This study evaluated the use of frequent online assessments due prior to lecture, known as readiness assessment tests (RATs), in 2 sections of an upper-division psychology course. We compared the efficacy of RATs on students' exam performance, in-class participation, and attendance using a nonequivalent control group design. We also measured students' self-report of studying and preference for RATs using a satisfaction survey. Results indicated significantly higher average unit exam grades, a higher level of student attendance, and more reports of active study habits for students exposed to RATs compared with the control group, but we did not find significant differences in student participation. Students also reported a preference for RATs over frequent in-class quizzes. Overall, our results support that RATs may be an effective and preferred assessment strategy to improve students' overall exam grades and promote active study habits. Recommendations for assessment in higher education and future research are discussed.

This article discusses use of a multicomponent intervention to develop the reading skill and performance of grades 4 to 8 students identified with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Reading intervention targets for this population are vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Reading intervention elements involve explicit vocabulary instruction, repeated reading with sentence-level comprehension, question-answering relationships, and main idea summarization. Included in the article are explicit instructional routines and curricular materials supported by empirical evidence for the intervention elements.

Young adults increasingly enter college with substance use addiction. Some may achieve recovery before setting their foot on a college campus whereas others during their college years. These students often struggle to maintain sobriety as they act out their daily lives because they find themselves in abstinence-hostile environments (Bugbee et al., 2016; Harris et al., 2008). This presentation will discuss students’ collegiate recovery experiences and will report on a photovoice project documenting students’ recovery experience and recovery management and support needs. Photovoice is a participatory social action method that uses photography to answer research questions (Wang, 2006); a photovoice exhibit, involving a gallery of participants’ photographs and linked narrative text to explicate the photos’ meaning, disseminates the findings. The presentation will focus on the narratives of students in recovery and attendees will obtain an in-depth understanding of recovery students’ experiences of stigma, shame and isolation, and marginalized social positions, which are intimately tied to their addiction histories. Students in recovery represent an invisible student group that struggles to access resources and needed healthcare services. The photovoice method can act as a powerful tool to empower marginalized students to share their recovery experiences and articulate their needs; ultimately providing a vehicle for structural-level and systemic change.

No abstract