1,599 results on '"Becker, P."'
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2. How Literacy Coursework May Change the Perspectives of Preservice Speech-Language Pathologists: A Pilot Study
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Robyn E. Becker
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This pilot study investigated how perspectives of preservice speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may change after completion of a graduate course in literacy in a Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) program. Further, the study sought to reflect upon course design and instructional delivery practices related to the class. Data was collected via online survey completed by 21 volunteer CSD graduate students. The results suggested that students' perspectives may evolve over the course of a semester-long CSD literacy class in some areas related to the components of reading, misconceptions about literacy, and the social justice implications of access to quality reading programs. Using active learning strategies and embedding content about viewing reading as a social justice issue appeared to add value to the classroom experience. This study aims to add to the body of literature to suggest that deliberately planned and consciously designed literacy coursework that focuses on preservice SLPs may be an effective way to promote change in their perspectives with the ultimate goal of increasing inservice school-based SLPs' engagement with literacy in the children they serve.
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- 2024
3. A Systematic Review of Eye-Tracking Technology in Dyslexia Diagnosis
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Leonie Coenen, Matthias Grünke, Sebastian Becker-Genschow, Kirsten Schlüter, Matthias Schulden, and Anne Barwasser
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This paper presents a systematic literature review aimed at consolidating knowledge on the application of eye-tracking technology in the diagnosis of dyslexia among school-aged children (6-12 years). Through a meticulous search and selection process, 20 studies conducted over the last 10 years were identified and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of this technology. The findings highlight the varied methodologies, participant demographics, and outcomes of these studies, underscoring the potential of eye tracking as a non-invasive, objective tool in the early detection of and intervention for dyslexia. Despite facing limitations such as heterogeneity in study designs and the need for standardized protocols, this review illuminates the significant promise of eye-tracking technology in enhancing dyslexia diagnosis. It identifies gaps in current research, proposes avenues for future investigation, and offers evidence-based recommendations for practitioners. This endeavor not only enriches the present understanding of dyslexia diagnosis, but also establishes a foundation to ultimately improve educational outcomes for dyslexic learners.
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- 2024
4. The More the Better? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Benefits of More than Two External Representations in STEM Education
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Eva Rexigel, Jochen Kuhn, Sebastian Becker, and Sarah Malone
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Over the last decades, a multitude of results in educational and psychological research have shown that the implementation of multiple external representations (MERs) in educational contexts represents a valuable tool for fostering learning and problem-solving skills. The context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has received great attention because it necessitates using various symbolic (e.g., text and formula) and graphical representations (e.g., pictures and graphs) to convey subject content. Research has mainly explored effects of combining two representations, but the potential benefits of integrating more than two representations on students' learning remain underexplored. This gap limits our understanding of promising educational practices and restricts the development of effective teaching strategies catering to students' cognitive needs. To close this gap, we conducted a systematic review of 46 studies and a meta-analysis that included 132 effect sizes to evaluate the effectiveness of using more than two representations in STEM education and to identify moderating factors influencing learning and problem-solving. A network diagram analysis revealed that the advantages of learning and problem-solving with MERs are also applicable to more than two representations. A subsequent meta-analysis revealed that the learning with more than two representations in STEM can have advantageous effects on students cognitive load (Hedges'g = 0.324, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.164, 0.484]) and performance (Hedges' g = 0.118, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.050, 0.185]) compared to learning with two representations without notable differences in learning time. The analysis of moderating factors revealed that benefits of learning with more than two representations primarily depend on the provision of appropriate support.
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- 2024
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5. 'Allowing Space for Voice…All Our Voices': Understanding Ho'ouna Pono Implementation through Educational Leadership Perspectives in Rural Hawai'i Schools
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Kelsie H. Okamura, Tessa Palafu, Katlyn An, Sarah Momilani Marshall, Steven Keone Chin, Kelly A. Stern, Byron J. Powell, Sara J. Becker, David S. Mandell, and Scott K. Okamoto
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Epidemiological research over the past two decades has highlighted substance use disparities that affect Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth, and the lack of effective approaches to address such disparities (Okamoto et al. in Asian American Journal of Psychology 10(3):239-248, 2019). The Ho'ouna Pono curriculum is a culturally grounded, teacher-implemented, video-enhanced substance use prevention program that has demonstrated efficacy in rural Hawai?i in a large-scale trial (Okamoto in Asian American Journal of Psychology 10(3):239-248, 2019). Despite its potential to ameliorate health disparities and address youth substance use, prevention programs such as Ho'ouna Pono have been poorly disseminated and implemented across Hawai?i, raising the question: "Why are effective prevention programs not used in communities that most need them?" The present study used concept mapping to understand previously identified implementation barriers and develop implementation strategies for Ho'ouna Pono. Seven Hawai?i Department of Education (HIDOE) educational leaders and administrators sorted Ho'ouna Pono implementation barriers (e.g., "There is a lack of HIDOE funding to support prevention curricula"), named concepts, and rated barriers' perceived impact and difficulty. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis yielded a five-cluster solution: (1) Kumu (Hawaiian word for teacher) Controlled, (2) School Level Buy-in, (3) Curriculum, (4) Student Attitudes + Mindsets (Family + Community), and (5) Policy. Participant ratings identified eight high-impact and low-difficulty barriers. Discussion revealed important intersections among barriers indicating the need for coordinated and cross-level implementation strategies to support Ho'ouna Pono sustainment. Brainstormed implementation strategies using participants' own language highlighted a need for participatory methods in school settings to bidirectionally share ways to best sustain substance use prevention programs.
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- 2024
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6. Exposure to COVID-19 Disruptions Moderates the Effect of Temperament on Anxiety in Preschool-Age Children
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Madelaine R. Abel, Yael G. Dai, Aude Henin, Alice S. Carter, Antonia L. Hamilton, Mikayla Ver Pault, Jordan Holmén, and Dina R. Hirshfeld-Becker
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Background: Both child temperament (specifically high shyness and fear) and environmental stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic are known to confer risk for elevated anxiety symptoms in children. However, few studies have examined the long-term impact of the pandemic on young children's anxiety. Objective: We examined the moderating effects of disruptions experienced during the early months of the pandemic on the longitudinal association between shy and fearful temperament at age 2 pre-pandemic and anxiety symptoms in the year following the start of the pandemic. Methods: Participants were 125 parents of toddlers (M[subscript age] = 26 months, 54% girls, 80% White) who were participating in an ongoing anxiety screening study when the pandemic started in 2020. Shy and fearful temperament were assessed pre-pandemic at age 2 years using the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire and anxiety symptoms were assessed within the first post-pandemic year (at ages 3 or 4) using the Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale. Parents completed the Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory at the start of the pandemic to assess types of disruptions experienced. Results: Shyness predicted higher anxiety symptoms among children whose parents experienced more work-related disruptions. Fear was associated with higher anxiety symptoms at lower levels of social activities disruption but was unrelated to anxiety symptoms at high levels of these disruptions. Conclusions: Results suggest that anxious temperament may serve as a meaningful screening target for identifying the children most in need of support during times of major stress.
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- 2024
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7. Precipitating Change: Integrating Computational Thinking in Middle School Weather Forecasting
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Nanette I. Marcum-Dietrich, Meredith Bruozas, Rachel Becker-Klein, Emily Hoffman, and Carolyn Staudt
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The Precipitating Change Project was a 5-year development, implementation, and research study of an innovative 4-week middle school curricular unit in computational weather forecasting that integrates students' learning and use of meteorology and computational thinking (CT) concepts and practices. The project produced a list of CT skills and definitions that students use to predict the weather, CT assessment instruments, and a CT classroom observation protocol. Data was collected from 306 eighth grade (ages 13-14) students in rural indigenous communities in the Arctic and urban and suburban Northeast communities in the USA. The project met its goal of producing an intentional instructional sequence that integrates disciplinary science and CT practices to increase students' science knowledge and their ability to use CT skills and processes. The results indicate that teachers were able to use the curriculum to embed CT practices into the classroom. Students, in turn, had the opportunity to practice using these skills in class discussion as evidenced by the classroom observation data, and students' science knowledge of CT content and practices significantly increased as evidenced by their performance on the weather content and CT skills pre- and post-assessments. While statistically significant gains in science knowledge and CT skills and practices were evident in all settings (urban, suburban, and rural indigenous communities), there were noticeable differences in gains in students' CT skills and practices between the three settings and additional research is needed in a diversity of settings to understand this difference.
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- 2024
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8. Debugging in Computational Thinking: A Meta-Analysis on the Effects of Interventions on Debugging Skills
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Chen Sun, Stephanie Yang, and Betsy Becker
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Computational thinking (CT), an essential 21st century skill, incorporates key computer science concepts such as abstraction, algorithms, and debugging. Debugging is particularly underrepresented in the CT training literature. This multi-level meta-analysis focused on debugging as a core CT skill, and investigated the effects of various debugging interventions. Moderator analyses revealed which interventions were effective, in which situations, and for what kind of learner. A significant overall mean effect of debugging interventions ([g-bar] = 0.64, CI = (0.32, 0.96), p < 0.001), was found based on 62 effect sizes from 18 source articles. Significant between-studies variation indicated that true effects could range from -0.54 to 1.82. In addition, sensitivity analyses and checks on confounding provided further understandings of intervention features and their impacts. Interventions using enhanced debuggers and systematic instruction were particularly effective in fostering debugging skills. Debugging intervention effects varied by participant population and potentially by publication type. Moreover, debugging interventions had impact regardless of how debugging skills were measured, programming medium used, control-group type, and whether the study was randomized. Future studies should investigate the best practices for improving debugging abilities for whom and under what circumstances.
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- 2024
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9. Postcritical School Leadership Encounters
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Cathryn Magno and Anna Becker
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Establishing quality education as a human right, public undertaking, and common good representative of humanity and the planet through imagining a "new social contract for education" is an ambitious endeavor and crucial to (post)humanity's myriad ways of knowing, living, and being. This article introduces postcritical educational leadership as an indispensable element in shaping the future of education by informing and implementing new social contracts within schools, the wider education system, and other potential spaces of response-ability and intra-action (Barad in "Meeting the universe halfway: quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning," Duke University Press, Durham, 2007; Derrida Today 3(2):240-268, 2010). Within complex, rapidly changing, and self-generating systems, modes, models, and mechanisms of governance become re-territorialized, constantly forming new assemblages consisting of new structures, actors, and context-dependent educational landscapes. Dynamic and heterogeneous assemblages make a static understanding of governance not only superfluous; they make it impossible. We need to loosen power, stability, and neoliberal structures to generate new forms of participative leadership--particularly at the school level--characterized by cooperation, solidarity, trust, and justice. We therefore reframe educational leadership as "becoming" among all actors within multifaceted, rhizomatic (education) system(s) (Deleuze and Guattari in "A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia," Minnesota University Press, Minneapolis, 1987). We argue for a multi-perspectival view of leadership that includes a focus on how school leaders perceive their own "becoming" (e.g., their needs, positionalities, emotions) and how this becoming intra-acts with increasing social, cultural, political, and ecological complexity. Deeper engagement through introspection, self-analysis, and a processing of self-in-context together with exploration of school leaders' experiences with entanglements and assemblages will inform new governance arrangements and just and sustainable future-thinking and future-acting in education.
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- 2024
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10. A Qualitative Review of Barriers and Facilitators Identified While Implementing the Native Students Together against Negative Decisions Curriculum in a Multisite Dissemination and Implementation Study
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Caitlin Donald, Kavita Rajani, Michelle Singer, Megan Skye, Stephanie Craig Rushing, Allyson Kelley, Brittany Morgan, Tosha Zaback, Thomas Becker, and William Lambert
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Culturally-adapted evidence-based programs (EBPs) are needed to promote healthy behaviors among Native teens and young adults. Little is known about the facilitators and barriers of implementing and sustaining EBPs in Native communities. This paper aims to identify those factors described by educators who implemented the Native Students Together Against Negative Decisions (STAND) curriculum. Methods: We conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 44 Native STAND educators from 48 sites throughout the United States. We used a modified grounded theory approach to explore barriers, facilitators, and sustainability factors related to implementing Native STAND. Results: We learned that disruptions to staffing, coordination, and organizational factors were the most common barriers. Factors that improved implementation success included: tailoring the program to local needs/constraints, having a supportive Project Manager, improved fidelity due to check-in calls, and participation in summer training. Factors that improved sustainability included: access to needed infrastructure, administrative support, community support, and student interest. Discussion: The delivery of Native STAND was further improved by person-to-person communication and resource sharing across sites. Sustaining EBPs in AI/AN settings requires culturally-tailored technical assistance, sufficient implementation funds for materials and staffing, and a community of peer educators to inspire forward progress. Conclusion: EBPs that reflect the needs and experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are necessary to address systemic inequities in adolescent health outcomes. The Native STAND Dissemination and Implementation study is among the first to assess facilitators and barriers to program delivery in diverse AI/AN settings.
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- 2024
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11. Teaching Critical Thinking in Nutritional Sciences: A Model Course and Assignments
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Tyler B. Becker, Vanessa N. Cardino, James Lucas, and Jenifer I. Fenton
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Critical thinking is a common and important learning outcome in college curricula. Case-based and problem-based learning can be used to assess and foster critical thinking skills. HNF 250--Contemporary Issues in Human Nutrition is a critical thinking course developed during the redesign of a nutritional sciences major program. Course assignments were designed to assess the course and nutritional sciences major learning outcomes. The nutrition and health claim assignment is scaffolded across the academic semester as three assignments: (1) bibliography assignment; (2) poster presentation; and (3) paper. Course lectures and materials have been designed to prepare students for completion of each assignment. The assignments have been modified over time based on classroom observations and student performance. In 2021, the course learning outcomes were examined by assessing several assignments including the nutrition and health claim poster and paper. Course learning outcome benchmarks using these assessments generally included 80% of students achieving an 80% for each criterion. Results revealed that students were not meeting most of these assessment benchmarks during the 2021 iteration, although benchmark data from other course assessments were more satisfactory. It is possible that the transition from a virtual to an in-person format negatively influenced student performance on these course learning outcomes. This course and the nutrition and health claim assignment example can provide a course design and learning outcome assessment framework for other higher education critical thinking courses.
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- 2024
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12. Shared Governance and Systems Theory: A Mixed Methods Study of Faculty Perceptions and Ideas
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Becker, Andrea H., Goode, Carlton H., Rivers, Jennifer C., Tyler, Melissa W., and Becker, Jonathan D.
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At a time when higher education faces serious existential challenges, it is important for stakeholders in higher education to come together to make important decisions that are thoughtful and internally legitimate. Shared governance, a concept that is widely touted yet wildly varied in implementation, is the best path forward for decision makers. In an effort to better understand shared governance and how it might best be practiced, this mixed-methods study uses data from faculty at one university to develop a model and a specific set of recommendations for shared governance reform. Viewed through the lens of systems theory, data analysis leads to a model that considers cultural and structural changes for shared governance that are cyclical and systemic.
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- 2023
13. A Brief History of K-12 Computer Science Education in Ireland
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Faherty, Roisin, Nolan, Karen, Quille, Keith, Becker, Brett, and Oldham, Elizabeth
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This paper unites the history of Computer Science (CS) Education in Ireland by plotting Ireland's roadmap leading to the implementation of formal Computer Science Education in schools. It first outlines the educational system in Ireland. The history roadmap starts in the 1970s with the first notions of introducing computing in post-primary school, and then continues up to the roll-out the CS curriculum in Ireland at the Senior Cycle level in 2018. The story is chiefly available in disparate publications and reports, so piecing together the entire story is often difficult. This paper collates the available literature, together with the authors' local knowledge of the process, into one paper that may be of interest locally and of value to other jurisdictions beginning their planning of national curricula. The paper describes the development and the current situation of the formal curricula in CS at second level. The current landscape of Computing Education at primary level, which at the time of writing is in the planning stages in Ireland, is described. Additionally, an investigation into the introduction of Computing Education in schools in the international jurisdictions that directly influenced the Irish roll-out takes place, to summarize any lessons learned that might provide insights for Ireland going forward.
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- 2023
14. Educational Practice in Switzerland: Searching for Diversity-Engaged Leadership
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Cathryn Magno, Anna Becker, and Marion Imboden
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Despite the uptick in awareness of racial and other sociocultural diversity owing to recent social movements particularly in the United States but also in many countries in Europe, deep understanding of identity and bias is lacking and remedies for policy and practice inequities in the education sector remain. Steadily increasing racial and linguistic heterogeneity demands better understanding on the part of school leaders--and the larger school staff--to redress inequity and improve schooling for all students. This study utilized in-depth interviews to gather secondary school leaders' perspectives on, and level of engagement with, diversity in Fribourg, Switzerland. Findings revealed that school leaders are, overall, inadequately prepared to tackle difficult, identity-charged conversations or to confront their own positionality and subjectivity vis-à-vis newcomer students. Recommendations are made for aspiring and current school leaders to become active by practicing diversity-engaged leadership.
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- 2024
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15. Stability and Change in Academic Achievement Goals: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies
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Vsevolod Scherrer, Maria Jalynskij, Andrew J. Elliot, Jasmin L. Becker, and Franzis Preckel
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Stability and change in students' achievement goals (AGs) are of great relevance for educational research and practice. In two separate meta-analyses, we investigated the rank-order stability (93 studies, 569 effect sizes, 54,736 students), as well as the mean-level change (157 studies, 1,170 effect sizes, 81,464 students) in AGs throughout students' academic careers (K-12 to university). We found that the average rank-order stability of AGs ([rho] = 0.51) was in the approximate range of rank-order stability reported for personality traits and other motivational constructs. Stability increased with students' grade level and decreased with increasing interval duration between measurement points. Overall, the mean levels of all AGs declined throughout K-12 (Glass's [delta] ranged from -0.15 to -0.06 per year), indicating a quantitative decrease in AGs throughout this academic stage. During the university years, only mastery-approach goals significantly declined ([delta] = -0.22 per year), indicating a qualitative decrease in AGs.
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- 2024
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16. Applied Linguistics Communities of Practice: Improving the Research Practice Relationship
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Anna Becker
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Employing the concept of practice-based research (Sato and Loewen 2022), this study argues for the creation of applied linguistics communities of practice (CoPs) as a capacitating space for researchers and practitioners, mutual exchange, and meaningful collaboration. This is needed given the existing gap between research and practice, which is particularly alarming in the field of "applied" linguistics. The study draws on eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with practice-oriented researchers from multiple country contexts zooming in on their identity negotiation between practitioner and researcher as well as their perceptions of and lived experiences with the research-practice relationship. The analysis showed that the relationship is indeed perceived as problematic even by very committed, practice-oriented researchers and that conditions to conduct meaningful, ethically responsible, and sustainable practice-based research need to be improved. The study proposes a practice-based research cycle to be used as template for joint projects, in which both practitioners and researchers are involved in and responsible for all stages from conception to implementation while capitalizing on the CoP members' different strengths and mutual learning experiences.
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- 2024
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17. Anxiety and Disruptive Behavior Symptoms and Disorders in Preschool-Age Offspring of Parents with and without Bipolar Disorder: Associations with Parental Comorbidity
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Madelaine R. Abel, Aude Henin, Jordan Holmén, Elana Kagan, Antonia Hamilton, Nestor Noyola, and Dina R. Hirshfeld-Becker
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Objective: We examined the relative contribution of parental bipolar disorder (BPD) and psychiatric comorbidities (disruptive behavior disorders [DBD] and anxiety disorders) in predicting psychiatric symptoms and disorders in 2-5-year-old offspring. Methods: Participants were 60 families with a parent with BPD and 78 offspring and 70 comparison families in which neither parent had a mood disorder and 91 offspring. Parent and offspring diagnoses and symptoms were assessed using standardized diagnostic interviews and measures, with offspring assessors masked to parental diagnoses. Results: Offspring of parents with BPD had significant elevations in behavioral, mood and anxiety disorders and symptoms. Both parental BPD and DBD contributed to elevations in child disruptive behavioral symptoms, whereas child anxiety symptoms were more strongly predicted by comorbid parental anxiety. Parental BPD was a stronger predictor than comorbid DBD of child DBDs. Conclusion: Some of the elevated risk for disorders in preschoolers is accounted for by parental comorbidity.
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- 2024
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18. Getting More out of Clinical Documentation: Can Clinical Dashboards Yield Clinically Useful Information?
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Charmaine K. Higa-McMillan, Alayna L. Park, Eric L. Daleiden, Kimberly D. Becker, Adam Bernstein, and Bruce F. Chorpita
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This study investigated coded data retrieved from clinical dashboards, which are decision-support tools that include a graphical display of clinical progress and clinical activities. Data were extracted from clinical dashboards representing 256 youth (M age = 11.9) from 128 practitioners who were trained in the Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP) system (Chorpita & Daleiden in BF Chorpita EL Daleiden 2014 Structuring the collaboration of science and service in pursuit of a shared vision. 43(2):323 338. 2014, Chorpita & Daleiden in BF Chorpita EL Daleiden 2018 Coordinated strategic action: Aspiring to wisdom in mental health service systems. 25(4):e12264. 2018) in 55 agencies across 5 regional mental health systems. Practitioners labeled up to 35 fields (i.e., descriptions of clinical activities), with the options of drawing from a controlled vocabulary or writing in a client-specific activity. Practitioners then noted when certain activities occurred during the episode of care. Fields from the extracted data were coded and reliability was assessed for Field Type, Practice Element Type, Target Area, and Audience (e.g., "Caregiver Psychoeducation: Anxiety" would be coded as Field Type = Practice Element; Practice Element Type = Psychoeducation; Target Area = Anxiety; Audience = Caregiver). Coders demonstrated moderate to almost perfect interrater reliability. On average, practitioners recorded two activities per session, and clients had 10 unique activities across all their sessions. Results from multilevel models showed that clinical activity characteristics and sessions accounted for the most variance in the occurrence, recurrence, and co-occurrence of clinical activities, with relatively less variance accounted for by practitioners, clients, and regional systems. Findings are consistent with patterns of practice reported in other studies and suggest that clinical dashboards may be a useful source of clinical information. More generally, the use of a controlled vocabulary for clinical activities appears to increase the retrievability and actionability of healthcare information and thus sets the stage for advancing the utility of clinical documentation.
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- 2024
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19. Transforming Experiential Learning in the Honors Interpersonal Communication Course: Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
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Becker, Jennifer A. H.
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Drawing upon my own experience as an educator, I describe and reflect upon my experiential learning-pedagogical process of transforming my Fall 2020 Zoom-based honors interpersonal communication course in which my students traversed through a series of experiential learning activities called Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys. Data revealed that students achieved desired learning outcomes and strengthened much-needed interpersonal connections despite the circumstances and stressors induced by the pandemic. Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys can be replicated to maximize the features of quality online courses identified by Kaufmann and Vallade (2022), such as helping students develop personal connections in a positive learning climate and ensuring that "students are getting the information and interaction they need to be successful" (p. 153).
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- 2023
20. What Is the Status of Multi-Informant Treatment Fidelity Research?
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Bryce D. McLeod, Nicole Porter, Aaron Hogue, Emily M. Becker-Haimes, and Amanda Jensen-Doss
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Objective: The precise measurement of treatment fidelity (quantity and quality in the delivery of treatment strategies in an intervention) is essential for intervention development, evaluation, and implementation. Various informants are used in fidelity assessment (e.g., observers, practitioners [clinicians, teachers], clients), but these informants often do not agree on ratings. This scoping review aims to ascertain the state of science around multi-informant assessment of treatment fidelity. Method: A literature search of articles published through December 2021 identified 673 articles. Screening reduced the number of articles to 44, and the final study set included 35 articles. Results: There was substantial variability across studies regarding study design, how fidelity was operationalized, and how reliability was defined and assessed. Most studies evaluated the agreement between independent observers and practitioner-report, though several other informant pairs were assessed. Overall, findings suggest that concordance across fidelity informants was low to moderate, with a few key exceptions. Conclusions: It is difficult to draw clear conclusions about the degree to which single versus multiple informant assessment is needed to produce an accurate and complete picture of treatment fidelity. The field needs to take steps to determine how to leverage multi-informant assessment to accurately assess treatment fidelity.
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- 2023
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21. Incentivizing Information Literacy Integration: A Case Study on Faculty-Librarian Collaboration
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Becker, Jill K., Bishop Simmons, Samantha, Fox, Natalie, Back, Andi, and Reyes, Betsaida M.
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Frequently, information literacy instruction takes the form of a one-shot library session with minimal collaboration between librarians and teaching faculty. To offer an alternative to this model, librarians implemented the Information Literacy Mini-Grant; an incentivized program inviting teaching faculty to collaborate with librarians to redesign an assignment to integrate information literacy into their course. Following the semester-long collaboration, teaching faculty provided written feedback and participated in a panel discussion to share their experiences with the program. This case study examines teaching faculty's perceptions of collaborating with librarians in the pilot year of the program. Teaching faculty's feedback provided insights into their perceptions of librarians, their thoughts regarding librarians' unique expertise as pedagogical partners, and the challenges of collaborations. This case study considers the successes and challenges of the program and provides recommendations for future faculty-librarian collaborations that position librarians as partners in student learning.
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- 2022
22. Teacher Education Effectiveness as an Emerging Research Paradigm: A Synthesis of Reviews of Empirical Studies Published over Three Decades (1993-2023)
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Johannes König, Sandra Heine, Charlotte Kramer, Jonas Weyers, Michael Becker-Mrotzek, Jörg Großschedl, Charlotte Hanisch, Petra Hanke, Thomas Hennemann, Jörg Jost, Kai Kaspar, Benjamin Rott, and Sarah Strauß
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Numerous reviews have synthesized the empirical research on the effectiveness of teacher education, highlighting teacher education effectiveness research (TEER) as an emerging research paradigm. Our systematic search identified 27 reviews related to TEER, wherein teacher education is broadly understood as comprising all stages of teacher professionalization--namely, initial teacher education, teacher induction, and teacher professional development. In reviewing these reviews, we carry out a synthesis of existing research on TEER. Guided by four research questions (RQ), we focused major frameworks (RQ1), outcome measures (RQ2), processes (RQ3), and central research gaps (RQ4). Highlights: Only few reviews provide a background or macro framing, whereas most reviews apply TEER for examining a specific topic (RQ1); outcome measures often relate to the notion of teacher competence, making increased competence the true outcome of TEER (RQ2); coursework is the most dominant category of characteristics-forming processes (RQ3); the frameworks underlying the outcome measures appear to be an object of criticism on a theoretical but even more on a methodological level. Building on these findings, we suggest a processes-and-criteria classification (PCC) grounded in basic distinctions of the various studies synthesized by the reviews. We discuss perspectives on how this classification may provide an orientation for future TEER studies.
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- 2024
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23. Predicting Personal Information Management Systems Use
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Michael J. Becker
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Effective management of digital identities and personal data is essential in modern society. Personal information management systems (PIMS) empower people to control their digital identities and personal data. Using the reasoned action approach (RAA) developed by Fishbein and Ajzen (2010), I derived the RAA-Trust Model for PIMS Adoption and investigated factors that might influence U.S. adults' intention to use PIMS. I also investigated the relationship between the intention to use a PIMS and the actual use of a PIMS. My findings suggested that positive trust, perceived behavioral control (PBC), subjective norms (SN), and behavioral attitude (ATT) may positively influence one's intention to use a PIMS. Trust had the highest predictive value, followed by SN, PBC, and ATT. Individuals with high behavioral intention to use a PIMS had a statistically significant higher rate of actual PIMS use. A cohort analysis revealed that trust and the social media influencer factor were significant for the sample population and all 12 analyzed cohorts. Background factors such as prior experience with PIMS, age, household income, experience with protection steps, lost time, emotional distress, and reputation damage related to identity- and personal-data misuse appeared to have contributed to participants' intention to use a PIMS. Certain PIMS features -- password manager, identity and credentials management and data sharing utility, data-protection utilities, content authenticity and verified sender signals, and identity and personal data education-- also appear to contribute to the intention to use a PIMS. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
24. A Holistic Focus of Attention Increases Torque Production and Electromyography Activity in an Isokinetic Elbow Flexion
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Kevin A. Becker and Marco A. Avalos
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Recent research suggests that both a holistic focus of attention (i.e., focusing on the general feeling of a movement) and an external focus of attention improve motor performance relative to an internal focus of attention. The purpose of this study was to determine how a holistic, internal, and external focus impacts torque production and electromyography (EMG) activity in the biceps brachii during an isokinetic elbow flexion task. Twenty-four young adults completed five repetitions of an isokinetic elbow flexion task in internal, external, and holistic focus conditions. Peak torque, integrated torque, peak EMG amplitude, integrated EMG, and neuromuscular efficiency were averaged across trials in each condition. Peak torque, integrated torque, peak EMG amplitude, and integrated EMG were all significantly higher with a holistic focus than an internal or external focus. Internal and external focus conditions did not differ from each other in any variable. No differences due to focus were observed for neuromuscular efficiency. The present results suggest that using a holistic focus of attention can be a useful strategy for motor tasks requiring peak force production. However, it does not appear that this benefit is related to increased neuromuscular efficiency, as we hypothesized.
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- 2024
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25. 'English [as a 'Lingua Franca'] Is Absolutely out of Question!' -- The Struggle between Globalization and (Neo-)nationalist Traditions in Switzerland's Secondary Schools
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Anna Becker
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The increasing popularity of radical right, anti-immigrant, neo-nationalist movements can be seen as a response to super-diverse and complex migration and globalization processes challenging the ideology of the 'nation-state' and the traditional education system. Based on the question of how English is increasingly viewed as a threat to Swiss national languages and identities, this study presents data from Switzerland, often portrayed as the ideal multilingual country. Such a challenge was nevertheless confirmed through the qualitative analysis of 38 in-depth interviews conducted with students and teachers at three secondary schools in three language regions, policy makers, and open-ended questions from 94 student questionnaires. Language education policies have divided the educational landscape into certain regions prioritizing English over a national language and others adhering to the traditional curriculum. The data reveal strong ideological beliefs, lacking intranational communication, and personal as well as societal struggles of positioning based on linguistic competences, expectations, and policies. This article advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to (language) education as societies' and students' needs constantly evolve and calls on all learners' and educators' responsibility to counteract such movements.
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- 2024
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26. Promoting College Reading Completion and Comprehension with Reading Guides: Lessons Learned Regarding the Role of Form, Function, and Frequency
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Karin L. Becker, Danielle Gilbert, and Paul Bezerra
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College faculty often struggle with getting their students to read assigned materials. Even if students do read, they may not read closely or critically. Not only does the lack of effective reading undermine understanding, but it also hampers class discussions and engagement. To promote close and critical reading in a required, upper-division International Security Studies course, we offered optional reading guide worksheets as tools to increase students' reading comprehension and completion. While our reading guides helped students focus on key terms and lesson objectives, flaws in our implementation produced a lack of perceptual value and extrinsic motivation in using the reading guides. In this article, we offer our lessons learned from the use of reading guides, focusing on their form, function, and frequency. These findings equip faculty with useful guidance in how to design and implement effective reading guides across the disciplines.
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- 2024
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27. Research on Gender and Mathematics: Exploring New and Future Directions
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Joanne Rossi Becker and Jennifer Hall
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This narrative review of current research on gender and mathematics covers the years 2020 to 2022. The number of exemplary publications within these 3 years and the diversity of topics, theoretical frameworks, subjects, and authors are indications of gender and mathematics remaining a robust and evolving area of study. Of particular interest are studies of lived experiences of students in secondary school and university programs, many of which featured continuing and troubling discriminatory incidents. In addition, the focus in several studies on the intersectionality of gender with race and other identity features is a commendable trend that should be continued. Similar to the transition from sex differences to gender differences that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s, in the papers examined, some authors have reconceptualized gender as a fluid, non-binary construct, although most gender data are reported in binary ways. Gender remains a focus of research in mathematics education because of persistent inequities in achievement, attitudes, representation, and lived experiences.
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- 2024
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28. Mental Health and Educational Attainment: How Developmental Stage Matters
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Kaspar Burger, Michael Becker, and Ingrid Schoon
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Developmental science suggests that the consequences of mental health problems for life-course outcomes may depend on the timing of their onset. This study investigated the extent to which mental health predicted educational attainment at ages 17, 20, and 25 and whether gender moderated the links between mental health and educational attainment. It used data from Next Steps, a nationally representative panel survey of individuals born in 1989/1990 in England (N = 15,594, 48% female, 33% ethnic minority). The findings suggest that differences in mental health were more consequential for educational attainment during adolescence than in young adulthood. On average, girls attained higher levels of education than boys, but gender did not moderate the role that mental health played for educational attainment.
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- 2024
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29. Dynamic Geometry Tasks in Standardized Assessment--Analysis of Solution Processes and Consequences for Practice
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Lena Frenken, Paul Libbrecht, Benjamin Becker, and Gilbert Greefrath
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The German national educational standards state explicitly that students should be enabled to successfully interact with dynamic geometry software. In a feasibility study on providing a standardized assessment instrument by digital means, in order to assess students' mathematical competencies, the implementation of a task with such a dynamic geometry software was investigated. The sample consisted of 101 8th graders and was used to evaluate how students actually interact with the embedded dynamic geometry software. We focused especially on investigating relationships between successfully solving such tasks (evaluated automatically or categorized qualitatively by a human rater) and process data collected during the testing. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify relevant predictors for success within one dynamic geometry task. On this basis, possible adjustments are discussed so as to enhance the standardization and accessibility of tasks within dynamic geometry systems.
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- 2024
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30. Promotion of School Readiness in Home Visiting: Creating a Key Driver Diagram for Continuous Quality Improvement
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Heather Johnson, Matthew Fifolt, Candace Knight, Martha Wingate, David Becker, and Julie Preskitt
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School readiness is a topic of great interest to early childhood and maternal child health initiatives, such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programme. However, there is a lack of information about best practices or strategies in home visiting and their relative effectiveness in improving school readiness, making this topic appropriate for improvement through Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) methods. In 2022, Alabama developed a Key Driver Diagram (KDD) for improving school readiness efforts within the home visiting programme using synchronous online focus groups as a method of qualitative data collection with early childhood and home visiting experts. Findings from this study include development of a KDD that includes aims, key drivers, and secondary drivers. The KDD represents the first of many steps toward a unified theory of change. Future efforts will include development of a CQI change package and testing change ideas in the field.
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- 2024
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31. 'I'm Also Trying to Figure out the Identity of My Students.' - Teachers' Multilingual Identity Negotiation in the Heritage Language Classroom
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Anna Becker
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This study investigates the interplay among identity, language, and culture of six heritage language (HL) teachers at a Greek school in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. It applies the concept of "participative multilingual identity construction" and argues that in order for teachers to provide agency and opportunities to their students to engage in (multilingual) identity education, they first need to acquire critical linguistic awareness and sociolinguistic knowledge themselves. The study found that most teachers do not identify as "multilingual" despite their competences and daily social practices in multiple languages, but rather base their identifications on their first language-Greek-with certain local influences. It also demonstrated that teachers' understanding of their role, responsibility, and position within the HL teaching context, their own migration experiences, and ideologies regarding heritage and local languages and cultures influence their teaching practices and students' construction of their multilingual identity. This contribution advocates the institutionalisation of HL-specific teacher preparation with a focus on identity, multilingualism, and community experiences to recognise the increasing heterogeneity of twenty-first-century classrooms. It ultimately seeks to advance the normalisation of linguistic and cultural diversity, the deconstruction of pernicious language hierarchies and ideologies, and the promotion of equity and social justice.
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- 2024
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32. Ecology Lessons 2.0 -- A Wireless Approach: The Impact of Using Wireless Sensors and Mobile Devices in Ecology Instruction
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Liane Becker and Daniel C. Dreesmann
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This case study examines students' perception, motivation, and learning gain of a teaching unit featuring wireless sensors as tools to collect scientific data in the classroom. Students analyze data using the corresponding cellphone app, communicate findings to the class, and learn about a changing environment. Wireless sensors are produced for technology-based science lessons and are therefore suitable for our teaching unit to implement into the secondary school curriculum in the context of ecology. We aimed for very simple experimental setups in order to put the focus on handling the modern technical equipment, to make analyzing and learning from the collected data a priority, and to reduce expenses for teachers on busy schooldays. We validated the approach in German school settings with 67 students aged between 16 and 19 years. We found that our practical approach not only leads to high learning gains combined with learning enjoyment, a feeling of competence, and little perceived pressure but also improves students' understanding of scientific data.
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- 2024
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33. Learning through Leadership: Capturing Practice Architectures
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Cathryn Magno, Anna Becker, Elmina Kazimzade, Ulviyya Mikailova, Daniela Schädeli, Batjargal Batkhuyag, and Brian Denman
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This article depicts the emergence of an intercultural learning community through an international research project on educational leadership. Drawing from partners' self-reflections collected and analyzed during the project, we engage with concepts including transformative leadership, practice architecture, and Northern/Western power and privilege. We argue that trust and norms of engagement take time to build in non-hierarchical education practice architecture, however the resulting holistic and capacitating co-production of knowledge can be a model for academic development in individuals, in higher education institutions, and in international project work.
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- 2024
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34. Examining Daily Stimulant Medication Use and Sleep in Adolescents with ADHD
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Kelsey K. Wiggs, Rosanna Breaux, Joshua M. Langberg, James L. Peugh, and Stephen P. Becker
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Background: Research has been inconclusive as to whether stimulant treatment causes or exacerbates sleep problems in adolescents with ADHD. This study examined sleep differences in adolescents with ADHD as a function of stimulant use. Methods: Participants were adolescents with ADHD (N=159, ages 12-14). Parents reported on receipt of stimulant treatment (n=92, 57.86%; n=47 amphetamines, n=45 methylphenidate). Adolescents wore actigraphs and completed daily diaries assessing sleep and daily use of stimulants for two weeks. Sleep parameters included daily-reported bedtime, sleep onset latency (SOL), sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, and difficulty waking the following morning; and actigraphy-measured sleep onset time, total time in bed, and sleep efficiency. We estimated between- and within-individual associations between stimulant medication use and sleep indices with all stimulants, after removing adolescents using sleep aids and weekend days, and as a function of stimulant type. Results: Adolescent sleep did not differ between those receiving and not receiving stimulant treatment. Within individuals using stimulants, we largely observed no significant differences between medicated and unmedicated days, though findings were most often significant for school days only. Small effects were found indicating longer SOL, later sleep onset time, and more daytime sleepiness related to medication use. In contrast, there were slight improvements to sleep duration and sleep efficiency related to methylphenidate use, though methylphenidate was also associated with later sleep onset time and more daytime sleepiness. Conclusions: Given the inconsistent and small effects, findings suggest that stimulant medication may impact sleep, but does not appear to be a primary contributor to sleep problems in adolescents with ADHD. [This paper was published in "European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry" v33 n3 p821-832 2024.]
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- 2024
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35. Rumination as a Mechanism of the Longitudinal Association between COVID-19-Related Stress and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents
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Joseph W. Fredrick, Kerensa Nagle, Joshua M. Langberg, Melissa R. Dvorsky, Rosanna Breaux, and Stephen P. Becker
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The current prospective longitudinal study evaluated brooding rumination as an intervening mechanism of the association between COVID-19-related stress and internalizing symptoms during the first year of the pandemic. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) status and adolescent sex were tested as moderators of the indirect effect. Adolescents with and without ADHD (N=238; Mage = 16.74) completed rating scales of COVID-19 stress and both adolescents and parents completed ratings scales of internalizing symptoms in May/June 2020 (T1). In October/November 2020 (T2), adolescents reported on their brooding rumination. Adolescents and parents reported on internalizing symptoms again in March/April 2021 (T3). Covariates included participant characteristics and baseline symptoms. T1 self-reported COVID-19-related stress was associated with increased T3 self-reported anxiety (ab = 0.10), self-reported depression (ab = 0.07), and parent-reported depression (ab = 0.09) via T2 brooding rumination. The indirect effect did not differ for adolescents with and without ADHD or for female and male adolescents. Brooding rumination may be one mechanism to target in order to promote the mental health adjustment of adolescents during periods of high stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. [This paper was published in "Child Psychiatry and Human Development" v55 n2 p531-540 2024.]
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- 2024
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36. Understanding the Lived Experience of Online Learners: Towards a Framework for Phenomenological Research on Distance Education
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Becker, Jonathan D. and Schad, Michael
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Not all instructors in higher education enter the classroom with teaching experience, but all have observed teaching in higher education from the perspective of a student. This "apprenticeship of observation" that Lortie (1975) wrote about decades ago at least gives instructors the opportunity to empathize with their students, an important disposition for successful instructors. As more and more instructors are being asked to teach via distance education, they are being asked to do so with no online teaching experience and no or limited experience as an online student. One way, then, for them to develop empathy for online students and become a better online instructor would be to read systematic explications of the lived experiences of online learners. Phenomenology as a research design is purposeful towards gaining an understanding of "lifeworlds." There is a small but growing body of phenomenological research on distance education, but most of the work is thin, not consistent with core principles of phenomenological research, and not tailored to the uniqueness of the distance education environment. This article makes the case for more phenomenological research on distance education and works towards a framework for this kind of research.
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- 2022
37. Basic Psychological Needs, Class-Related Emotions and Satisfaction with Life in Spanish Teachers
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Fierro-Suero, Sebastián, Almagro, Bartolomé J., Becker, Eva S., and Sáenz-López, Pedro
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The objective of this study was to examine possible antecedents and consequences of teachers' emotions in the classroom. Based on a cognitive-social perspective and self-determination theory, we examined the relationship between basic psychological needs (BPNs), teachers' class-related emotions and teachers' life satisfaction. A sample of 595 teachers from Andalusia (Spain) participated in an online survey. A structural equation model was tested, in which BPNs predicted teachers' emotions ([beta] = 0.69; p < 0.001 positive emotions and [beta] = -0.42; p < 0.001 negative emotions). In addition, BPNs ([beta] = 0.36; p < 0.001) and positive emotions ([beta] = 0.23; p < 0.001) predicted satisfaction with life. The results show that the fulfilment of work-related BPNs is important to generate positive emotions and well-being in teachers. In addition, the study is the first to provide extensive details on the psychometric properties for assessing teacher emotions with the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire - Teachers (AEQ-T) in a Spanish sample.
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- 2022
38. Reflecting on Systems Change: Learning from the Partnership for Pre-K Improvement
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Start Early, Connors, Maia, Hanson, Ann, Farrar, Isabel, Wat, Albert, Joseph, Gail, Branson-Thayer, Molly, Semu, Bezawit, and Becker, Melissa
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The Partnership for Pre-K Improvement (PPI) was launched in 2016 as a project with a vision to develop and sustain high-quality, equitable Pre-K programs that produce improved and more-equitable kindergarten readiness and greater academic success for children through the early elementary grades. The multiyear, multistate (Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington) effort aimed to learn in partnership with states across government leaders, advocates and researchers about how to systematically improve the quality of Pre-K at scale. This report highlights the work achieved by the state leaders, researchers and advocates in Oregon, Tennessee and Washington as part of their PPI strategic vision for improvement. It also describes five foundational assumptions implicit in the PPI strategy that together shaped the design, approach and implementation of the work.
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- 2022
39. An Investigation of Comparative Hispanic Student Success in Calculus I at Four State of Florida Universities
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Becker, Renee Y. and Cox, Thomas
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National employment data forecasts a significant need for graduates in the STEM disciplines for middle-income American jobs. If the American labor force is to keep pace with the global economy, it is critically important that American higher education increase STEM degree production. Currently, minority populations lack access and thus opportunity for success in higher education, but, among them, Hispanic groups account for about 59 million Americans, are the youngest demographic, and have the highest growth rate of any ethnic group. Hispanic students are inadequately represented in higher education enrollment numbers, graduation rates, graduate degree attainment, and STEM degree attainment. While only 14% of American institutions of higher education are designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), 64% of Hispanic American college students attend an HSI. As a result, HSIs are in a unique position to improve student success in STEM disciplines. A statistical analysis of the grades of Hispanic and White students in an introductory STEM course, Calculus I, at two Florida HSI universities and two non-HSI universities, revealed 1) white students significantly outperformed Hispanic students in Calculus I at State of Florida non-HSIs and 2) white students did not outperform Hispanic students in Calculus I at State of Florida HSIs.
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- 2022
40. Preliminary Implementation Outcomes of a Free Online Toolkit to Support Exposure Therapy Implementation for Youth
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Becker-Haimes, Emily M., Wislocki, Katherine, Schriger, Simone H., Kratz, Hilary E., Sanchez, Amanda L., Clapp, Douglas, and Frank, Hannah E.
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Background: Exposure therapy ("exposure") for youth anxiety is highly underutilized in clinical practice. Asynchronous, online implementation strategies such as online toolkits hold promise as pragmatic approaches for extending the sustainability of evidence-based interventions, but their long-term usage, perceived utility, and impact are rarely studied. Objective: This study presents three-year preliminary implementation outcomes for a free, online toolkit to support exposure therapy use with youth: the Resource for Exposure for Anxiety Disordered Youth (READY; www.bravepracticeforkids.com). Implementation outcomes of interest included READY usage statistics, adoption, perceived utility, and clinician exposure use. Methods: Web analytics characterized usage patterns. A survey of READY users (N = 49; M age = 34.2, 82.9% female, 71% White) assessed adoption, perceived utility, clinician exposure use, and persistent barriers to exposure use. Results: In its first three years, READY had 13,543 page views across 1,731 unique users; 442 (25.6%) registered as a site user to access specialized content. Survey data suggested variability in usage and perceived utility across toolkit components. Qualitative analyses highlighted persistent exposure barriers that pointed to potential READY refinements. Conclusions: Overall, READY has been accessed by hundreds of clinicians, but its impact was limited by low return to the site. This study highlights strengths and limitations of standalone online implementation supports and identifies additional steps needed to optimally support clinicians to deliver exposure to youth in need.
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- 2023
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41. Gender-Based Salary Differentials among Administrators in Arizona Community Colleges
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Becker, Kristen L. and Beckworth, Lea Andrah
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Objective: This research study examined gender wage equality among administrators across Arizona's ten community college districts comprising 19 colleges. Method: Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze salary data. Results: All 19 college campuses evidenced differences in median income between 12-month, full-time women and men. However, when disaggregated by job category, median income of women and men was equal in a number of job categories in several institutions, illustrating the complexity of measuring gender wage equality using descriptive statistics. A multiple regression analysis revealed that only three of the 19 community colleges had gender-based salary differentials. Thus, gender wage equality prevails in most Arizona community colleges despite inconsistent salary schedules among the college districts and no state-level oversight. Contributions: Community colleges provide learning opportunities to a heterogeneous population of 5.4 million students annually. Understanding gender-based salary differentials among community college administrators can provide insights into diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in higher education.
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- 2023
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42. The Role of Colorblind Racism and White Fragility in Maintaining Racist Bullying in Middle School
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Jones, Tiffany M., Williford, Anne, Malorni, Angela, McCowan, Kristin, Becker, Kaylee, Halac, Tess, Lea, Charles H., III, and Spencer, Michael S.
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The present study sought to understand how colorblind racism (CBR) and white fragility (WF) influence the presence and perpetration of racist bullying in a middle school setting. Five focus groups and one interview (n = 20) were conducted with school administrators, teachers, and racially and ethnically diverse students to elicit their experiences and perspectives concerning racist bullying. Focus groups were analyzed using template analysis. Racist bullying was a common experience among racial and ethnic minoritized students. CBR and WF were evident as white students and teachers claimed students had similar experiences regardless of race, they minimized the impact of racist bullying, and silenced discussions of race and racism. CBR and WF were critical drivers of the maintenance of racist bullying in this middle school, and thus important to address in efforts to prevent racist bullying.
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- 2023
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43. Navigators and Negotiators: An Ecologically Informed Qualitative Study of Providers' Perspectives on Their Roles in School-Based Mental Health Services
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Lakind, Davielle, Becker, Kimberly D., Chu, Wendy, Boyd, Meredith R., and Chorpita, Bruce F.
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School-based mental health services (SMHS) offer a unique opportunity to embed support within a key developmental context, yet little research has examined SMHS providers' fit within schools' complex ecologies. Using a social-ecological framework, this qualitative study draws on focus groups with 67 SMHS providers from two large mental health systems to examine how school setting characteristics and interactions with school actors influenced their experiences providing SMHS. Thematic analysis revealed the importance of feeling valued by and connected to school staff, which facilitated strong ongoing communication and more effective collaboration. Providers described a flexible approach to communication and collaboration, including leveraging opportunities for informal conversation (e.g., in hallways or classrooms) to overcome barriers and boost their perceived value and connectedness. Opportunities for communication and connectedness were enhanced when providers worked in fewer schools, held roles on interdisciplinary teams, spent time in common spaces, when school staff shared providers' understanding of mental health and SMHS, and when school policies and structural features facilitated their inclusion. Providers also discussed the variety of factors, including their place in the school ecology, that informed student wellbeing (e.g., disciplinary versus supportive responses to challenging student behaviors). This study suggests potential mechanisms on individual, school, and district levels to strengthen SMHS providers' value and connectedness within the school ecology, and the importance of these factors to maintain strong communication and collaboration and effectively support youth and families.
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- 2023
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44. 'This Is a Very Sensitive Point': Bilingual Teachers' Interactions with Neo-Nationalism in a Two-Way Immersion Program in the United States
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Lima Becker, Mariana and Oliveira, Gabrielle
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Concurrent with the rise in U.S. neo-nationalism is the growing influx of im/migrant children in the nation's schools. This article explores how a group of eight K-3 Brazilian bilingual teachers in a Portuguese-English Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program in the United States interact with neo-nationalist discourses pertaining to the theme of immigration. Drawing on recent theorizing about the intersections of neo-nationalism, language, and bilingual education, this multi-year ethnographic study leverages multiple formal interviews and informal conversations with TWI educators to understand their perspectives and classroom practices. We found that most of the interviewed teachers were keenly aware that their im/migrant students regularly shared complex narratives of immigration in their classrooms, at times during whole-group instruction. However, these educators consistently evaded opportunities to engage in conversations about immigration with their students due to a range of perceived obstacles. The teachers also expressed willingness to eventually include a narrow range of "positive" or "neutral" images of immigration in their curriculum and instruction, which further decoupled issues of immigration from U.S. neo-nationalism. Findings bear implications for language education researchers and practitioners since they indicate how neo-nationalist discourses may shape elementary-school educators' orientations and daily moves within bilingual classrooms designed to better serve racialized bilingual students.
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- 2023
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45. Basic Correctional Education and Recidivism: Findings from PIAAC and NRS
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Patterson, Margaret Becker
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Potential relationships of incarcerated adult participation in basic correctional education with recidivism seldom receive analysis in largescale datasets. Though 95% of incarcerated adults reenter communities when released, recidivism is higher for adults with low skills. This paper presents new Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies findings on characteristics and skills of U.S. incarcerated adults participating in basic correctional education. The paper also examines adults' learning outcomes and available state recidivism rates from the National Reporting System. Recidivism is lower for adults participating in basic correctional education than for incarcerated adults overall, a finding worth further investigation. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.
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- 2022
46. Development and Validation of the Open Matrices Item Bank
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Koch, Marco, Spinath, Frank M., Greiff, Samuel, and Becker, Nicolas
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Figural matrices tasks are one of the most prominent item formats used in intelligence tests, and their relevance for the assessment of cognitive abilities is unquestionable. However, despite endeavors of the open science movement to make scientific research accessible on all levels, there is a lack of royalty-free figural matrices tests. The Open Matrices Item Bank (OMIB) closes this gap by providing free and unlimited access (GPLv3 license) to a large set of empirically validated figural matrices items. We developed a set of 220 figural matrices based on well-established construction principles commonly used in matrices tests and administered them to a sample of N = 2572 applicants to medical schools. The results of item response models and reliability analyses demonstrate the excellent psychometric properties of the items. In the discussion, we elucidate how researchers can already use the OMIB to gain access to high-quality matrices tests for their studies. Furthermore, we provide perspectives for features that could additionally improve the utility of the OMIB.
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- 2022
47. Too Connected to Being Connected? Adolescents' Social Media Emotional Investment Moderates the Association between Cybervictimization and Internalizing Symptoms
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Marsh, Nicholas P., Fogleman, Nicholas D., Langberg, Joshua M., and Becker, Stephen P.
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This study examined whether the association between cybervictimization and internalizing symptoms was moderated by adolescents' emotional connectedness to their social media. Participants were 288 adolescents (54.9% male participants) with (n = 151) and without (n = 137) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between the ages of 13 and 15 years (M = 14.09, SD = 0.36). Adolescents reported on social integration and emotional connection (SIEC) to social media and parents reported on their impression of their adolescent's SIEC to social media. Adolescents also reported on cybervictimization experiences and internalizing symptoms. Adolescents with ADHD had higher cybervictimization scores than adolescents without ADHD and were also more likely to report multiple experiences of cybervictimization over the past month. Emotional investment in social media moderated the relations between cybervictimization and internalizing symptoms such that cybervictimization was associated with higher anxiety and depression symptoms at higher levels of emotional investment in social media. Results were consistent across both parent and adolescent report of social integration and emotional connection to social media. These findings indicate that cybervictimization may be associated with negative outcomes specifically among adolescents with a strong emotional connection to their social media use. [This paper was published in "Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology" v50 p363-374 2022.]
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- 2022
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48. Dispositional Mindfulness Moderates the Relation between Brooding Rumination and Sleep Problems in Adolescents
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Yu, Xiaoqian, Langberg, Joshua M., and Becker, Stephen P.
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Objectives/Background: This study examined whether dispositional mindfulness moderates the association between brooding rumination and sleep problems in adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants/Methods: Participants were 137 adolescents (ages 13-15 years; 64% male). Approximately half (47.4%; n=65) were diagnosed with ADHD. Adolescents provided ratings of their dispositional mindfulness and brooding rumination. Both adolescents and parents provided ratings of adolescents' sleep problems. Results: In analyses controlling for sex, race, study site, and group (ADHD vs. comparison), brooding rumination was associated with more adolescent- and parent-reported sleep problems only at low levels of dispositional mindfulness. This effect did not differ for adolescents with or without ADHD and was also unchanged when controlling for internalizing psychopathology symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings showed that dispositional mindfulness might buffer against the negative impact of brooding rumination on adolescent sleep. These findings may have important clinical implications and underscore the potential benefit of including mindfulness and other cognitive-behavioral approaches when treating sleep problems in adolescents. [This paper was published in "Sleep Medicine" v90 p131-134 2023.]
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- 2022
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49. Longitudinal Association of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo with Depression in Adolescents and the Possible Role of Peer Victimization
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Fredrick, Joseph W., Becker, Stephen P., and Langberg, Joshua M.
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It is unknown whether sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is prospectively associated with depression in adolescence, and possible processes linking SCT to depression remain unexamined. Using a longitudinal study with three timepoints over a two-year period, the current study tested the indirect effects of SCT on depression via peer victimization, specifically physical, relational, and verbal victimization. Participants were 302 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 13.17 years; 44.7% female participants; 81.8% White; 52% with ADHD). In the fall of 8th grade, adolescents and parents completed measures of adolescents' SCT and ADHD symptoms. Adolescents completed a measure of peer victimization in spring of 8th grade and a measure of depressive symptoms in 10th grade. Models examining indirect effects were conducted with and without control of baseline ADHD and/or depressive symptoms. Across analyses, adolescent and parent ratings of SCT symptoms uniquely predicted greater depressive symptoms two years later when controlling for adolescent sex, study site, and either 8th grade depressive or ADHD symptoms. Further, adolescents' self-reported 8th grade SCT symptoms predicted 10th grade depressive symptoms via verbal victimization when controlling for 8th grade ADHD symptoms, but not in analyses incorporating 8th grade depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the predictive association of SCT on depressive symptoms, the possible role of adverse peer relationships as a mechanism linking SCT to depression, and the importance of considering ADHD and depressive symptoms in research on longitudinal correlates of SCT. [This paper was published in "Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology" v50 p809-822 2022.]
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- 2022
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50. COVID-19 Resulted in Lower Grades for Male High School Students and Students with ADHD
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Breaux, Rosanna, Dunn, Nicholas C., Langberg, Joshua M., Cusick, Caroline N., Dvorsky, Melissa R., and Becker, Stephen P.
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Objective: Researchers have speculated that the COVID-19 pandemic may expand the academic performance gap experienced by at-risk students. We examined learning experiences during the 2020-2021 school year and the impact the pandemic has had on high school student grade point average (GPA), including predictors of change in GPA from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021. Method: Participants were 238 adolescents (55.5% male), 49.6% with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in the United States. Adolescents reported on their GPAs via online surveys. Results: GPA significantly decreased on average from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021 school year. ADHD status and biological sex significantly moderated change--students with ADHD and male students reported decreased GPA, whereas students without ADHD and female students' GPA did not change. Low income and Black/Latinx students had lower GPAs in both school years. Conclusion: It is imperative that additional supports be provided for at-risk students to help them catch up on missed learning during the pandemic. [This paper was published in "Journal of Attention Disorders" v26 p1011-1017 2022.]
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- 2022
- Full Text
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