Undergraduate Education

The Poor and the Rich: A Look at Economic Stratification and Academic Performance Among Undergraduate Students in the United States

John Aubrey Douglass
Gregg Thomson
2008

A number of national studies point to a trend in which highly selective and elite private and public universities are becoming less accessible to lower-income students. At the same time there have been surprisingly few studies of the actual characteristics and academic experiences of low-income students or comparisons of their undergraduate experience with those of more wealthy students. This paper explores the divide between poor and rich students, first comparing a group of selective US institutions and their number and percentage of Pell Grant recipients and then, using...

Beyond the Ivy Islands: Building Undergraduate Teaching Muscle in Public Universities Without Detracting from Research, by Steven G. Brint

Steven G. Brint
2012

Reviewing Andrew Delbanco’s new book, College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, this paper explores the current shifts in the college model—particularly those occurring at overstressed public campuses—and offers suggestions for improving teaching effectiveness in “dustbowl” classrooms to avoid the progressive mechanization of the undergraduate curriculum over the next decade and a growing exodus from public universities to online colleges-in-name-only.

The Goals of Transnational Education: Reflections of a True Believer, by Jeffrey S. Lehman

Jeffrey S. Lehman
2012

Transnational education can both improve the lives of the students who experience it and also increase cooperation and reduce conflict across cultural lines. The value of transnational education is more apparent when one considers how, in a radically transformed twenty-first century, students need to develop a special set of nine essential qualities: curiosity, empathy, skepticism, logical thinking, patience, creativity, scientific literacy, effectiveness across cultural boundaries and multilingualism. The need to develop these qualities is framing the design of the educational...

Undergraduate Research Engagement at Major US Research Universities, by John Aubrey Douglass and Chun-Mei Zhao

John Aubrey Douglass
Chun-Mei Zhao
2013

Bolstered by the recommendations of the 1998 Boyer Report, US federal agencies have put significant resources into promoting opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research. American universities and colleges have been creating support programs and curricular opportunities intended to create a “culture of undergraduate research.” Yet our knowledge about the commonality of undergraduate research engagement—how it integrates into the educational experience, and its benefits or lack thereof—is still very limited. Universities exude the ideal of a pivotal link of teaching and...

Fostering Global Competence Through Internationalization at American Research Universities, by I. Shcheglova, G. Thomson and Martha​ ​C.​ ​Merrill

Irina Shcheglova
Gregg Thomson
Martha​ ​C.​ ​Merrill
2017

American research universities have recently joined the march for internationalization and now are putting explicit efforts into finding ways to create an international focus. Within a short number of years, missions have been transformed, incorporating elements of globalization. Universities now declare the importance of preparing students to live and work in a multicultural and global world. They document the increased numbers of international students and faculty on campus and their support for Study Abroad programs that provide first-hand international experience as well as for...

Restructuring Engineering Education: Why, How and When? By C. Judson King

C. Judson King
2011

There is strong interest in broadening engineering education, bringing in more liberal arts content as well as additional subjects such as economics, business and law, with which engineers now haveto be familiar. There are also cogent arguments for balancing against what is now the almost exclusively quantitative nature of the curriculum, adding more elements that relate to the actual practice of engineering, and structuring engineering education so as to provide multiple and later entry points, which should enable more informed career choices and make engineering attractive to a more...

Undergraduate Time Use and Academic Outcomes: Results from UCUES 2006, by Steven G. Brint and Allison M. Cantwell

Steven G. Brint
Allison M. Cantwell
2008

Class attendance and out-of-class study time are known to be strongly associated with academic engagement and college GPA. The paper examines two other uses of time as influences on academic outcomes: those devoted to active engagements with friends and community as opposed to passive entertainments, and those that connect students to campus life rather than separating them from campus life. Controlling for students’ socio-demographic backgrounds, previous academic achievements, and social and psychological stressors, we find that “activating” uses of time are associated with higher levels...

The Immigrant University: Assessing the Dynamics of Race, Major and Socioeconomic Characteristics at the University of California, by John Aubrey Douglass, Heinke Roebken, and Gregg Thomson

John Aubrey Douglass
Heinke Roebken
Gregg Thomson
2007

The University of California has long been a major source of socioeconomic mobility in California. Data from the University of California’s Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) indicates that more than half the undergraduate students in the UC system have at least one parent that is an immigrant. The ratio is even higher at UC Berkeley. What do such a high percentage of students with recent immigrant backgrounds tell us about the University of California and socioeconomic mobility? How is it influencing the academy and academic and civic experience of undergraduates who are largely...

Institutional Versus Academic Discipline Measures of Student Experience: A Matter of Relative Validity, by Steve Chatman

Steve Chatman
2007

The University of California’s census survey of undergraduates, UCUES, presents an opportunity to measure both disciplinary and institutional differences in students’ academic experience. Results from nearly 60,000 responses (38% response rate) from the 2006 administration found greater variance among majors within an institution than between equivalent majors across institutions. Cluster analysis techniques were employed to establish disciplinary patterns, with traditional distinctions between hard and soft sciences generally supported. Reporting practices called into question range...

Engineers Should Have a College Education, by C. Judson King

C. Judson King
2006

Many societal trends and needs call for engineers to broaden their outlooks, have more flexible career options, and work closely and effectively with persons of quite different backgrounds. Yet the education and general orientation of engineers have been directed inward toward the profession, rather than outward toward the rest of society and the world. Engineering education should change to create a broader outlook and understanding in graduates and thereby engender capabilities for linkages and more likelihood of advancement into management and/or movement into other areas. The...