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According to Carl Sagan (1987), "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge." Field studies and undergraduate research provide students with the best opportunities for "thinking" about science, while at the same time acquiring a body of knowledge. Natural History of Tropical Carbonate Ecosystems is a spring semester course cross-listed in biology, geology, and environmental studies, with a prerequisite of two semesters of introductory biology, geology, or environmental science. The purpose of the course is to provide from these three discipline areas an introduction to the unique ecology and geology of tropical-marine ecosystems with an emphasis on the Bahamas, including additional opportunities to investigate problems of human impact on tropical island marine and non-marine ecosystems and island karst hydrologic systems. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Academic performance among African American students continues to be a concern. Adolescent developmental research has identified numerous factors that affect academic performance. School-based intervention programs have focused on substance use prevention to improve academic performance. This study investigated to what extent family financial concerns, individual and parental norms, and substance use are associated with academic performance among a sample of 212 African American students attending an urban high school located in the midwestern United States. The student body was 99% African American, with approximately equal numbers of boys and girls. The results indicated that marijuana use, parental substance use norms, and family financial concerns were associated with students' academic intentions. Grade point average was associated with both marijuana use and parental substance use norms. These results highlight the importance of family-related correlates in addition to substance use when investigating academic performance among African American students.

Among a small, cross-sectional sample of young Black males transitioning from foster care (n=74), this study explored the relationship of their negative social contextual experiences to two factors relevant to the delivery of mental health services to them: cultural mistrust of mental health professionals and attitudes toward seeking professional help. Three domains of young Black male's negative social contextual experiences were measured: proximal negative experiences, distal negative experiences, and negative imagery experiences. Results of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) controlling for custody status, counselling status and history, and psychiatric history showed that young Black males reporting a high frequency of negative social contextual experiences reported significantly greater cultural mistrust of mental health professionals and significantly less positive attitudes toward seeking professional help for mental health problems than young Black males reporting a low frequency of negative social contextual experiences. Implications and future research directions are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

Measured 231 African American students' attitudes toward school-year completion, social support for completing the academic year, and their perceptions of personal control over school completion. Examined influence of self-esteem and racial self-esteem on academic goals. Found that theory of planned behavior predicted intentions to complete school year better than grade point averages. (Author/DLH)

Examined the relationship between academic performance and various contextual factors for urban, African American high school freshmen. Survey data indicated that gender, peers' church attendance, and percentage of relatives completing high school were significant in predicting positive academic outcomes. Perception of neighborhood deterioration inversely related to intention to complete high school and grade point average. School suspensions positively related to perception of neighborhood deterioration. Strong gender differences were evident. (SM)

Studied romantic perceptions of 44 single black men and 91 single black women in professional occupations. Males and females indicated similar levels of overall satisfaction, but females reported perceiving less equity and wielding more power in their relationships than did males. Females also reported their existing relationships to be less ideal than males reported. (SLD)