Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The problem-based critical incident technique, pioneered by Dr. John Flanagan, an industrial psychologist has been used since the early 1940s in a wide variety of situations. Typically, interviews or small groups are used to collect data, although more recently, the technique has been applied to classroom groups and small seminars in the form of writing exercises. Respondents are asked to provide possible solutions to posed events or problems and to provide feedback about their understanding of the class content, problem or event, text reading, or occupational experiences. Analysis and assessment of responses has helped to uncover the dynamics influencing successful performance, and can be used as direct evidence of what students are learning. Furthermore, this technique has the potential to be especially helpful in developing guidelines for learning outcomes and academic excellence. This study has developed two critical incidents that can be used in the political science classroom as a means to evaluate student learning (outcome assessments) as both direct evidence and indirect evidence. These assessments address issues of learning outcome in diverse classrooms with a focus upon inequity and diverse learning styles. These instruments can be used across the global sphere in on-line educational courses to gap the divide that a virtual classroom brings to the educational experience.

Publication Type: Scholar to Scholar
Abstract: For the past 14 summers students from Brigham Young University Idaho have traveled to Chicago to work with Inner City Youth ages 9-15. These college students teach Chicago youth communication skills, coping skills, and faith in themselves and those around them. Dissertation research, student papers, photographs and video footage tell the story of the learning that occurs between the students and youth of Chicago. It is yet to be determined who learns the most.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to use quantitative survey methodology triangulated with qualitative interviews to explore faculty perceptions in four key areas of service learning in public relations programs: 1) conceptualization, 2) outcomes, 3) institutional support, and 4) instructional techniques. Results indicated that similar to findings in other disciplines, course goals reflected four different types of stated learning outcomes: 1) application to real-world settings, 2) teamwork, 3) interactions with PR clients, and 4) civic responsibility. All respondents assessed learning outcomes through final service-learning projects.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Although the positive relationship between teacher credibility and learning is well-documented, no prior studies have ever examined how teacher credibility affects learning. The primary goal of this study was to propose a credibility-learning model and to test the model in U. S., Chinese, German, and Japanese classrooms. Participants included 695 college students from the four cultures. Using structural equation modeling, an etic credibility-learning model was generated from the common significant paths of the hypothesized model across the four cultures. Overall, teacher credibility had only indirect effect on cognitive learning mediated through affective learning and motivation consecutively. Specifically, teacher competence and caring first increased affective learning, which then affected motivation, which in turn influenced cognitive learning, but teacher trustworthiness had neither direct nor indirect effect on affective learning, motivation, or cognitive learning. Additionally, the results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the three-factor model of teacher credibility applied across the four cultures.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: The first panelists begin the dialogue by examining students’ first campus experience with the Welcome Weekend event which the university hosts for new students arriving on campus. They then discuss their efforts in connecting upper-level students with local service-learning events. It is when students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom with the realities of others less fortunate than them that they gain insight into diversity. Some of the students travel to remote villages in Central America, where they learn firsthand about great need and how much they can contribute. Through the different approaches employed, the panelists learned a considerable amount about students, themselves and the communities where they work.