Adapting the graduation efficiency index to provide a consistent basis for assessment of student progress towards graduation

Graduation efficiency is of top concern for institutions of higher education throughout the world. Increasingly, accountability metrics have come under scrutiny as policymakers seek to ensure public resources are efficiently used. Traditionally, higher education policymakers in the USA and Europe have used graduation rate as an accountability measure to assess a university’s efficient use of resources. This time-to-degree method, however, does not take into account the shift in student demographics from a traditional full-time student to the diverse group of students pursuing higher education through varied paths, including balancing work with reduced course loads, studying abroad, completing internships, among others. These changes suggest additional accountability measures are needed to accurately capture student progress as it relates to resource utilisation. This research adapts the Graduation Efficiency Index proposed by Gillmore and Hoffman (1997) to a cohort-based model to allow for evaluating retention policies implemented by cohorts to improve student progress.     

Longitudinal Effects of PostDivorce Interparental Conflict on Children’s Mental Health Problems Through Fear of Abandonment: Does Parenting Quality Play a Buffering Role?

In a sample of 559 children (ages 9–18), researchers investigated whether: (a) fear of abandonment mediated the association between postdivorce interparental conflict (IPC) and mental health problems, and (b) parent–child relationship quality moderated the association between IPC and fear of abandonment. Mediation analyses indicated that pretest IPC predicted fear of abandonment 3 months later, which then predicted child- and teacher-reported mental health problems 10 months later. The hypothesized protective effect of a high-quality parent–child relationship was not observed. IPC predicted fear of abandonment for all children, except for those with low- and moderate-quality father–child relationships, for whom IPC was not significantly related to fear of abandonment. Findings highlight the need to optimize child coping programs and improve parenting-after-divorce programs to reduce IPC.     

Does It Matter How We Speak About Social Kinds? A Large,Preregistered, Online Experimental Study of How Language Shapes the Development of Essentialist Beliefs

A problematic way to think about social categories is to essentialize them—to treat particular differences between people as marking fundamentally distinct social kinds. From where do these beliefs arise? Language that expresses generic claims about categories elicits some aspects of essentialism, but the scope of these effects remains unclear. This study (N = 204, ages 4.5–8 years, 73% White; recruited predominantly from the United States and the United Kingdom to participate online in 2019) found that generic language increases two critical aspects of essentialist thought: Beliefs that (a) category-related properties arise from intrinsic causal mechanisms and (b) category boundaries are inflexible. These findings have implications for understanding the spread of essentialist beliefs across communities and the development of intergroup behavior.     

Telemedicine for patient education

Abstract

A telemedicine project was conducted to explore the delivery of childbirth preparation classes originating at a large regional hospital to a remote site at a small rural hospital. Over six months, three series of classes were included in the project, with twenty‐four participants at the originating site and twenty participants at the remote site. A two‐way, audio/video teleconferencing system with multiple cameras and monitors was employed for instruction. A registered nurse taught the class and a site facilitator assisted at the remote site. Evaluation of the project was done through surveys, interviews, and observations. The classes were well received by project participants at both sites. Principal advantages cited were increased availability of the programs, improved attendance, and convenience to rural participants. The principal disadvantages cited focused on technical problems, particularly audio quality.     

Evaluation of Social Cognitive Scaling Response Options in the Physical Activity Domain

The purpose of this study was to compare the reliability, variability, and predictive validity of two common scaling response formats (semantic differential, Likert-type) and two numbers of response options (5-point, 7-point) in the physical activity domain. Constructs of the theory of planned behavior were chosen in this analysis based on its high frequency of application in exercise and physical activity. The participants were 412 undergraduate students who completed measures of the theory of planned behavior and self-reported physical activity two weeks later. One of four questionnaires, each containing a scaling response format, were distributed randomly and formed four groups of approximately n = 100 for comparisons (5-point Likert, 5-point semantic differential, 7-point Likert, 7-point semantic differential). Results showed that the 7-point options had greater variability than the 5-point options and that the 7-point Likert scale had the highest overall reliability. These differences, however, did not translate into predictive validity of behavior. The findings support the use of all of these types of scales with physical activity research because of their relatively equivalent outcomes.     

Planning for leadership succession: creating a talent pool in primary schools

This article reports on a study that was funded by the National College for School Leadership in order to explore practices, drivers and barriers to leadership talent identification, leadership development, leadership succession planning and leadership retention within a group of contextually different schools. The article offers two narratives from primary school headteachers, operating in different circumstances, in order to show the ways in which schools are attempting to ‘grow their own’ leaders through systematic policies for leadership development. Key features of successful schools which consider themselves to be good at leadership development, which may be relevant to other primary schools, are outlined.     

Using growth curves to determine the timing of booster sessions

Booster sessions are often recommended to reestablish or reinforce the cognitive messages or behavior changes due to therapeutic and behavioral interventions. To plan intervention‐relevant booster sessions, researchers need to know the pattern(s) of individual change over time in outcome variables and for experimental groups. Growth curve analysis of repeated measures can estimate these patterns for different categories of intervention participants. This article demonstrates an application of this method using data from a recently completed multisite randomized experiment that compared 3 different counseling and testing methods for prevention of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, Project RESPECT. Reported self‐efficacy for condom use with the main sexual partner is used as an illustrative example. For most experimental groups, self‐efficacy for condom use declined for both female and male respondents soon after the intervention and booster sessions should have been instituted within 3 months after the intervention. The article closes with some recommendations for both prospective and retrospective use of growth curves to rationally plan the timing of booster sessions and to evaluate their effectiveness in preventing relapse.     

Boys Will Be Boys; Cows Will Be Cows: Children's Essentialist Reasoning About Gender Categories and Animal Species

Two studies ( N =  456) compared the development of concepts of animal species and human gender, using a switched-at-birth reasoning task. Younger children (5- and 6-year-olds) treated animal species and human gender as equivalent; they made similar levels of category-based inferences and endorsed similar explanations for development in these 2 domains. In contrast, 10-year-olds and adults treated gender and species concepts as distinct from one another. They viewed gender-linked behavioral properties as open to environmental influence and endorsed environment-based mechanisms to explain gender development. At all ages, children demonstrated differentiated reasoning about physical and behavioral properties, although this differentiation became more stable with age. The role of psychological essentialism in guiding conceptual development is discussed.