Effects Of Enrichment Programs Research Articles

Effect of Enrichment Program on the Achievement of Vocational High School Gifted Students in Mathematics Competitions

The group of gifted students is a group of students who need special services in learning. SMK Negeri 1 Turen, is one of the schools in Malang Regency that has a platform for gifted students, in the form of a mathematics olympiad team. Every year there are beginner students who join the mathematics olympiad team. Therefore, matriculation is needed for them to catch up on the material they are missing. This research was conducted to find out how many enrichment program meetings are needed for beginner students to equalize their abilities with experienced students. The participants in this study were 10 students, consisting of 6 beginner students and 4 experienced students. Based on the Mann-Whitney test, the results of this study indicate that a long-term enrichment program (17 meetings) has a significant effect on students' achievement in mathematics competitions.

A Review of Medical School Records to Investigate the Effectiveness of Enrichment Programs for "At Risk" Students

Background: Although considerable attention has been given to the establishment of enrichment programs, almost none has focused on evaluating their effectiveness. Purpose: To assess whether or not skills acquired during enrichment programs contributed to students' academic success in medical school. Methods: Success in medical school, as characterized by lack of delaying events (DE), student status, and United States Medical Licensing Examination-Step I scores were analyzed using a general linear model procedure to determine the effect of participation in 1 or more enrichment programs. Proportional program participation was analyzed using a chi-square test of equal proportion. Results: Participants from the "serious research" enrichment programs experienced significantly fewer DE (p <. 01), which contributed to student success. Some enrichment programs had disproportionately higher attendance. Conclusions: Participation in research-based enrichment programs for matriculating students who are "at risk" may develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that help students to minimize DE.

An Evaluation of Marketing Factors in Marriage Enrichment Program Promotion

An Evaluation of Marketing Factors in Marriage Enrichment Program Promotion* Lisen C. Roberts and Michael Lane Morris** Two hundred thirty-five spouses were surveyed, 142 of whom participated in a marriage enrichment seminar, and 93 of whom did not, regarding influences on their attendance decision in six major areas: knowledge about seminar facilitator, perceived purpose of marriage enrichment, anxiety, marital relationship, self-esteem, and constraints to attendance. Descriptive data and differences found between program-participating spouses and program-nonparticipating spouses are presented. Recommendations to researchers and practitioners are included. Key Words: evaluation, family life education, marketing, marriage enrichment. AIthough empirical support exists on the effectiveness of enrichment programs, (Giblin, Sprenkle, & Sheehan, 1985; Guerney & Maxson, 1990) attendance of such seminars continues to be relatively low (Bowman & Kieren, 1985; Spoth, Redmond, Hockaday, & Shin, 1996). Regarding program promotion, Stahmann and Salts (1993) suggested that the marketing of marriage enrichment programs remained an important area to be addressed in research. Guerney and Maxson (1990) stated that the almost nonexistent area of enrichment marketing research seems to cry out for development (p. 1130). Relatedly, Arcus and Thomas (1993) suggested that little consideration has been given to the specific characteristics of family life education audiences. The purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluation of factors potentially associated with couples' decisions to attend or not attend a marriage enrichment program. Therefore, this study included descriptions of overall perceptions and preferences of study participants, as well as comparisons between program participants and nonparticipants in terms of their marital relationships, self-esteem levels, perceptions of marriage enrichment purpose, constraints to participation, fears in attendance, and preferred knowledge about the program facilitator. Influences on Marriage Enrichment Attendance Despite positive reports from evaluation techniques, attendance at enrichment programs continues to be low (Bowman & Kieren, 1985; Mace, 1982; Mace & Mace, 1986; Spoth et al., 1996). Marital Relationship One area possibly affecting couples' decisions to attend or not attend a particular marriage enrichment program is the spouses' perceptions of their own marital relationships (i.e., a self-diagnosis is required; L'Abate, 1990). A specific variable that has been consistently utilized as a screening criterion and examined empirically is that of marital satisfaction. Many programs make the assumption that couples choosing to participate in marriage enrichment have above-average marital satisfaction (Giblin, Sprenkle, & Sheehan, 1985) and at least one empirical examination has found this assumption to be true (Silverman & Urbaniak, 1983). Conversely, others have concluded that couples enrolling in marriage enrichment report lower marital satisfaction levels than do couples who do not enroll (Krug & Ahadi, 1986; Powell & Wampler, 1982). It seems that no consistent conclusion can be drawn as of yet regarding the relationship between marital satisfaction levels and marriage enrichment attendance decisions. Given the conflicting nature of research conclusions on this variable, it may be that marital satisfaction is not the most powerful, or even a noteworthy, factor in couples' decisions to attend or not attend a marriage enrichment program. There may be areas in a couple's marital relationship, in addition to or instead of marital satisfaction levels, that could provide practitioners and researchers with insight into the types of couples who choose to attend or not attend marriage enrichment programming. For example, perhaps feelings of marital strength or commitment to change, or lack thereof, influence a couple's decision on marriage enrichment attendance. …