Papers by Christa Winkler
Research in higher education, Jun 4, 2024
To challenge "objective" conventions in quantitative methodology, higher education scholars have ... more To challenge "objective" conventions in quantitative methodology, higher education scholars have increasingly employed critical lenses (e.g., quantitative criticalism, QuantCrit). Yet, specific approaches remain opaque. We use a multimethod design to examine researchers' use of critical approaches and explore how authors discussed embedding strategies to disrupt dominant quantitative thinking. We draw data from a systematic scoping review of critical quantitative higher education research between 2007 and 2021 (N = 34) and semistructured interviews with 18 manuscript authors. Findings illuminate (in)consistencies across scholars' incorporation of critical approaches, including within study motivations, theoretical framing, and methodological choices. Additionally, interview data reveal complex layers to authors' decision-making processes, indicating that decisions about embracing critical quantitative approaches must be asset-based and intentional. Lastly, we discuss findings in the context of their guiding frameworks (e.g., quantitative criticalism, Quant-Crit) and offer implications for employing and conducting research about critical quantitative research.
The Journal of Higher Education
New Directions for Student Services, Jun 1, 2022
Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention
As many as 75% of college students change their major at least once during their undergraduate ca... more As many as 75% of college students change their major at least once during their undergraduate career (Gordon & Steele, 2015). This study examined the impact of academic major changes on bachelor’s degree attainment within six years. Using data from the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (n = 13,800), we found a significant increase in odds of degree attainment for students who changed their major one or more times. Accompanying our analyses and results, we offer implications for early advising and transition programming including the role of meta-majors, and consideration for student backgrounds as they seek advising and choose majors.
The Journal of Higher Education
Frontiers in Education
Background: Evangelical Christian college students simultaneously experience the privileges that ... more Background: Evangelical Christian college students simultaneously experience the privileges that accompany dominant religious identities and feel a need to conceal their identity and perspectives on college campuses. Consistently and empirically, the college campus has been studied for its potential to help students develop appreciative attitudes toward religious, secular, and spiritual worldviews. Yet, few studies have investigated evangelical Christian appreciation longitudinally over 4 years of college, and even fewer through the additional use of a mixed-methods design.Purpose: This inquiry examined if and how college students developed an appreciation of evangelical Christianity over 4 years of college.Methods: This paper used data gathered through the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS), a nationally-representative, mixed-methods study that included survey data collection from 9,470 students at 122 colleges and universities over 3 time p...
Frontiers in Education
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of collegiate environments and experiences ... more The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of collegiate environments and experiences on students’ development of innovation capacities over four years of college. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework and reliable innovation measures, students from nine postsecondary institutions in North America were surveyed at three time points: first-year fall, first-year spring, and fourth-year spring. Data were comprehensively analyzed using a growth mixture modeling approach. Results suggest that being a transfer student and having sustained engagement with experiences that connect in-class and out-of-class learning were associated with a robust innovation growth trajectory over-and-above known covariates, including personality traits. Implications for research, theory, and practice are considered.
Innovative Higher Education
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 2021
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2020
This study investigated the validity of a survey measuring scientists' attitudes toward data ... more This study investigated the validity of a survey measuring scientists' attitudes toward data reuse. Rasch analysis was used to examine the psychometric properties of the survey. Structural equation modeling was subsequently used to examine the validity of hypothesized relationships among the constructs measured by the survey. Overall, findings supported validity of the existing measure for use among researchers across academic disciplines. Recommendations for further refinement of the survey include the addition of new items to improve reliability of measurement. Additionally, implications for organizational practice are discussed, including the importance of fostering individual researchers' perceived usefulness of secondary data, as well as providing access to data repositories and organizational resources for data reuse.
The Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 2021
In social science research, we often use a measurement with items answered in two ways: yes or no... more In social science research, we often use a measurement with items answered in two ways: yes or no, pass or fail. The goal of this paper is to provide explicit guidance for substantive researchers interested in using the binary confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) through Mplus to validate the psychometric properties of a measurement with dichotomous items. Although the implementation of binary CFA using Mplus is simple and straightforward, interpreting the results is not as simple as implementation, especially for those who have limited experiences or knowledge in the Item Response Theory (IRT). We use an illustrative example from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to demonstrate the implementation of binary CFA of the Behavior Problem Index (BPI) using Mplus and the interpretation of the analysis results.
The Review of Higher Education, 2015
Though there is still progress to be made regarding student access to higher education, considera... more Though there is still progress to be made regarding student access to higher education, considerable improvements allow a greater number of students from underrepresented backgrounds to consider college a legitimate option for their futures (Astin & Leticia, 2004; Baker & Vélez, 1996). Admitting historically underrepresented students into institutions of higher education is not enough, however. Higher education scholars and practitioners have an obligation to improve not just access for those students but also success, for increased access does not necessarily equate to equal educational outcomes for students (Bensimon, 2005; Bensimon, Polkinghorne, Bauman, & Vallejo, 2004; Harris & Bensimon, 2007). In fact, Harris and Bensimon (2007) state that "disparities in student outcomes are a reality at most of the nation's colleges and universities" (p. 77). Despite these disparities, equity is rarely included in measures of institutional accountability or program effectiveness (Harris & Bensimon, 2007). Harris and Bensimon (2007) argue that if such practice continues, inequalities in educational outcomes will remain structurally hidden and persist as a common feature of many higher education
Journal of Teacher Education
We respond to calls for more research to address whether and how successful professional developm... more We respond to calls for more research to address whether and how successful professional development (PD) experiences (defined here in terms of student progress) are related to changes in teacher beliefs, specifically about effective literacy instruction for young struggling readers. We developed a measure, a Teacher Belief Score, to identify teacher beliefs present in interview data and we used student achievement data to create two contrasting groups of teachers, those whose students had lower progress and those who had higher. While initially in the fall, lower progress and higher progress teachers differed little in their alignment of beliefs with program features; over time, higher progress teachers trended toward beliefs that were aligned with program features, whereas lower progress teachers trended away. Findings suggest the need for an additional component to Guskey’s model of teacher change: attributing student progress to the new instructional practices learned in PD.
Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal
Reading Psychology, 2021
Running Records provide a standardized method for recording and assessing students’ oral reading ... more Running Records provide a standardized method for recording and assessing students’ oral reading behaviors and are excellent formative assessment tools to guide instructional decision-making. This study expands on prior Running Record reliability work by evaluating the extent to which external raters and teachers consistently assessed students’ accuracy and self-correction ratios in the context of a naturalistic lesson setting. This study was conducted using recorded lessons from 19 students, taught by 11 teachers in ten schools, who in separate lessons read two books at the same text level. Generalizability theory framework was applied to identify sources of variability in accuracy and self-correction scores and subsequently evaluate necessary conditions for reliable measurement using Running Records. Results indicated that raters were highly reliable. However, due to the impact of reading occasion, approximately eight to ten reads are needed for reliable assessment of students’ ac...
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
Running Records are thought to be an excellent formative assessment tool because they generate re... more Running Records are thought to be an excellent formative assessment tool because they generate results that educators can use to make their teaching more responsive. Despite the technical nature of scoring Running Records and the kinds of important decisions that are attached to their analysis, few studies have investigated assessor accuracy. We measured precision across 114 teachers who were given a pre-coded Running Record to analyze by comparing their quantification and interpretation of the record against a scoring key. We also used Rasch measurement to examine which items teachers found easy and hard to score accurately. Analyses revealed wide variation in teachers’ accuracy, particularly in interpretation, that, according to item difficulty analysis, were caused by a few specific mistakes in scoring. Implications to improve training so that individuals administer Running Records more reliably are shared.
In social science research, we often use a measurement with items answered in two ways: yes or no... more In social science research, we often use a measurement with items answered in two ways: yes or no, pass or fail. The goal of this paper is to provide explicit guidance for substantive researchers interested in using the binary confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) through Mplus to validate the psychometric properties of a measurement with dichotomous items. Although the implementation of binary CFA using Mplus is simple and straightforward, interpreting the results is not as simple as implementation, especially for those who have limited experiences or knowledge in the Item Response Theory (IRT). We use an illustrative example from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to demonstrate the implementation of binary CFA of the Behavior Problem Index (BPI) using Mplus and the interpretation of the analysis results.
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2021
This study investigated the validity of a survey measuring scientists' attitudes toward data ... more This study investigated the validity of a survey measuring scientists' attitudes toward data reuse. Rasch analysis was used to examine the psychometric properties of the survey. Structural equation modeling was subsequently used to examine the validity of hypothesized relationships among the constructs measured by the survey. Overall, findings supported validity of the existing measure for use among researchers across academic disciplines. Recommendations for further refinement of the survey include the addition of new items to improve reliability of measurement. Additionally, implications for organizational practice are discussed, including the importance of fostering individual researchers' perceived usefulness of secondary data, as well as providing access to data repositories and organizational resources for data reuse.
Research in Higher Education
The study of diversity climates is as complicated as the study of diversity itself. Despite the c... more The study of diversity climates is as complicated as the study of diversity itself. Despite the call for more sophisticated and multi-dimensional approaches to the study of diversity climates, few empirical efforts have been designed to do so, as the literature remains replete with work bifurcating and labeling diversity climates as positive or negative, productive or unproductive. Results from this study provide empirical support that worldview climate is indeed multi-dimensional, comprised of three distinctive, yet overlapping dimensions: productive, unproductive, and provocative. Implications for both scholars and practitioners, as well as directions for future research are discussed.
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Papers by Christa Winkler