degree completion rates nationwide with only 42% earning their bachelor's degree within six years. The national average is 57 percent (U.S. Department of Education, 2009; Note: Data are from the 2001 cohort and includes all first-time, full-time, degree seeking students at all four-year institutions). The Diverse Learning Environments (DLE) project was designed to contribute much needed knowledge about factors that impact the trajectories of African Americans and other diverse student populations. Funded by the Ford Foundation and housed at the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, the DLE specifically sought to comprehend how multiple factors such as campus climate, campus policies, curricular and co-curricular environments, interplay and impact student outcomes (Hurtado et al., 2012). Seven twoand four-year institutions participated in the project. Surveys were administered and focus groups were conducted at each campus. The data collected revealed many important findings about student experiences as they relate to degree completion and retention.One intriguing result came from the student focus groups. Of all the students interviewed at four-year institutions, African Americans were the only group to report struggles with stereotypes. In fact, they explicitly cited stereotypes and stereotype threat as the biggest barriers to their academic success. This finding is significant as stereotype threat has been linked to lower academic achievement and degree incompletion (Fischer, 2010; Steele, 1992, 1997). This article highlights the challenges African Americans face with stereotypes and stereotype threat, and contends that interventions designed to improve the achievement and degree attainment of the group must focus on eliminating the power of stereotypes in college environments.BACKGROUND LITERATUREThe following section presents literature that illuminates the meaning of stereotypes and the theory of stereotype threat. Key research findings are also highlighted, which reveal the impact stereotype threat has on the academic achievement of African American undergraduates.Stereotypes and Stereotype ThreatStereotypes can be defined as gross generalizations applied to a group of people with some level of shared characteristics. Gordon Allport brilliantly defined stereotypes as an exaggerated belief associated with a category . …

To Dream the Impossible Dream: College Graduation in Four Years

The cost of higher education continues to climb, while calls for increased institutional accountability and the value of a “four-year degree” are ever present. This research sought to identify factors by which consumers might predict four-year graduation rates at institutions within the CCCU. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis of data from 80 CCCU institutions indicated that 48.6% of the variation in four-year graduation rates could be explained by the model, after adjusting for sample size. Five variables were identified as significantly contributing to the variation in four-year graduation rates: 1) institutional financial aid, 2) “real tuition cost” (tuition less institutional financial aid), 3) instructional expenditures per full-time equivalent student, (4) student-faculty ratio, and 5) average GPA of the incoming class. However, institutional aid and “real tuition cost” were the major contributors; once they were factored into the equation, student-faculty ratio and instructional expenditures became insignificant, although average GPA of the incoming class remained significant as each variable was added to the analysis. In light of the ever-rising cost of higher education, this study indicated that information is readily available to help families make informed college-choice decisions. By doing their homework, a family may increase the likelihood of selecting an institution in which their student achieves the seemingly impossible dream: achieving a “four-year” degree in four years.

A cultural mismatch: Independent cultural norms produce greater increases in cortisol and more negative emotions among first-generation college students

American universities increasingly admit first-generation students—students whose parents do not have four-year degrees. Once admitted, these students experience greater challenges adjusting to universities compared to continuing-generation students—students who have at least one parent with a four-year degree. This additional adversity is typically explained in terms of first-generation students' relative lack of economic (e.g., money) or academic (e.g., preparation) resources. We propose that this adversity also stems from a cultural mismatch between the mostly middle-class, independent norms institutionalized in American universities and the relatively interdependent norms that first-generation students are socialized with in working-class contexts before college. As predicted, an experiment revealed that framing the university culture in terms of independent norms (cultural mismatch) led first-generation students to show greater increases in cortisol and less positive/more negative emotions than continuing-generation students while giving a speech. However, reframing the university culture to include interdependent norms (cultural match) eliminated this gap.

Reforming teacher education in the context of lifelong learning: the case of the BEd degree programme in Ireland

Lifelong learning has become a prominent fixture in educational policy in recent years in many countries around the world. In terms of teacher education, it is now widely accepted that initial teacher education is insufficient for the lifelong professional needs of teachers. From September 2012, initial teacher education in Ireland will be offered as a radically different four-year BEd degree programme. This reform of initial teacher education offers immense potential for teacher educators to re-imagine their programmes in light of a range of guiding paradigms and theoretical frameworks, including lifelong learning. This paper provides a rationale for developing programmes in initial teacher education in the context of lifelong learning. A number of recommendations for lifelong primary teacher education are offered in light of current reforms that are taking place in Ireland.

Building the ACS Exams Anchoring Concept Content Map for Undergraduate Chemistry

The ability to coherently assess content knowledge throughout an entire undergraduate career represents a significant advantage for programmatic assessment strategies. Chemistry, as a discipline, has an unusual tool in this regard because of the nationally standardized exams from the ACS Exams Institute. These exams are norm-referenced and allow chemistry departments to make comparisons between the performance of their own students relative to national samples; however, currently there appears to be no systematic means for noting students' content knowledge growth over a four-year degree. The Exams Institute is undertaking the task of organizing content along an anchoring concept or big ideas framework to facilitate this type of analysis.