Postsecondary Instruction Research Articles

Cultivating a Pedagogy of Care: Adaptations to Writing Instruction and Course Structure During the Evolving Pandemic and Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of cultivating a pedagogy of care and strengthening community for all postsecondary courses, especially those employing the high-impact practice of teaching with writing. In this mixed methods study, we found that instructors of Writing Intensive courses at a Midwestern university (n = 79) made moderate changes to their overall course structure and writing assignments during the early stages of the pandemic (Spring 2020 through Spring 2021). Open-ended comments revealed instructors provided more instructional guidance with frequent low-stakes assignments, explicit directions, flexibility regarding how students achieved learning goals, and/or additional instructor feedback. A variety of resources informed these modifications, and resource use fluctuated throughout the pandemic. Instructors reported that most changes focused on cultivating a supportive and welcoming learning environment that continues to inform their post-pandemic instruction. Findings from this study highlight the importance of relationships and diverse sources of support for navigating current and future challenges in postsecondary instruction.

Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.

Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.

Instrumentation Use in Postsecondary Instructional Chemistry Laboratory Courses: Results from a National Survey

Instrumentation plays a critical, ubiquitous role in modern chemistry. The undergraduate chemistry curriculum must therefore cultivate students’ ability to investigate chemical phenomena via relevant instruments. The instructional laboratory serves as the primary context in which undergraduates learn about instrumentation, where use of instruments in these settings is requisite to meaningful learning. However, little is known about what instruments are incorporated and students’ level of hands-on experience. Also, prior research points toward differences in instrumentation access, and in turn use in the instructional laboratory, across institutional contexts. This study investigates instrumentation use in postsecondary instructional chemistry laboratory courses via a national survey of chemistry faculty members (n = 574). Results suggest that courses incorporate a distinct set of instruments aligned with their respective curricula. These data provide an empirical foundation for relevant stakeholders (i.e., instructors, departments, curators of degree programs, and professional organizations authoring postsecondary chemistry education policy) to engage in evaluative discussions and possible curricular reform. Further, there was no evidence that incorporating instruments into the lab or students’ hands-on experience is associated with institutions’ terminal chemistry degree, receipt of NSF funding for improving undergraduate courses, or ACS approval of undergraduate degree programs. Findings collectively suggest similar instrumentation use across institutional contexts and possibly the elimination of previously reported disparities in access. However, students still obtain little hands-on experience with several instruments despite their incorporation into courses. Furthermore, instructors across institutional contexts report barriers to incorporating instrumentation beyond access. This work provides stakeholders with implications for improving undergraduate laboratory instruction.

Developing the Student Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey in Mathematics for Measuring Student Experiences in Introductory Mathematics Courses

ABSTRACT Active Learning is becoming a standard method of delivering instruction in mathematics courses across the country. Researchers, administrators, policy makers, and instructors all need access to valid means of measuring practices used in the classroom. Drawing on the Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey, the Student Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey in Mathematics (SPIPS-M) was developed to measure the undergraduate student perspective of active learning. Factor analysis from 10 institutions (N = 16,495 surveys) supports a 4-factor model with a plausible theoretical foundation connected to the four pillars of Inquiry-Based Mathematics Education, by measuring the degree to which students perceive 1) their own engagement with meaningful mathematics, 2) collaboration to process mathematical ideas, 3) participation and formation of community, and 4) contribution of their own ideas for immediate instructor feedback. The instrument provides a new mechanism for program evaluation and course formative feedback. Ultimately the SPIPS-M instrument will allow a better understanding of the nuances of student experiences in their mathematics courses.

Correlations between modes of student cognitive engagement and instructional practices in undergraduate STEM courses

BackgroundWithin STEM education, research on instructional practices has focused on ways to increase student engagement and thereby reap the associated benefits of increased learning, persistence, and academic success. These meaningful-learning goals have been tied most specifically to cognitive engagement, a construct that is often difficult for instructors to assess on their own. While it has been shown that certain instructional practices are tied to higher cognitive engagement in students, tools to measure instructional practices and student engagement have remained largely isolated in their development and use.ResultsThis research uses previously developed instruments to simultaneously assess modes of cognitive engagement in students (Student Course Cognitive Engagement Instrument [SCCEI]) and instructional practices (Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey [PIPS]) within a course. A sample of 19 STEM courses was recruited to participate in this study, with instructors and students each self-reporting data. Results from the instructor and students in each course were scored, and ANOVA and partial correlation analysis were conducted on the sample. ANOVA indicated the significance of and classroom structure on student engagement. From the correlation analysis, a significant relationship was found between four student-reported modes of cognitive engagement and instructor-reported teaching practices.ConclusionsWith an understanding of student engagement response to classroom structure, instructors may consider their teaching environment when implementing instructional practices. Moreover, Interactivity with Peers, the deepest mode of cognitive engagement suggested by previous research, was correlated with instructional practices in our study, suggesting that instructors may be able to shape their students’ learning by encouraging collaboration in the classroom. We also found that assessment played a role in students’ cognitive engagement; this indicates that instructors may wish to thoughtfully consider their methods of assessment to facilitate modes of cognitive engagement associated with deeper learning of course material. By understanding factor correlations, the PIPS and SCCEI can be used in tandem to understand impacts of instructional practices on student cognitive engagement within a course. We conclude that there is a need for ongoing research to study the interplay of instructional practices and student cognitive engagement as instruments are developed to measure such phenomena.

Storytelling as a portal to deeper wisdom in the curriculum studies of education and nursing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore storytelling in post-secondary instruction and to reflect upon the authors’ experiences as instructors in two diverse areas of study. Both nursing and education promote a theory-based approach that is disconnected from the practical application of skills required.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose that using storytelling in the undergraduate classroom promotes an emotional engagement with the material, creates authentic human connections and demonstrates a practical application of content. The sharing of personal narratives creates a portal through which we understand the meaningful human element of the work, and the collective essence of our world. The authors believe that these outcomes are essential for the development of an empathetic and compassionate professional who understands the significance of the emotional, social and cognitive component of holistic learning that is required for the eventual acquisition of mastery in our disciplines.FindingsBased on the authors’ experiences, the authors have found that storytelling creates a bridge between the curriculum theory and the implementation of that theory in the living world within the respective disciplines.Practical implicationsAs instructors at the University of Calgary, in the Faculty of Education and Nursing, the authors see many intersections in the work and the instructional methodologies that the authors implement in the undergraduate classrooms to allow for authentic learning experiences. These cross-curricular connections have caused us to reflect on the use of storytelling in the humanities to promote emotions, create connections and demonstrate a practical and authentic application of theoretic concepts in both the undergraduate education and nursing programs.Originality/valueThis is an original piece of duo-ethnographic work composed by two researchers who were reflecting on praxis.

Master of All Domains? Constructively Aligning Theatre and Learning

In “How Do You Know They are Learning?” Thomas Reeves highlights a problem endemic in university education—one to which drama and theatre studies offers potential solutions. Reeves argues that although educational scholarship recognizes multiple learning domains, post-secondary instruction and assessment overwhelmingly focus on only one of them: the cognitive domain. The neglected learning domains include the affective (the domain of aesthetics, values, feeling, and caring), the psychomotor (the domain of perceptual skills and physical ability), and the conative (the domain of willpower and volition). Reeves laments that university courses typically privilege the cognitive, the domain of “knowing,” and even then they often emphasize low-end cognitive skills, such as remembering and understanding. The others, though equally important to lifelong success, are seldom engaged and rarely assessed.

Introducing the Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey (PIPS): A Concise, Interdisciplinary, and Easy-to-Score Survey.

Researchers, administrators, and policy makers need valid and reliable information about teaching practices. The Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey (PIPS) is designed to measure the instructional practices of postsecondary instructors from any discipline. The PIPS has 24 instructional practice statements and nine demographic questions. Users calculate PIPS scores by an intuitive proportion-based scoring convention. Factor analyses from 72 departments at four institutions (N = 891) support a 2- or 5-factor solution for the PIPS; both models include all 24 instructional practice items and have good model fit statistics. Factors in the 2-factor model include (a) instructor-centered practices, nine items; and (b) student-centered practices, 13 items. Factors in the 5-factor model include (a) student-student interactions, six items; (b) content delivery, four items; (c) formative assessment, five items; (d) student-content engagement, five items; and (e) summative assessment, four items. In this article, we describe our development and validation processes, provide scoring conventions and outputs for results, and describe wider applications of the instrument.

Students Teaching Texts to Students: Integrating LdL and Digital Archives

The arrival of the digital age has not only reshaped and refocused critical research in the humanities, but has provided real opportunities to innovate with pedagogy and classroom structure. This article describes the development of a new pedagogical model that integrates learning by teaching with student access to electronic archival resources. This teaching approach counters many of the drawbacks of conventional post-secondary instruction by engendering a more participatory learning environment, facilitating the deformation of restrictive critical categories, deepening students' interpretative abilities, and at the same time giving faculty opportunities to broaden their own research.

Examining the “Social Turn” in Postsecondary Literacy Research and Instruction: A Retrospective View of JCRL Scholarship, 2005–2013

This article describes the results of a research synthesis that analyzed more than 60 articles published in the Journal of College Reading and Learning (JCRL) between 2005 and 2013. The goal for the research was to gain understanding about the extent to which the social turn in literacy studies is impacting postsecondary pedagogy and research. One primary research question guided the study: What pedagogical practices are being emphasized to support the literacy learning and development of college-aged readers? A secondary question—What theoretical frameworks are being employed by postsecondary researchers to interpret and support study findings and conclusions?—was used to gain additional insight into the pedagogical trends identified in the dataset. Findings indicate that although JCRL regularly publishes articles that use social constructivist, social learning, and social cognitive theoretical frameworks to interpret data, the overall instructional focus conceptualizes literacy as an individual cognitive action and achievement, and acts of reading and writing typically are viewed as primarily text based.

Adolescent confidentiality: Understanding and practices of health care providers

Adolescent confidentiality may present practice challenges for health care providers related to family, medical, ethical, legal, social and bureaucratic processes. It is unclear how health care providers understand and practice confidentiality with adolescents in Canada. To investigate the knowledge and practice of health care providers at Alberta Children's Hospital (Calgary, Alberta), and to inform practice about the adolescent's right to confidentiality. The present study was a voluntary, anonymous online survey. Invitations to participate were sent through the paediatric facility's electronic mailing list to all currently employed health care providers who potentially engaged in caregiving interactions with adolescents. The survey consisted of 15 closed items and seven open comment items. Closed items were analyzed using descriptive statistics and open comments were analyzed using manifest thematic coding. A total of 389 responses were received, representing health care providers in many disciplines. A variety of practices related to adolescent confidentiality and widespread misunderstanding of this issue were apparent. Respondents' comments revealed individual and team knowledge gaps regarding adolescent and parent/guardian rights, and the difference between the constructs of consent to treatment and the provision of confidential health care for adolescents. While health care providers regard confidentiality as paramount, the present survey revealed a wide variation in understanding and practices regarding confidential care for adolescents. This was revealed in both the qualitative and quantitative data. The authors' recommended strategies to improve the understanding and practice of adolescent confidentiality include: encouraging individuals' examination of beliefs; postsecondary instruction; knowledge-translation strategies within programs; and institution-directed guidelines and policy.

Introduction

This monograph presents a national study about how the language learning goals of college students are reflected in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, 1996, 1999, 2006). With a mixed method design, the study includes responses from 16,529 students at 11 postsecondary institutions across the United States, with interviews from 200 students at two of these institutions. The first research to examine learner perspectives with regard to the Standards, this study considers (a) whether college students have goals consistent with the Standards, (b) whether they expect to reach these goals during their formal language study, (c) whether these goals and expectations differ for first‐year and second‐year language students, (d) whether they differ for students of more and less commonly taught languages, (e) whether students understand the Standards and see the five goal areas as interrelated or in terms of hierarchies of priorities, and (f) how the Standards might encourage student reflection, especially regarding the relationships among language, culture, and thought. With the aim of promoting critical thinking about the Standards and their possible application at the college level, the monograph details the history of the framework, with discussion of its limited acceptance and use in postsecondary instruction, and considers what student perceptions tell us about how the Standards might fit with assumptions and characteristics of communicative language teaching and literacy‐based approaches to language learning. In this discussion, the monograph examines shortcomings in the Standards framework, as seen through the lens of student perceptions.

CHAPTER 1: Considering the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in Postsecondary Instruction

CHAPTER 1: Considering the <i>Standards for Foreign Language Learning</i> in Postsecondary Instruction

Connecting Critical Theory of Technology to Educational Studies

In this article, I explore how transformative learning theory, an approach to educating drawn from adult education, can be used to provide access to the critical theory of technology for educators. Rather than focusing primarily on K–12 teachers and educational systems or higher education and other postsecondary instruction, I connect learning as a human capacity with the critical approach to technology. Beginning with a discussion of assumptions and how they structure our ability to make meaning within two common perspectives on technology, instrumentalism and substantivism, an overview of the basic framework of the critical theory of technology is shared and situated among the assumptions made by current perspectives toward technology. Transformative learning theory is then presented as a possible connective thread that could be used to assist educational researchers and practitioners embrace a more critical approach to technology in education.

O'Neill, Cognition, and the Common Core Standards

O'Neill, Cognition, and the Common Core Standards

Digital Literacies in Multiuser Virtual Environments among College-Level Developmental Readers

As the rate of developmental reading students continues to climb, so does the surge in digital platforms as a means to deliver postsecondary instruction. Students enrolled in developmental reading courses should not be assumed to have digital literacy skills simply because they have been termed a “digitally literate generation.” In this study, one digital technology—multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs)— provided a platform that allowed students to engage in learning opportunities congruent with digital literacy. Examined in this study were (a) the digital literacy skills of developmental readers, (b) the differences in digital literacies between developmental reading students who used a MUVE and those who did not, and (c) the behaviors exhibited by students indicating their degree of digital nativeness. Participants in the experimental group demonstrated digital literacy through reading activities and observations in the MUVE, Second Life, and made higher reading achievement gains over the control group.

Streaming Video and Podcasting Enhancements in the Post-secondary Classroom

The use of online learning enhancements is becoming more popular in post-secondary instruction, and certainly distance education and lecture based institutions are exploring the use of elearning strategies. Unfortunately, there is very little available research in the literature that examines the use of streaming video and podcasting as enhancements to in class post-secondary instruction. This paper explores the use of short streaming video clips and audio podcasts with students enrolled in a lecture based pre-service teacher education class. Seven short video clips were developed that extended the classroom lecture material. The clips consisted of Power Point slides enhanced with voice, diagrams, and pictures. The clips were also made available to the students as audio only podcasts. Students voluntarily chose whether or not to view the video clips or listen to the audio only podcasts. A supporting study guide and workbook were also provided online. Student perspectives on the use of these online enhancements were gathered during the course feedback process. The benefits and pitfalls of using streaming video/podcasts as part of postsecondary instruction are discussed.

Assessing the Future of Higher Education

In 2006, the General Social Survey (GSS), a survey oftrends in social attitudes conducted nearly every year since1972, asked a series of questions about the scientificknowledge of the U.S. adult population. Among thequestions posed was, “Now, does the Earth go around theSun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?” Overall, justunder three-quarters of the respondents correctly answeredthat the Earth goes around the sun; but nearly one in fiveresponded that the sun goes around the Earth, and nearly10% said that they didn’t know. Sociologists Omar Lizardoand Jeremy Freese showed that the prevalence of scientificmisunderstanding varied for adults with different levels ofeducation. Among those with a high school diploma or less,approximately 37% said either that the sun rotated aroundthe earth or they didn’t know. But among those with at leastsome college, 19% reported either that the sun rotatedaround the Earth or they didn’t know.Findings such as these clearly establish that if the state ofAmerican higher education is a glass, it is either half-emptyor half-full, depending on one’s initial assumptions. If weassume that the difference in understanding between thoseadults who have gone to college and those who have not isproperly attributed to the college experience, then theseresults suggest that among the many things students mightlearn in college, some come to know that the sun, not theEarth, is the center of the solar system. On the other hand,the fact that nearly one in five adults reporting that they hadattended at least some college either believed that the Earthwas at the center, or did not know, is a powerful testamentto the limited influence of the American education systemon the children and youth it serves. In the state of NewYork, for example, understanding that the Earth revolvesaround the sun is part of the core curriculum for elementaryscience in grades K-4.When the GSS results were released, some sociologistswere quick to direct attention away from the sheer volumeof scientific misunderstanding within the U.S. adultpopulation, focusing instead on understanding groupvariations in these misunderstandings. The idea that therewas a great deal of scientific illiteracy, even among theproducts of an education system once touted as among thebest in the world, really wasn’t a surprise. AlthoughSputnik had propelled Congress in the late 1950’s to investin the infrastructure of American education at all levels ofthe system, there had been a steadily escalating rhetoric ofdecline dating back at least to the 1983 report of theNational Commission on Excellence in Education, ANation at Risk. As the fate of the nation’s economy hasbecome increasingly tied rhetorically to the quality of theAmerican education system, the rhetoric has become evermore shrill: if we do not move quickly to increase what ourchildren learn in school, our future will be bleak.Although the primary target for this new wave ofeducational accountability has been the K-12 schoolsystem, colleges and universities are increasingly comingunder scrutiny. The Commission on the Future of HigherEducation convened by former U.S. Secretary of EducationMargaret Spellings was a natural successor to A Nation atRisk, expressing concern over college affordability andaccess, the quality of postsecondary instruction, and theweak and inconsistent accountability of colleges anduniversities to the students who attend them and thetaxpayers who support them.

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of effective inquiry instruction: are effective instruction and effective inquiry instruction essentially the same?

This multiple case study examined pre-service teachers perceptions of effective post-secondary instruction. Pre-service teachers were asked to write essays describing an effective teacher of their choice. Twenty-one essays were randomly selected. Data analysis involved open coding of each essay, content analysis of each essay using Anderson and Burns’ (Research in classrooms: The study of teachers, teaching, and instruction (1st ed.). Oxford, England; New York: Pergamon Press, 1989) empirically derived dimensions of instruction, and effect size analysis of student and teacher roles. Instructional components were identified that differentiate between effective inquiry instruction and effective instruction. Effective inquiry instruction was associated with more and different teacher and student roles, more activities as part of instruction, and more student small group discussion than was effective instruction.

Partnering to assist disabled veterans in transition

AbstractSeverely injured military veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan who are completing rehabilitation at a military hospital and are ready to pursue postsecondary instruction are assisted by an academic advisor at the hospital and a mentor from a cooperating college or university.