FITNESSGRAM is a battery of fitness tests that assess if a child's fitness level is, according to a health standard, enough to be considered healthy. These tests include the five components of health-related fitness: aerobic endurance, muscular strength and muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Students are not compared to each other, but to health fitness standards specific to their age and gender that indicate good health. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify children's perceptions of FITNESSGRAM and determine if self-administration of this fitness test provides a positive experience for the students. Specifically, this study evaluated (a) students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM, administered in a self-testing format, (b) children's understanding of the purpose of fitness testing, and (c) what effect participation in FITNESSGRAM had on students' perceptions of their personal health. This study used questionnaires (n = 78), and follow-up individual interviews (n = 45) to identify students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM. Results using the constant comparative method identified four main categories: (a) administration of fitness testing, (b) the purpose of fitness testing, (c) components of fitness testing, and (d) overall influence of fitness testing. Findings showed that children clearly understood the importance and role of fitness testing, felt successful and were pleased with their results, preferred doing the tests with a partner or by themselves, and thought the fitness test was fun.

This research study investigates what 122 secondary students believe makes a good teacher of English as a second language. The students were randomly selected from three different schools in Malmö, Sweden. Six teachers’ views from the same schools will also be examined. The teachers and students answered questionnaires with open-ended and close-ended questions. Many researchers state that there are particular qualities that a teacher should possess to be considered a good teacher by the students. Qualities such as: being understanding, having a certain personality, being a motivator and a supporter, mastering the English language well, and listening to students wishes, are a few of many qualities that are being mentioned. The results indicate that the main quality that a teacher should possess is good knowledge of English. Other qualities that were mentioned were, varying work methods, the teacher’s personality, being supportive and encouraging ect. The students and the teachers opinions in comparison to what the researchers argue are not tremendously different.

Most people will experience rejection in the job selection process. Rejection from job opportunities is often issued via a letter from a hiring manager. These letters elicit reactions from applicants who may, in turn, have less favorable self perceptions and less favorable perceptions of the organization from which the applicant was rejected. Numerous research articles have been published that deal with delivering notification of selection and/or rejection to applicants in the job selection process. However, relatively few use a realistic laboratory design to obtain results. This study examined the effects of sensitivity and information in notifications of rejection when applicants are rejected in the job selection process. A more realistic laboratory design was used to increase the psychological fidelity of the job selection situation. One hundred forty undergraduate students participated in this study. Participants were told to imagine that they were graduate school applicants. Then, the participants completed a fake graduate school admissions test and received notification of rejection from a fake graduate school. Participants were assigned to conditions (letters varying in sensitivity and information type) randomly and the participants completed a post-notification of rejection survey that captured their self and organizational perceptions. Additionally, moderating variables were explored.

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Conceptual development and achievement are embedded in social relationships. Research on self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom has shown teachers' inaccurate perceptions about a child's ability shape schoolchildren's intellectual development in the direction of the misperception (Jussim & Harber, 2005; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Sorhagen, 2013). This contrasts with prior research on the influences of parents' misperceptions, which has shown that parents with accurate perceptions of their child's abilities, compared to those with misperceptions, have children with advanced conceptual development and higher achievement (Hunt & Paraskevopoulos, 1980; S. A. Miller, Manhal, & Mee, 1991; Sorhagen, 2014a, 2014b). Taken together, the literature on adult misperceptions of child abilities paints discrepant pictures of how adults' inaccurate beliefs may influence children's achievement trajectories. There is evidence for conditional direct and indirect effects of misperceptions within both literatures. Perhaps if moderating conditions were the same at school and at home, the effects of teacher and parent misperceptions would be the same. The present dissertation used prospective data to address the conflicting evidence on the effects of teachers' and mothers' misperceptions of abilities, focusing on differences in the magnitude and direction of adult misperceptions by the levels of environmental control (i.e. rigidly structured and intrusive versus autonomy-supporting). The results confirmed and extended the prior literature by showing that children's reading and math achievement in high school were differentially affected by the accuracy of adults' perceptions of the children's abilities depending on whether the adult is a teacher or mother. Children's high school performance benefited most when their teachers overestimated their abilities and when their mothers' accurately estimated their abilities in in third-grade. Furthermore, there was evidence for mediation through adults' differential treatment in the reading models. Evidence for moderation was also seen in the reading models, but only for the influence of teachers' misperceptions on teacher attention, which indirectly led to differences in child achievement (i.e. conditional indirect effects). The effects of teachers' misperceptions were more profound at low levels of environmental control compared to highly controlled classrooms. Thus environmental control did not lead to similar influences of teacher and mother misperceptions. This supports the notion that there are different consequences of teacher and mother misperceptions on child achievement. The results of additional analyses found child characteristics (i.e. child birth order, gender, ethnicity, family SES, child social competencies, and prior abilities), as well as teacher's self-efficacy predicted the degree of accuracy of the adults' perceptions of children's reading and math abilities. Furthermore, the results showed that teachers' and mothers' perceptions were often accurate, but when one adult was inaccurate, it was likely that the other adult's perception was similar. As we become increasingly aware of the importance of social influences on cognition, the results of the present dissertation suggest that it is important to consider differences between socializing agents. / Psychology

no / City Park opened in early 2012 and despite some on-going criticism, during the summer the site drew thousands of people to the heart of Bradford and was the scene of much relaxed and good natured conviviality amongst socially diverse groups. As a new and unique public space in Bradford and a focal point for the city, a number of staff from the Centre for Applied Social Research believed researching City Park to be a fruitful endeavour to help promote a dialogue with the public and other sectors about living together in Bradford.

This research explores how design-based learning can be used as a pedagogical strategy in K-12 classrooms to foster students' 21st century skills in such areas as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. The research aims to identify what students and teachers who participated in a design-based learning environment perceived to be the benefits and challenges of the project. The findings are used to suggest strategies that can be used to capitalize on the benefits and mitigate the challenges of the strategy. This research employs a multiple case study methodology to investigate the unique perspectives of three audiences who participated in the study: (1) an eighth grade English teacher, (2) an eighth grade social studies teacher, and (3) fifty eighth grade students. It gives a detailed description of the results of post-implementation interviews during which participants reported on what they perceived to be the benefits and challenges of the project. The results of the interviews are utilized as the primary data source for the findings. The study reveals that a majority of the participants perceived that students benefitted from the environment. They gained skills in communication and collaboration, developed the ability to empathize by exploring multiple perspectives, gained real-world experience that prepared them for their future by solving problems they identified in their immediate world, and gained knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines. The teachers also benefitted from the environment in that they gained a new respect for their students' skills and abilities, explored and re-defined their own pedagogical philosophies, and improved their own design thinking skills. While participants reported multiple benefits to the learning environment, they also acknowledged several challenges. Time was a challenge for everyone involved. Teachers perceived keeping students motivated when they faced ambiguity and assessing students to be a challenge. They also noted that administrative support for design-based learning is a challenge that must be overcome in order for wide-scale adoption to be realized. While students also identified many challenges to the environment, they consistently acknowledged that the challenging aspects - communication, collaboration, exploring multiple perspectives, managing real-world constraints, and critical thinking - were ultimately beneficial. The findings translate to an overarching message that design-based learning is hard, but it's worth it. / Ph. D.

A safe school is defined as a physically and emotionally safe environment where faculty and staff, members of the community, and students perceive that they are safe. School safety is an important topic for both school administrators and architects who design schools. Previous research into the physical environment of a school has explored its impact on student achievement and, to a lesser extent, school climate and school safety. Overall, research into the relationship between a physical environment of a school and its influence on the perception of safety is inadequate. The study sought to determine what were the design elements that principals and architects believed promoted a safe elementary school. The main research question for the study was, "What are the design elements that principals and architects believe influence a safe elementary school?" The study replicated the methodology of Walton's study (2011) called Physical Design for Safe Schools. Walton focused on perceptions of high school principals and architects who were involved in designing and building schools. Walton's study concluded that safety was an important issue to principals and architects. Specifically, each group identified supervision, technology and cameras, and controlling access to school buildings as important to school safety. The groups also identified restrooms and locker rooms as the two most problematic areas of a school building due to inability to supervise. Data for the study were gathered through qualitative methods and utilized a phenomenological approach to exploring data. Principals from elementary schools built before 1999, principals from elementary schools built since 2011, and architects with experience designing elementary schools were included as participants in the study. Participants were asked five to nine semi-structured and open-ended questions relevant to the design elements and physical features associated with school buildings. Results of the study found that the physical design of a school building was viewed as having an influence on safety in schools. The two common themes from all three groups were access control and visibility. Sub-themes were the importance of preparation for emergencies, perceptions of inequality in funding for school safety measures, the prevalence of technology that has created greater opportunities to keep schools safe, and the need for balance between safety and aesthetics when designing schools. / Ed. D.