CEE conducted parallel surveys of students, instructors, and TAs after the first-ever quarter of remote learning in Spring 2020. The goal was to find what practices, resources, and tools were most helpful for successful emergency remote instruction. Instructors and students agreed that engagement was the greatest challenge of remote instruction, followed by equitable assessment and stress or personal challenges.

By: Stephanie Pulford, Ph.D., Associate Director for Instructional Research & Development

By: Stephanie Pulford, Ph.D., Associate Director for Instructional Research & Development

There is a widely-studied equity problem in academia: students from different demographic groups have different outcomes in terms of both grades and completion rates, and these differences are often robust to controls for preparation and academic ability. We have examined the patterns in these inequities and learned that they are far more powerful for students who intersect multiple under-served groups such as first-generation students who are also from underrepresented minorities.

As part of a project to support transfer students from under-represented groups in engineering, we investigated the historical experiences of transfers in the UC Davis College of Engineering using three measures of academic success: the probability of graduating in two years or less, the probability of having a 3.0 or higher GPA with at least 13 units in their fourth quarter, and GPA at graduation.

Remedial education is under review at many institutions after some recent studies have found that remedial courses may discourage more students than they help. We are investigating the remedial writing program at UC Davis to determine the accuracy of the placement exam, the effects of the writing instruction on later success in writing courses, and the overall effects the system had on equity of opportunity for different groups of students. Particular attention is devoted to the experience of international and English Language Learner students.

By: Stephanie Pulford, Ph.D., Associate Director for Instructional Research & Development