Browsing by Author "Reynolds, JA"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Diversity of undergraduates in STEM courses: individual and demographic differences in changes in self-efficacy, epistemic beliefs, and intrapersonal attribute profiles
    (Studies in Higher Education, 2023-01-01) Thompson, RJ; Schmid, L; Mburi, M; Dowd, JE; Finkenstaedt-Quinn, SA; Shultz, GV; Gere, AR; Schiff, LA; Flash, P; Reynolds, JA
    Across undergraduate STEM learning contexts in several countries, students’ intrapersonal attributes of epistemic beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs, intrinsic motivation, and sense of identity have been found to influence learning and to change in response to educational practices. However, research can mask individual and demographic differences in student's attributes that may moderate or mediate the relationship between educational practices and learning outcomes. We employed variable-centered and person-centered methods to examine individual and demographic differences in changes in students’ intrapersonal attributes and patterns of interrelationship among attributes with a study sample of students (N = 4,500) in 14 STEM undergraduate courses (8 biology, 4 chemistry, and 2 statistics) at three research universities in the United States. Variable-centered analyses revealed overall increases in students’ science self-efficacy beliefs and epistemic beliefs even though these outcomes were not intentionally targeted as learning objectives. However, person-centered analyses indicated that not all students experienced these gains. For example, self-identified Asian/Pacific Islander and Black students were more likely to be members of groups demonstrating a decrease in science self-efficacy, whereas Asian/Pacific Islander students and men were less likely to be members of the subgroup with consistently evaluativist epistemic beliefs and higher GPAs. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified five distinct student profiles that reflected different patterns of interrelationship of epistemic beliefs, science and writing self-efficacy beliefs, and science identity. We discuss the implications of these findings for educational practices, particularly with regard to intentionally fostering diverse students’ self-efficacy, sense of identity, and adaptive epistemic beliefs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    How faculty discipline and beliefs influence instructional uses of writing in STEM undergraduate courses at research-intensive universities
    (Journal of Writing Research, 2021-02-01) Thompson, RJ; Finkenstaedt-Quinnb, SA; Shultz, GV; Gere, AR; Schmid, L; Dowd, JE; Mburi, M; Schiff, LA; Flashg, P; Reynolds, JA
    Efforts to accelerate the pace of adoption of writing-to-learn (WTL) practices in undergraduate STEM courses have been limited by a lack of theoretical and conceptual frameworks to systematically guide research and empirical evidence about the extent to which intrapersonal attributes and contextual factors, particularly faculty beliefs and disciplinary cultures, influence faculty use of writing assignments in their teaching. To address these gaps, we adopted an ecological systems perspective and conducted a national survey of faculty in STEM departments across 63 research-intensive universities in the United States. Overall, the findings indicated that 70% of faculty assigned writing. However, the assignment of writing differed by faculty demographics, discipline, and beliefs. More specifically, faculty demographics accounted for 5% of the variance in assignment of writing. Faculty discipline accounted for an additional 6% increment in variance, and faculty epistemic beliefs and beliefs about effectiveness of WTL practices and contextual resources and constraints influencing the use of writing in their teaching together accounted for an additional 30% increment in variance. The findings point to faculty beliefs as salient intervention targets and highlight the importance of disciplinary specific approaches to the promotion of the adoption of WTL practices
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Improved reasoning in undergraduate writing through structured workshops
    (Journal of Economic Education, 2015-01-01) Dowd, JE; Connolly, MP; Thompson, RJ; Reynolds, JA
    © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. The Department of Economics at Duke University has endeavored to increase participation in undergraduate honors thesis research while ensuring a high-quality learning experience. Given the faculty-to-student ratio in the department (approximately 1:16), increasing research participation required the creation of a stable, replicable framework for mentoring students through research. The department aimed to make the research experience more consistent and interactive so that students also learned from each other in a group setting. Here, the authors assess the relationship between changes in mentoring support of honors research and students scientific reasoning and writing skills reflected in their undergraduate theses. They find that students who participated in structured courses designed to support and enhance their research exhibited the strongest learning outcomes, as measured by systematic writing assessment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    "on course" for supporting expanded participation and improving scientific reasoning in undergraduate thesis writing
    (Journal of Chemical Education, 2015-01-01) Dowd, JE; Roy, CP; Thompson, RJ; Reynolds, JA
    © 2014 The American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. The Department of Chemistry at Duke University has endeavored to expand participation in undergraduate honors thesis research while maintaining the quality of the learning experience. Accomplishing this goal has been constrained by limited departmental resources (including faculty time) and increased diversity in students' preparation to engage in the research and writing processes. Here we assessed the relationship between iterative changes in pedagogical and mentoring support of honors research that efficiently employed departmental resources (including the chemistry thesis assessment protocol, ChemTAP) and students' scientific reasoning and writing skills reflected in their undergraduate theses. We found that, although we cannot disentangle some gradual changes over time from specific interventions, students exhibited the strongest performance when they participated in a course with structured scaffolding and used assessment tools explicitly designed to enhance the scientific reasoning in writing. Furthermore, less prepared students exhibited more positive changes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Role of a Professional Society in Broadening Participation in Science: A National Model for Increasing Persistence
    (BIOSCIENCE, 2018-09-01) Mourad, TM; McNulty, AF; Liwosz, D; Tice, K; Abbott, F; Williams, GC; Reynolds, JA