Teaching Scholars Program

From Self to Scholar: The Impact of Autoethnography on Students' Transformative learning in a Public Health Course

Sara Newman Carroll, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences

Public health faces "wicked problems" like climate change, health inequity, and healthcare reform—complex issues that defy simple solutions due to their intricate nature and varied perspectives. Autoethnography offers a valuable approach for undergraduates by having students reflect on their personal health experiences, such as managing chronic conditions or navigating healthcare systems, and relate these to broader public health themes. This method allows students to connect their individual stories to larger health trends, fostering deeper insights and often leading to personal growth and shifts in perspective. This study seeks to systematically evaluate how such autoethnographic assignments impact health students' learning and personal development.

Making Thinking Visible: Teaching Transferable Thinking Routines in ENG 227: Poetry

Miriam Chirico, Professor of English

ENG 227 Poetry, a class in the ELAC curriculum that introduces students to poetry, has been re-designed based on the model offered by Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011). Students approach poetry from “fast” and “slow” thinking perspectives, learning to discuss humanist literature both instinctually and emotionally (fast thinking) as well as deliberatively and logically (slow thinking). The logical methods students will learn to use are cognitive schemas or “thinking routines” created by Project Zero at Harvard’s School of Education. I will teach these thinking routines as useful strategies for analyzing poetry, as well as problem-solving strategies that can be transferred to other classes and coursework, thus showing how Eastern’s ELAC classes form the foundation of interdisciplinary critical thinking. The students' understanding about and acquisition of their metacognitive skills will be assessed via end-of-semester surveys and evaluation of their written work. Moreover, other interventions I will provide the class will support students’ formation of inquiry and reflection, such as structured collaborative work, where student groups share information on Blackboard through monitored work online, enabling them to model interpretation for one another and fostering group cohesion.

Enhancing Feelings of Belonging and Well-Being in Undergraduate Students

Madeleine Fugère, Professor of Psychological Science

Creating community in the college classroom can be enhanced through promoting feelings of belonging, trust, interdependence, and shared participation (Elliot et al., 2016). I aim to enhance feelings of belonging/community in the classroom using four activities designed to promote interpersonal closeness, enhance perceptions of similarity, enhance feelings of belonging, and promote cooperative learning.

Teaching Ethics in Women and Politics

Nicole Krassas, Professor of Political Science

Women and Politics, a course in the social science disciplinary perspectives category of the LAC, has, as its primary learning outcome, ethical reasoning.  Teaching ethical reasoning in a context of a single class with its own disciplinary topic can be challenging because students not only have to learn the context of the topic broadly, but also have to learn to apply ethical constructs to that context. So, for this project, students complete a pre-test ethical reasoning assignment to create a benchmark of their ethical reasoning abilities. Then, throughout the class, they will be introduced to different ethical constructs and be asked to apply those ethical constructs to different topics. The first post-test will ask students to construct ethical arguments about that same topic after they have been introduced to both the concept of ethics and three ethical frameworks (utilitarianism, social contract theory and feminist ethics). The second post-test will come at the end of the semester, in the form of the papers they submit for their policy evaluation project. In this project, students will evaluate the policy they study in a variety of ways, including from an ethical perspective. The pre-test and the post-tests will be scored per the Ethical Reasoning Value Rubric approved by the University Senate.

Can Microlearning Enhance Student Engagement and Learning?

Barbara Murdoch, Professor of Biology

Student engagement is a significant concern in undergraduate education, as it is crucial for effective learning, persistence, and thus academic success. Further, by addressing diverse learning needs and encouraging participation from all students, engagement strategies can help create a more inclusive environment. This research, conducted in a 300-level health science course, studies the ability of microlearning to enhance student engagement and learning. Microlearning is an educational strategy that delivers focused content in short bursts, using various modalities, that is available on a flexible timetable to accommodate busy student schedules. The discovery of new strategies that enhance student engagement can benefit many disciplines.

Cultivating Connection Across Difference: Evaluating Teaching Practices in a Senior Seminar for Social Work Students

Sarah Nightingale, Associate Professor of Social Work

Throughout the past 40 years, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has identified effectively working with diverse groups of people and communities to be a critical aspect of social work education (Jani et al., 2016). However, there is limited assessment of how social work curriculums in the United States help undergraduate students build these skills. The objective of this study is to assess how different teaching practices may impact the ability of social work students to engage in culturally competent social work practice. Throughout a required senior seminar course on diversity and oppression, instructors will facilitate exercises, discussions, and self-reflection on self-compassion and the mind-body connection in the context of the course topic. Analysis of a pre- and post- test will be used to assess how these factors may influence student engagement in culturally competent practices.

Victims First: Rethinking True Crime through an Empathetic Lens

Racheal Pesta, Associate Professor of Criminology

As the popularity of true crime media continues to grow, educators have a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to shape how students engage with narratives of violence, justice, and victimization. For this project, I will explore the utility of victim-centered curriculum in cultivating empathy and understanding for victims of crime in a true crime class. Rather than focusing solely on the perpetrators or sensational aspects of crime, a victim-centered approach emphasizes the lived experiences, dignity, and humanity of those most affected by crime. Considering that many of our students will work in occupations that serve vulnerable populations, it is imperative that we prepare them for the complexities of working with victims. Through four interactive assignments students will grapple with the social, emotional, and financial consequences of victimization which is so often neglected in true crime media. This approach will not only deepen students’ understanding of victimization but also increase empathy for victims of crime that will hopefully translate to their future careers.

Using a Group Process Intervention to Improve the Implementation of Group Work in a College Classroom

Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, Professor of Psychological Science

While collaborative learning is associated with a host of positive outcomes, students may harbor negative perceptions of group work due to social and academic anxiety or concerns about group conflict or unfair distribution of work. This project explores how the psychological science of group process might be used to improve the implementation of group and collaborative projects in the classroom. A group-based learning intervention (GBLI), composed of evidence-based strategies from the group process literature, will be created and tested in an experimental study conducted in two sections of an introductory-level psychology course. The impact of the GBLI on 1) critical thinking skills, 2) quantitative reasoning skills, 3) student academic and social anxiety, 4) student perception of belongingness, and 5) student perception of and satisfaction with group work (i.e., social validity), will be examined. 

Integrating Narrative Identities into Group Work

T. Caitlin Vasquez-O'Brien, Associate Professor of Psychological Science

Narrative identity (the evolving life story that integrates past experiences, present circumstances, and future goals; McAdams, 2011) is typically consolidated in late adolescence and is shaped by both internal and external factors. Cohesive narrative identities are associated with better psychological well-being (Waters & Fivush, 2015) and the content of a child development course offers a natural context in which students can reflect upon and refine their own narratives. The current study examines the effects of a narrative identity intervention that reframes past adversity into an underdog narrative and situates current experiences and future goals within a hero’s journey narrative. Students will participate in small group guided reflection activities and independent self-interviews. Resilience, persistence, belonging, and understanding of differences will be measured before and after the intervention to assess changes in student outcomes.

From the Classroom to Climate Action: Evaluating Self-Efficacy through Project-Based Learning

Sarah Walters, Assistant Professor of Public Health

Climate change is a “wicked problem” requiring interdisciplinary collaboration, systems-level thinking, and equity-centered solutions. To prepare undergraduates to engage with such complex public health challenges, this study evaluates the impact of a project-based learning (PBL) assignment on student self-efficacy and agency. Implemented in PBH 330: Principles of Global Health, the Climate Justice Coalition project engages students in role-play, collaboration, and problem-solving as they co-develop health-focused climate adaptation strategies for vulnerable U.S. communities. Each student assumes a stakeholder role (e.g., public health official, environmental justice advocate) and contributes to a coalition-driven plan. The assignment promotes autonomy, decision-making, and real-world application. While self-efficacy is a strong predictor of student success, little research has explored how PBL—especially with role-play—affects self-efficacy in undergraduate public health education. This study uses a modified Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) survey, administered post-project, to assess perceived gains in knowledge, collaboration, communication, and confidence. Findings will offer insight into how immersive, equity-focused PBL experiences enhance students’ belief in their ability to address public health and climate justice challenges, helping inform future course design and workforce preparation.