University student engagement inventory (USEI): psychometric properties

Academic engagement describes students’ investment in academic learning and achievement and is an important indicator of students’ adjustment to university life, particularly in the first year. A tridimensional conceptualization of academic engagement has been accepted (behavioral, emotional and cognitive dimensions). This paper tests the dimensionality, internal consistency reliability and invariance of the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) taking into consideration both gender and the scientific area of graduation. A sample of 908 Portuguese first-year university students was considered. Good evidence of reliability has been obtained with ordinal alpha and omega values. Confirmatory factor analysis substantiates the theoretical dimensionality proposed (second-order latent factor), internal consistency reliability evidence indicates good values and the results suggest measurement invariance across gender and the area of graduation. The present study enhances the role of the USEI regarding the lack of consensus on the dimensionality and constructs delimitation of academic engagement.Jorge Sinval received funding from the William James Center for Research, Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT UID/PSI/04810/2013). Leandro S. Almeida and Joana R. Casanova received funding from CIEd – Research Centre on Education, projects UID/CED/1661/2013 and UID/CED/1661/2016, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT. Joana R. Casanova received funding from the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) as a Doctoral Grant, under grant agreement number SFRH/BD/117902/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Collaborating for change: Utilizing cross-institutional partnerships to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning at primarily undergraduate institutions

Because the teaching-research-service triad of faculty responsibilities at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) is weighted toward teaching, faculty development initiatives at these institutions may anticipate early—and easy—adoption of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Indeed, our experience sharing SoTL programming and resources with faculty at Park University confirmed that the culture of teaching often in place at PUIs can prove fertile soil for SoTL programming. However, we also discovered the challenges that can arise when moving from a culture of teaching to a culture of the scholarship of teaching. Our institutional story of membership in the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning reinforces the value of devising multiple avenues to integrate SoTL into a teaching-focused institutional culture, and the necessity of cross-institutional partnerships to stimulate greater perspective on and participation in teaching as a scholarly endeavo

Collaborating for change: Utilizing cross-institutional partnerships to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning at primarily undergraduate institutions

Because the teaching-research-service triad of faculty responsibilities at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) is weighted toward teaching, faculty development initiatives at these institutions may anticipate early—and easy—adoption of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Indeed, our experience sharing SoTL programming and resources with faculty at Park University confirmed that the culture of teaching often in place at PUIs can prove fertile soil for SoTL programming. However, we also discovered the challenges that can arise when moving from a culture of teaching to a culture of the scholarship of teaching. Our institutional story of membership in the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning reinforces the value of devising multiple avenues to integrate SoTL into a teaching-focused institutional culture, and the necessity of cross-institutional partnerships to stimulate greater perspective on and participation in teaching as a scholarly endeavo