Land-grant Universities Research Articles

Enabling Impacts: Building a Broader Impacts Community of Practice at a Land-Grant University

The Broader Impacts (BI) activities required of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) often involve public engagement, including K-12 outreach, informal science education, public exhibits and performances, advocacy and policy change, and business and entrepreneurship. The ARIS Broader Impacts Toolkit (Advancing Research Impacts in Society, 2024) is an online resource designed to help researchers develop BI plans for their NSF proposals. Several elements of the Toolkit address critical aspects of public engagement, making the Toolkit a valuable resource for researchers new to BI or public engagement, especially when integrated into wider BI communities of practice. We discuss how the national-level BI Community of Practice (BI-CoP) developed and sustained by the NSF-funded Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS) contributed to the development and continuing evolution of an institutional-level BI CoP at a large land-grant public university. The personal narratives of members of the institutional-level BI-CoP reveal how the ARIS BI-CoP has supported their learning, fostered collaboration around BI at their institution, supported the development of an institutional BI-CoP, and increased their capacity to assist researchers with developing and implementing BI plans. The experiences of consultants and researchers demonstrate that supportive and well-resourced BI-CoPs at the national and institutional level are essential for making effective use of the Toolkit and developing BI plans that are innovative, inclusive, and impactful.

The ARIS Broader Impacts Toolkit: An Online Guide to Support Broader Impact Project Development and Evaluation for Researchers and BI Professionals

The Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS) Broader Impacts (BI) Toolkit is a collection of online, interactive tools focused on the generation of broader impacts activity plans that satisfy the criteria of proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The BI Toolkit includes a set of ARIS Guiding Principles, a Planning Checklist, the BI Wizard, and the BI Rubric. Over a three-year period, the ARIS BI Toolkit was pilot-tested with BI professionals located within ten institutions geographically distributed across the United States. The participating institutions represented a range of R1 and R2 institutions, Land-Grant Institutions, and Minority Serving Institutions with BI professionals serving in centralized and decentralized capacities within the institutions. This paper discusses the development of the ARIS BI Toolkit, its evolution through usability testing, a description of the BI Toolkit as it currently exists, and goals for future expansion.

From Educator to Broader Impacts Professional: A Case Study Analysis of the BI Toolkit Approach

Increasing emphasis is being placed by granting agencies on the need for specialists who support the translation of research into societal benefits. This societal benefit is often referred to as broader impacts (BI), and BI is important for acquiring grant funding and fulfilling land-grant university missions, among other benefits. However, few career paths lead directly to becoming a BI professional, so individuals moving into BI work need to transition from another career, which requires learning about BI. This case study examines the experiences of four former classroom teachers making the transition to both teacher educator (a teacher of teachers) and BI professional, and the ways in which their transition was supported using the Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS) BI Toolkit. Implications for onboarding using this toolkit are described and recommendations are made for how to use the ARIS BI Toolkit for transitioning BI professionals.

Training for transformation: examining food systems courses at US land-grant universities

Higher education institutions can play an essential role in preparing students to participate in movements for just and sustainable food systems change. For the past two decades, many United States land-grant universities (LGUs) have developed food systems education (FSE) courses. This study examined the extent to which FSE courses employ four capacities deemed crucial by the FSE literature: multidimensional approaches, interdisciplinarity, centering equity, and training students to take action in food systems. The syllabi of 171 undergraduate courses at 20 LGUs were obtained by contacting instructors, and their course descriptions and learning outcomes were analyzed. This subset of LGUs were identified from the membership list of the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC), a nationwide network of colleges using campus dining halls and classrooms as living laboratories for food systems change. Most course descriptions and learning outcomes exhibited multidimensional approaches and interdisciplinarity. However, many failed to incorporate teaching content and practices that help students critically examine equity and social justice issues in food systems, or engage in transformative change. LGUs have both the resources and urgent responsibility to empower students to be part of movements to transform unjust, unsustainable food systems. The findings of this study, and an accompanying open-access syllabus website, aim to accelerate the development of FSE curricula that prepare students to change food systems.

Credibility Judgments in Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Detecting Misinformation from University Instructors

Given the convenience with which information can now be acquired, it is crucial to analyze cases of potential misinformation and disinformation in postsecondary education. Instructor credibility judgments were measured using descriptive survey research, and the main objective was to investigate trends related to misinformation, credibility, trust, bias, and others in graduate students and on a graduate program basis. Participants were surveyed from a land grant institution in the southeast United States where 186 graduate students completed an electronic survey on the detection of misinformation and similar experiences. Graduate students were divided based on graduate program into STEM (sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and non-STEM groups. Quantitative methodologies included validated questionnaires developed by researchers containing Likert-type scale questions. Chi-square tests of independence and frequencies served as primary analyses. Participants in both STEM and non-STEM groups detected the following: misinformation, bias, challenges, intimidation, risk of measurable consequences, pressure to conform, and skepticism from post-secondary instructors. There were significant differences between the type of student for trust in claims (p < 0.05), while the perception of potential consequences tended to be different between the types of graduate students (0.05 < p < 0.10). Participants in both STEM and non-STEM groups reported perception bias in science material presentation, with STEM students reporting less bias. Qualitative methodologies included optional open response boxes to provide supporting details or narratives. Reliable and validated thematic coding following served as the primary analysis. Students disciplined in STEM and non-STEM faced misinformation, bias, challenges, intimidation, risk of measurable consequences, pressure to conform, and skepticism from post-secondary instructors. Graduate students reported consistent instances of misinformation and bias about science and agriculture topics in both science and non-science-focused classrooms.

Navigating challenges in American higher education: Korean international Christian students’ use of spiritual capital in response to white Christian nationalism

Despite extensive scholarly debates on Christian privilege and Secular privilege in American higher education, the voices of international students have often been absent from this discourse. This article is a response to a recent call for diverse perspectives to advance current discussions on white Christian nationalism in American higher education. Borrowing Bradford Verter’s (2003) spiritual capital, we explore Korean international Christian students’ experience of white Christian nationalism and its counter-movements in a college town near a public land-grant university in the Northeast. Through life history interviews with 16 participants, our study reveals the complex, problematic, and nuanced relationship between Korean international Christian students and white Christian nationalism. On the one hand, our participants acknowledged that the dominance of whiteness in Christianity led their professors and classmates to overlook the possibility that Asians could also be Christian, resulting in feelings of isolation and marginalization in class. On the other hand, they encountered the perception of Christianity as outdated, broken, and unintellectual among American professors and colleagues, which silenced their voices. In navigating these challenges, participants drew on their spiritual capital to construct their meanings, identities, and belongings in the social, academic, and religious realms.

Exploring Pharmacy Students’ Leadership Styles Using the 5 Voices Assessment

ObjectiveLeadership development assessments are a critical component of student pharmacists’ understanding and development of effective team strategies. MethodsThe 5 Voices tool, developed by GiANT Worldwide, was incorporated into the leadership curriculum across 2 colleges of pharmacies for second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. One public land-grant institution administers the assessment in the fall semester during a 2-h class session as part of a leadership elective leadership course and a private liberal arts institution distributes the 5 Voices assessment to all students during a 1-h spring semester required course. ResultsResponses from 456 PharmD students were included in the analysis, with 159 (34.9%) and 297 (65.1%) coming from the University of Minnesota and Drake University, respectively. Overall, 49.1% of PharmD students had nurturer as their foundational (first) voice. No differences were found in the distribution of first voices between institutions. The PharmD data are higher than the nurturer population-level average (43%). ConclusionIntroducing students to the 5 Voices assessment provides an opportunity for them to gain a better understanding of what they can contribute to a team. In addition, because nurturer is a dominant voice, this understanding can help provide appreciation for other voices necessary for team development.

COVID-2019—A Personal Account of an Academic Institute’s Response to the Pandemic

The unprecedented introduction and spread of SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 epidemic, had many varied and unanticipated consequences for the United States and other countries. In addition to the direct effects of human infection, multiple industries, commodities, and jobs were impacted. This review describes the impact on an academic institution, with a chronological account of events related to constantly changing perceptions and understanding of the pandemic. Although a personal account, the objective is to document how leadership was able to adjust to circumstances in order to support research activities, student education, and the academic goals of our land grant university. It is hoped that these examples will inspire and better prepare us for a subsequent event and avoid what for the COVID-19 situation might be summarized as a progression from procrastination-pandemic-panic-pandemonium-endemic

Communicating about diversity: challenges and strategies related to integrating race into the rural higher education classroom

ABSTRACT In a country where conversations about race, racism, power, and identity are becoming more commonplace and viewed as a necessity for creating an inclusive society, it is striking that many higher education faculty members struggle to incorporate these kinds of conversations into the classroom. While studies have pointed to a variety of reasons, including faculty members’ racial literacy and their White fragility, few studies to date have examined what faculty members from American rural contexts view as obstacles and opportunities in discussing race in the classroom. This study fills this gap by examining what barriers and strategies faculty members from a rural Predominantly White Sea and Land Grant institution engage with when discussing race-related topics in the classroom. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, this study’s findings revealed barriers consisting of instructor ambivalence and discomfort, student discomfort, lack of experience with and insight into discrimination, and institutional issues such as lack of support. This study also identified strategies that instructors indicated using to successfully incorporate race into the classroom, including strategies aimed at creating a productive classroom environment, exposing students to diversity, and creating an environment that allowed for critical reflexivity. The study concludes with recommendations on how higher education administrators and instructors in rural areas can work to render discussions about race more constructive and meaningful.

Exploring Land-grant Institution Partnerships to Better Serve Audiences

Exploring Land-grant Institution Partnerships to Better Serve Audiences

Exploring techniques to improve machine learning’s identification of at-risk students in physics classes

Machine learning models were constructed to predict student performance in an introductory mechanics class at a large land-grant university in the United States using data from 2061 students. Students were classified as either being at risk of failing the course (earning a D or F) or not at risk (earning an A, B, or C). The models focused on variables available in the first few weeks of the class which could potentially allow for early interventions to help at-risk students. Multiple types of variables were used in the model: in-class variables (average homework and clicker quiz scores), institutional variables [college grade point average (GPA)], and noncognitive variables (self-efficacy). The substantial imbalance between the pass and fail rates of the course, with only about 10% of students failing, required modification to the machine learning algorithms. Decision threshold tuning and upsampling were successful in improving performance for at-risk students. Logistic regression combined with a decision threshold tuned to maximize balanced accuracy yielded the strongest classifier, with a DF accuracy of 83% and an ABC accuracy of 81%. Measures of variable importance involving changes in balanced accuracy identified homework grades, clicker grades, college GPA, and the fraction of college classes successfully completed as the most important variables in predicting success in introductory physics. Noncognitive variables added little predictive power to the models. Classification models with performance near the best-performing models using the full set of variables could be constructed with very few variables (homework average, clicker scores, and college GPA) using straightforward to implement algorithms, suggesting the application of these technologies may be fairly easy to include in many physics classes. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

The need and acceptability of a youth mental health mentoring model to supplement adolescent outpatient mental health services

Youth mental health challenges in the United States continue to escalate at an alarming rate. To address this crisis, there is an urgent need to develop innovative strategies for delivering effective mental health care to youth. The aim of this study was to assess the need and acceptability of a youth mental health mentoring model for adolescents engaged in outpatient mental health services. Participants included adolescents currently engaged in outpatient mental health services (n = 3, 14–17 years old; 66 % Black; 100 % cisgender boys), parents/guardians of adolescents currently engaged in mental health services (n = 4; 50 % Black; 100 % cisgender women), clinicians who provide adolescent mental health services in an outpatient setting (n = 5; 100 % White cisgender women), and potential paraprofessional mental health mentors recruited from a large land-grant University (n = 5; 40 % White; 60 % cisgender women). All participants were recruited from an urban setting in the midwestern United States. Data collection occurred remotely. Following protocols that were approved by an Institutional Review Board, participant groups were provided an overview of the proposed model and asked a series of open-ended questions in four separate focus groups to gauge the perceived need and acceptability of this type of program model. Thematic data analysis was used to analyze data. Across participant groups, results indicated a clear need for supplemental mental health services and high acceptability of the proposed youth mental health mentoring model. Participants offered specific recommendations for model development, especially related to mentor selection, training and supervision.

Gendered Differences in Acknowledgements for Doctoral Advisors at a Land-Grant University

The acknowledgements section of a doctoral dissertation provides a rare view into the student-advisor relationship. The gendered differences for how doctoral students acknowledge male and female advisors was examined in 208 dissertations from a U.S. land-grant university. Doctoral students used a greater number and diversity of words when acknowledging female advisors. Nine hierarchical thematic roles and obligations of advisors were identified and were equally represented in acknowledging male and female advisors. Doctoral students described the roles and obligations of their doctoral advisor independently of gender; however, they used gendered language, which highlights the persistence of gendered norms within academic culture.

Enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within agricultural higher education: Insights from Black faculty and administrators in agricultural colleges at United States land grant institutions

The experiences of Black faculty as leaders and administrators in the field of agriculture have not been widely studied nor reported. The goal of this research focused on Black faculty leaders' experiences in agriculture to gain firsthand insights regarding the enhancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion within agricultural higher education. The central research question guiding the study was: What are the experiences of Black faculty leaders at Colleges of Agriculture at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs)? Counter-storytelling was used to explore the personal narratives of eight participants. These experiences fall within the tenets of Critical Race Theory. Three primary themes emerged: Navigating Leadership: Microaggressions in the Midst; Inequities: Is Everyone Really Equal; and Isolation: The Lone Ranger. Findings of this study hold valuable implications for practitioners, policymakers, and academic institutions seeking to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within agricultural higher education. Recommendations for policy and practice include providing support for leadership mentoring and professional development, conducting robust research on the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender for faculty of color, and establishing collaborative initiatives between academic institutions, industry partners, and community organizations to address historical disparities and stimulate interest in agriculture among Black communities.

Palmer Amaranth in the Pacific Northwest

AbstractPalmer amaranth is one of the most troublesome pigweeds in crop production systems in the United States. It only recently started to appear in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). A coordinated extension and outreach effort among land grant universities (University of Idaho, Oregon State University, and Washington State University), Amalgamated Sugar, other commodity commissions, and industry was launched to track Palmer amaranth in the PNW. In 2023, tissue samples were collected from pigweeds suspected to be Palmer amaranth with tests providing confirmation. Palmer amaranth was detected in several crops as well as right‐of‐way and private property. Most of the Palmer amaranth populations were confirmed to be resistant to glyphosate. Additional surveys and resistance screening efforts are underway to map the distribution of Palmer amaranth and assess the level of herbicide resistance across the region. Earn 0.5 CEUs in Integrated Pest Management by reading this article and taking the quiz at https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning‐Center/Courses.

Assessments from the first year of an underrepresented undergraduate internship program

To enhance our service to a diverse student population our faculty created the INtegrative biology and Physiology Undergraduate Training (INPUT) program. This research focused initiative solicited applications from first- and second-year students undergraduates of our large, urban, land-grant university. Selection criteria included academic aptitude, self-reported socioeconomic and cultural challenges, interest in physiological research and letters of support. Six students were selected from our initial cadre of applicants. The students were matched with faculty research mentors and provided a paid research opportunity for the spring semester of 2023. At the end of the term, an assessment of the experience by both each student and mentor determined whether a second semester experience was offered by the department. All of our faculty mentors were favorably impressed by the progress made by their INPUT scholars and five of the six students requested and were granted a second semester research opportunity. The five INPUT students continued their mentored research in the areas of neurophysiology, skeletal muscle physiology, and adipose biology. The one outlier stated that while she enjoyed the experience and that it encouraged her to continue in research. She also found that her scientific passion was in chemistry rather than physiology and moved to a different program. Based on the overall positive outcomes a second semester opportunity was offered to the five students who expressed an interest in continuing their physiology-focused projects. The second term experiences were completed either during the summer or fall of 2023. We will encourage our initial group of INPUT scholars to serve as ambassadors for other underrepresented students who are interested in physiology research and use their end of experience assessments to help shape the future of our INPUT program. We will report on the opportunities discovered and the challenges faced in launching the INPUT program as well as the prospects for continued outreach. Our hope is that our experiences with INPUT will encourage others to attract, encourage and prepare a robust and representative group of young scientists and clinicians to enter the 21st century biomedical community. Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455. 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.

Nutritional Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the land-grant university for the State of Illinois, was founded in 1865, and education in nutrition was recorded as early as 1874. Herein, the contributions of the UIUC to research and graduate training in the field of nutrition are highlighted. Over the past 150 years, faculty members from many academic units have provided foundational nutrition research, including identifying the last essential amino acid, threonine, and establishing chemically defined amino acid diets for chicks, rats, dogs, and cats that led to establishing amino acid requirements for these species. Research on the adverse health effects of trans fatty acids supported their removal from the food system. UIUC has led in the area of functional foods for health, including plant bioactives, soy, and fiber. More recently, UIUC faculty have evaluated the interactions between dietary components and neurocognitive, microbiome, and health outcomes, including cancer. In 2020, the cross-campus Personalized Nutrition Initiative was launched to coordinate interdisciplinary research. The Division of Nutritional Sciences was established in 1968 as one of the country’s first interdisciplinary graduate training programs. The Division of Nutritional Sciences program has conferred over 580 degrees and has implemented innovations in graduate education, many supported by federal training grants and endowed awards and programs.

Analysis of Cornell Cooperative Extension under the Background of Big Data

In the era of knowledge economy, higher education has become the support and engine of socio-economic development, and the importance and urgency of its social service function have become more prominent. The content and form of services urgently need to be updated and innovated. Analyzing the history and current development status of typical university social services undoubtedly has important exemplary value. As one of the earliest universities born in the United States to serve society, Cornell University has a deeply rooted concept of social service, a complete social service system, and a unique social service promotion system. The development of information technology and big data has greatly improved the social service field of the university. In order to have a deeper understanding of the development track and operation logic of Cornell University's social service extension system, this paper adopts the method of literature research, historical research and case study to trace the source of Cornell University's social service concept and explore Cornell University's social service extension model -- agricultural extension project with advantages of traditional "land-grant college". Learn about natural resources, environment and sustainable energy development projects that keep pace with The Times, as well as youth development and family upbringing services for family education. This article believes that the social services provided by Cornell University under the social service promotion system have a strong academic and professional nature, and the direction, content, and social needs of serving society are highly matched and coupled, which helps the university form a complete social service system. Its mature social service promotion system and successful experience in social services have important implications for the construction and improvement of university social service functions.

Beyond normalized gain: Improved comparison of physics educational outcomes

This study proposes methods of reporting results of physics conceptual evaluations that more fully characterize the range of outcomes experienced by students with differing levels of prior preparation, allowing for more meaningful comparison of the outcomes of educational interventions within and across institutions. Factors leading to variation in post-test scores on the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) across different instructors, semesters, and course models in a sample collected in introductory calculus-based mechanics at a large, eastern land-grant university were examined. The sample was collected over nine years and contains a total of N=4409 matched pretest and post-test records. The data showed a systematic semester-by-semester variation in both pretest scores and ACT or SAT mathematics percentile scores. Neither the normalized gain nor Cohen’s d removed the semester-to-semester variation observed in post-test scores. The local average curve plotting post-test scores against pretest scores, which we call a conceptual growth curve, allowed for the characterization of outcomes for students with different pretest scores. Regression models were used to produce an approximation to this curve. By using either the full curve or a mathematical approximation developed through linear regression, the post-test score that would be observed if a class enrolled students with a given level of prior preparation measured by pretest scores can be predicted. This predicted post-test score can then be used to calculate the predicted normalized gain if desired. These methods rely on using the natural variation of incoming student preparation at one institution to predict how a class would perform if it enrolled students with different prior preparation. The study presents an example of converting the outcomes at an institution with a weakly prepared student population to the outcomes which would have been observed if the course enrolled a more prepared student population; converting the outcomes for a different student population dramatically changed the interpretation of how the class studied was functioning. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

‘Scientists Like Me’: Using Culturally Relevant Information Literacy Instruction to Foster Student STEM Identity

In this case study, two librarians reflect upon our efforts to design STEM-focused information literacy instruction for undergraduate students at an R1, land grant university. Designed around the principles of culturally relevant pedagogy, our curriculum integrates community-focused and regionally specific topics reflecting our students' lived experience, features the work of scientists from diverse backgrounds, and fosters discussions about equity in the library classroom. Our experience shows that this approach can help foster STEM identity development in students while strengthening inquiry-based learning through information research.