Thurstone Scale for Measuring Attitudes of College Students toward Physical Fitness and Exercise

Abstract

Employing modified Thurstone techniques, two equivalent forms of an equal-appearing intervals attitude scale were constructed around the topic “physical fitness and exercise.” Experimental test items were subjected to an extensive refinement process preceding the formulation of the final alternate test forms. Validity of the test was based upon authoritative opinion and expert judgment. A reliability coefficient derived from test, retest sampling was .83 ± .06. A correlation coefficient of .87 ± .03 was obtained on the parallel lest forms.     

College/University Counseling Centers Supporting Study Away: Challenges and Opportunities

Research points to significant numbers of students on college campuses experiencing mental health distress and an ever increasing number of college students who are choosing to make an off-campus educational experience a part of their college careers. When we consider both of these trends together, it is quite apparent that a significant number of students with mental health concerns will spend periods of time studying away from campus, with converging concerns among college mental health and study away professionals about how to best support these students. This article seeks to outline both challenges and opportunities inherent in the collaboration between campus professionals in supporting students with mental health issues before and during their study away experiences.     

The elaboration theory of instruction: A model for sequencing and synthesizing instruction

This paper describes a novel instructional model for sequencing, syntheizing, and summarizing subject-matter content. The importance of such models is discussed, along with the need for a significant change in the role of subject-matter structure in instruction. A zoom-lens analogy is presented to facilitate an understanding of the elaboration model of instruction. Some basic concepts and principles upon which the model is based are described. The basic unvarying components of the elaboration model are described. And finally, some variations in the model for different kinds of goals are described. The elaboration model follows a general-to-detailed pattern of sequencing, as opposed to the hierarchically based sequences derived from Gagné-type task analyses.Many of the ideas described in this paper were developed under two projeets, one funded by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and the other by the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center in San Diego, California; however, the ideas expressed do not necessarily constitute the opinions of the funding institutions.     

Optimal Design for Two-Level Random Assignment and Regression Discontinuity Studies

An important concern when planning research studies is to obtain maximum precision of an estimate of a treatment effect given a budget constraint. When research designs have a multilevel or hierarchical structure changes in sample size at different levels of the design will impact precision differently. Furthermore, there will typically be differential costs of enrolling additional units at different levels of the hierarchy. The optimal design problem in multilevel research studies involves determining the optimal sample size at each level of the design given specified design parameters and a specified marginal cost of recruitment at each level. The current work extends existing results by considering optimal design for (a) unbalanced random assignment designs and (b) regression discontinuity designs.     

A Comprehensive Approach to Technology Training for Early Childhood Teachers

This study describes the development and implementation of a comprehensive approach to computer technology training for early childhood teachers. Departing from the singular goal of conveying skills and knowledge, a comprehensive program targets the development of teachers' attitudes and practices as well as knowledge and skills. All 3 areas are regarded as equally important for the development of teacher technology proficiency. Evaluation of the program documented its effectiveness. Compared to nonparticipants, teachers in the training program had significantly higher scores in all 3 goal areas: attitudes, knowledge and skills, and practices. Results of the study indicate that a comprehensive approach is an effective means of training teachers in computer technology. Implications of the study are discussed with regard to the strategy of developing the “whole teacher” and emergence of the domain of educational technology.     

Memory and Executive Functioning in 12‐Year‐Old Children With a History of Institutional Rearing

We examined visual recognition memory and executive functioning (spatial working memory [SWM], spatial planning, rule learning, and attention shifting) in 12‐year‐olds (n = 150) who participated in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children. Similar to prior reports at 8 years of age, institutionally reared children showed significant deficits in visual recognition memory and SWM. Deficits in attention shifting and rule learning were also apparent at this time point. These data suggest that early experiences continue to shape the development of memory, learning, and executive functioning processes in preadolescence, which may explain broader cognitive and learning difficulties commonly associated with severe early life neglect.