Numerous theories have attempted to explain possible factors relating to an individual's propensity for engaging or failing to engage in preventative health behaviors. The Health Locus of Control (HLOC) is now considered to be an important variable for understanding an individual's likelihood for following health promoting behaviors. This paper…

The study described in this report investigated the effects of field-based reflective practice on preservice teachers' sense of self-efficacy. Subjects in the study were 24 senior elementary majors participating in a 4-week field experience. Twelve students were assigned to the experimental school and 12 were assigned to two control schools. Each…

The effects of strategy fading and progress feedback on children's achievement outcomes were investigated. Forty-four fifth graders with reading-skills deficiencies from 2 elementary schools received instruction on locating main ideas. Children were taught and verbalized a strategy, and some faded the verbalizations to inner speech. Half of the…

This study was conducted to examine changes in the self-perceived efficacy of teacher education majors who were surveyed first as student teachers in 1992 and again as first-year teachers in 1993. The instrument used was a survey of 30 items related to the Mississippi Teacher Assessment Instrument competencies and indicators. Thirteen of the…

This investigation examined the relationship between personal efficacy ratings of preservice teachers seeking licensure in the area of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and performance ratings by their practicum supervisors. Forty-five teachers completing the Emotional Behavioral Disorders practicum at the University of Minnesota were asked…

This paper describes a national 3-year project, the Empowered School District Project, which was implemented in nine school districts to empower school participants. This paper focuses on the efforts to empower students by helping them become independent, lifelong learners. The project was implemented in nine schools--five elementary and four high…

This study was conducted to examine the influences of prior school experience on student teachers' thinking. It includes descriptions of students' prior school experiences and an intervention in which students were asked to reflect on and re-evaluate those experiences. Beliefs about education, learning, self worth, abilities, and the development…

Currently available measures of self-efficacy described in educational and psychological research literature were cataloged and reviewed after a literature search. To identify and locate these measures, searches of "Psychological Abstracts" and the ERIC system were conducted using self-efficacy and related keywords. Results of the…

The development and validation of two instruments which measure attitudes and self-efficacy of teacher education students and practicing teachers toward computer use are described. One instrument--Attitudes toward Computer Technologies (ACT)--assesses perceived usefulness of and comfort/anxiety with computer technologies. The second…

A study examined reading performance, metacognitive knowledge about reading, awareness of the conventions about print, perceptions of reading ability, and causal attributions for success and failure in reading of children with reading difficulties in Year 2 in Australia. One hundred children from the Brisbane region were involved in the…

Competence in interpersonal communication skills has been emphasized as a necessity among human service professionals and this emphasis has resulted in an increasing number of counseling psychology and counselor education programs including a course in interpersonal skills training as part of their curriculum. The purpose of this study was to…

This study investigated the cognitive styles, attributions, and self-evaluations of 40 gifted girls and 40 gifted boys, grades 6 through 8. Informational attributional ratings for task difficulty, luck, ability, and effort were studied in the context of: (1) an individual non-competitive goal structure; (2) a competitive goal structure; (3)…

Fifty-nine Mexican-American families, each with a child between age 5 and 9, participated in a study to determine whether paternal proximal behaviors related to child ability and achievement. Proximal behaviors studied were: (1) teaching strategies; (2) language in literacy related activities; (3) involvement level in childcare; and (4) select…

The purpose of the research study was to investigate the leisure behavior, social avoidance and distress, social self-efficacy, life satisfaction, global function, and negative symptoms of 26 individuals with chronic mental illnesses who reside in group homes. The study used a treatment group and a control group design to evaluate the…

This study tested various aspects of the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) suggested by Lent, et al. (1994), addressing whether these constructs could be modeled using data from adolescents participating in a minority teacher recruitment program for urban and rural at-risk minority students. The study hypothesized that self-efficacy and…