Measures of academic motivation: A conceptual review

This review examines the measurement of academic motivation in college students. It distinguishes pencil-and-paper group-administered instruments according to their conceptions of academic motivation: academic motivation taken as a single general motivation, as single specific motivations, or as a complex of motivations. It evaluates these classes of instruments in terms of the interpretability and the utility of the information each type of instrument is likely to provide.     

Antisocial behavior and the prediction of violence: A meta‐analysis

Youthful antisocial behavior is often viewed as a precursor to later violent and threatening behavior. Olweus (1979) reported aggressive reaction patterns in males that over time approached the stability of intelligence. While Olweus did not examine violent behavior directly, his study is often cited as evidence for the stability of violence. To examine the evidence for this assertion, this study synthesized the evidence from 82 reports of 58 prospective studies that followed individuals over some period of their life span. After correcting effect sizes for exogenous study features, the grand mean correlation of antisocial and substance misusing behaviors with later crimes against persons was estimated to be r = .33, a far cry from the stability of intelligence. Because these predictors are often used to select people into intervention, this study estimated the conditional error rates associated with identification for preventive intervention. Overall, selection failed to identify 66% of those who displayed later violence, while on average, 60% of those engaging in antisocial or substance‐using behavior were not later violent. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Impact of sustained professional development in STEM on outcome measures in a diverse urban district

Sustained professional development can support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) reform. The authors describe a 3-year study of sustained professional development for 3 diverse urban schools across the salient factors of fidelity of implementation of project-based learning, development of professional learning communities, and student achievement. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The students who experienced the greatest fidelity of implementation exhibited the greatest gains (d = 1.41–2.03) on standardized test scores, while those with the lowest fidelity of implementation exhibited negative gains (d = –0.16 to –0.08). Qualitative data indicated teachers perceived there were multiple benefits from the implementation of project-based learning.     

The community college and the disadvantaged

The objective of this study is to empirically explore the extent to which public two-year colleges in this country are characterized by open admissions policies and by comprehensive curricula, as well as the extent and nature of programs for the disadvantaged within these institutions. Utilizing a stratified sampling design developed by the research staff of the American Council on Education, a precoded original questionnaire was mailed in the spring of 1971 to the chief administrative officer for each institution in the sample. It was found that only a little over half of the colleges have the curricula offerings and admissions policies of exemplary community colleges, but that all reported special courses, programs, or services for the academically disadvantaged minority group. However, only 40% of our sample indicated that they have developed special programs (as opposed to courses or services). Too, community colleges with programs require (1) more resources in preparing faculty for dealing effectively with the disadvantaged, (2) additional emphasis on recruitment of the disadvantaged, and (3) more attention to developing courses in ethnic studies.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, February 1973. Partial support for the project from which this paper was developed was provided by the U.S. Office of Education (Contract #OEC-0-70-4283 (399) to the Pennsylvania State Department of Education). The author also wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Reynolds Ferrante, graduate student, Pennsylvania State University, who assisted in the literature review and questionnaire development of the project.     

Some outcomes of an environmental knowledge and attitudes survey in England

Research in Science Education -     

Intervention fidelity in participatory research: a framework

ABSTRACT

In community interventions more generally, the concept of fidelity refers to the degree to which a program is delivered as intended. The present paper discusses ways in which fundamental aspects of participatory research challenge the concept of fidelity and differ from more traditional science-dominated approaches. We begin with a discussion of the fidelity concept and some of its strengths and limitations. We then discuss both social problems and proposed solutions as representing complex problems defying simple or permanent solutions. We suggest that three prominent aspects of participatory research highlight this complexity and pose challenges in assessing fidelity. First, in participatory research, the goal is not only scientific but also social action on a local issue as well. Second, the participatory process among varied partners is itself part of the intervention itself to be understood as affecting both processes and outcomes. Third, the goals of participatory research include community-level as well as individual-level changes. These issues are illustrated in a discussion of how culture is conceptualized and acknowledged in fidelity assessment. We conclude with some recommendations for approaching fidelty in participatory research in a way that appreciates its differences from more traditional paradigms underlying community interventions.     

Challenges facing child protection

The challenges facing children in the 21st century are immense and will need to be faced if we are to achieve the goal of child protection for all. Three specific constraints on child protection are examined in this article, namely poverty, HIV/AIDS infection, and war. The authors use their experience in Africa to raise issues of resilience and adaptation, dangers to child protection programs, and possible solutions. Poverty can be both financial and psychological, and this affects the effect of prevention programs. In many African and Asian countries, the AIDS pandemic has changed the social structure of society with AIDS orphans and children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS becoming more common. The impact has devastating effects on the way we view child protection and in particular child sexual abuse. The consequences of post-traumatic stress resulting from war needs to be addressed, and the development of programs that place children in the center of relief programs to foster a culture of child protection is essential. Finally, the article notes that the picture is not overly pessimistic and the examines the achievements in the field of children's rights which underpin all programs aimed at protecting children and the future need to consolidate successes achieved.     

The effects of strong irrelevant thirst on food-rewarded instrumental performance

In Experiment I, rats received one food rewarded trial per day in a runway. One group received all its trials under hunger (Group H); the second group received a random half of its trials under hunger and the other half of its trials under hunger plus thirst (Group H-HT). Group H-HT ultimately ran slower on HT trials than on H trials. In Experiment II, the effects of shifting from H to HT and vice versa were examined in a five-phase design. In general, rats run under H ran faster than rats run under HT, and shifts from H to HT produced rapid decreases in speed, while shifts from HT to H produced extremely slow increases in speed. The results of both experiments were interpreted as indicating that the reward value of food is greater under H than under HT and that the manipulation H vs. HT may be viewed as theoretically similar to manipulation of reward magnitude.