My research focuses on identifying and promoting effective educational practices that help all students succeed, especially those who are underserved or underrepresented. This academic year, I examined students’ self-reported learning and actual learning before and after a project-based learning course (a common educational practice), Health Promotion. Students also completed a questionnaire evaluating the effectiveness of the project and the results were overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that the project is a valuable learning tool. Educational research often measures self-reported learning instead of actual learning, so it was a strength of this study to measure both and compare their outcomes. When comparing the learning outcomes, there were no meaningful differences between student groups (e.g., race, gender, or first-generation status), suggesting that project-based learning was effective for our population.
Learn more about Dr. Crawford’s lab: https://teachingandlearninglab.ucmerced.edu/
For more stories about UC Merced Public Health Department faculty research, check out Faculty on the Forefront.
