Innovative Higher Education最新文献

Motivated and effective leadership is necessary for college and university presidents and even more paramount at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), given the significant impact that these institutions have on Black lives and overall equity in the nation. Using Greenleaf's (1970) servant leadership model as a guiding framework, we examine why aspiring leaders want to lead and serve HBCUs. Based on interviews with 26 aspiring Black leaders, our findings revealed that being a graduate of an HBCU, the impact of the HBCU experience, an interest in paying the HBCU experience forward and believing in the HBCU mission are factors that contribute to why aspiring leaders want to become HBCU presidents. Based on our findings, we provide concrete recommendations for future researchers and practitioners.

Common intellectual experiences (CIEs) are one of the lesser-known modalities that have been identified as a high impact practice (HIP) in higher education. This mixed-methods study assesses the outcomes of a short-term CIE, which took the form of a multi-disciplinary, multi-classroom case study focused on Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality group (the titular Top Chief), and his handling of the challenges faced by the hospitality industry under the conditions of the global pandemic. The findings suggest that such CIEs can be effective in fostering integrative thinking both within and across curricula, though the benefits may not accrue equally across all student populations. The study has implications for how universities develop and diversify their HIP portfolios, how faculty implement CIEs in their classrooms, and how students develop their capabilities as wicked problem solvers.

Learning communities for college students have been shown to improve first-year student outcomes and narrow equity gaps, but longer-term data to evaluate whether these benefits persist through multi-year retention and graduation are rare. This is especially important for students in science, technology, engineering and math, who often confront gateway courses and challenging academic cultures in their second and subsequent years. Here, we report on the second, third, and fourth year academic outcomes of three cohorts of a first-year placed-based learning community. Relative to a reference group, participants in the learning community generally showed similar grade acquisition in second- and third-year STEM courses, and initially higher GPAs for learning community participants later diminished to be statistically indistinguishable from the reference group. Nonetheless, units completed after one, two, and three years were slightly higher for learning community participants than for the reference group, and with narrower equity gaps. The learning community also increased and narrowed equity gaps in second- and third-year retention at the institution and in STEM specifically (+6 to +17%). Four-year graduation rates from the institution and in STEM specifically also increased (+8 to +17%), but equity gaps were only narrowed slightly. These results suggest that while benefits of first-year learning communities on grades decline over time, benefits for retention and graduation can persist, though they are insufficient to erase equity gaps. Future work should examine how scaffolding practices in students' second and third years can better sustain and even magnify inclusive success improvements initiated by first year learning communities.

Most postsecondary instructors in the United States require students to use textbooks in their courses; however, the cost of commercial materials has increased, and copyright policies impede sharing, editing, and customizations of materials. The current study aimed to examine faculty motivation to adopt Open Educational Resources (OER) and how OER use relates to effective teaching practices. Survey data from 469 professors, instructors, lecturers, and research scientists were analyzed using structural equation modeling, which found that autonomous motivation (engagement with OER textbooks based on enjoyment, value) was the strongest positive predictor of current and future OER textbook use. However, use of OER textbooks was not related to self-reported teaching success. The results of this study contribute to better understanding faculty perceptions of and motivation for OER textbook use, along with informing OER adoption initiatives at postsecondary institutions.

This paper presents the main findings of a qualitative research project. The aim of the research was to explore undergraduate students' perceived knowledge acquisition and awareness of the Holocaust, after visiting Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The qualitative study (focus groups & semi-structured questionnaires) involved three cohorts of students and lecturers from a university in the North West of England. The participants visited the Holocaust-related sites in Poland from 2016 to 2019. Findings indicate that students' who actively engaged in visits to Holocaust related sites developed knowledge and awareness of the Holocaust. For many participants, this knowledge and awareness was facilitated via a reflective process that enabled empathic connection between these historical events and the students. The study also highlighted practical strategies that could be implemented to enhance the experience for future cohorts of undergraduate students visiting holocaust related sites. By adding to the limited literature on Holocaust education with undergraduate students, the study highlighted the importance and directions for future research in this area to inform future pedagogic practice.

The present study explores the impact of smartphone use on course comprehension and the psychological well-being of students during class. Students in four classes (N = 106) were assigned to either a control group or quasi-experimental group. Students in the quasi-experimental group were instructed to place their smartphones on the front desk upon entering the class, while the control group had no instructions regarding smartphone use. Students filled out a brief survey about their course comprehension and psychological state (anxiety and mindfulness) during class. Results indicated that students whose smartphones were physically removed during class had higher levels of course comprehension, lower levels of anxiety, and higher levels of mindfulness than the control group. This study gives a comprehensive picture of the impact of smartphone use on students' psychological well-being in the classroom. The findings can aide educators in curriculum design that reduces technology use in order to improve the student learning experience.

Doctoral students in education-related fields are required to take graduate level statistics courses and often face anxiety and negative attitudes about taking these courses. Using a mixed methods survey research design (N = 95), this study explored students' experiences with statistics anxiety and how course instructors can support them to mitigate statistics anxiety and improve attitudes. Analyses of quantitative survey data found that students who had never taken a statistics course before beginning their doctoral program, and students that had completed less doctoral coursework had higher negative attitudes towards learning statistics; and older students had higher statistics anxiety. Plans to use research in the future predicted more positive attitudes and lower statistics anxiety. Analysis of qualitative survey data found that students: (1) expressed that their attitude towards learning statistics was very important and played a big role in how they approached their coursework; (2) considered their plans to use research skills in the future as motivation to learn statistics; and (3) believed that their instructors' attitudes and instructional practices supported learning and decreased statistics anxiety. This study has implications for how statistics and research methods courses are taught in higher education, and how the experiences of graduate students in education may have lasting implications for research use in Prek-12 education settings.

This critical qualitative study illuminates how racially minoritized LGBTQ + faculty in the field of higher education navigate racist and heterosexist systems, leading to inordinate challenges related to tenure and promotion and deteriorating health and well-being. This system of higher education fosters isolation, hostility, racial battle fatigue, and LGBTQ + erasure offering limited support, negative institutional environments, and insufficient mentoring for faculty with multiple minoritized identities. With intersectionality as the theoretical foundation of this research, three themes emerged from the data including problematizing productivity, exposing tokenization, and the costs of staying in the academy. I posit that refusal is a necessary strategy for racially minoritized LGBTQ + faculty who navigate the neoliberal institution.

This study focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on research and scholarship at a research university in the United States. Building on studies in higher education policy, we conceptualized the COVID-19 pandemic as a 'wicked problem' that is complex, nonlinear, unique, and requiring urgent solutions. Wicked problems highlight pre-existing struggles, and therefore, recent challenges in higher education inform the methods and the findings of this study. Qualitative and quantitative survey data from 408 faculty, staff, and students explicate the reasons for reduced research output and adaptations made for increased or sustained productivity, health, and wellness that influenced research activities. The analysis showed that most respondents experienced reduced productivity mostly due to increased work responsibilities, limited access to research fields, and inadequate resources. Despite self-reported reduced productivity, participants from the University we studied experienced increases in funding during the pandemic. Thus, the findings also reported on the adaptations for sustained or increased productivity. These included new research pursuits, participation in conference and learning opportunities across geographic regions, and purchase of computer equipment/accessories for home offices. A small percentage of respondents mentioned improved health and well-being; however, many linked reduced research activities to health and well-being issues such as anxiety and fear about the pandemic and being overwhelmed due to work and home-life expectations. Knowledge of the challenges and opportunities presented within the first year of the pandemic can provide a basis for solutions to wicked problems higher education may face in the future.

This article reports findings from a study of laboratory-styled humanities undergraduate research (UR) programming designed to increase access to this high-impact practice, better reaching historically excluded students and less visible institutions. The Humanities Collaboratory (HLAB) is a ten-week summer research program that emerged from the partnership of a research university and the area community college system. Aimed at actively addressing educational inequity, and the more specific lack of access humanities students have to impactful UR opportunities, HLAB offers an intensive humanities research experience to first-generation students, low-income students, and Students of Color currently enrolled in two-year colleges, HBCUs, MSIs, and HSIs. Since the program's creation in 2018, qualitative data collected from 50 participating students over three years of self-evaluations illustrates why HLAB presents a significant learning opportunity for students and highlights the critical importance of relationship-building in UR. Analyzing students' responses through the heuristic of communities of practice provides insight into a community-focused UR pedagogy that emphasizes relationality among students, mentors, and institutions. Students detail the importance of collaborative skill-building, opportunities for peer support, networking connections, and possibilities for more holistic personal growth in UR experiences. Our findings describing the benefits of relational UR signal the need for cooperative programming designs that increase access to undergraduate research for humanities students across institutions of higher education.