Extracurricular Engagement Research Articles

The Role of Engagement in the Development of Critical Thinking in Undergraduates

This study explores how academic, research and extracurricular engagement is linked to the development of critical thinking in undergraduates using a spe­cific statistical model. Empirical basis of research was provided by the results of the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey conduc­ted in one of Russian national research universities in 2017 (N = 3,344). Binary logistic regression reveals a statistically significant relationship between the development of critical thinking and student engagement in learning, research and extracurricular activities, higher involvement corresponding to better cri­tical thinking skills. The findings may be useful for developing curricula, allo­cating student workload, and devising new initiatives for university students.

Development of a web-based tool for undergraduate engagement in medical research; the ProjectPal experience

BackgroundWe report the development and evaluation of a web-based tool designed to facilitate student extra-curricular engagement in medical research through project matching students with academic supervisors.UK based university students were surveyed to explore their perceptions of undergraduate research, barriers and facilitators to current engagement. Following this, an online web-based intervention (www.ProjectPal.org) was developed to support access of students to research projects and supervisors. A pilot intervention was undertaken across a London-based university in January 2013 to February 2016. In March 2016, anonymised data were extracted from the prospective data log for analysis of website engagement and usage. Supervisors were surveyed to evaluate the website and student outputs.ResultsFifty-one students responded to the electronic survey. Twenty-four (47%) reported frustration at a perceived lack of opportunities to carry out extra-curricular academic projects. Major barriers to engaging in undergraduate research reported were difficulties in identifying suitable supervisors (33/51; 65%) and time pressures (36/51; 71%) associated with this. Students reported being opportunistic in their engagement with undergraduate research. Following implementation of the website, 438 students signed up to ProjectPal and the website was accessed 1357 times. Access increased on a yearly basis. Overall, 70 projects were advertised by 35 supervisors. There were 86 applications made by students for these projects. By February 2016, the 70 projects had generated 5 peer-review publications with a further 7 manuscripts under peer-review, 14 national presentations, and 1 national prize.ConclusionThe use of an online platform to promote undergraduate engagement with extra-curricular research appears to facilitate extra-curricular engagement with research. Further work to understand the impact compared to normal opportunistic practices in enhancing student engagement is now underway.

Extracurricular Engagement and Person-Organization Fit through Internalizing Organizational Mission Statements and Values

Extracurricular Engagement and Person-Organization Fit through Internalizing Organizational Mission Statements and Values

Work Hard or Play Hard? Degree Class, Student Leadership and Employment Opportunities

We investigated the impact on first hiring outcomes of two main curriculum vitae (CV) characteristics by which graduates with a tertiary education degree distinguish themselves from their peers: degree class and extra-curricular activities. These characteristics were randomly assigned to 2,800 fictitious job applications that were sent to real vacancies in Belgium. Academic performance and extra-curricular engagement both enhanced job interview rates by about 7%. The effect of a higher degree class was driven by female (versus male) candidates and candidates with a master’s (versus a bachelor’s) degree. We did not find evidence for these CV characteristics to be substitutes or to reinforce each other’s effect.

Making It Count: Breadth and Intensity of Extracurricular Engagement and High School Dropout

Previous research suggests that extracurricular engagement reduces the likelihood of high school dropout, particularly among traditionally at-risk populations such as racial and ethnic minorities and students from low-income families. Using social bond theory, we examine how the breadth and intensity of extracurricular engagement are related to the likelihood of dropout among a nationally representative sample of students over three years of schooling. Using logistic regression models, we use data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to examine how extracurricular participation relates to the potential of dropping out by accounting for known correlates and potential selection biases. We find a significant positive relationship between engagement in extracurricular activities (both in number and distribution over different types of activities) and a reduced likelihood of dropout. This relationship is particularly strong in the case of athletic involvement among African American students and for students who simultaneously participate in both athletic and academic/fine arts activities. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of current policy trends toward the elimination of extracurricular programming and the assessment of student participation fees.

Factors Associated With Intentions to Engage in Vaginal Intercourse Among Sexually Abstinent Missouri High School Freshmen.

We examine personal characteristics, alcohol consumption, normative beliefs, household factors, and extracurricular engagement associated with intentions to have intercourse before marriage among abstinent students. Data were analyzed from 245 freshmen enrolled in a school-based abstinence-only-until-marriage program. Two binary logistic regression analyses identified factors associated with intentions to engage in intercourse before marriage and within the next year. Approximately 21% and 14% of participants reported intentions to have intercourse. Respondents participated in 2.2 (standard deviation [SD] = 1.2) extracurricular activities. Freshmen who were male, perceived their friends to approve of premarital sex, and consumed alcohol were more likely to report intentions to have intercourse. For every additional extracurricular activity in which freshmen participated, they were less likely to report intentions to have intercourse within the next year (odds ratio [OR] = 0.56). Factors such as extracurricular activities provide youth with opportunities to build supportive relationships, connect with peers and role models, and positively engage in schools and communities. Extracurricular activities typically already exist, have funding, and are generally well-supported. School-based strategies can increase teenagers' autonomy by providing a variety of activities to participate in and reduce unsupervised time. This, in turn, has the potential to decrease sexual risk taking behaviors.

Inspiring the next generation of Cardiothoracic Surgeons: an easily reproducible, sustainable event increases UK undergraduate interest in the specialty.

There is believed to be declining interest in cardiothoracic surgical careers among UK medical students. Relative lack of undergraduate exposure to the specialty compared with other surgical specialties may be partly responsible. Using pre- and postintervention analysis, we assessed the ability of a student-led extracurricular engagement event to increase undergraduate interest in the specialty. Fifty-four students attended and 50 (93%) participated in the study. Of the total, 32% of delegates had identified a cardiothoracic mentor, with only 8 and 4% exposed to cardiac and thoracic surgery, respectively, compared with 50% exposed to other surgical specialties. Self-reported understanding of cardiothoracic training increased from 20 to 80% (P < 0.001) after the 1-day event; 77% of delegates reported increased interest in the specialty. We demonstrate that it is possible to provide a free-to-user event that increases engagement using a student-led design. Similar events could increase interest in the specialty and may improve recruitment rates. Current levels of cardiothoracic exposure are very low among UK students.

Extra-curricular computing engagement, academic achievement, and income attainment

Students' extra-curricular engagement with computing helps to recruit and to ease new students into formal studies of computing. Such engagement has also been found to impart cognitive benefits. It...

A behavioral economic supplement to brief motivational interventions for college drinking

Basic behavioral and neurobiological research has demonstrated that deficiencies in naturally occurring substance-free rewards are both a cause and a consequence of substance abuse that are due in part to the systematic discounting of delayed substance-free rewards. Existing brief motivational interventions (BMIs) for alcohol abuse do not target this mechanism of change. The goal of this uncontrolled pilot study was to evaluate a behavioral economic Substance-Free Activity Session (SFAS) to traditional alcohol BMIs. Participants were 13 college freshmen who reported two or more heavy drinking episodes (>5/4 drinks in an occasion for men/women) in the past month. All participants completed a baseline assessment and a BMI that addressed alcohol use. In addition, participants received the SFAS, a 50-min individual session that attempts to increase engagement in constructive alternatives to drinking by enhancing the salience of delayed rewards (academic and career success) and the patterns of behavior (academic and extracurricular engagement) leading to these outcomes. At the 1-month follow-up assessment, participants reported significant reductions in heavy drinking, and moderate to large effect size reductions in weekly drinking and peak blood alcohol levels. The results of this pilot study provide preliminary support for the efficacy of this behavioral economic intervention session as a supplement to traditional alcohol BMIs.

Extracurricular activities, positive youth development, and the role of meaningfulness of engagement

Previous research has shown that participation in extracurricular activities in high school can promote desirable outcomes, such as educational attainment and reduced problem behaviors, but little attention has been paid to relations with psychological indicators of positive youth development (PYD). Moreover, the potential importance of the degree to which young people find such engagement personally meaningful toward these relations has been overlooked. This study investigated longitudinal relations among extracurricular participation and multiple indicators of positive development in adolescence, and explored whether personal meaningfulness of these domains moderated these relations. Results showed that positive development was positively associated with participation in student leadership and volunteering, and negatively associated with participation in the creative arts. Additionally, many of the relations among extracurricular participation and positive development were moderated by activity meaningfulness, typically in the negative direction. The discussion highlights future directions for research on extracurricular participation, meaningful engagement, and PYD.

Communication Via Instant Messenger: Short- and Long-Term Effects

Ersatz social engagement theory (Green & Brock, 1998, 2003) suggests that individuals may be drawn to mediated interactions because of their ease, lack of risk, and immediate gratification, but that these interactions may be less rewarding over the long term. In Study 1 (N= 42), participants’ moods were measured before and after engaging in a conversation with a stranger either online (instant messenger) or face to face. Participants became slightly less tense and less angry regardless of which condition they were in, but significantly happier when they were in the instant messenger (1M) condition. The increased happiness after an IM rather than face-to-face conversation was especially pronounced among women. Study 2 (N= 101) was a survey of students’ Internet use and other extracurricular activities. Students did not appear to be substituting Internet use for other forms of extracurricular engagement. However, IM use was associated with feeling that one used the Internet too much, and reduced life satisfaction.

FAILING GIRLS: UNDERSTANDING CONNECTIONS AMONG IDENTITY NEGOTIATION, PERSONAL RELEVANCE, AND ENGAGEMENT IN SCIENCE LEARNING FROM UNDERACHIEVING GIRLS

Contemporary critiques of science education have noted that girls often fail to engage in science learning because the activities lack relevance for them, and they cannot "see themselves" in the work of science. Despite the empirical support for these claims, theory around the important connections between relevance, emerging self-identity, and engagement for girls remains underdeveloped. This qualitative, exploratory investigation examines engagement in science learning among five underachieving high school girls. Data sources include in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and teacher surveys. The girls were asked to describe engagement within three learning contexts: science class, a favorite class, and an extracurricular activity. From the girls' voices emerge three themes reflecting the centrality of self: "who I am," "who I am becoming," and "the importance of relationships." It is important that these themes of self and of identity negotiation are integrated with the ways these girls find learning personally relevant. One pattern of extracurricular engagement and two patterns of science engagement (integrated and situational) are described. This study attempts to expand the dialogue around the relationships between identity, relevance, and engagement among underachieving girls and suggests ways in which curriculum can be grounded in students' lives and developing identities.

Schools and Alienation

Previous articleNext article No AccessSchools and AlienationStephen V. Dillon and James A. GroutStephen V. Dillon Search for more articles by this author and James A. Grout Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Elementary School Journal Volume 76, Number 8May, 1976 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/461014 Views: 13Total views on this site Citations: 11Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1976 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Casey A. Knifsend, Guadalupe Espinoza, Jaana Juvonen The Role of Peer Relationships on Academic and Extracurricular Engagement in School, (Oct 2022): 451–467.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07853-8_21Zohreh Vafa, Morteza Azizi, Mojtaba Elhami Athar Predicting Academic Alienation From Emotion Dysregulation, Social Competence, and Peer Relationships in School-Attending Girls: A Multiple-Regression Approach, Frontiers in Psychology 12 (Dec 2021).https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.755952Abdulvehap BOZ Öğretim Elemanlarının İstenmeyen Davranışları İle Öğrenci Yabancılaşması Arasındaki İlişki, Pamukkale University Journal of Education 49 (May 2020): 20–45.https://doi.org/10.9779/pauefd.532232Habibollah Naderi Heydari, Fereshteh Ba Ezat, Masoud Qolam Ali Lavasani, Sohail Rahimi Designing an Educational Mindfulness Program and Its Effectiveness on Students' Cognitive, Emotional and Educational Processes, Journal of Archives in Military Medicine 7, no.33 (Oct 2019).https://doi.org/10.5812/jamm.98188Hojjat Mahmoudi, Monica R. Brown, Javad Amani Saribagloo, Zahra Jalilzadeh-Mohammadi The effects of sex and race on academic alienation among Iranian students, Educational Studies 44, no.55 (Oct 2017): 594–607.https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2017.1390441Tina Hascher, Andreas Hadjar School alienation – Theoretical approaches and educational research, Educational Research 60, no.22 (Mar 2018): 171–188.https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2018.1443021Jaana Juvonen, Guadalupe Espinoza, Casey Knifsend The Role of Peer Relationships in Student Academic and Extracurricular Engagement, (Jan 2012): 387–401.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_18Ann V. Angell Democratic Climates in Elementary Classrooms: A Review of Theory and Research, Theory & Research in Social Education 19, no.33 (Jun 1991): 241–263.https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.1991.10505640James S. Leming School Curriculum and Social Development in Early Adolescence, Childhood Education 61, no.44 (Mar 1985): 257–262.https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.1985.10520194Lee H. Ehman The American School in the Political Socialization Process, Review of Educational Research 50, no.11 (Jun 2016): 99–119.https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543050001099Devon J. Metzger, Robert D. Barr The Impact of School Political Systems on Student Political Attitudes, Theory & Research in Social Education 6, no.22 (Jun 1978): 48–79.https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.1978.10506029