In recent years, adults beyond the traditional college ages of 18-22 have been returning to higher education in record numbers. At most colleges, these students, along with their younger counterparts, are required to take two or three terms of freshman composition. Although returning students may be apprehensive at first, their teachers report that many are highly motivated and perform successfully in these required writing courses. To investigate this phenomenon, I studied the attitude and performance of returning adults (defined here as 25 years old and over) who were enrolled in traditional freshman composition classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago during the fall quarter of 1983.Specifically, I studied the attitude and performance of four case study subjects by conducting interviews, administering Daly and Miller's Writing Apprehension Test, collecting writing samples, and obtaining audiotaped composing-aloud protocols. My assessment of the data was informed by Daly's Taxonomy of Attitudes and Beliefs about Writing, Wilkinson's Stylistic, Cognitive, Affective, and Moral Scales, and Faigley and Witte's Taxonomy of Revision Changes. I present my findings in four narrative case histories.In addition, I conducted a group study of the attitude and performance of 44 returning students enrolled in required composition courses at U.I.C. during the fall quarter of 1983. To measure these students' attitude and performance, I administered Daly and Miller's Writing Apprehension Test at the beginning and end of the quarter and obtained final course grades.Although all four case study subjects expressed some initial writing anxiety, by the end of the quarter, three of the four had become confident and able student writers. Because of serious skill deficits, as well as high anxiety, the fourth student failed to complete the course. Contrary to expectation, the initial W.A.T. group mean was a moderate 66.22. An item analysis indicated that much of the anxiety expressed was situational. The low end-of-the-quarter mean (55.65) reinforced this impression. Apparently a quarter of composition instruction and writing practice reduced the situational apprehension of many. Moreover, the majority of these returning students performed successfully with 28 out of 44 earning an A or B in their freshman composition courses.In part, this high success rate was due to the population sampled. That is, few severely underprepared returning students begin their college work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Characteristics shared by these adequately prepared returning students included: high investment in writing. assignments; willingness to revise; interest in and acquisition of metacognitive skills; and use of life experience to enrich their writing.

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to determine whether the Behavioral Objective Sequence (BOS) (Braaten, 1998), when used as a rating scale, was a valid instrument for measuring the behaviors of students with EBD and (b) to determine whether there was a relationship between teachers' perceptions of behaviors of students with EBD and these students' perceptions of their own behaviors. Perceptions were measured using the BOS and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991), a well-established instrument with reliability and validity. Demographic variables were examined as predictors of student versus teacher score discrepancies. Those shown to be predictive are student socioeconomic status, IQ score, length of time receiving special education services, grade and placement. The concurrent validity of the BOS is indicated by the comparison of scores on the BOS with scores on the CBCL. Participants were 62 youth with EBD and their 19 teachers from the Midwest. / Department of Special Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of parental characteristics (i.e., marital status, parenting styles, parenting style congruence) and gender on the development of marital attitudes and fears of intimacy in young adults. A total of 326 undergraduate students (ages 18 to 25) participated in this study. After conducting prescreening procedures, 283 participants consisting of 241 women and 42 men were included in the final analyses.The aforementioned areas were investigated by analyzing surveys comprised of a demographic questionnaire, the Marital Attitude Scale (Braaten & Rosen, 1998), the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991), and the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1989). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the ability ofparenting style congruence, parental marital status, and gender to predict marital attitudes and fear of intimacy. Paired samples t-tests were used to analyze the relationships between gender and marital attitude as well as gender and fear of intimacy. Finally, a series of MANOVAs were conducted to explore the effects of martial status, parenting style congruence, and mother and father's parenting styles on marital attitudes and fear of intimacy.In general, fear of intimacy and marital attitudes were related to parental marital status and gender, but not to parenting style congruence. Specifically, men endorsed a greater fear of intimacy than women, while women endorsed more positive marital attitudes than men. Adult children of divorce (ACD) feared intimacy more than adult children from intact families (ACIF), and ACIF were more positive in their marital attitudes than ACD. Fear of intimacy in women was not related to any of the parental factors examined. However, ACIF women endorsed more positive marital attitudes than ACD women, and women who described their parents as congruent in their parenting styles endorsed more positive marital attitudes than women who described their parents as incongruent.By integrating these areas, the current study addressed some of the inconsistent findings in the adult children of divorce literature. It also explored young adult development as it relates to the family life cycle, provided recommendations for future research, and discussed implications for real world application. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Studies on the effects of divorce on children often focus on the event of the divorce as being detrimental to the children. It is becoming more evident, however, that it is not the physical loss of a parent in itself that leads to later adjustment problems, but rather the type of environment in which the child lives. The present study examined the relationship between current and past familial conflict, as perceived by college students, and their current attitudes toward marriage. This study also explored the relationship between the family structure in which the students lived (intact vs. divorced) and their current attitudes toward divorce.Two hundred four students from a midwestern university participated in this study. Participants completed four questionnaires: (1) the Family Environment Scale -current; (2) the Attitudes Toward Marriage scale; (3) the Attitudes Toward Divorce scale; and (4) the Family Environment Scale - past. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) Students who perceived high levels of conflict in their families currently or while growing up will have less favorable attitudes toward marriage; (2) Students who experienced parental divorce will have more favorable attitudes toward divorce than students from intact homes. Analyses included multiple regression analyses predicting attitudes toward marriage and attitudes toward divorce from conflict and family structure.Contrary to expectations, perceived levels of conflict were not significantly related to attitudes toward marriage, and family structure was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward divorce. Compared to students from intact homes, students from divorced homes reported significantly higher levels of conflict in their homes while growing up. Implications of these findings and limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The purpose of the study was to identify the student’s perspective of the difficulties of transitioning from eighth grade to high school. The intent of gathering this information was to provide primary source data for additional study and development of effective transition experiences for students entering the ninth grade. The study identified five primary areas of concern gleaned from previous research and used a survey to quantify student responses to discover which areas were of most concern to students. The research included demographic information to compare male responses to female responses; the responses of students who had an older sibling attend high school to the responses of students who were the first in their family to go through this transition; and the responses of students from a low performing, high poverty, highly ethnically diverse school setting with students from a high performing, low poverty, and less ethnically diverse school setting. The population for the study included 285 eighth grade students from two different middle level schools. The study revealed both new and significant findings as well as insightful information from students in regard to their perceptions of the challenges associated with the transition from eighth grade to high school. / Department of Educational Leadership

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

This study described and analyzed the experiences of college students that participated in a volunteer community service program and those that participated in a service learning program using a case study method. The evidence suggests that students describe their service experience in much the same way regardless of the type and circumstances of the service performed. While the subjects that participated in service learning described the activity of providing service as positive, many of the components of service learning did not seem to be present, including formal reflection. While there was recognition of different social classes served by the sites or agencies and within the community, the subjects had not explored core social issues that may arise from class differences. Participants in both service learning courses and volunteer community service activities found the experience valuable in either selection or continuance of academic major, as well as general career development skills. / Department of Educational Studies

This study describes and analyzes within the cognitive-phenomenological theory of psychological stress developed by Lazarus and his colleagues the coping strategies used by 95 9th-grade adolescents in specific stressful events in their daily lives. / Four research instruments were administered three times at five- to six-week intervals: (1) the Semi-Structured Interview Schedule; (2) the Ways of Coping Checklist; (3) the Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scales; and, (4) the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist. / Results of the study indicate the most frequently reported hassles and uplifts are consistent with the age and developmental level of this sample. The concerns are primarily frequent, chronic minor events associated with activities of daily living. Hassles and uplifts were positively correlated with each other, as well as with symptomatology and coping strategies. Coping strategies were positively related to symptomatology. Female adolescents reported higher levels of uplifts intensity, more coping strategies, and higher levels of symptomatology than male adolescents. Although significantly fewer coping strategies were reported over time, both problem-solving and emotion-regulating strategies were used in the majority of stressful events. Significant differences in levels of symptomatology appeared as a function of the language-group to which subjects belonged. / While further investigation of adolescents' coping behaviors is warranted, the results of this study identified the need for stress management education for adolescents as well as for teachers, counsellors, and other professionals who work with them.

No description available.