Ten Salient Practices of Undergraduate Research Mentors: A Review of the Literature

This paper identifies salient practices of faculty mentors of undergraduate research (UR) as indicated in the extensive literature of the past two decades on UR. The well-established benefits for students involved in UR are dependent, first and foremost, on high-quality mentoring. Mentorship is a defining feature of UR. As more and different types of colleges and universities strive to meet student demand for authentic scholarly experiences, it is imperative to identify what effective UR mentors do in order to ensure student engagement, quality enhancement, retention, and degree-completion. We offer an original analysis of the literature on UR mentoring in which we identify 10 significant “lessons learned,” or evidence-based practices of effective UR mentors that apply broadly across disciplines, students, institutions, and mentoring approaches.     

A process for curriculum change in engineering education

This paper identifies a process, developed in recent research, to provide curriculum leaders and policy-makers with a practical and flexible approach for designing and implementing curriculum. It is a changed way for bringing about change. Founded on sound principles of curriculum theorizing, it refines existing curriculum theory in higher education contexts and contributes to the ever-growing body of understanding on curriculum decision-making. A thorough investigation of the engineering education context, including the analysis of an engineering case study, was carried out to identify issues that impinge on curriculum decision-making, including the consideration of professional engineering needs, the social and economic pressures, institutional parameters and student factors. As no such systematic process currently existed for this context, the investigation also considered the curriculum and pedagogical theories that underpin the strategic and operational nature of bringing about curriculum change. The process represents a significant breakthrough in higher education faculties. It directs policy-makers to consider parameters in addition to those traditionally addressed. It recommends a holistic view of curriculum and suggests that there are explicit ramifications for the policies in faculties that govern how curriculum change takes place.     

Problems in plannning medical libraries

In spite of many recent publications dealing with the methods of planning medical libraries, serious problems have been encountered in most of the proposals submitted under the Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965. Problems are viewed as falling into several major categories: administration, personnel, location, space allocation, structural, layout, and undue reliance on generalized formulas. Finally, the role of the librarian as the key integrating force in developing a sound building plan is emphasized.     

Reciprocal elucidation: a student-led pedagogy in multidisciplinary undergraduate research conferences

There is no previous study of the benefits of attending a national multidisciplinary conference dedicated to undergraduate researchers, despite the growing number of such conferences internationally. This paper addresses the gap in knowledge of the learning gains from these conferences, and reveals a student driven learning process, a multidisciplinary signature pedagogy. It presents the results of 90 in-depth interviews with student conference participants conducted over three consecutive years of a multidisciplinary National Conference of Undergraduate Research (2012–2014). This paper uniquely captures the student voice on their perceived learning gains from this experience. The results reveal that some students co-create a pedagogy of Foucauldian reciprocal elucidation, through a sense of ‘unfinishedness’, allowing them to reflect on their own learning in the light of divergent perspectives, questions and frames of reference. Bidirectional exchange of ideas and insights enabled students to ask and answer questions that transformed each other’s thinking, allowing them to arrive at understandings they could not have achieved by themselves. The opportunity to present research in an authentic setting beyond disciplinary and institutional contexts developed students’ skills and confidence, giving additional value over and above the recognised benefits of engaging in research. The undergraduate research conference is framed as a threshold experience for the development of self-authorship. Significant implications for practice include supporting constructive dialogues between students and the creation of authentic and professional multidisciplinary contexts for sharing research.     

Mentor perspectives on the place of undergraduate research mentoring in academic identity and career development: an analysis of award winning mentors

Abstract

This study examines how Undergraduate Research (UR) mentoring fits into the career profile of award-winning UR mentors and the factors that motivate engagement as UR mentors. Twenty-four award-winning UR mentors in four countries were interviewed about their mentoring practices. Six themes emerged: (1) Academic Identity and Motivations; (2) Challenges to Academic Identity and Career Development; (3) Enhanced Research Productivity; (4) Recognition and Reward; (5) Institution Values Commitment and (6) Developing Other Mentors. The authors discuss these themes and how the findings can be utilized for academic development and identity formation for faculty.     

Appraising research on personalized learning: Definitions,theoretical alignment,advancements, and future directions

Abstract

This article introduces a special issue comprising research on efforts to personalize learning in different academic subjects. We first consider the emergence of personalized learning (PL) and the myriad of definitions that describe its essential features. Thereafter, we introduce the articles in the special issue by examining their alignment to extant theories of learning, the instructional design features that personalize the learning experience based on a learner characteristic, and the relationships between PL design and outcomes achieved in an educational context. Based on observations of contemporary PL research, we identify key issues to be addressed by the field and recommendations for future researchers to undertake to advance a PL theory. Chief among issues with PL are the role of technology, the agency of the learner, and the absence of a consistent theoretical grounding to motivate PL design choices. Future directions that would advance PL include the adoption of a theory of change in PL design, a design-based research approach to refine PL initiatives, more intensive and iterative research in authentic classroom contexts, and a greater focus on student input into and ownership of the PL experience.     

The effect of language modification of mathematics story problems on problem-solving in online homework

Instructional Science - Students’ grasp of the non-mathematical language in a mathematics story problem—such as vocabulary and syntax—may have an important effect on their...     

An investigation into students’ disposition to the use of objectives in distance learning materials

The use of learning objectives in study materials for external students is an instructional design strategy which is generally accepted. However, with the emergence of the constructivist paradigm in learning theory, there is the question as to whether the use of objectives, underpinned by behaviourist theory, is justified. This study was undertaken to investigate the distance education student's disposition towards objectives, with particular reference to the way they used them and to what their perceptions and expectations were. Responses to a questionnaire revealed that objectives were perceived by the majority of the students sampled as useful to their studies, and that objectives, for them, were an integral part of their learning strategy.     

Becoming a teacher: encouraging development of teacher identity through reflective practice

Models of learning to teach recognize the important relationship between university and school settings. The roles that educators in each setting play in the development of effective beginning teachers are not discrete. Rather they complement and support one another. Building upon existing literature, and utilizing recent data, this paper challenges teacher educators to consider how pre‐service teacher core beliefs and perceptions affect the dynamics of learning to teach and the establishment of a teacher identity. To facilitate these, it is argued that a consultative mentoring model that acknowledges individuality is more effective in the growth of teacher identity than the more traditional supervision model that focuses mainly on socialization. Reflective practice is promoted as crucial and its development is the responsibility of all teacher educators—both at university and in the schools.