The purpose of this study was to measure stages of teacher concern about the use of instructional technology in the elementary classroom. The study examined the role of instructional technology as a change innovation within the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM).Elementary schools selected for this study were identified through the Indiana Department of Education's School Technology Profile completed during the spring of 2000. Stages of Concern Questionnaires (SoCQ) were mailed and systematically distributed to teachers in each school during the fall of 2002. The SoCQ consisted of thirty-five Likert-scale items that asked respondents to rate statements concerning instructional technology on a five-point scale.Data obtained from the Stages of Concern Questionnaire were analyzed, summarized, and presented in narrative form. Tables were developed to report the data. The following conclusions were drawn based on the findings in the study:1. Change innovations exist as a developmental pattern consisting of personal feelings and perceptions that evolve as the change process unfolds.2. Instructional technology exists as a change innovation for Indiana elementary teachers.3. Concerns expressed by Indiana elementary teachers toward instructional technology exist with similar levels of intensity at seven developmental stages.4. Among Indiana elementary teachers, significant differences exist among teachers at the Information and Collaborative stage, Consequence and Collaboration stage, and Consequence and Refocusing stage.5. When examining years of teaching experience, significant differences exist among teachers at the Informational, Management, and Refocusing stages.6. Indiana elementary teachers who had previous teaching experiences as middle school and high school teachers expressed no significant differences in concern when levels of teaching experience were considered.7. Indiana elementary teachers expressed no significant differences in concern when stand-alone computers limited their access to instructional technology.8. Indiana elementary teachers expressed no significant differences in concern when computer access to the Internet was readily available.9. Indiana elementary teachers expressed significant differences in concern about instructional technology when specific models for teacher training were examined.10. Indiana elementary teachers expressed no significant differences in concern when school district mandates to use instructional technology in the classroom were examined. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purposes of this study were to survey Indiana high school principals, teachers, and counselors (a) to determine their levels of level of knowledge in testing, interpretation of test scores, research on the impact of graduation examinations, and performance assessment; (b) to determine their levels of experience with minimal competency testing, graduation examination programs and performance assessment; and (c) to profile each group's and the entire group's views of the purposes, content, standards of achievement, and administrative procedures for a graduation examination. Additionally, the study sought to identify what these educators predicted would be the impacts of such examinations.The populations studied were randomly selected samples from three groups of educators: (a) principals (350); (b) teachers (753); and (c) guidance counselors (524) in Indiana public high schools. A survey concentrating on the issues central to the purpose, content, standards of achievement, administrative procedures, and impact of graduation examinations was developed and validated by the researcher.It was found that principals and counselors perceived themselves to be more knowledgeable about and experienced with testing than did teachers. Indiana educators preferred (a) a high school graduation examination with a combination of open-ended constructed responses, performance tasks, and multiple-choice questions whose content was determined by a state-level committee of educators and consisted of a broad spectrum of skills and content areas; (b) full inclusion of students with disabilities, if there were reasonable and appropriate accommodations and if these students' scores were not used to evaluate teachers or schools; and (c) awarding two high school diplomas. Indiana educators predicted that if high school graduation examinations were enacted, the following would increase: (a) legal challenges and lawsuits; (b) the public's evaluation of education based on test scores; (c) the public's perception of test scores as the major goal of schooling; (d) stress on teachers and administrators; (e) pressure on teachers to change; (f) time demands on educators; (g) measures to protect students and schools from harm caused by high-stakes tests; (h) drop out rates; (i) emphasis on tested content and skills; and (k) state control. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of Indiana school board presidents and superintendents on recommendations for board governance. A second purpose was to determine the current usage of these recommendations for board governance among Indiana school boards.A questionnaire consisting of 42 Likert-response items was mailed to the superintendent and board president of the 294 public school districts in Indiana. The return rate was 63 percent for board presidents and 82 percent for superintendents.The following conclusions were formulated: (a.) board presidents appear most likely to support recommended changes in school board governance in areas of Planning, Board Development, Collective Bargaining, and Curriculum/Staff Development; (b.) superintendents appear most likely to support recommended changes in school board governance in the areas of Board Development, Collective Bargaining, and Curriculum/Staff Development; (c.) board presidents and superintendents appear most likely to differ in their responses to recommendations for changes in school board governance in the areas of Planning, Personnel, Managing Schools and Budget; (d.) board presidents and superintendents from the same school districts are not likely to differ significantly in their opinions about whether or not their board is currently practicing recommended changes in school board governance.Indiana board presidents nor superintendents agreed with authorizing charter schools, hiring administrative law judges or other qualified third parties to hear appeals on students and staff members' due process rights, or establishing a procedure outside of the school board for hearing and deciding constituent complaints. Nor did they agree the board should grant full authority to the administration to approve individual claims or approve change orders on construction projects less than $1,000,000. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study investigated the relationship between gender, management style, and decision-making regarding wellness programming by human resource managers. From a sample of 200 members of the Society for Human Resource Management from the state of Indiana, 83 individuals participated in this study. Each participant completed the 10-item Sargent and Miller Leadership Questionnaire, and ranked, in order of importance, five possible benefit offerings (of which wellness programs was one) that their organization could offer its' employees. T-test analysis revealed that gender was not an indicator of management style preference, nor was it an indicator of the perceived importance of wellness/health promotion programs. Although gender did not show any relevance to management style or the support of wellness programs, the use of correlational analysis did reveal a slight correlation between management style and the support for wellness programs. / Fisher Institute for Wellness

Voice mail has become a major communications tool. This study examined the opinions of 357 Indiana chief executive officers regarding voice mail systems--based on a random sample of the 4,697 members of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce as of November 18, 1992. A 100 percent response rate was achieved. The CEOs generally did not like calling into systems. The study concluded that 20 percent of Indiana businesses have voice mail. The major advantage--as cited by CEOs--to calling into systems was that they can leave detailed messages at anytime. The major disadvantage was that voice mail is cold and impersonal--CEOs want to speak to a real person. The CEOs who have voice mail gave major advantages and disadvantages of their internal systems as well as a rating. Oanparisons were made between various findings including how not having voice mail affects the rating of calling into other systems. / Department of Journalism

The focus of the study was to examine the extent to which pharmacies in Indiana are currently selling cigarettes and alcohol, the current opinions of pharmacists, to compare findings with the previous 1996 Indiana study and to determine pharmacists' familiarity with available public health resources. A survey questionnaire was designed based on previous studies. It was reviewed by a jury of experts and subsequently administered to the randomly selected pharmacies in Indiana. Of those pharmacies that were included in the study, 74.4% were returned. Collected data were analyzed and compared to findings from 1996 using descriptivestatistical methods.Findings revealed that fewer pharmacies sold cigarettes in 2001 (58.1%) than in 1996 (63.7%). Alcohol sales continued at 206 (43.7%) of pharmacies currently selling alcoholic beverages, which is relatively the same level as in 1996, 202 (41.9%) of pharmacies. There is an increasing trend in pharmacists that believe pharmacies should be selling neither cigarettes (+7.2%) nor alcohol (+4.7). Most pharmacists' (64%) agree that they play asignificant role in health promotion/disease prevention to the public, yet only 42.6% involve themselves with publichealth promotion activities. The capability of pharmacists to refer people to outside resources for educational needsis limited. Over three-fourths of pharmacists are either completely unfamiliar with or have no opinion about thethree most well-funded public health programs in the state of Indiana. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

A study was conducted to determine what attitudes Indiana religion editors and reporters hold toward religion news and what attitude patterns exist among them.Using Q Methodology, this study explored the attitudes of religion reporters and editors at 22 Indiana daily newspapers. Newspapers included in the study had a religion reporter or editor who covered local religion news.The concourse for the study was developed by using statements from Ranly's 1977 study and from articles from trade and scholarly journals. The Q-sample included a total of 54 statements related to personal religious beliefs, the state of religion news and working as a journalist.The subjects completed a questionnaire, which included questions about their professional and religious background, and interviews were conducted with the subjects.The typical Indiana religion reporter was: a Caucasian female who had worked as a journalist for less than 10 years, who had held the position of religion reporter for less than five years, who held a bachelor's degree in journalism or English, and who had at least one college religion course. She had exposure to religion while growing up, is now involved in religious activities, and attends church weekly.QMETHOD software was used to tabulate the Q-sorts, and the investigator determined that two factors could be drawn out from the results. Hypothetical reporter types were labeled as "moderate" and "traditional." There was a high correlation between the two factors. Moderates were more news-oriented in their approach. They believe that religion news should be covered like any other news topic. Traditionalists were more faith-oriented. They believe that their faith and their jobs are not conflicting. / Department of Journalism

The objective of the study was to determine how visitors perceive park management method alternatives to preserve scenic beauty in Mounds State Park, and how other factors, such asvisitor characteristics and primary purpose for visiting the state park affected their preferences. Additionally, this study has presented a comparison of preferences for park management approaches between park managers and visitors, and a relationship between visitors' perceptions of scenic beauty and other factors. Furthermore, this study explored the contribution of a qualitative analysis. The result showed that visitor preferences for some park management approaches were influenced by sociodemographic characteristics, while visitor preferences for other park management approaches were influenced by the current state of scenic conditions in the park. Differences were observed between park manager's perceptions and visitors' perceptions. Visitors' perceptions of scenic beauty were related to whether or not they had visited the park in the past. Finally, it was clear that qualitative analysis was worthwhile for obtaining information that quantitative data could not provide. / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Education experts' predictions of increasing demand for vocational and technical education presents a unique opportunity for technical colleges to position themselves to take advantage of this trend. However, it also places a great deal of pressure on the leaders of those colleges to aggressively develop and manage institutional image in order to remain competitive.The leadership of Ivy Tech State College (formerly Indiana Vocational Technical College) realized in the early 1990s that they must institutionalize marketing and image management to remain in the forefront of technical education in Indiana. To counter public confusion about Ivy Tech that resulted from 30 years of decentralized marketing and advertising, the college changed its name, developed a new logo, and launched its first statewide advertising program to increase public awareness of the institution and to improve its public image.The primary purpose of this study was to determine and assess the current institutional image of Ivy Tech and what image the college should project, all from an internal perspective. The hypothesis asserted in this study is that a difference exists between what internal publics think Ivy Tech's current image is and what they desire the college's image to be.In conducting the study, 90 representatives of Ivy Tech's internal constituencies were asked to sort two sets of 91 statements. One set of statements indicated the image they believe the public has of Ivy Tech, while the other set indicated the image they believe the college should project. Each statement was ranked on an eleven-point most agree/most disagree scale. The completion rate for both sets of sorts was 74 percent (67 of 91). Responses were computer tabulated using the QMETHOD factor analysis program.The first sort, which dealt with what Ivy Tech's internal publics think the college's current image is, revealed a two-factor solution. Factor One is referred to in the study as the Realists. Factor Two is referred to in the study as the Boosters. The two-factor solution indicated that a difference does exist among the college's internal publics regarding what they believe Ivy Tech's current image is.Factor One, the Realists, believe the college has an image problem. This group believes the public has, at worst, a negative image of Ivy Tech, and at best, a lack of understanding and/or knowledge of the college. Factor Two, the Boosters, believe Ivy Tech has a favorable image with the public and the reputation of a quality institution.The second sort, which dealt with the image Ivy Tech's internal constituencies think the college should project, revealed a one-factor solution. The one-factor solution indicated consensus among internal publics relative to the image Ivy Tech should project.Responses to both Q sorts indicated five basic messages that should be conveyed specifically and clearly to the public. They are:1. Ivy Tech is a real college.2. Ivy Tech has a wide variety of educational programs.3. Ivy Tech provides a quality education that prepares graduates for the jobs that will be in demand in the next century.4. Ivy Tech instructors are as knowledgeable asinstructors at other institutions.5. Ivy Tech graduates can and do continue theireducations at four-year institutions. / Department of Journalism

This study documents the most salient factors associated with the decline in hunting participation in Indiana. Data for the study were obtained from interviews and a survey of Indiana residents conducted in 2008. Respondents were classified as current hunters, former hunters, nonhunters, or anti-hunters. The most salient reasons respondents cited for the decline in hunting participation in Indiana were: less access to private land, lack of time, urbanization, and changing values among the younger generation. The major reasons that former hunters discontinued participation were lack of time, loss of interest, cost of licenses and equipment, and lack of available hunting partners. For nonhunters, the major reasons for non-participation were that they were not brought up into hunting, had other leisure activities during the hunting season, and were not willing to kill animals. The major reasons anti-hunters did not participate were that they had ethical problems with hunting, were not willing to kill animals, were not brought up into hunting, and don’t eat meat. The results of this study found that declining participation in hunting is the result of changing socio-economic factors in American society and not of any adverse ecological factors in America’s natural environment. Based on the results and comments from respondents, wildlife management agencies would gain the most from efforts to retain hunters, as opposed to try to recruit new hunters from the ranks of people who have no interest in it or are former hunters. / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management