Keithia Lynne Wilson

Feedback on assessment: students' perceptions of quality and effectiveness

This paper investigated students’ perceptions of written assignment feedback. In the first study students (n = 57) reflected on the feedback they had received on a range of assessment tasks and described aspects of helpful and unhelpful assessor comments. A content analysis of student descriptions was undertaken to identify the domain of criteria students reported using to evaluate the quality of written feedback provided on assessment. In the second study a questionnaire was developed to reflect the aspects of students’ evaluation of assessment feedback. Factor analysis of students’ (n = 277) ratings revealed three dimensions in the structure of their perceptions of marker feedback: developmental, encouraging and fair feedback. While all feedback dimensions were positively correlated with ratings of effectiveness, developmental feedback was most strongly associated with students’ evaluations of effective assessment feedback.

Action Learning in Higher Education: an investigation of its potential to develop professional capability

This study investigated the extent to which a course, designed using peer and action learning principles to function as an ‘on campus practicum’, can develop the professional capabilities of students. As part of their formal coursework, third year behavioural science students, functioning as ‘student consultants’, entered into a ‘client–consultant’ relationship with first and second year ‘student client’ groups. Both groups of students reported positive learning outcomes. Third year student consultants reported using less surface and more deep approaches to their learning in this course design than in concurrent courses taught along more conventional (i.e. lecture and tutorial) lines. Students also reported significantly greater development of meta‐adaptive skills (e.g. learning to learn) than in conventional teaching designs.

Do Couples at High Risk of Relationship Problems Attend Premarriage Education

The effectiveness of premarriage education is limited by whether couples at high risk of future marital problems attend such education. In the current study, 374 newly married couples were assessed on a range of risk factors for future marital problems as well as whether they had attended marriage education. Couples with certain indices of relationship risk (nonreligious and premarital cohabitation) were underrepresented in premarriage education. Suggestions are offered to attract more couples, particularly those at high risk for future problems, to relationship education.

Assessing how much couples work at their relationship: The behavioral self-regulation for effective relationships scale

It is widely believed that satisfying couple relationships require work by the partners. The authors equated the concept of work to relationship self-regulation and developed a scale to assess this construct. A factor analysis of the scale in a sample of 187 newlywed couples showed it comprised 2 factors of relationship strategies and effort. The factor structure was replicated in an independent sample of 97 newlywed couples. In both samples the scale had good internal consistency and high convergent validity between self- and partner-report forms. Self-regulation accounted for substantial variance in relationship satisfaction in both newlywed samples and in a 3rd sample of 61 long-married couples. The self-regulation and satisfaction association was independent of mood or self-report common method variance.

Evaluation of a peer support program for women with breast cancer—lessons for practitioners

The present study aimed to describe how a volunteer peer support service assists women with breast cancer, and provides guidelines for practitioners in the development and implementation of such programmes. A two-phase evaluation of a breast cancer peer support program was undertaken to describe important attributes of the peer support intervention, the impact of the volunteer visit on womens self-reports of anxiety, and key indicators of a successful volunteer visit. Phase 1 included focus groups with 57 women previously treated for breast cancer. Phase 2 included a survey of 245 women also treated previously for breast cancer and visited by a Breast Cancer Support Volunteer. The key aspect of the peer support process was the bond of common experience leading to a decrease in social isolation, an increase in optimism about the future and reassurance about personal reactions and femininity. It is recommended that peer support programmes should aim to time support visits to coincide with the time when patient support needs are highest, that volunteers need to be recruited from a range of backgrounds and matched to patients most similar to them in way of life, and that peer support services should be embedded in a broad network of community support services. Copyright

Student participation in university governance: the role conceptions and sense of efficacy of student representatives on departmental committees

The role and contribution of students to the governance of university departments is a relatively neglected area of inquiry. This study investigated the factors which student representatives perceived to help or hinder their effectiveness as student members of departmental committees. Twenty students from a range of disciplines were interviewed about their experiences in the student representative role. Students reported complex motivations and conceptions of the representative role and were particularly sensitive to the perceptions and expectations of academic staff. Role ambiguity was the greatest challenge reported by student representatives, and the overall effectiveness of the role was perceived to be reliant on the willingness and ability of academic managers and staff to engage in constructive dialogue with students. It is argued that universities need to adopt a more proactive approach to the development and support of student leaders and representatives.

Does working at your marriage help? Couple relationship self-regulation and satisfaction in the first 4 years of marriage.

Relationship self-regulation (SR) is how much partners work at their couple relationship, and it has been hypothesized to predict relationship satisfaction. To test this hypothesis, the authors assessed 191 newlywed couples on SR and relationship satisfaction annually for 5 years. They conducted a multilevel analysis predicting satisfaction with SR as a time-varying covariate. The intercept and slope of relationship satisfaction varied across participants, and the slope showed an average slight decline for both men and women. There was mixed support for the primary hypothesis. SR cross-sectionally and prospectively predicted the intercept, but it did not predict the slope, of relationship satisfaction.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Self-Managed Learning Groups: Understanding Students' Choices and Concerns.

Self‐managed learning groups are regularly used in higher education. However, there is little direct evidence as to strategies that can enhance their efficacy, or the factors that influence students’ engagement with the process of self‐management. If students are expected to manage their out‐of‐class collaborative learning experiences, then educators need a better understanding of the social influences on students’ process choices and use of developmental activities. This study investigated the experiences and perceptions of 152 students who were members of self‐managed learning groups. Participation in a formative team‐building activity and a greater frequency of meetings were found to predict perceptions of group effectiveness. Students identified a range of factors (related to themes of risk/safety and development/compliance) that influenced their engagement in developmental activities. Findings are discussed in terms of learning frameworks and implications for self‐managed learning group design.

Couple relationship education at home: does skill training enhance relationship assessment and feedback?

To evaluate the effective components of couple relationship education, 59 newlywed couples were randomly assigned to one of two couple relationship programs (CRE): (1) RELATE, which involved receiving feedback on their relationship based on the on-line RELATE assessment; or (2) RELATE + Couple CARE, which was RELATE plus completing the 6 unit Couple CARE relationship skill training program. Relative to RELATE, RELATE + Couple CARE produced more improvement in couple communication, and high relationship satisfaction across the next 12 months in women. Men sustained high and similar relationship satisfaction in either condition. Skill training CRE has additional benefits for couples beyond assessment and feedback.

University Students' Perceptions of a Fair Learning Environment: A Social Justice Perspective.

This study aimed to identify the manner in which university students construe ‘fair treatment’ and how justice related processes are perceived to influence students’ psychological identification with their academic department. In the first study, 342 undergraduate psychology students completed two questionnaires: one measured various aspects of interpersonal, procedural and outcome fairness in their department, and the other measured their level of psychological identification with the department. Students construed the fairness of their learning environment in terms of two conceptually distinct justice factors: respectful partnership between staff and students reflecting primarily interpersonal justice considerations; and systemic fairness reflecting a concern for accessible information and effective problem‐solving procedures. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that although both justice factors significantly influenced students’ psychological identification with their department, interactional justice concerns (i.e., respectful staff–student partnership) were most strongly predictive. In the second study (n = 87), students’ perceptions of fairness were found to share substantial variance with their ratings on the good teaching and clear goals scales of the Course Experience Questionnaire.