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Ethnography of the University Initiative

Ethnography of the University Initiative. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I/NCEPR, 21 July 2007. Overview. Program recap Program update Research report Discussion Questions?. Program Recap.

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Ethnography of the University Initiative

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  1. Ethnographyof the University Initiative University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign I/NCEPR, 21 July 2007

  2. Overview • Program recap • Program update • Research report • Discussion • Questions?

  3. Program Recap • EUI engages undergraduates in ethnographic research on the university as an institution. • Research takes place in EUI-affiliated courses or in special projects. • Students’ electronic portfolios—containing field notes, findings, and reflections—are archived and (ideally) widely accessible. • The archive contains evidence of student learning.

  4. Program Recap • EUI is a faculty-led initiative. • It received a one-time grant from the Chancellor. • It serves the campus, but is no longer charged to do so.

  5. Program Update Personnel: • New co-director, Catherine Prendergast • New project coordinator, Tim McDonough • New cohort of instructors Technology: • Archive (IDEALS, campus digital repository) • New platform (Moodle?) • New EUI website (beta)

  6. Research Report • I/NCEPR research amounted to a project evaluation. • Question: Can we reliably capture evidence of student learning in a manner that is legible and accessible to students and instructors in future EUI-affiliated courses? • Why: Project integrity; EUI cannot sustain itself unless this happens.

  7. Research Report Method: • Survey of archived electronic portfolios (conducted by EUI staff). • Ethnographic study of selected EUI courses (conducted by EUI students). • Content analysis of EUI electronic portfolios (conducted by EUI students and faculty). • Interviews with EUI students (conducted by EUI students). • Survey (conducted by faculty and graduate students external to the project).

  8. Research Report Analysis of electronic portfolio content: • Examined reflective statements by students, looking for awareness that their research led them to understand that the university is constituted by multiple, competing, and incomplete narratives. • Examined EUI students’ links to other EUI students’ electronic portfolios, a demonstration of commitment to intellectual community.

  9. Research Report Context for student learning: • Instructor case study (Pamela Gauthier, EDUC 300). • Embraced mission • Embraced technology

  10. Research Report Student learning: • Student case study (Samantha Wilson). • Reflection • Fall (EDUC 300): articulating personal and institutional narratives • Spring (EUI Internship): understanding institutional narratives • Linking • Form question, then link, or vice versa?

  11. Research Report Reflection: • After interviewing LR I found that certain aspects of being a transfer student that upset me. Just from writing up my reactions, I have noticed the development of strong defensive feelings towards individuals who talk about their experience in the campus community and then question my involvement. [. . .] After reading Astin ([“Student Involvement,” Journal of College Student Personnel 25.4 (1984): 297-308] p. 303), I am also more aware of my own involvement in the university. This awareness has caused me to write in ways I do not want my fellow classmates to see as of yet. Perhaps after I better understand this new awareness I’ll be able to share.

  12. Research Report Another perspective: • External evaluation (survey) • Students perceived rigor and appreciated it? • Students sustained interest in subject (cultural diversity at the university)?

  13. Research Report Finding: • We can capture evidence of student learning, and we can make it legible and accessible. Challenge: • Doing so repeatedly, reliably, and for multiple audiences.

  14. Research Report Next steps: • Access. More exit interviews to better understand what’s in the archive and how to use it. • Legibility. Continue developing alternativerepresentations of archive content that incorporates images and sound.

  15. Discussion Accessibility + Legibility = Transparency? • How much is enough? How much is too much?

  16. Discussion Further adventures in transparency: • NSSE: Augmenting findings with EUI research • Accreditation • CASTL – Cohort on Undergraduate Research: Focus in part on EUI role in faculty development

  17. Discussion • Can the EUI archive have life beyond (orafter) EUI?

  18. Questions? Ethnography of the University InitiativeUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaignhttp://www.eotu.uiuc.edu

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