Exploring Aspects of Strong Remarriages

This study presents findings from qualitative research that focused on how couples who had been remarried for 5 years talk about their strong remarriage. Ten remarried couples were recruited to be interviewed independently. Using a semistructured interview survey, the interviews were recorded and transcribed. The entire interviews were analyzed and coded to explore aspects of strong remarriages. Prevalent factors that contribute to strong remarriages were identified, which include: commitment, love, religion/spirituality, communication, compatibility, financial agreement, and physical intimacy. Expectations of remarriage were explored with the majority of participants reporting that their remarriage exceeded their expectations. The findings contribute to the literature and suggestions for future research are also discussed

Exploratory Learning Using Consistency Problems: Activity Type Matters

Studies have shown that exploration before instruction can improve learning. Students (N= 197) from the psychology participant pool were taught the concept and procedure of standard deviation in one of four conditions. Students were given both direct instruction and a problem to solve in one of two orders: instruction-first, or exploration-first. During the problem-solving activity, students were asked to determine the consistency of a set of numbers. This dataset was set up as a rich dataset, or to highlight contrasting cases. Students then completed a posttest. We compared mean posttest scores to find that exploration before instruction led to better understanding when using contrasting cases, but not a rich dataset. Exploring before instruction is benefited when students are helped to discern the key features of the problems, using contrasting cases.https://ir.library.louisville.edu/uars/1018/thumbnail.jp

Variations in meanings of the personal core value “Health”

Preventive health behavior patterns and practices are influenced by many factors. Knowledge about a person’s core values may improve the ability to predict decisions related to behaviors such as healthy eating

Colorectal Cancer Screening and Physical Activity Promotion Among Obese Women: An Online Evaluation of Targeted Messages

Obese women are at higher risk for several cancers, but are less likely than normal weight women to engage in cancer prevention behaviors such as screening and physical activity. Targeted health messages may help increase healthy behaviors among vulnerable groups such as obese women. Using findings from focus groups with obese women, the authors created targeted messages to promote colorectal cancer screening and physical activity among obese women. The messages addressed psychosocial constructs, such as benefits and barriers to colorectal cancer screening and exercise, which were relevant to the target population. Messages were tested online with women age 50 years and older (N = 181). Participants were stratified by weight (obese vs. nonobese) and randomized to review either 10 targeted (intervention) or 10 generic (control) messages. Study outcomes included elaboration about the messages, message relevance and trustworthiness, and behavioral intentions. The authors used moderation and subgroup analyses to determine whether the intervention messages were better received by certain women. They found no differences in elaboration, behavioral intentions, relevance, or trustworthiness between intervention and control for either weight group. However, exercise intentions increased more (p=.06) among inactive obese women who received intervention messages (+2.9) compared with those who were in the control group (+1.2). Intervention messages also produced more elaboration among women who viewed their weight as a barrier to screening or exercise. Tailoring intervention messages for obese women on the basis of behavior and barriers may improve outcomes more than giving the same messages to all obese women

Bringing exploratory learning online: problem-solving before instruction improves remote undergraduate physics learning

STEM undergraduate instructors teaching remote courses often use traditional lecture-based instruction, despite evidence that active learning methods improve student engagement and learning outcomes. One simple way to use active learning online is to incorporate exploratory learning. In exploratory learning, students explore a novel activity (e.g., problem solving) before a lecture on the underlying concepts and procedures. This method has been shown to improve learning outcomes during in-person courses, without requiring the entire course to be restructured. The current study examined whether the benefits of exploratory learning extend to a remote undergraduate physics lesson, taught synchronously online. Undergraduate physics students (N = 78) completed a physics problem-solving activity either before instruction (explore-first condition) or after (instruct-first condition). Students then completed a learning assessment of the problem-solving procedures and underlying concepts. Despite lower accuracy on the learning activity, students in the explore-first condition demonstrated better understanding on the assessment, compared to students in the instruct-first condition. This finding suggests that exploratory learning can serve as productive failure in online courses, challenging students but improving learning, compared to the more widely-used lecture-then-practice method

Mediators of fruit and vegetable consumption among colorectal cancer survivors

Due to early detection and treatment, survival from colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis has been steadily increasing. A CRC diagnosis could be considered a “teachable moment,” a time when interventionists might successfully promote dietary changes. CRC interventions with tailored print communication (TPC) and telephone motivational interviewing (TMI) have been shown to be effective in promoting fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) among CRC survivors. However, little is known about how these interventions work to exert their effect. This study investigated whether information processes mediate the relationship between a CRC intervention and FVC among CRC survivors

Effects of a Tailored Follow-Up Intervention on Health Behaviors, Beliefs, and Attitudes

Background: The high rates of relapse that tend to occur after short-term behavioral interventions indicate the need for maintenance programs that promote long-term adherence to new behavior patterns. Computer-tailored health messages that are mailed to participants or given in brief telephone calls offer an innovative and time-efficient alternative to ongoing face-to-face contact with healthcare providers. Methods: Following a 1-year behavior change program, 22 North Carolina health departments were randomly assigned to a follow-up intervention or control condition. Data were collected from 1999 to 2001 by telephone-administered surveys at preintervention and postintervention for 511 low-income, midlife adult women enrolled in the Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program at local North Carolina health departments. During the year after the behavior change program, intervention participants were mailed six sets of computer-tailored health messages and received two computer-tailored telephone counseling sessions. Main outcomes of dietary and physical activity behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes were measured. Results: Intervention participants were more likely to move forward into more advanced stages of physical activity change (p = 0.02); control participants were more likely to increase their level of dietary social support at follow-up (p = 0.05). Both groups maintained low levels of reported saturated fat and cholesterol intake at follow-up. No changes were seen in physical activity in either group. Conclusions: Mailed computer-tailored health messages and telephone counseling calls favorably modified forward physical activity stage movement but did not appreciably affect any other psychosocial or behavioral outcomes