The problem with which this study was concerned is the association between exposure to computer instruction and changes in attitudes toward computers. The study had a two-fold purpose. The first was to determine the attitudes of undergraduate students toward computers. The second was to determine whether exposure to information about computers and their uses is associated with changes in students' attitudes toward computers. A computer literacy test was administered to subjects as a pre-and post-test. The major findings of the study indicate that there were significant, positive attitude changes among students exposed to computer instruction. There were also significant increases in knowledge about computers among participants exposed to computer instruction. The major conclusions are that attitudes are not fixed and develop in the process of need satisfaction. Participants in the study experienced attitude changes, which supports the suggestion that attitudes are developmental. Futhermore, the attitude changes observed in the study occurred in the process of learning about computers, a process assumed to be rooted in the educational and/or career needs of the participants. Attitudes are shaped by the information to which people are exposed. Attitude modification seldom, if ever, occurs in a vacuum. Instead, it most often takes place in the context of information dissemination and exposure. In this study, attitudes toward computers changed positively and significantly as participants were exposed to information about computers.

In a study using 73 females and 30 male undergraduates, information on the basic dimensions of Millon's eight personality styles was obtained from correlations of the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory with Rotter's I-E scale and Byrne's R-S scale. Hypotheses predicting a significant relationship between the active-passive and repression-sensitization were generally supported. Predictions of a significant relationship between the dependent-indepenent dimension and generalized expectancy of locus of control were not supported. Implications of these findings for the efficacy of Millon's system are discussed, along with future research possibilities.

This study investigated the emotionally disruptive effects of double binding communication, as compared with overtly punitive, and warm, accepting interactions. Forty-two college undergraduates scoring above the mean on the Neuroticism Subscale of Eysenck's Personality Questionaire were each directed to play the part of a small child in a spontaneous role-played family interaction. A pre-post mood test (Multiple Adjective Affect Check List), sensitive to changes in depression, hostility, and anxiety was administered. It was found that subjects in the double-bind and punitive conditions evidenced significant mood disturbance while subjects in the control group did not (all ps < .05). Implications for Double Bind Theory were discussed.

To assess psychologically unhealthy Protestant beliefs a Religious Sentence Completion Inventory (RSCI), and scoring Manual, were developed from a pilot study. In the main study 103 undergraduate students were subjects. Interscorer reliability for the RSCI was .83. Results revealed significant positive correlations between the RSCI, and maladjustment validity criteria: a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) total weighted score; and MPI clinical scales 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8; but not validity scale F; for females. Only MMPI scale 6 correlated with the RSCI for males. These data appear to partially support the proposition that whether Protestant beliefs hinder or do not hinder mental health depends upon the particular kind of beliefs a Protestant holds.

The Purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the repression-sensitization dimension and leisure preferences, specifically threatening versus nonthreatening physical activity and television program preferences. The hypotheses were that sensitizers would prefer threatening (violent) television programs and threatening (competitive) physical activities to a significantly greater degree than repressors. Sixty college undergraduates were designated repressors, sensitizers, or middle group by their scores on Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Scale. Preference sheets determined subjects' preferences for threatening and nonthreatening television programs and physical activities. Simple analyses of variance revealed no significant differences in repressors', sensitizers', or middle group's preferences for threatening television programs or physical activities, and thus the hypotheses were rejected. Non-significant tendencies in the data, in hypothesized directions, suggest further research.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Robert J. Shoop / Previous studies of the experiences of mainland Chinese students in the U.S. have focused on graduate students, the most prolific Chinese demographic change before 2008. However, a significant increase in mainland Chinese undergraduate students has occurred in American universities since 2008, and these students have different features from Chinese graduate students. Meanwhile, research on the mainland Chinese undergraduate student experience was very limited. For example, what are the sources of stress of these Chinese undergraduate students? What were their coping strategies? What changes did they have in the process? How do they evaluate their experience in the U.S.? This study is an attempt to answer these questions. This study employed a qualitative research method and a case study research design to examine the experience of six mainland Chinese undergraduate students in a midwestern American public university. Convenience, snowball and criterion sampling were used to identify the participants, who were conducted a semi-structured interview with in-depth follow-up probing sessions to yield data. Berry’s (1997) acculturation framework was the theoretical framework for the study. Patterns that emerged from the data include: (1) six stressors are discovered in participants’ acculturation process: language barrier, cultural difference, life skills-related stressors, relationships with others, academic studies, and concern for the future (including job opportunity and pressure for marriages). The stressors vary based on individual factors and their length of time in the U.S; (2) participants used three coping strategies to cope with stressful situation: problem focused, emotions focused and avoidance-orientation strategies; participants mainly rely on friends or roommates to cope with problems and are not aware of university’s resources for help; (3) participants experienced many changes in this process, including improved English skill, independence, stress management, changed perceptions about U.S. and China; (4) participants’ overall evaluation of the experience is positive but they don’t think studying in the U.S. is for everyone; they hope university to provide more help overcome the difficulties; (5) participants also talked about dissatisfaction about Chinese education, cheating problems at the American university, using agents when applying for universities, desire to return to China eventually and their family financial support. Themes emerged crossing all patterns included: (1) participants did not what to expect before they went abroad but managed to overcome difficulties in the U.S.; (2) participants are willing to make changes and improve themselves by overcoming all barriers with the resources they know; (3) participants desire more help from the university to overcome the barriers to a better education; (4) participants seek better job opportunities whether in China or in the U.S. soon after graduation, but they eventually will go back China; (5) participants’ family fully support participants’ endeavor to study in the U.S. As a conclusion, the study makes recommendations to American university administrators, professors and Chinese students who plan to come to the U.S. American universities should develop a holistic approach to help Chinese international students. Language and cultural training and engagement is important. Partnership programs between American students and Chinese students may be established to help them with language and cultural training. At the same time, life-skills, relationship skills, academic study skills and training are needed for students who came during high school or after high school. The university should also use standardized test for admission to ensure quality of students. Professional career help is a very critical need for these students in China and in America. Finally, the study recommends further research to better understand this unique population.

Master of Science / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Kevin Roberts / Distance programs in higher education have become commonplace in the United States because of developments in technology. Despite these advancements, hospitality programs have been reluctant to create fully online offerings for undergraduate students. This study wanted to focus on understanding the attitudes of undergraduate hospitality students about online learning. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to determine the attitudes of hospitality students about online learning, to analyze which technologies they have used during their academic careers, and to analyze which technologies are perceived as most useful to facilitate learning. Focus groups were conducted with a select group of students to better understand their attitudes and experiences with online learning and learning technologies. An online survey was distributed to undergraduate hospitality management students at five Midwestern universities. Means and standard deviations were used to measure overall student attitudes about online learning and to measure ratings of effectiveness and past use of selected technologies for online learning. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the relationships between educational levels of students and perceptions of online technologies, as well as the relationship between experience with online courses and attitudes towards online learning. A t-test was used to determine if a relationship existed between gender and attitudes towards online learning. Results from this study revealed that respondents preferred to use more familiar technologies such as slideshow presentations and email for online learning. Students reported that they would miss the interaction with their professors if they took an online course and would receive less help. Females and males differed in their attitudes about online learning. Results from this study will assist hospitality curriculum developers to better understand the attitudes and needs of undergraduate hospitality management students in the online learning environment.

This research project investigated how students and mentors in the 2008 Melon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship experienced the benefits and difficulties of the mentoring relationship. With the help of the mentor students appeared to excel both academically and personally. A qualitative research paradigm was used and unstructured interviews were conducted with five mentors and five students in the first cohort of the MMUF at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Mentoring reports completed by mentors were analysed and validated the content of the interviews. Both mentors and mentees confirmed that mentoring was indeed a powerful tool for academic and personal development. They maintained that there was no way that one could develop academically and not develop personally. Mentoring relationships that did not succeed were attributed to no effort on the part of either the student or the mentor. The mentors and mentees agreed that the benefits were mutual; they all learned from each other. Student development was observable and students reported that they were beginning to feel part of a community of scholars.

A violência interpessoal/bullying (VIP-B) pode ser comum no ensino superior e afetar o ajustamento e adaptação de estudantes à Universidade e a sua saúde mental. O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver e validar o conteúdo de uma escala sobre violência interpessoal (\"bullying\") no contexto da graduação. Um estudo exploratório anterior identificou diferentes categorias, incluindo violência na relação veteranocalouro, na relação professor-aluno, devido à orientação sexual e gênero; devido a características pessoais, origem étnica e classe social. Essas categorias deram origem à construção de uma versão inicial, com 83 afirmativas em uma Escala Likert de 5 pontos. Dez juízes especialistas com experiência profissional em violência e construção de escalas avaliaram esta versão e a concordância entre eles (valor do índice de validade do conteúdo: > 0,80) foi utilizada para manutenção dos itens da escala. A avaliação dos juízes levou à exclusão de 27 afirmativas e à adoção de uma escala Likert de quatro pontos para as respostas. Os juízes concordaram que os itens restantes eram pertinentes, significativos e estavam apresentados na ordem correta, com clareza, coerência e abrangência suficientes. Linguagem, layout e instruções para preenchimento e resposta também foram considerados apropriados. A versão final foi aplicada a estudantes (N=20) que concordaram que a escala era totalmente compreensível (18/20) ou quase compreensível (2/20), com todos os itens fáceis de responder. Com base no julgamento dos juízes e na opinião dos estudantes que participaram da aplicação piloto, a versão final de 56 itens da escala VIP-B foi composta e está pronta para ser submetida a outros procedimentos para validação completa (homogeneidade, fidedgnidade, consistência interna). Este estudo seguiu as etapas recomendadas na literatura para a construção e validação de conteúdo de instrumentos estruturados. O trabalho adicional com maior número de alunos permitirá completar a validação psicométrica da escala. A medição de VIP-B usando um instrumento válido e confiável é importante, pois essas situações podem afetar o ajustamento do estudante à Universidade e influenciar negativamente a aprendizagem e permanência estudantil. / Interpersonal violence/bullying (IPV-B) may be common in higher education and may affect the adjustment and adaptation of students to the university and their mental health. This study aimed at developing and validating the content of a scale on interpersonal violence (\"bullying\") in the context of undergraduate courses in health sciences. An earlier exploratory study identified different categories, including violence: in the veteran-freshman relationship, in the teacher-student relationship, against the woman, motivated by sexual orientation, personal characteristics, ethnic origin and social class. These categories gave rise to the construction of an initial 83- item version in a 5-point Likert Scale. Ten expert referees with professional experience in violence and scale construction evaluated this version and the agreement between them (value of content validity index: > 0.80) was used to maintain or exclude items from the scale. Referee evaluation led indeed to the exclusion of 27 items and the adoption of a 4-point Likert Scale. Referees did agree that the remaining items were relevant, meaningful and presented in the correct order, with sufficient clarity, coherence and comprehensiveness. Language, layout and instructions for completion and response were also considered appropriate. The final version was applied to undergraduate students (N = 20) who agreed that the scale was fully understandable (18/20) or almost comprehensible (2/20), with all items considered easy to answer. Based on referee judgment and students opinion, a final 56-item version of the IPV-B scale was composed and is ready for procedures aiming at completing validation (homogeneity, reliability, internal consistency). This study followed the steps recommended in the literature for the construction and content validation of structured instruments. Additional work with larger number of students will allow the psychometric validation of the scale to be completed. The measurement of IPV-B using a valid and reliable instrument is important, since these situations may affect student adjustment to the University and negatively influence learning and permanence.

<p>All of the work described in this dissertation involves the use of Indigenous research frameworks to design research projects, to facilitate communication with Indigenous communities that I have collaborated with, and also to teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students. Indigenous research frameworks emphasize the importance of place in relation to the integrity of cultural values espoused by many Indigenous communities. This entails a respect for the spirituality component of Indigenous people because this is often directly tied to relationships between the land, animals, and plants of their local environments.</p> <p>While some research has been conducted to help understand Indigenous people’s understandings of geoscience, less emphasis has been placed on recognizing and leveraging common connections Indigenous students make between their Traditional cultures and Western science. Thus, the research presented in this dissertation identifies connections Indigenous learners make between geology concepts and their everyday lives and cultural traditions in both formal and informal settings. Some of these connections have been integrated into place-based geoscience education modules that were implemented within an introductory environmental science course. </p> <p>Qualitative analysis, using a socioTransformative constructivism theoretical lens, of semi-structured interviews after implementation of a Sharing/Learning program for an Acoma pilot project, implemented informally, and for a series of geoscience education modules at a private university provides evidence that elements reflective of the use of sociotransformative constructivism (e.g. connections between global and localized environmental issues) were acknowledged by the participants as particularly impactful to their experience during implementation of the geoscience-focused activities. In addition to the socioTransformative theoretical perspective, Indigenous research frameworks (i.e. Tribal Critical Race Theory) were used to contextualize the educational interventions for two different Indigenous communities, Acoma Pueblo and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Tribal Critical Race Theory was not used to analyze the semi-structured interviews. Instead the Indigenous research frameworks were used to ensure that the research practices undertaken within these Indigenous communities were respectful of the Indigenous community’s cultural values, that Indigenous data sovereignty was paramount, and so that the research objectives were transparent. In addition, permission to publish the results of this research was sought from the governing entities of both Tribal Councils of Acoma Pueblo and the Yakama Nation.</p> <p>The research presented in this dissertation provides evidence that academic research can be undertaken in respectful ways that benefit Indigenous communities. The connections that participants in the Acoma Sharing/Learning program could potentially be used to create more culturally relevant educational materials for the Acoma Pueblo community, if that is what the governing entities of the Acoma Pueblo community desire. The modules implemented more formally at a private university could potentially, with permission from the governing entities of the Yakama Nation, be integrated into geoscience programs at a broader level creating opportunities for contemporary Indigenous perspectives to be valued alongside Western modern science. Moving forward, this could potentially increase interest among Indigenous community members in pursuing academic pathways within geoscience disciplines.</p> <p>The research pursued in this dissertation is only a beginning. Approaches to research that promote the agency of local communities in the types of research questions asked and how that research is conducted should be a priority for Western scientists to maintain a respectful relationship with the many communities, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in which they work. It is my intention to be part of this revolution in how academic researchers interact with contemporary Indigenous communities as well as the next generation of scientists. In the future, my research will continue to serve and benefit Indigenous communities, but I will also begin asking research questions that will help increase the use of diverse and equitable practices within academia. In this way, I hope to bridge the two worlds of Indigenous Knowledge systems and Western science with the primary purpose of maintaining respect among these two communities. In the future, my research will focus on how these respectful practices can move beyond academic research and pedagogy into the realms of professional development, mentoring, and community revitalization.</p>