Education Commons^™

Improving Academic Outcomes: Does Participating In Online Discussion Forums Payoff?, Charles Carceller, Shane Dawson, Lori Lockyer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on a study investigating the potential relationship between a student's discussion forum activity and their academic performance. The study also examined the influence of the delivery method (i.e. blended or fully online) on the impact that forum participation may have on a student's final mark. To address these aims, student forum participation data and teaching delivery method were extracted from the universities Learning Management System (LMS). The analysis identified that students who actively participate in their teaching unit's discussion forum are more likely to achieve a higher final mark than those that do not participate. It was …

First Steps: Study Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial Of The Effectiveness Of The Group Family Nurse Partnership (Gfnp) Program Compared To Routine Care In Improving Outcomes For High-Risk Mothers And Their Children And Preventing Abuse, Jacqueline Barnes, Dipti Aistrop, Elizabeth Allen, Jane Barlow, Diana Elbourne, Geraldine Macdonald, Edward Melhuish, Stavros Petrou, Joshua Pink, Claire Snowdon, Helen Spiby, Jane Stuart, Joanna Sturgess

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background

Evidence from the USA suggests that the home-based Family Nurse Partnership program (FNP), extending from early pregnancy until infants are 24 months, can reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect throughout childhood. FNP is now widely available in the UK. A new variant, Group Family Nurse Partnership (gFNP) offers similar content but in a group context and for a shorter time, until infants are 12 months old. Each group comprises 8 to 12 women with similar expected delivery dates and their partners. Its implementation has been established but there is no evidence of its effectiveness.

Methods/Design

The study …

Multidimensional Perfectionism And Social Connectivity Among Youth: Findings And Implications, Alexander Nounopoulos

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Although traditional researchers exploring perfectionism frequently cast the construct in a negative light, a steady stream of recent studies have demonstrated that perfectionistic beliefs can yield both positive and negative outcomes. Despite this progression in the research, perfectionism remains an understudied phenomenon among youth, especially as it relates to the ways in which these individuals are perceived by others. The current study builds on the previous literature by exploring adolescent perfectionism across a variety of psychological and psychoeducational dimensions. Moreover, a unique addition to the literature offered by this study was the inclusion of peer-reports along with self-reported measures in …

Student Engagement At New Zealand Private Training Establishments (Ptes): Key Results From The 2011 Pilot Of The Ausse, Ali Radloff

Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE)

In 2011, a pilot of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) was conducted with Private Training Establishments (PTEs) in New Zealand where funding was provided for the project by Ako Aotearoa and support also given by New Zealand Association of Private Education Providers (NZAPEP). This report focuses on the results from this pilot. Close to 1,000 responses were collected from students as part of the pilot at ten PTEs and included students undertaking qualifications from New Zealand Qualifications Authority levels three through seven – certificate level to bachelor degree level study. While much is known about the rates of …

Preventing Obesity Among Adolescent Girls: One-Year Outcomes Of The Nutrition And Enjoyable Activity For Teen Girls (Neat Girls) Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial, David R. Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Anthony D. Okely, Deborah Dewar, Clare E. Collins, Marijka Batterham, Robin Callister, Ronald C. Plotnikoff

Dr Marijka Batterham

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a 12-month multicomponent school-based obesity prevention program, Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls among adolescent girls. Design: Group randomized controlled trial with 12-month follow-up. Setting: Twelve secondary schools in low-income communities in the Hunter and Central Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia. Participants: Three hundred fifty-seven adolescent girls aged 12 to 14 years. Intervention: A multicomponent school-based intervention program tailored for adolescent girls. The intervention was based on social cognitive theory and included teacher professional development, enhanced school sport sessions, interactive seminars, nutrition workshops, lunch-time physical activity sessions, handbooks and pedometers for …

How Chief Academic Officers At Private Hispanic-Serving Institutions Use The National Survey Of Student Engagement In Assessing Outcomes, Michael Bernard Schulte

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative research was to investigate how chief academic officers at five private Hispanic-Serving Institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools use the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results to improve institutional effectiveness and promote undergraduate student success. Five chief academic officers (CAOs) represented their institutions and served as a purposeful sample to qualitatively explore how they used National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results to facilitate institutional effectiveness and promote undergraduate student success. All these private Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) participated in NSSE within a specified time frame and were located …

Relationships Between Objectively Measured Physical Activity, Movement Competency And Psychosocial Outcomes In Overweight And Obese Children, Dylan P. Cliff, Anthony D. Okely, P Morgan, Julie R. Steele, Rachel A. Jones

A. D. Okely

This study examined cross-sectional associations between physical activity and the psychosocial outcomes of self-esteem and health related quality of life (HRQoL), and fundamental movement skills (FMS) and psychosocial outcomes in overweight/obese children. Measures were collected from 165 overweight/obese children aged 5-9y (mean age = 8.2 + 1.1; mean BMI-z = 2.81 + 0.71, 41% boys) as part of the Hunter and Illawarra Kids Challenge Using Parent Support (HIKCUPS) RCT. Baseline data, split by gender, were used to explore relationships between activity/FMS variables and psychosocial outcomes for boys and girls separately. Measures included objectively measured physical activity (Actigraph 7164 accelerometer), video-assessed …

When What You Know Ain’T Necessarily So: A Comparative Analysis Of The Texas School Foundation Program Revenues For Independent And Charter School Districts, R. Anthony Rolle, R. Craig Wood

Educational Considerations

Texas charter school districts (CSDs) are accredited and monitored by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) utilizing the various components within the state accountability systems for both state and federal requirements.

Attributions Of The Educational Outcomes Of Students With Learning Disabilities In China, Stuart Woodcock, Han Jiang

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper aims to raise awareness of the importance of attributional beliefs in relation to the educational outcomes of students with a learning disability (LD) in China. The study presented in this paper examined the attributional beliefs that Chinese pre-service teachers had developed towards students with LD, in comparison to students without LD. The findings show that Chinese pre-service teachers did not differ in their attributional beliefs between students with and without LD. Implications from the findings, and future research recommendations are also presented.

Influences On Students' Attainment And Progress In Key Stage 3: Academic Outcomes In English, Maths And Science In Year 9, Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart, Katalin Toth, Diana Draghici, Rebecca Smees

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE) has investigated the academic and social-behavioural development of approximately 3,000 children from the age of 3+ years since 1997. This Research Brief focuses on the relationships between a range of individual student, family, home, pre-, primary and secondary school characteristics and students' academic attainment in English, maths and science in Year 9 at secondary school (age 14). It compares the latest findings with those found for students' attainment at younger ages. It also highlights the influences of secondary school on students' attainment in the core curriculum areas and studies their academic …

Influences On Students' Development In Key Stage 3: Social-Behavioural Outcomes In Year 9, Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart, Diana Draghici, Rebecca Smees, Katalin Toth

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE) has investigated the cognitive and social-behavioural development of approximately 3,000 children from the age of 3+ years since 1997. This Research Brief focuses on the relationships between a range of child, family, home, pre-, primary and secondary school characteristics and students' social-behavioural development in Year 9 at secondary school (age 14). It compares these latest findings with those found for social-behavioural development at younger ages, highlights the specific influences of secondary school on students' social-behavioural outcomes in Year 9 and changes in these developmental outcomes between the ages of 11 and …

Improving Cancer Outcomes Among Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Communities: A Rapid Review Of The Literature, Lyn Phillipson, Karen Larsen-Truong, Sandra Jones, Leissa Pitts

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This Evidence Check review examined the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic speaking communities in Australia in relation to cancer, its causes, screening, treatments, perceptions of susceptibility, and perceived outcomes. The review explores fear, stigma, taboos, and the role of family, as well as the evidence of effectiveness of cancer prevention, detection and treatment interventions. There are significant gaps in the evidence base.

Preventing Obesity Among Adolescent Girls: One-Year Outcomes Of The Nutrition And Enjoyable Activity For Teen Girls (Neat Girls) Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial, David R. Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Anthony D. Okely, Deborah Dewar, Clare E. Collins, Marijka Batterham, Robin Callister, Ronald C. Plotnikoff

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a 12-month multicomponent school-based obesity prevention program, Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls among adolescent girls. Design: Group randomized controlled trial with 12-month follow-up. Setting: Twelve secondary schools in low-income communities in the Hunter and Central Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia. Participants: Three hundred fifty-seven adolescent girls aged 12 to 14 years. Intervention: A multicomponent school-based intervention program tailored for adolescent girls. The intervention was based on social cognitive theory and included teacher professional development, enhanced school sport sessions, interactive seminars, nutrition workshops, lunch-time physical activity sessions, handbooks and pedometers for …

Exploring Adult Development Frameworks: Self-Study And Inquiry Outcomes For Developing Leaders And Building Student Success, Susan A. Turner

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Student Reactions To Learning With Technologies: Perceptions And Outcomes, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

While the creation and adoption of new technologies has increased in recent years, the educational sector often limits technology use. Despite this, many researchers are convinced of the vital role that technologies can play in learning and teaching. Student Reactions to Learning with Technologies: Perceptions and Outcomes brings together recent research findings about the views and expectations of students when including technologies in their studies. The chapters in this book suggest that the use of technologies in teaching not only makes learning more interesting but also offers possibilities for variations in the learning processes. While this book does not offer …

‘The More You Put Into It, The More You Get Out Of It:’ The Development Of The General Member, Larry D. Long, Alex Snowden

Larry D. Long

A presentation on the experience and growth of fraternity and sorority members who hold and do not hold a position of responsibility in their organization.

A Practical Method Of Policy Analysis By Estimating Effect Size, James L. Phelps

Educational Considerations

The previous articles on class size and other productivity research paint a complex and confusing picture of the relationship between policy variables and student achievement. Missing is a conceptual scheme capable of combining the seemingly unrelated research and dissimilar estimates of effect size into a unified structure for policy analysis and decision making. This article builds a rationale for a unifying structure and consistent method of estimating effect size.

“The More You Put Into It, The More You Get Out Of It:” The Educational Gains Of Fraternity/Sorority Officers, Larry D. Long, Alex Snowden

Larry D. Long

The purpose of this study was to determine if undergraduate fraternity and sorority members who serve as chapter officers report different experiences and gains compared to non-officers. The researchers sampled 3,008 fraternity members and 3,745 sorority members from the aggregate results of the institutions that used the AFA/EBI Fraternity/Sorority Assessment during the 2009-2010 academic year. Differences by leadership experience were tested using Cliff’s delta. The researchers found significant differences in the development of chapter officers and non-officers for eight of nine educational gains measures with chapter officers reporting greater gains in these areas. Chapter officers were also more likely to …

Predictors Of Student Outcomes In Developmental Math At A Public Community And Technical College, Linda Darlene Hunt

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

With the wide range of abilities of community college students, proper course placement is crucial. Therefore, having better predictors of success can help improve placement of students for their achievement. This study analyzed student predictors, instructor predictors, and classroom predictors in relation to student final exam score and student final grade in Elementary Algebra and Intermediate Algebra classes. Student predictors included gender, ACT math score, SAT math score, community college enrollment, math pretest score, and ASC grade. Instructor predictors included gender, employment status, Mozart music use, and ALEKS software use. Classroom predictors included time of day, number of class meetings …

Are We Exacerbating Students' Learning Disabilities? An Investigation Of Preservice Teachers' Attributions Of The Educational Outcomes Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Wilhelmina J. Vialle, Stuart Woodcock

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

While claims of the importance of attribution theory and teachers’ expectations of students for student performance are repeatedly made, there is little comprehensive research identifying the perceptions preservice teachers have of students with learning disabilities (LD). Accordingly, 444 Australian preservice primary school teachers were surveyed using vignettes and Likert-scale questions, to ascertain their responses to students with and without LD. It was found that preservice primary school general education teachers held a negative attribution style towards students with LD. Preservice primary teachers perceived students with LD as lacking ability in comparison to others in the class. Recommendations for research and …

Redefining Faculty Workloads In A Physical Therapy Department: A Case Study, Douglas C. Keskula, Shelley Mishoe, Elizabeth T. Wark

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The purpose of this case study is to describe the creation and implementation of a sustainable workload model in the physical therapy department, as well as the outcomes resulting from that structure. Between 2002 and 2009, both scholarly productivity and faculty practice activity increased as a result of the redistribution of faculty efforts created by the new workload structure. This case demonstrates how the department has been able to successfully expand research and faculty practice while maintaining a high quality educational experience. The workload guidelines have enabled the collective core faculty to be productive in teaching, research/scholarship and service.;

The Group Selection Questionnaire: Discriminant Outcomes And Effectiveness, Jeffrey Lee Elder

Theses and Dissertations

The Group Selection Questionnaire (GSQ; Cox et al., 2004) is a measure that has been developed to facilitate clinical decisions about a client's readiness for group psychotherapy. The GSQ has demonstrated an ability to predict which clients will experience a reduction in distress through the use of group psychotherapy. This dissertation examines the Group Selection Questionnaire's ability to measure client characteristics that predict the client's ability to benefit from receiving group psychotherapy compared to the ability to benefit from receiving another form of treatment, such as individual or a combination of individual and group psychotherapy, as measured by improved scores …

Development Of An Outcomes-Based Undergraduate Curriculum In Homeland Security, James D. Ramsay, Daniel A. Cutrer, Robert Raffel

Security Studies & International Affairs - Daytona Beach

As a professional discipline, homeland security is complex, dynamic, and interdisciplinary and not given to facile definition. As an academic discipline, homeland security is relatively new and growing, and its workforce aging. As such, there is an acknowledged need to develop academic homeland security programs to try and meet anticipated workforce needs. However, the lack of an accreditation system or a set of available published outcomes (or standards) have complicated efforts towards homeland security program development. At present, determining which courses to teach and which outcomes in each course to pursue must be left to anecdotal conversations, reviews of the …

Development Of An Outcomes-Based Undergraduate Curriculum In Homeland Security, James D. Ramsay, Daniel Cutrer, Robert Raffel

Applied Aviation Sciences - Daytona Beach

As a professional discipline, homeland security is complex, dynamic, and interdisciplinary and not given to facile definition. As an academic discipline, homeland security is relatively new and growing, and its workforce aging. As such, there is an acknowledged need to develop academic homeland security programs to try and meet anticipated workforce needs. However, the lack of an accreditation system or a set of available published outcomes (or standards) have complicated efforts towards homeland security program development. At present, determining which courses to teach and which outcomes in each course to pursue must be left to anecdotal conversations, reviews of the …

Causal Effects Of Single-Sex Schools On College Entrance Exams And College Attendance: Random Assignment In Seoul High Schools, Hyunjoon Park, Jere R. Behrman, Jaesung Choi

Hyunjoon Park

Despite the voluminous literature on the potentials of single-sex schools, there is no consensus on the effects of single-sex schools because of student selection of school types. We exploit a unique feature of schooling in Seoul, the random assignment of students into single-sex versus coeducational high schools, to assess causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exam scores and college attendance. Our validation of the random assignment shows comparable socioeconomic backgrounds and prior academic achievement of students attending single-sex schools and coeducational schools, which increases the credibility of our causal estimates of single-sex school effects. Attending all-boys schools or …

The Quality Of Group Childcare Settings Used By 3-4 Year Old Children In Sure Start Local Programme Areas And The Relationship With Child Outcomes, Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Kristen Macpherson, Andrew Cullis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs), now Sure Start Children's Centres, aim to support young children and their families by integrating early education, childcare, healthcare and family support services in disadvantaged areas. SSLPs aim to improve the health and well-being of families and young children, so that children will have greater oppor tunity to do well in school and later life. This study investigates pre-school group childcare (ch ildminders were not include d) used by children in 150 SSLP areas, and makes comparisons with childcare used by children in England overall. Also the study investigates links between childcare quality and child …

Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention: Outcomes Associated With A Differential Response Program In California, Amy Conley Wright, Jill Duerr Berrick

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Traditionally, the American child welfare system intervenes in cases of evident and severe maltreatment. Families in need of help, but who have not reached a crisis, are excluded from typical services. Some suggest that if these families were served, few would be rereferred to the child welfare system. California's Differential Response (DR) has three tracks, of which ''Track 1'' targets families screened out of child protective services (CPS) and refers them to agencies that provide voluntary, home-based services and referrals. This study examined child-welfare trajectories for families receiving Track 1 DR services in one California county. Using survival analysis, treatment …

The Logic Of Evaluation And Not-For-Profit Arts Organizations: The Perspective Of An Evaluation Consultant, Brandon Youker

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

This article defines evaluation, describes the logic of evaluation and discusses evaluation as it pertains to not-for-profit arts organizations. The purpose is to explain to not-for-profit arts organizations how an evaluation consultant conceptualizes the task of program evaluation. The article is based on the perspective and experiences of a consultant who was contracted to assist in building the program monitoring and internal evaluation capacities of arts organizations. Understanding the basics of systematic evaluation will assist arts organizations in developing sound program monitoring and evaluation strategies and practices.

A Longitudinal Study Of The Outcomes From Participation In Wilderness Adventure Education Programs, Jason Phillip Cummings

Master's Theses

The results from this study suggest that participants of wilderness adventure education programs offered by Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School felt challenged by many of the experiences from their programs. Interactions with their group helped in dealing with the challenges presented by the experience. The development of hard skills gave participants a confidence in their abilities to survive and feel safe in these wilderness environments, which allowed them to relax and enjoy the experience, develop new perspectives, become motivated and inspired, and develop a sense of independence. Participants developed a sense of growth and maturity from their …

The Relationship Of Self-Efficacy And Gpa, Attendance, And College Student Retention, Stephen P. Becker, Robert K. Gable

NERA Conference Proceedings 2009

The study determined the extent and manner; self-efficacy explains variation in GPA, attendance, and retention. The General Self-Efficacy Scale was adapted with a sample of N = 194, 34% male and 66% female. General and Specific factors had alphas of .72 and .75, respectively. Step-wise regression demonstrated General self-efficacy incremented the explanation of GPA variance 5% (p < .01). GPA was significantly correlated with non-attendance (r = - .72, p < .01, d = large) and retention (r = .52, p < .01, d = large). Non-attendance significantly correlated with retention (r = -.39, p < .01, d = medium).