student development research paper

Journal of College Student Development

Vasti Torres, Indiana University

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The  Journal of College Student Development  features quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies in areas that include student development, professional development, professional issues, administrative concerns in higher education, and creative programs to improve student services and student learning.  JCSD  publishes original work, replication of research, and reviews of research. We primarily publish empirical studies but will consider reviews and essays about professional preparation, theoretical advancement, methodological concerns, and organizational and professional issues that may occur in a higher education context within or outside the U.S. Manuscripts can be submitted in the form of Feature Articles (30 pages or less), Research in Brief (9 pages or less), or On the Campus manuscripts (7 pages or less). Book reviews are submitted to the Associate Editor of book reviews by invitation only.

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Vasti Torres,  Indiana University

Executive Associate Editor and Research in Brief

Jay Garvey,  University of Vermont

Associate Editor for International and Translational Education Research

Ebelia Hernández,  Rutgers University

Associate Editor for Book Reviews

Sherry K. Watt,  University of Iowa

Editorial Board

Taryn Allen, Texas Christian University (2023) James Soto Antony, Harvard Univeristy (2025) Zarrina Azizova, University of North Dakota (2024) Cameron Beatty, Florida State University (2024) Katherine Branch, University of Rhode Island (2024) Yuhao Cen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2025) Michael Denton, University of Southern Florida (2025) Antonio Duran, Auburn University (2023) Becki Elkins, University of Wisconsin La Crosse (2024) Tomika Ferguson, Virginia Commonwealth University (2024) Maureen Flint, University of Georgia (2023) Zac Foste, University of Kansas (2025) Ann Gansemer-Topf, Iowa State University (2022) Crystal Garcia, University of Nebraska Lincoln (2024) Chrystal George Mwangi, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2023) Kevin Hemer, University of Colorado, Boulder (2025) Joshua Holmes, Suffolk University (2024) Anne Hornak, Central Michigan University (2025) Susan VanDeventer Iverson, Manhattanville College (2023) Susan Jones, The Ohio State University (2024) Amrita Kaur, Wenzhou-Kean University (2025) Cindy Ann Kilgo, University of Alabama (2023) Ezekiel Kimball, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2021) Aurelia Kollasch, Iowa State University (2021) Katie Koo, Texas A&M University-Commerce (2024) Carrie Kortegast, Northern Illinois University (2022) Joseph Kitchen, University of Southern California (2025) Leilani Kupo, University of California Merced (2021) Alex Lange, Colorado State University (2025) Jodi L. Linley, University of Iowa (2023) Lucy LePeau, Indiana University (2025) Thierry Luescher, Human Sciences Research Council (2025) Carol A. Lundberg, California State University Fullerton (2023) Jason Lynch, Old Dominion University (2023) Jacqueline Mac, Northern Illinois University (2025) Dina Maramba, ​ Claremont Graduate University (2023)​ Laila McCloud, Western Illinois University (2024) Brian McGowan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2024) Keon McGuire, Arizona State University (2023) Ryan Miller, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2022) Darris Roshawn Means, University of Pittsburgh (2023) Demetri Morgan, Loyola University Chicago (2024) Z Nicolazzo, University of Arizona (2025) Elizabeth Niehaus, University of Nebraska Lincoln (2022) Wilson Kwamogi Okello, University of North Carolina at Wilmington (2024) Avery Olson, California State University Long Beach (2024) Rosemary J. Perez, Iowa State University (2023) Kris Renn, Michigan State University (2024) Blanca Rincon, University of Nevada Las Vegas (2022) Hyun Kyoung Ro, University of North Texas (2024) Claire K. Robbins, Virginia Tech University (2023) Maurice Shirley, Indiana University (2024) Birgit Schreiber, Stellenbosch University (2022) Tricia Shalka, University of Rochester (2022) Rachel Smith, Iowa State University (2024) Terah (TJ) Stewart, Iowa State University (2024) Dian Squire, Northern Arizona University (2025) Dan Tillapaugh, California Lutheran University (2023) Teniell L. Trolian, University of Albany (2023) Christina Yao, University of South Carolina (2025) Dallin George Young, University of South Carolina (2023)

Send books for review to: Two copies of materials for which reviews are requested should be sent to Sherry K. Watt, Associate Editor, Journal of College Student Development, Education Policy and Leadership Studies, N485 Lindquist Center, Iowa City, IA 52242 or via email at  [email protected] . Because of space limitation in the Journal, not all materials will be reviewed. Materials submitted for review will not be returned.

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Abstracting & Indexing Databases

• Current Contents
• Web of Science
• Biography Index: Past and Present (H.W. Wilson), vol.25, 1984-vol.25, 1984
• Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson), Mar.1983-Nov.1987
• Chicano Database, v.11, n.06, 1970-v.27, n.6, 1986
• Current Abstracts, 1/1/2003-
• Education Abstracts (H.W. Wilson), 3/1/1983-11/1/1987
• Education Index (Online), 1983/03-1987/11
• Education Index Retrospective: 1929-1983, 11/1/1969-1/2/1983
• Education Research Complete, 1/1/2003-
• Education Research Index, Jan.2003-
• Education Source, 11/1/1969-11/1/1987
• ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), 1988-
• Gender Studies Database, 1/1/1988-
• MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
• OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), 3/1/1983-11/1/1987
• PsycINFO, 1971-
• RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale)
• Social Work Abstracts (Online)
• SocINDEX, 9/1/1970-3/1/1987
• SocINDEX with Full Text, 9/1/1970-3/1/1987
• TOC Premier (Table of Contents), 1/1/2003-
• Scopus, 1996-
• E-psyche, coverage dropped
• Gale Academic OneFile
• Gale OneFile: Educator's Reference Complete, 01/1988-
• Higher Education Abstracts (Online)
• ArticleFirst, vol.36, no.3, 1995-vol.40, no.4, 1999
• Electronic Collections Online, vol.29, no.1, 1988-vol.52, no.6, 2011
• PsycFIRST, vol.42, no.1, 2001-vol.50, no.5, 2009
• Personal Alert (E-mail)
• Education Collection, 3/1/2003-
• Education Database, 3/1/2003-
• Health Research Premium Collection, 3/1/2003-
• Healthcare Administration Database, 03/01/2003-
• Hospital Premium Collection, 3/1/2003-
• Periodicals Index Online
• Professional ProQuest Central, 03/01/1997-
• ProQuest 5000, 03/01/1997-
• ProQuest 5000 International, 03/01/1997-
• ProQuest Central, 03/01/2003-
• ProQuest Professional Education, 03/01/2003-
• Psychology Database, 3/1/2003-
• Social Science Premium Collection, 03/01/2003-
• Educational Research Abstracts Online

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Hopkins Press Journals

• Open access
• Published: 04 February 2022

A case study of student development across project-based learning units in middle school chemistry

• Yanan Zhao 1 &
• Lei Wang 1 , 2  

Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research volume  4 , Article number:  5 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

10k Accesses

6 Citations

2 Altmetric

Metrics details

A Correction to this article was published on 03 May 2022

This article has been updated

Numerous theoretical and empirical studies have claimed that project-based learning (PBL) exerts a positive impact on student development. This study explores the development and changes of students across project-based learning units by qualitative research methods. We followed a student group (1 boy and 3 girls) from one class in grade 9 over 3 time points within 1 school year. Classroom observation, focus group student interviews and artifact collection were used to collect data at the end of three units over time.

Qualitative research methods were employed for data analysis to determine what competencies students demonstrate and how these competencies changed during 3 units. The results revealed that this student group demonstrated both cognitive (e.g., understanding of core ideas, use of scientific practices, problem solving and creativity) and non-cognitive competencies (e.g., motivation to learn chemistry, collaboration, environmental awareness and perseverance). Three competencies (understanding of core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, and collaboration) were shown in all three units, and these three competencies gradually improved as the units progressed. The across project-based learning units showed a promising effect on student development. This study concludes with a discussion of challenges and promises for using across project-based learning units to support student development.

Introduction

Students in the twenty-first century live in an interrelated, diversified and rapidly changing world. Economic, social, cultural, digital, demographic, environmental and epidemiological forces shape young people’s lives, and young people face unprecedented opportunities and challenges (OECD, 2019 ). This generation should be equipped with scientific literacy and some necessary skills to cope with these challenges. To adapt our children to the life of the global community in the twenty-first century, we should substantially alter our way of education for students (Sawyer, 2014 ). Project-based learning cultivates students’ curiosity and builds an understanding of core ideas in science, enabling students to solve problems and become responsible citizens with scientific literacy (Krajcik & Czerniak, 2018 ).

Students’ meaningful understanding is built over time, therefore, it will take time to provide many opportunities for students to learn disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices (National Research Council, 2012 ). Researchers suggested that a longer duration of experience in PBL helps foster students’ cognitive competencies (such as knowledge and skill) and non-cognitive competencies (such as motivation and interest of learning science) (Bhuyan et al., 2020 ; Jenkins, 2017 ). Several studies have shown the value of using units that develop across time by building upon previous understanding and experiences (Krajcik et al., 2008 ; Roseman et al., 2008 ). However, just a few studies (Fortus et al., 2015 ; Margel et al., 2008 ; Shin et al., 2019 ) have demonstrated the value of using coherent curriculum materials across grades. Shin et al. ( 2019 ) proved that students who experience a coherent PBL curriculum build a deeper understanding of atomic structure over time, particularly in high- and middle-performing schools. More studies need to be conducted on the long-term impacts on students when they are immersed in the PBL approach (Jenkins, 2017 ).

In China, under the pressures of senior high school entrance examinations and college entrance examinations, very few schools implement multiple PBL units in one semester. In 2018, Beijing Huai Rou Number 1 Middle School and our team set up a “Project-based Learning Program (PBLP)” using project-based learning instead of traditional chemical teaching in 9th grade, which is a milestone for China’s project-based learning. In this program, we continued to focus on the students’ development across project-based learning units.

PBL increases the development of both learners’ knowledge and skills (Krajcik & Czerniak, 2018 ; Barak & Raz, 2000 ; Hasni et al., 2016 ). Artifacts show what students have learned (Krajcik & Blumenfeld, 2006 ; Krajcik & Shin, 2014 ), and teachers can use artifacts to know how students’ understanding develops across various units in PBL (Krajcik & Shin, 2014 ). However, in most cases, the artifacts were assessed limited to the artifacts themselves, such as product design and product quality (Chua et al., 2014 ; Torres et al., 2019 ), rather than the development of students’ key competencies. It is unclear what competencies students demonstrate as they develop artifacts in a PBL environment. By tracking the learning process of one student group in different units, this study attempted to identify the competencies that students demonstrate across the units as well as the competencies levels in PBL.

Literature review

The impact of pbl on students.

Project-based learning is more effective than traditional learning approaches in science education (Ayaz & Söylemez, 2015 ). Scholars believe that PBL promotes the development of students’ multi-dimensional competencies, including cognitive dimension, emotional attitude dimension and social skills (Barak & Raz, 2000 ; Hasni et al., 2016 ).

PBL promotes the development of students’ cognitive dimension

Scholars are particularly interested in the development of students’ cognitive dimension in PBL. On the one hand, researchers believe that PBL can help students develop a meaningful understanding of disciplinary core ideas and improve their academic performance (Santyasa et al., 2020 ; Harris et al., 2015 ; Rivet & Krajcik, 2004 ; Geier et al., 2008 ; Marx et al., 2004 ; Williams & Linn, 2003 ). Moreover, PBL can promote the development of higher-order competencies related to students’ science learning, such as problem solving (Hong et al., 2012 ; Kokotsaki et al., 2016 ; Mettas & Constantinou, 2008 ), problem raising (Irit et al., 2018 ), argumentation (Hsu et al., 2016 ), critical thinking (Holmes & Hwang, 2016 ; Irit et al., 2018 ), creativity (Hanif et al., 2019 ; Storer, 2018 ), and collaborative problem solving (Lavonen et al., 2002 ).

Disciplinary core ideas

Disciplinary core ideas, also known as big ideas, are essential ideas of a discipline, which can be used to explain many phenomena, and as tools to explore more complex phenomena and solve problems, they are also the cornerstones for in-depth study of a discipline (Stevens et al., 2009 ). Students participated in the project-based science curriculum outperformed those in the comparison curriculum in understanding disciplinary core ideas in science (Harris et al., 2015 ; Hong et al., 2012 ). Students engaged in PBL units understood the concepts deeply, but these results are unlikely to be captured in the standardized tests used to measure science achievement (Prince & Felder, 2006 ). Assessment in a project-based learning classroom is a continuous process that is embedded in instruction (Krajcik & Czerniak, 2018 ). Zhao et al. ( 2019 ) developed a framework to evaluate students’ understanding of core ideas in chemistry according to their performance of presentation for artifacts in a project-based class. The study found that, students established understanding of the conception (such as “combustion”) in a unit, but it is difficult to establish understanding of the big idea (such as “chemical change”). Establishing understanding of big ideas may require multiple units.

PBL promotes the development of students’ emotional dimension

For the development of the emotional dimension, researchers have also conducted many empirical studies in PBL. For example, PBL can improve students’ motivation (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010 ; Holmes & Hwang, 2016 ), interest and engagement in learning (Bencze & Bowen, 2009 ; Hugerat et al., 2004 ; Hung et al., 2012 ; Vaino et al., 2012 ), enhance students’ learning attitude (Kanter & Konstantopoulos, 2010 ; Toolin, 2004 ), improve their self-efficacy (Clark, 2014 ), self-esteem (Cook et al., 2012 ; Kilinc, 2010 ), and develop their attitude and enthusiasm for science (Barak, 2004 ; Tseng et al., 2013 ).

Motivation is an activation and intention that drives and maintains a person’s action, and makes the action achieve a certain goal. People can be motivated by different types of factors (Ryan & Deci, 2000 ). Several factors contribute to a learner’s motivation, including self-efficacy, intra-personal attribution, and anxiety (Holmes & Hwang, 2016 ). Improving students’ motivation for scientific learning, stimulating students’ interest, and increasing learning engagement are important aspects of education. In project-based learning, benefit of the high degree of personal participation of children, students will have strong autonomy in exploring issues related to daily life (Baines et al., 2017 ; Condliffe et al., 2017 ). Moreover, engaging in science and engineering are useful for stimulating students’ curiosity, attracting their interest and motivating them to pursue learning (National Research Council, 2012 ).

Carrabba and Farmer ( 2018 ) found significant differences in students’ motivation levels before and after PBL and direct instruction. Increasing student intrinsic motivation and engagement in the classroom is addressed through autonomy, competence, relatedness, and relevance (Sackstein, 2017 ). Ostroff ( 2016 ) stated that motivation comes from the genuine curiosity that is part of every human’s consciousness. Bi ( 2019 ) developed a inventory of chemistry learning motivation based on self-determination theory, and classified motivation into 6 levels according to the classical taxonomy of educational objectives in the affective domain (Bloom et al., 1964 ). Bi found that (a) PBL can improve students’ motivation to learn chemistry, different types of units have different effects on students’ motivation, and (b) students’ motivation to learn chemistry increased more after teachers’ teaching practice been improved.

PBL promotes the development of students’ social skills

PBL has also been found to develop students’ social skills, strengthen group collaboration and improve students’ interpersonal skills (Williams & Simon, 2017 ; Xu & Liu, 2010 ; Lee et al., 2015 ). When students successfully learn how to better collaborate with one another, their intra-group process and the intra-individual learning process may be more effectively guided in acquiring knowledge (Dawes & Sams, 2004 ; Littleton & Miell, 2004 ).

Collaboration

Collaboration is critical for twenty-first century, and it is increasingly sought after in education (Bentley & Cazaly, 2015 ). Collaboration is a coordinated and synchronous activity that is the result of a continued attempt to construct and maintain a shared conception of a problem (Roschelle & Teasley, 1995 ). In PBL environment, all members of the groups will collaborate with each other. To promote collaboration, teachers will help students develop collaborative ability, supporting students in learning how to discuss ideas with each other, use scientific evidence to defend their ideas and work in small groups. Learners develop their understanding of disciplinary core ideas by sharing and discussing ideas with others (Blumenfeld et al., 1996 ). Studies have shown that students benefit from small-group learning (Slavin, 1996 ; Wenzel, 2000 ; Williamson & Rowe, 2002 ). Students who work in collaborative groups with other students are more motivated and successful than those who do not do this, especially in reasoning and critical thinking skills (Wenzel, 2000 ).

Most previous studies have provided evidence that PBL has positive effects on student development. There are two main data sources for these empirical studies. One is the pre- and post-test data of students, and the other is to use techniques to collect data, such as questionnaires, interviews, classroom observation, and student logs. Most studies are quantitative research on the learning effect of one unit through pre- and post-tests (Carrabba & Farmer, 2018 ; Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010 ; Harris et al., 2015 ; Tseng et al., 2013 ; Xu & Liu, 2010 ). Some researchers have conducted qualitative analysis on students’ performances during a unit (Hong et al., 2012 ; Hanif et al., 2019 ; Williams & Simon, 2017 ), while other studies have used evaluation tools to track students’ performance in a 2 ~ 3 years PBL (Harris et al., 2019 ; Marx et al., 2004 ; Shin et al., 2019 ). Little research has been done on continuous qualitative studies of same students across different units in PBL.

Conceptual framework

Definition and features of PBL

PBL is a form of situated learning that is based on constructivism research (Lave & Wenger, 1991 ). Students use a collaborative approach to design solutions to real and meaningful problems in the real world in order to acquire knowledge and skills (Buck Institute for Education, 2008 ; Gijbels et al., 2005 ; Petrosino, 2004 ). In project-based science learning, students are engaged in real, meaningful problems that are important to them and mirror what scientists do. A project-based science classroom allows students to explore phenomena, investigate questions, discuss their ideas, engage in scientific practices, challenge the ideas of others, try out new ideas, and construct and revise models (Krajcik & Shin, 2014 ).

Project-based learning of PBLP meets the following six key features (Blumenfeld et al., 1991 ; Krajcik et al., 1994 ; Krajcik & Czerniak, 2013 ): (1) They start with a driving question. (2) They focus on learning goals for which students are required to demonstrate mastery on key science standards and assessments. (3) Students explore the driving question by participating in scientific practices. (4) Students, teachers, and community members are engaged in collaborative activities to find solutions to the driving question. (5) When engaged in science practices, students are scaffolded with learning technologies that help them participate in activities normally beyond their ability. (6) Students create a set of tangible products that address the driving question.

Analytical framework of students’ competencies

Understanding of core ideas.

“The properties and transformation of substances” is one of the important concept for students to learn in chemistry, and it is also a core idea of the Compulsory Education Chemistry Course Standard(CECCS) in China (Ministry of Education of People’s Republic of China, 2012 ). Understanding the idea of “The properties and transformation of substances” specifically refers to knowing the main physical and chemical properties of common substances (e.g., carbon dioxide, common metals, acids and alkalies), using these properties to achieve the separation, purification and transformation of substances.

This research focuses on students’ understanding and development of “the properties and transformation of substances.” We ranked students’ understanding of this core idea into six levels according to the taxonomy in the cognitive domain (Bloom & Krathwohl, 1956 ) (See Table A1 in the Additional file 1 ).

Motivation to learn chemistry

Krathwohl, Bloom and Masia’s taxonomy of educational objectives in the affective domain is the classical theory in the field of education (Gable & Wolf, 1993 ; Klopfer, 2010 ; Laforgia, 2010 ). Bi’s motivation inventory has been verified to have good reliability and validity, and this inventory was specially developed for chemistry project-based learning (Bi, 2019 ). Based on Krathwohl, Bloom and Masia’s taxonomy of educational objectives, and Bi’s chemistry motivation inventory, we describe 5 levels of students’ motivation to learn chemistry (See Table A2 in the Additional file 1 ).

Collaboration in PBL is not ordinary cooperation, rather, it is reflected in the process of solving problems. The Assessment and Teaching of twenty-first Century Skills (ATC21S) project (Griffin et al., 2012 ) defined ways of measuring individual person skills in collaborative problem solving (CPS) and has been cited by many studies in the field of education (Camacho-Morles, Slemp, Oades, Morrish, & Scoular, 2019 ; Dieu et al., 2018 ; Pöysä-Tarhonen et al., 2018 ). One of the evaluation dimension of CPS is collaboration, which is consistent with collaboration in PBL. We adopted the description and level division of collaboration in ATC21S’s CPS framework (Hesse et al., 2015 ), which divides collaboration into 6 levels from lower to higher (See Table A3 in the Additional file 1 ).

PBL curriculum in PBLP

At Beijing Huai Rou Number 1 Middle School, the whole year chemistry curriculum in 9th grade was delivered through PBL, with all units following Project-Based Teaching Experiment Textbook: Chemistry (PBTETC) (Wang et al., 2018 ). There are 8 units in the textbook, which were implemented in two semesters. Each unit focuses on learning goals of CECCS. For example, the Low-Carbon Actions unit corresponds to the curriculum standard of “Understanding the carbon cycle in nature, combining examples to illustrate the properties and uses of carbon dioxide, and learning how to make carbon dioxide in the laboratory.”

A good driving question elicits a desire to learn in students (Edelson, 2001 ), and it makes students realize that there is an important problem that genuinely needs to be solved (Reiser, 2004 ). As students pursue solutions to the driving question, they develop integrated understandings of core scientific ideas (NRC, 2012 ). The design of each unit starts with a real driving question. These questions come from real life and can stimulate students’ motivation to learn chemistry. Each unit is broken down into 3 core tasks based on driving question, and each task contains 1 ~ 3 student activities. In each activity, there are different columns to provide students with a wealth of practical activities, such as “Independent learning,” “Investigation,” “Group communication,” “Experimental inquiry,” “Design and make” and “Check progress” to guide students’ learning (a screenshot of the textbook is shown in Fig.  1 ). Students could create a set of artifacts in each unit, for example, in unit 4, each student group developed a poster of the “Low-Carbon Action Convention.”

Screenshots of the PBTETC textbook

In the textbook of PBTETC, three units focus on developing students’ understanding of the same core idea of “the properties and transformation of substances”. These three units set up tasks of different types and situations to realize the progressive development of students’ understanding of ideas, motivation to learn chemistry and collaboration. The theory of “situated learning” holds that, when acquiring information in a meaningful environment and connecting it with previous knowledge and experience, students can develop a connection between new information and previous knowledge, thus forming conceptual understanding (Blumenfeld et al., 1991 ; Krajcik & Czerniak, 2013 ). Students need to transfer the previous knowledge and experience when solving new problem. Through the study of these three units, students can achieve a gradual and in-depth understanding of concepts of substances. The types of project tasks cover designing a solution, analyzing production, designing and conducting investigation. The situation are from familiar and simple to unfamiliar and complex. PBL helps students answer questions about the world around them, thus stimulating their curiosity and sense of engagement in exploring what is happening (Krajcik & Czerniak, 2018 ). We used the frameworks in Tables A1 ~ A3 in the Additional file 1 to code “project learning objectives” in the textbook to determine the expected development level in each unit (see Fig.  2 ). When there were different levels of coding for the same ability in the goal, we took the highest level. For example, the objectives for unit 4 “Low Carbon Action” are:

Able to illustrate the main properties and uses of carbon dioxide with examples [UCI: Comprehension (level 2)]. Understand the relationship between the properties and uses of carbon dioxide and understand the transformation of carbon dioxide from the perspective of elements [UCI: Application (level 3)].

Actively participate in chemistry learning, understand the importance of implementing low-carbon actions, and cultivate students’ civic awareness [MLC: Responding (level 2)].

Actively participate in group collaboration, share their views, collaborate to complete the group low-carbon convention [COL: Collaboration consciousness (level 3)], and be able to analyze and explain the content of the convention based on the knowledge of carbon dioxide [UCI: Analysis (level 4)].

(UCI stands for understanding of core ideas; MLC stands for motivation to learn chemistry; COL stands for collaboration.)

In addition to the competencies of understanding core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry and collaboration, these three units let students solve problems through chemical experiments, cultivate students’ scientific practice skills and problem-solving abilities. Based on the existing research on the impact of PBL on students, combined with the characteristics of these three units, in this research, we focused on the following competencies: understanding of core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, collaboration, use of scientific practices, problem solving, and creativity.

Aims of the study

In summary, previous research on PBL has mainly studied the competencies of students in one or more aspects (Tseng et al., 2013 ; Xu & Liu, 2010 ; Williams & Simon, 2017 ), but little research has been done on the comprehensive value of PBL. Some studies have explored the changes in students’ performance over time (Harris et al., 2019 ; Marx et al., 2004 ), but students’ specific performance in PBL is not clear. Existing qualitative analyses, with relatively short time spans, cannot describe students’ development and changes across different units. We focus on determining students’ competencies as they construct artifacts in a PBL environment, tracking the learning development of the same students in different units. The detailed research questions are as follows:

RQ-1: What competencies do students demonstrate and develop as they construct artifacts in a PBL environment?

RQ-2: How do these competencies develop across the units?

As noted by Eisenhardt ( 1989 ) and Yin ( 2014 ), constructing a case study is an appropriate method when there is not much known about a topic. As little research has been done on the development of and changes in the same students across units, it is more appropriate to adopt the method of case study. To conduct this case study, we used several data sources, including classroom observation, student interviews and artifacts.

The presentation of artifacts is an important part of PBL. When students introduce their work, they present all kinds of knowledge, skills and attitudes they have acquired, which provides a good opportunity for evaluation (Krajcik & Czerniak 2018 ). At the end of each unit in PBLP, every student group will display and report their artifacts in class. At this time, experts and researchers go to the class of Huairou No. 1 Middle School for one day of research. In the morning, class observation was conducted, and a video camera was used to record the performance of students in class. In the afternoon, we invited 4 students in the selected group for interviews. After that, we communicated with the teacher of this class.

Participants

The participants in PBLP was a four-person student group (1 boy and 3 girls) from a class (40 students) in Beijing Huai Rou Number 1 Middle School, China, and all of them were local. Students in this class went directly to the school’s high school without taking China’s Senior High School Entrance Examination after graduating from 9th grade. Therefore, they did not have the pressure of the senior high school entrance examination compared with other middle school students, and they could spend more time in project-based learning. Before 9th grade, they had not studied chemistry, and the chemistry course of this class was taught by the same teacher, Ms. Xu, a young female teacher without any experience of project-based teaching.

We selected a four-person student group based on the chemistry scores of the 9th grade entrance examination, there was a significant difference of four students’ score rank in this group. The average score rank of the group was 4/8, mid-level in the class (there were 8 student groups in this class). The information of this student group is provided in Table  1 . The four members of this group were freely chosen by themselves, and they participated in the eight project-based learning units during the academic year.

Summary of chemistry curriculum in PBLP

Project-Based Teaching Experiment Textbook: Chemistry was published in 2018 and has been adopted by more than 10 middle schools in Beijing, Hebei, Shandong and other regions of China, earning extensive acclaims from teachers and students. To explore students’ understanding of “the properties and transformation of substances,” we chose three units (unit 4, unit 5 and unit 7) for research.

Unit 4 Low-Carbon Action

The greenhouse effect has had a negative influence on our lives. In this context, students will raise the driving question: How can carbon dioxide be reduced in the atmosphere to achieve a low-carbon life? In this unit, students will formulate a low-carbon convention to solve this problem. The content is so closely related to real life that it could stimulate students’ interest in learning. To formulate a low-carbon convention, students use the properties of carbon dioxide to convert it into other substances, thereby reducing the content of carbon dioxide. They work together to formulate low-carbon conventions, their sense of collaboration and environmental awareness are cultivated gradually.

Unit 5 reasonable use of metal products

Metal products are commonly used in life, this unit starts with the driving question: What problems will be encountered during the use of metal products? How do we use metal products rationally? This is a real and slightly complicated task because students should use the relevant knowledge of metal properties to analyze real vacuum cups, creatively design an instruction for vacuum cups according to users’ actual needs, and compile the manual of the designed vacuum cups. As a challenging task for individuals, it needs to be completed through group collaboration. Group members should communicate in time during the design of vacuum cups and solve problems together. In the process of completing the task, students realize the application value of the knowledge related to metal properties in life. Thus, their motivation to learn chemistry will be enhanced.

Unit 7 soil improvement

The driving question of this unit are: What are the elements required for plant growth? How do you improve the soil to make plants grow better? In this unit, students need to develop an understanding of the properties of acid, alkali and salt; explain phenomena in daily life with the properties of acid, alkali and salt; use related knowledge to plant a pot of plants they like; understand the relationship between soil acidity, soil fertility and plant growth; and establish a two-way relationship between the properties of acid, alkali and salt in real life. In this unit, students participate in a series of scientific practice, which are so motivational that students’ strong interest could be stimulated. This is an unfamiliar task, so students can better realize the importance of group collaboration to solve problems and actively participate in group collaboration.

Implementation of chemistry PBL

Student learning activities.

In each unit, students went through three types of lessons: Introductory lesson, process lesson and presentation lesson. In the introductory lesson, students understood the project background, appreciated the project value and became interested in project tasks. Teacher and students put forward driving questions together, identified the project objectives, teacher led students to break down and plan the project. During the process lessons, students needed to use the core ideas to solve a series of sub-questions and experienced diversified scientific practice activities, go through many rounds of problem solving process before finally solving the problems. The problem solving process can reflect students’ problem-solving competency, as well as what core chemistry knowledge has been learned and applied in this process. Students needed to collaborate during this process. Sometimes, the teacher asked the students to report this process in presentations. In presentation lesson, student groups introduced their artifacts through PPT, posters, cartoons and sitcoms in class.

For example, in unit 4 Low-carbon Actions, students investigated the effect of greenhouse before class, they felt the urgency of addressing environmental problems, and stimulated the motivation to participate in Low-carbon Actions. In the following process lessons, students determined the source and outlet of carbon dioxide by information searching and group communication, explored the nature of carbon dioxide through experiments, found ways to reduce carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, and developed a low-carbon convention. Finally, the groups’ low-carbon conventions were displayed in the form of posters within the class (Table A4 in the Additional file 1 lists the main activities of three units).

Teacher training

As the chemistry teacher in this class had no previous experience in project-based teaching, a PBL expert group was specially set up to guide the teacher. The expert group consisted of three professors in the field of education from Beijing Normal University, one associate professor from Capital Normal University and four teaching and research staff members from Haidian Teachers’ Training School in Beijing. Before all units started, experts provided the teacher with professional training on PBL theory. During the implementation of each unit, the teachers participated in training twice. The first guidance was before the implementation of unit, the teacher introduced her teaching design, experts helped her revise teaching design. The second training occurred after the teaching of each unit, experts observed presentation class and then conducted interviews with the teacher and students, the teacher reflected on the teaching of the whole unit, and the experts gave advice for improving teaching.

Data collection

This research mainly collected data through classroom observations, student interviews and artifact collection (see Table  2 ). Both classroom observations and student interview data were recorded. The qualitative method was adopted in data analysis, therefore, we needed to transcribe video and audio data into words and then encode them. The main research objects were students, in the transcript, the teacher was anonymized as T, the two researchers were anonymized as R1 and R2, and four students were anonymized as S to protect their privacy. (Statement: All videos and interviews were approved by the students and the teacher.)

Classroom observations

During the presentation of each unit, observers went to the school to observe the performance of the student group in class. Observers include the first author, second author and project training experts of PBLP. The purpose of observation is that we are able to observe first-hand actual information about the students, to facilitate student interviews and to help teacher preferably improve teaching.

Focus group interviews

After student groups’ presentation, four students from the selected group were invited to participate in the interviews. Each interview lasted approximately 20 min, all interviews were conducted at the school. Interviewer and observers were the same individuals. A list of interview questions was developed, and each interview began with the same questions (see Table  3 for sample questions). The interviewee’s responses guided further questions.

With the consent of the students, we collected the students’ final artifacts of each unit and conducted an in-depth analysis of their artifacts to determine their level of understanding of core ideas. Figure  3 shows examples of student artifacts.

Sample screenshots from student artifacts: ( a ) Low Carbon Convention Poster, ( b ) PPT screenshot of 55-degree cup introduction and ( c ) Report of Unit 7

Data analysis

The framework of Strauss and Corbin ( 1998 ) was adopted to analyze data, consisting of three steps: (1) classifying data; (2) creating patterns within each data source; and (3) examining patterns among data sources. In the following, the analysis process of each step will be detailed.

Categorizing data

To respond to the research questions, we coded the students’ performance data to determine the competencies demonstrated and developed in three units. This step was done by three coders (the first author of this paper and two master’s students majoring in chemistry education). Before coding, these three coders were trained to reach a consensus on the understanding of 6 competencies (understanding of core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, collaboration, use of scientific practices, problem solving and creativity), and the transcribed text was then sent to the coders. They marked the text that could reflect the students’ competencies and labeled them. When 3 coders had different opinions, they resolved their differences through discussion. We did not distinguish the performance of the 4 students but evaluated the overall level of the group.

In the first round of coding, we used “interpretive” codes, which require participants’ meanings to be deciphered, and were largely conserved the sake of objectivity (Miles & Huberman, 1994 ). A brief outline of this coding scheme is presented below:

Understanding of core ideas: using core ideas to explain important phenomena in daily life, use evidence to support claims, and design or evaluate scientific problem solutions.

Problem solving: the process of finding solutions to difficult and complex issues.

Use of scientific practices: multiple ways in which students explore and make sense of the natural and design world, such as asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data.

Collaboration: working well as member of a group, being loyal to the group, contributing to the group.

Motivation to learn chemistry: behaving or taking action for intrinsic or extrinsic reasons to learn chemistry.

Creativity: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, and relationships, etc., and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, and interpretations, etc.

Environmental awareness: understanding how social, economic and environmental systems interact and support life, gradually developing an energy-saving, low-carbon, green travel, and environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Perseverance: the disposition required to maintain effort or interest in an activity in the face of difficulties encountered, the length of time or steps involved or when opposed by someone or something.

During the coding process, we found that students also showed environmental awareness and perseverance. Therefore, we added them to the coding scheme.

Creating patterns

According to the results of the first round of coding, we found that the competencies of understanding core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry and collaboration appeared in all three units. In the second step, we focused on coding the levels of these 3 competencies. The frameworks of understanding core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry and collaboration (shown in in Tables A1 ~ A3 in the Additional file 1 ) were used to evaluate students’ competency levels. These three coders participated in the coding. Before coding levels, these three coders carefully read the content of the evaluation framework and tried to evaluate the same short text separately. Then, they discussed the differences of the results, selected another paragraph of text to evaluate separately and discussed again until their independent scoring results were agreed upon. After that, they completed the level evaluation of all text independently. We used SPSS 20.0 to check Kappa consistency, the consistency coefficient among these three coders was 0.929, indicating that the coding of the 3 coders was highly consistent.

Here, we show some coding fragments of unit 7 to make the coding process clearer. In this unit, students planted a pot of their favorite plants in the soil, explored the relationship between soil acidity, alkalinity, soil fertility and plant growth, wrote a complete experimental report, and reporting the research result to the class. During the project presentation, the students described the following:

“When we were determining the research topic, our members proposed to study the effect of nitrogen fertilizer on plant growth. To verify the rationality of this topic, we conducted copious literature research. We consulted the literature about the impact of soil pH on plants and understood the effect of nitrogen fertilizer on plant growth. Finally, we agreed to take “the effect of nitrogen fertilizer on the same plant” as the main research topic [collaboration level 3].

After determining the topic, we discussed which plant to choose [collaboration-level 3] . Through discussion, we found that two members planted green cirrus, so we chose this plant. We looked up the internet about the growth conditions of the green cirrus, especially the pH value [understanding of core ideas in chemistry-level 3] of the soil in which this plant lives.”

“The biggest difficulty we had was that the pH value of the soil samples in the park was not suitable for the growth of the green cirrus. We tried to add a large amount of water to the soil but could still not obtain the right soil pH value. This problem puzzled us for a long time. Finally, we thought of using an acid-base neutralization reaction to adjust the pH value of the soil , and we made it [understanding of core ideas at chemistry level 5] .”

In the after-class interview, the students said, “ In this unit, with the teacher’s help, we did many experiments after class, we also searched much data according to the teacher’s tips and finally completed this experiment. We come to know that we can solve problems by experiments. We realize that chemistry is very useful for life and study, and we are full of expectations for future study in chemistry [motivation to learn chemistry-level 4]. “.

Keywords are in bold font to judge the competencies and level of the student group, and the content in “[]” is encoded by researchers. We found that, in the same unit, the same competency was coded many times, we chose the highest level as the final competency level of the student group

Examining patterns among data sources

After coding analyses, we discussed the rationality of the above competencies and development levels with all researchers of three units, and analyzed the reasons for the development and changes of students’ competencies according to the project tasks and the teacher’s instructional design.

The competencies students demonstrate and develop as they constructed artifacts in a PBL environment

In this study, we encoded the performance of one student group in three units to determine the competencies students demonstrate in PBL. We obtained the results summarized in Table  4 . When the student group develop artifacts in a PBL environment, they demonstrated the competencies of understanding of core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, collaboration, use of scientific practices, problem solving, creativity, environmental awareness and perseverance.

Among these competencies, these three competencies of “understanding of core idea”, “motivation to learn chemistry” and “collaboration” were demonstrated in three units (see Table  5 ).

The development of the competencies of “understanding of core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, and collaboration”

After the learning of three units, this student group’s understanding of “the properties and transformation of substances”, motivation to learn chemistry, and collaboration improved. The student group’s understanding of the “the properties and transformation of substances” was developed from level 3 to level 5 (see Fig.  4 ), their motivation to learn chemistry developed from level 2 to level 4 (see Fig.  5 ), and their collaboration developed from level 3 to level 5 (see Fig.  6 ). Next, we used students’ specific performance to describe their development.

The change trend of “understanding of core ideas”

The change trend of “motivation to learn chemistry”

The change trend of “collaboration”

Understanding of “the properties and transformation of substances”

Students’ understanding of “the properties and transformation of substances” was gradually improved on the basis of the previous unit. In unit 4, students said “we can use the production and conversion of carbon dioxide to achieve low carbon” and they applied conservation of elements to interpret why air-conditioning temperature can reduce carbon dioxide production. However, students could only formulate a low-carbon convention from the aspect of reducing carbon dioxide production, without considering the aspect of carbon dioxide absorption. From these expressions of students, we can judge that the students’ understanding of “the properties and transformation of substances” in unit 4 reached level 3 “Application” (see Table  6 ).

In unit 4, students learned to use the properties of carbonaceous substances to realize the transformation of carbonaceous substances. The context of Low-Carbon Actions was very familiar for students, and developing a low-carbon convention is a simple application-oriented task for them. In unit 5, students were not so familiar to metal products, they used vacuum flasks every day but hardly read the instruction for vacuum flasks carefully. Besides, it is not easy for students to understand the principle of the vacuum flask. Based on the study of unit 4, students could associate the properties of the substance with the characteristics of the vacuum flask in unit 5. As shown in Table 6 , students said “The innermost layer is made of stainless steel, which was chosen because of its strong thermal conductivity, high temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance.” From these words, we can see that, students knew the structure of vacuum flask and used the properties of metals and alloys to interpret the structure of each part of the vacuum flask. However, the students in this group analyzed each part in isolation and did not analyze the relationship between different parts. Therefore, they only reached level 4 of understanding of core ideas.

For students, unit 7 was the most difficult and unfamiliar one of these three units. Most students in PBLP came from urban area and had few opportunities to get in touch with traditional agriculture. This unit required students to design a complete experimental plan to solve a problem, which is extremely challenging. As shown in Table 6 , students said “Our experimental process was divided into five steps , ” and the description of each step in the table indicated that they had formed a coherent research plan to solve the problem, this is the performance of level 5 “Synthesis.”

With the progress of the units, students’ motivation to learn chemistry had undergone the following changes (see Table  7 for details). In unit 4, students’ interest in learning chemistry was mainly due to their curiosity about chemistry experiments, they did not truly realize the value of chemistry learning (Level 2: responding). In unit 5, they felt “ chemistry is very useful for life and study”, which indicated that they recognized the value of learning chemistry (Level 3: valuing). In unit 7, the students did experiments in class, they “ did many experiments after class ”, and they had a strong desire to learn chemistry (Level 4: organization). Teacher Xu also mentioned in her interview that “ Students’ enthusiasm for learning chemistry is getting higher and higher. After the school opening the chemistry laboratory to them, many students soaked in the laboratory whenever they were free. My office is always crowded with students asking questions. There was no such scene before PBL. ” However, students’ interest in chemistry had not become a part of students’ character, they had not yet reached level 5 (characterization by value or value complex) of motivation to learn chemistry.

Through Table  8 , we can sort out the changes in student collaboration. According to the student interview of unit 4, students said that, before this unit, all the work was just done by one person. In unit 4, “ Other members also do work. Slowly, everyone wants to do something for group. ” This indicated that the students gradually developed a sense of collaboration and reached level 3 (collaboration consciousness). In Unit 5, when one person encountered difficulties, students used network software to collaborate online on weekends, just as they said “ We used QQ telephone to discuss together, and sent the PPT to the QQ group after it was completed, so that we could revise PPT together. ” In this group, everyone made a certain contribution to the group, indicating that they reached level 4 (mutual contribution). In unit 7, students adopted the learning method of group collaboration throughout the project process. During the experiment, their group also encountered difficulties, but they encouraged each other to overcome difficulties, just as the student said “The four of us encouraged each other”, “We should learn from each other”. They reflected and evaluated their own and others’ performances. In this unit, students’ collaboration competence reached level 5 (valuable collaborative relationship). Teacher Xu talked about the changes of students’ collaboration: “ When I first assigned the tasks in class, the students all did their own work. Now they can quickly put into communication, and this way of learning has been adopted by other subjects. ”

Students’ competencies demonstrated in PBL

In this study, students demonstrated their competencies in the cognitive dimension, emotional and attitude dimension, and social skills in project-based learning, which is similar to the findings of existing research (Guo et al., 2020 ; Hasni et al., 2016 ). For specific competencies, consistent with existing research, we found that students demonstrated understanding of core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, collaboration, use of scientific practices, problem solving and creativity in PBL (Hong et al., 2012 ; Mettas & Constantinou, 2008 ; Kokotsaki et al., 2016 ; Hanif et al., 2019 ; Holmes & Hwang, 2016 ; Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010 ; Williams & Simon, 2017 ), but environmental awareness and perseverance seldom appeared in existing project-based learning research. These two competencies also play an important role in the future development of students and should arouse the attention of researchers.

We found that not every competency was reflected in all three units. The following three reasons may have led to this result:

Perhaps some units have unique value for the development of students. For example, Low-Carbon Actions unit is closely related to environmental issues and can cultivate students’ environmental awareness. Therefore, we suggest that teachers could pay more attention to the key competencies emphasized in the existing literature as well as fully make sense of the unique value of units.

The fidelity of teaching implementation is very important for students’ development (Shin et al., 2019 ). In the instructional design, the teacher only paid attention to some competencies which may cause other competencies to be ignored. According to teaching design, students’ creativity and problem-solving competencies could be cultivated cross units, but these competencies were only shown in unit 5 and unit 7.

Some competencies of students could be more fully reflected in the project process, but we only collected data from students’ artifacts and interview, procedural data were missing.

The development of students’ competencies across PBL units

It is important for learners experiencing coherent curriculum to develop depth of understanding so they can effectively use their knowledge in new situations (Fortus & Krajcik, 2012 ; Roseman et al., 2008 ; Schmidt et al., 2005 ; Shwartz et al., 2008 ). PBL materials and coherent courses can promote student development (Harris et al., 2015 ; Shin et al., 2019 ). Project-Based Teaching Experiment Textbook: Chemistry was designed based on the curriculum standards of China. The difficulty of different units is progressive, which can reflect the continuity of the curriculum materials. And courses were carried out in the order of the teaching materials. The research results indicate that the teaching materials is effective for promoting students’ development.

Similar to the study of Shin et al. ( 2019 ), we found that students’ understanding of the core ideas of chemistry gradually deepened over time. Shin et al. ( 2019 ) were concerned about the impact of same chemical ideas on students of different grades, we explored the development of same students in a smaller time span, it is more instructive for the teachers to design the semester- or school-year curriculum. According to the learning goals in the textbook, we presupposed that students’ understanding of core ideas ranged from level 4 to level 5 and then to level 6. However, the actual development level of students ranged from level 3 to level 4 and then to level 5. The gap between preset and actual may be caused by the teacher’s teaching practice. For example, in the PBTETC textbook, we require students in a group to formulate a low-carbon convention with multiple items. However, in actual teaching practice, the teacher required each group to show only one clause in low-carbon convention so that students’ ideas could not be shown out completely.

The quality of experiences is essential for interest development, and students’ levels of interest were higher when hands-on activities were perceived more positively (Holstermann et al., 2010 ). These three units in this research had tasks of different difficulties to continuously stimulate students’ interest and motivation. This research shows that students’ motivation to learn chemistry can also be gradually enhanced over time, which has important implications for studying the progression of students’ motivation to learn chemistry in project-based learning. We suggest that, when designing multiple units in PBL, teachers should pay attention to the consistency within the unit and set project tasks of different difficulties to bring students a better learning experience. Driving questions are very important for stimulating students’ motivation. Students choose research questions on their own can stimulate interest more than teachers give questions to them. Therefore, teachers should master relevant teaching strategies and provide necessary guidance to students during the teaching process.

Student collaboration development requires tutoring by teachers (Krajcik & Czerniak, 2018 ). In the course of the PBL, teachers provide special training on collaboration, which helps to improve this skill.

The development of students’ competencies requires a certain process. Similar to the research by Bhuyan et al. ( 2020 ), we also find that a longer duration of experience fosters students’ knowledge and skill development as well as increased interest in PBL. This result may encourage teachers to carry out multiple units in project-based teaching. This research portrays more specific and vivid performances of students in different competencies. This study proposes three frameworks to evaluate students’ competencies, which can be used to help teachers evaluate students’ performance, as well as promote evaluation research on PBL.

It should be reminded that the participants in this study were not under the pressure of the Chinese high school entrance examination, therefore, the teacher have the courage to completely replace traditional chemistry learning with project-based learning. When other teachers are ready to implement across units in class, we suggest teachers to consider the actual situation of the school and students. Other units (except units 4, 5, and 7) may also have impact on students’ motivation and collaboration, we did not consider this impact and it can be explored in the future.

Conclusions

In this study, one student group was tracked over three units, and their learning materials were collected. Through qualitative analysis, it was found that, when student groups constructed artifacts in a PBL environment, they demonstrated the competencies of understanding core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry, collaboration, use of scientific practices, problem solving, creativity, environmental awareness and perseverance. The levels and changes of the competencies of understanding core ideas, motivation to learn chemistry and collaboration in these three units were analyzed. After the learning of three units, students’ levels of these three competencies improved, and a progressive development trend emerged. The research results have important implications for the curriculum design, implementation and evaluation of PBL.

Due to the limitations of personnel and time, only one group was selected for tracking and observing in this study. When multiple groups are selected, students’ development is more complicated. For the study of students’ general development, sample size should be expanded, and the integrity of the data should be enhanced in future research.

Availability of data and materials

The materials used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Change history

03 may 2022.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-022-00059-w

Abbreviations

Compulsory Education Chemistry Course Standard

• Project-based learning

Project-based Learning Program

Project-Based Teaching Experiment Textbook: Chemistry

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Zhao, Y., Wang, L. A case study of student development across project-based learning units in middle school chemistry. Discip Interdscip Sci Educ Res 4 , 5 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-021-00045-8

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This paper is concerned with systematic attempts to help students to learn more effectively. Current approaches to learning-to-learn, chiefly in Britain and involving groups rather than individuals, are reviewed against the background of recent research findings on student learning. Four issues are identified and discussed: contrasting conceptions of learning-to-learn; responses to the problems posed by subject and contextual varations in learning demands; the implications of autonomy, change and the individual learner; and the relationship between research on learning and the development of approaches to learning-to-learn.

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Undergraduate students' involvement in research: Values, benefits, barriers and recommendations

• Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi

a Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

b Global Health Focus, Abuja, Nigeria

Developing, maintaining, and sustaining undergraduate research initiatives can benefit academic institutions, faculty mentors, and students. As the world evolves, more research is required to advance knowledge and innovation in all fields. This implies that students must be prepared for today's knowledge-driven world. Research in the medical and health sciences has stalled in many developing countries, where a dual burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases is prevalent. In this article, I discuss the values and benefits of undergraduate healthcare students participating in research and scientific publishing, as well as the challenges they face. I also make recommendations to encourage undergraduates to get involved in research. The potential of undergraduate research has not yet been fully realized. Undergraduate research's main objectives are to teach students how to do research and to help them acquire skills that they can use beyond the academic environment. Undergraduate research will complement rather than conflict with university education and should go beyond the mandatory terminal year thesis and must cover the entire course of their studies. The key to successful undergraduate research participation is for students to see and understand the importance of rigor, academic integrity, and responsible research conduct. This means academic institutions should carefully plan research programs, activities, and courses for students. Building capacity in research has a long-term impact on valuable learning outcomes as undergraduate students prepare for professional service. Stakeholders and educational authorities must invest in strengthening undergraduate involvement in research.

1. Introduction

As the world evolves, the need for research grows, and it remains a factor of key importance in creating a knowledge-driven economy and supporting development initiatives as well as driving innovations across all fields [ 1 ]. It is becoming more and more important to increase undergraduate student involvement in research [ 2 ]. Academic institutions, faculty mentors, and students can all benefit from developing, maintaining, and sustaining undergraduate research initiatives. By integrating research into their academic courses and giving them a strong academic foundation, students can strengthen their autonomous critical thinking abilities as well as their oral and written communication skills, among others. As students are ready for professional service, the research process affects important learning goals that have a lasting impact. All students should be prepared for the contemporary knowledge-driven world because, today, doing research is not just for academics but also for individuals and institutions interested in knowledge creation and advancement.

The advancement and innovation of all fields, including the health sciences and related areas, depends on research [ 3 ]. Society can benefit greatly from health-related research [ 4 ], which can provide vital insights into disease trends and risk factors, treatment outcomes or public health interventions, care patterns, costs and usage of healthcare services, and more. By doing research to find solutions to problems that are currently unknown, we can close knowledge gaps and change the way healthcare professionals work as well as how we respond to public health issues. With the increase in health concerns ravaging the world [ [5] , [6] , [7] ], it is clear that research is indispensable – whether it be tackling diseases of poverty, performing clinical trials, responding to the rise of chronic diseases, improving access to medicines, increasing vaccines uptake, containing local epidemics, developing innovation in treatment plans, or ensuring that marginalized populations have access to HIV care treatments, among others. This suggests that there is a pressing need to advance knowledge creation and utilization, and that gathering local, grassroots data at all levels of healthcare is important.

Research in the medical and health sciences has seen a downturn in many developing countries [ 8 ], where a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases is highly prevalent. The development of undergraduate health sciences students' research capacity is a key intervention to address this issue. With the support of faculties, it is possible for undergraduate students to learn about and participate actively in research. In this article, I discuss the values and benefits of undergraduate healthcare students' involvement in research and scientific publishing, as well as the challenges they face. I also provide recommendations to advance undergraduates’ involvement in research.

2. Values and benefits of undergraduate research

Involving undergraduate students in research should go beyond the mandatory terminal year thesis and must cover the entire course of their studies. There are myriads of benefits to involving (healthcare) students in research and scientific publishing at the undergraduate level. Research is a methodical process of investigation that includes data collection and analysis, the recording of significant information, and subsequent analysis and interpretation of that information in accordance with the protocols defined by specific academic and professional disciplines [ 9 ]. This implies that conducting research is an important way to improve students’ ability to think critically and solve problems, both of which are essential throughout their career as healthcare professionals. Critical thinking abilities have been linked to better patient outcomes, higher patient care quality, and improved safety outcomes [ 10 ]. While problem-solving focuses on identifying and resolving issues, critical thinking entails asking insightful questions and critiquing solutions. Early exposure of healthcare students to the value of research is a critical strategy for increasing their interest in and attitude toward it. Table 1 highlights the achievements of some students that engaged in research as undergraduates.

Examples of students that got involved in research as undergraduate and their achievements.

The elements required for professional competency in the health fields are covered in healthcare student curricula. This includes understanding of the fundamental theories and literature in the field of study, as well as knowledge of the terminology or technical language specific to health sciences. Incorporating research methodology and the hypothesis-driven scientific process can help to build on this foundation while also stimulating independent critical thinking. By involving undergraduate students in research, they can build trust in the scientific process. Besides that, independent thinking can give an undergraduate student the confidence to draw their own conclusions based on available evidence. No doubt that undergraduate students who took part in research projects will have greater thought independence, a stronger intrinsic motivation to learn, and a more active role in their learning. As a result, as undergraduates prepare for their respective professions, the research process has a very positive impact on their practice.

Students who participate in research may have the chance to develop the advanced writing abilities needed for science publishing and communication [ 11 ]. Even though healthcare students write a lot throughout their time in college, many still struggle to write in a way that is considered acceptable. This is due to the fact that students frequently plagiarize in writing assignments since there is usually little to no formal training on academic writing, and some institutions pay less attention to this. It has also become more challenging for students to express themselves in their own words during academic assessments as a result of the encouragement to memorize academic information verbatim by some teachers. Writing is difficult, but it is a skill that can be honed. Improving students' writing skills is much easier if proper attention is paid to strengthening their capacity for and involvement in the academic research process. This will be useful to them throughout their career, whether they choose to be academic or not.

Investing in academic writing skills among students, particularly in developing countries, is critical for improving scientific outputs on health issues confronting the region. It is not enough to know how to conduct research; academic writing is also important. Additionally, it is crucial for academic institutions to encourage students to present their research work at scientific conferences, which are frequently restricted to postgraduate students. This gives them the chance to collaborate more frequently with faculty members while also giving them another learning opportunity and boosting their confidence and presentation skills. Students who make significant contributions to the intellectual aspect of a research should not be relegated to acknowledgement section of the paper but should be included as co-authors. Furthermore, students should not be denied first authorship because of power dynamics. This will definitely improve students’ attitude towards research.

Through research, students can observe how the theories and concepts they have learned are applied. The active learning aspect of research allows students to connect with their own interests, which is not possible in a passive learning setting. If a research culture and thought process are instilled in healthcare students as they progress through the academic institution in a more systematic, logical, and integrated manner, it will be easier for them to understand what they are learning and will promote active participation in class. This is due to the fact that students who conduct research will be able to understand the research process and how scientists think and work on problems; learn about different lab techniques (as needed); develop skills in data analysis and interpretation; and be able to integrate theory and practice. Further, undergraduates should be involved in research as early as possible because it allows them to identify, develop, and nurture their interests while being open-minded to other areas. This will make choosing and transitioning into research area of choice much easier for them as they pursue postgraduate studies. Because of the high-level of interest and fundamental knowledge gained through undergraduate research participation, it will be possible to increase the enthusiasm, completion rates, and quality of academic research at the postgraduate level. Besides that, undergraduate research allows students to decide whether or not they want to pursue a career in research.

Due to the opportunity for students to pursue their individual interests, research experiences have been linked to a boost in students' motivation to learn [ 12 ]. This means undergraduates will have the chance to take more control over their own learning experiences and have their intellectual curiosity piqued by research. Student-faculty research mentoring relationships frequently develop over time. In contrast to what is possible in the classroom, students form a distinct type of interaction with their research mentor. Most of the time, the interaction is more intense and lasts longer. It frequently serves as the foundation for lifelong friendships and career guidance. When students are looking for jobs or graduate schools, faculty research mentors are an excellent source of recommendations and advice. Additionally, students gain experience working in a research team, which typically involves group work, stronger relationships with colleagues and faculty members, and the development of communication skills. All of which are qualities that employers are increasingly looking for. The key to successful undergraduate research participation is for students to see and understand the importance of rigor, academic integrity, and responsible research conduct. This means academic institutions should carefully plan research programs, activities, and courses for students.

One of the most significant benefits of student research participation is the possibility of publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals. This will also give students early exposure to the process and concept of scientific publishing. Students who submit their manuscript to a reputable journal for publication can also benefit from peer review, which allows them to improve their paper and learn more from the reviewers’ comments. Also, undergraduate students who are exposed to the scientific publishing process early on will be less likely to become victims of predatory journals. Students with publishing experience may be inspired and motivated to pursue a career in research. Having publication allows students to improve their resumes and graduate school applications. Publishing counts as research experience and demonstrates that undergraduate students who have published are enthusiastic about research. As an active learning process, research requires students to frame questions, devise a strategy for testing their hypotheses, analyze data, and write clearly to report their findings, among other things. The research experiences, skills, and knowledge students acquire at the undergraduate level will better prepare them for many of their future endeavors, including careers and postgraduate study. In addition to exposing students to conducting original/primary research, it is important to engage them in secondary research activities including writing reviews, correspondence, commentary, viewpoints, book chapters, and more. Secondary research improves students' writing abilities and thought processes, enables the construction of intelligent arguments, enhances their capacity to use scientific databases to find evidence, and teaches them how to engage in constructive criticism, among others.

While the benefits of undergraduate research to students have been highlighted in the preceding paragraphs, academic institutions can also benefit from engaging undergraduates in research [ 13 ]. Teams conducting research benefit from the enthusiasm and energy of curious undergraduate students. They frequently keep asking for more tasks to complete since they are eager to learn. Undergraduate students often pose inquiries that can be quite perceptive and, perhaps rather unintentionally, alter the way advisors approach research problems and better improve the quality of scientific output from such institutions. In contrast to how faculty research mentors interact with graduate students and other senior team members, undergraduate researchers need responses to inquiries in unique ways, which usually facilitate an opportunity for multidirectional intense learning.

Furthermore, undergraduate students' contributions to peer-reviewed publications and local, regional, national, or international research presentations at conferences and other scientific gatherings will benefit the university or institution's visibility in the scientific community and attract more funding. Students can actively contribute to scientific knowledge provided they are motivated and have the necessary research knowledge and abilities. I serve as a practical example. At the undergraduate level, I published more than 50 articles (including both primary and secondary research) in peer-reviewed journals on a diverse range of public health issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic. While still an undergraduate, I received research and travel grants and presented scientific papers both locally and internationally. This captured the attention of the media, and many undergraduates are now inspired to participate in research more than ever. With the right support systems in place, undergraduates' contributions to scientific literature can be valuable, benefiting not only the student but also the academic institution and society. Imagine a university where students receive the assistance they require to develop their capacity for scientific publishing and research. Such an institution would contribute more to science and knowledge creation, raising their profile in the process. Undergraduate research initiatives are an untapped gold mine if they are nurtured, funded, and supported adequately.

3. Barriers and challenges facing involvement of undergraduate students in research

Healthcare undergraduates interested in research face a number of challenges that have been documented in academic literature. In this section, I conducted a rapid unsystematic review of primary studies and used Table 2 to summarize the challenges and barriers facing undergraduate research identified in randomly selected academic papers.

Barriers and challenges facing healthcare students’ involvement in research.

The rapid review of the fifteen (15) original studies in Table 2 revealed the major barriers and challenges limiting undergraduate student involvement in research across different countries. The findings of the reviewed studies were clearly similar. The key barriers and challenges to undergraduate involvement in research can be divided into three categories: a significant lack of knowledge and skills to participate in research; little to no faculty support, mentorship, funding and motivation for undergraduates to participate in research; and structural barriers limiting student involvement in research such as lack of time due to the loaded curriculum, dearth of research facilities as well as lack of major plans and strategies for undergraduate research.

4. Recommendations

There is an urgent need for stakeholders all over the world to look into the issues and devise tailored strategies to increase the involvement of (healthcare) students in research. Here are my eight (8) recommendations to advance the involvement of undergraduate students in research:

• 1. Research methods and processes should be taught to students as early as their second year of college. Even though some universities only cover research methodologies in the final year, it is essential to include more content on scientific writing and research methods as a mandatory course throughout the whole academic program. Undergraduate teaching curricula and approaches should promote inquiry-based learning. All professional classes' academic curricula might include regular discussions of new advances in the medical and health sciences, and the academic departments might be tasked with organizing these conversations. Long-term, this practice would foster a research aptitude in undergraduate students since opportunity like these would stimulate their minds.
• 2. As part of academic program, students should be evaluated for their interest in research and assigned suitable researchers to serve as their research mentors. Faculty research mentors must also be compensated. Lecturers do not receive credit for mentoring students for publications or research projects. Credit points should be awarded for each peer-reviewed publication attributed to such mentorship to encourage faculty-student research collaboration and motivate them to serve as research mentors for undergraduates. Mandatory structured mentorship programs are desperately needed.
• 3. During the undergraduate program, students should have the opportunity to participate in more research trainings, internships, and placements locally and internationally. This will contribute significantly to students' research skills and experience.
• 4. Students should be encouraged to publish at least two papers, either primary or secondary research, in peer-reviewed journals before graduation. Besides that, the final year thesis must be published and must be on a topic with the potential to make or drive impact.
• 5. Encourage undergraduate students to participate in scientific meetings, conferences, and seminars and to present their research, project, ideas or innovation in such gathering. Funding should be provided for undergraduate research conferences so that students can share their work, learn from the experiences of others, and improve institutional collaboration. This is a worthwhile investment towards advancing knowledge creation and utilization.
• 6. Existing undergraduate journals (e.g., International Journal of Medical Students), student research capacity building initiatives (e.g., Global Health Focus), undergraduate research funding initiatives, and other efforts aimed at promoting student involvement in research should be supported in order to provide more opportunities for students to participate in research.
• 7. A platform should be established to celebrate, provide incentives, and awards to undergraduates who contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. More students will be inspired to participate in research as a result of this. Funding (e.g., travel grant, research grant, etc.) should be made more accessible to students that have demonstrated remarkable passion for knowledge creation.
• 8. More research should be conducted across academic institutions to better understand the local barriers that prevent undergraduates from participating in research.

5. Conclusion

Undergraduate research is a treasure trove that has yet to be fully tapped. The primary goal of undergraduate research is to teach students how to conduct research and to develop necessary skills that can be applied outside of the academic setting. Bolstering undergraduate research will complement, rather than conflict with, university education. There is an urgent need to develop global and local initiatives as well as strengthen current initiatives to further encourage undergraduate students to participate in research and scientific publishing.

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News from the Columbia Climate School

Student Spotlight: Navigating Sustainable Development for My Career Through Capstone Projects

Lylia Saurel

Adrienne Day

Marcella Petiprin and Andrew Pontius, two seniors from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development (SDEV) program, have completed capstone projects at Columbia’s Climate School. They share some of their experiences and advice for students who wish to pursue an academic career in sustainability.

Marcella Petiprin was born in Flint, Michigan, and grew up passionate about the outdoors with a focus on water. Her family owns a Christmas tree farm and she is enthusiastic about giving back to the community. She currently sits on the board of the Flint Classroom Support Fund.

What drew you to the sustainable development major or special concentration?

I was most excited to discover that the sustainable development curriculum was one that focused on the social and economic features of environmental and climate issues. While I initially came to Columbia as an environmental science major, I’d always been aware of and interested in the important interactions between people and the environment because, to me, understanding these interactions is fundamental to making the monumental changes necessary to combat climate change and environmental degradation.

What advice do you have for students who wish to enroll in the Sustainable Development program?

My advice is to take as many cross-listed courses as possible. The sustainable development major is unique in the wide breadth of courses offered in different departments, and I wish I’d taken advantage of more economics, engineering and environmental biology courses. Through the Sustainable Development program, not only have I been able to build a strong foundation in Earth and environmental science, I’ve been able to explore how to build upon them in the real world and to shift the priorities of businesses and governments toward a more sustainable future.

What was your favorite class in the Sustainable Development program and why?

The energy law course with Michael Gerrard sparked my interest in renewable energy, motivated me to choose a career path in the energy sector, and gave me a robust foundation of knowledge which has been supremely valuable.

How did the program shape your understanding of sustainability?

The program has most strongly expanded my view of sustainability as being universally applicable. Sustainability is important and accessible to all people, all communities and all sectors. Sustainability is not only a discipline in and of itself, but a part of all other disciplines. While this certainly expands the scope of sustainability, it also gives me great hope for a future where sustainability is an ingrained practice for everyone.

Can you talk about your capstone project? 

The Pearl River in Jackson, Mississippi, has a major flooding issue exacerbated by a local precedent of permitting development in the floodplain and bureaucratic gridlock within local, regional and state authorities, which has prevented Jackson from moving forward on any new flood control projects for nearly 40 years. In a partnership facilitated by the Community and College Partners Program (C2P2), our capstone project has been working with the nonprofit Mississippi Citizens United for Prosperity (MCUP).

We developed a detailed community survey to make up for a historical lack of tangible data on the scale of flooding and the direct and indirect impacts on the local neighborhoods. Our visit to Jackson and direct engagement with the local community improved our understanding of the issue tremendously. We noticed there was a lack of understanding of relevant hydrology principles, available flood management options, as well as the private, nonprofit and political interests, which were all vying for public support, all stemming from a lack of centralized information.

Ultimately the capstone workshop was one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic career. It was incredibly meaningful to work with MCUP to develop deliverables that would be useful to the community and have a positive impact. My advice for future groups, those working with MCUP and in general, is not to underestimate nor underutilize local embedded knowledge. There is a long history of privileged students parachuting into communities with backgrounds that are often different than our own and attempting to implement what we idealize as effective solutions, but it is extremely important to remember that the people who live in these communities are informed, knowledgeable, thoughtful and should be engaged in problem-solving every step of the way.

Andrew Pontius is originally from Bremerton, Washington. Before joining the Sustainable Development program at Columbia, he had an 11-year dance career in Seattle and Europe where he toured and performed in both ballet and contemporary dance. As a lover of the outdoors, Andrew has also lived on a sailboat in Seattle.

During my time in Dresden, Germany, I had fantastic roommates who encouraged me to be more mindful about my consumption and to live more efficiently. That is how my concern with consumption and waste started, but then once back in Seattle, waking up in the morning to ash everywhere from nearby forest fires was a real wake-up call. Without the beauty of our natural world, what is there?

Do it! We need everyone tackling sustainability problems and how to share resources for all. There are a lot of great classes to choose from, so be curious and try new things. The workload is heavy, but professors are very supportive. If you’re searching for a way to connect with a grassroots community organization, I would recommend completing a capstone with Radley Horton .

What were your favorite classes in the Sustainable Development program and why?

As someone with interests in the future of energy in the US, the energy law class with Michael Gerrard was one of my favorites and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about energy. The Catskills watershed class was a very cool way to learn about New York City’s deep roots and history for sourcing its water. All the sustainable development professors I’ve had the chance to work with were kind, approachable and inspiring.

This is an empowering degree and I’m very thankful to have gone through such a rigorous yet enjoyable program. The program taught me that sustainability means different things for different people and that not everyone can afford to switch how they source and use energy or what products they buy. My classes have highlighted that sustainable development is a complex issue that needs to be addressed from a variety of angles.

Can you talk about your capstone project and what it entailed?

The Jackson Mississippi capstone group collaborated with a community organization on flood-related research. Together, we developed a comprehensive survey and crafted an informative story map for their webpage. Additionally, utilizing a Problem Tree framework—an approach to problem identification and solution generation used in engineering—we identified and connected various direct and indirect causes and effects of flooding in Jackson, providing valuable insights for the community.

The best part of the capstone project was working with local community members and getting to know people who fight for the well-being of their community. We conducted research while visiting the neighborhoods most impacted by persistent flooding. There are of course work expectations, but it is also somewhat freeform, so you have to apply yourself to learn and contribute to the group. The project taught me about comprehensive social and Earth sciences that informed both my personal and professional lives.

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Steele Symposium 2024

Article by Jessica Henderson Photo by Maria Errico April 15, 2024

College of Education and Human Development will host celebration of student research on April 19

On April 19, the University of Delaware College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) will host the annual Marion H. Steele Symposium to share and celebrate the innovative research of its undergraduate and graduate students in education, human development and related disciplines.

Over the past 39 years, more than 450 undergraduate and graduate students have presented their research in this symposium. This year, the event will feature student presentations and poster sessions, remarks from Gary T. Henry, dean of CEHD, a keynote address from Valerie A. Earnshaw, associate professor in CEHD’s Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, and the presentation of student awards.

Earnshaw’s keynote address, titled “Stigma, Disclosure and the Opioid Crisis,” will share insights from Earnshaw’s research on stigma and disclosure processes among people with opioid use disorder. Disclosure can help people re-establish social connection as they engage in treatment for opioid use disorder, but it is a difficult process for many. Earnshaw will also share results from a pilot disclosure intervention designed to support people with this process.

The event will be held on April 19 at Clayton Hall on UD’s Newark campus from 12:30 to 6 p.m. All UD community members are invited to attend.

This event is made possible through the generous support of the Steele Family in memory of Marion H. Steele, a UD alumna.

To learn more about the Steele legacy and register, visit www.cehd.udel.edu/steele-symposium .

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• 15 April 2024

Revealed: the ten research papers that policy documents cite most

• Dalmeet Singh Chawla 0

Dalmeet Singh Chawla is a freelance science journalist based in London.

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Policymakers often work behind closed doors — but the documents they produce offer clues about the research that influences them. Credit: Stefan Rousseau/Getty

When David Autor co-wrote a paper on how computerization affects job skill demands more than 20 years ago, a journal took 18 months to consider it — only to reject it after review. He went on to submit it to The Quarterly Journal of Economics , which eventually published the work 1 in November 2003.

Autor’s paper is now the third most cited in policy documents worldwide, according to an analysis of data provided exclusively to Nature . It has accumulated around 1,100 citations in policy documents, show figures from the London-based firm Overton (see ‘The most-cited papers in policy’), which maintains a database of more than 12 million policy documents, think-tank papers, white papers and guidelines.

“I thought it was destined to be quite an obscure paper,” recalls Autor, a public-policy scholar and economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “I’m excited that a lot of people are citing it.”

The most-cited papers in policy

Economics papers dominate the top ten papers that policy documents reference most.

Data from Sage Policy Profiles as of 15 April 2024

The top ten most cited papers in policy documents are dominated by economics research. When economics studies are excluded, a 1997 Nature paper 2 about Earth’s ecosystem services and natural capital is second on the list, with more than 900 policy citations. The paper has also garnered more than 32,000 references from other studies, according to Google Scholar. Other highly cited non-economics studies include works on planetary boundaries, sustainable foods and the future of employment (see ‘Most-cited papers — excluding economics research’).

These lists provide insight into the types of research that politicians pay attention to, but policy citations don’t necessarily imply impact or influence, and Overton’s database has a bias towards documents published in English.

Interdisciplinary impact

Overton usually charges a licence fee to access its citation data. But last year, the firm worked with the London-based publisher Sage to release a free web-based tool that allows any researcher to find out how many times policy documents have cited their papers or mention their names. Overton and Sage said they created the tool, called Sage Policy Profiles, to help researchers to demonstrate the impact or influence their work might be having on policy. This can be useful for researchers during promotion or tenure interviews and in grant applications.

Autor thinks his study stands out because his paper was different from what other economists were writing at the time. It suggested that ‘middle-skill’ work, typically done in offices or factories by people who haven’t attended university, was going to be largely automated, leaving workers with either highly skilled jobs or manual work. “It has stood the test of time,” he says, “and it got people to focus on what I think is the right problem.” That topic is just as relevant today, Autor says, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence.

Most-cited papers — excluding economics research

When economics studies are excluded, the research papers that policy documents most commonly reference cover topics including climate change and nutrition.

Walter Willett, an epidemiologist and food scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, thinks that interdisciplinary teams are most likely to gain a lot of policy citations. He co-authored a paper on the list of most cited non-economics studies: a 2019 work 3 that was part of a Lancet commission to investigate how to feed the global population a healthy and environmentally sustainable diet by 2050 and has accumulated more than 600 policy citations.

“I think it had an impact because it was clearly a multidisciplinary effort,” says Willett. The work was co-authored by 37 scientists from 17 countries. The team included researchers from disciplines including food science, health metrics, climate change, ecology and evolution and bioethics. “None of us could have done this on our own. It really did require working with people outside our fields.”

Sverker Sörlin, an environmental historian at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, agrees that papers with a diverse set of authors often attract more policy citations. “It’s the combined effect that is often the key to getting more influence,” he says.

Has your research influenced policy? Use this free tool to check

Sörlin co-authored two papers in the list of top ten non-economics papers. One of those is a 2015 Science paper 4 on planetary boundaries — a concept defining the environmental limits in which humanity can develop and thrive — which has attracted more than 750 policy citations. Sörlin thinks one reason it has been popular is that it’s a sequel to a 2009 Nature paper 5 he co-authored on the same topic, which has been cited by policy documents 575 times.

Although policy citations don’t necessarily imply influence, Willett has seen evidence that his paper is prompting changes in policy. He points to Denmark as an example, noting that the nation is reformatting its dietary guidelines in line with the study’s recommendations. “I certainly can’t say that this document is the only thing that’s changing their guidelines,” he says. But “this gave it the support and credibility that allowed them to go forward”.

Broad brush

Peter Gluckman, who was the chief science adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand between 2009 and 2018, is not surprised by the lists. He expects policymakers to refer to broad-brush papers rather than those reporting on incremental advances in a field.

Gluckman, a paediatrician and biomedical scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, notes that it’s important to consider the context in which papers are being cited, because studies reporting controversial findings sometimes attract many citations. He also warns that the list is probably not comprehensive: many policy papers are not easily accessible to tools such as Overton, which uses text mining to compile data, and so will not be included in the database.

The top 100 papers

“The thing that worries me most is the age of the papers that are involved,” Gluckman says. “Does that tell us something about just the way the analysis is done or that relatively few papers get heavily used in policymaking?”

Gluckman says it’s strange that some recent work on climate change, food security, social cohesion and similar areas hasn’t made it to the non-economics list. “Maybe it’s just because they’re not being referred to,” he says, or perhaps that work is cited, in turn, in the broad-scope papers that are most heavily referenced in policy documents.

As for Sage Policy Profiles, Gluckman says it’s always useful to get an idea of which studies are attracting attention from policymakers, but he notes that studies often take years to influence policy. “Yet the average academic is trying to make a claim here and now that their current work is having an impact,” he adds. “So there’s a disconnect there.”

Willett thinks policy citations are probably more important than scholarly citations in other papers. “In the end, we don’t want this to just sit on an academic shelf.”

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00660-1

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Students Are Likely Writing Millions of Papers With AI

Students have submitted more than 22 million papers that may have used generative AI in the past year, new data released by plagiarism detection company Turnitin shows.

A year ago, Turnitin rolled out an AI writing detection tool that was trained on its trove of papers written by students as well as other AI-generated texts. Since then, more than 200 million papers have been reviewed by the detector, predominantly written by high school and college students. Turnitin found that 11 percent may contain AI-written language in 20 percent of its content, with 3 percent of the total papers reviewed getting flagged for having 80 percent or more AI writing. (Turnitin is owned by Advance, which also owns Condé Nast, publisher of WIRED.) Turnitin says its detector has a false positive rate of less than 1 percent when analyzing full documents.

ChatGPT’s launch was met with knee-jerk fears that the English class essay would die . The chatbot can synthesize information and distill it near-instantly—but that doesn’t mean it always gets it right. Generative AI has been known to hallucinate , creating its own facts and citing academic references that don’t actually exist. Generative AI chatbots have also been caught spitting out biased text on gender and race . Despite those flaws, students have used chatbots for research, organizing ideas, and as a ghostwriter . Traces of chatbots have even been found in peer-reviewed, published academic writing .

Teachers understandably want to hold students accountable for using generative AI without permission or disclosure. But that requires a reliable way to prove AI was used in a given assignment. Instructors have tried at times to find their own solutions to detecting AI in writing, using messy, untested methods to enforce rules , and distressing students. Further complicating the issue, some teachers are even using generative AI in their grading processes.

Detecting the use of gen AI is tricky. It’s not as easy as flagging plagiarism, because generated text is still original text. Plus, there’s nuance to how students use gen AI; some may ask chatbots to write their papers for them in large chunks or in full, while others may use the tools as an aid or a brainstorm partner.

Students also aren't tempted by only ChatGPT and similar large language models. So-called word spinners are another type of AI software that rewrites text, and may make it less obvious to a teacher that work was plagiarized or generated by AI. Turnitin’s AI detector has also been updated to detect word spinners, says Annie Chechitelli, the company’s chief product officer. It can also flag work that was rewritten by services like spell checker Grammarly, which now has its own generative AI tool . As familiar software increasingly adds generative AI components, what students can and can’t use becomes more muddled.

Detection tools themselves have a risk of bias. English language learners may be more likely to set them off; a 2023 study found a 61.3 percent false positive rate when evaluating Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exams with seven different AI detectors. The study did not examine Turnitin’s version. The company says it has trained its detector on writing from English language learners as well as native English speakers. A study published in October found that Turnitin was among the most accurate of 16 AI language detectors in a test that had the tool examine undergraduate papers and AI-generated papers.

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Schools that use Turnitin had access to the AI detection software for a free pilot period, which ended at the start of this year. Chechitelli says a majority of the service’s clients have opted to purchase the AI detection. But the risks of false positives and bias against English learners have led some universities to ditch the tools for now. Montclair State University in New Jersey announced in November that it would pause use of Turnitin’s AI detector. Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University did the same last summer.

“This is hard. I understand why people want a tool,” says Emily Isaacs, executive director of the Office of Faculty Excellence at Montclair State. But Isaacs says the university is concerned about potentially biased results from AI detectors, as well as the fact that the tools can’t provide confirmation the way they can with plagiarism. Plus, Montclair State doesn’t want to put a blanket ban on AI, which will have some place in academia. With time and more trust in the tools, the policies could change. “It’s not a forever decision, it’s a now decision,” Isaacs says.

Chechitelli says the Turnitin tool shouldn’t be the only consideration in passing or failing a student. Instead, it’s a chance for teachers to start conversations with students that touch on all of the nuance in using generative AI. “People don’t really know where that line should be,” she says.

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About 1 in 4 u.s. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year.

Twenty-five years after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado , a majority of public K-12 teachers (59%) say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school. This includes 18% who say they’re extremely or very worried, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand public K-12 teachers’ views on school shootings, how prepared they feel for a potential active shooter, and how they feel about policies that could help prevent future shootings.

To do this, we surveyed 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public school K-12 teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

We also used data from our 2022 survey of U.S. parents. For that project, we surveyed 3,757 U.S. parents with at least one child younger than 18 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2, 2022. Find more details about the survey of parents here .

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Another 31% of teachers say they are not too worried about a shooting occurring at their school. Only 7% of teachers say they are not at all worried.

This survey comes at a time when school shootings are at a record high (82 in 2023) and gun safety continues to be a topic in 2024 election campaigns .

Teachers’ experiences with lockdowns

About a quarter of teachers (23%) say they experienced a lockdown in the 2022-23 school year because of a gun or suspicion of a gun at their school. Some 15% say this happened once during the year, and 8% say this happened more than once.

High school teachers are most likely to report experiencing these lockdowns: 34% say their school went on at least one gun-related lockdown in the last school year. This compares with 22% of middle school teachers and 16% of elementary school teachers.

Teachers in urban schools are also more likely to say that their school had a gun-related lockdown. About a third of these teachers (31%) say this, compared with 19% of teachers in suburban schools and 20% in rural schools.

Do teachers feel their school has prepared them for an active shooter?

About four-in-ten teachers (39%) say their school has done a fair or poor job providing them with the training and resources they need to deal with a potential active shooter.

A smaller share (30%) give their school an excellent or very good rating, and another 30% say their school has done a good job preparing them.

Teachers in urban schools are the least likely to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter. About one-in-five (21%) say this, compared with 32% of teachers in suburban schools and 35% in rural schools.

Teachers who have police officers or armed security stationed in their school are more likely than those who don’t to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter (36% vs. 22%).

Overall, 56% of teachers say they have police officers or armed security stationed at their school. Majorities in rural schools (64%) and suburban schools (56%) say this, compared with 48% in urban schools.

Only 3% of teachers say teachers and administrators at their school are allowed to carry guns in school. This is slightly more common in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2020 than in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Joe Biden (5% vs. 1%).

What strategies do teachers think could help prevent school shootings?

The survey also asked teachers how effective some measures would be at preventing school shootings.

Most teachers (69%) say improving mental health screening and treatment for children and adults would be extremely or very effective.

About half (49%) say having police officers or armed security in schools would be highly effective, while 33% say the same about metal detectors in schools.

Just 13% say allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. Seven-in-ten teachers say this would be not too or not at all effective.

How teachers’ views differ by party

Republican and Republican-leaning teachers are more likely than Democratic and Democratic-leaning teachers to say each of the following would be highly effective:

• Having police officers or armed security in schools (69% vs. 37%)
• Having metal detectors in schools (43% vs. 27%)
• Allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools (28% vs. 3%)

And while majorities in both parties say improving mental health screening and treatment would be highly effective at preventing school shootings, Democratic teachers are more likely than Republican teachers to say this (73% vs. 66%).

Parents’ views on school shootings and prevention strategies

In fall 2022, we asked parents a similar set of questions about school shootings.

Roughly a third of parents with K-12 students (32%) said they were extremely or very worried about a shooting ever happening at their child’s school. An additional 37% said they were somewhat worried.

As is the case among teachers, improving mental health screening and treatment was the only strategy most parents (63%) said would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. And allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools was seen as the least effective – in fact, half of parents said this would be not too or not at all effective. This question was asked of all parents with a child younger than 18, regardless of whether they have a child in K-12 schools.

Like teachers, parents’ views on strategies for preventing school shootings differed by party. 

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .