A preliminary scale for assessing attitudes toward homosexuals in the military

This paper reports a factor analytical study of responses to statements of attitudes concerning lesbians and gay men in the military by 72 23.4-yr.-old members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Using exploratory factor analysis with an oblique rotation four factors were found which accounted for 64.9% of the total common variance. A factor labeled Trust accounted for 40.6% of the common variance, Comfort accounted for 8.7%, Acceptance accounted for 8.2%, and the fourth factor, Threat, accounted for 7.5%. Cronbach a ranged from .63 to .78. Validity was .75 when scores were correlated with those on the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale, supporting the 4-factor interpretation. It is recommended that additional factor analyses be performed to further investigate the validity of the four factors and that of the entire scale.     

Cross-cultural differences in female university students' attitudes toward homosexuals: a preliminary study

62 Caucasian, 61 Hispanic, and 44 Asian female undergraduates completed the Index of Homophobia by Hudson and Ricketts, seven items from the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale by Herek, and three questions on Affectional Orientation toward homosexuals from D'Augelli and Rose. Overall, familiarity with homosexuals as measured by self-reported number of homosexual friends correlated negatively with scores on the homophobia measures, but there were no significant differences among the groups' reported number of homosexual friends. Asian students scored significantly higher on the homophobia measures than Caucasian students. Both Asian and Hispanic students endorsed the statement significantly more often than Caucasian students that the university would be better if only heterosexuals attended. No significant differences in scores were found regarding attitudes toward lesbians versus gay men.     

Grouping students for instruction: effects of learning style on achievement and attitudes

The present study examined the effects of matching and mismatching American middle-school students with a preference for learning alone or learning with peers with selected instructional treatments in order to determine the impact upon their attitudes and achievement in social studies. Analysis revealed that the learning-alone preference performed significantly better in the learning-alone condition and that the learning-with-peers preference performed significantly better in the learning-with-peers condition. However, no-preference students also performed significantly better in the learning-alone condition than with peers. In addition, data revealed that the learning-alone and the learning-with-peers students had significantly more positive attitudes when matched with their preferred learning style; the nopreference students had more positive attitudes in the learning-alone condition.     

Correlations of attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide, death depression, death obsession, and trait anxiety

In a sample of 112 Kuwaiti college students, approval of physician-assisted suicide was not significantly correlated with scores on trait anxiety, death depression, or death obsession.     

Fear of success,sex role attitudes,and career salience and anxiety levels of college women

This study examined, for 99 female undergraduate students, both the relationship between fear of success, sex role attitudes, and career salience, and the relationship between fear of success, career salience, and trait anxiety. Fear of success was assessed using the Fear of Success Scale, while sex role attitudes were assessed using the Attitudes towards Women Scale. Career Salience was measured by the Career Salience Scale, and trait anxiety was assessed by the trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results indicated that fear of success and sex-role attitudes, in combination, significantly predicted the level of career salience in a multiple regression analysis. The women higher in fear of success and more traditional tended to be lower in career salience. Trait anxiety levels of women did not differ significantly as a function of fear of success, career salience, or the combination of the two.     

A study of student attitude toward traditional and generative models of instruction

This study compared the attitudes and cognitive dispositions of three eighth-grade classes toward two methods of instruction: one operationally defined as traditional and the other as generative. The generative method was a student-centered, debate- and dialogue-oriented, inquiry method of instruction. Children's attitude ratings (in seven categories) revealed that the traditional method was rated much higher than the generative. The traditional method's structured, teacher-centered, highly controlled atmosphere seemed to be in line with what the children were used to in the past. The children viewed the generative method as unstable, not serious, and unreliable. Suggestions are offered for teachers and researchers.     

A longitudinal assessment of early acceleration of students in mathematics on growth in mathematics achievement

Early acceleration of students in mathematics (in the form of early access to formal abstract algebra) has been a controversial educational issue. The current study examined the rate of growth in mathematics achievement of accelerated gifted, honors, and regular students across the entire secondary years (Grades 7–12), in comparison to their non-accelerated counterparts. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, hierarchical linear models showed that early acceleration had little advantage among gifted students, small advantage among honors students, but large advantage among regular students. Equity issues, especially gender, racial, and socioeconomic equities, are not a concern once regular students were accelerated, but there are serious concerns about racial gaps among honors students and both gender and racial gaps among gifted students once they were accelerated. Schools played an important role in early acceleration, with school context rather than school climate affecting accelerated students. Students, particularly regular students, having high achievement and attending schools with high average achievement were advantageous in early acceleration. Overall, early acceleration of students in mathematics benefits regular students significantly in terms of growth in mathematics achievement.     

Differences in mathematics anxiety by sex, program, and education of university mathematics students in Turkey

In this study, we aimed to re-examine sex-related differences in mathematics anxiety and to investigate the effects of two different programs associated with mathematics education applied in Turkish universities on mathematics anxiety. Mathematics anxiety scores were assessed in 221 male and 142 female students, 238 in the education faculty and 125 in the science faculty. There were no sex-related mean differences for mathematics anxiety scores, and scores were not related to faculty program. The lower mean mathematics performance on the university entry examination of the students of science faculty may be associated with the mathematics anxiety.     

A model of academic enablers and mathematics achievement in the elementary grades

The purpose of this study was to test a model of the relations between specific academic enablers (motivation, interpersonal skills, engagement, and study skills) and mathematics achievement. Using teacher judgments of academic enablers and achievement, we examined the fit of this model for primary (Grades K-2) and intermediate (Grades 3-6) samples of elementary students. The results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated that prior achievement and interpersonal skills predict motivation, which then predicts study skills and engagement. These latter skills, in turn, are positively associated with academic achievement. Differences in magnitude of specific model pathways, however, were noted between the primary and intermediate samples. Implications of the findings and directions for future research regarding models of academic enablers are discussed.     

Cognitive predictors of achievement growth in mathematics: a 5-year longitudinal study

The study's goal was to identify the beginning of 1st grade quantitative competencies that predict mathematics achievement start point and growth through 5th grade. Measures of number, counting, and arithmetic competencies were administered in early 1st grade and used to predict mathematics achievement through 5th (n = 177), while controlling for intelligence, working memory, and processing speed. Multilevel models revealed intelligence and processing speed, and the central executive component of working memory predicted achievement or achievement growth in mathematics and, as a contrast domain, word reading. The phonological loop was uniquely predictive of word reading and the visuospatial sketch pad of mathematics. Early fluency in processing and manipulating numerical set size and Arabic numerals, accurate use of sophisticated counting procedures for solving addition problems, and accuracy in making placements on a mathematical number line were uniquely predictive of mathematics achievement. Use of memory-based processes to solve addition problems predicted mathematics and reading achievement but in different ways. The results identify the early quantitative competencies that uniquely contribute to mathematics learning.