PROBLEM: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementing a teacher in-service training program in values clarification on the attitudes students develop toward themselves, school, and the teacher. PROCEDURE: Two kindergarten through sixth grade elementary schools served as the experimental and control groups for the study. Ten classes of third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students participated in the experimental group and eight third through sixth grade classes of students served in the control group. The teachers in the experimental school received sixteen days of in-service training in values clarification between August 31, 1973 and Match 21, 1974. All students in grades· three through six in the experimental and control group schools were pretested and post-tested with regard to attitude toward self, school, and teacher. Three attitude surveys: How I am ... , How School is ... , and How my Teacher is ... were developed by the investigator and used to measure the three dependent variables of the study. Twelve analyses of covariance were used with the pretest scores serving as the covariates. FINDINGS: A total of five out of twelve research hypotheses were supported in the study. No significant difference was found between the· experimental and control group students' scores on the attitude toward self survey at any of the four grade levels studied. A significant change between the experimental and control group mean scores on the attitude toward school dimension was found for fourth grade students and it favored the experimental group; however, no significant differences were found for grades three, five, and six. Students in grades three, four, five, and six whose teachers received in-service training in values clarification made significantly more favorable changes in attitude toward the teacher than did students in grades three, four, five, and six whose teachers did not receive in-service training in values clarification. The differences were highly significant, reaching the .009 level and more. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study clearly show that the implementation of a teacher in-service training program in values clarification results in more favorable students' attitudes toward the teacher. Support for the theory of Raths et al. (1966) was provided on the attitude toward teacher dimension and was not supported on the attitude toward self and school dimensions. Perhaps the dynamics of the treatment process encouraged a more respectful, positive, and considerate approach on the part of teachers toward students' feelings, values, and opinions. RECOMMENDATIONS: The following recommendations for further research were made: (1) Further research and replication should be made to extend the external validity of the findings to larger and more diverse populations. (2) Longitudinal research is needed to determine if attitudes toward teachers persist over time and if attitudes toward school and self begin making favorable changes. (3) Process investigations relating to the extent and nature of the specific classroom techniques implemented by the teacher need to be conducted. (4) Other pupil outcomes, such as academic achievement, social acceptance, and emotional growth, should be investigated as a potential result of teacher in-service training in values clarification. (5) Teacher outcomes, such as changes in attitudes, teaching and learning theory, and degree of flexibility, may also be related to participation in training in values clarification, and this needs further research.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the degree of creative thinking of Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students as measured by the Torrance tests of Thinking Creatively with Pictures (TCWP), form A, and Thinking Creatively with Words (TCWW), form A; (b) the degree of creative thinking between males and females in the three groups of students tested; and (c) the differences, if any, between the TCWP scores and the TCWW scores of the Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students tested. Procedure. A sample of 15 males and 15 females in each ethnic group was randomly selected from the total Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students who enrolled in one university and two colleges in Northern California in the Spring semester of the 1979-80 academic year. The TCWP and the TCWW were administered to students in each group; the T-scores were used in the data analyses. Ex post facto design was used in this study because it was not possible to manipulate the independent variables, namely, ethnicity and sex. The level of significance for rejecting the null hypotheses was set at .05. Statistical techniques used in this study were the two-way ANOVA and the Pearson product-moment correlation. Conclusions. The findings of this study indicated that: (a) the Filipino college undergraduate students scored higher on figural Fluency than the Vietnamese college undergraduate students; (b) females had higher figural Fluency scores than males; (c) the Anglo-American college undergraduate students scored higher on figural Flexibility than the Filipino college undergraduate students; (d) males had higher figural Originality scores than females; (e) the Anglo-American college undergraduate students scored higher on figural Elaboration than either the Filipino or the Vietnamese college undergraduate students; (f) there was no correlation between the TCWP scores and the TCWW scores on the factors of Fluency and Flexibility, but a moderate positive correlation was found in the Originality scores among the three ethnic groups tested. Recommendations. (a) Educational instructors and counselors should help their Vietnamese students become better acquainted with taking tests when these students are in the American educational system; (b) Filipino and Vietnamese students should be taught how to study in a democratic educational and political system, to concentrate on divergent thinking rather than on convergent thinking by recalling more verbal interaction between students and students and professors in defending different value positions; (c) additional studies should be conducted using samples of other ethnic groups such as Chinese, Laotian, Korean, and Japanese to verify findings in this study and to further examine cultural differences and the influence of specific cultural traditions; (d) an in-depth study, isolating specific cultural elements in the Vietnamese, Filipino, and American cultures should be undertaken to determine which traditions, mores, and values have the greatest influence on creativity.

This study investigated the relationship between various forms of intervention and gender on the moral development of junior high school students. The three types of intervention identified and studied were: (a) a classroom values education program, (b) crisis counseling, and (c) a combination classroom-counseling intervention. The cognitive-developmental approach of Lawrence Kohlberg served as the theoretical base for this study. In order to determine the effects of the two variables on the moral reasoning of children, 195 junior high school students were divided into three treatment groups and one control group. Students were pretested using the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Treatment lasted for ten weeks, at which time the students were administered the DIT as a posttest. Students ranged in age from 12 to 14. The difference between student pretest and posttest means on the DIT were analyzed. The .05 level of rejection was set for all statistical tests. Two analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyze: (a) differences in the rate of moral growth among students participating in the various forms of intervention, and (b) differences in the rate of moral growth between male and female students participating in this study. No statistical difference at the .05 level was obtained between the pretest and posttest means for students exposed to the different treatments. This can be attributed to: (a) the short duration of the treatment, (b) the validity of the DIT with this particular sample of students, and (c) the ineffectiveness of the counseling intervention. A significant difference at the .02 level was obtained for gender with female students showing more gains than male students in the three treatment groups and control group. Earlier maturation at this particular age, rather than the intervention factor, is a possible explanation for the consistent gains shown among female subjects over male subjects. Suggestions for future research included: (a) increasing the length of the study and the age range of the subjects, (b) testing the usefulness of the DIT with younger subjects, (c) testing the validity of the DIT for use with subjects with bilingual/bicultural backgrounds, and (d) conducting more studies on the feasibility of cognitive-developmental approaches in clinical settings.

<p> Connectedness and classroom management has been defined as the ability to relate to students and keep order and maintain successful relationships with individuals. This qualitative study utilized surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and observations to examine the best practices implemented by educators to develop and maintain connections with students based upon the age, gender, ethnicity, and experience of a studied educator. The research investigated how classroom management positively and/or negatively affected the educator, students, and classroom environment, with respect to connectedness, as evidenced by behaviors such as off-task, aggressive, and non-academically productive behaviors. The research also examined how a teacher&rsquo;s intonation and delivery method affected behavioral management, as measured by on-task, academically productive, and nonaggressive behaviors. The research examined what was the self-perception of participants of effectiveness in the classroom, as related to the recorded characteristics of age, gender, ethnicity, and experience level. The research focused upon 12 educators in a suburban district and observed the interactions and practices throughout an academic school year. Classroom observations were conducted and results triangulated to determine how connectedness and classroom management was achieved in the classrooms of teachers who represented various ages, genders, ethnicities, and experience levels. The findings concluded that age and experience were crucial in the development and maintenance of connectedness and classroom management. Another finding was the practice in which African American and Caucasian teachers approached connectedness and classroom management varied.</p>

<p> Relational aggression acted out through social media or cyber bullying is an ever-growing limitedly researched issue that is impacting students and parents alike. A mixed-method study was conducted using existing older and aspiring younger social workers and counselors to investigate attitudes (focus groups and text box comments) and relationships (surveys) between variables. The research questions asked how attitudes toward cyber bullying based on gender, type of social media, parent versus nonparent status, and involved parent versus not involved parent status. Hypotheses tested correlations between the same elements.</p><p> Participants were 75 existing social workers and counselors working at a Midwestern school district, and 137 aspiring social workers and counselors enrolled in a Midwestern university undergraduate social worker program and a graduate counselor program. The participant age varied&mdash;the youngest group was the undergraduate social worker students and graduate counseling students the oldest group was the existing social workers and counselors. Gender varied, but the majority of participants were female.</p><p> All participants were surveyed with an instrument designed to measure attitude that included three scenarios of relational aggression. Among those surveyed, some also participated in a video recorded focus group to measure attitude. Survey results were analyzed using <i>t</i> tests and <i> F</i> tests that found minimal significance between participant responses. Focus group results were first analyzed using axial coding for three key elements: parent involvement, relational aggression, and social media, and found that by far, the majority of responses aligned with the element, parent involvement. Next, open coding of just the parent involvement responses resulted in the following emerging themes: general parent involvement, parent monitoring, parent involvement as a resolution, parent involvement as a prevention, and parental advisement.</p><p> There was more female representation that took the survey than males. Lack of familiarity with social media websites made it difficult for honest responses and if they were used to cyber bully. Most respondents felt parent involvement is important in preventing cyber bullying despite parental status. Involved parental monitoring of their child&rsquo;s social media are aware of their online behavior. Cyber bullying is a prevalent topic that provided strong reactions from all data sets.</p>

<p> Graphic novels use visual literacy and multimodal learning two methods of teaching. Graphic novels also have a history of being motivating to students. This study aims to quantify the degree of influence graphic novels have on secondary student comprehension and motivation. Students were recruited from two classrooms taught by one twelfth-grade teacher. Students who received a graphic novel supplement performed significantly higher on comprehension as measured by grades than students who did not receive a graphic novel supplement for that material. Before and after each unit, students completed a motivational survey. There were no significant differences between pre- and post-test motivation data. Results indicate that more research on the effect of graphic novels on comprehension is needed.</p>

<p>The top five sources of stress for graduate school students include academic responsibilities, fiscal issues, anxiety caused by stress, work-life balance issues, and familial issues. This research explored the perceptions of marriage and family therapists regarding stress management in these areas for graduate students. Five female therapists were purposefully interviewed in the Riverside County region of California. The interview included five open ended questions and five closed ended questions, totaling 10 questions. The top five stressors were addressed using two questions for each. The research resulted in five themes regarding stress management: (a) realistic expectations, (b) proper budgeting, (c) self-care, (d) healthy perspectives, and (e) effective communication. </p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the influence that a threat to university students&rsquo; academic competence had on their reported competence, self-efficacy, and the avoidance of help seeking in academics. This dissertation was conceptualized based on symbolic self-completion theory which maintains that when individuals are actively committed to pursuing certain self-definitions, they define themselves as complete (e.g., competent or possessing a desired quality) through the use of symbols of attainment. These symbols can consist of any behavior or material possession that is accepted by others as proof that the individual possesses the desired self-definition. In the present study, the desired quality is being a competent university student, and potential symbols of attainment are measures of perceived competence, self-efficacy, and the avoidance of help seeking in academics. Providing written advice to future undergraduate students was also examined as an additional symbol of attainment. A pre/posttest design was used to gather measures surrounding an academic threat to current undergraduate students (n=203). Results of this dissertation support that being an undergraduate student does represent a self-defining goal and suggest that some students are invested in establishing and maintaining competence within this desired self-definition. This dissertation found that following an academic threat the experimental group did exaggerate (i.e., increase) responses to some of the measures. In addition, both academic commitment and self-esteem were important in determining the extent to which a student engaged in the symbolic self-completion process using measures that focus on competence, self-efficacy, and the avoidance of help seeking in academics. </p>

<p> Although there is a large investment made in technology in our public and private schools each year, there has been comparatively little effort made into understanding the impact of that technology on our students. This study examines the relationship between student boredom, media multitasking, and distraction in an effort to understand the impact of media multitasking on our students. To examine this, a mixed methods design was utilized, consisting of a memory recall experiment, student interviews, and a survey instrument. This study found that laptops are preferred over iPads for both focus and academic reasons, and it discovered classroom environments and teaching methodologies that caused distraction to occur as well as strategies employed by students to attempt to overcome distraction. Ultimately, this study did not find an impact on academic performance as assessed by a memory recall experiment. As a result, this study contributes significant knowledge into technology distraction at the high school level as well as modifications that can help improve student focus.</p>

<p> Parental Stress With Homeschooling K-6th Grade Children in a South Florida District. Jennifer A. Myers, 2015: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. ERIC Descriptors: Homeschooling, Stress, Stress Management, Coping This applied dissertation study was designed to inform and advance knowledge by using a quantitative approach to determine if perceived parental stress in homeschooling parents varies as a function of age, income, education, and ethnicity. Previous research in the field of homeschooling has primarily been qualitative in nature, thus, leaving a gap in the research. </p><p> Home schooling parents of K-6 grade children in South Florida districts were specified as the sample for the study. A perceived Stress Survey and demographic questionnaire were administered to 102 participants. Parental participants were male and female, all ethnicity, and ages 18 and older, who were homeschooling K-6th grade children in South Florida. Inferential statistics were used to draw conclusions from the sample tested. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0 was used to code and tabulate scores collected from the survey and provide summarized values where applicable. Logistic regression analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to evaluate the two Research Questions and hypotheses. Analysis of the primary data indicated that age, income, level of education, ethnicity and number of children homeschooled had no significant effect on perceived stress. Implication from findings suggests that behavioral characteristics of the child may mediate the relationship between stress and parental characteristics. The study is a valuable addition to the homeschooling research community as it aligns with and extends findings from previous research. </p>