Ohio University
Chair,Analytics &InfromationSystems; O Bleness Professor of Analytics & Infromation Systems
Wisconsin Teaching Fellow (UW–Green Bay) , 2013-14
Transformative Teaching: How the Wisconsin Teaching Fellow Program Shaped My SoTL Perspective
Being a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow in 2013 was a transformative experience that deepened my understanding of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The program exposed me to innovative research on student-centered learning and provided me with the opportunity to engage with passionate and dedicated professors who were committed to improving education. I gained invaluable insights into how teaching practices can be systematically studied and enhanced, and I built lifelong connections with colleagues who shared my enthusiasm for SoTL. I am especially grateful to Professor David Voelker and the directors of OPID for their guidance and continued support throughout this journey.
Through this program, I also discovered extensive research literature on SoTL. My previous research had primarily focused on the psychological and social aspects of information systems users, and I soon realized that SoTL operates with a similar framework—placing students at the center and analyzing how different pedagogical approaches impact their learning experiences. It was incredibly inspiring to hear about the research being conducted by faculty from across the state and to see how their findings were shaping teaching practices.
In my own research, I examined the academic success of first-generation college students (FGN) and female students, particularly in the context of online learning. In 2013, the use of the Internet in academia was rapidly growing, opening up new opportunities for learning while also creating unique challenges. Even today, as internet usage in education has expanded even further, the role of social support remains a critical factor in academic performance.
As higher education—especially in business fields—sees increasing enrollment of female and first-generation students, and as online learning gains traction, it becomes crucial to explore the factors that drive these learners’ academic success. One common challenge they face is reduced social support: online learners often lack traditional peer interactions, and female students may encounter cultural barriers in online learning, such as gendered expectations around caregiving responsibilities or implicit biases in business education. These biases can manifest in ways such as fewer networking opportunities, underrepresentation in case studies and leadership examples, or assumptions about their career aspirations, which may affect their participation and sense of belonging in the field. Similarly, FGN students frequently navigate college without familial academic guidance.
My study investigated whether this lack of social support, stemming from technical (Internet/online), cultural (female), and social (FGN) factors, influences how learning processes impact academic outcomes. The findings revealed that the reduced social status of these groups exacerbated the effects of perceived difficulty on actual grades. In other words, students who identified as online learners, female, or first-generation were more vulnerable to the negative impact of challenging coursework due to their comparative lack of support structures. These insights contribute to the growing conversation on how to better support diverse student populations in higher education, particularly in online learning environments.
My research project, titled Social Support (or Lack Thereof) and Internal Drive: Factors that Connect Online Learners, Females, and First-Generation College Students, was both presented and published in the proceedings of the 9th Midwest Association for Information Systems Conference in Ames, IA.
Biography:
Dr. Gaurav Bansal is the Chair and O’Bleness Full Professor of Analytics & Information Systems at Ohio University. He is also a distinguished member (cum laude) of the Association for Information Systems (AIS). He formerly served as the department chair and Frederick E. Baer Professor in Business and full Professor of MIS / Statistics at the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business at UW-Green Bay.
He serves as editor-in-chief for the Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research. He has published around 72 peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings, including two FT50 research journal publications and twenty-one research papers in journals with the Australian Business Deans’ Council’s rating A and higher. His research has over 3000 citations on Google Scholar, with more than 25 papers with 10 or more citations each. His papers were nominated for the best paper award at the Americas Conference for Information Systems (AMCIS) 2010, Peru, and the International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) 2008, Paris, and received best paper awards at the Midwest Association for Information Systems (MWAIS) conferences in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2023.
Dr. Bansal’s research interest lies in how the world shapes technology and how the world, and particularly humans, are shaped by technology in return. Some of his recent research examines issues related to how companies can rebuild consumer trust after a data breach, gender issues in IT leadership, the psychology of fake news, and how AI-enabled smart devices are making us smart as a species but less so individually.
Dr. Bansal was twice awarded the prestigious UW-Green Bay Founders Award, first for collaborative achievement in 2018 for advancing the message of Dr. Martin Luther King in the Greater Green Bay community and second for Excellence in Scholarship for the year 2020. He was recognized as a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow for the years 2013–2014. Before starting his academic career, he worked as a Quality Assurance Engineer for General Motors India (1998-2000) and Daewoo Motors India (1996-1998).