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In response to the recent publication and media coverage of several books that support educating boys and girls separately, more public schools in the United States are beginning to offer same-sex schooling options. Indeed, students may be more comfortable interacting solely with same-sex peers, as boys and girls often have

In response to the recent publication and media coverage of several books that support educating boys and girls separately, more public schools in the United States are beginning to offer same-sex schooling options. Indeed, students may be more comfortable interacting solely with same-sex peers, as boys and girls often have difficulty in their interactions with each other; however, given that boys and girls often interact beyond the classroom, researchers must discover why boys and girls suffer difficult other-sex interactions and determine what can be done to improve them. We present two studies aimed at examining such processes. Both studies were conducted from a dynamical systems perspective that highlights the role of variability in dyadic social interactions to capture temporal changes in interpersonal coordination. The first focused on the utility of applying dynamics to the study of same- and mixed-sex interactions and examined the relation of the quality of those interactions to participants' perceptions of their interaction partners. The second study was an extension of the first, examining how dynamical dyadic coordination affected students' self-perceived abilities and beliefs in science, with the intention of examining social predictors of girls' and women's under-representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
ContributorsDiDonato, Matthew D (Author) / Martin, Carol L (Thesis advisor) / Amazeen, Polemnia G (Committee member) / Hanish, Laura D. (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The present study tested 1) whether children’s bedtimes, wake times, and sleep

durations change as they transition into kindergarten (TtoK), 2) if changes to children’s

sleep schedules were contingent on their pre-kindergarten (T1) napping status and if T1

bedtimes were related to fall (T2) and spring (T3) bedtimes and durations, and 3) whether

T1

The present study tested 1) whether children’s bedtimes, wake times, and sleep

durations change as they transition into kindergarten (TtoK), 2) if changes to children’s

sleep schedules were contingent on their pre-kindergarten (T1) napping status and if T1

bedtimes were related to fall (T2) and spring (T3) bedtimes and durations, and 3) whether

T1 sleep, changes to sleep from T1 to T2, and concurrent sleep quality were related to

academic achievement and participation in 51 kindergarteners. It was hypothesized that

1) wake times would be earlier and sleep duration would be shorter during kindergarten

(T2 and T3) than at T1, 2) children who napped at T1 would go to bed later and have

shorter sleep duration than their non-napping peers and T1 bedtimes would be positively

associated with T2 and T3 bedtimes and negatively associated with T2 and T3 durations,

and 3) more optimal sleep (e.g., consolidated, consistent, and high quality) would be

positively related to academic achievement and participation. Parents reported on

children’s bedtimes, wake times, and nap lengths during T1, T2, and T3. During T3

children wore actigraphs for five consecutive school nights and completed the Woodcock

Johnson tests of achievement (WJ-III). Teachers also reported on children’s participation

in the classroom during T3. Results demonstrated that bedtimes and wake times were

earlier at T2 and T3 than T1. Duration was shorter at T2 and T3 than T1. Additionally,

napping was unrelated to bedtimes and durations, but T1 bedtime was positively related

to T2 and T3 bedtimes and negatively related to T2 and T3 durations. Finally, T1 nap

length, change in bedtimes, and Actigraphy duration were negatively related to

participation. Actigraphy onset variability was positively related to participation.
ContributorsBerger, Rebecca Hilary (Author) / Valiente, Carlos (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Thirty percent of engineering students suffer from extremely severe stress, which is associated with poor academic performance, decreased motivation, and poor mental health. As a result, new, effective techniques must be developed to improve student outcomes. A potential technique that could be valuable in the classroom is persuasion techniques. There

Thirty percent of engineering students suffer from extremely severe stress, which is associated with poor academic performance, decreased motivation, and poor mental health. As a result, new, effective techniques must be developed to improve student outcomes. A potential technique that could be valuable in the classroom is persuasion techniques. There are six primary persuasion techniques: reciprocity, liking, social proof, scarcity, commitment, and authority (coercive and expert). Persuasion has been studied exhaustively with respect to altering behavior (e.g., sales, compliance), but has only briefly been studied in education. Studies show that positive student-teacher relationships can improve grades, positive peer relationships can improve mental health, and coercive power can increase stress. No studies have examined all persuasion techniques with respect to student outcomes, and this study aims to fill that gap. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of persuasion techniques in the classroom to improve mental health and enhance academic outcomes. I hypothesized that methods that enhance community and improve sense of belonging (reciprocity, commitment, liking, social proof) will lead to better academic and mental health outcomes, and methods associated with negative professor attitudes (coercive authority) will lead to poor academic and mental health outcomes. To evaluate these hypotheses, a sample of 336 university students were surveyed to see which persuasion techniques they perceived their professors to use and examine the effects of these on academic outcomes (grades, attendance, assignments) and mental health outcomes (engagement, positive impact, stress, well-being, executive function). The data partially supports the hypotheses, with various student academic and mental health outcomes significantly improving with higher use of liking, social proof, commitment, and expert authority, and worsening with higher use of coercive authority. In conclusion, by teaching professors to use liking, social proof, expert authority, and commitment in their classrooms while decreasing coercive techniques, professors can effectively improve student grades and mental health.
ContributorsPautz, Daniella Joy (Author) / Honeycutt, Claire F (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Barbara S (Committee member) / Middleton, James A (Committee member) / Krause, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023