The Middle School Students' Attitude to Mathematics, Science and Engineering Survey was developed to measure students' attitudes to engineering and knowledge about engineering careers as part of a program to enlarge the future pool of engineers because students' attitudes have been found to be an important predictor of whether students pursue careers in engineering. The program focuses on using pre-engineering curricula in middle and high schools, and informing students, teachers, parents, and school counselors about careers in engineering because most students do not know what engineering is or what engineers do and therefore do not explore engineering as a career option or prepare for it academically in the critical middle or high school years. Continued use of the survey with younger students indicated that the language used in some of the questions was too sophisticated for some middle school students and the survey has been revised. A study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the revised survey with a large sample of academically diverse middle school students. Comparisons among groups of students exposed to pre-engineering concepts in various different ways in their science and mathematics classes have been made to explore the extent to which the exposure may have affected students' attitudes to engineering and knowledge of engineering careers.
Objectives: To assess the efficacy of the BOUNCE parent-daughter intervention in promoting selected physical fitness measures and activity. Methods: Thirty-seven Latino and African American parent-daughter pairs participated. The intervention entailed physical activities, nutrition classes, and selfesteem activities. Child's height, weight, waist circumference, body fat %, blood pressure, physical fitness, and activity were assessed pre-and postintervention. Results: A repeated-measures ANOVA yielded significant results [F(4,26) = 793.003, P<0.001]. Post hoc analyses demonstrated significant (P<0.05) changes in BMI, waist circumference, physical fitness, and activity. Conclusions: The BOUNCE intervention was effective in promoting fitness and activity in minority girls.
This paper describes a project involving a major research university and fifteen secondary and post-secondary schools to develop and implement a career cluster program for the Research, Development and Technical Services career major. This Engineering Science Technology Tech-Prep grant, sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Education, has three main career goals for this project. These goals include preparing a skilled workforce that meets industry and educational standards in the fields of engineering, science and technology, establishing a consortium to improve training opportunities for students and teachers, and improving and expanding articulation between the secondary and postsecondary providers of education and training. The methodology of the project is to develop a local consortium of comprehensive schools, county vocational schools, two-year colleges, four-year colleges and research universities, and the R&D industrial base to ensure that New Jersey's youth are adequately prepared for entrance into two-year and four-year engineering, science and technology degree programs. The ultimate goal is to prepare these students for careers in engineering, science and technology, through the use of articulated curricula during grades 11 (high school) through junior year (college).
College programs. She has a doctoral degree in educational psychology with a specialty in psychometrics and a Masters degree in statistics. She has been involved in all aspects of educational and psychological research for 15 years. Dr. Hirsch has extensive experience conducting longitudinal research studies and is proficient in database management, experimental design, instrument development, psychometrics and statistical programming.
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