Affect is a domain of psychology that includes attitudes, emotions, interests, and values. My own affect influenced the choice of topics for my dissertation. After examining asteroid interiors and the Moon's thermal evolution, I discuss the role of affect in online science education. I begin with asteroids, which are collections of smaller objects…

Youth psychological well-being has become increasingly acknowledged as not merely the absence of psychological distress, but the presence of positive indicators of optimal functioning. Students with complete mental health (i.e., low psychopathology and high well-being) demonstrate the best academic, social, and physical health outcomes. As such,…

Insects are the most abundant and diverse group of animals on Earth. Though as a group they do far more ecological good than harm, previous studies have shown that human attitudes toward insects are mainly negative. Attitudes have affective (emotions) and cognitive (beliefs, mental representations) components that interact to influence behavior.…

Reliable measurements for effective teaching are lacking. In contrast, some theories of leadership (particularly transformational leadership) have been tested and found to have efficacy in a variety of organizational settings. In this study, the full-range leadership theory, which includes transformational leadership, was applied to the…

Teachers are at high risk for stress, negative emotion, and job dissatisfaction, which has been linked with health problems and early attrition. Humor has been found to relieve various forms of stress. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding humor effects on teacher stress and its related consequences. The purpose of this quantitative,…

This study compared active teaching strategies with passive lecture by evaluating cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning outcomes, while highlighting end-of-life communication in nursing education. The problem addressed was twofold: First, passive lecture prevents transfer to situational decision-making, or a sense of salience (Benner,…

This study explores the affective characteristics of students taking developmental education courses at the postsecondary level. It is widely acknowledged in research that affective issues still remain at the forefront of impeding the success of developmental education students. This is one step in examining the types of interventions which may…

Problem: The problem of this study was to determine the differences between two groups of learners across four specified learner variables. The two groups were students using mobile phones and students without the use of mobile phones in youth Bible studies in selected Southern Baptist churches. The four learner variables were cognitive test…

Much of the research literature on learning technologies and distance education has concentrated on achievement, with little to no emphasis on factors pertaining to motivation. This lack of research is a concern given the high enrollment and low retention rates in distance education programs. The focus of this comparative study was to investigate…

This study was conducted to examine the differences in high school biology achievement and student affect towards teacher and content from the use of individualized correctives as part of mastery learning. An experimental pretest-posttest with control group design was used during the fall 2011 semester. Over a thirteen-week period, 99 students in…

The purpose of this case study was to compare the pedagogical and affective efficiency and efficacy of creative prose fiction writing workshops taught via asynchronous computer-mediated online distance education with creative prose fiction writing workshops taught face-to-face in order to better understand their operational pedagogy and…

Research suggests that voluntary activity accounts for 40% of individual happiness and can be purposefully manipulated to make meaningful changes in one's reported level of happiness (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005a; Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006). The current study explored the utility of a school-based positive psychology psychoeducation…