Hierarchical Mentoring: A Transformative Strategy for Improving Diversity and Retention in Undergraduate STEM Disciplines

In the United States, less than half of the students who enter into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate curricula as freshmen will actually graduate with a STEM degree. There is even greater disparity in the national STEM graduation rates of students from underrepresented groups with approximately three-fourths of minority students leaving STEM disciplines at the undergraduate level. A host of programs have been designed and implemented to model best practices in retaining students in STEM disciplines. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Professors Program at Louisiana State University, under leadership of HHMI Professor Isiah M. Warner, represents one of these programs and reports on a mentoring model that addresses the key factors that impact STEM student attrition at the undergraduate level. By integrating mentoring and strategic academic interventions into a structured research program, an innovative model has been developed to guide STEM undergraduate majors in adopting the metacognitive strategies that allow them to excel in their programs of study, as they learn to appreciate and understand science more completely. Comparisons of the persistence of participants and nonparticipants in STEM curricular, at the host university and with other national universities and colleges, show the impact of the model’s salient features on improving STEM retention through graduation for all students, particularly those from underrepresented groups.     

Toward a More Effective Mentoring Model: An Innovative Program of Collaboration

Mentoring is a powerful and often effective tool in supporting the work of new and experienced teachers. It can also be a means of attracting and retaining talented teachers in schools which face challenges in staffing and turnover. In this article we describe and analyze the first 2 years of a mentoring program designed to support teacher retention and growth. The program, planned between a Jewish education agency and university faculty, was implemented in several Orthodox Jewish day schools. Mentoring was provided by university faculty and the relationship between the mentor and teacher was non-evaluative and fully collaborative. Data collected from mentors, teachers, and principals are analyzed and presented, and implications for Jewish day schools are discussed.     

Mentoring Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Mathematics Research Students: Junior Faculty Experiences

Abstract

To be successful, junior faculty must properly manage their time in the face of expanding responsibilities. One such responsibility is supervising undergraduate research projects. Student research projects (either single or multi-student) can be undertaken as a full-time summer experience, or as a part-time academic year commitment. With many potential undergraduate research formats, and with different types of students, junior faculty may find challenges in forming their research group, establishing a structure that promotes student productivity, picking an appropriate project, or in effectively mentoring their students. This article draws from the authors’ experiences to help junior faculty navigate these complexities so that all parties reap the benefits of undergraduate research in interdisciplinary mathematical disciplines.     

美国导师指导与大学生学业成功研究述评

在美国,自上世纪70年代中期以来关于导师指导在教育、管理和心理学领域日益受到关注,近些年关于导师指导促进大学生,尤其是促进本科生学业成功的研究不断增多。同时为了适应国家对高等教育中导师指导和相应改革措施,对美国导师指导的文献进行梳理,力图重构并更新导师指导的概念和特征,综合并批判性地分析美国近20年发表的有关导师指导大学生的文献,并提出相应建议来改进导师指导的研究。     

Incremental Beliefs,STEM Efficacy and STEM Interest Among First-Year Undergraduate Students

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Low retention rates of undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields are a persistent problem in the USA....     

Correction to: Incremental Beliefs,STEM Efficacy and STEM Interest among First-Year Undergraduate Students

Journal of Science Education and Technology - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the article title. The word “Students” was inadvertently deleted.     

Developing Research Skills for the Future Workplace through Interdisciplinary Near-Peer Mentoring

Abstract

Experiential learning is touted as an effective way of imparting research skills. This suggests that master’s students undergoing training in research psychology should be exposed to managing projects and supervising interdisciplinary research teams and projects before entering the workplace. The Department of Psychology and Department of Town and Regional Planning at a South African university developed a near-peer mentoring programme in which the psychology master’s students mentored undergraduate urban planning students who were writing their final-year research reports. Focus group discussions with the psychology students about their experiences of the programme were analysed using phenomenography. The psychology students experienced their role as mentor in five hierarchical variations. The first four were seen as challenging, while the benefits were only experienced at the highest level of the hierarchy. Lessons learnt from the mentoring relationship that mirror certain workplace research skills are discussed followed by recommendations for improving the mentoring programme.     

以学科竞赛为抓手的机械类本科生创新型人才培养模式研究

创新型人才培养已成为当前制造业高速发展背景下高等工程教育的重要目标。学科竞赛是培养本科生创新能力与实践能力的重要环节,但指导教师如何通过学科竞赛过程塑造、培养学生的创新与实践能力还缺乏必要的系统研究。结合我校培养学生参加学科竞赛实例,从指导教师和学校两个层面介绍了培养实践、创新能力的具体实施环节和应用实例,提出了相关保障、激励机制和措施。     

Innovative Practice: An Integrated Counseling Model for Alcohol Abusing College Students

This article describes an integrated counseling model that combines both solution-focused and cost-benefit techniques. The model was designed to be used with college students who abuse alcohol.     

RNA Secondary Structure Prediction by Using Discrete Mathematics: An Interdisciplinary Research Experience for Undergraduate Students

The focus of this Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project was on RNA secondary structure prediction by using a lattice walk approach. The lattice walk approach is a combinatorial and computational biology method used to enumerate possible secondary structures and predict RNA secondary structure from RNA sequences. The method uses discrete mathematical techniques and identifies specified base pairs as parameters. The goal of the REU was to introduce upper-level undergraduate students to the principles and challenges of interdisciplinary research in molecular biology and discrete mathematics. At the beginning of the project, students from the biology and mathematics departments of a mid-sized university received instruction on the role of secondary structure in the function of eukaryotic RNAs and RNA viruses, RNA related to combinatorics, and the National Center for Biotechnology Information resources. The student research projects focused on RNA secondary structure prediction on a regulatory region of the yellow fever virus RNA genome and on an untranslated region of an mRNA of a gene associated with the neurological disorder epilepsy. At the end of the project, the REU students gave poster and oral presentations, and they submitted written final project reports to the program director. The outcome of the REU was that the students gained transferable knowledge and skills in bioinformatics and an awareness of the applications of discrete mathematics to biological research problems.     

Undergraduate Research Mentoring: Obstacles and Opportunities

Researchers and policy-makers in higher education increasingly espouse the view that undergraduate students should have the opportunity to learn about scholarship and research in the context of faculty-mentored research experiences. There is mounting consensus that mentored undergraduate research should be standard pedagogical practice in all undergraduate disciplines. Although high-impact, mentored undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative work (URSCW) requires significant resources, with faculty time and energy foremost among them. This article addresses the current gap between aspiration and effective execution of well-mentored URSCW, including the most prevalent obstacles (e.g. institutional, departmental, individual) to undergraduate mentoring. This article is written for academic leaders and institutional officers. It concludes with several specific recommendations for increasing the frequency of mentored URSCW experiences for undergraduates.     

An Undergraduate Research Opportunity: Collaboration Between Undergraduate and Graduate Students

ABSTRACT: A research experience was made available to an undergraduate Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) student through collaboration with a Masters-level Nutrition graduate student. Both students were under the supervision of a graduate FSHN faculty member. Positive, self-identified aspects for the students included learning how to work collaboratively as a team member, gaining a better understanding of the process of field-based research, and successfully completing both projects. While caveats are noted, we suggest that this process is an untapped opportunity to offer a research experience to undergraduates. It could be applicable in departments/ units that maintain both an undergraduate and graduate program or across departments where disciplines are similar.     

Faculty Engagement in Mentoring Undergraduate Students: How Institutional Environments Regulate and Promote Extra-Role Behavior

Faculty-student interaction is critical for quality undergraduate education. Faculty mentorship provides concrete benefits for students, faculty members, and institutions. However, little is known about the effect of institutional context on mentorship. Using data from interviews of 98 faculty at five different California State University institutions, we examined faculty motivations and institutional supports and barriers to mentoring as it occurs outside of formalized programs. We argue that this type of mentoring is distinct from advising and teaching and constitutes extra-role behavior. Further, institutional norms and the culture of the academic profession often hinder mentorship. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

本科生导师制：意义、困境与出路

在高等教育的大众化和普及化阶段,本科生导师制彰显出精英教育的品质与价值,是培养造就多规格人才、个性化人才和创新型人才的重要模式与机制.同国外一些著名大学采用这一制度相比,我国的本科生导师制不仅起步迟、发育晚,而且面临制度定位模糊、生师比例偏大、运行机制缺失、指导资源不足等多重困境.从不同高校的类型和层次出发,按照"有所为,有所不为"的原则,科学合理定位,创新实现范式,健全体制机制,是本科生导师制取得实效的路径选择.     

Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near-Peer Teaching Program

Peer and near-peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near-peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0–100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near-peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher (P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near-peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near-peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near-peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course (P = 0.041). A significant difference (P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near-peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR [interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near-peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

中等生的成长和发展也极需关注

关注中等生的成长和发展的策略有：赏识激励;延时评价,增强中等生的自信心;给中等生多创造表现的机会,帮助中等生改变消极因素;建立积极的教师期待;树立榜样,改造中等生的世界观,明确学习目的。     

本科论文的创新性与本科生的创新能力

抄袭、剽窃现象是当前本科毕业论文中出现的严重问题,这与论文的创新性要求以及本科生的创新能力相关。在人文科学领域内,学术论文的创新性主要表现为新理论,研究者要实现这种创新性必须在专业理论知识、专业实践经验、创新思维方式几个方面具有相应的能力。但由于多种客观因素的制约,就普遍性而言,本科生不具有这些能力。因此,扼制抄袭、剽窃现象需要对本科毕业论文的创新性进行变革。