A Comparative Analysis of Student Engagement between Community College Students

For years, community college research has focused on student engagement in an effort to improve student academic performance, retention, and graduation completion rates. While the positive effects of student engagement at both the community college and 4-year university levels have been consistently supported by previous research, there has been very limited research that has focused exclusively on the impact of student engagement in the growing subset of Workforce, now referred to as Career and Technical Education students. Since 2003, community colleges have employed the Community College Student Report to gather data from students on several variables positively correlated with increased student engagement levels. The purpose of this causal- comparative study is to compare student engagement levels between Academic and Career and Technical Education students enrolled in a college district in Texas as reported on the Community College Student Report which covers five major benchmark areas. If a difference existed, the original contention that Career and Technical Education students\u27 inputs would differ could indicate the need for more focused attention on this group in the normal administration of the survey. The original expectation was that there would be statistically significant differences in responses between groups; however, the results indicated unremarkable differences in student engagement levels between the two groups in all five benchmark areas and reflected only slight differences in any of the subscales

Mindful Eating: Trait and State Mindfulness Predict Healthier Eating Behavior

Obesity and excess weight are significant societal problems. Mindfulness may encourage healthier weight and eating habits. Across four studies, we found a positive relation between mindfulness and healthier eating. Trait mindfulness was associated with less impulsive eating, reduced calorie consumption, and healthier snack choices. In addition, we found a causal effect of mindfulness on healthier eating. An experimental manipulation of state mindfulness led participants to consume fewer calories in a spontaneous eating task. We also found preliminary evidence that mindfulness affects eating behavior by encouraging attitudinal preferences for healthier foods. Taken together, these results provide strong evidence that mindfulness encourages healthier eating, even in the absence of specific instruction in mindful eating. These results suggest that generic mindfulness-based strategies could have ancillary benefits for encouraging healthier eating behavior

Adolescent D-amphetamine treatment in a rodent model of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: impact on cocaine abuse vulnerability in adulthood

RATIONALE: Stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents remain controversial with respect to later development of cocaine abuse. Past research demonstrated that adolescent methylphenidate treatment increased several aspects of cocaine self-administration during adulthood using the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) model of ADHD. Presently, we determined effects of the alternate stimulant medication, d-amphetamine, on cocaine self-administration. OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that adolescent d-amphetamine would not increase cocaine self-administration in adult SHR, given that d-amphetamine has a different mechanism of action than methylphenidate. METHODS: A pharmacologically relevant dose of d-amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg) or vehicle was administered throughout adolescence to SHR and two control strains, Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Wistar (WIS). Three aspects of cocaine abuse vulnerability were assessed in adulthood after discontinuing adolescent treatments: acquisition rate and dose-related responding under fixed (FR) and progressive (PR) ratio schedules. RESULTS: Adult SHR acquired cocaine self-administration faster and self-administered more cocaine across multiple doses compared to WKY and WIS under FR and PR schedules, indicating that SHR is a reliable animal model of comorbid ADHD and cocaine abuse. Relative to vehicle, SHR and WIS with adolescent d-amphetamine treatment self-administered less cocaine upon reaching acquisition criteria, and WIS additionally acquired cocaine self-administration more slowly and had downward shifts in FR and PR cocaine dose-response curves. WKY with adolescent d-amphetamine treatment acquired cocaine self-administration more quickly relative to vehicle. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to methylphenidate, adolescent d-amphetamine did not augment cocaine self-administration in SHR. Adolescent d-amphetamine treatment actually protected against cocaine abuse vulnerability in adult SHR and WIS.National Institutes of Health grant DA011716 and the Clara Mayo Memorial Fellowship at Boston University. (DA011716 - National Institutes of Health; Clara Mayo Memorial Fellowship at Boston University)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5026317/Published versio

Adolescent D-amphetamine treatment in a rodent model of ADHD: pro-cognitive effects in adolescence without an impact on cocaine cue reactivity in adulthood

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is comorbid with cocaine abuse. Whereas initiating ADHD medication in childhood does not alter later cocaine abuse risk, initiating medication during adolescence may increase risk. Preclinical work in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) model of ADHD found that adolescent methylphenidate increased cocaine self-administration in adulthood, suggesting a need to identify alternatively efficacious medications for teens with ADHD. We examined effects of adolescent d-amphetamine treatment on strategy set shifting performance during adolescence and on cocaine self-administration and reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior (cue reactivity) during adulthood in male SHR, Wistar-Kyoto (inbred control), and Wistar (outbred control) rats. During the set shift phase, adolescent SHR needed more trials and had a longer latency to reach criterion, made more regressive errors and trial omissions, and exhibited slower and more variable lever press reaction times. d-Amphetamine improved performance only in SHR by increasing choice accuracy and decreasing errors and latency to criterion. In adulthood, SHR self-administered more cocaine, made more cocaine-seeking responses, and took longer to extinguish lever responding than control strains. Adolescent d-amphetamine did not alter cocaine self-administration in adult rats of any strain, but reduced cocaine seeking during the first of seven reinstatement test sessions in adult SHR. These findings highlight utility of SHR in modeling cognitive dysfunction and comorbid cocaine abuse in ADHD. Unlike methylphenidate, d-amphetamine improved several aspects of flexible learning in adolescent SHR and did not increase cocaine intake or cue reactivity in adult SHR. Thus, adolescent d-amphetamine was superior to methylphenidate in this ADHD model.R01 DA011716 - NIDA NIH HHS; DA011716 - NIDA NIH HH

Reviews

Danny Saunders and Nina Smalley (eds.), The International Simulation and Gaming Research Yearbook — Volume 8: Simulations and Games for Transition and Change, London: Kogan Page, 2000. ISBN: 0–7494–3397–3. Hardback, viii+271 pages, £40.00

Adolescent D-amphetamine treatment in a rodent model of ADHD: pro-cognitive effects during adolescence and cocaine abuse risk during adulthood

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is comorbid with cocaine abuse. Whereas initiating ADHD medication in childhood does not alter later cocaine abuse risk, initiating medication during adolescence may increase risk. Preclinical work in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) model of ADHD found that adolescent methylphenidate increased cocaine self-administration in adulthood, suggesting a need to identify alternatively efficacious medications for teens with ADHD. We examined effects of adolescent d-amphetamine treatment on strategy set shifting performance during adolescence and on cocaine self-administration and reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior (cue reactivity) during adulthood in male SHR, Wistar- Kyoto (inbred control), and Wistar (outbred control) rats. During the set shift phase, adolescent SHR needed more trials and had a longer latency to reach criterion, made more regressive errors and trial omissions, and exhibited slower and more variable lever press reaction times. d- Amphetamine improved performance only in SHR by increasing choice accuracy and decreasing errors and latency to criterion. In adulthood, SHR self-administered more cocaine, made more cocaine-seeking responses, and took longer to extinguish lever responding than control strains. Adolescent d-amphetamine did not alter cocaine self-administration in adult rats of any strain, but reduced cocaine seeking during the first of seven reinstatement test sessions in adult SHR. These findings highlight utility of SHR in modeling cognitive dysfunction and comorbid cocaine abuse in ADHD. Unlike methylphenidate, d-amphetamine improved several aspects of flexible learning in adolescent SHR and did not increase cocaine intake or cue reactivity in adult SHR. Thus, adolescent d-amphetamine was superior to methylphenidate in this ADHD model

The Role of Governance in Tourism Planning

This research tests Beaumont and Dredge’s tourism application of governance structure theory using recent tourism planning efforts in the community of Sitka, Alaska. In less than two years, the community of Sitka undertook two separate tourism-planning processes in response to a major tourism event (need for cruise dock to accommodate large cruise ships). The first plan followed a participant-led governance structure, the second plan a council-led governance structure. The participant-led governance structure produced a plan through a collaborative process that empowered citizen participants and sought to limit growth, while the council-led structure produced a more pro-growth plan and downplayed citizen concern for maintaining quality of life. Through this research, tourism governance structures are critically analyzed with a clearer understanding of advantages and disadvantages of planning processes under differing governance structures

The role of ‘non-knowledge’ in crisis policymaking: a proposal and agenda for future research

Background:Recent complex and cross-boundary policy problems, such as climate change, pandemics, and financial crises, have recentred debates about state capacity, democratic discontent and the ‘crisis of expertise’. These problems are contested and open to redefinition, misunderstanding, spin, and deception, challenging the ability of policymakers to locate, discriminate, comprehend, and respond to competing sources of knowledge and expertise. We argue that ‘non-knowledge’ is an under-explored aspect of responses to major policy crises.Key points:While discussed in recent work in sociology and other social sciences, non-knowledge has been given less explicit attention in policy studies, and is not fully captured by orthodox understandings of knowledge and evidence use. We outline three main forms of non-knowledge that challenge public agencies: amnesia, ignorance and misinformation. In each case, ‘non-knowledge’ is not simply the absence of policy-relevant knowledge. Amnesia refers to what is forgotten, reinvented or ‘unlearned’, while claims of ignorance involve obscuring or casting aside of relevant knowledge that could (or even should) be available. To be misinformed is to actively believe false or misleading information. In each instance, non-knowledge may have strategic value for policy actors or aid the pursuit of self-interest.Conclusions and implications:We demonstrate the relevance of non-knowledge through a brief case study, emerging from the inquiry into the COVID-19 hotel quarantine programme in the Australian state of Victoria. We argue that both amnesia and ‘practical’ forms of ignorance contributed to failures during the early part of the programme

The Use of a Formative Pedagogy Lens to Enhance and Maintain Virtual Supervisory Relationships:Appreciative Inquiry and Critical Review

BACKGROUND: Virtual supervisory relationships provide an infrastructure for flexible learning, global accessibility, and outreach, connecting individuals worldwide. The surge in web-based educational activities in recent years provides an opportunity to understand the attributes of an effective supervisor-student or mentor-student relationship. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare the published literature (through a critical review) with our collective experiences (using small-scale appreciative inquiry [AI]) in an effort to structure and identify the dilemmas and opportunities for virtual supervisory and mentoring relationships, both in terms of stakeholder attributes and skills as well as providing instructional recommendations to enhance virtual learning. METHODS: A critical review of the literature was conducted followed by an AI of reflections by the authors. The AI questions were derived from the 4D AI framework. RESULTS: Despite the multitude of differences between face-to-face and web-based supervision and mentoring, four key dilemmas seem to influence the experiences of stakeholders involved in virtual learning: informal discourses and approachability of mentors; effective virtual communication strategies; authenticity, trust, and work ethics; and sense of self and cultural considerations. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual mentorship or supervision can be as equally rewarding as an in-person relationship. However, its successful implementation requires active acknowledgment of learners’ needs and careful consideration to develop effective and mutually beneficial student-educator relationships