Matthew J. Mayhew

The theory of planned behavior as a model of academic dishonesty in engineering and humanities undergraduates

This study examines the use of a modified form of the theory of planned behavior in understanding the decisions of undergraduate students in engineering and humanities to engage in cheating. We surveyed 527 randomly selected students from three academic institutions. Results supported the use of the model in predicting ethical decision-making regarding cheating. In particular, the model demonstrated how certain variables (gender, discipline, high school cheating, education level, international student status, participation in Greek organizations or other clubs) and moral constructs related to intention to cheat, attitudes toward cheating, perceptions of norms with respect to cheating, and ultimately cheating behaviors. Further the relative importance of the theory of planned behavior constructs was consistent regardless of context, whereas the contributions of variables included in the study that were outside the theory varied by context. Of particular note were findings suggesting that the extent of cheating in high school was a strong predictor of cheating in college and that engineering students reported cheating more frequently than students in the humanities, even when controlling for the number of opportunities to do so.

How Curricular Content and Pedagogical Strategies Affect Moral Reasoning Development in College Students.

College instructors use a variety of approaches to teach students to reason more effectively about issues with a moral dimension and achieve mixed results. This pre‐post study of 423 undergraduate students examined the effects of morally explicit and implicit curricular content and of selected pedagogical strategies on moral reasoning development. Using causal modelling to control for a range of student background variables as well as Time 1 scores, 52% of the variance in moral reasoning scores was explained; we found that these scores were affected by type of curricular content and by three pedagogical strategies (active learning, reflection and faculty‐student interaction). Students who experienced more negative interactions with diverse peers were the least likely to show positive change in moral reasoning as a result of participating in any course. Implications for the design of intervention studies are discussed, including the need to attend to selection and attenuation effects.

The Influence of First-Year "Success" Courses on Student Learning and Democratic Outcomes

This study extends the extant research on first-year programs to include a closer examination of their impact on student learning and democratic outcomes. Based on data collected from three courses—a first-year success course with an explicit focus on diversity, an introductory communication course, and an introductory engineering course—we examined student change across three outcomes: multicultural awareness, commitment to social justice, and attributional complexity. Our findings suggest that although students in the different courses showed no pretest differences on the outcome variables, only students in the first-year success course made significant gains on all three outcomes. ANCOVA results also demonstrated significant course effects for the first-year success course after controlling for a number of covariates. The article concludes with a discussion of the importance of using developmental theory to guide first-year programming and implications for practice.

Diversity and Moral Reasoning: How Negative Diverse Peer Interactions Affect the Development of Moral Reasoning in Undergraduate Students

How do interactions with diverse peers affect moral reasoning development? Results from a longitudinal study of 171 students enrolled in an Intergroup Dialogue or Introduction to Sociology course indicate that students who experience more negative interactions with diverse peers report lower developmental gains in moral reasoning, although the effects are differentially manifested within each of the courses.

A Multi-Institutional Assessment of Moral Reasoning Development among First-Year Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the co-curricular experiences, course-taking behaviors, and educational practices that influence the moral reasoning development of 1,469 first-year students at 19 American colleges and universities. Results showed that contexts and practices that encourage students to engage divergent perspectives when approaching a problem or issue are those most conducive to moral reasoning growth. Implications for researchers in higher education and moral psychology are discussed.

Using Structural Equation Modeling to Validate the Theory of Planned Behavior as a Model for Predicting Student Cheating

The purpose of this paper is to validate the use of a modified Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for predicting undergraduate student cheating. Specifically, we administered a survey assessing how the TPB relates to cheating along with a measure of moral reasoning (DIT- 2) to 527 undergraduate students across three institutions; and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. Results confirmed using the modified TPB as a model for predicting student cheating and the importance of understanding how cheating varies for students in different periods of moral reasoning development, namely moral consolidation and moral transition.

Deeply Affecting First-Year Students' Thinking: Deep Approaches to Learning and Three Dimensions of Cognitive Development

This study estimates the effects of a deep approaches to learning scale and its subscales on measures of students’ critical thinking, need for cognition, and positive attitudes toward literacy, controlling for pre-college scores for the outcomes and other covariates. Results suggest reflection is critical to making gains across the outcomes.

Exploring the Essence of Spirituality: A Phenomenological Study of Eight Students with Eight Different Worldviews

Throughout most facets of American life, there has been a renewed interest in and expression of spirituality. Religiosity and spirituality have been at the center of recent international events (e.g., September 11th) and political discussions (e.g., continuing debates about school prayer and the role of religion in the political process). As a consequence, campus communities are striving to make sense of spirituality and religious tolerance as well as their roles in helping American students understand themselves as part of a diverse democracy. This phenomenological study addresses these issues by asking eight students representing eight different worldviews (i.e., Agnosticism, Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Muslim, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism) about what spirituality means to them. Photo elicitation and semistructured interviewing are used as the primary means for collecting data. Results show that common to all eight perspectives is the idea that spirituality is the human attempt to make meaning of the self in connection to and with the external world. Implications for student development practice and future research are discussed.

Promoting the Development of Civic Responsibility: Infusing Service-Learning Practices in First-Year "Success" Courses

The purpose of this study was to examine whether first-year success courses that conceptually integrated a serving-learning component influenced the development of civic responsibility, operationally defined as charitable and social justice responsibility. We longitudinally assessed 173 students enrolled in 10 first-year success courses, 5 with service-learning components infused into its curricula and 5 without these infused components. Results showed that curricular infusion was effective for spurring developmental gains in chartable responsibility but not for parallel gains in social justice responsibility.

Silencing Whom? Linking Campus Climates for Religious, Spiritual, and Worldview Diversity to Student Worldviews.

This study examined the perceptions of campus climate among students of diverse worldviews. Results from this study suggest that climate perceptions and experiences were more negative among worldview majority students (e.g., Protestants, Catholics) than among worldview minority students (e.g., Muslims, Jews) and nonreligious students. Theoretical implications are discussed.