Does increasing communication through virtual learning environments enhance student perceptions of lecturers?

The current study was conducted in an effort to examine whether increased levels of communication using visual learning environments (VLEs) alters student perceptions of lecturers. Eighty-six MSc students in Computing Science participated by using She and Fisher’s (2002) Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ). In addition to using the questionnaire, data from the electronic class site were used to make assessments about the quality and quantity of communication. Two types of classrooms were evaluated: a) a control condition in which the lecturer did not alter any communication aspect of the module, and b) the experimental condition in which the lecturer posted weekly discussion topics. Significant differences were found by cultural background and gender of the students. The bulletin board postings in the experimental condition were more heavily content-based than the control condition ones. The consistency in discussion topic of the experimental condition postings, both bulletin board and email, were more fluid than in the control condition

Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity

This report seeks to expand conversations around educational opportunity by taking a comprehensive look at the barriers African American girls face and the educational and economic outcomes that result. One important barrier is the prevalence of stereotypes that adversely impact the educational experiences of African American girls. Structural and institutional barriers examined in this report -- such as under-resourced schools, disparate discipline practices, gender-based violence and harassment, and lack of support for pregnant and parenting students -- further compromise educational outcomes for African American girls. This report fills an important gap in existing data on educational achievement and its attendant economic consequences. Although there is plentiful data on American children and education, the lack of data broken down by race and gender together has fueled the assumption that all girls are doing fine in school. But in fact, although girls overall graduate from high school at higher rates than boys, girls of color are graduating at far lower rates than white girls and boys. In almost all states with available data, the high school graduation rate for African American girls is below the national average for girls overall, resulting in severe economic consequences for African American women and their families

The Benefits of Peer Review and a Multisemester Capstone Writing Series on Inquiry and Analysis Skills in an Undergraduate Thesis.

This study examines the relationship between the introduction of a four-course writing-intensive capstone series and improvement in inquiry and analysis skills of biology senior undergraduates. To measure the impact of the multicourse write-to-learn and peer-review pedagogy on student performance, we used a modified Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education rubric for Inquiry and Analysis and Written Communication to score senior research theses from 2006 to 2008 (pretreatment) and 2009 to 2013 (intervention). A Fisher-Freeman-Halton test and a two-sample Student's t test were used to evaluate individual rubric dimensions and composite rubric scores, respectively, and a randomized complete block design analysis of variance was carried out on composite scores to examine the impact of the intervention across ethnicity, legacy (e.g., first-generation status), and research laboratory. The results show an increase in student performance in rubric scoring categories most closely associated with science literacy and critical-thinking skills, in addition to gains in students' writing abilities

Evaluating the End-User Experience of Private Browsing Mode

Nowadays, all major web browsers have a private browsing mode. However, the mode's benefits and limitations are not particularly understood. Through the use of survey studies, prior work has found that most users are either unaware of private browsing or do not use it. Further, those who do use private browsing generally have misconceptions about what protection it provides. However, prior work has not investigated \emph{why} users misunderstand the benefits and limitations of private browsing. In this work, we do so by designing and conducting a three-part study: (1) an analytical approach combining cognitive walkthrough and heuristic evaluation to inspect the user interface of private mode in different browsers; (2) a qualitative, interview-based study to explore users' mental models of private browsing and its security goals; (3) a participatory design study to investigate why existing browser disclosures, the in-browser explanations of private browsing mode, do not communicate the security goals of private browsing to users. Participants critiqued the browser disclosures of three web browsers: Brave, Firefox, and Google Chrome, and then designed new ones. We find that the user interface of private mode in different web browsers violates several well-established design guidelines and heuristics. Further, most participants had incorrect mental models of private browsing, influencing their understanding and usage of private mode. Additionally, we find that existing browser disclosures are not only vague, but also misleading. None of the three studied browser disclosures communicates or explains the primary security goal of private browsing. Drawing from the results of our user study, we extract a set of design recommendations that we encourage browser designers to validate, in order to design more effective and informative browser disclosures related to private mode

African American/Latina High School Girls’ Preoccupation with Concepts of Personal Beauty: The Impact on Self-Worth and Academic Performance

The purpose of this study was to examine African American and Latina high school girls’ understanding of how their self-worth and academic performance may be impacted by the amount of time used to achieve a desired physical appearance. This descriptive, qualitative study used a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology. The researcher conducted discussions with 11 African American and Hispanic American high school girls between the ages of 14-17, enrolled in grades 9-12. Results concluded that a majority of participants believed physical beauty was the most important quality in having a successful life and spent a significant amount of time applying and/or reapplying make-up before, during, and throughout the school day. Participants associated the concept of “ideal” beauty with a Western beauty ideal, and with celebrities. Participants equated physical beauty with success. Lastly, the study concluded that participants spend more time on media devices than on academic work

Supporting Answerers with Feedback in Social Q&A

Prior research has examined the use of Social Question and Answer (Q&A) websites for answer and help seeking. However, the potential for these websites to support domain learning has not yet been realized. Helping users write effective answers can be beneficial for subject area learning for both answerers and the recipients of answers. In this study, we examine the utility of crowdsourced, criteria-based feedback for answerers on a student-centered Q&A website, Brainly.com. In an experiment with 55 users, we compared perceptions of the current rating system against two feedback designs with explicit criteria (Appropriate, Understandable, and Generalizable). Contrary to our hypotheses, answerers disagreed with and rejected the criteria-based feedback. Although the criteria aligned with answerers' goals, and crowdsourced ratings were found to be objectively accurate, the norms and expectations for answers on Brainly conflicted with our design. We conclude with implications for the design of feedback in social Q&A.Comment: Published in Proceedings of the Fifth Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale, Article No. 10, London, United Kingdom. June 26 - 28, 201

Adelante! From high school to higher education: an analysis of the academic success and persistence of Hispanic students through an expectancy-value framework

2016 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between student pre-college academic perceptions with first-year in college academic experiences, specifically in the areas of academic self-efficacy, academic perseverance, and academic engagement, to identify predictors for academic success and persistence in college of Hispanic students. An abbreviated version of the expectancy-value model was utilized as the framework for this study. The guiding question for this study was: Do pre-college experiences and beliefs (expectancies for success) as well as academic engagement (subjective task values) contribute to the academic success (achievement related performance) and persistence to second year (achievement related choice) for first-year Hispanic students? The study sample (n = 271) included students at a public Hispanic-serving institution who completed both the BCSSE and NSSE surveys in the given years of the study. Findings identified several variables as predictors of achievement-related performance and choice. The variables identified for achievement-related performance (academic success) were writing skills, speaking skills, quantitative skills, participation in class discussions, finishing tasks, gender and type of school attended. The variables identified for achievement-related choice (persistence) were writing skills and quantitative skills. Additionally, significant differences were identified by gender for academic self-efficacy and by generation-status and by type of school attended for academic engagement

The impact of LIHTC program on local schools

The low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program has developed over two million rental homes for low-income households since 1986. The perception of deterioration in school quality has been a main reason for community opposition to LIHTC projects in middle-and upper-income areas. In this paper, we examine the impact of LIHTC projects on the nearby school performance. The LIHTC projects tend to have positive and statistically significant impacts on school performance the year they are placed in service and this finding is robust to various specifications. Offsetting these, the one year lag effects are negative and of similar or smaller magnitude.Housing subsidies ; Housing policy ; Education ; Poverty

Impact of online learning on student effort and persistence in technical college students

Includes bibliographical references

Culture and Context\u27s Influence on Hispanic Undergraduates\u27 Perceptions of Their Persistence toward STEM Degree Attainment

This dissertation examines the influences of context and culture on Hispanic undergraduate’s in the STEM pipeline. Study one utilized systematic review methods to assess the effectiveness of STEM intervention programs on Hispanic undergraduates. A total of 45 STEM related databases were searched from March-September 2020 with no limitations. Although a total of 259 studies were identified, only one study was actually found to specifically focus on Hispanic populations and include empirically based evaluations. The one remaining study did not find a statistically significant intervention effect for four- year graduation rates. The lack of evidence highlights a gap in research or tackling increased representation for Hispanic students in STEM and identifies the need for methodological changes in the way STEM interventions are evaluated. Study two utilized qualitative content analysis methods to identify Hispanic STEM majors perceptions of both supports and barriers in their STEM degree pathways. Two short answer questions exploring barriers and supports were asked of 947 Hispanic undergraduate, STEM majors. Our findings revealed nuanced perspectives that illuminated the importance of financial access, family, teacher, and peer support, as well as acknowledgement for the role of experiences unique to Hispanic groups. These findings illuminate the importance of respect and inclusion of Hispanic culture with regards to increasing Hispanic representation in STEM. Study three examined how cultural factors influence Hispanic undergraduate’s perception of themselves and career aspirations using the integrative theoretical models of Relational Developmental Systems Theory (RDST) and Relational Cultural Theory (RCT). A total of 947 Hispanic undergraduates completed an ethnic identity, familismo beliefs, career aspirations, STEM retention, and STEM identity questionnaires. SEM analyses revealed model relationships were significant and positive for both Hispanic men and women, however, these models differed in strength of relationships among some of the constructs