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Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) in science and engineering offer a number of positive outcomes to the students who are able to participate, including increased retention, clarified career goals, and development of problem-solving skills. There have been a number of calls for research that investigates the experiences, identity, and cognitive develop of students who participate in UREs. In addition, recent work in other areas suggests that undergraduate students' perceptions often differ from those of faculty, graduate students, and staff, suggesting the need for research that considers the students' perspectives within these experiences. As such, in this constructivist grounded theory study, we sought to develop a contextualized model relating researcher identity and epistemic thinking for undergraduate engineering students engaged in research experiences. Data were collected from interviews with 20 undergraduate engineering students with research experience at six institutions. Coded interview transcripts were used to create structured memos that included a participant description, summary of salient concepts from theoretical frameworks and/or themes, and connections to other participants. These structured memos served as the data set used to develop the grounded theory model. This work establishes that (1) students' initial dispositions and beliefs about research influence their perceptions of researchers and themselves as researchers (researcher identity), (2) researcher identity can dissolve or solidify through UREs, (3) researcher identity affects and is affected by students' reflection on research practices, and (4) social interactions and context shape knowledge of research and researchers, researcher identity, and interest in research. Our work expands existing identity and epistemic thinking theories by investigating how students establish a researcher identity, conducting a context specific study of epistemic thinking, and exploring the relationships between these two constructs.

As systematic reviews (SRs) of research increase in number, the methods used to conduct the analyses are becoming more diversified. While named in the methodological literature as an analytical approach, grounded theory (GT) is not frequently used as an approach in SRs; when it is, reviewers typically emphasize the use of GT coding and constant comparative methods while ignoring other key components of GT. In this article, we describe an SR of environmental education research that incorporated GT methodology to produce a theoretical model. To contribute to emerging discussions about methodological integrity when combining distinct methods like SRs and GT, we outline how our review methods aligned with core principles of GT and discuss implications of using GT when conducting an SR.

Our world faces a range of environmental problems directly linked to or exacerbated by human actions and choices. Environmental education (EE) is one tool that can create a more environmentally literate citizenry. EE research contains numerous studies examining whether or not EE programs are achieving certain outcomes, yet research on the identification of important program factors remains unclear. The purpose of this grounded theory systematic review was initial exploration into what makes EE effective with secondary students. This research was designed to develop a grounded theory model that synthesizes the strategies and outcomes associated with EE for this specific context. A systematic search identified 39 studies published between 2011 and 2018 that examined EE for secondary students in the US. Grounded theory coding and theoretical sampling informed the development of the Implementation of Authentic Environmental Education Programs (IAEEP) model, which posits program authenticity as the core category underlying the process of EE with secondary students in the US. The resultant grounded theory model can help guide secondary school educators and EE practitioners in the development and implementation of EE for secondary students.

One principal way to judge if the activity or program described in a practice-oriented publication is worth replicating is to consider the strength of its foundational component. A strong foundational component supports the credibility of an initiative by demonstrating that it was designed with an understanding of other similar initiatives and with evidence that there was a reasonable promise that the desired outcomes were realistically achievable. This paper reports on the findings of a mixed methods content analysis of 142 practice-oriented articles published in three different refereed venues between 1995 and 2009. A scale to measure the quality of the foundational component of the practice-oriented publications was used in the quantitative phases to test if there had been a change in the relative number and quality of practice-oriented publications over time. The validity of the scale was tested in subsequent qualitative phases of the project by an inductive examination of the characteristics of top-scoring articles. Results of the quantitative analysis indicated that the average quality rating of the foundational element of the articles was relatively low (3.37 out of a possible 6 points). The scale proved effective in distinguishing articles that were exemplary in other ways as well. The low overall quality score on the foundational component of practice-oriented publications either means that the authors of these publications are failing to provide ample documentation that these initiatives were evidence-based or the content analysis reveals a long-standing trend toward the adoption of non-evidence based practices.

Popular movies were used in a doctoral-level qualitative research methods course as a way to help students learn about how to collect and analyze qualitative observational data in order to develop a grounded theory. The course was designed in such a way that collaboration was central to the generation of knowledge. Using media depictions had the practical advantage of enabling the group to create fieldnotes from a common set of data collected simultaneously in a short period of time. Fictional representations in popular media can provide the basis to learn about both the methods and foundational assumptions for conducting qualitative research, including the challenges of bracketing prior assumptions.

Little is known about how the presence of women influences undergraduates' experiences in engineering. This paper presents results from a mixed methods, multivariate, and multi-institutional study to determine the impact of the numeric representation of women on the intent to be employed in engineering following graduation. Results from the analysis of both quantitative and the qualitative data suggests that numbers matter because it contributes to the perception that women have the skills, abilities, and interests to succeed in engineering.

This paper explores the link between research collaboration and innovation among faculty, as indicated by a self-reported assessment of the contribution of a co-authored publication to knowledge. Findings challenge the assumption that collaborators are rarely involved in theory development and the practice of crediting only the lead author for the intellectual content of a coauthored publication. (Contains 3 tables.)

Co-curricular and extracurricular involvement plays important roles in students' cognitive and effective development, educational effectiveness and satisfaction, and sense of belonging. Moreover, these practices can help equip a diverse population with the academic and professional skills necessary to succeed in the technological workforce. Yet undergraduate engineering students are consistently less likely than students in other majors to become involved in co-curricular and extracurricular activities. This study critically analyzes the body of literature focused on the extent to which involvement in out-of-class activities affects educational outcomes among both engineering and general undergraduate students. Employing a mixed research synthesis approach, this study evaluates 50 qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies published between January 2000 and December 2014 using four steps. The findings suggest that out-of-class involvement supports undergraduate students' development of eight categories of outcomes and results in slight variations in outcome based on type of activity and major. This review synthesizes prior work, informs practice, and identifies opportunities for future research.

A mixed method design was used to conduct a content analysis of the mission statements of colleges of engineering to map inductively derived codes with the EC 2000 outcomes and to test if any of the codes were significantly associated with institutions with reasonably strong representation of women. Most institution's (25 of 48) mission statement had two or fewer of the outcomes endorsed by the accrediting agency. The diversity code was significantly related to the representation of women, but is not one of the outcomes identified by the accrediting agency. The research demonstrates how mixed methods can be applied to content analysis. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)

This article presents preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of a measure of self-authorship derived from 18 items in the Career Decision Making Survey. The research conceptualizes a quantitative measure of self-authorship as a three-part score that reflects level of agreement with statements at each of the first three phases of development toward self-authorship. The instrument could be used to assess the outcomes of initiatives designed to promote growth in the development of self-authorship. (Contains 5 tables.)

Decisions that involve consideration of inconsistent or contradictory information provide a context for understanding and supporting intellectual development.

A commitment to pursue problems from multiple angles, methods, and theoretical positions means that research teams require strategies to navigate the tensions and conflict that inevitably emerge, particularly when the intent is to find ways to integrate different disciplinary perspectives.

Examples are provided about ways to change professional and ethical practices to promote the creation of a culture that facilitates and equitably recognizes collaboratively produced scholarship. (Contains 1 table.)

This chapter defines key terms and orients readers to the ideas explored in the rest of this volume.

Current career literature provides little insight into how women interpret career-relevant experiences, advice, or information, particularly when it is contradictory. This paper uses findings from interviews with 40 college women to provide empirical confirmation for the link between self authorship and career decision making. Findings underscore the role of inter-connectivity in women's decision making, particularly involving parents, and distinguish ways that this can reflect self-authorship. Self-authorship provides the theoretical framework to understand how students respond to career advice and suggests that students may reject career advice when it requires the cognitive complexity to engage diverse viewpoints. Findings endorse educational activities that require students to juggle competing knowledge claims to make complex decisions.

This article describes how long-term collaborators interpret substantive differences of opinion and the strategies they use to negotiate them. Long-term collaborators are coauthors who have had a working relationship for ten or more years. Differences of opinion refer to differences in interpretation about substantive issues related to research and writing, not to other kinds of differences such as in personality or working style or disagreements about organizational or administrative issues. An exploration of how collaborators deal with differences of opinion can add to our understanding about how to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of research collaborations and to identify circumstances where collaboration contributes to innovation or significant new insight to scientific knowledge. It also adds to the understanding about ways to create a collaborative culture that embraces difference. Findings from this research support the contribution of social and relational dynamics to knowledge production and add to the literature about collaborative learning by suggesting that it is not just the dynamics of the collaborative process that can promote innovation, but also the relational dynamics.