Large Research University Research Articles

Learning Transdisciplinary Collaboration: Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Successes and Areas for Improvement in Transdisciplinary, Problem-Focused Honors Seminar Courses

The honors college at a large land-grant research university developed transdisciplinary courses to provide undergraduate opportunities for small, student-centered classes and collaborative problem engagement in a global context. In these courses, students engage principles of competency-based education and inquiry-based learning combined with instruction in transdisciplinarity and decision-making tied to the college mission statement and course learning outcomes. As an observational study, we surveyed 91 honors students from 12 transdisciplinary courses over three semesters, asking five-point Likert scale questions and open-ended perspective questions at the beginning and end of each semester. Participants predominantly identified as White (74%), male (57%), senior-level students (67%), and represent 34 majors. Findings emphasize outcomes of lasting faculty relationships and opportunities to explore interests outside students’ majors, which respondents report influencing their academic development. Students also report areas for curricular improvement in developing research skills and engaging problem-focused experiences. We describe new offerings made to address findings.

Developing a classification system and algorithm to track community-engaged research using IRB protocols at a large research university.

Community-engaged research (CEnR) is now an established research approach. The current research seeks to pilot the systematic and automated identification and categorization of CEnR to facilitate longitudinal tracking using administrative data. We inductively analyzed and manually coded a sample of Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols. Comparing the variety of partnered relationships in practice with established conceptual classification systems, we developed five categories of partnership: Non-CEnR, Instrumental, Academic-led, Cooperative, and Reciprocal. The coded protocols were used to train a deep-learning algorithm using natural language processing to categorize research. We compared the results to data from three questions added to the IRB application to identify whether studies had a community partner and the type of engagement planned. The preliminary results show that the algorithm is potentially more likely to categorize studies as CEnR compared to investigator-recorded data and to categorize studies at a higher level of engagement. With this approach, universities could use administrative data to inform strategic planning, address progress in meeting community needs, and coordinate efforts across programs and departments. As scholars and technical experts improve the algorithm's accuracy, universities and research institutions could implement standardized reporting features to track broader trends and accomplishments.

Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion.

Political elites both respond to public opinion and influence it. Elite policy messages can shape individual policy attitudes, but the extent to which they do is difficult to measure in a dynamic information environment. Furthermore, policy messages are not absorbed in isolation, but spread through the social networks in which individuals are embedded, and their effects must be evaluated in light of how they spread across social environments. Using a sample of 358 participants across thirty student organizations at a large Midwestern research university, we experimentally investigate how real social groups consume and share elite information when evaluating a relatively unfamiliar policy area. We find a significant, direct effect of elite policy messages on individuals’ policy attitudes. However, we find no evidence that policy attitudes are impacted indirectly by elite messages filtered through individuals’ social networks. Results illustrate the power of elite influence over public opinion.

Productivity and interdisciplinary impacts of Organized Research Units

Abstract Organized Research Units (ORUs) are nondepartmental units utilized by U.S. research universities to support interdisciplinary research initiatives, among other goals. This study examined the impacts of ORUs at one large public research university, the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), using a large corpus of journal article metadata and abstracts for both faculty affiliated with UCD ORUs and a comparison set of other faculty. Using regression analysis, I find that ORUs appeared to increase the number of coauthors of affiliated faculty, but did not appear to directly affect publication or citation counts. Next, I frame interdisciplinarity in terms of a notion of discursive space, and use a topic model approach to situate researchers within this discursive space. The evidence generally indicates that ORUs promoted multidisciplinarity rather than interdisciplinarity. In the conclusion, drawing on work in philosophy of science on inter- and multidisciplinarity, I argue that multidisciplinarity is not necessarily inferior to interdisciplinarity.

Gender Diversity in Computer Science at a Large Public R1 Research University: Reporting on a Self-study

With the number of jobs in computer occupations on the rise, there is a greater need for computer science (CS) graduates than ever. At the same time, most CS departments across the country are only seeing 25–30% of women students in their classes, meaning that we are failing to draw interest from a large portion of the population. In this work, we explore the gender gap in CS at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, a large public R1 research university, using three data sets that span thousands of students across six academic years. Specifically, we combine these data sets to study the gender gaps in four core CS courses and explore the correlation of several factors with retention and the impact of these factors on changes to the gender gap as students proceed through the CS courses toward completing the CS major. For example, we find that a significant percentage of women students taking the introductory CS1 course for majors do not intend to major in CS, which may be a contributing factor to a large increase in the gender gap immediately after CS1. This finding implies that part of the retention task is attracting these women students to further explore the major. Results from our study include both novel findings and findings that are consistent with known challenges for increasing gender diversity in CS. In both cases, we provide extensive quantitative data in support of the findings.

“Everyone is new to this”: Student reflections on different aspects of online learning

In 2020, many instructors and students at colleges and universities were thrust into an unprecedented situation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. Even though they typically engage in in-person teaching and learning in brick and mortar classrooms, remote instruction was the only possibility. Many instructors at our institution who had to switch from in-person to remote instruction without any notice earlier in the year worked extremely hard to design and teach online courses to support their students during the second half of 2020. Since different instructors chose different pedagogical approaches for remote instruction, students taking multiple remote classes simultaneously experienced a variety of instructional strategies. We present an analysis of students' perceptions of remote learning in their lecture-based, active learning, and lab physics classes at a large research university in the USA, focusing on positive and negative aspects including collaboration, communication, and assessment. Student reflections emphasized the importance of grade incentives for out-of-class and in-class work; frequent, low-stakes assessments; community-building activities; and opportunities to study with peers. Reflecting on the challenges and successes of different types of remote instructional approaches from students' perspective could provide useful insight to guide the design of future online courses as well as some aspects of in-person courses.

Professional identity formation: The key contributors and dental students' concerns.

This study aimed to explore the components of professional identity formation (PIF) and understand dental students' concerns toward their professional identity development so that research-informed recommendations can be made to improve dental professional programs. This is a qualitative study. A total of 18 students of the whole graduating class (class size: 46) were interviewed about their progress through a newly designed curriculum specific for the dental students at a large public research university in Canada. The audio files were recorded, transcribed, and corrected by a research assistant. Using QSR International's NVivo (Version 12), the researchers of this study conducted a thematic analysis to generate overarching themes and extract the relevant components of PIF. Five themes emerged from the study as follows: (i) domain-specific self-efficacy, (ii) role modeling and mentoring, (iii) professional socialization with peers, (iv) learning environment (LE), and (v) reflection. We considered these to be the five key contributors to dental students' PIF. Understanding the main concerns for students and improving the LE are critical in helping students form their professional identity. The findings of this qualitative study identified some important aspects of the dental curricula for educators to consider. These results can be used by future research studies to explore models for professional identity assessment tools that can aid in guiding students' professional identity development.

Understanding the perceptions of sedentary college students’ engagement in physical activity: application of the theory of planned behavior

Objective To understand salient beliefs related to physical activity (PA) in sedentary college students. Participants Thirty-seven students from a large research university participating in a larger research project were subsequently invited to participate in small focus groups. Methods Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework, semi-structured focus groups were conducted to understand the perceptions of using mobile technology as a tool to increase PA. Results A grounded theory approach revealed that students generally had positive attitudes about PA and relied heavily on social support as a facilitator of PA behavior change. The structured exercise program delivered via the mobile app increased perceived behavioral control. Other key findings include academic barriers, desire to avoid chronic disease, and inconsistent efficacy of the mobile application among this population. Conclusions Interventions designed to increase PA in this population should focus on structured activity, increased self-monitoring, positive outcome expectancies, and social support.

A Cost-Effective Model to Address Student Readiness Through the Lens of a College Physics Course

Students enter college with widely varying levels of preparation. This is especially visible to faculty and administrators tasked with ensuring student success in core STEM courses and helping underrepresented students succeed. Flexible support strategies are needed. They must be timely and measurable so that limited funds can be optimally allocated. This paper reviews a program that addresses these concerns and is translatable to many higher education settings and disciplines. It is situated in a physics department at a large public research university in an urban city in the southern United States. A group of rotating faculty improved the success rate in an introductory physics course for non-physics majors. A diagnostic exam is used to assess students’ preparation in order to assign some to a peer-led supplementary recitation. An overview of program implementation and results is shared, along with strategies and suggested solutions to further address gaps in success rates in order to provide all students an equitable university experience and chance of success.

The Clearinghouse Model of Support for Undergraduate Research: Measuring Student Research Engagement and Interventions at a Large Research University

ABSTRACT One model for engaging undergraduates in the high-impact practice of research is for a central university-wide office to serve as a “clearinghouse” for advising students and connecting them with research and creative activity. The efficacy of such offices is an open question. Frequently, clearinghouse-style offices do not organize or conduct research projects themselves; thus, they are not always able to assess and evaluate students’ ultimate research outcomes, particularly if students become engaged in research outside of coursework or formal channels. This in turn creates a “challenge of the count” for research offices interested in assessing campus-wide research engagement and the effectiveness of their advising services. The present study evaluates the practice and outcomes of clearinghouse research offices using a comprehensive description of undergraduate research that mitigates data deficiencies. This dataset was then used to analyze the ultimate research outcomes for the cohort of students that matriculated in 2014 and assess the clearinghouse-style advising intervention. Students who underwent advising were significantly more likely to conduct research compared to those who did not undergo advising, and research office engagement was associated with higher rates of conference presentations and publications. These outcomes suggest a key role for clearinghouse undergraduate research offices.

Cultivating Imagination: A Case for Teaching Information Ethics With Works of Fiction

This article argues that the MLIS curriculum should offer information ethics courses that enable future information professionals to develop their imaginative powers through close study and discussion of fiction. LIS students reading ethical theory and fiction bring the two into conversation and as a result reach a better understanding of both. Crucially, this process presupposes the exercise of empathetic imagination, a mental capacity that helps us inhabit other perspectives and modes of being in the world. The paper supports this discussion with evidence from an instructional intervention implemented during an information ethics course within an LIS program at a large public research university.

Capstone Experience Purposes

Capstone experiences (CEs) serve a variety of purposes in higher education as opportunities to apply academic skills, explore post-graduate life and employment, and achieve a meaningful undergraduate event. This study investigated the purposes of CEs through a content analysis of institutional course syllabi/course outlines/module outlines and catalog/calendar descriptions at five institutions of higher education: a large public research university in Canada, a large public teaching university in the United Kingdom (UK), a college of a large public research university in the United States (US), and two medium-sized private liberal arts universities in the US. Using the CE purposes found in a review of scholarly literature as a research guide, the authors analyzed 84 institutional documents. CE purposes that appeared in the sample at lower percentages when compared with published studies included oral communication, a coherent academic experience, preparation for graduate school, preparation for life after college, and civic engagement/service learning. Implications for practice include the need for instructors and administrators to consider revising CE documents to better reflect the content and goals of the courses and to address the requirements of other audiences (e.g., program reviewers, accreditation evaluators). Moreover, the results of this study may assist educators in considering reasons for omitting explicit purposes from CE documents and/or justifying the inclusion of previously omitted purposes.

Off the beaten path: what drives scientists’ entry into new fields?

AbstractGiven that venturing into unknown territory carries substantial risk, scientists do not take the decision to enter a new field lightly. This paper analyzes a broad set of factors associated with the risks and rewards from entry into new-to-the-researcher scientific fields, including individual capacities and preferences as well as incentives stemming from career progression and access to funding. Using a panel of researchers in biomedical sciences and science and engineering from a large European research university, we find that productivity affects new field entry as such but is not associated with entry into fields that are very distant to one’s current expertise. Scientists in more senior ranks, with larger co-author networks and collaborating with PhD students, are more likely to enter new fields, but these factors do not represent an additional push to enter very remote fields. Such “long jumps” are more likely to be made by above-average talented rather than merely productive researchers. Finally, accounting for its endogeneity, we find that funding does not make new field entry more likely.

University Students’ Library Experience and Its Impact on Their GPA During the Pandemic

This article reports the results of a biennial student library use survey distributed in Spring 2021 at a large urban research university. Responses reveal library visits were significantly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Patterns of student needs and the impact of library use on academic achievements were explored, including comparisons to previous biennial survey data. There was a negative correlation with students’ GPA and physical library use, and a positive correlation with online library use and GPA. User service librarians, library administrators and academic librarians interested in demonstrating the library value on students’ academic success would benefit from this article.

COVID-19 Effects on Communication Course and Faculty Evaluations

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are utilized by universities as one component in assessing course effectiveness, despite evidence in the research regarding their validity. With the global COVID-19 pandemic, many universities rapidly transitioned teaching modalities from face-to-face to online learning, regardless of the faculty experience. This study investigates the effects on SETs of the rapid transition in teaching modalities for all sections of courses occurring during COVID-19 compared with all sections of courses taught within a Communication department at a large public research university over the past 8 years. The results indicate moderate effects from the rapid transition to online learning.

Skills, support networks, and socialization: Needs of dissertating graduate students

Graduate students are often thought of as mature researchers capable of figuring things out on their own, but they face special challenges in developing as novice scholars. This study adopts the lens of socialization and uses semi-structured interviews with dissertating graduate students in the humanities and social sciences at a large public research university to investigate how they understand their own practices of skills development, information seeking, networking, and forging a professional identity. It finds that students face considerable ambiguity in terms of expectations for the dissertation and whom they can go to for help, and that many needs are not being met by their home departments. The existence of these unmet needs and variability in where students get help imply that there is a space for librarians to become a part of the developmental support networks of even advanced graduate students.

Navigating Through Uncertainty in the Era of COVID-19

With the spread of COVID-19 around the world, the lives of international students became affected by a sudden shift to online learning, sheltering in place, and travel restrictions. Drawing upon the stress and coping framework, this study explores the experiences and coping of international graduate students at a large Western research university in the United States. We employed a phenomenological inquiry of in-depth interviews with 20 participants. Findings reveal the increased levels of stress and anxiety among participants as they faced academic challenges, personal challenges, and immigration-related uncertainties. Over time, students developed emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies to minimize the impact of the pandemic on their lives. Participants’ concerns about the host country’s treatment of international students raise important questions about the future of international student mobility. Finally, this study demonstrates the need to develop emergency responding mechanisms of the host institution.

How Does Ethnic Identity Relate to Adjustment for Minoritized Students? A Two-Site Comparison of Large Public Universities

Research suggests that achieved ethnic identity has positive implications for the adjustment of Adolescents of Color. However, researchers know very little about whether (or how) the impact of achieved ethnic identity extends into college years. To explore this, our study examined the effects of ethnic identity on both social and academic adjustment of Students of Color at two large public research universities with distinct enrollment characteristics. Using multiple group analyses, we tested and confirmed the developmental significance of Phinney’s conceptualization of achieved ethnic identity. In both university contexts, achieved ethnic identity related to academic adjustment for Students of Color. We found no differences in regression paths between the two institutional contexts, supporting the assertion that achieved ethnic identity plays a prominent role in student success for minoritized students across college contexts. Our study extends Phinney’s theory of ethnic identity development to the study of college adjustment.

Surviving and thriving at a UK university through a minority lens.

Higher education institutions around the globe are focussedon creating inclusive environments for all students. Initiatives are being crafted to assist marginalised students to obtain better outcomes in key metrics such as enrolment rates, retention rates, graduation rates, and resultant employability statistics. This article presents findings from a quantitative study conducted at a large research university in the United Kingdom that examined factors that impacted the persistence and engagement levels ofBlack and Minority Ethnic students. The study examined such factors as resilience, challenges, persistence, decision-making, student support, communications and feelings of belonging.Significant differences were found among Black, Asian, White and Other minority groups on multiple factors contributing to persistence and engagement. Recommendations for practice change in university operations, specifically Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, are offered.

How student evaluations of teaching affect course enrollment

This article examines the relationship between student course evaluations and course selection by quantifying how changes in undergraduate course ratings correlate with changes in enrollments at a large research university in the northeastern United States. We find that an improvement in a course’s overall course rating (from year t-1 to year t) tends to be followed by an increase in a course’s enrollment (from year t to t + 1). The magnitude of this effect differs by course type, with the strongest effect observed in the general curriculum and a smaller effect found in departmental courses. This supports other research that finds a correlation between unofficial course ratings and enrollments in general curriculum courses. We also find that an increase in a course’s difficulty rating (from year t-1 to year t) tends to be followed by a decrease in a course’s enrollment (from year t to t + 1) for general curriculum courses, but not for departmental courses. Therefore, selection of general curriculum courses is much more sensitive to student evaluations than courses offered in a field of study.