Many writers consider it "desirable" that teachers hold "democratic" attitudes towards those they teach. A number of studies have indicated that the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI) may be used as an indicator of a respondents "democratic" attitudes towards pupils. Several researchers using the MTAI to study student teacher attitudes have shown that groups of secondary student teachers obtained significantly lower mean scores than did groups of elementary student teachers. This finding may indicate that elementary student teachers tend to hold more "democratic" attitudes towards the education of children generally than do secondary student teachers. Such an interpretation could serve as a basis for criticism of the procedures whereby candidates for secondary teaching are selected and trained. In this study, a rival interpretation was advanced and tested. The writer proposed that the aforementioned finding may indicate that student teachers generally hold different attitudes towards children of different age and grade levels. In an experimental test of this interpretation, the writer examined the credibility of three major propositions: 1. Secondary student teachers completing the MTAI read such general words as "pupil" and express attitudes which they consider to apply more appropriately to grade eight students than, to grade four students; however, elementary student teachers express attitudes which they consider to apply more appropriately to grade four students than to grade eight students. 2. Secondary and elementary student teachers obtain higher scores when they respond to the MTAI with reference to grade four students than they do when they respond to the MTAI with reference to grade eight students. 3. There is no difference between the mean scores of elementary and secondary student teachers when both groups respond to the MTAI with reference to students of the same specified grade level (either grade four or grade eight). Each of 294 randomly selected elementary and secondary student teachers in a one-year graduate transfer program received an Inventory in one of three forms: the MTAI in its standard form, the MTAI in a form requiring completion with reference to grade four students or the MTAI in a form requiring completion with reference to grade eight students. Scores of 214 respondents were arranged in a 3x2x2 factorial design with the following three fixed factors: the "MTAI Condition" for the subject (3 forms), "Sex" of the subject (2 forms) and "Specialty" of the subject (elementary or secondary). Twenty-four elementary and thirty-eight secondary subjects who completed the standard form of the MTAI indicated the grade level (either four or eight) to which they considered their responses to apply most appropriately. Their choices were tallied in a 2x2 contingency table. Results of a chi-square test supported the first proposition. That is, secondary respondents tended to consider their expressed attitudes to apply more to grade eight students than to grade four students, and elementary respondents tended to reverse the order of the grades. Results of analysis of variance and multiple comparisons did not support the second and third propositions. Neither elementary nor secondary subjects differed in their MTAI scores with reference to grade four and grade eight pupils. The results indicated that elementary subjects had higher scores than secondary subjects with reference to both grade four and grade eight pupils. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The thesis identifies several limitations in the modelling and attitude stability analysis of two classes of spacecraft: rigid and flexible satellites. Attractive methods are proposed which promise to have far reaching consequences in spacecraft dynamics. These alternatives, developed based on techniques of differential equations, classical mechanics, and differential topology, are indicated below. (a) An Alternate Transition from the Lagrangian of a Satellite to Equations of Motion The classical procedure requires the Lagrangian to be expressed in terms of the corresponding generalized coordinates of the problem. This requirement significantly complicates the derivation of the equations of motion through an introduction of a set of librational generalized coordinates, which is strictly not a part of the dynamical system. Using the Lagrangian in the natural variables (angular velocity, direction cosines, and vibrational coordinates), one develops a procedure for derivation of equations of motion without an a priori choice of rotational generalized coordinates. For the case of a satellite with two flexible plate-type appendages, for example, the approach reduced the formulation time to one-third. (b) Synthesis and Depiction of Rotational Motion of Satellites and Robots The rotational coordinates in use for numerical prediction of orientation of a satellite are either singular or redundant. Furthermore, they lack a convenient visual interpretation. A new set of coordinates is proposed and an associated representation is developed which avoids these limitations. The procedure is applied to represent and integrate numerically the librational response of the flexible satellite mentioned in (a). (c) Resolution of Attitude Stability of Delp Satellites The development here tackles a long outstanding problem in the area of attitude stability of satellites. The resolution of this problem through normalization of the Hamiltonian leads to a better appreciation of stability associated with the class of gravity gradient structures such as the proposed Space Station. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The Contact Hypothesis (Amir, 1969) suggests that attitudes toward a minority group can be modified. However, attitudinal change depends upon the nature of the contact. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the B.C. Wheelchair Sports Demonstration Team Presentation on attitudes of junior high school students toward physically disabled persons This was measured by the Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) (Yuker et al., 1960) and the Modified Issues in Disability Scale (MIDS) (Makas, 1985). The treatment consisted of a one hour structured program that included contact with physically disabled persons and information about their disabilities. One hundred and thirty-one able-bodied students (ages 13-15) from four junior high schools in two British Columbia school districts participated in this study. Students from one school in each district attended the British Columbia Wheelchair Sports Demonstration Team Presentation. Students from the other school did not attend and were assigned to the control group. This research used a one-group pretest-posttest design with a posttest-only control group as a follow-up . four weeks after the treatment. Subjects in the experimental group completed the ATDP prior to and immediately after the treatment. As a result of the high correlation (r=.91) between the MIDS and ATDP with a prior sample of 15 year old students, both experimental and control groups completed only the MIDS four weeks after the treatment. All subjects completed the Social History Questionnaire (SHQ) (Makas, 1989) on each occasion. The SHQ gathered information on gender, birth date, place of residence and prior contact with physically disabled persons. A t-test for dependent samples comparing differences between pre- and posttest MIDS scores of the experimental group was not significant (p=.112 for a 2-tailed test). However, in the follow-up portion of the study, an analysis of variance of the ATDP found a significant difference between the experimental and control groups (p=.007). There were no significant interactions of gender, age or previous contact with treatment. The findings of this study show that able-bodied students' attitudes can be positively modified with an information plus contact program. Although the modification was not immediate, a delayed effect occurred. Three focuses of further investigations might include the following: a need for attitude modification research related to disabled persons particularly in the junior high school age group; continued reliability and validity testing of the MIDS, and a refinement of the SHQ to more accurately assess prior contact with disabled persons. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

M.A. / The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits, attitudes towards the Internet, and Internet use. This study was regarded as important because the Internet is increasingly becoming an important part of everyday life, and is changing society as we know it. 224 third year psychology students participated in the study. The existing literature indicated that the personality traits of Extraversion and Openness to Experience were likely to influence Internet use. Attitudes could also be expected to influence volitional behaviour, such as voluntary Internet use. Other research has also found exposure to be positively related to attitudes. A self-constructed questionnaire collected information relating to computer and Internet use, as well as attitudes towards the Internet. A short personality measure, namely the Saucier (1994) 40-ltem Mini-marker set, was used to measure the personality traits of participants. Examination of the results obtained through correlational and multiple regression techniques supported the existing theory. The personality traits of Extraversion and Openness to Experience were found to predict Internet use in certain situations, with Openness emerging as particularly important in understanding computer and Internet use. Attitudes formed by exposure to the Internet, as measured by the self-constructed Internet exposure scale, was found to correlate positively with time spent on the Internet. The study support previous studies which found that the personality traits of Extraversion and Openness influence media use, and suggest that this influence is also present in relation to Internet use. It also supported the theory that a positive relationship exists between attitudes towards the Internet, specifically attitudes formed by exposure, and frequency of Internet use.

Understanding student achievement in science is important as there is an increasing reliance of the U.S. economy on math, science, and technology-related fields despite the declining number of youth seeking college degrees and careers in math and science. A series of structural equation models were tested using the scores from a statewide science exam for 276 students from a suburban north Texas public school district at the end of their 5th grade year and the latent variables of spatial ability, motivation to learn science and science-related attitude. Spatial ability was tested as a mediating variable on motivation and attitude; however, while spatial ability had statistically significant regression coefficients with motivation and attitude, spatial ability was found to be the sole statistically significant predictor of science achievement for these students explaining 23.1% of the variance in science scores.

No description available.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a core emergency skill in which all nurses need to be proficient to save the lives of patients. It is important for nurses working in psychiatric hospitals to administer CPR correctly should the need arise. However, they rarely perform CPR as the patients they care for are generally not physical ill, unlike patients admitted in general hospitals. Given the paucity of literature on CPR in psychiatric hospitals, this study aimed at investigating the attitudes towards CPR and the CPR competency of nurses working at a hospital for intellectually disabled people in the Western Cape, South Africa

Magister Curationis - MCur / South Africa has the highest rate of HIV epidemic in the world, with the total number of PLWHA estimated at approximately 7. 97 million in 2019. Learning outcomes related to HIV and AIDS are embedded in the four-year Bachelor of Nursing programme. However, little is known in the South African context about the knowledge, attitude, and practice of nursing students regarding HIV and AIDS. The aim of the study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of undergraduate nursing students towards HIV and AIDS.

As the human population grows, so too does the need to understand human behavior. One particularly important aspect of human behavior is how it changes within conglomerations of people, i.e. crowds. In this thesis, a method for modeling crowd behavior is proposed. This method draws inspiration from the concept of behavioral intention and the related forces of attitudes, influences, and social norms. These topics are first defined and detailed, followed by a survey of related research. Next, the model is presented and adapted to three common crowd dynamics, each stressing a different component of behavioral intention. Observations are made about these models, and extensions to the models and directions for future research are considered.

The purpose of the present study is to determine whether adult supervisors of children's groups who accurately perceive the interpersonal structure of their groups are more able managers of their groups than are those adults who inaccurately judge the group's interpersonal structure.