Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons^™

Covid-19 Induced Transition From Classroom To Online Mid Semester: Case Study On Faculty And Students’ Preferences And Opinions, Sudipta Roy, Bonnie Covelli

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate faculty and students’ reactions to the COVID-19 emergency move to online classes. The goal was to better inform instructional strategies to be used in similar circumstances and to inform best practices in online pedagogy.

Method: Online surveys were administered to students and faculty near the end of the semester to evaluate different aspects of the transition. Classes included in the study were scheduled as full-semester, on-campus classes but made an emergency switch to online post-spring break, after eight weeks.

Results: Students’ and faculty’s comfort levels at the time …

Equitable Mathematics Classroom Discourse, Liza Bondurant

Journal of Practitioner Research

In this article the author shares a self-study investigation into how the quality of talk and opportunities to participate are distributed across individual students based on race and gender in her college math class. Readers will learn how to conduct a similar investigation in their classroom. A discussion of ways to use the information gathered from equitable mathematics classroom discourse investigations will follow.

A Psychologist’S Perspective For Coordinating Interdisciplinary Courses, Amanda L. Almond

Publications and Research

Developing a student evaluation for interdisciplinary teaching revealed a clearer goal for interdisciplinary course assessment. This chapter summarizes how interdisciplinary course assessment is a cooperative and reflexive process. Using professional judgment and a working group of peers, interdisciplinary courses maintain their integrity through regular reviews. A reflection on experiences with team-teaching, guest lecturing, and learning-communities is also included. Best practices for interdisciplinary course maintenance and concepts of validity are applied to the debate between evaluation and assessment methods. By fostering transparency, accountability, and peer-led critiques, interdisciplinary learning objectives within courses are sustained each semester. Recognizing concerns regarding evaluation, flexible approaches …

Learning Places: Place-Based Learning In An Interdisciplinary Approach To Undergraduate Research, Jason Montgomery

Publications and Research

High-impact educational practices outlined by the Association of American Colleges and Universities give faculty a toolkit of specific practices that current research identifies as having particular effectiveness in student engagement and learning in the 21st century. Included in this list of effective practices is undergraduate research. While this high-impact educational practice is most often associated with the sciences, it has wider applicability to undergraduate learning where the methods of research can integrate synergistic strategies that further enhance student engagement and learning: place-based learning and interdisciplinary teaching. In this chapter, these two compelling approaches to higher education are presented as …

Which Role Shall I Perform? The Doctoral Experience Of Women, Aviva Vincent, Megan Weber, Danielle Sabo

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Doctoral women experience disparities in self-efficacy, degree completion, and mental fatigue compared to men-identified colleagues. Women pursuing doctorates express hardships mirroring those reported in the 1970s. Applied qualitative methodology yielded emergent themes, contextualized by the frameworks of role theory and academic resilience theory. The experiences shared by the women in this study support that the expectations of women regarding the doctoral process do not align with the situational reality, specifically regarding imposter syndrome, mentorship, family-planning, financial support, and social expectations. Recommendations for departments and universities are provided to create a more just experience.

People Look At You A Little Bit Differently: Self-Authorship And The Homegoing Experiences Of First-Generation College Students Of Color, Michelle Boettcher, Stacy Dillard, Kimbell Dobbins, Keenan Jones, Nick Lang, Hailey Palmer, Esther Philip, Kierra Richmond, Dylan Wilkes, Wen Xi

New York Journal of Student Affairs

First-generation college (FGC) students represent 56% of college students in the United States (RTI International, 2019). Studies on the role FGC family in students’ campus experiences by Covarrubias et al. (2015) along with Orbe’s (2008) work on the role of culture in FGC identity development provide a foundation for understanding FGC experiences. The role of FGC self-authorship (Carpenter & Peña, 2017) on campus also helps support FGC student success. Unexamined are FGC students’ homegoing experiences in their communities of origin. This study helps fill a void in the literature about FGC students’ experiences in their home communities through the voices …

Nature Of Problem-Solving Skills For 21st Century Stem Learners: What Teachers Need To Know, Paul Nnanyereugo Iwuanyanwu

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Since the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution which calls for a new model of learning for the twenty-first century learners, it has been argued that the nature of problems that learners must solve in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) must also be transformed to enable new forms of learning skills that are needed to tackle complex global challenges. However, the question of how best to teach these skills purposefully and explicitly is largely overlooked. STEM education reformers recognize that the lecture method or traditional method of teaching is highly ineffective for teaching twenty-first century competencies and skills that …

The Reality Of Teaching Practice At An-Najah National University And Al-Quds Open University From The Students-Teachers’ Perspectives, Tefl Majors, Ahmed Raba'

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

This study aimed at investigating the reality of teaching practice at An-Najah National University and Al-Quds Open University from the students-teachers’ perspectives, TEFL Majors. To achieve this aim, the researchers used a 40-item questionnaire which was classified into four domains including the co-operation of the cooperating school, the effectiveness of the university supervisor, evaluating the students-teachers and the suitability of the theoretical content for the school practical issues. The sample of study consisted of 84 male and female students-teachers, selected randomly from An-Najah National University and Al-Quds Open University. This number shapes (68.3%) of the total population. In collecting and …

Life-Long Benefits Of Studying Abroad, Ellora Olsen

Library Research Prize Student Works

9 AM in Tokyo, Japan is when instead of being a commuter, you get to be a sardine. Physically crammed into the train with hundreds of other people, you better be prepared to get comfortable (or uncomfortable, if we’re being honest) for your hour-long ride, with skyscrapers as far as the eye can see zipping past. It may not be the most enjoyable, but it is one of those experiences where a person stops feeling like a tourist and starts feeling like one of the natives. Studying abroad does that, it is a unique time when students can do more …

November 2020 The Humanities At Otterbein: A Newsletter Of The Humanities Advisory Committee, Humanities Advisory Committee

The Humanities at Otterbein: A Newsletter of the Humanities Advisory Committee

HAC Grants and Opportunities for Spring 2021. News from Courtright Memorial Library.Faculty Scholarship: Summer 2020 Writing Projects.

Lowering Perceived Stress Levels In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Caitlin Dodd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project analyzed the effects of guided meditations and a stress management class on undergraduate, prelicensure nursing students’ perceived stress levels. College students and professional nurses are both susceptible to having high stress levels. Mindfulness activities have been shown to lower stress levels. Undergraduate, prelicensure nursing students participated in this project determining the effects of guided meditations and a stress management class on perceived stress levels in a quantitative, pre- and postinterventional study. Participants in the project completed a stress management class and 18 guided meditation sessions in an undergraduate classroom setting. The researcher used the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) …

An Evaluation Of The Impact Of Professional Development On Accessibility To Online Courses By Students With Special Needs At A Regional Four-Year Public Institution Of Higher Education In West Texas, Dallas Anne Swafford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evaluation research, including qualitative and quantitative data, was used in this study to determine the impact of professional development on online courses’ accessibility by students with disabilities. The study focused on online courses and course content. Data collection took place in phases and included self-paced, online professional development and one-on-one support sessions, a pre- and postsurvey, and a focus group interview. The study took place at a regional 4-year public institution of higher education in West Texas. Change theory emerged as the primary theoretical lens guiding the research as the study unfolded.

Doctoral Student Online Learning: Addressing Challenges Of The Virtual Experience, Dejuanna M. Parker, Kent Willis, Barbara D. Holmes

Education Doctorate Faculty Works

Doctoral student attrition is a major problem in higher education. This qualitative study sought to understand student beliefs and perceived confidence levels in a primarily online professional doctoral degree in education. Before accessing course material and formal instruction, respondents assigned scores to a Likert-style survey and answered open-ended questions about their understanding of basic educational research methodology. The rise of distance education follows the rapid growth of technological advancement. Yet, much is still unknown about pedagogical practices that contribute to improved learning outcomes for students in the virtual environment. Themes that emerged from this study suggest that (1) student expectations …

Factors That Influence Emirati Male Achievement In Higher Education, Melvin (Jai) Jackson, Kaitlin M. Jackson

Journal of Research Initiatives

The success of Emirati male students in higher education is one filled with positive interactions between the students, faculty, and staff. The influence of faculty in the success of Emirati males is vital to the overall curricular success of this student population. The strong cultural ties to seeking out elders for guidance and influence is easily replicated on college and university campuses. In this manuscript we examine the history of education in the Middle East from its inception to the meteoric rise of higher education. Through examining the past and present education we will explore how the cultural and societal …

Your Ir Is Not Enough: Exploring Publishing Options In Our Increasingly Fragmented Digital World, Adam Blackwell

Charleston Library Conference

When people talk about the downside of open access publishing, they typically focus on things like high article processing charges and the difficulties that arise in differentiating between reputable peer-reviewed journals and low-quality journals from predatory publishers. But when OA publishing is equated with making articles and other academic content available exclusively via OA sites like (most) institutional repositories, there is arguably an even more serious downside: the effective quarantining of scholarly research.

We’ll explore how institutional mandates to promote a library’s IR sometimes override a researcher’s desire to make research available to peers via Google Scholar and other common …

When You Don’T Know What You Don’T Know: How Two New Collections Librarians Right-Sized A Collections Budget, Cara M. Cadena, Marcia Lee

Charleston Library Conference

Due to impending campus-wide downsizing, the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Libraries projected that a worst-case scenario would result in a 14% cut to the library’s collections budget for fiscal year 2020. In the same year, GVSU Libraries welcomed several new members of its leadership team, including the dean, two associate deans, head of systems, head of collections, business administrator, and a vacancy after the long-time acquisitions manager retired. Budget cuts and staff turnover are tough, but they prompted a much-needed reassessment of roles, culture, and priorities in the library. Different approaches to spending and curating the library’s collections were …

What Are Students Saying About Their Reference Needs?, Damon Zucca

Charleston Library Conference

Libraries and publishers rely on transactional data to support evidence-based decision making. However, by itself quantitative information does not provide a full picture. To anticipate the evolving needs of our audience we also need to hear from the individual users themselves. In this article, I will review the findings from several recent examples survey-based research into the question of how students use reference materials in and outside of their libraries. What are students actually saying about their needs and preferences when it comes to reference? While some uses cases for reference are moving out of the library into the open …

The Use Of Wayfinding Apps By Deafblind Travelers In An Urban Environment: Insights From Focus Groups, Amy T. Parker, Martin Swobodzinski, Tara Brown-Ogilvie, Jenna Beresheim-Kools

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This brief report explores qualitative themes from focus groups with nine individuals who are Deafblind regarding their use of wayfinding apps to support orientation and mobility in an urban environment. Culturally responsive approaches to the design of the focus groups integrated the partnership with Deafblind communication facilitators and ProTactile approaches to solicit naturalistic inquiry on the experiences and preferences of Deafblind travelers. Thematic emergences suggest that participants benefit from various wayfinding apps for orientation and mobility in a densely populated city but they desire greater functionality, consistency of access, equity, and recognition of the unique travel demands faced by Deafblind …

Book Review: Media And Moral Education. A Philosophy Of Critical Engagement., Cheryl L. Brown

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Media and moral education tackles the topic of how we educate young people to live and learn in a digital world through the adoption of a moral standpoint. This is a particularly pertinent issue for educators as the digital world is fraught with pitfalls and challenges and in many contexts educators and educational institutions fall short of dealing with the complexities of digital literacy and digital citizenship directly. We have moved beyond the issue of accessibility to information and media, to the need to focus on the ability to seek, analyse and critically evaluate and apply information and media content …

Burnout: Why Are Teacher Educators Reaching Their Limits?, Tiffany Coyle, Erica V. Miller, Christa Rivera Cotto

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Burnout among our P-12 teachers has been well documented throughout the years. Yet, little research has been conducted into the burnout of higher education professionals in general. Lackritz (2004) found that emotional exhaustion is significantly and positively related to teaching load, grading, office hours, grant money, service time, and number of service activities. This research looks further into the variables that may impact burnout for higher education faculty, specifically in teacher education, seeking to answer the questions: Are teacher educators in NY experiencing stress/burnout? If so, what internal and/or external factors/conditions are contributing to their burnout? And are specific groups …