The College Participation of the 1982 Undergraduate Cohort in Louisiana Public Higher Education: A Longitudinal Analysis.

This study examined the six-year college participation of students entering Louisiana public undergraduate higher education in Fall 1982. Motivation for the study stemmed from several educational conditions in Louisiana: a lower graduation rate than that of the nation, disparities in the graduation rates of Black students and White students, and administrative considerations for the restructuring of public higher education. The purposes of the study were: (1) to describe the population by selected characteristics and (2) to identify participation differences in enrollment, persistence, and achievement among sub-groups classified by: (a) race and gender, (b) developmental program participation, and (c) institutional types (by degrees granted and predominant race). Information for the analysis came from magnetic tape provided by the Louisiana Board of Regents. Subjects for the study were 19,855 first-time freshmen entering undergraduate institutions of Louisiana public higher education on a full-time basis in Fall 1982. Criteria for inclusion were designation as Black or White and documented Louisiana residence, gender, date of birth, and ACT composite scores. Other variables describing students included (a) enrollment status for each academic session from Fall 1982 through Spring 1988, (b) academic major at entry, (c) transfer status, (d) developmental status, (e) highest classification gained, (f) graduation status, and (g) enrollment by institutional types (two- or four-year and predominantly Black or White) at college entry. Distributions and regression procedures facilitated statistical analysis. The study documented (a) predictors of persistence and graduation (in order of general contribution) to be higher ACT scores, non-transfer status, non-developmental status, entry into four-year institutions, entry into predominantly Black institutions, younger age, and female gender; (b) choices of major in mathematics/sciences, business, and education to indicate graduation more often than other majors; (c) disproportionately lower rates of participation for Black students (particularly males) than for White students; (d) higher rates of enrollment, but lower rates of persistence and graduation for developmental than non-developmental students; (e) lower rates of participation for those entering two-year colleges; and (f) lower rates of enrollment, but higher rates of persistence and graduation for (Black) students entering predominantly Black institutions

Why Teach With PBL? Motivational Factors Underlying Middle and High School Teachers’ Use of Problem-Based Learning

This quantitative study examined factors underlying middle and high school teachers’ choices about whether to use problem-based learning (PBL). Survey items measured respondents’ perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness, and the value and costs they placed on implementing PBL. Teachers who have taught with PBL (n = 126) had significantly more formal PBL professional development, higher levels of perceived competence and value for this pedagogy, perceived more support from peers, and perceived lower costs than did the non–PBL use teachers (n = 30). Findings highlight the importance of formal PBL professional development in increasing teachers’ intention to implement PBL and recommend the inclusion of experienced PBL teachers to share how the “costs” of implementing this pedagogy can also add “value” for teachers and their students

Random Responding from Participants is a Threat to the Validity of Social Science Research Results

Research in the social sciences often relies upon the motivation and goodwill of research participants (e.g., teachers, students) to do their best on low stakes assessments of the effects of interventions. Research participants who are unmotivated to perform well can engage in random responding on outcome measures, which can cause substantial mis-estimation of results, biasing results toward the null hypothesis. Data from a recent educational intervention study served as an example of this problem: participants identified as random responders showed substantially lower scores than other participants on tests during the study, and failed to show growth in scores from pre- to post-test, while those not engaging in random responding showed much higher scores and significant growth over time. Furthermore, the hypothesized differences across instructional method were masked when random responders were retained in the sample but were significant when removed. We remind researchers in the social sciences to screen their data for random responding in their outcome measures in order to improve the odds of detecting effects of their interventions

Problems in using social work records in assessing change

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Why Do Students Attend STEM Clubs, What Do They Get Out of It, and Where Are They Heading?

This research investigated what motivated and sustained the involvement of 376 students in culturally relevant, afterschool STEM clubs at four rural, under-resourced schools. A longitudinal, convergent parallel mixed methods research design was used to investigate participants’ participation in and perceptions of the clubs, their motivations to attend, and their future goals, over three years. Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) served as a guiding theoretical and analytical framework. Overall, students who attended the clubs were African American (55%), female (56%), and 6th graders (42%), attended approximately half of the clubs (43%), and agreed with quality measures on the STEM Club Survey (M = 4.0/5). Students interviewed (n = 131) were most likely (99%) to describe what they enjoyed (intrinsic value), what was useful to them (utility value; 55%), personally important (42%; attainment value), or related to their personal or collective identity (40%). Most participants (78%) planned to attend a 4-year university and expressed interest in at least one STEM career (77%); highest attendees (48%) expressed the most interest. Our study reveals that a culturally relevant, afterschool STEM club can motivate underserved students to participate, learn, feel a sense of belonging as a club member, and positively influence their college and career pathways

Contextual Choices in Online Physics Problems: Promising Insights Into Closing the Gender Gap

Throughout the world, female students are less likely than males to take advanced physics courses. This mixed-methods study uses a concurrent, nested design to study an online homework intervention designed to address choice and achievement. A choice of three different contexts (biological, sports, and traditional) were offered to students for each physics problem, intending to stimulate females’ interest and enhance achievement. Informed by aspects of Artino’s social-cognitive model of academic motivation and emotion, we investigated: Which context of physics problems do males and females select?; What explanations do students give for their choices?; Are there differences in the achievement of males and females?; and Is there a relationship between student achievement and the context selected? Fifty-two high school physics students from five US states participated. Data included pre- and post-Force Concept Inventory scores, homework context choices and achievement, and rationales for choices. Findings indicate that females were most likely to select biology contexts; males, traditional. All students made more attempts on video questions over word questions, although females did not score as well. For all questions, students generally persisted until they answered them correctly, with females taking fewer attempts on problems. Context choice was mostly driven by interest, for males, and perceptions of difficulty level for females; however, rationales were indistinguishable by gender. On their first homework question attempt, females scored significantly better than the males. Initially, males had significantly higher FCI scores; post homework intervention, females increased their mean scores significantly on the FCI, erasing the initial gender gap, with no growth nor decline in males’ scores. Females with FCI growth were equally as likely to choose biology contexts as traditional contexts; males were more likely to choose biology contexts. Findings from this study suggest that modest changes to homework problems that provide choice and make the physics problems more contextually interesting—even without changes in classroom instruction—could increase interest and motivation in students and increase achievement for both male and female students. Recommendations will be discussed

District Strategic Teaming: Leadership for Systemic and Sustainable Reform

Reform efforts in schools have become increasingly focused on the nature and direction of teamwork in efforts to achieve sustained and systemic districtwide capacity for innovation and needed change. The six-year study reported in this article involved development, implementation, and assessment of a unique collaborative process for districtwide reform in some of the most challenging and fluid educational settings in the United States of America. This reform process, called District Strategic Teaming, involved a representative vertical cross-section of members from the district office to school-based support staff. Participating schools are located in isolated, rural communities in the south-eastern region of the United States of America that experience high rates of teacher turnover and serve student populations living in abject poverty. Despite these challenges, the longitudinal study revealed substantive improvement in organizational culture and reduction of systemic barriers for innovation through the process described in this article