Publications


KC Culver has expertise in how policies, programs, and practices shape equitable experiences and outcomes in these areas: faculty careers and work, pedagogies and curriculum, student engagement and success, and quantitative measurement.

Equity in Faculty Careers and Work

Articles

Culver, K. C. (2023). All in all: Tearing down walls in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Innovative Higher Education, 48(6), 971-976.

Culver, K. C., Kezar, A., & Koren, E. R. (2023). Improving access and inclusion for VITAL faculty in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning through sustained professional development programs. Innovative Higher Education, 48(6), 1071-1094.

Culver, K. C., Harper, J., & Kezar, A. (2022). Engaging design thinking in professional bureaucracies: Improving equity for non-tenure track faculty in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies, 3(1), 68 -89.

Culver, K. C., Young, R. L., & Barnhardt, C. L. (2020). Communicating support: Examining perceived organizational support among faculty with differing appointment types. Innovative Higher Education, 45(4), 299-315.

Other Published Works

Kezar, A., & Culver, K. C. (2024). Exploring New Horizons for Designing Sustained Professional Development for VITAL Faculty. Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Culver, K. C., Kezar, A., Koren, E. R., & Curtis, J. W. (2024). Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments (FACE) conceptual framework report. Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Kezar, A., & Culver, K. C. (2024). Voices of expertise and experience brief: What is the employee value proposition for contingent/VITAL faculty? TIAA Research Institute.

Curtis, J. W., Koren, E. R., Kezar, A., Culver, K. C., Arbeit, C., & McDermott Tate, N. (2024). Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments (FACE) pilot study and field test report. USC Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Kezar, A., & Culver, K. C. (2024). The role of academic affairs in supporting VITAL faculty on campus. USC Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Koren, E. R., Curtis, J. W., Kezar, A., & Culver, K. C. (2024). Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments (FACE) institutional data providers focus groups report. USC Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Culver, K. C., & Kezar, A. (2022). The impacts of 2020 on advancement of non-tenure track and adjunct faculty. In Dahlberg, M., ed., Promotion, Tenure, and Advancement through the Lens of 2020: The Next Normal. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Culver, K. C., Kezar, A., & Yeh, J. (2022). Toolkit for designing accessible and inclusive professional development for NTTF. The Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success.

Culver, K. C., & Kezar, A. (2021). Designing accessible and inclusive professional development for NTTF. The Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success.

Culver, K. C., Harper, J., & Kezar, A. (2021). Design for equity in higher education. The Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success.

Culver, K. C., Harper, J., & Kezar, A. (2021). Using “design for equity in higher education” for liberatory change: a guide for practice. The Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success.

Equity in Pedagogies and Curriculum

Articles

Culver, K. C., Bray, N. J., & Braxton, J. M. (2024). On my honor: A quasi-experimental analysis of honors students’ perceptions of workload and cognitive challenge. Research in Higher Education, 2024(65), 679–704.

Culver, K. C., & Katsumoto, S. (2024). Think for yourself: Centering racially minoritized students in the relationship between good teaching practices and lifelong learning in the first college year. Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 36(2), 75-96.

Culver, K. C., Youngerman, E. W., Jang, N., Bowman, N. A., & Just, C. L. (2022). Promoting equitable achievement in STEM: Lab report writing and online peer review. Journal of Experimental Education, 90(1), 23-45.

Bowman, N. A., Jarratt, L., Culver, K. C., & Segre, A. (2021). The impact of pair programming on college students’ interest, perceptions, and achievement in computer science. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 21(3), 1-19.

Culver, K. C., Braxton, J. M., & Pascarella, E. T. (2021). What we talk about when we talk about rigor: Examining conceptions of academic rigor. The Journal of Higher Education, 92(7), 1140-1163.

Bowman, N. A., Jarratt, L., Culver, K. C., & Segre, A. (2020). Pair programming in perspective: Effects on persistence, achievement, and equity in computer science. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 13(4), 731-758.

Culver, K. C., Braxton, J. M., & Pascarella, E. T. (2019). Does teaching rigorously enhance undergraduates’ intellectual development? The relationship of academic rigor with critical thinking skills and self-motivated learning. Higher Education, 78(4), 611-627.

Loes, C. N., Culver, K. C., & Trolian, T. L. (2018). How collaborative learning enhances students’ openness to diversity. The Journal of Higher Education, 89(6). 935-960.

Kilgo, C. A., Culver, K. C., Young, R. L., & Paulsen, M. B. (2017). The relationship between students’ perceptions of “good practices for undergraduate education” and the paradigmatic development of disciplines in course-taking behavior. Research in Higher Education, 58(4). 430-448.

Other Published Works

Youngerman, E. W., & Culver, K. C. (2024). Preparing culturally competent professionals: Fostering graduate student agency and autonomy through project-based learning. In E. T. Parker III & T. L. Trolian (Eds.), Promoting Meaningful Student-Faculty Experiences in Graduate Education (pp. 62-84). Routledge.

Bowman, N. A., Jarratt, L., Culver, K. C., & Segre, A. M. (2020). (Mis)match of students’ country of origin and the impact of collaborative learning in computer science. In Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference, June 22-26, 2020.

Culver, K. C., & Trolian, T. L., Eds. (2020). Effective instruction in college classrooms: Research‐Based approaches to college and university teaching. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 168. Jossey-Bass.

Trolian, T. L., & Culver, K. C. (2020). Advancing evidence‐based instruction for the public good. In Culver, K. C., & Trolian, T. L. (Eds.), Research-based practices for effective instruction (New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 168, pp. 115-126). Jossey-Bass.

Youngerman, E. W., & Culver, K. C. (2019). Problem-based learning (PBL): Real-world applications to foster (inter)disciplinary learning and integration. In T. L. Trolian & E. A. Jach (Eds.), Applied learning in higher education: curricular and co-curricular experiences that improve student learning (New Directions for Higher Education, no. 188, pp. 23-32). Jossey-Bass.

Bowman, N. A., Jarratt, L., Culver, K. C., & Segre, A. M. (2019). How prior programming experience affects students’ pair programming experiences and outcomes. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, July 12-17, 2019.

Jarratt, L., Bowman, N. A., Culver, K. C., & Segre, A. M. (2019). A large-scale experimental study of gender and pair composition in pair programming. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, July 12-17, 2019.

Equity in Student Engagement and Success

Articles

Culver, K. C., Perez, R., Kitchen, J., & Cole, D. (2024). Fostering equitable engagement: a mixed-methods exploration of the engagement of racially diverse students in a comprehensive college transition program. Journal of College Student Development, 17(2), 200–214.

Culver, K. C., Swanson, E. S., Hallett, R. E., & Kezar, A. (2021). Identity-conscious strategies to engage low income students in a learning community: Shared courses in a comprehensive college transition program. Teachers College Record, 123(8), 142-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681211048655

Swanson, E. S., Culver, K. C., Cole, D., & Rivera, G. (2021). Promoting at-promise student success in four-year universities: Recommendations from the Thompson Scholars Learning Communities. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(4), 457–462. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000345

Denson N., Bowman, N. A., Culver, K. C., & Holmes J. M. (2021). Do diversity courses make a difference in student outcomes? A meta-analysis of 25 years of research. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(4), 544–556.

Culver, K. C., & Bowman, N. A. (2019). Is what glitters really gold? A quasi-experimental study of first-year seminars and college student success. Research in Higher Education, 61(2), 167-196.

Bowman, N. A., & Culver, K. C. (2017). When do honors programs make the grade? Conditional effects on college satisfaction, achievement, retention, and graduation. Research in Higher Education, 59(3). 249–272.

Other Published Works

Corwin, Z., Kitchen, J., Harvey, J., & Love, H., Culver, K. C., & Rivera, G. (2024). Promoting at-promise college student success through peer mentoring [Practice Guide]. USC Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Culver, K. C., & Bowman, N. A. (2023). Are you experienced? How college environments, programs, and interactions shape student retention and graduation. In R. D. Reason & J. M. Braxton (Eds.), Improving College Student Retention: New Developments in Theory, Research, and Practice (pp. 153-181). Stylus.

Kezar, A., & Culver, K. C. (2023). Leadership provocation: Silence is complicity [Editorial]. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 55(3), 2-3.

Culver, K. C., Rivera, G.J., Acuna, A. A., Cole, D., Hallett, R., Kitchen, J. A., Perez, R. J., & Swanson, E. (2021). Engaging at-promise students for success through innovative practices: Proactive advising and shared academic courses. [Brief]. Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Swanson, E., Bettencourt, G.M., Cole, D., Culver, K.C., Kitchen, J., & Rivera, G. J. (2021). Designing comprehensive college transition programs to support students’ long-term success. [Brief]. USC Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Culver, K. C. (2020). Cognitive dissonance. In M. E. David & M. J. Amey (Eds.) The Sage Encyclopedia of Higher Education (pp. 259-260). Sage Publications.

Cole, D., Culver, K. C., Kitchen, J. A., Rivera, G., & Swanson, E. S. [alphabetical] (2020). How and why a comprehensive college transition program works: Promoting at-promise students’ success in the Thompson Scholars Learning Communities. Pullias Center for Higher Education. .

Bowman, N. A., & Culver, K. C. (2018). Promoting equity and student learning: Rigor in undergraduate academic experiences . In C. M. Campbell (Ed.), Reframing notions of rigor: Building scaffolding for equity and student success. (New Directions for Higher Education, no. 181, pp. 47-57). Jossey-Bass.

Equity in Quantitative Measurement

Articles

Jang, N., Culver, K. C., & Bowman, N. A. (2023). Measuring students’ spirituality: A scale of authenticity. Journal of College and Character, 24(2), 79-99.

Culver, K. C., Selznick, B. S., & Trolian, T. L. (2022). Rethinking critical thinking for social justice: Introducing a new measure of critical being that emphasizes thought, reflection, and action. SN Social Sciences. 2, 218 (2022)

Culver, K. C., Bowman, N. A., & Pascarella, E. T. (2021). How students’ cognitive abilities and intellectual orientations predict their perceptions of good teaching practices. Research in Higher Education, 62(6), 765-788.