scholarly journals An Ecological Approach to Evaluating Collaborative Practice in NSF Sponsored Partnership Projects: The SPARC Model

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin M. Burr ◽  
Kimberle A. Kelly ◽  
Theresa P. Murphrey ◽  
Taniya J. Koswatta

From co-authored publications to sponsored projects involving multiple partner institutions, collaborative practice is an expected part of work in the academy. As evaluators of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) grant awarded to four university partners in a large southern state, the authors recognized the increasing value of collaborative practice in the design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of findings in the partnership over time. When planning a program among partnering institutions, stakeholders may underestimate the need for, and value of, collaborative practice in facilitating partnership functioning. This method paper outlines an evaluative model to increase the use of collaborative practice in funded academic partnership programs. The model highlights collaborative practice across multiple stakeholder groups in the academic ecology: Sponsors of funded programs (S), Program partners and participants (P), Assessment and evaluation professionals (A), academic researchers (R), and the national and global Community (C). The SPARC model emphasizes evidence-based benefits of collaborative practice across multiple outcome domains. Tools and frameworks for evaluating collaborative practice take a view of optimizing partnership operational performance in achieving stated goals. Collaborative practice can also be an integral element of program activities that support the academic success and scholarly productivity, psychosocial adjustment, and physical and psychological well-being of stakeholders participating in the program. Given the goal of our alliance to promote diversification of the professoriate, the model highlights the use of collaborative practice in supporting stakeholders from groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields across these outcome domains. Using data from a mixed-methods program evaluation of our AGEP alliance over 4 years, the authors provide concrete examples of collaborative practice and their measurement. Results discuss important themes regarding collaborative practice that emerged in each stakeholder group. Authors operationalize the SPARC model with a checklist to assist program stakeholders in designing for and assessing collaborative practice in support of project goals in funded academic partnership projects, emphasizing the contributions of collaborative practice in promoting diversification of the professoriate.

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1627-1655
Author(s):  
Emma Kahle Monahan ◽  
Angela Guarin

Families in the United States have become more complex, with an increasing number of individuals having children with multiple partners, called multiple partner fertility (MPF). MPF has significant negative consequences for the well-being of adults and children. Understanding the correlates of MPF, particularly how familial and community constructs affect the fertility outcomes of youth, has important implications for prevention and intervention. However, while many studies have examined these constructs, few have looked at them together. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; N = 8,678), this study uses a prospective design to examine how family structure and level of community disadvantage experienced by youth predict MPF in young adulthood. Using multilevel, mixed effects modeling, we find that family structure appears to play a role in influencing the fertility outcomes of youth, more so than community poverty. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Melissa K. Kovich ◽  
Vicki L. Simpson

Background:  In order to build a culture of well-being among students in post-secondary academic communities, an assessment of current well-being and related factors is necessary. Common barriers to optimal well-being may include stress, anxiety, and depression in college students. Low levels of well-being have been associated with higher levels of impaired academic performance. Aim: Explore the relationship between academic success and time spent performing well-being activities. Methods:  Seligman’s Well-Being Theory was used to guide this study. The relationship between well-being and academic success of undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university (N = 5008) was evaluated using data from a 278 item 2018 Student Experience at a Research University (SERU) survey. Measures of academic success included late assignments, going to class unprepared, and skipping class. Measures of well-being included time spent in: physical exercise, spiritual practice, community service, and club participation; time with family and friends were also included. Results: Pearson Chi-Square analysis revealed a total of five significant relationships between well-being activities and late assignments, being unprepared for class, and skipping class at α=.05. Conclusions:  Further research is needed to understand the relationship between well-being and academic success to guide development of strategies to support well-being in university students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Brolin Låftman ◽  
Y Bjereld ◽  
B Modin ◽  
P Löfstedt

Abstract Background Students who are subjected to sexual harassment at school report lower psychological well-being than those who are not exposed. Yet, it is possible that the occurrence of sexual harassment in the school class is stressful also for those who are not directly targeted, with potential negative effects on well-being for all students. The aim was to examine whether sexual harassment at the student- and at the class-level was associated with students' psychological complaints. Methods Data from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) of 2017/18 was used, with information from students aged 11, 13 and 15 years (n = 3,720 distributed across 209 classes). Psychological complaints were constructed as a summative index of four items capturing how often the student had felt low, felt irritable or bad tempered, felt nervous, or had difficulties to fall asleep, during the past six months (Cronbach's alpha=0.78). Sexual harassment at the student-level was measured by one item concerning bullying at school: “Other students have exposed me to sexual jokes”. Students who reported that this had happened at least “2 or 3 times a month” were classified as exposed to sexual harassment at school. Sexual harassment at the class-level was defined as the school class proportion of students exposed to sexual harassment, reported in per cent. Two-level linear regression analysis was applied. Results Students who had been exposed to sexual harassment had higher levels of psychological complaints (b = 2.74, p < 0.001). The proportion of students in the school class who had been exposed to sexual harassment was also associated with higher levels of psychological complaints, even when adjusting for sexual harassment at the student-level, gender and grade (b = 0.03, p = 0.015). Conclusions Sexual harassment is harmful for those who are exposed, but may also affect other students negatively. Thus, a school climate free from sexual harassment will profit all students. Key messages Using data collected among students aged 11, 13 and 15 years, this study showed that sexual harassment at the student- and class-level was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Sexual harassment is harmful for those who are exposed, but may also affect other students negatively. Thus, a school climate free from sexual harassment will profit all students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidsel Karsberg ◽  
Morten Hesse ◽  
Michael Mulbjerg Pedersen ◽  
Ruby Charak ◽  
Mads Uffe Pedersen

Abstract Background It is believed that clients with psychological trauma experiences have a poor prognosis with regard to treatment participation and outcomes for substance use disorders. However, knowledge on the effect of the number of trauma experiences is scarce. Methods Using data from drug use disorder (DUD) treatment in Denmark, we assessed the impact of having experienced multiple potentially traumatic experiences on DUD treatment efficacy. Baseline and follow-up data from 775 young participants (mean age = 20.2 years, standard deviation = 2.6) recruited at nine treatment centers were included in analyses. Results Analyses showed that participants who were exposed multiple trauma experiences also reported a significantly higher intake of cannabis at treatment entry, and a lower well-being score than participants who reported less types or no types of victimization experiences. During treatment, patients with multiple types of trauma experiences showed a slower rate of reduction of cannabis than patients with few or no trauma experiences. The number of trauma types was not associated with number of sessions attended or the development of well-being in treatment. Conclusion Overall, the results show that although traumatized youth in DUD treatment show up for treatment, helping them to reduce substance use during treatment is uniquely challenging. Trial registration ISRCTN88025085, date of registration: 29.08.2016, retrospectively registered.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001139212199001
Author(s):  
Fiorella Mancini

Social distancing and isolation measures in response to COVID-19 have confined individuals to their homes and produced unexpected side-effects and secondary risks. In Latin America, the measures taken by individual governments to mitigate these new daily and experiential risks have varied significantly as have the responses to social isolation in each country. Given these new social circumstances, the purpose of this article is to investigate, from the sociological approach of risk-taking, the relationship between confinement, secondary risks and social inequality. The author argues that secondary risks, despite their broad scope, are deeply structured by social inequalities in contemporary societies, especially in developing countries. To corroborate this hypothesis, a quantitative comparative analysis is performed for the Argentine case. Using data from a web-survey and correspondence analysis (CA), there are three major findings: (1) there are some widespread experiences similarly distributed across all social strata, especially those related to emotional and subjective matters; (2) other risks follow socio-structural inequalities, especially those corresponding to material and cultural aspects of consumption; (3) for specific vulnerable groups, compulsory confinement causes great dilemmas of decision-making between health and well-being.


Author(s):  
Josefine Atzendorf ◽  
Stefan Gruber

AbstractEpidemic control measures that aim to introduce social distancing help to decelerate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, their consequences in terms of mental well-being might be negative, especially for older adults. While existing studies mainly focus on the time during the first lockdown, we look at the weeks afterward in order to measure the medium-term consequences of the first wave of the pandemic. Using data from the SHARE Corona Survey, we include retired respondents aged 60 and above from 25 European countries plus Israel. Combining SHARE data with macro-data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker allows us to include macro-indicators at the country level, namely the number of deaths per 100,000 and the number of days with stringent epidemic control measures, in addition to individual characteristics. The findings show that both macro-indicators are influential for increased feelings of sadness/depression, but that individual factors are crucial for explaining increased feelings of loneliness in the time after the first lockdown. Models with interaction terms reveal that the included macro-indicators have negative well-being consequences, particularly for the oldest survey participants. Additionally, the results reveal that especially those living alone had a higher risk for increased loneliness in the time after the first COVID-19 wave.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7339
Author(s):  
Vânia Sofia Carvalho ◽  
Alda Santos ◽  
Maria Teresa Ribeiro ◽  
Maria José Chambel

The lockdown, in the COVID-19 pandemic, is considered an external crisis that evokes innumerous changes in individuals lives. One of the changes is the work and family dynamics. Based on boundary theory we examine the mediated role of work and family balance and boundary segmentation behavior in the relationship between boundary violations and teleworkers’ stress and well-being. However, because women and men live their work and family differently, gender may condition the way teleworkers lead with boundary violations and boundary segmentation. Hypotheses were tested through moderated mediation modeling using data collected of 456 teleworkers during lockdown. In line with our expectations, teleworkers who have suffered most boundary violations were those with least boundary segmentation behaviors and with least work-family balance which, in turn was related to higher burnout and lower flourishing. Furthermore, gender was found to moderate the relationship between boundary violations from work-to-family and segmentation behavior in the same direction and this relationship was stronger for females than for males. We discuss implications for future research and for managing teleworkers, creating sustainability, both during a crise and stable days.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Rüppel ◽  
Sebastian Liersch ◽  
U. Walter

Author(s):  
T. Hailikari ◽  
N. Katajavuori ◽  
H. Asikainen

AbstractProcrastination is consistently viewed as problematic to academic success and students’ general well-being. There are prevailing questions regarding the underlying and maintaining mechanisms of procrastination which are yet to be learnt. The aim of the present study was to combine different ways to explain procrastination and explore how students’ time and effort management skills, psychological flexibility and academic self-efficacy are connected to procrastination as they have been commonly addressed separately in previous studies. The data were collected from 135 students who participated in a voluntary time management and well-being course in autumn 2019. The results showed that students’ ability to organize their time and effort has the strongest association with procrastination out of the variables included in the study. Psychological flexibility also has a strong individual role in explaining procrastination along with time and effort management skills. Surprisingly, academic self-efficacy did not have a direct association with procrastination. Interestingly, our findings further suggest that time and effort management and psychological flexibility are closely related and appear to go hand in hand and, thus, both need to be considered when the aim is to reduce procrastination. The implications of the findings are further discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 352-352
Author(s):  
Athena Koumoutzis ◽  
Kelly Cichy

Abstract Adult children are at risk of emotional strain when parental caregiving needs emerge. Pearlin’s Stress Process Model (1990) and caregiver studies suggest minority caregivers report lower subjective caregiving burden, however, few studies simultaneously consider both the stresses and rewards of caregiving. Using data from Wave II of the Family Exchange Study (N = 243), we examine racial differences in midlife adults’ perceptions (i.e., stress and rewards) of assisting their parents with activities of daily living (ADLs) and the associations between perceptions of ADL assistance and emotional well-being among adults who help their parents with ADLs. Compared to non-minority caregivers (M = 4.18, SD = 0.91), minority caregivers (M = 4.45, SD = 0.84) found it more rewarding to help their mother (t(314) = -2.54, p < .05), whereas non-minority caregivers (M = 2.25, SD = .1.27) found it more stressful to help their father than did minority caregivers (M = 1.64, SD = 0.99), t(162) = 3.01, p < .01). After controlling for demographics and ADL needs, linear regression analyses revealed that the stress of helping parents predicted depression (F(6, 189) = 5.30, p < .001) and race moderated the association (p < .01); the association was only significant for minority caregivers (p < .05). Implications will be discussed.


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