Mentors’ behavioral profiles and college adjustment in young adults participating in an academic mentoring program

Author(s):  
Pascale Brodeur ◽  
Simon Larose ◽  
George M. Tarabulsy ◽  
Bei Feng

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore associations between different mentor behavioral profiles and mentees’ perceptions of the quality of mentoring relationship, the usefulness of the mentoring, and their college adjustment during the first year of college. Design/methodology/approach The study used a quasi-experimental design and involved the participation of 253 student mentees and 246 students from a control group. Cluster analysis on the responses of mentees on the mentor behavior scale was used to identify behavioral profiles of academic mentors. Findings Four distinct behavioral profiles were identified: optimal (high scores on mentor structure, involvement, autonomy support, and competence support); sufficient (moderate on all scales); controlling (low on autonomy support but high on other scales); and inadequate (low on all scales). Compared to mentees exposed to sufficient and inadequate profiles, mentees exposed to the optimal profile perceived the mentoring relationship and its usefulness as more positive. Furthermore, they reported better social adjustment in college compared to a control group, whereas mentees exposed to the inadequate profile reported poorer adjustment. Interestingly, mentees exposed to the controlling profile found the mentoring relationship useful. Research limitations/implications This study provides new empirical bases for the behavioral profiles of mentors that best meet mentees’ academic adjustment challenges. Limitations of the study include the absence of the mentors’ perceptions in the creation of behavioral profiles and the fact that the profiles were analyzed based on a single program. Originality/value Behavioral profiles of academic mentors were examined through the lens of a strong theoretical model that emphasizes the important role of structure, involvement, autonomy support, and competence support in the academic adjustment of mentees.

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrita Kaur ◽  
Rosna Awang Hashim ◽  
Mohammad Noman

Purpose – The benefits of teacher autonomy support for optimal school functioning is evident in literature. However, studies are meager about teachers applying the concept of autonomy support in real settings (regular classroom). Design/methodology/approach – Based on empirical data within self-determination theory, a longitudinal intervention program was designed to facilitate autonomy support instruction in a natural classroom setting and to assess its effectiveness on Thai students’ learning motivation. In a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design, with an appended withdrawal design, 103 students from Grade 6 of a Thai public school underwent the intervention for seven weeks in natural classroom settings. The students in both the groups self-reported their class-related experience before intervention (pretest), after intervention (posttest1) and after the withdrawal of intervention (posttest2). Findings – MANOVA results revealed a significant mean difference for all dependent measures on posttest1 between the experimental group and control group. Also, after the withdrawal of treatment, the experimental group showed a significant omnibus effect on combination of dependent measures, while scores of control group were stable. Originality/value – The findings have implications for elementary school teachers in Thailand to adapt and adopt autonomy supportive instruction as a classroom practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Sugahara ◽  
Hisayo Sugao ◽  
Steven Dellaportas ◽  
Takahiro Masaoka

Purpose This research applies a quasi-experimental research method to investigate the impact of an innovative resource titled “Accounting Exercise” (teaching intervention using physical movement and lyrics) on learning motivation and performance on a group of students enrolled in a first-year undergraduate accounting course in Japan. Design/methodology/approach Five classes were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (two classes) or a control group (three classes). In the experimental group, 90 students participated in a 15-min “Accounting Exercise” at the commencement of lectures over three consecutive weeks. The remaining 133 students assigned to the control group did not participate in the Accounting Exercise. Findings The findings indicate that the Accounting Exercise provided stimuli in maintaining students’ learning motivation. This finding is important for entry-level students where learning motivation has the potential to influence students’ future decisions on major areas of study and career choices. Originality/value This finding is important for entry-level students where future career options are decided. This effect is also believed to contribute to reducing the declining numbers of students in accounting majors.


Author(s):  
Mahdiyeh Azizi ◽  
Mohsen Saeidmanesh ◽  
Fateme Kazemi ◽  
Vahide Radaie

Background and Aim: One of the common behavioral disorders of hearing-impaired child­ren is aggressive behavior, which can affect soc­ial adjustment in their adolescence. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of group counseling based on problem-solving on aggression and social adjustment of hearing-impaired students. Methods: This study is quasi-experimental with pretest posttest design and a control group. The study population was all adolescents with hear­ing impairment referred to Yazd Speech The­rapy Centers, Yazd City, Iran. A total of 30 stu­dents were selected from the referred hearing-impaired students with high aggression and low social adjustment. Then they were randomly assigned into control (n = 15) and experimental (n = 15) groups. The study instruments were the California social behavior and Buss and Perry aggression inventory. The group couns­eling based on problem-solving intervention consisted of 7 one-hour sessions, presented for the experimental group. We analyzed the obtai­ned data by repeated measures analysis of cova­riance. Results: Group therapy based on problem-solving can reduce aggression (p < 0.001) and increase social adjustment (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The professionals in this field are recommended to use group therapy based on problem-solving.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-133
Author(s):  
Sara Quach ◽  
Scott Weaven ◽  
Park Thaichon ◽  
Debra Grace ◽  
Lorelle Frazer

Purpose Drawing on an outside-in marketing perspective, this paper aims to outline the development, implementation, evaluation and reflection of a real-world entrepreneurship education (EE) intervention with cognitive, affective and ultimately behavioural objectives. Design/methodology/approach A specific and uniform EE program specifically targeted to current “would be” entrepreneurs who were investigating the franchising business model was developed, focusing on the behavioural outcomes. The effectiveness of the EE intervention was evaluated using a quasi-experimental research design, which involved franchisees who had not participated in the EE intervention (control group) and franchisees who had participated in the EE intervention (experimental group). The administration of the national on-line survey yielded a total of 520 responses (194 in the experimental group and 326 in the control group). Findings The planning process in the pre-intervention stage included situation analysis, objective setting and decisions in relation to the communication strategy, i.e. content and mode. The effectiveness of the EE intervention was evaluated in the post-intervention stage. The findings indicate that EE intervention resulted in participants’ positive cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes such as performance and relationship management. Finally, following a reflection process, additional elements covering topics related to work-life balance were incorporated into the module pertaining to an individual’s suitability to become a franchisee. Originality/value This paper proposes a conceptual framework that represents an outside-in EE approach whereby problems, audiences, objectives and communication strategies (content and method) are strategically intertwined to produce relevant, measurable and diagnostic behavioural outcomes. The EE intervention can also improve the B2B relationship between actors in a business network.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-96
Author(s):  
Caroline E.W. Glackin ◽  
Steven E. Phelan

PurposeA recent paper by Morris et al. (2013b) presented evidence that students can develop entrepreneurial competencies through international fieldwork. This paper explores whether the same results can be developed in a traditional classroom setting.Design/methodology/approachThe study is a systematic replication of the Morris study with the addition of a matched pair, quasi-experimental design, with a self-replication. Data were collected on 13 self-reported competencies at the start of a semester from two groups using the Morris instrument. The treatment group was exposed to a curriculum designed to teach entrepreneurial competencies, and both groups were re-surveyed at the end of the semester. The process was then repeated with a different cohort, one year later, to replicate the initial study.FindingsFive competencies saw significant increases in the first treatment group. However, only three of these competencies increased more in the treatment group than the control group. In the replication study, only one competency was significantly higher in the treatment group, and that competency was not one of the original three.Practical implicationsEducators and policymakers should select a curriculum that is valid and reliable. Entrepreneurship educators and policymaker should devote more time to evaluating the effectiveness of different pedagogical techniques for improving entrepreneurial competencies.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies in entrepreneurship education to undertake a matched pair, quasi-experimental design with an in-study replication. The results indicate that serious inferential errors arise if simpler designs are used, even though such designs are the norm in entrepreneurship research.


Author(s):  
Grace Y. Lee ◽  
Anne C. Fletcher

First-year college students ( N = 384) self-reported parental support, emotional detachment from parents, and college adjustment. Higher levels of parental social support were associated with greater academic adjustment, social adjustment, and institutional attachment. Higher levels of emotional detachment were associated with greater institutional attachment. Emotional detachment moderated the association between parental support and college adjustment, with the nature of moderation differing by generational status. For first-generation students, higher levels of parental social support were associated with greater levels of academic adjustment when students were less detached from parents, but lower levels of academic adjustment when students were more detached from parents.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Chermack ◽  
Laura M. Coons ◽  
Gregory O’barr ◽  
Shiva Khatami

Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of scenario planning on participant ratings of resilience. Design/methodology/approach The research design is a quasi experimental pretest/posttest with treatment and control groups. Random selection or assignment was not achieved. Findings Results show a significant difference in reports of resilience for the scenario planning treatment group and no significant difference for the control group. Research limitations/implications Limitations include the use of self-report perception measures, possible social desirability of responses and a lack of random selection and assignment. Practical implications Practical implications imply that scenario planning can be viewed as a legitimate tool for increasing resilience in organizations. Social implications Organizations with an ability to adjust quickly and recover from difficult conditions means reduced layoffs and healthy economic growth. Originality/value While there is increasing research on scenario planning, to date, none has examined the effects of scenarios on resilience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 412-427
Author(s):  
Po-Yao Chao ◽  
Chia-Ching Lin ◽  
Ming-Shiang Wu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a visualized search system utilizing graphical images to represent the story elements and concepts to help elementary students describe and seek their desired storybooks; and second, to explore the effect of the proposed visualized search system on elementary students’ tactics, success, and motivation for seeking storybooks. Design/methodology/approach A quasi-experimental approach was conducted with a sample of 61 elementary students in this study. The students’ tactics, motivation and the success of their storybook searching were addressed as dependent variables for further comparisons of the visualized searching system and a conventional keyword searching system. Findings The results revealed that the students in the experimental group exhibited more frequent tactics and greater motivation for storybook searching than those in the control group. Further χ2 analysis indicated a significant relationship between the searching interface and the success of the students’ storybook searching. Originality/value This paper proposes a new visual search approach which allows young children to search for storybooks by describing an intended storybook in terms of its characters, objects, or the background colors of the cover page. The findings provide some evidence of the effectiveness of the visualized searching interface in terms of promoting young children’s learning through storybook searching and reading activities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeki Arsal

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of critical multicultural education on the multicultural attitudes of preservice teachers in a teacher education program. Design/methodology/approach The study sample consisted of 76 preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program. This study used a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental research design with pretest-posttest. The multicultural content integration was implemented in an experimental group for one semester, and data were collected using the teacher multicultural attitude survey. Findings Analyses indicated that preservice teachers who were exposed to the critical multicultural education program showed significantly greater progress in their multicultural attitudes compared with teachers in the control group. The results of this study indicate that the integrating critical multicultural education content into teacher education program has a positive effect on fostering preservice teachers’ multicultural attitudes. Practical implications Teacher education program planners should integrate multicultural content, materials and activities into teaching methods courses to promote change in preservice teachers’ multicultural attitudes. Originality/value This study contributes to the multicultural studies on teacher education.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bente Flygansvær ◽  
Asta Gjetø Samuelsen ◽  
Rebecka Våge Støyle

PurposeResearch shows a recycling behavior gap where end consumers are positive towards recycling but do not act in accordance with their intentions. Such a gap creates challenges for reverse logistics systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how adaptations in reverse logistics systems towards end consumers-turned-suppliers can improve recycling behavior.Design/methodology/approachA framework with three propositions is developed and evaluated empirically using a two-group dependent post-test quasi-experimental design. The empirical setting is recycling of household waste. Three interventions are evaluated as: (1) the social norms nudge, (2) the distance nudge and (3) the availability nudge.FindingsThe results show that nudging improved recycling action behavior for the experimental group. Control group behavior remained constant.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper suggests that the end-consumer’s role as suppliers needs to be included more actively into reverse logistics systems for products to enter the preferred loops of recycling in the circular economy.Originality/valueA new field of climate psychology is used to explain challenges in reverse logistics systems and nudging is demonstrated as a tool with which to deal with them. The study also shows how quasi-experiments can be applied in logistics research.


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