Stalking is a serious problem in the college community. A concern that needs to be addressed is the disparity between the number of those who met the behavioral criteria for stalking victimization, but who did not self-identify as a victim. The consequences of stalking victimization are highlighted. Recommendations for addressing this issue on campus are detailed in a plan that may help improve the retention, progression, and graduation rates for stalking victims.
Objective: Researchers compared rape victimization based on self-identification to the current, federal legal definition in a pilot study of college students. Methods: The sample was comprised of 1,648 (69.8% female; 30.2% male) college students who completed the SES-SFV online.Results: Based on the current, legal definition of rape, 9.4% (11.1% female; 5.2% male) of students had been raped since being enrolled, but only 2.9% of students self-identified as being raped. Moreover, 15.1% of students reported ever being raped, with females acknowledging higher rates (19.7%) than males (4.3%). Conclusions: Rape continues to be a major issue for colleges and universities. A serious concern is the disparity between the number of those who met the behavioral criteria for rape victimization based on the current, legal definition, but who did not self-identify as a victim. Universities must address this disparity by using multiple measures to assess the prevalence of sexual violence on campus.
Introductory psychology students typically perform better on posttests compared to pretests; however, not all topics are learned equally well. To measure how much information students learned overall and to determine whether the level of knowledge gained differed by topic, 932 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology completed a multiple-choice pretest-posttest assessment. The tests included questions about 11 topics typically taught in introductory psychology. Student-, instructor-, and assessment-related variables that could affect learning were also examined. As expected, posttest scores were significantly higher than pretest scores. Importantly, there were significant differences among topics in terms of posttest scores as well as in the level of improvement. Students were most likely to answer posttest questions correctly about introduction and research methods, memory, and development, and least likely to answer questions correctly about physiological psychology. Scores improved on 9 of the 11 topics, with the greatest improvement for memory, physiological psychology, and sensation and perception. No improvement occurred for cognition and development. Regarding variables that could potentially affect learning, a significant effect for type of final exam, type of credit granted, and instructor was found. This is the first time that a pretest-posttest design has been used to demonstrate differential learning of topics in introductory psychology. Results may inform instructors' course planning regarding time allotted and techniques used to facilitate student learning.External and internal stakeholders are placing increasing emphasis on assessing learning in academia. External constituencies such as legislators, administrators, and taxpayers require assessment for accountability purposes, whereas professors typically engage in assessment to measure students' acquisition of knowledge, determine teaching effectiveness, and inform pedagogy. There are a variety of ways to assess learning; one commonly used technique is a pretest-posttest measure. This method gauges students' baseline knowledge prior to class and measures acquisition of knowledge over the semester (Linton, 2003). ). These assessments varied on several characteristics, including number of questions, timing of administration of posttest questions, and similarities between pre-and posttest questions. Rossi et al. (2005) administered a 100-item pretest the first week of class, and a 100-item posttest at the end of the semester, as a cumulative final. Questions were matched for content. Zamboanga (2003, 2004) administered a 25-item pretest at the beginning of the semester and integrated six or seven of these questions into each of four noncumulative exams throughout the semester. Not surprisingly, findings from these studies showed that introductory psychology students performed better on posttests than pretests (Federici & Schuerger, 1976;Rossi et al., 2005;Thompson & Zamboanga, 2003, 2004, indicating that students' overall content knowledge...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.