Objective. To assess the impact of this international interprofessional learning experience on perceptions of pharmacist-physician relationships and interprofessional teams. Methods. Medical and pharmacy students completed a one-week interprofessional medical mission experience in the Dominican Republic. Anonymous surveys were administered to 17 students before and after completion to measure perceptions of pharmacist-physician relationships and interprofessional teams. Responses were matched and changes in perceptions were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. The SPICE-R2 instrument was administered after the experience to measure attitudes toward interprofessional teams. Results. Of the 17 participants, 100% responded to all surveys. Significant improvements were seen in the perception of pharmacists as an integral part of medical mission trips (P=0.035) and confidence in the ability to communicate with other healthcare disciplines (P=0.033). All students stated they would recommend this experience, and agreed that interprofessional experiences enhance their team work skills and should be incorporated into their education. Student comments supported that this was a meaningful and effective interprofessional experience. The results of the SPICE-R2 demonstrated positive attitudes about interprofessional teams, with all questions having a median score of “agree” or “strongly agree.” Conclusions. An international interprofessional experience improved the perception of pharmacist-physician relationships. The experience provided understanding of the other healthcare discipline, an appreciation for the importance of interprofessional teamwork, increased student confidence in communicating with the other discipline, and cultivated interest in future interprofessional collaboration.

The present study investigated the impact of a multicultural self-awareness personal growth group on counselor education students (n = 94) and group leaders (n = 10) and their ethnic identity development scores, social-cognitive maturity levels, and presence of group therapeutic factors. Findings from the study identified no statistically significant differences in ethnic identity development and social-cognitive maturity scores between treatment group and comparison group participants, or as a result of multiple measurements throughout the semester. However, a statistically significant effect was identified for time (pre-test, M = 91.94, SD = 5.33; mid-semester, M = 90.32, SD = 6.43; post-test, M = 91.18, SD = 6.36) on social-cognitive maturity TPR scores for treatment group participants, Wilk’s Lambda = .90, F (2, 63) = 3.39, p = .04, η² = .10. In addition, positive correlations were identified between ethnic identity development scores and group therapeutic factors in students participating in the multicultural personal growth groups: (a) Instillation of Hope, n = 63, r = .43, p = .00 (18.5% of the variance explained); (b) Secure Emotional Expression, n = 63, r = .39, p = .00 (15.2% of the variance explained); (c) Awareness of Relational Impact, n = 63, r = .47, p = .00 (22.1% of the variance explained); and (d) Social Learning, n = 63, r = .46, p = .00 (21.2% of the variance explained. Furthermore, a discussion of implications for counselor education and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) with graduate students are included. Keywords: counselor education and development, multicultural counseling and development, scholarship for teaching and learning, social-cognitive development, therapeutic group factors

College enrollment is experiencing an upward trend; however, the quality of institutions selected by minority students remains a question. Promising minority students are failing to select high quality colleges and universities, despite academic components that would leave them otherwise qualified for admission. In fact, nearly 80% of high academic achieving low-income, minority students under match when selecting a college or university (Obama & Obama, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine the factors leading to selection of institution for Gates Millennium Scholars while examining the relationship between college selection and socioeconomic status, cost, high school grade point average (GPA), family support, need for achievement, self efficacy, persistence, advisement, and technology for Gates Millennium Scholars. Pearson Correlation was utilized to examine survey data collected from 87 Gates Millennium Scholars. The implications of collection selection for low- income, minority students are significant in understanding the needs of this highly diverse student population. This study sought to identify the variables that significantly impact college selection for low-income minority students.

Adjunct faculty teach over 50% of courses in U.S. higher education but little is known about them as educators. Strong evidence has been found in the K-12 literature demonstrating the link between teachers’ beliefs, instructional practices, and subsequent student outcomes. Teaching self-efficacy, beliefs in one’s capabilities to perform specific tasks in a particular context, is an important contributor to motivation and performance (Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998). This research advances teaching and learning literature in higher education and provides insight into an understudied population of educators by exploring adjunct faculty’s teaching self-efficacy and factors that influence those beliefs. In this mixed methods study, an explanatory sequential design was used to explore teaching-self efficacy among adjunct faculty at a Mid-Atlantic community college. Adjunct faculty were surveyed using the College Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (Prieto Navarro, 2006). Data were selected from the surveys for further explanation in subsequent interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data were merged to form an overall interpretation of teaching self-efficacy and factors that influenced those beliefs. Teaching self-efficacy was highest in creating a positive learning environment, followed by overall teaching self-efficacy, and then instructional skills. Assessing student learning was rated lowest. Adjunct faculty with fewer than five years teaching experience had lower self-efficacy scores than those teaching for six or more years. Mastery experiences and feedback from students and full-time faculty mentors emerged as the most influential sources of teaching self-efficacy. Student evaluations and attending Convocation were positively correlated with scores in overall teaching self-efficacy, instructional skills, and creating a positive learning environment. Adjunct faculty identified working to accommodate the needs of a diverse range of learners as the most significant challenge to teaching self-efficacy followed by challenges related to working conditions including inadequate pay and job insecurity. Key recommendations for promoting adjunct faculty’s teaching self-efficacy beliefs include increasing opportunities for interaction with departmental colleagues to share best practices and teaching resources, and offering trainings at flexible times and in creative formats on instructional skills, assessment practices, and learning theories. Improving onboarding processes, recognizing different needs of adjunct faculty based on experience, and reassessing pay and employment structures are also needed.

International students have long been an important part of the U.S. higher education community, but generally they have received inadequate attention in the classroom. Also, American teaching and learning strategies have not taken full advantage of international diversity. The purpose of this narrative study was to qualitatively understand the experiences of Japanese graduate students in U.S. higher education classrooms. The study highlights the challenges that Japanese graduate students faced due to cultural differences, pedagogical differences, and language problems and provides a number of suggestions for faculty, domestic students, and institutions to help create a more welcoming environment for Japanese graduate students.

This pilot study investigated the usage of Feuerstein’s (1980) Instrumental Enrichment with underprepared college students. Open admissions policies in colleges and universities have resulted in the enrollment of many students who are underprepared to meet the academic task demands. Courses have been developed by the colleges and universities to remediate the academic deficits of underprepared students. Remedial courses using traditional educational methods have been largely ineffective. Cognitive process instruction (CPI) is an area of educational research that recently began to receive increased attention in the field of remedial education. The goal of CPI has been to develop the cognitive/thought processes of students. Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment (IE) is a CPI program which had success in remediating the thinking and learning deficits of adolescent students. IE had not been used with a college population in the United States prior to this study. The major question was whether the use of IE would enhance the thinking and learning skills of underprepared college students and, thus, increase their abilities to achieve satisfactorily in college. The study included 65 college student subjects administratively defined as underprepared (ACT composite score below 16). The subjects were enrolled in four sections of a “Success Strategies” course developed for underprepared students. The 29 experimental subjects received approximately 13 hours of IE instruction. The 36 control subjects received an equivalent amount of instruction in college “success strategies” such as goal setting, decision making, and study skills. The dependent variables were: (a) intelligence, as measured by the Nonverbal Battery of the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test; (b) self concept, as measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS); (c) grade point average (GPA); (d) attrition/withdrawal rate of students; (e) descriptive data obtained from experimenter-designed study habits questionnaires and course evaluations. An analysis of covariance was used to analyze the Lorge-Thorndike and TSCS pretest and posttest scores. An analysis of variance was used to analyze the GPA data; and the attrition data were submitted to a chi-square analysis. A variety of appropriate procedures (e.g., t-test, chi-square, analysis of variance) were used to analyze the descriptive data obtained from the study habits questionnaires and course evaluations. No significant differences between groups were found for the Lorge-Thorndike, TSCS, GPA, or attrition rate analyses. The GPA data analyses indicated that: (a) mean GPA declined significantly across both groups when remedial course grades were removed from overall GPA (F = 55.15; df = 2, 88; p < .01; and (b) overall mean GPA declined significantly across both groups from the Fall 1981 to Spring 1982 semesters (F = 19.98; df = 1, 40; p < .01). The only significant between group difference for the descriptive data analyses indicated that the experimental group anticipated and reported studying more hours per week than the control group (F = 8.91; df = 1, 40; p < .01). The GPA results were the reverse of the hypothesized effect. The reasons for the differences in study hours were not clear. The hypothesis that IE would enhance the thinking and learning skills of underprepared college students was not supported. Three interpretations that together or separately may account for the lack of a treatment effect were: (a) IE, as it was applied to this study, was not a valid appropriate CPI intervention with underprepared college students; (b) the duration of the IE treatment was insufficient to produce the hypothesized effects; and/or (c) the evaluation instruments were not sensitive to changes in the experimental group students, if in fact changes did occur. It was recommended that future research increase the duration of the IE treatment; apply or develop more sensitive evaluation instruments; and/or consider alternative programs.

Objective. To describe an interprofessional communication course in an academic health sciences center and to evaluate and compare interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs of medical, nursing, and pharmacy students before and after course participation, using Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as a guiding framework. Design. First-year nursing (n=36), first-year medical (n=73), and second-year pharmacy students (n=83) enrolled in an interprofessional communication skills development course voluntarily completed a 33-item survey instrument based on Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies prior to and upon completion of the course during the fall semester of 2012. Assessment. Nursing students entered the course with higher interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs compared to medical and pharmacy students. Pharmacy students, in particular, noted significant improvements in communication self-efficacy beliefs across multiple domains postcourse. Conclusion. Completion of an interprofessional communications course was associated with a positive impact on health professions students’ interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs.

Objectives: To assess student perceptions of a student-initiated note-taking service (NTS) upon implementation of a NTS in the first professional year of the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum in a college of pharmacy. Method: A survey instrument assessing perceptions of a NTS was developed and administered to first professional year students (N = 75, 92.6% response rate) prior to the conclusion of the first semester in which the student-initiated service was implemented. Topics addressed in the survey instrument included: service quality, perceived impact on course attendance, grades and student-faculty interaction, willingness to pay for services, and percent of time devoted to study materials, including NTS notes. Non-parametric tests were employed to examine student perceptions across demographic characteristics. Results: 41% of respondents indicated they use the NTS. Approximately 38% of respondents perceived the NTS would increase learning and positively influence grades. Overall, the students were divided in their perceptions with large percentages agreeing and disagreeing with a majority of instrument items. Males were more likely to use the service in P2 and P3 years (p = 0.002), more willing to pay for the service (p = 0.013), and less likely to take their own notes (p = 0.002). Students who used the service estimated lower semester GPAs than those who did not (p = 0.025). Implications: This exploratory study indicated significant variation in student perceptions regarding the NTS. Future research is warranted to better understand both positive and negative aspects of service implementation, particularly as they relate to student learning.

Presenters describe the content, procedures, and outcomes of a university-based project providing various supports via different delivery methods to early career special educators in rural northeast Tennessee. Participants will learn about the supports teachers selected, how teachers’ self-efficacy improved, and how this teacher-driven approach compared to district provided professional development.

No description available.