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1996 Dissertation Abstracts: Part 1
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ORDER NO: ABA97-06755
COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHIEF INSTRUCTIONAL OFFICERS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY Author: O'BRIEN, JEREMIAH J., II Degree: PH.D. Year: 1996 Corporate Source/Institution: UNIVERSITY OF OREGON (0171) Source: VOLUME 57/09-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL. PAGE 3790. 181 PAGES Descriptors: EDUCATION, COMMUNITY COLLEGE ; EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATION A unique contribution of the American community colleges to higher education management is the post of chief instructional officer (CIO). Yet, relatively little appears in the literature about CIOs. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine and learn about the nature of the CIO position and about the views and visions of those who occupy the position. The exploration was qualitatively driven, using a case study approach, which produced an account emerging from an inductive model of analysis. The study design was dynamic and evolving, with the participants figuratively serving as cartographers mapping the territory and content directions of the inquiry. The 14 participants were chief instructional officers at community colleges geographically dispersed throughout the United States. All were members of the League for Innovation in the Community College. Research techniques include a demographical lifestyle survey, an open-ended CIO programmatic responsibility and attribute exploration, a telephonic focus group, an open-ended and fixed-alternative survey, and individual interviews. Use of specific techniques was varied in accord with a design schedule over a period of six months. The outcomes of this study include a description of the characteristics of CIOs and self-perceptions about the nature of this position including role metaphors and ranked attributes. Five dimensions of the CIO--leadership, ethical/moral, visionary, collaborative, and developmental--emerged from the empirical materials gathered in this research. Additionally, the CIOs identified current key issues of concern for instructional affairs and forecasted key issues in 2005. The research results provide a foundational body of information and new understandings about the nature of the CIO position in American community colleges.
ORDER NO: ABA97-06555
The written literacy acquisition of students from the African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Culture is not on par with students of the dominant culture (Applebee et. al. 1986, 1990; Chapman 1994). AAVE speaking students are still placed disproportionately in college level remedial writing courses (Rose 1989). Cultural conflict has been identified as a major factor in educational settings in general (Ogbu 1994) and in composition classrooms in particular (Fox 1990; Heath 1993; Moss & Walters 1993; Campbell 1994). There is a problem with teaching AAVE speaking students to write that has still not been sufficiently addressed. In order to counteract cultural conflict that may hinder literacy development for African American students, an African Centered approach to composition was designed. The curriculum sought to improve AAVE speaking students' command of academic discourse and develop critical consciousness of themselves and their environment. The African Centered approach revolves around an interrogation of AAVE Culture: the Black literacy tradition (including themes of the Black experience), language/discourse styles, and unwritten social codes. AAVE language and culture is contrasted with the language of wider communication (LWC) Culture including the academy--a quasi bidialectal approach. The curriculum was taught to volunteer undergraduate students over one semester. Students were exposed to African Centered literature and instructional stimuli. The writing produced in the course was rated by professional composition instructors from the vantage point of acceptable academic discourse. Quantitative analyses focused on writing assessment, degree of AAVE in relationship to LWC syntax, Black discourse, and degree of African Self Consciousness. Qualitative measures provided indices of student degree of African Centered consciousness and attitudes towards their abilities as writers and the writing process. It was found that low achieving students made significant gain in the essay scores from pre to post, that students wrote lengthier essays from pre to post, pre curriculum essays employing more Black discourse received favorable ratings, and that students reported significantly more positive attitudes toward writing by the end of the course. The study has implications for the implementation of AAVE Culture in writing pedagogy.
ORDER NO: ABA97-06454
An important aspect of university-based English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing instruction is preparing students for the writing demands they will face in their academic studies (Johns, 1991). However, the specific nature of these writing demands is still not well understood (Carson & Leki, 1994), particularly at the graduate level (Prior, 1991). To better determine the writing needs of graduate level EAP writers, researchers need to go beyond simply identifying the external written conventions of disciplinary genres (Swales, 1990) or identifying representative writing tasks (e.g., Horowitz, 1986; Bridgeman & Carlson, 1984) to understanding how these tasks and conventions are used by instructors to develop students' advanced academic discourse skills. To provide a more explicit representation of purposes and uses of writing in an advanced disciplinary-based setting, a classroom study of a graduate level "writing" course, Managerial Communications, was conducted. A parallel study in an advanced EAP writing course was also conducted to provide a basis for comparing the instructors' approaches to teaching writing. A triangulated approach to data collection was used in which instructor interviews were "balanced" by student interviews, classroom observation, and the collection and analysis of classroom artifacts (e.g., student writing samples). A framework of contextual variables was developed and applied to investigate the dynamic and interactive nature of variables influencing writing instruction in these two advanced post-secondary settings. Significant differences were found between the two instructors' values, purposes, and expectations for writing. These differences suggest that more contextually-based studies of writing in advanced post-secondary settings are needed, and that EAP writing instructors need to broaden their concept of academic writing to consider the diverse orientations, purposes, and expectations which exist for writing at the graduate level.
ORDER NO: ABA97-06444
Analogical reasoning and the influence of analogies on learning were researched extensively in the past twenty years. Nevertheless, there is little research regarding the effectiveness of analogies in an instructional setting and no research on how analogies influence students' learning in an instructional setting. Therefore this study focused on two questions: (1) Does the use of an analogy in instruction help students to learn a scientific principle better than instruction without an analogy? (2) How does the use of an analogy in instruction influence students' learning? I used tutoring to teach college students one of two lessons about human physiology. Students answered interview questions to assess their recall and understanding of the targeted principles. Immediately after the interview, students saw a videotape of their interview and were asked to describe their thinking processes before they answered each question. I conducted a follow-up second experiment using the same procedures. However, this time I removed the illustrations from the lesson, and the interview was conducted one week, not two days, after instruction. I conducted a quantitative analysis to answer the first question of the study and a qualitative analysis to answer the second. Results show that: (1) There were no significant differences in overall interview scores between Analogy and No Analogy groups. Removing illustrations from instruction and assessing students' performances after a longer period favored the analogy group. (2) Students' scores, comments, and opinions suggest that analogies facilitated students' recall (by providing cues to recall the relevant information in the target principle), but it did not facilitate students' comprehension. The successful implementation of analogies in instruction depends on careful consideration of several factors: targeted domain difficulty, students' familiarity with the analogy, other instructional material used in instruction, and how and when students' performance is assessed. In this study, analogies fell short on demonstrating their usefulness in improving students' understanding. There is evidence that they improved recall and influenced students' reasoning in subtle ways that may not show in an overall assessment of students' performance.
ORDER NO: ABA97-06443
Many studies of the writing process have focused on native speakers of English and other languages to determine the causes of the writing difficulties and to suggest the best way to resolve these difficulties when teaching English writing. Few studies have focused on Arab students as their subjects, particularly the difficulties that occur becuase of the interference of both L1 and L2. Furthermore, little is known about how these difficulties occur in the writings of English-Arabic bilingual writers and how instruction assists learners in overcoming these difficulties. This qualitative study focused on the role of instruction and how it affects the process of learning English writing. Using the case-study methodology, three English essays (E1, E2 and E1-R) written by two Arabic native speakers (Saudi graduate students) were compared with three Arabic essays (A1, A2 and A1-R) written by the same students and used to locate the problems and sources of these problems in order to determine the best solutions. Students were asked to rewrite their essays using the same A1 and E1 topics for their A1-R and E1-R essays, to identify the areas affected by instruction and the areas not yet resolved during the fifteen-week ESL training. Using stimulated recall while viewing videos of themselves, the students were asked why they paused, crossed out materials or the causes for any writing behavior that occurred during their writing process. The subjects and their ESL teachers were also interviewed to learn more about the writing difficulties the subjects encountered. The results of this study indicate that students encountered problems during the stages of pre-writing, writing and revising. This study also found that problems faced by most Saudi graduate students learning English for academic purposes may be attributed to rhetorical and linguistic factors. In addition, this study helps us understand why Saudi graduate students who learn English for academic purposes are not considered "good" writers of English when they begin their graduate studies, despite the fact that they have studied English as a foreign language for seven years in their home country. The findings of this study suggest new ways of teaching English composition and new applications to teach Arabic composition to Arabic-speaking learners.
ORDER NO: ABA97-05968
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of animated hypermedia instruction on the appropriate use of the three postpositional particles of Japanese, "e", "ni" and "de"; "e" is attached to the location to which the subject is moving, "ni" is attached to the location at which the subject exists, and "de" is attached to the location at which the subject engages in an action. One hundred US college students who were enrolled in nine first semester Japanese classes participated in the study; half were assigned to the experimental group for one class of computer practice on the three particles and the other half (the control group) underwent normal classroom practice on the particles using textbook exercises with the individual instructor on the same day. During practice on computer, the software asked students to choose a word or a particle from the lists in order to complete a sentence. As they made each selection, each word was pronounced simultaneously by the digitized voice. At the same time, the visual section of the screen responded interactively to each selection with the visual representation of the subject (person), the location of the action/existence and finally the action/existence itself in an animated sequence. First, two weeks after the practice session, and then at the end of the term, students from both groups took tests that focused on the three particles. Both tests were multiple-choice and asked students to choose an appropriate particle from a given list in a sentence. The experimental group scored significantly higher on "ni" and "de" in the post-test and the end-of-term test. In addition, the Edmonds Learning Style Identification Exercise was administered to the experimental group in order to measure how visually-oriented each student was and to divide the group into two sub-groups: the visual group and the non-visual group. visual group The non-visual group scored significantly higher on "ni" and "de" in both tests contrary to expectation. Future studies with other means of grouping are suggested.
ORDER NO: ABA97-05687
The purpose of this research was to analyze the teaching-learning process in a college-level visual design course that utilized student portfolios. In doing so, it (1) investigated student learning processes associated with the use of student portfolios, (2) assessed student and instructor perceptions of portfolio use in higher education, identifying improvements in design work and understanding of course content, and (3) identified personal idiosyncrasies and purposes reflected in student work. The activities of an upper-level visual design class are portrayed via a musical score data display. Howard Gardner's Arts PROPEL portfolio approach to the teaching-learning process served as a model for the study. Seven students in a semester-long third-term design course were observed as they worked through each of four design studio problems. Additionally, they and their instructor were interviewed about their perceptions of the use of the student portfolio as a tool to facilitate the teaching-learning process. In the course, students' design work began with problem-solving through initial intuitive thumbnail sketches and proceeded through investigation of available images appropriate to the design solution. These sources were then incorporated into the design process in the form of more completely realized rough sketches. Finally, following peer and instructor reviews, the students completed full-blown mock-ups of their finished design solutions. Students wrote and spoke reflectively about their designing processes and products during design production and after each assignment was completed. The researcher devised a data display in the form of a musical score to reveal some of the interactional dynamics during the student's production, perception and reflection processes of each design problem. This summation is intended to be used as a context for examining the students' learning processes as revealed in the students' own work and words.
ORDER NO: ABA97-05095
The current study quantitatively examined the effectiveness of computer-based instruction (CBI) compared with conventional instruction using a meta-analytic research synthesis of evaluation studies conducted since 1990. 40 studies on CBI in higher education and military training were coded on 13 variables. These studies yielded 48 comparisons to calculate effect sizes for achievement as measured by performance and knowledge outcomes. Results of the synthesis indicated that CBI raised outcome measures by an average of 0.35 standard deviation units. This finding implies that students in the CBI groups performed on the 64th percentile of the control group distribution, or that, assuming a linear rate of learning, there was an increase of approximately 14% in the number of students who could be estimated to reach the achievement threshold using CBI. Results also indicated that effect sizes were similar for both knowledge and performance outcomes. Effect sizes were greater for higher education than for military training. CBI was found to be equally effective when used either as a supplement to or a replacement of conventional instruction. Effect sizes were greatest for simulation when different instructional approaches were compared. CBI was also found to be more effective when used without interactive videodisc (IVD) than with IVD. Only three studies presented information on CBI costs. The results from these studies indicated that CBI costs less. In addition, 10 studies reported time taken to complete instruction, yielding 13 ratios. The average ratio was 0.70, which implies that there was a 30% savings in time for students to reach threshold levels of performance using CBI. Overall, CBI was found to be a more effective and less costly instructional approach.
ORDER NO: ABA97-03549
Score study is recognized as an integral component in the instruction of a conductor. However, instrumental conducting courses at the undergraduate level focus on the mechanics of conducting and related areas. The majority of texts on conducting address the topic of score study, but neglect to provide the student with a process or method to follow. Supplemental instruction is needed in order to develop score study skills in the traditional classroom setting. Computer assisted instruction is an effective method of providing supplementary instruction. The purpose of this study was to (a) develop a computer assisted music instruction program as an aid to score study, using a specific work from the wind band repertoire as a model and (b) test its effectiveness in improving knowledge of the work as measured by a researcher-developed test. It was hypothesized that students who use a computer assisted music instruction program to supplement traditional classroom conducting instruction in the area of score study will improve their knowledge of a specific wind band score more than students who do not use the program. Conducting classes at four universities were randomly divided in half, resulting in two groups of 22 students each. All subjects took a researcher-developed test to measure their knowledge of a model work, the First Suite in E-Flat, by Gustav Holst. Following the pretest, the experimental subjects experienced the supplemental treatment for six sessions over a three-week period in addition to classroom instruction in conducting. The control subjects experienced only the traditional classroom instruction. Following the three-week period, all students took the same dependent measure as a posttest. Results revealed that the Experimental group obtained significantly greater gains over the Control on the total measure and Subtest 3. Results also indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in the gain scores between the two groups on subtests one and two. It is concluded that the computer may effectively supplement traditional conducting instruction in the area of score study. Further investigation in this area is needed in the optimal use of technology, in test development, and in conducting curriculum.
ORDER NO: ABA97-00784
This research is an action research study that considers: (1) How effective is my teaching in guiding students towards the University's teacher education goal of preparing thoughtful and reflective practitioners who are committed to the education of all students to the same high standards? (2) Is my teaching guiding my students to teach in ways that align with the constructivist perspective I advocate? (3) Does my own teaching show evidence of constructivist methods? I closely examined two of my class assignments: the literacy autobiography project and the videotape project. These two projects and the surrounding class activities encouraged preservice teacher's to make connections between their own past experiences with literacy acquisition and their present and future teaching of language arts. The research group consists of ten members of a language arts methods course in which the students are seeking certification to teach in preschool through third grade. Data sets include: student journals, literacy autobiography projects, videotape projects, my personal journal and observation notes, and student portfolios. Within the process of the literacy autobiography project many students make connections between past and present classroom literacy experiences. Their stated beliefs about reading and writing instruction appear to be strongly grounded in their own past experiences with literacy acquisition. The written and oral structures surrounding the videotapes provide information about the research students' collective "vision" of a teacher. For most of the research students, this vision, like their beliefs, is apparently based in their traditional, skills-oriented elementary classroom experiences. My own constructivist teaching throughout the semester seems to provoke resistance in several of the traditionally-schooled preservice teachers who do not recognize the familiar teacher-student interactions in which they have previously experienced success. My research has given me a new understanding, of what it means to be a teacher educator dedicated to preparing thoughtful, reflective, constructively-oriented practitioners. My students and I had opportunities to learn from our teaching and teach from our learning. Some of us remain encased within our protective defenses believing we have it all. Some of us shed our protection, endured the discomfort, and grew as teachers and learners.
ORDER NO: ABA97-01171
Critical thinking is fast becoming one of the major focuses of all nursing curriculum (Miller & Malcolm, 1990). The new criteria for evaluation of baccalaureate and higher degree programs developed by the National League for Nursing includes critical thinking as a required outcome for nursing education. As medicine and nursing continue to increase in complexity, nursing educational programs will need to prepare students to meet these changes.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of various instructional strategies on developing critical thinking abilities in freshman nursing students. The hypothesis for this study was: Improvement between the pre and posttest scores in the California Critical Thinking Skills Test will occur with a sample of freshman nursing students enrolled in a first level professional nursing course who are exposed to multiple methods of analytical and critical thinking.
A class of seventy-six freshman nursing students was randomly placed in four groups. These groups of students were enrolled in their last freshman nursing course at the time of the study. The setting for this study was a non-traditional hospital-affiliated registered nurse (RN) diploma program. The sample population consisted of a heterogeneous group of students in relation to age, experience, ethnic and racial background, and gender.
The design of this research study was a pretest/posttest control-group design. All students received the California Critical Thinking Skills Test as their pretest/posttest tool. The pretest was administered to all student participants during the orientation in the first week of the Fall 1995 semester.
The researcher taught three lecture/discussion classes. Teaching strategies utilized within the classroom included case studies, large group discussion, small group interaction, role playing and questioning. Additionally, all students were required to complete an assigned computer-assisted instruction program. The posttest was administered to all study participants in the tenth week of the eleven week semester.
At the completion of the research, sixty-nine students completed the entire study. An analysis of covariance was performed on the posttest total score of all groups utilizing the pretest score as the covariate. Similar testing was performed on the five sub-scale scores within the California Critical Thinking Skills Test. These sub-scales included the Delphi sub-scales of analysis.
ORDER NO: ABA97-02964
This research investigates the process of change in teacher beliefs and classroom teaching of university faculty who engage in instructional consultation. Previous research documented the effectiveness of consultation in helping faculty to improve their teaching, yet it shed no light on the process through which these instructors came to rethink their teaching. It also failed to provide insights into why some instructors improved more than others.
Four Stanford faculty members permitted me to shadow them as they engaged in the teaching improvement process. In addition to being interviewed throughout the process, faculty were provided with microcassette recorders so that they could record their thoughts at any time. They were also asked to record what they did in a "teaching improvement log."
In order to gain an objective measure of change in student perceptions and self perceptions of teaching, each of the instructors and all of their students completed the same teaching evaluation at mid-term (prior to the meeting during which the consultant suggested to the instructor various strategies for improvement) and at end-of-term.
Each of the faculty examined in this study was able to improve his teaching as a result of working with an instructional consultant. For three of the four instructors, the experience was very positive. They were open to the consultant's suggestions, accepted constructive criticism with ease, and were willing to rethink their teaching. In marked contrast, one of the instructors was unenthusiastic about the experience. He repeatedly resisted her suggestions and was very frustrated by the experience. Nevertheless, this frustration subsided over time, and he was able to make some improvements in his teaching.
For all four faculty, there were no detectable changes in teacher beliefs that resulted from engaging in consultation. Their beliefs at the end of the quarter were no different from their beliefs at the beginning of the quarter.
A number of variables appeared to influence each instructor's experience and outcome associated with engaging in consultation: years of teaching experience, perceptions of consultant, initial ratings, self-rating/student-rating discrepancy, self-efficacy, motivation to change, departmental culture, and consultant-instructor interaction.
ORDER NO: ABA97-02505
This study examined the effects of integrating cognitive apprenticeship instructional methods into community college writing instruction--a problem solving approach (see Flower, 1993; Flower & Hayes, 1980) using think aloud modeling (Collins, Brown, & Holum, 1991; Schoenfeld, 1985). Nine intact classes were randomly assigned to treatments and control groups; data included ACT's Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency Writing Skills Test (1993), essay scores, instructor journals, classroom observations, and instructor interviews. MANCOVA indicated that cognitive apprenticeship is effective in writing instruction. Treatment students' post test means were higher at a statistically significant level than the controls'. Subsequent univariate ANOVAs found statistically significant differences in CAAP post-test means. Univariate ANCOVA revealed statistically significant differences among treatment groups. ANOVAs found significance between groups. No significance was found for essays. Modeling instructors reported (a) increased student attention and enthusiasm, (b) that they would continue to perform think aloud modeling during instruction, and that they felt new modeling instructors will need intensive and on-going training, coaching, and feedback.
ORDER NO: ABA97-01492
Through an ethnographic study, this researcher explores the pedagogy of an experienced English composition teacher as she instructed a first semester college composition course in a computer classroom. This research, conducted at a suburban community college, provides insight to the unique nature of computer composition instruction and reveals the special demands of teaching with technology.
This dissertation provides a detailed examination of seven hours of classroom instruction during which students developed a narrative essay, then completed one revision of the same essay. Most ofthe classroom instruction took place as students composed and revised on individual computers using a simple word-processing program. Methods of data collection included classroom observations, audio-tapes of teacher-student interactions, charts of teacher movement within the computer classroom, and interviews with the teacher and students.
The researcher found that the teacher allocated class time for collaborative group activities but that most class time was devoted to individual composing and revising. Composition instruction was provided by the teacher through highly interactive individual encounters that she conducted with students at their computer screens as they composed and revised. The teacher provided immediate, spontaneous responses to emerging student texts and read on-screen text aloud as an important interactive instructional strategy. Students participated in a "cognitive apprenticeship" as they worked in collaboration with the teacher to identify problems, determine appropriate strategies, and work through possible solutions. Through individual discussions and specific applications of the word processing program, the teacher was able to provide instructional support and guidance to effectively help students reduce cognitive constraints. Students responded positively to this instructional approach in the classroom and in their responses to subsequent surveys and interviews.
The communication, pedagogical, and technological skills of the teacher were important factors in shaping composition instruction in the computer classroom. Access to on-screen computer text provided the teacher with a "window" on the writing processes of students, which informed and shaped her pedagogy. The instructional strategies reported through this ethnography support a social cognitive theory of instruction and show its application in a technological environment.
ORDER NO: ABA97-01200
University faculty are charged with three major responsibilities: research, teaching, and service. While universities have developed various strategies to assist faculty in balancing these professional demands, minimal institutional effort has been devoted to nurturing faculty writing, despite the fact that scholarly research productivity is in reality the primary criterion for decisions regarding promotion and tenure. In the last ten years, however, several faculty writing support groups have been instituted to address this aspect of faculty development.
This study examined the University of North Dakota Faculty Writing Seminar to determine the effectiveness of the Seminar as a means of increasing scholarly productivity, facilitating instructional improvement, and enhancing collegial relationships. Perceptions of the Seminar participants were collected by means of a written questionnaire and focus group interviews. Facilitators of the Seminars were also interviewed. Data from the 47 faculty participants in the study were analyzed pre-Seminar and post-Seminar for the total sample as well as by gender, junior-senior faculty standing, and academic discipline.
The results indicated that participants in the Seminar significantly increased the number of submissions to refereed journals and the number of book contracts anticipated after the Seminar (1995-96). Differences in perceptions between genders, junior and senior faculty, and members of different academic disciplines were noted.
Participants credited the Seminar with increasing their confidence, comfort, and clarity in writing and with inspiring a stronger commitment to setting and meeting deadlines. They identified perfectionism, procrastination, negative self image, poor organization, and heavy teaching and administrative loads as barriers to productivity.
The Seminar provided a model for peer feedback in the classroom, gave participants greater confidence in making and evaluating writing assignments, and increased their tolerance for differences in writing styles across the disciplines. Participants cited the development of collegiality and interdisciplinary faculty contacts as the most valuable aspects of the Seminar.
ORDER NO: ABA97-00673
For the past 100 years, the prominent instructional model for all public education in the United States has been teacher/content centered with the intent of covering a discrete body of knowledge in a given period of time. As the end of the twentieth century approaches, natural, social, political, and economic forces are influencing community college instructors to transition from content centered instruction to a student centered approach to teaching and learning as part of the national education reform agenda.
The purpose of this study was to document, through a case study, the experience of one community college instructor as she attempted to transition from a traditional content focused teaching model to an outcome-based/learner centered model. A literature survey provides a review of education reform as it relates to instructors in a community college. A learner centered training model from industry, is applied as a framework for outcome-based/learner centered instruction in community colleges.
Participant observation, surveys, and interviews were the methods used to collect data. Six hypotheses were generated from the study: (1) Learner centered/outcome-based teaching is more complex and takes greater skill in basic teaching techniques than teaching in a traditional content framework. (2) An instructor whose teaching experience has been exclusively content focused may find it difficult to create authentic learning tasks. (3) Collegial influence is a major factor affecting the ability of one instructor to change instructional practices. (4) A single instructor's ability to change instructional practice in one course is limited by the way the program curriculum is designed. (5) Learning is enhanced by human relationships that foster trust and reflective practice. (6) Teaching and learning is complex and multifaceted in nature: it is not a logical linear process.
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