Individual characteristics and student's engagement in scientific research : a cross-sectional study

Background: In light of the increasing recognition of the importance of physician scientists, and given the association between undergraduate research experiences with future scientific activity, it is important to identify and understand variables related to undergraduate student’s decision to engage in scientific research activities. The present study assessed the influence of individual characteristics, including personality traits and socio-demographic characteristics, on voluntary engagement in scientific research of undergraduate medical students. Methods: For this study, all undergraduate students and alumni of the School of Health Sciences in Minho, Portugal were invited to participate in a survey about voluntary engagement in scientific research activities. Data were available on socio-demographic, personality and university admission variables, as part of an ongoing longitudinal study. A regression model was used to compare (1) engaged with (2) not engaged students. A classification and regression tree model was used to compare students engaged in (3) elective curricular research (4) and extra-curricular research. Results: A total of 466 students (88%) answered the survey. A complete set of data was available for 435 students (83%).Higher scores in admission grade point average and the personality dimensions of “openness to experience” and “conscientiousness” increased chances of engagement. Higher “extraversion” scores had the opposite effect. Male undergraduate students were two times more likely than females to engage in curricular elective scientific research and were also more likely to engage in extra-curricular research activities. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that student’s grade point average and individual characteristics, like gender, openness and consciousness have a unique and statistically significant contribution to student’s involvement in undergraduate scientific research activities.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/ESC/65116/200

Patterns of student interaction in Clark-Trow subgroups

Previous research on the Clark-Trow model has failed to provide evidence on whether students classified into the same Clark-Trow subgroup interact with one another or are even aware of their common orientation. Yet, this is a basic tenet of claims that these subgroups operate as campus subcultures. This study investigated whether students who self-select into the same Clark-Trow subgroup interact significantly more often with each other than they do with members of the other three subgroups. The results tend to disconfirm expectations based on the Clark-Trow model and suggest these subgroups do not operate as student subcultures.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43584/1/11162_2004_Article_BF00975127.pd

Apples and oranges? : a proposed research design to examine the correspondence between two measures of engineering learning

In 2004, ABET commissioned Engineering Change, a study of the impact of Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC2000) on the preparation of undergraduates for careers in engineering. One legacy of that study is a database of EC2000-specific self-reported student learning outcomes at 40 institutions, including precollege characteristics and engineering program outcomes for more than 4,300 graduates of the class of 2004. A second dataset, the Multiple-Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD), compiles institutional data, including demographic and academic transcript records and Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) scores, from nine universities from 1987-2005. In this paper, we propose a design to combine data from the two databases to assess the correspondence between the self-reported student learning outcome measures in the Engineering Change study and the MIDFIELD dataset's information on program-level performance on the FE examination, the only objective test of students’ engineering knowledge