Papers by Kathleen M. Quinlan
Higher education, Jan 25, 2024
Previous studies have emphasized culturally sensitive curricula in the context of enhancing minor... more Previous studies have emphasized culturally sensitive curricula in the context of enhancing minoritized students' education. We examined the relationship between second-year higher education students' perceptions of the cultural sensitivity of their curriculum and both majoritized and minoritized students' interest in their course. A total of 286 (228 F) students rated the cultural sensitivity of their curriculum on six scales using a revised version of the Culturally Sensitive Curricula Scales (CSCS-R), the perceived quality of their relationships with teachers, and their interest. The CSCS-R widened the construct with two new scales and showed better reliability. Ethnic minority students (n = 99) perceived their curriculum as less culturally sensitive than White students (n = 182), corroborating previous findings. Black students perceived their curriculum as less culturally sensitive than Asian students. There were no significant differences between ethnic minority and White students on interest or perceived quality of relationships with teachers. Five dimensions of cultural sensitivity (Diversity Represented, Positive Depictions, Challenge Power, Inclusive Classroom Interactions, Culturally Sensitive Assessments) and perceived quality of relationships with teachers predicted interest. Ethnicity did not. Ensuring curricula and assessments represent diversity positively, challenge power and are inclusive may support students' interest while reflecting an increasingly diverse society.
Studies in Higher Education
Studies in Higher Education
Imperatives to eliminate racial inequalities in higher education (HE) have led to calls for diver... more Imperatives to eliminate racial inequalities in higher education (HE) have led to calls for diversification of curricula. Qualitative evidence is growing about racially minoritised students' perceptions of their curricula and its impact on them. Yet there are no specific instruments to facilitate evaluation of curricular diversification and its impact on students. We examined the relationship between students' perceptions of the cultural sensitivity of their curriculum and their engagement, as measured by students' interactions with their teachers and their interest in their programme of study. To do so, we conceptualised and developed a new set of four Culturally Sensitive Curriculum Scales, making a significant, original conceptual and methodological contribution. A racially diverse sample of second through postgraduate students primarily in arts, humanities and social sciences (N = 262; 189 F) rated the cultural sensitivity of the curriculum of their programme, their interactions with teachers, and their interest. Racially minoritised students (n = 157) perceived their curriculum as less culturally sensitive on all four dimensions, reported fewer academic interactions with teachers, and had lower levels of interest than White students (n = 100). Each of the four Culturally Sensitive Curriculum Scales was significantly related to academic interactions with teachers and to interest. Regression analyses showed that all dimensions of cultural sensitivity mediated effects of ethnicity on interactions with teachers. Two dimensions of cultural sensitivity (Diversity Represented and Challenge Power) mediated effects of ethnicity on interest. Therefore, ensuring curricula are diverse and critical may support racially minoritised students' engagement, potentially contributing to reducing achievement gaps. Further implications are discussed.
Proceedings of the 2021 AERA Annual Meeting
Proceedings of the 2021 AERA Annual Meeting
This study examined the relationship between university students’ perceptions of the cultural sen... more This study examined the relationship between university students’ perceptions of the cultural sensitivity of their curriculum and their interest in their major. An ethnically diverse sample (N=262) rated the cultural sensitivity of the curriculum of their major and their interest. Ethnic minority students (n=157) perceived their curriculum as less culturally sensitive on all four dimensions and had lower levels of interest than White students (n=100). Each of the newly developed Culturally Sensitive Curriculum Scales was significantly related to interest. Regression analyses showed that two dimensions of cultural sensitivity (Diversity Represented and Challenge Power) mediated effects of ethnicity on interest. Therefore, ensuring curricula are diverse and critical may support minority ethnic students’ interest and potentially contribute to reducing achievement gaps
This valuable work suggests one model in which faculty assemble a collection of carefully selecte... more This valuable work suggests one model in which faculty assemble a collection of carefully selected work samples accompanied by reflective commentary about them. Covers the what, why, and how of teaching portfolios, with pointers for getting started and a sampling of current campus practices
Taylor & Francis, Jun 28, 2021
In the main, attention to disciplinary practices has been neglected in assessment and feedback re... more In the main, attention to disciplinary practices has been neglected in assessment and feedback research (Coffey et al., 2011; Cowie & Moreland, 2015). Only recently, the longstanding interest in authentic assessment (e.g. Wiggins, 1989) has re-surfaced in higher education literature on authentic assessment design (Ashford-Rowe et al., 2014; Villarroel et al., 2018) and authentic feedback (Dawson et al., 2020). To address this gap, in our 2019 call for papers for this special issue, we sought articles that would explore the potential of what we called ‘signature’ assessment and feedback practices. Just as signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) have directed attention to discipline- and profession-specific teaching practices in higher education, we used the term ‘signature’ to invite researchers and educators to consider discipline-specific assessment and feedback practices. While these signatures will be authentic to a discipline, the term implies that they will be uniquely characteristic of a particular discipline. Thus, we invited researchers and educators to dig deeply into what makes a discipline or profession special and distinct from other fields. Because attention to disciplines has the potential to connect primary and secondary with tertiary education, which is often siloed in its own journals, the call for papers also explicitly sought examples from different levels of education. Two years later, this special issue contains five theoretically framed and grounded empirical papers that: a) situate particular assessment and feedback practices within a discipline; b) analyse how engagement with those assessment and feedback activities allows students to participate more fully or effectively within the disciplinary or professional community, and c) illuminate new aspects of assessment and feedback. We (Quinlan and Pitt, this issue) conclude this special issue with an article that draws on the five empirical papers to construct a taxonomy for advancing research on signature assessment and feedback practices
American Councils for International Education ACTR / ACCELS, Apr 30, 2013
The world’s most pressing problems require solutions that cross disciplinary boundaries. Yet, in ... more The world’s most pressing problems require solutions that cross disciplinary boundaries. Yet, in an academy dominated by disciplinary thinking, interdisciplinarity is very challenging for researchers, teachers and students. We briefly discuss problem-based learning (PBL) as a promising teaching methodology for integrating multiple disciplines. However, the literature on problem-based learning does not adequately articulate the underlying cognitive processes required for interdisciplinary knowledge construction, particularly outside the clinical sciences. This paper proposes conceptual integration or blending (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002; Fauconnier & Turner, 2008; Howell, 2010; Morrison, 2003) as a promising theoretical foundation for interdisciplinary teaching and learning, particularly in area studies, which integrates numerous social sciences and humanities subjects. We illustrate this theoretical approach with examples drawn from a course on the culture of Russia and Eastern Europe. We argue that understanding interdisciplinarity from a cognitive perspective allows both students and teachers to be more self-conscious about the practice of interdisciplinary studies, thereby enhancing the learning and teaching process
Advance HE eBooks, Jul 1, 2021
The period between March 2020 and October 2020 will live long in the memory for those involved in... more The period between March 2020 and October 2020 will live long in the memory for those involved in higher education, as they coped with changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This article firstly analyses UK higher education professional’s assessment and feedback practices in response to what we are calling the emergency phase of March to June 2020. In the second part of the article, we sought to learn how UK educators were reflecting on the lessons from that emergency period to prepare for the 2020/2021 academic year. The article concludes by considering how these two phases may influence assessment and feedback practices in a post-pandemic era
This chapter is intended to give you tools with which to label your assumptions and those of the ... more This chapter is intended to give you tools with which to label your assumptions and those of the speakers of the poems. It also makes various assumptions explicit, enabling us to frame (and re-frame) the situations presented in the case studies, opening up different possibilities for practice and policy. In this way, it offers a deeper, theoretical grounding for those who want a more scholarly foundation to their reading and discussions.
Handbook of Educational Psychology, 2013
Had the Handbook of Educational Psychology been published in 1980, it is unlikely that a section ... more Had the Handbook of Educational Psychology been published in 1980, it is unlikely that a section on the curriculum and knowledge, or on the psychology of school subject matters, would have been included. Educational psychology has had an on-again, off-again relationship with subject matter during the past century. At one time, it might have been predicted that school subjects would form the central framework for organizing educational psychology. At other times, subject matters faded into obscurity as relevant dimensions of the discipline of educational psychology, to be replaced by a concern for general mental, developmental, and emotional processes. This chapter reviews the history of the psychology of school subjects from its prominence during the first two decades of the 20th century, when it served to define the essential character of educational psychology, through its extended periods of obscurity during the decades when psychologists sought general theories of learning, teaching, and problem solving, and into the more recent period when the psychology of school subjects appears to be undergoing a renaissance, but in forms not foreseeable during its earlier incarnation. The discussion frequently returns to a set of interlocking questions: What does it mean to know a school subject' In what ways have disciplines been transformed into school subjects? How have psychologists studied the processes of learning and knowing such subjects? What kinds of connection can be made between what it means to know a school subject and how to teach and learn the subject?
Using the notion of threshold concepts we sought to understand the transformation students underg... more Using the notion of threshold concepts we sought to understand the transformation students undergo in the first year of university engineering or material science as they transition from secondary school problem solving to thinking like an engineer. We interviewed 14 tutors and 8 students at Oxford to identify the key threshold students must pass through during their first year, focusing on how this threshold is transformative and how one can tell whether this transformation has happened. Tutors emphasised a set of related discipline-specific thinking processes that evolve over the course of the year, including connecting maths and the physical world, modelling problems, estimating and approximating and balancing convergent and divergent thinking. Students that “got it” (i.e. had transformed or passed over the threshold) were perceived as a) tackling problems differently; b) being more independent; c) having increased confidence; d) embracing a broader view of the subject and; e) co...
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or ... more All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the copywrite owner. The Leadership Foundation is pleased to launch its new series of 'Stimulus Papers' which are intended to inform thinking, choices and decisions at institutional and system levels in UK higher education. The papers were selected from an open tender which sought to commission focused and thought-provoking papers that address the challenges facing leaders, managers and governors in the new economic environment facing the UK. The themes addressed fall into different clusters including higher education leadership, business models for higher education, leading the student experience and leadership and equality of opportunity in higher education. Note: This paper is not intended to constitute legal advice and no responsibility is accepted by Eversheds LLP or the Leadership Foundation for any reliance made on it.
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Papers by Kathleen M. Quinlan