Motivation Crowding in Peer Effects: The Effect of Solar Subsidies on Green Power Purchases

I test whether economic incentives impact peer effects in public-good settings. I study how a visible and subsidized contribution to a public good (installing solar panels) affects peer contributions to the same good that are neither subsidized nor visible (electing green power). Exploiting spatial variation in the feasibility of installing solar panels, I find that on average panels increase voluntary purchases of green power by neighbors. However, when subsidies to solar are high, solar panels reduce peer contributions. The results support the hypothesis that signals drive peer responses to visible public-good contributions and that economic incentives alter those signals.

Amplifying Voice in Organizations

We extend the field’s understanding of voice recognition by examining peer responses to voice. We investigate how employees can help peers get a status boost from voicing, while also raising their own status, by introducing the concept of amplification—public endorsement of another person’s contribution, with attribution to that person. In two experiments and one field study, we find that amplification enhances status both for voicers and for those who amplify voice. Being amplified was equally beneficial for voicers who framed their ideas promotively (improvement-focused) and prohibitively (problem-focused; Study 1), and for men and women (Study 2). Furthermore, amplified ideas were rated as higher quality than nonamplified ideas. Amplification also helped amplifiers: participants reading experimentally manipulated meeting transcripts rated amplifiers as higher status than those who self-promoted, stayed quiet, or contributed additional ideas (Studies 1 and 2). Finally, in an intervention in a nonprofit organization, select employees trained to use amplification attained higher status in their work groups (Study 3). In all, these results increase our understanding of how social actors can capitalize on instances of voice to give a status boost to voicers who might otherwise be overlooked, and help organizations realize the potential of employees’ diverse perspectives.

Blogging for Collaborative Learning in the Writing Classroom

The primarily qualitative analysis reported in this paper is to investigate how the students, in a student-centered pedagogical focus, perceive their own learning progress in e-peer feedback activities, including the effectiveness of the use of blogs for e-peer responses in an L2 writing class. Thirty-two second year Vietnamese students at a university in Ho Chi Minh City participated in a 15-week writing course. Data collection was from the 20-item questionnaire and eight semi-structured interviews. Results of the study revealed that when students perceived good progression in their writing skills when they got involved in e-peer feedback on the blog and their writing was longer after revisions. In addition, the students highly evaluated the use of blogs for e-peer feedback activities because of its usefulness and effectiveness.

“It’s Complicated Because We’re Only Sixteen”: A Framework for Understanding Childhood Sexual Abuse Disclosures to Peers

The process of disclosing childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is very difficult for young people. Researchers have consistently found that young people disclose CSA to other youth at much higher rates than to familiar adults or authorities and indicate that CSA remains largely unknown to adults. However, no study to date has focused exclusively on understanding the process of youth-directed disclosures from young people’s perspectives. Using grounded theory methodology, this qualitative study aimed to understand the process of CSA disclosures to peers based on interviews with 30 young people from Canada and Ireland who have experienced CSA. The findings reflect the iterative and dialogical nature of the peer disclosure process and provide a framework for youth-directed disclosures that is centered on the theme of uncertainty. An underlying sense of uncertainty permeated the entire disclosure experience as participants’ narratives reflected six stages that were interrelated in a cyclical process: experiencing internal conflict, needing to tell and choosing to confide in peers, expecting emotional support from peers, gradual telling and making sense of the abuse, burden on peers, and assessing peer responses and further disclosures. In addition, this model was not static, as with time, participants reinterpreted their peers’ responses. The presented framework is consistent with previous conceptualizations of CSA disclosures, but the focus on youth-directed disclosures from the perspective of young people also allowed for a model that explains processes that are unique to peer disclosures. Practice and policy implications as well as limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Peer responses to self-disclosures in group counseling

Drawing on conversation analysis, this study examines how peers respond to each other’s self-disclosures in group counseling interaction. Responses that display sharing and recognition of the experience normalize the experience and build an alliance among group members. This way, responses bring about social support. In addition, responses can offer a different perspective on the views presented in self-disclosures. The responses endorse or challenge the claims that are made and the stance taken in the initial self-disclosure, and link the personal, individual experience to general axioms. The implicit ways of responding to a self-disclosure allow a person to participate in a conversation about intimate and potentially delicate topics without revealing private details. Through self-disclosures and responses to them, participants talk into being the ideals of health counseling and healthy lifestyle: What kind of activities are considered eligible and attainable. The relation of these practices to the institutional goal is intricate. It builds on, first, the stance taken in the self-disclosure toward the institutional goal and the sociocultural values pertaining to it, and second, the responses’ alignment with that stance and what kind of values and ideals it further evokes.

Measuring Learner Satisfaction with Formative e-Assessment Strategies

The student experience with different aspects of online instructional settings has been the focus of educational practitioners and researchers in many studies. However, concerning technology-enabled formative assessment, little is known about student satisfaction regarding different possible formative e-assessment strategies the students are involved in. Using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, a web-based survey was developed to examine students’ satisfaction with the formative e-assessment strategies within an enriched virtual blended course. The results show that, in general, the students were satisfied with the quality of their engagement and the quality of feedback across all the formative e-assessment activities offered. The results also show that the student satisfaction varied between and within the formative e-assessment strategies. However, the gap between the student satisfaction mean ratings across all formative e-assessment strategies was marginal and could not help researchers decide upon which formative e-assessment strategy that stood out as the most preferred one. Learner satisfaction with different formative e-assessment strategies was positively correlated to each other at various levels but no relationship was found between students’ scores on the final course exam and learner satisfaction with formative e-assessment strategies. In the end, the results indicated that a sustained and integrated use of the all three formative e-assessment strategies (online knowledge survey, online student-generated questions and peer-responses, and electronic reflective journals) should be used in the context of hybrid courses. The study also suggests further studies that would widen, diversify both the scope and research instruments to investigate learner satisfaction with formative e-assessment strategies.

Developing Non-Fiction Book on Animal Characteristics to Stimulate Cognitive Development of Early Childhood

Early childhood cognitive development can be performed by developing the listening skill which begins with capturing information and knowledge. This research is intended to develop a non-fiction book about animal characteristics that can stimulate early childhood cognitive development. The development model used was Dick & Carey model that has been modified into seven steps. The data collection instruments used were questionnaires of experts, peer responses as well as observations and interviews on children. The data was analyzed by using Likert and Rating Scale. Research data was obtained from material experts, product design experts, peers responses and experiments on children. The results of the research indicate that non-fiction books about animal characteristics are included in criteria that are very feasible to be used to stimulate early childhood cognitive development.

Youth Cognition Surrounding Bullying of Peers With Disabilities: Inclusion, Intervention, and the Role of the Group

Children with disabilities often experience high rates of bullying, teasing, and social exclusion and these experiences are related to a host of negative outcomes for children who are victimized by these forms of bias-based bullying. Little is known, however, about children’s cognition regarding bullying and exclusion of youth with disabilities. The current study measured children’s (9- to 10- and 11- to 12-year-olds; N = 90) social cognition regarding bullying and exclusion of peers with different types of disabilities. Results revealed that children’s expectations of how inclusive their peers would be toward youth with disabilities were related to participants’ own inclusion expectations and that male participants and those who reported greater levels of frustration were less likely to expect that they would include peers with disabilities. Furthermore, participants’ moral judgments about the harmful nature of bullying and their own rates of aggressive behavior were associated with their likelihood of intervening if they observed youth with disabilities being victimized. Finally, results indicated variation in types of intervention behaviors children expected to employ. The findings indicate that youth recognize the importance of challenging bullying and exclusion of youth with disabilities, but that they are also influenced by their perceptions of peer responses.