Client and therapist variability with psychotherapy homework : a preliminary psychometric evaluation of two scales : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University,

The therapeutic use of homework assignments is an integral feature of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and is believed to be important in producing and maintaining client treatment gains. While there is empirical and theoretical support suggesting that homework completion may be associated with improved outcome, few studies have directly investigated specific therapist behaviours used in the integration of homework into practice. Similarly, research on client homework completion has, by far, focused solely on the quantity of homework completion rather than on any other factors found to be associated with increased client engagement with homework assignments. The recently developed Homework Adherence and Competence Scale (HAACS) was designed to specifically assess therapist competence and adherence to recommended homework behaviours used to administer homework. As a new measure of client homework completion, the Homework Rating Scale-II (HRS-II), extends the assessment of client homework completion beyond quantity only and provides a measure of the cognitive and behavioural determinants of client homework completion. The present study presents a psychometric evaluation of both the HAACS and HRS-II when rated by independent observers. Further, the present study sought to examine therapist differences in adherence and competence in administrating homework as well as investigating the temporal pattern of client homework completion

Increasing homework compliance by using the guiding model for practice : an analogue study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts at Massey University, Albany

Homework assignments are considered a fundamental component of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and are believed to be significant in assisting to produce and maintain treatment gains. However, gaining clients compliance to homework tasks remains a significant challenge. An analogue study of a single session relaxation intervention was conducted to test the guiding model for practice (Kazantzis, MacEwan & Dattilio, 2005); designed to provide therapists with a step-by-step guide of how to systematically administer homework in therapy. Forty four participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. The systematic condition (n = 21) was designed to administer homework following the guiding model, while the non-systematic condition (n = 23) followed standard therapy practice. Hypotheses posited that participants in the systematic group would display greater levels of engagement in homework; would have more positive beliefs in completing the homework; that greater adherence to the homework would correlate positively with reductions in anxiety; and that the systematic group would show a greater reduction in anxiety. In relation to engagement in homework the results found a statistically significant difference in the mean ranks of homework compliance between the two groups. The Mann-Whitney U result was 182 (z = -1.48) with an associated probability of .14, showing that participants in the systematic group did have higher levels of homework compliance. A MANOVA calculation was used to assess the systematic group for more positive beliefs in completing homework. The results found significant differences in two of the four Homework Rating Scale II (HRS) subscales; behaviour: F(1, 42) = 1.83, p = .184, partial eta squared - .042; and consequences/synthesis: F(1, 42) = 2.93, p = .094, partial eta squared = .065. The other two subscales of the HRS; beliefs and situation, were not administered differently between groups, providing further support for the difference of homework administration. Partial support was found for correlations between homework practice and anxiety. While three of the four correlations were significant, it was found that state anxiety actually increased as practice increased, however, trait anxiety was found to reduce as homework levels increased. No significant group differences were found in anxiety reduction. Implications of these findings are discussed

Does d-cycloserine facilitate the effects of homework compliance on social anxiety symptom reduction?

BACKGROUND: Prior studies examining the effect of d-cycloserine (DCS) on homework compliance and outcome in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) have yielded mixed results. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DCS facilitates the effects of homework compliance on symptom reduction in a large-scale study for social anxiety disorder (SAD). METHODS: 169 participants with generalized SAD received DCS or pill placebo during 12-session exposure-based group CBT. Improvements in social anxiety were assessed by independent raters at each session using the Liebowitz social anxiety scale (LSAS). RESULTS: Controlling for LSAS at the previous session, and irrespective of treatment condition, greater homework compliance in the week prior related to lower LSAS at the next session. However, DCS did not moderate the effect of homework compliance and LSAS, LSAS on homework compliance, or the overall augmenting effect of DCS on homework compliance. Furthermore, LSAS levels were not predictive of homework compliance in the following week. CONCLUSION: The findings support the general benefits of homework compliance on outcome, but not a DCS-augmenting effect. The comparably small number of DCS-enhanced sessions in this study could be one reason for the failure to find a facilitating effect of DCS

Online Homework for Agricultural Economics Instruction: Frankenstein’s Monster or Robo TA?

This paper describes the programming required for online homework, evaluates its use, and presents methods for student identification and for processing student input. Online homework applications were evaluated in a real class setting. Generally, online homework is cost effective for large classes that have numerous assignments and repeated usage. Online homework appears to increase learning through increased student study-time allocations. Students felt that online homework made course website interaction more productive. They also indicated that online homework increased their perception of the value of lectures and that its use in other courses would be welcome. All findings were highly statistically significant.computer-aided instruction, economics teaching methods, instruction cost effectiveness, online homework, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, A220, G130, Q100,

Homework and performance for time-constrained students

Most studies of homework effectiveness relate time spent on homework to test performance, and find a nonmonotonic relationship. A theoretical model shows that this can occur even when additional homework helps all students because of the way in which variables are defined. However, some students are time-constrained, limiting the amount of homework they can complete. In the presence of time constraints, additional homework can increase the spread between the performance of the best and worst students, even when homework would reduce the spread in the unconstrained case.

Predictors of Therapists Use of Homework in Community Mental Health: Session and Therapist Characteristics

Assigning and reviewing homework as a strategy to help clients gain therapeutic skills is a common technique used across a variety of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and has been shown to improve therapy outcomes for children and youth. However, in studies characterizing routine psychotherapy delivered in community mental health settings, homework is rarely used in sessions. While some therapist and client level predictors of EBP strategy use have been identified in routine psychotherapy (e.g. client stressors, therapists’ attitudes towards EBPs) it is unknown what is associated with community mental health therapists using homework in the increasingly common context of system-driven implementation of multiple EBPs. To identify predictors of therapists’ use of homework, 680 videos of sessions with 274 clients were collected from 103 therapists (of which 55% were Hispanic) providing children’s mental health services through the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH). The current study uses a multilevel logistic regression analysis model to identify which factors are associated with therapist use of homework in therapy sessions when there is system-driven implementation support for the use of multiple EBPs in community mental health settings. After controlling for the EBP delivered in session and the number of EBPs therapists were trained in, having a caregiver present in the therapy session, older child age, and being an unlicensed therapist were associated with a higher likelihood of therapists assigning and reviewing homework during a specific session. Therapist race/ethnicity, perceptions of the EBP being delivered, their report of emotional exhaustion, and direct hours with clients, as well as emergent unexpected stressful client life events within a session were not significantly associated with therapists’ delivery of homework. These findings underscore the need to provide explicit attention during therapist training on the use of homework with younger clients when caregivers are absent from sessions and the need to facilitate the use of homework among licensed therapists

Correlation Between Student Collaboration Network Centrality and Academic Performance

We compute nodal centrality measures on the collaboration networks of students enrolled in three upper-division physics courses, usually taken sequentially, at the Colorado School of Mines. These are complex networks in which links between students indicate assistance with homework. The courses included in the study are intermediate Classical Mechanics, introductory Quantum Mechanics, and intermediate Electromagnetism. By correlating these nodal centrality measures with students' scores on homework and exams, we find four centrality measures that correlate significantly with students' homework scores in all three courses: in-strength, out-strength, closeness centrality, and harmonic centrality. These correlations suggest that students who not only collaborate often, but also collaborate significantly with many different people tend to achieve higher grades. Centrality measures between simultaneous collaboration networks (analytical vs. numerical homework collaboration) composed of the same students also correlate with each other, suggesting that students' collaboration strategies remain relatively stable when presented with homework assignments targeting different skills. Additionally, we correlate centrality measures between collaboration networks from different courses and find that the four centrality measures with the strongest relationship to students' homework scores are also the most stable measures across networks involving different courses. Correlations of centrality measures with exam scores were generally smaller than the correlations with homework scores, though this finding varied across courses.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. PE

Improving Assessment Strategies in General Chemistry

In an effort to improve assessment strategies in a general chemistry course at Valparaiso University, a new homework submission and evaluation system was implemented. Learning objectives for the course were revised to match new goals. These updated learning objectives guided the creation of homework problem sets on the LearningOnline Network with Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach (LON-CAPA). This free, open-source, distributed learning content management system provides improved homework assessment for students through immediate feedback, personalized questions, and a flexible format. Homework for the first semester general chemistry course was prepared on LON-CAPA and a simple user\u27s guide was also created for LON-CAPA to facilitate future use of the program