A Journey to Improve Student Engagement in Online Education

Student engagement in learning is important to all courses and is especially challenging in online education. This poster shares my journey to increase student engagement and perceptions of a course including strategies used. Student evaluation outcomes pre- and post-implementation of these strategies are included

The Role of Parental Employment in Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern, as it has been shown to lead to increased health care costs, reduced quality of life and significant morbidity and mortality. Childhood obesity has been linked to numerous environmental, genetic, and behavioral risk factors. Maternal employment has been shown to exert considerable influence on childhood obesity, however little is known about the role of paternal behaviors in children's overweight and obesity. The current study addresses this important knowledge gap by examining the joint impact of parental influences on children's overweight and obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI). The Child Development Supplement (CDS) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) was used to explore the potential pathways by which maternal and paternal behaviors impact children's health. In particular, this study investigated whether father involvement as measured by paternal weekly work hours plays a significant role in the onset of childhood obesity, while taking into account the influence of maternal weekly work hours on child weight. This study found a significant relationship between maternal employment and child BMI, but found that paternal employment plays a significant role as well. The relative importance of parents' work hours on child body mass outcomes varied with child age, younger children being more affected by maternal work hours and older children impacted more by paternal work hours. This investigation revealed that parental work hours may impact both the quantity and quality of time spent with one's child. Shared parent-child activities found to have an impact on childhood obesity included yard work, laundry, shopping, building or repair work, food preparation, talking and reading. Additionally, this study found that the relative influence of maternal and paternal employment hours on child BMI differed, with paternal work hours associated with lower child body mass outcomes, and maternal employment predictive of increased risk of childhood obesity. These findings point to a complex dynamic between parental employment and child weight. This study's finding that the impact of father's hours of work on childhood obesity is significant indicates that ignoring this factor may potentially lead to biased and inconsistent findings. Thus, results of studies that omit paternal employment hours from their modeling, estimation, and inference must be interpreted with a degree of caution. Given parents' mutual interest in efficiently providing for the health and well-being of their children in terms of relative investments of time and other resources, the findings of this research provide theoretical support for the observed asymmetries in parental contributions to child health production. The results of this study point to the need for programs and policies that support parents in their individual and shared contributions to maintaining healthy weight outcomes in children

Designing & Implementing Robotic Animal Interventions for Adults with Dementia

Dementia is a leading cause of disability and dependency worldwide and expected to increase in the next few decades. Robotic Pet Intervention (RPI) is an emerging, non-pharmacological intervention incorporating robotic animals, with promising implications for people with dementia. This capstone project examined the impacts of robotic pet interventions (RPI) on occupational performance outcomes of adults with dementia living in long-term care facilities. For the capstone project, customized group and individual therapy interventions incorporating robotic cats were developed and implemented for local memory care residents. For the capstone experience, educational materials were presented and provided for facility stakeholders, including care staff and families of residents. The ultimate aim of this project is to provide a template for future occupational therapists to effectively implement this emerging, unique treatment for people with dementia, and to provide an impetus for future research

It\u27s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Need a Job: A Qualitative Exploration of Mid-year Engineering Students\u27 Future Possible Careers

This research is situated in a larger mixed methods study exploring mid-year engineering students’ motivations related to their future possible careers. Our work draws from the future-oriented motivation frameworks of future time perspectives (FTP) and future possible selves (FPS). In this study we qualitatively explore the perception of a previously identified category of students with shortened FTPs and unattainable ideal FPSs in terms of their future careers. In this exploratory qualitative phase of our research, we interviewed eight mid-year engineering students who, based on our quantitative data, demonstrated a focus on short-term goals and a belief that they will not achieve their ideal future career. Mid-year engineering students from four large research institutions with high or majority undergraduate enrollment were recruited for this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews to guide students through three major topics: long-term goals, short-term goals, and connections between long- and short-term goals. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a priori coding through directed content analysis (DCA) based on a previously developed codebook, and emergent coding. Participants primarily focused on their near-future goals and generally lacked distant future-oriented motivations and connections between the present and future. Students described their short extension into the future as being driven by their need for basic wellbeing and their sense of being overwhelmed by their current workload, with quotes such as: “[Classes are] not technically hard, just the amount of time that I have to put in them…is kind of keeping my full attention at the moment. Between that and studying abroad it is kind of difficult to think much further than that.” Previous studies have identified workload, particularly when the value of the tasks is questioned, as being a source for psychological distress for students in higher education. Participants also described feelings of being stuck in engineering. For example, some participants describe having gotten “too far into [engineering degree] to switch.” These feelings of being stuck stemmed from financial or familial pressures and a lack of flexibility in engineering curriculum. When considering inclusivity in our course or policy decisions, we should consider different student motivations and perceptions of the future. By allowing for some flexibility in engineering curricula, we could provide safe opportunities for students to find a career path that best fits their future goals and reduces the fear, discomfort, or feelings of being stuck that some students associate with thinking about the future. As practitioners and policy makers strive to help motivate students in the classroom, techniques that involve describing the future in terms that make it seem nearer and more important could contribute to some students feeling overwhelmed, even by the near-future; bringing the far-future to their attention may only cause additional distress and lack of motivation. Future directions for this research include assessing how engineering programs can consider different ways that students think about their future in engineering to create an inclusive and supportive environment for all types of students

Perceptions of Future Careers for Middle Year Engineering Students

Background: One facet of motivation relevant to students\u27 learning is their perceptions of the future, including future career goals and how those perceptions influence their present actions; this is collectively referred to as their future time perspective (FTP). Purpose/Hypothesis: This study describes the different FTPs of engineering students. We aim to help researchers and practitioners leverage students\u27 motivations to improve learning experiences and inform future studies by providing a model of engineering students\u27 FTP. Design/Method: A phenomenographic approach was used to determine students\u27 different characteristic FTPs within the context of their engineering courses. Interviews with engineering students (n=18) at a southeastern US research-intensive university were analyzed for differences and similarities in their descriptions of their FTPs. Results: Three groups emerged from the data that were visualized as different shapes within the outcome space. Cone, a long narrow shape, represents students who narrowed down their future careers deep into the future. Cup, a wider truncated cone, represents students who have conflicting desired and realistic future careers. Bowl, a short and wide shape, represents students who have broad perceptions of their future careers and do not describe how their future goals affect their present actions. Conclusions: Using a phenomenographic approach to examine engineering students\u27 FTPs revealed three characteristic groups and allowed us to document how different FTPs affect students\u27 perceptions of tasks in their engineering courses. Our findings can help educators foster students\u27 interest in and value of learning engineering concepts and their positive perceptions of their future careers

Ambiguous loss, number of foster care placements, child age and child sex as the predictors of the behavior problems and posttraumatic stress symptoms of children in foster care

This study examined four factors that may predict the behavior problems and posttraumatic stress symptomatology of children in foster care: ambiguous loss, number of foster care placements, child age, and child sex. Participants included 74 predominantly African American 6 to 15 year old children in foster care and their foster caregivers. Foster caregivers completed the Child Behavior Checklist and Parent Report of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, and children completed the Psychological Presence Questionnaire. Regression analyses revealed that number of foster placements was a significant predictor of posttraumatic stress, with more placements linked to more stress symptoms. Child age, child sex, and ambiguous loss were not significant predictors of internalizing problems, externalizing problems, or posttraumatic stress symptoms. Implications of the findings for child welfare professionals and policy makers are discussed

A risk management strategy for public-private partnerships : San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1991.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-151).by Peter B. Benson and Lisa C. Flaster.M.S

Trying times

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156230/2/jee20346.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156230/1/jee20346_am.pd

Intersectionality of Non-normative Identities in the Cultures of Engineering Survey

This is a survey measuring students\u27 attitudes and beliefs in engineering. The survey was distributed at four institutions across the U.S. in the fall semester of 2015. Students in first semester first-year engineering courses were surveyed on a paper-and-pencil instrument as part of a larger study. We collected 2,916 valid student responses that were digitized by the research group and audited for accuracy. Validity evidence for this survey has been document in ASEE conference proceedings