Quantitative Arts: Scientists by Nurture
Project Investigator(s): Silvia Bartolic, Instructor, Sociology Project Description Many students in the Faculty of Arts in departments such as Sociology fear quantitative methods and try to avoid courses that require any level of math ability reporting that methods courses are boring, leading to poor attendance and low achievement. The goals of this project are to […]
Exploring International Students’ Perceptions and Use of Peer Review in a First-Year Science Communications Course
Project Investigator(s): Ashley Welsh, Faculty Liaison (Science); Joanne Fox, Principal, Vantage College Project Description This research aims to investigate how international first-year students’ engagement with peer review activities in a first year science communications course influences their perception of peer review and their own approaches to writing. Analysis of a survey instrument, student coursework, classroom […]
Improving Teamwork Skills in Geological Engineering
Project Investigator(s): Susan Hollingshead, Instructor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Project Description The purpose of this project is to research ways to improve student learning outcomes related to teamwork skills in a six-credit, group-project-based, capstone course for fourth-year undergraduate geological engineering students. This research will use pre-post self-assessments of teamwork skills as well […]
Negotiating Change: Determining the readiness of second-year students for self-directed learning
Project Investigator(s): Gail Hammond, Lecturer, Food, Nutrition and Health (LFS); Alice Cassidy, Course co-ordinator, Food, Nutrition and Health (LFS) Project Description This project is unique in being a multi-level needs assessment that investigates the experiences, understanding and perceptions of self-directed learning (SDL) held by current students registered in two large introductory nutrition classes (same course) […]
Flexible learning student engagement: a case study
Project Investigator(s): Phaedra Burke, Sessional lecturer, Sauder School of Business Project Description The intent of this research is to improve (or strengthen) student engagement in a Flexible Learning course by understanding student interest and motivation in learning. The project will involve quantitative data from questionnaires (students’ background, their interest and motivation), qualitative data from interviews, […]
Complementarity of teaching approaches in Soil Science Education: Instructor and student perspectives
Project Investigator(s): Sandra Brown, Instructor, Applied Biology Project Description Currently three upper level soil science courses in the Applied Biology program are taught using distinct instructional approaches: direct instruction, problem based learning and experiential learning. This project aims to evaluate the complementarity of these courses as a package from both instructor and student perspectives, to answer […]
“Paying Attention to Attention”: Exploring the Integration of Games in a Popular Culture Course to Enhance the Quality of the Student Learning Experience
Project Investigator(s): Janice Stewart, Senior Instructor, Institute of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice Project Description This project explores the integration of gaming as a pedagogical tool in a Popular Culture undergraduate course that is taught in the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. In “Paying Attention to […]
Instructor versus Student Perspectives of Cognitive Tasks in Chemistry Laboratories
Project Investigator(s): Robin Stoodley, Senior Instructor, Chemistry Project Description Do students and instructors share the same view of which cognitive tasks are present in chemistry laboratory experiments? Anecdotal evidence suggests they do not, but to what extent do they differ? Are there patterns to the differences? Why do they differ? The instructors’ views have already been […]
Exploring the Potential for First-Year Undergraduate Courses to Participate in Research Projects at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Project Investigator(s): Bridgette Clarkston, Instructor, Botany Project Description The Beaty Biodiversity Museum (BBM) is home to UBC’s biological research collections and contains over two million specimens—a wealth of potential for teaching and research projects. However, most courses in the Biology Program do not use the Museum and those that do interact mostly with the public displays. […]
Seating the Scene: Identifying antecedents and consequences of micro-segregation and testing an intervention to disrupt it
Project Investigator(s): Simon Lolliot, Instructor, Psychology, Steven Barnes, Senior Instructor, Psychology, Trish Varao-Sousa, PhD student, Psychology Project Description The present project aims to identify patterns of segregation in university classrooms, and implement a learning tool to ameliorate this segregation. Based on prior research on micro-segregation (segregation that occurs in every-day living spaces, including classrooms), we plan […]