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Background: In typically developing (TD) children, gesture emerges around 9 months of age, allowing children to communicate prior to speech. Due to the important role gesture plays in the early communication of autistic and TD children, various tasks have been used to assess gesture ability. However, few data exist on whether and how tasks differentially elicit gesture, particularly for samples of racially and ethnically diverse autistic children. Aims: In this study, we explored if task (a naturalistic parent--child interaction [NPCI]; structured assessment of child communication) differentially elicited rate or type of gesture production for young autistic children. Methods and procedures: This secondary analysis included baseline data from 80 racially and ethnically diverse autistic children aged 18-59 months who participated in one of two larger studies. Video recordings of NPCIs and an assessment of child communication with standardised administration procedures were collected at baseline. Child gesture rate (number of gestures produced per 10 min) and type were extracted from these recordings and analysed. Outcomes and results: The structured assessment elicited more gestures than the NPCI. In terms of gesture type, points, gives, and reaches accounted for 76% of child gestures. Points (which are developmentally more advanced than reaches and gives) were produced at the highest rates within book exploration. Distal points (which are more developmentally advanced than proximal or contact points) were produced at the highest rates when children were tempted to request. Conclusions and implications: Our findings indicate elicitation tasks differentially elicit type and rate of gesture for young autistic children. To assess the gesture production of young autistic children, a structured task designed to elicit child requests will probe the developmental sophistication of the child's gesture repertoire, eliciting both the most gestures and the most developmentally advanced gestures.

Purpose: This research aimed to evaluate evidence of Pathways parent-mediated early autism intervention as a culturally and linguistically sensitive intervention (CLSI) for Hispanic families with autistic children. Methods: We used Bernal et al.'s ecologically valid (EV) framework to evaluate current practice and Hispanic parents' perceptions of Pathways 1 ½ years after completing the intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Nineteen parents were contacted, of which 11 completed a semi-structured interview about their experience with Pathways. Results: On average, the group that completed the interview was less educated, had more monolingual Spanish speakers, and rated their general experience with the intervention slightly more positively than those who did not agree to complete the interview. A review of Pathways's current practices through the lens of the EV framework suggested that Pathways was a CLSI for Hispanic participants in the domains of context, methods, language, and persons. Parental interviews echoed these strengths. However, Pathways did less well balancing evidence-based intervention strategies for autistic children with the heritage value of "respeto." Conclusion: Pathways demonstrated strengths regarding cultural and linguistic sensitivity for Hispanic families with young autistic children. Future work with our community stakeholder group will integrate heritage and majority culture perspectives to strengthen Pathways as a CLSI.

Objective: The short-term safety of methylphenidate (MPH) has been widely demonstrated; however the long-term safety is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety of MPH in relation to pubertal maturation and to explore the monitoring of bone age. Method: Participants from ADDUCE, a two-year observational longitudinal study with three parallel cohorts (MPH group, no-MPH group, and a non-ADHD control group), were compared with respect to Tanner staging. An Italian subsample of medicated-ADHD was further assessed by the monitoring of bone age. Results: The medicated and unmedicated ADHD groups did not differ in Tanner stages indicating no higher risk of sexual maturational delay in the MPH-treated patients. The medicated subsample monitored for bone age showed a slight acceleration of the bone maturation after 24 months, however their predicted adult height remained stable. Conclusion: Our results do not suggest safety concerns on long-term treatment with MPH in relation to pubertal maturation and growth.

Objective: Short-term RCTs have demonstrated that MPH-treatment significantly reduces ADHD-symptoms, but is also associated with adverse events, including sleep problems. However, data on long-term effects of MPH on sleep remain limited. Methods: We performed a 2-year naturalistic prospective pharmacovigilance multicentre study. Participants were recruited into three groups: ADHD patients intending to start MPH-treatment (MPH-group), those not intending to use ADHD-medication (no-MPH-group), and a non-ADHD control-group. Sleep problems were assessed with the Children's-Sleep-Habits-Questionnaire (CSHQ). Results: 1,410 participants were enrolled. Baseline mean CSHQ-total-sleep-scores could be considered clinically significant for the MPH-group and the no-MPH-group, but not for controls. The only group to show a significant increase in any aspect of sleep from baseline to 24-months was the control-group. Comparing the MPH- to the no-MPH-group no differences in total-sleep-score changes were found. Conclusion: Our findings support that sleep-problems are common in ADHD, but don't suggest significant negative long-term effects of MPH on sleep.

Youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and who identify with other sexual orientations (LGB +) are at higher risk for illicit drug use and have higher rates of mental illness. The current study examined the prevalence of illicit drug use among LGB+ persons and assessed the moderating effect of mental illness. Cross-sectional data from the 2015, 2017, and 2019 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System were aggregated. The outcome was any reported use of cocaine, inhalants, heroin, methamphetamines, ecstasy, or hallucinogens. The primary exposure was self-reported sexual orientation category (i.e. heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bisexual, and not sure). Self-reported depressive symptoms were tested as a moderator. Logistic regression models assessed main and interactive effects. Gay or lesbian students [AOR = 1.87 95% CI: 1.45, 2.43], bisexual students [AOR = 2.07 95% CI: 1.77, 2.42], and those unsure of their sexual orientation [AOR = 1.99 95% CI: 1.65, 2.39] had increased odds of illicit drug use. Odds were higher among LGB+ youth who did not have depressive symptoms (p < 0.001). Odds of illicit substance use was significantly greater in youth identifying as gay and lesbian, bisexual, and students who were not sure about their sexual orientation and among LGB+ youth without depressive symptoms. Targeted, but non-stigmatizing, prevention programs are needed.

Hundreds of thousands of undergraduates enroll in general education science courses to fulfill university core requirements. However, many of these lecture-based courses fail to foster high-level data literacy skills. This work details the design, implementation, and analysis of a new climate change-based classroom activity for college students that pairs data interpretation with participation in an online citizen science project called Floating Forests (http://floatingforests.org). We pilot tested our activity in introductory geoscience and biology courses at six universities ([approximately] 1,500 students) during the 2020-2021 academic year. Additionally, we developed and validated a survey to assess how engagement with our activity impacted students' self-reported changes across four factors: (1) perceptions of the impacts of climate change, (2) data literacy self-efficacy, (3) beliefs about the value of citizen science, and (4) beliefs about science engagement. In a pre- to post-test comparison, students who utilized our activity in their courses showed statistically significant increases (p < 0.05) across all four factors. These results highlight the potential benefit of implementing data-driven, citizen science-based activities in introductory-level undergraduate courses.

Motivation is a core element of teachers' professional competences and, therefore, of great importance to teaching and learning. Motivation might explain why teachers do or do not promote self-regulated learning (SRL). Drawing on expectancy-value theory (EVT), this study used a person-centred approach to investigate to what extent multiple motivational aspects (self-efficacy; intrinsic interest, extrinsic utility, and attainment value; opportunity and effort costs) shape teachers' motivational profiles. It examined the extent to which those profiles differ regarding experience in promoting SRL, the implicit theory of SRL, and the promotion of SRL. The study sample consisted of N = 280 in-service teachers (51.8% women; M[subscript age] = 44.34, SD = 10.82). Three profiles were identified: The high costs profile (profile 1, 30.8% of teachers), the moderate profile (profile 2, 24.4% of teachers), and the high success expectations and task values profile (profile 3, 44.8% of teachers). Further analyses revealed significant differences between these profiles concerning experience in promoting SRL, implicit theory of SRL, and the promotion of SRL, with Profile 1 showing the lowest values and Profile 3 the highest for each factor. The study found that high expectations are associated with high values, and costs are low when expectations and values are high and vice versa. This is in line with the assumptions of EVT and is applicable to all three profiles. These results indicate a clear need to support teachers in promoting SRL, especially those with high perceived costs, to ensure costs do not override the other considerations in EVT. Overall, this study is 'frontline' because it highlights the relevance of motivation as an aspect of teachers' professional competences in promoting SRL. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the importance of combining EVT and SRL to provide a more nuanced picture of teachers' motivation to promote SRL. It offers new insights that could influence the conceptualization of professional development programs for SRL

The East Carolina University International EdD supports school leaders in the United States and across the globe to address local educational equity challenges. To achieve this, we prepare and support school and district leaders to use evidence as practitioner-researchers together with members of their educational community. As a result, the reimagined EdD harnesses the power and utility of participatory action and activist research to address a contextualized, equity-focused dissertation in practice. We explore how two doctoral students have transformed their practices during and after their EdD experience.

We reexamined the efficacy of Pathways early autism intervention using generalized measures of social communication and language skills administered by an unfamiliar adult in a novel environment. Generalized measures improve on sources of measurement bias. Sixty-seven autistic children blocked on age (under versus over 3 years) were randomly assigned to 15 weeks of Pathways or services-as-usual. Age moderated the effects of Pathways for social communication. Specifically, Pathways had a significantly large effect for children under 3 and a small effect that approached significance for children over 3. Pathways also had a small effect on expressive speech/language skills. Results replicate previous findings of the efficacy of Pathways on proximal and distal skills and support the importance of early intervention.

When a student is homebound from school, they miss out on beneficial classroom experiences. One way to keep homebound students connected is through the use of telepresence technology. However, the existing literature has not been systematically reviewed to address important variables related to successful implementation. The authors conducted a systematic literature review on the use of telepresence technology for homebound K-12 students prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twelve articles published between 1990 and 2020 were included. Research on telepresence technology in the classroom is variable regarding outcomes studied and methodologies. Anecdotal data revealed that the use of telepresence technology increased homebound students' academic, social engagement and comfort. Implications for practitioners include feasibility of implementation of telepresence technology for students unable to physically attend classes and guidance in team structure necessary to successfully utilise telepresence. Increased funding allocated to controlled research and necessary infrastructure is essential for successful school-based implementation of telepresence technology.

Early gesture plays an important role in prelinguistic/emerging linguistic communication and may provide insight into a child's social communication skills before the emergence of spoken language. Social interactionist theories suggest children learn to gesture through daily interactions with their social environment (e.g., their parents). As such, it is important to understand how parents gesture within interactions with their children when studying child gesture. Parents of typically developing (TD) children exhibit cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate. Correlations between parent and child gesture rates arise prior to the first birthday, although TD children at this developmental level do not yet consistently exhibit the same cross-racial/ethnic differences as their parents. While these relationships have been explored in TD children, less is known about the gesture production of young autistic children and their parents. Further, studies of autistic children have historically been conducted with predominantly White, English-speaking participants. As a result, there is little data regarding the gesture production of young autistic children and their parents from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. In the present study, we examined the gesture rates of racially/ethnically diverse autistic children and their parents. Specifically, we explored (1) cross-racial/ethnic differences in the gesture rate of parents of autistic children, (2) the correlation between parent and child gesture rates, and (3) cross-racial/ethnic differences in the gesture rates of autistic children. Methods: Participants were 77 racially/ethnically diverse cognitively and linguistically impaired autistic children (age 18 to 57 months) and a parent who participated in one of two larger intervention studies. Naturalistic parent--child and structured clinician--child interactions were video recorded at baseline. Parent and child gesture rate (number of gestures produced per 10 min) were extracted from these recordings. Results: (1) Parents exhibited cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate such that Hispanic parents gestured more frequently than Black/African American parents, replicating previous findings in parents of TD children. Further, South Asian parents gestured more than Black/African American parents. (2) The gesture rate of autistic children was not correlated with parent gesture, a finding that differs from TD children of a similar developmental level. (3) Autistic children did not exhibit the same cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate as their parents, a result consistent with findings from TD children. Conclusions: Parents of autistic children--like parents of TD children--exhibit cross-racial/ethnic differences in gesture rate. However, parent and child gesture rates were not related in the present study. Thus, while parents of autistic children from different ethnic/racial backgrounds appear to be conveying differences in gestural communication to their children, these differences are not yet evident in child gesture. Implications: Our findings enhance our understanding of the early gesture production of racially/ethnically diverse autistic children in the prelinguistic/emerging linguistic stage of development, as well as the role of parent gesture. More research is needed with developmentally more advanced autistic children, as these relationships may change with development.

Psychoeducation, where clinicians teach problem-solving skills in a supportive environment, can help address families' social vulnerabilities and promote well-being. Group well-child care (GWCC) may provide unique opportunities for pediatric residents to improve their skills in psychoeducation. Our aim was to characterize pediatric residents' perspectives and experiences of communication while conducting both individual well-child care and GWCC. We used a longitudinal qualitative study design to conduct 15 semistructured interviews with five pediatric residents who facilitated GWCC. Using the constant comparative method, we characterized pediatric residents' perspectives and experiences of communication while conducting both individual well-child care and GWCC. Four themes emerged. Residents perceived that GWCC (i) enabled families to honestly share their knowledge and parenting practices, (ii) allowed time and a space for families to share personal stories and scenarios, (iii) facilitated discussions of maternal health and psychosocial matters, toward which residents felt ambivalence, and (iv) fostered skills in psychoeducation that transferred to the rest of their clinical practice. When pediatric residents lead GWCC, they perceive that they can facilitate key aspects of psychoeducation, enabling them to assist families in meeting complex social needs. Residents describe that they transfer psychoeducation skills learned in GWCC to the rest of their practice.

Objectives: Depression and anxiety contribute to the burden of disease among college students. The current study determined if depressive and anxiety symptoms were more prevalent in first generation students and if social and emotional support moderated this relationship. Methods: Depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured in 432 U.S. college students via an online survey. Single items determined student generation status and available social support. The CES-D10 and GAD-7 measured depression and anxiety, respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to identify significant effects. Results: First generation status was associated with increased cognitive-emotional (p = 0.036) and somatic (p = 0.013) anxiety symptoms, but not depression. High social and emotional support appeared to suppress somatic anxiety symptoms experienced by first generation students (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Greater anxiety symptoms in first generation students may be due to increased general and acculturative stress, although more research is needed. Large national surveys of college students should consider adding a question about first generation status.

Video compositing can be used to combine images of the instructor and content, which the instructor can monitor in real time. We evaluated the student experience of this "live composite" format in two carefully designed experiments. Results showed the perceived quality of and student preference for live composite lectures is not different from that of traditional lectures. Results also showed the live composite format is superior to voiceover and picture-in-picture formats in terms of attention, positive emotion, experiential attitude, preference, perceived quality, and instructor social presence. The two experiments had similar patterns of results, suggesting the observed effects are robust. Although we found no differences in short-term learning among lecture formats, the live composite method resulted in a better subjective experience for students. Instructors who use online recordings should consider adopting this approach.

In 2013, Chancellor DuBois convened a Task Force on Diversity with the aim of making the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) a model for diversity by "increasing the demographic diversity of the VCCS so that teaching faculty and leaders look more like the communities we serve" (Chancellors Diversity Task Force, 2014, p. 3). The hard work of the Task Force members culminated in a report that summarized their findings and recommendations, including a "Call to Action" list of 11 steps, many of which have been implemented or are in progress. Several of these key initiatives have put the VCCS on track to meeting its diversity goals: the adoption of a VCCS policy statement on diversity and inclusion; the hiring of a Chief Diversity Officer and appointment of College Diversity representatives at each of the 23 VCCS colleges; the formation of diversity steering committees at each college; and the creation of an online Diversity Dashboard database which provides "institutional and system-wide longitudinal data on gender and minority status" (p. 12). We commend these efforts and would like to build on the foundation provided by the Task Force. Furthermore, we maintain that the success of the Complete 2021: Educating for a Competitive Commonwealth VCCS Strategic Plan depends upon increasing diversity and inclusion across the colleges, particularly in the hiring and retention of more diverse faculty and administrators. Although increasing diversity on college campuses has many benefits, improving student success and completion arguably being the most significant, we believe that campus diversity is intrinsically valuable, apart from the many benefits it affords institutions. This report offers recommendations from the individual to the system level.

This article explores the role of formal and informal supports for women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) throughout their pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum experiences. Data from qualitative interviews with women with IDD (n = 16) were analyzed. Results showed that formal supports aided in planning, transportation, advocacy, and providing emotional support throughout pregnancy. Informal supports helped with errands, comfort, and emotional encouragement. The community surrounding these women facilitated communication with providers, self-empowerment regarding health choices, and increased preparedness for parenthood. Findings indicate the importance of encouraging and sustaining both formal and informal supports during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum to improve pregnancy and parenting experiences for women with IDD.

This article outlines a collaboration between staff from the Baltimore City Public School district Food and Nutrition Services and the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The Food for Thought project honors the frontline food service workers who nourished Baltimore students throughout the pandemic and inspires action to address food insecurity. A temporary exhibition at the museum is complemented by a permanent installation at the school district headquarters. This project was more than its end product. This partnership required active listening, remaining open to new models of thinking, and evolving expectations. Its structure demanded that we all respect varied expertise within and outside our institutions. While not perfect, this partnership aimed to move beyond collaboration to co-creation by offering multiple opportunities for participants to make decisions. The effort to support community well-being starts with engaging with partners in true collaboration based on mutual respect, shared goals, and building off each other's strengths.

This article explores a first-grade team's efforts to develop a family-school literacy partnership. The first-grade teachers wrote and developed the "Family at Home Literacy Questionnaire" to understand how their first graders selected texts and read with family members at home. The findings identified a number of unexpected at-home literacy practices. Of particular interest, the teachers' reading homework may have "mis"informed the families' at-home literacy practices. Families were not clear on texts intended for children's independent reading versus texts appropriate to read aloud. Accordingly, the authors recommend that teachers enhance their knowledge base of families' at-home practices and the personal tools and resources that drive them. The onus should not be placed on families to decipher how literacy homework should be completed; instead, teachers must listen to students' families and redesign literacy assignments that may conflict with families' at-home literacy practices or result in families' confusion or inappropriate application

We examined the efficacy of an early autism intervention for use in early childhood intervention (ECI) and mutual gaze as a contributor to social development. Seventy-eight families were randomly assigned to one of three 12-week interventions: Pathways (with a mutual gaze component), communication, or services-as-usual (SAU). The Pathways/SAU comparison concerned the efficacy of Pathways for ECI, and the Pathways/communication comparison, mutual gaze. The Pathways group made significantly more change on social measures, communicative synchrony, and adaptive functioning compared with the SAU group and on social measures compared with the communication group. There were no group differences for communicative acts. The results support Pathways as a potential ECI program and mutual gaze as an active ingredient for social and communication development.

This paper reports the effects on children, teacher candidates, and classroom teachers of a PDS-based initial certification course in the teaching of literacy. In this course, teacher candidates work with individual struggling readers on a range of literacy tasks, and the classroom teacher and university faculty member serve as course co-instructors. Results indicate that participating children grew more in literacy skills than non-participating children matched on beginning-of-year test scores. Candidates developed in their understanding of how assessment informs instruction, and moved from focusing on low-level skills to balancing their literacy instruction. Teachers found that serving as co-instructors resulted in significant, positive changes in their own practice, which likely contributed to children's learning. This collaborative project addresses NAPDS Essentials 2 and 8 in that university and school faculty cooperatively teach the course, preparing future educators within the context of the school community. It also tangentially addresses Essential 3, as participating teachers reported experiencing professional development as a result of their work.

Background and aims: The quality of parent verbal input--diverse vocabulary that is well-matched to the child's developmental level within interactions that are responsive to their interests--has been found to positively impact child language skills. For typically developing (TD) children, there is evidence that more advanced linguistic and social development differentially elicits higher quality parent input, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between parent and child. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if toddlers with ASD also differentially elicit parental verbal input by: (1) analyzing the quality of parent input to the communicative behavior of their toddlers with ASD; (2) examining if parents respond differentially to more advanced toddler communicative behavior, as measured by the coordination of multiple communicative behaviors; and (3) exploring the relationship between parental responsiveness to child communicative behaviors and change in child communication and social skills. Methods: Participants were 77 toddlers with ASD age 18-39 months and a parent who participated in a larger RCT. Ten-minute parent-toddler interactions were recorded prior to a 12-week intervention. Parent response to child communicative behaviors was coded following each child communicative behavior as no acknowledgment, responsive, directive, or nonverbal acknowledgment. Parent number of different words and difference between parent and child MLU in words were calculated separately for responsive and directive parent utterances. Child growth in language and social skills was measured using the Vineland II Communication and Socialization domain scores, respectively. Results: (1) Parents were largely responsive to their toddler's communication. When being responsive (as opposed to directive), parents used a greater number of different words within utterances that were well-matched to child language; (2) when toddlers coordinated communicative behaviors (versus producing an isolated communicative behavior), parents were more likely to respond and their replies were more likely to be responsive; and (3) parent responsiveness to child coordinated communication was significantly correlated with change in Vineland II Socialization but not Communication. A unique role of "gaze coordinated" child communication in eliciting responsive parental behaviors and improving growth in child social skills emerged. Conclusions: Our results support a bidirectional process between responsive parent verbal input and the social development of toddlers with ASD, with less sophisticated child communicative behaviors eliciting lower quality parent input.

This study examines the effects of instructor presence and online learning self-efficacy on learning satisfaction, and how the effect of social presence may depend on content structure. In this study, undergraduate students in Singapore rated their online learning self-efficacy. Then they rated their learning satisfaction after watching each of four video lectures in a 2 (low versus high instructor presence) × 2 (low versus high content structure) repeated measures experiment. Findings show that learning satisfaction is related to instructor presence and online learning self-efficacy and that the effect of instructor presence is stronger for unstructured than for structured content. This study contributes to research on pedagogy and online learning by clarifying when and how instructor presence enhances learning outcomes. Although most kinds of instruction can benefit from higher levels of instructor presence, there is the greatest benefit for unstructured content, where teaching and learning involve a more interpretive process.

Background: While rehabilitation counseling programs often stress the importance of self-care strategies, which are considered as being both ethically and personally imperative, the integration of direct instruction around these strategies has often been eclipsed by the academic demands of rehabilitation counselor education programs (Tarrasch, 2015), leaving new rehabilitation counselors with the added responsibility of exploring, identifying, and practicing these self-care activities during a time of transition and steep learning curves. Purpose: This article reviews the literature surrounding the multilayered phenomena of counselor stress and burnout, with particular attention to the field of rehabilitation counseling; it then recommends a new paradigm shift for incorporating self-care into rehabilitation counseling programs, specifically in the areas of programmatic interventions, classroom curriculum and techniques, practicum and internship supervision, and professional identity and post-graduation. The article also discusses applying self-care strategies in individualized and culturally sensitive ways. Conclusion: It is time to formally integrate self-care training and planning into rehabilitation counselor education programs. Ultimately, the trainee-centered self-care initiatives will positively impact future rehabilitation counselors, the clients they serve, the agencies they work for, and the rehabilitation counseling profession as a whole.

The aim of this repeated measures study was to examine an anonymous student feedback system (delivered using clickers) versus a public student feedback system (delivered using flashcards) on 52 graduate learners' metacognition and academic achievement scores. Three dimensions of metacognition were examined in a large lecture setting, including Metacognitive Learning Device Attribution, Metacognitive Knowledge in Lectures, and Metacognitive Self-Regulation. Results indicated that Metacognitive Learning Device Attribution and Metacognitive Knowledge in Lectures were significantly higher in the anonymous feedback condition as hypothesized while, contrary to our hypothesis, difference in Metacognitive Self-Regulation was not significant. Also, academic achievement differences were highly significant in favor of the anonymous feedback condition. Effect sizes for the three significant dependent variables ranged from moderate to very large with the largest effect size found for academic achievement. Findings are discussed in terms of the existing literature and the study's internal and external validity. Recommendations for future research are made.

We explored sensory features as distinguishing characteristics of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Four groups of males (n = 36): Six with 47, XYY syndrome and ASD (XYY+ASD), six with 47, XYY syndrome and no ASD (XYY-ASD), 12 with idiopathic ASD (ASD-I) and 12 typically developing (TYP). The short sensory profile (SSP) the sensory challenge protocol (SCP) were used to assess sensory features. SSP Total Score for the YY+ASD was significantly lower than the XYY-ASD (p = 0.002) and TYP (p < 0.001), but were not different from ASD-I (p = 0.714). The XYY+ASD group had significantly lower baseline heart rate variability during the SCP than TYP (p = 0.044). Findings provide preliminary support of sensory features as important in ASD diagnosis.

A new virtual reality task was employed which uses preference for interpersonal distance to social stimuli to examine social motivation and emotion perception in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Nineteen children with higher functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFA SD) and 23 age, gender, and IQ matched children with typical development (TD) used a joy stick to position themselves closer or further from virtual avatars while attempting to identify six emotions expressed by the avatars, happiness, fear, anger, disgust, sadness, and surprise that were expressed at different levels of intensity. The results indicated that children with HFA SD displayed significantly less approach behavior to the positive happy expression than did children with TD, who displayed increases in approach behavior to higher intensities of happy expressions. Alternatively, all groups tended to withdraw from negative emotions to the same extent and there were no diagnostic group differences in accuracy of recognition of any of the six emotions. This pattern of results is consistent with theory that suggests that some children with HFA SD display atypical social-approach motivation, or sensitivity to the positive reward value of positive social-emotional events. Conversely, there was little evidence that a tendency to withdraw from social-emotional stimuli, or a failure to process social emotional stimuli, was a component of social behavior task performance in this sample of children with HFA SD. [This article was published in "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders" (EJ1082530).]

Uptake of new scopes of practice by pharmacists has been slow and inconsistent, which the literature suggests may be related to disconnects between pharmacists' established professional identities and the identities needed to adopt these new practices. This study evaluated the use of coaches to help pharmacy students during their cooperative education work terms develop professional identities more aligned with the new scopes of practice. In this longitudinal cross sectional survey, trained pharmacist coaches met individually and in groups with students in the intervention arm of the study. Students and coaches in the intervention arm completed reflective questions and student intervention and control groups completed a self-assessment survey. Reflective comments indicated that both students and coaches identified student gains in career and professional planning, workplace navigation skills, ability to reflect on professional development topics, and contextualizing classroom learning within practice. Work-integrated learning combined with coaching can contribute to students' career and professional identity development.

The conditions that supported the development of a highly successful collaborative partnership between a college literacy program and a nonprofit center for refugee children are discussed. This three year partnership produced three inquiry-based projects, grant opportunities and increased collaboration among graduate literacy students, center teachers, and staff in the areas of instruction, assessment and material collection. It is argued that these collaborations are necessary for institutions of higher learning in general and teacher preparation programs in particular.

The editors present a summary of the sourcebook and highlight the future of recovery support for students. Recommendations for the student affairs field and higher education are provided.

This chapter outlines the unique identity transformation needs of college students in recovery and suggests ways universities can support this evolving recovery identity.

Adolescent suicide is a pressing concern in Guyana, a low-to middle-income country in South America with the highest adolescent suicide rate globally. Gatekeeper trainings for suicide prevention conducted in high-income countries have been found to increase knowledge of suicide prevention, increase referrals of at-risk youth, and reduce stigma toward help-seeking for suicidality. The current study sought to engage in a pilot examination of the effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of a culturally informed gatekeeper training suicide prevention program for Guyanese youth. Secondary school teachers and staff (N = 16) were trained in a culturally informed, evidence-based gatekeeper suicide prevention program. Mixed methods analyses revealed significant increases in knowledge of suicide prevention, as well as decreases in rigid or judgmental attitudes toward suicide post-training among secondary school teachers and staff. Further, results indicated that participants deemed the program culturally acceptable and feasible for use in the school setting. Findings have implications for the delivery and implementation of culturally informed gatekeeper training programs for suicide prevention in low-to middle-income countries.

Although doctoral students in the biomedical sciences have been recognized as a population at particular risk for mental health problems such as burnout and depression, little research has been conducted to identify candidate targets for intervention. To this end, we used the stress process model to evaluate potential mediators of stress-burnout and stress-depression relationships in biomedical doctoral students. A cross-sectional sample (n = 69) completed validated self-report measures of stress; symptoms of burnout and depression; and perceptions of mastery, social support, and advisor support. In linear regression models, we found that academic stressors were most predictive of burnout, whereas family/monetary stressors were most predictive of depression. In mediation models, we found that the relationship between stress and burnout was partially mediated by mastery and advisor support, while the stress-depression relationship was partially mediated by mastery. These findings represent a first step in identifying interventional targets to improve mental health in this at-risk population. Whereas certain stressors are inherent to the doctoral training environment, psychosocial interventions to enhance one's sense of mastery and/or to improve advisor relationships may mitigate the influence of such stressors on burnout and depression.

In this article, a large data set containing every course taken by every undergraduate student in a major university in Canada over 10 years is analysed. Modern machine learning algorithms can use large data sets to build useful tools for the data provider, in this case, the university. In this article, two classifiers are constructed using random forests. To begin, the first two semesters of courses completed by a student are used to predict if they will obtain an undergraduate degree. Secondly, for the students that completed a program, their major is predicted using once again the first few courses they have registered to. A classification tree is an intuitive and powerful classifier and building a random forest of trees improves this classifier. Random forests also allow for reliable variable importance measurements. These measures explain what variables are useful to the classifiers and can be used to better understand what is statistically related to the students' situation. The results are two accurate classifiers and a variable importance analysis that provides useful information to university administrations.

We examined the relationship between initial parenting stress and change in parental responsivity for 56 culturally and socioeconomically diverse families in a 12 week randomized control trial of Pathways Early ASD Intervention. Families were randomized into the Pathways (n = 32) or treatment-as-usual (TAU n = 24) group. Overall, Pathways parents experienced decreased stress, while TAU parents experienced an increase. The relationship between initial parental stress and change in parent responsivity was moderated by group membership. Pathways parents became more responsive but responsivity was not influenced by initial parental stress. In contrast, responsivity was negatively affected by initial parenting stress in the TAU group. Results are discussed in terms of components of a parent-mediated ASD intervention that may reduce parental stress.

This paper describes two studies comparing students' explanations of an oxidation-reduction reaction after viewing the chemical demonstration and one of two different particulate-level computer animations. In the first study, the two animations differed primarily in the complexity of the visual images. Students viewing the more simplified animation provided more correct explanations regarding the identity of water and nitrate ions in the animations, the absence of ion pairs, the correct ratios of silver to nitrate ions and silver ions to copper atoms, the electron transfer process, size changes in the atoms and ions as the reaction occurred, the source of blue colour in solution, and the driving force for the reaction. Students viewing the more simplified animation also wrote more correct balanced chemical equations for the reaction compared to students viewing the more complex animation. Students in the first study also noted that the more simplified animation did not depict extraneous information (camera angle changes, the overabundance of water molecules), and did depict relevant information (atom and ion charges, the number of electrons transferred, the source of the blue colour). In the second study, the two animations differed only by whether water molecules were shown or omitted from the animation. Students' explanations for most concepts were similar for these two groups of students; however, students viewing the animation with water molecules omitted were better able to identify nitrate ions in the animation. The only difference the students in the second study noticed between the two animations is the presence or absence of water molecules, but these student did not agree as to whether showing or omitting water molecules was more beneficial. The results of the two studies together suggest that showing or omitting water molecules in the animations had a limited effect on students' explanations of the oxidation-reduction process.

The "Grading Survey©" is pilot research on how students viewed various aspects of course grading. Grading Survey© data indicated they prefer a percentile grading scale (e.g. 90% to 100% of 500 points earns an "A") to a raw point grading scale (e.g. 450 to 500 of 500 points earns an "A"). Students also reported they were significantly more likely to ask their professor to raise their course grade when they lacked "1%" on the percentile scale versus a mathematically equivalent "5 points" on the raw point scale. In addition, students were also more likely to ask for a grade change if their grade was between an "F" and a "D" rather than a "B" and an "A". Information from the Grading Survey© can improve the structure and content of syllabi and increase student motivation, student satisfaction, and awareness of their performance.

Although burnout and mental health problems may adversely impact quality of scientific research, academic productivity, and attrition in biomedical doctoral training programs, very little research has been done on this topic. Recent studies have used brief survey methods to begin to explore burnout and mental health problems in biomedical doctoral students. In this pilot study, biomedical doctoral students (N = 69; 12% of enrolled biomedical doctoral students at a large research institution's school of medicine in the United States) were administered standardized psychiatric interviews and self-report questionnaires focused on dimensions of burnout, mental health symptoms, and academic outcomes. We discovered high levels of burnout, depression, and anxiety. Additionally, we identified that burnout was significantly associated with thoughts related to dropping out, subjective appraisal of employment opportunities, functional impairment due to a mental health problem, and having at least one current psychiatric disorder. These findings extend prior research indicating the presence of significant emotional health challenges doctoral students in biomedical graduate programs face involving high burnout and difficulties with the training environment. We outline several recommendations and next steps to programmatically understand and address these emerging emotional wellness concerns in biomedical doctoral students.

Although study skills courses improve student retention, the impact of study skills courses on students' academic self-efficacy has not been investigated. The present study examined pre- and posttest levels of academic self-efficacy in college students enrolled in a study skills course (n = 126) compared to students enrolled in a general education course (n = 111). Students enrolled in study skills courses had lower initial levels of academic self-efficacy and demonstrated greater increases than comparison students, reaching equivalent levels or surpassing the comparison students at posttest. Results are considered in light of the broader issue of student retention and in the context of current practice.

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike devastated the region that our University serves. Near the start of the semester, only one of the ten scheduled class days could be completed and administrators asked students and faculty to "continue the learning process" online via Blackboard©, our Electronic Delivery System (EDS). The Student Storm Survey© (SSS) examined student reaction to shifting from "brick-and-mortar" to "online" instruction on EDS as well as other storm-related decisions. A small majority of the respondents reported that they wanted to work on EDS assignments, though most failed to complete them while the University was closed; most disagreed that such assignments helped them return to school. With respect to the University's decisions about when to close and reopen, overall, students were satisfied with these decisions, but those whose homes suffered the most damage were the least content. Suggestions for improving EDS effectiveness to continue learning, and making more informed decisions about school reopenings after future emergencies are presented.

One of the reasons the author agreed to teach a hybrid, on-line course last summer was specifically to either challenge or confirm her negative perceptions about on-line instruction. In order to continue to be an outspoken critic whenever administrators encouraged developing on-line courses for what she assumed were pecuniary considerations, she needed to understand on-line instruction from the inside out. The course, an elective in a Literacy masters' level program, was designed to introduce students to the range of materials available to teach K-6 language arts and to show them how to establish criteria in selecting and using such materials. The author is pleased to report that her experience in teaching this course confirmed her original perception; it was nothing like the instructional model she had been practicing for many years. What she could not predict based on her old schema was that effective on-line instruction is something brand new. In doing the research to prepare for the course, she began to realize that if she had tried to replicate the in-class formula, the course would have probably been as dismal as she feared it would be. The opportunity to review pedagogical issues that she had taken for granted through the years was the first of many unexpected benefits she encountered through this venture. The author became a proponent of on-line instruction. In this article, she shares 10 discoveries she made about on-line instruction that were beyond her field of vision when she viewed it through her in-class lens. The first four points reflect discoveries she made by reviewing the research before she taught the course and were reflected in the course design. The last six points reflect discoveries she made by assessing the course both during and after its implementation.