<p> Medicine and medical education have become technicized. Aspects of the subjective and normative worlds are shoved to the side or annulled. Doctors and medical students are reduced to &ldquo;specialists without spirits.&rdquo; Patients are objectified and dehumanized. &ldquo;Critical dialogue and reflections&rdquo; is an attempt to call out the inadequacies of our current framework of thinking about medicine and medical education, written by someone who is a patient, a doctor, an educator, and a researcher. This is a two-paper dissertation. The first paper is a conversation in <i>critical</i> theories. In the first part, I present dialogues and reflections on Foucault&rsquo;s <i> Power/Knowledge</i> and Habermas&rsquo;s <i>Theory of Communicative Action</i>. In the second part, I advance the conversation on Habermas&rsquo;s distinction between communicative and strategic actions, leveraging Hegel&rsquo;s early writings on morality. This paper develops a methodological framework that gives the theory of communicative rationality a central position. It is a methodological framework in three interrelated senses: methodological foundations for conducting research on the social aspects of medical education and medical practice; methodological framework to guide pedagogy in medical education; and methodological framework for doctor-patient relations. In the second paper, I use the communicative rationality framework to propose a developed method of learning for doctors in training. The theoretical features of this method are articulated through qualitative data analysis of video-taped doctor-patient interactions. It argues for general principles as they are implicitly embedded within the interactions that I analyze through the framework presented in the first paper. In this method, resident physicians review videos of their work through dialogues with their peers. Attending physicians also review the videos and dialogue with one another as they reflect on resident performance. In this work, I restore the normative evaluative and let the subjects speak. It is my belief that medical education and medicine are in desperate need of an alternative theoretical framework. My work here comes to provide just that. </p><p>

<p> Curriculum Based Measurements (CBM) are a widely-used tool for Response to Intervention (RTI) progress monitoring. In addition, they can be used in the determination of learning disabilities and special education qualification. The most widely used type of CBM is a measure of oral reading fluency (ORF). This type involves having a student read out loud for 1 minute while the examiner records any errors. Also known as reading curriculum-based measures (RCBM), various published forms of RCBM have been documented to be reliable and valid measures of all aspects of reading skills. Nonetheless, not all RCBM forms are the same, and the differences in features across published versions could affect student scores. This study examined the textual composition of three different published versions of RCBM probes to determine passage similarity and difficulty. The study also examined the consistency in student reading levels across the RCBM passage sets. A total of 202 students completed three passages from each of the selected probe sets for a total of nine passages each. Results indicated that all RCBM passages were correlated with each other and with a statewide assessment of reading. Mixed results were obtained when analyzing correlations between RCBM and a computer administered universal screening measure in reading. Significant differences were found in the overall number of words read correctly, dependent on the passage set. Significant differences were also noted in the number of students identified as at-risk of reading difficulties or in need of reading intervention based on each of the RCBM passage sets as compared to other standardized tests of reading. Regarding the textual composition of the three versions, passage sets appeared similar when similar length passages were compared, however, descriptive statistics suggested that passage level difficulty may vary depending on the passage within the set.</p><p>

abstract: Computer-based environments provide a window into the complex and multifaceted learning process. These systems often collect a vast amount of information concerning how users choose to engage and behave within the interface (i.e., click streams, language input, and choices). Researchers have begun to use this information to gain a deeper understanding of users’ cognition, attitudes, and abilities. This dissertation is comprised of two published articles that describe how post-hoc and real-time analyses of trace data provides fine-grained details about how users regulate, process, and approach various learning tasks within computer-based environments. This work aims to go beyond simply understanding users’ skills and abilities, and instead focuses on understanding how users approach various tasks and subsequently using this information in real-time to enhance and personalize the user’s learning experience. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2015

<p> Despite meeting admittance standards, there are many college students who struggle to be academically successful, which sometimes results in them being placed on academic probation. Colleges implement various programs and interventions to help probationary students achieve success at their institutions. Student success courses (SSC) are one type of intervention used; however, much of the literature on the efficacy of SSCs focuses on first semester freshmen. Currently, there are only a few empirical studies on the effectiveness of SSCs with probationary students, but the results of these existing studies are promising. At Copper University (CU), there were limited college-wide supports available to students on probation, leaving them at great risk for academic failure. In an attempt to better support probationary students, a semester-long SSC called Dynamics of Student Success (DOSS), for first- and second-year students on academic probation was piloted in the fall of 2016. DOSS was designed to assist probationary students gain the college success skills necessary to increase their grade point averages. This study assessed the effectiveness of DOSS by comparing the archival data of probationary students who participated in DOSS in the fall of 2016 to those who did not participate. Participants in the treatment and control groups saw gains in their semester GPAs after the fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters; however, the results of two simultaneous multiple regressions revealed that course participation was not a significant predictor of semester GPA at either point in time. As a result, the researcher concluded that it was other factors, not DOSS, that positively influenced the changes in semester GPA demonstrated by the sample.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of parental involvement as minority students access information while preparing for college. Two qualitative questions formed the foundation of this study: 1. How does parental involvement contribute to minority students&rsquo; access to TRIO? 2. What roles do minority parents play in their children&rsquo;s education while they are enrolled in TRIO? Participants of this study were minority parents whose children were enrolled in TRIO. In total, 9 minority parents participated in this study &ndash; 67% Hispanic, 22% Pacific-Islanders, and 11% Native-American. To collect data a semi-structured interview was used; interviews were face-to-face and lasting approximately one hour. Three themes emerged from participants&rsquo; interview: 1) passive parental involvement; 2) the impact of TRIO, and 3) active parental involvement. Examples and a further explanation of each theme are described in the results chapter of this thesis.</p><p>

Research has shown that how individuals feel affects their performance (Doell et al., 2006; Durand-Bush et al., 2005). Since felt experiences in the context of medicine have been shown to be of importance (Novack et al., 1997; Sotile & Sotile, 2002), and self-regulation skills have been found to help foster learning (Zimmerman, 1990), the purpose of this study was to examine the self-regulation of the felt experiences of four medical students through an intervention guided by the Resonance Performance Model (RPM) (Newburg et al., 2002), and determine how it affected self-defined standards of performance. Results of this multiple case study (Stake, 2006) showed that each student was able to identify and experience, the way they wanted to feel within their performance environment, and reach an optimal level of performance during the intervention process by attuning to and regulating the way they felt. Implications for future research on performance as a self-defined process, and the provision of opportunities for self-regulated learning in medical education are discussed.

<p> Research has shown that the autonomy supportive motivating style benefits students, yet the controlling motivating style, which has detrimental effects on students, remains prevalent in K-12 classrooms. Few studies have explored determinants of teachers&rsquo; motivating styles. Furthermore, research on the basic psychological needs satisfaction of teachers and teacher demographic factors as determinants of teachers&rsquo; motivating styles is scarce. A better understanding of which psychological needs variables might predict teachers&rsquo; motivating styles for particular demographic groups of teachers might allow school leaders to better meet the needs of teachers in order to ultimately enhance the self-determination of K-12 students. A Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a positive, strong correlation that was statistically significant between years of teaching experience and teachers self-reported motivating styles. A linear regression analysis revealed that satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness explained 32.4% of the variance in motivating styles scores for teachers with 1&ndash;5 years of experience. Additionally, a linear regression analysis revealed that satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness explained 20.6% of the variance in motivating styles scores for teachers with 1&ndash;10 years of experience. Finally, a linear regression analysis revealed that satisfaction of the basic psychological need for competence explained 20.7% of the variance in motivating styles scores for teachers with at least 11 years of experience.</p><p>

<p> Stress is a problem that affects teacher well-being; causes poor performance, teacher turnover, financial and organizational strain; and negatively impacts student outcomes (Greenberg, Brown, &amp; Abenavoli, 2016). Addressing teacher stress is a significant challenge for school leaders with limited resources. Additionally, supporting teacher self-efficacy is an ongoing aspiration as it affects teachers, students, and organizational effectiveness. Furthermore, mindfulness has shown to be an effective means to reduce teacher stress and promote overall well-being by cultivating present moment awareness, emotional regulation, equanimity, and compassion (Abenavoli, Jennings, Greenberg, Harris, &amp; Katz, 2013; Flook Goldberg, Pinger, Bonus, &amp; Davidson, 2013; Jennings et al., 2017; Meiklejohn et al., 2012; Poulin, Mackenzie, Soloway, Karaylos, 2008; Roeser et al., 2013).</p><p> The purpose of the study was to examine the differences in teachers&rsquo; perception of stress, teacher self-efficacy, and mindfulness after mindfulness training. Thirty teachers in an urban school district, 16 at a high school and 14 at two middle schools, volunteered for the 8-week, 30-minutes per week mindfulness training. In this quasi-experimental study, teachers&rsquo; perception of stress, teacher self-efficacy, and mindfulness were measured three times: before, immediately following, and three weeks after mindfulness training.</p><p> Results indicated a significant reduction in teachers&rsquo; perceptions of stress after mindfulness training, and the reduction maintained for the three-week period following training. No significant differences in teachers&rsquo; sense of teacher self-efficacy were found; however, results indicated teachers&rsquo; mindfulness increased significantly after mindfulness training. Notably, data analysis also indicated significant increases in teachers&rsquo; mindfulness from the end of training to three weeks after mindfulness training.</p><p> The positive results from this study were encouraging as the four-hour mindfulness training might be efficacious in reducing teachers&rsquo; perception of stress and increasing mindfulness. The positive effects gleaned from training were durable as the perception of stress maintained, and mindfulness improved over the three weeks following training. A short time-frame mindfulness training might have potential to aid school leaders in addressing problems of teacher stress, which is especially problematic in urban school districts.</p><p>

<p> This is a descriptive, exploratory, qualitative, collective case study that explores the pedagogical practices of science teachers who do not hold natural science degrees. The intent of this study is to support the creation of alternative pathways for recruiting and retaining high-quality secondary science teachers in K-12 education. The conceptual framework is based on Social Cognitive Theory &amp; Self-Efficacy (Bandura, 1977; Bandura, 1997) and Problem-Solving &amp; Transfer (Berg &amp; Strough, 2011; van Merrienboer, 2013). The research questions are: What does science instruction look like in classrooms where science teachers without natural science degrees are teaching? and How do these natural science teachers without natural science degrees believe their prior experiences inform their instruction? The participants were 4 science teachers from middle and high schools in Southern California. The instruments used in this study were interviews, observations, and document analysis. The research revealed that science teachers without natural science degrees utilize techniques that make them high-quality teachers. The current qualifications for science teachers should be revisited to consider utilizing self-efficacious teachers with an interest in science and a passion for teaching students. Science teaching competency can be measured by more than natural science degree attainment.</p><p>

<p> Trauma is ubiquitous in our society, taking a costly toll on the physical and psychological well-being of individuals across all social strata, and creating an ever-increasing need for better understanding of how to help the victim survivors. The purpose of this current study addresses an aspect of that need for understanding by examining the lived experiences of clinicians who have learned about trauma and who are addressing trauma survivors&rsquo; needs by acting as supervisors for other clinicians. This qualitative, phenomenologically oriented study used van Manen&rsquo;s (1990) four lived existentials, Bronfenbrenner&rsquo;s (1979, 2005) bio-ecological model of human development, and existing trauma literature as its base. Historically, basic trauma education has not been provided to master&rsquo;s or doctoral level students in counselor education programs. The rapidly expanding base of trauma literature has referenced knowledgeable, competent supervision as a necessity for therapists working with traumatized clients, yet little has been written about those supervisors, how they are trained and educated, and their lived experience in the process of becoming competent trauma supervisors </p><p> For this study, eight clinicians who have been supervising other clinicians who work with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse were interviewed. The results were summarized into five themes that focused on the ubiquity of trauma, the &ldquo;trial by fire&rdquo; learning that was required to become knowledgeable, the rise to supervisory roles for which participants were sometimes unprepared, what they needed but didn&rsquo;t get, and what they deem necessary to support them in their work. The author suggests ways in which the field of counselor education could be enhanced to better support supervisors in addressing the needs of their supervisees, and those of their traumatized clients.</p><p>