This research explores international students as cultural ambassadors and examines how educational exchange programmes generate soft power. Using interviews with British and Taiwanese students, it analyses how study abroad experiences shape perceptions, strengthen UK–Taiwan relations, and support diplomacy by fostering mutual understanding, goodwill, and long-term international cooperation.

This study demonstrates a strong relationship between social skills and academic performance among university students. Surveying 107 students, it finds that empathy, assertiveness, teamwork, and problem-solving significantly support academic success. Dynamic, technology-enhanced, and democratic teaching environments foster both intellectual and emotional development.

This research shows that pedagogical innovation significantly enhances university students’ socio-emotional development. Surveying 156 engineering students, it finds that active, inclusive, and technology-enhanced teaching explains nearly two-thirds of emotional skill development. Human-centered innovation deepens learning and fosters empathy, resilience, and well-being.

This research explores how displacement and silence shape the identities of adult children of Central American immigrants. Through interviews, it examines fragmented senses of self and links displacement-related grief to lower college belonging and retention, arguing for curricular, mentoring, and community-based interventions in higher education.

This study explores how archival research enhances student engagement and writing in undergraduate courses. Interviews with writing instructors reveal that hands-on work with archival materials—especially local and diversity-focused collections—deepens curiosity, strengthens research skills, and enables students to produce meaningful, socially relevant original work, even within constrained course structures.

Large unstructured lecture breaks often disrupt learning, causing distraction and poor recall. This research tests structured “consolidation pauses” where students spend 2–5 minutes reviewing material before break. Results show improved retention, better peer relationships, and up to a full letter-grade boost, demonstrating that small instructional changes markedly improve learning outcomes.

This study examined anxiety in online learning using surveys and qualitative responses. Higher social presence reduced anxiety, while higher teaching presence unexpectedly increased it. Students preferred peer-led groups, frequent low-stakes tests, and clear instructor guidance. The findings suggest practical strategies to design online courses that better support anxious students.