EDU 508 Educational Research Methods

EDU 508 Educational Research Methods

October 18, 2017

Research Topic: Implicit bias in colleges

Article 1 Quantitative Research: Driving Campus Diversity: One Decision at a Time (Davies, S.L. 2016).

This article provides studies on implicit bias within universities across the United States. One study examined whether implicit bias affects who is selected for university faculty positions. In the study readers were given identical curricula vitae for candidates (one non-white and one white). For the most part readers who scored higher with a pro-white preference on the IAT implicit bias test gave higher rating to the white candidates than to the non-whit candidates. Due to this study many universities have begun to implicit bias training for their faculty members.

Purpose of the research: To identify the importance of addressing implicit bias in higher education.

Problem Statement: Implicit bias affects students and faculty within Universities across the United States.

Gaps in literature that studied the problem: What this article did not address is do the students of universities have biases.

Research question and/or hypothesis: Why address implicit bias in higher education is one of the questions asked within this article. The hypothesis showed that implicit biases in higher education affect both students and faculty.

Theory or conceptual framework: This article is a great example of conceptual framework. It provided the answers as to how and why implicit bias is happening in higher education. It also provided ways to mitigate the influence of implicit biases.

Findings of the research: This article has shown that implicit biases can influence the perceptions and interactions of educators when dealing with students.

Article 2 Quantitative Research: Implicit Bias and First Name Stereotypes: What are the Implications for Online Instruction? (Conaway, W., & Bethune, S. 2015).

This article looks at the online classroom to determine if it is possible for a student’s name to trigger implicit bias from the instructors. For the study there were 147 online instructors who were participants, these instructors had all volunteered. They were over 26 years of age and had a minimum of a Master’s degree. The participants were given a brief nine item demographic survey and then they took the Implicit Bias test created by the Project Implicit team of Harvard University. The scores of the tests where then calculated using guidelines that were provided by BIAT scoring procedures.

Purpose of the research: “The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between racial or ethnic implicit bias with student first names in the online instructional environment.” (Conaway, W., & Bethune, S. 2015).

Problem Statement: Implicit bias in online instruction can be caused by stereotypical student names.

Gaps in literature that studied the problem: There is a gap in research for the effectiveness of online learning and implicit biases.

Research question and/or hypothesis: This article asked and answered the question of can implicit occur in online learning.

Theory or conceptual framework: This study used a transformative mixed method framework. It relied on ethical stances of inclusion and the researchers hoped the findings would be used to enhance training to mitigate implicit bias.

Findings of the research: The findings were interesting. Can implicit bias exist just from a student’s name? Yes, however the degree in which it exists differs. The results showed there were weaker implicit bias toward Hispanic names when compared to Caucasian names and stronger implicit bias toward African American names when compared to Caucasian names.

Article 3 Quantitative Research: The Dangerous Mind: Unconscious Bias In Higher Education (Lin-Sommer, S., & Lucek, S. 2015)

This article goes into detail on a sociological study that was used to investigate how patterns of access to mentors are affected by race and gender. The study was led by Katherine Milkman of the University of Pennsylvania. Milkman’s research team sent emails to a group of 6,500 professors from diverse backgrounds. Each email they sent had identical content the only difference was the name signed at the bottom of the email. The names used were stereotypical Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Indian, and Chinese names.

Purpose of the research: The purpose of the research is to answer the question of how race and gender affect college students when forming relationships with professors.

Problem Statement: Implicit bias acts as barriers for students looking for mentors in colleges.

Gaps in literature that studied the problem: While the research is great for online colleges. There are not many studies on implicit biases within “brick and mortar” universities. Implicit bias can occur from not only seeing names but also from seeing the person or hearing their accent. Implicit biases within colleges need to be addressed from all aspects.

Research question and/or hypothesis: This article asked and addressed if student names can cause implicit biases in college professors.

Theory or conceptual framework: This study used a transformative mixed method framework. It relied on ethical stances of inclusion and the researchers hoped the findings would be used to enhance training to mitigate implicit bias.

Findings of the research: The findings in the research were a bit surprising. Milkman’s research showed that a lot of the racial biases ended up being on the East Asian and Indian students. According to the article these students are more represented in higher education than other minority groups. The results also showed that in certain academic areas were less likely to respond to emails that had names signifying a minority group.

Article 4 Quantitative Research: Physics Grading Biased Against Women (Convoer, E. 2016)

This article provides a study that was performed in German-speaking countries. Researchers asked 780 physics teachers to grade an exam question from a fake student. Each teacher was presented with the same question and answer, which showed that the student understood physics concepts, but was not fully correct. The student’s gender was randomly listed as either male or female. The results showed that newer teachers were giving better grades to the male student even though both responses were the same.

Purpose of the research: The purpose of this study is to determine why women were getting lower grades in physics than their male counterparts.

Problem Statement: Women are getting lower grades than males in physic course and bias plays a part.

Gaps in literature that studied the problem: The research in higher education is currently lacking when it comes to how implicit biases are affecting teachers are grading.

Research question and/or hypothesis: This article asks what factors are holding women back from the field of physics.

Theory or conceptual framework: This study used a transformative mixed method framework. It relied on ethical stances of inclusion and the researchers hoped the findings would be used to enhance training to mitigate implicit bias.

Findings of the research: The study determined that even when women had identical answers to questions on tests, they were given lower grades than their male counterparts. However, the study also showed that the more experience the teacher became the less likely they were to grade the female student lower.

References

Conaway, W., & Bethune, S. (2015). Implicit bias and first name stereotypes: what are the

implications for online instructions?. Online Learning, 19. Retrieved from https:// eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1067526

Conover, E., (2016) Physics grading biased against women. APS Physics, 25. Retrieved from

https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201604/grading.cfm

Davies, S. L., (2016). Driving campus diversity one decision at a time. Liberal Education, 102.

Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/2016/fall/davies

Lin-Sommer, S., & Lucek, S. (2015) The dangerous mind: unconscious bias in higher education.

Brown Political Review. Retrieved from http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2015/04/ the-dangerous-mind-unconscious-bias-in-higher-education