ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Repurposing Digital Devices: Using Poll Everywhere as a Vehicle for Classroom Participation
Author: Anderson, Christopher J. E.
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Handheld Devices,Telecommunications,Audience Response Systems,Class Activities,Technology Uses in Education,College Instruction,Student Participation,College Students

Introverted individuals may find dread or actively avoid oral participation while, inadvertently, extroverted students may dominate discussion for the sake of moving forward, giving quieter students unspoken permission to remain silent or, worse, not pay attention. Developing participation activities using digital devices for participation can help with this issue. Ultimately, objectives for utilizing such activities should be to increase participation, increase comfort communicating in a variety of contexts, and add to the ways digital devices integrate into classrooms to enhance learning outcomes. The activity presented in this article utilizes real-time polling applications such as Poll Everywhere (https://www.polleverywhere.com). Poll Everywhere requires the use of text messages, or Twitter. The function is similar to viewer participation on reality shows such as American Idol where viewers text information individually and anonymously to a specific telephone number to cast votes, answer questions, or offer opinions. Results appear on a displayed screen within moments.
How Individual Experiential Backgrounds Are Related to the Development of Employability among University Students
Author: Eimer, Andreas
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Employment Potential,Career Development,First Generation College Students,Student Experience,Student Characteristics,Student Participation,Athletics,Student Volunteers,Self Efficacy,Research Universities,Correlation,Foreign Countries

University students have different backgrounds and varied experiences. This diversity has frequently been examined with regard to performance in Higher Education. However, much less attention has been paid to its significance concerning employability. The investigation of this potential relationship is the focus of this study. In this research, 429 students at a German university were assessed on the strength of their employability, which here is defined as a multi-factorial construct. The Career Resources Questionnaire (CRQ) was used (Hirschi et al., 2019) which is a comprehensive instrument that analyses the self-assessed strength of twelve essential career resources amongst respondents. The results were then related to several individual preconditions: existing or non-existing commitment to voluntary work, sporting activity or sporting inactivity and being a first-generation student (FGS) or a continuing-generation student (CGS). These characteristics were chosen, because they are commonly represented in the student population. In addition, some socio-economic implications are discussed. Significant differences were found between the participant groups. Some results correspond with the findings of existing studies, others lead to new explanatory approaches. Based on the overall findings, recommendations for career counselling as well as for seminars in career orientation are given. For example, students' experiences outside the university environment can be used in career counselling to strengthen perceived employability or a supportive approach to first-generation students can lead to the development of career-related strengths.
Considering the Effects of Assignment Choices on Equity Gaps
Author: Hobbs, Harriet T.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grades (Scholastic),College Students,Assignments,Grading,Minority Group Students,Disproportionate Representation,Achievement Gap,Equal Education,College Transfer Students,Academic Achievement

This paper examines students' patterns of success in classes with high DFW rates at a research-intensive university. We investigated whether certain assignment types were associated with inequitable grade distributions for underrepresented minority (URM) and transfer students and whether assignment grade patterns were similar to final grade patterns. Across eight classes, 745 students' grades were analyzed from 27 assignments including tests, papers, projects, homework, and oral reports. In every class, URM students received lower final grades than non-URM students, and transfer students received lower final grades than non-transfer students. In five classes, different patterns of equity emerged across different assignment types and different groups of students. These findings support the importance of going beyond the disaggregation of final grades by disaggregating grades on individual assignments, and the need to develop institutional practices that examine the presence of equity gaps in the classroom.
Relevance of Selected Social Science Degree Programs on Skills Development and Graduate Employability in Zambia
Author: Mwelwa, Kapambwe
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Sciences,Bachelors Degrees,College Seniors,College Graduates,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Employer Attitudes,Stakeholders,Employment Potential,Job Skills,21st Century Skills,Career Readiness,Education Work Relationship,Relevance (Education),Labor Needs,Labor Market,Skill Development,Foreign Countries

A pragmatic approach was used to explore the extent to which four selected social science degree programs were relevant for the skill needs of the job market in Zambia. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 162 participants using interviews and questionnaires. The SPSS version 24 and Atlas. Ti Version 8 were used to analyse and interpret data within the framework of the Capability Approach. The findings reveal that the relevance of each of the four social science degree programs depend on how key stakeholders in higher education and the labour market perceive them and that graduate employability was affected by factors such as the need and importance of social sciences to the labour market; employer and student perceptions of employability skills in the degree programs; demand for the programs; graduate work readiness, and the availability of graduate job prospects. It could be concluded that although all four social science degree programs were important, their relevance to the needs of Zambia's labour market varied from program to program.
Experiential Learning Student Surveys: Indirect Measures of Student Growth
Author: Walker, John P.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Experiential Learning,Student Surveys,Student Evaluation,Scoring Rubrics,College Students,Construct Validity,Outcomes of Education,Factor Analysis,Pretests Posttests

Kolb's experiential learning cycle theorizes the process of learning through a hands-on experience. Although the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&amp;U) Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubrics provide a direct measure of the qualities of this learning cycle, few indirect measures have been developed to accompany the rubrics and the learning cycle. This paper aims to demonstrate construct validity and measurement invariance of pre-experience and post-experience surveys intended to measure undergraduate students' perception of learning in an experiential learning context. Construct validity and longitudinal measurement invariance were examined through a confirmatory factor analysis. Findings suggest the instruments provide an adequate measure of students' perceptions of learning. In addition, partial scalar measurement invariance was achieved supporting the ability to compare growth between surveys. The survey instruments serve as strong indirect measures of Experience Learning Student Learning Outcomes. These indirect measures, coupled with direct measures, provide evidence of learning through hands-on experiences, however evidence of growth is less robust.
Pushing Forward While Treading Water: Things You Can Do to Help Your School in Times of Uncertainty
Author: Fontichiaro, Kristin
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Libraries,Librarians,COVID-19,Pandemics,Elementary Secondary Education,Best Practices,Distance Education,Web Based Instruction,Library Services,Library Instruction,Library Materials

This time has been particularly tough on school librarians, who have worked to develop connections with students and teachers and leverage physical collections. With new variants of the virus emerging, the coming months and years may be more of a game of whack-a-mole as the country tries to conquer some versions of the virus and others pop up. Unfortunately, some experts predict that pandemic-era workarounds may be for years (Scudellari 2020). A school librarian's interactions with students, teachers, and administrators might be socially distanced off and on for some time, but there are still ripe opportunities to influence teaching and learning. Many librarians viewed their work performance over the last year and a half through what they did not accomplish and not what they did. This article's goal is to help them refocus and prioritize impactful activities.
Shifting from Alignment to Transformation: Crosswalk to Graduation Core Competency Development
Author: Tucker, Constance R.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Competence,Behavioral Objectives,Research Universities,Health Sciences,Alignment (Education),Competency Based Education

In an effort to create a meaningful but reduced set of institutional core competencies, the Oregon Health &amp; Science University (OHSU) Core Competency Project was developed. This paper reviews the importance of core competencies as a unifying institutional tool to examine equitable outcomes for all learners across schools and programs and to meet the expectations of external accreditors. Researchers utilized textual analysis to collect data from 60+ accreditors' guidelines and constant comparative analysis to interpret the data. The results of the study highlight a data-informed approach to competency development that engages stakeholders and provides an approach for other institutions to consider. This research study occurred in the midst of community calls for social justice and during a global pandemic, and these social contexts impacted the study in significant ways. It is from a process of rigorous debate paired with passionate calls for change that meaningful core competency definitions emerged. Researchers conclude by reflecting on the lessons learned from core competency development in times of crisis.
A More Efficient Path to Learning Improvement: Using Repositories of Effectiveness Studies to Guide Evidence-Informed Programming
Author: Finney, Sara J.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evidence Based Practice,Clearinghouses,Educational Research,Higher Education,Educational Improvement

Identifying evidence-informed programming (e.g., strategies, activities, pedagogies) facilitates both the intentional offering of programming that should &quot;work&quot; and the use of the outcomes assessment process to evaluate program effectiveness. Evidence-informed programming is more efficient than unsupported programming because the programming is more likely to improve learning and development. Thus, faculty and student affairs professionals require fewer iterations of the assessment cycle to inform programming changes in order to achieve desired outcomes. To help locate evidence-informed programming, we describe systematic review repositories (e.g., &quot;Campbell Collaboration,&quot; &quot;What Works Clearinghouse&quot;) that synthesize high-quality research to identify &quot;what works&quot;. We share a tool we created that organizes relevant systematic review repositories and other collections of evidence of effectiveness, providing numerous examples of evidence-informed programming pertinent to higher education. These resources aid faculty and student affairs professionals in achieving their ethical obligation to engage students in effective learning and development experiences.
Psychometric Properties of the Faculty Encouragement Scale with First-Year Engineering Undergraduate Students
Author: Hsu, Hsien-Yuan
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Construction,Psychometrics,College Freshmen,College Faculty,Teacher Student Relationship,Verbal Communication,Persuasive Discourse,Correlation,Academic Persistence,Self Efficacy,Measures (Individuals),Engineering Education,Public Colleges,Suburban Schools,Student Attitudes

A Faculty Encouragement Scale (FES) was created to measure students' perception of faculty encouragement (challenge-focused and potential-focused encouragement) in college. This paper reports the psychometric properties of scores from the FES using a sample of 237 first-year engineering undergraduate students in a suburban public university. Analyses were conducted in both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) frameworks, where CFA constrains all cross-loadings to be zero, but ESEM estimates all cross-loadings. Both CFA and ESEM analyses suggested two-factor models had better goodness-of-fit than one-factor models. However, we discovered a high factor correlation in CFA model that could result from forced-zero cross-loadings. We chose the ESEM model over CFA model because the estimate of factor correlation in CFA model might be inflated. Moreover, we found one item was closely loaded on both encouragement factors. Considering a high communality of this item, we did not suggest a further revision.
Classroom-Produced Journals: Integrating Undergraduate Research into the Curriculum and Publishing Scholarship through the Institutional Repository
Author: Miller, A.
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Student Research,Periodicals,College Curriculum,Class Activities,Student Projects,Librarian Teacher Cooperation,Active Learning,Advanced Courses,Research Papers (Students),Academic Libraries

Writing skills are an important part of a student's academic success. Literature suggests that incorporating research into the undergraduate curriculum will not only strengthen their academic writing, but also the quality of the academic experience (Ho, 2011). Thus, allowing students to be active participants through an entire research lifecycle will not only enhance the curriculum but increase student engagement. The research lifecycle, including publication, requires both individual and group based efforts and both are essential to producing a classroom-produced journal. Class-based projects such as this can introduce students to methodologies surrounding original research (Matty, 2005). For publishing research, this includes identifying, evaluating and analyzing an issue and then interpreting and disseminating the results. Not only will students still write the traditional student research paper individually, but the class as a group, will create a professional journal issue that is preserved and indexed in a real online repository. Many studies have shown writing skills have improved due to the back-and-forth nature of journal writing, an aspect of the publication process that is not typically a part of the curriculum or assignment. This article describes how an upper level undergraduate course can enhance the student experience and academic output by creating a professional journal as the semester's culminating class-project. There are many benefits to a class producing and experiencing the research lifecycle through a genuine publication: (1) Students feel pride in their journal being accessible online, in catalogs, search engines, etc., where their work is discoverable by others; (2) Students gain a sense of ownership of their individually authored works that pass the peer-review and editorial decision process of the journal; (3) Identify with being more than just a student, but also a researcher, editor, reviewer, author, etc.; (4) Develop a heightened sense of the research and publication process; and (5) Stimulates higher quality research due to competitive selection of articles to be published.
Co-Requisite Remediation: A Pilot Study on Expanding the Placement Range into Co-Requisite Courses
Author: Childers, Annie
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Remedial Mathematics,Required Courses,Student Placement,College Students,College Mathematics

Different developmental mathematics programs are offered at various institutions across the United States. Many vary from state to state, and even college to college within states. One of the designs that has emerged as a frontrunner is the co-requisite model. This pilot study builds on previous success of the model by exploring the effect of pass rates when the placement range for co-requisite courses is expanded. The goal is for the pilot results to help indicate whether or not more students should place directly into the co-requisite model, bypassing the prerequisite stand alone. Results are promising, and continue to show success for this model.
The Correlation between Extracurricular STEM Activities and Students with Disabilities
Author: Fisher, Karin
Date: 2017-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Correlation,Extracurricular Activities,STEM Education,Students with Disabilities,Science Education,Grade 8,Science Achievement,Standardized Tests,Learning Disabilities,Science Activities,Student Participation,Symptoms (Individual Disorders),Middle School Students

Students with disabilities perform below their non-disabled peers in science (National Science Foundation, 2015). The purpose of the exploratory research was to determine if informal science learning activities offered in Florida districts make a difference on the performance of students with disabilities (SWD) on the 2015 8th grade Florida science assessment using quasi-experimental research methods. After determining a statistically significant difference does exist on the difference between students with and without disabilities on the 8th Grade Florida Science Assessment, the researcher determined if STEM personnel track the number of students with disabilities who participate in STEM activities. The number and types of STEM activities were collected by district. Lastly, the researcher determined there was a small correlation between SWD performance on the Science assessment and the number of STEM activities offered in each district.
The Importance of Extracurricular STEM Activities for Students with Disabilities
Author: Fisher, Karin
Date: 2017-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Extracurricular Activities,Informal Education,After School Programs,Clubs,STEM Education,Disproportionate Representation,Students with Disabilities,Skill Development,Job Skills,Soft Skills,Science Careers,Self Efficacy,Self Advocacy,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Equal Education

Students with disabilities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers (National Science Foundation, 2015). The underrepresentation is a problem because the nation's competitiveness depends on diverse individuals with STEM knowledge, skills, and abilities to drive innovation that will need to new products and economic growth (Business higher Education Forum/A Policy Brief, 2014; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016; National Science Board, 2016). The author discusses the importance of engaging students with disabilities in informal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics activities.
Using Primary Sources in STEM Education: An Example
Author: Pfiester, Josh
Date: 2017-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Primary Sources,STEM Education,Instructional Materials,Preservice Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Hands on Science

Primary sources are original artifacts from the past that can used to understand an event or time period. They are customarily only thought of in the realm of historical thinking. That is unfortunate because they can also be considered in terms of scientific, economic, cultural, and mathematical thinking. While primary sources are increasingly taking more prominent roles in the social studies and history classrooms, they are still very rare in other disciplines. This paper describes how primary sources gathered from the Library of Congress were situated in a larger STEM lesson focusing on the challenges faced by WWI veteran amputees. Lesson reflection found that with sufficient scaffolding and other support, primary sources make an excellent resource for STEM teachers. Further, STEM and primary sources make natural partners in teaching and learning because they both have an interdisciplinary nature and tend be applied to real world situations.
The Progesterone Receptor -- To Be or Not to Be: The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Progesterone in RAW 264.7 Cells
Author: Brandon, Christopher I., Jr.
Date: 2017-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Biochemistry,Cytology,Inhibition,Physiology

It has been widely established that, in addition to its role in reproduction, progesterone (P4) also has potent anti-inflammatory effects. While the precise mechanisms have never been clearly elucidated in RAW 246.7 cells, it seems logical to assume that this response is -- at least in part -- a consequence of activation of and signaling through the progesterone receptor (P4-R). However, it has recently been shown that in a rat model, this anti-inflammatory effect is -- in fact -- independent of the progesterone receptor. In this project, the aim was to characterize this response by assaying nitric oxide production from lipopolysaccharide-challenged RAW 264.7 cells and ascertain the involvement of the P4-R. To determine the contribution of the receptor, RAW cells were incubated in the presence and absence of RU-486 -- a potent P4-R antagonist. Our results indicate that the anti-inflammatory response of progesterone was in fact through the activation of the P4-R as cells incubated in RU-486 show an approximate 60% reversal of the inhibitory effect of P4 as compared to cells incubated in the absence of the antagonist. However, because we did not observe a complete reversal, suggests that perhaps other receptors come into play which will be addressed in future studies.
&quot;I Got Confused Reading It&quot;: Using Backchannels to Collaboratively Build Meaning with Texts
Author: Seglem, Robyn
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Computer Mediated Communication,Discussion,Reader Response,Undergraduate Students,Reader Text Relationship,Computer Uses in Education

This study explores the use of backchannels, real-time online conversations taking place simultaneously with spoken discussions (the front channel), as one approach to meaning-making through discussion. Using transcripts of front and backchannel discussions, we examine how undergraduate preservice teachers utilize backchannels to talk about class-assigned texts. Although previous research has suggested that backchannels can create distractions, our study found that participants within the backchannel groups were able to create meaning through their interactions. We used five types of talk (analytic, personal, intertextual, transparent, and performative) to aid in our analysis. While we found evidence of all types of talk in the transcripts, analytical talk dominated the conversations, suggesting that backchannels can indeed encourage close readings of texts. In addition, we found that the nature of the online environment created a sixth category of talk. This type of talk, which we called negotiation, allowed participants in the backchannel to define and react to the digital space they interacted within. Findings point to increased engagement in class discussion and the potential of backchannels as a way to effectively integrate technology into instruction.