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1997 Dissertation Abstracts: Part 6
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ORDER NO: ABA97-23968 VENEZUELAN COLLEGE TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF EFFICACY AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM (SELF-EFFICACY) Author: RANGEL, ANA TERESA Degree: ED.D. Year: 1997 Corporate Source/Institution: UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA (0136) Co-chairs: JEAN LUCKOWSKI; KATHLEEN MILLER Source: VOLUME 58/02-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL. PAGE 427. 191 PAGES Descriptors: EDUCATION, TEACHER TRAINING; EDUCATION, HIGHER; EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION Descriptor Codes: 0530; 0745 ; 0727 The purpose of this study was to examine Venezuelan teacher educators' attitudes toward an alternative curriculum change of interdisciplinary nature based on their efficacy beliefs. Three specific questions were considered: (1) What are the variations of faculty efficacy perceptions of their self, collective, and team capabilities to perform teaching tasks? (2) What attitudes do teacher educators have toward interdisciplinary curriculum for teacher education? (3) Is there a relationship between teacher educator perceptions of efficacy and their attitude toward interdisciplinary curriculum? The study was based on A. Bandura's efficacy framework of social-cognitive theory. Efficacy in its three dimensions--self, collective, and team--was considered as a motivational mechanism as well as a potential mediator of attitudes toward change. The sample consisted of 101 members of the Teacher Education faculty from six Venezuelan universities of which 43 were females and 58 were males. A survey instrument containing four scales was used. TES-E and TEC-E assessed teacher educator self- and collective-efficacy; TET-E assessed teacher educator team-efficacy. The scale for measure of faculty attitude toward interdisciplinary curriculum was the SoCQ. Pearson-product correlation and multiple analysis were implemented to determine the extent of the relationship between perceptual and attitudinal variables. Data revealed that male and female faculty were equally self confident in their teaching capabilities, but perceiving lower collective and team efficacy. Significant differences were found among the three efficacy means. In support of the research hypotheses, teacher educators' perceptions of self, collective, and team efficacy were moderately positive and statistically significantly correlated with their attitudes toward interdisciplinary curriculum. Also, the three variables of efficacy significantly predicted faculty attitudes toward interdisciplinarity as curricular change. Alternative interpretations derived from differential gender status and sociohistoric context were provided. This research suggests teacher education reform should focus on the adoption of interdisciplinary curriculum to encourage both faculty's sense of efficacy and committment for change.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23884 This study investigated the efficacy of teaching awareness and use of metacognitive strategies, using the think-aloud heuristic, to increase reading comprehension of developmental community college readers. Four intact classes of developmental college reading students were taught by the researcher over the course of one semester. Two treatment classes were taught metacognitive awareness and strategies across ten lessons in a traditional classroom setting by teacher modeling of the think-aloud heuristic. Strategies were divided into Before, During and After Reading segments. Metacognitive awareness and strategy use were assessed by pretesting and posttesting students' on the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), developed by the researcher for this study. Students taught with the think-aloud heuristic had substantially higher MAI posttest scores than the groups who were not taught with the think-aloud heuristic. The effect size approached one standard deviation unit, indicating practical significance. Comprehension was assessed by analysis of scaled scores on the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) and normal curve equivalent scores (NCEs) on the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP). Mean scaled scores of all groups on the SDRT indicated that both treatment groups scored higher and had greater gains than either control group. The effect size was small, less than one third of one standard deviation, but approached practical significance. The normal curve equivalent scores (NCEs) on the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) produced mixed results. The differences among the four groups were so slight as to be deemed of no practical significance. Analysis of students' journals and Book Talks indicated that students who were taught with the think-aloud heuristic read more than twice as many books for pleasure and reported more than ten times as much metacognitive strategy use as students not taught with the think-aloud heuristic. Students in treatment groups reported greater enjoyment of reading than students in control groups.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23882 The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of review sessions on student achievement and retention in a computer applications course taught by televised distance learning and traditional instruction. Identified within the study were method of instruction , review, and grades in televised and traditional computer applications courses. A quasi-experimental design was used to measure the effects of review sessions on student achievement and retention in computer applications classes. Intact classes were used to form the 4 groups used in this study. Randomization was limited to choices students made in registering for the classes. The control groups for this study consisted of those students enrolled in traditional and telecourse computer applications during the Fall 1995 and Spring 1996 semesters for a total of 137 students. These students received no review sessions as part of their instruction. The experimental groups were formed by those students enrolled in the traditional and telecourse computer applications during the Fall 1996 semester for a total of 102 students. These students received review sessions as part of their instruction. Findings indicated that method of instruction does not provide significant differences in terms of grades and retention between the telecourse and traditional classes. Results indicated that there were significant differences in terms of review on grades with telecourse and traditional classes. Student responses indicated that review sessions were helpful. Recommendations were made for improved efforts to enhance teaching strategies in traditional and distance learning and for continued research in traditional and distance learning.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23652 Our age is one of intensified globalization. Perhaps unlike any previous time, humankind stands poised on the threshold of an epochal social transformation. It is a time of tremendous potential to create a new world order and simultaneously a time of new world disorder. As a social reconstructionist, I assert that education will affect the choices facing humankind today and ultimately will result in future political decisions that have serious global implications. The research question posed in this dissertation is--"How can educators teach political science to produce informed social actors who can successfully evaluate global problems, challenges, and potential future worlds as humankind moves into the 21st century?" This question is outlined in Chapter One and then described in Chapter Two through a comprehensive literature review of globalism by both objective realists and subjective interpretivists. Next, Chapter Three is a descriptive analysis of the educational philosophy of social reconstructionism and global education theory. The primary consideration here is how do reconstructionists view higher education's role in relation to globalization? Chapter Four presents a new teaching model developed within the context of social inquiry pedagogy and constructivist learning theory. Last, Chapter Five is a survey of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's notion of planetization as a means to facilitate reconstructionist philosophy and promote constructivist learning.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23651 The purpose of this study was to: (a) determine if Myers-Briggs Personality Temperaments affected the attitudes of distance learning students as measured by the Distance Education Evaluation Questionnaire; (b) determine if gender affected the attitudes of distance learning students as measured by the Distance Education Evaluation Questionnaire; (c) determine if grade level affected the attitudes of distance learning students as measured by the Distance Education Evaluation Questionnaire; and (d) determine if the observed frequencies of students enrolled in distance learning courses match expected frequencies from the literature. The population of this study consisted of 72 students currently taking two-way video courses at Idaho State University and Eastern Idaho Technical College. Each student was enrolled in undergraduate courses needed for vocational, academic, or two year programs. Data was collected from the students by way of the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory and the Distance Education Evaluation Questionnaire. The data were analyzed with a Kruskal-Wallis Analysis of Variance test and Chi-square Goodness of Fit test. It was concluded that Myers-Briggs Personality Temperaments, gender, or grade level did not statistically significantly affect attitudes of distance learning students. It was also concluded that observed frequencies of Myers-Briggs Personality Temperaments did differ significantly from the expected frequencies as reviewed in the literature.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23589 The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between developmental college students' prior background knowledge levels (PBK) concerning the topic of an expository reading passage and the skills employed when writing a summary of the passage. Reader, text, and task variables were examined. Prior background knowledge variables included overall PBK, defining, listing, and explaining. Summary transformations were analyzed including inventions, combinations, run-on combinations, and reproductions. Summarization measures included holistic score, transformations, primary generalization, number of key points, number of words written, and overall PBK. Freshman students in this study were enrolled in a College Reading and Study Skills course offered through Developmental Programs at a large, midwestern university. Developmental students are frequently underprepared or differently prepared for reading and writing demands of college coursework. Two important reading and writing tasks for academic success are the ability to read and summarize text--the skills examined in this study. Students first wrote responses to specific PBK questions modelled on Langer's (1984) prereading plan (PReP). The topic of the 1500 word reading passage was defense mechanisms. After reading, students wrote 80-100 word summaries. Summaries were scored holistically and analyzed according to Winograd's (1984) transformation categories. Correlational statistics and multiple regression procedures were used to analyze data. All of the prior background knowledge scores were related to the holistic summarization score. The relationship between PBK and transformations was partially supported. Five of the eight summarization measures had significant multiple correlations: holistic, combination, primary generalization, number of key points, and number of words written. Perceived confidence was a significant predictor in all five summarization measures. Overall PBK was a significant predictor of the holistic score and number of words written. Reading comprehension was significant in predicting the holistic summarization score. Number of words written and utilization of text marking were correlated with the holistic summarization score. The results provide evidence that PBK is related to holistic summarization skills and somewhat related to transformations, especially combinations. Holistic scores, perceived confidence, overall PBK, and reading comprehension were the strongest predictors for summarization. The number of words written and text marking also influenced holistic summarization scores.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23584 The traditional thought regarding African-American education had focused upon the ebb and flow of the continuous debate between the advocates of "industrial education" and "classical education." An examination of the evolving African-American curriculum and instruction from 1941 to 1947 illuminated the practical applications and implications of "industrial" and "classical" education amid the ongoing debate between these Washingtonian and Du Boisian educational proponents. The intent of this study was to probe the changing status of Wilberforce University 's curriculum and instruction given its close connection with these divergent education philosophies. In specific, a study of curriculum and instruction at Wilberforce University , the only African-American university in Ohio, was valid since it represented both educational constituents in the ongoing national debate. Therefore, this study is useful as a focal point to re-examine these historical educational issues. Within this context, distinctions between "industrial" and "classical" education will be analyzed. Further variations between liberal arts and teacher training curriculum will be explored. Additional differences surrounding business training and vocational preparation will be scrutinized. Finally, any changing attitudes as reflected by the Ohio General Assembly, North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, University Administration, boards of trustees, students, and the surrounding African-American community will be investigated. A special emphasis was placed upon the internal and external factors that influenced the development of curriculum and instruction at Wilberforce University during these times.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23242 This study explores the models of language inherent in the history of thought and scholarship on composition, literacy and language influencing those operating both tacitly and explicitly in the beginning college writing classroom. Using scholarly, ethnographic and case study methods , this study argues that as participants of academic culture, beginning students and seasoned teachers alike, share notions of the nature and purpose of speech and writing reflecting a traditional bifurcation of perspectives on language: as seen either from the viewpoint of the speaker experiencing language as energeia, or from the observer viewing language as a rule-governed artifact. However, the classroom models reflect attenuated and polarized versions of their traditional scholarly forms. This study contributes to the restoration of the classroom models by exploring them in various social-historical contexts of composition, literacy and linguistic studies, from the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt and Ferdinand de Saussure, to the debate over pedagogy at Dartmouth. An ethnographic study of two Basic Writing classrooms and case studies of the experiences of five student writers illustrate the function of traditional models as they interact with each other in the classroom, becoming dynamic forms in the relationships among the institution, the teacher, the students, and their experiences with language. Teacher and student writers who recognize their own tacit models, as well as parallels between their own experiences and traditional theoretical struggles, can gain insight thereby into many of the problems encountered in both their writing classroom and their texts. This study concludes that when balanced within a functional repertoire of models, the traditional models for language can be legitimate and helpful constructs for the teaching and learning of writing. However, both teachers and students must combine an understanding of this heritage with the self-reflection necessary to discover their own models of language and the forms they take in their particular classroom context.
ORDER NO: ABA97-23075 This study examines why technology-mediated instruction and learning has not been widely adopted by faculty members despite the growing familiarity with technology and the numerous efforts to integrate information technology into teaching. This study proposes that the integration of technology in teaching depends on three conceptual approaches: learner-oriented, institution-oriented, and faculty-oriented approaches. It further argues that, despite the critical importance of the professoriate in higher education, one of the basic reasons for the failure to integrate technology is disregarding the differences among faculty member's processes of innovation-adoption. Results of the survey were reported in three sections. The first section presented descriptive data and the second section examined five categorical groups: innovator, early adopter, early majority, skeptic, and resister. The final section reported on tests of mean differences among the five innovation-adoption groups. Four primary findings of the study are discussed: First, the technology use pattern of survey participants showed that Internet applications were the most highly used technology category with 78% of respondents reporting use of the Internet. However, only 30% responded that they used the Internet for teaching purposes. Also, survey data provided empirical evidence that faculty members' perceptions and attitudes differ about technology-mediated instruction with faculty identifying themselves as innovators (20%), early adopters (29%), early majorities (28%), skeptics (14%), or resisters (9%). Second, such demographic variables as institution, age, academic ranks, and number and size of classes taught did not show significant differences among the five groups. However, the distribution of the innovator group varied across academic deparments because humanities and art departments were significantly underrepresented. Thirdly, subsequent Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) tests revealed that these five groups had significant differences on 32 of 49 questionnaire items. Results indicated that familiarity with and knowledge of technology were the most important factors in explaining the differences among groups. Finally, faculty data indicated that 'rewards in promotion and salary' was perceived as a significantly less important item, either as a motivator or problem, than 'time' and 'availability of equipment'. Also, 'institutional and departmental plans and guidelines' for the instructional use of technology were rated as not satisfactory by all five group members. The most unsatisfactory support item from faculty viewpoint was 'departmental technology support and consulting staff'.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22779 This qualitative study investigates the talk of seven holistic raters, as they read the placement essays of first year college students, written during summer orientation sessions at a mid-sized, state-supported university. All of the raters were experienced teachers of composition but had varying degrees of experience with holistic scoring. Using qualitative methods common to ethnographic study, the researcher, in the role of participant/observer, collected sound-image recordings (video tapes) of the raters' interactions. Selected data from these recordings were transcribed, coded, analyzed, and reported, according to analytic frameworks suggested by the ethnography of communication in combination with language in use discourse analysis, in an effort to describe the conversational norms the raters used to establish a common ground for making their placement decisions. Findings suggest that the raters quickly established patterns of talk unique to the particular speech situations associated with the placement process. These patterns of talk reflected the common ground upon which the raters calibrated the entire placement process. In the training sessions, rater talk focused on the specific task of reaching agreements concerning placements of the day's anchor papers, based upon how well specific features of student texts met the rhetorical and technical demands of the prescribed rubric. In the ensuing rating sessions, the raters' talk reflected less upon the rubric and more on their personal perceptions of the student writers as potential students in their composition classes. Raters linked these personal perceptions of student writers to a common ground of rater knowledge, or reflective context, by telling stories about their past literacy learning and teaching experiences. Analysis of linguistic evidence, in the forms of definite reference, contextual expressions, speech acts, and context cues, helped to determine the common ground of rater knowledge that fundamentally informed the course and adequacy of their placement decisions. In other words, what each rater knew about assessing and placing students in first year writing classes became mutually known by all raters, and that common ground was reflected in what they said.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22763 This case study delineates what twenty-four academic and technical faculty in the New Hampshire Community Technical College System perceived to be the internal and external factors influencing the implementation of standards, measures, and integrated curricula between 1991 and 1996. This implementation was called for by the 1990 Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act, which requires postsecondary education to reform curricula to educate and train students for the new technological, informational, and service-oriented global economy instead of the former industrial economy. On the basis of the researcher's professional roles in teaching , administration, and policy-making for education and health care systems, she integrated her knowledge and experience to develop the study and synthesize the findings. Data were collected using a four-round Policy Delphi technique, enhanced with the Harvard Policy Model, Force Field Analysis, a Commitment-to Action-Scale, completion statements, scenarios, and a semantic differential. The most significant facilitating factors were faculty commitment to students and their willingness to change practices; program connections with business and industry; system core competencies; performance-based learning initiative; national focus on curriculum reform; and desirability and feasibility of the changes. The most significant inhibiting factors were a lack of shared vision, leadership, and personal mastery at all levels of the system; faculty mistrust of and non-support by the administration; policy lurching; and inadequate state funding of the system. Policy lurching is defined as the abrupt shift from one agenda to another before any one policy is implemented. The dynamic interaction of internal and external factors resulted in the intrapersonal feelings of anxiety, powerlessness, and social isolation as identified by the participants. Contributions to policy research methods , implementation theory, and organizational theory are outcomes of this study. An Ideal College was created from faculty words and comments.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22747 This study examined situated cognition and anchored instruction in the context of foreign language learning. Based upon situated learning models proposed by McLellan (1996) and Thurman (1993), a situated lesson was adapted for foreign language learning and tested. This quantitative study examined situated learning in a class of international freshmen composition students enrolled at a private American university. The experimental group was taught to write a composition in a situated class. Activities included: problem solving, working in groups, interviewing and collaborative writing. The ANCOVA was applied with the Nelson Reading Test as the covariate. A Recall-protocol scoring template graded by a panel of instructors was used as the instrument. No significant differences were reported. Possibilities outlined for failure to reject the hypothesis included necessity for increase of sample size and length of study. However, both the covariate and the Test of English as Second Language (TOEFL) were found to have a significant relationship with the instrument. These facts and others lead to a discussion and suggestions on how this model could be applied to future studies.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22746 This study documents the contributions of Clarence A. Burg (1893-1986) to the field of piano pedagogy by investigating his varied activities as a musician, teacher, professional leader in music, and music administrator. Burg's career as Dean and Professor of Piano in the School of Music at Oklahoma City University (OCU) from 1928 through 1982 was marked by tremendous growth in the School, largely through Burg's efforts. He influenced many generations of piano students by his own teaching and his piano teachers' workshops in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere. His influence extended farther because of his leadership in numerous professional organizations. Chief among these are the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, of which he was a founder and the first president, and the National Guild of Piano Teachers, for whose annual auditions he served as an adjudicator for many years. Interviews with Burg's relatives and archival materials provided biographical data. Information regarding Burg's piano teaching philosophy and approaches was gathered from questionnaires returned by sixty-seven of his former piano and piano pedagogy students. Based on the data, the overwhelming majority of Burg's students were positively influenced by him in their playing and teaching , as well as in their lives beyond their lessons or classes. It is clear that the School of Music at OCU and music education, particularly in piano, across the entire state of Oklahoma today have been shaped by Clarence Burg's influence. This study contains six chapters and several appendices. Chapter 1 provides background on the subject and a survey of related studies. Chapter 2 is a biographical sketch of Burg. In chapters 3 and 4, Burg's techniques and methods of teaching piano performance and piano pedagogy, respectively, are discussed. In both chapters, the impact of his teaching is noted, based on questionnaire responses of former students. Burg's leadership role in music educators' professional organizations is explored in chapter 5. Chapter 6 contains a summary, conclusions, and recommendations for further study.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22676 This study compared and contrasted current goals and practices of institutional advising programs with those utilized specifically by distance education programs. As part of the conceptual framework, the study analyzed seven practices of advising programs identified through previous research on academic advising: delivery systems, organizational models, evaluation, support or reference materials, required occasions for academic advising, group advising, and advisor-student communication. The eight advising goals of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) were also used to build the conceptual framework. Data were collected through a survey which resulted in descriptive statistics on advising goals and practices in distance education. Data analysis involved comparisons of results of the Academic Advising in Distance Education Survey developed for this study with data from American College Testing's Fourth National Survey of Academic Advising. Participants were identified from Peterson's 1996 publication, Guide to Distance Learning. Institutions selected for the sample had at least one baccalaureate degree program available at a distance, using primarily electronic means of instruction. One institutional representative completed the survey. Eight-nine surveys were mailed to institutions that met the study's definition of distance education. Seventy-three of these surveys were returned for a response rate of 82%. Results showed that NACADA's advising goals were relevant for distance education; mean achievement was higher for each goal in distance education when compared with institutional advising programs. Advising practices were similar for distance education and institutions as a whole in that faculty advisors were the most frequent deliverers of advising services. There were differences between institutional and distance education advising programs in other practices, with less utilization of group advising, institutional reference materials, and advising evaluation in distance education.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22593 This study investigated the effects of access to a test item pool on student achievement and study habits in an Introduction to Microcomputers class at Southwest Virginia Community College. The class was planned, delivered, and evaluated using Vogler's Curriculum-Pedagogy-Assessment (CPA) model. The study was designed as a quasi-experimental study. Three groups were used in the study: two treatment groups and a control group. A test item pool was furnished as study questions for the two treatment groups defined as unlimited access and just-in-time access groups. A control group did not have access to the study questions. The unlimited access group received all questions on computer disk at the beginning of the course. The questions were not grouped by topic but rather were grouped by question type. The just-in-time access group received a group of questions each week that pertained to the topic being studied for the week. The planning, delivery, and evaluation for the course for each of the three groups were held constant. The test item pool containing 446 items was used to construct the achievement test used in the study as well as to provide the study questions for the two experimental groups. Ninety items were extracted from the achievement test and the remaining 356 items were provided as study questions. To control for delivery, the same instructor taught all three groups. Student achievement was measured using a teacher developed criterion-referenced final examination. Study habits analyzed in this study were use of class handouts, class notes, class tutor, library books, personal books, and class textbook for all groups, and study questions provided to two of the groups. Students recorded time spent studying each week on a scale of 1 to 5. ANOVA for the achievement test yielded results leading to the conclusion that it is better to have access to study questions than not to have access. Both the unlimited and just-in-time access groups scored significantly better than the control group. However, the difference between the two experimental groups was not significant. Significant differences were found for use of certain study methods between groups. The just-in-time access group used class handouts, class notes, and the study questions more than the unlimited access group. The control group used all types of books significantly more than the just-in-time access group. The control group also used class notes and the textbook more than the unlimited access group. The unlimited access group used both library books and personal books more than the just-in-time access group. This led to the conclusion that because the control group did not have access to the study questions, they used a wider variety of the remaining techniques than did the other two groups. Two important conclusions from this study are significant. First, access to an item pool does improve learning as measured on an achievement test. Therefore, it is recommended that item pools be used as tools for improving instruction. Second, students in the study adapted their use of study techniques according to the methods and materials available to them. Because of this finding, it is recommended that the instructor carefully consider any pedagogical reasons for using study questions in the manner utilized in this study. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
ORDER NO: ABA97-22353 This study examined the achievement and satisfaction level attained by adults studying elementary Spanish in compressed and standard terms. Each format included 60 hours of classroom instruction ; compressed terms were completed in 6 weeks, while standard terms were 15 weeks. The 90 minute, multiple choice, standardized achievement test, the Dantes Beginning Spanish I-SF 583, an attitudinal survey, and a 15 minute questionnaire developed for this study were completed by 129 students in southeast Florida, 73 in standard format courses, 56 in compressed formats. The findings indicated that adult students learning Spanish as a foreign language in compressed and standard time formats with an equal number of contact hours had similar levels of student achievement and intent to continue to the next level of Spanish. The one exception was that a significantly higher vocabulary and structure mean achievement score ($<$.05) was obtained by the students in the compressed term. The major conclusion is that an adult learner may expect similar results in an elementary Spanish course regardless of whether it is offered in a standard or compressed format. Inferences which can be drawn must be limited to similar populations and time frames. Since a learner's achievement and satisfaction level in elementary Spanish classes for adults is dependent upon many factors, not just the element of time, a multiple perspective is needed to analyze and assess foreign language learning. One implication is that courses be made available in a wide variety of time formats. It is recommended that administrators concerned with scheduling and curriculum planning use adult student needs assessments to determine what the adult learner considers to be convenient, flexible scheduling. Recommendations include replicating the study with a larger, more diverse population, amplifying it to include a qualitative segment for student personal responses, and adding a longitudinal component containing follow-up surveys over varying time periods.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22337 An esurvey was designed to be implemented via the Internet and targeted toward a large, heterogeneous population of Instructional Designers and developers from educational, corporate, government, and technical environments. The overall goals of the study included contributing to the evolving research foundation of Instructional Systems Design (ISD) models, practices, and measurement. Respondent data sets were analyzed according to two different grouping structures. The first grouping structure concerned the number of years experience in working with ISD projects where respondent data sets were grouped into three categories, Novice, Intermediate, and Expert. The second group structure categorized the data according to three levels of ISD project complexity. Analysis of Variance procedures and the Newman-Keuls Multiple Comparison test were performed for each of the seventeen ISD activities represented in the esurvey instrument. The data results included three findings of statistical significance at the 0.05 level. Statistically significant differences were found between the Novice mean and the means for both the Intermediate and Expert groups for the ISD activity, "Determines if the need can be solved by training"; the Novice group rated this item significantly lower than did the Intermediate and Expert Groups. For the ISD item, "Selects instructional strategies", the High Level Complexity group responded significantly differently than did the Medium Level Complexity group, with this activity receiving higher ratings by the High Level Complexity group. Also when grouped by Project Complexity Levels, the mean responses to the ISD item, "Conducts individual trials of instruction before completion" were found to be statistically significant between the Low Level Complexity group and the High Level Complexity group. In addition to these findings of statistical significance, a rich array of qualitative comment data was provided by the esurvey respondents. Three general themes were identified within the comment data. The respondents indicated that when ISD is successfully used, they generally have an accepted model or procedures of conducting ISD which are used to guide the process. The respondents also clearly indicated that the barriers to successful implementation of the ISD activities included contextual and resource issues such as client and management support, sufficient time, and adequate funding. An additional theme was indicated concerning the use of ISD activities within the academic and university environments. Although not specifically asked to identify this type of environment, a group of respondents provided vivid information concerning special concerns and problems with the practice of ISD in the academic context.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22318 This study examined the extent to which imagery-evoking and attention-attracting phrases embedded in lecture text facilitate learning of lecture material. It focused especially on recall of material presented closely following such phrases. The role of attention was investigated to determine whether the memory-enhancing effect of imagery is simply a function of gaining learners' attention. Subjects were 70 students in 3 sections of an undergraduate course in educational psychology at the University of Northern Colorado. Subjects in each section received both treatments and a control condition, with the treatments and control being presented in a different order for each section. A ten-minute lecture was prepared dealing with an obscure battle in the Civil War. The lecture was altered for the two treatment conditions. For the first treatment condition, nine vivid imagery-evoking phrases were embedded at focal points in the lecture text. For the second treatment condition, attention-getting phrases were embedded at the same focal points as the images were in the first treatment condition. For the control condition, additional phrases or words were inserted at focal points to equate the three lectures for length. Half of the subjects in each section were tested one hour after hearing the lecture, and the other half were tested one week later, by means of both free recall and a multiple choice test. Free recall was scored by frequency counts. Both types of test scores were compared using repeated measures ANOVAs. Recall for the Imagery condition was better than for the Attention or Control conditions. In the Imagery condition, recall was best for the Focal and Proximal material (means of 2.1 and 2.0, respectively) and lower for Nonproximal material (mean of.99). In the Attention condition, recall was better for Proximal (1.45) than for Focal (.87) or Nonproximal (1.03). Control Condition means were.96 Focal, 1.07 Proximal, and 1.10 Nonproximal. Lower recall for Focal material in the Attention condition was explained in terms of interference from subjects engaging in self-talk.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22311 This long-term study examined the extent to which the quality of both self-generated questions and student notes facilitated comprehension and retention of college course material. Subjects were 69 college students enrolled in two sections of educational psychology at the University of Northern Colorado. Both the treatment and control groups were asked to generate questions based on the material presented in each of the 12 assigned textbook chapters, with 15 questions being generated per chapter. After students in both classes had generated questions for the first six chapters, one section was randomly selected as a treatment group. The treatment group was trained to generate integrative questions; the control group was trained to develop questions that represented all the major topics in the assigned chapters. For extra credit, students photocopied and submitted their class notes prior to each unit examination. Students' questions and notes were both coded into three categories: (a) isolated facts, (b) internally integrated information, and (c) externally integrated information. Students' notes had a fourth category: metacognition. Results from repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that, after training, students in the treatment group generated more integrated questions and recorded more integrated notes than students in the control group. Results from stepwise regression indicated that 36% of the variance of students' essay examination scores could be accounted for by the quality of students' questions and notes. In addition, 16% of the variance in multiple choice examination scores could be accounted for by the quality of the students' notes. A number of misconceptions were detected in both students' self-generated questions and their class notes.
ORDER NO: ABA97-22080 This thesis surveys the history of the international program at the University of Michigan. The study covers the period from 1847 to 1995 and focuses on three particular aspects that represent this program: (1) the University 's international demography defined as students who come to the university from abroad, (2) the various services that were provided to these students, and (3) the contemporary demographic developments and University 's perspectives on the international education program. The study uses the historical methods of content analysis and analysis of existing data in the investigation of the university 's historical records and relevant literature. The demographic analysis for the period 1847-1970 shows the beginning of foreign student enrollment and the developments and changes in foreign enrollment trends on the basis of student country of origin; enrollment by world region; student class level; and student field of study. The analysis includes an explanation of the factors that influenced the development of these trends in terms of the changing political, economic, and educational conditions of the external context of the university and the university 's internal policies and actions. The service aspect for foreign students is explored in three phases: (1) the earlier incorporation of social services by volunteers, (2) the formal services established by the university including the emergence in 1911 of the counseling advising, and English language services, and (3) the various social, academic, and extracurricular services provided by the University 's International Center from 1938 to 1970. These include the Center's professional contributions to the international education movement at local, national, and international levels. The University 's contemporary perspectives are examined in light of four major developments that occurred during the period from 1970 to 1995. These are (1) the changing trends in the demographics, (2) the university 's initiative to internationalize its organizational structure, (3) the establishment of international goals for the university year 2000, and (4) the international educational accomplishments by several units of the university through 1995 including the establishment of the University 's International Institute in 1993.
ORDER NO: ABA97-21902 The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between students' perceptions of the quality of the Wilmington College Doctoral Program and their perceptions of their utilization of the cohort structure. Doctoral students in the Wilmington College Ed.D. program were asked to complete questionnaires that assessed student perceptions of program quality and several issues related to their perceived utilization of the cohort structure. A sample of 115 subjects participated. The results were reported in both mean scores for each question and correlations between the perception of quality question and the 12 questions related to cohort interactions. The results indicate that, while there is room to explore improvement in the area of cohort interactions, the cohort structure was perceived to be a benefit to the Wilmington College doctoral students. While this case study was exploratory, the findings offer plausible and potentially useful information for developing a quality program of instruction for adult learners.
ORDER NO: ABA97-21866 The purpose of this dissertation is to provide both college administrators and instructors with a situational framework and context for the appraisal of college instruction , with a particular emphasis on community colleges. Evaluation as a feedback system is presented first in the dissertation. Next, a literature review includes a discussion of private sector performance evaluation trends, such as Total Quality Management and 360 degree evaluation, as well as an overview of the contributions of organizational psychology. Also included is an analysis of existing methodology , which reveals an overemphasis on quantitative student ratings, suggesting that other sources of feedback are necessary. The strengths and weaknesses of self-evaluations and administrative and peer reviews are discussed in the text of the dissertation. The dissertation includes a discussion of the organization environment, where instructional quality is becoming more important as an evaluative criterion. The factors leading to excellent teaching are listed, and flexibility has general recognition as a major element. The author's research confirms the importance of a high level of trust being established before meaningful appraisal can be implemented; leadership style and downsizing are also examined as trust related issues. The dissertation recommends Total Quality Management and 360-degree evaluation as effective contexts for evaluative systems design and concludes that an effective evaluative system must be flexible and situational throughout. The Appendices offer a mid-term evaluative instrument, as well as a general format for a situational appraisal instrument. | ||||||||||||
