The present study explored the influence of social support and psychological resources on depression in people living with HIV/AIDS. The mediating role of mastery and self-esteem was examined. Factor analysis of the MOS-SSS supported three dimensions of social support. Findings from a predominantly gay male sample of unemployed individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the Toronto-area indicated high levels of depressive symptomatology, which were negatively related to emotional/informational support, tangible support, and affectionate/interpersonal support. Mediation analyses indicated partial support of the Cognitive Adaptation Model, revealing significant mediating effects of mastery on the relationship between social support and depressive symptomatology. Self-esteem was not found to be a significant mediator of this relationship. Findings suggest the need for social support interventions that help to strengthen mastery in individuals living with HIV/AIDS in order to reduce depression. Attention should be paid to self-esteem and its relationship with gender and employment status in this population.

Previous research has examined the effectiveness of Direct Instruction Curriculum over the past thirty years in a variety of areas including rate of learning, effectiveness on different types of learners, and comparisons to other types of instruction. This study attempted to determine the effects of the use of a direct instruction math curriculum on higher-order problem solving. Two groups of 3 5 students each participated. The procedures included administering the Kauffman Achievement test to determine current grade level in math and reading. The Saxon Math Second Grade Curriculum was used to instruct the participants. The effects on higher-order problem solving with the Corrective Math Curriculum were assessed on two different dependent measures: solution of word problems consisting of both addition and subtraction operations, and performance of the students within the curriculum. Results were assessed using the delayed multiple baseline design.

<p>Consumers’ beliefs can influence enjoyment via beliefs about a product (e.g., whether a wine is believed to be high quality) and explored beliefs about themselves (e.g., where the consumers believes they have the expertise to appreciate any high qualities in a wine). Across nine experiments in five domains (e.g. film, tea, wine) we seek to better understand this latter and far less understood component by experimentally altering people’s subjective expertise (beliefs about ability in a consumption domain) independent of their real expertise and independent of real or framed differences in products’ qualities. We find subjective expertise alone generally increases two sources of enjoyments, item enjoyment (the enjoyment of an item’s qualities such as liking an item’s flavor) and process enjoyment (the enjoyment of consumer processes such as critically evaluating an item’s flavor). Importantly though, when consumption items are perceived to be lower quality, the subjective expertise effect on item enjoyment is eliminated but remains positive for process enjoyment. Additionally, subjective expertise leads consumers to engage in more actions and effort to improve their consumption (e.g. stirring a drink, learning more about a consumption item). This project improves general understanding of consumer expertise and consumer beliefs, finds subjective expertise has unique and often diverging effects on two sources of enjoyment important to everyday consumption, and demonstrates how and when subjective expertise can be altered to effectively enhance consumer enjoyment.</p> / Dissertation

In der Didaktik ist zwar die Klassengemeinschaft als pädagogischer Wirkungsfaktor anerkannt und wird sogar als positive Einflußgröße geschätzt, doch wird die durch die Einrichtung stablier Klassen entstehende Sozialdynamik recht selten auf ihre Auswirkungen für das Lernen hin untersucht. Das einst von Carroll entworfene Modell schulischen Lernens, das in seiner Abwandlung zum Konzept des Mastery Learnings einige Prominenz in der Didaktik gewinnen konnte, wird in diesem Beitrag zum Ausgangspunkt für ein Modellierungsansatz gewählt. Ziel der hier zunächst nur in Ansätzen entworfenen Modellierung kann etwa sein, die Dynamik der Klasse daraufhin zu untersuchen, welche Menge individueller Lernfortschritte in Bezug auf bestimmte Zeitintervalle und unter der Annahme variierender Bedingungen im Aggregat der Klasse (und dieses ist für die Lehrkraft allgemein die entscheidende Aggregationsebene didaktischer Entscheidungen) zustande kommen.

Students' poor performance in the quantity surveying course at the Durban Institute of Technology appeared to be due to the lack of basic key competence in certain key areas such as mathematics and arithmetic. The students' weaknesses in key competencies were validated in the pre-tests with both the 2003 and 2004 cohorts where few students, only two out of sixteen and one out of eight respectively, displayed mastery in these key areas. Mastery learning was identified as a methodology to use for helping students because it benefited slow and fast learners alike. This study investigates the use of an e-mastery learning system to help students improve their competence in some of the key areas identified. An experiment was conducted, using the 2003 fourth-year quantity surveying students as a control group and the 2004 fourth-year quantity surveying students as the experimental group. The control group took a pre-test, were subjected to a face-to-face intervention and then they took a post-test. The experimental group took the same pre-test, were exposed to a mastery learning system, which was then followed by the same post-test. The results of this experiment showed that the mastery learning intervention helped the students, but not to the extent expected by the author. The experiment indicated that the e-based system was only marginally more helpful than the face-to-face intervention which the control group received. This quantitative aspect of the experiment was hampered by small sample sizes and was further constrained by difficulties in accessing the e-mastery system. Following this outcome, a qualitative study was undertaken, in the form of semi-structured interviews, to ascertain why the e-based system was not as successful as expected. Although the quantitative analysis indicated that the e-based system was more helpful, the interviews revealed the underlying problems were related to access to the e-based system and students' limited computer literacy skills. The conclusion drawn from these findings is that an e-based mastery learning system would help students improve their key competencies provided the computer literacy problems and access problems were solved, the mastery learning system was more comprehensively developed, and that the students were motivated enough to devote themselves to using the system on a regular basis. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

After more than a century of research, the nature of the relationship between religion and mental health still is not fully understood. Some studies find that religion is associated with better mental health. Other studies find that religion is associated with worse mental health. Many prior studies have conceptualized religion either as individual religiosity or as religious group participation, with mixed results. It is also necessary to establish the temporal relationship between religion and mental health. While prior religion could influence subsequent mental health, prior mental health could also influence subsequent religion. It is also important to identify factors which this relationship. Results of the present study show that a) prior religion is associated with subsequent mental health, b) individual religiosity and religious group participation relate to subsequent mental health in different ways, c) these relationships are partially mediated by personal mastery, social support, and physical disability.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed June 11, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-195).

Many students are entering colleges and universities in the United States underprepared in mathematics. National statistics indicate that only approximately one-third of students in developmental mathematics courses pass. When underprepared students repeatedly enroll in courses that do not count toward their degree, it costs them money and delays graduation. This study investigated a possible solution to this problem: Whether using a particular computer assisted learning strategy combined with using mastery learning techniques improved the overall performance of students in a developmental mathematics course. Participants received one of three teaching strategies: (a) group A was taught using traditional instruction with mastery learning supplemented with computer assisted instruction, (b) group B was taught using traditional instruction supplemented with computer assisted instruction in the absence of mastery learning and, (c) group C was taught using traditional instruction without mastery learning or computer assisted instruction. Participants were students in MAT1033, a developmental mathematics course at a large public 4-year college. An analysis of covariance using participants’ pretest scores as the covariate tested the null hypothesis that there was no significant difference in the adjusted mean final examination scores among the three groups. Group A participants had significantly higher adjusted mean posttest score than did group C participants. A chi-square test tested the null hypothesis that there were no significant differences in the proportions of students who passed MAT1033 among the treatment groups. It was found that there was a significant difference in the proportion of students who passed among all three groups, with those in group A having the highest pass rate and those in group C the lowest. A discriminant factor analysis revealed that time on task correctly predicted the passing status of 89% of the participants. It was concluded that the most efficacious strategy for teaching developmental mathematics was through the use of mastery learning supplemented by computer-assisted instruction. In addition, it was noted that time on task was a strong predictor of academic success over and above the predictive ability of a measure of previous knowledge of mathematics.

Dual credit options allow high school students to enter college with college credits earned, as well as gain lived experience of the role expectations, academic rigor, and time it takes to complete college-level work. While past studies have identified benefits of dual credit for first-generation college students in particular, few have investigated the nature of that relationship. This qualitative study examined the relationship between first-generation students’ dual credit experiences and academic self-efficacy. Interviews were conducted with three first-generation college students in fall 2019. Findings indicate first-generation students who engage in a rigorous dual credit experience that results in mastery experience are more prepared for the academic expectations of college, master the role of a student, and perceive an increase in academic self-efficacy. This experience may provide first-generation students with knowledge and transition skills for college that their continuing generation peers find elsewhere. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Objectives: The objectives of this research were to gain a detailed understanding of approaches, facilitators and constraints to creating an optimal motivational climate within elite youth soccer programs in North America by examining the insights of expert coaches in this field. Design and Method: By using a case study design, six coaches were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format which explored perceptions about and key aspects of the optimal motivational climate and identified specific strategies while reporting challenges to the process of creating the desired climate. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify major recurring themes that occurred amongst the participant responses and then discussed from the perspective of existing motivational frameworks. Results: Five dimensions of the desired motivational climate emerged from the theming: developing the autonomous player, connectedness, the opportunity for player advancement, failure as part of the process, and context may have an influence on the climate. Five specific strategies used in creating the desired motivational climate were identified: communication within the group, player advancement, modeling, selection/de-selection, and communication with parents. Five challenges to creating the desired climate surfaced: contact time with the athletes, parents/parental involvement, consistency within club staff, player movement within the club, and mentality of the player coming into the club. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that coaches tried to create a motivational climate that was autonomy supportive and task involving. Some aspects of the motivational climate were consistent however with facets of an ego-involving climate. It was also found that parents were believed to have an impact on the motivational environment surrounding the players. The research highlights the complexity of motivational climate in elite youth soccer programs and demonstrates the need for further exploration into education for coaches as well as observation and intervention-based research. / Graduate