The Relationship Between College Students' Self-Reports of Class Participation and Perceived Instructor Impressions

The purpose of this investigation was to identify the extent to which college students' self-reports of their in-class participation are related to their impressions of instructors (i.e., credibility, attractiveness, and homophily). Participants were 223 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory communication course at a large Mid-Atlantic university. Students' self-reports of their in-class participation were positively correlated with perceived instructor social attractiveness, physical attractiveness, background homophily, and attititude homophily, but not with perceived instructor competence, character, caring, and task attractiveness. Furthermore, class size, perceived instructor social attractiveness, and perceived instructor background homophily emerged as significant predictors of in-class participation.     

Subconscious Gatekeeping: The Effect of Death Thoughts on Bias Toward Outgroups in News Writing

This content analysis examined framing and second-level agenda setting in U.S. newspaper pre-election coverage of the 2006 Mexican presidential elections and the new Mexican expatriate voting law. The authors conducted a quantitative analysis of 161 articles and a qualitative analysis of 36 articles in U.S. newspapers from August 2005 through mid-April 2006. Findings indicated that Andrés Manuel López Obrador received more coverage (59.6%) than Roberto Madrazo (27.8%) or the eventual winner, Felipe Calderón (29.1%). Candidate attributes were highlighted more than Mexican domestic or Mexico–U.S. issues. The dominant procedural frame was the election horse race. The main substantive frames were the election as an extension of U.S.–Mexico economic relations and the election as an extension of Latin American leftist/populist movements. The expatriate voting law was characterized as unsuccessful and blamed on apathetic voters, the Mexican government's faulty implementation, and a corrupt system.     

Understanding Work/Life Blending: Credibility Implications for Those Who Date at Work

This study examined the credibility implications of employees who date at work. A 2 (status dynamic of the romance) × 2 (sex of the peer) design was used to examine effects of workplace romance on perceptions of credibility. One hundred and forty full-time working adults assessed the credibility of a hypothetical coworker who was involved in a workplace romance. Results indicate that peers who date superiors are viewed as less caring and less trustworthy than are peers who date equal status employees. Sex and status interacted such that women dating superiors versus peers were perceived as less caring and less trustworthy, whereas perceptions of men did not differ based on the status of their relational partners. Limitations and future research are discussed.     

After Transfer: The Engagement of Community College Students at a Four-Year Collegiate Institution

This study investigated how educational experiences between community college transfer students and native students differed at a four-year institution. The study sample included groups of native students and community college transfer students, who were further divided by timing of matriculation to the study institution. Benchmarks from National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were used to assess the levels of students' collegiate experiences. After controlling for various explanatory variables, timing of matriculation to the senior institution showed significant differences in student engagement. Moreover, enrollment status, such as full- and part-time presented the largest effects on the levels of students' educational involvement regardless of student type.     

Biological maturity status,body size,and exercise behaviour in British youth: A pilot study

In this study we examined the performance during, and the physiological and metabolic responses to, prolonged, intermittent, high-intensity shuttle running in hot (～30 C, dry bulb temperature) and moderate (～20 C) environmental conditions. Twelve male students, whose mean (s x ) age, body mass and maximal oxygen uptake (V O 2m ax ) were 22 ± 1 years, 69.8 ± 01.8 kg and 56.9 ± 1.1 ml . kg ?1 . min ?1 respectively, performed intermittent high- and low-speed running involving five sets of ～15 min of repeated cycles of walking and variable speed running followed by 60 s run/rest exercise until fatigue. The total distance completed in the hot and moderate trials was 8842 3790 m and 11,280 214 m respectively (P < 0.01). This decrement in performance occurred even though no differences existed in the level of dehydration, rating of perceived exertion, blood glucose and lactate, plasma free fatty acid and ammonia concentrations between the two trials. However, water consumption was almost twice as great in the hot trial (hot vs moderate: 1.18 ± 0.12 vs 0.63 ± 0.07 l . h ?1 , P < 0.01). Rectal temperature (hot vs moderate: 39.4 ± 0.1 vs 38.0 ± 0.1 C, P < 0.01) and heart rate (hot vs moderate: 186 ± 2 vs 179 ± 2 beats . min ?1 , P < 0.05) were higher at the end of the hot condition than at the same point in time in the moderate condition. The correlation between the rate of rise in rectal temperature and the distance completed during the hot condition was -0.94 (P < 0.01); for the moderate condition it was -0.65 (P <0.05). The reduced performance in the hot condition was associated with high body temperature; the precise mechanisms by which the performance decrement was brought about are, however, unclear.     

Application and Reliability of the Retrospective Interview Procedure to Trace Physical Activity Patterns in Master Athletes and Nonactive Older Adults

This paper reports the results of two studies. The purpose of the first study was to determine if lifestyle variables and past involvement in physical activity was related to current activity levels in master athletes and sedentary older adults. Retrospective interviews were conducted with 12 master athletes and 12 sedentary older adults. Results demonstrated that education level, spouse participation, smoking, and recent physical activity levels were indicators of current involvement. The second study investigated the reliability of the data collected in the retrospective interviews. Similar to results with younger samples, we confirm that lifestyle variables and physical activity involvement could be accurately recalled for a period of 25 years, making this tool a useful addition for the study of physical activity in older adults.     

A written language intervention for at-risk second grade students: a randomized controlled trial of the process assessment of the learner lesson plans in a tier 2 response-to-intervention (RtI) model

In a randomized controlled trial, 205 students were followed from grades 1 to 3 with a focus on changes in their writing trajectories following an evidence-based intervention during the spring of second grade. Students were identified as being at-risk (n?=?138), and then randomized into treatment (n?=?68) versus business-as-usual conditions (n?=?70). A typical group also was included (n?=?67). The writing intervention comprised Lesson Sets 4 and 7 from the Process Assessment of the Learner (PAL), and was conducted via small groups (three to six students) twice a week for 12 weeks in accordance with a response-to-intervention Tier 2 model. The primary outcome was the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-II Written Expression Scale. Results indicated modest support for the PAL lesson plans, with an accelerated rate of growth in writing skills following treatment. There were no significant moderator effects, although there was evidence that the most globally impaired students demonstrated a more rapid rate of growth following treatment. These findings suggest the need for ongoing examination of evidence-based treatments in writing for young elementary students.     

Understanding Emotional Response Theory: The Role of Instructor Power and Justice Messages

Self‐efficacy is the belief or confidence people have in their ability to achieve their goals. This study tested a path model involving past communicative experience, situation difficulty, self‐efficacy, interpersonal communication competence, and interpersonal communication outcomes. We found that self‐efficacy mediated the effect of past experience and situation difficulty on interpersonal communication outcomes. Interpersonal communication competence directly effected rewarding, satisfying communication. The study also provided concurrent validity information on the Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale, a skills measure of competence that taps 10 dimensions of the construct.     

电子评价研究新进展

近年来在教育技术学领域,对教育系统如何产生公平、有吸引力评价感兴趣的人,越来越清晰地认识到我们需要认真思考评价。如果我们希望创造对世界发展做出贡献的教育系统,那么我们需要思考如何通过改变评价实践来实现这个目标。本文对评价在塑造教育实践中的核心角色进行了论述,并指出了改变我们世界所面临的机遇和挑战。