Designing a Mobile App to Support Academic Success for Student Veterans
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 已完成
- 入组人数
- 15
- 试验地点
- 2
- 主要终点
- System Usability Scale (SUS)
研究概览
简要总结
Compared to civilian students in higher education, student Veterans have high rates of mental health disorders (e.g., Depression: 24% vs 12.1%). As a result, Veterans with mental health disorders can be more likely to experience academic issues, such as lower enrollment rates and slower degree attainment on average. Though many student Veterans could benefit from programming embedded in supported education interventions, current in-person VA supported education treatments are often difficult to access - or not available locally - for these Veterans. In addition, there is no widely available, VA-specific online or mobile-app based resource for students. The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate a comprehensive mobile app for student Veterans with mental health disorders. VetEd will provide a resource to (1) orient student Veterans with mental health disorders to successfully transition to the role of student as defined by their self-created educational roadmap, which will include helping students acquire (2) academic skills, (3) mental health management skills, and (4) up-to-date information on psychiatric, academic, and financial resources to help them successfully meet higher-education expectations.
This overall study involves three aims: 1) Developing a Veteran-centered educational support app to help student Veterans with mental health disorders to identify their perceived academic needs, app preferences, and evaluate Veteran-centered content; 2) Testing and iteratively revising the VetEd app (n =15) by assessing app software, content, human-computer interface, usability, satisfaction data, and preliminary exploration of changes in educational functioning (course activity completion, academic self-efficacy, and retention; and 3) Completing final revisions of the VetEd app for a future grant application of a larger randomized controlled trial. This pilot project is significant and innovative in three key respects: (1) it extends services based in previous, effective supported education research to address both psychiatric and academic concerns for Veterans with mental health disorders; (2) is potentially cost-effective and easy to disseminate nationally; and (3) focuses on improving Veterans' academic functioning and quality of life is substantially different than current VA mobile app offerings.
详细描述
The goals of this phase are to: 1) gain feedback on the VetEd mobile app via Veteran usability testing; 2) assess Veteran interest, satisfaction, and usability of VetEd; 3) iteratively address any technological concerns, and 4) collect preliminary information on the impact of the VetEd app on academic functioning (retention, perceived course task ability, and educational self-efficacy) and community reintegration. The investigators will conduct pilot usability testing with 15 Veterans who meet eligibility criteria, conducted in three waves. Each usability testing wave will include 5 participants, based on the finding that approximately 80% of usability problems can be detected using a sample of 4 to 5 participant per wave.
Recruitment. Participants will be 15 Veterans recruited from the Bedford VA medical center (VAMC), and local colleges. As noted in Phase 1, based on the rate of student Veterans seeking educational support services at the Bedford facility and the number of Veteran students in the community, the investigators should have no difficulty recruiting the proposed number of participants. Additionally, this research group has had no problem meeting prior, higher recruitment goals for the recent VITAL Supported Education (SEd) using similar recruitment strategies (n = 43).
Screening. Potential participants will be pre-screened by phone to determine if basic study eligibility criteria are met. Individuals who remain eligible after the pre-screen will be invited to attend a comprehensive in-person baseline session. At the beginning of the baseline session, the investigators will provide participants with detailed information about the study and obtain written informed consent. Following informed consent, participants will complete study assessments and, with staff assistance, and download the app to their personal device.
Usability testing procedures. Participants will be provided with the app and log-in information, to utilize at home over a four-week period. During that time, they will complete at least two in-app tasks within per week, including setting up an educational roadmap, tracking course assignments, learning about successful study strategies, completing a coping exercise, and finding information related to GI Bill benefits.
Participants will be evaluated after app use in the following areas: (a) app usefulness: whether users can successfully complete designated tasks on the app, (b) effectiveness: the ability to accomplish assigned educational app tasks quickly and easily, (c) learnability: the ability to meet pre-determined app navigation goals (e.g. accessing and inputting information into the education roadmap), (d) satisfaction: users' feelings and opinions about the app related to their educational functioning and alignment with mental-health needs, and (e) engagement: initial and sustained interaction between a user and a mobile application. Usability measures will include two quantitative system usability scales (SUS; AES), task completion (quantitative), app log-in and use information (engagement). Perceived usefulness, engagement, and overall satisfaction will also be assessed through a post-app-testing qualitative interview (1.5 hours).
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Na
- 干预模型
- Single Group
- 主要目的
- Other
- 盲法
- None
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 —（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Currently enrolled in a minimum of at least 2 courses in a higher education setting
- •Current DSM-5 mental health disorder
- •Competent to provide informed consent
- •Owns a smart phone capable of supporting mobile apps
- •Are willing and able to read in English
- •Self-report struggling with current course activities
排除标准
- •Not currently enrolled as a student
- •Current or recent (within 1 month of study entry) moderate or severe DSM-5 alcohol or drug use disorder
- •Cognitive impairment that would interfere with participation
- •Severe suicidal ideation or a psychiatric hospitalization within the past month
结局指标
主要结局
System Usability Scale (SUS)
时间窗: 4-week time point
The System Usability Scale (SUS) a 10-item measure, scored on a 5-point Likert scale, that assesses human-computer interaction. Respondents are asked to rate 10 statements on a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). All SUS items focus on their experience using the mobile application, for example, "I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly." Each item is rescored, totaled, and multiplied by 2.5 to get a SUS total score ranging from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate greater usability of a technology system, with above-average usability of a system suggested by a score \>68, while a score \>80 indicates high usability.
System Usability Scale (SUS)
时间窗: 4-week time point
The System Usability Scale (SUS) a 10-item measure, scored on a 5-point Likert scale, that assesses human-computer interaction. Respondents are asked to rate 10 statements on a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). All SUS items focus on their experience using the mobile application, for example, "I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly." Each item is rescored, totaled, and multiplied by 2.5 to get a SUS total score ranging from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate greater usability of a technology system, with above-average usability of a system suggested by a score \>68, while a score \>80 indicates high usability.
次要结局
- Acceptability E-Scale (AES)(4-week time point)
- Acceptability E-Scale (AES)(4-week time point)
- The Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES)(Baseline)
- The Coping With Education Barriers Subscale (CWBS)(Baseline)
- Military to Civilian Questionnaire (M2C-Q)(Baseline)