Writing apprehension is a writing difficulty that can impair the writing experiences of students. While researchers have proposed many interventions that teachers can implement to assist their students who struggle with writing apprehension, there has not been an instrument that is designed to measure teacher self-efficacy to help these same students. This study created such an instrument, entitled the Self-efficacy to Teach Apprehensive Writers Scale (STAWS), using Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy’s (2001) Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale and Daly and Miller’s (1975) Writing Apprehension Test as model instruments. The new instrument was designed to measure writing instructor self-efficacy to teach their students who struggle with writing apprehension. Results from an exploratory factor analysis indicate that the STAWS represents a two-factor construct, measuring teacher self-efficacy to (a) engage apprehensive writers (α = .80), and (b) identify and meet the needs of apprehensive writers (α = .79). This two-factor solution explains approximately 58% of the variation in responses from instructors of first-year writing. While the instrument still needs to be validated, preliminary analysis indicates that instructors of first-year writing may experience moderately high self-efficacy to teach their apprehensive writers. First-year writing instructors appear to feel slightly more confident in their ability to identify and meet the needs of apprehensive writers than they are to engage these writers. Future research should focus on validating the instrument and using it to explore different types and demographic groups of teachers, including different levels of experience with sources of self-efficacy.

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No description available.

No description available.

<p>The act of engineering is synonymous with design. It is a skill that is inherently understood by experienced engineers, but also one of the most difficult topics to teach. For many years, Engineering Design and Graphics has been a required first year course for all engineering students at McMaster University. The course has taught hand-sketching, 3D solid modeling, system simulation, 3D rapid prototyping, and culminated in a design project in gear train design that requires a combination of the core course topics. Students chose their own three-member teams, and lab sections were randomly assigned one of three modalities for completion of the design project: Simulation (SIM) where they produced and verified a design using a simulation tool, Prototyping (PRT) where they used a 3D printer to create a working plastic model of a design, or Simulation and Prototyping (S+P) where they used both tools to complete a design.</p> <p>The design process used in the project represents Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle (through Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation) as well as Bloom's Taxonomy providing opportunities for Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor skill development.</p> <p>This study examines student self-efficacy and performance outcomes between design project modalities that include simulation and 3D printing. It is hypothesized that students who complete a design project using the Simulation and Prototyping (S+P) modality will show the highest scores in both categories.</p> <p>To measure self-efficacy, a new scale for Engineering Design Self-Efficacy was developed and validated. The project groups were surveyed before and after the completion of the design project. Data collected as part of the study included project individual, project group, and project total grades as well as final course grades. Statistical analysis for survey and performance data was completed using ANOVA to test for differences between the modalities.</p> <p>Results indicated an overall increase in self-efficacy from the start of term to the end of term for all design project modalities. Performance scores for project group and project total grade were highest for students in the Simulation (SIM) modality. There were no significant differences between the modalities for self-efficacy, project individual grade, final exam or final course grade.</p> <p>Based on the findings, engineering course designers with the goal of increasing self-efficacy, professional engagement, and performance should consider supplementing courses with experiential learning exercises such as simulation and prototyping. This study will be relevant for engineering course designers and instructors looking to add simulation or rapid prototyping to first-year engineering design courses.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Good academic literacy skills are vital for success in the 21st century for students in higher education and for professional people in the workforce to be able to process and convey information and knowledge. The purpose of the current study was to gain insights into the construct of academic literacy skills and to identify indicators affecting the development of the academic literacy skills of first year students in higher education. To this end, a case study was done on a cohort of 20 first year male Emirati students attending an academic literacy skills course in an engineering higher education institute in the Arabian Gulf region. The study was guided by three research questions concerning the development of academic literacy skills which were defined as writing strategies, library research strategies and general study skills (Bury, Sheese & Katz, 2013). Data gathered comprised surveys, grade comparisons, written assignments, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations recorded using a video camera and instructor observations. The framework of Academic Literacies developed by Lea and Street (1998, 2000, 2006) was used for analysis with a focus on the supplementing constructs of study skills and academic socialization. To extract more detailed knowledge and further insights about the students’ academic literacy skills, a comparison was also made between the developmental indicators regarding successful and non-successful students’ written work and their approaches to completing assignments. The indicators revealed included the students’ lack of library research strategies, digital literacy skills and sense of ownership. Theoretical and practical implications for developing students’ academic literacy skills are provided in conclusion.

The major problem of this study involved a comparison of two methods of teaching English and biology to college freshmen. Subproblems investigated in this study involved the apparent influence of each method of teaching on achievement in each course, on the self-concept of the student, on the students' attitude toward college and toward the learning center, and the effect of the commuterresident status on achievement, self-concept, or attitude. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of the experimental method of teaching to achieve desired growth in academic achievement of first-semester college freshmen enrolled in English or biology.

The focus for this study was ethical reasoning among baccalaureate female nursing students. This descriptive and correlational study examined the ethical reasoning of freshmen and senior students at a large southwestern university for women. The research instrument used was the Defining Issues Test developed by Rest. The senior nursing students differed significantly (p < ,05) from the freshmen nursing students in ethical reasoning. However, nursing majors did not differ significantly from the non-nursing majors. A multiple regression analysis was performed that identified two factors associated with ethical reasoning (viz., age and GPA), The correlation coefficients were r= .377 for age and P_ score and r= .315 for GPA and P score. Older students were found to be significantly more advanced in ethical reasoning than were younger students. Students with higher GPAs used principled reasoning significantly more often than did students with lower GPAs. Of interest are the findings related to demographic characteristics, ethnicity, and religious preference. The sample was predominantly white, but a significant difference in use of principled reasoning between whites and non-whites was found. In the sample, whites used ethical reasoning more often than did non-whites. The students in the sample who labeled themselves as Baptists were significantly different from Traditional Christians (Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and members of the Church of Christ) and Other Christians (all others, excluding Baptists, Catholics, and the Traditional Christians). The Baptist group used principled reasoning less often than did the other two groups of Christians. The Catholics were not significantly different from the Baptist, Traditional Christian, or Other Christian groups. The results are ambiguous and may reflect only a conservative philosophy or a conservative theological ideology rather than cognitive processing.

"The object of this thesis is neither to uphold the sacred cows of traditionalist grammar nor to forge a way for a liberal philology. It does, however, examine "the kind of English that most people use most of the time," that is, the idiom of the language, and specifically the phrases and expressions that compose idioms."--1.

Beneath the Surface is a collection of seven individual literary nonfiction essays. Five of the essays are personal essays, and three come from the author's contribution to UNO's Katrina Narrative Project. The collection represents the author's cumulative body of work upon completion of her MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing at UNO. Titles include: "Beneath the Surface, " "Hello, Harry, " "My One-Summer Bike, " "Just Like Jazzfest, " In Defense of Sodom, " "'Every Year It's Something, '" and "Revising my Approach. The essays explore themes such as sibling bereavement, Latin American travel, the incomprehensibility of death, experiencing new cultures, online teaching, and hurricane evacuation.