Is the environmental literacy of university students measurable?     

Kerry Shephard  John Harraway  Brent Lovelock  Sheila Skeaff  Liz Slooten  Mick Strack 《Environmental Education Research》2014,20(4):476-495

We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the environmental literacy (EL) of undergraduate students in one large research-led university in New Zealand. The instrument addresses knowledge, affect and competencies in the general area of EL in line with this institution’s adoption of EL as a graduate attribute (or in a US context, a general-education learning outcome, and something to be fostered throughout a student’s education). The instrument and associated processes were designed to fit within conventional institutional mechanisms that manage student feedback on the quality of teaching. The instrument was tested with more than 600 students from more than eight programmes over the course of a year and its use stressed that students were anonymous within the survey. We conclude that evaluating (or in a US context, assessing) the extent to which students acquire EL is an achievable objective and is a reasonable expectation for any higher education institution that claims to foster this attribute.  相似文献   

Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Intragroup Conflict Scale: Validation in Athletic Trainer and Coach Populations     

Stacy L. Gnacinski  Mikaela K. Janes  Nathan D. Newman 《Measurement in physical education and exercise science》2013,17(3):205-213

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study were to examine the factorial validity of the six-item Intragroup Conflict Scale (ICS) in athletic trainer (AT) and coach populations and to examine measurement invariance by gender and profession. A total of 195 ATs and 615 head or assistant coaches working at secondary schools or National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions completed the ICS. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis procedures in LISREL 10 (Student Edition). Results supported the reliability and validity of the two-factor ICS model among ATs and coaches. Strict measurement invariance was observed when comparing male to female AT responses. Strong measurement invariance was observed when comparing male to female coach responses, as well as AT to coach responses. These data not only support the reliability and validity of the ICS for use in AT and coach populations but also support direct comparisons of mean scores across gender or profession.  相似文献   

The Association of Objectively Determined Physical Activity Behavior Among Adolescent Female Friends     

Louise Schofield  Kerry W. Mummery  Grant Schofield  Will Hopkins 《Research quarterly for exercise and sport》2013,84(2):9-15

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which physical activity among adolescent female friends is interdependent. The participants were 318 adolescent girls with a mean age of 16.0 years (range: 15–18 years). Pedometry was used to assess physical activity over 4 days. The relationship between an individual girl and her first-nominated reciprocal friend's physical activity level was moderate (r = 0.45, 90% confidence interval = 0.31, 0.56), when the friendship was nonreciprocal it was trivial (r = -.06, 90% confidence interval = -.36. .25). Friends' physical activity levels explained between 27% and 32% of an individual's pedometer-determined physical activity level. Reciprocity of friendship is an important variable to consider when understanding the relationship between adolescent female friends' physical activity. When friendships are reciprocal, there is a stronger relationship between friends' physical activity.  相似文献   

Personality Traits of Faster and Slower Competitive Swimmers     

Earl N. Newman 《Research quarterly for exercise and sport》2013,84(4):1049-1053

Abstract

This study made the comparison of swimmers ranked according to swimming ability as determined by actual time tests in events used in NCAA high school dual meets with personality traits as measured by the Thurstone temperament schedule. The purpose was to add to the knowledge of characteristics of swimmers by determining if the factors within the individual which make a boy a better swimmer correlate significantly with the measured personality traits. Twenty-one swimmers were timed throughout the swimming season on each of the swimming events and the rank of each swimmer calculated. Each swimmer was given the personality test. Statistical analysis of the rankings of these seven personality traits was made in comparison to the swimming rank of the swimmers in the various strokes. Three rank difference correlations were found significant at the .05 level, indicating a tendency for rank of swimming performance to correspond with rank of personality variable. The dominant trait was positively correlated with 100-yard freestyle ranking. Negative correlations were found with the sociable trait and the 100-yard breaststroke and with the reflective trait and 200-yard freestyle.  相似文献   

Research priorities for YouTube and video‐sharing technologies: A Delphi study     

Chareen Snelson  Kerry Rice  Constance Wyzard 《British journal of educational technology : journal of the Council for Educational Technology》2012,43(1):119-129

Online video‐sharing services, particularly YouTube, have gained an audience of billions of users including educators and scholars. While the academic literature provides some evidence that YouTube has been studied and written about, little is known about priorities for YouTube research. The study employed the Delphi method to obtain a consensus from experts about areas that are most in need of research in video‐sharing technology (particularly YouTube). An expert panel, identified from a comprehensive review of the literature, participated in a three‐round Delphi process involving two cycles of online questionnaires and feedback reports. Participants responded to the question, ‘What should be the research priorities in video‐sharing technologies (particularly YouTube) over the next 5 years?’ Seven research priority categories were identified and ranked in order of priority: (1) users, groups and communities; (2) teaching/learning; (3) social/political impact; (4) video creation/production; (5) legal/ethical; (6) media management; and (7) commercial interests.  相似文献   

Managing Relationships: Insights from a Student Gratitude Model     

Fazal-e-Hasan  Syed Muhammad  Mortimer  Gary  Lings  Ian  Sekhon  Harjit  Howell  Kerry 《Research in higher education》2021,62(1):98-119

Research in Higher Education - This paper develops a student relationship model which highlights the role of gratitude in impacting students’ positive perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral...  相似文献   

Long-term prediction of achievement and attitudes in mathematics and reading   总被引：6，自引：0，他引：6  

H W Stevenson  R S Newman 《Child development》1986,57(3):646-659

The purpose of the longitudinal study was to investigate the prediction of children's academic achievement on the basis of cognitive tasks given prior to kindergarten, and academic attitudes on the basis of teachers' and mothers' ratings of the children's general cognitive abilities and actual achievement. Subjects were tested initially before entering kindergarten; from 105 to 154 of the 255 kindergarten children were followed through grades 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10. A subset of cognitive tasks maintained a high relation to high school achievement scores, especially in reading. Tenth-grade self-concept of ability, expectancy for success, value of success, and perception of task difficulty showed effects of sex and academic content area, with boys generally being more favorable toward math and girls more favorable toward reading. Children's attitudes were related both to mothers' earlier ratings of their children's cognitive abilities and actual achievement scores; this was especially the case for girls. There was a negative relation between mothers' ratings and girls' attitudes toward mathematics. Sex differences in all measures throughout the 11-year period are reviewed.  相似文献   

Can any good come out of researching in science education and being a science teacher at the same time?     

DR. Barry Newman 《Research in Science Education》1992,22(1):308-314

Recent experience has demonstrated that for an aged researcher, teaching secondary school science at a selective high school while committed to carrying out research in science education is riddled with difficulties. With respect to the research, problems ranged from there being too much time required to establish one's credentials as a teacher, to too much research being too easily suggested and undertaken. With respect to the teaching, among other things, it was too time-consuming, there were too many other duties to perform and other teachers became too involved in one's own interests. To make matters worse, there were too many students, they were too varied, too interesting and the relationship with them became too rewarding. A thoroughly disturbing state of affairs. Specialisations: chemical education, history and philosophy of science, laboratory work, student conceptualisations.  相似文献   

The general and specific effects of educational programmes aimed at promoting awareness of and respect for diversity among young children     

Paul Connolly  Kerry Hosken 《International Journal of Early Years Education》2006,14(2):107-126

This article reports the findings of a mixed‐method evaluation of a pilot educational programme undertaken with six to seven year olds in a sample of primary schools in England with the aim of increasing their awareness of and respect for diversity through theatre, workshops and related teacher‐led classroom activities. The qualitative feedback from the teachers involved was extremely positive and encouraging and an analysis of the actual impact of the pilot programme on the children’s attitudes and awareness, using an experimental design, demonstrated some positive effects. In particular, the programme was found to increase the children’s general awareness of diversity and their ability to recognize instances of exclusion. While not a planned objective of the pilot programme, the evaluation also examined whether it had any effects on the children’s attitudes to specific differences, in this particular case racial differences. Interestingly, however, no evidence was found of any change in the children’s racial attitudes. With this in mind the article suggests that there is a need to distinguish between the general and specific effects of such educational programmes. The article considers the implications of this for future work in the area and also stresses the need to begin undertaking more thorough and rigorous evaluations of such initiatives.  相似文献   

Title IX and Retaliation: The Impact of Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education on Higher Education     

Kerry Brian Melear 《Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability》2007,19(3-4):91-103

In 2005, the United States Supreme Court rendered a closely divided opinion that extends the protections against discrimination provided by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to include a private cause of action for retaliation in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education. Therefore, “whistleblowers,” or employees who report allegedly discriminatory practices, can file suit against employers who retaliate against them on the basis of their complaints under the auspices of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” by recipients of federal education funds. Unlike other federal anti-discrimination laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, retaliation is not expressly mentioned within the text of Title IX, and the Supreme Court reasoned that the broad language of the statute encompasses implied protections against retaliation, regardless of the gender of the employee who alleges retaliatory action. As a result of Jackson, the first generation of litigation against colleges and universities under this expanded standard has begun to navigate the federal courts. This article analyzes the Supreme Court’s opinion in Jackson and the related cases representing the first application of the retaliation standard articulated therein to colleges and universities. The article concludes with suggestions for insulation from liability associated with alleged retaliation claims against administrators and educational institutions.  相似文献