Paid research opportunity for instructors at minority-serving institutions

In partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Macmillan Learning is conducting research studies to develop and test equity-centered enhancements for digital courseware.

*Minority Serving Institutions are defined as having a student population that is at least 51% non-White.

Study Options

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A group of diverse students interact in class

Evidence-based Teaching Practices

The study seeks to understand how using digital courseware to employ evidence-based teaching (EBT) practices impacts student outcomes for Black, Latino, Indigenous, and lower-income college students (as demonstrated through knowledge acquisition and exam scores). The study will focus on four specific evidence-based teaching practices:

  • Active learning
  • Outcome-driven instruction
  • Formative assessment with immediate feedback
  • Metacognition
Diverse college students interact on campus

Sense of Belonging and Metacognition

The Sense of Belonging and Metacognition study seeks to understand the impact of using resources embedded within a digital courseware platform to improve students’ sense of belonging and metacognition skills. The study will also examine whether improved sense of belonging and metacognition skills are related to other student outcomes such as course retention, content knowledge and exam scores.

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A smiling man faces the camera as his coursemates discuss their group project

Benefits of Participation

Participation in either of these studies provides educators and their students an opportunity to contribute to the emerging research literature on the use of digital courseware to improve equity for traditionally underserved populations. Each instructor will receive a summary of research findings from their classes as well as the opportunity to be acknowledged for their contribution to the research (if desired).

Participating instructors will receive:

  • A $2,000 stipend for your contribution to data collection
  • Recognition as participants in a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded study
  • Free professional development including badging and certification for EBT practices study participants
  • Certificates and shareable digital badges for each EBT practice professional development training

Students will receive:

  • Free access to online courseware Achieve for Psychology with David Myers Psychology in Everyday Life ebook or Achieve for Intro Biology with Shuster Biology for a Changing World 4e ebook. The Achieve courseware with ebook will be the required course resource for research participants.
  • Amazon gift cards (up to $240) for providing their feedback on the experience

Apply to participate

A participating instructor fulfills the study requirements

Study Requirements

Instructor participants will be expected to:

  • Submit any required IRB documentation necessary to work with your institution.
  • Coordinate the collection of data including:
    • Completing two 10-15 minute instructor surveys; one at the beginning of the term and a second at the end of the term.
    • Administering two student surveys; one at the beginning of the term and a second at the end of the term
    • Maintaining a weekly implementation log of your experience (~10 minutes each week).
    • Coordinating monthly class instruction observations with a research team member.
    • Administering brief student conceptual assessments to examine students’ conceptual knowledge of course concepts. These assessments will be online, timed, multiple choice (20-25 questions) and will take approximately 30 minutes.
    • Participating in a mid-semester interview with a research team member (~30 minutes)
    • Encouraging student participation in a mid-semester focus group (~50 minutes)
    • Allowing bi-weekly student check-in surveys. Students will be selected at random and invited to participate in short surveys (i.e., 5-7 questions) regarding their interaction with Achieve and its evidence-based teaching practices.
    • Sharing student final grades and student exam scores, in accordance with institutional research agreement.

Apply to participate

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Two overlapping speech bubbles represent in-class discussion and peer-to-peer interactions

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Active learning

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A plant sprouting from a test tube represents the tangible results of outcome-driven instruction

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Outcome-driven instruction

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The thumbs-up represents the importance of assessment, communication, and transparency

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Formative assessment with immediate feedback

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The profile with gears for brains represents meta-cognition, or (generally) the ongoing process of acknowledging, exploring, assessing, testing, and refining our cognitive abilities

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Meta-cognition

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Expectations

  • Submit any required IRB documentation necessary to work with your institution.

  • Coordinate the collection of data including:

    • Completing two 10-15 minute instructor surveys; one at the beginning of the term and a second at the end of the term.
    • Administering two student surveys; one at the beginning of the term and a second at the end of the term
    • Maintaining a weekly implementation log of your experience (~10 minutes each week).
    • Coordinating monthly class instruction observations with a research team member.
    • Administering brief student conceptual assessments to examine students’ conceptual knowledge of course concepts. These assessments will be online, timed, multiple choice (20-25 questions) and will take approximately 30 minutes.
    • Participating in a mid-semester interview with a research team member (~30 minutes)
    • Encouraging student participation in a mid-semester focus group (~50 minutes)
    • Allowing bi-weekly student check-in surveys. Students will be selected at random and invited to participate in short surveys (i.e., 5-7 questions) regarding their interaction with Achieve and its evidence-based teaching practices.
    • Sharing student final grades and student exam scores, in accordance with institutional research agreement.

Compensation

Participating instructors will receive:

  • a $2,000 stipend
  • Four hours of professional development (one hour focused on each of the four EBT practices
  • Certificates and shareable digital badges for each EBT practice professional development training

Students will receive:

  • Free access to online courseware Achieve for Psychology with David Myers Psychology in Everyday Life eBook) or Achieve for Sociology with OpenStax Sociology eBook. The Achieve courseware with eBook will be the required course resource for research participants.
  • $25 Amazon gift cards for completing surveys.
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