Published Article / The former Technikon Free State, now the CUT, was concerned about the academic achievements of students and decided to introduce a programme to enhance the outcomes of student learning. The then Technikon initially identified weak performers and advised / compelled them to attend special classes. This programme proved to be unsuccessful due to the potential stigma associated with attending special classes. The Technikon commenced with its first research initiatives to implement supplemental instruction (SI) in 1993. The founders of SI, Profs Diana Martin and Robert Blanc of the University of Kansas City in Missouri, USA, presented demonstrations at joint workshops and also invited attendees to attend SI workshops in the USA. Soon permission was granted to implement SI at this institution in 1993. A new dimension to the concept of SI, namely to record SI lectures for discussion afterwards was added.

The present study used an experimental design to investigate the efficacy of using short (12 words or less), prominently placed supplemental labels to increase the effectiveness of select extant labels in museum exhibits. The experimenter-developed supplemental labels were designed to leverage exogenous/bottom-up and endogenous/top-down sources of influence on selective attention. Measures of patron behavior, knowledge retention, and attitude found no significant differences between group means under control and treatment conditions. These outcomes were surprising and inconsistent with findings from similar research conducted by Hirschi and Screven. The supplemental labels in the present study might have failed to capture attention because they were not sufficiently visually stimulating, they did not sufficiently tap internal motivations, or perhaps patrons experienced innattentional blindness in regards to them.

Adoption of supplemental irrigation as a practice in Puerto Rico will be slow, Because irrigation is thought to be needed only occasionally, farmers look at it as an uneconomical operation. Even in the agricultural policy, supplemental irrigation is treated lightly, with limited funds allocated for research in this area.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services wrote Healthy People 2000 National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. One major goal is to reduce the mortality rate for infants by reducing low birthweight. The disparities have been great when goals and objectives are applied to poor and minority populations. Objectives have been set to reduce risk factors associated with low infant birthweight. These include addressing inappropriate health practices, and appropriate nutrition for mother and infant. Forty-eight Asian and 50 Caucasian participants were compared for maternal diet, health practices, breastfeeding initiation and duration, and infant growth parameters. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results showed 39 (81.3%) of the Asians and 43 (86.0%) of the Caucasians were breastfeeding at least once a day. There was no significant difference in the reasons for cessation of breastfeeding between ethnicities. Diets were compared for kilocalories, protein, iron, calcium, vitamins A and C, and folate. Asian mothers had greater iron (13.13 mg) and vitamin A (2606.18 µg) intakes, along with a more nutrient dense diet overall. Caucasian mothers reported a greater calcium intake (1087.08 mg). ANOVA (one-way analysis of variance) revealed no significant differences in nutrient intakes. However, Multiple Range Test Analysis identified calcium intake of Asian breastfeeding women (767.40 mg) as significantly lower than that of Caucasian nonbreastfeeding women (1094.89 mg). Vitamin A intake was higher in nonbreastfeeding Asian women (2788.46 µg) than in nonbreastfeeding (1740.44 µg) and breastfeeding (845.75 µg) Caucasian women. Bivariate analysis revealed positive correlation between the Asian group and tobacco use during pregnancy. Mean height for age and mean weight for age were significantly greater in breastfed babies. Weight for height was not greater, indicating they are not proportionally different from their nonbreastfed peers.

This study examined students?? and Supplemental Instruction leaders?? perceptions of teaching, teaching practices, and faculty teaching effectiveness. This study also examined the impact of the SI leader??s role on those perceptions and subsequent behaviors on end-of-course evaluations and sought to determine whether differences existed between the two groups in order to determine whether or not SI leaders?? perceptions should be included in a comprehensive evaluation system. A purposive sample of 17 SI leaders, who had been employed during the spring 2002 semester and returned for the fall 2002 semester, and 17 students, who had attended at least 10 SI sessions during the fall 2002 semester, were selected to participate in this study.Data for the study were collected through individual interviews using a protocol designed to collect their perceptions regarding the following: 1) definitions of teaching and its activities; 2) descriptions of good and bad teaching or good and bad teachers; 3) definitions and descriptions of faculty teaching effectiveness; 4) role of the SI leader; 5) impact of SI leader??s role on perceptions of teaching, its activities, and faculty teaching effectiveness; and 6) impact of SI leader??s role on behaviors on end-of-course evaluations. A major finding of this study is that SI leaders and students define teaching and its activities in a similar fashion. SI leaders, unlike students, however, report that learning is tied to teaching effectiveness, or lack thereof. This study has three major results: 1) SI leaders end up teaching, rather than facilitating; 2) the SI leader??s role impacts views on teaching; and 3) the SI leaders?? role impacts behaviors on end-of-course evaluations. A review of the literature on student ratings of instruction and regular attendance at SI indicate that both correlate, to a small degree, with mean end-of-course grades. Claims of validity with respect to both may be somewhat suspect, in light of SI leader??s claims that they teach, rather than facilitate. Investigation of the impact of regular attendance at SI on end-of-course grades and end-of-course evaluations may result in the need to draw new conclusions with respect to validity of student ratings of instruction and SI.

I/D 32 -- Decisions of the Enlarged General Council, 1982 -- Supplemental to I/D No. 32 -- The New Constitutions -- (pg. 1) -- Community Life -- (pg. 1) -- Priorities and Urgent Situations (Superior General’s Report) -- (pg. 1) -- Finances -- (pg. 2) -- Planning -- (pg. 2) -- New Forms of Collaboration -- (pg. 2)

The purpose of this study was to determine how cognitive, demographic, and motivational factors can be used to understand help-seeking behavior in college students. Specifically, the study examined engagement in Supplemental Instruction (SI) of undergraduate students at Texas A&M University. An additional purpose of the study was to determine the efficacy of SI. The sample for the study was 2,407 undergraduate students who were enrolled in eight randomly selected courses at Texas A&M University in the spring 2004 semester. Students enrolled in multiple course sections were eliminated from the study. The revised sample consisted of 2,297 students. Data collected for all students in the sample included student demographic information, SI attendance and participation, and final course grades. Students were also requested to complete an on-line survey instrument containing a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and questions related to parent education and household income. Ultimately, 1,003 students from the revised sample submitted surveysfor a response rate of 43.7%. Based on attendance data and participation ratings, students were classified into three engagement groups for subsequent data analysis: high engagement, low engagement, and non-SI. The following were among the major findings from the study: ?? Hispanic students were significantly more engaged in SI than their White peers. ?? Engagement in SI was inversely related to grade level classification. ?? SI participants had significantly lower mean SAT math and verbal scores than students who did not attend SI. ?? The motivational variables as a set had a statistically significant relationship with SI engagement. ?? Extrinsic motivation, organization, academic self-efficacy, control beliefs, help-seeking, and peer learning were the motivational scales which best predicted SI engagement. ?? Students who were highly engaged in SI had significantly higher mean final course grades than either non-participants or low engagement students even controlling for differences in SAT scores, cumulative grade point average, and motivation. The study helps provide some insight into the dynamics of academic help-seeking. It also contributes to the growing body of evidence which shows that SI is an effective intervention for improving student success in traditionally difficult courses.

This study examined students?? and Supplemental Instruction leaders?? perceptions of teaching, teaching practices, and faculty teaching effectiveness. This study also examined the impact of the SI leader??s role on those perceptions and subsequent behaviors on end-of-course evaluations and sought to determine whether differences existed between the two groups in order to determine whether or not SI leaders?? perceptions should be included in a comprehensive evaluation system. A purposive sample of 17 SI leaders, who had been employed during the spring 2002 semester and returned for the fall 2002 semester, and 17 students, who had attended at least 10 SI sessions during the fall 2002 semester, were selected to participate in this study.Data for the study were collected through individual interviews using a protocol designed to collect their perceptions regarding the following: 1) definitions of teaching and its activities; 2) descriptions of good and bad teaching or good and bad teachers; 3) definitions and descriptions of faculty teaching effectiveness; 4) role of the SI leader; 5) impact of SI leader??s role on perceptions of teaching, its activities, and faculty teaching effectiveness; and 6) impact of SI leader??s role on behaviors on end-of-course evaluations. A major finding of this study is that SI leaders and students define teaching and its activities in a similar fashion. SI leaders, unlike students, however, report that learning is tied to teaching effectiveness, or lack thereof. This study has three major results: 1) SI leaders end up teaching, rather than facilitating; 2) the SI leader??s role impacts views on teaching; and 3) the SI leaders?? role impacts behaviors on end-of-course evaluations. A review of the literature on student ratings of instruction and regular attendance at SI indicate that both correlate, to a small degree, with mean end-of-course grades. Claims of validity with respect to both may be somewhat suspect, in light of SI leader??s claims that they teach, rather than facilitate. Investigation of the impact of regular attendance at SI on end-of-course grades and end-of-course evaluations may result in the need to draw new conclusions with respect to validity of student ratings of instruction and SI.

This dissertation consists of three distinct yet inter-related research papers in labor economics, each with relevance for public policy. The first chapter examines the role of wage differentials for caring work in explaining the gender wage gap. We find that both women and men face caring penalties that are small, about 2% for one standard deviation difference in caring. While women disproportionately work in caring jobs, it is unlikely that policies governing wages in the care sector could achieve pay equity between men and women. The second chapter evaluates the impact of state legislation on bullying in schools. I employ a difference-in-differences approach exploiting variation across states in the timing and type of law adopted using nationally representative surveys at the student and school levels. While I find no impact of the laws on bullying in high schools, bullying occurs most often in middle school. And impacts might vary by school type and legislation type. I also discuss current challenges to evaluating bullying legislation and provide recommendations for facilitating a conclusive assessment of whether state bullying laws work. The third chapter uses a field experiment to evaluate an intervention aimed at increasing participation in an academic assistance program. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a widely used, but poorly evaluated, peer-tutoring program with low participation rates. We randomize encouragements to attend SI across a large student population. The resulting boost in participation allows us to estimate the per-session average causal impact of SI on grades for a subpopulation under certain assumptions.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the learning styles of supplemental instruction leaders at a large, public university during the fall 2010 semester and determine whether or not their personal learning styles influenced the way they designed and developed out-of-class study sessions. The total population of supplemental instruction leaders was 37, of which 24 were eligible to participate in the study. Of the 24 eligible supplemental instruction leaders, 20 completed the entire study. Participants in the study included nine male and 11 female supplemental instruction leaders with a median age of 22.25 years-old. Seventeen participants indicated their classification as senior, two as junior, and one as sophomore. Of the participants, 16 indicated white as a race or ethnicity, one indicated Asian, two indicated African American, and one indicated both American Indian/Alaska Native and white. Supplemental instruction leader learning style was assessed using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Leaders were then interviewed, and their study sessions were analyzed. Through triangulation of data from learning style, interviews and actual study session documents, four major themes emerged. The four themes were: 1) incorporation of personal experience into study session design, 2) the sense of impact on student learning, 3) a feeling of the need to incorporate varied activities into study session design, and 4) the concept that students must take ownership over their own learning. No consistent pattern emerged among the themes; however, the results attributed out-of-class study session design to both the incorporation of personal learning style preferences as identified through the Kolb Learning Style Inventory and training conducted by the institution. Implications for future research include the need for continued research addressing how and if supplemental instruction leader learning style influences out-of-class study session design. Also, as institutions of higher education seek to expand academic support services to all students, future research should explore supplemental instruction leader training and the impact such training has on students seeking support from the supplemental instruction program.