Main
Dr. Abhik Roy
Education
Western Michigan University
Ph.D. in Program Evaluation Kalamazoo, MIDissertation. Building an Evaluation Model of Academic Advising’s Impact on Progression, Persistence, and Retention Within University Settings
Michigan Technological University
M.S. in Mathematics Houghton, MIThesis. Quotient Rings of the Eisenstein Integers
West Virginia Wesleyan College
B.S. in Mathematics Buckhannon, WVTerminal Study. 4-Cell Embedding on a n-genus Torus
Professional Experience
20252024
Associate Research Scientist
Indiana University Bloomington, IN- Applied Advanced Research Methods. Utilized statistical, machine learning, and qualitative analysis tools to interpret data, generated insights that advanced knowledge and informed evaluation outcomes.
- Communicated Results. Developed and presented findings, methodologies, and implications to stakeholders and other interdisciplinary groups.
- Conducted Data Analysis. Applied statistical, machine learning, and qualitative analysis tools to interpret data, generated findings that advanced knowledge and supported evaluation outcomes.
- Created Accessible Data Visualizations. Designed accessible visualizations with thoughtful consideration of diverse abilities, including colorblindness, to effectively communicate research findings to diverse groups.
- Developing Competitive Research Proposals. Authored grant proposals by establishing research objectives, designing methodologies, and outlining timelines to secure external funding.
- Engaged in Stakeholder Collaboration. Partnered with external collaborators using a participatory approach to align research findings with practical applications and guided policy development.
- Led Research and Evaluation Projects. Directed research and evaluation projects, met project goals, managed budgets, and adhered to timelines.
20232016
Associate Professor
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV- Authored Peer-Reviewed Publications. Published over 10 articles in high-impact journals, advanced knowledge in program evaluation, research methodologies, and applied social sciences.
- Developed Automated Systems for Data Collection and Analysis. Established automated systems for data collection, cleaning, and analysis, improved efficiency and accuracy across multiple research projects.
- Designed and Administered Surveys. Created and deployed interactive web-based surveys using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the Qualtrics platform, generating over 7,000 responses for various projects and studies.
- Extracted, Analyzed, and Visualized Data. Processed and visualized data from internal research and remote sources, produced over 20 interactive visualizations using RMarkdown and Shiny for dissemination to academic and interdisciplinary groups.
- Led and Participated in Evaluations. Contributed to 12 program evaluations and served as lead evaluator on several federally funded grants.
- Mentored Graduate Students. Advised three Master’s students and one PhD student, guided them through successful degree completion, and supported their professional growth.
- Presented at National Conferences. Shared research findings at over 20 academic conferences, with the majority at national-level events, reaching diverse groups.
- Taught Research and Methods-Based Courses. Instructed over 500 students in evaluation, research methods, measurement, and survey design, emphasized practical and analytical skills in data science.
20162014
Data Analyst
University of Kansas Lawrence, KS- Analyzed the Impact of Student Services. Conducted qualitative and quantitative analysis to assess the effect of advising and engagement initiatives on student retention and graduation outcomes.
- Built Web Applications and Dashboards. Automated data extraction and visualization using R and Tableau, improving access and reporting for student-level data from the university’s Oracle server.
- Conducted Research to Improve Retention. Developed statistical models that identified gaps in student retention strategies, contributing to a 3% to 5% increase in retention rates for at-risk groups.
- Designed and Executed Questionnaires. Created and implemented surveys for approximately 300 students and staff, achieving response rates between 47% and 91% across various projects.
- Developed an Evaluation Model for Advising. Constructed a comprehensive evaluation model by integrating a Delphi study, mixed-methods research, and survival analysis of student retention data.
- Led Tailored Evaluations. Conducted needs assessments and led participatory evaluations for non-academic units, focusing on data-driven insights and stakeholder empowerment.
Publications
2024
Dey, K., Rahman, M. T., Roy, A., Pyrialakou, V. D., Martinelli, D., Fraustino, J. D., Deskins, J., Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., & Plein, L. C. (2024). Experiences and perceptions of engineering students towards a cross-disciplinary course using sentiment analysis. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 150(3). https://doi.org/10.1061/jceecd.eieng-1976
2023
Kale, U., Kooken, A., Yuan, J., & Roy, A. (2023). Teaching science via computational thinking? Enabling future science teachers’ access to computational thinking. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 23(3). https://citejournal.org/volume-23/issue-3-23/science/teaching-science-via-computational-thinking-enabling-future-science-teachers-access-to-computational-thinking
Curtis, R., Roy, A., Lewis, N., Dooty, E. N., & Mikalik, T. (2023). Program evaluation standards for utility facilitate stakeholder internalization of evaluative thinking in the West Virginia Clinical Translational Science Institute. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 19(43), 49–65. https://doi.org/10.56645/jmde.v19i43.831
2022
Kale, U., Yuan, J., & Roy, A. (2022). Thinking processes in Code.org: A relational analysis approach to computational thinking. Computer Science Education, 33(4), 545–566. https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2022.2145549
2021
Roy, A., & Rambo-Hernandez, K. E. (2021). There’s so much to do and not enough time to do it! A case for sentiment analysis to derive meaning from open text using student reflections of engineering activities. American Journal of Evaluation, 42(4), 559–576. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214020962576
2020
Kale, U., Roy, A., & Yuan, J. (2020). To design or to integrate? Instructional design versus technology integration in developing learning interventions. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(2473–2504). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09771-8
2018
Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., Roy, A., Morris, M. L., Hensel, R. A. M., Schwartz, J. C., Atadero, R. A., & Paguyo, C. (2018, April). Using interactive theater to promote inclusive behaviors in teams for first-year engineering students: A sustainable approach. Paper presented at the 2018 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity Conference, Crystal City, Virginia. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2–29592
Richards-Babb, M., Curtis, R., Ratcliff, B., Roy, A., & Mikalik, T. (2018). General chemistry student attitudes and success with use of online homework: Traditional-responsive versus adaptive-responsive. Journal of Chemical Education, 95(5), 691–699. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00829
Miller, T. A., Carver, J. S., & Roy, A. (2018). To go virtual or not to go virtual, that is the question: A comparative study of face-to-face versus virtual laboratories in a physical science course. Journal of College Science Teaching, 48(2), 59–67. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26616271
2014
Davis, J. D., Smith, D. O., Roy, A. R., & Bilgic, Y. K. (2014). Reasoning-and-proving in algebra: The case of two reform-oriented U.S. textbooks. International Journal of Educational Research, 64, 92–106. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2013.06.012
2012
Roy, A. R., Hobson, K. A., & Coryn, C. L. S. (2012). What’s in a Scriven number? Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 8(19), 41–45. https://doi.org/10.56645/jmde.v8i19.372
Book Chapters
Grants
2024
Mining for Meaning: Uniting Machine Learning and Qualitative Research to Simulate Raters in Text Analysis
National Science Foundation: NSF 19-575: Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) - Pending Bloomington, INRoy, A.R. - Principal investigator
Invited Contributions
2012
What is a Scriven number?
The American Evaluation Association NewsletterRoy, A.R., Hobson, K.A., & Coryn, C.L.S.
Evaluations
Active
Current2023
Lead Program Evaluator & Methodologist - Healthy Start Initiative (HRSA-19-049 Total Award: $5,470,000)
West Virginia University Research Corporation Morgantown, WV- Conducted process, monitoring, and impact evaluations at the program level.
- Designed and validated survey tools, evaluating the experiences of more than 50 participants.
- Generated two comprehensive internal evaluation documents and prepared an evaluation proposal aimed at federal funding renewal.
- Employed a mixed-methods design to independently analyze both longitudinal and cross-sectional data, focusing on the smoking cessation efforts of mothers and the experiences of new or distant caretakers/fathers.
Current2022
Program Evaluator & Mixed Methods Analyst - Teaching Science with Computational Thinking: Preparing Preservice Elementary Educators of the Future STEM Workforce (2019-NSF 2142274 Total Award: $294,958.00)
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV- Administered process evaluations for all program activities.
- Created and employed a longitudinal mixed-method study to reduce and analyze more than 50 open-ended survey responses and six interview session transcripts, leveraging thematic/content analyses and techniques including HDBSCAN/t-SNE, k-Means, and PCA.
- Designed and validated two survey tools for assessing progress and evaluating programmatic impact.
- Produced one in-depth internal evaluation document and crafted evaluation summaries for federal reporting purposes.
Completed
20222017
Community Program Evaluator & Data Scientist - WVCTSI: West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (2017-NIH 2U54GM104942-02 Total Award: $20,000,000)
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV- Authored quarterly reports as well as internal and external annual evaluation documents, disseminated both in print and through interactive formats developed in Rmarkdown.
- Crafted over 100 data visualizations and developed over four Shiny applications for internal and public data exploration, including research collaborations using social network analysis, grant activities pulled from the NCBI API crossed with WVCTSI grant numbers, and dissemination of result and changes in practice within and beyond West Virginia.
- Designed and disseminated tailored Qualtrics surveys customized with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, reaching an audience of over 5,000 individuals.
- Led local and multi-site, multi-cluster evaluation studies for five core medical research and community engagement units.
- Mentored six graduate students in social data science, steering them through successful research endeavors.
- Published and presented evaluation findings in academic journals and conferences.
20202021
Program Evaluator - Appalachian Gerontology Experiences - Advancing Diversity in Aging Research (2020-NIH 1R25AG059558-01A1 Total Award: $678,000)
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV- Developed and distributed two customized interactive surveys using Qualtrics, incorporating CSS and JavaScript, to gather feedback on programmatic activities from a specific group of 24 students.
- Produced an external evaluation summary for federal reporting.
- Spearheaded three distinct evaluative studies focusing on student efficacy, engagement, and motivation.
20202022
Research Methods Advisor & Specialist - Research Initiative: A Holistic Cross-Disciplinary Project Experience as a Platform to Advance the Professional Formation of Engineers (2019-NSF 1927232 Total Award: $200,000)
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV- Conducted longitudinal studies on the experiences of 30 undergraduate students in specialized interdisciplinary courses that integrated social science and engineering, using both surveys and focus group discussions.
- Mentored 10 engineering faculty members and graduate students in the implementation of research methodologies.
20182017
Program Evaluator - Stepping UP with Avenue: Progress Monitoring: A Software Suite Helping Teachers Improve Literacy Progress For Deaf/Hard Of Hearing Students (2017-ED H327S170012 Total Award: $2,470,440)
Pennsylvania State University State College, PA- Administered in-depth evaluations of five tools designed for assessment and engagement of the deaf and hard of hearing.
- Designed and conducted a multi-site evaluation.
- Produced a detailed external evaluation brief for federal reporting.
20182017
Lead Program Evaluator - Cultivating Inclusive Identities of Engineers and Computer Scientists: Expanding Efforts to Infuse Inclusive Excellence in Undergraduate Curricula (2017-NSF 1725880 Total Award: $2,000,000)
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV- Administered longitudinal surveys to over 50 participating faculty members to gauge expectations, gather feedback for improvement, and monitor shifts in DEI attitudes and perceptions.
- Applied longitudinal NLP text mining techniques such as concordance, LDA topic modeling, and sentiment analysis to analyze and summarize feedback from over 3,000 first-year engineering students concerning grant-related class activities.
- Contributed to the creation of more than 10 journal publications and academic conference presentation materials.
- Developed more than 150 static and interactive data visualizations for stakeholder exploration, both internal and external reporting, as well as for presentations and publications.
- Evaluated all four principal investigators through personnel assessments.
- Produced two in-depth internal evaluation documents and crafted summaries for external stakeholders and federal reporting purposes.
20202017
Program Evaluator - GAUSSI: Generating, Analyzing, and Understanding Sensory and Sequencing Information: A Trans-Disciplinary Graduate Training Program in Biosensing and Computational Biology (2017-NSF 1450032 Total Award: $3,013,779)
Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO- Administered 32 interviews and focus groups, both cross-sectional and longitudinal, using unstructured and semi-structured formats to gauge the experiences of students and faculty.
- Carried out process evaluations for four grant-associated programs, leading to enhanced member tracking, increased program efficiency, and heightened participant satisfaction.
- Constructed and validated tools to measure students’ ability to convey research findings to a lay audience.
- Designed semi-annual adaptive and interactive Qualtrics surveys enhanced with HTML/CSS/JavaScript, securing feedback from over 100 students and faculty with a 95% response rate.
- Developed predictive models targeting the improvement of student engagement, experience, and retention.
- Generated data visualizations for assessment and longitudinal studies, bolstering inferential statistical analyses to identify trends and support programmatic enhancements, retention strategies, and satisfaction initiatives.
- Produced nine in-depth internal evaluation documents and crafted summaries for external stakeholders and federal reporting purposes.
Presentations
2022
Let’s get sentimental: Machine learning aided data analysis for large qualitative data sets
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference New Orleans, LASeidel, T., Ferguson, C.F., & Roy, A.R.
2022
Best of both worlds: Affordances of mixing machine learning and qualitative content analysis
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting San Diego, CARoy, A.R., Ferguson, C.F., Curtis, R., & Babb-Richards, M.
2020
These aren’t random words just strung together?: Using machine learning and pretty visualizations to discover topics in articles.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference virtualRoy, A.R.
2019
Little fish in a big pond, only fish in a little pond: How roles shape our identities as evaluators.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNLoomis, D.L., Mikalik, T.L., Curtis, R., Roy, A.R., & Bernstein, M.
2019
Evolving program logic models to meet shifting program needs: The case of WV Clinical Translational Science Institute.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNCurtis, R., Roy, A.R., Bernstein, M, Loomis, D.L., & Mikalik, T.L.
2019
The value of external evaluators when building clinical translational research infrastructure.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNCurtis, R., Roy, A.R., Bernstein, M, Loomis, D.L., & Mikalik, T.L.
2019
Using associated networks to evaluate content within courses.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNRoy, A.R., Kale, U, & Yuan, J.
2019
Why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing? Using machine learning and lexemes to make sense of nonsense.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNRoy, A.R., Curtis, R., Mikalik, T.L., Loomis, D.L., & Bernstein, M.
2019
Iscovering the underlying meaning behind get me off your f***ing mailing list? and most other narratives.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNRoy, A.R., Curtis, R., Mikalik, T.L., Loomis, D.L., & Bernstein, M.
2019
Assessing for improvement: The use of artificial intelligence to uncover potential differential impact of assignments.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Toronto, CNRoy, A.R. & Rambo-Hernandez, K.
2018
Using a mixed methods evaluation to discover how an interactive theater based model stimulates inclusive behaviors in engineering.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Cleveland, OHRoy, A.R., Rambo-Hernandez, K., Hensel, R.A., & Morris, M.L.
2018
Examining the past and looking forward: The future of evaluation theory and use.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Cleveland, OHRoy, A.R. & Hobson, K.A.
2017
Transforming graduate STEM Education: A theory-driven evaluation of the GAUSSI National Science Foundation Research Training (NRT) Program.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Washington, DCRoy, A.R., Hernandez, P.A., Chen, T., & Paguyo, C.
2017
Program evaluation for everyone! - Constructing an online foundational course for capacity building using theorists as a focus.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Washington, DCRoy, A.R. & Curtis, R.P.
2017
Content in the background: Using evaluation theorists as the principal motivator for foundational evaluation courses.
Hawaii-Pacific Evaluation Association Annual Conference Kane’ohe, HIRoy, A.R. & Curtis, R.P.
2015
Survey says! Students getting tired of surveys.
National Academic Advising Association Annual Conference Las Vegas, NVRoy, A.R. & Goetz, H.L.
2013
Influences of Hierarchical Linear Modeling in evaluation.
Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association Annual Conference Auckland, NZHobson, K.A., Roy, A.R. & Coryn, C.L.S.
2012
Survey sample methods: Evaluators’ toolbox refreshment.
American Evaluation Association Annual Conference Minneapolis, MNHobson, K.A., Roy, A.R. & Coryn, C.L.S.
Teaching Experience
Evaluation, Measurement, and Research Methods (2016 - 2023)
20202018
Data Visualization
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2020, 2018
2017
Educational Psychology
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2016
Educational Research
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV20222016
Introduction to Research
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2022, 2018, 2017, 2016
20202018
Measurement/Evaluation in Educational Psychology
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2022, 2020, 2018
20192017
Mixing Research Methodologies
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2022, 2019, 2018, 2017
20232017
Program Evaluation
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
20212017
Statistical Methods 1
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
20222020
Survey Research
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2022, 2020
Mathematics (2005 - 2015)
2008
Business Calculus
Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI2009
College Algebra
Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI2012
Discrete Mathematics
Central Michigan University Pittsburgh, KS2014
Elementary Statistics
Central Michigan University Pittsburgh, KS20102009
Foundations of Statistics
Central Michigan University Pittsburgh, KS2009, 2010
20082007
Intermediate Algebra
Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI2007, 2008
2007
Integral Calculus
Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI20152014
Linear Algebra
University of Kansas Lawrence, KS2014, 2015
2013
Mathematical Thinking Grades 6-12
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI20142013
Mathematics Curriculum Grades 6-12
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI2013, 2014
2005
Multivariable Calculus
Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI20072006
Single Variable Calculus
Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI2006, 2007
Service
20222013
Associate Editor
Journal of MultiDisciplinary EvaluationMemberships
20222012
Social Network Analysis
West Virginia University Morgantown, WV2021, 2017