Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The mentoring program developed in this project primarily served teen mothers at the YWCA Greensboro. The program was designed to improve the teen mothers' knowledge of nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting through specialized curriculum designed by experts at NC A&T State University and delivered by undergraduate students from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). Teen mothers often experience disproportionate social, economic, and educational hardships due to the challenges of raising children during their own adolescence. Enhanced knowledge of nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting provided teens with the opportunity to make potentially better decisions for their own physical, emotional, and social health - and for their children's health. The children of the teens served in the mentoring program can also thus be considered a secondary target audience for the project. Changes/Problems:Issues negatively impacting the ability to report findings for these groups include: The YWCA asked researchers to service any teen mothers who joined the program at any point in time. Student mentors delivered programs to widely varied groups of teen mothers, many of whom were never actually assigned as official mentees that could be tracked. Program participation was entirely voluntary for teen mothers. Only one teen mother attended every session delivered by undergraduate mentors - and she was not assigned as an official mentee. Most teen mothers had sporadic attendance, diminishing the potential impact of curriculum modules that were designed to build on each other to enhance nutrition and well-being. Teen mothers were not consistently engaged and invested in the programs. Issues that distracted them included stressful family and/or partner relationships, school stresses, and other common high school concerns. The YWCA Greensboro had specific program requirements which frequently reduced the amount of time devoted to this project's curriculum. For instance, the first half of many sessions were spent listening to presentations or conducting activities unrelated to this program - which required last minute adaptations/eliminations to the delivery. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate FCS students served as mentors to teen mothers in this project, and were responsible for delivering curriculum content in both group and one-on-one activities. Curriculum was delivered in biweekly sessions at YWCA facilities. Prior to delivery, mentors were trained in content and delivery by faculty researchers who originally developed the curriculum. Thus, there were two levels of training - one in which faculty trained student mentors, and another in which the mentors "trained" teen mothers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research findings were disseminated at American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in Jacksonville, FL and Bellevue, WA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project addressed the nutrition and well-being of teen mothers through a mentoring program designed and delivered by NC A&T FCS faculty and undergraduate students. In biweekly sessions held at the YWCA Greensboro, FCS students mentored teen mothers on topics such as dietary guidelines for healthy eating, healthy food shopping and preparation, budgeting and goal setting, interview skills, frugal shopping strategies for children's clothing, dressing for positive body image, conflict resolution, and responsive parenting. Though the program was designed with the needs of teen mothers in mind, researchers expect minimal impact will be seen in this group or their children for several reasons. First, many teen mothers did not regularly attend the biweekly sessions, and the teens who participated frequently suffered from distractions. Some of the teens were not completely invested in the after-school program that was not required - particularly if they did not see immediate relevance of the topics to their current lives. Researchers have redesigned curriculum content and delivery for the future, to better meet the needs and interest of the teen mothers. Undergraduate student mentors learned skills in budgeting, shopping, cooking, and relationship development in the process of being trained to deliver the curriculum. This change in knowledge allowed them to make positive changes in their own life to improve their health and well-being. As mentors, students also observed the potential impact they could make by sharing their knowledge with others, but they also recognized limitations in impact due to concerns in program design, teaching methods, and mentee distractions. This key impact represents a change in knowledge and beliefs that should allow students to set realistic expectations in their future roles as family and consumer sciences professionals. This research project had two primary goals: the first was to develop a mentoring program to address the nutrition and well-being of teen mothers at the YWCA Greensboro and the second was to enhance the nutrition and well-being of teen mothers, their children, and FCS student mentors. The first goal was achieved. The curriculum was designed by FCS faculty researchers with the assistance of YWCA program coordinators. Faculty also recruited and trained ten student mentors from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. Mentors were matched with teen mother mentees in an official mentor matching process conducted by the YWCA program coordinators. Student mentors were trained by faculty in curriculum content and delivery methods in biweekly training sessions; mentors then delivered the curriculum on alternating weeks at the YWCA Greensboro. The second goal has been partially achieved. Post-program data analysis has been performed to determine the change in knowledge and behaviors that can be attributed to the mentoring program and associated curriculum. In the proposal, researchers had anticipated improvements in three groups - the teen mothers, their children, and the undergraduate student mentors. However, results will be somewhat inconclusive for the teen mothers and their children due to issues in program delivery. Issues negatively impacting the ability to report findings for these groups include: The YWCA asked researchers to service any teen mothers who joined the program at any point in time. Student mentors delivered programs to widely varied groups of teen mothers, many of whom were never actually assigned as official mentees that could be tracked. Program participation was entirely voluntary for teen mothers. Only one teen mother attended every session delivered by undergraduate mentors - and she was not assigned as an official mentee. Most teen mothers had sporadic attendance, diminishing the potential impact of curriculum modules that were designed to build on each other to enhance nutrition and well-being. Teen mothers were not consistently engaged and invested in the programs. Issues that distracted them included stressful family and/or partner relationships, school stresses, and other common high school concerns. The YWCA Greensboro had specific program requirements which frequently reduced the amount of time devoted to this project's curriculum. For instance, the first half of many sessions were spent listening to presentations or conducting activities unrelated to this program - which required last minute adaptations/eliminations to the delivery. Researchers have used data collected in mentor journals, from researcher observations, and through a focus group held with mentors to determine changes in the areas of nutrition and eating; appearance and body image; child development and parenting; finances; and educational goals. Major findings can be summarized under two categories: the curriculum, including the design and delivery of the modules (and feedback); and the mentors, including recruitment and training. Curriculum - The original curriculum was designed based on information that YWCA program directors provided in a needs assessment interview in year one. Mentor feedback confirms that the teen mothers were not wholly invested in the program topics for several reasons. First, the nutritional topics of MyPlate recommendations and nutrients felt too similar to "school" topics to be of interest in an after-school program. The teens were much more interested in nutrition topics related to portion control and cooking techniques, and indicated surprise at the appropriate portion sizes and cooking methods that promote health. The teen mothers did not perceive the financial topics to be relevant because the majority of them do not earn money to support themselves. Several teen mothers expressed short-term goals of finishing high school, taking a trip to Disney World, and throwing a birthday party, but very few discussed college, employment, and long-term aspirations. Teens were very interested in learning how to dress appropriately for job interviews, how to use apps to save money on apparel purchases, and how to perform basic clothing repairs. However, the teens were most interested in sharing their own knowledge and opinions in the sessions focused on dress and shopping and learned new skills only in the session focused on sewing hems and buttons. Most participants in the sewing module were excited to take their sewing kits home for further practice. Mentor - Mentor recruitment and training was successful overall, though not without desired improvements. Mentors reported the most value in working with students and faculty from majors other than their own. They felt that their learning was greatly enhanced by the expertise gained and the friendships formed across program areas. They also felt that their previous life experiences and program training allowed them to provide good advice to mentees about relationships with friends and partners. In terms of improvements identified, a few mentors reported that they were originally motivated to be involved in the project due to monetary stipends, which does not necessarily mean that they were as invested in being a high quality mentor. Also, several mentors suggested that additional training may be required to improve project findings in the future. They desired additional guidance from the YWCA in setting realistic expectations for the mentoring relationship, ideas for free activities to do with their mentees, and help in advice that they should give to mentees when they are approached with issues or concerns outside of their comfort area. Several mentors reported difficulty and stress associated with handling discussions about sex and instances in which their mentees may have been given questionable advice by family members or others.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Newcomb, E.A., Dixon, D.L., Williams-Wheeler, M. June 2016. Designing Successful Extracurricular Community Engagement Student Reflections on Personal and Program Strengths and Weaknesses. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Bellevue, WA.
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included teen mothers, and students. In 2014-2015 fiscal year, the mentoring program developed in this project was delivered to teen mothers at the YWCA in Greensboro. These teens were either pregnant and/or parenting and between the ages of 13 and 19 years old at the time of program delivery. Throughout the program, approximately 25 teens were served, all of whom were ethnic and/or racial minorities. Most of the teens attended high school in Guilford County, though a few were in college or not in school. Economic status was not formally obtained, though anecdotal evidence suggests that many of the teens were economically depressed. The mentoring program also served the undergraduate students selected as mentors. Mentors represented all majors within the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at N.C. A&T, were all female, and are ethnic and/or racial minorities. The program effort included the development and delivery of a curriculum designed to improve knowledge of nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting. The curriculum was largely activity-based, with lectures only used to set up activities and reinforce learnings. The curriculum was first delivered to the undergraduate student mentors by faculty leaders in a classroom setting. Students then delivered the curriculum to their mentees in both "classroom" settings at the YWCA Greensboro and in one-on-one experiences between mentor and mentee. Most curriculum material involved hands-on learning with some experiential learning opportunities. Changes/Problems:The only change/problem identified in the 2014-2015 fiscal year related to the turnover rate for the teen moms from the YWCA Greensboro. At the project outset, researchers hoped to be able to conduct pre- and post-assessments on the teen moms to determine changes in knowledge. However, there was considerable turnover at the YWCA in terms of the teen moms they served throughout the program delivery. Thus, the teen moms assigned to mentors at the beginning of the program were not the same group of teen moms that were still in the program at the end. In addition, a variety of teens joined and left the program throughout. Due to the lack of consistent participation, planned pre- and post-assessments cannot be conducted. Instead, faculty researchers will be conducting focus groups with teen moms to determine the effect of the program on their knowledge and behavior. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several training opportunities were created in this project. First, YWCA program directors led mentor training at the program outset in October 2014, in which mentors and faculty researchers were able to learn how to effectively mentor teens who may be living in highly stressful situations. Also, faculty researchers led multiple training sessions with the undergraduate student mentors, who then took their training into the community and delivered the content in the mentoring program with the YWCA. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Focus groups will be held with teen mothers, undergraduate student mentors, and YWCA program directors to obtain further evidence of impact. In addition, mentor journals will be fully analyzed. Finally, researchers will prepare an official mentoring manual that can be used to design and deliver similar programming to other populations. These activities will help researchers accomplish all project goals and objectives.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Major Activities Completed The primary activity completed in the 2014-2015 academic year involved the delivery of the mentoring program in collaboration with the YWCA Greensboro. In October 2014, undergraduate students were matched with teen mothers at the YWCA through the YWCA's mentor match program. In November 2014, mentors and teen mothers took the pre-assessment content exam. From January 2015 through May 2015, the mentoring program was delivered at YWCA facilities in biweekly sessions. Prior to the delivery of each module, mentors were trained in content and delivery methods by faculty researchers. Mentors wrote frequent journal entries throughout the program, documenting the quality of their mentoring relationships, obtaining feedback about the program from their mentees, and recording important topics of discussion. Faculty researchers also obtained feedback from mentors during training sessions, and held one summary/wrap-up session in May 2015. From June 2015 through September 2015, faculty prepared focus group questions for future focus groups to be held with the mentors, teen mothers, and YWCA program directors. Specific Objectives Met All objectives under Research Question 1 have been met. This question focused on the design and delivery of the mentoring program, and objectives related to curriculum design, mentor recruitment, and program delivery were met in 2014-2015. Research Question 2 (and associated objectives) have been partially met. This question focuses on determining if the program resulted in any change in knowledge or behavior in the areas of nutrition, finance, parenting, and appearance for both teen mothers and mentors. Significant Results / Outcomes / Accomplishments Achieved While data collection and analysis are not yet complete, initial analysis has yielded some interesting results. In the nutrition area, teen mothers and mentors were very excited by the cooking demonstrations in the program. Multiple mentors indicated that they had made several of the healthy recipes after program delivery, suggesting a change in knowledge. Teen mothers did not find the finance portions of the program personally relevant, and therefore did not experience changes in knowledge or behavior. Mentors found this portion more relevant, since they are older and living more independently; multiple mentors were prompted to check their credit scores for the first time after going through the training session for that module. Parenting topics of effective disciplining, proactive parenting, and conflict resolution were extremely well received, with teen mothers and mentors very engaged in role plays and debates. However, these modules did not yield significant changes in knowledge or behavior, but instead provided participants a means for discussion. The discussion served to improve group participation and promoted conversation between mentors and mentees. In the area of healthy appearance, a hands-on activity focused on basic apparel mending resulted in the most change in knowledge, as many teen mothers and mentors learned how to sew on buttons for the first time. One teen mother reported that she used her sewing kit at home, applying her knowledge outside of the program.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Newcomb, E., Dixon, D., Pan, Y., & Williams-Wheeler, M. Demonstrating the value of family and consumer sciences through the design of a teen mother mentoring program. American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Conference, Jacksonville, FL, June 24-27, 2015.
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The mentoring program developed in this project is primarily serving teen mothers at the YWCA Greensboro. The program is designed to improve the teen mothers' knowledge of nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting through specialized curriculum designed by experts at N.C. A&T State University and delivered by undergraduate students from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). Teen mothers often experience disproportionate social, economic, and educational hardships due to the challenges of raising children during their own adolescence. Enhanced knowledge of nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting will provide teens with the opportunity to make potentially better decisions for their own physical, emotional, and social health - and for their children's health. The children of the teens served in the mentoring program can also thus be considered a secondary target audience for the project. The program effort includes curriculum designed to improve the teen mothers' knowledge of nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting. The curriculum is largely activity-based, with lecture content being used to set up activities and reinforce learnings. Most of the curriculum is being delivered in a "classroom" setting at the YWCA Greensboro, in which teen mothers and FCS mentors work as partners or in small groups to complete activities. There are also laboratory and experiential learning opportunities through some of the curriculum modules. Changes/Problems: There are no significant changes to report in terms of scheduling, goals, or outcomes. However, the project has experienced some delays in supply and equipment purchases. The process to request and approve purchases has been much more lengthy than anticipated. In the original project proposal, the budget included funds to purchase iPads to be used in program delivery. Despite the fact that the original request to purchase iPads was made in Year One, these iPads have still not been ordered as of January 2015 (Year Two). This is causing some issues in program delivery, and modules have been redesigned to accommodate for the deficit. Researchers have been told that the iPad order should be processed sometime soon, and funds were moved from Year One to Year Two in the budget to allow for this purchase. Additional purchases will need to be made over the next few months to enable program delivery (i.e. food for cooking activities, gift cards for incentives). The principal investigator will look into obtaining a p-card for these purchases, as they are not going to be possible through AggieMart. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training activities: Undergraduate FCS students are serving as mentors to teen mothers in this project, and are responsible for delivering curriculum content in both group and one-on-one activities. The curriculum is delivered in biweekly sessions at YWCA facilities. Prior to delivery, mentors are trained in content and delivery by faculty researchers who originally developed the curriculum. Thus, there are two levels of training - one in which faculty train student mentors, and another in which the mentors "train" teen mothers. Professional development: None to report. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? To accomplish project objectives, the master schedule approved in the original grant proposal will be followed. First, the rest of the curriculum will be delivered in biweekly sessions through May 2015. Mentors will keep logbooks throughout this process and will respond to journal prompts developed by researchers. At the conclusion of the program, teen mothers and FCS student mentors will re-take the content exam that was originally administered at the project outset. Data coding and analysis will then follow in Summer 2015. In Year Three, researchers will follow up with YWCA program directors, teen mothers, and mentors to obtain evidence of impact and to get program feedback. Finally, researchers will prepare an official mentoring manual that can be used to design and deliver similar programming to other populations. These activities will help researchers accomplish all project goals and objectives.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Major activities completed: Since the beginning of the project, multiple activities have been completed. In Year One, researchers hired an undergraduate student assistant to help with project organization, conducted a needs assessment at the YWCA, identified major objectives to be covered in the program, recruited undergraduate FCS students to serve as mentors, developed curriculum content, created the content exam, purchased significant supplies and equipment, and received IRB approval for phases one and two of the project. Thus far, Year Two has also been very active. The final curriculum modules have been selected for program inclusion, an official program schedule has been created, all mentors have been formally hired, teen mothers and FCS students have been matched for the mentoring relationship, FCS student mentors and teen mothers have taken the pre-assessment content exam, and several modules have been delivered at the YWCA (which involves mentor training and module delivery). Specific objectives met: The first research question posed in the project is: "How should a mentoring program to address the nutrition and well-being of teen mothers at the YWCA Greensboro be developed." The following two objectives under this question have been accomplished: To design program content to reflect the needs of teen mothers; To recruit and train NC A&T FCS students as mentors for teen mothers. The third objective under this question has been started, but not yet completed: To successfully deploy the mentoring program at the YWCA by developing positive mentor/mentee relationships and delivering appropriate content. None of the objectives under research question two have been achieved. This second question is focused on measuring the impact of the mentoring program on the nutrition and well-being of the teen mothers, their children, and FCS student mentors. This cannot happen until the curriculum has been fully delivered. Major findings: Formal findings related to a change in nutrition, appearance, finance, and parenting knowledge cannot be reported since the program has not been fully delivered. However, some preliminary developments can be reported. First, the teen mothers and YWCA program directors have reported that they are most interested in modules that focus on meal preparation, how appearance can be manipulated to build confidence, general finance, and healthy parenting strategies - and in particular, the teens are most excited about activity-based learning. Previous YWCA programming initiatives (even those focused on the same content areas in this program) have utilized lecture-based approaches and have typically used powerpoint as a primary delivery tool. As a result of this feedback, researchers and mentors are using creative, interactive activities as the primary method of program delivery, and are delivering "content" in a one-on-one approach that does not feel as much like lecture. Based on other observations and feedback, researchers have also concluded that teens respond best to very short programming and they prefer variety. As a result, researchers have kept each module to between 20 and 30 minutes, including "lecture" and activities. Also, modules from different content areas are mixed in each session, so that teens are able to experience greater variety. Key outcomes/accomplishments: None to report.
Publications
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