As new methods of communication have been created by technological advances, it has become important to examine how students use these methods to interact with other students, the campus community, and the world. This study at Ball State University helped researchers understand how students communicated online in order to create policies regarding online communication. Data were gathered using the qualitative methodology of responsive interviewing. Students and administrators were interviewed (luring May and June of 2006. The data were analyzed by identifying important themes, trends, and concepts among the data according to Rubin & Rubin's (2005) model. The study found that institutions should create educational opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to learn about online communication technologies. These educational sessions should include how to use the technologies, the potential for their misuse, and the responsibilities attached to their use. The study concluded that existing policies should be used to address online policy violations. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between physical self-efficacy and personal dietary habits among students living in the wellness residence halls of Ball State University. This was a correlational study using previously collected data from six wellness residence halls. Residents from these halls were voluntary participants in the wellness screening, which included the testing instruments used for this study. Fifty-four subjects completed the Lifestyle Assessment Questionnaire (LSAQ) which included both the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (PSES) and the Dietary Habits Questions (DHQ). The relationship between physical self-efficacy and dietary habits was tested using the Pearson r as the correlation coefficient. It appears that there is a significant linear relationship between the physical self-efficacy and dietary habits among participants examined in this study. This linear relationship should be interpretated with caution, however, because the strength of the relationship between PSES and DHQ scores (r2=.1099) indicates that less than 11% of the variance within the DHQ scores is shared with the variance within the PSES scores. Those who had good physical self-efficacy also had good dietary habits. Further study is recommended. / Institute for Wellness

With numerous local economies previously driven by manufacturing, Indiana was strongly affected by the economic downturn from 2007 until 2009. One suggestion to facilitate economic growth has been Richard Florida’s “creative class” theory, which asserts that talented and educated people choose to live in creative places. College graduates represent one part of Florida’s “creative class.” Current students at Ball State University were surveyed to understand the importance of place-related factors for where students wanted to live after they graduated. The survey responses indicated that students are most concerned with income potential, cost of living, and distance to family. Alumni residence data from Ball State and three other Indiana universities were also mapped and compared to county-level measures of income, housing, distance from home, and creativity index. This analysis supports the survey findings that economic factors and family connections are likely motivating factors in where graduates have chosen to live and stands in contrast to the overall logic of the creative place theory of development. / Department of Geography

There is a need in the field of international education to form sound assessment practices to provide support for the study abroad experience. This study conducted assessment research using the CrossCultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI) as a pre and post-test as well as structured interviews to assess the impact and determine the cultural learning outcomes of the two main types of study abroad programs at Ball State University.According to the CCAI, there was meaningful cultural learning that occurred for the students who participated in study abroad programs for the Fall 2001 semester. The interviews revealed that the student participants experienced gains in self-perception, communication skills, and worldview concepts. Further implications include the continuation of assessment in the international education field and the move towards learning based study abroad models. / Department of Educational Studies

Training staff to better meet the needs of a diverse study body is an important component of housing and residence life programs. This study at Ball State University identified the role and effectiveness of the Multicultural Advisor Program and provides suggestions on how to improve. Six focus groups allowed the researcher to explore the Multicultural Advisor Program from Resident Assistants, Multicultural Advisors, Hall Directors, and students perspectives during fall 2003 semester. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to assess programs, activities and facilities for physically handicapped students at Ball State University.Study participants included eighty-five individuals identified by University officials. Participants included fifty-six physically handicapped students, nine non-handicapped undergraduate students, ten administrators and ten faculty. Physically handicapped students were divided into seven disability groups including: (1) blind; (2) visually impaired; (3) deaf; (4) hearing impaired; (5) wheelchair confined; (6) limited ambulatory and (7) "other" disabilities.An interview assessment instrument was developed consisting of fifty items divided into five sections. Participants were interviewed for assessment of specific accommodations, general information, legislation, communication and attitudes concerning programs, activities and facilities for physically handicapped students at Ball State University. Fourteen trained interviewers conducted interviews with assigned participants.Physically handicapped students completed assessments from all five sections of the assessment instrument. Non-handicapped undergraduate students, administrators and faculty completed assessments from general information, legislation, communication and attitudes sections.Analyses of assessment data included-profile comparisons by number and percentage of participant responses. Response choices to assessment instrument items were: (1) a great degree; (2) moderate degree;(3) small degree; (4) none and (5) I don't know also collected from all study participants.The following summary of findings is based on analyses of assessment responses received from the study population.1. University transportation services were not as useful for handicapped students as non-handicapped students.2. Physical education facilities were not as useful for handicapped as for non-handicapped.3. Intramural sports provisions were not adequate for handicapped participation.4. Nobility impaired students reported difficulty with University door accommodations.5. Blind and visually impaired reported a greater need for brail and auditory information in public places at the University.6. Deaf and hearing impaired students reported a greater need for visual fire alarms and amplified telephones at the University.7. Wheelchair confined, limited ambulatory and "other" disability students reported little convenience in use of University parking facilities.8. Twenty of fifty-six handicapped students reported inconvenience in use of library card catalogs.9. Six wheelchair confined, one limited ambualtory, one blind, one visually impaired and three "other" disability students reported a need for more appropriate University Health Services.10. Handicapped students reported limited participation in social organizations and special interest groups.11. Twenty-two percent of the handicapped reported a greater need in consideration of handicapped for employment at the University.12. Limited ambulatory students reported a greater need for non-slip floors and surfaces at the University.13. All but five handicapped participants were not familiar with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.14. Participants reported that all institutions of higher education should be accessible to the handicapped.15. Non-handicapped persons reported that handicapped students had more personal adjustment problems than non-handicapped students.16. A greater number of handicapped than non-handicapped students reported that handicapped college graduates secure jobs as easily as non-handicapped college graduates.17. Thirty-six percent of the handicapped students had no information on which to base an opinion concerning career and vocational counseling services at Ball State University.18. Forty-seven percent of the handicapped students had no information on which to base an opinion concerning placement services at Ball State University.Study findings were dispersed to University officials for use in University accessibility development for the handicapped.

When service-learning began to gain prominence as a legitimate academic pedagogy in the early 1990's, it was believed that through intensive service experiences, students developed a greater understanding of themselves, felt empowered to make a difference in their community, made a connection to course material, and made a commitment to continue serving their communities post-graduation. Research conducted in the mid to late 1990's confirmed that students completing service-learning courses were responding positively in all these stated areas (Eyler, Giles, & Braxton, 1997; Osborne, Hammerich, & Hensley, 1998). However, a new generation of students began entering higher education institutions in the fall of 2000. Labeled the Millennial generation and because these students were different from any other previous generation (Howe & Strauss, 2000), it was appropriate to ask whether these students would respond to service-learning experiences in the same way. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the assumptions made about the effects of service-learning were accurate for the contemporary Millennial student, as defined by Howe and Strauss (2000), and to more accurately know whether those service-learning experiences were meeting students' expectations. This research assessed the way Millennial students at Ball State university were affected by service-learning in three primary ways: Expanding Academic Learning, Personal Growth and Development, and Civic and Social Awareness. A sample of 256 undergraduates enrolled in service-learning courses at Ball State University at the beginning of the fall 2009 semester were given a service-learning pre-assessment test that consisted of 18 questions in three different subcategories: Expanding Academic Learning, Personal Growth and Development, and Civic and Social Awareness. The pre-assessment was designed to evaluate what students expected to gain from their service-learning experience. A post-assessment was given at the end of the fall 2009 semester and asked students to report on what they actually received from the service-learning experience. Overall, Ball State Millennial students reacted in very similar ways to their service-learning experience as the generation before them. Ball State Millennial students had high expectations that, as a result of their service-learning experiences, their classroom studies would be more meaningful, their higher level thinking skills would be enhanced, and their service-learning experiences would be an important part of their education. There was not a statistically significant difference between the pre-assessment (expectations of service-learning) and the post-assessment (service-learning experiences). Students had high expectations for what they would achieve from their service-learning experience and overall their expectations were met. When looking at the individual subcategories, there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post- assessment for Expanding Academic Learning, Personal Growth and Development, and Civic and Social Awareness, but not for Personal Growth and Development. This research also demonstrated that service-learning affects students in similar ways regardless of the age of the students, class standing, grade point average and years of previous service. There was, however, a statistically significant difference based on service-learning course taken. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure attitudes toward teenage parents. The instrument, called the Attitude Toward Teen Parent Scale (ATTPS), was based on Robinson's (1988a) suggested myths about teenage fathers. The ATTPS consisted of 20, Likerttype items and was administered to 133 volunteer undergraduate students attending Ball State University. A series of exploratory principal component factor analyses were conducted to identify independent factors represented by the ATTPS. A four-factor solution, accounting for 54% of the variance on the ATTPS was retained . The internal consistency reliability for the ATTPS was .67. Two factors were interpreted as "psychological deviance" (alpha = .77) and "supportive involvement" (alpha = .66). The other two factors were not interpretable. These findings suggested that the ATTPS measured two independent constructs. It was suggested that future research should further test the validity and reliability of the ATTPS by focusing on the two interpretable factors identified in this study, and by increasing the items on the scale as well as the number of subjects tested. Further studies should also examine attitudes among different populations (e.g., varying by race, sex, age, profession) toward teenage parents. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study investigated personality differences among students who seek personal, career, and academic counseling and students who do not seek counseling. Students in the 1983 freshman class (N = 3,245) at Ball State University were administered various tests including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Counseling center files were examined to determine the number of students who subsequently sought counseling (n = 494) and which services they sought. Virtually no previous research existed using these variables. Therefore the study was considered exploratory in nature.In the statistical analyses, descriptive statistics were used to examine counseling groups. Loglinear analysis model fitting was performed on the four MBTI scales for the counseling seeker groups and the nonseekers.Results of the descriptive statistics showed that, in addition to the three counseling service groups, a fourth group emerged. Nearly one-fourth of the seekers did not return for services after intake (the "no services" group). Women represented about two-thirds of the total counseling seekers and of each counseling group. There was a significant relationship between year in school and counseling service sought. In the freshman and sophomore years, students sought more career and academic counseling. By the junior and senior years, students sought more personal counseling.Results of the loglinear analyses showed that the best-fitting model for the counseling groups contained the MBTI scales of sensing-intuiting (S-N) and judging-perceiving (J-P). The model further discriminated between the personal and academic counseling seekers and the nonseeking group. The personal counseling group was intuiting and perceiving (NP) and the academic group was sensing and judging (SJ). No differences were found for the no services and the career groups.The results of this study indicate there are definite personality differences among counseling seekers and nonseekers. By personality type, academic counseling seekers prefer the practical and concrete. Personal counseling seekers prefer the theoretical and abstract. Career counseling seekers and the no services group appear more like the general student population on the MBTI. Suggestions for counseling interventions and future research were given. / Department of Educational Psychology

This qualitative study investigated the attitudes and perceptions of the role of Residence Life Professionals in attending to the spiritual needs of undergraduate college students at Ball State University. This study examined how undergraduate college students view the role of Residence Life Professionals in attending to spiritual needs. The results of this study have particular significance for those who are responsible for the well being of college students on a daily basis and benefit the Residence Life system by allowing a better understanding of where Professionals and students stand on this issue. This in turn will help Residence Life Professionals and students establish realistic expectations of each other in the spiritual arena. The researcher conducted 12 interviews with undergraduate student at Ball State University and analyzed the data by coding themes. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education