Attitudes Toward Death Education and Grief Counseling

This article surveyed counselors and counselor educators across the nation regarding their attitudes toward death education and grief counseling. Results were compared to previous research in this area, and it was found that death education and grief training has increased significantly in recent years. Results also indicated that elementary school counselors were more willing than junior or senior high counselors to prepare teachers to help in the area of grief. The primary reasons given by counselors for not attending courses, workshops, or seminars on death education were that training was either not available or not convenient. Counselor educators' reasons for non-attendance varied from time conflict to lack of interest.     

The Impact of Faculty Attitudes Toward Technology, Distance Education, and Innovation

Distance education plays an important role in broadening educational access and increasing higher educational opportunities. The success, however, for any distance education initiative relies on a critical and core resource, namely having participating faculty who provide quality instruction. This study uses survey design and diffusion of innovation theory to examine faculty participation in relation to their technology use, their attitudes toward technology and distance education, and their adoption of innovations at a public postsecondary 10-campus system. Ordinal regression analysis identified 20 significant variables (16 predictors representing the four latent dimensions of the conceptual model and four demographic characteristics) that explain faculty participation in distance education. The findings identify a number of core issues underlying faculty participation and non-participation in distance education which pose implications for policy and practice relevant to technology use and skills, training and development, course design and technical support, quality issues, and workload and compensation.

Influencing Attitudes Toward the Handicapped:

No abstract available for this article.     

Measuring Attitudes Toward Human Relations Training

This article reports a study designed to develop an instrument to measure attitudes toward human relations training. Test-retest stability and internal consistency reliabilities were established.     

Teacher' Attitudes Toward Educational Computing:

No abstract available for this article.     

Attitudes of Elementary Classroom Teachers Toward Mainstreaming

The purpose of this study was to investigate attitudes toward mainstreaming issues of elementary classroom teachers undertaking an introductory course in special education. Subjects were also queried about how they felt P.L. 94‐142 was perceived by other interested groups and indicated their estimates of the manageability of students with special needs within the regular classroom. Findings support the need for comprehensive in‐service training programs designed to modify attitudes of regular teachers.     

An Exploratory Case Study of Dutch Children's Attitudes Toward Consumption: Implications for Environmental Education

This critical essay based on empirical study draws upon research on the differences in attitudes toward consumption among Dutch upper-elementary school children with different socioeconomic backgrounds. This article examines two strands of theory: critical literature on the conceptualization and practice of sustainable consumption, and the theory of postmaterialist values. By synthesizing these strands of theory the author outlines a number of paradoxes and challenges in theory and practice of consumption and lays a foundation for teaching sustainable consumption at the upper-elementary school level. The Cradle-to-Cradle framework is proposed as a form of strategically significant environmental education that can be used for teaching consumption.     

University Faculty Attitudes Toward Guns on Campus

A number of states are currently reviewing legislation expanding handgun legislation, and studies examining the public's attitudes toward gun control legislation are abundant. This article examines attitudes of university faculty toward expanding the places where concealed handguns may be carried to include college campuses and churches. An opinion survey was administered to 287 faculty/administrators. Bivariate relationships are discussed, as well as three regression models examining the effects of six independent variables on support for current gun legislation, support for expanding concealed carry on college campuses, and support for expanding concealed carry in places of worship. Results showed that a substantial majority of faculty opposes such legislation, but support or opposition is significantly determined by political party and gun ownership.     

Attitudes Toward Homosexuality among Graduate Counseling Students

The authors surveyed graduate counseling students regarding their attitudes toward homosexuality: its etiology; the mental health of homosexuals; the role of the mental health professional in treating homosexual clients; and myths and fallacies surrounding homosexuality. The results indicate that counseling students feel ill-prepared to deal with homosexual clients, are unsure about the etiology of homosexuality, and that female students respond differently from male students regarding many aspects of homosexuality.     

Counselor Trainees' Attitudes Toward Mainstreaming the Handicapped

This study reports the results of a questionnaire on attitudes toward mainstreaming handicapped students administered to graduate counseling students at a Midwestern university. Implications for counselor education programs are suggested.     

The Attitudes of Israeli Adolescents Toward Handicapped People

The attitudes of adolescents toward handicapped people were investigated with the long‐term goal of maximizing the effective mainstreaming of handicapped teeangers. Analysis of the attitudes of 262 Israeli high school students showed a generalized accepting tendency. Significant differences emerged, not with regard to the type of handicap as had been expected, but for three content areas defined as limitations of the handicapped, feelings of reservation and shame, and the rights of the handicapped. There were significant differences between the sexes in general acceptance and in two of these content areas. Implications of the results in terms of intervention programming are discussed.     

Science Teacher Attitudes Toward Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine teachers’ attitudes, values, and beliefs about inquiry. The participants of this study were 275 middle grade and secondary science teachers from four districts in North Carolina. Issues such as class size, accountability, curricular demands, and administrative support are perceived as constraints, impeding the use of inquiry. These are the issues that must be effectively dealt with in the professional education and professional development of all science teachers.     

Predicting Scientific Understanding of Prospective Elementary Teachers: Role of Gender,Education Level,Courses in Science,and Attitudes Toward Science and Mathematics

A multiple regression analysis of the relationship between prospective teachers' scientific understanding and Gender, Education Level (High School, College), Courses in Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Astronomy, and Agriculture), Attitude Towards Science, and Attitude Towards Mathematics is reported. Undergraduate elementary science students (N = 176) in an urban doctoral-level university in the United States participated in this study. The results of this study showed Gender, completion of courses in High School Chemistry and Physics, College Chemistry and Physics, and Attitudes Toward Mathematics and Science significantly correlated with scientific understanding. Based on a regression model, Gender, and College Chemistry and Physics experiences added significant predictive accuracy to scientific understanding among prospective elementary teachers compared to the other variables.