This afternoon I sat outside on my balcony, opened up NVivo, and got back to coding. The interview I was tackling one of our first interviews, done way back in October. It might have been the first solo interview I did out of the 24 and the one the interviews where, in the interview, I realized I was finding the information I had hoped to uncover in this project. The student was a senior and did a lot of undergraduate research. This was also a student who took a while to get engaged, and throughout the interview speaks about the blame they place on themselves for not getting involved sooner. It’s an interview that has stuck with me and I was excited to code it.
Reflection
Project Goals for 2020
Wrapping Up Fall 2019
Hi all, it’s Ally! I can’t believe the fall semester is already coming to an end. It really flew by! This was my last semester as an undergrad and I’m so happy Mapping the Student Engagement Journey was a part of it. I’ve already learned so much about research surrounding student engagement, libraries, and qualitative data. I can’t wait to see what the next few months will bring for Hailley and I as we continue our research. As I prepare for the spring 2020 semester, I have a clear to-do list for this project.
[“To Do” gif via Giphy]
Interviews
First, we need to finish up these student interviews! A few weeks ago, Hailley and I decided that we’re aiming to complete all 24 interviews by spring break, in March of 2020. I’ve definitely enjoyed interviewing students throughout the semester. It’s really interesting to learn how some student engagement journeys are similar to my own while others look entirely different. Right now we have eight interviews completed. Although students in our sample have had little availability in the past few weeks, I’m optimistic that students will have more free time to work with us at the beginning of next semester. I’m especially eager to hear from students in more STEM based colleges, such as engineering. I predict these student engagement journeys will look different from journeys in fields such as communications.
Qualitative Data Analysis
My next goal is to gain a stronger understanding of qualitative data analysis. This was one of my main learning objectives going into this project and I’m really eager to get to work on this in the spring. After we finish up our interviews, Hailley and I will be coding our data through NVivo. I’ve never worked with this software before so it’ll definitely be challenging at first. However, I’m eager to gain this new research skill and I’m sure with practice, the program will become more manageable.
I wanted to get a head start on learning NVivo so I’m ready to code in the spring when all our interviews are complete. I started this preparation process a few weeks ago when Hailley sent me some helpful NVivo tutorials. Additionally, we uploaded some practice material so I can get a feel for the program before next semester. So far, I’ve learned a fair amount of NVivo vocabulary (nodes, queries, classifications, etc.) I’m definitely getting more comfortable with the software but I know there’s still so much to learn! Hailley just received two books about NVivo from Penn State’s Interlibrary Loan and I’m hoping to use those books as a resource both this week and during the spring semester.
Presentations & Publications
Another goal of mine is to gain more presentation and publication experience in the spring. This semester, Hailley and I had the opportunity to present at Penn State’s Annual Student Engagement Summit, hosted by the Student Engagement Network. I loved sharing our progress and findings with the Penn State community and can’t wait for similar experiences next semester. Specifically, I’m eager to present our library related findings. Hailley and I did talk about libraries during our summit presentation, however, the main focus was on Penn State student engagement as a whole. In the spring, I’m hoping to gain experience presenting mainly on library research and the increased role libraries can play in student engagement opportunities. Hailley and I just submitted a presentation proposal yesterday for a library related presentation about student-centered research. Hopefully we’ll hear back soon and get to plan our presentation material in the upcoming months!
In addition to presentation opportunities, I can’t wait to do some writing about our results. Yesterday, Hailley and I brainstormed some academic journals that may be interested in our project results. We listed journals focusing on student engagement, library research, undergraduate research, and higher education as a whole. Next semester, we’ll probably start the publication process by writing about my role as an undergraduate research assistant. After we complete the 24 student interviews, we’ll start writing about our results. I think writing these results will be a really cool experience because there are so many different angles we can take with this project. For example, yesterday Hailley and I talked about writing an article strictly about students’ first two years of college and the student engagement opportunities they took advantage of during those two years. Overall, I think our presentations and publications will be incredible learning experiences and great opportunities to share our work.
See you in 2020!
In general, I’m feeling really optimistic about next semester. I’m already so proud of what Hailley and I have learned and accomplished from this project and I know it’ll only get better from here. I’m ready for a relaxing winter break but I also can’t wait to get started on my 2020 goals!
[“Let’s do it” gif via Giphy]
Reflections and goals for the end of the year
It’s Fall Break here at Penn State and things have been extra quiet in the library. For me, this break means shifting my focus to some bigger projects (like undergraduate research) without being pulled in a million different meeting directions. It’s a needed lull, but I will say that I miss the students and chatting about this project with Ally!
This morning, I sent out the sixth round of recruitment emails. Up until today, Ally and I had been only emailing a handful of our potential subjects, trying to take it a few colleges at a time. We felt that was a way to keep everything manageable and it has worked well so far. However, as we look at our completed interviews (6) versus the ones still left (18), we figured we should try to kick things into a little higher gear. 18 students across 11 colleges received an email from me today. Hopefully a few will be interested and Ally will come back to some scheduled interviews. After this round, we plan on doing two more recruitment periods before December 20, the last day of finals. I’m hoping that as the semester comes to a close, more students will have free time and interest in participating. Ideally, we’re trying to have 12 interviews completed by the end of 2019. It seems possible. We hope.
Thoughts on Penn State Faculty Senate Reports
Penn State’s Progress
Hi everyone, it’s Ally! A couple weeks ago, Hailley suggested I review various Faculty Senate Reports to learn more about Penn State’s progress with student engagement. These reports included the 2012 Task Force on Internships, the 2013 Task Force on Undergraduate Research, and timeline of Engaged Scholarship Initiatives from 2012 to 2017. I noticed three themes among these reports – a broadened student engagement definition, decentralization, and bench-marking.
Reoccurring Themes
My main takeaway from these reports is that Penn State has greatly broadened its student engagement definition over the past decade. Ten years ago, undergraduate research and internships seemed to be the focus of student engagement opportunities. Although these experiences are valuable, they do not capture other engagement experiences such as self-directed student engagement. Just four years ago, the 2015 Engaged Scholarship Update had developed only seven of the ten current student engagement categories. Overall, I think these reports demonstrate that Penn State has successfully improved upon their student engagement definition, expanding “what counts” as student engagement.
[Well Done Gif via GIPHY]
I also noticed decentralization as a common theme, especially with the task forces on internships and undergraduate research. This barrier was not surprising to me, given the large size of this university. These reports expressed a need for one, centralized location where students can look for internship and research opportunities. From my student perspective, I think Penn State has followed through with this goal by creating the Student Engagement Network and will continue to grow in this area as the Student Engagement Portal is developed. However, I think Penn State still has room for improvement regarding the centralization of student engagement opportunities. Although the Student Engagement Network exists, I think new Penn Staters still feel overwhelmed and confused about where to look for opportunities. Additionally, individual departments offer opportunities through their own emails and websites. Although these department-specific announcements are useful for students, this independence also inhibits the centralization Penn State is striving to achieve. Some potential solutions to these setbacks could be introducing the Student Engagement Network at New Student Orientation and encouraging each college to get more involved with the network and upcoming portal.
Bench-marking is also a theme throughout these reports. In almost every report, another university is mentioned for their successful student engagement practices. Big Ten universities were cited particularly often. I view this as a positive practice, as it helps Penn State to improve and model our programs after schools of similar sizes and cultures. Bench-marking was especially evident with the Undergraduate Research Taskforce. This report suggests that centralization will only put Penn State “in the middle of the pack.” For Penn State to equal or exceed “Public Ivies,” undergraduate research must become part of the university culture through efforts such as increased grants and faculty recognition for undergraduate research. I think this attitude should be applied to student engagement as a whole, as centralization alone is not enough for Penn State to make a name for itself in student engagement.
Takeaways
These Faculty Senate reports assured me that our research project aligns with Penn State’s long-term goals for student engagement, such as centralization. Our project can also inform the university about whether current students know about and are using the student engagement resources in place. Overall, I think Hailley and I are on the right track!
[High Five Gif via GIPHY]
Why I wanted an undergraduate research assistant
It was probably a year ago when I started thinking about this research project. The call had just opened up for the Student Engagement Network Faculty Academy positions and I knew the IRDL applications would open in December. As I put together my various essays, CVs, and budget proposals, I knew I wanted to have at least one undergraduate student research assistant.
My motivation for having a student was multi-faceted. Continue reading
Research in Collaboration: Why I’m talking about my research
If you know me or have collaborated with me before, you know I have a certain energy when I’m really jazzed about something. The sort of energy where you can truly sense my enthusiasm as it oozes out of me. And when I begin, I give you a look that says, “Buckle up, I’m jazzed and you’re about to know why.”
Right now, I feel that way about this research project. As Ally mentioned, we have been testing out our questions and the mapping activity itself. We’ve done four practice interviews and I feel my head is full of ideas. I see so many connections from these interviews to the theory that exists within higher education on student engagement, and to the educational framework that the Student Engagement Network (and Penn State Faculty Senate) has been working on for years. I can only imagine what sort of information we’ll have to share once we’ve done the 24, on-the-record, interviews. I believe this project has tremendous potential, and the interviews we’ve done so far have confirmed that.