Contribution:
Research, Strategy, Data Visualization
Team:
1x Researcher, 1x Manager, 1xDirector
Duration:
1 year,1 month
Client:
Alliance of Arts in Research University
Introduction
The "Arts in Universities" project aimed to explore how the arts are integrated into academic life across the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn campuses. Our goal was to identify obstacles and opportunities related to arts integration and propose actionable improvements that elevate the role of the arts for students, faculty, and staff.
My Roles
As the lead researcher, I adopted a mixed methods approach to capture both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. This involved a sequential design, beginning with qualitative research (interviews and focus groups) to uncover in-depth insights, followed by quantitative methods (surveys and enrollment data analysis) to validate these findings and quantify broader trends. By using this approach, I ensured a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities surrounding arts integration.
The Process
Define the Problem
The project addressed the issue of insufficient integration of the arts across the three University of Michigan campuses. Specific challenges included low community engagement on commuter campuses (Flint and Dearborn), inadequate resources for faculty arts initiatives, and the perception of arts as secondary to STEM disciplines. The goal was to identify these barriers and offer recommendations for fostering a more inclusive and supportive arts environment.
Qualitative Research: Discovery Phase
Interviews
The project began with an exploratory sequential design to identify key themes through qualitative research. I conducted structured interviews with 10 faculty and staff members across the Flint and Dearborn campuses to explore their experiences with arts integration.
Interview with staff from U-M Flint Campus
User Story Mapping: I mapped interview responses into distinct user journeys, uncovering individual pain points and opportunities for arts engagement.
Affinity Mapping: Grouping responses allowed me to identify recurring themes, which were then further refined using thematic coding for consistency across interviews.
Thematic coding further refined these themes, categorized through color-coded tags to maintain consistency across interviews.
Key Findings from Interviews
Lack of Community and Fear of Failure
Faculty and staff expressed concerns about the absence of strong arts communities on commuter campuses.
Importance of Spaces and Support
Participants emphasized the need for creative spaces that foster collaboration and engagement.
Need for Funding and Resources
Faculty-led arts initiatives were limited by resource constraints and a lack of institutional support.
Focus Groups
To gather student perspectives, I organized focus groups to understand their experiences with the arts on campus. These sessions revealed barriers to participation, including lack of awareness about available arts programs and limited access to creative spaces.
Quantitative Research: Validating Insights
Survey Design and Cognitive Pre-testing
In the next phase, I transitioned to quantitative research, using a survey distributed to over 1,000 staff and faculty. This followed the exploratory sequential design, where the survey was informed by qualitative findings. The goal was to validate the themes discovered in the interviews and focus groups and quantify their prevalence across the student population.
Survey Design: The survey included questions about arts participation, awareness of resources, and perceptions of arts-related opportunities on campus.
Cognitive Pre-testing: To ensure clarity, the survey underwent cognitive pre-testing, ensuring that questions were unbiased and easy to understand.
Survey Insights
Low Participation Rates
Only 30% of students at Flint and Dearborn participated in arts events, compared to 60% at Ann Arbor.
Unsupported Faculty
40% of faculty reported that they wanted to integrate arts into their curriculum but felt unsupported.
Gap in Resources
Across all campuses, 50% of respondents said they were unaware of the arts resources available to them.
Data Driven Findings and Triangulation
By combining qualitative insights with quantitative data, I was able to triangulate the findings. For example, the low participation rates corroborated the qualitative themes of a lack of community and awareness, creating a solid basis for the final recommendations.
Quantitative Analysis of Enrollment Trends
Using tools like Python and Excel, I conducted a detailed analysis of arts enrollment trends over the past seven years. This phase incorporated an embedded design where qualitative observations (faculty engagement and student choices) were analyzed alongside quantitative data (enrollment numbers).
Findings
Engineering Dominance
Arts enrollments fluctuated inversely with engineering enrollments, suggesting arts courses were often viewed as secondary.
Faculty Driven Engagement
Community-based projects led by faculty resulted in spikes in arts enrollments, demonstrating the impact of faculty involvement.
Shifts in Enrollment over Time
Overall enrollment in the Arts seemed to dip during 2020 (Covid) and some courses were able to bounce back from it whereas others continued to show a steady decline.
Comparative Analysis: Peer Institutions
I employed a multiphase design to analyze trends at five peer universities. This design extended the research over multiple phases, combining both qualitative and quantitative insights to compare arts education trends. Findings from peer institutions provided valuable context for the challenges and successes at the University of Michigan.
Further Exploration
I explored larger national trends impacting arts education, such as reduced access for marginalized groups, career prospects, and financial stability for arts graduates. This contextual understanding helped shape our recommendations.
Report on Enrollment Trends
Visualizing the Data: Communicating Insights
After gathering extensive data, my next task was to ensure it was presented in a clear and engaging way. The goal was to represent complex insights through effective visualizations, simplifying the data for stakeholders to understand at a glance.
Design Process
Using Tableau, I created visual dashboards that distilled complex data into clear, actionable insights. My focus was on highlighting trends in arts enrollments, faculty challenges, and student engagement through concise visualizations.
Impact of Visualizations
Simplified Complex Data: I condensed over 50 graphs into 10 core visuals, making it easy for stakeholders to grasp key data points at a glance.
Insights Across Campuses: Visual dashboards helped illustrate disparities in arts engagement between campuses, guiding discussions on resource allocation and support.
Engaging Stakeholders
The final stage of the project involved transforming all our findings into a printable magazine, which would be shared with campus leadership and faculty. This magazine needed to be both visually appealing and deeply informative.
Process
I used InDesign to create a magazine summarizing all findings, ensuring that it was both visually appealing and informative. This magazine was designed for campus leadership and faculty, serving as a communication tool to generate excitement around the proposed improvements.
Outcome
The magazine not only conveyed complex research insights but also facilitated discussions around practical next steps, creating momentum for implementing change in arts integration.
Proposed Solutions: Addressing Engagement Gaps
Solution 1: Improve Communication and Awareness
Why: Low awareness was a recurring theme among both students and faculty.
How: Create a centralized digital hub where all arts resources, events, and opportunities are easily accessible. Implement targeted email campaigns and on-campus posters to increase visibility.
Expected Impact: Increased awareness will likely boost participation rates, especially on commuter campuses.
Solution 2: Invest in Creative Spaces
Why: Faculty and students lack access to spaces where they can collaborate on arts projects.
How: Invest in multipurpose arts spaces at the Flint and Dearborn campuses that can host workshops, performances, and collaborative projects.
Expected Impact: Providing dedicated spaces for creative work will foster a stronger arts community and increase engagement.
Solution 3: Support Faculty-Driven Initiatives
Why: Faculty are key to driving arts engagement, but they feel unsupported.
How: Develop a grant program specifically for faculty arts initiatives, offering them resources and institutional backing to integrate arts into their curriculum and research.
Expected Impact: By empowering faculty, arts integration will become a core part of the educational experience, leading to higher student enrollment in arts-related courses.
Conclusion
By applying a mixed methods approach—combining qualitative and quantitative methods—I was able to triangulate findings and create a robust narrative that guided recommendations. This project highlights my ability to integrate diverse research methods, generate actionable insights, and communicate them effectively to drive meaningful change.
Key Learnings
Clear visualizations helped translate complex data into actionable insights for stakeholders.
Adapting methods to fit campus-specific challenges was crucial for effective research and recommendations.
Combining qualitative and quantitative research uncovered both individual experiences and broader trends, providing a fuller picture of arts integration.
