Language students studying abroad are presented with multiple housing options. Living with a host family in a homestay is widely believed to be the most beneficial option. However, little research has been done as to how students' beliefs about homestays may affect their choice of housing. In this study, 116 language students completed the Student Beliefs About Homestays Questionnaire. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses indicated that students value homestays not only for the opportunity for language acquisition, but also for the inside look at the family life and culture of the host country and for the support a family setting provides. Student beliefs about negative aspects of homestays (such as the possibility of being placed with a bad family) and the role of the homestay placement program were also investigated; several practical implications were drawn for staff in homestay placement programs and language institutions that may improve the homestay experience.

This mixed methods case study documents an effort to implement authentic science and engineering instruction in one teacher's ninth grade science classrooms in a science-focused public school. The research framework and methodology is a derivative of work developed and reported by Newmann and others (Newmann & Associates, 1996). Based on a working definition of authenticity, data were collected for eight months on the authenticity in the experienced teacher's pedagogy and in student performance. Authenticity was defined as the degree to which a classroom lesson, an assessment task, or an example of student performance demonstrates construction of knowledge through use of the meaning-making processes of science and engineering, and has some value to students beyond demonstrating success in school (Wehlage et al., 1996). Instruments adapted for this study produced a rich description of the authenticity of the teacher's instruction and student performance. The pedagogical practices of the classroom teacher were measured as moderately authentic on average. However, the authenticity model revealed the teacher's strategy of interspersing relatively low authenticity instructional units focused on building science knowledge with much higher authenticity tasks requiring students to apply these concepts and skills. The authenticity of the construction of knowledge and science meaning-making processes components of authentic pedagogy were found to be greater, than the authenticity of affordances for students to find value in classroom activities beyond demonstrating success in school. Instruction frequently included one aspect of value beyond school, connections to the world outside the classroom, but students were infrequently afforded the opportunity to present their classwork to audiences beyond the teacher. When the science instruction in the case was measured to afford a greater level of authentic intellectual work, a higher level of authentic student performance on science classwork was also measured. In addition, direct observation measures of student behavioral engagement showed that behavioral engagement was generally high, but not associated with the authenticity of the pedagogy. Direct observation measures of student self-regulation found evidence that when instruction focused on core science and engineering concepts and made stronger connections to the student's world beyond the classroom, student self-regulated learning was greater, and included evidence of student ownership. In light of the alignment between the model of authenticity used in this study and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the results suggest that further research on the value beyond school component of the model could improve understanding of student engagement and performance in response to the implementation of the NGSS. In particular, it suggests a unique role environmental education can play in affording student success in K-12 science and a tool to measure that role.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Educating a sufficient nursing workforce to provide high quality, compassionate, and ethical care to an increasingly diverse population is an ongoing challenge and opportunity for nurse educators. Current literature highlights the importance of engaging students in learning to strengthen student achievements. Fostering student engagement within nursing courses is particularly important. Grit (consistency of interest and perseverance of effort) is a factor that may be associated with student course engagement. Demographic characteristics of age, gender, race/ethnicity, prior education, degree program, and self-reported grade point average (GPA) also may be factors associated with student course engagement. Guided by a conceptual model derived from the literature, the purpose of this study was to determine whether grit and demographic characteristics were associated with student course engagement (skills, emotion, participation/interaction, and performance) within a nursing course. Using an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional design, a convenience sample of 97 nursing students in a didactic health assessment course was administered the Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ), visual analog scales for student engagement, Grit-S Scale, and a Student Demographic Characteristics form. Using multiple regression, 22% of the variance (21% Adjusted) of total student engagement (SCEQ) was explained by total grit scores (Grit-S) F(1,95) = 26.54, p<.001. Further analyses of student engagement were conducted using the SCEQ subscales and visual analog scales with similar results. Findings provided support for the conceptual model used to guide the study, although replication of the study was recommended across varied learning environments. Findings warrant further study regarding grit as a potential area for the future development of strategies to foster engagement of nursing students in the classroom.

This study is concerned with the problem of identifying the nature of and the similarities and differences among the attitudes of three ethnic groups (Mexican-Americans, Blacks, and Anglos) toward vocational education.The purposes of the study were threefold. The first was to determine the attitudes toward vocational education that prevail among Mexican-American, Black, and Anglo students who attend a vocational/technical high school. Secondly, the purpose was to determine the attitudes toward vocational education that prevail among Mexican-American, Black, and Anglo students who attend regular academic schools. The third purpose was to compare the attitudes toward vocational education of students who attend a vocational/technical high school with those of students who attend regular academic high schools.

This dissertation examines a university faculty (n = 41) and diverse students (n = 93) including students with disability (n = 44), students without disability (n = 21), and international students (n = 28) regarding their attitudes toward and actions associated with inclusive instruction based on the universal design for learning (UDL) principles and practices. Two online surveys, the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory (ITSI) and the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory-Student (ITSI-S), were administered at a large, public Southwest university (N = 134). The ITSI and ITSI-S contain seven subscales representing the following constructs: (a) accommodations, (b) accessible course materials, (c) course modifications, (d) inclusive lecture strategies, (e) inclusive classroom, (f) inclusive assessment, and (g) disability laws and concepts. A series of multivariate analyses of variances (MANOVAs) measured the overall of attitude subscales and overall action subscales, and an independent-samples test (t-test) compared mean scores on the seven Attitude subscales and seven Action subscales to identify predictors of these attitudes and actions among faculty and students. The main findings were (a) significant differences among diverse students, where students with disability responded negatively on the Action subscales and (b) significant differences between faculty and diverse students where international students had a positive attitude on the Attitude subscales, whereas students with disability had a negative attitude on the Action subscales toward the actual practices of their faculty. Results of the current study respond to the gap in the literature by examining the inclusive instruction environment based on UDL in a university environment. The implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine and evaluate the perceptions of high school art teachers, parents of high school students and high school students themselves relative to the merits of goals of a district program for high school art education and to determine whether the three populations share a common perception of these goals. The reveiew of the literature indicated a lack of substantive art programs in the curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12. The emphasis on art productino goals was cited as a major reason art is given such low status in our nation's schools. Many authors believe that if art is to be valued as fundamental to a child's educational development, the emphasis on art production must be broadened to include art hsitory, critique and aesthetics. Because an official school curriculum is often established to reflect societal values, information on art teachers', parents' and students' perceptions of the merits of the goals of high school art programs is important. Such information can be used to plan a local strategy for generating support for and effecting a change in art curriculum. Twenty-two certified high school art teachers, 200 randomly selected parents and a representative sample of 240 high school students were asked to review a list of 20 goals for a high school art education program and to rate them on a seven point Likert scale. for the three groups included The survey instruments five art activities pertaining to each of the four major goal areas of the discipline-based art curriculum, namely art production, art history, critique and aesthetics. Seventy percent of the participants responded to the questionnaires. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the variability of perception between and within each group, (2) to find whether the three groups possess common perceptions of the merits of alternative goals, (3) to ascertain whether art teachers with more than five years experience share a common perception with teachers with less than five years experience, (4) to determine whether students who have received secondary level art instruction differ in their perceptions from students who have not received instruction, and (5) to compare the ratings of production oriented goals with the other discipline-based art education goals. Major findings of the study were as follows: (1) The plot fo the mean ratings of the merit of the goals for teachers shows wider variability than either parents or students. (2) Students provided a lower mean rating than either the teacher or parent groups. (3) Lack of data. (4) Students and parents with more exposure to secondary art education tended to rate the goals lower than their counterparts with no art background. (5) In the One-Sample Runs test, the art production goals did not appear more predominant at one end of the list of rankings. Teachers, parents and students rated aesthetics and criticism moderately high. In conclusion, the findings indicate that teachers, parents and students do value critique and aesthetic goals in the high school art education curriculum. Continued in-depth research and study with wider populations will be beneficial if we are to meet the challenge to continue to broaden high school art curriculum goals.

The problem of this study was to determine whether the citizenship attitudes of the students of La Porte High School could be improved through the organization and operation of a student-participation program.

No description available.

No description available.

This study investigated the influence of three variables on current political attitudes of secondary school adolescents at two suburban-rural high schools in the northern Virginia area. Ability, grade level, and sex were examined to determine their influence on attitude measures essential to the develoµnent of citizenship within the social studies curriculum. The Freedans Scale, Law Scale and Dogmatism Field Scale were administered to a random sample of 180 ninth and twelfth grade adolescents which was equally divided between male and female subjects. The sample was further divided by ability levels (low, average, and high) which were selected by SRA subtest scores in reading, math, language arts, and educational ability. Significant findings were discerned using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and chi-square analysis. Group and individual differences were examined for each of the independent variables studied as they affected the dependent measures of political attitudes. One three-way and three two-way interactions were tested using the MANOVA. Only one interaction (ability by grade) was significant at the .05 level on the Dogmatism Scale. It was concluded that an increase in grade and ability levels effect lower scores on the Dogmatism Field Scale. Lower dogmatism scores effect an increase in support for the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Freedoms Scale. Sex, as a variable, was the only main effect that did not interact with ability level or grade. The mean scores of the females in the study were slightly higher than the mean scores of the males on both the Freedoms Scale and the Law Scale. These results indicated a greater support for the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Freedoms Scale and a greater respect for the law and government officials for females over males. Separate chi-square analysis of the individual responses to the questions on the Freedoms Scale and the Iaw Scale indicated a total of 21 items from the scales significantly related to ability and 17 items significantly related to grade or sex. No identifiable pattern was discernable which could be generalized into a group description of adolescent support or non-support for combinations of the various items. Curricular approaches were suggested to improve citizenship instruction in the area of political socialization and recommendations were made for future research. / Ed. D.