The effect of mentoring electronic mail on student achievement and attitudes in a graduate course in educational research

This exploratory study of a classroom with mentoring and neutral e-mail was conducted in a public commuter state university in South Florida between January 1996 and April 1996. Sixteen males and 83 females from four graduate level educational research classes participated in the study.^ Two main hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis One was that those students receiving mentoring e-mail messages would score significantly higher on an instrument measuring attitude toward educational research (ATERS) than those not receiving mentoring e-mail messages. Hypothesis Two was that those students receiving mentoring e-mail would score significantly higher on objective exams covering the educational research material than those not receiving mentoring e-mail.^ Results of factorial analyses of variance showed no significant differences between the treatment groups in achievement or in attitudes toward educational research. Introverts had lower attitudes and lower final exam grades in both groups, although introverts in the mentored group scored higher than those introverts in the neutral group.^ A t test of the means of total response to e-mail from the researcher showed a significant difference between the mentored and neutral e-mail groups. Introverts responded more often than extraverts in both groups.^ Teacher effect was significant in determining class response to e-mail messages. Responses were most frequent in the researcher's classes.^ Qualitative analyses of the e-mail and course evaluation survey and of the content of e-mail messages received by the researcher were then grouped into basic themes and discussed.^ A qualitative analysis of an e-mail and course evaluation survey revealed that students from both the neutral and mentoring e-mail groups appreciated teacher feedback. A qualitative analysis of the mentoring and neutral e-mail replies divided the responses into those pertaining to the class, such as test and research paper questions, and more personal items, such as problems in the class and personal happenings.^ At this point in time, e-mail is not a standard way of communicating in classes in the college of education at this university. As this technology tool of communication becomes more popular, it is anticipated that replications of this study will be warranted. ^

Ecological indicators for assessing and communicating seagrass status and trends in Florida Bay

A suite of seagrass indicator metrics is developed to evaluate four essential measures of seagrass community status for Florida Bay. The measures are based on several years of monitoring data using the Braun-Blanquet Cover Abundance (BBCA) scale to derive information about seagrass spatial extent, abundance, species diversity and presence of target species. As ecosystem restoration proceeds in south Florida, additional freshwater will be discharged to Florida Bay as a means to restore the bay's hydrology and salinity regime. Primary hypotheses about restoring ecological function of the keystone seagrass community are based on the premise that hydrologic restoration will increase environmental variability and reduce hypersalinity. This will create greater niche space and permit multiple seagrass species to co-exist while maintaining good environmental conditions for Thalassia testudinum, the dominant climax seagrass species. Greater species diversity is considered beneficial to habitat for desired higher trophic level species such as forage fish and shrimp. It is also important to maintenance of a viable seagrass community that will avoid die-off events observed in the past. Indicator metrics are assigned values at the basin spatial scale and are aggregated to five larger zones. Three index metrics are derived by combining the four indicators through logic gates at the zone spatial scale and aggregated to derive a single bay-wide system status score standardized on the System-wide Indicator protocol. The indicators will provide a way to assess progress toward restoration goals or reveal areas of concern. Reporting for each indicator, index and overall system status score is presented in a red–yellow–green format that summarizes information in a readily accessible form for mangers, policy-makers and stakeholders in planning and implementing an adaptive management strategy.