No abstract

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This article examines the pervasive difficulties experienced by first-generation students in their quest to attend postsecondary settings. A change in the profile of the undergraduate student body has changed dramatically with respect to first-generation students’ age, enrollment status, and family conditions. These students are likely to enter college with less academic preparation and have limited access to information about the college experience. Low-income, minority, first-generation students are especially likely to lack specific types of college knowledge, which includes knowing how to finance a college education and complete basic admissions requirements. For these students to be successful, it is imperative to understand the pervasive obstacles they may encounter. The article identifies the challenges that first-generation students experience and their perceptions regarding the postsecondary experience, and it concludes with recommendations for successful academic practices.

The purpose of this study was to use multiple data sources, both objective and subjective, to capture students' thinking processes as they were engaged in problem solving, examine the cognitive tool use patterns, and understand what tools were used and why they were used. The findings of this study confirmed previous research and provided clear empirical evidence supporting the theoretical notion that technology-based cognitive tools play an important role in assisting students' problem solving. Students' tool use patterns were discussed in the context of their problem solving.

This mixed method study compared how student teachers rated their ability in implementing components of content area literacy compared to their clinical educators’ perceptions of the  student teachers’ actual performance. The researchers collaborated with K-12 clinical educators to develop a scaled survey to rate level of skill in four components of content literacy instruction. 112 clinical educators (CEs) and 183 student teachers (STs) representing five teacher licensure programs completed the survey. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance measured the effect of Role (CE and ST) and Teacher Licensure Program on ability perception. Results indicated that Role and Program each significantly affected ratings of the four content literacy component skills measured, but the effect of Role did not significantly differ based on Program. Participants’ written explanations of their ability ratings revealed how their mental models of content literacy accounted for differences in ability perception by Role. Implications are provided for enhancing pre-service teachers’ perceptual and qualitative awareness of the practices that underlie highly effective content-area literacy instruction.