|
Using Active Learning in Public Relations Instruction: Demographic Predictors of Faculty Use Charles A. Lubbers A. Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 66506-1501 (913) 532-6890 [office] (913) 532-7309 [fax] email: [log in to unmask] and Diane A. Gorcyca Department of Communication Studies Missouri Western State College Saint Joseph, MO 64507 (816)271-4387 email: [log in to unmask] Please address correspondence to Charles Lubbers. Running head: ACTIVE LEARNING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Active Learning Using Active Learning in Public Relations Instruction: Demographic Predictors of Faculty Use ABSTRACT This paper presents the arguments for including active learning in undergraduate education and presents the results of a national survey of nearly 200 public relations instructors regarding their use of active learning. On average, respondents report they often use the ten active learning approaches identified in the survey. Additionally, regression analysis indicates that some demographic characteristics of public relations faculty (eg. academic degree, years of teaching, and age) are significant predictors of willingness to use these activities. INTRODUCTION Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves. (Chickering and Gamson, 1991, 66) Chickering and Gamson's (1991) statement is central to the notion of active learning in undergraduate education, and would surely be applauded by the myriad of groups calling for improvements in college and university instruction. The call for improvements in undergraduate education are also coming from Journalism and Mass Communication educators. The January, 1996 issue of AEJMC News presents the results of Committee on Teaching Standards' review of the 1994-95 annual reports from each AEJMC division (Johnson et al., 1996). Their report highlights commendable activities observed in the annual reports. Under the section related to teaching methods, nearly all of these recognized activities relate to making the student an active learner. The following are examples of their activities which apply to active learning. --Overcoming student apathy toward a particular course or courses. --Articles in the newsletter that encourage participatory student activities, so that students become active rather than passive learners. --Alternative teaching methods; beyond lecture and discussion in the classroom. --Surveys of key case studies important to a particular field/ course; use of case studies in the classroom. (Johnson et al., 1996) Whether the motivation is to improve instruction solely for the benefit of the student, or to respond to public concerns about the quality of post-secondary instruction, many individuals are calling for a new focus on active learning. Education is an operationalization of the word "process." In order to be effective in the educational setting, constant readjustment and invention are the keys to success. Educators, at all levels, are continually exploring new learning vistas in order to more adequately adjust not only to changing student populations, but also to pressures from various interest groups, not the least of which are politicians and the business community. One response, at the post-secondary level, to demands from various groups may well be the recent flurry of writings on the use of active learning strategies in the classroom. Public relations courses offer a perfect opportunity for incorporation of many active learning techniques. This paper will first define the issues involved in an active learning approach. Secondly, specific areas suggested for strategies will be covered. Finally, the results of a national survey which included items on active learning and was administered to public relations faculty will be presented. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Bonwell and Eison (1991) offer the most commonly cited definition of active learning. They stress that "...students must do more than just listen: They must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving problems. Most important, to be actively involved, students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Within this context, it is proposed that strategies promoting active learning be defined as instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing" (p. iii). The processes involved in communication and instruction are directly analogous to each other. Ann Stanton (1989) concluded "the two concepts are related integrally in that instruction is actually a communicative process" (p. 364). If this is the case, exclusive dependence upon the lecture mode denies the process approach. "...Educators may want to consider increasing the amount of classroom time devoted to ...handling questions and answers, and small group discussion" ( Johnson and Szczupakiewicz, 1987, p. 136). Emphasizing the role active learning techniques could play in the educational process, Stanton elaborates , "It is through communicative interaction (e.g., between teacher and students, between peers, between parents and students) that instruction occurs. Learning is accomplished when communication is successful, i.e., when instructor and students come to shared understanding" (p. 364). Most Public Relations instructors are skilled in this art of participatory learning, engaging our students in class discussion, class presentations, and other such "active learning" exercises. These acts go beyond the traditional lecture/open it up for question format. Bernstein (1994), for example, outlines research related to the use of discussion as a teaching technique. In the traditional lecture/question setting, we need to ask ourselves, how many of our students actually respond during a general class discussion; will students ask questions, and will these questions promote participatory learning? West and Pearson (1994) discovered that in large lecture rooms few students ask questions (an average of 3.6 per hour of instruction) and when they do, the vast majority of the questions were procedural and information seeking questions. Few questions have anything to do with the subject matter being presented (p. 359). If this is the typical classroom questioning behavior of students, then few students may be taking the opportunity to actively participate in the learning process. A focus on an active approach contradicts the approach to classroom teaching based on the conceptualization of students passively receiving information and being expected to have the ability and the desire to formulate the transfer to this information to different contextual situations. McKeachie (1994) adds a caution to the blanket expansion of active learning techniques in education. "If instructors expect students to learn skills, the students have to practice, but practice doesn't make perfect. Practice works if learners see the results of their practice and gain information from the results about what to do" (p. 282). The caution presented by McKeachie involves the area of student motivation. "To develop critical thinking, students must learn to want to think" (p. 282). By combining the concepts of active learning and motivation, "...active learners are more likely to be attentive and to be thinking about the topic, relating new knowledge to previous learning and elaborating the implications of what they have learned" (p. 284). Bonwell and Eison (1991) identify five strategies associated with "active learning" (p. 2). These strategies are: a). students are involved in more than listening; b). less emphasis is placed on transmitting information and more on developing student's skills; c). students are involved in higher order thinking (e.g., analysis, synthesis, evaluation); d). students are engaged in activities (e.g., reading, discussing, writing); e). Greater emphasis is placed on students' exploration of their own attitudes and values. Education at the university level requires an application of active learning by both the instructor and the student. A combination of techniques are necessary if the diverse student population present on most campuses is to be reached. An additional caution to the blanket inclusion of active learning techniques is that beyond the ample use of class exercises, an active learning approach must provide for evaluation. This assessment of class exercises is an important area for both active learning and critical thinking. "What matters...is not just what students know but what they can do with what they know. What's at stake is the capacity to perform, to put what one knows into practice" (Hutchings, 1990). Participation in the exercise is important, in fact, essential for successful acquisition of the skills required by the basic communication course, but the student needs to consider these skills beyond the exercise or class discussion or class participation. "There is only one way to acquire [academic] skills and abilities, and that is to practice them" (Bouton & Garth, 1983). In order to assess the impact of these participatory exercises, simple writing assignments can be used. By utilizing the concepts of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), such as allowing students to react to class exercises and class lectures in a written, ungraded manner, students are given the opportunity to express their reasoning and evaluation without possible criticism by others. This idea follows the advice of Meyers and Jones (1993), "Let your students take more responsibility for their own education. Put them into situations where they must contribute to teaching themselves and others" (p. 13). As students write to establish connections and to see the relationship between events and theory they begin the process of required self-development. Meyers and Jones (1993) point out "... that learning is truly meaningful only when learners have taken knowledge and made it their own" (p. 20). Teaching in this manner follows the tenet that "instruction communication is not primarily information transmission" (Sprague, 1993, p. 355). Teaching is assisting in the development of the skills that are required in the specific discipline and applicable to other facets of life and learning. Citing Vygotsky's statement that, "Teaching is assisted performance." Sprague observes: These words emphasize that a student must be doing something-performing-for us to help him or her learn. Moreover.teaching is an intrinsically social activity, something that is jointly constructed between a teacher and a student, rather than a behavior of either. ( p. 356). Active learning techniques, such as writing,can provide a powerful, complementary tool to assist this development of teaching as an "intrinsic" social activity. These techniques are essential in fostering critical thinking, which is the goal of active learning. Haynes (1990) writes: "Writing encourages critical thinking. By placing words before us, writing facilitates their scrutiny as well as the development of strict standards for their use" (p. 90). The act of communication, through talking or writing, can encourage a writer to clarify. "Like talking, writing clarifies thinking. We write to communicate to a reader, even if it is ourselves..." (Meyers & Jones, 1993, p. 23). Allowing students the opportunity to express themselves in both communicative forms promotes the relevance of one method of communication to the other. Thus, the concepts of audience identification, so integral to the communication process are also an inherent part of writing. The skill of audience adaptation easily can be applied to both oral and written contexts. "...Writing in class is a valuable strategy promoting active learning when it has been tied to explicit goal of the course" (Bonwell and Eison, 1991, p. 37). The writing assignments, to be successful, should follow the flow of the course content. In PR courses, the notion of writing news releases, or critiquing a release can be an implementation of active learning strategies. Providing a structure for class participation and discussion is a central issue for successful implementation of classroom active learning strategies. For the public relations class, the use of case studies is a tool that fosters all of these principles. Adams (1993) concludes that five benefits results from team work on case studies: 1) socialization skills are honed; 2) students become more autonomous as learners; 3) a better environment is created for the teacher; 4) students learn to research and present more in-depth information than they do working alone; and 5) students enjoy the team cases more than any other part of the course. The final conclusion of the author is that the use of case studies provides a bridge between theory and practice. Public Relations courses offer a vehicle for utilizing the concept of writing as an active learning strategy. Spicer (1991) indicated five suggestions for critical thinking implementation in the PR classroom: 1) analyze news releases on writing style, creativity, etc., 2) analyze PR approaches of campaigns, 3) find and discuss examples of unethical PR materials, 4) discuss the role of PR in society, and 5) develop PR campaigns. An additional strategy for active learning is proposed by Pohl and Butler (1994). They suggest that student involvement in a student organization, specifically PRSSA, offers benefits that translate themselves into more active participation in the classroom. Membership and participation in the organization assists the students in areas such as: cooperative learning, formative evaluation, focus group strategy and critical thinking. Participation in PRSSA affords the student the opportunity for implementation of the issues learned in the classroom. METHOD The methods section presents the discussion of the creation, distribution and analysis of a national survey instrument concerning public relations education. Only a portion of the data collected is presented in this paper. Future reports will discuss additional elements of public relations education. However, this paper focus on data related to active learning practices in public relations education. Survey Instrument A survey instrument designed to assess undergraduate teaching practices was included with a demographic profile questionnaire to create the mailing used for this investigation. Six demographic variables (respondent's: age, sex, highest academic degree, years of college-level teaching, academic rank, and type of public relations program) were collected as part of a demographic profile questionnaire and will be used in this investigation. The demographic variables are discussed further in the results section. The "Faculty Inventory for the 7 Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" (Chickering, Gamson and Barsi, 1989) includes 70 questions to help faculty assess their instructional practices. Ten of the items relate specifically to the principle of active learning, and they are the focus of this investigation. According to Chickering, Gamson and Barsi (1989) "The 'Inventories of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education' are part of a project initiated in 1986 under the auspices of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), the Education Commission of the States, and the Johnson Foundation Inc. ... The inventories relate to the 'Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education' published in 1987 by AAHE ...." Sorcinelli (1991, 13) reports that the "Seven Principles" used in the inventory grew out of 50 years of research on teaching practices and "a conference that brought together a distinguished group of researchers and commentators on higher education." Gamson (1991), one of the authors of the "Seven Principles", argues that the work distills findings from decades of research on undergraduate education. "The Seven Principles and the Inventories are deceptively simple. They are the result of a complex series of activities" (5). Respondent Sampling The sampling universe for this investigation was defined as the members of national or international public relations education interest groups. Creation of the universe was operationalized by obtaining the mailing lists for the relevant public relations educator group within the following organizations: the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the Speech Communication Association (SCA), and the International Communication Association (ICA). Since the investigation was focused on instructional practices in the United States, addresses outside the United States were deleted from the universe. Thirty percent of the names for each of the four mailing lists were selected using a random number list. The four samples were then combined into one mailing list and duplicate entries were deleted. These efforts led to a list of 435 subjects throughout the United States. Each of the 435 subjects received an initial mailing and a followup mailing if the initial mailing was not returned within three weeks. Only two of the 435 mailings were returned as undeliverable. Of the remaining 433 mailings, 250 responses were received, for a response rate of 57.7%. Fifty-nine of the respondents indicated on a screening question that they had never taught a public relations course and were not eligible to participate in the investigation. Twenty-nine sent partial information and 162 returned all the information requested. Data Analysis The six demographic variables were used in multiple linear regression equations for each of the ten measures of active learning. MINITAB release 10 for the Macintosh was used for data analysis. RESULTS Demographic Profile of Subjects A demographic profile questionnaire was included with each mailing. Only one eligible respondent failed to complete the information on this questionnaire. This section presents some of the results for the demographic variables to be used in the regression runs discuss later. While respondent ages ranged from 26 to 81, two measures of central tendency (mean and median) placed the average age at 46. Years of teaching experience at the college level ranged from 1 to 45 with a mean of 12.75 and a median of 10. Of the 185 reporting their sex, 78 (42.2%) were female, while 107 (57.8%) were male. The three remaining variables, which asked the respondents to describe their academic rank, highest academic degree, and the type of public relations program in which they taught, were answered by 189 respondents. While there were equal numbers at the full and associate professor ranks (N=44, 23.3% each), the largest group of respondents were at the assistant professor level (N=69, 36.5%). The remaining respondents reported being instructors (N=10, 5.3%), adjunct faculty (N=11, 5.8%) or "other" (N=11, 5.8%). Nearly two-thirds of the respondents reported that the highest degree earned was a Ph.D, 58 (30.7%) said a Masters, 4 (2.1%) a Bachelors and 4 (2.1%) said "other". Nearly one-half of the respondents (N=90, 47.6%) reported that their public relations program was a sequence of courses within a major. Fifty respondents (26.5%) indicated that their program was a few courses within another major, and 49 (25.9%) said that their public relations program was a separate major. Results for the Ten Active Learning Measures As noted in the methods section, ten statements on the "Seven Principles" inventory were specifically designed to elicit information concerning the use of active learning in the classroom. Figure 1 is reproduced from the Faculty Inventory of the Seven Principles (Chickering, Gamson and Barsi, 1989) and provides the ten active listening statements used in this investigation. --------------------------------------- Insert Figure 1 about here --------------------------------------- For analysis, scores of "very often" were coded as 1, "often", 2, through "never", 5. Table 1 provides the number of respondents answering the item, the mean response, the standard deviation and the minimum and maximum answers for each of the ten items. The responses seem to indicate that, on average, the respondents use most of these ten approaches quite often. The low mean scores for items 1, 3, and 6 indicate a large number of respondents used these approaches very often. --------------------------------------- Insert Table 1 about here --------------------------------------- As indicated on Table 1, for many of the items the responses tended to group at the end of the scale for "often" use. This lack of score differentiation makes it difficult to look for predictors for the differences in responses. The next section, however, provides the results of regressions used to identify demographic variables which were significant predictors for some of the active learning items. Results of Regression Multiple linear regressions were run for each of the ten active learning items. The six demographic measures were used as predictor variables, and in four of the regression runs at least one of the six predictor variables was considered statistically significant with a probability score of .05 or less. This section details the results of those four runs. Table 2 presents the results of the regression run in which the second active learning statement was the dependent variable. This survey item asked respondents to indicate how often they asked students to summarize similarities and differences among different theorists, research findings, or artistic works. The positive relationship between age and this measure of active learning indicates that younger respondents were more likely to use this active learning approach. While the variable of years of teaching was not statistically significant at the .05 level, it did fall between the .05 and the .1 level. Since there is a negative correlation between years of teaching and use of this active learning approach, the longer the respondents had taught, the more likely they were to use this type of active learning. --------------------------------------- Insert Table 2 about here --------------------------------------- Table 3 presents the results of the regression equation in which active learning statement number 6 (giving students concrete, real-live situations to analyze) was the dependent variable. Two of the demographic predictor variables (academic degree and type of public relations program) were significant at the .05 level, and another (sex) had a p-level under .1. The results indicate that those with Doctorates were more likely report using such real-life situations for analysis than did those with a Masters or Bachelors degree. Additionally, faculty in those programs where the public relations courses are a separate major were more likely to provide such concrete examples for analysis. --------------------------------------- Insert Table 3 about here --------------------------------------- Active learning statement number 9 asked about the frequency of using field trips, volunteer activities, or internships related to course material. Table 4 presents the results of the regression run for this statement related to active learning. Once again the number of years teaching was significant when regressed with this measure of active learning. The negative correlation indicates that those faculty with more teaching experience use this type of active learning more often. --------------------------------------- Insert Table 4 about here --------------------------------------- Table 5 presents the results of the final regression run with statistically significant results. Active learning statement number 10, which concerns carrying out research projects with the students, was the dependent variable for the regression. The respondent's highest academic degree was positively correlated with use of this active learning approach. Thus, those faculty with the Doctorate were most likely to report doing research projects with their students. --------------------------------------- Insert Table 5 about here --------------------------------------- DISCUSSION The first section in the results provides a brief demographic profile of the respondents for the current investigation. The results can be summarized by saying that the "average" respondent was a 46-year-old, male assistant professor who had earned a Doctorate degree, had about 10 years of teaching experience and is currently teaching in a public relations sequence within a major. One surprising result for the demographics was the small percentage (5.8%) of the respondents reporting that they were adjunct faculty. Grusin and Reed (1994, 15) noted that, "estimates of adjunct use throughout all of higher education range from 38 percent to 57 percent." The small numbers of adjunct faculty among the respondents is undoubtedly due to the method of creating the sampling universe. Many adjuncts may not belong to one of the education-oriented professional associations. The results presented on Table 1 provide the mean scores for each of the ten active learning statements included in the questionnaire. The overall conclusion must be that the respondents' reports clearly indicate that they use these active learning practices in their teaching. The mean score of 1.29 for statement number six related to providing concrete, real-life situations was the "highest" for the group. That mean score indicates that the vast majority of respondents reported using this approach very often. This result is particularly encouraging since the AEJMC Committee on Teaching Standards listed such use of real-life case studies as one of their commendable activities in teaching (Johnson et al., 1996). The "lowest" mean score on Table 1 was a 2.74 for statement number 10 related to doing research with your students. However, it is important to note that since this was a 5-point scale, that a score of 3 would represent at least occasional use of the approach. Thus, the 2.7 (the lowest mean) is still above the middle score of "occasional" use. Only one of the six demographic measures used as predictor variables in the regression equations were significant with two of the measures of active learning. Academic degree was significant for the equations discussed around Tables 3 and 5. The results of those two tables indicate that respondents who report having earned a Doctorate are more likely to report using real-life situations for analysis than did those with a Masters or Bachelors degree. Those with Doctorates were also more likely to be involved in research projects with their students. Tables 2 and 4 provide support for the contention that teaching experience may encourage the use of active learning strategies. The results of those two tables indicate that faculty with more years of teaching were more likely to report asking students to summarize similarities and differences in material being studied. The more experienced faculty were also more likely to use the nontraditional instructional practices of field trips, volunteer activities, or internships that related to the course material. Our field's interest in internships is evidenced by Basow and Byrne's (1993) discussion of student expectations and goals for internships. Several other demographic predictions for the use of active learning techniques were uncovered. Faculty in those programs where the public relations courses are a separate major were more likely to provide concrete, real-life examples for analysis (see Table 3). Additionally, Table 2 notes that those who are younger are more likely to ask students to summarize the similarities and differences in course content. Sorcinelli (1991, 18) notes that while more research on the effectiveness of different varieties of active learning is necessary, "research indicates that teaching methods that encourage student activity and involvement, especially student-to-student interaction, are likely to be superior to more passive methods when higher-level cognitive or affective learning is the goal." This initial investigation into the use of active learning techniques by public relations faculty in the United States must conclude that the faculty are reporting frequent use of these techniques. While their level of use depends somewhat on factors like teaching experience, age, and academic degree, faculty responses indicate strong use of active learning techniques. If these reports are accurate, then the public relations faculty are clearly achieving the AEJMC Committee on Teaching Standards' commendable activity to "...encourage participatory student activities, so that students become active rather than passive learners" (Johnson et al., 1996). REFERENCES Adams, W. C. (1993). Using Case studies in the introductory public relations course. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Miami Beach, FL. Basow, R. R. & Byrne, M. V. Internship expectations and learning goals. Journalism Educator, 47, 4, 48-48-54. Bernstein, J. M. (1994). Discussion and learning skills in an introductory course. Journalism Educator, 49, 1, 39-48. Bonwell, C. C. & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1, Washington, D. C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development. Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F. (1991). Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, San Francisco. Chickering, A. W., Gamson, Z. F. & Barsi, L. M. (1989). Faculty Inventory for the 7 Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Seven Principles Resource Center, Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota. Gamson, Z. F. (1991). A brief history of the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, in Chickering and Gamson's (eds) Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (p. 5-12). Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, San Francisco. Grusin, E. K. & Reed, B. S. (1994). The role of part-time faculty in the quality of instruction. Journalism Educator, 48, 4, 15-26. Haynes, W. L. (1990). A case for a speech-based basic course in a vid-oral world. Basic Course Annual, 2, 89-100. Hart, R. P. (1993). Why communication? Why education? Toward a politics of teaching. Communication Education, 42, 97-105. Hutchings, P. (1990). Assessment and the way it works. Closing plenary address, 5th American Association of Higher Education Conference on Assessment, Washington, D.C., June 30, 1990. Johnson, S. et al. (1996). Reports: Committee on Teaching Standards. AEJMC News, 29, 2, 18-20. Meyers, C. & Jones, T. B. (1993). Promoting active learning: Strategies for the college classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Johnson, J. R. & Szczupakiewicz, N. (1987). The public speaking course: Is it preparing students with work related speaking skills? Communication Education, 36, 131-137. McKeachie, W. J. (1994). Teaching Tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and University Teachers. (9th ed.). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath & Co. Pohl, G.M. & Butler, J.M. (1994). Public relations in action: A view of the benefits of student membership in pre-professional organizations. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, New Orleans, LA). Sorcinelli, M. D. (1991). Research findings on the seven principles, in Chickering and Gamson's (eds) Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (p. 5-12). Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, San Francisco. Spicer, K. L. (1991). The application of critical thinking skills in the public relations curriculum. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Atlanta, GA. Sprague, J. (1993). Retrieving the research agenda for communication education: Asking the pedagogical questions that are "embarrassments to theory." Communication Education, 42, 106-122. Stanton, A. Q. (1989). The interface of communication and instruction: Conceptual considerations and programmatic manifestations. Communication Education, 38, 364-371. West, R. & Pearson, J.C. (1994). Antecedent and consequent conditions of student questioning: An analysis of classroom discourse across the University. Communication Education, 43, 299-311. Figure 1 - Active learning items from the Faculty Inventory of the Seven Principles.... Table 1 Description of scores for the ten measures of active learning Item # N Mean Std. Dev. Min Max Active 1 159 1.6038 0.7117 1 3 Active 2 159 2.3333 1.0167 1 5 Active 3 159 1.4528 0.6234 1 4 Active 4 159 1.7358 0.7585 1 4 Active 5 159 1.6855 0.7128 1 4 Active 6 159 1.2893 0.5075 1 3 Active 7 159 1.8553 0.9469 1 5 Active 8 159 2.3522 0.9881 1 5 Active 9 158 2.5380 1.2397 1 5 Active10 159 2.7421 1.2489 1 5 Table 2 Regression of 6 demographic measures with Active 2 - asking students to summarize similarities and differences Predictor Coef Stdev t-ratio p Constant 0.6514 0.5826 1.12 0.265 Age 1 0.0265 0.0109 2.43 0.016 Sex 0.2882 0.1721 1.67 0.096 AcadRank 0.0877 0.0787 1.11 0.267 Degree 0.1466 0.1363 1.08 0.284 Yrs. Teaching 2 -0.0238 0.0131 -1.82 0.071 Program -0.0586 0.1131 -0.52 0.605 R2 = 10.8% N = 150 Analysis of Variance SOURCE DF SS MS F p Regression 6 16.9725 2.8287 2.88 0.011 Error 143 140.6875 0.9838 Total 149 157.6600 1 Denotes significant results with a p-level equal to or less than .05 2 Denotes results with a p-level falling between .1 and .05. While not statistically significant for this investigation, they may be important in future research. Table 3 Regression of 6 demographic measures with Active 6 - giving students concrete, real-life situations to analyze Predictor Coef Stdev t-ratio p Constant 1.2433 0.2925 4.25 0.000 Age -0.0027 0.0055 -0.49 0.623 Sex 2 0.1448 0.0864 1.68 0.096 Acad. Rank 0.0073 0.0395 0.18 0.854 Degree 1 0.1516 0.0684 2.21 0.028 Yrs. Teaching -0.0033 0.0066 -0.48 0.629 Program 1 -0.1189 0.0568 -2.10 0.038 R2 = 9.3% N = 150 Analysis of Variance SOURCE DF SS MS F p Regression 6 3.6248 0.6041 2.44 0.028 Error 143 35.4685 0.2480 Total 149 39.0933 1 Denotes significant results with a p-level equal to or less than .05 2 Denotes results with a p-level falling between .1 and .05. While not statistically significant for this investigation, they may be important in future research. Table 4 Regression of 6 demographic measures with Active 9 - field trips, volunteer activities, or internships related to the course Predictor Coef Stdev t-ratio p Constant 4.1063 0.7083 5.80 0.000 Age -0.0195 0.0133 -1.46 0.145 Sex 0.2697 0.2090 1.29 0.199 Acad. Rank -0.1428 0.0953 -1.50 0.137 Degree 0.0541 0.1656 0.33 0.744 Yrs. Teaching 1 -0.0347 0.0159 -2.19 0.030 Program -0.2049 0.1370 -1.50 0.137 R2 = 9.8% N = 149 Analysis of Variance SOURCE DF SS MS F p Regression 6 22.270 3.712 2.57 0.021 Error 142 204.938 1.443 Total 148 227.208 1 Denotes significant results with a p-level equal to or less than .05 Table 5 Regression of 6 demographic measures with Active10 - carry out research projects with my students Predictor Coef Stdev t-ratio p Constant 1.4265 0.7051 2.02 0.045 Age 0.0035 0.0132 0.27 0.790 Sex 0.0749 0.2083 0.36 0.720 Acad. Rank 0.0743 0.0953 0.78 0.437 Degree 1 0.6119 0.1650 3.71 0.0001 Yrs. Teaching -0.0066 0.0158 -0.42 0.678 Program 0.0488 0.1368 0.36 0.722 R2 = 13.2% N = 150 Analysis of Variance SOURCE DF SS MS F p Regression 6 31.282 5.214 3.62 0.002 Error 143 206.078 1.441 Total 149 237.360 1 Denotes significant results with a p-level equal to or less than .05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|