Ally,Advocate, Activist: Semester-long civic engagement in the basic communication course

Courses: Basic communication course.

Objectives: Using the Ally, Advocate, Activist framework in a basic communication course will help students apply course concepts to their lives and communities. This framework helps students practice civic engagement while mastering the skills that are typically tested for assessment purposes in the basic communication course.     

Perfectionism and depressive symptoms in early adolescence

The Adaptive/Maladaptive Perfectionism Scale (AMPS; K.G. Rice & K.J. Preusser, 2002) was developed on samples of 9‐ to 11‐year‐old children. A primary purpose of the current research was to examine whether the AMPS could be useful in studies of adolescents, and in particular, studies of adolescent depression. This study of 145 early adolescents revealed (1) a somewhat different AMPS factor structure than has been evident in studies of younger children; (2) no significant mean differences between boys and girls on perfectionism, although girls were significantly more depressed than boys; (3) a pattern of perfectionism‐depression correlations that differed somewhat between boys and girls; and (4) several interactions of different dimensions of perfectionism in accounting for depression. Results are discussed by addressing differences between children and adolescents in school cultures, physical and psychological changes from childhood to adolescence, and the importance of considering the positive as well as the negative aspects of perfectionism among school‐age children. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 139–156, 2007.     

The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Student Achievement and Motivation in a High School Geometry Class

In this study, the effects of a form of cooperative group instruction (Student Teams Achievement Divisions) on student motivation and achievement in a high school geometry class were examined. Eighty students were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving traditional instruction or one of two treatment groups receiving cooperative learning instruction. Geometry achievement was assessed using scores from the IOWA Test of Basic Skills and teacher-made exams. An 83-item questionnaire was used as a pretest, posttest, and post-posttest assessment of efficacy, intrinsic valuing, goal orientation, and cognitive processing. Students in the cooperative treatment groups exhibited significantly greater gains than the control group in geometry achievement, efficacy, intrinsic valuing of geometry, learning goal orientation, and reported uses of deep processing strategies. The implications for cooperative group structures and motivation theory are discussed.     

Ask Dr. Discovery: the impact of a casual mobile game on visitor engagement with science museum content

Educational technology research and development - This study examines the impact of a mobile game app on science museum visitors’ level of engagement with exhibit content, compared to a non...     

In practice: The green zone: A program to support military students on campus

Like many institutions of higher education, Virginia Commonwealth University has seen an increase in the number of military students. Ann Nichols‐Casebolt describes one strategy the university has implemented to respond to the needs of this important group.     

Experiences of Counselor Education Doctoral Student Mothers With Young Children

We explored the mothering experiences of 11 counselor education doctoral student mothers who have at least one young child under the age of 5. Six themes emerged from the study, including ambivalence, increased use of coping mechanisms, striving for balance, “superwoman syndrome,” indistinguishable roles, and leading by example.