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PsTL faculty research focuses on increasing opportunities for access to and success in higher education, especially for underrepresented students. Our faculty members align their multidisciplinary backgrounds and professional interests with research projects that support high-impact student learning and development. Many of these studies bring new thinking to bear on best practices in instructional design, curricular models, assessment, and pedagogy.
We have identified three vital areas for our research:
- Multicultural communities and education
- Teaching and learning in postsecondary education
- Access, transitions, and persistence in diverse contexts of higher education
Current faculty research projects include the following:
- increasing pathways to college for underrepresented student populations
- conducting classroom-based research
- designing college-level curriculum and pedagogy based on empirical research
- carrying out longitudinal studies of curricular models and instructional practices that support student learning and engagement across diverse populations
- studying the continuum of factors that impact student outcomes in postsecondary education, from high school experiences, to cultural factors (e.g., language, class, race), to institutional policy
Revised March 2010