Current Search: Attitude change (x)
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- Title
- The development and evaluation of a model for teacher reflection.
- Creator
- Tate, Arthur Wyman, Jr., Florida Atlantic University, Urich, Ted R.
- Abstract/Description
-
The eighties will be known as a decade of reform, a time when several key reports highlighted serious deficiencies in education and alerted the public to the possibility of a crisis in this country. It has been suggested that for education to improve, teachers must become more aware. What is needed, many believed, is for teachers to become more reflective. Reflection, in the context of teaching, refers to teachers thinking systematically about their work, evaluating what happens in the...
Show moreThe eighties will be known as a decade of reform, a time when several key reports highlighted serious deficiencies in education and alerted the public to the possibility of a crisis in this country. It has been suggested that for education to improve, teachers must become more aware. What is needed, many believed, is for teachers to become more reflective. Reflection, in the context of teaching, refers to teachers thinking systematically about their work, evaluating what happens in the classroom and eventually making changes to improve teaching and learning. Although the literature was replete with theory on how a practitioner can approach the act of reflection, there was no practical model which could be directly applied to the classroom situation. The purpose of the study was to provide teachers with a practical model for daily reflection in the classroom. A model was designed using reflection, decision making and problem solving theory. The model was tested using a two-phased pilot study, followed by experimental use by 60 teachers in grades K-12. Participants used the Teacher Reflection Model for 10 school days and filled out and returned a questionnaire. The questionnaire provided Likert-type attitude statements that were rated by the respondents on a scale of from 1 through 5, according to their agreement or disagreement with the statement. The attitude statements were designed to measure the practicality of the model. The average of the scores of the attitude statements became the Attitude Index for the teacher and provided a measure of practicality for the Teacher Reflection Model. Several subgroups within the sample of 60 teachers were compared using a t-test to analyze whether there was a significant difference in their average Attitude Index. Linear correlation tests were run to evaluate the relationships between the computed Attitude Index, the years of teaching for the respondents and the average time needed to fill out the Daily Reflection Form. Results of the study indicate that the Teacher Reflection Model is a practical instrument to assist teachers to reflect and that the questionnaire was a reliable instrument to evaluate the model. Several recommendations for improving the model are included in the study.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1992
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12305
- Subject Headings
- Teachers--Attitudes, Attitude change
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Thought- and information-induced polarization: The role of involvement in making attitudes extreme.
- Creator
- Harton, Helen C., Florida Atlantic University, Latane, Bibb
- Abstract/Description
-
The catastrophe theory of attitudes (Latane & Nowak, 1994) predicts that extremity will be a function of involvement, with uninvolving attitudes normally distributed about a neutral midpoint and involving attitudes categorical and extreme. Two processes that may lead attitudes to become more involving and extreme were tested in this experiment--thought-induced polarization and information-induced polarization. College students rated social issues before and after thinking and/or reading...
Show moreThe catastrophe theory of attitudes (Latane & Nowak, 1994) predicts that extremity will be a function of involvement, with uninvolving attitudes normally distributed about a neutral midpoint and involving attitudes categorical and extreme. Two processes that may lead attitudes to become more involving and extreme were tested in this experiment--thought-induced polarization and information-induced polarization. College students rated social issues before and after thinking and/or reading information about them. Attitudes became more extreme after respondents read mixed information about the attitude object, particularly for issues on which participants were initially uninvolved, but did not extremify after thought alone. There was little evidence for selective encoding or retrieval or for biased assimilation, though increases in attitude extremity were associated with increases in involvement. Thus, as predicted by catastrophe theory, reading mixed information may increase involvement in an issue, which in turn leads to more extreme attitudes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1994
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15110
- Subject Headings
- Attitude change, Attitude (Psychology), Polarity (Psychology)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- A Comparative Study of Attitudes and Personal Orientations of Student Members of Professional Organizations and Non Members in Colleges of Business Administration in the United States.
- Creator
- Farrar, Charles L., Florida Atlantic University, Zimmerer, Thomas W.
- Abstract/Description
-
The three specific objectives of this study were to develop a clearer understanding of the image which business has on the college campus, to develop insights into the attitudes of business students and a comparison of students in the business college with members of Delta Sigma Pi, a professional fraternity for male students enrolled in business. In order to base the response evaluations on a reasonably homogeneous group of subjects, only those colleges with chapters of the fraternity were...
Show moreThe three specific objectives of this study were to develop a clearer understanding of the image which business has on the college campus, to develop insights into the attitudes of business students and a comparison of students in the business college with members of Delta Sigma Pi, a professional fraternity for male students enrolled in business. In order to base the response evaluations on a reasonably homogeneous group of subjects, only those colleges with chapters of the fraternity were considered. The research data was collected during the fall of 1972 from 1,000 questionnaires mailed to 13 selected colleges . Based on the comparative data obtained, it is possible to accept the major hypothesis that students in professional fraternal organizations are significantly different in their attitudes and personal characteristics than are students who do not belong to these organizations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1973
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13587
- Subject Headings
- Professional associations, Trade associations, Attitude (Psychology), Attitude change
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Perceptions of tenth-grade mathematics teachers and school administrators toward Florida's school accountability system: The A+ Plan.
- Creator
- Ferrer, Lourdes., Florida Atlantic University, Decker, Larry E.
- Abstract/Description
-
The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn how high school mathematics teachers and school administrators perceived Florida's school accountability system, the A+ Plan. This inquiry was conducted during the spring of 2001, in one of the largest urban school districts in Florida, with a sample of 27 participants, 21 teachers and 6 administrators, pre-selected from a high, an average, and a low performing high school. Data was gathered in the form of tape-recorded interviews, hand...
Show moreThe purpose of this qualitative study was to learn how high school mathematics teachers and school administrators perceived Florida's school accountability system, the A+ Plan. This inquiry was conducted during the spring of 2001, in one of the largest urban school districts in Florida, with a sample of 27 participants, 21 teachers and 6 administrators, pre-selected from a high, an average, and a low performing high school. Data was gathered in the form of tape-recorded interviews, hand written field notes, and document analysis. This study found that the school performance grade, teaching assignment course level, and race or ethnicity were not a source of variability in participants' perceptions. The A+ Plan was unanimously viewed as a bureaucratic reform initiative that used a power coercive approach to obtain compliance. Participants believed that the A+ Plan's fundamental belief that "every child can learn and that no child should be left behind" was unrealistic, and did not share the plan's central assumption that students' performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is the direct result of their performance as teachers. They believed that students' natural abilities and personal motivations to learn surpass any other variable in determining the students' level of achievement. The FCAT was judged as an ineffective and unfair tool for teachers' accountability purpose because it did not provide information about students' academic growth in a year, and also, because it compared schools that differed in their students' demographics. The participants believed that they should not be held accountable, punished or rewarded for their students' performance on the FCAT because their students' scores on the mathematics section of the test was the outcome of their previous mathematics experience and English language proficiency. They believed that the school grade was merely a reflection of the school population, and that publicizing grades made the hiring and retention of qualified teachers more difficult and damaged their professional reputation and esteem in the community at large. The participants held that the A+ Plan was creating an environment where teachers perceived their work as more stressful and less rewarding because of what they view as unfair and unrealistic standards.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2001
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11967
- Subject Headings
- Mathematics teachers--Florida--Attitudes, Educational change--Florida, Educational accountability--Florida, School administrators--Florida--Attitudes
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Perceptual Acuity and Social Attitudes Survey (PASAS).
- Creator
- Morgan, Hunter, Lanning, Kevin
- Date Issued
- 2012-04-06
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3350920
- Subject Headings
- Human behavior, Perception, Behavior responses, Sensory inputs, Psychology, social, Attitude change
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Teacher content knowledge in the context of science education reform.
- Creator
- Doby, Janice Kay., Florida Atlantic University, Romance, Nancy
- Abstract/Description
-
The decline of science education in elementary schools has been well documented. While numerous efforts have been made for the purpose of reforming science education, most of those efforts have targeted science programs, assessment techniques, and setting national, state, and local standards, stressing teacher accountability for meeting those standards. However, inadequate science content knowledge of preservice teachers limits their ability to master effective teaching strategies, and also...
Show moreThe decline of science education in elementary schools has been well documented. While numerous efforts have been made for the purpose of reforming science education, most of those efforts have targeted science programs, assessment techniques, and setting national, state, and local standards, stressing teacher accountability for meeting those standards. However, inadequate science content knowledge of preservice teachers limits their ability to master effective teaching strategies, and also may foster negative attitudes toward science and science teaching. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that any significant reform in science education will be realized until this major underlying problem is addressed and resolved. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an experimental elementary science methods course, which employs the use of laser videodisc technology and instructional implications from cognitive science and instructional design, in terms of preservice teacher gains in Earth and physical science content knowledge and locus of control in science. The experimental elementary science methods course was compared to a more traditional approach to the same course which focused primarily on methods of teaching in the physical sciences and other science domains. The experimental and traditional groups were compared before and after treatment in terms of preservice teachers' content knowledge in Earth and physical science and locus ofcontrol in science. Results indicated that the experimental and traditional groups were comparable prior to treatment. The experimental group (89 preservice teachers) responded correctly to 45% of the items on the Elementary Science Concepts Test (ESCT) pretest and the traditional group (78 preservice teachers) responded correctly to 42% of the pretest items, the difference between groups being nonsignificant. Further, the experimental and traditional groups scored similarly on the pre-assessment of locus of control in science with scores on the Preservice Teacher Information and Science Opinion Questionnaire (ISOQ) of 162.12 and 163.65, respectively, the difference also being nonsignificant. The pre- and post-administrations of both the ESCT and ISOQ were all found to be statistically significant (F (4, 162) = 271.18343, p<0.05) in predicting group membership. Analyses of variance indicated significantly greater gains in Earth and physical science content knowledge (F (1,165) = 743.7746, p<0.025) and locus of control in science (F (1,165) = 45.7477, p<0.025) for the experimental group compared to the traditional group. A significant difference (F = (2,162) = 31.82279, p<0.05) was found between the combined effect of locus of control in science and Earth and physical science content knowledge in respect to treatment, indicating that the curriculum and instructional design of the experimental course significantly influenced preservice teachers' science content knowledge and locus of control in science. Suggestions for further research included: (a) determining whether the results of this present research may also apply to inservice teachers, (b) determining the effects of such preservice and inservice training on actual classroom practice, (c) relating increased science knowledge with improvement in science lesson planning and mastery of pedagogical skills, and (d) more detailed analysis of instructional implications from cognitive science and instructional design in regard to their application to the teaching of science (as well as other content areas).
Show less - Date Issued
- 1997
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12507
- Subject Headings
- Science teachers--Attitudes, Science--Study and teaching, Educational change--United States
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- An exploratory study of the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, public schools.
- Creator
- Lawrence, Audrey Elaine., Florida Atlantic University, Urich, Ted R.
- Abstract/Description
-
The purpose of this study was to investigate and to explore the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, Public Schools. This study also sought to discover the best practices of those language arts teachers who did infuse multicultural education into their curriculum. Little empirical data exists which elicits the views of language arts teachers about the infusion of multicultural...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate and to explore the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, Public Schools. This study also sought to discover the best practices of those language arts teachers who did infuse multicultural education into their curriculum. Little empirical data exists which elicits the views of language arts teachers about the infusion of multicultural education into the curriculum. Limited research on the middle school level is available. A qualitative single-case study design was used. The study was conducted at multiple sites; and the primary sources of data were interviews, document analyses, and researcher participant and nonparticipant observations. The sample of 48 participants was selected from 9 Broward County, Florida, Public Schools, including 6 middle schools. The sample included middle school language arts teachers, as well as principals, assistant principals, media specialists, teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), directors of multicultural education, and multicultural resource teachers. Based on the analysis of data, the perspectives and experiences of most teachers were multidimensional. Eight categories of findings relating to the perspectives of language arts teachers on the impact of multicultural education into the curriculum emerged: (a) multicultural education implementation; (b) the theoretical approaches used by language arts teachers to infuse multicultural education into the curriculum; (c) the impact of multicultural education on students, teachers, and the instructional process; (d) social and organizational factors that impact the infusion process; (e) the availability of resources, the authenticity of materials, and challenges encountered in the infusion process; (f) teacher needs; (g) the significance of the affective domain factors that teachers bring to the experience; (h) and standards and matrices. Overall, the participants in this study felt that the experience of teaching and learning from a multicultural perspective was enormously valuable to the self-concept, academic achievement, and the cultural appreciation among their students. The findings indicate that the curriculum that is presented or practiced is gradually moving beyond the lowest level of the additive approach toward a multicultural approach to infusion as suggested in the literature. Most practitioners are at Grant and Sleeter's (1999) single-group studies approach to multicultural education infusion which looks at the infusion of a single ethnic group.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1999
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12607
- Subject Headings
- Language arts (Middle school)--Curricula, Multicultural education, Middle school teachers--Florida--Attitudes, Curriculum change
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- An examination of gender-related attitudes among managers.
- Creator
- Massey, Mary Ann., Florida Atlantic University, Guglielmino, Lucy M.
- Abstract/Description
-
This two-part study included two procedures: (1) the development of an instrument to assess gender-related attitudes among male and female managers, and (2) the collection and analysis of data on gender-related attitudes among male and female managers. Male and female managers (n = 165) responded on a Likert scale to 30 gender-related statements about male and female managers from their own perspective and then based on their opinions of how other male and female managers might respond to the...
Show moreThis two-part study included two procedures: (1) the development of an instrument to assess gender-related attitudes among male and female managers, and (2) the collection and analysis of data on gender-related attitudes among male and female managers. Male and female managers (n = 165) responded on a Likert scale to 30 gender-related statements about male and female managers from their own perspective and then based on their opinions of how other male and female managers might respond to the statements. The topic addresses the undercurrents of conflict and dissension that are accompanying paradigmatic changes in traditional management practices and the integration of women into all aspects of management. Although women have demonstrated managerial capability in the workplace, the existence of gender differences warrants further investigation into gender factors influencing co-managing. An extensive review of the literature relating the changes in gender studies over the past 30 years is included. Statistical treatment of the data included the use of paired t-tests, independent samples t-tests or ANOVAs for 20 hypotheses. Through the hypotheses, male and female managers' perspectives on 30 gender-related statements were explored. In addition, male and female managers' responses were compared across different levels of specific demographic data. Ten of the hypotheses showed statistical significance at p <.05. For the gender-related statements, male and female managers rated female managers more positively than males; male and female managers each rated their own gender more positively than did the opposite gender. Male managers rated female peers more positively and other males less positively than they perceived other male managers would; they rated female managers less positively and male managers more positively than they perceived female peers would. Female managers rated their own gender more positively than they perceived males would and rated male peers less positively than they perceived other females would; their own ratings of females were similar to their perceptions of the ratings of other females. When the managers' mean responses for the gender-related statements were compared across different levels of demographic data, no significant relationships were found with level of management, size of company, training experiences, and female managers' preferences for working with male or female managers. However, male managers who stated a preference for working with male managers rated the statements about male managers more positively than did those who had no gender preference. In addition, male managers who stated no preference for the gender of peer managers rated statements about female managers more positively than those who stated a preference for working with male managers.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1994
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12390
- Subject Headings
- Sex role in the work environment, Executives--Attitudes, Organizational behavior, Social change
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- A study of teacher response to a program of whole-school change.
- Creator
- Solomon, Gail Fern, Florida Atlantic University, Maslin-Ostrowski, Patricia
- Abstract/Description
-
This single site qualitative case study of a large high school was conducted during the course of one school year. The study focused on how secondary level teachers of the four core content areas, language arts, science, social studies and mathematics, responded to a program of whole school change. In addition to teachers, the administration and support staff were interviewed. The primary sources of data were the results of one hour interviews, document analysis and researcher non-participant...
Show moreThis single site qualitative case study of a large high school was conducted during the course of one school year. The study focused on how secondary level teachers of the four core content areas, language arts, science, social studies and mathematics, responded to a program of whole school change. In addition to teachers, the administration and support staff were interviewed. The primary sources of data were the results of one hour interviews, document analysis and researcher non-participant observations. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand teachers' various responses to a program of whole school change. The major concepts underlying the study were the meaning of change, the need for schools to change, the change process, the role of people involved in the change process and the proliferation of various programs of whole school change. The research findings highlighted the importance of: recognizing only one whole school change initiative as the primary focus, being knowledgeable of the whole school change initiative, constantly working on personalizing the school's vision, facing external and internal change forces, handling challenges and dealing with the rate of change. The conclusions of the study are that from attempted implementation of multiple school change initiatives perhaps only one change initiative will rise to prominence, teacher involvement and buy-in are important components of successful whole school change, educators face both internal and external factors while implementing whole school change and the principal plays a crucial role in successful whole school change.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12084
- Subject Headings
- Educational change, Educational leadership, Teachers--Attitudes, School management and organization
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Investigations of a time dependent measurement technique for social judgment.
- Creator
- Kaufman, J., Florida Atlantic University, Vallacher, Robin R., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
- Abstract/Description
-
Argument is made for the use of variation permissive methods in the study of social judgment; one such dynamic method which purports to track on-line social evaluation (the mouse paradigm) is then introduced. The methodology of the mouse paradigm, which involves updating 'moment-to-moment' feelings via manipulation of a cursor by computer mouse, permits a wide range of experimental contrivance. Three varieties (SCALE, 1D and 2D), which differ in the amount of virtual (on screen) freedom of...
Show moreArgument is made for the use of variation permissive methods in the study of social judgment; one such dynamic method which purports to track on-line social evaluation (the mouse paradigm) is then introduced. The methodology of the mouse paradigm, which involves updating 'moment-to-moment' feelings via manipulation of a cursor by computer mouse, permits a wide range of experimental contrivance. Three varieties (SCALE, 1D and 2D), which differ in the amount of virtual (on screen) freedom of movement and psychological constraint, were tested with stereotyped targets (negative, ambivalent and positive) to determine any differences in their absolute distance time series and the extent to which aspects of these time series remained correlated with traditional scale-ratings of positivity and stability in feelings about targets. Results indicated a sharp difference between the two-dimensional (2D) variety and the one-dimensional varieties (SCALE and 1D), a finding which supports contention that the 2D variety possesses an appropriate balance of freedom and constraint.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1994
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15003
- Subject Headings
- Judgment, Attitude change, Verbal behavior, Psychometrics, Permutation groups, Group theory, Galois theory
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- How Jamaican administrators in a large school district in Florida perceive ethnicity, gender, and mentoring have impacted their career experiences: a phenomenological study.
- Creator
- Barrett-Johnson, Denise P., College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
- Abstract/Description
-
The purpose of this study was to discover how ethnicity, gender, and mentoring influenced the career experiences of Jamaican administrators in Sunshine County Public Schools (SCPS), a pseudonym that was used for a large public school district in Florida. This qualitative, phenomenological study focused on the career experiences of eight Jamaican administrators in SCPS. Seven of the participants were all native-born Jamaicans and one was a first generation Jamaican, born in England to Jamaican...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to discover how ethnicity, gender, and mentoring influenced the career experiences of Jamaican administrators in Sunshine County Public Schools (SCPS), a pseudonym that was used for a large public school district in Florida. This qualitative, phenomenological study focused on the career experiences of eight Jamaican administrators in SCPS. Seven of the participants were all native-born Jamaicans and one was a first generation Jamaican, born in England to Jamaican parents and raised in Jamaica until the age of 14. The researcher gained this understanding by interviewing participants in-depth about how their Jamaican ethnicity, gender, and personal mentoring experiences impacted their personal and professional journey as administrators in SCPS. Findings and conclusions will inform mentoring and educational leadership literature on strategies for success geared toward this understudied population.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3356889
- Subject Headings
- High school principals, Attitudes, Educational leadership, Critical pedagogy, Mentoring in education, Women school administrators, Attitudes, Educational change
- Format
- Document (PDF)