Assessment of Study Abroad as a High-Impact Educational Practice to Teach Cultural Humility
The National Association of Social Workers and the Council on Social Work Education emphasize the importance of the development of cultural humility in social work students and practitioners. Conducted by Sabrina Straub (Social Work), this research project will contribute to the existing literature that identifies the potentially transformational nature of short-term study abroad on developing cultural humility. The grant funding will assist in conducting research on the effectiveness of a short-term study abroad trip to Kenya and Tanzania in June 2025 and examine the impact of this trip on the development of cultural humility in the students who go on the trip compared to students who do not participate in the trip and are learning about cultural humility solely in classrooms.
Fun Fridays and EML in the General Chemistry Classroom
General Chemistry is often perceived as a content-heavy, intensive course, with little room for students to develop creativity, critical thinking, or connections to real-world applications. To address this, Najmus Saqib (Mechanical Engineering) and Kamila Deavers (Chemistry) will introduce a weekly problem-based approach where students tackle advanced, yet approachable, chemistry problems grounded in real-life scenarios. These "Fun Friday" activities shift the focus from routine memorization of calculation steps to fostering a deeper understanding of underlying principles, critical thinking, and transferable problem solving skills. Surveys will be administered to better understand student experiences.
GEM Peer Assisted Learning Sessions (PALS) in Medical Education
Robyn Fuchs (Physiology) and several faculty and staff in the College of Osteopathic Medicine designed this project to better support 2nd-year medical students. The students that will serve as peer learning tutors for this program are called PALLs (Peer Assisted Learning Leaders). Unlike traditional teaching assistant roles, these PALLs will focus exclusively on student support rather than grading. This approach fosters trust-based relationships, encourages open communication, and establishes a safe and collaborative learning environment. Program effectiveness will be evaluated through a mixed methods, pre-post assessment design implemented across the 8-week course.
Practicing Healthcare Literacy and Ethical Decision-Making as a Campus
Led by Kirsten Guidero (Theology), this project seeks to take the next step in redeveloping an undergraduate theological bioethics course to more concretely align with Marian’s strategic pillars of access and success, STEM illuminated by the liberal arts, and faith in action. In this project, students will be funded to attend a medical ethics conference and will learn from healthcare professionals who practice medical ethics in a wide array of fields—ranging from surgery to pediatrics to eldercare to chaplains to mental health. Students will then apply their learning in facilitating an event and reflect on what they have learned about facilitating health literacy and ethical decision-making training. Observations and surveys will be conducted to better understand learning.