The Effect of Recruitment Messages on Undergraduate Beliefs about the Communication Major: A Quasi-Experiment

Despite the importance of attracting talented and qualified undergraduates into the major, the subject of recruitment for communication has received little attention. This study examines the effectiveness of a one-shot informative recruitment message on students’ beliefs and attitudes toward the communication major. As part of a quasi-experiment using a Solomon four-group design, two upper-division majors presented recruitment presentations addressing the benefits of, and misconceptions toward, the major to 130 students enrolled in introductory public speaking classes. Post-tests revealed that students exposed to the message reported significantly more favorable attitudes toward communication than those who had not seen a presentation (n = 65). Belief in the value of communication skills was also found positively associated with attitude toward the major, while belief that communication skills are innate was negatively associated with major attitude. Limitations and practical implications of this study are discussed as well

“I Tolerate Technology—I Don't Embrace It”: Instructor Surprise and Sensemaking in a Technology-Rich Learning Environment

Assuming a dialectical approach to technology and pedagogy, this study explores sensemaking processes for instructors teaching in a technologically enhanced college classroom environment. Through a series of semi-structured individual and group interviews, seven instructors provided narrative accounts of the problems encountered with progressive instructional technology and their emergent strategies to make sense of and manage it. Three primary dialectical tensions were described: freedom vs. confinement, connectedness vs. fragmentation, and change vs. stability. Two related modes of sensemaking in response to these tensions were also uncovered: adaptation, involving day-to-day adjustments to non-routine failures, and reframing, entailing gradual reflection upon the instructors’ roles in the classroom. Implications for the current findings are discussed

Ungrading General Education: Preliminary Results from a Pilot Study

A group of faculty members representing more than 20 courses listed in the Eastern Kentucky University General Education curriculum participated in a pilot program to test and measure the effectiveness of “ungraded” pedagogy. “Ungrading,” as defined by the group, can be any conscious effort to move student emphasis away from grades and onto learning. Given this definition, ungrading took many forms in the pilot: gradeless classrooms, grading contracts, and greater choice of assignments by students, to name a few. At the end of the semester, quantitative and qualitative data was gathered from student course evaluations; DFW and retention rates were considered; and focus groups comprised of students in ungraded classes were convened. This piece provides preliminary results from the pilot and in an effort to begin a larger conversation about the widespread adoption of ungraded pedagogies

Student Veterans\u27 Assimilation in Higher Education: The Role of Identity Complexity

Although large numbers of military veterans are currently entering institutions of higher education, veterans often feel out of place in college and identify more strongly with their military role than that of learner. Drawing from the topics of organizational assimilation and social identity complexity, this study examines the communication processes as student veterans adjust to college life. A sample of current student veterans (N = 85) completed measures of assimilation, organization commitment, and social identity complexity. General acculturation and peer assimilation were positively related to affective commitment, while higher identity complexity was related to commitment to program completion and faculty assimilation. Implications of the present findings and areas for future research are presented

Student Veterans’ Assimilation to Higher Education: The Role of Social Identity Complexity

Institutions of higher learning in America are currently experiencing the largest influx of student veterans since the end of World War II (Elliott, Gonzalez & Larsen, 2011). Since 2001, 2.5 million U.S. men and women have served in conflicts overseas. Increasing numbers of colleges and universities have initiated formal “veteran friendly” programs and policies to including: veteran orientations, veteran specific courses, and student veteran organizations. Although research in organizational assimilation often focuses on newcomers’ learning of professional roles, scholars little research to date has explored the communication factors at play as service members shift from military to college life. Drawing from social identity theory, this line of research examines the relationships among student veterans’ senses of group identity, connections with non-veteran peers and faculty, and commitment to the college institution as a whole

Role Negotiation as Role Enrichment: A Study of Working College Students

Research in role negotiation emphasizes how organizational members and supervisors negotiate specialized arrangements involving flexibility or variety within a single job. The role enrichment perspective suggests that positive resources generated in one role can benefit performance in complementary roles as well. This study examines the relationships among role negotiation and role enrichment with a sample of employed college undergraduates (N = 146). Survey measures assessed the communication dimensions of role negotiation (i.e., information exchange and mutual concessions), flexibility and task arrangements, and instrumental and affective enrichment of the student role. Task-based arrangements at work fully mediated the effect of information exchange, and partially mediated the effect of mutual concessions, on instrumental enrichment

Student Veterans’ Assimilation in Higher Education: The Role of Identity Complexity

Although large numbers of military veterans are currently entering institutions of higher education, veterans often feel out of place in college and identify more strongly with their military role than that of learner. Drawing from the topics of organizational assimilation and social identity complexity, this study examines the communication processes as student veterans adjust to college life. A sample of current student veterans (N = 85) completed measures of assimilation, organization commitment, and social identity complexity. General acculturation and peer assimilation were positively related to affective commitment, while higher identity complexity was related to commitment to program completion and faculty assimilation. Implications of the present findings and areas for future research are presented.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_facultygallery/1047/thumbnail.jp

Blue journal conference. Aging and susceptibility to lung disease.

The aging of the population in the United States and throughout the developed world has increased morbidity and mortality attributable to lung disease, while the morbidity and mortality from other prevalent diseases has declined or remained stable. Recognizing the importance of aging in the development of lung disease, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) highlighted this topic as a core theme for the 2014 annual meeting. The relationship between aging and lung disease was discussed in several oral symposiums and poster sessions at the annual ATS meeting. In this article, we used the input gathered at the conference to develop a broad framework and perspective to stimulate basic, clinical, and translational research to understand how the aging process contributes to the onset and/or progression of lung diseases. A consistent theme that emerged from the conference was the need to apply novel, systems-based approaches to integrate a growing body of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data and elucidate the relationship between biologic hallmarks of aging, altered lung function, and increased susceptibility to lung diseases in the older population. The challenge remains to causally link the molecular and cellular changes of aging with age-related changes in lung physiology and disease susceptibility. The purpose of this review is to stimulate further research to identify new strategies to prevent or treat age-related lung disease