The principal purpose of this study was to compare similarities and differences in selected personal variables and death attitudes between university students enrolled in a death education course and students not enrolled in a death education course. Secondary attention was directed towards an analysis of the relationship of personal characteristics and death-related experiences with attitudes towards death. Three groups of university students, a death education-enrolled or completed group (n = 90), a death education-enrolled only subgroup (n = 47), and a non-enrolled control group (n = 46) were compared using the Health and Illness Survey. The HIS measures a wide range of variables including personal characteristics, death-related experiences and attitudes towards death. A correlational, ex post facto research design was utilized in order to compare the relationship of each of these variables with group membership. Additional correlational analyses were computed to reveal the degree of relationship between the personal variables and attitudes towards death. Findings revealed that the death education students reported experiencing their first significant personal involvement with death at a younger age, and desire more open discussion of death during childhood than the non enrolled comparison group. Death education students rated themselves significantly higher than the non death education students on present physical health and also on self esteem following completion of the HIS. With regard to the death attitudes findings, the death education-enrolled group reported higher levels of fear of personal death than those not enrolled. Additional results indicated that significant relationships did exist between death attitudes and several personal characteristics and death-related experiences. Particularly noteworthy were relationships indicating that a more favorable childhood environment regarding death-related experiences correlated with increased levels of coping with death and dying and decreased levels of fear of death and dying. Implications of these findings directed toward parents, counselors and educators were discussed, and recommendations were made to assist future research efforts in this area.

This study examines the psychological, social and environmental predictors of sexually aggressive and assaultive behaviors reported by a sample of 466 males at one institution. Emphasis was placed on determining the impact of Greek affiliation and place of residence on self-reported aggressive and assaultive behaviors. A questionnaire was administered which incorporated demographic and background characteristics, environmental characteristics and attitudes towards women and relationships. Analysis of variance was used to determine statistically significant differences among five residential groupings on selected variables. A series of interlocking multiple regression analyses was then performed to determine the predictive influence of factors explored in this study. Results indicate that "peer harassment," including verbal aggression and unwanted touching, was reported by the total sample with great frequency. More severe behaviors were reported with less frequency, however, slightly more than 5% of the men in the total sample reported committing at least one act which met the legal criteria for sexual assault in the academic year preceding the study. Although statistically significant differences among residential groups emerged, attitudes and living environment characteristics found predictive of sexually aggressive and assaultive behaviors were found in all living environments. "Worst" behavior reported was predicted best by rape myth acceptance followed by environmental and background characteristics including the number of sexual partners one had, sexual speculation about women, alcohol consumption and perceived level of impact one had on their environment. Institutions are encouraged to examine the level of sexual violence against women on campuses and marshal the efforts of student personnel administrators as well as faculty in an effort to reduce the prevalence of such behavior.

Ball State University landscape architecture students (n = 42) described their preferred types of environments for doing creative work as well as reported the environmental factors that hindered their creative work. Being alone and having quiet, ambient noise were the most common preferences for beneficial environmental characteristics. Bad lighting, uncomfortable temperatures, and loud, incongruous noises were most frequently reported as detrimental environmental characteristics. The presence of natural elements and/or access to views of natural elements were also common responses. The findings of the study largely support the current research on creativity and preferred working environments; however, there were some notable differences in the hierarchy of preferences within this subpopulation that should be further examined. Some discernable environmental preference profiles and patterns appeared in the survey responses. The results of this study are a starting point for further research on creative environment preferences of specific user subpopulations. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The mathematics education literature has documented gender differences in the learning of mathematics, interventions that promote female and minority students to pursue STEM majors, and the persistence of the gender, achievement, and opportunity gaps. However, there is a significantly lower number of studies that address the mathematics identities of students not majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Even more elusive or non-existent are studies that focus on the factors that shaped the mathematics identities of female students not pursuing STEM majors (non-STEM female students). Because the literature has shown the importance of understanding students' mathematics identities given its correlation with student achievement, motivation, engagement, and attitudes toward mathematics, it is vital to understand the factors that influence the construction of mathematics identities in particular of those students that have been historically marginalized. To address this issue, I explored the mathematics identities held by 12 non-STEM major students (six taking a remedial mathematics course and six others taking a non-remedial mathematics course) in one urban business college in a metropolitan area of the Northeastern United States. This study used Martin's (2000) definition of mathematics identity as the framework to explore the factors that have influenced the mathematics identities of non-STEM female students. The data for this qualitative study were drawn from mathematics autobiographies, one questionnaire, two interviews, and three class observations. I found that the mathematics identities of non-STEM major female students' in remedial and non-remedial mathematics courses were influenced by the same factors but in different ways. Significant differences indicated how successful and non-successful students perceive, interpret, and react to those factors. One of those factors was non-successful students believe some people are born with the ability to do mathematics; consequently, they attributed their lack of success to not having this natural ability. Most of the successful students in remedial mathematics attribute their success to effort and most successful students in non-remedial mathematics attribute their success to having a natural ability to do mathematics. Another factor was successful students expressed having an emotional connection to mathematics. This was evident in cases where mathematics was an emotional bond between father and daughter and those in which mathematics was a family trait. Moreover, the mathematics activities in both classrooms were scripted and orchestrated with limited room for improvisation. However, the non-remedial students experienced moments in which their academic curiosity contributed to opportunities to exercise conceptual agency and author some of their mathematics knowledge. Further, successful students in remedial mathematics did not have the ability to continue the development of positive mathematics identities given rigid classroom activities that contributed to a limited sense of community to support mathematics learning.

As the high failure rate in developmental mathematics remains a national concern (Bonham et al., 2011), community colleges have begun experimenting with alternative delivery and design for remedial mathematics sequences. One approach was to implement mathematical literacy in their program, focusing on quantitative reasoning. Mathematical Literacy is an individual’s ability to formulate situations and reason mathematically, employ mathematical tools, concepts and procedures as well as to explain, apply and evaluate mathematical results (OECD, 2017). The intent of this study was to observe and evaluate learner attitudes regarding mathematics in a community college mathematical literacy course. Two groups of students from two different courses were part of the study; one group was in a mathematical literacy course and another group in an elementary algebra course. To measure students’ growth in self-confidence and in the perceived value and usefulness of mathematics, quantitative data were collected with an anonymous pre- and post-mathematics attitudes survey from the mathematical literacy course and the elementary algebra course. In addition, qualitative data were gathered with an open-ended question administered to participants in the mathematical literacy sections during the last week of the semester to offer richer insights into the findings from the attitude survey. Findings from the quantitative data revealed statistically significant effects for participants in the mathematical literacy course compared to their counterparts in the elementary algebra course in the area of attitudes regarding the perceived value and usefulness of mathematics, real-world problems, working in groups, as well as using computers in mathematics courses. Qualitative data were aligned with the findings from the quantitative data and indicated participants’ positive views on working in groups, the usefulness of the mathematical literacy course, and improvement of their attitudes regarding mathematics thanks to the course. The study suggested further research to improve our understandings of mathematical literacy and its impact.

This thesis investigates the following factors concerning student nurses: (1) demographic background and life experiences; (2) motivations to enter and commitment to nursing school; (3) students' conceptions of the role of a nurse; (4) comparison of students' expectations with their ideals and with the realities of nursing. A questionnaire was administered to first year nursing students at three institutions; a four-year baccalaureate degree program and two community college associate degree programs. The two types of institutions were chosen to allow comparison between students on two different career tracks. The findings indicate that contemporary student nurses are older than typical college students, have had a significant number of prior occupational experiences, and in contrast to the 1960's and earlier, are not exclusively female. They were most strongly motivated to be nurses by the desire to help others and conceive of the role of a nurse as challenging, rewarding, and relatively professional. In general, these students had a good understanding of the role of the average nurse, but they would construct the ideal nursing environment somewhat differently than the actual nursing environment. These findings relate to career exploration and motivational processes associated with occupational training. It can be inferred from survey data that initiates to training programs often are quite aware of what the discipline demands. In many cases they have sought out others who are working in the field. These data also reflect the increasing occupational mobility of American society whereby individuals change careers once or more during their lifetimes.

In August, 1968, after a series of confrontations in the city parks between young dissidents and the police, the Mayor of Portland called upon the Metropolitan Youth Commission to form a special study committee to explore the areas of conflict and to recommend ways in which municipal government might constructively respond to the young people in the community. The independent research project on the alienation of youth, the results of which are reported here, was an outgrowth of the interest generated by the request from the Office of the Mayor. Under the auspices of the Metropolitan Youth Commission (MYC), a special office within the executive branch of city government concerned with the needs of youth, a questionnaire was constructed measuring both the attitudes of young people toward established social institutions and measuring the degree of personal alienation of the respondent. A research consultant from the Department of Psychiatry of University of Oregon Medical School, Dr. John Marks, directed the development of the questionnaire. The items measuring personal alienation have been drawn from the “alienation cluster” on a scale constructed and refined by Chain and Associates in their research on juvenile heroin .research in New York City. In addition, items were included which would provide substantial information on personal background of the individual, e.g. family cohesiveness, social class, delinquent history, and drug use. In spring, 1969, data was collected in four high schools in the metropolitan area (pop. 380,000). The student members of the MYC arranged for students in each school to distribute the questionnaires in classrooms and to interpret the nature and purpose of the research project to those in the sample populations. Student rather than teacher-administration of the questionnaire was considered an important factor in assuring those participating of the confidentiality of individual responses. However, since the students were free to select the specific classes to be sampled, the population was not carefully randomized. The questionnaire was also completed by a small number of persons who were contacted at the Charix Coffee House, a popular meeting place for young people identified with the city’s hippie community. The Charix sample permits a comparison of the attitudes of those still attending school with a slightly older group of peers who have "dropped out" of the mainstream of community life. In the fall of 1969, when the present writers became involved in the project, the research sample was extended to include a fifth public high school and a special ungraded secondary school, Vocational Village, whose enrollment includes high school drop-outs and youth referred by school or juvenile court officials. The respondents from the fifth high school were a random sample of the total school population which, in turn, is a cross-section of the middle and lower income groups in this community. The composition of this school and unique features of its program will be more fully described in a later section of this paper. The sample drawn from Vocational Village is also considered unbiased because the questionnaire was administered in English classes, a required subject for all enrollees. The data collected during the two time periods, spring 1969 and fall 1969, has been analyzed separately. Since the four schools of the original sample differ in terms of the ethnic and socio-economic status of their enrollments, a comparison of responses by schools to ascertain relationships between social status and alienation has been a major focus of the data analysis. Factual information about the socio-economic characteristics of the individual schools has been drawn tram city census reports and research conducted by Portland's School District #1.

The purposes of this study were to (1) describe the personal values and work values of nursing students in the last year of their present educational preparation, (2) to investigate the relationships between values, both personal and work, and selected demographic variables (type of educational institution, present educational preparation, job interests, and age), and (3) to examine the correlations between students' personal values and work values. Using the Profile of Life Values (PLV) and the Ohio Work Values Inventory (OWVI) , the personal and work values of 452 student nurses were examined, first as a total sample for means and standard deviations, then by selected demographic variables with MANOVA, ANOVA, and Scheffe at the .10 level of significance. In the sample were 43 students from graduate nursing programs, 143 students from baccalaureate nursing programs, and 266 students from associate degree programs, from both public and private educational institutions in two northwestern states. The order of the means for the total sample on the PLV scales from the highest to lowest were Considerate, Intellectual, Achievement, Recognition, Creative, Artistic, and Integrity. The order of the means for the total sample on the OWVI scales from highest to lowest were Task Satisfaction, Self Realization, Altruism, Security, Money, Independence, Ideas/Data Orientation, Object Orientation, Control, Prestige, and Solitude. In comparing the values on the PLV and OWVI by type of educational institution, the means were significantly higher for students enrolled in private educational institutions than for students from public educational institutions. When the values on the PLV and OWVI scales were compared by educational preparation, significant differences were found on the means, with graduate students placing more values on Intellectual, baccalaureate degree students placing more value on Recognition, Control, Independence, and Object Orientation, and associate degree students placing more value on Integrity, Security, and Money. When the means on the PLV and OWVI scales were examined by job interest, students interested in pediatrics placed more importance on Considerate, Achievement, and Intellectual; students interested in specialty areas, such as the operating room or emergency room placed more value on Object Orientation, just as students interested in critical care and pediatrics placed more value on Object Orientation than did the students interested in medical/surgical nursing, geriatrics, obstetrics, mental health, nurse practitioner or clinical specialist role. In the final comparison of the PLV and OWVI values with age, the 40-54 age group placed more value on Intellectual while the 20-29 age group placed more value on Recognition, Security, Control, Money, and Prestige. Using Chi-Square as the inferential test, educational preparation and job interests were found to be related. Graduate students were primarily interested in the nurse practitioner or clinical specialist role; students receiving a baccalaureate degree expressed more interest in critical care and pediatrics; students receiving an associate degree expressed more interest in medical/ surgical nursing and geriatrics. In examining the correlations between the PLV and OWVI, 58 of the 77 coefficients were significant at the .05 level. The correlations of the two instruments demonstrated a logical relationship exists between the instruments. These findings have implications for nursing education. The educational foundation for nursing is based on the fostering of personal well-being and continuing growth through interpersonal interactions. The nursing curriculum needs to be reviewed periodically for differentiation, interpretation, and clarification of values. In order to provide an education that is conducive to recognition of values, the faculty need to be aware of their own values, be able to recognize how their values relate to teaching, student learning, and professional practice, and periodically evaluate how they use values in the process. Teaching by relating values to subject matter, human differences, and practice enables student nurses to recognize and understand their own values as well as the values of other people. These findings have implications for further research, as values of faculty and students are in some ways related to age, specific interests, and educational preparation.

This study examines empirically the relationship of value orientation to meanspiritedness. Meanspiritedness (a collection of acts, thoughts and/or attitudes which are intentionally malicious) was defined and a scoring method was designed. The management level of self-interest in individuals as indicated by their value orientation and religious orientation was examined. Additionally, the relationship of value orientation to meanspiritedness was examined as measured by dogmatism scores, psychoticism scores, religious orientation scores, neuroticism scores and extraversion scores. Findings indicate that people in this study who valued at a Humanist rather than a Societal level scored higher in meanspiritedness. / Graduation date: 1995