The psychological sense of community : Effects of referent groups and organizational involvement

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the operational definition of the concept of a psychological sense of community. Toward that end, the research attempted to discover the components which comprise a sense of community and measured those components within a variety of frames of reference. In addition, the relationship between participation levels in voluntary organizations and a psychological sense of community was examined, and the relationship between type of organization and a psychological sense of community was explored. The study was conducted in Louisville, Kentucky, upon a randomly selected sample of 266 subjects over age eighteen. Subjects were administered the Frame of Reference Measure of a Sense of Community, designed specifically for this study. This instrument consisted of fifty items with a Likert scale response. Five frames of reference, or social settings, were utilized: City, Neighborhood, Family, Work, and Organlzation. Subjects were grouped according to participation level and also according to type of voluntary organization. Church members were compared to civic organization members

The Validation of the Active Learning in Health Professions Scale

There is a need for an assessment tool for evaluating the effectiveness of active learning strategies such as problem-based learning in promoting deep learning and clinical reasoning skills within the dual environments of didactic and clinical settings in health professions education. The Active Learning in Health Professions Scale (ALPHS) instrument captures three elements of active learning: activities that have elements of novel access to information, observing or participating in experiences focused on learning, and reflective practices about the learning process. In order to assess the criterion-related validity of the ALHPS, a Structural Regression Model was created in which the latent variable of Active Learning was placed as a predictor of graduating seniors’ critical thinking. The strong psychometric properties of the ALHPS instrument indicate that it is possible to reliably assess students’ perceptions of the frequency with which they experience active learning pedagogy within doctoral health professions education, and that such strategies are predictive directly of academic engagement and indirectly of increases in students’ critical thinking skills

Honors Student Thriving: A Model of Academic, Psychological, and Social Wellbeing

Although academic success in honors programs is easily quantified, student thriving has not been previously measured. Honors students are often recruited to raise the academic profiles of their institutions (Carlson; Hebel) and so tend to excel academically in ways that can be measured by grades and graduation rates. Little is empirically known, however, about their holistic success and wellbeing while in college (Boazman; Moon; Slavin, Coladarci, & Pratt; Walker). Because they are no more immune than other students to psychological and social impediments, they may be succeeding but not thriving in their college experience. Thriving—defined as academic, psychological, and interpersonal wellbeing and engagement (Schreiner, “Thriving: Expanding”)—is a recent concept that expands the traditional approach of measuring college student success, which has historically been measured by such cognitive measures as GPA. Thriving measures malleable psychosocial factors—i.e., academic determination, engaged learning, positive perspective, diverse citizenship, and social connectedness—that influence student behavior and contribute to such key success outcomes as persistence and GPA. When college students thrive, they are fully engaged academically, psychologically, and socially; in essence, they are getting the most out of college. The main purpose of the present study was to develop a pictorial model of honors student thriving by investigating the pathways that predict a psychological sense of community, campus involvement, spirituality, student-faculty interaction, living on campus, certainty about a major, degree goals, and first choice of institution. This study further aimed to better understand honors students’ levels of academic determination, engaged learning, positive perspective, diverse citizenship, and social connectedness. Better understanding how honors students thrive can enable honors administrators, faculty, and staff to engage students in more productive and meaningful ways. We first provide readers with an overview of the pertinent research on honors students’ characteristics and thriving as a conceptual framework and then guide readers through the quantitative development and meaning of an emerging model of honors student thriving based on a national sample of honors students. Finally, we offer recommendations to honors educators about helping students thrive

Koinonia

In This IssueThe Fabric of Our Faithfulness: Part 1, David S. Guthrie What is the Sophomore Slump-and Why Should We Care?: Excerpted from Visible Solutions for Invisible Students: Helping Sophomores Succeed, by Laurie A. Schreiner & Jerry Pattengale Around CampusServant Leadership, Tess Bradley The 7 Be\u27s of Student Leader Supervision, Jesse Brown Spotlight on SpeakersJohn 7:53-8:11: The Politically Correct Version, Calvin Miller Regular FeaturesPresident\u27s Corner Editor\u27s Disk ACSD Business: Placement Services 2001, Conference Thoughts: Something Old...Something New..., Submissions Soughthttps://pillars.taylor.edu/acsd_koinonia/1031/thumbnail.jp

A Large-Scale Multi-ancestry Genome-wide Study Accounting for Smoking Behavior Identifies Multiple Significant Loci for Blood Pressure

Genome-wide association analysis advanced understanding of blood pressure (BP), a major risk factor for vascular conditions such as coronary heart disease and stroke. Accounting for smoking behavior may help identify BP loci and extend our knowledge of its genetic architecture. We performed genome-wide association meta-analyses of systolic and diastolic BP incorporating gene-smoking interactions in 610,091 individuals. Stage 1 analysis examined similar to 18.8 million SNPs and small insertion/deletion variants in 129,913 individuals from four ancestries (European, African, Asian, and Hispanic) with follow-up analysis of promising variants in 480,178 additional individuals from five ancestries. We identified 15 loci that were genome-wide significant (p <5 x 10(-8)) in stage 1 and formally replicated in stage 2. A combined stage 1 and 2 meta-analysis identified 66 additional genome-wide significant loci (13, 35, and 18 loci in European, African, and trans-ancestry, respectively). A total of 56 known BP loci were also identified by our results (p <5 x 10(-8)). Of the newly identified loci, ten showed significant interaction with smoking status, but none of them were replicated in stage 2. Several loci were identified in African ancestry, highlighting the importance of genetic studies in diverse populations. The identified loci show strong evidence for regulatory features and support shared pathophysiology with cardiometabolic and addiction traits. They also highlight a role in BP regulation for biological candidates such as modulators of vascular structure and function (CDKN1B, BCAR1-CFDP1, PXDN, EEA1), ciliopathies (SDCCAG8, RPGRIP1L), telomere maintenance (TNKS, PINX1, AKTIP), and central dopaminergic signaling MSRA, EBF2).Peer reviewe

Novel genetic associations for blood pressure identified via gene-alcohol interaction in up to 570K individuals across multiple ancestries

Heavy alcohol consumption is an established risk factor for hypertension; the mechanism by which alcohol consumption impact blood pressure (BP) regulation remains unknown. We hypothesized that a genome-wide association study accounting for gene-alcohol consumption interaction for BP might identify additional BP loci and contribute to the understanding of alcohol-related BP regulation. We conducted a large two-stage investigation incorporating joint testing of main genetic effects and single nucleotide variant (SNV)-alcohol consumption interactions. In Stage 1, genome-wide discovery meta-analyses in approximate to 131 K individuals across several ancestry groups yielded 3,514 SNVs (245 loci) with suggestive evidence of association (P <1.0 x 10(-5)). In Stage 2, these SNVs were tested for independent external replication in individuals across multiple ancestries. We identified and replicated (at Bonferroni correction threshold) five novel BP loci (380 SNVs in 21 genes) and 49 previously reported BP loci (2,159 SNVs in 109 genes) in European ancestry, and in multi-ancestry meta-analyses (P < 5.0 x 10(-8)). For African ancestry samples, we detected 18 potentially novel BP loci (P< 5.0 x 10(-8)) in Stage 1 that warrant further replication. Additionally, correlated meta-analysis identified eight novel BP loci (11 genes). Several genes in these loci (e.g., PINX1, GATA4, BLK, FTO and GABBR2 have been previously reported to be associated with alcohol consumption. These findings provide insights into the role of alcohol consumption in the genetic architecture of hypertension

A multi-ancestry genome-wide study incorporating gene-smoking interactions identifies multiple new loci for pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure

Elevated blood pressure (BP), a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, is influenced by both genetic and lifestyle factors. Cigarette smoking is one such lifestyle factor. Across five ancestries, we performed a genome-wide gene-smoking interaction study of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and pulse pressure (PP) in 129 913 individuals in stage 1 and follow-up analysis in 480 178 additional individuals in stage 2. We report here 136 loci significantly associated with MAP and/or PP. Of these, 61 were previously published through main-effect analysis of BP traits, 37 were recently reported by us for systolic BP and/or diastolic BP through gene-smoking interaction analysis and 38 were newly identified (P <5 x 10(-8), false discovery rate <0.05). We also identified nine new signals near known loci. Of the 136 loci, 8 showed significant interaction with smoking status. They include CSMD1 previously reported for insulin resistance and BP in the spontaneously hypertensive rats. Many of the 38 new loci show biologic plausibility for a role in BP regulation. SLC26A7 encodes a chloride/bicarbonate exchanger expressed in the renal outer medullary collecting duct. AVPR1A is widely expressed, including in vascular smooth muscle cells, kidney, myocardium and brain. FHAD1 is a long non-coding RNA overexpressed in heart failure. TMEM51 was associated with contractile function in cardiomyocytes. CASP9 plays a central role in cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Identified only in African ancestry were 30 novel loci. Our findings highlight the value of multi-ancestry investigations, particularly in studies of interaction with lifestyle factors, where genomic and lifestyle differences may contribute to novel findings.Peer reviewe

Moments that Matter: The Role of ‘Microaffirmations’ in the Ability of Students of Color to Thrive in College

This study focused on thriving in college for students of color. The primary finding from this research indicated that thriving students of color in this study were most influenced by the academic support of their peers, by a friendly campus environment, by faculty intentionally creating a positive emotional classroom climate, and by an embodied spirit of hospitality at their institutions