Search Results (28)

The All of Us Researcher Academy Internship Program provided a 3-month experiential learning opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to train on analyzing health data from the All of Us Research Program. Thirteen interns were paired with mentors who have ongoing projects using the All of Us Researcher Workbench, a cloud-based data analysis platform. Interns also participated in networking activities, attended weekly internship supervisor and mentor meetings, and had access to virtual courses. The internship concluded with virtual presentations to share project results. Topics studied included sickle cell disease, cancer, diabetes, sleep disorders, allergic conditions, cardiovascular health, mental health, and healthcare access. The purpose of this evaluation study was to assess the All of Us Researcher Academy Internship Program’s impact on student outcomes during the first two cohorts (2023 and 2024). The study employed a post-only evaluation design. Ten interns completed post-internship surveys that inquired about their overall internship experience, Researcher Workbench use, and research skills development. The 2024 cohort also participated in a focus group discussion that probed their perceptions about the internship experience. Evaluation results revealed that 90% of interns strongly agreed that their overall research skills and self-efficacy improved, and 80% of interns reported interest in future use of the Researcher Workbench. Interns offered positive feedback on their mentorship experiences and reported a strong sense of support and belonging. The All of Us Researcher Academy Internship Program offers an effective model for skills-based experiential learning in biomedical research. Full article

Self-efficacy beliefs and mindset influence student success, impacting how a learner experiences and responds to learning situations and setbacks. Accordingly, mindset interventions, are successful at increasing student performance with particular efficacy with historically underserved students such as those attending HBCUs. This paper studies a classroom-based mindset intervention that was implemented with the goal of increasing learning and achievement through improving the students’ cognitive disposition. The intervention, implemented at a mid-Atlantic minority serving institution of higher education, involved the creation of a custom-designed three-tool self-assessment developed to engender students’ critical reflection. The scales in question measured self-efficacy, growth mindset, and mastery goal orientation. This paper presents the results of reliability testing via Cronbach’s alpha and inter-item covariance. According to the findings, all three tools showed strong (good to excellent) reliability with acceptable positive covariance indicating that they are capable of serving as appropriate instruments for further adoption, usage, and analysis. It is the goal that this paper contributes to the body of literature on mindset interventions encouraging more individuals working with traditionally underserved learners to consider exploring efforts to increase students’ positive mindsets. Full article

Amid escalating attacks on the diversity, equity, and inclusion, Historically Black Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HBeHSIs) represent overlooked spaces of resistance in U.S. Higher education. This study examines how faculty and administrators negotiate racial and professional identities within institutions shaped by Black liberatory traditions and exclusionary HSI policy. Guided by Bradley and Tillis’s Afro-Latinidades heuristic, we link psychosocial identity development to institutional praxis and anti-colonial resistance. Interviews with 10 BIPOC professionals reveal identity ork as collective praxis challenging essentialist narratives and affirming servingness beyond enrollment metrics. Five themes illustrate work as collective praxis challenging essentialist narratives and affirming servingness beyond enrollment metrics. Five themes illustrate strategies for sustaining equity-driven missions under racial retrenchment, calling for renewed commitments to justice-centered higher education. Full article

Despite HIV/AIDS disproportionately impacting Black women in the United States, HIV knowledge, awareness, and uptake of prevention efforts like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have been limited for this community. Since campus leaders can maintain the attention of Black college women for a sustained period, they are an ideal demographic for PrEP interventions. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to assess the awareness and knowledge of PrEP among Black Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) women, informing future possibilities and strategies for PrEP interventions and uptake. The lead author employed a descriptive, qualitative approach to collect data from five focus groups of Black HBCU women. Within this, the authors examined Black HBCU women’s PrEP knowledge and awareness in their own words and on their own terms. The results revealed that Black HBCU women have notable gaps in knowledge and limited awareness about PrEP and sexual health, with some assuming PrEP is only for men who have sex with men (MSM). Others believed it was used to manage an existing HIV diagnosis. Given that these participants perceived PrEP as primarily for MSMs, there is a clear gap in public health practice. Therefore, it is essential to focus future HIV prevention efforts on college-aged Black women by exploring their perspectives and considering how institutions like student activities, Greek Life, and campus health services can contribute to PrEP education for HIV prevention. Full article

Student learning outcome (SLO) tracing aims to monitor students’ learning progress by predicting their likelihood of passing or failing courses using Deep Knowledge Tracing (DKT). However, conventional DKT models often lack interpretability, limiting their adoption in educational settings that require transparent decision-making. To address this challenge, this quantitative study proposes an interpretable ensemble framework that integrates Item Response Theory (IRT) with DKT. Specifically, multiple IRT-based DKT models are developed to capture student ability and item characteristics, and these models are combined using a bagging strategy to enhance predictive performance and robustness. The framework is evaluated on an SLO tracing dataset from Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), a historically Black college and university (HBCU). Result analysis includes comparisons of evaluation metrics such as Area Under the Curve (AUC), accuracy (ACC), and precision across individual and ensemble models, as well as visualizations of student ability, item difficulty, and predicted probabilities to assess interpretability. Experimental results demonstrate that the ensemble approach consistently outperforms single models while providing clear, interpretable insights into student learning dynamics. These findings suggest that integrating ensemble methods with IRT can simultaneously improve prediction accuracy and transparency in SLO tracing. Full article

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, most commonly known as DEI, serves as a framework for practices that promote the fair treatment and full participation of all members of a community. Culturally responsive teaching and critical pedagogy are commonly associated with DEI as part of the larger strategy to validate and inspire learners while improving their self-efficacy and ability to challenge oppressive systems. While DEI is becoming increasingly better known in higher education, Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) are heralded in the literature as a model for this work. Nevertheless, there is relatively limited empirical research exploring facets of DEI and culturally responsive teaching on HBCU and other minority-serving institutions’ campuses. This paper examines the campus of an HBCU located in the Mid-Atlantic United States, with an institutional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, via a comprehensive DEI climate study that included separate surveys of students and faculty/staff. More specifically, the study explored whether all community members consider the campus inclusive, whether all community members experience a culture of belonging, whether adequate resources and supports exist for all campus members to succeed, whether faculty exhibit culturally responsive teaching practices, and whether the perceptions of faculty and staff differ from those of students. The purpose of the study was to help address the gap in the DEI literature exploring the practices of minority-serving institutions. According to the results, participants found the University to be an inclusive place, expressing strong satisfaction with the campus climate and experience. Further, when the presence of culturally responsive teaching practices was explored, strong evidence was indicated. Possible areas for improvement include greater supports and resources for LGBTQIA+, Indigenous, and disabled community members. Full article

Fifty million Americans, nearly 15% of the population, live below the federal poverty level, often facing civil legal issues without representation. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have long served as economic engines and vital resources for their communities. HBCU law schools uphold this legacy by preparing students for legal careers while instilling a commitment to service, particularly for underserved citizens who lack access to quality legal representation. This research examines the dual mission of HBCU law schools—educating students and serving local communities—through a systematic document analysis of publicly available materials and literature on law school clinical programs. The findings identify four key community performance indicators that define the community impact of HBCU law schools: advocacy, engagement, client outcomes, and representation. These indicators reflect a shared commitment across all institutions to addressing systemic inequities through clinical legal education, reinforcing the role of HBCU law schools as both training grounds for future attorneys and essential pillars of justice in their communities. Full article

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States have been experiencing a leadership turnover crisis, with 23 president and chancellor changes announced in 2022 and 41 in 2023. A survey of HBCU stakeholders at the 2023 White House Initiative on HBCUs was conducted to identify high-impact areas linked to this turnover, focusing on areas critical to the advancement and sustainment of HBCUs through the eyes of HBCU stakeholders. Additionally, it attempted to understand how campus dynamics and challenges can impact leaders using capital theory. The survey identified internal and external challenges, including engagement, morale, support, and retention across various stakeholders, suggesting that the turnover crisis needs to be viewed from the perspective of leaders’ turnover rather than leadership turnover. It was concluded that leaders’ forms of capital are compromised by misaligned campus dynamics, negatively impacting morale and engagement, leading to distrust, lack of support, pushback, and attrition. Therefore, leaders’ capitals can be depleted, leading to frustration, burnout, and ultimately voluntary resignation. The findings are crucial for institutions and leaders to understand and, most importantly, mitigate the impact of leader turnover on institutions, which demand stability. Full article

With the increasing use of open educational resources (OERs) in higher education, and the potential of OERs to enhance student learning, this study investigated minority students’ perceptions of using OERs in learning computer programming. The influence of minority students’ OER perceptions on their learning outcomes, as well as the relationships of the perception variables were explored. The participants were minority students from an HBCU institution in the southeastern United States. Quantitative approaches were used to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that the minority students’ perceptions of using OERs had a significant influence on their perceived learning outcomes in learning computer programming. OER self-efficacy did not influence the minority students’ perceived learning for programming. Understanding of OERs, OER interest, and OER self-efficacy significantly predicted the minority students’ perceived value/usefulness of OERs in learning coding. Full article

The purpose of this project was to examine the impact of participation in an online peer mentoring program on peer mentees in an effort to broaden participation of racially and ethnically minoritized women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs. A total of 22 students identifying as women who were enrolled in STEM degree programs at one of two participating historically Black institutions participated in the program. After participating in an online peer mentee training program and engaging in peer mentoring relationships over the course of one academic year, interviews and focus groups were conducted to determine the impact of participation in the program on mentees’ STEM self-efficacy, sense of community, STEM identity, and intent to persist in their STEM degree programs. Following a case study approach, findings demonstrated that peer mentees reported overall positive outcomes from participation in the program to include increased STEM self-efficacy, increased sense of belonging, increased STEM identity, and increased intent to persist. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Full article

The rapid expansion of big data has transformed research practices across disciplines, yet disparities exist in its adoption among U.S. institutions of higher education. This study examines trends in NSF-funded big data-driven research across research domains, institutional classifications, and directorates. Using a quantitative approach and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, we analyzed NSF awards from 2006 to 2022, focusing on seven NSF research areas: Biological Sciences, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Engineering, Geosciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, and STEM Education (formally known as Education and Human Resources). Findings indicate a significant increase in big data-related awards over time, with CISE (Computer and Information Science and Engineering) leading in funding. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are dominant themes across all institutions’ classifications. Results show that R1 and non-minority-serving institutions receive the majority of big data-driven research funding, though HBCUs have seen recent growth due to national diversity initiatives. Topic modeling reveals key subdomains such as cybersecurity and bioinformatics benefiting from big data, while areas like Biological Sciences and Social Sciences engage less with these methods. These findings suggest the need for broader support and funding to foster equitable adoption of big data methods across institutions and disciplines. Full article

Low energy availability (LEA) is common among female student-athletes and contributes to reduced bone mineral density and hormonal dysfunction. However, limited research exists on student-athletes of color, making it difficult to generalize results across populations, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) student-athletes. Objectives: This study examined the energy needs and LEA prevalence, with or without eating disorder (ED) risk, among HBCU female student-athletes. Methods: Twenty-seven female student-athletes (age = 19 ± 1 year; height = 166.9 ± 7.6 cm; weight = 68.8 ± 11.3 kg) completed baseline measures, including the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3), EDI-3 symptom checklist (EDI-SC), anthropometric measures, and resting metabolic rate (RMR). Participants maintained a dietary log to measure energy intake and wore a heart rate monitor to estimate exercise energy expenditures for 7 days. LEA was defined as <30 kcal/kg of fat-free mass (FFM)/day. Results: The mean energy availability (15.9 ± 10.1 kcal/kg FFM/day) indicated 92.6% of participants (n = 25) displayed LEA; of those, 60% (n = 15) had LEA with ED risk. ED risk was identified in 59.3% of student-athletes (n = 13; EDI-3: n = 2; SC: n = 3; Both: n = 11). Interestingly, of the two student-athletes without LEA, one was identified at risk for EDs using both the EDI-3 and SC. Conclusions: HBCU female student-athletes face high risks of LEA and EDs, with most showing signs of both. This underscores the need for culturally sensitive interventions to improve EA and support mental health in this underserved group. Clinicians should focus on nutrition education and early ED identification to enhance long-term health and athletic performance. Full article

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have been widely hailed as an innovative approach to engage students in college coursework through exposure to authentic research, leading to improved persistence and more equitable access to research opportunities. This article presents an analysis of the impact of implementing a novel type of CURE across the biology curriculum at one public historically black university, introducing a community focus through a partnership with a local nonprofit organization working to restore a polluted local river. The analysis incorporates survey research on student science identity and sense of belonging with administrative records on persistence to graduation and limited data on graduates’ further education and careers. We find that more of the students who completed these novel CUREs graduated on time with a biology degree than those who did not complete CUREs, and that most biology graduates do go on to use their degrees in further education and/or careers in science or healthcare. We discuss the limitations of our analysis, including the relatively short timeframe covered by our data, the almost incalculable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the retrospective nature of our assessment. Full article

This case study introduces the STARS (Supporting Talented African American Undergraduates for Retention and Success) project, designed to foster the retention and success of academically talented African American computer science students from low-income backgrounds at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. The STARS program employs a holistic approach, integrating four primary pillars of support: academic, social, career, and financial. Specific support provided includes near-peer mentoring, technical skill development seminars, undergraduate research, and high school outreach activities. To explore the program’s effectiveness and areas of improvement, a mixed-method evaluation study was conducted, collecting data through surveys, observations, individual interviews, and focus group interviews. The findings revealed that the STARS program contributed to high levels of retention among its scholars, and the mentoring program provided valuable networking opportunities. The study suggests that the program’s comprehensive approach, tailored to scholars’ needs, and combined with a culturally affirming learning environment, facilitates the retention and success of talented African American students in computer science. Full article

Black Americans and the Southern United States are disproportionately represented in the HIV epidemic. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), often located in communities that have been historically underserved, are uniquely positioned to implement HIV prevention interventions focused on Black young adults. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a qualitative study, using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) model as a guide, to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementing an HIV intervention pre- and post-implementation. Pre-implementation key informant interviews with administrators, faculty, and staff, alongside focus groups with students, highlighted several themes as potential influencers on intervention rollout. These included perceived need, campus health resources, cost, personnel availability, student priorities, HIV-related stigma, and institutional culture. Post-implementation interviews with campus liaisons further revealed themes including institutional culture, external partnerships, internal communication, student health resource accessibility, and peer educator recruitment and retention. These findings underscore the complexities of implementing public health interventions in academic settings and may guide future efforts at HBCUs and PBIs to effectively address HIV prevention. Full article