The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a relation between birth order, gender and locus of control. There where 162 participants in the study, 44 men, 115 women. Birth order was coded into three levels. There where no significant differences between birth order and locus of control. The result showed that female participants where more external when it came to locus of control. When birth order was coded into two levels, there was a significant difference in locus of control. Only-borns where significant more internal than the other sibling groups. Firstborns/ only-borns where significant more internal than both second-born and last-borns. There was no interaction effect between birth order and gender. Adler´s sibling theories and Rotter´s theory of locus of control helped to explain the significant results found in this study.

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a relation between birth order, gender and locus of control. There where 162 participants in the study, 44 men, 115 women. Birth order was coded into three levels. There where no significant differences between birth order and locus of control. The result showed that female participants where more external when it came to locus of control. When birth order was coded into two levels, there was a significant difference in locus of control. Only-borns where significant more internal than the other sibling groups. Firstborns/ only-borns where significant more internal than both second-born and last-borns. There was no interaction effect between birth order and gender. Adler´s sibling theories and Rotter´s theory of locus of control helped to explain the significant results found in this study.</p>

Många hushåll och individer har i dagens samhälle tvingats börja pendla till sina arbeten bl.a. på grund av en förändrad arbetsmarknad. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att se om individer som pendlar regelbundet har ett lägre KASAM. Utgångspunkten var att individer med en mer extern kontrollokus ofta har lägre KASAM och att pendling hypotetiskt sett bör påverka individen lokus i en extern riktning. Sammanlagt 27 försökspersoner i åldrarna 22 – 50 år undersöktes med hjälp av KASAM test och I-E test. Deltagarna togs med bekvämlighetsurval från ett nordiskt flygbolag i Sverige, där 13 personer pendlande till arbetet och 14 var bosatta på arbetsorten, vilket visade att KASAM var signifikant lägre på 5 % nivå för de pendlande individerna, samt att kontrollokus var signifikant mer externt, också på 5 % nivå. Vidare forskning bör fokusera på individer från andra branscher för att se om resultaten är allmänna.

<p>This thesis is an article-based (3-paper format) dissertation. In the first article, the research team adapted an input-process-outcome (IPO) model of group-level processes in the classroom, as a theoretical framework, to examine students’ experiences regarding pre-college engineering curricula, classroom environments, and their experiences with the creative process in the two engineering courses offered in a university-based summer enrichment program. Applying provisional and open coding to semi-structured interview data from 16 participants, an Input-Process-Outcome Model of Collaborative Creativity (IPOCC model) was developed. In this study, I grouped our findings under Inputs, Group Processes, Outcomes, and Mediating Factors. The IPOCC model expands the 4P model of creativity to incorporate more collaborative contexts. According to the 4P model, creativity can be viewed from four different perspectives: Person, Process, Product, and Press. The IPOCC model suggests that in K-12 collaborative practice, creativity involves group-level considerations in addition to individual-level components. The IPOCC model offer insights for educators in terms of input components, group processes, and mediating factors that can facilitate learners’ engagement in creative teamwork. Findings of this study indicated that a combination of challenging tasks, open-ended problems, and student teamwork provides a rich environment for learners’ engagement to think creatively.</p> <p>The purpose of the second study was to systematically investigate how novice/K-12 students’ visual representation of design ideas has been operationalized, measured, or assessed in the research literature. In the different phases of screening in this systematic review, inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria were applied. From an initial sample of 958 articles, 40 studies were included in the final step of the coding process and qualitative synthesis. Applying provisional and open coding, three broad themes, and 23 characteristics were identified that have been used by researchers to conceptualize sketching of ideas, in novice/K-12 design activities: Communicating Ideas, Visual-Spatial Characteristics, and Design Creativity. We propose this Three-pronged Design Sketching (3-pDS) framework to examine K-12 design sketches. </p> In K-12 settings, one major challenge of conducting research on the influence of engineering education programs and curricula involves assessment. There is a need for developing alternative, effective, and reliable assessment measures to evaluate students’ design activities. The third study aimed to address this need by developing the idea-Sketching Early Engineering Design (i-SEED) Scale to assess pre-college learners’ freehand sketches in response to a design task. Applying the Three-pronged Design Sketching (3-pDS) as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to examine evidence of content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency of the i-SEED Scale data. The data collection took place in a residential summer enrichment program for students with gifts and talents at a Midwestern university. Following different stages of scale-development design, a sample of 113 design sketches were scored in this study, and the scores were used to provide evidence of the validity of the data for the i-SEED Scale. The sketches were generated by 120 middle- and high-school students in a collaborative design-oriented course. Exploratory factor analysis results supported a three-factor model for the i-SEED Scale, including Visual-Spatial Characteristics, Design Creativity, and Communicating Ideas.