Dean's Seminar Series

Abstract

Student engagement is a key factor for enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. It refers to the degree of involvement, interest, and enthusiasm that students show in their learning process. Engagement can be influenced by various factors, such as the course content, the instructional methods, the learning environment, and the student characteristics. Online courses, which are becoming more prevalent and accessible in higher education, pose new challenges and opportunities for fostering student engagement. Online courses can offer more flexibility, convenience, and diversity for students, but they can also create a sense of isolation, detachment, and confusion. Therefore, it is important to understand how students perceive and experience online courses, and how their engagement levels compare to those in face-to-face courses.

Previous research has suggested that there is a positive relationship between learning outcomes and student expectations, and that both factors can affect student engagement. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how these factors differ between online and face-to-face courses. This study aims to fill this gap through an analysis of surveys of more than 200 students. The results showed that students can learn as much and feel as engaged in online courses, even though many in higher education do not view that modality as effective as the traditional methods of teaching and learning. The paper contributes to the theme of recognizing impact and reinvigorating practice by exploring what works in online courses to foster student engagement and satisfaction. The goal is to address why students may succeed while expecting to be less engaged in the online format.

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Abstract

Insect populations are collapsing across the developed world in what has been termed “the insect apocalypse”. This is a biological catastrophe, as insects are critical components of functioning ecosystems, providing essential services such as providing food for predators such as birds and bats, and pollination. Moths are particularly important. They form the greatest biomass of any herbivore group, and may be as important in pollination as bees.

We compared the status of moth populations across a series of rural and urban sites, including traditionally landscaped urban sites, urban sites that have been restored with native plants, non-agricultural rural sites, and fully restored rural sites. We found that moth populations are strongly depleted in urban habitats. Restoration of urban sites with native vegetation provides a marginal increase in moth diversity, but such sites fall far short of rural sites. Significantly, we found that some moth taxonomic groups are more resilient than others to the urban habitats. Analyzing the biology of the more resilient and sensitive groups provides insight into the selective pressures that are driving down moth populations in urban habitats, and reveals possible strategies for improving moth success in urban habitats.

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Abstract

In this Dean's Seminar, two graphic design students and I describe how we used ArcGIS StoryMaps, a digital storytelling app, to present findings from a study on the assets of a local neighborhood. StoryMaps enables researchers to display data in an engaging, inspiring and accessible manner. Unlike research papers, StoryMaps seek to educate non-academic audiences, evoke emotion and inspire action. The presentation concludes by discussing the potential of StoryMaps to communicate research findings to the public and policy makers. Demonstrating the relevance of research to non-academic audiences is critical as universities, and science in general, come under attack in the United States.

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