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Sulitest®: A Mixed-Method, Pilot Study Of Assessment Impacts On Undergraduate Sustainability-Related Learning And Motivation, Alicia Mason

Faculty Submissions

A United Nations international collaboration between the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) resulted in the creation of Sulitest® (aka Sustainability Literacy Test) an open, online training and assessment tool freely available to higher education institutions globally. This study analyzes the effectiveness of the newly developed Sulitest® to not only measure sustainability literacy of higher education student populations, but also act as a catalyst for boosting affective learning outcomes by: (a) generating interest in sustainability-related issues, (b) improving sustainability-related understandings, and (c) enhancing students’ interests in the subject matter. In order to do …

Developing A Rubric To Assess Critical Thinking In A Multidisciplinary Context In Higher Education, Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta, Sahreen Chauhan, Syeda Kausar Ali, Raisa Gul, Shanaz Cassum, Tashmin Khamis

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Critical thinking (CT) is a generic attribute that is greatly valued across academic disciplines in higher education, and around the globe. It is also defined as one of the graduate attributes of higher education for the sample private university where this research was conducted, as it is perceived that CT helps the graduate to become ‘engaged citizens’ in the twenty-first century. Despite the well-documented importance of CT, its assessment remains a challenge. This study addresses this challenge through the systematic development and field-testing of a rubric for assessing critical thinking in a multidisciplinary context in higher education. A multidisciplinary group …

The Sociological And Humanistic Problem Of ‘Fake News,’ As It Applies To All Subjects, Including Scientific Research And Theories In The Public Sphere, Andrée Rathemacher, Amanda Izenstark

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

The main file available here contains the notes taken by student note-taker Kaleigh Miech during the Café Salon Discussion “The Sociological and Humanistic Problem of ‘Fake News,’ As It Applies to All Subjects, Including Scientific Research and Theories in the Public Sphere.” The discussion took place on January 17, 2019 as part of the University of Rhode Island 11th Annual Academic Summit. It was facilitated by Profs. Andrée Rathemacher and Amanda Izenstark.

Supplemental files include:

• An opening introduction prepared by the facilitators
• The official 11th Annual Academic Summit Program
• Café Salon Facilitator Guide

Timely Student Feedback, Ronan Oliver, Evelyn Casey, David O'Connor

Practitioner Research Projects

Students are not only interested in their grades but they are also interested in feedback (Mulliner & Tucker, 2017), as this is an important element of their learning cycle (Gibbons et al., 2018). Together with lecturers they agree that for this to be effective, it must be returned quickly so that it can be acted on within the context of their learning (Denton et al., 2008; Mulliner & Tucker, 2017). However, the delivery of timely and effective feedback can be a burden on lecturers, particularly if they are responsible for large classes and in the early stage of their career. …

Best Practice In Designing Groupwork For First Year Students, Judith Boyle, Rachel Halpin, Chao Ji Hyland

Practitioner Research Projects

The ability to work effectively as part of a group is an expected skill of any graduate, and is regarded as highly desirable criteria for employability (Mellor, 2012; Rutherford, 2015). Through collaborative work, students learn from each other while also developing their interpersonal skills. Many students who enter higher education (HE) do not realise the demands of their programmes, and their first year experience usually has a strong influence on their entire college life (Ginty, 2001). It is estimated that 20-30% of first year students do not progress to the second year of their programmes (NSCRC, 2014); this finding requires …

A Rubric Guide For New Academics, Pearlean Chadha, Louise Lynch, Barry Nevin, Edmund Nevin, Anushree Priyadarshini

Practitioner Research Projects

Early career academics entering Higher Education face many challenges. The demands of a new work environment – particularly a third-level institute – can lead to struggles for identity and purpose together with uncertainty of how to fit into a new role (Archer, 2008; Houston, Meyer, & Paewai, 2006). The importance of supporting new academics is identified by many authors including Adcroft and Taylor (2013) and Sadler (2012), and is a crucial issue where assessment of student performance is concerned. Assessment is a major driver of student learning, and scholars have extensively documented the importance of constructively aligning assessment types to …

A How-To Guide For Student Generated Video, Janet Gillanders, Kate O'Brien, Sean O'Leary, Ariane Perez-Gavilan, James Sheridan

Practitioner Research Projects

The type of assessment used by the instructor is a major consideration that must be taken into account when designing a third level course. The importance of assessment can be understood if one frames it not only as assessment of learning but also as assessment for learning. In this new framework, in addition to measuring students’ knowledge of the material, assessment can be thought of as a tool used for providing feedback, for defining academic standards, and for directing student learning (Harris, 2005). There is currently a movement calling for a shift away from traditional high-stakes assessment towards alternative assessment …

Mind The Gap: Integration Of International Students, Andrew Knox, Basil Lim, Amr Mahfouz, Maeve O'Connell, Matthew Sheehan

Practitioner Research Projects

The international mobilisation of tertiary students is increasing from 0.8 million in 1975 to 3.5 million worldwide by 2016 (OECD, 2018). This increasingly fluid student migration, supported with various European initiatives, the Erasmus exchange program (since 1987) and the Bologna Declaration (since 1999), have influenced the profile of students within the Irish higher education system. By 2016, international students comprised 5.1% of total tertiary students in Ireland (OECD, 2018). According to Irish and UK research, lecturers have an important role in facilitating integration (British Council, 2014; Irish Council for International Students, 2017). However, for most faculty, the term internationalisation of …

And Finally... Course Quality Or Instructional Quality, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Quality has become a popular word in distance education literature. Quality this, and quality that, all demanding that distance education, online learning, or virtual schooling must “have” something called quality— most often course quality.

And Finally … Telepresence—New Or ?, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Telepresence is most simply defined as the virtual presence of a speaker who is at a distance. More sophisticated definitions emphasize the use of technologies that allow a videoconference viewer to feel as if distant participants are present.

And Finally … Open Access, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Open Access—the idea that scholarly literature should be free and easily available to read online to anyone with an interest. We distance educators naturally embrace the idea of having readily available content that can be used in courses in a format that is easy to use and access. According to the web location Opensource.com there are two different versions of open access—libre and gratis.

Stem And Sustainability: Creating Aviation Professional Change Agents, P. Clark, Doreen Mcgunagle, L. Zizka

Publications

With the evolution of the workforce and the growing needs of the aviation industry, a clear need for concrete sustainability initiatives and actions have emerged. Sustainability in this sense becomes a matter of survival. For this reason, in this chapter, we will attempt to close three gaps in current sustainability studies: Theory vs practice, intention vs behavior, and education vs workplace.

Our purpose is to develop a ‘simple’ strategy for integrating all three pillars of sustainability into STEM HE programs that create authentic engagement and real buy-in from the students that are then replicated in the workplace. Based on the …

In Support Of Scholarly Teaching, Emily K. Faulconer

Publications

Whether you are a college science teacher who has embraced education as a second discipline or you are teaching science teachers, the SoTL (scholarship of teaching and learning) and DBER (discipline-based educational research) publications are key resources to support your scholarly teaching, providing actionable ideas for your classroom.

Comics, Questions, Action! Engaging Students And Instruction Librarians With The Comics-Questions Curriculum, Stephanie Margolin, Mason Brown, Sarah Laleman Ward

Publications and Research

In a four-session Summer Bridge programme, we experimented with new curricular and pedagogical ideas with a group of incoming freshmen. We developed the Comics-Questions Curriculum (CQC), which melds students’ question asking with a focus on comics. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale for and ongoing development of the CQC as well as the ways the CQC fosters engagement of students and librarians, builds upon students’ existing skills but propels them forward toward college-level work, and positions librarians as partners in students’ college work. Although it was designed for a specific purpose initially, the CQC in its …

Between Paralysis And Empowerment: Action In Mathematics For Social Justice Work, Lidia Gonzalez

Publications and Research

In this article, I focus on my experiences teaching a seminar in critical pedagogy and the math for social justice (MfSJ) work that grew from of my students’ reflections as to how they might promote change towards justice. The course was designed to acquaint students with the research literature in critical pedagogy as we explored the social, political, cultural, and economic realities around our system of public education. Yet there came a point where students questioned the value of such exploration as they genuinely considered what to do next. I, too, struggled both to support the students I was working …

It's About Communities: The Commitment To Promoting A Culturally Competent Environmental Health Workforce, Clint Pinion Jr., Leslie D. Mitchell, Jason W. Marion

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Environmental health and public health are profoundly local. The Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) firmly agrees and for this reason, it is important to have local environmental health experts who know the pulse of their communities. AEHAP believes in supporting the advanced scientific education of environmental health in these communities through people from these communities. Accordingly, AEHAP has sought to promote and support accredited environmental health programs among a diverse cross-section of the U.S. higher education landscape. AEHAP’s students are diverse in many ways, including socioeconomically, racially, ethnically, and culturally. The value of this approach enhances the overall …

Surviving And Thriving At A University In The United Kingdom, Roxanne S. Duvivier, Gina Oswald, Lindsey Steller, Kate Bumhoffer

Human Services Faculty Publications

While considerable research on college student surviving and thriving has been conducted in the United States, fewer studies exist that examine these phenomenon multinationally. This mixed methods study, conducted at a large multi-campus university in the United Kingdom, examines factors purported to contribute to college student retention and engagement in a British context. Data were collected and analysed in the five theme categories of belonging, student support services, academic engagement, decision-making and resilience. Significant differences were found in student engagement by metropolitan vs. suburban campus, and in levels of engagement in academic and student life by gender.

Designing Rubrics For Authentic Assessment, Kathryn Richardson, Anne-Marie Chase

Teacher education

This presentation looks at the steps in developing authentic rubrics, from determining the constructs that will be assessed; breaking down the constructs into a set of broad capabilities that need to be observed; transferring capabilities into indicative behaviours (indicators or criteria); and determining the different levels of proficiency.

Ace Your Course Challenge Survey Instruments, Holly J. Swanson, Eric Kaldor Phd, Joshua Caulkins

ATL Surveys

The Ace Your Course (AYC) Challenge is a series of reflective surveys intended to extend students’ evaluation of metacognitive learning strategies, based on the work of Dr. Saundra McGuire. The survey questions used for different stages of the Challenge can be found here. These surveys were developed as part of an initiative from the Office for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and through collaboration with the Academic Enhancement Center to support the development of self-regulated learning through student reflection on metacognition.

And Finally … Let’S Go Deeply Digital?, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

The origination of the term “deeply digital” is widely credited to a Report to the President made in 2010 by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The core of this report was that technology, deeply digital technology, should not replace teachers but support them. Properly used, technology can extend the reach of teachers by giving them access to the best instructional and professional development tools that can create customized learning environments and assessments for students, and to capture rich information about individual performance. (p. 80)

And Finally... Doing It Wrong—Who Says?, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Several years ago there was considerable discussion among leaders of schools, colleges, universities, and organizations who wanted to offer instruction at a distance. In response, Distance Learning published a column titled “Designing the Perfect Online Program” hoping that the set of guidelines provided would assist organizations in their planning, and to reduce the likelihood that illconceived plans would be implemented.

And Finally... Engagement, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Engagement of a learner is defined as emotional and intellectual involvement or commitment—the participation in learning activities via interaction with others in meaningful ways. Engagement theory considers engagement as the process of involving learners in groups or teams working collaboratively on project-based and authentic activities.

Writing As A Science Educator, Emily K. Faulconer

Publications

As scientists, we write to record observations and procedures. We write to analyze and present our data. We write to evaluate the works of others. My training in scientific writing started in earnest as an undergraduate student where I dutifully wrote lab reports and literature reviews. I learned how to write objectively. I practiced evidence-based arguments. After years of practice, this writing style is second nature. I see hints of it in my e-mail communication style. I even hear its echo in my administrative documents. This style is efficient and clear.

Assessing Students’ Writing And Public Speaking Self-Efficacy In A Composition And Communication Course, T. Kody Frey, Jessalyn I. Vallade

Information Science Faculty Publications

One avenue for assessing learning involves evaluating self-efficacy, as this psychological beliefis a strong predictor of academic achievement. As such, the purpose of this study was to evaluate writing self-efficacy and public speaking self-efficacy in a composition and communication course. This course is structured to develop both writing and public speaking competencies; the research sought to determine whether students believed they were leaving the course feeling more confident in their capabilities within each respective academic domain. Results (N= 380) from pre- and post-test data suggest that students’ reported writing and public speaking self-efficacy significantly increased over the semester. Additionally, students’ …

Beyond Greening: The Challenges To Adopting Sustainability In Higher Education., Catherine Hooey, Alicia Mason, James Triplett

Faculty Submissions

It is common for colleges and universities to include sustainability in their mission statements and strategic plans. On many campuses, however, sustainability is associated with green practices only, rather than the comprehensive integration of social equity, economic, and environmental principles on which the concept was founded. Here, Hooey et al examine the obstacles to the comprehensive adoption of sustainability in institutions of higher education, in general, and to suggest a conceptual framework of a sustainability culture as one most appropriate for the more effective incorporation of comprehensive practices.

Graduate Student Perspectives Of Interdisciplinary And Disciplinary Programming For Teaching Development, Katherine E. Bishop-Williams, Kaitlin Roke, Erin Aspenlieder, Meagan Troop

Publications and Scholarship

Interdisciplinary (i.e., university-wide programming) and disciplinary (i.e., programming open to participants from one college or department) teaching development programs for graduate students have been used for many years in higher education. Currently, research on the benefits of these teaching models remains scant in terms of a contextualized understanding, and empirical studies are needed. The purpose of this study was to determine graduate students’ perspectives related to interdisciplinary and disciplinary teaching and learning experiences. Two online surveys were used: a quantitative survey and a qualitative follow-up survey. Three participatory focus groups were also conducted to allow for further in-depth exploration in …

Community-Based Learning: A Primer, Zeinab Bedri, Ruairí De Fréin, Geraldine Dowling

Practitioner Research Projects

Employers are increasingly demanding graduates with industry-ready communication, decision-making, problem-solving, leadership, emotional intelligence and social ethics skills. Community-based learning (CBL) has been identified as a pedagogical approach which has tremendous potential to produce graduates with these attributes; its prominent role in the future of Ireland's third level landscape is outlined in the Irish National Strategy for Higher Education (Hunt, 2011). However, for many early-career lecturers, distilling the insights from the teaching and learning literature, and then producing a well-designed CBL module, can be an intimidating task. What is missing is a primer which presents the core ideas of CBL in …

Strategies For Enhancing The Mature Student Experience In Higher Education, John O'Carroll, Cathy Ennis, Keith Loscher, Deirdre Ryan, Niall Dixon

Practitioner Research Projects

A principle of the Irish Education system is its endorsement of equity of access to higher education for all Irish citizens. This principle has been enacted through successive government policies including the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 (HEA, 2015). The aim of this policy is to “ensure that the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population” (p.8). Data from this plan shows that participation in higher education by the adult population has increased and that there is a potential for increasing …

Blended Learning - What Practitioners Can Learn From Moocs, Aine Whelan, Aimee Byrne, Keith Colton, Patrick Crean, Conor Mcgarrigle

Practitioner Research Projects

The rapid increase in the use of information technologies in third level education is changing the way courses are provided. Online multimedia have helped reduce the difficulties teachers face with a diversity of student profiles and a large number of students in a classroom. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) present an extreme with regard to student groups in relation to size and diversity and, therefore, many techniques and methods of overcoming the difficulties that this can present have been developed. Much of these methods can apply to online courses generally and to blended teaching environments. This study identifies four key …

And Finally ... Online Courses Have Three Critical Components (And Learning Management Systems Are Not One Of Them), Michael R. Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

It is happening again. Vendors—and some well-meaning educational administrators—are talking about the power of course/learning management systems and claiming that the technology used to deliver online courses has an impact on student achievement.