44,988 research outputs found
From Gatekeeping to Engagement: A Multicontextual, Mixed Method Study of Student Academic Engagement in Introductory STEM Courses.
The lack of academic engagement in introductory science courses is considered by some to be a primary reason why students switch out of science majors. This study employed a sequential, explanatory mixed methods approach to provide a richer understanding of the relationship between student engagement and introductory science instruction. Quantitative survey data were drawn from 2,873 students within 73 introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses across 15 colleges and universities, and qualitative data were collected from 41 student focus groups at eight of these institutions. The findings indicate that students tended to be more engaged in courses where the instructor consistently signaled an openness to student questions and recognizes her/his role in helping students succeed. Likewise, students who reported feeling comfortable asking questions in class, seeking out tutoring, attending supplemental instruction sessions, and collaborating with other students in the course were also more likely to be engaged. Instructional implications for improving students' levels of academic engagement are discussed
Secondary implementation of interactive engagement teaching techniques: Choices and challenges in a Gulf Arab context
We report on a "Collaborative Workshop Physics" instructional strategy to
deliver the first IE calculus-based physics course at Khalifa University, UAE.
To these authors' knowledge, this is the first such course on the Arabian
Peninsula using PER-based instruction. A brief history of general university
and STEM teaching in the UAE is given. We present this secondary implementation
(SI) as a case study of a novel context and use it to determine if PER-based
instruction can be successfully implemented far from the cultural context of
the primary developer and, if so, how might such SIs differ from SIs within the
US. With these questions in view, a pre-reform baseline of MPEX, FCI, course
exam and English language proficiency data are used to design a hybrid
implementation of Cooperative Group Problem Solving. We find that for students
with high English proficiency, normalized gain on FCI improves from =
0.16+/-0.10 pre- to = 0.47+/-0.08 post-reform, indicating successful SI. We
also find that is strongly modulated by language proficiency and discuss
likely causes. Regardless of language skill, problem-solving skill is also
improved and course DFW rates drop from 50% to 24%. In particular, we find
evidence in post-reform student interviews that prior classroom experiences,
and not broader cultural expectations about education, are the more significant
cause of expectations at odds with the classroom norms of well-functioning
PER-based instruction. This result is evidence that PER-based innovations can
be implemented across great changes in cultural context, provided that the
method is thoughtfully adapted in anticipation of context and culture-specific
student expectations. This case study should be valuable for future reforms at
other institutions, both in the Gulf Region and developing world, facing
similar challenges involving SI of PER-based instruction outside the US.Comment: v1: 28 pages, 9 figures. v2: 19 pages, 6 figures, includes major
reorganization and revisions based on anonymous peer review. v3: 19 pages, 6
figures, minor revisions based on anonymous peer revie
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The Evolution of Student Engagement: Writing Improves Teaching in Introductory Biology
In response to calls for pedagogical reforms in undergraduate biology courses to decrease student attrition rates and increase active learning, this article describes one faculty member’s conversion from traditional teaching methods to more engaging forms of practice. Partially told as a narrative, this article illustrates a.) the way many faculty initially learn to teach by modeling the pedagogy from their own undergraduate programs; b.) the kind of support biology faculty may need to break out of traditional molds; c.) how writing can promote active learning; and d.) the impact of reformed pedagogy on student levels of engagement. The latter will be demonstrated through assessment results gathered from student surveys, reflective writing, and focus group interview. Ultimately, the study challenges misunderstandings some faculty might have regarding the value of writing in science classes and offers inspiration, urging critical reflection and persistence
Value added or misattributed? A multi-institution study on the educational benefit of labs for reinforcing physics content
Instructional labs are widely seen as a unique, albeit expensive, way to
teach scientific content. We measured the effectiveness of introductory lab
courses at achieving this educational goal across nine different lab courses at
three very different institutions. These institutions and courses encompassed a
broad range of student populations and instructional styles. The nine courses
studied had two key things in common: the labs aimed to reinforce the content
presented in lectures, and the labs were optional. By comparing the performance
of students who did and did not take the labs (with careful normalization for
selection effects), we found universally and precisely no added value to
learning from taking the labs as measured by course exam performance. This work
should motivate institutions and departments to reexamine the goals and conduct
of their lab courses, given their resource-intensive nature. We show why these
results make sense when looking at the comparative mental processes of students
involved in research and instructional labs, and offer alternative goals and
instructional approaches that would make lab courses more educationally
valuable.Comment: Accepted to Phys Rev PE
Contemporary developments in teaching and learning introductory programming: Towards a research proposal
The teaching and learning of introductory programming in tertiary institutions is problematic. Failure rates are high and the inability of students to complete small programming tasks at the completion of introductory units is not unusual. The literature on teaching programming contains many examples of changes in teaching strategies and curricula that have been implemented in an effort to reduce failure rates. This paper analyses contemporary research into the area, and summarises developments in the teaching of introductory programming. It also focuses on areas for future research which will potentially lead to improvements in both the teaching and learning of introductory programming. A graphical representation of the issues from the literature that are covered in the document is provided in the introduction
Student ownership of projects in an upper-division optics laboratory course: A multiple case study of successful experiences
We investigate students' sense of ownership of multiweek final projects in an
upper-division optics lab course. Using a multiple case study approach, we
describe three student projects in detail. Within-case analyses focused on
identifying key issues in each project, and constructing chronological
descriptions of those events. Cross-case analysis focused on identifying
emergent themes with respect to five dimensions of project ownership: student
agency, instructor mentorship, peer collaboration, interest and value, and
affective responses. Our within- and cross-case analyses yielded three major
findings. First, coupling division of labor with collective brainstorming can
help balance student agency, instructor mentorship, and peer collaboration.
Second, students' interest in the project and perceptions of its value can
increase over time; initial student interest in the project topic is not a
necessary condition for student ownership of the project. Third, student
ownership is characterized by a wide range of emotions that fluctuate as
students alternate between extended periods of struggle and moments of success
while working on their projects. These findings not only extend the literature
on student ownership into a new educational domain---namely, upper-division
physics labs---they also have concrete implications for the design of
experimental physics projects in courses for which student ownership is a
desired learning outcome. We describe the course and projects in sufficient
detail that others can adapt our results to their particular contexts.Comment: 22 pages, 3 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev. PE
Quality Enhancement Themes: the First Year Experience. Curriculum Design for the First Year
This report outlines the work and outcomes of a practice-focused development project 'Curriculum design for the first year'. The project was one of nine funded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) under the First-Year Experience Enhancement Theme of the Scottish quality enhancement agenda. The stages of this curriculum design project included: completing a literature review;
running staff workshops to gather and disseminate information; holding student focus groups to gather students, views and experiences of the curriculum; collecting case studies of interest to the sector; and reporting findings to the sector. Key findings from the literature are presented in this report. They include the need to adopt student-centred active learning strategies (Harvey, Drew and Smith, 2006; Oliver-Hoyo and Allen, 2005; Barefoot, 2002) and the importance of providing early
formative feedback to students (Davidson and Young, 2005; Barefoot, 2002). Many suggestions for improving learning and teaching strategies have been adopted at module level, but could be implemented strategically across the breadth of a programme curriculum. Kift and Nelson (2005) supported this view and argued that it is equally important to support these principles with systemic university-wide change, including administrative and support programmes that are also integrated with the curriculum and student needs
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