Automating Peer Learning to Reduce Alcohol Use and Related Deviant Behavior in Middle School

摘要 同伴影响是青春期饮酒和其他药物使用的最重要预测因素之一，这些 当被社会边缘化的年轻人自我聚集并加强饮酒和其他行为时，往往会产生关联 异常活动(即“异常对等点集群”)。即使这一领域已经发展出有效的校本 预防方案，效果规模一般很小，这些方案可能很难传播 由于复杂的设计和大量的时间和金钱支出，保真度和维持起来具有挑战性 需要材料和培训。因此，现有的以学校为基础的预防方案没有提供 对学校具有令人信服的价值，这限制了它们的传播。在最近的随机对照试验中，我们的目标是减少 通过让高危青少年接触更广泛的学校社交网络，在中学使用酒精 (并中断异常同伴聚集的过程)通过协作、基于小组的同伴学习 活动。一年后，我们发现不正常的同伴关系和烟酒的比率显著降低 与对照学校相比，在干预学校使用。同伴学习也有中等到强烈的影响 关于欺凌、受害、学生参与和成就，因此同伴学习代表着高度的 有吸引力的酒精使用预防方法，可以支持积极的行为、社交和学术 同时产生结果。然而，我们干预学校的教师遇到了一些挑战，当 实施同伴学习，包括：(1)保真度，即确保同伴学习提供最积极的 通过包含所有基本设计元素获得学生体验；以及，(2)教学支持，即管理 活动的流程和时间安排，以按时完成课程并处理意外中断。 因此，在第一阶段SBIR中，我们的目标是开发一个移动软件应用程序，它将提供易于使用的、 具有工作流支持的可扩展组织模板，教师可以使用这些模板自动执行设计和 开展循证同伴学习活动。使用这款应用程序，老师将通过以下方式设计他们的课程 从预先存在的模板库中为不同的课程类型进行选择，他们可以自定义和 根据需要填写他们自己的学习材料。在授课期间，该应用程序将管理会员资格 在学习小组中(包括迟到或缺席的学生所要求的改变)，指导学生活动 根据规定的时间表，管理学生工作成果，支持老师观察学生 行为，并提供课后内容回顾和评估。该应用程序应该具有很强的吸引力 教师(因其易用性、快速实施、灵活性、教学支持)和学校 管理员(以证据为基础的方法预防各种行为问题，更大 学生的动机和成就)。在第一阶段，我们将重点放在拼图课上，这是一种标准的同行学习 被广泛认可和接受的活动。我们将结合实际迭代开发该应用程序 教师和学生，他们将在课堂上使用这款应用程序，并提供反馈以指导发展。

Abstract Peer influence is one of the most important predictors of alcohol and other drug use in adolescence, and these affiliations often arise when socially marginalized youth self-aggregate and reinforce alcohol use and other deviant activity (i.e., “deviant peer clustering”). Even though the field has developed efficacious school-based prevention programs, effect sizes are generally small, and these programs can be difficult to disseminate with fidelity and challenging to sustain due to complex designs and the significant time-and-money expenditures required for materials and training. Thus, existing school-based prevention programs have not provided compelling value to schools, which has limited their dissemination. In a recent RCT, we aimed to reduce alcohol use in middle school by exposing at-risk youth to a broader cross-section of the school social network (and interrupting the process of deviant peer clustering) through collaborative, group-based peer learning activities. After one year, we found significantly lower rates of deviant peer affiliation and alcohol and tobacco use in intervention schools as compared to control schools. Peer learning also has moderate-to-strong effects on bullying, victimization, and student engagement and achievement, so peer learning represents a highly attractive approach to alcohol use prevention that can support positive behavioral, social, and academic outcomes simultaneously. However, teachers in our intervention schools encountered a few challenges when implementing peer learning, including: (1) fidelity, i.e., ensuring that peer learning provided the most positive student experience by including all the essential design elements; and, (2) instructional support, i.e., managing the flow and timing of the activities to complete the lesson on time and dealing with unexpected disruptions. Thus, in this Phase I SBIR, we aim to develop a mobile software application that will provide easy-to-use, scalable organizational templates with workflow support that teachers can use to automate the design and delivery of evidence-based peer learning activities. With this app, the teacher will design their lesson by selecting from a library of pre-existing templates for different lesson types which they can customize and populate with their own learning materials as needed. During lesson delivery, the app will manage membership in learning groups (including changes required by late-arriving or absent students), direct student activities according to a specified timetable, manage student work products, support teacher observations of student behavior, and deliver post-lesson content reviews and assessments. The app should be highly attractive to both teachers (for its ease of use, rapid implementation, flexibility, instructional support) and school administrators (for its evidence-based approach to the prevention of a variety of behavioral problems, greater student motivation and achievement). In Phase I, we will focus on the jigsaw lesson, a standard peer learning activity that is widely recognized and accepted. We will develop the app iteratively in conjunction with actual teachers and students, who will use the app in their classrooms and provide feedback to guide development.