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Assessment Resources: 2019-2020 Grant Recipients

2019-2020 Grant Recipients

Applied Studies: Historical Research Methods and the History of the Sisters of St. Francis Oldenburg

Adrianna Ernstberger (History) will transform HIS301: Historical Research Methods into an applied studies course. This will provide students with an opportunity to practice multiple research methods while focusing on a single course topic. Specifically, students will travel to Oldenburg on three occasions to conduct interviews with the Sisters. Students will also utilize local archives in Indianapolis and the digital repositories from Notre Dame. Adrianna will collect data at multiple points in the semester, which includes student surveys, surveys of the Sisters, and university course evaluations. Results will be used to further course development and department curriculum design.

Assessing the Effect of the Collaborative Replication in Education Project (CREP) as a Teaching Tool on Psychology Student Understanding of the Scientific Process and Scholarly Identity

As part of PSY250: Research Methods, Amanda Egan (Psychology), Kristy Wilson (Biology), and Laurel Camp (Psychology) will have students participate in CREP, which is a new initiative in behavioral research employing undergraduate students in replication efforts. Students will partner with the Open Science Framework (OSF) to complete replications of other scholars' studies.  Their data will be combined with data collected by other undergraduates for analysis and possible publication. Amanda, Kristy, and Laurel will administer pre- and post-surveys to understand student perceptions of their work, scholarly identities, and satisfaction. Final projects from the cohort using the CREP method will be compared to final projects from previous cohorts using the traditional method.

Integration of Virtual Microscopy Podcasts in the Histology Discipline in an Osteopathic Medical School: Learning Outcomes

Sumathilatha Sakthi Velavan (Anatomy) and Sarah Zahl (Accreditation Logistics and Advancement) will evaluate the learning outcomes of integrating narrative podcasts of virtual slides into teaching Histology in the Osteopathic Medicine basic science curriculum. Sumathi and Sarah will administer a survey to better understand student perceptions of the podcasts as well as examine the overall class performance in the Histology discipline. Aggregate findings from several experimental and control cohorts will help the educators understand the significance of integrating multimedia with Histology and will also facilitate curriculum modification.

Role of Two Student Run Clinics in Serving Under/Uninsured Patients in the Indianapolis Area

Amber Nelson (Sociology), Michelle Meer (Social Work), and several students will conduct a policy/process analysis of the role two Student-Run Clinics (SRCs) play in meeting the healthcare needs of under/uninsured patients in Indianapolis. The project seeks to learn more about service learning opportunities for medical students as well as social work, public health, and sociology students. Amber and Michelle will apply what they learn from focus groups and interviews with medical students, physician assistants, directors, and others at two diverse SRCs to improve interprofessional and service learning programming at the sites and develop interprofessional education curricula at Marian.

Tracking Preservice Teacher Performance in Clinical Settings

All pre-service teacher candidates must complete specific courses that require field experience at local private or public schools. Teacher candidates are required to plan and implement at least three lessons and several in-class practice sessions that will be observed and evaluated. Through this project, Demetrice Smith-Mutegi (STEM Education) will collect student performance data throughout their clinical experiences using a specific iOS/Android app. This will allow Demetrice to efficiently document student progress and provide rich, timely feedback to students. Findings will help faculty and staff better understand the strengths and weaknesses of pre-service teacher candidates and impact curriculum design.