Validating the Hornik & Woolf approach to choosing media campaign themes: Do promising beliefs predict behavior change in a longitudinal study?

Hornik and Woolf (1999) proposed using cross-sectional survey data to prioritize beliefs to address with communication campaign messages. The empirical component of the approach combines evidence of (1) association of beliefs with intentions and (2) current level of beliefs to calculate a “percentage to gain” as the potential promise of a belief. However, the method relies on cross-sectional data; its conclusions are open to challenge. Here, a panel study assesses whether the calculated promise of a belief actually predicts future behavior change. A nationally representative sample of 3,204 U.S. youth and young adults were interviewed twice, six months apart. Sixteen beliefs about the benefits and costs of smoking cigarettes are compared with regard to their percentage to gain (calculated from cross-sectional data) and their ability to account for subsequent cigarette use. A belief’s cross-sectional percentage to gain is substantially associated with its ability to predict subsequent behavior change (r = .53, p < .05).     

CoNoteS2: A Software Tool for Promoting Self-Regulation

Integrating state-of-the-art computer technologies with pedagogically sound practice provides interesting challenges and potentially significant opportunities to simultaneously promote and examine learning in context. This paper unfolds in 3 parts. We begin by introducing the reader to contemporary theories of self-regulation. We present a 4-phase model of self-regulating and a sparse literature on instructional design for SRL. Second, we build on this theory to describe features of CoNoteS2 (a prototype electronic notebook) that support self-regulation through tacit and explicit scaffolding. And finally, we describe the role of CoNoteS2 in researching about how students self-regulate their own learning. Our intent is to illustrate how contemporary learning theory can be used to drive instructional innovation and technological enhancement for the classroom.     

The Value-Added Nature of Service-Learning

This research explores the benefits of service-learning among a group of Midwestern college students. Students enrolled in a section of a Juvenile Delinquency course served as volunteers at a juvenile detention facility and were studied using a pre-test/post-test survey design. This pilot project also included a comparison group of students in a section of the course which did not involve service-learning. The study compared service-learning to non-service-learning students in terms of attitudes regarding juvenile delinquency, punishment, and attributions of criminal behavior. We also examined any possible effects of service-learning on student academic skills, career goals, and comfort level with delinquents. Overall, we found that the service-learning project was a valuable educational tool having a positive impact on a number of student outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for service-learning research and practice.     

Teamwork in Establishing a Professional Learning Community in a New Icelandic School

The focus of the action research reported here is on how leaders and teachers used teamwork in developing a professional learning community in a new compulsory school in Iceland. Collaboration is a critical issue in schools as it can improve practice that supports student achievement. Results from the TALIS 2008 study show that Icelandic teachers are below international averages regarding joint teaching and supporting each other. Findings from this action research study showed signs of an emerging collaborative structure among some teams but also a lack of feedback among peers. Teachers expressed difficulty in putting into practice their growing sense of professionalism. The research findings suggest that peer coaching should be supported to encourage staff to engage in critical reflection and transforming practice.     

Part-time students in transition: supporting a successful start to higher education

The transition into higher education is a critical time for all students. A positive early experience provides a strong foundation for future academic success whilst a negative experience can be destabilising for a new learner. To date, research has primarily focused on full-time undergraduates in order to explain the reasons for high attrition rates at the end of the first year. Less is known about the experiences of part-time undergraduates despite the fact that they make up over one quarter of the total student population (HESA, 2015). This article reports on a study to investigate the initial experiences of a group of part-time undergraduates who have chosen to undertake a degree at a small study centre run by one university. Using a mixed methods research approach, the research captured the lived reality of the experience and identified the contributing and negating factors that can influence a successful transition. Perceptions of the level and type of support provided for students during transition were gained from both staff and students. The findings confirm a heterogeneous group. Despite being highly motivated, the early transition period was generally characterised by a sense of trepidation and self-doubt as students took their first steps in higher education. The research highlights the complexity of the initial decision-making process for part-time students and the barriers they face. It concludes that a flexible but unified approach, involving tutors and the wider support services, is needed, as unique students require unique responses to their transition needs.     

Leaving the Academic Library

A survey was distributed to former academic librarians to determine why they left the field and which career they pursued afterward. Results suggest that former academic librarians are unhappy with administration, image, and salary. Time spent as librarians helped individuals in their new careers.     

Evaluation of patterning instruction for kindergartners

Abstract

To determine whether patterning instruction was as useful or more useful than other forms of instruction, kindergarten children (age five) were taught either patterning or early literacy or mathematics or social studies in matched sessions. Instruction was conducted in 15-minute sessions from November through mid-April. Posttests on patterning, mathematics, early literacy, and three executive functions showed that the children taught patterning became significantly better at patterning than those in the other instructional conditions. No differences were found between the children taught mathematics, early literacy, or social studies. Correlational analyses indicated that the relations of patterning ability, working memory, and inhibitory control to mathematics achievement were similar. Cognitive flexibility was not very strongly related to any other measure and the executive functions were relatively independent of each other for the children who were age five.     

The response of pre-service teachers to a compulsory research project

This paper draws on 159 survey responses of fourth year Education students as they embark on a research project based in their internship school. The project explores predisposition to research and the level of preparedness to undertake a research project. The students who met most frequently with their supervisor and showed higher research self-efficacy were also most likely to want to undertake postgraduate study and reacted positively to good personal support and a feeling of belonging to a research “community”. Many felt they were “unconnected” to a learning community, and specifically to their supervisor. They were generally positive about their ability to do the tasks, such as finding and writing up literature, even though they were concerned about managing the overall commitment. Despite this they were optimistic about completion. Only 5% were sure they would undertake postgraduate study in the future, and 65% were sure they would not do so. In an environment where there is commitment to promoting research skills consistent with the needs of a knowledge society and drawing on evidence to inform practice, the findings not only raise the question of how best to support and give meaning to early research endeavours of preservice teachers, but also highlights the challenge of achieving this against a high level of disinterest in further tertiary study.