Jessica Crowe

Differences in Public Perceptions and Leaders’ Perceptions on Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale Development

New technologies and rising energy prices have resulted in many energy companies investing significant amounts of capital in rural America. Much of the recent focus of energy companies has been on the development of shale oil and natural gas. We examine the differences in levels of support and opposition to shale oil and gas development, building on the literatures of the growth-machine coalition, polluter-industrial complex, and environmental justice. Specifically, we examine different frames of shale development held by government leaders and the public who reside above the New Albany shale play in Southern Illinois and Northwest Kentucky. Using a combination of interview, survey, and participant observation data, we find that government officials emphasize economic growth and many support shale development. While most government leaders claimed that there was not a major division in their communities about shale development, we found the public to be split, with a large countercoalition to shale development in existence.

The hope-reality gap: rural community officials’ perceptions of unconventional shale development as a means to increase local population and revitalize resource extraction

Here, we examine the perceptions of unconventional shale development held by city and county officials in the New Albany shale play in Southern Illinois and Northwest Kentucky. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 officials before development occurred. Twelve supported introducing shale development to their communities, four were opposed, and two were undecided. Many view it as a way to overcome an economic vulnerability of their areas, population decline, by boosting the local population. Several also believe shale development will strengthen their communities’ economic specialization and social identity related to resource extraction. Although leaders held high hopes for it, most of their communities’ economic vulnerabilities are structural and likely cannot be improved by introducing shale development. This gap between hope and reality suggests that many community officials will be disappointed with major development projects – many of which are portrayed as economic boons – as they often cannot fulfill officials’ high hopes.

The Effect of Peer Review on Student Learning Outcomes in a Research Methods Course.

In this study, we test the effect of in-class student peer review on student learning outcomes using a quasiexperimental design. We provide an assessment of peer review in a quantitative research methods course, which is a traditionally difficult and technical course. Data were collected from 170 students enrolled in four sections of a quantitative research methods course, two in-class peer review sections, and two sections that did not incorporate in-class peer review over two semesters. For the two sections with peer review, content scheduled for the days during which peer review was used in class was delivered through the online course management system. We find that in-class peer review did not improve final grades or final performance on student learning outcomes, nor did it affect performance differences between drafts and final assignments that measured student learning objectives. Further, it took time away from in-class delivery of course content in course sections that used in-class peer review. If peer review is utilized, we recommend it be assigned as an out-of-class assignment so it does not interfere with in-class teaching.

Enhancing student learning of research methods through the use of undergraduate teaching assistants

By using a quasi-experimental design, in this study, we test the effect of undergraduate teaching assistants on student learning. Data were collected from 170 students enrolled in four sections of a quantitative research methods course, two sections without undergraduate teaching assistants and two sections with undergraduate teaching assistants, over two semesters. Results indicate that having undergraduate teaching assistants in the classroom can result in higher student performance. Students in the sections with undergraduate teaching assistants earned higher grades, were more likely to pass the course with a C or higher and performed better on half of the student learning outcomes than students in the sections without an undergraduate teaching assistant. Based on the overwhelmingly positive results on student learning, we would recommend the active use of undergraduate teaching assistants in the classroom, but especially for courses that students find challenging.

Racial history, legacy and economic development

ABSTRACT For more than a century, white communities across the United States employed strategies to remain all-white, including violent acts, forcibly driving minorities out of town, and racist local ordinances. One particularly widespread and effective approach used by many towns to exclude certain groups of people from living there was the creation of a ‘sundown town’: towns that purposely signalled to African Americans and other non-white groups that they were not welcome within the city limits after dark. Crowe and Ceresola seek to understand how historical racial policies affect present-day community life and, in particular, one component of community with which many towns currently struggle: economic development. In exploring the effect of cultural legacy on perceptions of race and economic development in five mid-sized communities in central and southern Illinois—two former sundown towns and three without histories of racial exclusion—their study uses interviews, observation and content analysis to examine how historical legacy can carry over to the present and affect economic development. Overall, the findings suggest that the values and beliefs passed down through a communitys legacy influences current local economic development.

Rural economic development under devolution: A test of local strategies

During the past 30 years, the federal government has transferred more responsibility for the control, development, and support of public policy to states and local communities in a process known as devolution. In this context, economic hardships that have hit many rural communities often lead to increased tension over economic development strategies, which is further influenced by a community’s racial composition and racial history. Using devolution as a framework, we quantitatively explore the relationship between general economic development strategies, including two concepts that are linked to entrepreneurship, the creative class and bridging social capital, on several measures of economic development. Analysis includes rural communities that have historically excluded African-Americans from living within city limits, as well as rural communities that did not. Using data from 217 rural communities in the American Midwest and nontraditional South, we find no support for the creative class, the importance of tolerance, the importance of technology, or bridging social capital on increasing economic development, but we do find that formal education and incorporating economic development strategies are significantly related.