INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD DISTANCE LEARNING

Eleven community college instructors and the 334 students in their distance learning classes were surveyed. Data showed instructors had conflicting attitudes about distance education. They were willing to teach a distance learning class again, but they rated the quality of the courses as equal or lower quality than other classes taught on campus. Their students, on the other hand, were highly satisfied with these instructors and the courses . But the critical factor in much of traditional classroom instruction, direct interaction with instructors, played no role in determining students' satisfaction in these courses. This difference in the nature of student-teacher interaction in distance learning classes may explain instructors' conflicting attitudes.     

COLLEGE STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES

This study was designed to explore college students attitudes toward residential care settings for older adults. Subjects were 109 female students aged 18 to 71 years (M = 24.8, SD = 9.49) and 22 male students aged 19 to 43 years (M = 23.3, SD = 5.24) enrolled in a Psychology of Aging course at a local state college. Students interviewed older residents of 96 different long-term care facilities and completed a questionnaire that assessed their impressions of the facility and its residents. Students openness to living in long-term care settings and positive and negative statements about the facility visited were the main measures of student attitudes toward such settings. Nursing homes were perceived more negatively than any other type of long-term care setting. Students who had been affected by meeting the needs of an elderly relative were more open to living in residential care settings, as were students who interviewed residents who were satisfied with their lives. Nursing homes elicited the least openness to living in residential care facilities, whereas assisted care and continuing care facilities elicited the most openness. Students who perceived residents as mentally alert made fewer negative statements about the facilities visited.     

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN AUSTRIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

The slowness with which women were admitted to academic careers in Austria, following the graduation of the first women from an Austrian university in 1897, is evoked. Measures to be taken to bring the number of women in academic positions into equilibrium with the number of men in such positions are evoked in general terms.     

STUDENT RELIGION IN ACTION

The purpose of this column is to keep religious educators abreast of the relevant significant research in the general field of psychology. Its implications for methods and materials in religious education are clear. Religious educators may well take advantage of every new finding in scientific research.

Each abstract or group is preceded by an evaluation and interpretative comment, which aims to guide the reader in understanding the research reported.

All of these abstracts are from PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, and used by permission of that periodical. The abstract number is Volume 28, Numbers 11‐12, November‐December, 1954.     

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ATTITUDES OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS TOWARD MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES

This study was designed to assess and determine how operation under a management by objectives system (MBO) has affected administrative units and individual administrators in public two‐year community colleges. Results from the study showed that respondent attitudes toward the management by objectives system were favorable. The variables identified which serve as significant predictors of administrator attitudes toward the MBO program were: (a) effective as a means for planning and organizing work for which an administrator is accountable, (b) effective as a means for evaluating work performance, (c) effective in improving satisfaction with being more a part of decisions, (d) effective in improving the attitudes of the superior toward the MBO program as perceived by subordinates. Negative reactions toward the MBO system were perceived to be generated by increased paperwork and difficulty in setting educational objectives.     

CAUSES OF STUDENT ABSENTEEISM IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE CLASSES

In an era of declining college enrollments it is vital to identify potential causes of absenteeism and implement strategies for reducing it. To accomplish this two open‐ended approaches were used to generate a list of reasons for missing social science classes. The combination of these two ultimately led to 51 reasons for missing class that appeared on the Class Attendance Survey in Likert scale format. This survey was shown to have both internal reliability and validity. The dependent variable on the survey was the number of absences reported by each student for the class in which the survey was taken. It was administered in class on or about the last class day by 24 social science professors to 25 classes. This resulted in 402 usable surveys, of which 351 were complete. A factor analysis of the independent variables yielded six factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 and factor loadings higher than .50. Four of the six entered a stepwise multiple regression equation. They combined to produce a highly significant F value. In descending order of their beta weights they were labeled “fatigue associated with excessive socializing,” “low attendance incentives,” “irresponsible pursuit of leisure,” and “external responsibilities.” F values for each of the beta weights were significant. Several recommendations for reducing absenteeism were made.     

ATTITUDES TOWARD AGING AMONG PACIFIC ISLANDER HEALTH STUDENTS IN FIJI

The relation between attitudes to aging and cultural values is a complex one. This study contrasts attitudes to aging among Pacific Islander students with attitudes in a comparable Australian sample. Australian society is represented as ageist, whereas Pacific Islander cultures are reported to be age-inclusive. Attitudes were assessed using the Reactions to Ageing Questionnaire, and data also were collected on levels of intimate contact with older people, said to be related to attitude. A comparison of Australian with Pacific Islander data showed no difference in attitude or degree of intimate contact. Within the Pacific Islander sample indigenous Fijians had significantly more positive attitudes than did Indo-Fijians and significantly more intimate contact. Indo-Fijians, but not indigenous Fijians, also were significantly more negative in attitude than Australian students. Educators aiming to incorporate gerontological knowledge and to challenge ageism in the curriculum should not assume student attitudes are congruent with traditional cultural beliefs. They need to be knowledgeable about and sensitive to differences among various cultural groups within the student population, especially where those students will have the health care of the old in their hands in the future.     

NEW TRIALS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

This analysis explores the implications of affirmative action, in its broadest sense, in the educational sphere of a unique multicultural and multiracial society ‐‐ South Africa. It looks at more conventional approaches such as positive discrimination and preferential hiring, on the one hand, and at the process of institutional transformation, on the other. Elsewhere, discussions of affirmative action commonly dwell on institutional access and on admission. Less qualified people, distinguishable on the basis of ascribed attributes such as race, are too often perceived as having been placed in positions for which they are unprepared. Examples of affirmative action procedures undertaken in South African tertiary institutions will . be examined.     

STUDENT ATTITUDES AND TEACHER TRAINING PERFORMANCE

A national survey of teachers’ needs with respect to children with learning difficulties being taught in Welsh is reported. Using a cluster sample of one in three primary schools and all appropriate secondary schools in Wales, 80 per cent of schools responded to the postal questionnaire. Both secondary and primary teachers gave first priority to the development of a reading scheme, with graded reading books the most desired hardware. Analysis of themes desired in language materials revealed a preference for the values of reality and stability rather than escapism and change. A Welsh comprehension test was given highest priority amongst choice of tests. The relationship between tests and materials and the role of a survey in policy making is discussed.     

ATTITUDES TOWARD AGING IN ADULT AND ELDERLY PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

The main goals of the present study were (a) to investigate three components of attitudes (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) toward aging among adult and elderly people with intellectual disability ( N = 32); (b) to investigate whether there are differences, related to age and level of retardation, in conceptualization of aging; and (c) to examine how people with regular development ( N = 30) and those with intellectual disabilities ( N = 30) differ in their attitudes toward aging. Matching between the groups was according to chronological age. Results indicated that conceptualization of old age is influenced by stereotypes. Cognitively, the subjects focused on physical characteristics. Affectively, old age is seen as threatening. Behaviorally, old people are viewed as helpless and useless. Awareness and understanding of aging increase significantly with age. The scores of the adults with normal development in a semantic differential test were significantly higher than those of their counterparts. The latter focus on physical attributes or on bodily and facial expressions. Social identity theory explains these differences. Educational intervention programs are needed to prepare people with intellectual disability for the later stages of life.     

STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

A Chinese translation of a standardized instrument was used to investigate the attitudes of 199 Mainland Chinese university students concerning the elderly. The findings revealed that students' attitudes were in the positive and neutral ranges and that elderly males were perceived more favorably than elderly females. The findings also revealed that the majority of students had considered working with the elderly. Those who reported to have been closer to an elderly person held more positive attitudes. The findings of this study are compared to similar studies done in other countries and discussed within the context of Chinese culture and society.     

TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD DIFFERENT TYPES OF BULLYING AND VICTIMIZATION IN TURKEY

In the present study, attitudes of elementary school teachers toward different types of bullying (verbal, physical, and relational) were investigated. Six written vignettes describing all types of bullying were given to 405 elementary school teachers (F = 218; M = 187). Results indicated that teachers perceived relational bullying, specifically, social exclusion, less serious than verbal and physical bullying. Unlike previous findings, however, the teachers considered verbal bullying behaviors more serious than physical bullying behaviors and were also more empathetic toward the victim physically bullied and the victim verbally bullied than the victim relationally bullied. Coherent with the findings of empathy, they were also more likely to intervene in verbal and physical bullying behaviors than relational bullying behaviors. Gender of the participant was a significant factor for all variables. The most rated intervention strategy was having a serious talk with the bully, regardless of the type of victimization. Multiple regression analysis illustrated that seriousness and empathy scores both predicted the need for intervention scores significantly in all types of bullying. The findings of this study highlight the importance of increasing teachers’ awareness and knowledge about all types of bullying, their consequences, and intervention skills to lessen bullying behaviors.     

THE ROLE OF PARENTAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDREN'S MOTIVATION TOWARD HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

Completing homework assignments is part of students' daily routine. Because this task is embedded within the home environment, parents play an important role in homework‐related attitudes and behaviors. Recent findings have demonstrated that effort and cognitive engagement while doing homework are better proximal predictors of positive outcomes than merely the time spent on it. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether parental goal emphasis explains children's motivational orientation toward homework and the perceived dissonance between home and school. Participants included parent–child dyads (N = 220), who completed surveys adapted from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales. Path analysis using structural equation modeling indicated that parents’ emphasis on mastery goals was associated with children's mastery goals, which was in turn linked with higher achievement in school. Parents’ emphasis on performance goals was associated with children's performance goals and a higher sense of dissonance between home and school.     

READINESS AND ATTITUDES AS INDICATORS FOR SUCCESS IN COLLEGE CALCULUS

This study examined student indicators for success in entry-level college calculus. An attitude toward mathematics inventory, course performance, readiness assessment, and student interviews were used to determine characteristics and behaviors of students who succeeded in the course. In addition to student indicators, difficult topics and suggestions for improvement in the course structure were identified. While the focus of this study was on student indicators, the analyses of instructor interviews were included in order to compare their views with those of the students. The quantitative analyses showed that high school grade point average and the Calculus Readiness Assessment had positive significant correlations with course performance. The strongest positive significant correlation, however, was between attitude (Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory overall and confidence subscale) and course performance.