Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Publications

As a globalized world struggles with division and disinformation, engaging across difference has emerged as a major challenge to communication and collaborative action needed to address growing global challenges. As such, the initiative by Tibetan Buddhist leaders to incorporate western science in curricula for monastic education may serve as an important case study that illuminates the conditions and processes at work in genuine cultural outreach and exchange. That project, spearheaded in the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI), involves reaching out across two quite different communities of practice, Tibetan Buddhism and science, and the willingness and ability of individuals to cross the boundaries between them. In the study reported here, we apply existing understandings of communities of practice and of learning mechanisms that mediate boundary crossing to probe for presence of conditions and processes that promote effective outreach among Tibetan Buddhist monastic students. We deploy analysis of qualitative survey, interview, and self-report data from monastic students shortly after ETSI began (2009) and after science education had been rolled out in the monasteries (2019) to, first, identify initial cultural conditions related to outreach and engagement with science, and, second, probe for post-rollout presence of boundary crossing learning mechanisms among monastic students which facilitate communication from one community of practice to another. We found a range of robust initial cultural conditions (e.g., perceived overlap in subjects and methods of inquiry), along with strong presence of mechanisms that facilitate boundary crossing (e.g., reflection, transformation) and operate through time. We observed cascading effects of these conditions and mechanisms on student engagement with science. Furthermore, interactions of these conditions and mechanisms allow monastic students to engage with science on their own Buddhist terms and to regard learning science as potentially beneficial rather than threatening to their personal or collective Buddhist goals.

The purpose of this study was to answer two questions: Does the use of the Good Behavior Game in an art education setting improve desired artistic behaviors (technique and studio practice)? Is more improvement evident with the use of tangible art supply rewards or with special art activities as rewards? Desired artistic behaviors were significantly improved in the group that received the tangible art supplies as a reward compared to the control group. No difference between the two intervention groups could be detected and thus the relative effectiveness of reward type could not be determined here. This study is the first to investigate the use of the Good Behavior Game in an elementary art setting and concludes that the game is beneficial for maintaining, if not improving, desired artistic behaviors.

Negative stereotypes are pervasive in intercollegiate athletics. The possible threat imposed by stereotypes has the ability to cause anxiety and undermine mental and physical performance. This paper explores how the perceived threat of being stereotyped may undermine athletes’ academic performance, and the potential of the Appreciative Advising theory-to-practice framework to reduce that stereotype threat.

Psychology-specific epistemological beliefs are believed to influence students’ approach to and performance in psychology courses. However, empirical research on this topic is limited due in part to a lack of well-validated instruments measuring this construct. The primary objective of the current research was to develop and validate the PsychologySpecific Epistemological Belief Scale (Psych-SEBS), a short self-report instrument measuring psychology-specific epistemological beliefs. Study 1 addresses the structural validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity of the PsychSEBS. Study 2 addresses the criterion-related and incremental validity of the PsychSEBS. Findings indicated acceptable psychometric properties of this instrument and its 3 subscales: significance of psychology research, subjective nature of psychology knowledge, and predictability of human behavior. Scores on Psych-SEBS scales were significantly associated with construct-relevant outcomes, including student interest and performance in psychology courses, and explained unique variance in these outcomes beyond that explained by existing instruments.

A number of experimental interventions have confirmed the effectiveness of peer collaboration for the acquisition of concepts such as conservation. However, no study to date has described the process or effectiveness of peer learning as it takes place in classrooms. The present study documented episodes of spontaneous peer interaction during academic tasks in a progressive school. Results indicated that the type of task performed influenced the structure of the interaction. Open-ended or discovery tasks such as story-writing promoted more exchange of information and more argumentation than did skill tasks that had only one right answer. Skill tasks were related to more negative behaviors, such as refusals and rejections, and resulted in more time spent off task. The interactive behavior observed during engagement with discovery tasks is consistent with the interactive style related to cognitive growth in laboratory studies of peer interaction.

Introduction: Youth from low-income, urban backgrounds face significant challenges to maintaining a positive developmental trajectory. Dangerous neighborhoods and stressed relationships are common in these settings and threaten adaptation by weakening the natural assets that undergird resilience. African American girls in these contexts face specific, multiple risks, including gender stereotyping, violence, and sexual exploitation. The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a multibillion-dollar industry victimizing over 1 million children around the globe.1 The typical victim in 1 city in the southeastern United States is an African American girl 12-14 years old. There has been little research investigating the characteristics of girls placed at risk for CSEC and even less research on the personal perspectives of these girls.

Methods: Over 3 school terms we provided preventive intervention groups for 36 African American middle school girls who were placed at risk because they lived in neighborhoods with high rates of interpersonal violence and CSEC. Two group leaders and a process recorder took detailed notes on each group session. Our focus on group conversations over a period of weeks increased the probability of recording spontaneous, open comments by the children and is a promising method with this population. The data were analyzed qualitatively and resulted in an account of the girls’ own views of the environmental challenges and personal experiences that may influence their development.

Results: The girls’ language during the group sessions contained 4 themes: difficulty forming trusting relationships, frequent peer aggression, familiarity with adult prostitution, and sexuality as a commodity.

Conclusion: Our research shows how girls placed at risk for CSEC view their own lives. These children described violence and sexual exploitation and cited limited supports to protect them from these risks. Understanding the perspectives of these girls should generate future research and intervention strategies to support their coping and resilience.

Piaget (1932) hypothesized that children's interactions with peers during middle child hood are essential to their moral reasoning development. To test this hypothesis, 48 female focal subjects (M age = 8.6 years) were paired with either a female agemate or their mother. All focal subjects were pretested and posttested for moral reasoning abilities. In the intervention, the adult-child and peer dyads engaged in consensus-seeking discussions of two moral dilemmas. Focal subjects' moral reasoning at pretest and posttest and their use of reasoning (transacts) in the intervention discussions were measured. As predicted, focal subjects paired with peers showed significantly more sophisticated moral reasoning subsequent to their discussions than did focals paired with adults. In addition, focals paired with peers used more active transacts in their discussions than did focals paired with adults. Styles of dyadic discussion that featured active transacts by focal subjects were positively correlated with the focals' moral reasoning at posttest, whether the focal subject was paired with a peer or an adult. The more sophisticated posttest reasoning by focals paired with peers was attributed to the greater use of active discussion styles in peer dyads.

Over the past decade, instructors in colleges and universities increasingly have used Student Response Systems (SRSs)--typically in large classes to increase the level of student engagement and learning. Research shows that both students and instructors perceive SRSs to be beneficial, although evidence of improved learning has been less clear. Experts emphasize that instructors must consider how technology might enhance good pedagogy in order for increases in learning to occur. SRSs do increase student engagement and provide prompt feedback—two key practices that promote learning. However, professional groups propose goals for students in higher education that focus on deep learning rather than the knowledge-centered emphasis of many large classes. Recent research shows that SRSs coupled with pedagogical enhancements can promote deep learning when teaching and questioning strategies center on higher-level thinking skills. A framework integrating the levels of student responses with principles for good pedagogical practice is provided as a guide for using SRSs to foster deep learning.