Tempted to Text: College Students’ Mobile Phone Use During a Face-to-Face Interaction With a Close Friend

We examined whether emerging adults would engage in mobile phone use (MPU) when given the opportunity to socialize face-to-face with a close friend in a laboratory setting. Sixty-three U.S. college student friendship dyads rated their friendship quality in an online survey before coming into the laboratory together. When they arrived for their appointment, they were asked to wait together in a room for 5 min. A hidden camera recorded each dyad. Friends then separately rated the quality of the interaction. We coded time spent using mobile phone in seconds. A hierarchical regression conducted at the level of the dyad controlling for friendship quality and gender showed that more MPU was associated with lower quality interactions. We discuss findings in terms of the potential for MPU to interfere with the development of friendship intimacy

A Comparative Analysis of the Academic Performance of Native and Transfer Students

Results of a study comparing the academic performance of native and transfer students

Summary Report of Admissions and Graduation Requirements of Selected Units and Programs at Western Washington University

Summary of departmental admissions and graduation requirements

National College Health Risk Behavior Survey of Western Washington University Students, Spring, 1995

In May, 1995, the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey-developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-was mailed to 1,000 randomly selected Western Washington University students. The final tally of completed forms was 482, a 48.2% survey response rate. The National College Health Risk Behavior Survey was established by the CDC to monitor the prevalence of behaviors most influencing the health of college students. In addition to Western students, the survey was administered to over 10,000 representative college students nationwide. (Baseline data from that administration was not available at the time of the publication of this report). The National College Health Risk Behavior Survey gathers data in six behavioral categories contributing to the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among college students: 1) behaviors that result in unintentional or intentional injuries; 2) use of tobacco; 3) use of alcohol and other drugs 4) sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection; 5)body weight/nutrition; and 6) physical activity. The primary purpose of administering the Health Risk Behavior Survey at Western was to produce baseline data on the status of college student health, especially as it relates to the 29 national health objectives described in Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services #91-50212, 1991.) To date no such comprehensive assessment of the overall health of Western students exists. While student utilization rates of health services have been rigorously recorded, and though utilization rates are important for assuring adequate delivery of such services, they do not accurately reflect the health profile of the student body as a whole. Data from the Health Risk Behavior Survey completes the picture of student health at Western and is invaluable to strategic planning processes targeting the most compelling student needs

Summary Report of Admissions and Graduation Requirements of Selected Units and Programs at Western Washington University

Executive Summary: During Winter Quarter of 1990, all college department chairs and the deans of Huxley and Fairhaven Colleges were sent a questionnaire intended to delineate admission and graduation requirements. The questionnaire was followed by a telephone or in-person interview. For the purposes of readability, all respondents are referred to as departments. The survey results showed that nineteen departments have self-generated admission requirements, whose categories are as follows: 1) overall university GPA; 2) completion of foundation courses; 3) GPA within foundation courses; 4) credit completion; 5) audition, portfolio, or resume review. Sixteen of the above nineteen departments have multiple requirements. There are three departments that both collect baseline information and use it as a comparative tool. Twenty-seven departments have capstone experiences, whose categories are as follows: 1) overview courses; 2) senior theses, project, performance, or portfolio; 3) internships or student teaching. One department\u27s students take a state accrediting test. Six departments use two capstone experiences. Ten departments utilize standing committees to evaluate, to varying degrees, the quality or content of their programs. Fourteen departments have graduation requirements evaluated by more than one faculty member, or by outside professionals. Departments were asked about the number of courses with substantial production of written English , defined as having at least two of the following criteria: 1) mid-term and\or final essay exam; 2) one lengthy (10+ pages) term paper or report; 3) multiple short (1-10 page) papers or reports; 4) opportunities for students to revise papers written under either item 2 or 3. The number of such courses varied widely, from 1 to 27. Evaluation of these courses was based usually on the first three criteria; generally, the opportunity to revise was reserved for courses specifically designated as writing intensive. Two departments required a senior thesis; one required a summary report of all clinical experiences. Three were two departments that required unqualified passage of the Junior Writing Exam. All others required only that the student take the Junior Writing Exam

The Math Placement Tests: Relationships to Mathematics Course Performance, Mathematics course Selection, and Other Predictors of Academic Achievement

Executive Summary: The Math Placement Tests have been used by all four-year institutions in the state of Washington to aid in the placement of students into their first college-level mathematics course since 1984. This report was prepared in response to concerns of Western Washington University\u27s Mathematics Department regarding the usefulness of. the placement tests in correctly placing students in mathematics courses. The relationships of the math placement tests to final mathematics course grade and other indicators of academic achievement, including high school GPA, WPCT-Q score, and SAT-M score were evaluated. The math placement tests were found to be moderately positively related to final grade and each of the three indicator variables. The math placement tests were not, in most cases, superior to high school GPA andjor WPCT-Q score in prediction of final mathematics course grade. The percentage of students who passed (earned a grade of c¬ or better) their mathematics course varied depending on the course in which they enrolled, which placement test they took, and the score they received on the placement test. The probability of receiving a c- or better among those who took the Intermediate Algebra Test ranged from a low of 48.2 percent in Math 103 to a high of 72.4 percent in Math 155. The chance of passing a mathematics course for those who took the Pre-Calculus Test ranged from a low of 63.5 percent in Math 103 to a high of 90.9 in Math 104. In general, the probability of receiving a passing grade increased with higher Math Placement Test scores. For a number of courses, the current cut-off score on the Intermediate Algebra Test may be too low. students who enrolled with scores below, at, or slightly above these cut-offs had, in many cases, only a slim chance of passing the course. Conversely, cut-off scores on the Pre-Calculus Test for admission to many courses were too high. Students who had a reasonable chance of passing these courses would be denied admission based on the current cut-off points. It is suggested that the current cut-off scores be re-evaluated and when new cut-offs are decided upon, that they be more strictly adhered to

A Comparative Analysis of the Academic Performance of Native and Transfer Students

Executive Summary: This study utilized the records of two samples of wwu upper¬ division students (those with 90 credits and above) to evaluate the relationships of academic performance to students\u27 admission status (either native or transfer) and other selected student characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and age. The first sample measured academic performance in terms of cumulative WWU GPA. The second sample looked at grades earned in 300 and 400 level courses only (upper-division GPA). This report was prepared as a follow-up to an earlier study that used a much more limited sample. Females were found to have consistently higher GPAs than males, regardless of the sample or the type of GPA (cumulative or upper-division) used in the analysis. Older students generally outperformed younger students although the relationship between age and academic performance was mediated by a student\u27s admission status. Students of a given age but with different admission statuses or of the same admission status but of different ages in many cases did not have equivalent GPAs. In general, among younger students natives outperformed two-year transfer students. No such difference was found among older students. This study also found differences in both the cumulative GPA and the upper-division GPA earned by different ethnic groups. Caucasians had a higher average cumulative GPA than Blacks and a higher average upper-division GPA than both Blacks and Asians. In addition, American Indian students also had a higher average upper-division GPA than Black students. A student\u27s grade point average when he or she enters Western (high school GPA for natives and GPA at the institution attended before transferring to Western for transfer students) was the best predictor of how well a student would do academically once at Western. WPCT subtest scores also aided in the prediction of both cumulative and upper-division GPAs for both native and transfer students. However, the relative importance of these subtests was different for students of different admission statuses. Prediction of native students\u27 academic performance was most enhanced by the WPCT-Verbal subtest score whereas prediction of a transfer student\u27s academic performance was more improved by the knowledge of his or her WPCT-Quantitative subtest score. After conducting several separate analyses of the differences and similarities of WWU\u27s native and transfer students, it can be concluded that when comparing students of different admission statuses regardless of age there is effectively no difference in the academic performance of Western\u27s native and two-year transfer students

An Addendum to the Math Placement Tests: Relationships to Mathematics Course Performance, Mathematics Course Selection, and Other Predictors of Academic Achievement

The effectiveness of the Math Placement Test, Basic, is analyzed

The Math Placement Tests: Relationships to Mathematics Course Performance, Mathematics Course Selection, and Other Predictors of Academic Achievement

The effectiveness of the Math Placement Tests (Intermediate and Advanced) is anayzed