Browsing by Author "Denis Gray, Committee Member"

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The Effects of Automated Decision Aid Reliability and Algorithm Modality on Reported Trust and Task Performance
(2007-12-11) Oduor, Kenya Freeman; Robert St. Amant, Committee Co-Chair; Eric N. Wiebe, Committee Co-Chair; Michael P. Etgen, Committee Member; Rupert Nacoste, Committee Member; Denis Gray, Committee Member
The Impact of Institutional Investment in Alcohol Prevention on Drinking and Drinking Related Consequences Among Fraternity Members
(2006-11-21) Simons-Rudolph, Joseph M; William Schlenger, Committee Member; Roger Mitchell, Committee Chair; Denis Gray, Committee Member; Thomas Ricketts, Committee Member
National estimates suggest that at least 20 percent of undergraduates report episodic heavy drinking and 20 percent report frequent heavy drinking (Berkowitz & Perkins, 1986; Pendergast, 1994; Wechsler et al., 1998). Students who drink frequently and heavily are at a much higher risk of experiencing alcohol related consequences such as assaults, academic, and social problems. (Wechsler, Lee et al., 2000). Of student subgroups, fraternity members consistently drink more heavily and more frequently than their college peers putting them at a much higher risk of experiencing alcohol related consequences (Danielson, Taylor, & Hartford, 2001; Pace & McGrath, 2002; Wechsler & et al., 1996). Recent national expert panels have called for more comprehensive, ecological and empirically based approaches to reduce drinking and related problems among college students (Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002a, 2002b). However, many colleges and universities do not have the infrastructure in place (e.g, regular assessment of student alcohol use; university-community coalitions) needed to support such comprehensive initiatives (DeJong & Langford, 2002, Wechsler, Seibring, Liu, & Ahl, 2004). This purpose of this study was to examine the impact of institutional investments in prevention infrastructure on fraternity members' drinking frequency and drinking related consequences The study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine secondary data collected in 2000 from 1,254 fraternity members across 31 campuses. Drinking frequency was assessed using the timeline followback technique (Sobell & Sobell, 2003) administered through Audio-CASI interviews, and drinking related consequences were assessed using with the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) (Brown et al, 1980). Institutional investment in prevention was significantly and negatively associated with drinking related consequences, even when controlling for individual covariates (i.e., fraternity residence, social norms, sensation seeking, positive alcohol expectancies, family history of alcohol use, and age of first use of alcohol ) and institutional level covariates (i.e. enrollment, region of country and urban or rural location). There were no significant relationship between institutional investment and drinking frequency. These results were replicated in analyses of a subsample of universities (n=23), in which increases in institutional investment from 1997 and 2000 were significantly associated with fewer drinking related consequences. The strengths of the study include a focus on a high risk group (i.e., fraternities), robust measures of drinking frequency and consequences, and the use of HLM to deal with the nested nature of the data. Limitations of the study include the small sample size at the University level, limits of the 5 item institutional investment scale, and the lack of longitudinal data for student outcomes. Suggestions for future research and intervention are provided.
Impact of Undergraduates' Stereotypes of Scientists on their Intentions to Pursue a Career in Science
(2010-04-30) Schneider, Jennifer Shields; Mary Wyer, Committee Chair; Denis Gray, Committee Member; Sylvia Nassar-McMillan, Committee Member; Shevaun Neupert , Committee Member
Women remain disproportionately represented in certain science, technology, engineering, and math majors and occupations. Stereotypes of scientists may help expose the reasons for this phenomenon. However, this relationship has not yet been empirically examined. This is partly because of the dearth of literature addressing the stereotypes of scientists and the absence of measures aimed at capturing more current concepts of scientists. This research study investigates whether undergraduatesâ€™ stereotypes of scientists predict their intentions to pursue a career in science. Further, this research examines whether or not science and engineering (S&E) academic majors are likely to have intentions of pursuing a science career and whether or not this relationship varies by gender. A sample of 1639 undergraduates, from diverse universities and academic majors, took a ten-minute online survey assessing their stereotypes of science, academic major, and intention of pursuing a career in a science field. Hierarchical and multiple regression analyses determined undergraduatesâ€™ stereotypes of scientists and their academic major predict oneâ€™s intentions of pursing a science career; however, results did not show that these relationships vary by gender. The strongest predictors of an undergraduateâ€™s intentions of pursuing a science career were their academic major and their stereotypes of scientistsâ€™ Interpersonal Competencies. A one-way ANOVA found undergraduatesâ€™ with S&E majors agreed more than non-S&E majors that scientistsâ€™ have Interpersonal Competencies. Although both males and females perceived scientists as having strong Professional Competencies, females had higher agreement scores for scientistsâ€™ Professional Competencies than males.
Variations in Student Development Trajectories in Reading and Mathematics: A Multilevel Growth Mixture Model Approach.
(2007-04-06) Ward, Stephen James; Bart Craig, Committee Member; Donald W. Drewes, Committee Chair; Denis Gray, Committee Member; Lori Foster-Thompson, Committee Member
Lack of student achievement has long been a cause of national concern. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act of 2001 represents the latest attempt to both correct past educational inequities and to improve the competitiveness of American education. NCLB mandates that all students must meet proficiency standards by the 2013-14 school year. To determine whether students are on track to meet this goal, NCLB uses the metric of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Presently, AYP appears to be set in terms of what is required to meet the 2013-14 goal with no consideration of how student growth and development actually occurs. Moreover, this type of goal assumes that all students can develop or progress at the same rate, in other word, "one size fits all." This study sought to examine this "one size fits all" assumption through the examination of unobserved heterogeneity in student growth trajectories. Specifically, this study sought to determine whether student growth trajectories in reading and mathematics between grade 3 and grade 8 could be adequately described by either single or multiple classes of growth using a multi-level growth mixture modeling approach. Further, the study examined the effects of gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, parental education, and Local Educational Area (LEA) funding upon these growth trajectories. In terms of classes of growth trajectories, the results clearly suggest the existence of multiple classes of growth for both reading and mathematics. All individual level covariates influenced either membership in a growth class or the latent growth factors or both class membership and growth factors. In contrast, LEA level funding covariates effects were in general not supported. Relationships, for the most part, were consistent across primary and replication samples. Lastly, implications for educational practice, educational policy, Industrial⁄Organization psychology, and research are discussed along with the limitations of the present study.