63,705 research outputs found
Course-based Science Research Promotes Learning in Diverse Students at Diverse Institutions
Course-based research experiences (CREs) are powerful strategies for spreading learning and improving persistence for all students, both science majors and nonscience majors. Here we address the crucial components of CREs (context, discovery, ownership, iteration, communication, presentation) found across a broad range of such courses at a variety of academic institutions. We also address how the design of a CRE should vary according to the background of student participants; no single CRE format is perfect. We provide a framework for implementing CREs across multiple institutional types and several disciplines throughout the typical four years of undergraduate work, designed to a variety of student backgrounds. Our experiences implementing CREs also provide guidance on overcoming barriers to their implementation
Recruitment, Preparation, Retention: A case study of computing culture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Computer science is seeing a decline in enrollment at all levels of
education, including undergraduate and graduate study. This paper reports on
the results of a study conducted at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign which evaluated students attitudes regarding three areas which
can contribute to improved enrollment in the Department of Computer Science:
Recruitment, preparation and retention. The results of our study saw two
themes. First, the department's tight research focus appears to draw
significant attention from other activities -- such as teaching, service, and
other community-building activities -- that are necessary for a department's
excellence. Yet, as demonstrated by our second theme, one partial solution is
to better promote such activities already employed by the department to its
students and faculty. Based on our results, we make recommendations for
improvements and enhancements based on the current state of practice at peer
institutions.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figures. For better quality figures, please download the
.pdf from
http://www.cs.uiuc.edu/research/techreports.php?report=UIUCDCS-R-2007-281
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Colleagues, Classmates, and Friends: Graduate versus Undergraduate Tutor Identities and Professionalization
This study provides a new framework for thinking about the value of writing center work by illuminating how tutors define and negotiate their various and emergent identities as students and as professionals. We build on conversations about tutor identity to argue that tutors’ multiple roles affect the dynamics of the writing center as a whole. From interviews with graduate and undergraduate tutors about professionalization and the writing center, we reveal that the tutors’ level of resistance to or acceptance of writing center work impacts the extent to which they see themselves as burgeoning professionals within that space and, concomitantly, affects the sense of community in the writing center. At our site of study, undergraduate tutors who self-selected into writing center employment generally had much more positive associations with their writing center experiences than their graduate student counterparts, who were often compelled to work in the center as part of their assistantships. We argue then that while writing centers can be valuable in building the professional identities of both undergraduate and graduate tutors, the ways in which these different populations affect our centers is significant. As such, writing center professionals at all levels should work to acknowledge different identities and foster community among tutors who come to us with multiple backgrounds, purposes, and agendas.University Writing Cente
Engagement in Authentic Geoscience Research: Evaluation of Research Experiences of Undergraduates and Secondary Teachers
This article examines the effects of a program involving authentic research on the participants' interest in research, career plans, and attitudes on science. The findings are from the first year of a three-year program funded by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. In three out of four projects, participants increased their interest in research, with two-thirds planning to change career plans to become more research-oriented. The implications of these findings for providing authentic research opportunities are discussed. Educational levels: Graduate or professional
Using Undergraduate Teaching Scholars in a Laboratory Course for Non-Science Majors
Although laboratory instruction for non-science majors is a major goal of higher education, its implementation is often difficult in practice. Non-science students are often uncomfortable with a laboratory environment and require close supervision for the laboratory instruction to be effective. To address this problem, support from the New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP) was used to recruit and train undergraduate Teaching Scholars to assist in the instructional laboratories of NYU’s core science program. The Teaching Scholar was paired with a graduate student laboratory instructor to create a “teaching team.” Responses on student evaluations show that the arrangement enhanced student learning in the laboratory because both instructors were present during the laboratory session to provide assistance and answer questions. New initiatives in the project include recruiting students from both science and science education programs, thereby fostering interaction on methods of effective laboratory instruction
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