Using Debate In Helping Students Discuss Controversial Topics

We used 2 debates over the course of a semester to encourage upper level psychology students to engage in discussion about controversial issues.  The debates considered issues in Affirmative Action and sexual diversity.  Students completed a survey assessing their experiences both individually and as a team member.  Students found it easier to discuss controversial subjects in the classroom during a structured debate as compared to traditional open discussions.  In addition, most of the students enjoyed the debate, would like to participate in a debate in the future, and felt empowered by the experience.  The debate itself elicited some strong emotions, both positive and negative.  Debate is a useful tool to facilitate verbal participation by students in classes where the subject matter is controversial

Teaching Ourselves: A Model to Improve, Assess and Spread the Word

This paper presents a model for small, interdisciplinary groups of faculty to work together to improve their teaching while engaging in research that provides evidence of improved student learning. In doing so, we have developed a four-step process of faculty-driven scholarship of teaching and learning: Genesis, Organization, Implementation and Dissemination. We illustrate this model by describing our use of Fink’s (2003) concepts of course design to reshape our courses and assess the effectiveness of these changes through examination of student learning. We describe how others may follow this approach with a variety of applications

Effects of drinking patterns on prospective memory performance in college students [pre-print]

OBJECTIVE: Traditional college students are at a critical juncture in the development of prospective memory (PM). Their brains are vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. METHOD: There were 123 third and fourth year college students, 19-23 years old, who completed the Self-Rating Effects of Alcohol (SREA), Modified Timeline Follow-back (TFLB), Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Scale (BYAACS), and Alcohol Effects Questionnaire (AEQ) once per month on a secure online database, as reported elsewhere (Dager et al., 2013). Data from the 6 months immediately before memory testing were averaged. In a single testing session participants were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision (MINI-DSM-IV-TR), measures of PM (event-based and time-based), and retrospective memory (RM). Based on the average score of six consecutive monthly responses to the SREA, TLFB, and AEQ, students were classified as nondrinkers, light drinkers, or heavy drinkers (as defined previously; Dager et al., 2013). Alcohol-induced amnesia (blackout) was measured with the BYAACS. RESULTS: We found a relationship between these alcohol use classifications and time-based PM, such that participants who were classified as heavier drinkers were more likely to forget to perform the time-based PM task. We also found that self-reported alcohol-induced amnesia (blackouts) during the month immediately preceding memory testing was associated with lower performance on the event-based PM task. Participants\u27 ability to recall the RM tasks suggested the PM items were successfully encoded even when they were not carried out, and we observed no relationship between alcohol use and RM performance. CONCLUSION: Heavy alcohol use in college students may be related to impairments in PM. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Heavy Drinking in College Students Is Associated with Accelerated Gray Matter Volumetric Decline over a 2 Year Period

Background: Heavy and/or harmful alcohol use while in college is a perennial and significant public health issue. Despite the plethora of cross-sectional research suggesting deleterious effects of alcohol on the brain, there is a lack of literature investigating the longitudinal effects of alcohol consumption on the adolescent brain. We aim to probe the longitudinal effects of college drinking on gray matter change in students during this crucial neurodevelopmental period.Methods: Data were derived from the longitudinal Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS) study of whom a subset underwent brain MRI scans at two time points 24 months apart. Students were young adults with a mean age at baseline of about 18.5 years. Based on drinking metrics assessed at both baseline and followup, subjects were classified as sustained abstainers/light drinkers (N = 45) or sustained heavy drinkers (N = 84) based on criteria established in prior literature. Gray matter volumetric change (GMV-c) maps were derived using the longitudinal DARTEL pipeline as implemented in SPM12. GMV-c maps were then subjected to a 1-sample and 2-sample t-test in SPM12 to determine within- and between-group GMV-c differences in drinking groups. Supplementary between-group differences were also computed at baseline only.Results: Within-group analysis revealed significant decline in GMV in both groups across the 2 year followup period. However, tissue loss in the sustained heavy drinking group was more significant, larger per region, and more widespread across regions compared to abstainers/light drinkers. Between-group analysis confirmed the above and showed a greater rate of GMV-c in the heavy drinking group in several brain regions encompassing inferior/medial frontal gyrus, parahippocampus, and anterior cingulate. Supplementary analyses suggest that some of the frontal differences existed at baseline and progressively worsened.Conclusion: Sustained heavy drinking while in college was associated with accelerated GMV decline in brain regions involved with executive functioning, emotional regulation, and memory, which are critical to everyday life functioning. Areas of significant GMV decreases also overlapped largely with brain reward and stress systems implicated in addictive behavior

Salary Equity Studies: An Analysis of Using the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition to Estimate Differences in Faculty Salaries by Gender

Parameter estimates for equity studies tested for stability are described. Bootstrap simulation can test whether parameter estimates remain stable given changes in the sample data; fractional polynomials can be used to access functional form specification; and variance inflation factors can be used to test for multicollinearity

Minority stress and substance use: The role of anxiety/depression and PTSD symptoms in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

AbstractSexual minorities were surveyed about their experiences during the pandemic, and asked about symptoms of PTSD, minority stress, anxiety/depression, and substance use. We surveyed 392 sexual minorities who self-identified as substance users, including 70 of whom also identified as a gender minority. Participants completed questionnaires that included demographic questions, COVID-related PTSD symptoms [Post Traumatic Stress Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5)], minority stress [Minority Stress Scale (MSS)], anxiety/depression [Patient Health Questionnaire − 4 (PHQ-4)], and substance use [adaption from the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)]. A serial mediation model was used and we found an indirect relationship between minority stress and substance use through anxiety/depression and COVID-related PTSD such that minority stress positively predicted anxiety/depression, which in turn predicted COVID-related PTSD; and then predicted substance use in sexual minorities. Sexual minorities experienced greater health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sexual minorities high in minority stress experienced increased rates of psychiatric symptoms, making them more vulnerable to substance use. These results underscore the need for medical and mental health professionals to address the role of minority stress, and possible substance use and abuse as a method of dealing with psychiatric symptoms and stressors

Longitudinal influence of alcohol and marijuana use on academic performance in college students

<div><p>Background</p><p>Alcohol and marijuana are the two most abused substances in US colleges. However, research on the combined influence (cross sectional or longitudinal) of these substances on academic performance is currently scant.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Data were derived from the longitudinal 2-year Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS) study including 1142 freshman students who completed monthly marijuana use and alcohol consumption surveys. Subjects were classified into data-driven groups based on their alcohol and marijuana consumption. A linear mixed-model (LMM) was employed using this grouping factor to predict grade point average (GPA), adjusted for a variety of socio-demographic and clinical factors.</p><p>Results</p><p>Three data-driven clusters emerged: 1) No/low users of both, 2) medium-high alcohol/no-low marijuana, and 3) medium-high users of both substances. Individual cluster derivations between consecutive semesters remained stable. No significant interaction between clusters and semester (time) was noted. Post-hoc analysis suggest that at the outset, compared to sober peers, students using moderate to high levels of alcohol and low marijuana demonstrate lower GPAs, but this difference becomes non-significant over time. In contrast, students consuming both substances at moderate-to-high levels score significantly lower at both the outset and across the 2-year investigation period. Our follow-up analysis also indicate that when students curtailed their substance use over time they had significantly higher academic GPA compared to those who remained stable in their substance use patterns over the two year period.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Overall, our study validates and extends the current literature by providing important implications of concurrent alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement in college.</p></div