Sunbathing and sunscreen use, as well as related intentions, attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, were assessed in 90 Southern Appalachian undergraduates. A large majority (75%) reported sunbathing; with more than half reporting sun lamp use. A slight majority (56.7%) reported some use of sunscreen. Subjects reporting an intention to tan spent more time sunbathing, both outside and under a sun lamp. Individuals reporting a sun protection intention had lighter tans and spent less time sunbathing. Sunbathing was predicted by perceptions of sunbathing as relaxing, while sun lamp use was predicted by more positive views of suntans. Sunscreen use was predicted by more positive sun protection attitudes and less negative sunscreen attitudes.

Alcohol abuse is a worldwide public health concern. Nurses, representing the largest body of health care providers, are a potential resource to provide screening and brief intervention for patients with alcohol problems. This study evaluates the effect of an educational intervention on the attitudes, beliefs, and confidence levels of nurses regarding screening and brief intervention for alcohol problems. One hundred eighty-one students at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing participated in a four-hour educational intervention to train providers in brief negotiated intervention (BNI) for screening, early detection and brief treatment of alcohol problems. Participants completed questionnaires before and after this training. Analysis of the data using paired t-test and one-way analysis of variance showed statistically significant positive change in the nurses' attitudes, beliefs, and confidence levels regarding alcohol abuse and its treatment after the educational intervention. For example, the percentage of nurses who reported always having confidence in assessing patients' readiness to change their behavior increased from 8.3% to 23.5% after training. In conclusion, the BNI educational intervention can be effective in promoting positive changes among nurses in attitudes, beliefs, and confidence levels regarding alcohol abuse and its treatment.

Forgiveness is argued to be highly relevant to problematic substance use, yet supportive empirical evidence is lacking. Findings are presented from a longitudinal study exploring the relationship between religiousness and spirituality (RS) variables and alcohol use disorders. We examined forgiveness of self (ForSelf), of others (ForOthers), and by God (ByGod), hypothesizing positive relationships with RS and negative relationships with alcohol use and consequences, at both baseline (N = 157) and six-month follow-up (N = 126). ForSelf scores were significantly lower than ForOthers and ByGod scores, and ForOthers scores increased modestly over time. ByGod was most consistently associated with other RS variables. ForSelf and ForOthers were associated with alcohol-related variables at both time points, and baseline ForSelf and ForOthers were associated with fewer drinking consequences at follow-up, but not after controlling for other pertinent variables. ForSelf may be most difficult to achieve and thus most important to recovery, thereby preventing full recovery and fostering relapses.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / South Africans live in one of the most religious yet most violent societies the world over, with gender-based violence (GBV) against women in intimate relationships flagged as a national priority. Traditionally, and rightfully so, intervention programmes focused on women victim-survivors of intimate partner abuse (IPA). While intervention programmes for men who perpetrate IPA emerged more recently and signify an important paradigm shift in conceptualizing solutions to IPA, the literature reveals a gap in research about the role and influence of religiously pervasive contexts in communities where some of these programmes operate. South Africa claims to be a secular state; however, around 90% of its population are religious and close to 74% are affiliated with the Christian faith. Literature indicates that men who perpetrate IPA often use easily misinterpreted scriptures and religious teachings to justify their abusive behaviour.

Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman / In this thesis, I investigate if there are regional differences in suicide acceptability attitudes in the United States and what might explain these differences, namely political views or religious beliefs. I examine four suicide attitudes from the 2018 General Social Survey: whether a person has the right to die by suicide due to an incurable disease; bankruptcy; dishonoring one’s family; or being tired of living and ready to die. I draw upon a number of theories that discuss how one’s environment can influence their attitudes and how individuals form their attitudes in general. An individual from New England was found to be more accepting of suicide than someone from another region, and individual-level political and religious views were somewhat able to explain one’s suicide acceptability attitudes. Overall, regional differences in suicide attitudes do exist, perhaps helpful for future research to better understand differences in suicide rates around the country. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

Grammar constitutes one of the core components of a language. It is thus problematic that a gap can be found between steering documents and teacher practices in Sweden. The steering documents provide minimal guidance for teachers regarding grammar instruction, which leads to teachers instead relying on their own beliefs to determine their practices. This qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews to examine to what degree the beliefs and practices in relation to English grammar instruction of four teachers in the southern part of Sweden align with three theoretical approaches to grammar teaching from the reviewed research: focus on formS (FonFs), focus on meaning and focus on form (FonF). The results are characterized by individuality in both teachers’ beliefs and practices, but can also be seen to be fundamentally similar in that, for each teacher, the steering documents provide minimal guidance, and factors such as context and the centrality of the learner in grammar instruction are important. All teachers show tendencies toward the three theoretical approaches, but their actual alignment shifts and varies depending on context. We conclude that the absence of direction from the steering documents has the potential to result in disparate and fractured grammar instruction that can negatively impact the learner. This is therefore an important area that should be further researched to ensure that teachers receive sufficient guidance for providing English grammar instruction.

This study examines the lived experience of teacher candidates through a professional inquiry process and the influence of that experience on their eventual teaching practice. Literature in this area typically follows teacher candidates and teachers through curriculum and instruction pedagogy coursework and then into the classroom to observe the incorporation of inquiry strategies and changes in disposition towards inquiry. This work fails to address a teacher candidate’s experience through their own personal open inquiry process and whether or not that experience transfers into their teaching practice. A nested case study approach - including both quantitative and qualitative data - were used to provide insight and build understanding towards the following questions: 1) What is the effect on a teacher candidate’s likelihood to employ an inquiry approach to science in their classroom following their own participation in an open-inquiry process during their teacher education? 2) How does participation in an inquiry process influence a developing teacher’s understanding of teaching and learning? Teacher candidates and teachers at varying stages of practice, completed a survey and three recently certified teachers were interviewed to explore the use of inquiry in their teaching. The evidence suggests a key component to affecting the incorporation of inquiry approaches into the classroom was that personal experience with inquiry served to unsettle held beliefs and led to a change in disposition towards inquiry. This study also explores the implications for the inclusion and importance of inquiry experiences early within teacher education programs. / Graduate

Submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE EDUCATION in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology (MSTE) at the University of Zululand, 2015. / This study set out to investigate beliefs held by pre service Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) students about the nature of science and science teaching and learning. The research sample comprised one hundred and eighty four (184) third and fourth year (B.Ed) students majoring in mathematics and physical sciences. Data on students’ epistemological beliefs about the nature of science and science teaching and Learning were collected using two questionnaires: The Nature of Science as Argument Questionnaire (NSAAQ) and Beliefs About Reformed Science Teaching and Learning (BARSTL). Furthermore the study sought to find out if those beliefs cohered with the beliefs espoused by the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for Physical Sciences grades 10-12. The conceptual framework of this study was framed upon the preponderance of literature that carried the view that a teacher’s classroom practices are a consequence of two main dialectic influences: (a) the teacher’s epistemological beliefs about the nature of science, which may be either naïve or sophisticated; and (b) the teacher’s beliefs about teaching and learning, which may be either traditional or reformed. Accordingly, the conceptual framework guiding the study opined that teachers holding naïve beliefs about the nature of science, and those holding traditional notions of teaching and learning will be characterized by teacher-centred instructional approaches, while those holding sophisticated beliefs of the nature of science and a reformed view of teaching and learning will be associated with learner-centred instructional approaches. This study was a case study conducted at a South African university, and involved one hundred and eighty-four third and fourth year students registered for a four-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree for the Senior and Further Education and Training phase. During these two final years of the programme students are engaged in science enquiry practices in their Methods modules. The participants were registered in physical science and mathematics education. Intact groups were used, so there was no sampling undertaken to select participants. Data were collected by the use of (a) the Nature of Science as Argument Questionnaire (NSAAQ), to determine epistemological beliefs held by the participants about the nature of science, as well as the concurrence of those beliefs with the views about science teaching and learning espoused by the NCS; and (b) the Beliefs about Reformed Science Teaching and Learning (BARSTL) questionnaire, to determine the beliefs held by preservice education students about science teaching and learning. Data analysis involved the use of both descriptive statistical methods to decipher patterns and general trends regarding the epistemological beliefs about science held by participants, and their beliefs about science teaching and learning, as well as inferential statistics to test both a priori and a posteriori hypotheses. Similarly, statistical analysis was carried out to determine whether or not third- and fourth-year pre-service science education students held beliefs about science teaching and learning that were in agreement with the pedagogical content beliefs about science teaching and learning espoused by the NCS. The study found that pre service students held significantly more sophisticated epistemological beliefs about the nature of science at fourth year than at third year level. The results also showed that fourth year students demonstrated a significantly higher level of ‘reformed oriented teaching and learning beliefs’ about science than did the third year students. The results however showed that third and fourth year students held beliefs that were not in line with the beliefs espoused by the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). These results support studies which have found that student teachers become more sophisticated in their epistemological beliefs towards graduation. The findings also showed that the B.Ed programme is succeeding in developing both epistemological beliefs about the nature of science and teaching and learning. The degree to which the programme succeeded in developing these beliefs was however quite small. This study recommends that further investigations be done to determine whether students who hold sophisticated epistemological beliefs about the nature of science and ‘reformed beliefs about science teaching and learning’ also demonstrate superior science teaching skills

Despite the high incidence of prostate cancer (PC) amongst men of African descent, there is a paucity of qualitative data that explores how Afro-Caribbean men perceive their risk, susceptibility to, and management of this disease. This phenomenological study sought to explore and analyze beliefs about PC in a sample of Afro-Caribbean men who reside in the United States (U.S.). The research questions considered the perceptions, beliefs, and lived experiences of participants. The conceptual framework is a synthesis of the health belief model (HBM) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA), primarily because the TRA allows for a culturally-based relevance and perspective that is lacking in the HBM. Data were collected using in-depth interviews from a purposive sample of 13 U.S. participants from 7 Caribbean territories, who provided detailed descriptions of their perceptions. Data management and inductive, iterative analysis were facilitated through the use of the NVivo 10 software program. This study found that participants had a low level of awareness and education about PC, but they also believed that if PC were caught early, they have a good chance of a long life. There was no indication that culture played a significant role in their attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of the disease. Education about PC should be targeted to this population as well as their significant others. In addition, qualitative research is needed to compare perspectives of Afro-Caribbean, African American, and African men who all reside in the United States. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing practical strategies that may increase screening and early diagnosis among Afro-Caribbean men, thereby reducing the mortality from this disease.

Technology engages and increases academic achievement for K-5 students, but teachers face attitudinal, social/cultural, and pedagogical barriers when they integrate technology for student learning. Although some teachers overcome these barriers, it remains unclear how they do so. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to analyze the attitudes and behaviors of 3 groups to determine how some teachers successfully overcame barriers to technology integration. The conceptual framework included Bandura's social cognitive theory and Ertmer's theory on second order barriers to technology integration. Participants were drawn from each of 3 schools in the northeastern United States. Data included interviews from 3 groups of 2-3 classroom teachers, 1 administrator, and 1 technology integration person. Data were analyzed using open coding to identify rich themes and patterns. The findings showed that a triadic force of administrators, technology support, and teachers worked together to positively influence technology integration. Strategies included providing appropriate professional development, building collegial support and sharing among teachers, training teachers to locate relevant technological resources, and establishing value and support for the use of technology for learning. The present study may contribute to positive social change by increasing the knowledge of barriers preventing integration of technology into K-5 classrooms, and by providing information that will allow teachers, administrators, and technology integration personnel to implement strategies that reduce and overcome these barriers.