Student Professional Identity and Conference Attendance

Professional Identity (PI) is an important part of Family Life Education’s professional status.  In students, PI is linked to numerous educational practices and outcomes. To examine how attendance at professional conferences relates to PI, we conducted two studies.  In 2011, following a conference, family science students (N=73) responded to a retrospective pre-test / post-test adaptation of the Professional Identity Scale (Adams, Hean, Sturgis, & Macleod Clark, 2006).  The average change in professional identity score was slightly over three points, a moderate effect (d=0.45).  The study was repeated in a true pre-test post-test fashion in 2017, with a new cohort.  

Objectives

After this presentation, attendees will understand: • The definition of professional identity and ways it has been promoted through education. • The importance of professional identity for current and future family science students. • The effectiveness of professional conference attendance for promoting professional identity.

Assisting Student Exam Performance Through Analysis of Study Strategies

Helping students perform better in class and on exams involves a variety of components from assisting them in honing metacognitive skills, increasing their self-efficacy, and improving their self-motivation. This study had students in an introductory HDFS course assess their study strategies and academic confidence using the Study Behavior Inventory (Bliss & Mueller, 1986, 1993) on two occasions and examined how these factors predicted test performance on two exams during the semester. Long-term test-taking strategies best predicted exam performance more than academic confidence and short-term strategies. Suggestions for how faculty can assist students as they strive to perform better are provided.

Objectives

1. To identify components of students' test-taking strategies. 2. To examine student test-taking performance over time and determine factors associated with success. 3. To provide suggestions to college faculty to help students as they strive to perform better on exams.

Serving Two Masters: Teaching to Promote Both Research & Workforce Skills

Family science faculty members engaged in undergraduate instruction face the challenge of preparing students who are bound for graduate study and those who will immediately enter the workforce.  Shrinking resources coupled with growing class sizes enhance this challenge, even as program funding is increasingly contingent upon students’ success following graduation. Instructional resources are lower, but the stakes are higher. A strategy for incorporating research critique, research synthesis, a semester-long team project, communication, elements of web design, and blogging into both the face-to-face and the online family science classroom environment will be discussed.

Objectives

1. Assess students’ ability to complete a semester-long project with multiple objectives. 2. Demonstrate the similarities and differences associated with facilitating a complex, team-based project in a face-to-face versus fully online environment. 3. Demonstrate 21st Century workforce skills associated with completing a semester-long, team-based project using online software.

Supporting Future Professionals: Students' Perceptions of the Value of Internships

The applied nature of family science creates unique opportunities for educators to aid students in shaping their environments.  However, information detailing which aspects of family science program curricula are most helpful to students upon entering the field is scarce.  This presentation explores the relationship between family science students and application of course content while serving various populations.  Through evaluation of data from a mixed methods study examining family science internship experiences, the proposed presentation will provide participants with effective strategies to support students during internships in order for students to leave a lasting impact on their communities.

Objectives

1. Evaluate research on student perceptions of internships, 2. Discuss how faculty support students before and during internships 3. Explain how internship related coursework is used to support new professional to be able to make meaningful contributions to their communities