Five- and 6-year-olds heard stories in which a character sorted items into two locations. Found that children could reject a report of the character's belief when the character had a false belief more easily than a belief in which an object known to the character was described using an unknown term. Children found it easier to predict incorrect…

From a longitudinal sample of nursing students, 193 completers and 43 noncompleters were compared, revealing significant differences in the groups' mean scores on admission essays but not admission grade point averages. Content analysis revealed how completers had internalized the role of nurse. (Contains 12 references.) (SK)

Studied the use of grade point average as a missing data technique for unavailable grades in school grade records. Results of 2 studies, 1 involving 2,080 Dutch college students, and the other involving 446 Dutch college freshmen, show that alternative missing grade methods produced better and more consistent predictions than other missing data…

Six- to 9-year olds predicted the movement of a balance beam. Results indicated that children who received feedback improved their performance more than those who did not receive feedback; the presence of a partner was beneficial only when children did not receive feedback; and children whose partner exhibited higher-level reasoning benefitted…

The contribution made by the self-efficacy component of A. Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory to the study of self-regulation and motivation in academic settings was studied. Findings demonstrate that particularized measures of self-efficacy that correspond to critical tasks surpass global measures in outcome explanation and prediction. (SLD)

Building on R. Snow's two pathways to achievement outcomes (1989), examined how cognitive and motivational factors associated with the performance and commitment pathways respectively contributed to prediction of outcomes in science for 491 high school students. Results are consistent with Snow's conjecture that factors related to both pathways…

Studied the predictability of 8 different types of goal orientations as motives for academic achievement in a sample of 7,391 13-year-old students. Findings suggest that students at this age already pursue a variety of academic and nonacademic goals and that different types of goal orientations are differentially related to achievement. (SLD)

Exploratory factor analysis of data from 2,309 cooperative education students tested a measure of co-op outcomes. Three factors were identified: work skills development, career development, and academic functions. The Predicting Learner Advancement through Cooperative Education Scale appeared to have good psychometric properties. (Contains 27…

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Adult Attitudes toward Adult and Continuing Education Scale yielded three factors (enjoyment of learning, perceived importance, and intrinsic value) and identified extraneous items, leading to revision of the scale. Structural equation modeling confirmed the soundness of the revised scale and significant…

A survey of 321 family physicians and 170 obstetricians/gynecologists identified their screening practices and where they acquired spouse/partner violence education (medical school, residency, continuing education, other). All who had violence education were more likely to screen every patient. Lectures during residency were significant predictors…

Many problem-solving activities include mathematical principles but students do not use them during the design and experimentation phases before creating a prototype or product. Restricting the amount and/or type of materials available to students will require them to calculate and requisition the materials needed. (JOW)

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education evaluated the usefulness of a model created to predict the success of distance education course facilitators. The model identified eight key attributes based on performance measures from the 1999 Facilitator Customer Service Survey. The evaluation accredited the model while suggesting…

Irish adolescents (n=278) completed a career exploration questionnaire at 6-week intervals. Structural equation model analysis indicated that intention to seek career information was influenced by past behavior and attitudes toward career exploration. Social norms and perceived behavioral control had no influence on intentions or exploratory…

The theory-driven Organizational Health Inventory was compared to the empirically derived Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire in predicting student achievement and teachers' commitment to the school. After controlling for the socioeconomic status of the sampled 58 schools, only academic emphasis contributed significantly to student…

Describes an empirical Bayes method for predicting future use of library materials. Data from the University of Saskatchewan are used to illustrate practical applications of the model for simple prediction, prediction profiles, and prediction intervals. (21 references) (MES)