This study investigates the changes in attitudes of graduate students toward introductory statistics. The subjects are graduate students at a Midwestern university; the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) was used to measure pre-test and post-test attitudes. Subjects in this study were grouped into three groups: experimental group (group of students who were taking the introductory statistics course), control group 1 (group of students who were required to take the introductory statistics course for their degree but had not already taken it), and control group 2 (group of students who did not need to take an introductory statistics course). The mixed design MANOVA was utilized in this study with grouping by pre-test and post-test. The between-subjects factor was group, gender, and section (with different instructor) and the within-groups factor was time. The main effects and interactive effects were tested in a multivariate sense, and then univariate statistics were used to interpret significant simple effects. This study was conducted to determine the effect of the six dependent variables (affect, cognitive, value, difficulty, interest, and effort) on students' attitudes toward the introductory statistics course. All findings were interpreted at alpha level p<0.05.Analysis of the data revealed significant differences in the attitude factor difficulty among all groups. The male and female attitude change was not significantly different among all groups. However, there were significant differences of attitudes changes between two sections (by different instructors) of students in the experimental group, but there were no significant differences of attitude changes between two sections by time. / Department of Mathematical Sciences

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / The major aim of this study was to investigate the attitude of University of Zululand students towards pornography as well as the effects that pornography might have on their social and academic wellbeing. The study was conducted at the University of Zululand. A total number of 203 participants took part in this study. The questionnaire served to investigate the attitudes of students towards pornography and the effects that porn might have on their social and academic wellbeing. A statistical analysis of the results was conducted and the results indicated that students view pornography for various reasons which include, but are not limited to the following: sexual education, as a stimulant for arousal, as a tool to conform to peer-pressure. Effects of pornography viewing varied from negative to positive. It was also assumed and supported by literature that pornography viewing takes place at an early onset, which places a great responsibility on parents, teachers, care-givers and media to play a more active role in the management of pornography through; practical ways of empowering individuals and parents at early stages of development. Teaching youngsters on critical viewing of content they view on the internet. Promoting programmes with positive sexual content. The need for parental guidance on internet usage; computer to be placed in central places at home, in schools and in other public areas.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Leadership

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1949 J57 / Master of Science

The purpose of this investigation was to describe tenth grade students' views of the purposes of geometric proof within the context of their learning. Classroom observations, the curriculum, assessment tools, journal questions, and a preconceptions questionnaire were used to provide context for the views expressed by students from a single classroom. Eleven classroom episodes selected from the classroom observations were used to describe the instructional context as well as discourse among the students during group work. The episodes provided details about how and when the classroom teacher addressed various purposes of proofs involving geometry concepts throughout two instructional units on coordinate geometry proofs and two-column proofs. The episodes also consisted of student discourse relating to the purposes of geometric proof as students worked on assigned proof problems. The students' views were examined through journal questions given at the beginning of selected days and through a post-instruction questionnaire and individual interviews. There were three main findings of the study. First, several students experienced difficulty in expressing their views of the purposes of geometric proof when asked directly. One-third of the students could only list properties or theorems they encountered during the unit on geometric proof. However, when these students were asked to describe the purpose for each column, all of the students listed both explanation and verification. Second, the students expressed limited views of the purposes of proof, referring mainly to verification. Only a few students mentioned explanation, systematization, and communication. However, students generally referred to at least two purposes of proof (explanation, verification, and communication) when describing the proving process involved in coordinate geometry. Third, the students' views of various purposes of geometric proof were diverse. Recommendations for future research include the examination of students' views of the purposes of geometric proofs for students who use paragraph form and studies to investigate the development of students' views of the purposes of proof as they gain more experience with formal proof writing and other methods of proof. / Graduation date: 2004

Educational institutions are exposed to a continuously changing environment. As in business, they experiment with their methods and techniques to improve their outputs. Performance assessment, both in education and business is a gray science. It is not just a question of evaluating performance. Performance is comprised of a number of components such as motivation, ability, organizational support, and rewards. This study looked at the relationship between educational assessment and the performance components. An assessment tool called the Balanced Scorecard, which has seen great success in the world of business, was adapted for use in the classroom. The study utilized quasi-experimental design to compare the effects of the broad-based holistic measurement associated with a balanced scorecard, and a traditional grading structure in two topics-based college courses. The study found that motivation, individual equity, satisfaction, and student engagement were all significantly higher in the experimental group by comparison. This evidence suggests that by utilizing a broad base of performance measures, one can increase student motivation and engagement in the learning process. / Graduation date: 1999

This survey is to study the attitudes, personal experiences of Health care professional students, and knowledge about the basic concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong and Guangzhou district of Mainland China. The research methodology used was a questionnaire which was distributed amongst healthcare professional students in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. About Seventy-five percent of participants have ever used TCM at some time to treat minor diseases. On a scale from zero to ten, the mean (SD) scores for the perceived effectiveness of TCM were 6.55 (2.07), and most of them (89%) gave five to nine scores. The average proportion of TCM used in their whole lives estimate was 24%. Most of participants (83.3%) used TCM only one to five times per year in the last five years. In participants’ opinion, TCM is more natural and having less adverse effect, while WM is pure, specific, credible, easy to administer and having better patients’ compliance. WM was the priority, or even first choice when the participants faced with a variety of representative diseases. And people had a good understanding degree of some basic concepts of TCM. Although there were a few differences in gender groups comparing and district groups comparing, broadly speaking the similarities still were in majority. In conclusion, most of pharmacy students have their own knowledge about TCM, but more measures must be carried out to improve the popularizing rate of TCM. Moreover, mainland students have better knowledge of TCM and more positive attitude compared to TCM. The attitude and practice do not appear to vary significantly between genders. / published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

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