Practicing Place-based Responsibility

“Good luck on your first day as an assistant professor, Dr. Tanner! Have a great class!” On the wall above my desk, these words scream out from an otherwise encouraging note that is adorned with many exclamation points. This note has hung on my wall since my very first day as an Assistant Professor of Biology. As I was charging off to teach my first class, a senior faculty member who had been on my hiring committee slipped this note under my office door. In moments of pause years later, I still stare up at that note and breathe a sigh of relief that I had much more than luck to guide me on my first day as a college-level teacher. Although I continue to have much to learn—as all of us do no matter the number of years of teaching experience—I did arrive at the university with both formal and informal training in science education. I had had plenty of exposure to innovative pedagogical approaches, questioning strategies, and techniques for engaging diverse audiences in learning science. As a scientist educator, I had had the privilege of many years of collaboration with outstanding K–12 educators as well as a postdoctoral fellowship in science education. However, my training has been, to say the least, unconventional compared with that of my fellow junior faculty and unique in its preparation in regard to the teaching and learning of my discipline. It will not be news to anyone reading this article that university and college teaching is to a large extent a profession with no formal training. It’s startling but true that the majority of faculty members—and lecturers who often teach large numbers of students—have no formal training in the teaching and learning of their discipline. In fact, the hiring process in university science departments is structured primarily to evaluate a faculty candidate’s ability to be a productive researcher, with success measured in number of publications and magnitude of grant funds raised. Depending on the type of institution, for example, research university, state-level university, or liberal arts college, there may be a component of the faculty interview process that probes a candidate’s teaching ability, for example, requesting a statement of teaching philosophy and requiring the candidate to teach a sample lecture class. However, this sample lecture often screens for gross inadequacies, rather than looking for stellar innovations or pedagogical skills. This lack of formal, accredited training for university and college instructors stands in stark contrast to the requirements for a high school teacher who is charged with the education of students only a year junior to college freshmen. High school teachers in the United States must be credentialed as a secondary science teacher, demonstrate subject matter competency in every subject that they will be teaching, and must continually engage in professional development in the teaching and learning of their discipline throughout their career as a science teacher. With the 2002 federal No Child Left Behind legislation, the onus is upon each precollege science teacher to become “highly qualified” in terms of formal university-level training in science education. However, no such required professional training or measurable standards for teaching are required in institutions of higher education. Many policy documents have suggested standards of teaching practice in postsecondary science education (National Research Council, 1996, 1997; Siebert and McIntosh, 2001), but the extent of implementation of these ideals is unclear and has gone relatively unstudied, although national and regional accreditation boards do look at outcomes, asking colleges and universities to assess what their students have gained from four years of study at their institutions. Nonetheless, there is a striking reversal of accountability that happens when one crosses the precollege teaching to college-level teaching boundary (Table 1). During the K–12 school years, society expects K–12 teachers to be responsible for student learning. Salaries of teachers in many states are tied to student test scores, and poor student performance can potentially invoke penalties. At a college or university, several variables in the educational universe shift. Students are the ones responsible for learning. The evaluation and compensation of college-level teachers is not DOI: 10.1187/cbe.05–12–0132 Address correspondence to: Kimberly Tanner (kdtanner@sfsu.edu). CBE—Life Sciences Education Vol. 5, 1–6, Spring 2006

This research identifies important features of mathematics learning from the accounts of early school leavers. These students were enrolled in a Youth Reconnected Program at a Technical and Further Education [TAFE] college. Specifically, it examines the relationship between their experiences of mathematics learning in two different social contexts, the program and secondary school classrooms, the discourses and associated discursive practices of these two contexts, and the forms of identities of participation that are constructed in them. Drawing on a social theory of learning and critical discourse theory, the research identifies the processes by which membership in communities of learning is achieved and identities discursively constructed. It draws on the accounts of forty-three early school leavers and six staff members located in a Youth Reconnected Program, a program designed to re-engage early school leavers in education and or training, about their prior experiences of secondary school and their current experiences of TAFE. From these accounts, the thesis seeks to explicate their experiences of learning mathematics in both contexts and to consider the implications of different student experiences of learning for mathematics education. Critical discourse analysis provides the means for applying this framework to examine the discourses, discursive practices, identities, and forms of participation constructed in the accounts. It views the accounts as constituted by their social context. It shows how the language of the accounts works to construct particular versions of reality and how relations of power construct particular identities. It allows a richer qualitative exploration of the reported practices of mathematics classrooms with particular regard to linking the theoretical and practical concerns of this study. It makes transparent the relations between the social (including relations of power and domination), discourse, and discursive practice, thus enabling a more in-depth reading of the participants‘ accounts. Discourses about two different experiences of mathematics learning were identified—one about mathematics learning in the Youth Reconnected Program (TAFE) and the other about mathematics learning in secondary schools. The discourses and their associated discursive practices—differing application of instructional style, communication and interaction, source of authority, pace of instruction, grouping of students and assessment— were found to contribute significantly to the construction of particular student identities and forms of participation. Student experiences emphasised the importance of four characteristics for membership in a community of learners—mutual engagement, joint enterprise, shared repertoire and access. These characteristics and practices were shown to contribute substantially to the construction of identities of participation in mathematics learning for most of the students who participated in this study. There was strong evidence to indicate that small class sizes impacted significantly on student engagement and participation in learning. A crucial factor here rests with the role of the teachers and tutors and how, given the opportunities for reduced class size, they implement, sustain and maintain interactions with the students for effective teaching and learning to occur. If in this context, consistent interactions are provided that also includes clear and explicit explanations, discussion, and negotiation, students are more likely to maintain their interest and actively participate in mathematics learning. This study‘s significance is twofold. It lies in the critical importance of the issue it addresses—student participation in mathematics learning—and the articulation of a social theory of learning with critical discourse theory to enable a different and more effective understanding of the significance of discourses, identities and communities of participation in mathematics learning. Although the study cannot claim generalisability across other populations of learners or across all mathematics and TAFE classrooms because of the small select sample of early school leavers drawn upon, by highlighting these accounts of students‘ learning experiences in some mathematics classrooms and the TAFE program, and their associated experiences of them, it draws attention to a different perspective on mathematics learning. In this alternative framing, learning as a social process is contingent on access to the discourse of mathematics learning and the discursive practices that support learning, participation, and membership in a community of mathematics learners. An attention to the social processes of mathematics learning infers a significant role for mathematics teachers in enabling student access to certain discourses and communities of learning. Such a role is often neglected in current contexts of accountability that specify a focus on achieving syllabus outcomes.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, School of Accountancy invites applications from

This article outlines a cutting-edge pedagogy I have branded problem-based learning beyond borders, which I have employed in a wide variety of human rights courses and in developing curriculum for two graduate programs in human rights. It involves engaging students, faculty, and community members in real-world problems usually raised by the community members. This pedagogy could be employed successfully in a range of human rights courses and programs but faculty members are often reluctant to adopt a new pedagogy, especially when it involves shifting their pedagogical ethos. So here I offer a number of compelling examples of this pedagogy drawn from my human rights classes, and then I turn to the question of best practices for encouraging other human rights faculty members to adopt such cutting-edge active-learning pedagogies. I end with some practical advice that should be applicable when encouraging faculty to experiment with such innovative pedagogies.

Objectives – This study investigated the leisure reading habits and preferences of students, faculty, staff, and community members at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in order to determine if a leisure reading collection would fulfill a need and, if so, what form that collection should take to best serve the population. 
 
 Methods – This study, conducted in October 2010, consisted of a 19-question online questionnaire distributed to a random sample of UBC undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and community library users and an identical, open participation questionnaire for the entire UBC community, including staff and community members. In addition to some demographic information, the questionnaire gathered information about leisure reading habits, tendencies, and the participants’ preferences for a potential future leisure reading collection at UBC Library.
 
 Results – There were 467 valid responses out of 473 total responses received from UBC undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and community members. Of the valid responses, 244 were received from the 1,500 random sample invitations (a 16.3% response rate). Additionally, the questionnaire was advertised for open participation for those not invited, resulting in the remaining 229 responses. Results of this study indicated overwhelming support for a leisure reading collection at UBC Library, with 94% of respondents stating they might or would use a leisure reading collection. This study also revealed strong leisure reading habits among all response groups. However, only 6% of respondents currently acquire most of their leisure reading materials from UBC Library. Additional analysis found that UBC Library already owns 81% of the titles and authors requested by respondents in the survey.
 
 Conclusions – Based on the findings, the strong support for a leisure reading collection, and the fact that many UBC campus residents are not eligible for a free municipal public library card and borrowing privileges, there is a genuine need for a leisure reading collection at UBC Library. The data indicates that if accessible and convenient, a leisure reading collection could provide an opportunity for those who do not already read for leisure to do so. Additionally, a UBC Library leisure reading collection could attract community members, including those who are not UBC Library cardholders. In response to the results of the study, a pilot leisure reading collection was created in September 2011. This will make leisure reading materials easier to access and will allow the Library to further analyze the potential of such a collection, ultimately determining its future.

The Health Equity Advancement Lab (HEAL) at the University of Iowa College of Public Health began in 2012 to support students, researchers, and community members interested in tackling persistent health inequities through a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. Using concepts from critical consciousness theory, we developed an approach to building students', faculty members', and community partners' capacity to engage in CBPR to promote health equity that involved immersion in developing CBPR projects. Our paper describes the evolution of HEAL as a facilitating structure that provides a support network and engages diverse stakeholders in critical reflection as they participate in research to advance health equity, and resulting political efficacy and social action. We describe one HEAL-affiliated research project that employs a CBPR approach and has a strong focus on providing transformative learning experiences for students, faculty, and community members. We highlight challenges, successes, and lessons learned in the application of critical consciousness as a framework that engages diverse academic and community partners seeking to promote health equity. We argue that critical consciousness is a relevant theoretical framework to promote transformative learning among students, faculty, and community partners to promote health equity research in diverse communities.

This study aimed to investigate the structure of the latent factor of an anxiety symptoms scale (Pudrovska et al., 2001) and the stability of invariance across groups of international students' classifications (gender, students' current degree, and students' status).In the large, non-clinical sample (619), Saudi students as international students in the USA completed the anxiety symptom scale.Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the factor structure of the scale, and a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) model was used to test stability of invariance across groups of students' classifications.The findings of the CFA indicated support for the original one-factor model.Additional analyses of the MGCFA method support for the measurement (configural, metric and strong) invariant and practical invariant components of this model.There was an invariant across gender.The instrument appeared to measure the same constructs in both groups (male and female).However, there was partially invariant across groups of students' current degree.The instrument appeared to measure the same constructs in both groups (undergraduate students and graduate students), except for Item 3.Moreover, there was partially invariant across groups of students' status.The instrument appeared to measure the same constructs in both groups (single and married), except for Item 3 and 4. Given that this study is the first investigation for the structure of anxiety symptoms scale (Pudrovska et al., 2001), it will be important for future studies to replicate the findings.

The University of Texas at Austin (UT) is a large, research level I university. For the fall semester of 2009 the total UT enrollment increased to 51,032 students, an increase of 1,048 students (2.1%). At the same time the undergraduate enrollment increased by 2.2% to 38,168 (74.8% of the total student enrollment). Unquestionably, undergraduate education is important to the mission of the university. In September 2004, following two years of strategic planning, the UT Commission of 125 submitted a 25-year planning document to the president of the university. (See more information on the commission at www.utexas.edu/com125/.) Among the strategies proposed in the final report was the mandate to develop a new undergraduate core curriculum. Another response to the initiative was to form a School of Undergraduate Studies, created in 2006, to function at the official college-level unit. Fourteen of UT's colleges offer 333 degree plans, 123 of which are bachelor's degrees. In sum, the above initiatives underscore UT's commitment to the education of undergraduate students. So when did undergraduate library and information studies begin at the University of Texas at Austin? The first undergraduate service course focused on librarianship and information seeking was recorded in 1931, when the course, “School Library Work for Teacher Librarians” was added to the UT course inventory. Subsequently, the iSchool, formerly the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, offered multiple sections of a very popular, UT undergraduate staple, “Children's Literature.” The large lecture-style class (100–300 students per section) has been taught since the 1970s and has drawn undergraduates from the entire spectrum of academic disciplines. More recently, in the late 1980s and early 1990s the school offered courses introducing students to “library and information use” strategies, as well as a course on “Internet resources and services.” While the “library use” class was discontinued due to under-enrollment, the Internet course (first offered in 1993) has evolved into another popular lower-division undergraduate course, now called “Information in Cyberspace.” In 2002 the UT Office of the Provost formed the Bridging Disciplines Program (BDP), which offers concentrations that represent areas of innovative faculty research, teaching and collaboration at UT. A cross-college panel of faculty members guides each program concentration. (See more information at www.utexas.edu/ugs/bdp.) After completing 19 credit hours of coursework, research and internship experiences, students earn a certificate demonstrating a secondary area of specialization that complements the major. By studying an issue from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, they become more flexible, versatile thinkers, prepared for a professional world that values collaboration and innovation. Students in the BDP also gain access to unique research and internship experiences at UT and around the world, giving them hands-on experience applying what they have learned in the classroom. From 2003–2006 I taught two lower-division undergraduate courses of the BDP program. In Technology and the Global Community, team taught with a colleague from the College of Engineering, guest faculty from around campus discussed how technology had changed their fields and the way they conducted their research. The second class, Tech Tools for Academic Success, was a small seminar-style course for first-generation college students, all undergraduate women, from a range of study disciplines. The course encouraged students to bring their own experiences and backgrounds to explore a range of proprietary software applications, Internet tools and online information resources to refine technology skills that would contribute to both continued academic success during their academic studies, as well as hone skills for application in their postgraduate professional lives. Specifically, the class aimed to develop computer and network skills to contribute to each student's high level of success through the use and understanding of technology tools and resources throughout their studies. The project received grant funding to provide a laptop to each of the 12–15 women who enrolled in the class. Children's Literature Introduction to Information Studies Information in Cyberspace Information and Culture Information and People Information and Technology The titles of the last three courses intentionally lend themselves to a broad range of subjects enabling instructors to propose and develop different topics that align to individual research interests and expertise, as well as the flexibly to respond to new information and technology trends and topics. Today the majority of the UT iSchool's undergraduate courses are taught by PhD students who seek to develop teaching experience and to subsidize their studies with a modest salary and an in-state tuition waiver. To be appointed an assistant instructor, doctoral students must complete a course entitled, “Supervised Practice of Teaching.” The class can be repeated for credit with one section taught either as a seminar on higher education pedagogical theory and strategies or an individual study where the student reads about college level teaching, develops and offers one or two lectures, progressing to developing and teaching an entire course with supervision from an experienced faculty member. Introduction to Information Studies (required for a minor in information studies). Overview of the information field as it relates to the technology-based world culture. Topics may include the idea of information, information in relation to technology and culture, information technology in education, information literacy and the “digital divide,” information and communication technology, information and gender, public information literacy, and information organization and preservation. Information in Cyberspace. Basic skills in using the Internet as a medium for information, research, communication and multi-media resources. Covers basic skills such as email, ftp, World Wide Web, file compression, use of search engines and web publishing; introduction to larger issues such as governance, ethics and freedom of expression. (Four to six sections of this web-based class are team taught.) Working in Virtual Worlds: Using Second Life. Examines information as a cultural phenomenon. Topics may include e-commerce, privacy and secrecy, censorship, information as a commodity, Internet culture, access to cultural heritage and control of the cultural record. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. We Like to Watch: Surveillance & Society. Examines the role of surveillance practices and technologies in our everyday lives. Most of us think of surveillance as something the police or spies do, and so it is. But there's a lot more to it than that. Marketing, social control, immigration, fashion, identity and voyeurism are just some of the things covered during the course. Through lectures, discussions of the literature and the exploration of surveillance themes in pop culture (movies, songs, etc.) the course seeks to expand the way that students look at the benefits and challenges of modern day surveillance systems. (See Lance Hayden's article in this issue for more details on this course.) Security & Safety in Cyberspace. Focuses on information and data security, particularly within networked communications systems. As more and more of our lives are regulated, mediated or enhanced by computers running software that may or may not contain vulnerabilities that could compromise their functionality, it is increasingly important that citizens in a technology-saturated society understand how security works. Students get an introduction to the issues and explore ways in which they can protect themselves and help fight the problems that exist. (Lance Hayden's article also provides more detail about this course.) During academic years 2008–2010 School of Information tenured and tenure track faculty have taught two undergraduate signature classes offered from the School of Undergraduate Studies. In return the School of Information received some additional funding: part allocated for use by the instructor and part to support an adjunct faculty member to teach one of each instructors' courses. Quoting UT President Bill Powers, “These [signature] courses are designed to expose freshmen to experienced faculty and provide them with a rigorous and engaging intellectual experience. They are an important element in UT's undergraduate curriculum reform. To date the courses have not been considered as part of the iSchool's undergraduate minor offerings. The UT iSchool's undergraduate minor in information studies was proposed with the idea that the courses would be taught by full-time faculty, as well as qualified doctoral students. To date there has only been one occasion when a full-time, tenured faculty member taught a course in this suite of courses. The demands on full-time iSchool faculty to focus their teaching efforts on iSchool graduate students (master's and doctoral) creates a logistical challenge to pull full-time faculty from graduate level courses. The second challenge to supporting the minor in information studies is funding. Initially, additional funding was received to expand the number of sections of Information and Cyberspace offered each semester. Since then there has been no additional funding to support the additional sections of other undergraduate courses. Salaries for assistant instructors to teach undergraduate courses are drawn from the same accounts that fund all instructional initiatives. Continuing to grow the undergraduate offerings is dependent upon the existence of unfilled full-time faculty lines. During the 2009–2010 academic year the iSchool's undergraduate courses are generating approximately 48% of the school's total semester credit hours for the year. A fiscal note for those unfamiliar with public university funding in Texas: In fiscal year 2009–10 the state's contribution to the UT budget represents 16% of UT's overall budget. It is impossible to explicate the direct correlation of the state's “formula for funding” to the iSchool's annual budget for the purposes of this discussion. I can say, however, that in Texas there are three formula-funded areas: education and general space support; instruction and operations; and teaching experience supplement. All three formulas are driven totally or partly by weighted semester credit hours (SCH) taught. The weights are assigned according to the level of instruction (lower and upper division undergraduate and graduate-master's and PhD). This complexity makes it difficult to see if efforts in expanding undergraduate course offerings have actually had positive financial ramifications on the UT School of Information's funding. A third challenge is the University of Texas Graduate School policy that only permits graduate students to teach lower-division undergraduate courses. Before the iSchool offered a suite of undergraduate courses, doctoral students seeking to prepare for a career in academia had no venue to gain solo, in-class teaching experience. The addition of lower division undergraduate courses to the iSchool course inventory provided an excellent opportunity for these students to propose and develop courses that fit within the three general course subject areas: information and culture; information and people; and information and technology. A fourth challenge is a bureaucratic information management problem. Because the UT iSchool does not award an undergraduate degree, tracking students who have chosen to minor in information studies continues to be a challenge. Although the university has sophisticated data warehousing and statistical systems from which colleges and schools can extract enrollment and other statistical information, currently, there is no systematic way to collect this information. To date we estimate that since beginning the program in 2005, 16 students have completed a minor in information studies. According to a Pew Research Center report (http:/pewresearch.org/pubs/1391/college-enrollment-all-time-high-community-college-surge) college enrollment continues on its two- decade upswing, with an all time high of 18–24 year olds registered in college (either two- or four-year) in fall of 2008. The report goes on to observe an increase of “4.9% per year beyond general inflation from 1999–2000 to 2009–10 at public four-year colleges and universities… A record 84.9% of 18- to 24-year-olds had completed high school as of October 2008, up from 75.5% in 1967 and 83.9% in 2007.” Dropout rates declined during the same period. What does this increase mean? Universities such as UT-Austin will continue to feel the pressure of increased demand for undergraduate admissions. UT's President Powers reports that 31,000 have applied for admission to UT for the 2010–2011 academic year, and only 14,000 will be admitted to yield a freshman class of 7,200. The demand for more seats in undergraduate classes is not going to decline. The question remains, “Will graduate programs such as the UT School of Information be able to sustain support for their popular undergraduate courses?” In light of current financial constraints facing Texas universities, we may have to wait and see if future funding will allow the iSchool to sustain or even grow the 1,600 seats it currently offers in undergraduate information studies classes.

We developed combined graduate and undergraduate courses in which undergraduates created a prototype based on user-centered design, and graduate students worked with them to evaluate those prototypes based on common usability principles. It provided undergraduate students experience practicing user centered design, while providing graduate students experience with usability evaluation. It also provided graduate students the opportunity to introduce current HCI research areas to students who may be considering graduate school. The course successfully engaged both graduate and undergraduate students while providing a beneficial experience through their interactions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the use of popular theatre (PT) as a pedagogical tool around which a community service learning (CSL) senior undergraduate course was oriented, specifically assessing the university student learning experience from this work relative to PT processes and CSL objectives.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a case study based on participant observations made by the course instructor, and reflective journal entries written by the university student participants.Research limitations/implicationsEducational partnership efforts of this nature require that they be tailored to contingent circumstances: locale, time constraints, spaces of interaction, willingness, effort and abilities of the group partners, and other particularities of community. Given this, we see learning outcomes as replicable, though shaped in various ways by the circumstances of specific situations.Practical implicationsThe paper demonstrates that by recognizing and relying upon the often unnoticed and neglected, strengths of differently‐abled community members – both students from the university, and the clients from the partner social agency – this kind of community service learning team project transforms and enriches traditional academic outcomes.FindingsThis paper reports on the outcomes of this experience from the student perspective, and highlights themes of boundary‐breaking, pedagogical risk‐taking and changes in understanding of community through the analysis of the student service‐learning diaries and instructor participation. It also highlights some specific difficulties regarding group dynamics and student concerns that can emerge under learning environments like this, where course expectations, direction and outcomes may not be clearly defined at the outset.Originality/valueThis paper describes a unique fusion of two alternative teaching and learning methods: CSL and PT. This fusion contributed significantly to student creativity and innovation, to their sense of accomplishment and confidence, and especially to their understanding of diversity and connection to community, all of which they take into the world beyond the university. This fusion of pedagogies is seen as a fruitful direction for institutions of higher education seeking innovative paths to learning, while noting that facilitators need to pay close attention to the unique dynamics of such learning environments.

This study looks at the experiences of seven graduate/postdoctoral research mentors in a novel aerospace engineering course that introduced undergraduate students to research at a midAtlantic research University. In this course, groups of (typically) three undergraduate students were mentored by one graduate student. The undergraduate students worked with and were led by these research mentors in various aerospace engineering research projects. In many cases, the undergraduate students were working on a project related to the research mentors’ theses or research work. Previous studies looking at the undergraduate research experience do so from the undergraduate students’ perspectives; this paper focuses on this experience from the research mentors’ perspectives. In this paper, the experiences of seven research mentors who were involved with the course in the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters are described. The paper answers the following research questions: (1) What benefits result from being a research mentor? and (2) In what ways does being a research mentor prepare graduate students for their future careers? Data were collected via individual interviews with the research mentors at the end of each semester. Using situated learning as the theoretical framework, the data were analyzed to determine themes that characterized the research mentor experience. The theory of situated learning was used to identify and inform the ways in which being research mentors can prepare the mentors for their future careers, specifically in terms of how they are prepared to become members of the communities of practice they aspire to join. The benefits for research mentors were classified as follows: (1) benefits related to preparation for their future careers, such as strengthening their technical skills and content knowledge, and developing and improving various professional skills, and (2) benefits related to their current positions as students/postdoctoral scholars, such as receiving help with their theses or research projects. This study is part of a longer-term study to determine the effectiveness of this aerospace engineering course, both in terms of the undergraduate students’ learning experiences, and in terms of the graduate students’ professional development. The results shared in this paper can be useful to universities, departments, and faculty members who: (1) are interested in graduate student professional development, and (2) would like to learn about a novel way to involve graduate students in undergraduate courses.

Civic Studies:

Global Health

BOOK REVIEW article Front. Genet., 26 October 2015Sec. Epigenomics and Epigenetics Volume 6 - 2015 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2015.00315

Student Subjects in Research