‘Making’ as a Catalyst for Engaging Young Female Adolescents in STEM Learning

STEM enrichment programs have demonstrated positive impacts on young female adolescents’ interest and aptitude in STEM, personal/social-psychological well-being, and educational aspirations. Introducing STEM knowledge and skills in an environment of ‘making,’ that is, in a setting of hands-on activities, may further enhance adolescent girls’ engagement in STEM learning. The maker movement, defined as the convergence of technology and traditional artistry, has generated interest among educators for its potential to nurture STEM learning, including its capacity to engage diverse populations of youths in the making of creative objects through experimentation in science, technology, engineering, and math (i.e., STEM-based making). STEM-based making is a way to support young girls, who often approach making from an esthetic or personal expression perspective, to more fully integrate systems and technologies that advance critical thinking, innovative prototyping, and problem-solving into the making process. Insights are presented as to how STEM-based making designed for young female adolescents—a group that has traditionally had limited access to extracurricular STEM experiences as well as to makerspaces—may foster greater access to, and equity in, STEM learning. The role of universities in facilitating access to and equity in STEM-based making also is addressed

Consumer Attitudes towards LGBT Homeless Youth Cause Related Marketing Campaign: Application of Self Schema Theory

The purpose of this study was to explore consumers\u27 attitudes toward a somewhat socially controversial cause in the context of a CRM campaign, specifically the cause of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) homeless youth. It investigated the effects of positive and negative message framing and the use of guilt appeals on consumer attitudes. Self-schema theory and elaboration likelihood model informed the objectives of this study. Experimental design was used alongwith regression and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The analysis indicated that attitudes toward the brand, and attitudes toward the cause, positively predicted consumers\u27 purchase intentions. Findings provide support for the idea that consumer-cause fit is an important factor in determining consumer response to a CRM campaign. Consumers evaluate the brand more positively in a cause-brand alliance when they feel the cause is relevant to their self-schema

Educational and Social Psychological Outcomes of a STEM Program for Adolescent Girls

The purpose of this research was to explore how participation in Fashion FUNdamentals (FF) shaped girls\u27 interest and confidence in the STEM disciplines, their STEM learning, and their feelings about themselves. FF is a two-week, no-cost, summer program (M-F, 9 am-5 pm) targeting underserved adolescent girls aged 10-13 years. Fashion FUNdamentals is a unique STEM program insomuch as it frames STEM learning within the context of fashion and includes both technical and social programming. FF has been offered three times (2015-2017) and has served 129 girls. At the conclusion of each year\u27s program, the FF team conducted focus groups with participants. Analysis of focus group data revealed five themes. Findings demonstrate that participating in FF can support girls\u27 STEM interest/confidence/comprehension as well as their self-confidence and educational and career preparedness, suggesting that adopting a lens of fashion to explore the STEM disciplines can promote girls\u27 academic and personal development

Determining Effective Approaches to Promoting Consumption of Slow Fashion Apparel: The Impact of Message Framing and Message Content on Consumer Responses to Advertisements

The purpose of the study was to determine which type of message framing and content in an advertising campaign can most effectively influence consumers\u27 knowledge, attitudes, and purchase intentions toward fast fashion apparel, while supporting the purchase of slow fashion apparel. This research was developed based on two variables: message framing and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Seventy-one students participated in a 2 (message frame: negative vs. positive) x 2 (peripheral processing/image vs. central processing/text) between-subjects experimental design. Findings suggested that message framing and message content affected participants\u27 future purchase intentions. The positively framed message, looking at the benefits of slow fashion increased future purchase intentions more so than the negatively framed message looking at the harmful effects of fast fashion. Additionally, the peripheral (image based) advertisement increased purchase intentions more so than the central (text based) advertisement. However, message framing and content did not influence participant\u27s knowledge and attitudes

The effect of self-awareness on the ability to recognize personal motion

The purpose of this study was to examine the abilities of athletes with specific gait training (i.e., runners) discriminating personal gait from point-light videos were compared to athletes for whom gait is not a trained aspect of the sport (i.e., swimmers), and that of a control. It was hypothesized that runners would discriminate their gait among different individuals with greater accuracy than the other two groups and that runners would also devote more attention to the lower extremities for recognition indications. Results showed that runners group recognized themselves more often than the other two groups (p = .048, η 2 = 0.18), and that runners allotted more visual attention to the lower extremities (p < .05, ηp 2 = 0.16) when viewing the point-light videos than the other groups. The findings were consistent with other investigations with point-light video representations of movement and suggest that experience and training lead to movement self-awareness that is both recognizable and accessible by a performer.The project was supported by a grant from the Research Council at Western Illinois University for the purchase of the Gazepoint eye tracking equipment

College Students’ Responses to Prosocial Marketing Claims on Apparel Hang Tags

In recent years, it has become increasingly common for apparel companies to include prosocial marketing claims on product hang tags. Such claims have addressed environmentallysound production practices, fair labor/fair trade initiatives, and/or monetary contributions to charitable causes. However, research provides only limited understanding of the benefits to consumers and/or apparel companies derived from including prosocial marketing claims on apparel hang tags. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore consumers’ responses to prosocial marketing claims placed on apparel hang tags

Evaluating the Outcomes of Fashion FUNdamentals: A STEM Education Program for Middle School Girls

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the outcomes of Fashion FUNdamentals, a youth enrichment program that invokes fashion as a catalyst to ignite middle school girls\u27 interest in STEM learning. FF is a two-week, no-cost, summer program (M-F, 9 am-5 pm) that targets underserved middle school girls (aged 11-14). The program addresses the multifaceted educational and developmental needs of middle school girls through both technical programming (i.e., STEM-based education in fiber/textile science; digital textile printing; apparel engineering; and apparel costing and pricing) and social programming (i.e., esteem-based education in body image/media literacy, nutrition, physical activity, anti-bullying, and Internet safety). Findings provide evidence that Fashion FUNdamentals has the potential to build girls\u27 interest in math and science as well as their self-esteem. Girls who enter the program with either low or high self-esteem may benefit from participation relative to increased interest as an outcome

Consumer response to exterior atmospherics at a university-branded merchandise store

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of landscaping, a store greeter, and an electronic kiosk upon college students’ responses to a university-branded and owned merchandise store located in a downtown shopping district. The research was informed by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974), which proposes that consumers\u27 emotional responses to a physical store environment mediate how the environment shapes their patronage behaviors

The moderating effect of environmental dynamism on green product innovation and performance

Environmental management has been researching extensively in the last two decades. Pressure from environmental regulations or policies plays an important role to boost environmental management practices. Nevertheless, the relationship between such pressure and the ultimate firm performance is not very obvious. Although green product innovation has been recognized as a predictor to improve environment performance, there is a lack of discussion in the literature to examine the mediating effect of green product innovation between the aforementioned pressure and firm performance. Additionally, most previous studies adopted a static view which ignores the implications on external dynamic factors in many empirical studies. In this connection, this study contributes to the field of knowledge by filling these two gaps. More specifically, this study: (i) examines the effect of green product innovation on the relationship between pressure of environmental regulations (or policies) and firm performance; and (ii) evaluates the moderating effect of environmental dynamism on the relationship between green production innovation and firm performance. A questionnaire survey is conducted in an emerging country, China, to verify the hypotheses.Institute of Textiles and Clothin