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A comparison of student perceptions of academic, social, and emotional self-efficacy in classrooms with divergent approaches to integrating instructional technology
Get PDFAs society advances in technology, it is important that our educational systems have a unified understanding of how technology should be used inside the classroom (Bitter & Pierson, 2001; Oppenheimer, 2003). However, literature is mixed on whether technology impacts the learner positively or negatively (Brusca, 1991; Cassil, 2005; Cuban & Cuban, 2009; Kulik, 2003; Li & Ma, 2010; Strong, Torgerson, Torgerson, & Hulme, 2011; Torgerson et al., 2004; Waxman, Connell, & Gray, 2002). A number of researchers state that technology in schools can have a positive impact on achievement (Brusca, 1991; Cuban & Cuban, 2009; Li & Ma, 2010) while other researchers concluded that the distractions provided by technology decrease achievement and the habits it instills are harming students’ development, both academically and socially (Cassil, 2005; Kulik, 2003; Strong et al., 2011; Torgerson et al., 2004; Waxman et al., 2002). Various findings on the impact of technology as it relates to learning achievement suggest that there is a variable beyond the technology itself that may affect student learning (Cassil, 2005; Kulik, 2003; Strong et al., 2011; Torgerson et al., 2004; Waxman et al., 2002). Despite a large amount of literature on the impact of technology on educational achievement, there is a lack of literature related to the impact of technological approaches on learner self-efficacy, a strong predictor of achievement (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001). This study aimed to fill the gap by determining if a relationship exists between students’ academic, social, and emotional self-efficacy and their classroom’s approach to integrating technology. Classrooms involved in the study where separated based on their approach to integrating technology and assessments where administered to each student. The first assessment was a specialized measure of self-efficacy, developed by Peter Muris (2001). The second was a measurement of technological competence, developed by the researcher. The results of the study showed significant relationships between self-efficacy and several factors involved in integrating technology
An indentured servant: The impact of green card waiting time on the life of highly skilled Indian immigrants in the United States of America
Get PDFHighlighting the archaic immigration system in the United States of America (US), the present study demonstrates for the first time the impact of green card waiting time on the work and family life of Indian immigrants living in the US. Our present findings show that 93.4% of our participants are very concerned about the estimated green card waiting time in the US. We find 70% of the total participants are seriously thinking at the present time about emigrating to a more visa-friendly country. Also, 30% of the participants have already applied for permanent residency in a visa friendly country and 9% of the participants have already obtained a permanent residency in a more visa-friendly country. Based on these turnover intentions, we estimate the potential direct costs to American organizations due to the green card waiting time to be in the range of 54,261,724,160. Furthermore, our quantitative results show that the delay in receiving a green card is negatively affecting the work and family/nonwork life of Indian immigrants in the US. These critical issues are in turn causing health issues such as constant fear of unknown (uncertainty and feeling stuck issues due to green card backlog), stress, frustration and chronic health issues. Overall, in addition to the direct losses, the work and family issues caused due to the green card waiting time could result in indirect losses to organizations. We hope that the present findings may be useful to American policy makers and organizational leaders as further decisions are made regarding the American immigration system. In particular, we hope these findings will help to illustrate many serious implications associated with the green card delays and other visa-related proposed policy changes on immigrants, and their spouses, families, and communities.https://scholar.utc.edu/iopsy/1002/thumbnail.jp
Perceptions of male rape victims: Examining rape myth acceptance and victim blaming attitudes among a sample of college students
Get PDFThe extant literature indicates that women comprise the majority of sexual assault victims. Emerging research suggests that although men are less likely than women to be sexually victimized, a sizeable minority of men experience sexual assault in their lifetimes and a growing body of literature has begun to consider societal attitudes towards male rape victims. The current study adds to the literature by exploring undergraduate students’ assignment of indirect blame and justification in sexual assault incidents involving male victims. More specifically, data based on vignettes where situational characteristics were manipulated are used to determine how various incident, offender, and victim-level characteristics influence student perceptions. It was found that this sample of students were more likely to agree with indirect blame measures rather than direct. Age, sex, past victimization, and two of the three subscales from Struckman-Johnson and Struckman-Johnson’s (1992) male rape myth scale were significant within the logistic regression models
Development of the McLaren-Alton spirituality scale
Get PDFResearchers in the field of applied developmental science are pursuing effective, cross-fluent relationships between scientists, policy-makers, and practitioners as they co-influence individuals across lifetimes (Lerner, Wertlieb, and Jacobs, 2003). Practitioners in religious communities continue to grapple with their unique spins and takes (Taylor, 2007) regarding transcendence in a culture which is increasingly vested in the natural order rather than the supernatural. Christian efforts regarding spiritual formation tend to focus on acceptance of the local religious community as a necessary end to a process known as confirmation (Osmer and Douglass, 2018). The present study seeks to statistically validate a construct of spiritual formation proposed in popular literature that is focused on the individual—rather than a specific religious context—in order to frame new pedagogical methods concentrated first on the individual’s experience. To that end, a new scale which builds on McLaren’s (2011) construct of four spiritual seasons—Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony, was piloted in the spring semester of 2018 with general psychology students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Data analysis tests the hypothesis that the scale addresses four distinct factors. Future areas of research will examine the validity of the scale against other known measures of various types of individual development in education, identity, and creative processes
Plein air painting in an anthropocentric era
Get PDFOur relationship with the natural world is defined by our set conceptions of it. These conceptions tend to objectify and idealize nature and fuel the anthropocentric era we live in. Ecophenomenology provides us with a new way of interacting with the earth; this school of thought revolves around reshaping our perceptions of the natural and developing a symbiotic relationship with it. This exchange that happens between us and the earth is invisible, so engaging in it can seem absurd and a bit abstract but in understanding that the world acts upon us as we act upon it, the agency that we have taken from the natural world can be restored. Plein air painting, or painting in the landscape, encourages this exchange and is a way of reshaping our set conceptions of the natural world in advocacy of a healthier relationship with it
Oddities and evens: pares y nones
Get PDFOddities and Evens: Pares y nones is a collection of poetry and short stories in English and Spanish meant for young adults. I have had the creative desire to make a universe of fictional literature like this since my own childhood. As a young girl, I dreamt of being able to communicate imaginary dimensions I was experiencing. As I played, I imagined otherworldly creatures and scenarios that I could not yet describe. This collection of writings has given me the opportunity to introduce my own twisted and paranormal ideas, in English and Spanish, to young readers. I hope that the audience allows themselves the chance to enjoy imaginative play and feel free to jump down the wormhole of my psyche without fear of the unknown
Relations between subclinical narcissism, effortful control, and well-being in emerging adulthood
Get PDFThe present study evaluates relations between subclinical grandiose narcissism, facets of effortful control, and hedonic well-being in a sample of emerging adults. The goal of this study was threefold. First, to assess the relation between subclinical grandiose narcissism and hedonic well-being. Correlational analyses provided support for increased grandiose narcissistic tendencies being associated with increased hedonic well-being. Second, the study sought to examine the relation between effortful control and hedonic well-being. Regression analyses revealed a lack of support for this relationship; however, this could be due to lurking variables such as self-esteem. Last, the study aimed to explore whether there is an interaction between grandiose narcissistic tendencies and effortful control predicting hedonic well-being. Moderation analyses indicated no significant interaction. These results could again, be due to self-esteem, as previous literature has established self-esteem as a mediator between narcissism and well-being. Although not all of the hypotheses were supported, findings from this study nonetheless contribute to the development of the understanding of the intersection between subclinical grandiose narcissism, effortful control, and hedonic well-being and provide avenues for future research
Edge effects and diversity of understory and canopy cloud forest beetles
Get PDFHabitat fragmentation results in edge effects— changes in diversity and community composition along high-contrast forest edges. To date, a study of edge effects on beetle diversity has not been performed in tropical cloud forests, and few studies compare communities at both understory and canopy levels. Using bottle traps, I sampled canopy and understory beetle communities in a tropical lower montane cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica across three distances (edge- 15 m, middle- 100 m, far- 205 m) along an edge-to-interior transect into the forest. According to the Shannon-Weiner diversity index, the site with the most diversity was the middle understory, whereas the canopy at the edge was the least diverse. Out of all the understory sites, there was significantly less diversity at the far site. Within the canopy, the opposite was true, with more diversity further into the forest. Using a Linear Mixed Model and several post hoc tests, the results indicated that edge effects on beetle abundance and richness were stronger in the canopy than in the understory. In the canopy, there was a positive linear relationship between the number of individuals/morphospecies and distance into the forest, but no real trend in the understory. There were also differences in composition between heights and across distances, according to the Morisita Index. Overall, Curculionidae, Staphylinidae, and Chrysomelidae were the most species-rich families of beetles, and Curculionidae and Staphylinidae were the most abundant families. Differences in diversity and response to edges could be explained by the varying ecological traits of beetles inhabiting each site. The three most dominant families have very generalized diets and therefore can exist in a wide variety of habitats, even in canopy areas which are characterized by increased sunlight and wind, higher temperatures, and an increased risk of desiccation, similar to edge sites. In addition, tropical ecosystems have more specialists, which tend to decrease in abundance in human-disturbed areas. This could explain why abundance and richness was lower near the edge in my study, but higher near edges for other studies not in the tropics. Considering that insects are so small and large-scale changes in their diversity can easily go unnoticed, it is important to conduct studies like these to evaluate how habitat fragmentation is affecting them, and from that, make decisions about how best to conserve insect populations
Induced path number for the complementary prism of a grid graph
Get PDFThe induced path number rho(G) of a graph G is defined as the minimum number of subsets into which the vertex set of G can be partitioned so that each subset induces a path. A complementary prism of a graph G that we will refer to as CP(G) is the graph formed from the disjoint union of G and G_bar and adding the edges between the corresponding vertices of G and G_bar. These new edges are called prism edges. The graph grid(n,m) is the Cartesian product of P_n with P_m. In this thesis we will give an overview of a selection of important results in determining rho(G) of various graphs, we will then provide proofs for determining the exact value of rho(CP(grid(n,m))) for specific values of n and m
Factors related to teacher adoption rates and the diffusion of a one to one laptop initiative in one rural public school district
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to better understand how a one to one (1:1) Chromebook classroom initiative diffused in a rural public school system. To investigate this process a unique three part mixed methods study was created. In phase one of the study, teachers using a 1:1 Chromebook classroom were asked to participate in an online quantitative survey. In phase two, a Delphi technique was used to create an interview questionnaire. In phase three, one-on-one interviews were administered to 17 teachers with different levels of innovativeness. Specifically, this study was designed to investigate how factors such as perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived use (PU), teacher demographic characteristics, and time of adoption related to teacher innovativeness. The findings of the study indicated that PEOU, PU, teachers’ ages, highest level of education, and time of adoption had a statistically significant relationship with teacher innovativeness. The results of this research can be used by teachers and school leaders to help understand how 1:1 technology is being adopted by school level users and determine what best practices can be utilized to help facilitate the diffusion of a 1:1 Chromebook classroom