exploring transfer student beliefs and perceptions about research and research-inclusive careers...

Exploring transfer studentbeliefs and perceptions about

research and research-inclusive careersTola Ewers, M.S.

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Department of Educational Leadership

and Policy Analysis

Meet Meet the the

speakerspeaker

Tola Ewers, M.S.Transfer student from the start1. Kindergarten – Harris School2. Grades 1-3 – Cazenovia Elementary School3. Grade 4 – Hackett Elementary School in fall4. Grade 4 – Cazenovia Elementary School in spring 5. Grade 5 – Lime Ridge Elementary School in fall6. Grade 5 – College Park Elementary School in spring7. Grade 6 – College Park Elementary School8. Grade 7 – Greendale Intermediate School in fall9. Grades 7-9 – Koscziousko Junior High School10. Grade 9 – Walker Junior High School11. Grade 10 – Webb High School12. Grades 11-12 – Baraboo Senior High School13. Madison Area Technical College – 3 semesters14. Milwaukee Area Technical College – 1 semester15. University of Wisconsin-Richland – 1 semester16. Madison Area Technical College – 3 semesters17. University of Wisconsin-Stout – 1 distance education class18. University of Wisconsin-Madison – 4+ semesters, B.A., History19. University of Wisconsin-Madison – M.S., Curriculum &

Instruction20. University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD candidate, ELPA

Professional life…

17 years inthe news industry

(1984-2001)

14+ years inhigher education

(1997-present)

The The agendaagenda

Morning exercise Study rationale Conceptual model Methodology Results and Insights Limitations Acknowledgments

Morning Morning exerciseexercise

Eye Eye openeropener

Images of research Undergraduate major

Front of room

Natural SciencesBiology or “life sciences”ChemistryEarth sciencesMathematicsPhysics

HumanitiesArt and art historyHistoryLanguagesLiteratureMusicPhilosophyReligious Studies

Social SciencesAnthropologyEconomicsPolitical sciencePsychologySociology

Applied ProfessionsBusiness (and subfields)Communication (and subfields)Criminal justiceEducationEngineering (and subfields)LawSocial workNursingMedicine (pre-professional)

Morning Morning exerciseexercise

Eye Eye openeropener

“We need to broaden students understanding of the breadth of research – that it doesn’t just happen in biology and chemistry, but also in history.”

Dr. Leonard PetersVice Provost for Research and

Dean of the Graduate SchoolVirginia Tech

Food for Food for thoughtthought

Accessed on April 21, 2010 from: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/vtpubs/spectrum/sp940922/3a.html

StudyStudyRationaleRationale

Enrollment in and completion ofpost-secondary education is viewed as necessary and important for individualsand society

A plethora of points of access to higher education

Recognized need for baccalaureate degrees and beyond

Focus on STEM disciplines Careers with a research component Garnering human capital from alternative

sources, i.e. underrepresented populations Transfer students Engagement in research learning experiences

“It is clear that undergraduate research … is beneficial. For students, the opportunity to define a problem and work toward a solution that might have practical, real-life applications constitutes significant value. Students are more likely to engage actively in the total learning process when their curiosity is stimulated by the research question. Solving research problems can help students to … gain confidence in their own intellectual abilities. [Engaging in] undergraduate research can encourage students to continue their education beyond the baccalaureate degree … [Students] learn to handle ambiguity, to accept the fact that the research project doesn’t always work out as expected. And perhaps most importantly, undergraduates will develop the habit of asking “what if” and “why not” questions that can lead to new discoveries or new ways of improving the practice of their careers.”

Food for Food for thoughtthought

Beckman, M., & Hensel, N. (2009). Making explicit the implicit: Defining undergraduate research. Council on Undergraduate Research, 29(4), 40-44.

To understand transfer students’ perceptions of their research learning experiences and determine how those experiences shape their attitudes toward research and decisions toward furthering their education or career in science, medicine and/or research.

How do transfer students’ research learning activities influence how they know, do, and perceive research?

How do transfer students’ research learning experiences influence their interests and attitudes toward a research career in science fields?

PurposePurposeand and the the

guiding guiding questionsquestions

Conceptual Model

Scientific Knowledge(cognitive) Attitudes &

Perceptionsof Research

(affective)ResearchSkills

(psychomotor)

Research Activities in

Context

LearningAnticipated

CareerOutcomes

Interests,Goals &Actions

ResearchSelf-efficacy

Components of conceptual model as adapted by L.L. Bakken are based on an extension of Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1994)

Defining Defining momentsmoments

Anticipated Career

Outcomes

Interests,Goals &Actions

ResearchSelf-efficacy

Social Cognitive Career Theory

Social Cognitive Career TheoryThreefold framework (self-efficacy, outcome expectations and personal goals) focusing on the processes through which academic and career interests develop, how those interests promote career choices, and how people attain varying levels of performance and persistence in their educational and career pursuits

Self-efficacy refers to one’s belief in one’s ability to accomplish a task

Outcome expectations are what one expects to happen as a result of an action

Personal goals are the motivating factors for engaging in a behavior and afford one the opportunity to exercise agency


Lent, R.W., & Brown, S.D. (1996). Social cognitive approach to career development: An overview. Career Development Quarterly, 44(4), 310.


Scientific Knowledge(cognitive) Attitudes &

Perceptionsof Research

(affective)ResearchSkills

(psychomotor)

Research Activities in

Context

Learning

Learning Research activity in a context Research skills (the psychomotor domain) are the

tangible display of competent research behaviors, i.e., the ability to formulate a research question, analyze the literature, collect data, write and orally present results

Scientific knowledge (the cognitive domain) includes an understanding of research methodology and discipline-specific tenets

Attitudes and perceptions of research (the affective domain) reflects one’s feelings – negative or positive – towards research and how one processes those feelings

Anticipated Career Outcomes


Bakken L, Byars-Winston A, Gundermann D, Ward E, Slattery A, King A. Effects of an Educational Intervention on Female Biomedical Scientists' Research Self-efficacy. Advances in Health Sciences Education 2009;15(2):167-83.

Added 3 transfer student focus groups (one all male, one all female, and one mixed gender) to an already institutional review board-approved study with a slightly modified demographic questionnaire to capture transfer institution data

Sent a mass recruitment email via a list generated by the registrar’s office to 1,124 undergraduates from select majors whose academic records reflect college credits earned at institution(s) other than UW-Madison (advance placement credits were not included)

23 students responded to the email within 36 hours of the distribution; 11 students met inclusion criteria and were available to participate in the scheduled focus groups – 6 women and 5 men

The one-hour focus groups were held at a campus location on a Sunday afternoon; participants provided informed consent and were served pizza and a beverage

The focus groups were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded by members of the research team

WhatWhatwe didwe did

Icebreaker question: Tell me your first name and where you are in your family’s birth order.

Tell me about the research learning experiences you’ve had so far.PROBES: Tell me more about [any specific source of learning they identify – classroom, internship, popular culture, what they’ve heard from peers or other people’s experiences]. What kinds of research have you been exposed to?

What images come to mind when you think about research?PROBES: Where does it occur? Whom does it involve?

What are the benefits of research, and who benefits from it?PROBE: Is the outcome relating to a personal, community, or national / global benefit?

Focus Focus Group Group ScriptScript

Do you envision research as part of your academic and/or career goals? In what ways?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a research career?PROBE: How does it contribute to or detract from personal and professional goals?

Assuming that laboratory research is the focus of the discussion and answers, we will ask: If you were provided with learning opportunities to conduct research with communities or people (as participants/subjects), would it change your answers to the questions asked so far and if so how?

Focus Focus Group Group ScriptScript

Demo-Demo-graphic graphic

FormForm

ResultsResults Descriptive data Identified themes/insights Verbatim perceptions

Our Participants (n=11)

Age < 20 Age 21-24 Age >24 Research in High School

Research at College

Men 1 1 3 0 2

Women 3 1 2 0 2

Class standing Sophomore Junior Senior

Men 1 1 3

Women 2 2 2

Educational aspirations

Bachelor’sDegree

Master’sDegree*

Doctorate(PhD, EdD, DNP)*

Professional(DVM, JD, MD, DO)*

Men 2 1 1 1

Women 1 1 or 2 or 3 1 or 2 1 or 2

*Women’s degree aspirations tied to potential career plans – consideration of trajectories only requiring master’s

Pseudonym Major Formal college research exp

Degree expectation

Career aspiration Career with research

Ben Zoology No Doctorate Research professor Yes

Carrie Nursing No Bachelor Nurse Yes, for practice

Colleen Occupational Therapy

Yes Master’s Occupational therapist Yes, for practice

Julie Pharmacology & Toxicology

Yes Doctorate Industrial research or professor

Yes

Kimberly Biology No MD Physician Maybe

Lee Chemical Engineering

Yes Bachelor Industry R&D Yes

Lisa Kinesiology No Master’s or Doctorate

Wants to teach adults Maybe

Nathan Biochemistry Yes MD Physician Yes, w/humans

Rich Biology No Bachelor Undecided Maybe

Sean Nursing No Master’s RN/MSN or NP Yes, for practice

Vicki Biology No Master’s or MD PA/Physician Maybe

Pseudonym Year Transfer fromin-state/out-of-state

Time on campus

Father’s occupation

Mother’s occupation

Age Birth order

Ben Jr 4-yr public, out 1st semester CPA HR manager >24 1 of 6

Carrie Soph 4-yr private, out 1st semester Stats professor School secretary <20 1 of 2

Colleen Jr 4-yr public, in 1st semester Business Mgmt Public relations <20 2 of 3

Julie Sr 4-yr public, in 7th semester Computer programmer

Braille transcriptionist

21-24 3 of 3

Kimberly Soph 4-yr public, in 1st semester Economic developer

Speech/language pathologist

<20 1 of 2

Lee Sr 2-yr private, out2-yr & 4-yr public, out

3rd semester CPA Dental hygienist >24 2 of 2

Lisa Sr 2-yr public, in2-yr & 4-yr public, out

5th semester Heating & A/C >24 1 of 4

Nathan Sr 4-yr public, out 2nd semester Restaurant owner IT manager 21-24 2 of 3

Rich Soph 4-yr private, in 1st semester District attorney Accountant <20 2 of 3

Sean Sr 4-yr public, in2-yr public, in

3rd semester Power plant mechanic

Daycare worker >24 2 of 2

Vicki Jr 2-yr public, in 4th semester Factory worker Non-profit director >24 3 of 3

Emerging ThemesEmerging Themes

Research can be time consuming → Concern about being able to find balance

Research has ethical implications → Need to ensure research is top quality

Research may be filled with failure → Am I able to persevere if I fail?

Research requires broad competency → If I’m a researcher, I need to be able to do it all

Access to research learning experiences → How can I be competitive?

Research program not needed for career → Staying “current” will suffice

People who do research are smart → Am I smart enough to do research?

Classroom research is contrived → Are my skills adequate for the real world?

Technical skills are not research → Lack of vision for research applicability

Making new discoveries is rewarding → There is a potential to have life-changing impact for many people; success erases frustration

Research learning mostly occurs in class →

Writing research papers, reading research articles, performing structured lab assignments

APAP

SKSK

APAP

RSRS

SKSK

APAP

SKSK

RSRS

RSRS

APAP

RSRS

AP=Attitudes and Perceptions RS=Research Skills SK=Scientific KnowledgeAP=Attitudes and Perceptions RS=Research Skills SK=Scientific Knowledge

Emerging ThemesEmerging Themes

Lack of research literacy by public/others → Researchers need to communicate effectively

Research plans can follow personal interests → Experiences/background are influential

Researcher identity takes time to develop → How do I learn to be a researcher?

Real science happens outside of class → Course research curriculum is boring, limiting

Working in a laboratory is unfulfilling → Doing research with people is exciting, rewarding and enjoyable, but can also add pressure to find good results

Doing research can be for selfish motives → Check off list to make you competitive for medical school/graduate programs

Industry research is controlled and stable → In industry, adequate resources and work stays at the office at end of the day, but may lack freedom for personal research agenda

Complex research problems are complicated → Research may need to challenge traditional paradigms

APAP

SKSK

RSRS

AP=Attitudes and Perceptions RS=Research Skills SK=Scientific KnowledgeAP=Attitudes and Perceptions RS=Research Skills SK=Scientific Knowledge

APAP

APAP

APAP

APAP

SKSK

Am I smart enough to do research?“I didn’t [take advance placement classes]. I wish I had. So many students in my program have taken so much science by the time they got to the university, and I have nothing. Well, I mean not that much …

“I often feel like I’m behind – like I’m not quite there when it comes to research.”

How do I learn to be a researcher?I haven’t done things like job shadowing, so I’m doing a lot of my own research now to understand what it is to be a female researcher.”

LisaKinesiology major

Graduate school for master’s – perhaps eventually PhD

ThemesThemes

CONCEPTUAL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FRAMEWORK CATEGORIESCATEGORIES

Attitude and Attitude and perceptionperception

Research Research skillsskills

Scientific Scientific knowledgeknowledge

Complexity means researchers may need to challenge traditional paradigms

“The western researchers are really at palpable, tangible and researching to prove it. I don’t think you can always do that when it comes to things like chronic depression or some big things out there – I’d like to know how to do research on things that aren’t going to be tangible, palpable … There’s a lot of things out there that work, but we can’t prove it the way that we expect to prove it in research, and I get frustrated by that, and I want to know like how do you start to help the western mindset accept some of the things that are out there that’s not a soil sample …”

LisaKinesiology major

Graduate school for master’s – perhaps eventually PhD

ThemesThemes





Researchers need to do top quality work; their efforts have ethical implications

It kind of makes me think … that there can be really good research on a topic. I guess it’s so hard to know what to believe today, because there’s so much like – somebody can just make a claim without a lot of good evidence behind it. I think without any research – but if it gets power behind it and gets out to people – people start to believe in it, see all the hype about it. The average person wouldn’t delve deeper into and find out if it’s true. So you hear one thing and then you hear a contradiction to that the next day, it’s hard to trust anything – to know which one is more credible than the other.

ColleenPre-Occupational Therapy major

Graduate school for master’s in Occupational Therapy

ThemesThemes




Research is time consuming,the process can be frustrating

and stressfulI think a drawback of being in a research career could be that you could put in a ton of work, a ton of time and it doesn’t have a guarantee of really being fruitful to you. Maybe you don’t reach the conclusion that you thought you would or you don’t reach really any conclusion with the data you collected or maybe you have brilliant breakthrough, but you are not able to be published, because you are just starting out and you do not have too much credibility.

And when you think about [a researcher] doing something that’s super controversial, there’s a lot of stress on [the researcher], besides just the workload.

ColleenPre-Occupational Therapy major

Graduate school for master’s in Occupational Therapy

ThemesThemes



Research with people can add pressure“I think I might be inclined to do research with people, but at the same time I think there would be that much more pressure to it, because you’re actually seeing the people who you are working with and who your research would affect. So I think it’s nice when you can see who it will benefit, but there is also that like once you actually get to know a person and see that they’re tangible and physical, I think that it definitely adds an extra level of pressure and stress to come out with results that will benefit them.”

Research program not needed for careerDepending on how I enjoy my own research as I try to get into med school, I could continue with that – or you don’t necessarily as a doctor have to do it if you don’t like it. It kind of depends.

KimberlyBiology major

Medical school aspirations

ThemesThemes



Am I smart enough to be a researcher?How can I be competitive?

How do I learn to be a researcher? “I guess I kind of envision [research] like something way above my head ... I have like no idea. Like they never really tell you when you transfer here how to find opportunities. You have to look at a website, and look for it yourself. It doesn’t feel very accessible at all … When I first transferred here, I just was focused on classes. Now that I’m getting more comfortable, I’m trying to put my foot in the water and talk to people like this, kind of see what’s out there. Figure out how to get into it and all that kind of thing. This is pretty much the first real step towards finding out. I’m not really sure of what to do. Probably send someone an email.”

VickiBiology major

physician’s assistant or medical school aspirations

ThemesThemes




Research program not needed for career“I think that once I get in or if I get in (to physicians’ assistant school), I wouldn’t do very much research after that. I want to get the qualification and start working.”

VickiBiology major

physician’s assistant or medical school aspirations

Making new discoveries is rewarding“You can be working on something for a very long time, and you can get a bad result. You can find something that disproves everything you’ve been working towards. There’s a lot of frustration. It’s very easy to lose your motivation, but that all kind of gets evened out when something works and you find out something really cool. That high you get from finding that out makes you forget all the pain that got you there.”

JuliePharmacology and Toxicology major

Doctoral aspirations

ThemesThemes



Research in industry limits individual, maintains work-life boundaries

“In industry, you are told what to do. If you have a mind that you prefer to think up your own things and pursue it on your own time, then industry wouldn’t be good for you for that reason …

“In industry you go to work and you go home, and when you’re at home you don’t have to think about it anymore.”

Research can be time consuming“I know that some of the professors I know they work like 60-hour weeks doing research and everything. So that’s kind of a disadvantage if you want to have a family and things like that and spend time outside of your laboratory.”



ThemesThemes




Difficulty in finding balanceWell, the people I know who do research, they think about it all the time – they obsess over it. It’s a good place for them to be, but I feel like it’s kind of unbalanced … I want a family; I’d want to spend time with them and not be at work all the time.



“I thought this would be a part-time job, but it feels like a full-time job. I go to classes and in-between I’m heading over to the lab to do something. Then I make it home, and I’ve got homework, but I also have stuff that I’m supposed to do for the lab … I haven’t worked out in a month, because I don’t have time. That’s kind of like a bummer for me, because I would like to have a certain lifestyle – to keep myself healthy and happy.

NathanBiochemistry major


ThemesThemes



Research requires broad competency“Dr. K says that after awhile I’m going to be getting really involved in everything [in the lab]. Just because there’s so much work to be done, they can’t really have somebody who only does one thing – everybody has to be able to do it all.”

Classroom research is contrived,not real science

“I never really thought that as an undergraduate I could ever really be a part of any real research, because what do I know? I mean, I’m taking all these sciences classes, but I really don’t know anything is kind of what I thought.”


Medical school aspirationsWas in ROTC at previous institution but didn’t commission

ThemesThemes




Am I smart enough to do research?“Before I had this lab job, I would have told you that the first thing that I see when I think about research is going into a lab and doing one thing for some professor that you never talk to. Nowadays I think it’s just a huge undertaking. My boss is super smart and like the hardest working person ever. I don’t know if I could do what she does.”

Experiences/background are influential“Part of [my interest in my current lab job] is because my best friend is diabetic and … some of the things I’ve been doing for the pre-med program kind of exposed me to diabetic patients. Like last summer I went down to Central America and we set up a volunteer clinic. We had a lot of patients who had diabetes.”


Medical schoolWas in ROTC at previous institution but didn’t commission

ThemesThemes



Doing research with people is exciting, rewarding and enjoyable

“Like all of my education has been geared toward working in the lab, so if I were to do research with a community of people, I think that I wouldn’t have the right skill set for it, but at the same time … I feel that like day-to-day, I’d enjoy more interacting with people rather than mice … I’d much rather be learning peoples’ stories and stuff; it seems to be interesting and rewarding, which is sort of why I think the medical career is a little bit more agreeable to me.”

Doing research can be for ‘selfish’ motive“[In talking with others, they say,] ‘I go into the lab for an hour on the weekend and I don’t see anybody. I just do the one thing and write down whatever I do, and at the end of it, I’ll get a recommendation letter.’ I think that sounds terrible.”



ThemesThemes




Technical skills are not research;lack of vision for research applicability

“I haven’t had any [research learning experiences], especially not on the scale that Nathan has had … My [nuclear lab tech] job wasn’t very research related … just analyzing specimens for specific ions and pH and stuff like that. It was really technical … I did learn that I had a fairly good aptitude for learning like technical work, like in a lab … [Doing my job] sharpened my laboratory skills. It’s ingrained in my mind how to pour water out of a beaker or a graduated cylinder into something else the correct way, to make sure you don’t get contaminated.”

BenZoology major

Graduate school aspirations6 years of military service as a nuclear physics lab tech

ThemesThemes




Researchers need to communicate effectively“[In my lab tech position], we had to not only record data, but we had to show it to others and be able to answer questions. “Why is it like this? Why is it like that?” You needed a thorough understanding of what’s going on in the lab.”

Experiences/background are influential“I really didn’t get interested in science actually until I was about ready to get out of the military. When I was going to State I was a criminal justice major. Science was an interest, but I took a biology class at State and I wasn’t very fond of it. It wasn’t until I was in the military and leisurely reading about science that I decided I wanted to get into it.”

BenZoology major

Graduate school aspirations6 years of military service as a nuclear physics lab tech

ThemesThemes





Experiences/background are influential“My original reason for going into chemical engineering was to help hopefully influence an industry and make it a little more sustainable. I have a culinary degree, so doing the food science research was something to add onto my resume to show Nestle or Kraft or some major corporation that I am interested in food … But being a chemical engineer you could have a broad range of job applications. So, when I was offered this job for the paper mill company, I realized this was the perfect opportunity for me to get into an industry where I would be able to influence the sustainability of it.”

LeeChemical engineering major

Has a research job with a paper company upon graduation

ThemesThemes




Research may be filled with failure; making new discoveries is rewarding

“One of the things that was really tough about [the mandatory summer research lab] was just getting used to failure. So many times, you would just have this experiment that you set up, you’d get all this data, you’d go analyze it and it would be like not what we expected at all … It would be really frustrating … In research, dealing with failure is really tough to do. You kind of gotta get used to it. But then, also, when you get something right that’s kind of new or cutting edge, that’s also really exciting. There’s kind of hills and valleys in the cycle of research.”

LeeChemical engineering major

Has a research job with a paper company upon graduation

ThemesThemes





Research has ethical implications

Ethics can drive or hinder research. For example, stem cell research. That’s a big one. Research can benefit everyone or people can be harmed by it like, especially going back in forth in medicine. One day something’s good for you, and the next day, it’s bad, more with regards to pharmacy and pharmaceuticals, weighing the benefits. The example of polio vaccine – some people died from it, but so many more people were benefitted by it.

SeanNursing major

Expects to pursue master’s and/or be a nurse practitioner

ThemesThemes




Experiences/background are influentialI definitely see research as important – whether it’s mine or somebody else’s – I’m going to have use it one way or another. I’m not sure which way I’ll go quite yet, because it’s like during clinical – because I’m going for nursing – it will definitely influence the direction I go. As a patient advocate as a nurse, I guess, you always want to make sure that you are improving the patients’ quality of life, I guess you have to have the medical background, but you have to take a holistic approach to that and that holistic approach includes research … my knowledge and awareness of research can be a determinant for how well I am helping my patients. The more knowledge, the better for my patients.

SeanNursing major

Expects to pursue master’s and/or be a nurse practitioner

ThemesThemes




Lim

itatio

nsLi

mita

tions

Perspectives are from transfer students who are currently enrolled at one research-focused university

Small number of participants Students who participated in this study

may have specific views toward research that aren’t shared by other students in their cohorts

Students transferred from multiple different institutions at different phases in their academic journeys

Students may be influencing their peers’ responses

The The teamteam

Dr. Lori Bakken Joe Chase Barbara Escobar Shengbo (Shane) Zhou Eva Gandhi Jackson Parr NISTS

exploring transfer student beliefs and perceptions about research and research-inclusive careers...

Documents

cazenovia elementary

hackett elementary school

college park elementary

webb high school

undergraduate research

university of wisconsin

research component

breadth of research