Gaining S-T-E-A-M: A General Athletic Department Social Media Strategy

In the 10 years since the invention of Facebook, social media sites have become an indispensable part of the marketing and communications strategy employed by a broad spectrum of organizations, including university athletic departments. While social media is almost universally used, a review of academic literature suggests the study of deployment of social media resources, and analysis of their effectiveness, is still very much in preliminary stages. Professional literature on social media use is out in front of peer-reviewed research. Therefore, we use Funk’s framework for social media practices as a point of departure, offering a social media strategy specifically for university athletic departments, grounded in Social Marketing Theory. Using a case study of Old Dominion University, a mid-sized, U.S. college athletic department, the authors analyze the 40 social media pages run by the department in comparison to guidelines created from the Funk framework and the growing body of academic literature, conduct interviews with practitioners in the athletic department, and a focus group of fans. Using this data, the authors create a case study-based list of best practices, known by the acronym S-T-E-A-M, which could assist similar university athletic departments in their use of social media

Educational Technology and Distance Supervision in Counselor Education

The authors used a nonexperimental descriptive design to examine the prevalence of distance supervision in counselor education programs, educational technology used in supervision, training on technology in supervision, and participants\u27 (N = 673) perceptions of legal and ethical compliance. Program policies are recommended to guide the training and use of technology in supervision

Family Structure Stability and Transitions, Parental Involvement, and Educational Outcomes

The family environments children live in have profound effects on the skills, resources, and attitudes those children bring to school. Researchers studying family structure have found that children who live with two married, opposite-sex, biological parents, on average, have better educational outcomes than children living in alternate family structures, perhaps due to higher resources, lower stressors, or different selectivity patterns. Socioeconomic stratification plays a major role in family structure, with low-income families seeing more instability. We argue that the impact of family structure is attenuated by transitions in and out of family structures that may decrease a specific resource important to child academic outcomes: parental involvement. This may contribute to increased academic differences already noted across class gaps. Using waves 1 to 6 of the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) data, we examine the relationship of family stability and transitions from birth to age 10/11 years on parental involvement and educational outcomes, adjusted for resource, stressor, and selectivity covariates. We find that changes in parental involvement are only apparent for families that experience both a transition and single parenting, and that these differences in parental involvement impact academic outcome

Counselors\u27 Perceptions of Their Preparedness for Telemental Health Services: A Phenomenological Examination

Background: To examine counselors\u27 perceptions of their formal preparation for engaging in telemental health (TMH) counseling with the intent of gaining an understanding of their lived experiences. Materials and Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with seven seasoned counselors who regularly engage in technology-mediated distance counseling. Results: The results highlighted themes within two emerging categories: the counselor and training/education. Themes related to motivation and specific counselor attributes emerged from the first category and themes of availability, inadequacy, and modality emerged from the second category. Discussion: The implications from this study suggest a lack of availability and standardization of effective training on TMH delivery. Conclusion: This study identifies areas of potential future research related to counselors\u27 preparation experiences as well specific areas of need for TMH training in counseling graduate programs and other natural opportunities

A Comparison of Screening Tools for the Early Detection of Peripheral Neuropathy in Adults with and without Type 2 Diabetes

Objective. Examine the effectiveness of the 128 Hz tuning fork, two monofilaments, and Norfolk Quality of Life Diabetic Neuropathy (QOL-DN) questionnaire as tools for the early detection of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in overweight, obese, and inactive (OOI) adults or those who have prediabetes (PD) or type 2 diabetes (T2D). Research Design and Methods. Thirty-four adults (mean age 58.4 years ± 12.1) were divided by glycemia (10 OOI normoglycemic, 13 PD, and 11 T2D). Sural nerves were tested bilaterally with the NC-stat DPNCheck to determine sural nerve amplitude potential (SNAP) and sural nerve conduction velocity (SNCV). All other testing results were compared to SNAP and SNCV. Results. Total 1 g monofilament scores significantly correlated with SNAP values and yielded the highest sensitivity and specificity combinations of tested measures. Total QOL-DN scores negatively correlated with SNAP values, as did QOL-DN symptoms. QOL-DN activities of daily living correlated with the right SNAP, and the QOL-DN small fiber subscore correlated with SNCV. Conclusions. The 1 g monofilament and total QOL-DN are effective, low-cost tools for the early detection of DPN in OOI, PD, and T2D adults. The 128 Hz tuning fork and 10 g monofilament may assist DPN screening as a tandem, but not primary, early DPN detection screening tools

Family Structure and Child Behavior Problems in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

A large body of literature suggests that children living with two married, biological parents on average have fewer behavior problems than those who do not. What is less clear is why this occurs. Competing theories suggest that resource deficiencies and parental selectivity play a part. We suggest that examining different contexts can help adjudicate among different theoretical explanations as to how family structure relates to child behavior problems. In this paper, we use data from the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) to examine the relationship between family structure and child behavior problems. Specifically, we look at how living in several configurations of biological and social parents may relate to child behavior problems. Findings suggest both similarities and differences across the three settings, with explanations in the UK results favoring selectivity theories, US patterns suggesting that there is a unique quality to family structure that can explain outcomes, and the Australian results favoring resource theories

Athletic Training Student Core Competency Implementation During Patient Encounters

Context: Health care research evidence suggests that early patient encounters (PEs), as well as the purposeful implementation of professional core competencies (CCs), for athletic training students (ATSs) may be beneficial to their ability to provide care. However, no investigators have related facets of the clinical education experience with CC implementation as a form of summative assessment of the clinical experience. Objective: To determine the relationship between the frequency and length of PEs, as well as the student\u27s role and clinical site during PEs, and the students\u27 perceived CC implementation during these encounters. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Professional athletic training program, National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution. Patients or Other Participants: We purposefully recruited 1 athletic training program that used E*Value software; 40 participants (31 females, 9 males) enrolled in the professional phase (12 first year, 14 second year, 14 third year) participated. Intervention(s): Participants viewed a 20-minute recorded CC educational module followed by educational handouts, which were also posted online for reference throughout the semester. The E*Value software was used to track PEs, including the type of encounter (ie, actual patient, practice encounter, didactic practice scenario), the type of site where the encounter occurred (university, high school), and the participant\u27s role (observed, assisted, performed), as well as responses to an added block of questions indicating which, if any, of the CCs were implemented during the PE. Main Outcome Measure(s): Variables per patient were PE length (minutes), participant role, site at which the encounter occurred, and whether any of the 6 CCs were implemented (yes/no). Variables per participant were average encounter length (minutes), encounter frequency, modal role, clinical site assignment, and the number of times each CC was implemented. Separate 1-way analyses of variance were used to examine the relationships between role or clinical site and implementation of total number of CCs. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine how the average length and frequency of PEs were related to the average and total number of implemented CCs. Binary logistic regression models indicated how the length of each encounter, role of the participant, and type of clinical site related to the implementation of each CC. Results:  The roles of participants during PEs were related to their ability to implement the total number of CCs (F = 103.48, P \u3c .001). Those who observed were likely to implement fewer total CCs than those who assisted (M diff = −0.29, P \u3c .001); those who assisted were likely to implement more total CCs than those who performed (M diff = 0.32, P \u3c .001). Frequency of encounters was the only significant variable in the model examining all independent variables with CC implementation (b4,32= 3.34, t = 9.46, P \u3c .001). Conclusions:  The role of the student, namely assisting during PEs, and the volume of PEs should be considered priorities for students to promote greater CC implementation

Students with Learning Disabilities, Pair Programming And Situational Motivation

Persons with learning disabilities (LD) are underrepresented in computer science and information technology fields despite the explosion of related career opportunities and interest. In this study, we examine the use of pair programming as a collaborative intervention in with computer programming and compare students with learning disabilities to students who do not have learning disabilities. We concentrate on situational motivation constructs which tap into the desire to meet goals and acquire skills. We find that students with LD and similar students without LD fare the same. For the both groups, three of the four situational motivation subscales increase after the introduction of pair programming. The use of pair programming holds promises as an educational intervention for all students including those with learning disabilities

Use of Evidence-Based Practice Among Athletic Training Educators, Clinicians, and Students, Part 1: Perceived Importance, Knowledge, and Confidence

Context: Although evidence-based practice (EBP) has become more prevalent, athletic trainers\u27 perceptions of importance and knowledge of these concepts and their confidence in EBP are largely unknown. Objective: To assess perceived importance and knowledge of and confidence in EBP concepts in athletic trainers in various roles and with different degree levels. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Online survey instrument. Patients or Other Participants: The survey was sent to 6702 athletic training educators, clinicians, and postprofessional students. A total of 1209 completed the survey, for a response rate of 18.04%. Main Outcome Measure(s): Demographic information and perceived importance and knowledge of and confidence in the steps of EBP were obtained. One-way analysis of variance, a Kruskal-Wallis test, and an independent-samples t test were used to determine differences in scores among the demographic variables. Results: Athletic trainers demonstrated low knowledge scores (64.2% ± 1.29%) and mild to moderate confidence (2.71 ± 0.55 out of 4.0). They valued EBP as moderately to extremely important (3.49 ± 0.41 out of 4.0). Perceived importance scores differed among roles (clinicians unaffiliated with an education program scored lower than postprofessional educators, P = .001) and highest educational degree attained (athletic trainers with terminal degrees scored higher than those with bachelor\u27s or master\u27s degrees, P \u3c .001). Postprofessional athletic training students demonstrated the highest total EBP knowledge scores (4.65 ± 0.91), whereas clinicians demonstrated the lowest scores (3.62 ± 1.35). Individuals with terminal degrees had higher (P \u3c .001) total knowledge scores (4.31 ± 1.24) than those with bachelor\u27s (3.78 ± 1.2) or master\u27s degrees (3.76 ± 1.35). Postprofessional educators demonstrated greater confidence in knowledge scores (3.36 ± 0.40 out of 4.0) than did those in all other athletic training roles (P \u3c .001). Conclusions: Overall knowledge of the basic EBP steps remained low across the various athletic trainers\u27 roles. The higher level of importance indicated that athletic trainers valued EBP, but this value was not reflected in the knowledge of EBP concepts. Individuals with a terminal degree possessed higher knowledge scores than those with other educational preparations; however, EBP knowledge needs to increase across all demographics of the profession

Family Structure Stability and Transitions, Parental Involvement, and Educational Outcomes

The family environments children live in have profound effects on the skills, resources, and attitudes those children bring to school. Researchers studying family structure have found that children who live with two married, opposite-sex, biological parents, on average, have better educational outcomes than children living in alternate family structures, perhaps due to higher resources, lower stressors, or different selectivity patterns. Socioeconomic stratification plays a major role in family structure, with low-income families seeing more instability. We argue that the impact of family structure is attenuated by transitions in and out of family structures that may decrease a specific resource important to child academic outcomes: parental involvement. This may contribute to increased academic differences already noted across class gaps. Using waves 1 to 6 of the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) data, we examine the relationship of family stability and transitions from birth to age 10/11 years on parental involvement and educational outcomes, adjusted for resource, stressor, and selectivity covariates. We find that changes in parental involvement are only apparent for families that experience both a transition and single parenting, and that these differences in parental involvement impact academic outcomes