Tag: Educational Foundations

The Relationship Between Students’ Approach to Learning and Future Thinking in a Science Class

Presenter: Madeleine Smith – Neuroscience, Psychology, and Educational Foundations

Faculty Mentor(s): Jenefer Husman, Sara Hodges

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Supporting student motivation in post-secondary introductory science courses is an important step in increasing student retention in STEM fields. Prior research has focused on a variable- centered approach to students’ motivation to learn, but a person-centered approach to looking at the relationship between self-regulated learning and motivation variables is necessary. Additionally, research suggests that students’ future goals and their perception of the future influences their performance in school. This study aimed to identify the relationship between future thinking and motivational and self-regulated learning profiles. 385 participants were recruited from an introductory science course at a large Northwest university and completed an online self-report survey on their motivation, goal orientation, self-regulation, knowledge building strategies, and future thinking. K-means cluster analysis indicated that there are three motivational and self-regulated learning profiles. A multinomial logistic regression was conducted and showed that students’ actions towards their future goals are a stronger predictor of their profile adoption than the clarity of their future goals. Understanding the relationship between students’ future thinking and their adoption of learning profiles can help post-secondary science instructors alter course structure to support student motivation and self-regulated learning.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’ Relationship with and Reclamation of Tumwata

Presenter: Catelynn Henion − Educational Foundations

Faculty Mentor(s): Leilani Sabzalian

Session: (Virtual) Creative Work—Connection, Escapism, Poetry and Exercise

In 2019, The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde purchased land at Tumwata (Willamette Falls). The falls are of great cultural significance to the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, and the purchase of this land is a reclamation of part of the Tribe’s ancestral homelands.

This project began in my class EDST 456 Decolonization and Education, taught by Dr. Lelani Sabzalian. The goal of my project was to answer the following questions, “how would one teach about Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s relationship and reclamation of the Tumwata land” and “what foundational knowledge is necessary for students to contextualize this reclamation within a larger scope of the settler-colonial society in which we live?”

I created a website to answer these questions and prepare myself to contextualize and teach about this relationship and reclamation in the future; this website serves as a compilation of resources. With the mentorship of Dr. Sabzalian, I have grown the scope of my project. This website is a work in progress and is not an exhaustive list of information or resources but rather a starting point for me as a white settler, student, and future educator to engage in critical conversations, actions, and lessons about the falls respectfully and responsibly.

Overwhelmed: A Collection of Short Stories Illustrating Diverse Mental Health Struggles

Presenter: Jordan Coen − Educational Foundations

Faculty Mentor(s): Elizabeth Wallace

(Virtual) Creative Work—Connection, Escapism, Poetry and Exercise

For these four pieces, I decided to explore different mental health struggles through both nonfiction and fiction. In order to do this, I explored different styles in each one. In Panic Atta-, I told the story in chronological order of my earlier panic attacks by noting the dates that I experienced them. In Dr . Dooley, I wrote the story, which is the beginning of my memoir that I’m working on, in second person because by using second person, my readers will feel as if they’re the main character and I think that’s important for Dr . Dooley. For Finally Seeing Clearly, I drew from my experience of emotional abuse and put that into Adiana’s character. Additionally, I wrote Finally Seeing Clearly in two different perspectives because I think when writing about abuse that it’s important to see other people’s perspectives, especially, from friends. I can personally relate to each of these stories, whether that be a nonfiction piece that happened to me or a fiction piece in which part of the story is true for me. Last summer, I was introduced to writing nonfiction and fell in love with the genre–I’m grateful to be able to share some of my writing.

Unrequited: Poems Devoted to One-Sided Love

Presenter: Jordan Coen − Educational Foundations

Faculty Mentor(s): Elizabeth Wallace

(Virtual) Creative Work—Connection, Escapism, Poetry and Exercise

For these three pieces, I explored one-sided love and how it feels . I believe one-sided love is something that needs more light shed on it, and I want to be a part of that effort . To convey how one-sided love looks and feels, I used different types of poetry–a sonnet titled Sour Love, a free verse titled It Didn’t Click, and a rhyming poem titled Candy Consumed . For It Didn’t Click, I wanted the poem to not only sound, but also look like how I felt during the time in which the poem is set . When I bolded any words in this poem, it was for emphasis just as when words or sentences went up or down like stairs . For Candy Consumed, I was challenged to work with a candy theme for a contest . The poem had to be angry, and it had to be rhyming, so I decided to write about my first, and only break-up . I’m very close to all three of these pieces, as they address my experiences .

Planning for the Future: The International Future Time Orientation and Life Project Scales

Presenter(s): Madeleine Smith—Educational Foundations

Faculty Mentor(s): Jenefer Husman

Throughout the years, extensive research has been done on what influences people’s decisions . What prompts a student to apply to one school over another? Do future goals really influence a student’s academic performance in a class? Researchers have found that psychological future and personal goals play a vital role in an individual’s present behavior, decision making, and self-concept . More specifically, future time orientation (FTO) is the degree to which people’s thoughts of the future influence their present-day actions (Husman & Lens, 1999) . Similarly, the theory of Life Project (LP) refers to a set of short to long-term goals that shape self-concept and identity (Little, Salmela-Aro, & Phillips, 2017) . This project will develop an International Future Time Orientation Scale and Life Project Scale working in conjunction with research teams in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Uruguay, and the United States . FTO and LP constructs have recently been created by Portuguese research teams . The remaining research teams will conduct focus groups for construct evaluation . This evaluation will focus on main constructs such as distance, connectedness, and extension from FTO as well as organization, engagement, and identity from LP . The structures of both scales’ factors will be analyzed quantitatively with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis . The development of reliable international FTO and LP scales are a necessary instrument as they could be applicable to larger populations . Overall, this exciting research focuses on what influences an individual’s decisions and can greatly benefit prospective psychological and educational studies .