This study was designed to compare (on locus of control and several achievement variables) middle school students who have been instructed for two semesters in a cooperative learning study skills class with those who have been instructed for two semesters in a competitive study skills class. Seventy-six eighth graders were given a semester of…

To measure perceived control in one's communication environment, a study examined the world views of the respondents as reported in a 28-item questionnaire. Subjects, 1,927 men and women composed of students and university personnel, military personnel, executives and managers, high school students and teachers, and members of women's groups, were…

The way that undergraduate students at the Boston University School of Public Communication receive and utilize career-related information and assistance was evaluated. Based on the view that the level of self-discovery students have achieved determines how they approach career issues, attention was directed to how the institution can serve…

This volume, third in a series evaluating the Child and Family Resource Program (CFRP), provides an overview of the evaluation, documents the first 6 months of the study, and examines initial program impact on families. Chapter 1 briefly summarizes the design of the CFRP evaluation and addresses the issues of sample selection and attrition, data…

A review and a study of specific situations or movements show conditions that create stress for and between administrators and teachers. Today's emphasis on teacher accountability has created stress for teachers, chiefly because they feel they are being held responsible for things over which they have no control. The administrator can be of great…

Previous research has suggested that extrinsic rewards operate to decrease intrinsic motivation to perform a task when they are offered for an initially intrinsically motivating task and then removed. To determine the initial intrinsic motivation of studying, 170 Canadian community college students were divided into one control and four treatment…

One of the best ways to deal with the conditions that promote stress in the teaching profession would be to include information about stress and ways of coping with it in a teacher preparation program. If prospective teachers have opportunities to examine the nature of stress and of situations that seem to contribute to tension, they would be…

A model for the development of scientific reasoning in adolescents was formulated largely upon the basis of Piagetian theory. Included as potential determinants of scientific reasoning were: experience; age; locus of control; field dependence-independence (FID); rigidity/flexibility; intelligence quotient (IQ); and sex. Causal relationships…

The effectiveness of two alternative attitude change strategies--a traditional persuasive strategy and a combined attributional/persuasive strategy--in altering attitudes toward nuclear disarmament were compared. Seventeen male and 39 female undergraduate students at a small university participated. A nuclear disarmament attitude pretest was…

In a previous study, the benefits of matching instruction with students' needs were examined. Three personality variables were used for the purpose of matching: Maslowian need level; locus of control; and cognitive style. This study used the ninth-grade physical science students (N=301) participating in the previous study to (1) examine…

During the course of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS), a tremendous amount of data will be collected on the educational, vocational, and personal development of high school graduates, and the personal, familial, social, institutional, and cultural factors that contribute to that development. Information of a…

The effectiveness of peer group counseling on self-concept among adult re-entry women in Women's Education Development Incentive (WENDI) programs and other related programs was studied to develop a set of guidelines for community college peer group counseling. The study involved using the Adult Nowicke-Strickland Internal-External Scale for pre-…

Several studies have shown that teachers' locus of control orientations are differentially related to attitudes about teaching and classroom behavior. To investigate the relationship between teachers' locus of control and students' perceptions of classroom climate, academic responsibility, and grades, matched pairs of teachers from grades four…

This learning module was designed to familiarize community college instructors with the characteristics of nontraditional students and with strategies for providing these students with a positive learning environment. After introductory material offering a rationale for the module, Part I provides a list of key concepts, a statement of learning…

Studies in the past have shown that reinforcements independent of the subjects actions may induce a feeling of helplessness. Most experiments on learned helplessness have led researchers to believe that uncontrollability (non-contingency of feedback upon response) was the determining feature of learned helplessness, although in most studies…