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The primary objective of this study was to revise a measure of exogenous instrumentality, part of a larger scale known as the Perceptions of Instrumentality Scale (Husman, Derryberry, Crowson, & Lomax, 2004) used to measure future oriented student value for course content. Study 1 piloted the revised items, explored the

The primary objective of this study was to revise a measure of exogenous instrumentality, part of a larger scale known as the Perceptions of Instrumentality Scale (Husman, Derryberry, Crowson, & Lomax, 2004) used to measure future oriented student value for course content. Study 1 piloted the revised items, explored the factor structure, and provided initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the revised scale. Study 2 provided additional reliability evidence but a factor analysis with the original and revised scale items revealed that the revised scale was measuring a distinct and separate construct that was not exogenous instrumentality. Here this new construct is called extrinsic instrumentality for grade. This study revealed that those that endorse a high utility value for grade report lower levels of connectedness (Husman & Shell, 2008) and significantly less use of knowledge building strategies (Shell, et al., 2005). These findings suggest that there are additional types of future oriented extrinsic motivation that should be considered when constructing interventions for students, specifically non-major students. This study also provided additional evidence that there are types of extrinsic motivation that are adaptive and have positive relationships with knowledge building strategies and connectedness to the future. Implications for the measurement of future time perspective (FTP) and its relationship to these three proximal, future oriented, course specific measures of value are also discussed.
ContributorsPuruhito, Krista (Author) / Husman, Jenefer (Thesis advisor) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Lindstron-Johnson, Sarah (Committee member) / Levy, Roy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
Evolution is the foundation of biology, yet it remains controversial even among college biology students. Acceptance of evolution is important for students if we want them to incorporate evolution into their scientific thinking. However, students’ religious beliefs are a consistent barrier to their acceptance of evolution due to a perceived

Evolution is the foundation of biology, yet it remains controversial even among college biology students. Acceptance of evolution is important for students if we want them to incorporate evolution into their scientific thinking. However, students’ religious beliefs are a consistent barrier to their acceptance of evolution due to a perceived conflict between religion and evolution. Using pre-post instructional surveys of students in introductory college biology, Study 1 establishes instructional strategies that can be effective for reducing students' perceived conflict between religion and evolution. Through interviews and qualitative analyses, Study 2 documents how instructors teaching evolution at public universities may be resistant towards implementing strategies that can reduce students' perceived conflict, perhaps because of their own lack of religious beliefs and lack of training and awareness about students' conflict with evolution. Interviews with religious students in Study 3 reveals that religious college biology students can perceive their instructors as unfriendly towards religion which can negatively impact these students' perceived conflict between religion and evolution. Study 4 explores how instructors at Christian universities, who share the same Christian backgrounds as their students, do not struggle with implementing strategies that reduce students' perceived conflict between religion and evolution. Cumulatively, these studies reveal a need for a new instructional framework for evolution education that takes into account the religious cultural difference between instructors who are teaching evolution and students who are learning evolution. As such, a new instructional framework is then described, Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE), that can help instructors teach evolution in a way that can reduce students' perceived conflict between religion and evolution, increase student acceptance of evolution, and create more inclusive college biology classrooms for religious students.
ContributorsBarnes, Maryann Elizabeth (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis advisor) / Nesse, Randolph (Committee member) / Collins, James (Committee member) / Husman, Jenefer (Committee member) / Maienschein, Jane (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Built upon Control Value Theory, this dissertation consists of two studies that examine university students’ future-oriented motivation, socio-emotional regulation, and diurnal cortisol patterns in understanding students’ well-being in the academic-context. Study 1 examined the roles that Learning-related Hopelessness and Future Time Perspective Connectedness play in predicting students’ diurnal cortisol patterns,

Built upon Control Value Theory, this dissertation consists of two studies that examine university students’ future-oriented motivation, socio-emotional regulation, and diurnal cortisol patterns in understanding students’ well-being in the academic-context. Study 1 examined the roles that Learning-related Hopelessness and Future Time Perspective Connectedness play in predicting students’ diurnal cortisol patterns, diurnal cortisol slope (DS) and cortisol awakening response (CAR). Self-reported surveys were collected (N = 60), and diurnal cortisol samples were provided over two waves, the week before a mid-term examination (n = 46), and the week during students’ mid-term (n = 40). Using multi-nomial logistic regression, results showed that Learning-related Hopelessness was not predictive of diurnal cortisol pattern change after adjusting for key covariates; and that Future Time Perspective Connectedness predicted higher likelihood for students to have low CAR across both waves of data collection. Study 2 examined students’ future-oriented motivation (Future Time Perspective Value) and socio-emotional regulation (Effortful Control and Social Support) in predicting diurnal cortisol patterns over the course of a semester. Self-reported surveys were collected (N = 67), and diurnal cortisol samples were provided over three waves of data collection, at the beginning of the semester (n = 63), during a stressful academic period (n = 47), and during a relaxation phase near the end of the semester (n = 43). Results from RM ANCOVA showed that Non-academic Social Support was negatively associated with CAR at the beginning of the semester. Multi-nomial logistics regression results indicated that Future Time Perspective Value and Academic Social Support jointly predicted CAR pattern change. Specifically, the interaction term marginally predicted a higher likelihood of students switching from having high CAR at the beginning or stressful times in the semester to having low CAR at the end the semester, compared to those who had low CAR over all three waves. The two studies have major limits in sample size, which restricted the full inclusion of all hypothesized covariates in statistical models, and compromised interpretability of the data. However, the methodology and theoretical implications are unique, providing contributions to educational research, specifically with regard to post-secondary students’ academic experience and well-being.
ContributorsCheng, Katherine C (Author) / Husman, Jenefer (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Granger, Douglas (Committee member) / Eggum-Wilkens, Natalie D (Committee member) / Pekrun, Reinhard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
The semiconductor field of Photovoltaics (PV) has experienced tremendous growth, requiring curricula to consider ways to promote student success. One major barrier to success students may face when learning PV is the development of misconceptions. The purpose of this work was to determine the presence and prevalence of misconceptions students

The semiconductor field of Photovoltaics (PV) has experienced tremendous growth, requiring curricula to consider ways to promote student success. One major barrier to success students may face when learning PV is the development of misconceptions. The purpose of this work was to determine the presence and prevalence of misconceptions students may have for three PV semiconductor phenomena; Diffusion, Drift and Excitation. These phenomena are emergent, a class of phenomena that have certain characteristics. In emergent phenomena, the individual entities in the phenomena interact and aggregate to form a self-organizing pattern that can be observed at a higher level. Learners develop a different type of misconception for these phenomena, an emergent misconception. Participants (N=41) completed a written protocol. The pilot study utilized half of these protocols (n = 20) to determine the presence of both general and emergent misconceptions for the three phenomena. Once the presence of both general and emergent misconceptions was confirmed, all protocols (N=41) were analyzed to determine the presence and prevalence of general and emergent misconceptions, and to note any relationships among these misconceptions (full study). Through written protocol analysis of participants' responses, numerous codes emerged from the data for both general and emergent misconceptions. General and emergent misconceptions were found in 80% and 55% of participants' responses, respectively. General misconceptions indicated limited understandings of chemical bonding, electricity and magnetism, energy, and the nature of science. Participants also described the phenomena using teleological, predictable, and causal traits, indicating participants had misconceptions regarding the emergent aspects of the phenomena. For both general and emergent misconceptions, relationships were observed between similar misconceptions within and across the three phenomena, and differences in misconceptions were observed across the phenomena. Overall, the presence and prevalence of both general and emergent misconceptions indicates that learners have limited understandings of the physical and emergent mechanisms for the phenomena. Even though additional work is required, the identification of specific misconceptions can be utilized to enhance semiconductor and PV course content. Specifically, changes can be made to curriculum in order to limit the formation of misconceptions as well as promote conceptual change.
ContributorsNelson, Katherine G (Author) / Brem, Sarah K. (Thesis advisor) / Mckenna, Ann F (Thesis advisor) / Hilpert, Jonathan (Committee member) / Honsberg, Christiana (Committee member) / Husman, Jenefer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014