Working with undergraduates in an organic synthesis research laboratory presents a unique set of challenges. An undergraduate research program must be designed to focus on teaching students to "think like a chemist" while advancing the principal investigator's scientific agenda. However, as novices in the laboratory, undergraduate…

A course syllabus can affect students' perceptions of the motivational climate within a course. Yet, few researchers have conducted experimental studies of students' perceptions of syllabi in courses in which they were currently enrolled. The purpose of the present studies was to assess the extent to which syllabi language and organization…

It may appear commonsensical that undergraduate dance majors, sharing a programmatic experience within a bounded space and time, might feel connected to others involved in that experience. However, the multi-faceted and dynamic considerations of who and what comprise this learning environment are often not holistically explored. To better identify…

This study aims to shed light on the role of the university as a space contributing to (re)production and even to the reification of social relations of race. To do this, we sought the views of 30 students enrolled in first-year undergraduate studies to analyze how institutional racism occurs through microaggression interactions, i.e. subjective…

The intentional scaffolding of research practices and experiences across a 4-year curriculum provides a developmental and sustainable model to guide students to greater independence and ownership of their learning and offers a supportive framework for advancing equity of opportunity and outcomes. Curricular transformation can be a daunting…

Purpose: Traditional teaching strategies are making way for a more collaborative learning style, where students play active roles in their learning process. This work focuses on the discussant role activity in the market research subject in a business administration bachelor's degree as a way of empowering students' role. The discussant activity…

Even though research studies have consistently found that personal cell phone usage during classes has a deleterious impact on learning, faculty are often unwilling to ban the activity because of strong student resistance and a desire to maintain a positive student-instructor relationship. This paper presents a successful strategy for eliminating…

Deploying action research methods this article investigates how students perceive and use attention in undergraduate dance training classes. A main aim of this research has been to develop strategies for encouraging agency in young dancers' attentional choices in order to facilitate confident navigation of the bricolage approaches that make up…

An established body of research details the faculty role in promoting student engagement. Newer scholarship on agentic engagement foregrounds student-initiated engagement in classroom learning. Our SoTL project explored how participating in student-faculty pedagogical partnerships supported two undergraduate students in expanding agentic…

Sociology instructors widely recognize writing as an effective tool for deep learning. However, we argue that deep reading is a prerequisite for effective thinking through writing. To support this argument, we highlight the potential of deep reading teaching techniques, such as concept mapping, to empower students to master class readings and…

This qualitative narrative study explored the narratives of Black undergraduate students at Predominantly White Institutions, and their stories of hope, healing, and liberation. A semi-structured interview process was employed in conjunction with photo-elicitation to gain insight regarding the participants' experiences. The researcher aimed to…

This case study explores the implementation of a collaborative initiative that transformed the traditional role of teaching assistants (TAs) into student-faculty partners in two psychology courses. The objective of the collaboration was to leverage the insights and contributions of undergraduate students as co-creators of instruction for students'…

Group level assessment (GLA) allows participants or co-researchers the opportunity to voice their opinions on a specific topic while also developing action strategies for change. The purpose of the method is to empower participants and provide them an outlet for sharing their experiences in addition to developing a salient action plan. In this…

Despite growing studies on Appreciative Inquiry (AI), rooted in positive psychology, its application in a research laboratory and its associated impact on students' mental health and well-being are underexplored. Thus, this study explores how a positive environment affects students' mental health and wellbeing. Interpretive descriptions guided the…

An Integrated Curriculum Design (ICD) is a strategy to unite core degree courses. Specifically, an ICD is the authentic integration of courses into a learning unit that fosters a better understanding across curricula. As such, an ICD involves the integration of content with skills and processes. The goal is to support deep learning and facilitate…