Is Support in the Anxiety of the Beholder? How Anxiety Interacts with Perceptions of Instructor Support in Introductory Biology Classes.

High levels of student anxiety are negatively related to degree persistence, academic achievement, and student perceptions of instructor support. Anxiety levels vary along many axes-among classes, within students in the same class, and over time-creating a dynamic emotional landscape in classrooms. In this study, we examined the relationship between student anxiety levels and perceptions of instructor support within three introductory biology classes at two timepoints during a semester. Data on student anxiety levels and perceptions of instructor support were supplemented by open-ended student explanations of instructor support characteristics. We found a significant negative correlation between student anxiety level and instructor support ratings at wk 4 for all three classes. By wk 14, this correlation persisted in classes 1 and 3 but not class 2, where support ratings no longer significantly varied with anxiety levels. Analyses of open responses revealed that lower-anxiety students in classes 1 and 3 were more positive about how the instructors answered questions and higher-anxiety students in class 2 were more positive about their instructor's pedagogical practices. We suggest that these instructor practices should be investigated as potential factors to equalize perceptions of instructor support by students with different anxiety levels in introductory biology.

Emotion, Fact, and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Undergraduate Attitudes Toward Wildfire and Urbanization after a Brief Intervention.

Understanding attitudes towards anthropogenic disturbances, especially among undergraduates, is important to inform educational practices because of the theoretical link between attitude and behavior. We evaluated the attitudes of undergraduate students in a biology majors course and nonmajors course toward two anthropogenic disturbances: wildfire and urbanization. Student attitudes were assessed via an online Wildfire and Urbanization Attitude survey (WUAS) before and after a video intervention, randomly delivered as either fact- or emotion-based versions. Student beliefs regarding wildfire and urbanization were positively correlated with their general intention to act toward environmental issues on both pre- and postintervention surveys, as suggested by theory. Student belief that urbanization was bad for the environment increased from pre- to postintervention. However, beliefs and intention to act did not statistically differ between majors/nonmajors or intervention video type. This study hints that brief interventions can impact student disturbance beliefs, but more research is needed to guide curriculum development. Despite some research suggesting the value of emotion to inspire climate action, our results suggest that more work needs to be done regarding the value of emotion to increase environmental action toward other anthropogenic disturbances.

"I don't Know what I Would do Without it" How Life Science Graduate Students Describe Resource Value.

Graduate students often face choices about which resources to use to help them succeed in their programs. These choices likely differ among students, in part, due to different perceptions of resource value. However, little is known about why particular resources might be considered highly valuable to students, thus driving choice. Utilizing expectancy-value theory for help sources as our theoretical framework, this qualitative study explored life science (LS) graduate students' top three resource choices, their explanations about why they made those choices, and whether students' perceptions of value differed among resources and across demographic groups. We addressed two research questions: 1) What resources do LS graduate students consider to be the most important? 2) What drives LS graduate students' perceptions of resource value? Many participants indicated that 'advisor' and 'academic stipend' were most important. Student perceptions of value were driven by their perceptions of which needs resources fulfilled, such as basic needs, academic help, or support. Participants' top resource choices and underlying values of those resources did not differ among demographic groups. We propose a model for understanding graduate student resource choice that may inform future work on student outcomes.

Demographics Matter: Non-white and White Life Science Graduate Students Perceive and Use Resources Differently.

Many studies and interventions have been conducted to combat differential academic outcomes between majority and minoritized student populations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education; however, few studies have examined resource use as a factor impacting these differences. Resource use is critical to success in myriad fields, and we posit that understanding resource use in graduate education, including the use and perception of resources, may be important in understanding differential outcomes and success among STEM graduate students. We employed a national survey of life science graduate students (N = 534) to describe student resource use outcomes and how these outcomes may be related to student demographic characteristics. The survey collected data on the following resource use outcomes: what resources students use, how often they use them, and how useful they perceive them to be. Academic stipend was the most frequently used resource and was perceived to be the most useful resource. Analysis of variance modeling and Tukey post hoc tests indicated that year in program, racial identity, gender identity, and college generation status all impacted student frequency of use or perception of usefulness for some resources, with the greatest differentials between white and non-white students. We conclude with recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.

Exploring Student Perspectives: How Graduate Students in a Life Science Department Define Success.

Research in science education often has the goal of enhancing student success, yet there is a dearth of literature related to how students define success for themselves. In this study, we explored how 10 life science graduate students defined the term "success," as well as their experiences related to success. Using interpretive phenomenological analysis, we discovered that students had definitions of success that included multiple components and that students' definitions varied widely and were influenced by a number of factors. Students described challenges to their success-including lack of departmental support-as well as supports to their success-like caring relationships with others. Students felt guilty about having definitions that were not wholly academic, and their perceived misalignments between these definitions and those of their advisors or department generated negative feelings and a low sense of belonging. Finally, students described how their definitions of success had changed since entering graduate school. Our results suggest that student definitions of success are complex and that, as researchers and programs seek to enhance student success, they should attend to the diverse perspectives that students have about this concept; this may be an integral strategy to address students' well-being within academia.

Student Perceptions of Instructor Supportiveness: What Characteristics Make a Difference?

The use of active learning in the undergraduate biology classroom improves student learning and classroom equity, but its use can lead to student anxiety. Instructors can reduce student anxiety through practices that convey supportiveness and valuing of students. We collected students' ratings of their classroom anxiety and perceptions of their instructors' supportiveness, as well as open-response reasons for their ratings, in six large introductory biology classes. These data confirmed a negative relationship between student anxiety and student perceptions of their instructors' support. We used qualitative analysis to identify themes of instructor support and how these themes varied between instructors rated as providing higher or lower support by their students. Two instructors with higher-support ratings and two with lower-support ratings were selected for analyses. Inductive qualitative coding identified five themes of instructor support: relational (perception of caring/approachability), instrumental (offering resources), pedagogical (quality of teaching), personality, and uncertain (not sure of support). Higher-support instructors had more positive relational themes and fewer negative pedagogical themes compared with lower-support instructors. These results can be used to enhance supportive classroom practices, which may be one mechanism to reduce student anxiety.

Success for All? A Call to Re-examine How Student Success Is Defined in Higher Education.

A central focus in science education is to foster the success of students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). However, representation and achievement gaps relative to the majority still exist for minoritized students at all levels of science education and beyond. We suggest that majority groups defining the definitions and measures of success may exert "soft power" over minoritized student success. Using a hegemonic and critical race theory lens, we examined five years of research articles in CBE-Life Sciences Education to explore how success was defined and measured and what frameworks guided the definitions of student success. The majority of articles did not explicitly define success, inherently suggesting "everyone knows" its definition. The articles that did define success often used quantitative, academic outcomes like grade point average and exam scores, despite commonly cited frameworks with other metrics. When students defined success, they focused on different aspects, such as gaining leadership skills and building career networks, suggesting a need to integrate student voice into current success definitions. Using these results, we provide suggestions for research, policy, and practice regarding student success. We urge self-reflection and institutional change in our definitions of success, via consideration of a diversity of student voices.