			Home About us Contact

Middle School Students (middle + school_student)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	29%
Education	26%
Psychology	21%
Humanities and Social Sciences	14%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	4%

Selected Abstracts

Ethnic Labels and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Drug Use among Middle School Students in the Southwest

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 1 2001
Flavio Francisco Marsiglia
This article explores differences in the self-reported drug use and exposure to drugs of an ethnically diverse group of 408 seventh-grade students from a large city in the southwest. We contrast the explanatory power of ethnic labels (African American, non-Hispanic White, Mexican American, and mixed ethnicity) and two dimensions of ethnic identity in predicting drug use. One dimension focuses on perceived ethnically consistent behavior, speech, and looks, while the other gauges a sense of ethnic pride. Ethnic labels were found to be somewhat useful in identifying differences in drug use, but the two ethnic identity measures, by themselves, did not generally help to explain differences in drug use. In conjunction, however, ethnic labels and ethnic identity measures explained far more of the differences in drug use than either did alone. The findings indicate that the two dimensions of ethnic identity predict drug outcomes in opposite ways, and these relations are different for minority students and non-Hispanic White students. Generally, African American, Mexican American, and mixed-ethnicity students with a strong sense of ethnic pride reported less drug use and exposure, while ethnically proud White students reported more. Ethnic minority students who viewed their behavior, speech, and looks as consistent with their ethnic group reported more drug use and exposure, while their White counterparts reported less. These findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided. [source]

Active Parent Consent for Health Surveys With Urban Middle School Students: Processes and Outcomes,

JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 2 2010
Molly Secor-Turner PhD
BACKGROUND: To achieve high participation rates and a representative sample, active parent consent procedures require a significant investment of study resources. The purpose of this article is to describe processes and outcomes of utilizing active parent consent procedures with sixth-grade students from urban, ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged K-8 public schools involved in an evaluation of a middle school service-learning program. METHODS: As part of the evaluation of the Lead Peace-Plus service-learning program, active parent consent was obtained for participation in school-based health surveys conducted with sixth graders in 3 schools. To achieve acceptable rates of parent permission, we employed multiple procedures including regular communication with school staff, incentives for involved schools and teachers, a multipronged approach for reaching parents, and direct encouragement of students to return forms through repeated classroom visits, individual and classroom incentives. We used Fisher's exact tests to compare selected characteristics among students whose parents weren't reached, those whose parents refused, and those whose parents consented to survey participation. RESULTS: We achieved a parent response rate of 94.6% among sixth-grade students. No significant differences in student gender, race/ethnicity, school, or free/reduced lunch status were identified across parent consent status groups. Rates of absenteeism were significantly higher (p = .03) among students whose parents weren't reached compared to other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Employing a multifaceted active parent consent campaign can result in high rates of parental response with limited sampling bias among an urban, ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged group of middle school students. [source]

Alcohol Use Among Rural Middle School Students: Adolescents, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders' Perceptions*

JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 2 2009
Laura DeHaan PhD
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND:, Although rural adolescents use of alcohol is at some of the highest rates nationally, rural adolescent alcohol use has not been studied extensively. This study examines how community attitudes and behaviors are related to adolescent drinking in rural environments. METHODS:, Data were gathered in 22 rural communities in the Upper Midwest (North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming). Surveys were collected from 1424 rural sixth- to eighth-grade adolescents and 790 adults, including parents, teachers, and community leaders. Census data were also collected. RESULTS:, Drinkers differed from nondrinkers by the following factors: higher perceptions of peer, parental, and overall community drinking, as well as lower levels of parental closeness and religiosity. Factors distinguishing binge and nonbinge drinkers were increased drinking to reduce stress, drinking to fit in, perceptions of peer drinking, and perceived lack of alternatives to drinking. Parents were significantly less likely to perceive adolescent alcohol use as a problem than other community adults; school officials were most likely to perceive it as a problem. Parental perceptions were also the least correlated to actual adolescent use, while adolescent perceptions were the most highly correlated. CONCLUSIONS:, Community fac tors such as overall prevalence of drinking, community support, and controls against drinking are important predictors of reported use in early adolescence. School officials were more likely to view adolescent alcohol use as a problem than were parents. School officials' perceptions of adolescent use were also more related to actual adolescent use than were parental perceptions of adolescent use. [source]

Prevention of Smoking Behaviors in Middle School Students: Student Nurse Interventions

PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2001
Marilyn P. Miller Ph.D.
This article examines the use of the Tar Wars curriculum with the public health problem of preteen smoking and outlines interventions with a middle school population by community health student nurses from a state university. Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and disability. Three million people die worldwide each year as a result of smoking. Cigarette smoking has now been labeled a pediatric disease. Estimates are that 3,000 children will begin a lifelong addiction to cigarettes every day. They will face a life of poor quality based on the medical consequences of smoking cigarettes. Mortality from tobacco use is annually greater than that from drug abuse, AIDS, suicide, homicide, and motor vehicle accidents combined. Preteen and teenage smoking is now a public health problem, therefore implications for service learning, nursing advocacy, and interventions with this health problem are discussed. [source]

A Tobit Regression Analysis of the Covariation Between Middle School Students' Perceived School Climate and Behavioral Problems

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2010
Ming-Te Wang
This study uses an ecological framework to examine how adolescents' perceptions of school climate in 6th grade covary with the probability and frequency of their engagement in problem behaviors in 7th and 8th grades. Tobit analysis was used to address the issue of having a highly skewed outcome variable with many zeros and yet account for censoring. The 677 participating students from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grade. The proportions of students reporting a positive school climate perception decreased over the middle school years for both genders, while the level of problem behavior engagement increased. The findings suggested that students who perceived higher levels of school discipline and order or more positive student,teacher relationships were associated with lower probability and frequency of subsequent behavioral problems. [source]

Boyfriends, Girlfriends and Teenagers' Risk of Sexual Involvement

PERSPECTIVES ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Issue 2 2006
Barbara VanOss Marín
CONTEXT: Having a boyfriend or girlfriend, especially an older one, is associated with increased sexual risk in early adolescence. The mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. METHODS: Middle school students in Northern California were surveyed annually from 1997 to 2000. For a sample of 1,214 males and 1,308 females who were sexually inexperienced in seventh grade, logistic and linear regression were used to explore associations between relationship status in seventh grade and sexual activity in ninth grade, controlling for sixth-grade and eighth-grade characteristics. RESULTS: Males who had had a girlfriend their age by seventh grade were more likely than those who had had no relationship to report sexual activity in ninth grade (odds ratio, 2.1). Similarly, for females, the odds of being sexually active in ninth grade were elevated among those who had had a boyfriend their age (2.9); however, they also were higher among those who had had an older boyfriend than among those who had had one their age (2.1). With sixth-grade risk factors controlled, relationship status in seventh grade remained significant only for females; the association was explained by early menarche and by participation in situations that could lead to sex and riskier peer norms in eighth grade. For males, eighth-grade situations that could lead to sex, Hispanic ethnicity and sixth-grade peer norms explained ninth-grade sexual behavior. CONCLUSIONS: To reduce the risk of adolescent sexual activity, parents and communities should encourage youth in middle school, especially females who experience early menarche, to delay serious romantic relationships. [source]

Perception of achievement attribution in individual and group contexts: Comparative analysis of Japanese, Korean, and Asian-American results

ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Yukiko Muramoto
The present study focuses on the relational dynamics between individual and group attributions and examines cultural variations of people's perceptions of self-enhancing and group-enhancing attributions. Middle school students in Japan, Korea and the USA (Hawaii) were asked to read a vignette and to evaluate the stimulus person who makes an internal or external attribution for his personal or team's success. The results revealed that: (i) the self-effacing attributor was perceived as likable by the participants from all three cultures, but as less self-confident by Asian-Americans; and (ii) although Japanese and Koreans share similar cultural backgrounds, they had different preferences for the group-enhancing or group-effacing attributions. The different systems of self-enhancement across cultures are discussed. [source]

Virtual reality simulations in Web-based science education

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 1 2002
Young-Suk Shin
Abstract This article presents the educational possibilities of Web-based science education using a desktop virtual reality (VR) system. A Web site devoted to science education for middle school students has been designed and developed in the areas of earth sciences: meteorology, geophysics, geology, oceanography, and astronomy. Learners can establish by themselves the pace of their lessons using learning contents considered learner level and they can experiment in real time with the concepts they have learned, interacting with VR environments that we provide. A VR simulation program developed has been evaluated with a questionnaire from learners after learning freely on the Web. This study shows that Web-based science education using VR can be effectively used as a virtual class. When we consider the rapid development of VR technology and lowering of cost, the study can construct more immersive environments for the education in the near future. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 10: 18,25, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com.); DOI 10.1002/cae.10014 [source]

Conflict within the structure of peer mediation: An examination of controlled confrontations in an at-risk school

CONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2007
Chris L. Nix
The purpose of the research reported in this article was to examine the conflict mediation process among middle school students through critical observations and by addressing the disputants' perceptions of their experiences. The interactions and mediations that were observed are examined by the ways in which mediators' adherence to, and deviation from, the mediation script influenced the mediation and the disputants' perceptions of their mediation experience. [source]

The Role of Interest in Fostering Sixth Grade Students' Identities As Competent Learners

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 1 2000
Jean C. Mcphail
The combined works of John Dewey and Jerome Bruner provide a framework spanning a century of educational thought which can inform curriculum decisions concerning students' educational development, especially for middle school students whose waning of motivation toward school has been well documented by researchers and has long concerned parents and teachers. This framework, combined with recent contributions of motivation and interest researchers, can create broad understandings of how to collaboratively construct effective educational contexts. As early as 1913, Dewey specifically looked at the pivotal role of students' genuine interests in Interest and Effort in Education. Our current research focus on how students' interest can inform curricular contexts marks the recent shift showing an increased use of interest in education research since 1990. In this article, we discuss our study of a team-taught double classroom of sixth grade students whose interests were determined through a series of brainstorming sessions, and individual and focus group interviews. Students' interests fell into six categories centering around subject areas such as Drama, Science, and Animal Studies. Learning contexts were constructed around four of these subject areas. Students participated in their first or second choice of subject area group. We found significantly higher scores on measures of Affect and Activation if students participated in their first choice group. We found intra-group unities of preferred and dispreferred ways of learning which distinguished each group from the class as a whole. Finally, our findings indicated that students reliably described their genuine interests over time. Students' interests were found to be effective tools for informing curriculum decisions in the creation of sixth grade learning contexts. [source]

Violent victimization and drug involvement among Mexican middle school students

ADDICTION, Issue 6 2006
Luciana Ramos-Lira
ABSTRACT Aims To answer the following research questions: (a) is there an association between violent victimization and exposure to opportunities to use marijuana, inhalants and cocaine and (b) is there an association between violent victimization and actual drug use among youth with drug-using opportunities? Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Two middle schools located in the Historic Downtown area of Mexico City. Participants The entire body of students (n = 767; mean age 13.8 years, 52% males). Measurements Qualitative research was used to develop questions on drug exposure opportunities and violent victimization. Standardized questions on life-time alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalant drugs and cocaine use were also included, as well as questions on violent victimization and other covariates. Findings One-quarter (25%) of students had an opportunity to try marijuana, inhalant drugs or cocaine; 35% who had an opportunity actually used at least one drug. In this sample, 59% had been victimized violently. Youth who had been victimized had greater odds of opportunities to use drugs compared to those who had not been victimized [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.4, 6.1]. Once exposure opportunity is taken into consideration, no association was evident between violent victimization and actual drug use (adjusted OR = 0.9; 95% CI, 0.4, 2.1). Conclusions It is possible to trace back the association between violent victimization and drug use to differences in exposure to opportunities. Limitations considered, this study suggests interventions to improve micro and macro contexts, such as families, schools and communities, so young people can have better places to live and develop. [source]

Early Adolescence Talking Points: Questions that Middle School Students Want To Ask Their Parents,

FAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 1 2004
Rhonda A. Richardson
In early adolescence, young people need caring parents to guide them through numerous changes and decisions. Little is known about what particular issues middle school students want to discuss with their parents. This study provides a basis for promoting parent,child communication by identifying topics that young adolescents would like to talk about with parents, using responses from 1,124 students age 10 to 15. Findings were that the largest percentage of questions pertained to family issues, whereas only 1 in 4 dealt with sensitive subjects such as drugs and sex. Implications for practice are included. [source]

Theory-Based Determinants of Youth Smoking: A Multiple Influence Approach,

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2004
Scott C. Carvajal
This study tested a broad array of determinants of smoking grounded in general social psychological theories, as well as personality and social development theories. Using data from 2,004 middle school students, all proximal and distal determinants significantly predicted smoking in the hypothesized direction. Further, hierarchical logistic regressions showed that intention to smoke, positive and negative attitudes toward smoking, impediments to smoking, self-efficacy to resist smoking, parent norms, and academic success most strongly predicted current smoking. Hierarchical linear regressions suggested that parental relatedness, maladaptive coping strategies, depression, and low academic aspirations most strongly predicted susceptibility to smoking for those who had not yet smoked a cigarette. Global expectancies were the strongest predictor of susceptibility in low socioeconomic status students. These findings may guide the development of future theory-based interventions that produce the greatest reductions in youth smoking. [source]

The Impact of Multiple Dimensions of Ethnic Identity on Discrimination and Adolescents' Self-Estees

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 11 2003
Andrea J. Romero
The rejection-identification model is investigated with multiple dimensions of ethnic identity in a sample of Mexican American youth. It is hypothesized that more perceived discrimination will be associated with higher ethnic identity in general, but that the multiple dimensions of ethnic identity will be associated differentially with discrimination. Higher perceived discrimination will be associated with more ethnic exploration and less ethnic affirmation. Self-report questionnaires were completed by middle school students of Mexican descent (N= 881). Based on structural equation modeling, the data were found to fit the rejection-identification model (p < .05). Higher discrimination was associated with lower ethnic affirmation (p < .05) and lower ethnic exploration (p < .05). Post hoc analyses indicated a significant interaction between discrimination and ethnic affirmation (p < .01) such that youth with high ethnic affirmation who experienced high discrimination still reported high self-esteem. The findings are discussed in the context of understanding methods of coping with prejudice and discrimination that will enhance the mental well-being of minority youth. [source]

A Longitudinal Study to Determine the Effects of Mentoring on Middle School Youngsters by Nursing and Other College Students

JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 4 2007
APRN-BC, Sylvia M. A. Whiting PhD
PURPOSE:, This study aims to utilize nursing and other college students in conducting a mentoring project aimed at determining outcomes of behavior and attitude of high-risk middle school students over a 5-year period. METHOD:, A quasi-experimental study with a sample of fifth and sixth graders was conducted in which mentored subjects were tested using multiple instruments and school data to identify behavioral and attitudinal outcomes. Statistical analyses were conducted using chi-square and one-way analysis of variance. FINDINGS:, Academically below-average males in the treatment group were the only cohort demonstrating significant change across all measures. The magnitude of change in this cohort, however, did significantly affect treatment group outcomes overall. Females in both treatment and control groups reflected similar changes. CONCLUSIONS:, Mentoring of schoolchildren is difficult to accomplish using college mentors because of time and schedule commitments. When college mentors are used, grade allocation seems to be a stronger incentive than when payment is the sole reward. Males whose grades are below average demonstrated positive outcomes from the mentoring experience. [source]

Presumed Influence on Peer Norms: How Mass Media Indirectly Affect Adolescent Smoking

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2006
Albert C. Gunther
In the context of adolescent smoking adoption, this study examined the presumed influence hypothesis, a theoretical model suggesting that smoking-related media content may have a significant indirect influence on adolescent smoking via its effect on perceived peer norms. That is, adolescents may assume that smoking-related messages in the mass media will influence the attitudes and behaviors of their peers and these perceptions in turn can influence adolescents' own smoking behaviors. Analyzing data from a sample of 818 middle school students, we found that both pro- and antismoking messages indirectly influenced smoking susceptibility through their perceived effect on peers. However, this indirect effect was significantly stronger for prosmoking messages than for antismoking messages, an outcome that most likely increases adolescents' susceptibility to cigarettes. [source]

Going for the Goal: Improving youths' problem-solving skills through a school-based intervention

JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
Todd C. O'Hearn
This study evaluated Going for the Goal (GOAL), a school-based intervention designed by Danish and colleagues to teach life skills to at-risk urban adolescents. We extended previous evaluation of GOAL by including an assessment of means-ends problem-solving skills. The 10-week program was administered to 479 middle school students by 46 trained high school student leaders in a predominantly Hispanic community. The program focused on setting positive, reachable goals; anticipating and responding to barriers to goal attainment; using social support; and building on one's strengths. Results demonstrated gains in knowledge of the skills being taught and improvement in problem-solving skills. Leaders also showed an increase in their knowledge of life skills. The approach maximizes both community resources and ecological validity while giving high school leaders the chance to benefit in their role as helpers. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Determinants of Online Privacy Concern and Its Influence on Privacy Protection Behaviors Among Young Adolescents

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2009
SEOUNMI YOUN
With Rogers' protection motivation theory as the theoretical framework, this study identified determinants of young adolescents' level of privacy concerns, which, in turn, affects their resultant coping behaviors to protect privacy. Survey data from 144 middle school students revealed that perceived risks of information disclosure increased privacy concerns, whereas perceived benefits offered by information exchange decreased privacy concerns. Subsequently, privacy concerns had an impact on risk-coping behaviors such as seeking out interpersonal advice or additional information (e.g., privacy statement) or refraining from using Web sites that ask for personal information. Counter to our expectation, privacy self-efficacy did not appear to be related to privacy concerns. Implications of privacy education to protect online privacy among young adolescents were discussed. [source]

The Sensitivity of Value-Added Teacher Effect Estimates to Different Mathematics Achievement Measures

JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 1 2007
J. R. Lockwood
Using longitudinal data from a cohort of middle school students from a large school district, we estimate separate "value-added" teacher effects for two subscales of a mathematics assessment under a variety of statistical models varying in form and degree of control for student background characteristics. We find that the variation in estimated effects resulting from the different mathematics achievement measures is large relative to variation resulting from choices about model specification, and that the variation within teachers across achievement measures is larger than the variation across teachers. These results suggest that conclusions about individual teachers' performance based on value-added models can be sensitive to the ways in which student achievement is measured. [source]

Establishing Independence in Low-Income Urban Areas: The Relationship to Adolescent Aggressive Behavior

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 3 2003
Kathleen M. Roche
Although adolescents in poor urban areas often assume independent, adult-like roles, relatively little is known about the relationship between these roles and other adolescent behaviors. This research examines the association between independent roles occurring within different contexts (e.g. family, peer, work) and aggressive behavior among 516 low-income, urban middle school students. Overall, adolescent employment is related to increases in aggressive behavior. However, associations that familial and peer independent roles have with aggression differ by the extent of youth involvement in paid work. Greater engagement in familial independent roles is associated with decreased aggression among employed adolescents, but with increased aggression among unemployed youth. Also, peer independent roles are related to significantly greater increases in aggression among unemployed, compared with employed, adolescents. [source]

Students' use of the energy model to account for changes in physical systems

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 4 2008
Nicos Papadouris
Abstract The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which students, aged 11,14 years, account for certain changes in physical systems and the extent to which they draw on an energy model as a common framework for explaining changes observed in diverse systems. Data were combined from two sources: interviews with 20 individuals and an open-ended questionnaire that was administered to 240 students (121 upper elementary school students and 119 middle school students). We observed a wealth of approaches ranging from accounts of energy transfer and transformation to responses identifying specific objects or processes as the cause of changes. The findings also provide evidence that students do not seem to appreciate the transphenomenological and unifying nature of energy. Students' thinking was influenced by various conceptual difficulties that are compounded by traditional science teaching; for instance, students tended to confuse energy with force or electric current. In addition, the comparison between the responses from middle school students and those of elementary school students demonstrates that science teaching and maturation appeared to have a negligible influence on whether students had constructed a coherent energy model, which they could use consistently to account for changes in certain physical systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 444,469, 2008 [source]

Robotics and science literacy: Thinking skills, science process skills and systems understanding

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 3 2008
Florence R. Sullivan
Abstract This paper reports the results of a study of the relationship of robotics activity to the use of science literacy skills and the development of systems understanding in middle school students. Twenty-six 11,12-year-olds (22 males and 4 females) attending an intensive robotics course offered at a summer camp for academically advanced students participated in the research. This study analyzes how students utilized thinking skills and science process skills characteristic of scientifically literate individuals to solve a robotics challenge. In addition, a pre/post test revealed that course participants increased their systems understanding, t (21),=,22.47, p,<,.05. It is argued that the affordances of the robotics environment coupled with a pedagogical approach emphasizing open-ended, extended inquiry prompts the utilization of science literacy-based thinking and science process skills and leads to increased systems understanding. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 373,394, 2008 [source]

Sources of science self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 5 2006
Shari L. Britner
The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which A. Bandura's (1997) hypothesized sources of self-efficacy predict the science self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students (N,=,319), to replicate previous findings that science self-efficacy predicts science achievement, and to explore how science self-efficacy and its antecedents differ by gender. Significant correlations were found between mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasions, physiological arousal, and self-efficacy. Only mastery experiences significantly predicted science self-efficacy. Girls reported stronger science self-efficacy than did boys. Findings support and extend the theoretical tenets of Bandura's social cognitive theory. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 485,499, 2006 [source]

Middle school students' beliefs about matter

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 5 2005
Mary B. Nakhleh
The objective of this study was to examine middle school students' developing understanding of the nature of matter and to compare middle school students' ideas to those of elementary schools students, as was done by Nakhleh and Samarapungavan [J Res Sci Teach 36(7):777,805, 1999]. Nine middle school students were interviewed using a scripted, semistructured interview. The interview probed students' understanding of the composition and particulate (atomic/molecular) structure of a variety of material substances; the relationship between particulate structure and macroscopic properties such as fluidity and malleability; as well as understanding of processes such as phase transition and dissolving. The results indicate that most of the middle school students interviewed knew that matter was composed of atoms and molecules and some of them were able to use this knowledge to explain some processes such as phase transitions of water. In contrast, almost no elementary students knew that matter was composed of atoms and molecules. However, the middle school students were unable to consistently explain material properties or processes based on their knowledge of material composition. In contrast to elementary school students, who had scientifically inaccurate but relatively consistent (macrocontinuous or macroparticulate) knowledge frameworks, the middle school students could not be classified as having consistent knowledge frameworks because their ideas were very fragmented. The fragmentation of middle school students' ideas about matter probably reflects the difficulty of assimilating the microscopic level scientific knowledge acquired through formal instruction into students' initial macroscopic knowledge frameworks. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

The nature of middle school learners' science content understandings with the use of on-line resources

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 3 2003
Joseph L. Hoffman
Early research on using the World Wide Web indicated that middle school students did not explore much and used Web tools naively. In response to these challenges, an on-line research engine, Artemis, was designed to provide a permanent workspace and allow students access to preselective on-line resources. This study investigated the depth and accuracy of sixth-grade students' content understandings as well as their use of search and assess strategies when they used on-line resources via Artemis. Eight student pairs from two science classes experienced support from teachers and used scaffolded curriculum materials while completing four on-line inquiry units during 9 months. Multiple sources of data were collected, including video recordings of students' computer activities and conversations, students' artifacts and on-line postings, classroom and lab video recordings, and interview transcripts. Analyses of data showed that students constructed meaningful understandings through on-line inquiry, although the accuracy and depth of their understandings varied. The findings suggest that students might develop accurate and in-depth understandings if they use search and assess strategies appropriately, if resources are thoughtfully chosen, and if support from the learning environment is extensively provided. This research lends evidence to questions regarding the value of students engaging in on-line inquiry. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 323,346, 2003 [source]

Comparing the epistemological underpinnings of students' and scientists' reasoning about conclusions

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 6 2001
Kathleen Hogan
This study examined the criteria that middle school students, nonscientist adults, technicians, and scientists used to rate the validity of conclusions drawn by hypothetical students from a set of evidence. The groups' criteria for evaluating conclusions were considered to be dimensions of their epistemological frameworks regarding how knowledge claims are justified, and as such are integral to their scientific reasoning. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that the responses of students and nonscientists differed from the responses of technicians and scientists, with the major difference being the groups' relative emphasis on criteria of empirical consistency or plausibility of the conclusions. We argue that the sources of the groups' differing epistemic criteria rest in their different spheres of cultural practice, and explore implications of this perspective for science teaching and learning. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 663,687, 2001 [source]

Utilizing Peer Nominations in Middle School: A Longitudinal Comparison Between Complete Classroom-Based and Random List Methods

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2010
Amy Bellmore
Although peer nominations provide invaluable data on social status and reputations of classmates, the large size and organizational structure of secondary schools pose a practical challenge to utilizing nomination methods. Particularly problematic is determining the appropriate reference group when students are no longer in self-contained classrooms. In the current study, we compared a random list method as an alternative to complete classroom-based or grade list peer nominations. In a 3-year longitudinal study of 2,307 middle school students, the temporal stability and construct validity of the method were assessed regarding peer acceptance, rejection, coolness, aggression, and victimization. The findings suggested that the random list procedure provides a feasible method to study large peer groups in secondary school settings. [source]

Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescence: Their Relations with Classroom Problem Behavior and Peer Status

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 4 2002
Jeff Kiesner
It has been suggested that early antisocial behavior plays a causal role in the development of depression during childhood and adolescence through pervasive failures in social competence and social acceptance (Patterson & Capaldi, 1990). The present study was conducted to test this hypothesis by examining longitudinal data from a sample of 215 Italian middle school students. Analyses revealed that Time 1 (T1) problem behavior predicted both Time 2 (T2) peer status and T2 depressive symptoms, even after controlling for T1 peer status and depressive symptoms, respectively. Moreover, T1 peer status predicted depressive symptoms at T2, even after controlling for prior levels of depressive symptoms. However, analyses did not support the hypothesis that peer rejection mediates the effects of problem behavior on depression. [source]

Active Parent Consent for Health Surveys With Urban Middle School Students: Processes and Outcomes,

Salient Environmental and Perceptual Correlates of Current and Established Smoking for 2 Representative Cohorts of Indiana Adolescents

JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 3 2009
Dong-Chul Seo PhD
ABSTRACT PURPOSE:, A secondary analysis of 2000 and 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS) data was conducted to investigate salient environmental and perceptual correlates of adolescents' current and established smoking while controlling for demographic variables such as gender, grade, and race/ethnicity and to compare the pattern of significant correlates between the years. METHODS:, The IYTS was an anonymous school-based survey regarding tobacco use; familiarity with pro- and anti-tobacco media messages; exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); minors' access to tobacco products; and general knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about tobacco. In 2000, a representative sample of 1416 public high school students in grades 9-12 and 1516 public middle school students in grades 6-8 (71.44% and 72.53% response rates, respectively) were surveyed. In 2004, 3433 public high school students and 1990 public middle school students (63.04% and 65.44 % response rates, respectively) were surveyed. RESULTS:, Significant predictors of adolescents' current and established smoking habits included exposure to ETS either in homes or in cars, exposure to pro-tobacco messages, perceived benefit of smoking, and perceived peer acceptance of smoking. The influence of exposure to pro-tobacco messages greatly outweighed exposure to any anti-tobacco messages. CONCLUSIONS:, The findings of this study warrant that more efforts and resources be placed on preventing youth from being exposed to ETS, and to control pro-tobacco marketing and improve the tobacco counter-marketing messages. The perceived benefits of smoking found here indicate that smoking for relaxation and weight control may be major influencing factors on adolescent smoking. [source]