What’s the Eberly Center reading and thinking about this month?
The Research and Scholarship Digest, published the first Monday of each month, consists of short summaries of recently peer-reviewed studies on teaching and learning topics. This digest offers a view into what we are reading and thinking about at the Eberly Center that:
• adds to our understanding of how students learn
• is potentially generalizable across teaching contexts in higher education
• provokes reflection on implications for our teaching and educational development practices.
We hope the readers of this digest will find it a useful resource for staying in-tune with the rapidly expanding education research literature.
April 2019
Comparison of student team dynamics between nonflipped and flipped versions of a large‐enrollment sophomore design engineering course
An undergraduate engineering design course (N=167) using team-based learning was used to study differences across team conflict, peer assessment, and team member satisfaction in flipped (Fall 2015) versus non-flipped (Fall 2014) versions of the course. Self-reported survey data were used to collect student responses on satisfaction and three categories of team conflict: task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. Web-based CATME was used to collect student responses on peer assessment. Findings suggest that flipped courses produce greater student satisfaction and more positive peer assessments than non-flipped courses.
Baughman, J., Hassall, L., & Xu, X. (2019). Journal of Engineering Education, 108(1), 103-118.
[link to article]
Agile research studios: Orchestrating communities of practice to advance research training
Researchers from the Design, Technology, and Research team at Northwestern University reported on their use of Agile Research Studios (ARS). This model provides an opportunity for faculty to work with large teams of students and researchers effectively and in a way that contributes meaningfully to undergraduate professional development. Students regularly meet in small and then progressively larger groups in between full studio meetings, and are given virtual tools to connect and share resources with each other. Students reported that the experience had a positive impact on their planning and research skills, and increased willingness in seeking and providing help along the way.
Zhang, H., Easterday, M. W., Gerber, E. M., Rees Lewis, D., & Maliakal, L. (2017, February). In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (pp. 220-232). ACM.
[link to article]
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