Courses: PSY 1010 General Psychology; PSY 2710 Introduction to Brain and Behavior
College: Humanities & Social Sciences
Faculty: Jessica Hill and Claudia Jorgensen
These projects centered on creating Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) activities focused on a variety of psychology concepts to be used in PSY 1010 General Psychology and PSY 2710 Introduction to Brain and Behavior.
This project had various beneficiaries that will be described below.
Students: The project benefited two groups of students: (1) general education students taking PSY 1010 or PSY 2710 and (2) students majoring in psychology who faced a challenging sequence of biology-related courses, namely Psychopharmacology (PSY 3430), Behavioral Neuroscience (PSY 3450), or Sensation and Perception (PSY 3490).
Faculty: In addition to benefiting students, the grant also benefited many faculty members. Faculty members acquired skills to facilitate and develop high-quality POGIL, a high-impact practice. Numerous full-time and adjunct faculty members were trained in the facilitation of POGIL.
Program: Because PSY 1010 and PSY 2710 are such fundamentally important courses to the completion of a psychology degree, the reduction of withdrawal/drop/failure (W/D/F) rates benefits the program.
Community: The benefits of the grant are not just restricted to the students taking PSY 1010 and PSY 2710 course, the faculty and adjuncts who acquired POGIL skills, or the behavioral science department, it is also beneficial to the larger community. Students who have been exposed to POGIL do not merely acquire content knowledge; rather they also acquire processing skills, including information processing, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, teamwork, management, and assessment. These skills have been shown to be extremely beneficial for work productivity, work efficiency, and atmosphere between workers.
Courses: BIOL 1010 General Biology; CHEM 1210 General Chemistry
College: Science
Faculty: Heather Wilson-Ashworth and Matthew Horn
The objectives of this work were (1) to increase POGIL usage on campus by (A) training faculty in POGIL pedagogy and (B) providing continuing support for their activities as they transform their classroom practices, and (2) to devise an intervention tool for use in POGIL classrooms to predict early in the semester which students would soon be struggling in adapting to POGIL classroom practices. POGIL usage did indeed drastically increase on campus, and is now used in chemistry, biology, and behavioral science classrooms on this campus. Continuing support is being offered to the faculty. Considerable progress was made in developing a model to predict which students were soon to be struggling with POGIL classroom practices, using only data available from early in the semester.
The beneficiaries were the UVU students and faculty. The primary courses affected were General Biology (BIOL 1010), General Chemistry (CHEM 1210) and General Psychology (PSY 1010) during fall and spring semesters 2016-2018. Limited sections of other biology (BIO 3400, BIO 3600), chemistry (CHEM 1220), and behavioral science (PSY 2710) were converted to POGIL as well. In addition, we have mentored UVU faculty from chemistry, biology and behavioral science. These mentored faculty are the faculty primarily responsible for the courses taught with POGIL pedagogy mentioned above.
College: Office of Student Success & Retention
Faculty: Marcy Glassford
The purpose of this event-tracking project is to provide departments and programs with a way to track and assess engaged learning. By leveraging OrgSync event attendance and card swipe technology, UVU now has the capability to swipe student IDs (or manually enter UVID) at each event to track hours and attendance for students at every event.
The implementation team has been able to accomplish the following toward implementation of Event Attendance Tracking:
This technology was marketed within the Student Affairs division before the start of the summer 2018 term, and has been shared with the Academic Deans and Academic Affairs the fall 2018 semester. The promotion of the event attendance technology will be promoted on an ongoing basis.
Courses: ENGL 2010 Intermediate Writing/Academic Writing and Research
College: University College
Faculty: Linda Shelton
We continued a high impact intervention to improve learning and completion in English composition courses by incorporating the products of undergraduate student research into English composition classrooms. UVU’s field station in Capitol Reef National Park provides environmental data and an opportunity for high impact experiences. We integrated Capitol Reef experiences in air quality, solar energy, water conservation, and land use issues into the curriculum of intermediate composition courses to promote active exploration of real-world problems, facilitate understanding of research processes, apply foundational knowledge, and promote student engagement and inquiry, with the overarching goal of improving student retention and success.
Students benefit by increased learning, experience with undergraduate research and success percentages in English 2010. The university benefits from representation of results at 3 national conferences plus increased awareness and usage of Capitol Reef Field Station. The community benefits from students who are educated about these local problems and who have greater environmental awareness.
Outcomes measured by course completion percentages and changes in environmental awareness, as indicated by pre and posttests using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. Course completion percentages for the 3 semesters during this intervention, (Fall 17, Sp 17, and Sp 18), averaged 96%. The UVU overall completion rate for English 2010 for Fall 2016 was 91%. Students raised their environmental awareness slightly by 4% during those same semesters.
Courses: COMM 1020 Public Speaking; ENGH 0890 Literacies and Composition Across the University; PHIL 2050 Ethics and Values; MUSC 1010 Introduction to Music; POLS 1100 American National Government; TECH 1010 Understanding Technology; PSY 1100 Human Development Life Span; MATH 1055 College Algebra with Preliminaries; MAT 0950 Foundations for Algebra; MAT 1000 Integrated Beginning and Intermediate Algebra; BIOL 1010 General Biology; BIOL 1610 College Biology I; BIOL 1615 College Biology I Laboratory
College: Office of Teaching and Learning
The Gateway Course Initiative at UVU is a three year project aimed at reducing the percentage of D, F, UW (D-grade, F-grade, or Unofficial Withdrawal) outcomes in gateway courses. In order to achieve this aim, two objectives were proposed. (1) Engage faculty who teach Gateway Courses in supported course redesign activities. (2) Evaluate the effectiveness of course redesign efforts (D, F, UW outcomes) and qualitative feedback on experience.
Courses: ENGR 1000 Introduction to Engineering (Electrical Engineering)
College: Engineering & Technology
Faculty: Amanda Bordelon
The new Department of Engineering has emerged out of the demand in the industry for more engineers in the state. Among this department, there are three sub-discipline programs: Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. The current semester (Fall 2018) has implemented an Introduction to Engineering course ENGR 1000 intended to provide hands-on design to engage those students in engineering during the first semester when they are busy taking calculus and physics pre-requisites. This proposal will be used to primarily acquire the equipment and spend the time to re-arrange portions of the course so that it can be specific to civil engineering students.
This is a new developed program with a need to ensure a good program retention rate. The overall goal is to engage all of the students in engineering by providing an experience related to their career of interest, particularly early on in their college education while they are busy completing all their other pre-requisite non-engineering courses. As a way to provide this career related interest, a discipline-specific introduction class will be developed so that all of the engineering students become excited about their desire program and will retain in that program.
Courses: CJ 475R Current Topics in Criminal Justice
College: Health & Public Service
Faculty: Marcy Hehnly
It is the goal of the Criminal Justice Department to see students through to graduation by giving them the best overall education they can receive. One strategy our program has opted to implement to get students to the “finish line” faster is to offer classes over spring break and in fact were the first to do so March 2019. It was a complete success with 44 students attending a criminal justice designated course. The success was such that we will in the future continue hosting spring break classes to assist students to completion faster! We will also in the future host a Christmas break class which has tentatively been set for December 2020. All that being said, this particular project has the propensity to lay the foundation for another week long course in the future and this will be our pilot. The project course is called “CJ 475R Current Topics in Criminal Justice Service Learning.”
"We were able to begin building benches for the local Boys and Girls Club of Orem. Unfortunately, we were not able to complete the projects due to the cancellation of in person meetings. We were able to complete projects for an organization located in Georgia called “Remembering Officers Children.” With this organization, we were able to make literature they are able to distribute on a national level. We also worked with an organization called “New Hope Crisis Center.” With this organization, we were also able to create literature they are able to distribute here in various Utah counties. In between the projects we also worked on leadership attributes and traits that students would use throughout this course to meet the objectives of the course. "
Courses: HM 1010 Introduction to Hospitality Industry; HM 1130 Hotel Operation I; HM 1180 Food and Beverage Management; HM 2500 Hospitality Statistics; HM 3390 Hotel Operation II; HM 3200 Global Tourism; HM 3210 Event Management
College: Woodbury School of Business
Faculty: Yang Huo
One of the biggest challenges that higher education faces is to improve student retention. Student retention has become a critical indicator for an academic performance and enrolment management. The purpose of this study is to identify potential issues on why students want to drop out, why they transfer or leave UVU and to follow up with intervention options and appropriate strategies to enhance student retention. This study will apply data mining and decision tree modules to monitor student’s profile, analyze student academic behavior, and provide a basis for efficient intervention strategies.
"1) Descriptive Statistical Analysis: The crosstabulation displays the frequency distribution of dropout for students’ demographics with Female Senior, Age (21-25), No Job, Married, Caucasian, Utah Resident, in Utah County, living with Family, Self-Financial Support, Hospitality Management major, concentration in Lodging or Event Planning, 3.1 - 3.5 GPA, Taking 11-15 Credit Hours/Semester dropout a lot. 2) Decision Tree Analysis: The dependent variable of our decision tree is “Dropout” which has two cases, Dropout before (yes) or No dropout (No), The root of this tree contains 161 observations in this dataset. The most influential attribute(factor) for dropout is the Financial Situation (Income, job, Scholarship) from the demographic attribute while the “Quality of Faculty Teaching is the most critical factor from the institutional environments. The financial situation will be more severe in the future due to the pandemic circumstance. It will impact to students more focus on the job rather than the academics. Faculty needs to improve the quality of teaching to meet the needs of students in order to retain the students in the class, major program, or even in the college."
Courses: MGMT 3000 Introduction to Organizational Behavior
College: Woodbury School of Business
Faculty: Maureen Andrade
This research focuses on the implementation and evaluation of team ePortfolios in a business management course required by all business majors. Team ePortfolios offer advantages beyond individual ePortfolios in terms of fostering learning outcomes and integrating multiple HIPs. They are a collaborative assignment, writing intensive, and in this particular case, provide a platform for reporting on a service learning consulting project. The team ePortfolio assignment provides students with the opportunity to apply the concepts and theories they are learning, such as communication, conflict resolution, diversity and personality differences, effective teamwork, and leadership skills. As such, the assignment is designed to help students develop the learning outcomes desired of higher education graduates. This research will further the implementation of innovative practices in teaching and learning aimed at engaging students and preparing them with needed proficiencies, skills, and knowledge for their future professions.
Theoretical basis for the ePortfolio learning outcomes instrument was identified. Analysis this past year identified items that overlapped and were possibly examining the same constructs.
Courses: CMGT 1010 Introduction to Construction Management; CMGT 405G Global Sustainability and the Built Environment; ENGH 0890 Literacies and Composition Across Communities; ENGR 1000 Introduction to Engineering; HIST 1700 American Civilization; HIST 3010 The Historians Craft; HIST 4980 Senior Thesis Research Component; PSY 3400 Abnormal Psychology; PSY 3710 Introduction to Forensic Psychology; PSY 4300 Introduction to Counseling and Psychotherapy
College: University College
Faculty: Leigh Ann Copas
The Writing Fellows program is a specialized service offered through the Writing Center. The program differs from the main services offered by the Writing Center in that Writing Fellows are embedded in and work closely with 1-3 classes and bring extensive knowledge of disciplinary writing conventions to their collaborations with students. Fellows meet with students from their assigned courses several times over the course of a semester, providing support to instructors who teach writing-intensive courses or who include several in-depth writing projects in their courses. Writing Fellows offer specialized support for the courses they serve by hosting Writing Sessions and/or in-class workshops, regularly attending class, posting messages and updates via Canvas, and hosting one-on-one and small group tutorials. Through conversations with both faculty and students, writing fellows design customized outside-of-class Writing Sessions to help students practice skills necessary to be successful in their writing assignments. Writing Sessions are designed not only to provide individuals with writing practice, but also to enhance peer-to-peer connections between students in the same course. In this way, Writing Fellows promote the organic growth of learning communities in the courses they serve.
Courses: ENGR 1000 Introduction to Engineering (Electrical Engineering); ECE 1020 Computer Engineering Problem Solving
College: Engineering & Technology
Faculty: Afsaneh Minaie and Others
The Department of Engineering at Utah Valley University (UVU) requests funding in order to strengthen outcomes for students in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering through establishing a Freshman Practicum Engagement (FPE) program with the aim of retaining majors in Electrical Engineering (EE) and Computer Engineering (CE), majors that traditionally have low retention and graduation rates while offering excellent job prospects.
