Active Learning Training and Classroom Renovation: Exploring Student and Faculty Perceptions in Health and Human Performance Disciplines

Active learning spaces form an important part of university learning environments and have the potential to enhance student learning, yet studies on student and faculty perceptions of collaborative learning pedagogies indicate many remain resistant. To overcome this resistance, an academic department developed and implemented an active learning initiative to assist faculty transiting to teach in a classroom newly renovated for active learning pedagogies. Five semi-structured focus groups explored perceptions of faculty and students in the inaugural classes in the renovated space to identify what they perceived enhanced or detracted from faculty delivery of content and student learning experiences. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: Positive improvements in the physical classroom environment, enhanced student engagement, and improved instructional methodology because of faulty training and classroom renovation. Key findings indicated primarily positive perceptions of the renovated physical environment, especially the tables and mobile white boards; however, participants also noted some frustrations with the furniture, classroom layout, and technology influencing student engagement and effectiveness of active learning strategies. Overall, data supported the conclusion that the classroom renovation and faculty training program effectively facilitated positive learning experiences and student-instructor interactions

Student and Faculty Perception of Engagement in Two Active Learning Classroom Designs

Faculty and student perception of engagement in two (mobile desks or mobile tables and chairs) low-tech active learning classroom (ALC) designs were compared. Student (n = 413) perceptions of engagement were measured with the Engaged Learning Index (ELI) and the Social Context and Learning Environments (SCALE) instruments at the beginning and end of a semester in a large, multi-disciplinary department. Faculty (n = 14) rated perception of engagement using only the SCALE instrument. Perceptions of engagement from faculty and students using SCALE were significantly more positive for both ALCs compared to perceptions of traditional classrooms. There was no clear evidence of differences in student and faculty perceptions of engagement between the two ALC designs. No or small differences between the two ALC designs means departments might consider cost, maintenance, and other pragmatic factors in ALC design

Active learning classroom design and student engagement: An exploratory study

Three student engagement measures were collected for a class taught by an experienced instructor in two active learning classrooms with dissimilar seating arrangements. Student perception of engagement was similar between the learning spaces. However, instructor perception and researcher observation indicated greater engagement in the classroom with mobile tables compared to the classroom with mobile desks. STROBE classroom observations indicated qualitatively different student-to-student (8% greater), student-to-instructor (3% greater), and student self- (6.5% less) engagement in the mobile table classroom over the mobile desks classroom. Instructor and student perceptions may interact to affect student engagement with various designs of active learning classrooms

Elementary School Personnel's Perceptions of and Recommendations for Managing Child Obesity: A Naturalistic Study

This dissertation presents three separate studies investigating elementary school personnel's perceptions of and recommendations for managing child obesity. First, a systematic literature review will be presented with an assessment of the very limited current body of literature related to elementary school personnel's perceptions of child obesity to determine the direction of the second and third studies. The systematic review presents personnel's perspectives of (1) the extent of child obesity, (2) contributing factors of child obesity, (3) solutions for child obesity, and (4) barriers to overcoming child obesity. Second, drawing upon the systematic review, a qualitative investigation of elementary school personnel's perceptions of and recommendations for managing child obesity will be presented. Utilizing an emergent design, data collection comprised one-on-one interviews with 31 elementary school personnel. A thematic analysis was employed on raw data and a socioecological model was utilized to explain emergent themes. Participating school personnel identified the home environment and parental factors as the leading factors contributing to child obesity. Personnel also emphasized child control of dietary and physical activity choices, most notably within the home environment. Third, a qualitative case study examining an elementary physical education (P.E.) teacher's perspectives of the impact of obesity on her obese students' experiences in her classroom will be presented. A narrative framework was employed, utilizing both thematic and structural analyses to examine the narratives elicited during the interview. The thematic analysis illuminated a participation refusal pattern of obese students within this P.E. teacher's classroom. The structural analysis highlighted the participating P.E. teacher's customized intervention for her obese students' participation refusals. The combination of thematic and structural methodologies resulted in a preliminary model of the behavioral impact of obesity in this P.E. classroom, which provided a more holistic view than either method alone. Prior to this study, just seven studies had investigated elementary school personnel's perceptions of and recommendations for managing child obesity; only three of which were published in the past decade. Thus, this study is both timely and desperately needed. The valuable insights gained from participating elementary school personnel in this study provide a justification for their inclusion in future studies addressing child obesity

African-American fathers’ perspectives on their children’s health education: a qualitative, exploratory study

Purpose: To investigate African-American fathers’ (AAF) perceptions regarding the applicability and need for their involvement as a health connection for their children and describe how participating fathers’ behavior was affected by their attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of their influence on their children’s health. Methods: This exploratory study gathered data via semi-structured focus groups (n = 3) and thematically analyzed it utilizing a grounded theory approach. Participants included AAF (n = 20) with a mean age of 37 years (SD 11.79), with at least one child between 6 and 18 years old. Results: Four major themes were revealed: (1) appropriate health education for participants’ children (should first and foremost be delivered by parents); (2) participants’ paternal health-related guidance approach (reactive, rather than proactive); (3) participants’ perceived influences on health-related communication with their children (gender roles, efficacy constraints); and (4) paternal definitions of health (most often associated with diet). Conclusion: Understanding AAFs’ perceived and desired role in their children’s health edification can inform initiatives that actively engage these men, and nurture their level of involvement, to promote positive health behaviors among their children; this is necessary to realize their potential to actively improve the health of their children, families, and communities.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Estimates of new and total productivity in central Long Island Sound from in situ measurements of nitrate and dissolved oxygen

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 36 (2013): 74-97, doi:10.1007/s12237-012-9560-5.Biogeochemical cycles in estuaries are regulated by a diverse set of physical and biological variables that operate over a variety of time scales. Using in situ optical sensors, we conducted a high-frequency time-series study of several biogeochemical parameters at a mooring in central Long Island Sound from May to August 2010. During this period, we documented well-defined diel cycles in nitrate concentration that were correlated to dissolved oxygen, wind stress, tidal mixing, and irradiance. By filtering the data to separate the nitrate time series into various signal components, we estimated the amount of variation that could be ascribed to each process. Primary production and surface wind stress explained 59% and 19%, respectively, of the variation in nitrate concentrations. Less frequent physical forcings, including large-magnitude wind events and spring tides, served to decouple the relationship between oxygen, nitrate, and sunlight on about one-quarter of study days. Daytime nitrate minima and dissolved oxygen maxima occurred nearly simultaneously on the majority (> 80%) of days during the study period; both were strongly correlated with the daily peak in irradiance. Nighttime nitrate maxima reflected a pattern in which surface-layer stocks were depleted each afternoon and recharged the following night. Changes in nitrate concentrations were used to generate daily estimates of new primary production (182 ± 37 mg C m-2 d-1) and the f-ratio (0.25), i.e., the ratio of production based on nitrate to total production. These estimates, the first of their kind in Long Island Sound, were compared to values of community respiration, primary productivity, and net ecosystem metabolism, which were derived from in situ measurements of oxygen concentration. Daily averages of the three metabolic parameters were 1660 ± 431, 2080 ± 419, and 429 ± 203 mg C m-2 d-1, respectively. While the system remained weakly autotrophic over the duration of the study period, we observed very large day-to-day differences in the f-ratio and in the various metabolic parameters.This work was supported by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, the Sounds Conservancy of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Carpenter-Sperry Fund.2014-01-0

An Alternative Approach to Relapse Analysis: Using Monte Carlo Methods and Proportional Rates of Response

Relapse is the recovery of a previously suppressed response. Animal models have been useful in examin-ing the mechanisms underlying relapse (e.g., reinstatement, renewal, reacquisition, resurgence). How-ever, there are several challenges to analyzing relapse data using traditional approaches. For example,null hypothesis significance testing is commonly used to determine whether relapse has occurred. How-ever, this method requires several a priori assumptions about the data, as well as a large sample size forbetween-subjects comparisons or repeated testing for within-subjects comparisons. Monte Carlomethods may represent an improved analytic technique, because these methods require no priorassumptions, permit smaller sample sizes, and can be tailored to account for all of the data from anexperiment instead of some limited set. In the present study, we conducted reanalyses of three studiesof relapse (Berry, Sweeney, & Odum, 2014; Galizio et al., 2018; Odum & Shahan, 2004) using MonteCarlo techniques to determine if relapse occurred and if there were differences in rate of responsebased on relevant independent variables (such as group membership or schedule of reinforcement).These reanalyses supported the previousfindings. Finally, we provide general recommendations forusing Monte Carlo methods in studies of relapse

The nature of impulsivity: visual exposure to natural environments decreases impulsive decision-making in a delay discounting task.

The benefits of visual exposure to natural environments for human well-being in areas of stress reduction, mood improvement, and attention restoration are well documented, but the effects of natural environments on impulsive decision-making remain unknown. Impulsive decision-making in delay discounting offers generality, predictive validity, and insight into decision-making related to unhealthy behaviors. The present experiment evaluated differences in such decision-making in humans experiencing visual exposure to one of the following conditions: natural (e.g., mountains), built (e.g., buildings), or control (e.g., triangles) using a delay discounting task that required participants to choose between immediate and delayed hypothetical monetary outcomes. Participants viewed the images before and during the delay discounting task. Participants were less impulsive in the condition providing visual exposure to natural scenes compared to built and geometric scenes. Results suggest that exposure to natural environments results in decreased impulsive decision-making relative to built environments

Weight-Related Barriers for Overweight Students in an Elementary Physical Education Classroom: An Exploratory Case Study with One Physical Education Teacher

IntroductionAs physical performance may be more difficult for overweight children than for their non-overweight peers, understanding how weight impacts student performance in the physical education (P.E.) classroom could inform school-based obesity prevention programming.Materials and methodsThis qualitative case study examined one elementary physical educator’s perspectives of overweight students’ weight-related experiences in her classroom. Narratives were elicited during an in-depth interview and analyzed using structural and thematic analyses. We utilized the social cognitive theory to inform our exploration of the narratives.FindingsThe thematic analysis illuminated a behavioral pattern of student refusal to participate in the P.E. classroom while the structural analysis emphasized the teacher’s constructive, individualized responses to participation refusals. Combined, the two analytic techniques provided a more holistic snapshot of the experiences of overweight students in this elementary school. In addition, a preliminary model explaining the behavioral pattern among overweight students in this particular P.E. classroom was created.DiscussionStudents who were overweight were more likely to initially refuse to attempt physical tasks in the classroom because they feared peer ridicule, and the teacher played a critical role in whether these students chose to participate in subsequent classes. As agents of change, P.E. educators should be included in formative stages of comprehensive, systemic changes to combat childhood obesity

Schematic diagram of potential progression of first three trials of choice procedure.

<p>Schematic diagram of the possible outcomes based on participant choice of the smaller sooner or larger later reward for the first three trials of the delay discounting procedure.</p