Attachment to God/Higher Power and Bulimic Symptoms Among College Women

The authors examined the relationship between avoidant and anxious attachment to God/Higher Power and bulimia symptoms among 599 female college student participants. After controlling for body mass index, the authors found a positive association between both attachment variables and bulimia. When entered together in a regression, anxious attachment to God/Higher Power had a stronger relationship with bulimia than did avoidant attachment to God/Higher Power. The authors discuss implications for college counseling.     

Situational and Demographic Influences on Transfer System Characteristics in Organizations

Transfer theories, which are closely related to evaluation theory, have been developed from a holistic perspective, but most of empirical transfer research has not effectively utilized holistic models to investigate transfer of learning until the late 1990s. Additionally, little has been done in examining the relationship between situational variables, demographic variables, and transfer system characteristics. This study contributes to transfer research by examining the combined effects of situational and demographic variables on a holistic model of perceived organizational transfer systems. A key finding was that demographic variables make only a marginal contribution to predicting transfer system characteristics when compared to situational variables. It seems clear that the differences in transfer system characteristics depend on diverse situational influences, primarily due to types of training programs and types of organizational cultures. This finding does not support one‐size‐fits‐all transfer interventions. Future research may focus on investigating benchmark transfer practices in certain types of organizations or industries to empirically identify the true leverage points of a diagnosing instrument of transfer—the Learning Transfer System Inventory—for interventions and change.     

Reliability and Validity of a Chinese Version of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire

This study tested the applicability of the 34-item CDDQ (Gati &; Saka, 2001) for use with adolescents from the Peoples Republic of China. The study devised a Chinese version of the scale using translation and back-translation, administered it to a sample of 514 Chinese adolescents, tested the psychometric properties of the scale in terms of factor structure and reliability, and examined its validity by testing associations with demographic variables (age, gender, paid work experience, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement) and scales tapping career decision-making self-efficacy and barriers. Results identified two stable factors for the CDDQ, namely Lack of Information and Inconsistent Information, but failed to confirm the third CDDQ factor of Readiness to make a career decision. Factor structure and reliability for the two identified factors were sound, and these factors related in the expected directions to demographic variables and the other career scales. Implications for use of the CDDQ in China are highlighted, and recommendations are made for the revision of the Readiness dimension.     

影响知识型员工区域间流动三类要素关系分析

本文的研究目的是了解知识型员工的区域间流动的三类要素的关系,即人口统计变量、价值观和区域性因素偏好的关系。通过对625名知识型员工的问卷调查,获得人口统计变量、价值观和区域性因素的偏好的相关数据,对其进行独立样本T检验、单因素方差分析和相关分析,得出了人口统计变量、价值观和区域性因素偏好部分相关的结论。     

Faith conquers all? Demographic and psychological resources and their associations with academic performance among religious college students

ABSTRACT

Evidence on the association of religiosity and academic attainment is consistent, thus suggesting additional factors intervene in this relationship. We proposed and tested a model with two concepts from the field of positive psychology: psychological capital and psychological resilience. We hypothesised that these mediate the association between religiosity, demographic variables and academic achievement. We tested the model in a sample of 119 senior students in a Catholic university in Poland. The results partially supported the model; both psychological capital and psychological resilience mediated the association between religiosity and academic attainment but in different directions. Among the demographic variables, only age associated directly with achievement. The results are discussed in light of the existing evidence and positive psychology theory.     

Determinants of foster care placement for the maltreated child

This study examined the records of the North Carolina Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect to determine which social, family, and child characteristics were most influential in the decision to place a child in foster care. These records contained all theoretically relevant factors as well as demographic data. Analysis included the computation of odds ratios for foster care for each of 250 variables. A maximum likelihood logistic regression model was constructed to obtain the independent and cumulative contribution of each factor. Some expected variables such as parental stress factors (substance abuse) and types of abuse (burns and scalds) placed a child at a significant risk for placement in foster care (p < 0.01). However, less obvious factors such as referral source (law enforcement agencies) or geographic area also placed children at risk. Overall, the model explained little of the variance of these decisions (R² = 0.168) and poorly predicted placement (sensitivity 66.3 per cent, specificity 74.6 per cent). Using existing data. we were unable to adequately describe the decision process in selecting foster care.     

Self-regulatory and demographic predictors of grades in online and face-to-face university cohorts: A multi-group path analysis

Predictors of academic success at university are of great interest to educators, researchers and policymakers. With more students studying online, it is important to understand whether traditional predictors of academic outcomes in face-to-face settings are relevant to online learning. This study modelled self-regulatory and demographic predictors of subject grades in 84 online and 80 face-to-face undergraduate students. Predictors were effort regulation, grade goal, academic self-efficacy, performance self-efficacy, age, sex, socio-economic status (SES) and first-in-family status. A multi-group path analysis indicated that the models were significantly different across learning modalities. For face-to-face students, none of the model variables significantly predicted grades. For online students, only performance self-efficacy significantly predicted grades (small effect). Findings suggest that learner characteristics may not function in the same way across learning modes. Further factor analytic and hierarchical research is needed to determine whether self-regulatory predictors of academic success continue to be relevant to modern student cohorts.

Practitioner Notes

What is already known about this topic

• Self-regulatory and demographic variables are important predictors of university outcomes like grades.
• It is unclear whether the relationships between predictor variables and outcomes are the same across learning modalities, as research findings are mixed.

What this paper adds

• Models predicting university students' grades by demographic and self-regulatory predictors differed significantly between face-to-face and online learning modalities.
• Performance self-efficacy significantly predicted grades for online students.
• No self-regulatory variables significantly predicted grades for face-to-face students, and no demographic variables significantly predicted grades in either cohort.
• Overall, traditional predictors of grades showed no/small unique effects in both cohorts.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• The learner characteristics that predict success may not be the same across learning modalities.
• Approaches to enhancing success in face-to-face settings are not automatically applicable to online settings.
• Self-regulatory variables may not predict university outcomes as strongly as previously believed, and more research is needed.

     

Prediction of School Enrolment of Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Kenya: The role of parents' expectations,beliefs, and education

The purpose of this study was to develop a logistic regression model for the prediction of school enrolment of Kenyan children with intellectual disabilities. The initial set of predictors included three demographic variables (child's gender, child's level of intellectual disability, and parents' level of education) and six factors of parents' expectations and beliefs about future outcomes and education of children with intellectual disabilities. Previous research implicated some of these concepts in school enrolment of children with disabilities in African countries without providing a particular prediction model. The hypothesised factor structure of the instrument developed in this study was tested by using a confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis. A stepwise logistic regression was conducted with the initial model including all nine predictors of school enrolment of children with intellectual disabilities in Kenya. Significant predictors in the final logistic regression model were (a) parents' expectations about social acceptance of the child, (b) parents' bias against educating children with intellectual disabilities, (c) parents' beliefs about a segregated school option, (d) parents' beliefs about the appropriateness of the child's school education, and (e) parents' level of education.     

DEMOGRAPHIC AND ACADEMIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH FIRST‐TO‐SECOND‐TERM RETENTION IN A TWO‐YEAR COLLEGE

ABSTRACT

Two‐year public colleges are known to experience the lowest retention rates of all colleges and universities. In addition, the lowest rate of consecutive‐term retention within the two‐year college occurs from students’ first to second term. The literature on factors related to retention in two‐year colleges, however, is strikingly inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to determine demographic and academic factors associated with first‐to‐second‐term retention at a regional campus of a two‐year public technical institution. The interaction between these factors was also studied. Those demographic variables found to be significantly related to retention included educational objective, full‐time/part‐time enrollment status, employment status, and age. The only academic factor found to be related significantly to retention was first‐term GPA. No significant interaction effects between these variables were found. A list of target groups for retention strategies was developed from the results of the study.     

Internalization of the Thin Ideal as a Predictor of Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in African,African-American,and Afro-Caribbean Female College Students

This study, conducted at a historically Black university, evaluated the impact of awareness and internalization of the Western thin ideal of beauty on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and bulimia in African-American, African, and Caribbean women. The relationship between internalization of the thin ideal and disordered eating was moderated by ethnicity, with the relationship significant only for the African-American group. Internalization functioned as a mediator between awareness of the thin ideal and both drive for thinness and bulimia, but only for the African-American group. These results suggest that the sociocultural model may not be as valuable in predicting eating disturbance in women from non-Western societies.     

Growth in early reading skills from kindergarten to third grade

We examined models of individual change and correlates of change in the growth of reading skills in a sample of 40 children from kindergarten through third grade. A broad range of correlates was examined and included family literacy, oral language, emergent reading, intelligence, spelling, and demographic variables. Individual growth curve analysis was used to model change in Letter Word Identification (LWID), Word Attack (WA), and Passage Comprehension (PC) subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson Psychoeducational Battery – Revised. Third grade LWID was predicted uniquely by family literacy, phonological awareness, and emergent reading skills. Growth in LWID was predicted uniquely by emergent reading skills. Phonological awareness, spelling, and emergent reading were unique predictors of third grade WA, whereas family literacy and emergent reading skills uniquely predicted third grade PC. The general oral language factor defined by semantic and syntactic variables did not contribute significant unique variance in any of the models. Thus, the pattern of results extends the model of emergent-to-conventional literacy proposed by Whitehurst and Lonigan (1998) to third grade and suggests that early contextual understandings necessary for competent reading (family literacy and emergent reading) become more influential as reading skills develop.     

Factors that contribute to child maltreatment severity: a multi-method and multidimensional investigation

OBJECTIVES: This study used data gathered during evaluations conducted by the Comprehensive Assessment and Training Services (CATS) Project to determine the relative contribution of four primary domains (demographic, adult characteristics, child characteristics, relational characteristics) to variation in the severity of child maltreatment, and to facilitate the development of empirically-based risk assessment tools. METHODS: A multidimensional, multi-method approach to data collection was used to assess 208 maltreating parents. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed by entering each domain of variables into the regression equation in four consecutive blocks. RESULTS: The results of this study suggest that maltreatment severity varies as a function of the level of trauma recovery, substance misuse, a child's externalizing behavior, and qualitative features of the parent-child relationship, as well as the level of family stress. Relationship variables added to the amount of variance accounted for in the overall model, beyond demographic, adult, and child variables. CONCLUSIONS:: The findings of this study call attention to the importance of developing a multidimensional assessment model of the factors leading to child maltreatment severity and to broadening the parameters of assessment models used in child maltreatment research. The role that each of the contributing factors plays in the interference of effective parenting is also discussed.     

我国教师对教育游戏的接受与使用状况调查

教育游戏作为备受关注的教育技术,近年来在国内的推广和使用并不顺利。技术接受模型认为,除了技术本身的有用性和易用性,还存在其他外部变量显著影响该技术的系统使用。为了解我国教师对教育游戏的接受状况,检验技术接受模型中可能的外部变量,本研究在前期研究的基础上,使用经过结构化检验的标准问卷抽样调查了6809名教师。研究发现,性别、年龄、教师学历、学校类型、城乡差别等因素对教师的接受过程产生一定影响,但程度较弱。相对而言,技术准备和主观印象因素的影响更显著和重要。研究据此对原有接受模型进行了完善。新模型在保留主观态度因素的同时引入技术准备和主观印象两个外部变量,其结构符合“双态度系统”理论的预期。文章讨论了产生这些结果的可能原因,并提出具有游戏化性质的教育软件是推广教育游戏的重要引导手段,同时应加大对具有相应技术准备的中青年骨干教师的推广力度。     

少数民族大学生学业自我效能感研究

采用问卷测量少数民族大学生学业自我效能感差异,并用独立样本t检验和方差比较其在各人口统计变量上的差异,为提高少数民族大学生学业水平和能力、促进其身心健康的研究提供了理论依据。研究结果表明,少数民族大学生有中等偏上程度的学业自我效能感;学业自我效能感在不同人口统计学变量上存在一定差异性。     

A Bayesian analysis of the institutional and individual factors influencing faculty technology use

This study answered questions about which faculty come to use technology in their teaching and used a novel statistical analysis to develop a model that captures the primary factors influencing faculty technology use. It used a sample of 16,914 faculty within the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to explore explanations for faculty technology use. A total of 41 variables were included to capture individual-level influences (both demographic and professional) and institution-level influences (e.g., level of resources, Carnegie classification, public or private control) on technology use. All of the variables were incorporated into a Bayesian network analysis that produced a model of seven variables that classified 69% of the sample accurately. Four of the seven variables point to the important influence of the faculty's instructional workload on whether and how much faculty use technology. Carnegie classification was the only institution-level variable to make it into the final model. The faculty's highest degree and teaching/research field also had direct and moderating influences on technology use. This model offers insights into who is using technology, why they do so, and how more faculty may be encouraged to acquire greater skills in using technology.     

Dropping Out Among Mexican American Youth: Reviewing the Literature Through an Ecological Perspective

The noncompletion of school among minority youth remains an area of intense study, especially given the growing numbers of school dropouts among Mexican American youth. Much of the research to date has focused on the demographic variables of ethnicity and socioeconomic status rather than on the interactions between individuals and environments. The interplay between the personal attributes of the student, family, peers, school, and society are considered to be the most important factors contributing to high school completion. However, a systematic framework has not often been used to facilitate the organization and integration of these variables. This article uses an ecological model to examine the different factors that impact school completion for Mexican American students. Suggestions for prevention and intervention within each of the concentric levels of this model are offered to effect positive educational outcomes for all children.     

Utilizing online learning data to design face-to-face activities in a flipped classroom: a case study of heterogeneous group formation

This study investigates the possibility of utilizing online learning data to design face-to-face activities in a flipped classroom. We focus on heterogeneous group formation for effective collaborative learning. Fifty-three undergraduate students (18 males, 35 females) participated in this study, and 8 students (3 males, 5 females) among them joined post-study interviews. For this study, a total of 6 student characteristics were used: three demographic characteristics obtained from a simple survey and three academic characteristics captured from online learning data. We define three demographic group heterogeneity variables and three academic group heterogeneity variables, where each variable is calculated using the corresponding student characteristic. In this way, each heterogeneity variables represents a degree of diversity within the group. Then, a two-stage hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to identify the significant group heterogeneity variables that influence face-to-face group achievement. The results show that the academic group heterogeneity variables, which were derived from the online learning data, accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the group achievement when the demographic group heterogeneity variables were controlled. The interviews also reveal that the academic group heterogeneity indeed affected group interaction and learning outcome. These findings highlight that online learning data can be utilized to obtain relevant information for effective face-to-face activity design in a flipped classroom. Based on the results, we discuss the advantages of this data utilization approach and other implications for face-to-face activity design.

     

Relationships between the use of test results and US students’ academic performance

In this study, we examined relationships between the use of test results and US students’ math, reading, and science performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. Based on a literature review, we hypothesized that the 16 items in the PISA school questionnaire, which are related to the use of test results, can be categorized according to 4 factors. We validated this hypothesized factor structure using a confirmatory factor analysis and then obtained composite scores for each factor. As revealed by a multilevel analysis, when student and school demographic variables were controlled for, using test results to hold schools accountable to authority and the public was significantly positively related to students’ performance across all 3 subjects. No statistically significant relationship, however, was detected between students’ performance and the following uses of test scores: informing parents of their children’s performance, providing information for instructional purposes, and evaluating teachers and principals.     

Modeling Unmeasured Third Variables in Longitudinal Studies

This article discusses techniques to account for unmeasured third variables in longitudinal designs. As an extension of the synchronous common factor (SCF) model, which is the basis of the cross-lagged panel correlation technique, a series of less restrictive synchronous common factor (LRSCF) models are introduced. LRSCF models can be tested by using structural equation modeling. Although both SCF and LRSCF models rest on a 2-wave design, the SCF model requires only 2 variables measured at each wave, whereas LRSCF models require 3 variables. This enables several restrictions of the SCF model to be relaxed. Among others, a particular advantage is that the strength of lagged relations among the variables can be estimated. It is recommended that LRSCF models be applied routinely whenever possible third variables might have been omitted.