Browsing by Subject "Undergraduates"
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Item Measuring how stress impacts physical activity behaviors in undergraduates(2015-08) Born, Katelyn Ann; Bartholomew, John B.; Jowers, EsbellePURPOSE: To examine the effect of self-reported life stress on objective measures of physical activity. METHODS: Participants were a convenience sample of 98 undergraduates. Participants wore an ActiGraph GT1M Accelerometer for 6 consecutive days. Thirty participants were eliminated due to insufficient wear time (at least 8 hours/day). On each day of the week, they completed the Perceived Stress Scale. This was used to identify their highest and lowest stress day of the week excluding weekends. In addition, participants were divided according to their reports of consistent, exercise behavior. ANALYSIS: A 2 (gender) X 2 (day) RM-ANOVA was conducted to examine differences in time spent in MVPA. RESULTS: There was a significant interaction for gender, in that females increased their time spent in MVPA on their high stress day compared to their low stress day while males MVPA did not change, F (1, 66) = 7.55, p = .008. DISCUSSION: These results support findings by Lutz et al (2010), and extend it by using a sample with males and an objective measure of MVPA. Future studies should investigate the impact of exercise behavior on the relationship between stress and exercise.Item Minding the verge: moderating webcasts+chat in a multi-section online undergraduate course(2009-08) Hamerly, Donald Wade; Immroth, Barbara FrolingCoincidental increases in online instruction at institutions of higher education and in online social networking generally in the U.S. have created opportunities for research into how digital interpersonal connectivity affects online learning. This study examined interactive webcasts, or webcasts plus chat, that were part of an online undergraduate course covering Internet knowledge and skills at a large public university. Symbolic interactionism served as the theoretical framework for explicating interactive webcasts as useful online learning environments by exploring the complex processes that instructional staff employed to manage their actions and interactions as moderators in the webcasts and chats. A constructivist grounded theory approach guided the collection and analysis of empirical data in the form of webcast media and transcripts, chat logs, students‘ reflective writing, and semi-structured, intensive interviews with instructional staff. From the study emerged theoretical categories in three tiers related to a generalized moderator process called minding the verge: moderators minded the verge in three conditions of interaction– converging, attending, and diverging; in three loci of interaction – webcasts, chats, and webcasts+chat; and through six actions of moderating – bonding, orientating, guiding, tending, validating, and branching. The results of this study provide moderators for the course with insights into their actions in the interactive webcasts and with concepts moderators can use to explore how to manage interactive webcasts more effectively. Beyond effecting substantive changes to interactive webcasts for the course, the study may guide others who wish to pursue further studies of webcasts+chat as they occur in the course or elsewhere, or of other mixed-media environments, or who wish to adopt mixed-media environments for instruction. Other potential areas for research that emerged from this study include the affective states of participants in the webcasts+chat and the use of affective devices, such as emoticons and abbreviations, for showing affective states; the effect that format has on the efficacy of webcasts+chat used for computer-mediated instruction; and the processes students employ to manage actions and interactions in the webcasts and chats.Item Structural and functional properties of environmental education and literacy in Texas: A multi-scaled approach to identifying patterns among organizations and effects of nature experiences on literacy levels of undergraduates(2013-05) Strovas, Jenny; Arsuffi, Tom; Bernal, Ximena E.; Duncan, Susan; Wallace, Mark C.; Zak, JohnNAItem Women in Construction Management: Identification of the Most Effective Factors in Attracting and Retaining Freshmen and Sophomore Level Students(2014-08-06) Mathew, MinnaDespite the several initiatives developed to encourage women to enter and remain in Construction Management (CM) programs, the percentage of women in CM continues to be low. This study was focused on identifying the factors and programs which are most effective in attracting and retaining female students in CM degree programs based on surveys administered to 40 female CM freshmen and sophomore students in five selected universities. Awareness of career opportunities in the construction industry, internships completed before entering the degree program, and field trips to job sites were reported by students to be the three factors which were the most positively influential in their decision to enter the construction management programs. Similarly, construction lab classes, scholarships and fellowships, and internships were identified as the most effective in retaining female CM students. The study also supports existing literature that there is a general lack of knowledge among high school students about the career opportunities and educational qualifications required in the construction industry. Several study participants advocated the need for high school initiatives such as shadowing programs to Construction Science classes and schools, mentoring programs, and workshops for high school students; and better advertisement. Finally, some guidelines on how to improve advertisement of the industry to recruit females into CM programs are also provided. Based on the results obtained, advertisements must emphasize career opportunities in the Commercial and Residential sectors of the industry in terms of job profiles (both field and office) and job security. Similarly, the target population should be made aware of the coursework of CM degree programs and the educational qualifications required for a career in the industry. Scholarships and fellowships offered should also be emphasized.