Document Tag: faculty

An exploration of trauma-inclusive pedagogy and students’ perceptions of academic success (2023)

While trauma-inclusive approaches to student learning have been well documented in K–12 contexts, postsecondary education has done little to incorporate trauma-inclusive pedagogy into college classrooms. Using a sample (n = 529) of graduate and undergraduate students at a public rural-serving regional serving university, this study aims to explore differences in students’ perception of academic success in courses where trauma-inclusive practices were used and courses where these practices were not. Findings provide evidence that students felt more successful in courses where trauma-inclusive practices were used. Additionally, researchers were able to demonstrate that differences in perceptions of success were more pronounced between students who have been exposed to traumatic life experiences, particularly in the course where participants felt the least successful. Implications for future research, practice, and models of educational development are discussed.

College Students and Class Attendance: How Poverty and Illbeing Affect Student Success through Punitive Attendance Policies (2023)

This study examines the prevalence of poverty and illbeing among students attending a large urban university and investigates how these challenges affect attendance, including how failure to meet attendance requirements may negatively influence course outcomes for these students. Through an anonymous survey, 520 students responded to questions asking about professor inflexibility, food insecurity, housing insecurity, depression, anxiety, and chronic illness. Over half of survey respondents reported having some degree of food and housing insecurity, and over half reported having anxiety, depression, or chronic illness. A multiple regression analysis demonstrated that punitive attendance policies disproportionally impact students living in poverty and those who experience anxiety, depression, or other forms of chronic illness. Several students reported that inflexible attendance policies have led them to a lowered grade, course failure, or course withdrawal to avoid failure, even when they otherwise had a passing grade. Examining professorial power through French and Raven’s six power bases, I invite faculty to think about the ways in which their power intersects with students and the opportunities that course policies provide to actively contribute to social mobility for students facing opportunity gaps.

My Professor Cares: Experimental Evidence on the Role of Faculty Engagement (2022)

We provide experimental evidence on the impact of specific faculty behaviors aimed at increasing student success for college students from historically underrepresented groups. The intervention was developed after conducting in-person focus groups and a pilot experiment. We find significant positive treatment effects across a multitude of short and longer-run outcomes. Specifically, underrepresented students in the treatment report more positive perceptions of the professor and earned higher course grades. These positive effects persisted over the next several years, with students in the treatment more likely to persist in college, resulting in increased credit accumulation and degree completion.

Basic Needs Insecurity in the Higher Education Instructional Workforce (2020)

n the fall of 2019, nearly 550 instructional staff members from four community colleges and oneuniversity responded to a pilot #RealCollege survey designed specifically for faculty and staffmembers. This report describes the results of that pilot survey examining basic needs insecurityamong educators (i.e., faculty members and instructors) in higher education.