Trust as a Cornerstone of Fostering Academic Belonging
Lisa M. Nunn, University of San Diego
Suggested Citation
Nunn, L. M. (2024). Trust as a cornerstone of fostering academic belonging [Editorial]. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. doi: 10.46504/19202400nu
Clark, I. (2024). Writing-to-learn: Engaging deeply with course material [Student Editorial No. 1]. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. doi: 10.46504/19202400scl
The First Hurdle of Writing Anything: Topic Selection for Student Writing
Elijah Wilhelm, Park University
Suggested Citation
Wilhelm, E. (2024). The first hurdle of writing anything: Topic selection for student writing [Student Editorial No. 2]. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. doi: 10.46504/19202400swi
Attaining an Undergraduate Certificate on Older Adults: Examining Qualitative Experiences of Students
Dawn Apgar, PhD, Seton Hall University, and Lorri Zerrusen, MSW, Peace Aging Care Experts, LLC
Suggested Citation
Apgar, D., & Zerrusen, L. (2023). Attaining an undergraduate certificate on older adults: Examining qualitative experiences of students. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. Article 1. doi: 10.46504/19202301ap
As life expectancy in the United States continues to increase, there is a need to enhance interest and competency in working with older adults. There have been efforts to do so in recent years, but research indicates that there are barriers, such as lack of awareness and negative perceptions of aging. This qualitative study examines the experiences of eight students who are pursuing or recently completed an interdisciplinary certificate focused on working with older adults. Personal experience is a strong motivator for professional interest in the older adult population. Students value interdisciplinary education on older adults, citing the opportunity to learn with those in different majors as an asset. Making students aware of course offerings on older adults is cited as a significant need. Suggestions for improving and promoting an interdisciplinary certificate on older adults have implications for strengthening the workforce to care for aging Americans, as well as faculty who want to design and implement certificate programs in higher education generally.
Enhancing Effectiveness through Faculty Development Focused on Online Adjunct Faculty: A Comprehensive Investigation
Stacy D. Yeager-Okosi, DM, Aisha I. Hall, EdD, MSW, and Nana Gyan Quaicoe, MBA, Park University
Suggested Citation
Yeager-Okosi, S. D., Hall, A. I., & Quaicoe, N. G. (2024). Enhancing effectiveness through faculty development focused on online adjunct faculty: A comprehensive investigation. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. Article 2. doi: 10.46504/19202402ye
Online teaching requires faculty development and support to effectively meet the needs of students. Universities should widely recognize that having self-assured and competent online adjunct instructors greatly influences professional sustainability, learning outcomes, and student achievement. The objective of this descriptive study was to gain insights and perspectives on confidence and instructional effectiveness of online adjunct faculty as compared to those who taught on campus or in a blended format, after they participated in an online faculty orientation course. Survey data was collected, and correlational analysis was used to identify relationships between adjunct faculty’s perceived confidence and their instructional preparedness in their respective teaching modalities. Results indicate faculty may increase their confidence and instructional effectiveness after participating in an online training course.
“I’m Afraid It’s Going to be Awkward”: Students’ Perceived Barriers to Visiting Instructors During Office Hours
Mary Stairs Vaugh, PhD, Amy Schmisseur, PhD, Christie Kleinmann, PhD, and Jason Stahl, Belmont University
Suggested Citation
Vaughn, M. S., Schmisseur, A., Kleinmann, C., & Stahl, J. (2024). “I’m afraid it’s going to be awkward”: Students’ perceived barriers to visiting instructors during office hours. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. Article 3. doi: 10.46504/19202403va
Research shows that students benefit from outside-of-class interaction with instructors (Guerrero & Rod, 2013; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) yet rarely take advantage of visiting faculty during office hours (Abdul-Wahab et al., 2019; Bippus et al., 2003; Griffin et al., 2014). We interviewed 39 students in six focus groups to learn more about why this is the case. Our transcribed focus group discussions revealed six barriers students experience interacting with faculty during office hours and six ways students perceive faculty mitigating the barriers. From these data, we note three implications for instructors as they understand and manage their interaction with students outside of class.
Fostering Social Connectedness in First Year Seminar Students: A Pilot Study
Rebecca Kudrna, PhD, Suzanne Tiemann, EdD, Michael Swoboda, DHSc, Park University, and Timothy Hanrahan, PhD, Hitachi Energy
Suggested Citation
Kudrna, R., Tiemann, S., Swoboda, M., & Hanrahan, T. (2024). Fostering social connectedness in first year seminar students: A pilot study. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 19. Article 4. doi: 10.46504/19202404ku
University First Year Seminar (FYS) programs are diverse in their content and pedagogy. Yet all seek to assist first-year students in the difficult college transition. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate if grouping similar academic majors into the existing First Year Seminar (FYS) courses would improve social connectedness, use of academic resources, and engagement on campus. A subset of first year students were assigned to either the control group (CON) of normal mixed major sections, or to the experimental course (EXP) with only related majors. Thirteen EXP and 36 CON students completed the data collection, including an 18-question social support survey administered at the beginning and end of the course. Additionally, two open-ended qualitative analysis questions were asked related to student expectations and perceived course outcomes. Lastly, the three instructors of the EXP and CON courses studied were interviewed using phenomenological methods approximately one week after the end of the semester. Between-groups analysis of the 18 quantitative survey questions identified that the CON group reported more personal conversations with peers and attendance of campus activities while the EXP group reported more faculty interactions. At the beginning of the course, 77% of the EXP group expected to create social connections as a primary course outcome, while only 19% of the CON group did. Academic skills were a higher expectation among the CON group than the EXP group. When asked more directly, both groups expected to make social connections in the class (86%). However, by the end of the study, the reported outcomes were equivocal. Interviews with FYS professors uncovered their own valuable perceptions of connectedness to the university and recommendations for instructor support were made.
