scholarly journals Learning in the Laboratory: How Group Assignments Affect Motivation and Performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
John R. Belanger
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Point ◽  
First Year ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Social Loafing ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Performance

<p>Team projects can optimize educational resources in a laboratory, but also create the potential for social loafing. Allowing students to choose their own groups could increase their motivation to learn and improve academic performance. To test this hypothesis, final grades and feedback from students were compared for the same course in two different years, one with and one without fixed group arrangements. Seniors of the United States Military Academy at West Point were divided into groups of three or four to complete chemical engineering lab projects during the fall semesters of 2014 and 2015. In the first year, 21 cadets remained in instructor-assigned teams for the duration of the course. The next year, 23 cadets were initially assigned groups, but then allowed to choose their own teammates for the second half of the semester. There was no significant difference in graded performance between the two years, although cadet feedback was interesting. When cadets had the option of choosing groups, 65% of survey respondents strongly agreed that their peers had contributed to their learning, versus 40% when groups were not allowed to change. When asked if their motivation to learn or their critical thinking ability had increased, fewer respondents in the second year strongly agreed with either statement. While these results are not conclusive, a wider implementation of team-focused learning currently underway at West Point will offer a robust dataset and insights on how to get group work to work well in science and engineering education.</p>

The relationship between chemistry self-efficacy of South African first year university students and their academic performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Ramnarain ◽  
Sam Ramaila
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
The Self ◽  
First Year ◽  
Psychomotor Skills ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigated the self-efficacy of first-year Chemistry students at a South African university. The research involved a quantitative survey of 333 students using the College Chemistry Self-Efficacy Scale (CCSS) developed by Uzuntiryaki and Capa Aydin (2009). Descriptive statistics on data for the CCSS scales suggested that students have positive beliefs in their capability to accomplish chemistry tasks. The students scored more strongly on the self-efficacy constructs of cognitive and psychomotor skills than on everyday application. There was a significant difference between students of different professional orientations for cognitive skills and everyday applications, with students enrolled for Chemical Engineering having the highest mean scores for these constructs. A multiple regression analysis was run in order to explore the relationship between chemistry self-efficacy and performance in a chemistry examination. The analysis indicated that cognitive skills significantly predicted chemistry performance, while psychomotor skills and everyday applications had no significant impact. The implications for research and instruction are discussed in terms of the relationship between chemistry self-efficacy and performance.

Training character: Character attributes and performance profiles among cadets at the United States military academy

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Elise D. Murray ◽  
Hillary S. Schaefer ◽  
Kristina S. Callina ◽  
Jeremiah J. Powers ◽  
Michael D. Matthews ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Military Academy ◽  
United States Military ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Performance Profiles ◽  
And Performance

Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Injury Among Collegiate Marching Band and Color Guard Members

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Beckett ◽  
Lindsey Seidelman ◽  
William J Hanney ◽  
Xinliang Liu ◽  
Carey E Rothschild
Keyword(s):  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Associated Factors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Musculoskeletal Injury ◽  
Marching Band ◽  
Electronic Survey ◽  
Repetitive Nature ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Marching Bands ◽  
And Performance

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal injury (MSI) in collegiate marching band and color guard members and the associated factors. Methods: An electronic survey was developed and delivered via the Qualtrics survey platform to collegiate marching band and color guard members in the United States. Information collected included demographics; years of experience; training and performance characteristics; footwear worn; instrument played/equipment used; participation in stretching/strengthening programs; injury prevalence and type; treatment sought for injury; and participation time lost due to injury. Results: There were 1,379 (792 female, 587 male) members of 21 collegiate marching bands who completed the survey. Respondents had an average age of 19.8 yrs, height 171.9 cm, weight 72.3 kg, and BMI 24.4 kg/m2. Twenty-five percent of respondents reported sustaining a MSI as a result of participating in marching band or color guard. Females were 20% more likely to sustain a MSI and 87.7% of MSI involved the lower extremity. A significant difference in BMI was found between those who did and did not sustain a MSI (p=0.014). Conclusions: Members of collegiate marching band and color guard may be at risk of sustaining a MSI due to the repetitive nature of the activities performed during practice and performance. The lower extremity is more prone to injury, and a higher BMI may be a risk factor for MSI in this population.

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