The purpose of the study was to determine if perceived severity of the consequences of physical inactivity is an important component for exercise motivation in college students. The participants of the study were 581 college students who had enrolled in HSC 160, Fundamentals of Human Health, at Ball State University during the spring semester of 2001. Using a cross-sectional data collection process, participants completed a survey instrument consisting of the stages of change for exercise scale, the perceived severity of the consequences of physical inactivity scale, and demographic questions.The data were analyzed using both univariate and bivariate analyses. Specific descriptive and inferential statistic analyses were used to: 1) determine the degree of association between the participants' perceived severity and their identified stages of change for exercise, 2) examine the relationship between the stages of change for exercise and the participants' demographic characteristics, and 3) determine the difference between perceived severity of consequences of physical inactivity and the Participants' demographic characteristics. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The purpose of this study was to determine how international graduate students rate their health and their Sense of Coherence scores using Antonosky's 29- item "Orientation to Life Questionnaire" and to identify associations between international graduate students self-rated health status, Sense of Coherence scores, Sense of Coherence sub-scores, and biometric measures. The study found that international graduate students at Ball State University rate their health as "very good" and report having a high Sense of Coherence score and sub-scores. Additionally, positive associations between international graduate student's self-rated health and Sense of Coherence scores and sub-scores were identified. However, no significant correlations were found between international graduate students' self-rated health and their biometric measures. / Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology

This study has presented a comprehensive overview of the context and significance of changes in attitudes and levels of engagement in Ball State University’s BIO 100 class which is taught using the blended learning method. The evidence suggests that this method exhibits no significant overall change in attitudes or levels of engagement over the course of the semester. Several individual question couplets exhibited positive change. The combination of no significant overall change and positive couplet changes suggests that this method is a viable alternative to more traditional methods. In addition students overwhelmingly agree that this method of education should be used in other classes. Future research is needed to confirm the effects of this method. It is also paramount that as this method becomes implemented on larger scale training and coaching be available for students and faculty members. These services are necessary in order to achieve maximum method effectiveness.

The purpose of this research study was to determine the impact of a sustainable design learning cycle on students’ reported attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge regarding sustainability. This research used a quasi-experimental design, employing a pre and post test within group design. Students in a high school construction course at small rural school in New York State were the subjects of the study. Subjects were given a pre test to measure their attitudes and behaviors regarding sustainability, then a treatment, consisting of a learning cycle regarding sustainable design in residential construction. Following the treatment, subjects took a post test identical to the pre test in order to compare changes in reported attitudes and behaviors. Also, during the course of the treatment, subjects made entries in a logbook which then underwent a content analysis for connections to the domains of sustainability and learning objectives. Given that this study was only conducted with one group of students in one school district, it should be noted that the results of this study cannot be generalized to the population. The results of this study show that there were no measured impact on students’ attitudes and behaviors regarding sustainability. / Department of Technology

Little research has been published addressing college students’ use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and their attitudes toward CAM. This study measured the prevalence and type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among a sample of college students, assessed college students’ attitudes toward CAM, and investigated the relationship between select social-cognitive constructs and demographic variables as predictors of CAM use among the college population. A modified web based survey instrument originally developed by Nowak and Dorman (2008) was used to sample a cohort of college students attending Ball State University in the fall semester of 2011. Findings show high rates of CAM use and an overall positive attitude toward CAM from this sample. Observational learning, outcome expectancies, gender, and age were identified as significant correlates of CAM use. Having a better understanding about college students’ use of CAM and attitudes toward CAM can help impact the future of healthcare services and health education in United States (U.S.) universities. / Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

Research has shown that college students understand the risks associated with risky sexual behavior, but make up to close to 50% of new STI cases every year. Previous research suggests that lower perceived susceptibility to negative consequences, extroversion, openness, and neuroticism are all related to risky sexual behavior. Three hypotheses are proposed. Hypothesis one proposes that men and women will have significantly different levels of perceived susceptibility. Hypothesis two proposes that perceived susceptibility, extroversion, openness, and neuroticism predict sexual risk taking. Finally, hypothesis three proposes that perceived susceptibility will be negatively correlated with sexual risk taking, whereas extroversion, openness, and neuroticism will be positively correlated with sexual risk taking. Hypothesis one was not supported, hypothesis two was supported, and hypothesis three was only partially supported. Future directions in safe sex education are suggested. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Poor sleep quality can lead to physical illness as well as cognitive and emotional impairment (National Sleep Foundation, 2011). Previous research on sleep hygiene and sleep interventions has resulted in mixed and relatively weak findings, indicating a need for a better understanding of the causes of sleep habits. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) has been used to predict intentions and behavior in many health-­related domains. The purpose of the current study is to determine if obtaining 7-8 hours of sleep nightly can be predicted from the TPB model. Participants engaged in a weeklong recording of their sleep habits as measured by sleep diaries and actigraphy. The TPB predicted 63% of the variability in intentions to obtain 7-8 hours of sleep. Intentions predicted 18% and 14% of the variability in sleep diary and actigraph sleep duration, respectively. For both sleep diary and actigraphy measures, perceived behavioral control predicted approximately 9% of additional variability in sleep duration beyond intentions. / Department of Psychological Science

Since Bergevin and McKinley (1966) first wrote about Participation Training as a way to create collaboration among learners, more than 40 years of research has explored, separated, and defined various types of group work and group learning. Themes that emerged in the study were: Participation Training as something missing, Participation Training as resistance, Participation Training as "self' concepts, Participation Training as theater, Participation Training as negotiation, and Participation Training as shared experience. Data collected through interviews with individuals who experienced a 2007 Participation Training Institute reveal the complex, eductive nature of the phenomenon. That is, although the structures employed throughout the training were articulated before the participants actually experienced them, the constructed process, including content, was entirely authored by the particular group of people involved. The structural tools that define the procedure were prescribed; learners came to Participation Training having read about the structure of the training, the roles, and yet every one of the contributors believed there was no structure present at the beginning of the training. The experience of Participation Training did not depend on discussion content; it depended on rehearsal and reflection. In this study, contributors perceived the absence of content as the absence of structure. When none was supplied, they gradually created structure by determining content together, so they were able to take "ownership" of the process as they generated it. This absence of prescribed content was, for these contributors, the essence of Participation Training.Using a variety of theoretical lenses, Participation Training should be explored for its potential towards helping learners – teachers and students – work together through the development of individual skills that support interdependence. Since Participation Training is based on dialogue, discourse analysis might provide a particularly rich window onto the development of various forms of interaction among learners; semiotics could examine the meaning of Participation Training as a face-to-face, rather than technologically mediated, experience. Comparative case studies might reveal productive similarities and differences between Participation Training and other forms of group learning. / Department of Educational Studies

Pre-college programs designed to increase the intentions of minority students to attend college have become commonplace on many college campuses. Evaluation of such programs has focused on measuring the effectiveness of the delivery of services provided to students. At other times, evaluation of program effectiveness focused on measuring increases in individual skill development. Both of these components of evaluation are acceptable means of determining program effectiveness but have limitations because they may not address students intentions to attend college.This study as evaluation research was designed to investigate whether student participation in the Summer Scholars Residential Program resulted in changes in the intentions of the students toward participation in higher education. The population of the study was 184 minority junior high and senior high school students in Indiana who attended a week long Summer Scholars Residential Program 1992.Several methodologies were used to gather evidence regarding students' experiences in the program. One hundred and eighty four pre- and 164 post-questionnaire instruments were completed by students during four separate weeks of participation in the Scholars Program. A select number of 10 students maintained journals of their experiences. Finally, 21 students responded to interviews after one year to gather evidence on the long term effects from participation in the Scholars Program and to obtain more specific feedback from students.Comparisons were made between student responses on the pre-questionnaire and the post-questionnaire as one method of determining possible changes in students' intentions to pursue higher education before and after participating in the Scholars Program. Other comparisons were made of students intentions to enroll in specific courses in high school including pre-college courses. The evidence gathered showed that participation in the Scholars Summer Program did reinforce and increase students' intentions to attend college. In addition, the follow-up phone interviews showed that students changed their courses in high school from general to college preparatory. / Department of Educational Leadership