Honors Students and Faculty Collaborate Using Research Grant

Faculty and students in the Farquhar Honors College received a $15,000 President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant to study Gen Z college students’ interest in and ways of learning. Their research, titled “In Their Words: Collaborative Assessment of Undergraduate Intellectual Curiosity,” will bridge the generational gap in traditional and modern understandings of education to encourage innovation in the classroom.

The research project is a collaboration between faculty members Charlene Désir, Ed.D., professor in the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCESCJ), Rachel Panton, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Hamos College of Arts and Sciences, and Georgina Arguello, Ed.D., assistant dean and associate professor in FCESCJ, and honors students Amenia Farraj, and Jalynn Sylvain.

The project was conceived by the students after hearing about Désir’s research on youth education at an honors Research Roundtable event—an event created to connect honors students with faculty research opportunities.

“As an educator, I am humbled always to learn from students, they are my first teachers and this juxtaposition gives me the opportunity to model being a learner/student,” said Désir. “This project is a way for me to be inspired from the knowledge of undergrads . . . and learn ways teachers can effectively engage with them.”

The study aims to highlight the different modalities and environments in which college students learn, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic changed the learning landscape and emphasized the role of technology.

“Often, I think older adults can accuse emerging adults of not being intellectually curious because the younger generation receives information differently from what we experienced or even prefer,” said Panton. “I want to understand how we can better synthesize the knowledge that they bring from their communities, their families, and digital technologies into our classrooms.”

The researchers will use a mixed-methods approach and hope to publish and share their results creatively, such as through a children’s book and Mako Radio segment.

“This [project is] an opportunity to [combine] faculty and student interests and allow[s] us to explore students’ interests in learning in our own community,” said Farraj, a junior political science major. “Working with Dr. Désir and the other faculty has been an enlightening experience.”

Learn more about the President’s Faculty Research & Development Grant.

Posted 07/16/23