Karey Vacca

Bio: Karey Vacca is an academic researcher from University of Chicago. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sociology of Education & Active learning. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 32 citations.

Beyond the Classroom: An Exploratory Study of Out-Of-Class Learning in Sociology

Abstract: In this article, we report on a study about the experiences of graduating sociology majors with out-of-class learning opportunities (OOCLO). Research questions included the following: (1) What is the nature of participation in out-of-class learning for our sociology majors? (2) What barriers do students see to engaging in such experiences? (3) What supports for involvement do students recognize? (4) What are students' overall attitudes about OOCLO? (5) What variables are associated with participation in OOCLO? All students from one medium-sized, public, Midwestern university who were enrolled in the required sociology senior experience course in one academic year were given the self-administered questionnaire. Results indicate most students participate most frequently in OOCLO that involve low student initiative, effort, and commitment. Lack of time is reported as a critical barrier to participation. Factors viewed as key supports for participation include convenient/spare time, useful and interesting act...

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education: Faculty Inventory. Institutional Inventory.

Abstract: Arthur Chickering is Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at Memphis State University. On leave from the Directorship of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Memphis State, he is Visiting Professor at George Mason University. Zelda Gamson is a sociologist who holds appointments at the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.

Modeling teachers' influence on learners' self-directed use of technology for language learning outside the classroom

Abstract: Teachers are important social agents who shape the quantity and quality of students' self-directed use of technology for learning outside the classroom. This study aimed to model the influence of teacher behaviors on learners' self-directed technology use. A conceptual model of three types of teacher support (affection support, capacity support and behavior support) that were reported to influence students' self-directed technology use for learning outside the classroom was generated based on interviews with 15 undergraduate foreign language learners. One hundred and sixty undergraduate foreign language learners were then surveyed to test the conceptual model. The path analysis of the survey data suggested that affection support influenced learner self-directed technology use through strengthened perceived usefulness, and that capacity support and behavior support influenced learner self-directed technology use through enhanced facilitating conditions and computer self-efficacy. The research findings highlight the importance of raising teachers' awareness of the different roles they can play and of enhancing their abilities to perform a combination of the roles to promote learner self-directed use of technology for learning outside the classroom. Examined how teacher behaviors influence students' self-directed technology use for learning.Teachers influence through encouragement, recommendation and in-class technology use.Perceived usefulness mediated the impact of teachers' encouragement.Facilitating conditions mediated the impact of teachers' recommendations.Facilitating conditions mediated the impact of teachers' in-class technology use.

Constructing Belonging in a Diverse Campus Community

Abstract: A diverse student body holds the promise of enriching the learning experience of all students at a particular college or university What is less clear is whether this diversity inhibits students’

Increasing Research Self-Efficacy Among Students in Professional Academic Programs

Abstract: Gains in research self-efficacy for 60 Social Work and 75 Speech-Language Pathology students were compared. Our interest was to investigate whether students enrolled in both research and practice courses made greater gains in research self-efficacy over a semester, as compared to students enrolled in practice courses only. Findings indicated that Speech-Language Pathology students taking both research and practice courses showed the greatest gain. Examination of the Speech-Language Pathology curriculum suggested that when research courses were augmented with opportunities to apply research learning outside of class, greater gain in student confidence was achieved. We discuss implications for curricular development and interdisciplinary discourse on curriculum matters, and these implications reach beyond the two specific disciplines.

Who cares? Gender dynamics in the valuing of extra-curricular activities in higher education

Abstract: Despite the assertion that higher education is becoming increasingly ‘feminised’ and that male students are the relative losers, gendered meanings continue to permeate higher education in ways that mean that the recognition of women's experiences are frequently marginalised. Our paper reports on research designed to explore student participation in extra-curricular activity from a perspective informed by a broader conceptualisation of the extra-curricular as a site of gendered, raced, and class practices intimately tied to the development of an employable self. We found that women frequently undervalue their participation and are more likely to be dismissive of extra-curricular activity as of value to their employability than men and that they rarely consider caring to be a form of capital which can be utilised or invested in to support their future employment. We argue that higher education institutions need to support students, in particular women, to recognise the value of their participation.