Appreciative coaching for student academic and professional development

Negative self-talk and appraisals of self-efficacy can damage students’ abilities to do well in college and lead to self-fulfilling prophesies where students fail to meet their academic and professional potentials. This multi-class activity uses appreciative coaching to help students utilize a positive mindset and achieve academic and professional goals. This coaching model, based on the tenets of appreciative inquiry, begins with a topic selection and then progresses through four stages: discover, dream, design, and destiny. The coaching process can assist instructors and students in focusing on the positive aspects of student performance, increase self-confidence, motivation to do well in courses, and proactive career planning, and create a positive learning environment.

Courses: Business Communication, Freshman Seminar, Professional Development, Senior Capstone

Objectives: The objectives of this activity are for students to (1) practice positive reframing, (2) appraise and identify their strengths and skills, (3) select goals, (4) create action plans to reach goals, and (5) be empowered and take responsibility for their academic and professional progress.     

Taking charge and letting go: exploring the ways a Transition to Adulthood project for teenagers with Duchenne muscular dystrophy has supported parents to prepare for the future

The new Special Educational Needs and Disability legislation in the Children and Families Act 2014 intends to raise the aspirations of young people with special educational needs and their families, and improve their life outcomes. But what do raised aspirations and better outcomes look like for young people who have a life‐limiting impairment? This article draws on data from a parent evaluation of a lottery‐funded Transition to Adulthood project for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), called ‘Takin’ Charge’, focusing in particular on whether or not the project helped parents of boys with DMD prepare for the future. Key themes that emerged were the importance and novelty of older role models with DMD in the project who were able to share their journeys into adulthood, the support between families that the project enabled, the meaning of family resilience and aspirations for a normal life. The use of solution‐focused questioning with families affected by a life‐limiting impairment is also explored.     

A Meta-Analysis of Single-Case Research on Mathematics Word Problem-Solving Interventions for English Learners with Learning Disabilities and Mathematics Difficulties

This single-case meta-analysis is the first to provide a quantitative synthesis of the published literature on mathematics word problem-solving intervention studies for English learners with learning disabilities and mathematics difficulties. A total of ten single-subject studies were included for analysis. The current study investigated the magnitude of the effect of mathematics interventions targeting the improvement of students’ mathematics word problem-solving performance, and analyzed variables that moderated this effect. Results indicate a moderate overall effect size of 0.81 (95% CI [0.71, 0.90]) on word problem-solving performance for English learners with learning disabilities and mathematics difficulties. Moderator variables such as the implementer of the interventions, instructional focus, and word problem-solving content significantly moderated the mathematics intervention effects.     

Technology’s role in learning at a commuter campus: The student perspective

Patterns of technology ownership and usage, as well as skills with and preferences for various technologies, affect the college experience (Educause 2012). Students at a commuter campus of a large Midwestern public university were surveyed about technology and the learning process: 94% of the respondents believed that technology had the potential to benefit learning and 85% thought it was central to their academic success. Students credited technology-enhanced courses with increased and more effective communication with instructors, the ability to better manage course activities and expanded opportunities for practice and reinforcement. Students’ prior experiences with a course management system affected their perceptions of the role of technology and their subsequent beliefs about the benefits of its use in their university courses. Implications for administrators who make decisions about faculty development, student retention and funding for technology-enhanced course offerings are discussed.     

Stepping out: collaborative research across disciplines

This paper offers the experiences and insights of two faculty members, located in two separate disciplines, as they engaged in collaborative research. While knowledge created by stepping out and reaching across disciplines reflects the reality of an increasingly complex world, their experiences highlight both the benefits of a supportive collaborative partnership as well as the risks and discomfort experienced without tangible discipline support, when researchers stray too far from their home discipline. While transparency and attention to process is critical to all researchers engaged in collaborative partnership, its necessity is heightened when venturing beyond the territory of familiar disciplines.     

Can textured insoles improve ankle proprioception and performance in dancers?

With the aim of determining both the acute and the chronic effects of textured insoles on the ankle discrimination and performance ability of dancers, 60 ballet dancers from the Australian Ballet School, aged 14–19 years, were divided into three groups (two intervention groups and a control group), age- and level-matched. In the first 5 weeks (weeks 1 to 5), the first intervention group (GRP1) was asked to wear textured insoles in their ballet shoes and the second intervention group (GRP2) was not given textured insoles to wear. In the next 5 weeks (weeks 6 to 10), GRP2 was asked to wear the same type of textured insoles and GRP1 did not wear the textured insoles. The control group (CTRL) did not wear textured insoles during the whole 10 weeks. All participants were tested preintervention, after 5 weeks and after 10 weeks for ankle discrimination score (AUC scores). Dance performance was assessed by 5–7 dance teachers. Pre-to-post change in AUC scores was significantly greater for the groups wearing insoles than for the controls (P = .046) and the size of pre-to-post changes did not differ between the two intervention groups (P = .834). Significant correlation was found between ankle discrimination score and performance scores, using the textured insoles (r = .412; P = .024). In conclusion, the stimulation to the proprioceptive system arising from textured insoles worn for five weeks was sufficient to improve the proprioceptive ability and performance ability of ballet dancers.