Private Research Universities Research Articles

Leveraging Peer Resources to Promote Undergraduate Education and Well-being

Princeton University is a private research university with approximately 250–280 juniors and seniors majoring in economics. In the past decade, the university has made significant strides in expanding and diversifying its undergraduate student body by admitting more students overall as well as by admitting more first-generation, minority, transfer, and international students. With this expansion comes the responsibility to build community and broaden access to valuable social and knowledge capital to help all students thrive in their academic and post-graduation careers. Traditionally, there has been an uneven playing field in access to such capital, with insiders passing academic, career, and social advice to younger students in restricted access circles like athletic teams, eating clubs, student organizations, and fraternities. This paper describes university, economics department, and student-led efforts to foster peer mentorship more broadly to promote the academic and social well-being of all students.

“Making the Peaks Higher”: Foundations of Stanford University’s Growth, 1910–1960

This article breaks new ground in its portrayal of the process through which a private research university obtained foundation funding. Stanford University’s growth spurts after World War I and World War II were significantly enabled by financial support from the foundations of Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford. The process leading to Stanford’s receiving major grants primarily involved interactions among a small group of individuals and reflected the confidence of foundation presidents and other top administrators in the capacity of the university’s presidents and other leaders. The significance of such high-level interaction persisted even while major foundations professionalized, shifting responsibilities from trustees to staff. In the rendezvous between Stanford University and philanthropic foundations, these relationships mattered so much that at crucial junctures, funding to the university preceded expertise in the relevant field of study.

Contract Grading and the Development of an Efficacious Writerly Habitus

Contract grading has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, promote self-directed learning, and disrupt unjust educational norms (Cowan, 2020; Inoue, 2019; Medina & Walker, 2018). Yet, there is growing recognition of challenges associated with the approach, including the unintended effects of deemphasizing grades (Inman & Powell, 2018) and the possibility that labor-based contracts, in particular, may put some students at a disadvantage (Carillo, 2021). This article reports selected findings from an IRB-approved multi-semester, comparative study of labor-based and labor-informed contract grading in first-year writing courses at a large private research university. The study affirms several findings from existing research on contract grading. In particular, it shows the approach mitigates students’ stress and anxiety and increases their overall satisfaction with grading. Contract grading shifts the assessment ecology of the first-year writing classroom so that the challenges and rewards of writing take priority over the pressures and limitations of grades (see Inoue, 2015). Drawing on the literature of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1994, 1997; Pajares, 2003), the authors theorize that contract grading encourages students to develop an efficacious writerly habitus grounded in self-motivated effort, increased confidence, and heightened understanding of writing as a mode of thinking. 

Capitalizing on Gen Z students’ interests and motivations to develop Global Citizenship Education in VEs

The article reports on the outcomes yielded by two different virtual exchanges conducted before and after the forced closures of academic institutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They were designed considering interests and motivations of Gen Z students (Seemiller & Grace, 2016) and aimed at including a Global Citizenship Education approach to deal with contemporary world challenges. The current article details these telecollaborations between two cohorts of a large private research university in Eastern North America and two large research state universities in the Southern part of North America and Western South America that were brought together to deepen their understanding on the migration phenomenon by performing collaborative tasks. Throughout these exchanges and at the conclusion of the courses, students reported common and divergent perspectives on issues discussed. Although there were more points of coincidence in their understanding of the phenomenon, when learners did not agree, they sought to see the other’s perspectives and strived to find common ground. Overall, the evaluation of these virtual exchanges was considered a beneficial and rewarding experience that not only made their learning easier but gave access to more global perspectives about the migration phenomenon. The terms virtual exchange and telecollaboration are treated synonymously.

Addressing health equity through a telehealth maternal–newborn home visit for nurse practitioner students

This educational innovation describes the implementation and evaluation of a telehealth maternal-newborn home visit clinical experience for nurse practitioner students at an urban, private research university in the Midwest. The visits were conducted using the Family Connects evidence-based universal support program for families with newborns to evaluate each family's unique risks and to align their needs with available community resources. Students were prepared for the clinical experience through advanced practice didactic modules and simulation and then participated in the visits over a 2-week period. After the clinical opportunity, both students and community health nurse collaborators completed a survey about their experiences. The students reported feeling prepared to participate in the visits, that they were able to meet clinical objectives using telehealth, and learned about the community resources available for families with newborns. The nurses reported feeling prepared to collaborate with nurse practitioner students and that they benefitted from having a student participate in the visits. The experience prepared the students to meet the needs of a diverse patient population during the early postpartum/newborn period by providing newborn care advice, addressing access to health, assessing social determinants of health, and considering community resource referrals to reduce disparities and improve health equity. This article describes how a telehealth clinical experience addresses the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials for advanced-level nursing students and provides recommendations for incorporating and evaluating telehealth clinical experiences in pediatric advanced practice education.

Critical traits of graduate student mentors affecting students’ science identity development in an NSF-funded research experiences for undergraduates (REU) program

ABSTRACT Reported herein are the findings from a grounded study probing the impact of graduate student mentors in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research experiences for undergraduates (REU) program (2014–2016) in chemistry & chemical biology at an urban private research university on undergraduates’ development through the lens of self-efficacy and science identity theory. Mentor traits that appear to be most important include availability, promoting students’ independence, being a good teacher, partnership, benchmarking, and demonstrating trust and respect for the protégé. These traits appear to influence recognition, competence, and performance in science identity theory. Identification of critical mentor traits and their significance to the protégé’s career development should be useful in the design of effective graduate student mentor training programs.

Measuring the impact of student success retention initiatives for engineering students at a private research university

IntroductionStudent success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is a national concern. To increase engineering retention and graduation rates at a small private institution, a university council developed a binary classifier to identify high-risk students and proposed interventions that included decoupling first-year Physics and Calculus courses, support in introductory Calculus, and Spatial Visualization (SV) training. This paper aims to validate the binary classifier used to identify the under-prepared students entering their first year and assess the impact of the interventions. We provide a comparative analysis of student success metrics for high-risk engineering students across a decade of cohorts, including 5 years before (2006–2010) and 5 years after (2011–2015) implementation of intentional strategies.MethodsWe validated the binary classifier using an accuracy measure and Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC). We used the 2-population proportion test to compare STEM retention and 4- and 6-year graduation rates of High-Risk engineering students before and after interventions and compare student performance in early foundation STEM courses across the same time frame.ResultsThe binary classification model identified High-Risk students with an accuracy of 63–70% and an MCC of +0.28 to +0.30. In addition, we found statistically significant improvement (p < 0.001) in the STEM retention rates, 6-year graduation rates, and first part of Physics, Calculus, and Chemistry sequences after the interventions.DiscussionThe methodology and strategies presented may provide effective guidance for institutions seeking to improve the overall performance of undergraduate students who otherwise might struggle in their first-year engineering curriculum.

Bridging the Gap Between Researchers and Teachers: A Curricular Perspective

AbstractThis study investigated the researcher–teacher interface issue by exploring second language (L2) teachers’ experiences of being involved in a large instructed second language acquisition empirical study aimed at curricular changes. The study addressed two goals. First, by involving the entire teaching staff at all levels of the multisection language teaching program in the administration of the empirical study, it examined the interface at the individual and the professional level. Second, by involving the teachers in every aspect of the study, it investigated the interface at the curricular level. Participants were 27 L2 teachers of Spanish at a private research university in the United States comprising graduate students of all disciplines and full‐time and adjunct faculty. The interface data were obtained via a survey with questions related to teachers’ academic backgrounds, pedagogical beliefs, experiences with academic journals, beliefs regarding the present study, overall experience, and their involvement in the research project. Two teachers also participated in in‐depth personal reflections. The results showed that the active participation by the teachers raised their level of awareness of the researcher–teacher and research–curriculum interfaces and also increased their overall personal and professional development as informed teachers who employ theoretically driven and empirically supported activities in their lesson plans.

Once a Chinese International Student and Now an English Professor: An Autoethnographic Self-Inquiry of Journeys Against Linguicism and Monolingual Ideologies

In this autoethnographic critical self-inquiry study, I draw upon my unique identity as once a Chinese international student and now an English professor at a private research university in the United States to investigate how I sought for my multilingual identity and empowered my international students while coping with linguicism and monolingual ideologies. Despite the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in student population, the faculty body in degree-granting postsecondary institutions remains dominated by White, native speakers of English (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Such a lack of diversity in the faculty body is present especially in the field of English, where monolingualism and nativeness is often the unspoken norm (Nigar & Kostogriz, 2019). This has exerted far-reaching impacts on all facets of English language teaching, posing substantial challenges to the professional development, instructional practices, and identity negotiation among nonnative English-speaking faculty of color. In this autoethnographic critical self-inquiry study, I reflected on my identity as once a Chinese international student and now an English professor to explore: How did my non-whiteness and non-native-English-speakerness affect my identity and self-positioning as a Chinese international student and an English professor? How did I cope with linguicism and monolingual language ideologies in American higher education and beyond? Autoethnography is a helpful approach to systematically explore one’s personal experiences from unique cultural perspectives (Ellis & Bochner, 2006). Critical self-inquiry is an essential research methodology to investigate tensions between belief systems and about identities (Larrivee, 2000; Marshall, 2001). Integrating the two methods together, autoethnographic critical self-inquiry allows exploration of lived experiences from an emic stance while acknowledging the dynamics of identity shifts and interaction. This autoethnographic critical self-inventory study focused on my journeys as once a Chinese international student (2012-2019) and later an English professor (2019-current) in American higher education. Following the critical self-inventory model (Allard & Gallant, 2012; Attard, 2014), data were collected to reflect both my on-going self-reflections (my teaching journals and diaries) and my conversing with others, including recordings and documentations of my interactions with colleagues and students. Data were analyzed following the coding procedures of applied thematic analysis (Guest et al., 2011) to explore important storylines in order to bring "readers into the scene" through showing and telling (Ellis, 1993, p. 711). Preliminary findings show that while my non-whiteness and nonnativeness have posed challenges to my initial self-positioning as a legitimate member in American higher education, I gradually transitioned my self-perceived “otherness” into my unique advantage as a multilingual expert with lived experiences as a means to fight against linguicism. Consequently, I was able to draw upon my lived identities to serve as a role model to empower my students which in turn empowered myself.

A Learning Mindset Needed from Faculty in Online Program Management and University Partnership Business Model

Many universities are transforming themselves from single mode on-campus universities to dual mode universities after recognizing the importance of providing online education programs and the kinds of opportunities they offer. These universities often have their faculty work with instructional designers (ID) in-house or at times outsource online course development to an Online Program Management (OPM) provider. The ID process involves course development where faculty and instructional designer (ID) work together to build the online course. A gap exists in the literature around how faculty interact with such IDs provided by OPMs and what impact the ID process has in their teaching design, and their pedagogical knowledge and development. This research uses a Case Study to analyze how the nature and dynamics of the ID process in a business partnership between a research university and an OPM provider influence faculty. This case study included a private research university that had recently joined a partnership with an Online Program Management Provider (OPM) to develop and offer online Master’s degree programs. The Activity Theory conceptual framework was used to direct inquiry and analysis. Results show that the impact on faculty pedagogical knowledge and development is different for each faculty and is dependent on faculty assumptions, personality, attitudes, training in pedagogy and technology, and past online teaching experiences. A learning mindset from the faculty side is very important to get the best of this relationship. This research supports e-learning practice by guiding that faculty should not be participating just due to the pressure by their upper-level management but because they really want to teach online. Faculty should be ready to check their own assumptions and knowledge they have about pedagogy before getting into this process. This study is a novel approach to understand the impact on faculty teaching design using Activity Theory framework. It shows how Activity Theory could be a useful technique to solve problems in e-learning research and practice.

Enhancing Learner Engagement Using the Discussion Leaderboard: A Social Cognitive Perspective

Over half of the college students in the U.S took at least one online course in 2019-2020. It is ever more important to deliver an interactive quality experience to a growing online learning community. Asynchronous discussion forum is a widely used tool to help accomplish that goal and to develop reciprocity and cooperation among students, a foundational practice in education. However, it is often challenging to make online discussion forums a venue for meaningful learning. A review of the literature points to low student participation and engagement as a top challenge. This study applies social cognitive theory to address the issue. In social cognitive view, there are three sets of (triadic) determinants: personal factors, behavior, and environmental events interacting mutually in online discussion forums. The study posits that a leaderboard can trigger personal and environmental influences on learner behavior changes to foster discussion forum participation. A student-facing discussion leaderboard was implemented in a graduate engineering elective at a private research university in the U.S. in Summer and Fall 2021. The findings indicate the leaderboard intervention instigates the interaction between self-efficacy (personal factor) and social modeling (environmental influence) and contributes to the improvement of learner engagement.

INNOVATION VOUCHERS AS A MODERN FINANCIAL TOOL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMES

The subject of the study is innovation vouchers as a modern tool to support "green" SME projects. Innovation vouchers are financial instruments that perform a number of functions for the development of SMEs. They can stimulate its cooperation between research institutes or universities in the development of innovations and implementation of innovative solutions. It can become an alternative more effective tool for the use of public funds. Innovation vouchers formed the basis of financial support for the implementation of the development strategy of the region in the context of smart specialization. In the countries of the Eastern Partnership, such tools are only part of the practice, while the OECD countries have been actively using them for more than 10 years. In this regard, it was decided to analyze existing SME support programs using innovation vouchers in OECD countries and to give practical recommendations for the implementation of foreign experience in the development of SME support policies in the Eastern Partnership countries. The main method of research is the analytical method. A critical analysis of the scientific literature and policy documents helped form the concept of the use of innovation vouchers by SMEs. The study analyzed 47 programs to support SMEs with innovation vouchers, which operated for 12 years (from 2008 to 2020). Both quantitative indicators (total value of the program with innovation vouchers, maximum voucher value, etc.) and qualitative data (target group, directions of innovation financing) were taken into account. Classification features of innovation vouchers, their target audience, distribution of programs among target group participants (SMEs, companies of different ages, universities, state research institutes, microbusinesses, incubators, gas pedals, science parks, etc.), cost of vouchers, validity of innovation vouchers were determined. The main conclusion may be that when introducing innovation vouchers as tools to support micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses, it must be taken into account that the circle of knowledge providers must be broad (it may include private and public research organizations, universities, and other relevant types of providers). The requirement for co-financing needs to be met as well in order to reduce the risks of inefficient use of funds. In addition, support for innovative enterprises should be broadcast at all levels: local and national. The following target stakeholder groups can benefit from the results of the study: research institutes, universities, SMEs, policy makers, government, NGOs involved in innovation support, etc.

Understanding How to Strengthen the Neurology Pipeline With Insights From Undergraduate Neuroscience Students.

Despite increased neuroscience interest at the undergraduate level, a significant shortage of neurologists in the United States exists. To better understand how to generate more interest in neurology, specifically at the undergraduate level, we conducted an anonymous cross-sectional online survey comprising 1,085 undergraduates in either neuroscience courses or majoring/minoring in neuroscience from across the United States to better understand their clinical neurology experiences and perspectives. The survey quantitatively and qualitatively assessed students' clinical neurology exposure inside and outside of the classroom, research experiences, and career goals. Students were from a broad spectrum of undergraduate institutions (public research university [40.8%], liberal arts college [29.7%], and private research university [29.0%]). Most students (89.9%) were looking to pursue graduate studies; 56.9% reported wanting to be a physician, and 17.8% expressed interest in obtaining an MD/PhD. Of importance, students reported first exposure to neuroscience at age 16 years but felt that they could be exposed to neuroscience as early as 13 years. Half (50.5%) decided to major in neuroscience before college, and a quarter (25.6%) decided to major in their first year of college. Despite high interest in clinical neurology exposure, less than one-third of students had spoken with or shadowed a neurologist, and only 13.6% had interacted with clinical neurology populations. Only 20.8% of students felt volunteer and internship opportunities were sufficiently available. Qualitative results include student perspectives from those who did and did not work with a neurologist, describing how they were or were not able to obtain such opportunities. We discuss translating the survey findings into actionable results with opportunities to target the undergraduate neuroscience interest to improve the neurology pipeline. We describe existing programs that could be integrated into everyday neurology practices and new approaches to learning and training to help leverage the significant undergraduate neuroscience interest. We also raise questions for further research, including exploring (1) how students learn of neurologic conditions/expand their knowledge about additional neurologic conditions, (2) whether qualitative investigation of the experiences of neuroscience undergraduates at specific institutions might provide an additional insight, and (3) systems to maintain interest in neuroscience/neurology as students enter medical school.

Reimagining research promotion: How to maintain visibility and momentum through an integrated approach

This case study provides an overview of how to effectively leverage social media, content platforms, media relations and creative visual assets to educate the public and key influencers about faculty expertise and cutting-edge research. This paper will outline how higher education institutions can utilise multimedia across multiple channels, owned and earned content, audience segmentation, strategic cadence and evergreen assets to shape, spread and sustain messaging for an overarching topic. The case study will detail fundamentals for successful implementation of each component in the comprehensive campaign. Each specific strategy outlined in this case study has been successfully applied to a wide portfolio of thought leadership and research promotion initiatives for different subject matter areas and faculty members across a major private research university. The reader will be equipped with tools and tactics for developing a dynamic, integrated amplification approach that achieves immediate results and long-term success.

Systematic shifts in scaling behavior based on organizational strategy in universities.

To build better theories of cities, companies, and other social institutions such as universities, requires that we understand the tradeoffs and complementarities that exist between their core functions, and that we understand bounds to their growth. Scaling theory has been a powerful tool for addressing such questions in diverse physical, biological and urban systems, revealing systematic quantitative regularities between size and function. Here we apply scaling theory to the social sciences, taking a synoptic view of an entire class of institutions. The United States higher education system serves as an ideal case study, since it includes over 5,800 institutions with shared broad objectives, but ranges in strategy from vocational training to the production of novel research, contains public, nonprofit and for-profit models, and spans sizes from 10 to roughly 100,000 enrolled students. We show that, like organisms, ecosystems and cities, universities and colleges scale in a surprisingly systematic fashion following simple power-law behavior. Comparing seven commonly accepted sectors of higher education organizations, we find distinct regimes of scaling between a school’s total enrollment and its expenditures, revenues, graduation rates and economic added value. Our results quantify how each sector leverages specific economies of scale to address distinct priorities. Taken together, the scaling of features within a sector along with the shifts in scaling across sectors implies that there are generic mechanisms and constraints shared by all sectors, which lead to tradeoffs between their different societal functions and roles. We highlight the strong complementarity between public and private research universities, and community and state colleges, that all display superlinear returns to scale. In contrast to the scaling of biological systems, our results highlight that much of the observed scaling behavior is modulated by the particular strategies of organizations rather than an immutable set of constraints.

Breaking Stereotypes About Alumni Donors: Who Gives First? A Discrete-Time Hazard Model

ABSTRACT Institutions of higher education are relying on philanthropy and fundraising at a greater level than ever before seen. This increased focus has led scholars to investigate various predictors regarding which alumni are likely to give and which are likely to give the most. To date, however, scholars have not yet examined the role of timing and when alumni give their first gift to their alma mater. Using discrete-time hazard modeling (DTHM), this paper seeks to re-center the current conversation surrounding educational philanthropy by exploring not simply who gives the most, but rather who gives and when. Using data of alumni from a predominantly White, private-research university in the United States (n = 3,404), we find that those alumni who were in cultural clubs, as well as Black and multi-racial alumni, are more likely to give their first gift at an earlier date than other alumni. Additionally, alumni that participated in fewer student activities while at school appear more likely to give their first gift sooner, while gender, income, and alumni activity participation show no significance in the model. This study upends some commonly held stereotypes of who are donors to higher education. We share implications for practice and future research.

A comparison of non-traditional online and traditional wet-lab experiences in human anatomy and physiology: An innovative approach for pre-licensure nursing education

BackgroundThe contributions of student laboratory experiences to student learning in pre-licensure science classes are not well understood. Despite the generally accepted premise that traditional hands-on laboratory experiences are essential to knowledge construction and superior to non-traditional online experiences, the literature suggests that both experiences promote equal levels of student learning. ObjectivesWe compared academic performance of students enrolled in a Human Anatomy and Physiology II course with hands-on laboratory to that of students enrolled in the same course but with online laboratory by examining several measures of student learning. Design and participantsThis was a quasi-experimental study of undergraduate students aged 18–22 years enrolled in equivalent human anatomy and physiology courses on two separate campuses of a private research university in the United States. One course was associated with hands-on laboratory while the other course was associated with online laboratory. MethodsThe Human Anatomy and Physiology Society standardized exam was administered as a pre-test/post-test assessment at the beginning and end of the academic year. Lecture exam scores, laboratory exam scores, and overall course grades served as measures of student learning. Comparisons of student performance between hands-on and online laboratory groups were made using t-tests. ResultsStudent performance on the pre-test and overall course grades from Human Anatomy and Physiology (part I) were not different between groups. While students in the online lab group did earn significantly higher Human Anatomy and Physiology (part II) course grades, their performance on lecture exams, laboratory exams, and the post-test assessment was not different. ConclusionsStudents in a pre-licensure prerequisite course with online laboratory demonstrated mastery of basic science concepts equal to or better than students in the same course with traditional hands-on laboratory. Online laboratory experiences may represent an appropriate, accessible and cost-effective teaching modality for pre-licensure coursework.

Trading Wheat for Books in the Cold War: Public Law 480 (Food for Peace) and Its Connection to Middle East Studies

: The libraries at top private and public research universities in the United States hold some of the most comprehensive collections in the world for studying other regions and their modern histories. Yet how this came to be has been largely overlooked. This article unearths the history of the Public Law 480 Program, also known as Food For Peace or PL-480, and how it came to support the large-scale acquisition of Arabic books through a center opened for this purpose in Cairo, Egypt. The article explores the changes in US food exports, specifically wheat, and links these changes to PL-480, US foreign policy, and finally Arabic book acquisitions for US research libraries. By drawing on a variety of publicly available primary sources, as well as a series of interviews with the current and former directors of the Cairo acquisitions center, this article lays out the history of this unorthodox program and its outsized impact on area studies programs in the United States, with a specific focus on Middle East Studies.

Views on ethical issues in research labs: A university-wide survey

ABSTRACT In this article, we summarize the key findings of an exploratory study in which students and faculty completed a survey that sought to identify the most important ethical issues in STEM fields, how often these issues are discussed in research groups, and how often these ethical issues come up in the daily practice of research. Participants answered a series of open-ended and Likert-scale questions to provide a detailed look at the current ethical landscape at a private research university in the Midwest. The survey also looked at potential differences between faculty and undergraduate and graduate students’ perceptions in answering these questions. The results indicate that while all community members tended to view issues that can be classified as research misconduct as the most important activities to avoid in STEM-related research, the level of discussion and actual witnessing of these practices was relatively low. The study points to a consensus among students and faculty about the important ethical issues in STEM and the need for more discussion and attention to be paid to communication, collaboration, and interpersonal relationships in the research environment.

Studying Undergraduate Course Consideration at Scale

Elective curriculums require undergraduates to choose from a large roster of courses for enrollment each term. It has proven difficult to characterize this fateful choice process because it remains largely unobserved. Using digital trace data to observe this process at scale at a private research university, together with qualitative student interviews, we provide a novel empirical study of course consideration as an important component of course selection. Clickstream logs from a course exploration platform used by most undergraduates at the case university reveal that students consider on average nine courses for enrollment for their first fall term (<2% of available courses) and these courses predict which academic major students declare two years later. Twenty-nine interviews confirm that students experience consideration as complex and reveal variation in consideration strategies that may influence how consideration unfolds. Consideration presents a promising site for intervention in problems of equity, career funneling, and college completion.