Academic procrastination of undergraduates: Low self-efficacy to self-regulate predicts higher levels of procrastination

This article reports two studies exploring the academic procrastination of 456 undergraduates. Study 1 explores the relationships among academic procrastination, self-regulation, academic self-efficacy, self-esteem, and self-efficacy for self-regulation. Results reveal that although other self-variables are related to procrastination, self-efficacy for self-regulation is most predictive of procrastination tendencies. Study 2 examines academic and motivation characteristics of “negative procrastinators,” the undergraduates who are most adversely influenced by procrastination. The 25% of 195 participants in Study 2 who were classified as negative procrastinators had significantly lower GPAs, higher levels of daily and task procrastination, lower predicted and actual class grades, and lower self-efficacy for self-regulation. After controlling for GPA, daily procrastination and self-efficacy for self-regulation significantly predicted the negative impact of procrastination. The article concludes with a discussion of the importance that self-efficacy for self-regulation holds for procrastination research, and with suggestions for practitioners who work with students who are adversely affected by procrastination.     

Verbal and spatial analogical reasoning in deaf and hearing children: the role of grammar and vocabulary

The extent to which cognitive development and abilities are dependent on language remains controversial. In this study, the analogical reasoning skills of deaf and hard of hearing children are explored. Two groups of children (deaf and hard of hearing children with either cochlear implants or hearing aids and hearing children) completed tests of verbal and spatial analogical reasoning. Their vocabulary and grammar skills were also assessed to provide a measure of language attainment. Results indicated significant differences between the deaf and hard of hearing children (regardless of type of hearing device) and their hearing peers on vocabulary, grammar, and verbal reasoning tests. Regression analyses revealed that in the group of deaf and hard of hearing children, but not in the hearing group, the language measures were significant predictors of verbal analogical reasoning, when age and spatial analogical reasoning ability were controlled for. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Measurements of drag and lift on tennis balls in flight

Measurements are presented of drag and lift on new tennis balls in flight. Two video cameras were used to measure the velocity and height of the balls at two positions separated horizontally by 6.4 m. The balls were fired from a ball launcher at speeds between 15 and 30 m/s and with topspin or backspin at rates up to 2,500 rpm. Significant shot-to-shot variations were found in both the drag and lift coefficients. The average drag coefficient was 0.507 ± 0.024, independent of ball speed or spin, and lower than the value usually observed in wind tunnel experiments. The lift coefficient increased with ball spin, on average, but significant lift was observed even at very low spin. The latter effect can be attributed to a side force arising from asymmetries in the ball surface, analogous to the side force responsible for the erratic path of a knuckleball in baseball.     

A longitudinal analysis of English language learners’ word decoding and reading comprehension

This longitudinal investigation examined word decoding and reading comprehension measures from first grade through sixth grade for a sample of Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs). The sample included 261 children (average age of 7.2 years; 120 boys; 141 girls) at the initial data collection in first grade. The ELLs’ word decoding and reading comprehension scores showed quadratic growth over the course of the study. The sample’s reading comprehension, but not their word decoding, began to fall behind the normative sample starting in the third grade. Phonological awareness, rapid automatic naming (RAN), and oral language measures were used as predictors and correlated with growth rates in a manner consistent with past research.     

Applying Dialectical Behavior Therapy to Self‐Harm in College‐Age Men: A Case Study

Researchers suggest an increase in self‐harm among men. Specifically, college‐age men appear to be at risk for self‐harming behaviors, and counselors often overlook these behaviors in treatment. In this article, the authors describe the issue of self‐harm and illustrate the use of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 2014 ) with male college students. The authors use a case study to illustrate the use of a modified form of DBT with a male college student who self‐harmed. Limitations of this approach and implications for college counselors are also addressed.     

Toddlers' and Preschoolers' Experience in Family Day Care: Age Differences and Behavioral Correlates

One hundred and twelve children, 56 toddlers and 56 preschoolers, were observed in their family child care settings to determine whether toddlers cared for in settings that also included preschoolers were, relative to the preschoolers, receiving more or less high-quality care and/or whether their functioning at child care appeared to be more or less dependent on aspects of the care providers’ interactions with the children. Quality of care was analyzed along two dimensions: sensitive/supportive care and structured care. Four indices of child functioning at child care were examined: integration in social activities, attention, positive mood, and angry/aggressive behavior. Results indicate that toddlers received less sensitive, supportive care than preschoolers in these mixed-age settings and toddlers were less socially integrated and less engaged in activities in the child care setting. Preschoolers displayed increased levels of angry/aggressive behavior relative to toddlers. In addition, associations of care provider behaviors and child functioning were larger for toddlers than preschoolers, suggesting that toddlers were more dependent on caregiver support for more successful functioning in these family child care settings. For both toddlers and preschoolers, care provider behavior and child functioning was generally poorer in settings with more children.     

The Relationship between Narrative Content Variation,Affective and Cognitive Reactions,and a Person's Willingness to Sign an Organ Donor Card

This study predicted that variations in the content of a narrative organ donor appeal (i.e., the age of the donor, the age of the person whose life was saved, the donor's cause of death, and the number of people whose lives were saved) would have a differential impact on a person's affective and cognitive reactions to that message, which would in turn influence a person's attitude toward signing an organ donor card. Two hundred sixty-eight individuals who had not signed an organ donor card previously read one of several narratives and then answered a series of questions designed to measure their attitudes toward signing an organ donor card. These data revealed that how a person dies (accident vs natural causes) and the number of people who are saved through organ donation indirectly influence a person's attitude toward signing an organ donor card with vividness, sympathy, and happiness acting as mediating variables. These findings and their implications are discussed.     

The disciplinary dimensions of nineteenth-century gymnastics for US women

This study examines the conditions and terms under which US discourses promoting gymnastics for women institutionalized those exercise regimens as vehicles of disciplinarity between 1830–1870. Specifically, it finds that those texts encouraged practices of medical examination and measurement along with a variety of additional, interconnected and significant disciplinary operations: economies of space, of distribution, and of order; logics of temporality, of individual development, and of social salvation; procedures of monitoring and of rendering normalizing judgments; mechanisms of review and of punishment through exercise; as well as the dynamics of panopticism and of self-monitoring. That array of disciplinary techniques, in turn, was meant to materially effect not only a healthy, orderly, and morally transcendent social body but also enlightened, disciplined, and idealized feminine subjectivities. As a consequence, this paper also asserts that the resistant potentialities of gymnastics for US women between 1830–1870 cannot be evaluated thoroughly without some consideration of modern power's nature, attributes, and applications.     

Instructional practices in reformed undergraduate STEM learning environments: a study of instructor and student behaviors in biology courses

ABSTRACT

Theoretically, organisational culture, instructor training, and learning space design influence how faculty teach STEM courses. Previous studies have used classroom observation protocols to characterise the range of teaching practices in mostly teacher-centered, traditional STEM classrooms. In this study, we examined the classroom behaviour of 13 STEM faculty teaching biology courses in a reformed undergraduate STEM learning environment. Our findings indicate that instructors teaching in this reformed environment guided student learning (58.4?±?1.9%) almost three times more than they presented information (20.0?±?2.2%). Students worked individually or in groups and talked to the whole class (57.1?±?1.8%) 1.5 times more than they received information (35.5?±?1.9%). We found significant positive correlation between ‘instructor presenting’ and ‘students receiving’ information (r?=?0.743, p?=?1.4?×?10^?4) and ‘instructor guiding’ and ‘student working and talking’ in class (r?=?0.605, p?=?7.2?×?10^?5), suggesting that instructors can change their own classroom behaviours and expect concurrent change in their students’ behaviours. Finally, sequencing teaching practices in high active-engagement classrooms showed instructors move and guide student group work and lead whole class discussions before lecturing to students, which could lead to deeper learning of conceptual knowledge. We discuss insights from these findings that have implications for acculturating evidence-based teaching practices in STEM departments.     

Use of an audience response system during peer teaching among physical therapy students in human gross anatomy: Perceptions of peer teachers and students

An audience response system (ARS) has become popular among educators in medicine and the health professions because of the system's ability to engage listeners during a lecture presentation. No one has described the usefulness of ARS technology during planned nonlecture peer teaching sessions in gross anatomy instruction for health professionals. The unique feature of each peer teaching session was a nongraded 12–15 item ARS quiz assembled by six second‐year doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students and purposely placed at the beginning of the review session for those first‐year DPT students in attendance. This study used a ten‐item questionnaire and a five‐point Likert scale in addition to three open ended questions to survey perceptions of both first‐year and second‐year DPT students about the usefulness of ARS technology implemented during weekly interactive peer teaching sessions during a semester course in Anatomy for Physical Therapists. First‐year students overwhelmingly acknowledged the ARS system permitted each student to self‐assess his/her preparedness for a quiz or examination and compare his/her performance with that of classmates. Peer teachers recognized an ARS quiz provided them an opportunity to: (1) estimate first‐year students' level of understanding of anatomical concepts; and (2) effectively prepare first‐year students for their weekly quizzes and future examinations. On the basis of the mutual benefits derived by both students/tutees and teachers/tutors, physical therapist educators may wish to consider using ARS technology to enhance teaching methods for a class in gross human anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 2: 286–293, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.