Major State University Research Articles

Validating and Shortening the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) for Measuring Positive Emotions in Foreign Language Learning and Classroom Settings

Motivated by the ‘emotional turn’ in applied linguistics and the recent introduction of positive psychology in L2 studies, the present study aimed to validate and shorten the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) for measuring positive emotions in foreign language learning and classroom settings. To this end, data were collected from 442 Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students from several major state universities using the adapted sub-scales of positive classroom- and learning-related emotions of the AEQ. To prepare the short version, five items with the highest factor loadings in each of the six sub-scales were retained, which resulted in a total of 30 items. A six-factor model of this short version called Foreign Language Positive Emotions Questionnaire (FL-PEQ) was corroborated, which indicated that this measure could adequately differentiate between enjoyment, hope, and pride in foreign language ‘learning’ and ‘classroom’. Additionally, internal validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the FL-PEQ were confirmed.

Testing Integrative Models of the Change Behavior in the Intention to Adopt Cryptocurrency

This study explores the adoption of cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, in the Philippines. The authors argue that current behavioral prediction models, such as TRA, TPB, and TAM, do not adequately account for the affective constructs of decision-making when high monetary stakes are involved. To address this gap, the authors propose an integrative model that accounts for financial decision-making processes, risk constructs, and population-specific behavioral strategies. The study used a quantitative-based research design and involved 684 university students from one of the major state universities in the Philippines. The findings show that perceived usefulness, attitude toward cryptocurrency, self-efficacy, and descriptive norms significantly influenced the intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Overall, the study confirms the direct influence of instrumental attitude, knowledge of cryptocurrency, descriptive norm, risk tolerance, ease and difficulty, and control on an individual’s intention to use cryptocurrency. The study contributes to exploring a less studied Philippine consumer base and provides empirical findings and insights into Bitcoin adoption in developing Asian economies. JEL Classification: G15. G17, G41, P33, G32.

Expanding the IDEA: Ongoing- and Evolving-Evaluation of an Art Therapy in Prisons Program.

In 2021 an article was published that presented an art therapy in prisons program that emerged through a contractual partnership between a major state university and that state's Department of Corrections, funded by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The program was charged to provide art therapy with youthful offenders to alleviate behavioral, emotional, and intellectual impediments to their education. The program began in the summer of 2019 with a 3-year contract for two full-time art therapists for four sites. Responses to the annual reports and subsequent changes and benefits to the targeted population resulted in the contract being revised in the summer of 2021 that expanded it considerably, to four full-time art therapists for nine prisons. This follow-up research article will delineate the successful efficacy of this program and the impactful changes instituted since its inception and expansion. In addition, this article will further examine the evolution in the data gathering process, specifically applying more distinct considerations needed to accurately examine the effectiveness of the program.

We are still to learn from our learners: A hidden curriculum developed during the covid-19 pandemic

The present study was conducted to explore various aspects of the hidden curriculum in virtual instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants were 30 undergraduate students of educational sciences in a major state university in Iran. In this qualitative phenomenological study, data were collected via semi-structured interviews, and analyzed according to Strauss and Corbin's outline by open and axial coding. Nine major themes emerged: academic burnout, decreased academic resilience, self-directed learning, the prominence of the content, power distance between faculty and students, academic procrastination, academic dishonesty, educational inequality, and academic help seeking. Results showed that virtual instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic had created a hidden curriculum, impacting students' performance in academic and motivational areas. Students had also developed diverse attitudes towards education, their own learning, and teachers' practice.

Leveraging ChatGPT to Aid Construction Hazard Recognition and Support Safety Education and Training

Proper hazard recognition is fundamental to effective safety management in construction workplaces. Nevertheless, poor hazard recognition levels are a widespread and persistent problem in the construction industry. For example, recent investigations have demonstrated that a significant number of workplace hazards often remain unrecognized in construction workplaces. These unrecognized workplace hazards often remain unmanaged and can potentially translate into devastating and unexpected safety incidents. Therefore, interventions targeted at improving hazard recognition levels are foundational to enhancing safety management in construction workplaces. The main objective of the current investigation was to examine if ChatGPT, a language model recently launched by OpenAI, can aid hazard recognition when integrated into the curriculum of students pursuing a career in the construction industry. The investigation was carried out as an experimental effort with 42 students enrolled in the construction program at a major state university in the United States. First, prior to the introduction of ChatGPT as an intervention, the pre-intervention hazard recognition ability of the students was measured. Next, ChatGPT and its capabilities were introduced to the students in a classroom setting. Guidance was also offered on how the students could leverage ChatGPT to aid hazard recognition efforts. Finally, the post-intervention hazard recognition ability of the students was measured and compared against their earlier performance. The result suggests that ChatGPT can be leveraged to improve hazard recognition levels. Accordingly, integrating ChatGPT as part of safety education and training can yield benefits and prepare the next generation of construction professionals for industry success.

Cybersecurity communities of practice: Strategies for creating gateways to participation

Amidst the critical international demand for cybersecurity talent, educational institutions and industry stakeholders have emphasized the need for broadening access to various forms of formal educational pathways and certificate programs. While these efforts have operated to significantly increase the number of students engaged in formal cybersecurity education, little has been done to develop accessible entry points into informal cybersecurity communities of practice. In this paper, we argue that cybersecurity expertise is largely predicated on entry into and participation in these cybersecurity communities of practice. Emphasizing the role of the cybersecurity community draws attention to the importance of ad-hoc and informal experiences in the development of both tacit knowledge and social capital within the workforce, and the ways in which opportunities in the field are differentially and unequally distributed. As such, this paper begins by describing the role and importance of the cybersecurity community and cybersecurity culture in developing the cybersecurity workforce, followed by a discussion of existing efforts at two major state universities to develop cybersecurity education programs that explicitly provide onramps to the cybersecurity community. We close this paper by exploring practical mechanisms by which to develop educational experiences which act as both gateways into cybersecurity communities of practice and as agents of change for the field itself - seeking to actively scale the workforce while simultaneously creating space for minoritized voices in the field.

RUMİNASYONUN YANSITMA VE KÖTÜMSER DÜŞÜNME BOYUTLARININ YORDAYICILARI: ÖZ-BELİRLEME KURAMI PERSPEKTİFİ

Past research has shown that rumination is a multifaced construct and two types of rumination were distinguished, reflection (adaptive contemplation) and brooding (pessimistic thinking style). Although they are related, brooding and reflection are considered different constructs. Self-determination theory proposes that there are three basic psychological needs, namely autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which are essential for human functioning and well-being. The frustration of these needs can create a discrepancy between actual and ideal states of goal attainment (satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence), which initiate rumination about unattained goals. Grounded on self-determination theory, the present study aimed to examine the link between need satisfaction and frustration and dimensions of rumination with a cross-sectional design. The data of the present study were collected during the Pandemic. Undergraduate university students (N = 464, female 69%, Mage = 21.90, SD = 2.88) from different departments of a major state university in Turkey participated in the current study. Ruminative Response Scale-Short Form and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale were administered via an online survey tool. Results showed that while the brooding dimension of rumination was predicted by the frustration of autonomy, relatedness, and competence need, the reflection dimension was predicted by relatedness and competence frustration. Need frustration explained unique variance in brooding and reflection. Although the reflection dimension of rumination is considered adaptive, the results showed that it might be a maladaptive coping strategy under a highly controlling and uncertain environment. The findings of the present research suggest that supporting need satisfaction has critical importance in decreasing rumination.

Investigation of Tendency among Instructors to Conduct a Massive Open Online Course: Case of Turkey

The purpose of this study is to examine the faculty members’ tendency to conduct a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and the factors affecting these tendencies. In this study, the sectional survey model, a quantitative research method, was used. The study group is comprised of 122 faculty members working at a major state university in Turkey and selected by using a random stratified sampling method. During the research process, the faculty members were informed about the MOOCs, and data were collected through questionnaires. According to the results of the research, 34.4% of the faculty members were willing to conduct MOOC and the main aim of teaching MOOC was to share their knowledge and experience with the masses. According to the faculty members, it is seen that it is more appropriate to conduct MOOC with expert and experienced faculty members. Factors such as providing benefits to corporate development and promotion, supporting lifelong learning, and creating reliable sources of information on the Internet are considered positive elements for conducting MOOC, while it has been determined that concerns on issues such as adequate time, copyright, and instructional design experience adversely affect conducting MOOC. In addition, it was revealed that faculty members expected institutional incentives including technical infrastructure and information. In line with the results obtained from the study, suggestions were made for the institutions wishing to conduct MOOCs and for researchers wishing to conduct studies about MOOCs.

Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions of writing assessment literacy: a countrywide study

Despite a surge of interest in language teacher assessment literacy, teachers’ writing assessment literacy (WAL) has received little attention. When considering the issue in the particular Iranian EFL context, it becomes more significant since exploring the context shows the lack of a countrywide and systematic study on EFL teachers’ WAL. Considering this gap, the present study sets out to investigate the Iranian EFL writing teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding writing assessment. To achieve this goal, an adapted version of Crusan’s et al (Assessing Writing 28:43-56, 2016) WAL questionnaire was sent out to writing teachers in ten major state universities in the country. Overall, the researchers received back 118 questionnaires. The analysis of the results illustrated that although writing instructors had a positive attitude toward writing assessment and were aware of some basic concepts of writing assessment, their level of assessment literacy was not reflected in their practice, particularly when it came to the use of assessment rubrics. The results further showed that the teachers need to develop sound and clear conceptual understanding of WAL as well as the ability to use the knowledge in practice in the actual context of their practice. Generally, it can be argued that in the absence of systematic pre-service and in-service writing assessment training programs, Iranian EFL writing teachers relied on their individual expertise developed throughout their years of practice. The study also provides several pedagogical implications for training writing teachers and improving EFL writing assessment in the long run.

Financial Literacy Programming in Higher Education: What’s There and What’s Missing

College student retention theorists have suggested that improving students’ financial literacy may improve student retention and completion rates. Before this important line of inquiry can be thoroughly examined, it is first important to understand if and how major state universities in the United States currently provide students with financial literacy education. This qualitative study investigates the existence, content, delivery modalities, and participation timing of financial literacy programs at major state institutions throughout the United States.

Examination of the Pre-service Teachers’ Experiences and Perceptions on Teaching Practices: English Language Teaching Case

This study aims to evaluate the pre-service teachers’ experiences and perceptions on teaching practices provided within an internship program carried out at a major state university in Turkey in a holistic way from various aspects. The participants of the study were 65 pre-service teachers studying in the English Language Teaching department at a state university in Turkey. For this purpose, in the study, an explanatory mixed-methods research design was used. A Likert scale questionnaire was conducted with the pre-service teachers to collect quantitative data. Then a semi-structured interview was conducted with eight pre-service teachers to support the quantitative data with qualitative data. The results show that the teaching practice offered within the scope of the internship program is effective as it responds to the needs of pre-service teachers in terms of professional development and mentoring support regarding their teaching professional skills. However, the findings also show that according to the pre-service teachers, there are some issues such as the length of the teaching practice, the inadequacy of mentorship support, organizational problems, and the limited freedom given during teaching practice need to be considered. Finally, the study concludes by presenting some recommendations in line with the results to improve the quality of the teaching practice provided to pre-service teachers in Turkey.

Dissemination and Implementation of a Google Apple Exposure Notification System for COVID-19 Risk Mitigation at a National Public University: Protocol for a Pilot Evaluation Study in a Real-World Setting.

BackgroundAs SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread rapidly across the United States in the spring of 2020, institutions of higher education faced numerous challenges associated with minimizing risk of exposure to COVID-19 among their students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities. This paper describes the protocol, South Carolina (SC) Safer Together, developed by Clemson University (Clemson) to design, deploy, and evaluate multi-level communication and dissemination and implementation (D&I) strategies in line with recommendations from governmental and educational agencies to mitigate the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Safer Together was enhanced by the addition of the Google/Apple Exposure Notification app, an alternative strategy to support a recommendation of COVID-19 testing outcomes: contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine.ObjectiveThis study aimed to (1) describe the content and intended audiences of D&I strategies used to deploy recommended COVID-19 mitigation strategies on a major college campus; (2) determine the reach, acceptability, adoption, and use of D&I strategies among target audiences among university students, faculty, and staff; and (3) characterize barriers and facilitators to the implementation and use of recommended mitigation strategies.MethodsThe study team incorporated elements of the Health Belief Model, the Technology Acceptance Model, communication and social marketing models, and the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to identify and develop appropriate constructs and specific outcomes for inclusion in our approach to evaluate the communication, dissemination and implementation processes related to deployment of Safer Together at Clemson. A parallel convergent mixed methods design was used to (1) inform implementation strategies used to launch the program and (2) evaluate program reach, acceptability, adoption, and use guided by the RE-AIM framework. Data collection tools include surveys, data analytics–tracking, and focus groups or interviews with key stakeholders (students, employees, and university leadership).ResultsRigorously studying both the dissemination and implementation of Safer Together in a national public university setting is expected to yield lessons that will be valuable at many organizational and governmental settings. On a local level, broad adoption and use of the Safer Together may help reduce COVID-19 transmission and keep the university “open.” On a larger scale, lessons learned on how to influence student and employee behavior with respect to the use of a public health outbreak prevention tool including Safer Together may be applicable in future pandemic and outbreak situations.ConclusionsThis study proposes a structured, theory-driven approach to evaluate dissemination and implementation strategies associated with the deployment of Safer Together in a university setting from the viewpoint of students, employees, and university leadership. Our results will inform future implementation of apps such as Safer Together at major state universities in SC.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/32567

Perceptions of Bosnian Students’ of Turkey and Turkish Culture

Perceptions about other nations or countries are generally formed and shaped by historical events, cultural differences, beliefs and often prejudices and they are difficult to change overtime. Turkey, as a country with big goals and aspirations as well as a natural interest in the region because of its historic ties with the region, would like to strengthen its image and its relations with Balkan countries. In order to reach this goal, Turkey has poured substantial amount of money and resources to the region in last twenty years. This study aimed to investigate if the efforts of Turkey worked and were able to attract the hearts and minds of the young generation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in five major state universities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. The results show that religion and ethnicity still play an important role in forming the perceptions. According to survey results, Bosniaks or Bosnian Muslims heavily favor Turkey and are more interested in Turkish culture while Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats are not very comfortable with Turkish involvement in Bosnia and they feel suspicious about the motives of Turkey in the region. The results also indicate that Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats feel that Turkey discriminates in its efforts, and mostly focuses on the Bosniaks.

Neuroscience: The New English Major?

Once strictly the domain of medical and graduate education, neuroscience has made its way into the undergraduate curriculum with over 230 colleges and universities now offering a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. The disciplinary focus on the brain teaches students to apply science to the understanding of human behavior, human interactions, sensation, emotions, and decision making. In this article, we encourage new and existing undergraduate neuroscience programs to envision neuroscience as a broad discipline with the potential to develop competencies suitable for a variety of careers that reach well beyond research and medicine. This article describes our philosophy and illustrates a broad-based undergraduate degree in neuroscience implemented at a major state university, Virginia Tech. We highlight the fact that the research-centered Experimental Neuroscience major is least popular of our four distinct majors, which underscores our philosophy that undergraduate neuroscience can cater to a different audience than traditionally thought.

Türkiye’deki Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Özel Yaşam Alanlarına İlişkin Umut Düzeyleri: Kişisel Adil Dünya İnancı ve Cinsiyetin Yordayıcı Rolü

The aim of the current study was to investigate the predicting roles of personal belief in a just world and gender in university students’ hope levels in specific life domains (i.e., social relationships, romantic relationships, family life, academics, work life, and leisure activities). The participants were 168 university students from a major state university in Turkey. Data was collected with the Domain Specific Hope Scale, the Personal Belief in a Just World Scale, and a personal information sheet. Results of Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that both personal belief in a just world and gender were significant predictors of domain specific hope levels of university students. More specifically, personal belief in a just world was found to significantly predict university students’ hope levels in academics, family life and leisure activities. In addition, female students were found to have higher hope levels in social relationships. Taken together, the findings highlighted the importance of studies on domain specific hope levels. Current findings were discussed within the context of the hope and just-world literature and gender roles in Turkey.

The Right Man for the Job: Manhood, Race, and Oklahoma Football in the Mid-1960s

In the fall of 1965 the football team at the University of Oklahoma experienced one of the worst seasons in its storied history. As the losses mounted, school officials found themselves embroiled in controversy and the recipients of an intense outpouring of communication from the team's legions of supporters. Advice, most of it unsolicited, flooded into the university from around the country, but especially from Oklahoma and Texas. Disappointed fans focused their frustrations on head coach Gomer Thomas Jones, and following his resignation at the end of the season, they offered their opinions regarding the type of man who could restore the Oklahoma football program to the position of national prominence it enjoyed just a few years earlier. Read today, these letters, memos, postcards, telegrams, and newspaper clippings provide a fascinating perspective on the prominent role a highly commercialized spectator sport played in the life of a major state university during the mid-1960s. They also move beyond sport to highlight basic cultural attitudes regarding manhood and race dominant in the Great Plains and in Middle America during this period. As they searched for a new coach, Oklahoma fans demonstrated a strong affinity for traditional constructions of masculine leadership and race relations. Confronting a period of rapid change, with federal mandates demanding a reconstruction of the racial order, they simultaneously grappled with updating those models to meet the new realities of life at the height of the Cold War.

Development and validation of a rating scale for Iranian EFL academic writing assessment: a mixed-methods study

The present study reports the process of development and validation of a rating scale in the Iranian EFL academic writing assessment context. To achieve this goal, the study was conducted in three distinct phases. Early in the study, the researcher interviewed a number of raters in different universities. Next, a questionnaire was developed based on the results of the interview along with the related literature. Later, the questionnaire was sent to thirty experienced raters from ten major state universities in Iran. Results of the country-wide survey in this phase showed that there was no objective scale in use by the raters in the context. Therefore, in the second development phase of the study, fifteen of the raters who participated in the first phase were asked to verbalize their thoughts when each rating five essays. At the end of this phase, a first draft of the scale was developed. Finally, in the last validation phase of the study, ten raters were asked to each rate a body of twenty essays using the newly developed scale. Next, eight of the raters participated in a follow-up retrospective interview. The analysis of the raters’ performance using FACETS showed high profile of reliability and validity for the new scale. In addition, while the qualitative findings of the interviews counted some problems with the structure of the scale, on the whole, the findings showed that the introduction of the scale was well-received by the raters. The pedagogical implications of the study will be discussed. In addition, the study calls for further validation of the scale in the context.

(Mis-/Under-)Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Locally-Produced ELT Materials

ABSTRACT The current study examines how gender and sexualities are represented in the ELT instructional materials (i.e., handouts) developed and used “locally” in an Intensive English Program housed at a major state university in Turkey. The findings revealed that these materials stood on the biased end of the gender representation spectrum both in quantitative and qualitative terms, and that heterosexuality is the norm. It showcased the tendency to bolster dichotomous juxtaposition of genders and sexualities, and strengthened essentialized ways of being and becoming. We contend that (mis-/under-)representations of gender and sexuality in locally-produced ELT materials in an under-researched context like Turkey is a highly sensitive matter since the constructs of gender and sexuality still remain at the crux of socio-educational debates. It is argued that the pressing issue of tackling heteronormativity and sexism should be considered as “a distributive process” involving major actors involved in the teaching-learning process.

The new CEFR descriptors for the assessment of written mediation: Exploring their applicability in a local context in an effort towards multilingual testing

Focusing on the process of written mediation, this paper deals with the newly developed descriptor scales presented in the CEFR Companion Volume with New Descriptors (CEFR/CV) (Council of Europe (CoE) 2018). It investigates the views of both language education experts and teachers in Greece regarding these new descriptors in an effort to explore the extent to which they can be exploited in a local context. The questions this study addresses are: Which descriptors can be useful in the Greek educational context, and to what extent? The research project was organised into two phases. In Phase 1, 18 language experts (mainly from the two major state universities in Athens and Thessaloniki) completed online questionnaires containing the 90 new CEFR written mediation descriptors and they judged the clarity of these descriptors in terms of language, their usefulness for assessment purposes, and their relevance for the Greek context. Phase 2 involved 94 language teachers in Greece who were invited to judge the degree to which the same 90 CEFR descriptors correspond to the proficiency level for which they had initially been designed. Based on empirical evidence, the present paper stresses the urgent need for language testers to consider (cross-lingual) written mediation as a fundamental ability which needs to be both taught as well as tested, and discusses the possibility of transforming the monoglossic paradigm in assessment.

Examining the relationship between brand equity dimensions and university brand equity

PurposeIn response to global competitive challenges, universities recently started developing better strategies for branding. Branding has been used as a differentiation strategy for higher education institutions. As the number of universities (public and private) has increased, so has the competition for students, the universities in Turkey have faced similar challenges. The main objective of this study is to investigate, from the students' perspective, the role of interactions of brand equity dimensions in creating a strong university brand.Design/methodology/approachCompiling from the literature, the study used a survey instrument to collect data at a comprehensive public university in Turkey. To assure representation of students across the campus, the sample included students at freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior and graduate levels from all major colleges.FindingsBased on 1,300 usable surveys from students across all colleges of a major state university, the PLS-SEM model revealed significant relationships among the brand equity dimensions of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, learning environment, emotional environment, brand trust, brand loyalty and university reputation. These brand dimensions collectively and/or individually influence the students' university learning experiences that may result in creating strong university brand equity.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was conducted at a government-owned university in Turkey capturing only students' perceptions. Future research could benefit from perceptions of other stakeholders like faculty, staff, alumni, and parents and testing the relationships for different types of universities. This study discusses the implications for developing university branding strategies.Originality/valueThe study empirically tests the validity and effects of the university brand equity dimensions with Turkish university students using structural equation modeling (SEM). It confirms that the measures of brand equity dimensions are also applicable in a different country.