Carolyn Hoessler

Widening our evaluative lenses of formal, facilitated, and spontaneous academic development

As conceptions of academic development expand to encompass a more diverse and flexible set of supports, traditional approaches to evaluation, including impact studies of formal programming, become insufficient. A program may appear ineffective when evaluation ignores additional supports that interact to counteract implementation or alternatively satisfy individuals’ needs. Recognizing the inherently interactive nature of academic development within systemically complex social contexts, this paper examines four evaluative lenses (traditional, ecological framework, complexity theory, and developmental) applied to graduate students’ support. By selecting an appropriate evaluation lens, based on local purposes and context, academic developers are better positioned to assess and improve supports provided.

Seeking mathematics success for college students: a randomized field trial of an adapted approach

Many students enter the Canadian college system with insufficient mathematical ability and leave the system with little improvement. Those students who enter with poor mathematics ability typically take a developmental mathematics course as their first and possibly only mathematics course. The educational experiences that comprise a developmental mathematics course vary widely and are, too often, ineffective at improving students’ ability. This trend is concerning, since low mathematics ability is known to be related to lower rates of success in subsequent courses. To date, little attention has been paid to the selection of an instructional approach to consistently apply across developmental mathematics courses. Prior research suggests that an appropriate instructional method would involve explicit instruction and practising mathematical procedures linked to a mathematical concept. This study reports on a randomized field trial of a developmental mathematics approach at a college in Ontario, Canada. The new approach is an adaptation of the JUMP Math program, an explicit instruction method designed for primary and secondary school curriculae, to the college learning environment. In this study, a subset of courses was assigned to JUMP Math and the remainder was taught in the same style as in the previous years. We found consistent, modest improvement in the JUMP Math sections compared to the non-JUMP sections, after accounting for potential covariates. The findings from this randomized field trial, along with prior research on effective education for developmental mathematics students, suggest that JUMP Math is a promising way to improve college student outcomes.

How graduate students are supported in their teaching

Purpose – To provide a cohesive framework for understanding how supports co-occur and interact to impact graduate students’ teaching experiences, this paper systematizes the multi-layered context in which institutions, departments, faculty, peers, and individuals provide support. Previous studies on graduate students’ teaching focussed on specific programs, initially to describe them, and more recently to assess their outcomes. However, this piecemeal approach misses the complexity of graduate students’ contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Through a literature review of existing supports for graduate students’ teaching, the need for a contextual framework was clearly identified leading to its development and application to provide a cohesive categorization of supports. Findings – The review of existing literature identified graduate students’ supports and needs for support across all layers of their higher education context. Practical implications – This new framework offers a theoretical grounding for...

Leaving the Nest: The Evolution of CHRPP (the Course of Human Participant Protection) | Quitter le nid : l’évolution du cours d’éthique sur la protection des participants humains

Four years ago [Institution Name] University launched an online tutorial called CHRPP, the Course in Human Research Participant Protection, and published a paper based about its purpose, design, and usability in (Authors, 2009). CHRPP was originally created to raise awareness among research students about the federal policy regarding research ethics and to encourage ethical research practices. Self-assessments and interactive activities were built into the tutorial to help achieve our goals. Since the first publication CHRPP has been updated based on user feedback from a user satisfaction survey. The generally positive reception of this innovative tutorial led to it serving as the basis of a new national research ethics tutorial hosted by the Government of Canada’s Panel on Research Ethics. This paper summarizes the evolution of CHRPP from a homegrown solution for [Institution Name] University to an essential piece of Canada’s national research ethics education program. En 2008, l’Universite Queen’s a lance un tutoriel en ligne nomme CHRPP (Course in Human Research Participant Protection, cours sur la protection des participants humains a la recherche) et publie un article sur son objectif, sa conception et sa convivialite dans Balkwill, Stevenson, Stockley et Marlin (2009). Le CHRPP a ete cree pour sensibiliser les etudiants qui font de la recherche sur la politique federale relative a l’ethique de recherche et pour favoriser les pratiques ethiques de recherche. Des autoevaluations et des activites interactives ont ete integrees au tutoriel pour nous aider a atteindre nos objectifs. Depuis sa premiere publication, le CHRPP a ete mis a jour en se basant sur la retroaction tiree d’une enquete sur la satisfaction des utilisateurs. La reception generalement positive qu’a recue ce tutoriel innovateur lui a valu de servir de base pour un nouveau tutoriel national en ethique de la recherche qu’heberge le Groupe consultatif en ethique de la recherche du gouvernement du Canada. Cet article resume l’evolution du CHRPP qui, d’une solution maison pour un etablissement est devenu une partie essentielle du programme national canadien d’education en ethique de la recherche.