Social Psychology Commons^™

Impact Of Experience Corps® Participation On Children’S Academic Achievement And School Behavior, George W. Rebok, Jeanine M. Parisi, Jeremy S. Barron, Michelle C. Carlson, Ike Diibor, Kevin D. Frick, Linda P. Fried, Tara L. Gruenewald, Jin Huang, Sylvia Mcgill, Christine M. Ramsey, William A. Romani, Teresa E. Seeman, Erwin Tan, Elizabeth K. Tanner, Li Xing, Qian-Li Xue

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This article reports on the impact of the Experience Corps® (EC) Baltimore program, an intergenerational, school-based program aimed at improving academic achievement and reducing disruptive school behavior in urban, elementary school students in Kindergarten through third grade (K-3). Teams of adult volunteers aged 60 and older were placed in public schools, serving 15 h or more per week, to perform meaningful and important roles to improve the educational outcomes of children and the health and well-being of volunteers. Findings indicate no significant impact of the EC program on standardized reading or mathematical achievement test scores among children in grades 1–3 …

Entertainment-Education Videos As A Persuasive Tool In The Substance Use Prevention Intervention "Keepin' It Real", Youngju Shin, Michelle Miller-Day, Michael L. Hecht, Janice L. Krieger

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Based on social cognitive theory and narrative engagement theory, the current study examined hypothesized indirect effects of engagement with keepin’ it REAL (kiR) curriculum entertainment–education (E–E) videos on youth alcohol use via youth drug offer refusal efficacy. Students in 7th grade (N = 1,464) at 25 public schools in two Midwestern states were randomly assigned to one of the two versions of the kiR curriculum, the kiR urban version and the kiR rural version. Each version had their own set of five culturally-grounded E–E videos depicting communicative skills to refuse drug offers. Differential effects for engagement components …

The Goal-Driven, Resilient, And Influential Teens Program In Kentucky High Schools: The Impact On Social And Emotional Learning And Influencing Factors, Brant Von Goble

Dissertations

In order to assess the effects of the Goal-driven, Resilient, and Influential Teens (GRIT) program on social and emotional learning and academic performance in high schools throughout Kentucky, data from several sources were compiled and analyzed. These sources included results from the Student Engagement and Performance (STEP) survey, an instrument developed by the Rock Solid Evaluation Team at Western Kentucky University and administered yearly to high school students and teachers, and school-level academic and socioeconomic data from the Kentucky Department of Education. Additional data on fidelity of GRIT program implementation were obtained from FranklinCovey, the GRIT program’s developer and publisher. …

Teacher Narratives And Student Engagement Testing Narrative Engagement Theory In Drug Prevention Education, Michelle Miller-Day, Michael L. Hecht, Janice L. Krieger, Jonathan Pettigrew, Young Ju Shin, John L. Graham

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Testing narrative engagement theory, this study examines student engagement and teachers’ spontaneous narratives told in a narrative-based drug prevention curriculum. The study describes the extent to which teachers share their own narratives in a narrative-based curriculum, identifies dominant narrative elements, forms and functions, and assesses the relationships among teacher narratives, overall lesson narrative quality, and student engagement. One-hundred videotaped lessons of the keepin’ it REAL drug prevention curriculum were coded and the results supported the claim that increased narrative quality of a prevention lesson would be associated with increased student engagement. The quality of narrativity, however, varied widely. Implications of …

Comparison Of Linear Functions In Middle Grades Textbooks From Singapore And The United States, Linda D. Fowler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many U.S. students do not perform well on mathematics assessments with respect to algebra topics such as linear functions, a building-block for other functions. Poor achievement of U.S. middle school students in this topic is a problem.

U.S. eighth graders have had average mathematics scores on international comparison tests such as Third International Mathematics Science Study, later known as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, (TIMSS)-1995, -99, -03, while Singapore students have had highest average scores. U.S. eighth grade average mathematics scores improved on TIMMS-2007 and held steady onTIMMS-2011. Results from national assessments, PISA 2009 and 2012 and National Assessment …

A Historical Review And Resource Guide To The Scholarship Of Teaching And Training In Psychology And Law And Forensic Psychology, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms, Margaret C. Stevenson, Jennifer C. Veilleux

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

The field of psychology and law, including forensic psychology, is an exciting concentration of research activity and student training and has grown rapidly, but to what extent have teaching and training efforts in the field been systematically catalogued and evaluated? We conducted a historical review and content analysis of the American and Canadian literature on the scholarship of teaching and training in the field. This review catalogs (a) information related to the development of training and teaching, (b) descriptions of programs and courses at various levels, and (c) articles on teaching resources or techniques in this field. We hope it …

Assessing The Efficacy Of A Modified Therapeutic Community On The Reduction Of Institutional Write-Ups In A Medium Security Prison, Lee Maglinger

Dissertations

This study explored the impact a modified Therapeutic Community (TC) had on reducing institutional disorder as documented by institutional write-ups. Substance abuse treatment programs are typically evaluated in terms of their ability to prevent relapse and reduce recidivism. The current study examined the efficacy of a modified TC in relation to these parameters but also explored its overall impact on prison safety and security for both the inmates and staff of a medium security prison located in Kentucky. Specifically, the number of institutional write-ups exhibited by clients participating in a modified Therapeutic Community was compared with the number of write-ups …

Educators' Attitudes Toward Outdoor Classrooms And The Cognitive Benefits In Children, Carlie Speedlin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A case study was organized at a K-5 elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraksa. This school is Saratoga Elementary School and is a United States Title I Distinguished School1 under No Child Left Behind. It has a population of 266 students, with 47% being minority, 1% gifted, and 28% special education (LPS School Profile Brochure). 80% of the student population is eligible for free/reduced meals, implying that it’s a school with a lower socioeconomic status. At this school a garden space was constructed and an after school garden club was implemented for this case study. The club had been running since …

The Effects Of Self-Monitoring On Homework Completion And Accuracy Rates Of Students With Disabilities In An Inclusive General Education Classroom, Carol Ann Falkenberg

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of self-monitoring on the homework completion and accuracy rates of four, fourth-grade students with disabilities in an inclusive general education classroom. A multiple baseline across subjects design was utilized to examine four dependent variables: completion of spelling homework, accuracy of spelling homework, completion of math homework, accuracy of math homework. Data were collected and analyzed during baseline, three phases of intervention, and maintenance. Throughout baseline and all phases, participants followed typical classroom procedures, brought their homework to school each day and gave it to the general education teacher. During Phase I of the intervention, participants …

The Development Of Curriculum-Based Measurement Local Norms In The Area Of Written Expression, Elizabeth Anne Youngman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This project used Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in the area of Written Expression to establish district norms for Bowling Green City Schools. CBM uses brief fluency measures as indicators of students' academic performance. With the use of CBM, it is possible to identify students who are considered to be at-risk for educational performance. AIMSweb probes were used to assess 1,565 first through fifth grade students from five elementary schools within the Bowling Green Independent School District. Performance was scored using the three most common scoring indices: Total Words Written (TWW), Words Spelled Correctly (WSC), and Correct Word Sequence (CWS). Data collected …

Stereotype Threat And The Standardized Testing Experiences Of African American Children At An Urban Elementary School, Martin J. Wasserberg

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) refers to the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group in a particular performance domain. The theory assumes that performance in the stereotyped domain is most negatively affected when individuals are more highly identified with the domain in question. As federal law has increased the importance of standardized testing at the elementary level, it can be reasonably hypothesized that the standardized test performance of African American children will be depressed when they are aware of negative societal stereotypes about the academic competence of African Americans. This sequential mixed-methods study investigated whether the …

The Pond You Fish In Determines The Fish You Catch: Exploring Strategies For Qualitative Data Collection, Muninder Kaur Ahluwalia, Lisa A. Suzuki, Agnes Kwong Arora, Jacqueline S. Mattis

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

Qualitative research has increased in popularity among social scientists. While substantial attention has been given to various methods of qualitative analysis, there is a need to focus on strategies for collecting diverse forms of qualitative data. In this article, the authors discuss four sources of qualitative data: participant observation, interviews, physical data, and electronic data. Although counseling psychology researchers often use interviewing, participant observation and physical and electronic data are also beneficial ways of collecting qualitative data that have been underutilized.

Birth Parents In Adoption: Research, Practice, And Counseling Psychology, Amanda Baden, Mary O'Leary Wiley

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

This article addresses birth parents in the adoption triad by reviewing and integrating both the clinical and empirical literature from a number of professional disciplines with practice case studies. This review includes literature on the decision to relinquish one’s child for adoption, the early postrelinquishment period, and the effects throughout the lifespan on birth parents. Clinical symptoms for birth parents include unresolved grief, isolation, difficulty with future relationships, and trauma. Some recent research has found that some birth mothers who relinquish tend to fare comparably to those who do not relinquish on external criteria of well-being (e.g., high school graduation …

An Attributional Analysis Of Students' Reactions To Success And Failure, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Like it or not, evaluation is as much a part of education as is learning. In most schools and universities students are regularly tested and evaluated by their teachers, who communicate their appraisals in the form of a grade. When the papers are handed back, the grades are posted, or report cards are sent home, students find out if they have succeeded or if they have failed.

How do students react to these academic evaluations? According to a growing number of studies, the answer to this question depends upon their attributions: students' inferences about the causes of their performances and …