Search

Objective: People with intellectual disabilities have historically often been excluded from cognitive based therapies, due to their cognitive deficits. However, adults with intellectual disabilities have been found to have the core cognitive abilities necessary to engage in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Despite this emerging evidence, the capacity for children with intellectual disabilities to engage with cognitive based therapies has not been fully explored. Method: Fourteen children, between the ages of 8 and 17 with intellectual disabilities, completed cognitive mediation tasks and a discrimination task. Five had a moderate intellectual disability, six had a mild intellectual disability and three had intellectual functioning in the borderline range. Inclusion criteria: These tasks completed assessed children's ability to identify, discriminate between, and link thoughts, emotions and behaviours. Results: Potential correlates of intelligence, verbal abilities and age were investigated. Participants' performance on the discrimination task was varied. High accuracy was seen in the cognitive mediation tasks. Conclusion: Results from this pilot study demonstrate that children with intellectual disabilities may have some of the skills required for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, however children may require some training in cognitive mediation tasks before completing Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. As children have the foundational skills to engage in cognitive based therapies, this supports the need for future research trials investigating the use of adapted Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for children with intellectual disabilities.

Engineering education research has highlighted the importance of examining, understanding, and supporting teacher learning and identity development, particularly for those that hold marginalized identities. As part of the special issue on Teacher Learning and Organizational Contexts, this study examines the intricate relationship between powered boundaries of race, culture, and space for two Black women teachers in organizational contexts within their school district. Using a racialized spatial imaginaries framework, this research describes how two women authored identities as teachers of engineering and cultivated new engineering related spatial imaginaries for their students. The study found that ideational, material, and relational resources made available across organizational contexts contributed to teachers' authoring identities and how they supported their students. The work illuminates how a spatial imaginaries framework can support critical investigation of teacher identity development and (re)examination of how Black students are positioned in spaces of teacher inquiry.

Research Findings: The current study aimed to explore the independent and interactive roles of individual student-teacher relationship quality and classroom-level self-regulatory supports in kindergarten for children's self-regulatory skills in kindergarten and first grade. We did so using multiple measures of children's self-regulation, drawn from multiple sources, and a relatively new measure of classroom-level supports for self-regulation. Our sample included 726 low-income kindergartners in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Controlling for children's fall of kindergarten self-regulatory skills, student-teacher relationship quality in kindergarten was associated with children's self-regulation at the spring of kindergarten and again at the fall of first grade, but classroom-level self-regulatory supports in kindergarten were never significantly associated with children's self-regulation. Overall, associations between student-teacher relationships and children's self-regulation were stronger and more consistently significant for student-teacher conflict than closeness, and for teacher-reported than directly assessed or assessor-rated self-regulation. They did not, however, vary by classroom self-regulatory supports. Practices and Policy: Results affirm the primacy of student-teacher relationships for children's self-regulatory development across the transition into formal schooling, regardless of the quality of classroom-level supports for self-regulation. Teacher training and professional development programs should equip teachers with strategies and resources that support their ability to develop warm, responsive relationships with individual students.

Place-based education (PBE) offers teachers a unique opportunity to increase engagement and academic outcomes while strengthening students' connections to their environment and inspiring future conservation. In most instances, classroom teachers must independently choose to implement PBE, such as when discussing topics surrounding wildlife and the environment. Environmental values orientations of teachers may explain teachers' implementation of PBE. Through thematic analysis of phenomenological interviews with 11 middle and high school science teachers in Colorado we identified their environmental value orientations. We found that teachers with predominantly mutualist environmental value orientations were associated with high levels of implementation. Our findings can inform professional development of teachers learning about the relationship between PBE and pro-environmental value ­orientations and behaviors among future generations.

In this program description, the authors explain how a doctoral-level embedded service-learning opportunity, part of Project PURPLE (Preparing Urban and Rural Personnel as Leaders in Education), a collaborative personnel preparation training program, taught future faculty to meet the needs of urban and rural schools in high-need settings. The collaboration between two large institutions in the U.S. same state offered scholars a unique opportunity to engage in teaching, research, and service across institutions. For the service-learning project, teams of cross-institution scholars partnered with consultants from a regional special education cooperative that provides technical assistance to a large rural geographical area. Eleven scholars completed seven diverse service projects, ranging from training education professionals to engaging caregivers. This description discusses these projects, along with the benefits to the scholars and the regional cooperative. It also explores implications for practice for future personnel preparation collaborations and possible avenues for future research.

While social emotional learning (SEL) school-based initiatives can benefit student well-being and learning, a need remains for a more nuanced understanding of aspects affecting systemic SEL integration within under-resourced learning environments. This study considered factors affecting implementation of a community initiative to provide schoolwide SEL curriculum and mental health support services at an economically disadvantaged school district in the USA at a time when students were returning to fully in-person learning after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. School administrators, counselors, teachers, SEL coaches, and mental health professionals (n = 23) participated in individual interviews or focus groups to discuss their experiences implementing schoolwide SEL services during this time. Results from reflexive thematic analysis indicated themes around facilitators and barriers to maintaining systemic SEL in the school district. Facilitators to schoolwide SEL implementation included faculty and staff efforts to normalize talk about mental health and collaborate when providing SEL content and mental health support. Implementation barriers included insufficient professional staffing, student absenteeism, and teacher and student resistance to SEL. Findings underscore the need for future research to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of differing collaborative approaches to SEL implementation as well as methods for addressing low teacher/student SEL responsiveness to mental health programs in underserved schools. Interventions should also consider ways to proactively address challenges to schoolwide SEL implementation in lower-income communities, including decreased leadership support.

Increasingly, scholarly journals have begun retracting published articles for reasons other than those described by advisory organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Numerous research articles have been retracted of late due to political concerns. Additionally, some articles have been retracted for behavioral misconduct, which was also the subject of a recent COPE discussion forum. 'Behavioral misconduct' denotes harmful or immoral behavior of one or more authors that is unrelated to the article's findings or content. We investigated whether federally funded research scientists considered behavioral misconduct a valid reason for retracting published findings and whether the type of behavioral misconduct involved, the level of the expected scientific impact of the article in question, or the kind of editorial action taken affected their support of retraction. Of the 464 participants who took our survey, we found that researchers largely oppose retraction of a published article or removing an author when scientists commit behavioral misconduct, regardless of the type of misconduct involved. However, there was greater support for retraction when the misconduct was financial as compared to racial or sexual misconduct. Not surprisingly, researchers were more likely to use the published information in question in their own work when its impact was high. Future studies should investigate the extent to which these findings are moderated by researchers' editorial experience and other demographic factors.

Background: Stealth assessment is a learning analytics method, which leverages the collection and analysis of learners' interaction data to make real-time inferences about their learning. Employed in digital learning environments, stealth assessment helps researchers, educators, and teachers evaluate learners' competencies and customize the learning experience to their specific needs. This adaptability is closely intertwined with theories related to learning, engagement, and motivation. The foundation of stealth assessment rests on evidence-cantered design (ECD), consisting of four core models: the Competency Model (CM), Evidence Model, Task Model, and Assembly Model. Objective: The first step in designing a stealth assessment entails producing operational definitions of the constructs to be assessed. The CM establishes a framework of latent variables representing the target constructs, as well as their interrelations. When developing the CM, assessment designers must produce clear descriptions of the claims associated with the latent variables and their states, as well as sketch out how the competencies can be measured using assessment tasks. As the designers elaborate on the assessment model, the CM definitions need to be revisited to make sure they work with the scope and constraints of the assessment. Although this is the first step, problems at this stage may result in an assessment that does not meet the intended purpose. The objective of this paper is to elucidate the necessary steps for CM development and to highlight potential challenges in the process, along with strategies for addressing them, particularly for designers without much formal assessment experience. Method: This paper is a methodological exposition, showcasing five examples of CM development. Specifically, we conducted a qualitative retrospective analysis of the CM development procedure, wherein participants unfamiliar with ECD applied the framework and showcased their work. In a stealth assessment course, four groups of students (novice stealth assessment designers) engaged in developing stealth assessments for challenging-to-measure constructs across four distinct projects. During their CM development process, we observed various activities to pinpoint areas of difficulty. Results: This paper presents five illustrative examples, including one for assessing physics understanding and four for the development of CMs for four complex competencies: (1) systems thinking, (2) online information credibility evaluation, (3) computational thinking, and (4) collaborative creativity. Each example represents a case in CM development, offering valuable insights. Conclusion: The paper concludes by discussing several guidelines derived from the examples discussed. Emphasizing the importance of dedicating ample time to fine-tune CMs can significantly enhance the accuracy of assessments related to learners' knowledge and skills. It underscores the significance of qualitative phases in crafting comprehensive stealth assessments, such as CMs, alongside the quantitative statistical modeling and technical aspects of these assessments.

Student-generated questions can be an effective study technique to improve active learning, metacognitive skills, and performance on examinations. Students have shown greater success when assessed using peer-made study questions than when studying without questions. In three semesters of a kinesiology research methods course students were taught how to write high-quality multiplechoice questions that addressed course objectives and Bloom's Taxonomy. Students were given a graded assignment to write three multiple-choice questions using Makequiz, a Java and web-based tool for helping students generate multiple choice questions. Student- generated questions that were rated as good quality (n = 169-245) were provided to the students as a study resource prior to the final exam. Of those study questions, 40 were selected each semester to be on the final exam. Students performed significantly better on student-written questions than instructor-written questions on the final exam in Class A (p < 0.05) and in Class C (p < 0.05). A majority of students felt this assignment was a worthwhile component of the course, voting to keep Makequiz in the curriculum (Class A: 52.6%, Class B: 62.3%, Class C: 58.3%) or to modify Makequiz (Class A: 25.3%, Class B: 14.5%, Class C: 18.1%). Many of the students stated it was the most valuable assignment of the course (32% Class B and Class C). Makequiz is, therefore, a recommended study tool for students. Comparisons are also made with PeerWise, an online platform for creating and sharing MCQ and feedback. Further investigation is required to measure the impact Makequiz has on learning, metacognitive skills, and anxiety levels before testtaking.

In the century following emancipation, Blackamericans developed robust and effective schools despite limited resources. Unfortunately, their successes and contributions to the education system are often overlooked. This interdisciplinary theoretical paper draws on historiographies of segregated school systems, examining the struggles of Blackamerican educators within segregated education systems through the lenses of coloniality and institutional work. This examination reveals a distinct Blackamerican institutional schema rooted in community, guiding educators in navigating structural and systemic dynamics that shape educational opportunities and successfully challenge dominant white education standards. We discuss the coloniality of schooling, a structural framework, and a mindset that continues to undergird our contemporary education system and then draw attention to an alternative perspective. Our goal is to work toward more inclusive and equitable education systems by recognizing and acknowledging the protest and resistance of Blackamerican educators, their contributions to alternative epistemologies, and the mindsets that guided their actions.

K-12 instructional settings diversified worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic response. Research is needed in examining school librarians' evolving roles during this era. Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, K-12 remote-synchronous learning was an instructional option in a progressive U.S. public school district. This new "school" within the district was established without funding allocated for a certified school librarian. The overarching research question of this study was "What did it mean to be a school librarian during the COVID-19 pandemic?" The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore, analyze and describe the school librarians' experience of changes in their professional roles during the pandemic. Semistructured interviews of six school librarians were used to generate rich, detailed descriptions of the phenomenon. Three major themes emerged: the local context of the school librarians' roles during the pandemic, the pandemic as an antagonist to the school librarians' former and present roles, and the experience of tensions within the evolution of the school librarians' roles. The results suggested that the pandemic's contributions to students' learning loss present an ongoing, critical need for school librarians' core value of positively impacting student achievement. Implications for school librarians are that they are strongly positioned to thrive during further evolutions of their roles as instructional settings continue to diversify.

Cooperative Extension is in a unique position to address health and wellness concerns across the country, particularly in rural areas with local Extension services. One innovative model, the Health Extension: Advocacy, Research, and Teaching (HEART) Initiative, unites Extension, community organizations, and community members in collaborative activities to address the complex, multifaceted components of substance use disorder. The model utilized a multidisciplinary team and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach with evidence-based practices to increase Extension's abilities to guide and tailor programming to local needs and to create significant impacts. Cooperative Extension's long history of engagement in the community, with state and federal linkages, creates a trusted source for partnering on behavioral health crises. This multidisciplinary team model increased Cooperative Extension's scope and capacity to respond to substance-related disorders and can be replicated in other areas.

Background: Language analytic ability is well researched in the context of foreign language acquisition but its role in the acquisition of grammar in the native language is under investigation. Objectives: Our study explored the influence of language analytic ability and print exposure on receptive grammar and reading comprehension in childhood. Additionally, we investigated whether exposure to specific constructions through the written modality held an advantage over exposure in the audio modality. Method: We assessed the language analytic ability, reading comprehension, reading fluency, print exposure, and receptive grammar of 12-year-olds. Subsequently, we exposed them to written or spoken target constructions, followed by an assessment of receptive grammar. Linear regression models were used to analyse the contributions of reading fluency, print exposure, and language analytic ability to reading comprehension and receptive grammar. We also examined the influence of the intervention on receptive grammar. Results: Language analytic ability and print exposure significantly predicted receptive grammar. Print exposure significantly predicted reading comprehension and improvement in receptive grammar. Conclusion: Language analytic ability is important for grammar and reading comprehension development. Print exposure enhances reading comprehension by supporting vocabulary development and providing exposure to intricate structures. Both language analytic ability and experience are key factors in construction acquisition. Contribution: This study adds to the growing body of evidence emphasising the role of language analytic skills in native language grammar acquisition and advocates for explicit grammar teaching. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of adequate print exposure in grammar acquisition and the development of reading comprehension skills.

Developing Allied Health (AH) graduates who are skilled in responding to public health needs is crucial, particularly in rural areas where workforce shortages and poor health outcomes are common. However, workforce shortages make it difficult to provide rural work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities to teach these skills. This paper presents a model of Service-Learning (SL) that innovatively employs WIL for AH students while addressing rural health needs. The model was developed based on the experiences of a rural WIL team who implemented over 400 SL WIL experiences over six years. Key aspects highlight the importance of relationship building and meeting the needs of three key stakeholders, namely the community and host-site, students, and the enrolled university. Student support, interprofessional education and evaluation were also embedded in the model. This SL model adopts a flexible approach and provides a useful guide for developing SL for WIL despite challenges in rural areas.

In this article, we explore our experiences as Kanaka faculty mentors in Hilinehu Educational Leadership Advancement (HELA), a federally-funded grant through the Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP) supporting Kanaka graduate students in the field of education. Through the exploration of our experiences, we consider how mentoring can matter for Kanaka graduate students and furthermore how graduate education can matter for our lahui Hawai?i (Hawaiian nation). Although graduate education historically has not been a priority for the Native Hawaiian Education Act (NHEA), we argue that it is vitally important to preparing Kanaka for educational leadership and nation-building. Finally, we offer reflections on our experiences as mentors through HELA and close with experience-based recommendations for policymakers and administrators, faculty mentors, and Kanaka graduate students.

Demonstrating the ability to think critically is a common requirement of Higher Education (HE) assessments, bridging disciplines and forming a significant part of the feedback given to students. Despite its prominence, more can be learned about how different learner modes influence the propensity to use critical thinking. This article reports on the results from a study of critical thinking in a global MBA programme that compared how online, and on-campus environments influenced a learner's approach to problem-solving and decisionmaking. A survey instrument was administered to two cohorts, studying online and oncampus, who were taking an identical module in strategy. Whilst differences in learning experience were to be expected, the degree to which learner modes affected the propensity to think critically was surprising. On most measurements, on-campus learners outperformed their online counterparts. The results, interpreted through the lens of Administrative Behaviour Theory, demonstrate that learner modes should be treated as separate entities, and that a homogenous approach to digital and physical learning strategies may prove ineffective. The implications of the results are discussed, including recommendations for learning designers.

This study aimed to identify the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science practices secondary science teachers considered as most important, to determine what type of value teachers ascribed to those practices, and to examine any correlations between teachers' perceived importance of the practices and their self-reported implementation. An electronic survey was used to collect multiple forms of data from 128 secondary science teachers. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, average ranking scores, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Qualitative data was analyzed through qualitative content analysis using Wigfield and Eccles' (2000) Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) as an analytic framework. Our findings indicate that: (1) teachers ranked asking questions as the most important science practice, and mathematics and computational thinking as least important; (2) teachers most frequently attached attainment value to the usefulness of the practices; and (3) the correlations between teachers' rankings of the practices and their selfreported implementation were mixed. The rank-implementation mismatches can be interpreted as an outcome of teachers' misconceptions about some of the science practices. This study highlights the need for teacher education initiatives that promote teachers' implementation of and long-term utility value of proficiency with all eight of the science practices.

Student engagement and student experience are two initiatives that higher education institutions usually pursue. However, the relationship between these two initiatives needs to be examined more adequately. Thus, this study assesses the effect of student engagement on the student experience. A survey research design was used to conduct the study. Data were collected from University in the US. The results show that collaborative learning, student-faculty interactions, and a supportive environment explain the variance in student experience. The implications are discussed at the end of the paper.

A challenge persists in modern higher education regarding gaining an understanding of the activities and services that facilitate student support, student success, student community and student voice. As modern universities continue to grow in both size and complexity, gaining an understanding of the operations for enhancing and supporting both students' experiences and outcomes grows in importance for resource allocation and supporting student success for university administrators. These exploratory or audit-based activities attempt to gain an understanding of students' engagement, time pressure and, relatedly, their calendar journeys throughout their higher education, with an aim to create coherence as opposed to chaos in students' journeys. This case study shares a tested practice from a UK higher education institution of a method to map the so-called 'student experience' across a whole university. This framework for mapping student engagement activities takes an asset-based approach beginning with the core activities which lead a student to graduation prioritising activities by time of students' engagement. This framework is inclusive of the core student experience and the optional, complementary extracurricular activities (Student Community), supporting services (Student Support), and enhancement activities engaging students in the development of education (Student Voice) to gain oversight of complex institutions. This case study offers a transferable framework for use in institutions globally with potential to be implemented as a management tool for administrator and faculty member understanding of the student experience with a view to make enhancements to support student success resourcing and interventions.

Over the course of a two-year curriculum field test study that implemented a curriculum-based professional learning framework, we investigated the factors that influenced teachers' willingness and ability to implement NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-based storylines for teaching the nature of science, evolution, and climate change. Through qualitative data collected from interviews and lesson evaluation surveys from 25 middle and high school science teachers, we identified potential implementation barriers and support structures relating to organizational culture as well as curriculum and instruction at the classroom, school, community, and systemic levels. The data indicate that lack of administrative support, time constraints, difficulty with student sense-making, and mismatched classrooms are the largest barriers to implementation, while curriculum-based professional learning including working through the lessons from a student perspective, peer collaboration, autonomy, and flexibility were the largest predictors of successful implementation. Administrators can play a large role in providing successful supports and removing barriers for teachers implementing NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-based lessons.

University of Maryland, Baltimore CURE Connections (UMB CURE) connects West Baltimore high school students with STEM enrichment including hands-on research and community outreach. This study's purpose was to describe successes and challenges of implementing the virtual Community Health Worker curriculum during the summer programming for UMB CURE high school scholars. This certificate-based program was designed to teach students about the community health field while providing training that demonstrates competence as a community health worker. The training was implemented over two summer sessions (2020 and 2021). Scholars completed a survey to assess program satisfaction. A subset of scholars completed qualitative interviews that focused on scholars' summer program experience and recommendations for program improvement. Engagement metrics (scholar participation, retention) were compiled. Overall themes from qualitative interviews included: (1) overall summer program experience, (2) about the Morehouse curriculum, (3) advice for future scholars, (4) in-person versus virtual summer program, and (5) recommendations for the program. While the program was generally well-received, scholars required more instruction and guidance than anticipated. Many found the required assignments challenging to navigate, citing virtual instruction as a reason. Scholars also requested more hands-on synchronous STEM-focused activities. These data will be used to modify future programming to engage scholars in out-of-school-time STEM initiatives.

As environmental awareness grows, so do questions about the environmental impact of photography, in particular traditional film development and processing, which includes the use of plastics, gelatine and other environmentally harmful chemicals notwithstanding water usage and waste. Pioneering practice and research into sustainable alternatives to conventional processes has quickly established, supported by organisations such as The Sustainable Darkroom. Students in Higher Education are environmentally aware and prepared to take action to mitigate their impacts where possible. As such, there is a coalescence of perceptions within and beyond the classroom which asks to be addressed in the curriculum. This paper draws upon the research project Under a Green Light: A Darkroom for the Future which investigated how university darkroom practices can pivot toward more environmentally friendly methods. The paper describes the learning environment of the darkroom as a space of slowness, immersion and experimentation and the pedagogic value of this for photography students. The paper argues that incorporating environmental awareness into day-to-day teaching through systemic changes to process and practice, rather than through short term curriculum interventions, contributes to transformative learning experiences and promotes positive long-term change.

While explicit conceptual models help to inform research, they are left out of much of the health professions education (HPE) literature. One reason may be the limited understanding about how to develop conceptual models with intention and rigor. Group concept mapping (GCM) is a mixed methods conceptualization approach that has been used to develop frameworks for planning and evaluation, but GCM has not been common in HPE. The purpose of this article is to describe GCM in order to make it more accessible for HPE scholars. We recount the origins and evolution of GCM and summarize its core features: GCM can combine multiple stakeholder perspectives in a systematic and inclusive manner to generate explicit conceptual models. Based on the literature and prior experience using GCM, we detail seven steps in GCM: (1) brainstorming ideas to a specific "focus prompt," (2) preparing ideas by removing duplicates and editing for consistency, (3) sorting ideas according to conceptual similarity, (4) generating the point map through quantitative analysis, (5) interpreting cluster map options, (6) summarizing the final concept map, and (7) reporting and using the map. We provide illustrative examples from HPE studies and compare GCM to other conceptualization methods. GCM has great potential to add to the myriad of methodologies open to HPE researchers. Its alignment with principles of diversity and inclusivity, as well as the need to be systematic in applying theoretical and conceptual frameworks to practice, make it a method well suited for the complexities of contemporary HPE scholarship.

Exploring how science teacher education programs can prepare science teachers to support gender and sexually diverse students remains an important area for research. A 5-week intervention was designed for pre-service science teachers' (PSSTs), addressing gender and sexual diversity (GSD). The effects of the intervention on PSSTs' attitudes and beliefs about GSD-inclusive science teaching (GSDST) were explored using a multiple case study research design. In addition, the design elements of the intervention that were perceived as most significant were identified. Our results showed that the PSSTs were mostly supportive of measures indicative of GSDST prior to the intervention, and there was an overall trend in favor of GSDST with small effect sizes after the intervention, which did not reach statistical significance. Using thematic analysis, three themes were identified to characterize how their attitudes and beliefs changed throughout the intervention: GSDST is perceived as important for student safety; an "add LGBT and stir" approach to GSDST; and uncertainty of GSD language. Five design features of the intervention that were perceived as most impactful were group dialog; coherence to Ambitious Science Teaching; GSD terminology; knowledge of intersex, hormones, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer scientists; and relevant case studies. The findings contribute to understanding how science teacher education programs can impact PSSTs' attitudes, beliefs, and intended enactment of GSDST consistent, with recent calls for GSD equity in science education.

Background: Undergraduate engineering students experiencing distress are less likely than peers to ask for professional help. A population-specific instrument to facilitate the identification of factors that influence mental healthcare utilization could guide development and testing of interventions to increase help seeking. Purpose: We used mixed methods guided by the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) to develop and evaluate the Undergraduate Engineering Mental Health Help-Seeking Instrument (UE-MH-HSI). Method: First, we adapted existing measures of mental health help-seeking intention and mechanisms (i.e., attitudes, perceived norm: injunctive, perceived norm: descriptive, personal agency: autonomy, personal agency: capacity). Second, we coded qualitative interviews (N = 33) to create population-specific mental health help-seeking belief measures (i.e., outcome beliefs, experiential beliefs, beliefs about others' expectations, beliefs about others' behavior, beliefs about barriers and facilitators). Third, we tested the psychometric properties using data from 596 undergraduate engineering students at a historically White, research-focused institution in southern United States. Results: Psychometric analyses indicated that (1) help-seeking mechanism and intention measures demonstrated unidimensionality, internal consistency, construct replicability, and sufficient variability; (2) mechanism measures demonstrated criterion evidence of validity; and (3) most items within the belief measures demonstrated sufficient variability and convergent evidence of validity. Conclusions: The UE-MH-HSI is an evidence-based tool for investigating mental health help-seeking factors and their relationship to help-seeking behavior, well-being, academic success, and engineering identity formation. Guidelines for use are provided.

Virtual exchange programs represent a relatively novel approach designed to foster a more global perspective and promote discipline-specific learning; however, this approach has not been widely adopted in sociology. This article reports findings on student experiences and learning in a virtual exchange program involving two large introductory sociology classes in Hong Kong and Atlanta. A postsurvey invited students to reflect qualitatively on their experiences, and six major themes emerged from the data: (1) global application of sociological knowledge, (2) social and cultural relativism, (3) breaking the shell and gaining intellectual and social flexibility, (4) social networking opportunities, (5) challenges and adjustments, and (6) keeping contact beyond school. Based on our experience and the students' feedback, we conclude that virtual exchange is an effective pedagogical approach for internationalizing sociology curricula, enhancing intercultural competency, and deepening students' understanding of core sociological concepts.

Background: Long-term care services are funded primarily by Medicaid long-term services and support in the United States, where eligibility is based on care needs of the individual with intellectual and developmental disability alone. Impact of Medicaid waiver services on self-reported caregiver needs is not well understood. Method: Caregivers (n = 405) of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across four states (NY, OH, TX, and PA) completed an online survey. Results: Caregivers reported a moderate degree of burden and susceptibility of stress-induced health breakdown. Despite controlling for the activities of daily living of the care recipient, caregivers of individuals with Medicaid Waiver services reported greater difficulty managing medications (p = 0.013) and finding paid help (p < 0.001) than caregivers of individuals without services.

Recent advances in genomics make it possible to predict individual differences in education from polygenic scores that are person-specific aggregates of inherited DNA differences. Here, we systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the strength of these DNA-based predictions for educational attainment (e.g., years spent in full-time education) and educational achievement (e.g., school grades). For educational attainment (k = 20, n = 16, N[subscript total] = 314,757), a multilevel meta-analysis showed an association with polygenic scores of [rho] = 0.27 (95% CI from 0.22 to 0.32). For educational achievement (k = 19, n = 10, N[subscript total] = 83,788), the association was [rho] = 0.24 (95% CI from 0.18 to 0.30). Eurocentric biases were evident with only 15% of estimates being reported in samples of non-European ancestry. After accounting for sample ancestry, age at assessment, and education measure, the meta-analytic estimates increased to [rho] = 0.29 (95% CI from 0.24 to 0.33) for educational attainment and [rho] = 0.50 (95% CI from 0.39 to 0.61) for educational achievement, indicative of large effect sizes. All meta-analytic estimates were associated with significant heterogeneity. Our findings suggest that DNA-based predictions of education are sizeable but vary across samples and studies. We outline three steps to safeguard potential applications of polygenic score predictions in education to maximize their benefits for personalizing learning, while minimizing the bioethical risks of perpetuating social, cultural, and economic inequalities.

Background: Given that K-12 schools necessitate leaders who can advance equity and justice, preparation programs in higher education institutions have prioritized the development of equity-oriented school leaders. However, there has been relatively limited exploration of pedagogical approaches that equip educational leaders to navigate adverse emotional responses and utilize their discomforting emotions as a source of transformation toward equity-oriented principles. When negative emotions are suppressed and/or unexplored within leadership development programs, adult learners will likely miss crucial opportunities for personal growth and transformative change. Purpose: This theoretical article aims to enhance and expand existing scholarship on the pedagogies of emotional discomfort by developing a conceptual-pedagogical framework for preparing equity-driven school leaders. Conceptual Model: We explore the role of emotions in/as learning, drawing insights from the learning science literature, and analyze empirical studies in leadership education to unravel how and why discomforting emotions are triggered and operationalized when learning about racism and inequities. We present a framework, the pedagogy of discomfort toward critical hope, drawing on scholarly work bridging emotional discomfort and critical pedagogy, and exemplified by various examples of pedagogies of discomfort. Building on this foundation, we introduce an emotional scaffolding design centered around three concepts: generating discomfort to make oppression and privilege visible, guided emotion participation for engaging critical reflection and dialogue, and appraising emotions with metacognitive and meta-affect tools. Discussion and Implications: This article extends the scholarship on teaching and learning for developing equity leaders by bridging insights from learning science and critical pedagogy.

Use of high-stakes exams in a course has been associated with gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequities. We investigated whether offering students the opportunity to retake an exam makes high-stakes exams more equitable. Following the control value theory of achievement emotions, we hypothesized that exam retakes would increase students' perceived control over their performance and decrease the value of a single exam attempt, thereby maximizing exam performance. We collected data on exam scores and experiences with retakes from three large introductory biology courses and assessed the effect of optional exam retakes on gender, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in exam scores. We found that Black/African American students and those who worked more than 20 h a week were less likely to retake exams. While exam retakes significantly improved student scores, they slightly increased racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in scores partly because of these differences in participation rates. Most students reported that retake opportunities reduced their anxiety on the initial exam attempt. Together our results suggest that optional exam retakes could be a useful tool to improve student performance and reduce anxiety associated with high-stakes exams. However, barriers to participation must be examined and reduced for retakes to reduce disparities in scores.

Cosmopolitanism and nationalism are often presented in binary terms, as standing in opposition to each other, especially with regards to education. In this paper, we establish a framework for studying education policy today through the lens of a concept we have developed: 'cosmopolitan nationalism'. Many education systems around the world are grappling with and simultaneously integrating both cosmopolitan and nationalist elements in policy objectives, curricular content and pedagogic approaches. Through an in-depth analysis of three country examples -- China, the US and Israel -- we outline four different manifestations of education policy that can be explained by employing the analytical lens of cosmopolitan nationalism: (i) the increasing prominence and visibility of the International Baccalaureate within these three public education systems; (ii) reforms of specific curricula elements and pedagogies legitimised with reference to approaches assessed as globally leading through international assessments; (iii) efforts to promote national education systems as international beacons of best practice; (iv) creation of alternative education provisions that are promoted globally for very specific purposes and populations. We argue that, given our heterogeneous sample of case study countries, and careful analysis of these, a cosmopolitan nationalism lens offers important insights into education policy-making today which has the potential to be applied in other contexts.

Effective spatial visualization and reasoning skills are often credited for students' success in science and engineering courses. However, students enrolled in these science courses are not always exposed to or trained properly on the best ways to utilize models to aid in their learning. Improving spatial visualization techniques with 3D models, such as molecular and DNA modeling kits, is often suggested to facilitate students' ability to conceptualize compounds in two and three dimensions. Here, we investigate what techniques students use to conceptualize 2D representations of various biomolecules with the use of 3D models by interviewing undergraduate students from various natural science and engineering disciplines in task-based, think-aloud sessions. After scoring and analyzing the participant data we explored some of the techniques used among successful scoring participants, including the use of informal models to transition between 2D and 3D. Additional techniques used by students who were able to successfully conceptualize 3D images included starting with smaller, granular details to inductively make conclusions when thinking between two and three dimensions. We find that (1) students who anchor their thinking in 3D models show a deeper level of understanding in initially solving science problems successfully, and (2) proper 3D model use and spatial visualization techniques may improve students' abilities to accurately visualize 2D and 3D representations of molecules in science courses. Our results demonstrate that implementing spatial visualization training to teach students how to effectively use 3D models may improve students' problem-solving techniques in science curricula.

Analogies are used to make abstract topics meaningful and more easily comprehensible to learners. Incorporating simple analogies into STEM classrooms is a fairly common practice, but the analogies are typically generated and explained by the instructor for the learners. We hypothesize that challenging learners to create complex, extended analogies themselves can promote integration of content knowledge and development of critical thinking skills, which are essential for deep learning, but are challenging to teach. In this qualitative study, college biology students (n = 30) were asked to construct a complex analogy about the flow of genetic information using a familiar item. One week later, participants constructed a second analogy about the same topic, but this time using a more challenging item. Twenty participants worked on the challenging analogy in pairs, while the other 10 worked alone. Analysis of the 50 interviews resulted in a novel-scoring scheme, which measured both content knowledge (understanding of biology terms) and critical thinking (alignment of relationships between elements of the analogy). Most participants improved slightly due to practice, but they improved dramatically when working with a partner. The biggest gains were seen in critical thinking, not content knowledge. Having students construct complex, sophisticated analogies in pairs is a high-impact practice that can help students develop their critical thinking skills, which are crucial in academic and professional settings. The discussion between partners likely requires students to justify their explanations and critique their partner's explanations, which are characteristics of critical thinking.