Agent-based modeling is a promising tool for familiarizing students with complex systems as well as programming skills. Human-environment systems, for instance, entail complex interdependencies that need to be considered when modeling these systems. This complexity is often neglected in teaching modeling approaches. For a heterogeneous group of…

This part-reflective, part-conceptual article focuses on the issue of supervision models and the need to move away from the dominance of the traditional master-apprentice model which continues to persist in many social sciences and humanities contexts. Drawing on communities of practice theory, I critically reflect on my own PhD supervision…

While scholars have found that undergraduate involvement in research is beneficial, the lack of such experiences in the social sciences and humanities is glaring. This paper analyzes how an emphasis on community through cohort models impacts undergraduate student experience in research, taking from the Emerging Scholars Program, an…

Education librarians are receiving an increasing number of requests to help researchers with systematic reviews. Systematic reviews are evidence syntheses that require comprehensive, reproducible search strategies. Many of the available training programs and materials focus on systematic reviews in the health sciences, not education or the social…

Purpose: Agricultural extension services in poor countries often identify opinion leaders based on criteria such as wealth and social status. We explore the effectiveness of this top-down approach by analysing the role of so-called model and nodal farmers in the diffusion of malt barley in a highland community in Ethiopia. Research approach: We…

While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, there is little empirical understanding of how university research ethics committees (RECs) themselves operate and whether they are seen to operate well. In this article, we offer insights from a project focused on the Scottish university context. We…

Project prioritization is often an arduous task for any organization. This is particularly evident in large, complex organizations with matrixed management structures, such as the VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP). CSP is responsible for the planning and conduct of large multicenter clinical trials and epidemiological studies in the Department…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the merits of lesson study (LS) as a research approach for research in (science) education. A lesson was developed to introduce students to model-based reasoning: a higher order thinking skill that is seen as one of the major reasoning strategies in science. Design/methodology/approach: Participants…

Moreno Valley College, a two-year community college in Southern California, experiences an annual migration of cliff swallows. The presence of these birds inspired the development of the undergraduate research program Flying with Swallows. The assessment of the project indicated significant increases in qualitative student outcomes such as…

This article discusses George Mason University's locally developed assessment survey instrument, the OSCAR Student Survey, in which students self-report on learning outcomes, attitudes, goals, personal and professional growth, and satisfaction items. Development of the instrument is discussed, as well as the methods used to achieve construct…

Interest from Congress, executive branch leadership, and various other stakeholders for greater accountability in government continues to gain momentum today with government-wide efforts. However, measuring the impact of research programs has proven particularly difficult. Cause and effect linkages between research findings and changes to…

A theory of action outlining undergraduate research program inputs and desired outcomes was developed and used to guide implementation of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) sections and to create assessment tools to measure attainment of program goals in both apprentice-model undergraduate research and CURE. Student survey…

Socio-scientific teaching and learning (SSI-TL) has been suggested as an effective approach for supporting meaningful learning in school contexts; however, limited tools exist to support the work of designing and implementing this approach. In this paper, we draw from a series of four design based research projects that have produced SSI…

This paper provides insights into the evaluation of educational research in order to strengthen research projects and increase the quality of evidence about what works to improve student learning from the lens of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. In particular, TEAMS hopes this publication will increase the…

Programs involving research experiences for undergraduates (REUs) typically reflect either university-sponsored programs or programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that aim to facilitate students' research-based skill development. Despite the prevalence of research supporting the effectiveness of these programs, little research…