Developing Collaborative Thinkers: Rethinking how we Define, Teach, and Assess Class Participation

2021 ◽  
pp. 009862832098695
Author(s):  
Bridgette Martin Hard ◽  
Taalin RaoShah

Introduction: Class participation is a common component of many college classes and is typically defined as involving students’ active, oral engagement in class. Statement of the Problem: Class participation is often an under-utilized pedagogical tool for skill-building and development. Literature Review: We present an evidence-based framework that encourages instructors and students to rethink class participation as collaboration. Drawing on a review of over 40 years of research, we argue that this framework for defining class participation will lead to better classroom discussions, academic and social-emotional benefits for students, and prepare students with essential workforce readiness skills. Teaching Implications: We describe how instructors can adopt our framework with evidence-based suggestions for: (1) redefining participation as collaboration with explicit criteria (2) structuring course experience to develop students as active collaborators (3) working to build productive classroom teams, and (4) evaluating participation through a collaborative lens. Conclusions: We offer a novel framework for redefining participation through a collaborative lens, along with a suite of evidence-based suggestions for shifting the thought processes and behaviors of students toward collaboration.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii466-iii467
Author(s):  
Kendra Koch ◽  
Tatum Fettig ◽  
Meghan Slining

Abstract Addressing family needs for social/emotional support is part of the duty of oncology care teams. This research presents a (2020) scoping review and a (2019) focus group initiated to explore pediatric neuro-oncology parent experience of social/emotional support in conjunction with developing an online peer application to address family needs. Currently, the value of online support is in the forefront of clinical conversation. The focus group queried eight parents whose children were under neuro-oncology treatment in the Northwest USA. Thematic findings include—parents want supportive peers who have (1) a personal and deep understanding of parenting a child with serious illness (they “get it”); (2) particular characteristics and skills that promote and sustain relationships, including—(a) good social skills, (b) ability to engage in “balanced” (cancer/non-cancer) conversations, (c) individual similarities (beliefs, age of children, cancer diagnosis/treatment), (d) logistic commonalities (location, availability), (e) pro-social personal characteristics (i.e. sense of humor, emotional/social flexibility), and an (f) ability to navigate and maintain social/emotional boundaries. Parents also initiated discussion about “the burden of supportive relationships” and supporting families doing “normal” activities without worrying about treatment side effects and contagions. The literature review supports finding (1) above; reveals the paucity of evidence-based supports available to this population; underscores the critical need for practitioners and researchers to develop more evidence-based supports and interventions for families of children experiencing cancer; and supports practitioners’ consistently assessing parent and sibling social and emotional needs and then consistently referring or intervening when needs are identified.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Chi-Ching Chuang

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The purpose this study was to examine the treatment effects of an evidence-based teacher training -- Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IY TCM) -- for children with aggression. Specifically, treatment effects were expected to be demonstrated on both academic achievement and behavioral performance. Previous studies have accumulated evidence regarding the co-occurrence of children's aggressive behavior and academic failure (Darney et al., 2012; Reinke et al., 2008); the negative trajectories continue for them, indicating negative outcomes in adolescent and adulthood. When children enter school, they spend more time learning with peers and being supervised by school teachers. Classroom management has been demonstrated as a factor in either escalating children's aggressive behavior or decreasing those problematic behaviors (Reinke and Herman, 2002; Webster-Stratton et al., 2001). IY TCM trains teachers in evidence-based practices of effective practical behavioral management strategies, teacher-child relationship skills, parent-teacher collaboration, behavior plans addressing developmentally appropriate goals for individual students, and ways to promote students' emotional regulation, social skills and problem-solving skills. Previous studies about IY TCM were mostly conducted with other treatments of IY series. This study was one of the first studies to investigate treatment effectiveness of IY TCM. Participants included 1818 students (Grade K to 3) and 105 teachers from nine elementary schools in a large Midwestern school district. 52 teachers were randomly assigned to receive IY TCM, indicating 901 students in the intervention group. 74 % of the participated students are African American and 50 % of them received free reduced lunch (FRL). All outcome variables were assessed before and after intervention implementation. Results support the hypotheses associated with research questions one and two which indicated that higher levels of aggression as reported by teachers would be associated with lower academic achievement on both reading and math at the beginning of school year and the end of school year controlling demographic variables such as gender, FRL and race. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the main effects and the hypotheses that baseline levels of aggression moderate the relationship between intervention status and outcomes. Results indicated a significant intervention status by baseline aggression interaction moderated children's math achievement. Additionally, significant moderation was found on children's emotional regulation and prosocial behaviors. Lastly, research question five and six focused on evaluating whether students with high level of aggressive behavior would demonstrate greater growth in academics and social emotional performance in comparison to less aggressive children in the treatment group. The hypothesis of greater improvement on academic achievement or social emotional performance for children with higher levels of aggression than their classroom peers post intervention was not supported. Further implication for practice and direction for future research based on the findings were discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S287-S288
Author(s):  
Lauren Hagemann ◽  
Katherine Luci ◽  
Mamta Sapra ◽  
Jyoti Savla ◽  
Lindsey Jacobs ◽  
...  

Abstract Few interventions for family caregivers of persons with dementia (PwD) focus on both dementia care skill-building and the enhancement of acceptance and compassion towards oneself and the PwD. We designed a multicomponent, mindfulness-based 4-session caregiver intervention (Practice of Acceptance, Awareness, and Compassion in Caregiving, or “PAACC”) to reduce burden in caregivers of family members with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) and TBI-related AD. A prospective, randomized trial design is being implemented to compare the effectiveness of PAACC to the well-known, evidence-based REACH-VA intervention. Seventeen family caregivers (Mean Age = 68.71 years; 82% women; 30% had high school or less education) have participated in the trial thus far and provided qualitative responses to acceptability questions. High acceptability was noted for all intervention components of PAACC. Participants completed 95% of mindfulness homework during the study period. A majority also reported practicing spontaneous, informal mindfulness while engaged in daily activities (e.g., going for a walk, cooking). One participant noted incorporating mindfulness in her daily spiritual practice. The majority remarked that PAACC taught them to be more aware and accepting of the PwD’s illness. Others mentioned becoming more aware of which stressors triggered them, and that they were able to avoid arguments with the PwD because of this increased awareness. Overall, our results suggest that this mindfulness-based multicomponent intervention is a promising method for promoting stress reduction for family caregivers of persons with dementia regardless of age, stage of dementia, education level, or rurality. Implications for research and practice will be discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn E. Fary ◽  
Helen Slater ◽  
Jason Chua ◽  
Andrew M. Briggs

Introduction. Contemporary health policy promotes delivery of community-based health services to people with musculoskeletal conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This emphasis requires a skilled workforce to deliver safe, effective care. We aimed to explore physiotherapy workforce readiness to co-manage consumers with RA by determining the RA-specific professional development (PD) needs in relation to work and educational characteristics of physiotherapists in Western Australia (WA).Methods. An e-survey was sent to physiotherapists regarding their confidence in co-managing people with RA and their PD needs. Data including years of clinical experience, current RA clinical caseload, professional qualifications, and primary clinical area of practice were collected.Results. 273 physiotherapists completed the survey. Overall confidence in managing people with RA was low (22.7–58.2%) and need for PD was high (45.1–95.2%). Physiotherapists with greater years of clinical experience, a caseload of consumers with RA, postgraduate qualifications in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, or who worked in the musculoskeletal area were more confident in managing people with RA and less likely to need PD. Online and face-to-face formats were preferred modes of PD delivery.Discussion. To enable community-based RA service delivery to be effectively established, subgroups within the current physiotherapy workforce require upskilling in the evidence-based management of consumers with RA.


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