Biology subjects

Zajic, C. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Zajic, C. J..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Influence of non-content instructor talk on students' motivation-related outcomes in laboratory courses

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) can expand undergraduates access to research and motivate students to stay in science. Yet, little research has examined how CURE instruction shapes student motivation. We leveraged a motivation-related characterization of non-content talk of 48 CURE and non-CURE instructors to predict the motivation-related outcomes of 462 students. We fit a series of multi-level models (MLM) in which we regressed students post-course scientific self-efficacy, task values, scientific identity, and science-related intentions onto instructors self-efficacy and task values-related talk, controlling for students pre-course levels. We also fit an MLM to explore whether instructors relationship-building talk (immediacy talk) was associated with students rapport with their instructor. Instructors self-efficacy talk did not affect students self-efficacy, and instructors immediacy talk had a marginally positive but non-significant association with students rapport ratings. Instructors task values talk positively influenced students scientific identity and some but not all of their task values. Instructors task values talk also positively influenced students intentions to pursue a science career, but not graduate education or research careers. Collectively, these results suggest that instructors task values talk may underpin some of the motivational effects of CURE instruction, but that task values talk need not be limited to CUREs. HIGHLIGHTWe examine whether instructor talk predicts students motivational outcomes in CURE and non-CURE lab courses. Self-efficacy talk had no effect on student self-efficacy. Task values talk positively affected students science identity and career intentions, and some value beliefs. Immediacy talk was marginally related to student-instructor rapport.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2025

The currency of research access: How undergraduates leverage social capital to gain research experience

BackgroundScience students who engage in undergraduate research experiences (UREs) benefit in numerous ways, including persisting in science at a higher rate compared to students who do not participate in UREs. However, UREs are a limited commodity and competition for access to these opportunities necessitates further investigation into why certain students succeed in accessing UREs, while others do not. Social capital, or the resources that students extract from their relationships with others, may play a key role in determining who engages in UREs. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with students who had recently started UREs (n=21). Informed by Lins conceptual definition of social capital, we qualitatively analyzed these interviews to characterize the social capital that science undergraduates found useful for accessing research. ResultsStudents described leveraging ten unique forms of social capital when accessing UREs that aligned with Lins conceptualization. Specifically, students described utilizing social capital to garner information about available UREs and how to best navigate the path to accessing them, to reinforce their confidence in pursuing UREs, to influence the views of opportunity holders, and to serve as social credentials lending credibility to their aptitude for research. Although students detailed how faculty served as sources of all of these forms of capital, they also described advisors, employers, peers, and family as influential sources. Furthermore, their institutions served as a source of capital, and students themselves engaged in a variety of proactive behaviors to access UREs. ConclusionsHere we describe the forms and sources of social capital that science undergraduates use to access research, which can be used as an operational definition of the construct. Such a definition is necessary for future research aimed at measuring social capital for undergraduate research and identifying its antecedents, correlates, and consequences. We also describe how institutions can serve as sources of capital, and how students proactive behaviors play a role in their pursuit of UREs. This work provides an important starting point for determining the influence of social capital in accessing UREs and further broadening access to research in the sciences.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2025

Are they funny? Associations between instructors humor and student emotions in undergraduate lab courses

Instructor use of humor can positively affect students educational experiences by increasing students comfort in the classroom and making the instructor seem more approachable. Humor can also elicit emotional responses, which in turn may influence students engagement in the course and their relationship with the instructor. However, students may interpret instructor humor differently, resulting in varied effects. The present study examined how instructors use of humor relates to students emotions about their lab course. In addition, we examined whether researcher-identified humor aligned with student reports to support valid inferences about instructor humor. To accomplish this, trained researchers analyzed classroom audio recordings of instructor talk in 48 lab courses to identify instances of instructor humor. We also surveyed their undergraduate students (n = 462) about their instructors humor and pleasant and unpleasant emotions about their lab course. Our results revealed that trained researchers coding of instructor humor was poorly predictive of students emotions about their laboratory courses. In contrast, students who perceived their instructor to be humorous reported greater pleasant emotions and fewer unpleasant emotions. Our results suggest that instructor humor from students perspective may be influential in how they experience instruction. In addition, student perceptions of instructor humor may be a more useful indicator than researcher observations for studying instructor humor.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2025

Could instructor talk drive CURE effectiveness? A comparative study of instructor talk in introductory lab courses

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are thought to enhance students motivation to continue in college, in science, and in research. Yet, how CUREs enhance student motivation is largely undefined. Theories of instructor immediacy, self-efficacy, and task values suggest that CURE instructors may talk in ways that influence students motivational beliefs. We characterized the non-content related talk of instructors teaching 48 introductory biology lab courses, half CUREs and half non-CUREs. We identified 14 types of instructor talk that fit these theoretical perspectives: fostering students closeness with their instructor (i.e., immediacy talk), building students confidence in their scientific abilities (i.e., self-efficacy talk), and promoting students sense of worth in their work (i.e., task value talk). Course type had a medium effect on talk type, with CURE instructors utilizing more immediacy, self-efficacy, and task values talk than non-CURE instructors but also showing more variation in these types of talk. Our results suggest that motivation-related instructor talk is more prevalent in CUREs than non-CUREs, but wide variation in CURE instructor talk indicates additional investigation is needed before non-content talk can be considered a mechanism for the motivational influences of CUREs. HIGHLIGHTThis study compares non-content instructor talk in CURE and non-CURE lab courses using immediacy, self-efficacy, and task value theories. CURE instructors use more talk than non-CURE instructors, but variation in CURE instructor talk leaves open the question of whether talk is a causal factor in the motivational influence of CURE instruction.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2023

Beyond performance, competence, and recognition: Forging a science researcher identity in the context of research training

Background Studying science identity development has been useful for understanding students continuation in science-related education and career paths. Yet, how science contexts shape students science identity development, especially as students engage in research at the undergraduate and graduate level, is still largely unexplored. Here we integrate science identity and professional identity theories to investigate how research training shapes science identity. We focus on a specialized form of science identity we call science researcher identity. We characterize how the features of an individuals research experience, and their personal characteristics interact to influence whether and how they see themselves as a science researcher. We accomplished this in two phases of qualitative research. First, we surveyed 548 undergraduate researchers about how their research experience influenced their identity as a scientist. Then we interviewed 30 early career researchers, including undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, and doctoral students, about their views of themselves as researchers and how elements of their research training shaped their views. ResultsEarly career researchers (ECRs) viewed themselves as either science students or science researchers. How ECRs recognized themselves depended on how they viewed the purpose of their daily work and the extent to which they perceived autonomy and intellectual responsibility in their research. Individual-level factors, including research and researcher conceptions, research skill perceptions, and career intentions, influenced whether ECRs identified as science students or science researchers. ECRs also recognized themselves more or less as researchers based on contextual factors like the nature of their work, social interactions, and their perceptions of the norms within their research group and institution. ECRs considered how individual and contextual factors affected their science researcher identity through a lens we call sense-making. We further detail the processes ECRs use to make sense of their science identity and the factors that influence it. ConclusionsWe synthesized our findings to form a conceptual model of science researcher identity development, which hypothesizes relationships among constructs related to science identity and professional identity development. Our results advance theory related to science identity, offer avenues for future investigation, and inform efforts to promote science researcher identity development.

scientific communication and education↗