Future Engagement Research Articles

Setting societal engagement goals during adolescence amplifies the impacts of political interest on political activities during young adulthood

This study examines whether youth’s goals for their future societal engagement affect their future political activities. We hypothesized, first, that youth’s political interest would be a central predictor of their future political activities and, second, that their goals for future societal engagement would moderate their political interest. The greatest future political activity would be among youth who were both politically interested and had set high goals. A community sample of about 400 16-year-olds (Mage=16.62, SD=0.71, 50.8% females) was followed over four years. The theory of planned behavior was applied. Different types of political action were predicted: offline political activities, online political activities, membership of a political/civic organization, and taking a stance in public for a party pre and post voting in a national election. Age-16 political interest significantly predicted all age-20 political activities, except for being a member of political/civic organizations and actual voting. In line with the second hypothesis, significant interactions were found between political interest and setting societal goals for all the future political activities except voting. It was concluded that youth’s early-developed agency in setting goals for their societal engagement has widespread predictive utility for their political activities over a lengthy period.

Nurturing Teachers’ Research Mindset in an Inquiry‐Based Language Teacher Education Course

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of an inquiry‐based teacher education course in nurturing second language (L2) teachers’ research mindset, defined herein as their cognition and action toward research. One hundred and thirty pre‐ and in‐service L2 teachers of various nationalities participated in a teacher education course on instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) at an Australian university. The course was designed following an inquiry‐based approach, with course activities focused on promoting teacher learners’ curiosity about ISLA issues and their engagement both with and in research. Data were collected before, during, and after course participation, using a precourse survey, written reflections, and focus group interviews. Findings revealed that the inquiry‐based course activities enabled the teacher learners to adopt a stronger research mindset. They were able to articulate the importance of research for teaching practice and gained firsthand experience as well as increased confidence in conducting research. They also showed inclination toward research‐informed teaching and were keen to maintain their newly established favorable relationship with research, despite acknowledging concerns about their future actual research engagement, mostly due to time constraint and lack of institutional support. These findings suggest implications for nurturing language teachers’ research mindset within L2 teacher education courses.

Exploring Electrosynthesis: Bulk Electrolysis and Cyclic Voltammetry Analysis of the Shono Oxidation.

As electrochemistry continues to gain broader acceptance and use within the organic chemistry community, it is important that advanced undergraduate students are exposed to fundamental and practical knowledge of electrochemical applications for chemical synthesis. Herein, we describe the development of an undergraduate laboratory experience that introduces synthetic and analytical electrochemistry concepts to an advanced organic chemistry class. Experiments focus on the electrooxidative α-functionalization of carbamates, more generally known as the Shono oxidation, and include cyclic voltammetry analysis of two cyclic carbamates and a constant current bulk electrolysis reaction. The exercise offers students an authentic experience in organic electrochemistry, lays a practical and theoretical foundation for future engagement with concepts in electrochemistry and redox chemistry, and strengthens fundamental organic chemistry skills.

INFLUENCE OF INNOVATION STRATEGIES ON PERFORMANCE OF INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER COMPANIES IN NAIROBI KENYA

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to assess the influence of innovation strategies on performance of Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi Kenya. The study specifically aims at assessing the influence of product innovation, process innovation, market innovation and technological innovation on performance of Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi Kenya. Despite the substantial number of empirical studies in strategic management, research on the relationship between innovation strategies and firm performance has not yet reached a definitive consensus on whether firms are better off remaining focused or diversifying in different businesses.
 Methodology: The study adopted the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, Resource Based View, Herman Kahn Scenario Thinking Theory and Theory of disruptive innovation. This research used a descriptive survey design. The study population was 228 managers from Marketing, IT, Product Development and Business Intelligence drawn from the 60 internet Service provider companies licensed by Communication Authority of Kenya. The study adopted stratified sampling technique. The sample size was 146 respondents. This study used primary data obtained from the original sources using questionnaires. Data collected from the questionnaires was converted from responses to quantitative format for ease in analysis using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The statistics generated was descriptive statistics which included frequencies and percentages and inferential statistics which included a multiple linear regression. A multiple linear regression model was used to show the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.
 Findings: The study revealed that product innovation strategy, process innovation strategy, market innovation strategy and technological innovation strategy positively and significantly influence performance of Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi Kenya.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Based on the findings, study recommended that Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi, Kenya should stipulate policies that provide and enhance platforms for marketing innovation so as to improve performance in the internet service provider companies. There is need also to invest in marketing innovation strategies including pricing, future customer engagement, product placement and product promotional avenues so as to improve performance in the internet service provider.

An Updated Framework for Theoretical and Practical Engagement With Sustainable Tourism Quality Control Tools

Quality control tools, such as certification programs, translate sustainable tourism into practice. Recent scholarship demonstrates considerable tool diversification, yet further theoretical and practical engagement is impeded by the absence of an updated conceptual framework. This conceptual research is the first to extend the only existing framework, the one-dimensional Quality Control Spectrum, after more than 15 years of quiescence. The proposed three-dimensional framework illustrates 26 tools organized across function categories (how each tool progresses sustainability), toolboxes (expressions of strength) and operational Fordism (expressions of adaptability). This reconceptualized diversity highlights tools facilitating flexible post-Fordist and less flexible Fordist models of sustainable tourism. The identification of “neo-Fordist” tools, which fuse characteristics of Fordist and post-Fordist practice, is a related substantive contribution. The framework provides a new paradigmatic basis for future theoretical engagement with sustainable tourism while offering a framework for pragmatic practitioner engagement.

Increasing yield and farm income of upland farmers: The case of Panay Island Upland Sustainable Rural Development Project in the Philippines

The 17th Sustainable Development Goal aims to enhance the international cooperation between developed and least-developed countries, and the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program is the largest source of external support in the attainment of this goal. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the Panay Island Upland Sustainable Rural Development Project (PIU-SRDP), an ODA project supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and the Local Government Units of project municipalities in the Philippines. We focused on Phase II of the PIU-SRDP, which implemented randomly various agriculture-based income-generating projects, aimed at improving the sustainable productivity of low-income farming households. Based on a spatial and intertemporal variations of the project, we exploit a difference-in-difference approach using household-level data. The results suggest that the project significantly increased the rice yield and farm income of beneficiaries. With the opposing views about the true impacts of ODA programs, our study shows evidence of the positive effects of an ODA project on farmer-beneficiaries. This study provides insights for future engagement and implementation of related community-based ODA, agriculture, and rural development projects.

Reframing the classics?

A number of recent works in sociology call for the decolonization of the discipline. Colonialism and Modern Social Theory adds a critical intervention to this recent body of work by deconstructing the theories that have been canonized in North American and European social theory, and meticulously laying out the systematic erasure of colonialism and imperialism from their concepts and analytical categories. This review focuses on the introductory chapter and overall scope of the book, and draws attention to several potential areas for fruitful future engagement that this text inspires.

Fostering and Measuring Civic Agency in an American Government Course

Scholars and commentators are increasingly concerned about the erosion of democratic norms in the United States. Political science education stands at the forefront of higher education’s mission to create an educated citizenry, and civic education is linked to outcomes like civic engagement and trust in government. Much of the research on civic education, however, examines how different classroom interventions affect students’ intentions of engaging civically in the future. This study argues that between intention and action lies agency. Specifically, it examines how an introductory course in American government influences the development of civic agency. A new scenario-based method of measuring civic agency is also introduced. The study finds that civic agency does in fact develop, with students sharpening their calculus of engagement by the end of the course. In other words, students better understand where they can best engage and how as a result of taking this course. Increasing agency at this early juncture of the university curriculum, we argue, lays the foundation for future engagement when students care about an issue enough to weigh in.

Impact of an Arts-based Public Health Literacy Program Delivered Online to High School Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the domestic socio-political unrest of 2020, provides a critical opportunity to reframe how we engage with youth around health and disease risk. The Bigger Picture (TBP), a spoken word, arts-based public health literacy campaign, uses a social justice and racial equity frame to activate youth around social determinants of health, including salient topics such as type 2 diabetes, COVID-19, climate change, and police violence. This quasi-experimental study determined the impact of providing an online adaptation of TBP during the COVID-19 pandemic to urban, low-income, diverse high school students (3 intervention schools assigned to receive TBP-based spoken word program; 3 comparison schools received a non-health focused spoken word program). We used outcomes derived from the Culture of Health framework, including: (1) health-related mind-sets and expectations; (2) sense of belonging; and (3) civic engagement. Students completed pre/post surveys; a subset of adults and youth from all 6 schools completed semi-structured interviews. TBP participation resulted in measurable shifts in students’ mind-sets around structural drivers of health and health inequity and increases in plans for future civic engagement. Arts-based programming with an intentional focus on the social ecological model and health equity appears to impact young people, even when delivered online.

Student Engagement and Language Learning: What, Why, and How?

Student Engagement and Language Learning: What, Why, and How?

“Everyone collaborated and came together”: The civic promise (and pitfalls) of yPAR for immigrant-origin students in an era of deportation.

In recent years, increased anti-immigrant hostility has trickled into school settings creating toxic climates for immigrant-origin (I-O) students (Rogers, School and society in the age of trump, 2019, UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access). Through youth participatory action research (yPAR), this study qualitatively examined how a class of Emerging Bilingual (EB) students aimed to promote more inclusive learning environments by designing, implementing, and evaluating a school-wide program. Here, we consider how the students experienced growth in their civic development as well as how they contended with resistances encountered during the project. The current study took place at a majority I-O, northeastern high school and was led by an EB class (n = 20) and its teacher. Participants were as follows: on average 16.5 years; 60% female; and 65% Latinx, 30% Black, and 5% mixed-race (Black-Latino). Multiple data sources documenting the students' experiences were collected (including weekly student reflections and ethnographic field notes) and then thematically analyzed using open coding. Participating students demonstrated civic development as evidenced through: growing confidence that the program could generate positive change; enhanced sense of connection toward their classmates; and increased commitment to future civic engagement. Nonetheless, some participants demonstrated initial trepidation in both disclosing their migration stories as well as the potential efficacy of engaging in the project. Furthermore, others were disappointed by the disinterest displayed by some of their peers and teachers. Collaborative research can support I-O youths' civic development, though, the resistances encountered and engendered illuminate possible challenges to ensure its benefits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Introducing Mass Communications Strategies to Medical Students: A Novel Short Session for Fourth-Year Students.

ProblemThe World Health Organization calls on all with quality medical information to share it with the public and combat health misinformation; however, U.S. medical schools do not currently teach students effective communication with lay audiences about health. Most physicians have inadequate training in mass communication strategies.ApproachIn August 2018, a novel 90-minute class at the University of Minnesota Medical School introduced fourth-year medical students to basic skills for communicating with lay audiences through mass media. Instructors were physicians with experience interacting with the general public via radio, op-ed articles, social media, print media, television, and community and legislative advocacy. After a 20-minute lecture and sharing of instructors’ personal experiences, students completed two 30-minute small-group activities. They identified communications objectives and talking points for a health topic, drafting these as Tweets or an op-ed article outline, then presented talking points in a mock press conference with their peers, practicing skills just learned. Pre- and postsurveys documented students’ previous engagement and comfort with future engagement with mass media messaging.OutcomesOver 1 week, 142 students participated in 6 separate classes, and 127 completed both pre- and postsurveys. Before the course, only 6% (7/127) of students had comfortably engaged with social media and 14% (18/127) had engaged with traditional media in their professional roles. After the course, students self-reported an increase in their comfort, perceived ability, and likelihood of using specific communications skills to advocate for their patients (all P < .001).Next StepsThe course will be expanded into a 5-session thread for third- and fourth-year medical students spread over 2 years. This thread will include meeting physicians who engage with lay audiences, identifying best practices for mass health communication, identifying bias and misinformation, “dos and don’ts” of social media, and communication skills for legislative advocacy.

Experiences of Children and Youth With Concussion: A Qualitative Study.

Concussions are common among children and youth. To date, the pediatric concussion literature has focused on quantitative reports of the effects of concussion and return-to-activity guidelines. However, the subjective experiences of children and youth returning to occupations postconcussion have largely been ignored. An understanding of these experiences is critical to inform effective concussion management. To investigate the experiences of children and youth returning to occupations after sustaining a concussion and the impacts on their future engagement in occupation. Qualitative interpretive description was used for data analysis and interpretation. Community. Children and youth ages 11 to 18 yr from a cohort study were recruited to be interviewed about their experiences of engaging in occupations postconcussion. Interviews were conducted 3 to 24 mo postconcussion, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using interpretive description to identify themes. Eight children and youth (5 male, 3 female) were included. Analyses revealed three themes of the experiences of children and youth returning to occupations after concussion: diverse experiences of concussion, knowledge is key to concussion management, and concussions affect occupational engagement. This study highlights the importance of considering a person's needs to enable effective concussion treatment plans. The results suggest the need for an occupation-based framework to guide interventions in pediatric concussion management. What This Article Adds: Our findings indicate that children and youth report variable recovery patterns, a lack of knowledge about concussion recovery, and a negative effect of concussion on occupational engagement.

Appraisals of previous math experiences play an important role in math anxiety.

Math anxiety affects many people, from young children through to older adults. While there has been debate concerning the developmental trajectory of math anxiety and negative math attitudes, little attention has been given to the role of appraisals of previous math experiences. We surveyed 308 adults (mean age = 27.56years, SD = 11.25) and assessed self-reported measures of math anxiety, mathematical resilience, math attitudes, and appraisal of previous math experiences. As hypothesized, all variables were found to be interrelated. Math anxiety was significantly negatively related to appraisal of previous math experiences, mathematical resilience, and math attitudes. Moreover, appraisal of previous math experiences was shown to mediate the relations between (1) math anxiety and math attitudes, and (2) mathematical resilience and math attitudes. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering current appraisals of previous math experiences and are consistent with an interpretation account of math anxiety. This may help inform cognitive-based interventions that focus on one's interpretation of past events to support current and future math learning and engagement.

Use of the ORBIT model to refine and test a novel approach to exercise promotion for breast cancer survivors based on affect regulation.

TPS12153 Background: Physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for breast cancer recurrence, but estimates suggest at least 50% of breast cancer survivors are insufficiently active. Guidelines specify all cancer survivors should avoid inactivity, and 90-minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week is associated with clinically meaningful benefits (e.g., reduced cancer-related fatigue). Among the general population, how people feel during exercise (i.e., “affective response to exercise”) predicts future exercise engagement. Past work shows prescribing affect-regulated exercise can increase MVPA among inactive adults; however, this strategy has yet to be tested with cancer survivors. The overarching goal of this trial-in-progress is to test the hypothesis that an affect-regulated exercise prescription (Affect-Rx) can promote clinically meaningful increases in MVPA among inactive breast cancer survivors. Methods: Design: The Obesity-Related Behavioral Intervention Trials (ORBIT) model was used to inform all choices about design and key research milestones for two sequential studies. Study 1 (Phase Ib) is a stakeholder-centered, single-arm pilot trial (NCT04903249). Study 2 (Phase IIa) is a randomized (2:1) proof-of-concept trial. In both studies, MVPA will be measured using waist-worn ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers for 10 days at baseline, 2-, 6- and 12-weeks follow-up. Participants also complete brief ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) of their feeling states (e.g., pain, fatigue) three times per day for the same 10-day data collection periods. Participants: &gt;18 years or older, physically inactive, stage 0-III breast cancer survivors, with primary cancer-treatment completed within the last 5-years. Intervention: Both studies deliver the Affect-Rx prescription: Exercise at the highest pace that still feels good. The Control condition in Study 2 is a heart-rate regulated exercise prescription. Endpoints and Planned Analyses: The goal of Study 1 is to refine the study protocol for acceptability via participant interviews and objective indicators of acceptability (e.g., accelerometer wear-time). The primary milestone for Study 1 is a fixed protocol ready for testing in Study 2. The goal of Study 2 is to quantify the effect of Affect-Rx on MVPA at 12-weeks relative to Control. The primary milestone for Study 2 is clinically meaningful impact on MVPA operationalized as &gt;50% participants completing 90-minutes of MVPA at the end of 12 weeks. The associations between daily variability in feeling states and MVPA will be analyzed using a mixed-effects, hierarchical regression modeling approach. Current Enrollment: Data collection for Study 1 are ongoing. To date, N = 37 women have enrolled in Study 1 and data collection is complete for N = 13 at week-12. We aim to collect complete data from at least N = 20 women in Study 1 and N = 60 women in Study 2. Clinical trial information: NCT04903249.

Do the means affect the ends? Radical tactics influence motivation and action tendencies via the perceived legitimacy and efficacy of those actions

AbstractIdentity, injustice and group efficacy are key motivations for collective action engagement. However, little work has examined factors that influence their emergence. Across three studies (total N = 938), we test whether exposure to different actions (i.e., radical or conventional) and the perceived legitimacy and efficacy of those actions (‘the means’) predict observers’ sense of injustice, identity, group efficacy about the issue, and in turn, future action engagement (‘the ends’). As expected, radical (versus conventional) actions were perceived as less legitimate and effective. These evaluations indirectly predicted lower action via diminished identification and injustice, respectively. Paradoxically, legitimacy and efficacy evaluations also indirectly predicted higher radical and conventional action via diminished group efficacy. Thus, collective action is shaped by and reciprocally influences injustice, identity, and group efficacy. Simultaneous exposure to conventional and radical actions also offset these effects, indicating that conventional actions can mitigate the indirect effects of radical tactics.

Engaging Patient Advisory Committees to Inform a Genomic Cancer Risk Study: Lessons for Future Efforts.

Introduction The Cancer Health Assessments Reaching Many study seeks to reduce disparities in genomic care. Two patient advisory committees (PACs) were formed, 1 of English speakers and 1 of Spanish speakers, to vet study processes and materials. Stakeholder engagement in research is relatively new, and we know little about how stakeholders view their engagement. We wanted to learn how patient stakeholders viewed the process, to inform future patient engagement efforts. Methods Patients at 2 study sites were invited to serve on 2 PACs. We used an iterative engagement process to solicit and incorporate patient feedback. Much of the PAC feedback on study materials and processes was incorporated. Using surveys and exit interviews, we evaluated stakeholders' experiences as PAC members. Results Nearly all PAC members felt satisfied and included in the study decisions, but surveys and exit interviews suggested the need to improve communications. Discussion Although most believed their feedback was used, and most felt included in study decisions, some said they did not know whether their opinions were used to modify materials or approaches. This suggests the need to explain to patient stakeholders the extent to which their feedback was used and to inform them about the impact that other stakeholders, such as institutional review boards, have on decisions. Conclusion Our evaluation highlights the value of dedicating resources to stakeholder engagement. Although gathering patient feedback on study materials and processes introduced time constraints and complexity to our study, adaptations to materials and processes furthered study goals.

Fisheries governance and associated health implications: Current perspectives from US commercial fishermen

Developing useful regulations that lead to intended effects from originating legislation can be a challenge for those entities that are implementing and responding to those regulations. In the commercial fishing industry, fisheries management regulations are fundamentally designed to conserve and sustain marine resources. Numerous studies have underscored the importance of engaging commercial fishermen in discussions of how to best preserve these resources. By ensuring numerous, diverse perspectives, policies and associated implementing regulations can thus address a broad spectrum of concerns and utilize input from a wide spectrum of knowledgeable informants to make regulations more effective and easier to enforce. The purpose of this manuscript is to share our findings on fishermen’s perceptions of the fisheries governance process and to describe how these perceptions impact their emotional health and willingness to engage in future fisheries management discussions. In sharing these perspectives, we hope to underscore the need for further research on fishermen’s governance experiences and to highlight how prior negative experiences could adversely impact future engagement with the process. The data highlighted in this study was gathered from interviews originally conducted to explore fishermen’s sleep patterns and general health in the Alaska salmon, Oregon Dungeness crab, Northeast scallop and Massachusetts lobster fisheries. However, a primary theme that emerged from these interviews was the impact that fisheries management decisions had on work-related stress. Stressors were largely related to increasing regulatory complexity and the economic impact of management decisions that add to an already challenging commercial enterprise. The governance process was also seen as yet another factor outside of fishermen’s direct control, which when combined with unpredictable weather, access to reliable crew and rapid shifts in market prices, has severe consequences to their overall sense of wellbeing. While increased engagement has been highlighted in the literature as a means for addressing fishermen’s regulatory concerns, our informants believe their input is neither valued nor prioritized, which appears to threaten future engagement in fisheries management discussions.

Collaborating for policy impact: Academic-practitioner collaboration in industrial relations research

Knowledge co-production between academics and practitioners is increasingly a focus for university workplace contexts. While there is emerging interest in how social science academics can engage with industry to generate impact, little attention has been paid to how one form of practitioner organisation, trade unions, engages with academics to influence policy and member outcomes. In this article, we examine a case of research collaboration with an education trade union based in New South Wales, Australia, to explore the process of knowledge co-production with this partnership and its impact on education policy. In examining this decade-long partnership, we contribute to the literature on union strategy by depicting collaboration with researchers as a unique strategy for influencing policy outcomes (in this case, addressing teacher workload), while also contributing to emerging scholarship on knowledge co-production as a means to generate impact beyond the academy. As such, this article contributes a rare example of ‘cross-over’ between the worlds of academia and industry, which may inform future engagement and impact processes.

Understanding the Relationship Among Self-efficacy, Utility Value, and the Community of Inquiry Framework in Preservice Teacher Education

School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have shown the importance of distance education, and teachers have been tasked with designing and delivering online courses in a short amount of time without much preparation or deliberation. As the future generation of teachers, preservice teachers need to be prepared to teach online, and their motivation to do so is a key factor in how successfully they do it. The community of inquiry framework provides researchers and practitioners with a framework for designing and delivering online courses, while self-efficacy and utility value are important motivational constructs predicting future engagement and success in tasks. In this cross-sectional survey study, we investigated preservice teachers’ (n = 344) perceptions of their self-efficacy, utility value, the importance of the three components of the community of inquiry framework: teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. Our results show that overall, preservice teachers had high motivation to teach online and high perceptions of the three presences. Our regression analyses indicated that while preservice teachers’ self-efficacy was a significant predictor of teaching presence, utility value only significantly predicted social presence. We discuss the implications of these findings for teacher education programs, including a holistic approach to teaching online learning and instructional design.