iHabit ™ An experience sampling app to study first-year students Tim Steenbergh, PhD, Professor of Psychology | tim.steenbergh@indwes.edu Brian Fry, PhD, Professor of Sociology | brian.fry@indwes.edu Indiana Wesleyan University | Marion, IN www.ihabit4life.com 1

Acknowledgements Dr. Jason Runyan Dr. Doug Daugherty Dr. Lorne Oke Dr. Don Sprowl Necole Reno Chuck Bainbridge Ali Plutschack Kate Denlinger Nick Howard 2

Mobile Technology Context According to a recent Educause report, mobile technology use by college-age students has increased from: 1.2% in 2005 to 62.7% in 2010 (Cited by Rossing in Liberal Education, 2012) 3

Why EMA? So what? During a typical week, I spend ___ per week using e-mail. Less than 1 hour 1 – 3 hours 4 – 6 hours 7 – 9 hours 10 – 12 hours More than 12 hours

What is EMA? Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) protocols collect data differently than experiments and retrospective self-reports. EMA data collection methods: repeatedly collect data on participants’ momentary (or current) states in their natural or real-life settings (Stone et al. 2007). Ecological: people answer questions in their natural environment Momentary: people report on their current (momentary) behavior and experiences Assessment: researchers are trying to measure something (like cigarette craving, time usage, or spiritual practices)

If it could be boiled down to a onesie… And we record it!

EMA can be… event-based / user initiated (after run, cigarette craving) interval-based (top of every hour) randomly assessed (Again?!)

EMA: random assessment in a day

EMA: random assessment for a week

EMA contrast with retrospective survey One-shot Questionnaire EMA In a typical week, what percentage of your time do you spend: In the last 20 minutes, how much time have you spent: In a typical day, how much time do you spend interacting with your professors face-to-face? How much time did you spend today interacting with your professors face-to-face? How satisfied are you with your marriage? How do you feel about your relationship right now? How satisfied are you with your current job? How satisfied are you with your job right now?

Methods First Year Students (N=81) PRETEST (Week 2) Self Efficacy | Social Support | Stress Methods No App Control (n=37) RANDOM ASSIGNMENT (n=44) Weeks 3, 8 & 13 POSTTEST (Week 14) Self Efficacy | Social Support | Stress Life Satisfaction | App Ratings

iHabit™ Platform Specs Runs on iPhone, iTouch or iPad Free download from iTunes Visual and/or audible alarms notify user of question Check In questions can be randomized to gather a representative sample of responses Branching allows researcher to drill down on relevant variables End of Day feature works as electronic daily diary Free Response allows user-initiated data input Data is automatically stored on device, then uploaded to server when WiFi signal is available Data is time-stamped

Don’t have the screen captures from the survey pack we used for first year study, but this gives an idea of the kinds of questions we can ask

Examples of iHabit™ Study Questions Check in Questions How many of the last 20 minutes have you… End of Day Questions spent working on academics? What time did you go to bed last night? spent socializing? What time did you get up this morning? spent playing sports/exercising? How much time did you spend in direct interaction with faculty today? spent praying or thinking of God? How confident are you in your ability to succeed academically? spent in recreational use of electronics (phone, computer, tv, etc)? Overall, how confident are you in your academic ability? wasted? How much effort did you put into your academics today? Methods

Results In the moment 17

Results: In the Moment

Results: In the Moment

Results End of day 20

Results: End of Day

Results: End of Day

Data collection Upside Downside Easily integrated into daily life- especially for iPhone users Data collection is automated Allows both within- and between-subjects analysis Can quickly produce overwhelming amounts of data Analysis can be difficult- HLM and time series Momentary data isn’t always a better predictor User fatigue

The tendency to change our behavior when it’s measured Reactivity: The tendency to change our behavior when it’s measured One of the things you may be wondering about: doesn’t measuring students behavior in the moment actually change it? - Purchased a Suburban for my wife. high gas prices, it really puts a dent in our family budget I’m frugal, so I complain about her driving- heavy foot- on the gas and the brake Tried complaining- didn’t go so well I’ve started having the electronic dashboard display the trucks mileage. There’s 2 modes: average- which reports the mileage for the whole trip and current- which provides second by second feedback of mileage. Guess what? When that’s on, she doesn’t start quite so fast, she doesn’t brake as hard, and she coasts a bit more. In psychology, we call that measurement reactivity. It’s our tendency to change our behavior when it’s being measured. Sometimes we think that’s a bad thing. But in truth, it can be a wonderful ally.

Posttest Results

Posttest Results

Results Free response 27

Free Responses Some students freely offered comments suggesting reactivity: These surveys make me feel a little guilty that I'm not working out enough or spending enough time with God. I admit that I am doing more of that stuff so I can answer better on the next survey. Even after one day, I'm realizing I need to spend WAY more time alone with God.

Evidence for Measurement Reactivity Research Summary Our limited experience Strong reactivity? No. Some reactivity? Yes. From a research methods perspective: contamination From a human flourishing perspective: reactivity can help people live more thoughtful lives. Some factors may predispose people towards greater reactivity Studies have not found strong reactivity to drug-use monitoring (Hufford et al. 2002, cited in Shiffman 2009) Why? Moos (2008) speculates that habituation to monitoring blunts reactivity (cited in Shiffman 2009) Bif

Possible EMA Applications at Your School First-year student time usage, study habits, etc. Classroom uses Responses to intercultural experiences (Chicago) Residence life satisfaction Your ideas? Bif * Further iHabit™ development - Backend data management - App-based user feedback - Droid version * Identify factors associated with positive reactivity (e.g., motivation and stage of change) to promote student success. * Test iHabit™ in other contexts - Integrate into a first-year course - Use to identify academically at-risk students via real-time data - Study and attempt to modify students’ health behaviors  

Your next step… Try it out: Decide what you want: EMA? EMI? Both Download iHabit™ from iTunes, select FYE survey Use it for a couple of days to see how EMA works Decide what you want: EMA? EMI? Both Assemble a software development team or go with an established vendor: Contact Invivodata at http://www.invivodata.com/ Contact us or visit http://ihabit4life.com/

brian.fry@indwes.edu or For more info contact: brian.fry@indwes.edu or tim.steenbergh@indwes.edu or visit: www.ihabit4life.com