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1. A Digital Single-Session Intervention (Project Engage) to Address Fear of Negative Evaluation Among College Students: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

   https://doi.org/10.2196/48926  

   Ghosh, Arka ; Cohen, Katherine A ; Jans, Laura ; Busch, Carly A ; McDanal, Riley ; Yang, Yuanyuan ; Cooper, Katelyn M ; Schleider, Jessica L ( January 2023 , JMIR Mental Health)

   Increasingly, college science courses are transitioning from a traditional lecture format to active learning because students learn more and fail less frequently when they engage in their learning through activities and discussions in class. Fear of negative evaluation (FNE), defined as a student’s sense of dread associated with being unfavorably evaluated while participating in a social situation, discourages undergraduates from participating in small group discussions, whole class discussions, and conversing one-on-one with instructors.

   This study aims to evaluate the acceptability of a novel digital single-session intervention and to assess the feasibility of implementing it in a large enrollment college science course taught in an active learning way.

   To equip undergraduates with skills to cope with FNE and bolster their confidence, clinical psychologists and biology education researchers developed Project Engage, a digital, self-guided single-session intervention for college students. It teaches students strategies for coping with FNE to bolster their confidence. Project Engage provides biologically informed psychoeducation, uses interactive elements for engagement, and helps generate a personalized action plan. We conducted a 2-armed randomized controlled trial to evaluate the acceptability and the preliminary effectiveness of Project Engage compared with an active control condition that provides information on available resources on the college campus.

   In a study of 282 upper-level physiology students, participants randomized to complete Project Engage reported a greater increase in overall confidence in engaging in small group discussions (P=.01) and whole class discussions (P<.001), but not in one-on-one interactions with instructors (P=.05), from baseline to immediately after intervention outcomes, compared with participants in an active control condition. Project Engage received a good acceptability rating (1.22 on a scale of –2 to +2) and had a high completion rate (>97%).

   This study provides a foundation for a freely available, easily accessible intervention to bolster student confidence for contributing in class.

   OSF Registries osf.io/4ca68 http://osf.io/4ca68

    

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2. Ultra-Short Presentations with Immediate in-Class Public Feedback to Enhance Skill Development with Low Class Time and Instructor Time

   https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2021.1913395  

   Heideman, Paul D. ; Laury, Jessica. E. ( May 2021 , College Teaching)

   The development of oral presentation skills requires multiple opportunities to present and receive focused feedback. In typical discipline-based and general-education courses, class time is precious, and even when oral presentations are part of a course, students may receive only one or two opportunities to present with feedback. Here we describe an approach to develop presentation skills with ultra-short, one-minute presentations followed immediately by brief, supportive, focused, public in-class instructor feedback. Feedback is offered as one positive comment (one thing I liked) and one targeted goal for improvement (one thing to work on). The short time frame maximizes the number of iterative cycles of practice, feedback, and implementation of feedback. This approach was used with students in several semester-long courses offering three to eight opportunities to present. Students took anonymous surveys immediately after the experience and again up to two and a half years post-experience. Over 95% reported that they learned a great deal about how to improve their own presentations by watching other presentations and hearing the instructor’s immediate feedback. Respondents reported lasting gains in skills, increased confidence in their public speaking abilities, and all would recommend the experience to others. 

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3. At-Home use of App-Based Mindfulness for Children: A Randomized Active-Controlled Trial

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02231-3  

   Treves, Isaac N. ; Olson, Halie A. ; Ozernov-Palchik, Ola ; Li, Cindy E. ; Wang, Kimberly L. ; Arechiga, Xochitl M. ; Goldberg, Simon B. ; Gabrieli, John D. E. ( October 2023 , Mindfulness)

   School-based mindfulness interventions in children have shown benefits to child well-being. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of a remote, app-based mindfulness intervention for promoting well-being in children.

   We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two control groups to examine the effects of an 8-week mindfulness intervention in U.S. children ages 8–10. We compared pre-post effects between a mindfulness intervention using theInner Explorerapp, and two audiobook control interventions. The 279 children who participated in the interventions were assessed on self-report measures of anxiety and depression symptoms, perceived stress and trait mindfulness and we also collected parental reports.

   Over 80% of children completed the intervention in each condition. There was evidence for reduced self-perceived stress in children and reduced negative affect in children by parental reports using the mindfulness app, but no significant reduction for anxiety or depression symptoms. In general, between-group effect sizes were small (d < 0.45). Regular use, defined as at least 30 days of mindfulness practice within the study period, was associated with reduced child negative affect by parental reports, as well as reduced parental stress and child self-perceived stress.

   These findings suggest that home use of a mindfulness app in young children can have a positive impact on children’s emotional well-being if the app is used regularly, specifically for at least 30 days in the 8-week study period. Strategies aimed at promoting regular use of the mindfulness app at home could lead to even better outcomes for children.

   Preregistered on OSF athttps://osf.io/23vax

    

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4. Teacher Mindsets Help Explain Where a Growth-Mindset Intervention Does and Doesn’t Work

   https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211028984  

   Yeager, David S. ; Carroll, Jamie M. ; Buontempo, Jenny ; Cimpian, Andrei ; Woody, Spencer ; Crosnoe, Robert ; Muller, Chandra ; Murray, Jared ; Mhatre, Pratik ; Kersting, Nicole ; et al ( December 2021 , Psychological Science)

   A growth-mindset intervention teaches the belief that intellectual abilities can be developed. Where does the intervention work best? Prior research examined school-level moderators using data from the National Study of Learning Mindsets (NSLM), which delivered a short growth-mindset intervention during the first year of high school. In the present research, we used data from the NSLM to examine moderation by teachers’ mindsets and answer a new question: Can students independently implement their growth mindsets in virtually any classroom culture, or must students’ growth mindsets be supported by their teacher’s own growth mindsets (i.e., the mindset-plus-supportive-context hypothesis)? The present analysis (9,167 student records matched with 223 math teachers) supported the latter hypothesis. This result stood up to potentially confounding teacher factors and to a conservative Bayesian analysis. Thus, sustaining growth-mindset effects may require contextual supports that allow the proffered beliefs to take root and flourish.

    

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5. A values-aligned intervention fosters growth mindset–supportive teaching and reduces inequality in educational outcomes

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2210704120  

   Hecht, Cameron A. ; Bryan, Christopher J. ; Yeager, David S. ( June 2023 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   Group-based educational disparities are smaller in classrooms where teachers express a belief that students can improve their abilities. However, a scalable method for motivating teachers to adopt such growth mindset–supportive teaching practices has remained elusive. In part, this is because teachers often already face overwhelming demands on their time and attention and have reason to be skeptical of the professional development advice they receive from researchers and other experts. We designed an intervention that overcame these obstacles and successfully motivated high-school teachers to adopt specific practices that support students’ growth mindsets. The intervention used the values-alignment approach. This approach motivates behavioral change by framing a desired behavior as aligned with a core value—one that is an important criterion for status and admiration in the relevant social reference group. First, using qualitative interviews and a nationally representative survey of teachers, we identified a relevant core value: inspiring students’ enthusiastic engagement with learning. Next, we designed a ~45-min, self-administered, online intervention that persuaded teachers to view growth mindset–supportive practices as a way to foster such student engagement and thus live up to that value. We randomly assigned 155 teachers (5,393 students) to receive the intervention and 164 teachers (6,167 students) to receive a control module. The growth mindset–supportive teaching intervention successfully promoted teachers’ adoption of the suggested practices, overcoming major barriers to changing teachers’ classroom practices that other scalable approaches have failed to surmount. The intervention also substantially improved student achievement in socioeconomically disadvantaged classes, reducing inequality in educational outcomes. 

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