Despite agreement among researchers about the powerful influence of attitudes and beliefs on the development of students’ mathematical knowledge base (Leder, Pehkonen, & Törner, 2002), relatively little is known about these constructs in statistics education. This study investigated the relationship between mathematics-and statistics-related attitudes and beliefs of 11 high school students in an introductory statistics course designed around a 13-week long service-learning project. Service-learning is a pedagogical approach that situates academic learning in the context of community service. The study utilized qualitative, teacher-researcher (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) methodology from an interpretivist perspective. The three primary modes of data collection were journals, narratives, and an open-ended survey (Survey of Mathematical and Statistical Affect). Observations and reflections were also recorded regularly in a researcher journal. Inquiry adhered to guidelines for trustworthiness and rigor as outlined by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Item, pattern, and structural levels of analysis were employed (LeCompte and Schensul, 1999b). Investigation into attitudes and beliefs was framed in accordance with Op t’ Eynde, De Corte, and Verschaffel’s (2002) conceptualization of the mathematics-related belief system and McLeod’s (1992) framework of the affective domain in mathematics education. Results indicate that participants’ attitudes toward mathematics and statistics tended to converge while participants’ beliefs regarding mathematics and statistics tended to diverge. Participants like mathematics and statistics that involve real-life scenarios. Participants also like mathematics and statistics that do not require complex mathematical tasks. Participants’ beliefs regarding statistics were generally more positive than beliefs regarding mathematics. Participants reported greater confidence doing statistics than mathematics and contribute this confidence, in part, to service-learning. Participants also experienced a heightened sense of social awareness and social responsibility through the service-learning project. These results provide evidence that service-learning can be utilized to solidify positive attitudes and beliefs regarding statistics among high school students, in spite of potentially less positive ones toward mathematics.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Margaret G. Shroyer / While there has been much quantitative research done in the area of attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs, this study sought hear the voices of the middle school child. Therefore, this qualitative study investigated the attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students in one middle school in western Kansas. The conceptual framework for this study is supported by the research of Albert Bandura on Social Cognitive Theory. This study used a naturalistic inquiry approach and data were collected from multiple sources, including short-answer questionnaires, classroom observations, and one-on-one interviews. Coded data were examined for patterns, themes, and relationships. Middle school students in this study exhibited positive, negative, and variable attitudes toward mathematics, and both positive and negative mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. Students attribute their high mathematics self-efficacy beliefs to the teacher or the high grades they receive on daily assignments, as well as the scores they receive on state and local assessments. Conversely, middle school students have low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs when they feel unsuccessful or distressed, and they attribute those beliefs to the low grades they receive on daily assignments and assessments, as well as the distress of not understanding the mathematics. Middle school students told their mathematical stories of the change in attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs, and attributed positive changes to the mathematics teacher. Negative changes in attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs were attributed to the amount of homework expected at the middle school level, as well as the lack of hands-on activities. The influence of the teacher, grades, and hands-on activities impact middle school students’ attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. There is a relationship between attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. Low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and poor attitudes toward mathematics are related since low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and poor attitudes toward mathematics are highly connected. Conversely, high mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and good attitudes toward mathematics are highly related. Middle school students’ experiences impact both mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics. Students’ mathematics self-efficacy beliefs impact their attitudes toward mathematics.

Le concept de générativité, soit la préoccupation des adultes à l'égard du bien-être des générations futures, a fait l'objet de nombreuses études en psychologie sociale depuis les années 1950. En parallèle, plusieurs entreprises positionnent leurs produits et services comme génératifs, une réalité qui n'a toutefois pas été examinée d'un point de vue académique en marketing. Afin de remédier à cette lacune, nous proposons l'introduction formelle du concept de générativité dans la littérature marketing, ainsi que le développement d'une échelle de mesure entièrement dédiée à la générativité du consommateur. Nous analysons également les effets du positionnement génératif des produits sur le comportement du consommateur. Les résultats de la première étude ont montré que le positionnement génératif affectait positivement et significativement les attitudes envers le message et le produit, ainsi que les intentions d'achat. Ces effets étaient encore plus importants lorsque la publicité ciblait des consommateurs fortement génératifs. De plus, la construction de l'échelle de la générativité du consommateur a mis en évidence la présence de deux dimensions de la générativité : communale et agentique. L'analyse de la validité prédictive de l'échelle a de nouveau montré l'importance de cibler des personnes fortement génératives dans le cas de produits positionnés comme génératifs. Toutefois, l'analyse du type de positionnement génératif, du lieu de contrôle et du revenu familial comme modérateurs n'a pas révélé de relations statistiquement significatives. Notre recherche a néanmoins montré que les consommateurs mariés étaient plus génératifs que les célibataires, et que seules les personnes possédant un revenu familial confortable ou élevant des enfants possédaient un indice élévé de générativité communale. Qui plus est, les pères étaient plus génératifs sur le plan agentique que les mères. Ces résultats pointent également l'importance d'identifier le type de générativité du consommateur (communal ou agentique).

This study explores the relationship between economic development, social mobility, elites, and regime formation. I argue that the genesis of regime formation, in general, and of democratic regimes, in particular, is determined by the type of economic structure a society possesses, on the one hand, and on the degree the to which demands from disfranchised groups do or do not pose a substantial threat to the interests of elites who occupy the upper strata of the social and economic status hierarchy. Second I demonstrate that the dynamics of transition to wider political participation, as the core element of a democratic system of governance, and the survival of such change are different. In what follows I illustrate that some factors that have been found to dampen the chances for wider participation or have been found to be unrelated to onset of a democratic system of governance have considerable impacts on the durability of the democratic regimes. In a nutshell, the analysis points to the positive effects of mineral wealth and income inequality on the prospects of a democratic survival. Using a cross-national time series data set for all countries for the period between 1960 and 1999 I put the hypotheses to the test. I use binary logit, ordered logit, and ordinary least squares (OLS) to delineate the link between socioeconomic changes and the transition to wider participation. Survival analyses are employed to test for what factors account for the durability of a democratic regime.

The problem of this study was whether differences exist between opinions news media members have toward higher education and the prediction of those opinions by college and university public relations directors. The purposes were to determine if such differences exist and to assess certain demographic factors' roles in journalists' opinions.

This study concerns the perceptions of African educators concerning the role of higher education in Africa. The study investigates African educators' awareness, understanding, opinions, and reactions to the role of higher education as defined by the Tananarive Conference on the development of higher education in Africa. The data were collected through personal interviews with 80 educators affiliated with the universities of the English—speaking countries in Middle Africa. The findings of the study reveal that (a) the Tananarive recommendations are still realistic and relevant to the African situation; (b) African educators agree that universities in Africa must contribute to the definition and development of African economic, social, and cultural goals; (c) African universities are judged mainly by how successfully their objectives and achievements improve society; (d) the critical problems confronting the African universities are finance, colonial origin, attachment to metropolitan models and standards, training of staff in overseas institutions, brain drain, and government interference; and (e) mutual trust and understanding of role-expectation between African governments and universities is required for universities to fulfill their developmental role in African societies.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The aim of this work is to analyze the dynamics of attitudes towards the European Union in the Czech Republic on the basis of the data file from the project "Aktér", which has been realized by the Department of Sociology Faculty of Arts since 1999. In recent years, public euro-skepticism in attitudes of the population of all EU member countries has emerged. The same for the Czech Republic, as evidenced by periodic public opinion surveys (eg Eurobarometer and CVVM). The European Union is perceived negatively by the efforts to intervene in the affairs of nation states. On the other hand, EU brings many new possibilities and opportunities but they are accepted and used selectively. Specific socio-demographic, economic and political characteristics of people differentiate the perception of the European Union. This work reveals whether the skepticism towards the EU is universal phenomenon in the Czech Republic or whether there are population groups that are consistently positive towards a united Europe, and why. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The study Modes of Transcendence of the Poet's Existence: Towards a Hermeneutic Interpretation (Mácha, Březina, Zahradníček) follows the aim: interpretation of the distinctive form of existence in the medium of poetic words of the chosen poets (K. H. Mácha, O. Březina, J. Zahradníček) in the continuity of modern hermeneutic conceptions of poem's language (M. Heidegger, H. G. Gadamer, et al.) and of the philosophy of Romano Guardini and Søren Kierkegaard (especially in the interpretation of Zahradníček's poems). The first chapter deals with poet's existence as "different existence" from the point of view of his unique individual existence who transcends himself in the process of artistic creation. The second chapter copes with the effect of existential anxiety on poet's existence on the basis of Březina's essay Work of death and Heidegger's work Being and Time. The third chapter is dedicated to specific mode of poet's existence, melancholia, which is experienced in consequences of the threat of his existence. This modus of poet's existence is interpreted in the medium of poet's words in bases of Kierkegaard's notes, diaries and Guardini's studies. The final chapter of this study reflects the development of Zahradníček's early work's from the point of view of Kierkegaard's three modes of life. Lyric...

Devido ao alto número de propagandas que um consumidor é exposto em um único dia, torna-se fundamental que as empresas produzam anúncios que atinjam de forma efetiva seu público-alvo. Um anúncio precisa chamar a atenção de uma pessoa e, ainda, impactar em suas atitudes. Ressalta-se que fatores como gênero e nível de envolvimento do consumidor são variáveis que impactam na atenção dedicada a um anúncio e nas ações posteriores a este. Ainda, a forma como o anúncio é elaborado, ou seja, o tipo de anúncio, pode interferir nas reações dos consumidores. Este estudo teve por objetivo identificar como diferentes tipos de anúncio, sejam estes direcionados ao público masculino, feminino ou neutros impactam na atenção visual e nas atitudes em relação a estes anúncios e, também, como o gênero e o nível de envolvimento influenciam nessa relação. Através de um pré-teste, foram selecionadas seis imagens para compor o estudo. Através de um experimento, os participantes foram divididos em três grupos e submetidos a visualização de um dos tipos de anúncio escolhido. A coleta de dados foi dada por meio do eye-tracking e de questionários e os dados foram analisados por meio da análise fatorial, testes de hipótese e complementados com estatística descritiva. Foi identificado que o tipo de anúncio impacta na atenção visual e nas atitudes em relação ao anúncio. Em relação às variáveis moderadoras do estudo, foi visto que o gênero impacta apenas nas respostas dos anúncios considerados masculinos e que, de forma mais evidente, o nível de envolvimento impacta nas respostas dos anúncios, principalmente nas atitudes em relação ao anúncio / Due to the high number of advertisements that a consumer is exposed in a single day, it is critical that companies produce ads that effectively reach their target audience. An ad needs to catch a person\'s attention and still impact their attitudes. It should be noted that factors such as gender and level of consumer involvement are variables that impact on the attention devoted to an ad and on the actions subsequent to it. Yet, the way the ad is designed, that is, the type of ad, can interfere with consumer reactions. The purpose of this study was to identify how different types of advertisements, whether directed at the male, female or neutral public, impact on visual attention and attitudes towards these ads, and how gender and level of involvement influence this relationship. Through a pre-test, six images were selected to compose the study. Then, through an experiment, the participants were divided into three groups and submitted to the visualization of one of the chosen ad types. Data were collected through eye-tracking and questionnaires and the data were analyzed through factorial analysis, hypothesis tests and complemented with descriptive statistics. It has been identified that the type of ad impacts on visual attention and attitudes toward the ad. Regarding the moderating variables of the study, it was seen that the gender impacts only on the responses of the ads considered masculine and that, more clearly, the level of involvement impacts on the responses of the ads, mainly in the attitudes towards the advertisement