| A study of 105 undergraduate, preservice educators investigated the relationship(s) between locus of control, attitude toward statistics, IQ, sex, time of data collection and performance on tests and measurement questions. In addition, this investigation of 70 females and 35 males from various concentrations of SIU's teacher education program was an attempt to begin a larger work aimed at improving the quality of teacher education. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 testing times (early, middle, and late) during which they were asked to complete Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (LCI), the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS), and the Quick Test (QT). Demographic information was obtained via the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics. In addition, the dependent variable, determined by student performance on selected tests, measures, and statistics questions on the final, was collected for each participating section. Results of trend analyses comparing locus of control and attitude measures, respectively, with time were not significant. Similarly, step-wise analysis of the full model was insignificant. When examined in isolation, attitude and performance were significantly related with T = 2.12, p < .05. Likewise, a comparison of locus of control by sex yielded significant results with F(1,104) = 5.172, p < .05. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed along with directions for future endeavors. |
