Curriculum Infusion Research Articles

Fostering Self-Regulation Through Curriculum Infusion of Mindful Yoga: A Pilot Study of Efficacy and Feasibility

This study examined feasibility and efficacy of curriculum infusion of mindful yoga to foster self-regulation in support of academic performance and health promotion among emerging adolescents. Mindful yoga practices were integrated into 6th grade English Language Arts curricula (n = 72 students) while another cohort of students (n = 70) served as the active control group. To assess the impact of infused mindful yoga practices, self-regulation was measured using the Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory. Data were collected at three time-points across the year. Students who engaged in mindful yoga demonstrated significant increases in both global and long-term self-regulation compared to the control cohort; however there were no significant changes in short-term self-regulation. Implications for integrating mindful practices into middle school curriculum are discussed with recommendations for future research.

Development and Implementation of a Curriculum Infusion Plan for Alcohol Abuse Education in a College Population

BackgroundCollege binge drinking continues to be a pervasive issue across campuses nationwide. Though curriculum infusion (CI) has been shown to be an effective strategy to reduce students' negative consequences related to alcohol, information about the process is limited.PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the content and process of CI and to identify elements necessary for successful implementation of CI to strengthen interventions.MethodsThe development of CI in this study occurred in multiple stages: recruitment of faculty, discussions about the process and how the instructor wished to use CI in their course, development of the curriculum and materials, faculty review of curriculum, expert panel review of curriculum, observation of implemented curriculum, and interviews with participating instructors (n = 4).ResultsA thematic qualitative data analysis revealed the following themes: student response to CI, courses suitable for using CI to address alcohol abuse, people involved in CI initiative, social norms, pre- and posttesting, and instructor training.DiscussionAdequate CI training for instructors should be mandatory and include information about social norms, how to defend data, consistent messaging, and how to lead class discussion on sensitive topics without reinforcing myths.Translation to Health Education PracticeFindings suggest ways to strengthen the CI content and process with the ultimate goal of reducing college students' negative consequences related to binge drinking.

Preparing BSW Students for Competency With Older Adults

As the population of older adults in the United States grows, there is an increasing need for social workers to serve this group. This study examines the effects of a gerontological social work curriculum infusion project for baccalaureate social work students at a southeastern state university that was funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation. Attitudes regarding interest in gerontology and perceived competency in gerontology- related skills were assessed pre- and postintervention. Nonparametric Wilcoxon matched- pairs signed rank tests revealed significant increases in interest in pursuing further gerontology- related experience and related competencies. Open- ended reflection comments were analyzed to further understand the students’ experience with the program. Results indicate that infusion of gerontological concepts into the curriculum increased the number of students interested in pursuing careers in gerontology, increased students’ competency with this population, and enhanced their understanding of the unique needs of older adults.

The Effect of a Pedagogy of Curriculum Infusion on Nursing Student Well-Being and Intent to Improve the Quality of Nursing Care

The aim of this study was to determine if a pedagogy of curriculum infusion promotes nursing student well-being and intent to address quality care indicators of Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) and American Association of Colleges of Nursing. This mixed-method experimental design study is based on 86 students' experiences with curriculum infusion as an intervention in two undergraduate nursing courses from August to December 2011. Student reflections, case analyses, and narrative evaluations were examined. Students experiencing curriculum infusion demonstrated intention to provide quality care as evidenced by case analysis and personal reflections. Students acknowledged the importance of self-care and demonstrated intention to provide quality nursing care in five of the six QSEN competencies. Educators must be mindful to educate the whole student.

A Curriculum Infusion Module for an Undergraduate Course in Psychology of Substance Abuse

Summary Curriculum Infusion is the process of integrating information about alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse prevention into the curriculum of regularly taught courses. In this brief note a novel curriculum infusion module is presented, as developed for an undergraduate course entitled Psychology of Substance Abuse. The module consisted of two sub-modules: (1) eliciting risk estimates for various substances and then attempting to re-norm students' risk perceptions by discussing discrepancies between students' estimates and risk estimates reported in the literature, and (2) asking students to maintain an alcohol expectancy diary for seven consecutive days in which they recorded all of the sources and types of alcohol expectancy information that they encountered. The role of expectancies in influencing personal alcohol use behavior was highlighted and strategies for weakening the link between expectancies and alcohol use were considered.

Increasingly Strange Bedfellows? An Examination of the Inclusion of Disability Issues in University- and Agency-based Social Work Education in a Welsh Context

Previous research has indicated relative reluctance among student social workers to plan future careers working with people with physical impairments. This continuing longitudinal study followed one cohort of undergraduate social work students from induction, to investigate and contribute to the development of effective curriculum strategies in preparing students for contemporary generic social work practice in relation to disability issues. A mixed methodology approach utilising questionnaires and focus groups was used to track the development of social work student perceptions of their preparedness for working with disabled people at different points in their education. Preliminary results revealed that while personal experience is a strong determinant of future interest in working within a particular service area, the use of case studies designed and delivered in conjunction with service users, carers and current practitioners appeared to be a particularly positive method of encouraging students to reflect upon real-life challenges within a safe environment. Results also suggest that interweaving features of a curriculum infusion model with a distinct module approach may moderate the gap that is perceived by students as remaining stubbornly prevalent between university- and agency-based learning.

Curriculum Infusion as College Student Mental Health Promotion Strategy

This article describes efforts to increase faculty involvement in suicide prevention and mental health promotion via curriculum infusion. The participants were faculty, staff, and 659 students enrolled in classes of a large eastern university from Fall 2007–Spring 2011. Counselors, health educators, and medical providers recruited faculty from a variety of disciplines to develop mental health promotion programs in their courses. This article describes seven such collaborations, illustrating how faculty was able to encourage students to see connections between their academic content and real world college experience, and the implications for mental health. As a result of these collaborations, faculty had a deeper understanding of mental health issues and resources on campus and an appreciation for the opportunity to collaborate in novel ways. After curriculum infusion was introduced to the campus faculty referrals to counseling did not noticeably increase, but there was increased faculty engagement in mental health programs and promotion.

Standalone, Curricular Infusion or Generic Skills in Business Ethics Education? An Overview and Evaluation of Extracurricular Studium Generale Programs in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

Standalone, Curricular Infusion or Generic Skills in Business Ethics Education? An Overview and Evaluation of Extracurricular Studium Generale Programs in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

Promoting the Development of Civic Responsibility: Infusing Service-Learning Practices in First-Year "Success" Courses

The purpose of this study was to examine whether first-year success courses that conceptually integrated a serving-learning component influenced the development of civic responsibility, operationally defined as charitable and social justice responsibility. We longitudinally assessed 173 students enrolled in 10 first-year success courses, 5 with service-learning components infused into its curricula and 5 without these infused components. Results showed that curricular infusion was effective for spurring developmental gains in chartable responsibility but not for parallel gains in social justice responsibility.

Impact of Instructor and Course Characteristics on the Effectiveness of Curriculum Infusion

Objective: This study assessed the impact of Curriculum Infusion (CI) on undergraduates’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. The related effects of students’ perceptions of instructors’ credibility and immediacy were also examined. Participants: Participants were 309 undergraduates enrolled in 14 CI classes between Winter 2003 and Spring 2004. Methods: In a pretest–posttest design, participants were surveyed about their substance use, behavioral consequences of substance use, knowledge, and attitudes about alcohol, and their perceptions of the credibility and immediacy of their CI course instructors. Results: Findings indicate that students who perceived their CI instructors as more credible and more immediate were more knowledgeable about alcohol and had healthier attitudes about substance use. Additionally, course size was found to contribute to CI's effectiveness. Conclusion: CI provides faculty with an effective way to make a difference not only in their students’ education but also in their health and well-being.

Friends Don't Let Jane Hook Up Drunk: A Qualitative Analysis of Participation in a Simulation of College Drinking-Related Decisions

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT (LTAI) (Lederman, Stewart, Bates, Greenberg, LeGreco, & Schuwerk, 2007), a scenario-based alcohol prevention simulation, has been used in a curriculum infusion design to promote healthy alcohol-related decision making among college students. Its use offers a unique research opportunity to explore students' beliefs and talk about sex and friendships in the culture of college drinking. This study examines students' alcohol-related decisions and discussion of those decisions. In the simulated drinking context LTAI, participants have to decide what to do about an intoxicated female friend in a scenario in which a new male acquaintance invites her to go to his place. A qualitative observation and analysis of 141 undergraduate students' discussions about the situation and their decisions in it about how to treat their friend revealed two major themes: the importance of relational factors in students' decision making, and the variety of communicative strategies employed to protect their friends. In addition, the use of curriculum infusion and simulations regarding college drinking provided students with complex yet salient communication problems to investigate while also addressing a major health concern.

Impact of Curriculum Infusion on College Students’ Drinking Behaviors

Objective: A posttest-only experimental design was used to examine the effectiveness of curriculum infusion (CI) in reducing alcohol consumption and associated negative consequences among college students. Methods: Faculty teaching 2 identical courses during the same quarter were recruited; both classes were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group, and alcohol information was infused into the treatment classes in addition to the regular curriculum. Participants: A diverse group of 343 undergraduate students participated, with 179 students in the treatment classes and 164 in the control classes. Results: No significant difference was found in alcohol consumption between the 2 groups. Students in the treatment classes reported significantly less negative consequences related to drinking than their counterparts. The effectiveness of CI was not related to subject matter and was equally effective with all students. Conclusion: CI was effective in reducing negative drinking consequences in college students despite not affecting drinking behaviors.

Curriculum infusion to promote nursing student well‐being

This paper is a report of a study of baccalaureate nursing students' experiences with curriculum infusion of college health issues into academic courses and students' well-being. Bringing Theory to Practice is an ongoing project at a number of colleges in the United States of America. Its goal is to use the academic classroom and campus community to engage students actively in self-reflection on a variety of common college student health and well-being issues. This qualitative study was based on 159 students' experiences with curriculum infusion in two undergraduate nursing courses at a university in the United States of America over a 2-year period from 2006 to 2008. Student reflection papers, photo-essays, narrative course evaluations, classroom engagement with educators and peers and student use of campus health resources were the data examined. As a result of the integration of personal wellness concepts into classroom pedagogy, students experienced a variety of feelings and needs including isolation, shock and anger, taking time, awareness and valuing. In light of the increasing rigour of baccalaureate nursing programmes, it is important for educators to be aware of the health-related effects of stress and isolation on students. By increasing student self-awareness and changing relational dynamics in the classroom, student well-being can be supported.

Curricular Infusion in the Secondary Foreign Language Classroom: Does One Size Fit All?

Across the nation, public schools are focusing on increasing student achievement on standardizedtests at the state and national levels in order to comply with federal legislation under the No Child LeftBehind Act that requires all students to score at or above proficiency levels in math and reading by theyear 2014 (United States Department of Education). In response to this emphasis on accountabilityand increasing student performance-primarily in the "core" subjects such as English, math and science manypublic schools have adopted professional development plans designed to infuse their curriculumwith general, effective teaching methods that are to be implemented by all teachers, in all subject areas(i.e. curricular infusion). The impetus behind this reform is rooted in educational research; however, theresearch supporting these models of curricular infusion is often based on the core subjects and largelyignores the non-core or elective subjects such as foreign language. As a result, secondary foreignlanguage instructors who are required to adapt general educational research to their areas of expertisemay be left wondering about the effectiveness of applying such instructional techniques that are notdirectly related to foreign language pedagogy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to adapt ageneral model of instructional improvement methods to foreign language instruction and assess itsperceived importance among secondary foreign language instructors in a Midwestern state.

INCREASING PARENT INVOLVEMENT KNOWLEDGE AND STRATEGIES AT THE PRESERVICE LEVEL: THE POWER IN USING A SYSTEMATIC PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

This study describes various strategies used by a university educator to integrate parent involvement curriculum into pre-existing teacher preparation courses. This curriculum infusion was not only effective in increasing preservice teacher knowledge but also in raising course instructors' level of awareness about the importance and necessity of parent involvement in student learning.

Recognizing the Importance of Aging Skills and Knowledge in Generalist Social Work Practice: Effective Strategies for MSW Students

This article examines the impact of a curricular infusion strategy aimed at integrating gerontological practice issues into social work education. Findings (N = 83) illustrate that student interest, knowledge, and skills in aging practice increased immediately following implementation of a three-tiered infusion approach; however, ongoing exposure to gerontology in and out of the classroom appears necessary to sustain students' interest in working with older adults over time. Although the majority of students endorsed aging issues as important to social work in general, many did not understand its relevance to their own careers. Next steps are outlined to enable students to make this important connection.

Weaving the Campus Safety Net by Integrating Student Health Issues into the Curriculum

Georgetown University has developed an innovative approach to addressing student health and wellness issues through curriculum infusion—a collaborative pedagogy that introduces real-life health issues faced by college students into their academic courses.

Multicultural/Multilingual Instruction in Educational Programs: A Survey of Perceived Faculty Practices and Outcomes

To describe the instructional strategies reported for multicultural/multilingual issues (MMI) education at programs in speech-language pathology and audiology and the perceived ease and effectiveness of doing so. A 49-item questionnaire elicited anonymous responses from administrators, faculty, and teaching clinical supervisors at educational programs accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in the United States. The data were provided by 731 respondents from 79.6% of 231 accredited U.S. programs. They included instructors who taught courses dedicated to MMI and those who did not. Respondents were generally committed to multicultural instruction, but they varied in their reported instructional practices and perceived levels of preparedness, effectiveness, and needs. General curricular infusion without an MMI-dedicated course was the most common instructional model used. Students were judged to be at least modestly prepared to deal with diversity issues as a result of their multicultural instruction, although current instructional approaches were not viewed as optimal. More positive outcomes were reported by instructors of MMI-dedicated than MMI-nondedicated courses. The instructional models and strategies used for MMI education vary, and programs are challenged by multiple issues in complying with the mandate for MMI curricular infusion.

Addressing College Drinking through Curriculum Infusion: A Study of the Use of Experience-Based Learning in the Communication Classroom

This study examined whether the use of a norms-based simulation in a communication class can influence students’ misperceptions about college drinking. Participants (N=462) were enrolled in two undergraduate communication courses: one in which the simulation was used and another that served as a control. Results indicated that participating in the simulation resulted in a decrease in beliefs about college drinking myths; moreover, students’ perceptions of social drinking norms were related to their actual drinking behaviors. Findings indicated that the campus atmosphere and social networks promoted alcohol consumption. Results support using a norms-based simulation to provide information about dangerous drinking behaviors while at the same time teaching relevant communication principles.

Strengthening Aging Content in the Baccalaureate Social Work Curricula

Summary Encouraging student's interest and preparing them for social work practice with older adults is increasingly important in view of the demographic changes that are taking place. This article describes a study that engages BSW students in a discussion of best models for promoting gerontological social work curriculum infusion. Using two focus groups, the authors explore barriers to student interest and potential strategies to recruit students for gerontological social work. Fear of their own decline and mortality, lack of exposure to older adults and aging issues emerge as the primary reasons for aversion to working with older adults. Strategies to promote student interest, organize curricula, and create an inclusive learning context are discussed.