Faculty and Student Participation and Perceptions of Service-Learning Outcomes

SUMMARY

Faculty (n = 55) and student (n = 75) perceptions of service-learning outcomes were evaluated using a questionnaire format. Results indicated that while faculty strongly believe service-learning is important to student academic growth, few actually teach service-learning courses because of time constraints and unfamiliarity with service-learning course models. Comparisons of faculty and student perceptions showed that compared to students, faculty had a stronger perception of the value of service-learning for students. When students were divided into those who had (n = 33) or had not (n = 42) participated in service-learning, faculty and service-learning students' perceptions did not differ, and both rated these experiences more valuable than did non-service-learning students.     

Memories

SUMMARY

The Hawaiian Studies Program (HSP) integrates the learning of Hawaiian culture with more traditional secondary curriculum in science, social studies, and English. Students also participate in weekly community service-learning sessions. Fifty-five HSP students and 29 peers (who were not involved in the program), completed a survey measuring: students' connection to, pride in, and responsibility for their community; civic attitudes; and career knowledge and preparedness. HSP teachers, community members, and students were also interviewed about program outcomes. Compared to other peers, HSP students tended to report feeling more connected to their community and school and to agree that they had career-related skills. Participants believed that service-learning contributed to these outcomes by making connections between school and community life and by exposing students to a variety of careers.     

Attitudinal and Academic Effects of Service-Learning

SUMMARY

We examined perceived learning and attitude change in classes in Cognitive Psychology and Sensation and Perception in which some but not all of the students did service-learning with autistic children or in other settings. Attitudes toward people served became more positive based on questionnaire and journal entry data, and in one class, service-learning students felt they learned more about course material from their experiences.     

Restructuring the Ecology of the School as an Approach to Prevention During School Transitions

Summary

Normative school transitions are often accompanied by deterioration in students' socio-emotional, behavioral and academic adjustment, and poorer outcomes in later adolescence and young adulthood. The current paper describes a preventive intervention for students experiencing normative transitions into middle grade schools and junior and senior high schools-the School Transitional Environment Project (STEP). The program is based on a transactional-ecological model of preventive intervention that employs a school restructuring and transformation approach in order to prevent the deleterious effects of school transitions and create school environments that are developmentally enhancing. Core features of STEP seek to change the ecological characteristics of the school setting in ways that: (a) reduce the adaptational demands of coping with flux and complexity in new school settings; (b) increase access to and the provision of important emotional and academic/instrumental support and guidance from school staff and other students; and (c) increase the students' sense of connectedness and belonging within the school. The present paper reviews findings from prior trials of the School Environment Transition Project, and presents the results of two additional STEP studies. The first reports on a long-term follow-up of STEP students who received the project in a large, urban high school that served students whose families were largely on public assistance. Results of this study revealed approximately 50% reductions in drop-out rates and significant positive effects on school performance and attendance patterns. The second study reports on an extension of STEP to junior high schools and middle grade students. Consistent with earlier studies, during the transition year, students in STEP schools reported more positive experiences in school environment dimensions that STEP sought to impact, and better adjustment outcomes than non-STEP students across academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral domains.     

Developing a University-Wide Institutional Response to Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence

SUMMARY

Students may be predisposed to benefit from mandatory service-learning programs based on their gender and upon whether their parents serve as models of helping. The role of each of these variables was examined in a survey of seventh grade students (n = 86) who were required to complete service during the school year. Results demonstrated that girls felt more positively about the specific program and were more likely to intend to help in the future than boys. Students with parental helping models were also more likely to intend to help in the future. Girls with parental models were more likely to have altruistic self-images than girls without parental models whereas the presence of parental helping models had no effect on boys' altruistic self-image. These results are discussed with regard to socialization of prosocial behavior in both boys and girls.     

Learning Science for Social Good

SUMMARY

This conceptual case study explores two dynamic tensions, substantive and pedagogical, fundamental to teaching research in community psychology from a service learning perspective. The substantive dynamic tension is seen in traditional versus adventuresome approaches to community research; the pedagogical dynamic tension occurs in classroom instruction versus field work. To address the substantive tension, students were introduced to the epistemology and methods of adventuresome community research and then used both adventuresome and traditional elements in conducting a community research project. To address the pedagogical tension, class and field sessions were used to complement one another for student preparation, action, and reflection. Four guidelines for designing community research courses from a service learning perspective are articulated.     

Experiential Teaching in an Adult Development Course: Promoting an Understanding of Intergenerational Interactions

Twelve students in a developmental psychology service-learning course engaged in a service-learning project with two groups of elders in an urban setting. Nine members of the class provided quantitative and qualitative feedback on this experiential learning experience. Survey results indicated that students believed the project increased their interest in the content area and that the project was a valuable aspect of the course. Based on student reflection papers in the course, students could identify specific ways the project helped them to learn course content. Finally, two interviewed students commented on how the project helped dismantle ageist preconceptions they held prior to completing the course. The project illustrates the advantages of experiential teaching in promoting interactions and understanding between diverse age groups. Three recommendations for implementing experiential teaching in community psychology and service-learning courses are presented.     

Academic procrastination and feelings toward procrastination in LD and non-LD students: Preliminary insights for future intervention

ABSTRACT

Academic procrastination is a prevalent behavior that negatively influences students’ performance and well-being. The growing number of students with learning disabilities (LD) in higher education communities leads to the need to study and address academic procrastination in this unique population of students and to develop ways to prevent and intervene. The present study examined the difference in academic procrastination between LD, non-LD, and supported LD college students in Israel. Findings indicated a significant difference between the three groups, both in academic procrastination and in the desire to change this behavior. Interestingly, supported LD students were similar to non-LD students in all parameters of academic procrastination; however, they expressed less desire to change this behavior than unsupported LD students. These findings highlight the effect of general academic support on academic procrastination in LD students. Future studies will need to further explore the specific elements of support that most contribute to the reduction of academic procrastination in LD students. Specific support programs for academic procrastination in LD students who take into account the findings of these future studies can then be developed and studied.     

Community-Partnered Needs Assessment: A Strategy to Teach College Students About Health Disparities

Partnering with communities to provide service-learning opportunities for undergraduates can be an effective strategy to teach college students about health disparities. In the current study, undergraduates partnered with a public K–8 school to conduct a participatory needs assessment. College students worked directly with teachers, parents, public school students, and key stakeholders to identify and prioritize health needs, and they awarded the partnership school a grant to address physical activity and bullying. Undergraduates rated the class highly favorably and reported a deeper understanding of health disparities resulting from the service-learning activity. Health disparities research is increasingly becoming a national priority and service learning can attract future talent by providing undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in the material in a meaningful way with clear community benefit.     

Student outcomes associated with service-learning in a culturally relevant high school program

The Hawaiian Studies Program (HSP) integrates the learning of Hawaiian culture with more traditional secondary curriculum in science, social studies, and English. Students also participate in weekly community service-learning sessions. Fifty-five HSP students and 29 peers (who were not involved in the program), completed a survey measuring: students' connection to, pride in, and responsibility for their community; civic attitudes; and career knowledge and preparedness. HSP teachers, community members, and students were also interviewed about program outcomes. Compared to other peers, HSP students tended to report feeling more connected to their community and school and to agree that they had career-related skills. Participants believed that service- learning contributed to these outcomes by making connections between school and community life and by exposing students to a variety of careers.     

“I’ll stop procrastinating now!” Fostering specific processes of self-regulated learning to reduce academic procrastination

ABSTRACT

Academic procrastination is considered to be a result of self-regulation failure having detrimental effects on students’ well-being and academic performance. In the present study, we developed and evaluated a group training that aimed to reduce academic procrastination. We based the training on a cyclical process model of self-regulated learning, thus, focusing on improving deficient processes of self-regulated learning among academic procrastinators (e.g., time management, dealing with distractions). The training comprised five sessions and took place once a week for 90?min in groups of no more than 10 students. Overall, 106 students completed the training. We evaluated the training using a comprehensive control group design with repeated measures (three points of measurement); the control group was trained after the intervention group’s training. The results showed that our training was successful. The trained intervention group significantly reduced academic procrastination and improved specific processes of self-regulated learning (e.g., time management, concentration), whereas the untrained control group showed no change regarding these variables. After the control group had also been trained, the control group also showed the expected favorable changes. The students rated the training overall as good and found it recommendable for procrastinating friends. Hence, fostering self-regulatory processes in our intervention was a successful attempt to support students in reducing academic procrastination. The evaluation of the training encourages us to adapt the training for different groups of procrastinators.     

Teaching Experientially in the Undergraduate Community Psychology Classroom

Experiential learning is a useful teaching tool in the undergraduate community psychology classroom. In addition to improving student outcomes, experiential learning is particularly relevant for community psychology, as it aligns with several core values of the field and can prompt not only student learning, but also civic engagement, social justice, and community betterment. In this article, we provide an overview of the themed issue on “Experiential Teaching Practices in Undergraduate Community Psychology.” The issue contains a variety of experiential teaching examples that fall into three clusters: (a) individual and group service-learning exercises; (b) using community experiences to augment in-class learning outside of a service-learning context; and (c) ways of having students draw on prior out-of-class or in-class community experiences to increase student understanding.     

Becoming better health care providers: outcomes of a primary care service-learning project in medical school

Medical educators have begun to embrace service-learning as a method for teaching medical students to be more socially responsible, patient-oriented practitioners. However, research documenting the learning outcomes of service-learning in medical education is limited. In this paper, written documents generated through evaluation of a mandatory, structured community service-learning experience were analyzed qualitatively to discover the diverse learning outcomes among 24 students who participated in the experience. Preliminary findings indicate that students developed skills and attitudes directly related to competencies of concern in most U.S. medical programs. These preliminary findings may help other programs articulate learning outcomes for their service-learning programs. Further, these preliminary findings may stimulate more systematic research (qualitative and quantitative) in this area.     

Building a Foundation Against Violence

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the Too Good for Violence Prevention Program (TGFV), a multifaceted interactive intervention. Grounded in Bandura's Social Learning Theory, the TGFV curricula focus on developing personal and interpersonal skills to solve conflict non-violently and resist social influences that lead to violence. Participants were 999 third grade students and 46 teachers in ten elementary schools. The schools were matched on student characteristics and academic performance and assigned to treatment or control conditions. Teachers and students completed checklists assessing students' behaviors prior to, following, and 20 weeks after program delivery. Results show that treatment students, as compared to control students, were perceived by teachers as evidencing more frequent use of personal and social skills and of prosocial behaviors after program delivery. Student survey data show that treatment students, as compared to control students, evidenced more positive scores in the areas of emotional competency skills, social and resistance skills, and communication skills after program delivery. The benefits of the TGFV program continued to be observed at the 20-week follow-up.     

Easing Postpartum School Transitions Through Parent Mentoring Programs

Summary

Alternative schools offer pregnant and parenting high school students smaller classes, a less stigmatizing environment, and specialized health and social services. Most alternative schools require that students return to their regular public high schools soon after they have delivered. Although students making this postpartum transition face extraordinary challenges, few supportive services are available. As a result, the academic performance of many postpartum students suffers and may eventually lead to high school drop out. Mentoring programs, which are initiated while students are still pregnant, may provide an important bridge between the alternative and regular school settings. Mentoring relationships can ease the stress associated with postpartum school transition and, ultimately, forestall or prevent the academic and social problems typically associated with adolescent pregnancy and parenthood.     

Integrating Proactive Discipline Practices into Codes of Conduct

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to advocate for proactive content in discipline codes of conduct. Proactive discipline codes integrate Positive Behavior Support (PBS) strategies (Sugai & Horner, 2002) and attend to the academic needs of students (McEvoy & Welker, 2000). Proactive discipline codes of conduct have meaningful participation by key stakeholders (Noonan, Tunney, Fogal & Sarich, 1999). The limited efficacy of traditional reactionary approaches commonly found in discipline codes are reviewed (McEvoy & Welker, 2000; Skiba & Peterson, 1999). Following this, an argument is presented for a new proactive stance in the development of written codes of conduct. Specific examples of content are presented in a table.     

Academic procrastination and academic performance: An initial basis for intervention

ABSTRACT

Academic procrastination is a prevalent phenomenon with a range of negative outcomes. Many studies focused on causes and correlates of academic procrastination; however, the study of interventions for academic procrastination is scarce. The present study is an initial effort to study the relationship between academic procrastination, online course participation, and achievement, as a basis for developing an intervention for academic procrastination. Findings indicated that studying procrastination was negatively associated with final exam grade as well as with the three online course participation measures. Final exam grade was positively associated with two of the online course participation measures, and they positively correlated with each other. In addition, results indicated that studying procrastination, in combination with online course participation measures, explained about 50% of variance in final exam’s grade. Frequency of activities in course Web site had the strongest positive effect on final exam’s grade.

These findings strengthen the notion that studying procrastination is an impediment to students’ academic performance and outcomes and clarifies the need to develop and study academic interventions for academic procrastination as a means to decrease its prevalence in academic settings.     

Empower,not impose!—Preventing academic procrastination

ABSTRACT

In the frame of the goal setting process between supervisor and student while writing a thesis, it is hypothesized that mutually set goals (participation) and writing down the results of the meeting (recording) can prevent procrastination and increase engagement of the student. With a questionnaire relating to the latest written thesis (n?=?97, academic sample), the effects of goal setting characteristics (recording, participation) and task characteristics (ambiguity, control) on engagement and procrastination were examined. Results of a multiple mediation model indicate that recording indirectly influences engagement and procrastination through its effect on ambiguity. Moreover, participation indirectly influences engagement through its effect on control. It is concluded that goal setting characteristics and task characteristics can affect student’s procrastination. Thus, the present research provides criteria for how supervisors can prevent students from procrastinating.     

Identifying High-Risk Students During School Transition

Summary

A preventive, community-based program was designed to facilitate high school transition and reduce dropout. Participants in the study were ninth grade, predominantly Hispanic inner-city students. School absence was used as a variable to identify students who were at high risk for failure. Compared with low- and middle-absence groups, the high-absence groups' failures and class rankings deteriorated consistently across time points. In addition, over time, high-absence group students experienced more pronounced increases in school absence and decreases in academic achievement relative to low- and middle-absence counterparts. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for dropout prevention programming.     

Sexual Assault Policies and Consent Definitions: A Nationally Representative Investigation of U.S. Colleges and Universities

ABSTRACT

Campus sexual assault (SA) policies and sexual consent definitions have not been widely studied. The study team conducted a nationally representative review of college and university websites (n = 995), assessing the prevalence of publicly accessible online policies and definitions and examining associations with school characteristics. A content analysis was performed on a subsample (n = 100) of consent definitions. Most schools (93.0%) had an SA policy and consent definition (87.6%) available online. Schools were more likely to have a policy or consent definition if they were large (≥5,000 students), public, or had a female enrollment of ≥33%. Detail and comprehensiveness of definitions varied. Findings highlight opportunities for schools—especially small schools, private schools, and those with more male students—to increase access to SA policies and consent definitions.