Commonwealth Campus Collaboration Leads to First Publication for Altoona Student
ALTOONA, Pennsylvania – Jazzmine McCauley, a Penn State Altoona student majoring in criminal justice, recently published an article in the International Journal for Students as Partners, an interdisciplinary journal devoted to academic research on students, faculty and staff working in partnership to improve learning and teaching in higher education.
The article — titled “Students as Assessment Partners: A Collaborative and Qualitative Assessment of the Undergraduate Research Experience Based on the Guns on Campus Course– explores the results of a multi-campus, hybrid course-based undergraduate research experience that Penn State students participated in during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. of McCauley’s first scientific publication.
The article is based on an evaluation of a Penn State Student Engagement Network (SEN)-funded undergraduate research experiment implemented by Katherine McLean, associate professor of criminal justice at Penn State Greater Allegheny; David Bish, assistant professor of criminal justice at Penn State DuBois; and Nathan E. Kruis, assistant professor of criminal justice at Penn State Altoona. The trio used funds from SEN to provide undergraduate applied research experience for students enrolled in introductory criminal justice courses taught at their respective campuses in fall 2020.
The students completed a series of five applied research projects as part of their required coursework for the semester and created a poster representative of their work. They developed original research questions, created and administered a survey, analyzed data and presented their findings. At the end of the semester, the students traveled to a national criminal justice conference where they also presented.
“This project has given us an incredible way to engage students during the height of the pandemic,” McLean remarked. “From a faculty perspective, we have been incredibly fortunate to recruit highly motivated student research partners early in their careers.
McCauley was a freshman student-participant enrolled in Kruis’ Introductory Criminal Justice Course in the fall of 2020.
“I had no prior research experience before coming to Penn State Altoona, but I immediately fell in love with the project,” McCauley says. After the semester, she began to work more closely with Mclean, Bish, and students enrolled in their colleges. She also collaborated with them on more detailed analysis and preparation of the manuscript over the following semesters. “The whole experience was great. It really changed my life. Now I’m a student partner in the Integrated Social Science Research Lab at Penn State Altoona. Everything I do is devoted to the study of criminal justice, and I love it.
“I can still see Jazzmine sitting in the front row of my class this fall semester,” Kruis said. “She was so full of enthusiasm and still is. Every day she arrives with a smile on her face, excited to work and learn. I’m glad to see her hard work has paid off with this post.
Support for this project was provided by the SEN 2020-21 Faculty Academy, which provided fellows with project funds and mentorship. The SEN also administers a student scholarship program with three annual scholarship cycles. Penn State students on any campus in any year of study are encouraged to apply for funding to support a research project, internship, or other engagement experiences. Prospective candidates should visit the Student Engagement Network website to learn more.
