33 research outputs found
Planning for the Future: Future Time Orientation and Life Project Scales
No full textProject files are comprised of 1 page pdf and presentation recording in mp4 format.Planning for the Future: International Future Time Orientation and Life Project Scales Author: Smith, Madeleine, Educational Foundations Major and Vinicius Coscioni, University of Coimbra, Portugal Abstract: Throughout the years, extensive research has been done on what influences people’s decisions. What prompts a student to apply to one school over another? Do future goals really influence a student’s academic performance in a class? Researchers have found that psychological future and personal goals play a vital role in an individual’s present behavior, decision making, and self-concept. More specifically, future time orientation (FTO) is the degree to which people’s thoughts of the future influence their present-day actions (Husman & Lens, 1999). Similarly, the theory of Life Project (LP) refers to a set of short to long-term goals that shape self-concept and identity (Little, Salmela-Aro, & Phillips, 2017). This project will develop an International Future Time Orientation Scale and Life Project Scale working in conjunction with research teams in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, the United States, and Uruguay. FTO and LP constructs have recently been created by Portuguese research teams. The remaining research teams will conduct focus groups for construct evaluation. This evaluation will focus on main constructs such as distance, connectedness, and valence from FTO as well as organization, identification, and involvement from LP. The structures of both scales’ factors will be analyzed quantitatively with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The development of reliable international FTO and LP scales are a necessary instrument as they could be applicable to larger populations. Overall, this exciting research focuses on what influences an individual’s decisions and can greatly benefit prospective psychological and educational studies
Expression And Expressiveness In Art
No full textThe concept of expression in the arts is Janus-faced. On the one hand expression is an author-centered notion: many Romantic poets, painters, and musicians thought of themselves as pouring our or ex-pressing their own emotions in their artworks. And on the other hand, expression is an audience-centered notion, the communication of what is expressed by an author to members of an audience. Typically the word “expression” is used for the author-centered aspect of expression as a whole, and the word “expressiveness” is used for the audience-centered aspect, and I shall keep to this usage. In this paper I shall argue that although expression is closely related to expressiveness, the two concepts are distinct and, in particular, expressiveness cannot be analyzed in terms of expression, as has been recently suggested by Stephen Davies and Jerrold Levinson. Nonetheless, the richest examples of expression in the arts involve both expression and expressiveness
A mechanism to ensure secure sharing and accessing the private data files in a cloud shared environment
No full textCloud Computing has been envisioned as the next-generation architecture of IT Enterprise. It moves
the application software and databases to the centralized large data centers, where the management of
the data and services may not be fully trustworthy. This work studies the problem of ensuring the
integrity of data storage in Cloud Computing. With cloud storage services, it is common place for
data to be not only stored in the cloud, but also shared across multiple users. However, preserving
and0 assuring security to data such as the public and private files stored in the cloud remains to be an
open challenge. The security of data in cloud storage, however, is subject to malicious threats, as data
stored in the cloud can easily be lost or corrupted due to the inevitable hardware/software failures and
human errors.
The purpose of this research is to analyze the major security threats and find out better way to ensure
security of data stored in the cloud shared environment. To identify any algorithm or technique that
can be implemented to enhance the security measures. A primary research will be carried out in order
to find the different ideas and suggestions in order to secure the files that are stored in the cloud
shared environment and additional security compliance policies that can be followed. The findings
from the research will be summarized and used to build and artifact to provide a working model of
the identified solution. Author keywords: Cloud computing, encryption, security, secure erasure code, multi cloud approach, cloud security issue
What Motivates Science Teachers to Teach in Urban Settings A Mixed Method Approach
No full textabstract: The high rate of teacher turnover in the United States has prompted a number of studies into why teachers leave as well as why they stay. The present study aims to add to that knowledge specifically regarding why teachers choose to stay at urban schools. Several reasons teachers in general choose to stay have been identified in previous studies including faith in their students, continuing hope and sense of responsibility, and love among others. The importance of such a study is the possibility of designing programs that reinforce teacher success through understanding the personal and professional reasons teachers choose to stay. Getting teachers to stay is important to the nation's goal of providing equity in science education to all children. Important to this research is an understanding of motivational theories. Already a challenge in the over-busy modern world, the ability to self-motivate and motivate others is of particular importance to teachers in urban schools as well as teachers struggling against restrictive budgets. Studies have shown teachers extrinsically motivated will need external rewards to encourage them while teachers who are intrinsically motivated will have their own internal reasons such as satisfaction in contributing to the future, self-actualization, or the joy of accomplishment. Some studies have suggested that teachers who decide to remain teaching tend to be intrinsic motivators. Unfortunately, the environment in most Western country educational systems presents a challenge to achieving these intrinsic goals. As a result, self-determination theory should play a significant role in shaping educational programs. The following study examined the perspectives of secondary school science teachers, specifically regarding why they opted to remain within the classroom in urban districts. It was conducted utilizing interviews and surveys of teachers working within urban school districts in Arizona and California. The sample consisted of 94 science teachers. More than half of the participants were White females and 36 percent of them had been teaching for more than 15 years. Participation in the study was based on self-selected volunteerism. Survey questions were based on self-determination theory and used Likert scale responses. Follow-up audiotaped interview requested information regarding identity and their social interaction within the urban settings. The survey responses were analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression. The results of this study provide insight on what works to motivate science teachers to continue teaching in less than ideal school settings and with such high bureaucratic impediments as standardized testing and school rating systems. It demonstrates that science teachers do seem to be intrinsically motivated and suggests some areas in which this motivation can be fostered. Such results could help in the development of teacher support groups, professional development programs, or other programs designed to assist teachers struggling to deal with the specific problems and needs of inner city school students.Dissertation/ThesisPh.D. Curriculum and Instruction 201
Screening in School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports: Methodogical Comparisons
No full textabstract: Many schools have adopted programming designed to promote students' behavioral aptitude. A specific type of programming with this focus is School Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS), which combines positive behavior techniques with a system wide problem solving model. Aspects of this model are still being developed in the research community, including assessment techniques which aid the decision making process. Tools for screening entire student populations are examples of such assessment interests. Although screening tools which have been described as "empirically validated" and "cost effective" have been around since at least 1991, they have yet to become standard practice (Lane, Gresham, & O'Shaughnessy 2002). The lack of widespread implementation to date raises questions regarding their ecological validity and actual cost-effectiveness, leaving the development of useful tools for screening an ongoing project for many researchers. It may be beneficial for educators to expand the range of measurement to include tools which measure the symptoms at the root of the problematic behaviors. Lane, Grasham, and O'Shaughnessy (2002) note the possibility that factors from within a student, including those that are cognitive in nature, may influence not only his or her academic performance, but also aspects of behavior. A line of logic follows wherein measurement of those factors may aid the early identification of students at risk for developing disorders with related symptoms. The validity and practicality of various tools available for screening in SWPBS were investigated, including brief behavior rating scales completed by parents and teachers, as well as performance tasks borrowed from the field of neuropsychology. All instruments showed an ability to predict children's behavior, although not to equal extents. A discussion of practicality and predictive utility of each instrument follows.Dissertation/ThesisPh.D. Educational Psychology 201
Endogenous and Exogenous Instrumentality on Student Motivation and Achievement
No full textabstract: Instrumentality is an important motivational construct that empathizes the connection between a present task and a future goal. Instrumentality is conceptualized as a task-specific variable. Reflecting context-dependent characteristics, two different types of instrumentality are distinguished: endogenous and exogenous instrumentality. Endogenous instrumentality is the perception that learning in a present task is useful to achieving valued future goals and exogenous instrumentality is the perception that outcome in a present task is instrumental to achieving valued future goals. This study investigated the differential relationships among each instrumentality type, academic achievements, and motivational variables. Three studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between each type of instrumentality and students’ achievement and motivational variables such as achievement goals, situational interests, and pressure and the moderating role of self-efficacy on the relationship. Study 1 investigated how endogenous and exogenous instrumentality was related to students’ achievement respectively. In addition, it was examined whether self-efficacy moderated in the relationship between each instrumentality and achievement. Study 2 was conducted to find that how each instrumentality was related to three different types of achievement goals, which were mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Interaction between each type of instrumentality and self-efficacy was examined to find a moderating effect by self-efficacy on accounting for the relationship between instrumentality and achievement goals. Study 3 examined the role of each instrumentality on situational interest, pressure and achievement. The results showed that endogenous instrumentality predicted grade positively regardless students’ self-efficacy level, whereas exogenous instrumentality positively predicted grade of students with high self-efficacy and negatively predicted grade of students with low-self-efficacy. In addition, endogenous instrumentality predicted mastery goals positively and performance-avoidance goals negatively, whereas exogenous instrumentality predicted both performance-approach and performance avoidance goals positively. Moreover, students with high self-efficacy were less likely to adopt performance-avoidance goals when they perceived more endogenous instrumentality. It was also found that endogenous instrumentality was a positive predictor of situational interest and a negative predictor of pressure, whereas exogenous instrumentality was a negative predictor of situational interest and as a positive predictor of pressure. There was a mediating effect of pressure on the relationship between each instrumentality and grade.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 201
The Relationship between Perceived Academic Control, Implicit Theory of Intelligence, and Student Responsibility
No full textabstract: Responsibility for academic outcomes is an important factor to consider within the study of student motivation, yet measures for the construct remain elusive and inconsistent. The present study uses a new measure developed by Lauermann and Karabenick to assess students' sense of responsibility for their academic outcomes. This study examined the relationship between perceived academic control, implicit theory of intelligence, and student responsibility. Results were based on a sample of 152 undergraduate students. A significant relationship between perceived academic control and student responsibility was established. Results also indicated a significant association between implicit theory of intelligence and student responsibility; however, contrary to hypotheses, implicit theory did not mediate the relationship between perceived academic control and student responsibility.Dissertation/ThesisM.A. Educational Psychology 201
Future Time Perspective and Strategy Development of Incarcerated Young Adults
No full textabstract: Possible selves research has focused primarily on academic achievement and student learning, for at-risk, adolescent or college aged students. The research has not examined an occupation possible self, nor the implications of how time is considered by incarcerated populations. This study was designed to expand the Possible Selves Questionaire (PSQ) designed by Oyserman for an occupational achievement code and explore any unique codes present for incarcerated young adult males, aged 18-22. Additionally, this study was designed to compare two distinct time horizons for incarcerated young adults, a more proximal one-year event which would represent continued incarceration and a post-release distal time horizon.
A pilot study was conducted to establish the occupation and population codes, coding system, member checks and review processes that were then applied to interview 126 incarcerated young adult males between the ages of 18 and 22 in Arizona correctional facilities. The study produced not only an occupational achievement code, but also refined codes for interpersonal relationships requiring the addition of a spiritual/social code to account for church activities, religion, and spiritual groups, while narrowing the existing interpersonal relationships code to focus on family, children, a spouse or partner. Analysis demonstrated that incarcerated young adults create fewer identified strategies and have fewer aligned strategies to achieve post-release goals. Time served and expected sentences were determined to be significantly associated with the identification of goals, strategies, and development of aligned strategies. The impact of the different time horizon events of during and post incarceration were significant as well, participants identified five times as many goals one year from now in comparison to post-release, and on average 1.5 more strategies to achieve identified goals.
The study demonstrated that the participants expected sentence was a significantly associated covariate to the number of Future Possible Selves’(FPS) defined, number of strategies defined to achieve those FPS goals, and number of aligned strategies to FPS goals across time horizons of 1 year and post release. However, time served was only found to be a statistically significant covariate for both goal identification and strategy identification, not strategy alignment.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 201
An Investigation of Academic Achievement and Achievement Motivation in Children with Cystic Fibrosis
No full textabstract: Cystic Fibrosis, one of the most severe childhood life-shortening illnesses, places demands on a child's life conceivably interfering with his or her academic success. It is possible that the medically related activities in which individuals with CF partake interfere with academic activities and the motivation, specifically beliefs, expectancies, and values held, toward those activities. These issues encouraged the investigation of academic achievement and achievement motivation in children with CF through exploration of three research questions. Question one concerns differences in academic achievement between children with CF and a healthy comparison group for 1) reading and 2) math. Question two explored differences in aspects of motivation including ability beliefs, outcome expectancies, and task values between the groups for the two academic subjects. Finally, question three examined the relationship between motivational components and academic achievement. Evidence is provided for differences in math achievement between the two groups. Differences in motivation between children with CF and healthy children remain unsubstantiated.Dissertation/ThesisM.A. Educational Psychology 201
Sub-Par Attributions: Why Women Give up Golf
No full textabstract: In the United States, recreational female golfers give up golf at twice the rate of recreational male golfers. This study explored the causal attributions of 240 recreational golfers after a practice session at a public golf facility. Attributions can be adaptive or maladaptive after a performance and can influence subsequent motivation to engage in a similar task again. It was hypothesized that male and female golfers would make significantly different attributions for their performance and that female golfers' attributions would be maladaptive. As the attrition rate for female golfers is highest in the first five years, it is also hypothesized that women's attributions will become more adaptive over time and that attributions will be moderated by the number of years playing golf and perceived level of success. A survey was used to measure golfers' attributions and general questions provided data for the number of years playing golf and gender. The subscales in the attribution survey were internal control, external control and stability. Attributions are adaptive or maladaptive depending on the level of perceived success, so success of the practice performance was collected. The hypothesis that recreational female golfers make significantly different attributions than recreational male golfers was supported only by the external control sub-scale. Female golfers perceived their performance as significantly less successful than male golfers. Considering this perception of success, women golfers' attributions were maladaptive. The hypothesis that women golfers' attributions become more adaptive over time was supported. Time playing golf predicted a significant amount of variance for internal attributions of female golfers. However, the hypothesis that attributions will be moderated by the number of years playing golf and perceived success was not supported.Dissertation/ThesisM.A. Educational Psychology 201
