2018 Volume 22 Issue 3

Robin G. Yaure, Silvia K. Bartolic

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Scott S. Hall

ABSTRACT: Family Science faculty interested in engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) may encounter barriers at various levels of their institutions—barriers that potentially threaten success of SoTL efforts and overall career advancement. I reflect on such barriers and share data-driven conclusions to illustrate how faculty could assess and build on existing institutional resources to help transform institutional cultures that support and embrace SoTL. Results from my investigation suggest that at my university, there were relatively few explicit or perceived barriers. However, there were also few resources to foster cross-campus collaborations that could facilitate broad-based, impactful SoTL that could help attract external funding.

Victor W. Harris, Kyra C. Speegle, Dan Moen, H. Brooker, Heidi Jones Harris

ABSTRACT: Effective educators who teach “less” better often focus their pedagogy on several distinct cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills they target in instructional settings. This case study explores teaching “less” better using the Attention, Interact, Apply and Invite (AIAI) – Fact, Think, Feel, Do (FTFD) Start-to-Finish Teaching Model. Data were collected from a diverse, multi-ethnic sample of 226 participants using face-to-face and online formats at a university in the Southeastern United States. Researchers identified major cognitive, emotional, and behavioral target skills at the beginning of four separate parenting and family development courses. The same instructor taught the courses at different times during the day, during different semesters, in synchronous and asynchronous formats. An open-ended survey assessed the top three learning outcomes to determine if participants identified instructor-targeted cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills as the most important learning outcomes. Initial results indicate that teaching “less  better through use of the AIAI-FTFD may be effective for bringing instructor targeted skills and learners’ learning outcomes into synchrony.

Laura M. Evans

ABSTRACT: Although courses in basic research methods are standard in undergraduate social science programs, there is a dearth of research on effective research methods teaching strategies. This study used student self assessment to explore what sources of scientific information students relied on, as well as their confidence in interpreting scientific studies at the beginning and end of an introductory research methods course. Self assessments were also used to see how students learned about survey research methods. Findings suggest students are more likely to seek scientific information from academic sources, to know the definition of the word “empirical,” and to be more comfortable designing surveys at the end of a research methods course than at the beginning. Students did not find critiquing a survey particularly useful in learning about survey design, but did find the instructor’s lecture slides most useful. There is discussion of implications for using self-assessment as a research methods teaching strategy.

Sharon N. Obasi

ABSTRACT: This manuscript describes the use of real-life data obtained from the Annual Campus Security (ACS) report mandated by the Clery Act to illustrate fundamental concepts in research methods and design in Family Science. Student responses to the use of the ACS report were also assessed. Feedback indicated that using real-life data from the ACS report facilitated comprehension of fundamental concepts in research methods and design.

Diane M. Harnek Hall and Darnell J. Morris-Compton

ABSTRACT: Service learning courses provide opportunities for students to  experience human services work in the field and apply it to curricula. Learning objectives often pair experiences in the field with gaining knowledge and improving academic skills. The present study examined a model of critical thinking development from service learning that combines professional and community perspectives (Sedlak, Doheny, Panthofer, & Anaya, 2003). In a sample of 182 students at one university, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis found that service learning outcome variables had some influence on critical thinking skills after controlling for demographic and academic variables, as the model predicted. Implications of the findings support the role of service learning as a core pedagogy in family science and human services curricula.

Nicole A. Graves

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to share the experience of a non tenure track college instructor who transformed the student learning experience by redesigning two face-to-face courses with service-learning components into hybrid courses based on the Multimodal Model. The author shares unique scheduling ideas along with examples from freshman direct service and senior project-based service-learning experiences.

Autumn Guin, Kimberly Allen, and Jenna K. Barnes

ABSTRACT: The personal, societal, and economic impacts of teen childbearing indicate a significant need for efforts that support young parents and their children. Despite overall downward trends in its national rate of teen pregnancy, the United States continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rate among developed Western nations. Providing research-based parent education and coaching support has proven to help young parents understand child development and safety and reduce the possibility of child abuse and neglect. This study evaluates a teen-specific parent education program, the Very Important Parents (VIP) Program. The VIP Program combines knowledge in the fields of parenting, relationships, life skills, and youth development in a year- long, technologically enhanced educational initiative for adolescent parents. Retrospective post-then-pre- surveys were used to gauge the VIP program’s impact on teen parent participants’ (N=30) knowledge, understanding, and use of skills related to successful parenting. The surveys also examined their understanding, comfort, and use of technology in relation to their roles as parents. Results indicate that teen parent participants experienced statistically significant gains in factors related to successful parenting and in the use of technology to support their parenting.