Psychology Commons^™

Goats, Crayons And Bananas – Creative Ways To Fight Student Stress, Conny Liegl

Conny Liegl

More than 80% of US college students report feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, almost half of whom describe their academic experience as traumatic or very difficult to handle. Stress, sleep difficulties and anxiety are just some of the symptoms that manifest in college students. Undergraduates seem particularly susceptible to these stressors, but only one in five seeks medical consultation for their issues. (American College Health Association [ACHA], 2013)

To help students react to external and internal stressors, California Polytechnic State University’s Robert E. Kennedy Library initiated a program to support students during the most stressful times of the academic quarter. With …

Developing Compassion Throughtravel, L. Bartolini

LeeAnn Bartolini

No abstract provided.

Internationalizing A Psychology Department: A Case Study, L. Bartolini, Afshin Gharib, W. Phillips

LeeAnn Bartolini

No abstract provided.

The Journey From Tragedy To Hope: The Experience Of Christian Undergraduates, David M. Johnstone

David M. Johnstone

Using the case study approach, I interviewed seven student leaders at an evangelical university in the Pacific Northwest. Their common feature, other than attending the same institution, was that they had all experienced tragic or traumatic situations at some point in their lives. In spite of this experience, they were able to display a hopeful outlook on life. The purpose of this study was to discern elements or themes that were common to their stories. I was particularly looking for themes that might explain what helped them move on from their traumatic experiences into a perspective of hope. I anticipated …

Evaluating Organizational Behavior Teaching Innovations: More Rigorous Designs, More Relevant Criteria, And An Example, James Shaw, Cynthia Fisher, Gregory Southey

James B Shaw

Evaluations of new methods of teaching Organizational Behavior (OB) usually rely on course ratings collected at the end of the semester. This article discusses the need for more rigorous designs for assessing teaching innovations, and proposes evaluating OB courses on the basis of change in self-ratings of managerial competencies. Self-ratings of managerial competencies and a more sophisticated evaluation design are used to compare the Practical Organizational Behavior Education (PROBE) method to the lecture/tutorial method of delivering of OB material. PROBE produces greater perceived managerial skill learning than lecture/tutorial delivery for females, younger students, students with little work experience, and students …

Transgender Individuals' Access To College Housing And Bathrooms: Findings From The National Transgender Discrimination Survey, Kristie Seelman

Kristie L Seelman

Within higher education settings, transgender people are at risk for discrimination and harassment within housing and bathrooms. Yet, few have examined this topic using quantitative data or compared the experiences of subgroups of transgender individuals to predict denial of access to these spaces. The current study utilizes the National Transgender Discrimination Survey to research this issue. Findings indicate that being transgender and having another marginalized identity matters for students’ access to housing and bathrooms. Trans women are at greater risk than gender non-conforming people for being denied access to school housing and bathrooms. Implications for practice and research are detailed.

Measuring The Community In Online Classes, Beth Rubin, Ron Fernandes

Beth Rubin

The paper proposes both theoretical and empirical approaches to differentiate the Community of Inquiry (CoI) in online classes at individual and group levels. Following the example of research on organizational climate, it assesses the strength of shared perceptions of teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. The paper develops a theory of composition that relates isomorphic constructs of these presences at the individual and the class levels. Hypotheses are made about the agreement among students on the survey that is used to measure individual perceptions of the three presences of the CoI. These are tested through a set of statistics …

A Class Explores: Dangerousness And Mental Illness, Leeann Bartolini

LeeAnn Bartolini

The Homeless Mentally Ill: A Class Explores, Leeann Bartolini

LeeAnn Bartolini

Student Engagement In Extracurricular Activities And Academic Performance: Exploring Gender Differences, Avi Zacherman, John D. Foubert

John D. Foubert

The effects of time spent in extracurricular activities on academic performance was tested. A curvilinear relationship between hours per week spent involved in extracurricular activities and grade point average was discovered such that a low amount of extracurricular involvement was beneficial to grades, while a high amount can potentially hurt academic performance in college students. Important gender differences were present such that very high involvement was particularly detrimental to men’s academic performance.

Effects Of Gender And Facebook Use On The Development Of Mature Interpersonal Relationships, John D. Foubert, Ryan C. Masin

John D. Foubert

This study analyzed the effects of gender and the intensity of Facebook use on college students’ development of mature interpersonal relationships at a large Midwestern University. Small, significant negative relationships between the development of mature interpersonal relationships and Facebook use intensity existed, with slightly more negative correlations found when only peer relationships were considered. A two-way ANOVA revealed significant effects of both gender and Facebook use intensity on the development of mature interpersonal relationships. A significant difference was found between heavy and light Facebook users, with students who use Facebook more intensely having less developed mature interpersonal relationships than those …