Homework Practice Research Articles

Solfeggio learning and the influence of a mobile application based on visual, auditory and tactile modalities

AbstractTraditional methods of learning solfeggio (music theory) generally do not take advantage of computer‐based support, meaning that, when learning individually, students cannot receive instantaneous feedback on their activities. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of an interactive mobile application, mySolfeggio, for learning solfeggio. Using a mobile device, students can take advantage of visual, auditory and tactile modalities to recognise musical notes. Students can also practice and learn notation, rhythm and melody, for which the mobile application provides corrective feedback. To evaluate students’ perceptions of the mobile application and its effect on knowledge, we conducted an experiment with 42 students, from 9 to 13 years old. After learning a particular song during a regular lesson, one group of students practiced it individually with only the musical notation, while the other group used both the musical notation and the mobile application. The results of the experiment illustrated only a small effect on students’ performance in singing and tapping when using the mobile application. However, they demonstrated higher scores in terms of musical intervals and rhythmic accuracy when compared to students in the control group. The students did not find the use of the application difficult, thus allowing it to be used as a tool for improvement of their homework practice.

Skill Development and Knowledge Acquisition Cultivated by Maker Education: Evidence from Arduino-based Educational Robotics

This study investigated elementary school students’ learning performances and behaviors in a maker education program. An informal after-school learning environment entitled Robot MakerSpace was created at a public elementary school in Taiwan and 30 grade 5 students voluntarily participated in a 16-week educational experiment. The student participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups. Students in the maker group received weekly educational robotics lessons, whereas those in the nonmaker group only engaged in other after-school learning activities such as homework practice in traditional classrooms. Mixed methods research was used for data collection. An experiment with a pretest–posttest and control group design was employed to measure the students’ electrical engineering and computer programming content knowledge and problem-solving skills. In addition, a qualitative approach with an emphasis on filed observation was adopted to evaluate the instructional implementation of the maker education program. The quantitative findings revealed that maker education training significantly improved the electrical engineering and computer programming content knowledge of the students and improved their problem-solving skills. The qualitative findings showed the students required considerable learning support from the instructor such as strategies for software and hardware debugging.

Parents’ perceptions of parent–teacher relationship practices in Dutch primary schools – an exploratory pilot study

ABSTRACTThis paper shows how parents’ perceptions of parent–teacher relationship practices differ between different types of schools with respect to children’s special needs and the socio-economic status of these children. Using a questionnaire, we compare parents’ views from two special education schools, two at-risk schools serving low SES-children, and two mainstream primary education schools in the southern part of the Netherlands. The theoretical framework is based on Epstein’s Model of Parental Involvement. The results illustrate that parents and teachers in special education and at-risk schools are very much accustomed to ‘two-way communication’, in contrast to mainstream schools, and that this is valued highly by these parents. Furthermore, teachers in special and at-risk schools are more familiar with interacting with parents, involve them more in decision-making and more often co-ordinate homework practice with parents.

Predicting Response to an Internet-Delivered Parenting Program for Anxiety in Early Childhood

Previous research has identified factors related to outcome in child anxiety treatment and parent training programs for child behavior problems. However, it is unclear what factors predict outcomes in interventions delivered online to parents of young children at risk of anxiety. This study investigated predictors of child anxiety outcomes among 433 families with young children (3–6 years) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Cool Little Kids Online, an eight-module early intervention program for child anxiety based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Potential predictors included baseline demographic factors, child and parent mental health factors, and indicators of program use, including number of online modules completed and frequency of homework practice. Results showed that only access to a printer moderated intervention effectiveness. Printer access predicted lower child anxiety in the Cool Little Kids Online group, but had no effect on outcomes in the wait-list group. In both groups, higher levels of child anxiety symptoms, child-inhibited temperament, and poorer parent mental health at baseline predicted higher levels of child anxiety symptoms at 6-month follow-up. The amount of online program use was not related to improvements in child anxiety symptoms. However, parents who reported practicing the program skills more frequently showed greater reductions in child anxiety, and access to a printer was related to frequency of program skills practice. These findings provide empirical support for the important role of skills practice in online CBT interventions, and suggest that practicing program skills may be more important than completing the online modules.

Methods of Interoperability: Moodle and WeBWorK

The first requirement for an online mathematics homework engine is to encourage students to practice and reinforce their mathematics skills in ways that are as good or better than traditional paper homework. The use of the computer and the internet should not limit the kind or quality of the mathematics that we teach and, if possible, it should expand it. Now that much of the homework practice takes place online we have the potential of a new and much better window into how students learn mathematics, but only if we continue to ensure that students are studying the mathematics we want them to learn and not just mathematics that is easily gradable. Learning Management Systems handle mathematics questions poorly in general but when properly combined with specialized mathematics question engines, they can do much better and still retain their own look and feel for managing a course and collecting data. This paper presents an overview of two interoperation mechanisms developed to connect Moodle (an LMS) and WeBWorK (a mathematics question engine) for use in the WEPS (World Educational Portals) Open Online Courses. It provides a preview of the type of data that can be collected using these tools.

Demonstration of an Integrated Treatment for Smoking Cessation and Anxiety Symptoms in People With HIV: A Clinical Case Study

Despite high rates of co-occurring tobacco use and anxiety symptoms and disorders among persons with HIV, evidence-based interventions for these individuals are not yet available. The present study sought to evaluate an integrated treatment model addressing smoking cessation and anxiety sypmtoms among HIV-positive smokers. Treatment was an 8-week intervention integrating a standard smoking cessation protocol (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy [CBT], nicotine replacement therapy) with CBT for anxiety. Inclusion criteria were 18–65years of age, ≥10 cigarettes/day, State–Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI-T] score of >39, and moderate motivation (i.e., ≥5 out of 10 on a 10-point Likert scale) to quit smoking. Primary outcomes included scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and cigarettes smoked per day. Self-reported abstinence was biochemically verified by carbon monoxide breath analysis. Three male participants (mean age 49.3, SD=9.1) completed through 2-month follow-up. At baseline all participants reported smoking an average of 20 cigarettes per day. Two participants quit smoking and maintained abstinence by the 2-month follow-up, and demonstrated a reduction in ASI scores. Participant 3 continued to smoke but at a reduced rate. Participants’ response to cognitive and behavioral strategies (e.g., creating balanced thoughts, interoceptive exposures) will be discussed. Clinical lessons learned include use of a flexible approach to cognitive restructuring, use of imaginal and in vivo exposures in session to better prepare patients for homework practice, and flexibility in delivering the treatment in an individual or group format. This clinical presentation provides preliminary support for the feasibility and initial effectiveness of an integrated treatment to reduce anxiety symptoms and aid in smoking cessation in anxious, HIV-positive smokers.

Researching for better instructional methods using AB experiments in MOOCs: results and challenges.

We conducted two AB experiments (treatment vs. control) in a massive open online course. The first experiment evaluates deliberate practice activities (DPAs) for developing problem solving expertise as measured by traditional physics problems. We find that a more interactive drag-and-drop format of DPA generates quicker learning than a multiple choice format but DPAs do not improve performance on solving traditional physics problems more than normal homework practice. The second experiment shows that a different video shooting setting can improve the fluency of the instructor which in turn improves the engagement of the students although it has no significant impact on the learning outcomes. These two cases demonstrate the potential of MOOC AB experiments as an open-ended research tool but also reveal limitations. We discuss the three most important challenges: wide student distribution, “open-book” nature of assessments, and large quantity and variety of data. We suggest possible methods to cope with those.

Practice Is Protective: Mindfulness Training Promotes Cognitive Resilience in High-Stress Cohorts

Attention is critical for successful performance in demanding real-world situations. Yet, protracted periods of high demand may compromise attention and increase off-task thinking. Herein, we investigate if mindfulness training (MT) may promote cognitive resilience by curbing attentional lapses in high-stress cohorts. Two military cohorts were recruited during their high-stress predeployment interval. Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT)® was provided to one group (MT, N = 31) but not the other group (military control group, MC, N = 24). The MT group attended an 8-week MMFT® course and logged the amount of out-of-class time spent practicing formal MT exercises. The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) was used to index objective attentional performance and subjective ratings of mind wandering before (T1) and after (T2) the MT course. In the MT group, changes in SART measures correlated with the amount of time spent engaging in MT homework practice, with greater objective performance benefits (indexed by A′, a sensitivity measure), and reduced subjective reports of mind wandering over time in those who engaged in high practice vs. low practice. Performance measures in the low practice and MC groups significantly declined from T1 to T2. In contrast, the high practice group remained stable over time. These results suggest that engaging in sufficient MT practice may protect against attentional lapses over high-demand intervals. Based on these results, we argue that MT programs emphasizing greater engagement in mindfulness practice should be further investigated as a route by which to build cognitive resilience in high-stress cohorts.

Evaluation of a Specialized Yoga Program for Persons Admitted to a Complex Continuing Care Hospital: A Pilot Study.

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a specialized yoga intervention for inpatients in a rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital. Design. Single-cohort repeated measures design. Methods. Participants (N = 10) admitted to a rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital were recruited to participate in a 50–60 min Hatha Yoga class (modified for wheelchair users/seated position) once a week for eight weeks, with assigned homework practice. Questionnaires on pain (pain, pain interference, and pain catastrophizing), psychological variables (depression, anxiety, and experiences with injustice), mindfulness, self-compassion, and spiritual well-being were collected at three intervals: pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. Results. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed a significant main effect of time indicating improvements over the course of the yoga program on the (1) anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, F(2,18) = 4.74, p < .05, and η p 2 = .35, (2) Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form, F(2,18) = 3.71, p < .05, and η p 2 = .29, and (3) Magnification subscale of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, F(2,18) = 3. 66, p < .05, and η p 2 = .29. Discussion. The results suggest that an 8-week Hatha Yoga program improves pain-related factors and psychological experiences in individuals admitted to a rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital.

Therapy on the Move

The present research investigated the use of a Smartphone App as an adjunct in the treatment of a range of anxiety disorders. The primary aim of the App was to increase client adherence to between session therapy tasks, involving homework practice of a range of skills and tasks known to be associated with successful treatment of anxiety disorders. Homework is an important component of many therapeutic approaches, allowing clients to practise therapeutic skills between sessions, as well as providing continuity between sessions (Freeman &amp; Rosenfield, 2002). Greater client adherence to homework tasks has been associated with improved treatment outcomes, and may be particularly important for reducing the risk of relapse (Scheel, Hanson, &amp; Razzhavaikina, 2004). However, despite the benefits of engagement with homework tasks, client adherence to these activities can often be a significant barrier to treatment (Addis &amp; Jacobson, 2000; Burns &amp; Nolenhoeksema, 1991; Detweiler &amp; Whisman, 1999; Detweiler-Bedell &amp; Whisman, 2005). It is also one area in which the use of adjunctive technologies may have the greatest impact. The aim of this paper was to describe the development and pilot testing of a therapeutic Smartphone application, namely, PsychAssist. This application was designed as an adjunct to face-to-face therapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders among adults. The App was developed with the purpose of enhancing client engagement and adherence to between session (homework) tasks to improve maintenance and generalization of therapeutic behaviours.

Efficacy of an Eight-Week Yoga Intervention on Symptoms of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS): A Pilot Study

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common and highly burdensome sleep disorder. While relaxation therapies, including yoga, are often recommended for RLS management, rigorous supporting research is sparse. The goal of this preliminary study was to assess the effects of yoga on RLS symptoms and related outcomes in women with RLS. Participants were 13 nonsmoking women with moderate to severe RLS, who did not have diabetes, sleep apnea, or other serious concomitant chronic conditions, and who were not pregnant. The intervention was a gentle, 8-week Iyengar yoga program. Core outcomes assessed pre- and post-treatment were RLS symptoms and symptom severity (International RLS Scale [IRLS] and RLS ordinal scale), sleep quality (Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale), mood (Profile of Mood States), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale). Participants also completed yoga logs and a brief exit questionnaire regarding their experience with the study. Ten (10) women, aged 32-66 years, completed the study. Participants attended an average 13.4±0.5 (of 16 possible) classes, and completed a mean of 4.1±0.3 (of 5 possible) homework sessions/week. At follow-up, participants demonstrated striking reductions in RLS symptoms and symptom severity, with symptoms decreasing to minimal/mild in all but 1 woman and no participant scoring in the severe range by week 8. Effect sizes (Cohen's d) were large: 1.6 for IRLS total, and 2.2 for RLS ordinal scale. IRLS scores declined significantly with increasing minutes of homework practice per session (r=0.70, p=0.025) and total homework minutes (r=0.64, p<0.05), suggesting a possible dose-response relation. Participants also showed significant improvements in sleep, perceived stress, and mood (all p's≤0.02), with effect sizes ranging from 1.0 to 1.6. These preliminary findings suggest that yoga may be effective in attenuating RLS symptoms and symptom severity, reducing perceived stress, and improving sleep and mood in women with RLS.

The Effectiveness of the Attention Training Technique in Reducing Intrusive Thoughts in Schizophrenia

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the attention training technique (ATT) on the frequency of intrusive thoughts experienced by a person with schizophrenia in her daily life. The attentional procedure was designed to attenuate self-focused attention and to reinforce attentional control and consisted of auditory external exercises. Homework practice was included to promote transfer to everyday life. The efficacy and specificity of the ATT were assessed with cognitive, functional, and control measures. The impact of ATT on symptomatology, work functioning, and self-esteem was also measured. Postrehabilitation results showed that, after nine training sessions, there was a reduction in intrusive thoughts for the cognitive and ecological outcome measures. Selective attention, attention switching, and resistance to distractive interference specifically improved. The person reported a reduction in intrusive thoughts in her daily life. In addition, positive symptoms decreased. Finally, a 6-month follow-up assessment revealed the maintenance of most of the beneficial effects in daily life.

P02-64 - Understanding the impact of meditative homework on depression in the context of mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT): An interpretative phenomenological analysis

NICE guidelines indicate one in five people will suffer from depression at some point in their lives with relapse rates of 50–80% in those who have experienced one or more episodes of depression (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE], 2007). By 2020, depression is predicted to be the second largest cause of death or disability and consequently there is a need to explore and develop the ways of working with depression. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group psycho-educational treatment designed to reduce the risk of recurrent depression by integrating mindfulness based meditation practices with cognitive therapy techniques (Segal, Williams, &amp; Teasdale, 2002). MBCT comprises eight weekly two-hour group sessions with additional time for meditative homework practice. As yet, little is known about how patients experience meditative homework assignments in a UK public health setting. This study examines subjective accounts of the meaning of carrying out meditative homework assignments in terms of impact on the self as well as an exploration of barriers and facilitating factors from a participant's perspective. Six Individual in-depth interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim and an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach was used to analyse the data. Results focus on perceived facilitating factors and difficulties experienced in carrying out meditative homework as well as implications for clinical practice in the prevention of recurrent depression. Transformation of participant’s experience of the self and social relatedness as a consequence of meditative homework is discussed in relation to existing psychological literature and the practise of MBCT.

The First Word: Homework's Theory, Research, and Practice

The First Word: Homework's Theory, Research, and Practice

The cultural pedagogy of errors: teacher Wang’s homework practice in teaching geometric proofs

This study examines the mediating role of homework in the daily practice of a middle‐school mathematics teacher and her colleagues in Shanghai. It aims to explore how a system of homework activities mediates and engenders a cultural pedagogy characterized by transforming errors into resources for teaching and learning. The transformation itself embodies teacher learning processes tied up with making sense of errors and providing feedback and pedagogical support to help as many students as possible to ‘get it right’. The findings of the study raise important questions about what teaching entails, and how to organize teachers’ work so that teacher learning occurs in the process of fostering student learning. This requires a reconceptualization of homework to capitalize on its pedagogical potentials.

Successful treatment of pill-swallowing difficulties with head posture practice

Clinics often encounter neurologically intact patients who are unable to swallow pills. All of the interventions published previously have used traditional behavioural techniques, which are time consuming and often not helpful. To determine whether children who had never been able to swallow a whole pill could become successful as a result of an intervention based on head posture. A novel intervention was developed based on published research showing that changing head position alters swallowing dynamics. The method was developed in two studies of 240 adults and children, pilot tested in a study of 108 university students with very mild pill-swallowing discomfort, and then evaluated in a study of 41 children who had never successfully swallowed a pill in spite of much instruction and coaxing. Children were recruited from a tertiary paediatric hospital: 34 were clinic patients, four were their siblings or friends, and three were children of hospital staff. The primary intervention involved teaching five head positions (centre, up, down, left and right) followed by a two-week period of daily practice. EIGHT CHILDREN (ALL CLINIC REFERRALS) WITHDREW WITHOUT PRACTICING: four were too ill to practice (primarily due to sedation or nausea) and four simply refused to do the homework practice. All 33 of the children who were able and willing to practice daily were successful. Practice with head posture variations was successful in treating pill-swallowing difficulties in all 33 children who practiced for 14 days. A training video can be viewed at www.ucalgary.ca/research4kids/pillswallowing.

A Proposal for Including Distance Writing in Couple Therapy

ABSTRACT This proposal introduces distance writing as an alternative approach, by itself or supplementary to face-to-face talk-based therapies, to help couples who want to change destructively repetitive patterns in their relationships in order to improve them. This proposal is based on advances in (1) computers and the Internet, (2) increased use of homework assignments, (3) growth of written homework practice exercises, and (4) low-cost approaches to promote physical and mental health. Three successive stages are proposed: (1) therapists' initial face-to-face session with preliminary assignment of written tasks, (2) couples completing task assignments and written homework practice exercises (on the Internet, fax, or mail) as being contingent on continuing to seeing the therapist, and (3) couples meeting to talk face-to-face with the therapist after completion of assigned tasks.

Online Homework versus Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Pedagogical Support for Transaction Analysis and Recording

ABSTRACT: Prior research demonstrates that students learn more from homework practice when using online homework or intelligent tutoring systems than a paper-and-pencil format. However, no accounting education research directly compares the learning effects of online homework systems with the learning effects of intelligent tutoring systems. This paper presents a quasi-experiment that compares the two systems and finds that students’ transaction analysis performance increased at a significantly faster rate when they used an intelligent tutoring system rather than an online homework system. Implications for accounting instructors and researchers are discussed.

Online Homework versus Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Pedagogical Support for Transaction Analysis and Recording

This paper describes a quasi-experiment conducted to evaluate the relative impact of an online homework management system and an artificially intelligent (AI) tutoring system on the learning that students derive from homework practice. Empirical findings show that when one group of students completed a homework assignment using the AI tutor, their subsequent test performance was greater than a comparable group of students who completed the same homework problems using a textbook publisher's online homework management system. When the AI tutor was removed from the first group of students and given to the other group, the pattern of performance differences was reversed. Implications for accounting instructors and future research opportunities are discussed.

New Mind/Body Tactics Target Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms and Fears

AN ESTIMATED 12% OF PRIMARY care patients report persistent physical symptoms for which no good medical explanation can be found. These patients make heavy demands on a physician’s time. Despite a physician’s assertion that nothing is wrong, they request further tests or procedures. Many physicians regard such patients as refractory. These patients are not happy with their physicians, either. Their pain, fatigue, weakness, gastrointestinal disturbances, or other physical symptoms cause emotional distress and often hinder their ability to work, care for a family, and see friends. Some fear they have a fatal illness. They regard a referral to a psychiatrist as dismissive of the validity of their concerns. They often “doctor shop.” The growing integration of psychiatry with primary care offers new strategies for helping these individuals, according to speakers at a symposium on the treatment of somatoform disorders at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in Atlanta this past summer. Better treatment might well cut health care costs, too, according to Arthur Barsky, MD, co-chair of the symposium and director of psychiatric research at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass. He and Harvard Medical School colleagues found that somatizing patients use twice as many outpatient and inpatient medical care services as nonsomatizing patients do, at twice the annual cost (Barsky et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62:903-910). The more physical symptoms a patient reports, the more likely he or she has a psychiatric disorder, said Javier Escobar, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in Piscataway, NJ. “Just counting physical symptoms is a good way to screen for psychopathology,” he said. Involvement of several organ systems predicts greater disability. Members of some ethnic groups— Latinos, for example, Escobar said— are more likely than others to express mental distress through physical symptoms (Lewis-Fernandez et al. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2005;18:282-296). A physician’s sensitivity to cultural differences in patients’ experience and reporting of symptoms can improve rates of detection of psychiatric disorders, he asserted. With funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Escobar and colleagues assessed the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in 180 adults with multiple unexplained physical symptoms, with and without concurrent depression or anxiety symptoms, recruited at an urban clinic with a large Latino population. Half were randomly assigned to receive 10 weekly, hour-long individual CBT sessions with a psychologist. The therapy, designed for a medical population and adapted to low-income, Spanish-speaking patients, targeted physical symptoms. Using a step-bystep management program, therapists worked to engage the patient, highlight the benign nature of the physical symptoms, and change negative perceptions of the symptoms, relating them to stressful events. Therapists also taught breathing and relaxation exercises, assigning homework practice. Patients in the control group received no CBT therapy; their physicians received a letter outlining treatment “do’s and don’ts,” such as “see at regular intervals,” “reassure,” and “do not tell patient it’s all in his/her head.” Researchers followed up patients for 12 months after the CBT sessions ended. Preliminary findings in the first Error bars indicate SE. Source: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62:903-910. Effects of Somatization and Psychiatric Disorders on Medical Care Utilization