This study explores the ability of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to increase parental engagement in student learning. A parental notification feature was developed for the web-based ASSISTments ITS that allows parents to log into their own accounts and access detailed data about their students' performance. Parents from a local middle school were then invited to create accounts and answer a survey assessing how engaged they felt they were in their students' education. A randomized controlled experiment was run during which weekly automated messages were sent home to parents regarding their students' assignments and how they were performing. After having them take a post-survey, it was found that access to this data caused parents to become more involved in their students' education. Additionally, this led to increased student performance in the form of higher homework completion rates. Qualitative feedback from parents was very positive.

Bakgrund: Ätstörningar, som främst kännetecknas som ett skadligt beteendemönster gällande mat, är idag den psykiska sjukdomen med högst dödsfrekvens och att vårda en sjukdomsdrabbad person är i regel mycket krävande och utmanande. Ofta kan det innebära en signifikant stress för vårdgivaren och en stark känsla av skuld. Syfte: Att beskriva föräldrars upplevelser och känslor kring att vara förälder till ett barn med ätstörningar. Metod: Studien utfördes som en kvalitativ intervjustudie med en deskriptiv design. Sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes, tre via muntlig intervju och tre via enkät, som analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Föräldrarna beskrev en tillvaro med mycket smärta, känslor av frustration, förtvivlan och maktlöshet av att inte veta hur situationer skulle hanteras, samt känslan att vara övervakare och att tvingas begränsa barnet. Stöd upplevde föräldrarna få från partners, barnets skola och vården. Det beskrevs hur syskon reagerade olika på situationen och att familjen hade begränsats, både socialt och gällande flexibilitet kring matrutiner, men att sjukdomen ändå förde familjen närmare varandra. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att ätstörningar kan påverka sin omgivning mycket starkt och föräldrar beskriver en tillvaro som kan vara väldigt jobbig, emotionellt krävande, tålamodsprövande och ibland rent skrämmande. Föräldrarna är till majoritet mycket nöjda med vårdens hjälp och stöd. Hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal bör fortsätta se till både den sjukdomsdrabbade och de anhöriga som en helhet. Trots allt negativt omkring sjukdomen, tycker sig föräldrarna se positiva faktorer såsom öppnare samtalsklimat och en mer sammansvetsad familj.

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Higher education in America has attempted to define the relationships it has with both students and parents for many years. While some argue that the philosophy of in loco parentis has seemingly disappeared, others suggest that its return is imminent on American college campuses. One example of this return is the trend among campuses towards notifying parents when students are involved in judicial matters. Recent changes in federal privacy laws have clarified the right of colleges and universities to notify parents when their son or daughter is involved in a violation of the university alcohol policy. There is an assumption that parents will intervene with their students and help the university promote a more responsible use of alcohol. Many colleges are debating the value of such notifications, but little is known as to whether or not the inclusion of parents in university discipline affects the decisions college students make about their alcohol consumption. The present study used qualitative and quantitative means to address this gap in literature. Students whose parents were notified of their alcohol violation were interviewed in the qualitative component of the study. The interviews explored the relationships between students and parents before entering college, immediately after enrolling in college, and after parental notification. Students were then assigned positions within three categories of parenting styles (General Relationships, Level of Parental Involvement, and Parental Attitudes Toward Alcohol) for the three time periods explored in this study. The quantitative component explored students' experience with alcohol during the same three time periods. Students completed a pencil and paper survey about their drinking behaviors and were assigned to categories of alcohol consumption for each time period. This enabled the researcher to evaluate whether certain parenting styles were associated with certain drinking patterns. In addition, the researcher examined the results to identify trends in parental relationships and alcohol consumption over the three time periods in question. The study revealed some interesting findings. First, parent and student relationships appear to improve over time, while the parents' Level of Involvement with their student remains the same. Second, during all time periods, the participants indicated that their parents had little control over their alcohol consumption. Third, while students may have experienced frustration with the parental notification process, most were comfortable with the concept of parents being notified when students have violated university policy with respect to alcohol. Finally, most students came to college with experience drinking alcohol, and most had parents who were permissive in their attitudes towards drinking once students arrived at college. Although the study examined only a limited number of students, the results indicate that universities may want to re-evaluate the way in which they educate students about alcohol. / Master of Arts

Since the inception of the Higher Education Reauthorization Act of 1998 by the United States Congress, there has been limited research conducted on parental notification policies on campuses of Higher Education concerning alcohol and drug offenses committed by students. This study surveyed parents of incoming freshmen at the University of North Texas regarding their perceptions of Parental Notification policies and their perceptions of underage alcohol offenses by gender, age, ethnicity, and parental status. The relationship between parental notification and underage alcohol offenses was also examined. This study, conducted in the summer of 2002, at the University of North Texas had 539 respondents. An instrument developed to determine parental perceptions of underage alcohol use and parental notification consisted of 20 dichotomous questions. Chi-square tests of independence were used to analyze the data because it could calculate the relationships between two sets of nominal data. Data show that most parents want to be notified in all situations involving underage alcohol offenses and their offspring. Generally, parents do not believe their offspring will use alcohol underage as they enter college and that they are not binge drinkers. Females want to be notified about their student's underage alcohol offenses at a higher rate than males. Males want to be notified at a higher rate than females if using alcohol jeopardizes housing or enrollment in school for their student. Native Americans have great concern for their students in all areas of alcohol use and binge drinking. Parents should stay actively involved in the lives of their offspring as they attend institutions of higher education as well as stay involved with the University community in which their student attends.