Liberal Arts Colleges Research Articles

Predictors of Purpose Among Young Adults in College: An Exploratory Analysis of the Importance of Relational Supports and Experiential Learning

College is an important context for young adults to cultivate developmental assets, solidify vocational plans, and nurture meaningful relationships. National data from Gallup have highlighted key experiences that positively impact a student’s experience while at college and their life after graduation. These “Big Six” experiences, including relationships with faculty and mentors and participation in high-impact practices, predict student success. Similarly, both theory and research underscore the importance of relationships, active engagement, and exploration in cultivating purpose and long-term aims. Little work has examined the cumulative and relative value of the “Big Six” experiences in explaining purpose development in college. The present cross-sectional and exploratory study sought to address this gap. Specifically, this study utilized hierarchical linear regression to examine the impact of different experiences and relationships on college student purpose at a small, liberal arts university in the Southeast region of the United States (n = 758). The results indicated that a greater number of “Big Six” experiences were predictive of a stronger purpose. Furthermore, experiences centered on relationships mattered relatively more in fostering purpose among college students than participation in high-impact practices. The findings are discussed in the context of the literature and recommendations for higher-education institutions are made.

Factors Affecting College Choice of African American Male Undergraduates at Two Private Liberal Arts Colleges in the South

This article examined the factors influencing the college choice of African American male undergraduate students at two private liberal arts colleges in the South. Utilizing Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) College Choice Model as the theoretical framework, the study explored these students' experiences, perceptions, and attitudes toward the college selection process. The research investigated explicitly how predisposition, search, and choice factors impact the decision-making process for African American males at these institutions. Employing a qualitative methodology, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 20 participants. The findings revealed that family and community influences, financial considerations, campus environment, and diversity significantly shape college choice. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors affecting college choice for African American males at private liberal arts colleges in the South. Additionally, it offers insights that could inform the development of policies and practices to enhance access, diversity, and educational equity within higher education.

A Comparative Study on the Face-to-face and Non-face-to-face Teaching Methods of University Liberal Arts Class : Focusing on the creation of haiku class

A Comparative Study on the Face-to-face and Non-face-to-face Teaching Methods of University Liberal Arts Class : Focusing on the creation of haiku class

A Study on Anthropocene Education through Analysis of Science Museum Exhibits and University Liberal Arts Education Contents

A Study on Anthropocene Education through Analysis of Science Museum Exhibits and University Liberal Arts Education Contents

Shaping innovative change through concentrated, distributed, or hybrid leadership? Organizational resilience in women’s liberal arts colleges

ABSTRACT Decades of research suggest that women’s liberal arts colleges (WLACs) are models of excellence in supporting gender equity in higher education and society generally. But as WLACs face competition from coeducational counterparts for women students, their specialized mission compounds strong external threats to their sustainability. Consequently, these institutions may deploy different leadership approaches through which they synergize social interdependencies across the campus to innovate and thrive. To examine the connection of leadership to innovation at WLACs, we apply concentrated, distributed, and hybrid leadership theories to illuminate multi-campus case-studies of the engagement of administrative and faculty groups in academic changes taking place. Our empirical themes supported flexible perspectives on communication and decision-making: one case-site featured hybrid leadership to coordinate formal (administrative) and informal (faculty and staff) leaders in large-scale efforts, while the other case-site reflected distributed leadership via bottom-up, faculty-driven initiatives in discrete siloes of expertise on campus. Moreover, the study’s findings suggested that cultural and material resources mediated who distributed leadership, how leadership was distributed, and what was distributed, differentiating campuses’ respective social processes and outcomes of change. We discuss implications for theory, practice, and research that collectively emphasize WLACs’ mission-driven social activity, which animates their resilience and public purposes.

Leveraging Educational Technology in Liberal Arts Dance Sports: Exploring Effectiveness and Sustainable Application

This study explored the effectiveness and sustainable application of educational technology in a university liberal arts dance sports class. A qualitative case study was conducted with nine students enrolled in liberal arts physical education classes at S University in Seoul in 2023. It focused on how educational technology, including apps such as Pose & Tracking and Slopro, can enhance students’ understanding of dance movements, promote active discussion, and facilitate objective assessment. The findings indicate that the use of these technologies not only improved the students’ learning experiences by facilitating visualization and feedback but also supported collaborative learning and creative expression. This study highlights the potential of educational technology to enhance the quality of liberal arts physical education by making learning highly engaging and effective.

Forbidden Neurds: A Neuroscience Word Game.

Game-based learning is a promising approach that can promote engagement and deep learning of course content in a fun setting. This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a card game designed to help students develop greater familiarity and comfort with complex neuroscience vocabulary. To play Forbidden Neurds, students within a team take turns acting as the Lead Neurd, who must get the team to guess a Neuroscience word without using any of the Forbidden words listed on the card. The game is designed to help students develop a deeper understanding of neuroscience terminology, identify relationships between terms, identify gaps in their understanding, and reinforce learning. The game was evaluated in a 200-level fundamentals of neuroscience course at a small public liberal arts university. Students showed increased content knowledge through pre-post testing, and a post-game self-reported survey showed that playing Forbidden Neurds enabled students to assess, increase, and apply content knowledge. Gameplay also helped students develop greater communication, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. In addition, students reported experiencing greater engagement through this fun learning activity. This game could act as an adaptable and effective learning tool across a range of neuroscience courses.

Analyzing the Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning and Information Literacy Instruction at a Liberal Arts College

Project-based learning engages students in the collaborative design of generating and seeking answers to questions. Students work independently and creatively, to plan, execute, and make necessary adjustments to produce high-quality work, while developing competent twenty-first-century skills. These skills include critical thinking, collaboration, creativity/innovation, and communication. This work presents a unique partnership between a physics faculty member, a librarian, and a physician in a project-based ultrasound course at a primarily undergraduate institution. Implementing project-based learning, students actively engaged with real-world and personally, meaningful problems. Information literacy skills, such as evaluating and synthesizing information, were also naturally incorporated throughout the completion of student projects. Students responded to general surveys, self-evaluations, peer evaluations, metacognitive surveys, reflections, and attitude tests to help instructors improve, calibrate, and assess the teaching method. Key findings indicate a 9% growth in students’ information literacy skills and increased engagement. Additionally, results suggest that students prefer project-based learning compared to traditional teaching. This article highlights the course approach, assessment tools, and student engagement and perception.

Learning and Study Skills in Students at a Small Liberal Arts College

Despite a large body of literature on the various study skills that predict academic performance in college students, there is no consensus on which specific study skills contribute the most toward college success. Additionally, the emphasis in the literature is primarily on large public universities and specialized groups such as chiropractic, medical, pharmacy, and vocational students, with little to no research focused on small liberal arts institutions. Finally, studies in the field typically assess all students, and use a wide range of GPAs in examining differences between high- and low-performing students. It is important to see if differences in study strategies exist even when only a small subset of students are tested – many of whom are on probation for already low academic performances. The present study assessed ten different learning and study skills via the Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI) in 41 students enrolled in a general studies class at a small liberal arts college. Academic achievement was assessed via cumulative GPA for each student. There were significant correlations between individual scores on the motivation subscale and GPA, and between utilizing academic resources and GPA. Both motivation and utilizing academic resources were found to also significantly predict GPA. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, in the context of enhancing student success via early and proactive interventions.

Effectiveness of Hands-On Training Regarding Basic Life Support (BLS) on Knowledge Among Saveetha College of Arts and Science Final Year Students.

Cardiac disorders are major global death causes, necessitating emergency measures in sudden cardiac arrests. Successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, performed by medical team members, significantly reduces death rates from cardiac arrest, a growing concern across all age groups. The study evaluates the impact of hands-on basic life support (BLS) training program on final-year students' knowledge of BLS. A pre- and post-test study was conducted among 60 students at Saveetha College of Liberal Arts and Science. A convenient sampling technique was used to select the samples. The demographic variables were collected by using multiple-choice questionnaires. Results showed an effective level of knowledge and skill in BLS, indicating the need for further research. The study concludes that the level of knowledge and skill among final-year students of Saveetha College of Arts and Science was found to be effective in gaining knowledge regarding BLS in the post-test.

A Consistent Inconsistency: A Cultural Study of Attributions of Fans in The United States

Literature explores cultural orientation in cross-cultural settings but fails to look at the diversity that exists in the U.S. population. I collected data from a liberal arts university in California. I examine the role cultural orientation plays in how sport fans may attribute the performance of their sport team. Correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses of this study. Results revealed unique findings for the attribution process. The interaction of collectivism and fan identification was negatively associated with internal attributions across wins (p < .05). Asian Americans had lower levels of internal attributions across wins (p < .01). Recommendations for future research are provided.

No dollar left behind: Leveraging major gifts during days of giving

Major gifts are crucial to the success of any comprehensive campaign and giving days are crucial to building institutional awareness and annual philanthropy. This paper analyses how Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts merged the two together to leverage multiple six-figure gifts into days of giving that raised historic funds and participation. Through the power of relationship building, peer-to-peer fundraising and volunteer activation, this paper will share how a rural college inspired a community to give and how you can do it too. Whatever size ‘major’ is for you, embrace the opportunity to leave no dollar behind, impact more students and build excitement along the way.

대학 교양수업에서 프로젝트기반학습 성과에 영향을 미치는 수업 요인 분석

Objectives Establishing team satisfaction, task authenticity, the quality of instructor feedback, task burden, and the appropriateness of assessment as instructional factors for project-based learning in university liberal arts courses, this study investigated the moderating effects of emotional intelligence on the relationship between each instructional factor and perceived team achievement. Methods After conducting a pre-survey to measure emotional intelligence among 72 students enrolled in a liberal arts course, a six-week project-based learning was implemented. Following the conclusion of the project-based learning, a post-survey was conducted to measure the quality of five instructional factors and team achievement. Initially, independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA were conducted to examine whether there were dif-ferences in the measured variable values based on participants' gender, grade, and major. Subsequently, using Process Macro v4.20 and Model 1, the relationship between project-based learning instructional factors and team achievement was analyzed, as well as the moderating effects of emotional intelligence. Results The relationship between team satisfaction and team achievement as well as the appropriateness of as-sessment and team achievement, was found to be significantly moderated by emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence was revealed to be particularly effective in enhancing team achievement when team satisfaction and the appropriateness of assessment were relatively low. Conclusions To enhance the success of project-based learning in university liberal arts courses, it is evident that, in addition to emotional intelligence, consideration must be given to all six instructional factors when designing and implementing the course. Attention should be directed towards devising strategies to enhance emotional in-telligence, especially when team satisfaction and assessment appropriateness are not ensured.

2023학년도 대학 교양 음악 교과의 운영 실태 분석

This study aims to assess music liberal arts education in South Korea and suggest future directions. To achieve this, 40 of 4-year universities across the country were selected, and the curriculum, class objectives, and course plans for the year 2023 were collected and analyzed. As a result of the analysis, in terms of operation, the music department accounted for 61.78%, while the college of Liberal Arts accounted for 23.11%. As for the types of subjects, there were general education courses (41.33%) and distribution requirement courses (47.56%), and names of areas related to art or humanities were used. Content and method of lectures were categorized as follows: music theory lectures (68.21%), music applied lessons (31.79%), music convergence theory lectures (30.39%), and music convergence applied lessons (9.62%). While music lectures emphasized history, singing, and instruments, convergence lectures emphasized humanities. The proposal suggests securing professional lecturers to enhance liberal arts music education autonomy and developing diverse, high-quality music and convergence subjects.

Integrating Health Policy Into Undergraduate Physiology: A Pedagogical Framework

Evidence-based health policies save lives. Rising to meet the global health challenges of the 21st century (e.g., the climate crisis, infectious diseases, health inequity) will require more scientists to participate in the policymaking process. However, few opportunities exist for STEM students to learn how their scientific knowledge can be applied to policy, or how they can shape the policies that govern science in the United States. Additionally, although scientific expertise is necessary to create effective health policies, it is not suffcient. For example, many scientifically sound policies (e.g., masking, vaccination) fail in the implementation phases because they are not communicated effectively to their intended audience. Here we share a pedagogical framework for integrating health policy into existing undergraduate physiology courses using examples from Anatomy and Physiology, Physiological Model Systems, and Public Communication of Physiology. This framework empowers students to develop procedural knowledge about state and federal policymaking, discuss examples of biomedical scientists and healthcare workers contributing to policy and rulemaking, link course curricula to current legislation proposed at the state or federal level, and advocate using their scientific knowledge and lived experiences as scientists. It also incorporates foundational science communication training that goes beyond the commonly used deficit framework (i.e., “educating the public”), and instead emphasizes dialogue (e.g., listening to stakeholders), rhetorical strategy (e.g., storytelling), trust-building, discrete goal setting, and positionality. Lastly, we provide preliminary evidence that using this health policy toolbox leads to student empowerment in policy and advocacy, development of practical communication skills applicable to their future careers, and deep affective connections to their physiology coursework. This project was supported by the Alan R. Bennett College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Public Health Policy Research Fund at the University of Connecticut. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

전자매체 구술성을 활용한 대학 <글쓰기> 수업 사례 연구

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of electronic media use in college liberal arts <writing> classes. In this study, we examined the effi ciency of using electronic media throughout the entire column writing process. The subject of the study is the survey results of two classes and the writing results of one class conducted in the <Writing> class at A University located in the Gyeo ngnam region in the second semester of 2022. The orality of electronic media can be viewed as secondary orality and is repre sented by intercommunication and mediation. Paper media fragments the writing class process, but the use of electronic media provides continuity through non-me diation and hyper-mediation, allowing it to proceed efficiently. The class example was column writing, which allows you to carry out the entire writing process. In the column writing class design, it was planned to be divided into related classes, main classes, presentation classes, and evaluation. In this class, we looked at the use of electronic media in collecting data for the 9th week and constructing a column summary table for the 10th week. In collecting data, we were able to find papers, books, and internet resources, practice annotation meth ods, and organize references. After constructing an outline, immediate feedback was provided. The class evaluation examined the efficient aspects of writing classes using elec tronic media through the instructor’s evaluation of class results and student surveys. The instructor said that many students reached the ‘above’ level of learning goals through three rounds of feedback and writing practice using electronic media, and students had no objection to writing and planning using electronic media, and the ease of editing and writing. It was considered efficient in terms of speed and ease of self-editing. However, the readability of the feedback and how to use the program were viewed as areas that needed improvement. In order to stabilize writing classes using electronic media in university educa tion, it is urgent to prepare educational technicians and change and revise educa tional content.

Reading Choi Seung-ja’s Poetry as University Liberal Arts Education: Focusing on the Case of University’s 〈Reading poetry〉

This paper studies the case of teaching Korean poetry texts when conducting masterful reading and reading classes in university liberal arts education. It would be near impossible to present an ideal and complete list when creating a reading list for such a course. However, in this paper, it is suggested that Choi Seung-ja's poetry should be placed on any list that deals with those times in life when life itself is neglected, as well as used in liberal arts education classes at universities. In our current age, which is seeing an increase in depression among young people, this paper argues that the theme of death as seen in Choi Seung-ja's poem can actually give hope to its readers, and instill in them a level of resistance to death that will manifest as a will to life.</br>In Choi Seung-ja's poem, death is a tragedy given to us humans, but it tells us how to deal with this tragedy so that we can overcome death. The attitude of the poetic persona is repeated and circulated and strengthened, and readers can adopt the courage needed to stand up to death by reading about the attitude of the poetic persona. In this paper, the significance of character education and poetry reading by learners living in an environment of death after COVID-19, can be confirmed in Choi Seung-ja's poetry learning. Learners find a way to overcome death in a finite life where death is a certainty. This process was confirmed in the ‘Writing Poetry Review’, which was written during the process of learning Choi Seung-ja's poetry. Thus, this paper revealed that Choi Seung-ja's poetry can function as a very efficient text in poetry education.

Comparison of the Effects of Teaching Presence and Social Presence on Learning Outcomes According to the Types of Liberal Arts Classes

This study attempted to measure whether there is a difference in the impact of teaching presence and social presence on learning outcomes in university liberal arts classes according to online and offline class types. In addition, based on the differences found according to class type, this study attempted to propose a plan to improve online classes. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among 422 students who took the class ‘Anthropology Ⅱ’. The results were as follows. </br>First, there was a difference in the average of teaching presence and social presence according to the type of class, but no difference in learning outcomes. Second, the correlation between all variables was statistically significant in both online and offline classes, and both variables showed a high positive correlation. Thirdly, this study found that the types of presence that affected learning outcomes differed according to the type of class. The influence of teaching presence in online classes and social presence in offline classes on learning outcomes was relatively high. Based on the research findings, this study suggests some pedagogical implications that can promote a sense of teaching presence and social presence when running liberal arts classes online.

Revealing Campus Food Insecurity at Urban, Private, Liberal Arts Universities

ABSTRACT To address existing and emerging food access needs, three metro private universities in the midwest, with increasingly diverse student bodies representing historically underrepresented backgrounds, utilized a web-based Food Access Survey to collect students’ self-reported experiences (n = 1,478) accessing food and experiencing hunger. The results from this survey highlight those with marginalized identities are at a higher risk for food insecurity. Given increasing enrollment of marginalized students and diversifying student bodies across all institutions, including private universities, we argue higher education needs to recognize, assess, and act on student food insecurity.

The Effects of Course Modality on Student Satisfaction and Academic Outcomes at a Liberal Arts College During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using student self-reports on a survey and objective records of academic achievement, I examined the effects of course modality on student satisfaction and academic outcomes at a selective liberal arts college in spring 2021. I compared three groups of undergraduates (N = 729) based on their predominant course modality: Online-Class Group, Residential Blended Learning Group, and Residential In-Person-Class Group. After controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, class level, and socioeconomic status, course modality demonstrated significant main effects on all three satisfaction variables and sense of connection a student felt to the institution. The Online-Class Group reported the lowest satisfaction with level of academic challenge, quality of teaching, and overall quality of academic experiences; it also reported the weakest sense of connection. The Residential Blended Learning Group differed from the Residential In-Person-Class Group on one variable: satisfaction with quality of teaching, on which the former reported lower satisfaction. Course modality did not affect a student’s grade point average; although it interacted with gender in its effect on the number of course units a student passed, no subgroup difference by course modality and gender was significant. This study indicates that online classes and blended learning, especially the latter, have potential at liberal arts colleges.