Predicting Graduation Rates at 4-year Broad Access Institutions Using a Bayesian Modeling Approach

This study models graduation rates at 4-year broad access institutions (BAIs). We examine the student body, structural-demographic, and financial characteristics that best predict 6-year graduation rates across two time periods (2008–2009 and 2014–2015). A Bayesian model averaging approach is utilized to account for uncertainty in variable selection in modeling graduation rates. Evidence suggests that graduation rates can be predicted by religious affiliation, proportion of students enrolled full-time, socioeconomic status of the student body, enrollment size and institutional revenue and expenditures. Findings also demonstrate that relatively fewer variables predict institutional graduation rates for Latina/o and African American students at 4-year BAIs. We conclude with implications for policy and key recommendations for research focused on 4-year BAIs.     

Into the Unknown: Examining Neural Representations of Parent–Adolescent Interactions

The parent–adolescent relationship is important for adolescents’ emotion regulation (ER), yet little is known regarding the neural patterns of dyadic ER that occur during parent–adolescent interactions. A novel measure that can be used to examine such patterns is cross-brain connectivity (CBC)—concurrent and time-lagged connectivity between two individuals’ brain regions. This study sought to provide evidence of CBC and explore associations between CBC, parenting, and adolescent internalizing symptoms. Thirty-five adolescents (mean age = 15 years, 69% female, 72% Non-Hispanic White, 17% Black, 11% Hispanic or Latino) and one biological parent (94% female) completed an fMRI hyperscanning conflict discussion task. Results revealed CBC between emotion-related brain regions. Exploratory analyses indicated CBC is associated with parenting and adolescent depressive symptoms.     

How Much Have They Retained? Making Unseen Concepts Seen in a Freshman Electromagnetism Course at MIT

The introductory freshmen electromagnetism course at MIT has been taught since 2000 using a studio physics format entitled TEAL—Technology Enabled Active Learning. TEAL has created a collaborative, hands-on environment where students carry out desktop experiments, submit web-based assignments, and have access to a host of visualizations and simulations. These learning tools help them visualize unseen electromagnetic concepts and develop stronger intuition about related phenomena. A previous study has shown that students who took the course in the TEAL format (the experimental group) gained significantly better conceptual understanding than those who took it in the traditional lecture-recitation format (the control group). The present longitudinal study focuses on the extent to which these two research groups (experimental and control) retain conceptual understanding about a year to 18 months after finishing the course. It also examines students attitudes about whether the teaching format (TEAL or traditional) contributes to their learning in advanced courses. Our research has indicated that the long-term effect of the TEAL course on students’ retention of concepts was significantly stronger than that of the traditional course. This research is significant because it documents the long-term cognitive and affective impact of the TEAL studio physics format on learning outcomes of MIT students.

Evaluating climate change behaviors and concern in the family context

Abstract

Although research suggests that family dynamics likely play a role in shaping children’s behaviors, few studies focus on environmental behaviors, and none to our knowledge investigate how parents shape climate change mitigation behaviors among their children. We begin to fill this gap through a quantitative case study using matched household-level survey data from 182 coastal North Carolina families (n?=?241 parents aged 29–77; n?=?182 students aged 11–14) associated with 15 middle school science teachers. Family climate change discussions, parent behaviors, and children’s climate change concern levels predicted the degree to which children will participate in individual-level climate mitigation behaviors. These results provide evidence that promoting climate-related conversations within households may promote climate action even when parents are apathetic about climate change. Similarly, parental behaviors, but not their concern levels, were important predictors of adolescent behaviors. This study highlights novel ways that family dynamics may promote climate change mitigating behaviors and a new pathway to promoting climate mitigation at familial, and ultimately, societal levels.     

Opening Doors: Understanding School and Family Influences on Family Involvement

Family involvement in schooling can benefit young children, teachers, and families. Family involvement in schools can be influenced by both school-related and family-related factors. School-related factors include teachers’ attitudes toward families, and school and teacher expectations. Family-related factors include ethnicity, prior school experiences, and family work schedules. Teachers who recognize and understand these influences can employ a variety of strategies to facilitate the involvement of families in the school experience of young children.     

Place-Based Stewardship Education: Nurturing Aspirations to Protect the Rural Commons

In this mixed-methods study, we examine the potential of place-based stewardship education (PBSE) for nurturing rural students’ community attachment and aspirations to contribute to the preservation of the environmental “commons.” Analyzing pre- and post-experience surveys (n = 240) and open-ended responses (n = 275) collected from middle school students in a Northeast Michigan school district, we found significant increases in students’ environmental sensitivity, environmentally responsible behaviors, community attachment, and confidence in their capacities for civic action. Analyses of open-ended responses pointed to the potential of PBSE to nurture students’ identification with their community and to increase their commitment to stewardship of their community's natural resources. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature on rural schools by focusing on the environmental commons and younger generations’ commitments to preserve it as an asset of rural communities. By linking students’ learning with collective action to preserve the environmental commons, PBSE can expand students’ aspirations for the kind of world they want to live in and the roles they might play in it.     

For Science and Self: Youth Interactions with Data in Community and Citizen Science

In youth-focused community and citizen (YCCS) youth in classrooms and community-based programs produce data that scientists, resource managers and community members will use. This “nested” data situates learners’ scientific activity within larger datasets, projects, and communities, with consequences for youth agency. To document opportunities for agentive learning with data in YCCS, we report on how youth interact with data across eight school and community-based project sites and how youth talk about their data and work. From analysis of 54 participant interviews, we found that youth perceived the data they produced as being used for: (1) broader scientific work, (2) their own learning, and (3) community endeavors. Nested uses of data were most meaningful when youth interacted with end users, were exposed to the larger datasets to which they contributed, or took action linked to data. Not all youth saw, believed, or valued that data would be used by others. Framing of task and purpose, nature of engagement with community users, data production protocols, and level of emphasis on youth-identified questions may contribute to youth perceptions and can foster or undermine conditions for learner agency. The results shed light on when and how conditions for expansive learning and agency get established.     

Motivation coaching training for instructional coaches: a pilot study of motivational interviewing skills training

In our paper we describe a newly developed teacher coaching model that provides training on motivational interviewing (MI) to improve instructional coaches’ effectiveness with classroom teachers. Participants were 38 coaches who completed a three-day coaching training. At pre- and post-test, the participants completed role plays with an actor who played the role of a new teacher. Then, these sessions were coded for MI-consistent behavior. The results of our study revealed that the majority of the coaching conversations were inconsistent with effective MI. At baseline, conversations were primarily characterized by questions (60%) followed by attempts to persuade without permission (20%). Following training, coaches did not change their conversational style. Because an MI-inconsistent conversation style is associated with decreased self-efficacy and motivation for change, the findings suggest a need to help coaches develop interactions that are more consistent with best practices of MI.