The purpose of this study was to address the under-researched theme of achievement among students in a post 1992 university in the UK. The findings are based on a case study of a cohort of first year (FY) undergraduates in a science department in a post 1992 university. Three key research approaches were deployed within this case study, namely, grounded theory, phenomenography and survey research. These three distinctive approaches have been framed within a broad interpretivist perspective in which subjectivity is managed through researcher positionality and the triangulation of data where appropriate. The research findings demonstrate that the point of registration at higher education (HE) institutions does not constitute a successful student because such a constitution is a process of becoming, involving complex meaning-making processes over time. These processes are characterised by a movement from 'outsider and potential achiever' to 'insider and reflexive achiever'. Important phases within this movement are those of: attending; being engaged and solving self-identified difficulties. In the light of the evidence gathered and the review of the existing scholarship, a detailed exploration and theorisation of these phases is offered. The preoccupation with students who fail in some way has led to a lack of research into those who succeed. This research has sought to overcome this lack by exploring the active meaning-making processes that lead undergraduates to achieve. A dynamic is identified between students' reflexive management of their FY experience and aspirations to achieve and the institutional context. This dynamic is also held to undermine the notion of students as customers awaiting satisfaction, suggesting instead that students be regarded as reflexive actors in the shaping of undergraduate achievement. This study presents a novel alternative to the prevalent deficit model in the relevant research which tends to treat students as passive bearers of diverse levels of readiness for undergraduate study. It also offers an alternative to the prevailing research on why students fail to progress or stay at university.

Many teachers of young adolescents face compelling pressures to dramatically change their practice. The rapid adoption of 1:1 computing, whereby each student has nearly constant access to an Internet-connected laptop, netbook or tablet, poses unique challenges to established practices in curriculum, instruction and classroom management. A growing number of teachers also confront a movement to provide students more personalized and flexible pathways to high school graduation, including experiential, blended and online learning, and allow students to apply knowledge and skills to tasks of personal interest. How teachers cope in this dynamic period may hinge on their ongoing professional development. In recent decades, a general consensus has emerged that promotes teaching as a learning profession in which teachers work together in learning communities and seek expertise not just from outside experts, but also from colleagues attuned to local circumstances. At the same time, the student voice movement encouraged schools to empower students as key collaborators in school improvement. In spite of common themes in the narratives on teacher learning and student voice—collaboration, empowerment and effective change—they seldom intersect in traditional professional development settings or in teachers' collegial learning. This dissertation proposes student consultation as a link between students and teachers in collaborative school improvement and suggests next steps toward more sustainable efforts to involve students in the preparation and ongoing learning of teachers. Three studies are presented. The first study described a weeklong summer professional development institute in which students have played a central role for more than two decades. It outlined the conditions conducive to the collaborative culture among teachers and consulting students and summarizes participants' perspectives on student consultation. The second study applied a qualitative case study design involving observations, interviews, focus groups and surveys with 72 teachers and 20 students to delve more deeply into consultations at the summer institute. Most teachers and students perceived the consultations as enjoyable and beneficial, willingly embraced shifts in authority during consultations, and noted the benefits of strategies employed to support the culture and practices of student consultations. The third study explored how teachers engaged with students as consultants in classroom action research projects initiated at the summer institute and in professional development contexts. The multi-site, collective case study examined six projects involving twelve teachers and 241 students. Interviews and focus groups with nine teachers and 22 students were coded by stages of the action research cycle and characteristics of student involvement in order to examine at which stages in the action research and in what capacities teachers involved their students. The study confirmed teachers' and students' general appreciation of consultation and suggests that parsing the subtleties of when and how students are consulted can contribute to deeper understand of student involvement and better facilitation of action research in teacher professional development. Together, this collection of studies has implications for the design and evaluation of student consultation in teacher professional development.

The purpose of the thesis is to explore excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL), its philosophical underpinnings, pedagogical implications and possibilities. How pedagogic devices can be used to encourage tutors' reflections on EBL, and is concerned with producing and sharing knowledge in relation facilitating student-centred teaching and learning practices. The study is in the tradition of practitioner research, where my role was that of an educational developer at the Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-based Learning. It is centred around the development of EBL models as pedagogic instruments to facilitate tutors' reflections on their practice. The thesis investigates how to facilitate the incorporation of more student-centred approaches into tutors' practice in a UK university through employing EBL models as a tool for reflection, how these models were introduced to tutors, and the findings from the process. A critical action research approach was undertaken for the educational development practitioner research journey. The primary methods of data collection consisted of interviews with students and tutors, and data obtained during individual reflections and group discussions in a series of workshops that involved tutors studying EBL models. Thirty-one tutors were involved in these workshops and interviews where they quantitatively and qualitatively explored multiple dimensions of teaching and learning. Content analysis of the results was conducted on the data with an emphasis on dilemma analysis to gain insights into tutors' decisions about their practice, and an empirical abductive strategy was employed to inform the development of new EBL models. In the course of the action research phases two new EBL models were iteratively developed informed by the literature and stakeholders. Finally, a new Student Involvement in Learning and Teaching Model was proposed, empirically abducted from student narratives derived from photo-elicited interviews. This Model constituted the development of a new conceptual framework for thinking about EBL within the context of broader teaching and learning practice. This study articulates new student involvement dimensions which conveyed the nature of power within the proximal processes of teaching and learning. The thesis contributes towards the practice of educational development by documenting both the process and outcomes of introducing EBL and learning and teaching models to tutors as reflective instruments, and by proposing a new perspective on excellence in EBL where student involvement is enhanced when reciprocal power relationships exist in the proximal processes between tutors and students. Tutor decisions were framed as a series of dilemmas created by external contextual influences (the University social micro, meso, exo and macro-systems); and internal factors (the tutors' personal force-resource characteristics) which affected tutors' reported actual and espoused ideal practice. The data demonstrated that most tutors espoused including more EBL, but they preferred an incremental change in their practice.

This qualitative case study aims to understand the ways in which students identifying as Native American, American Indian, and Indigenous navigate attending a university informed by their identities. Through semi-structured interviews with Indigenous students and participant observation with a Native American student organization, this study identified how this demographic of students navigate and conceptualize their identities as Native and Indigenous peoples, the benefits of joining a Native American student organization on their university campus, and how they experience the university as a racialized organization. One overarching and three nuanced research questions were examined to illustrate how students' identities inform how they experience university life with themes surrounding Native and Indigenous identity construction informed by federal policy and Indigenous community practices, collective identity and student involvement, sense of belonging at college, and understanding universities as racial organizations that participate in racial capitalism. The study findings indicated that students' identities are regularly negotiated, engaged with, and leveraged throughout their college experiences and recommendations were made for how colleges and universities can more adequately and equitably serve this student demographic.

This study was guided by Astin’s Student Involvement theory which explored student’s needs in a demanding program amongst 12 pre-pharmacy students at the University of the Pacific. This qualitative study looked to uncover the engagement, experiences, and support of pre-pharmacy students in order to learn what students want from their learning experiences; to aid in student success and retention. Qualitative interviews provided detailed stories to their pre-pharmacy experiences. Through a thorough analysis of the data seven themes emerged: (a) peer support (b) time management (c) exam structure (d) increased faculty support (e) housing placement (f) coping with stress (g) core classes. Students who were interviewed often-mentioned that their peers, who once were in situations similar to those that they found themselves in, helped them stay in the program. Many of the students had mentioned the importance of time management in a pre-pharmacy course. The students also mentioned that they had exams back-to-back, and it was a challenge for many of them to be prepared for all of them. The faculty has been associated with student success, and their being available for the students is important in fostering better outcomes for students. Learning how students are impacted by their housing experiences is important to understand because it connects to their classroom behaviors. Coping with stress was mentioned through many themes, and the ability of the students to deal with that stress was important to their success. It was important to understand what the students find useful from their non-science courses to learn what they desire from their learning experiences. The results from this study provide improvements to the students experiences and needs. The recommendations include the University of the Pacific adjusting the current curriculum when they are developing their exam schedules. Adding a course that aids in support for students focusing on time management, and as well preparation for students to encourage their school and social life balance. Having faculty available after class Q&A and providing online or in-person office hour sessions will aid in the student's success. This will allow flexibility for interactions between faculty and students. Housing facilities should have more late-night study areas, like in the Chan Hall Apartments that the PharmD students currently have. There should also be housing placements that are specifically designated for STEM students.