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1. Work in Progress: Novel Ethnographic Approaches for Investigating Engineering Practice

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35672  

   Jesiek, Brent; Johri, Aditya; Brozina, Cory; Korte, Russell (June 2020, 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   This work-in-progress paper reports on the early phases of an exploratory research project involving use of innovative approaches to collecting, analyzing, and archiving empirical data related to engineering practice. More specifically, our project takes an ethnographic approach to studying technical teams at multiple field sites representing multiple industry sectors using novel methods such as agile ethnography, trace ethnography, and network ethnography. In contrast to traditional ethnographic studies that may involve long periods of participant observation, these new approaches often involve less intensive fieldwork, and are instead designed around more targeted research questions and other sources of evidence (e.g., social network data, documentary traces in digital systems). These methods are new and evolving, and therefore have scarcely been used to study engineering practice. Thus, one major goal of the paper is to introduce the proposed methods to the engineering education research community. In doing so, we explore the potential for these methods to generate research findings more rapidly and with a greater focus on specific problems and questions of interest to both industry and researchers. Such methods have gained traction in workplace settings precisely due to such advantages, especially in software engineering and related fields where work is already very digital and distributed in character. A second major goal of this paper is to give a brief progress report on the early stages of our study, including the initial groundwork carried out to gain access to, and begin collecting data at, multiple field sites. We expect this paper will appeal to scholars who study engineering practice, and those who are interested in contemporary innovations in ethnographic and other qualitative research methods. 

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2. Teaching Ethnographic Methods: The State of the Art

   https://doi.org/10.17730/1938-3525-81.4.401  

   Ruth, Alissa; Mayfour, Katherine; Hardin, Jessica; Sangaramoorthy, Thurka; Wutich, Amber; Bernard, H Russell; Brewis, Alexandra; Beresford, Melissa; SturtzSreetharan, Cindi; Jones_Brayboy, Bryan McKinley; et al (December 2022, Human Organization)

   Ethnography is a core methodology in anthropology and other disciplines. Yet, there is currently no scholarly consensus on how to teach ethnographic methods—or even what methods belong in the ethnographic toolkit. We report on a systematic analysis of syllabi to gauge how ethnographic methods are taught in the United States. We analyze 107 methods syllabi from a nationally elicited sample of university faculty who teach ethnography. Systematic coding shows that ethics, research design, participant observation, interviewing, and analysis are central to ethnographic instruction. But many key components of ethical, quality ethnographic practice (like preparing an IRB application, reflexivity, positionality, taking field notes, accurate transcription, theme identification, and coding) are only taught rarely. We suggest that, without inclusion of such elements in its basic training, the fields that prioritize this methodology are at risk of inadvertently perpetuating uneven, erratic, and extractive fieldwork practices. 

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3. A systematic review of research on nontraditional students reveals inconsistent definitions and a need for clarity: focus on U.S. based studies

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1434494  

   Brozina, Cory; Johri, Aditya; Chew, Alanis (December 2024, Frontiers in Education)

   The term “nontraditional students” (NTS) is widely used in higher education research, but its definition varies across studies. Objectives This systematic literature review aims to examine how researchers define NTS in U.S.-based studies and identify potential definitional issues. Methods We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines, searching EBSCO databases (Education Research Complete, Education Full Text, and ERIC) for peer-reviewed articles published between 2018 and 2022. We analyzed 65 papers that met our inclusion criteria to assess the definitions used for NTS. In this systematic literature review we focus on the definitional issues related to how researchers use the term nontraditional students in US-based studies. We review 65 papers from search results containing 432 papers to understand how researchers define nontraditional students. Of the 65 papers reviewed fully, 33 papers included a specific definition of nontraditional students, 15 included an unspecified definition of nontraditional students, and 17 papers did not include a clear definition at all. Our work suggests that researchers use a clearer definition, such as from the NCES, to define nontraditional students and focus their attention on the seven categories given by NCES. 

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4. Live Coding: A Review of the Literature

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3430665.3456382  

   Selvaraj, Ana; Zhang, Eda; Porter, Leo; Soosai Raj, Adalbert Gerald (June 2021, 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education)

   One of the goals of computing education research is to document the potential strengths and weaknesses of contemporary teaching methods in computing. Live coding has recently gained attention as one of the best practices for teaching programming. To offer a more comprehensive understanding of the existing body of research about live coding, we reviewed papers in computing education research that investigated the value of live coding in an educational setting. We categorized each paper based on (1) how it defines live coding, (2) whether its version of live coding could be considered active learning, (3) the type of study conducted, (4) types of data collected and the data analysis methods used, (5) evidence provided for the effectiveness of live coding, (6) reported benefits and drawbacks of live coding, and (7) reported theoretical frameworks used to explain the basis, effects or goals of live coding. We found that although live coding has been recommended as one of the best practices for teaching programming, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support claims about the effectiveness of live coding on student learning. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and suggest future research directions that could develop a more holistic understanding of this pedagogical technique. 

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5. Computational Thinking Frameworks used in Computational Thinking Assessment in Higher Education. A Systematized Literature Review.

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--36824  

   Cruz Castro, Laura; Shoaib, Huma; Douglas, Kerrie (January 2021, ASEE Annual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   This research paper presents a literature review of Computational Thinking (CT) frameworks and assessment practices. CT is a 21st century way of solving a problem. It refers specifically to the methods that are effective when trying to solve a problem with a machine or other computational tools. In the past few years, CT researchers and educationists' significant movement started to look for a formal definition and composition of CT in K-12 and higher education. From this effort, over 20 different definitions and frameworks for CT have emerged. Although the availability of literature on CT has been increasing over the last decade, there is limited research synthesis available on how to assess CT better. Besides, it is known that in higher education designing assessments for CT is challenging and one of the primary reasons is that the precise meaning of CT is still unknown. This research paper, therefore, presents a systematized literature review on CT frameworks and assessment practice. We search three different databases and review 19 journal articles that address the assessment of CT in higher education to answer the following two research questions: 1) What does the literature inform us about practices and types of assessments used to evaluate CT in higher education? 2) Which frameworks of CT are present in literature to support CT assessment in higher education? The critical components of this review focus on frameworks and assessment practices based on CT. We develop a synthesis of suggestions and explanations to answer the proposed questions based on literature from recent research in CT. Based on our initial synthesis, we found a disconnect between theory and practice. Specifically, neither the ideas within CT frameworks nor those from CT assessment research are being utilized by the other. Therefore, there is a dire need to connect the two for practical implementation and further research in CT in higher education. 

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