The cross-cultural generalizability of a new structural model of academic self-concepts

Prior research on the structure of academic self-concepts has demonstrated academic self-concepts to be domain-specific and hierarchically organized, but has largely failed to support the hypothesis that general academic self-concept is at the apex of the hierarchy. The present study investigates a new multidimensional nested-factor model of academic self-concepts that incorporates both domain-specific and general academic self-concepts, and the position of general academic self-concept at the apex of the self-concept hierarchy. Data were obtained from representative samples of 15-year-old students in 26 countries (total N = 106,680). Results showed that the nested-factor model provided a good fit to the data in each of the 26 countries, and that general and domain-specific academic self-concepts were meaningfully related to gender as well as to student achievement. Moreover, it emerged that the relationships between academic self-concepts and these student characteristics may differ substantially depending on whether the model applied does or does not account for the influence of general academic self-concept on domain-specific measures of academic self-concepts.     

Children's Moral Motivation, Sympathy, and Prosocial Behavior

Two studies investigated the role of children's moral motivation and sympathy in prosocial behavior. Study 1 measured other-reported prosocial behavior and self- and other-reported sympathy. Moral motivation was assessed by emotion attributions and moral reasoning following hypothetical transgressions in a representative longitudinal sample of Swiss 6-year-old children ( N  =   1,273). Prosocial behavior increased with increasing sympathy, especially if children displayed low moral motivation. Moral motivation and sympathy were also independently related to prosocial behavior. Study 2 extended the findings of Study 1 with a second longitudinal sample of Swiss 6-year-old children ( N  =   175) using supplementary measures of prosocial behavior, sympathy, and moral motivation. The results are discussed in regard to the precursors of the moral self in childhood.     

Prior Sexual Victimization and Disclosure of Campus Sexual Violence Among College Students

Using survey data from a large, public university, the authors examined the relationships of precollege sexual violence experience to revictimization and disclosure. Among victims of campus sexual violence, those with prior sexual victimization were no more or less likely to disclose to campus resources and were less likely to disclose to peers. Results suggest that institutions need to be prepared to support students with a range of victimization experiences. There is also a need for earlier and expanded sexual violence education and awareness efforts.     

Towards technology integration: the impact of motivational and volitional email messages

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of motivational and volitional email messages (MVEM) on preservice teachers’ motivation, volition, performance, and their attitudes toward technology integration. Each of four sections in an educational technology course for preservice teachers was randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group which received MVEM constructed based on audience analysis; and the other which received placebo email messages consisting of class activities reminders without audience analysis. Results indicated that the group provided with MVEM showed higher volition and more positive attitudes toward technology integration than the group provided with placebo messages even though there was no difference in motivation or performance. These results suggest that MVEM can serve as an effective tool for facilitating preservice teachers’ positive attitudes toward technology integration. Implications for the design and development of interventions or systems for technology integration are discussed and further research is recommended.     

Measuring the Results of Performance Improvement Interventions

In this study, a web‐based questionnaire was used to measure attitudes of members of a professional performance improvement organization relative to adoption and implementation of Level 4 or results‐oriented evaluation. Participants were 274 members of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). It was expected that frequency of Level 4 evaluation use could be explained by innovation diffusion or change variables. Findings suggest that the adoption of effective performance improvement measurement systems and processes at the organizational level is relatively low compared to other types of evaluation. This level of adoption is impacted by a complex array of factors. Stakeholder participation in the adaptation of evaluation systems to increase their compatibility with current practices, and experimentation with this type of evaluation on a limited or trial basis may increase the rate of adoption. Management support of the development and adaptation of a results‐oriented evaluation system is seen as providing the opportunity for the change process to move forward. Implications for diffusion of this type of evaluation within organizations will be discussed within the context of a HPT Change framework.     

Advancing Student Success with Competency Points: Elevating Engagement and Motivation in Community College English Composition Students

This research tested and evaluated how one method—Competency Points (CPs)—increased student success by enhancing engagement and motivation in community college English composition students. In 2005 I introduced Competency Points in my English Composition 1 classes, and began tracking how engaged and motivated students were to succeed as revealed by the following five indices: number of completed essays and reading assignments, frequency of class attendance and participation, and rate of course completion. Students showed marked improvement in four, and negligible improvement in one, of these variables.     

In the periodicals

BACK TO THE ROUGH GROUND: ‘PHRONESIS’ AND ‘TECHNE’ IN MODERN PHILOSOPHY AND IN ARISTOTLE. By Joseph Dunne. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993; pp. xvi + 492. $63.00.

COMMUNITY OVER CHAOS: AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON COMMUNICATION ETHICS. By James A. Mackin, Jr. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1997, xii + pp. 276. $34.95 cloth.

RHETORICAL HERMENEUTICS: INVENTION AND INTERPRETATION IN THE AGE OF SCIENCE. Edited by Alan G. Gross and William M. Keith. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997; pp. viii + 371. $59.50; paper $19.95.

ADDRESSING POSTMODERNITY: KENNETH BURKE, RHETORIC, AND A THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE. By Barbara A. Biesecker. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1997; pp. x + 123. $29.95.

THE PROPHETIC TRADITION AND RADICAL RHETORIC IN AMERICA. By James Darsey. New York: New York University Press, 1997; pp. xii + 279. $35.00.

NEGATION, SUBJECTIVITY, AND THE HISTORY OF RHETORIC. By Victor Vitanza. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997; pp. xii + 428. Paper $21.95.

COMPARATIVE RHETORIC: AN HISTORICAL AND CROSS‐CULTURAL INTRODUCTION. By George A. Kennedy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998: pp. ix + 238. $19.95.

HUXLEY: FROM DEVIL'S DISCIPLE TO EVOLUTION'S HIGH PRIEST. By Adrian Desmond. Reading, MA: Addison‐Wesley, 1997: pp. xx + 643. $37.50

SHARING THE EARTH: THE RHETORIC OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. By Tarla Rai Peterson. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1997: pp. xii + 238. $29.95.

THE FRAGILE COMMUNITY: UVING TOGETHER WITH AIDS. By Mara B. Adelman and Lawrence R Frey. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997; pp. xii + 128. $32.50; paper $16.50

THE MEASURE OF REALITY: QUANTIFICATION AND WESTERN SOCIETY, 1250–1600. By Alfred W. Crosby. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997; pp. xii + 245. $24.95.

KENNETH BURKE IN GREENWICH VILLAGE: CONVERSING WITH MODERNS, 1915–1931. By Jack Selzer. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996; pp. xx + 284. $50.00; paper 19.95.