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1997 Dissertation Abstracts: Part 11
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ORDER NO: ABA97-37690
WRITING INSTRUCTION IN WESTERN CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES: A HISTORY OF NATION-BUILDING AND PROFESSIONALISM Author: BROOKS, KEVIN ALFRED Degree: PH.D. Year: 1997 Corporate Source/Institution: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY (0097) Major Professor: DAVID R. RUSSELL Source: VOLUME 58/06-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL. PAGE 2189. 285 PAGES Descriptors: HISTORY, CANADIAN; EDUCATION, HISTORY OF; EDUCATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Writing instruction in western Canadian universities between 1908 and 1957 was seen as a necessary technology of nation-building and the proper jurisdiction of English departments. After 1957, specialization in western Canadian universities enabled English departments to claim literature as the proper disciplinary object of their field and exclude writing instruction from their jurisdiction. Only recently has writing instruction returned to western Canadian university curriculums, but not in any systematic fashion. This study challenges the standard account of writing instruction in Canada: that the traditional first-year literature and composition class favored literature at the expense or even exclusion of composition. This study also challenges the idea that higher education and English departments in western Canada were primarily influenced by the University of Toronto, rather than American universities and English departments. American influences on western Canadian education were prevalent during the first half of this century. The contemporary difference in the practice of writing instruction in the two countries can be traced to a Canadian rejection of American values and practices during the Cold War. The Canada Council (1957) was particularly effective in solidifying the professional role of English departments as protectors and disseminators of high culture. While literary studies in the US also benefited from Cold War funding of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the growth of composition as a legitimate academic field was a far more significant development of this era. The past does not offer us something better to return to, but knowing that English studies in North America throughout this century has largely been tied to the work of nation-building, we must now assess the work of English studies and writing instruction in an era in which the role of the nation-state is changing radically and the function of higher education is up for grabs.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37660
The purpose of this study was to determine consensus among community college administrators (presidents and vice-presidents or deans of instruction ) and occupational advisory committee chairpersons on functions perceived to be appropriate for advisory committees in the programming process of the North Carolina Community College System. A corollary purpose was to determine the effect selected factors or variables may have in accounting for or helping to explain failure to obtain consensus. Variation in consensus is believed to be associated with personal and situational factors affecting identified groups of individuals charged with the responsibility of operationalizing effective advisory committees. A two-part mailed survey questionnaire was used to collect data for this descriptive study. Part one of the questionnaire collected data on the personal characteristics of the respondents. Part two gathered data related to respondents perceptions on a proposed list of 30 advisory committee functions. Of the 160 instruments mailed, 132 were returned, for an 82.5% return rate. Thirty-six administrators and 96 advisory committee chairpersons completed the questionnaire. ANOVA were the primary statistical tests used in testing the hypotheses. Three conclusions were drawn from the study findings: (1) Presidents, vice-presidents or deans of instruction and advisory committee chairpersons in the North Carolina Community College System have consensus on 21 advisory committee functions. (2) The personal variables investigated in this study do not have a statistical significant effect on attaining consensus between the two study groups: presidents, vice-presidents or deans of instruction, and advisory committee chairpersons. (3) The situational variables investigated in this study do not have a statistical significant effect on attaining consensus between the two study groups: presidents, vice-presidents or deans of instruction , and advisory committee chairpersons.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37645
This study documents chairs' roles and functions within the North Carolina Community College System. An exploratory survey of department heads reveals demographic data, their current job functions, the relative importance of functions that they should be performing, and the analysis of their own needs for professional development. A composite description of the typical first line administrator's characteristics with respect to age, gender, ethnicity, level of educational achievement, and amount of professional training received in preparation for this job is described. Department chairs within North Carolina are 60% males, 90% Caucasian, and appointed to their positions more than 90% of the time. Seventy-eight percent of chairs hold a master's degree as the highest level of academic achievement. Only 42% have received specialized training for this mid-level administrative job, although many chairs see this as a permanent career position. Seventy-seven specific functions are divided into seven categories--budget planning, human relations and personnel, student relations, curriculum and instruction, internal administration, external administration, and personal and professional development. Professional development, budget planning, and human relations roles demand the most time according to the chairs. Representation to their college 's higher administration, meeting personnel needs, and advancing goals are the top priorities for specific functions within those roles that department heads believe should be part of their jobs. Mastering the uses of computer technology and quality management techniques rank as the highest needs for professional development. A secondary survey of faculty members reporting to these department heads shows mainly favorable opinions on the importance of the chairs' specific job functions and how well that faculty believes the chairs perform the duties. Other behaviors and attitudes of chairs reported by their faculty reflect a positive professional relationship between the chairs and their faculty. Among recommendations for actions or future studies are examination of the present reason for the low number of minority chairs within the community college system of North Carolina and recruitment of more qualified minority professionals for these positions. Development of additional graduate level courses and non credit workshops focusing on chairs duties and requested needs for professional development are also suggested.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37638
Research has shown that both high school and university students have misconceptions about direct current resistive electric circuits. At present, there are no standard diagnostic examinations in electric circuits. Such an instrument would be useful in determining what conceptual problems students have either before or after instruction. The information provided by the exam can be used by classroom instructors to evaluate their instructional methods and the progress and conceptual problems of their students. It can be used to evaluate curricular packages and/or other supplemental materials for their effectiveness in overcoming students' conceptual difficulties. Two versions of a diagnostic instrument known as Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric circuits Concepts Tests (DIRECT) were developed, each consisting of 29 questions. DIRECT was administered to groups of high school and university students in the United States, Canada and Germany. The students had completed their study of electrostatics and direct current electric circuits prior to taking the exam. Individual interviews were conducted after the administration of version 1.0 to determine how students were interpreting the questions and to uncover their reasoning behind their selections. The analyses indicate that students, especially females, tend to hold multiple misconceptions, even after instruction. The idea that the battery is a constant source of current was used most often in answering the questions. Although students tend to use different misconceptions for each question presented, they do use misconceptions associated with the global objective of the question. Students' definitions of terms used on the exam and their misconceptions were examined. Students tended to confuse terms, especially current. They assigned the properties of current to voltage and/or resistance. One of the major findings from the study was that students were able to translate easily from a "realistic" representation of a circuit to the corresponding schematic diagram. Results indicated that students do not have a clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms of electric circuit phenomena. Students had difficulty handling simultaneous changes of variable. Current was the main concept used in solving the problems. Some of the students who were interviewed reverted to formulas to answer the questions.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37635
Recent concerns about the effectiveness of science instruction have prompted a variety of strategies and research to effect positive changes. Research has indicated that among the contributing factors to the success of students learning science are teacher outcome expectancy, self-efficacy, and the selection and use of various teaching methods. Inservice training opportunities for public school teachers have been proposed as a strategy that can yield positive changes in these areas. Environmental education has also been proposed as a viable component of teaching science, but focus on global, and the omission of local themes is common. This study assessed the effects of an inservice training course entitled "Natural History of the Southern Appalachians" on regional teachers' outcome expectancy, self-efficacy, and science teaching methods. Through the administration of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument and the Science Teaching Strategies Survey before taking the course and after taking the course, changes in the teachers outcome expectancy $(p<.05),$ self-efficacy $(p<.10),$ and teaching strategy selection were measured. In all three areas, desired positive changes have resulted from teachers completing the course. It appears that regionally specific Natural History training gives teachers inexpensive options to teach science, as well as making them more comfortable with the delivery of science instruction.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37619
The purposes of this quantitative, descriptive study were to assess the influence of work-based learning activities on the work ethic of student participants and to determine if differences existed between student work ethic and the work ethic desired by employers. In addition, the study sought to establish whether there were significant differences between the work ethic of college freshmen and graduates. To ascertain work ethic traits, data were collected through the administration of the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI) (Petty, 1991) to community college graduates and freshmen, and to business and industry employers. Study participants either attended school or worked in Caldwell County, NC. Independent variables for the study included the types of work history of students, the dependent variables encompassed the four dimensions of work ethic, "dependable," "ambitious," "considerate," and "cooperative" as measured by the OWEI, and comparative variables were composed of the work ethic dimensions expressed by employers. The results were analyzed using MANOVA and univariate statistical procedures. Based on the review of the literature and the findings of this research, it was apparent that differences exist between the work ethic desired by employers and the work ethic possessed by students entering the workforce. The findings of this study also suggested that work-based learning activities had a positive impact on the work ethic of student participants. Specifically, students who had participated in cooperative education or clinical training had higher mean scores on all four dimensions of work ethic than any of the other student groups. In addition, the mean scores of participants in cooperative education or clinical training were higher than employer expectations on three of the four dimensions of work ethic. The results of this research indicated that work-based activities were vital to the development of relevant workplace attitudes, behaviors, and values. The conclusions of the study indicated numerous recommendations for educators, business and industry representatives, and governmental officials.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37577
This exploratory study proposes to help new bilingual classroom teachers and administrators of new teachers to overcome problems related to discipline in the bilingual classroom. In this study, the respondents are experienced elementary teachers with two or more years in the targeted district's schools. The researcher was unable to locate any studies dealing directly with bilingual classrooms and student discipline. The literature review looks at the related issues of dropouts, absenteeism, rules, beyond rules, teacher burnout, parent involvement, the role of the administrator, the role of culture, cultural differences, bicognition, and teaching practices. All of the above mentioned are germane to the issue of student discipline, directly or indirectly, in American schools in urban settings. A 28-item bilingual (English/Spanish) questionnaire was responded to by 48 of 50 experienced bilingual elementary teachers solicited in this urban school district in Western Massachusetts. Each year, this district experiences a bilingual elementary teacher turnover of about 20% to 25%. The experienced bilingual elementary teachers in this study reflected on their first two years of teaching and described their attitudes and positive strategies for success. Their responses emerged to the researcher as a framework to develop a college course on creating a positive classroom ambience and/or teacher training workshops on classroom discipline and/or training, for the more effective involvement of school administrators. Chapter II should be given to teachers (bilingual or non-bilingual) as a handbook for guidance.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37552
Secondary physics education in the United States has been shown to be sub-standard, and not even offered in many high schools. National assessment results have suggested that changes in secondary physics education are greatly needed and are slow in coming. One attempt to enhance physics instruction is the UPDATE program. UPDATE is a physics teacher enhancement program offered by the University of Massachusetts. The program is primarily designed to enhance physics teacher knowledge in topical and important areas of contemporary physics that are not always well represented in secondary classrooms. This study assesses the impact of participation in the UPDATE program on the high school physics instruction of the 1995-96 program participants. Focus group interviews, individual interviews, and a questionnaire are methods used to collect data. This document includes transcriptions from both focus group and individual interviews, as well as quantitative results from a questionnaire. Commonalities are drawn from the three sources of data to illustrate the impact of the UPDATE program on participants' high school physics instruction. Aspects of the program which have contributed to enhancement of instruction are also identified and recommendations are made for subsequent teacher enhancement programs. The findings generally indicate that participants became more confident, enthusiastic, gained more physics knowledge, and changed their teaching practices to include more UPDATE related topics. In addition, laboratory experiences as well as laboratory equipment offered to participants during the program contributed significantly to their perceived instructional enhancement.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37545
This is a report of an ethnographic study of a graduate level Methods course for ESL/Bilingual teachers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The course is organized around task-based, small group, facilitative and collaborative learning. One of the intriguing aspects of the course is the opportunities it provides for students to identify, understand and critique the ways that they share power and authority with each other and with the course professor. This research investigates the early inception of the role of facilitator within this complex educational practice. The role is purposefully under-defined so that facilitators can experiment with it, and turn it into something that has meaning for them. My research questions address the enactments or "dance" of authority--how it is experienced, voiced and shared by facilitators and students in this classroom community. I have developed a theoretical framework for three concepts or "modes" of authority and their consequent acts. They are: compassionate authority, involving the act of imaginatively taking up positions for one another (Jones, 1993); scholarship authority--the act of reframing and generating theories of the facilitation practice in order to understand and critique this pedagogy (Christ, 1987); and inventive authority--the act of creating, finding and remembering the substance of discourse (Lefevre, 1986). These modes of authority are mutually sustaining, and when converged steer us away from conceiving of authority dichotomously. Drawing on the notions of positioning (Carbaugh, 1994b) and intertextuality (Bloome & Egan-Robertson, 1993), I highlight the distinctive social positions that are created discursively when students uphold, reject and resist these modes of authority. The findings reveal that authoritative relationships at this site are contingent, patterned in moment-by-moment changes and often asymmetrical. The findings also reveal that the interactions constitute a balancing act--a power of balance--among the three modes of authority. Ultimately, this study should provide insights into discourses of compassion, critique and invention in multicultural and multilingual education.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37498
This dissertation describes the adaptation, implementation, and testing of a decision-making model developed by Curtis Gene Shumaker. The model was originally designed to evaluate vocational education programs in Oklahoma, but it appears to have utility in several other situations. It was modified and utilized at the Owens Campus of Delaware Technical and Community College as a means of providing information for decision making during the program review process. Following an introduction, other assessment models are reviewed and the importance of the link between the college 's mission, goals and strategic plan with the actual outcomes of its programs is discussed. A description of the transactions and steps that the campus completed to meet its objectives and an analysis of that process is included. Data collection instruments are provided as well as a discussion of further applications. This is an evaluation of a model which will systematize, organize, and synthesize the available data for use by decision makers to make reliable and valuable decisions regarding instructional programming at Delaware Technical and Community College.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37469
This research examines the status of MIDI (Musical Instruments Digital Interface) as part of the curricula of higher education institutions offering degree programs in music in order to provide an assessment of current practice and to make recommendations for the integration of MIDI into music programs. Background information on the development of the MIDI protocol is provided, with special emphasis on current approaches and applications of MIDI instruction in institutions of higher education. A preliminary (pilot) questionnaire was developed and sent to a select group of music program teachers and administrators. This questionnaire was revised and further developed, and a final version was sent to a group of 584 subjects. Data from more than 180 returned questionnaires (30.8% of all surveys mailed) were analyzed. Respondents were separated into six groups according to their teaching specialization: theory, technology, education, composition, performance, and others. ANOVA and Chi-square analyses revealed significant differences (at the.05 level) between the responses of the music technology group and respondents from other areas. Based on the findings of the survey, it would appear that: (1) most music teachers are familiar with music technology, Computer Assisted Instruction, or MIDI, (2) most higher education institutions that offer music degrees offer courses featuring music technology and/or MIDI, (3) few programs, however (with the exception of music-technology-type programs), actually require MIDI courses as part of their curriculum, (4) most music teachers believe that MIDI enhances the learning process in their area of teaching specialization, and (5) most music teachers agree that basic MIDI theory, sequencing, and notation (and, to a lesser degree, digital audio and Internet access) would be useful when integrated into their programs. Recommendations for the integration of MIDI into music programs are provided, including and outline for an introductory course in MIDI for non-technology majors, objectives for the integration of MIDI into music programs, course content, and a brief description of hardware and software needed.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37378
The new institutionalism perspective in organizational theory has little understanding of how conscious use of symbolic power in ritual conflicts by non-elite members can create decisive and defining moments in perpetuating or changing the institutionalized values and practices of an organization. This study has sought to reveal through the analysis of rituals at Pacific Oaks College and Children's School the autonomous formation and dynamics of the symbolic dimension of social reality and its interdependence with structural and psychological realms of social action. Pacific Oaks is known for its focus on early childhood education, but especially for a moral virtue inherited from its Quaker beginnings which stress a pious devotion to community, the caring for the whole person, and the pursuit of social justice. These values are suffused throughout its curriculum and all the relationships that structure its organization. The close fusion of its beliefs with its practices has meant that any efforts to change either aspect have initiated intense ritual conflict at the level of values. The Pacific Oaks faculty was embroiled in a dramatic effort to defend the nurturing perspective of the College pedagogy. A group of minority faculty members led a long struggle to transform the school's colorblind ideals regarding equality into multicultural ones. In these successful rituals faculty members drew upon or transformed the symbolic power residing in the school's ideals in strategic ways to preserve or change interpretations of value meaning. In the process they created anew a consensus of commitment to Pacific Oaks' sacred center, making its reformed symbolic order safe, for a time, from threatening and profane challenges. Unsuccessful ritual conflicts between faculty and school trustees illustrate the limits of the persuasive use of symbolic influence.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37353
As a professional preparation program, UCLA's Ed.D. Leadership Career Program is intended to integrate theory, inquiry methods, leadership competencies and practice in a manner which enables practitioners to function as educational leaders, particularly in a time of highly complex and rapid change. While this mission has continued to guide the program throughout its four years of existence, there is evidence to suggest that it suffers from a lack of cohesion and consistency in its curricular structure, may not have optimally drawn the application of leadership competencies and inquiry skills into course content and inadequately utilizes the expertise of educational practitioners as resources to enhance instructional strategies. Consequently, this research study examines how effectively the current curricular structure and content of the program meet its basic mission and particularly assesses whether leadership competencies have been adequately defined, taught, developed and evaluated within it. To accomplish this task, the design of the research includes a review of literature on the subjects of educational leadership and adult learning methodologies. Subsequent to this review and using focus group interviews, data was collected from the principal stakeholders, including student participants, faculty (both involved in, and external to the program) and external educational leaders. A series of summary findings was extracted from the data which, in turn, served as the basis for the development of recommendations and implementation strategies. From the data, twenty-five recommendations were developed in the broad categories of curricular and pedagogical orientation, environmental conditions for learning, resources for support, and evaluation practices. In general, the study found that the improvements to the curricular structure and cohesion of the program were needed. In response, the creation of a set of guiding documents to define program goals and structure was recommended, as was the establishment of faculty teams to direct student cohorts and years of study, the provision of additional human resources, including alumni and practitioners, to supplement existing faculty assigned to the program, and the enhancement of faculty, self and peer evaluation practices.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37151
In the literature on second and foreign language acquisition, few studies have been reported on the acquisition of English as a third language (L3) and almost nothing with speakers of African languages (L1) and French (L2) as the previously acquired languages. This study discusses the results of a cross-sectional study, undertaken in 1996, which reexamined the phenomenon of transfer in the acquisition of English as a foreign language (L3) by francophone English major college students in Burkina Faso (West Africa). The theoretical framework on which this research is based is the semantic model developed by Huebner (1983), known in the field as the 'semantic wheel for noun phrase reference'. The research focused on the acquisition of the English article system. The study involved 177 volunteer undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Ouagadougou with at least seven years of English instruction. A cloze test of 107 items as well as an error identification and correction tasks with 70 items of which 33 were incorrectly used served as data collection instruments. Demographic information was also collected using a 16-item questionnaire. The overall rate of accuracy with regard to the correct use of the three articles studied here is above average: cloze test (71%), error identification (75%), and error correction (61%). The results also show that (a) learners had difficulties with the article usage in all the four semantic categories: generic, referential definite, referential indefinite and non-referential contexts; (b) correlation between academic level and performance depended on task type; (c) learners associated the zero article with the (+HK) feature in ($-$SR +HK) contexts and the indefinite article with the (+SR) feature in (+SR $-$HK) contexts; (d) learners exhibited interlingual (L1 and L2) as well as intralingual transfer. The study discusses the implications of these results on the concept of referentiality, and questions the generalizability of Huebner's (1983) model to all languages. The study provides not only data, but also evidence of levels of difficulty, constraints and sources of transfer in L3 acquisition. Suggestions concerning directions for future research are made and especially that of extending the study to cover the determiner system.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37098
The University of Illinois-Institute of Aviation has an exemption of the flight time requirements specified in Federal Aviation Regulation Part 141 which allows proficiency based flight training. This permitted an investigation of how the instrument pilot curriculum can be modified to best utilize a PC computer-based Aircraft Training Device (PCATD). An additional area of investigation was the attitude (affect) of the students and the flight instructors towards the use of this device, and correlations between the student's and the flight instructor's attitudes. An historical review of aviation curriculum development is included. Traditionally, students at the University of Illinois-Institute of Aviation enroll in a two semester instrument flight course sequence following the completion of their Private Pilot-Airplane Single-Engine Land certificate. The curricula normally include sixteen hours per student of approved ground trainer time in a Frasca 141 simulator. The curricula were revised to allow one-half of the subjects unlimited time in the PCATD, while the other half (control group) completed all instruction in the airplane using no ground trainer instruction. This allowed for comparison of both training time and, in the case of some specific maneuvers, of number of trials to criteria. The PCATD was used heavily in areas and tasks where it was felt that the potential for transfer effectiveness was high (e.g.--initial instruction in holding patterns, instrument approaches and procedures training), but was also used for review lessons in some of the more advanced lessons for comparison. Surveys (Likert scales and a narrative survey) were administered to students and flight instructors to judge their receptiveness and to allow for subjective self-evaluation of their progress. Significant transfer effectiveness was found on introductory instrument flight maneuvers. There was a significant airplane flight time savings to final certification in the experimental group. In all cases, there was positive correlation between student's and instructor's attitudes towards the use of the PCATD, and it was significant in seven of twenty-two pairings.
ORDER NO: ABA97-37065
The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) in teaching a unit on Harlem Renaissance in an Introduction to the Study of Art, a survey of art history course at the undergraduate level at North Carolina Central University in Durham. The participants reflected diverse disciplines in the undergraduate student population. Data obtained from a panel of expert judges determined the comparative prominence of Harlem Renaissance artists. The course objectives required students to characterize the work of selected African-American artists who were important contributors to the 1920s artistic production in Harlem. Characterizations were made using the following variables: (a) names of the artists, (b) titles of paintings, (c) styles of the paintings, and (d) subject/type of the painting. An understanding of the third variable, style of the paintings, enabled students to make logical deductions about the manner of execution as seen in the finished works. Sample students were randomly selected from two sections of an Introduction to the Study of Art class at North Carolina Central University during Spring 1995. They were randomly assigned to either a CAI group or a traditional (TRAD) study group. Lectures and slides were used to teach both groups. The CAI group received supplement classroom instruction by the use of electronic media (i.e., a combination of computer text and video-generated images) to view Harlem Renaissance Files software; whereas, the other students remained in the classroom and formed group study sessions. The field experiment yielded data from the two groups. Five hypotheses were tested. The supplemental teaching methods CAI versus TRAD have no difference in effect on students' ability to (a) classify Harlem Renaissance paintings, (b) identify name of artists, (c) identify title of Harlem Renaissance paintings, (d) identify style of Harlem Renaissance paintings, and (e) identify subject/type of Harlem Renaissance paintings. The findings suggested that the CAI instruction, specifically drill and practice, was as effective as traditional methods supplemented by group study sessions.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36946
The purpose of this study was to answer the question: what facilitates and/or inhibits cooperative learning in the college communication classroom? The concept of cooperative learning has been studied extensively in the elementary school situation. The Johnsoan brothers at Minnesota and Slavin at John Hopkins have developed several characteristics of cooperative learning which facilitate and/or inhibit cooperative learning at the elementary school level. Because cooperative learning techniques are being developed and practiced at the college level, this study sought to understand what facilitates and/or inhibits cooperative learning at the college level. According to this study there are five themes facilitating cooperative learning and three themes inhibiting cooperative learning in the college communication classroom. This study utilized a qualitative approach within an interpretive orientation which recognizes that knowledge represents the current best explanation of a particular situation but knowledge is constantly changing as more information is uncovered and additional data is developed (Polkinghorne, 1983). Data were collected using a triangulation of data collection methods (including critical incident narratives, focus groups, and participant observer notes). Instructors, instructor assistants, and students from communication CS311 classes participated in this study. This study suggested that in order to use cooperative learning in the college communication classroom, teachers and students must learn the techniques, develop strong social skills, and overcome student apathy and individualism. Although most college instructors continue to use the classroom lecture format, students enjoy active learning situations. Cooperative learning can be a useful teaching /learning tool for the college classroom.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36911
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an instructor's use of politically correct language on students' perceptions of instructor communication competence. An instructor's language was manipulated with three versions (politically correct, politically incorrect, and neutral) of a simulated transcript of a sociology lecture that were randomly assigned to a total of 291 public speaking students. The three versions of the transcript were identical in every way except for five words used to describe five different groups. After reading their randomly assigned version of the simulated transcript, the study's participants rated the instructor's communication competence. Communication competence was operationally defined with scales assessing the instructor's appropriateness (general and specific), the instructor's credibility (authority and character), and the students' attitude toward the instructor. A one-way MANOVA was employed and indicated that the manipulation (instructor's use of language) had a significant overall effect on the dependent measures when examined together. Since the multivariate test was found significant, one-way ANOVAs with a Tukey post-hoc analysis were employed for each dependent variable. These tests indicated that the manipulation had a significant effect on each of the independent variables. The importance of this study is that, although political correctness is a controversial topic, there is virtually no empirical evidence of any real effects associated with phenomenon. The results of this study indicate that college educators should be cognizant of their use of language since their language choices are likely to have a significant impact on their students' perceptions of their communication competence.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36831
The purpose of this research was to determine the personality types (measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), workstyle profiles (measured by the Performax Dominance/Influencing/Steadiness/Conscientiousness profile) and learning styles (by the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory) of candidates in the external doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) program. Instruments were supplied to the 50 candidates in the first external program offered at the institution. The gender mix was 30 male and 20 female and ages ranged from 24 to 53 years, with an average age of 37 years. Comments were obtained from the students themselves regarding the results of these self-administered profiles. Professors were also interviewed regarding the external nature of the program and the usefulness of the data to be gathered. A total of nine questions, to include three hypotheses were tested in this study. The chi-square statistic and Pearson r were used to test the relationships among the instruments with the learning style acting as the dependent variable. Instrumentation was performed to determine the profiles of the students as well as relationships between the personality types and the learning styles, the workstyle profiles and learning styles, and any correlations by gender and age. Also, the profiles of the current study group were compared to available data on other banks of pharmacy practitioners and students. Results indicated the learners had preferences for personality types (Extraverted/Introverted, Sensing, Thinking and Judging--36%), workstyle profiles (Conscientiousness--42%), and learning styles (Assimilator--42%). No correlations by personality type and learning style were noted. However, relationships between the workstyle profiles and learning style were noted, as were differences by gender and age within the instruments administered. Males were more Thinking and Judging and Conscientiousness-oriented, and females were more balanced evenly among the categories, except for learning styles where the females were predominantly Assimilator-oriented. Differences in preferences by ages were that the younger students were more Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking and Judging. However, older students were more Introverted, Intuitive and 100% Judging. Both younger and older students favored Conscientiousness in their workstyle profiles, but the younger were more Converger-oriented by learning style and the older more Assimilator, indicating a move toward abstraction as one ages. There were differences between the current study group, the general population and the practitioner/student populations of the other data banks. Certain implications are that the students and faculty as well as administrators may benefit by knowing the profiles of the students so that there is emphasis on allowing the student to capitalize on positive personality and learning traits, while recognizing that there is room for stretching to encompass traits that can enhance the individual as student and as a practicing professional.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36769
This dissertation uses the case study method with three teachers to link three areas of study: multicultural education, school change, and human motivation theory. The three teachers were all exposed to multicultural education in a graduate level university course and indicated to the instructor that they were interested in practicing multicultural education in their classrooms. Some forms of multicultural education are a radical departure from traditional education and, therefore, the three teachers involved ran into difficulties in trying to implement multicultural education. The focus of each case study is on what an individual teacher believes to be the limitations of his or her school regarding implementing multicultural education. In this study, one teacher (Sue) has Multicultural Social Reconstructionist (MCSR) (Sleeter & Grant, 1987) goals for her classroom but finds those ideas unwelcome in her traditional high school. A second teacher (Judy) believes in the Teaching the Exceptional and Culturally Different (Sleeter & Grant, 1987) approach to multicultural education which is welcomed in her school; and, therefore, she feels that her school does not present any barriers to that type of multicultural education. The third teacher (Don) has MCSR beliefs, but unlike Sue, they are welcomed and encouraged in his private Montessori school. Teachers feel most supported in their pursuit of multicultural education when they have team members with similar beliefs and administrative support. Sue, who was unsupported, felt social isolation. Judy and Don felt their type of multicultural education was welcome in their educational program; however, those transformation ideas did not extend beyond their specialized program. Sue and Judy, who work in large public schools, felt that the structure of the school does not encourage transformative education.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36720
This dissertation in Educational Psychology investigates the development of a methodology for teaching Palliative and Bereavement Care. In Part One, the literature on Bereavement Care is reviewed, based on research of the last thirty years in the Anglo-American countries. Included in the review, for the very first in English, are developments in some countries where English is not the native language, specifically Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands. This approach focuses on working with groups. It is argued that the inconsistent use of concepts, as well as the continuous confounding of working concepts within the field of Bereavement Care, leads to inconsistent methodologies. It is suggested that such may effect the obtained results. Curricular suggestions are offered to provide guidelines for training specialists in group work and to locate preventive work in Bereavement Care, aimed at the at-risk groups, within the teaching schemes for mental health care issues. Preventive work is emphasized in the realm of teaching and content structures, rather than in the realm of interventions and inter-personal structures, the latter being the basis of counseling methodologies. The consequences of these differences are outlined for teaching Palliative and Bereavement Care to professionals and volunteers. Applications to teaching are explored and illustrated with an emphasis on the matching of groups and goals, in cooperation with participants. A method is presented, from which an analysis of participants' expectations, ideas, prior learning, fears and hopes is derived. The presented analyses not only inform the teaching content, but also invite the modelling and demonstration of consistency and congruency as to "educational" and "psycho-educational" approaches, which are to be differentiated from "therapeutic" interventions. Both belong to the realm of learning, but they embrace a different methodology as to the chosen paths to reach the goals.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36696
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of an academic collegiate leadership program on student outcomes. Using Fort Hays State University 's Leadership Studies program as a case study, this research looked for changes in students' attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors as a result of participating in leadership course work. This evaluation study utilized previously collected pre and post-test assessment data on more than 300 students in a quasi-experimental, nonequivalence control group design. Efforts were made to synthesize assessment data on participating students, interpret the findings, and then make generalizations about the learning environment's impact on student outcomes. The first step in the analysis was to establish the extent of pre and post-test equivalence between treatment groups and comparable groups. Then secondly, a comparison of pre and post-test measures on attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral variables was made to determine the magnitude of change. In confusion, the findings confirm the worth of the Leadership Studies curriculum. Data from the student outcomes suggests that the program achieved its stated objectives. Attitudinal, cognitive, and behavioral data did show significant change. First, students' attitudes about the program were positive. Students felt that program activities had enhanced their abilities in leadership. Second, students improved their knowledge about leadership by participating in Leadership Studies. Third, students also practiced more leadership behavior because of their involvement in program course work. Finally, most students credit their improvements in leadership to "active learning" instructional methods, rather than particular content areas. In summary, Leadership Studies students met the stated objectives of the program as measured by the study's three dependent variables.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36626
Since the early grades are critical for literacy development, it is particularly important that primary teachers be well prepared to help children become readers and writers. However, relatively little research has been conducted about how education students perceive the processes of learning to read and write and how they come to understand themselves as teachers helping children acquire literacy. To address these aspects of early childhood teacher education, this interpretive study explored the meanings of four students' experiences during a semester of inquiry-oriented teacher preparation activities centered on reading and writing. Information was gathered through participant observation in a university course and in students' field placement classrooms and through journal reflections and in-depth interviews. I used ethnographic and hermeneutic phenomenological methodologies to conduct this study. The participants' stories are the primary focus of this investigation. However, my story, as a teacher educator who accompanied them on the semester's journey, is also included. As the themes of the participants' stories and mine were brought forward, new ways of thinking about teacher education were explicated. Engaging in reflective writing and dialogue encouraged us to explore our underlying assumptions about learning and teaching. Careful study of these writings revealed three main themes. One theme was the reconnection of personal life experiences to the processes of reading and writing through recollection of childhood memories concerning literacy acquisition. Another theme involved the participants considering themselves as teachers as they experienced the practical aspects of teaching in their field placements. The third theme related to how the inquiry-oriented reading course allowed the students to encounter theoretical ideas within the college classroom. I found that opportunities to consider early memories in relation to practica and university courses and to reflect critically on experiences during teacher preparation seem to be significant aspects of becoming a teacher of reading and writing. I also discovered that conducting research within my university teaching and supervision responsibilities created some tension between the dual roles of instructor and researcher but also encouraged me to be more attentive to my teaching and to individual learners.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36613
This research presents the results of an exploratory study of institution-wide network impacts reported by faculty at a large research university. The purpose of the research was to assess the degree to which faculty use of a university computing network was having an impact on selected teaching, research, communication, administrative, and discipline-oriented activities. The study was based on users' estimates of the degree of impact upon their own activities. A 73-item questionnaire was distributed in the late spring of 1996 to all full-time faculty at the university. Questionnaires were returned by 586 faculty members, representing 38% of all full-time faculty. Respondents in each college and academic rank were representative of the larger population, with the percentage of faculty responding from each college and each rank similar to the percentage of total faculty in these categories in the larger university population. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, factors related to technology use, and faculty estimates of the degree of impact upon selected activities. Faculty reported the strongest positive impacts upon communication activities, particularly with colleagues at other institutions. Positive impacts were also noted on selected discipline-specific activities, research activities, and administrative communication. Impacts reported for teaching activities lagged behind those reported for other activities, but appeared to be increasing. Summary impacts indicated that faculty regard the campus network as essential and as having resulted in significant activities in research, teaching, and administrative activities that would not otherwise have occurred. Responses to an open-ended question provided examples of impacts and expressed high expectations for network reliability, technical support, and ease of use. In addition, faculty noted changes related to number of face-to-face contacts, use of time, efficiency, productivity, and sense of information overload. Recommendations for further research include adapting the study to student and administrative users, repeating the study to provide simple indicators of change, and extending research by asking more detailed questions about network impacts upon communication, research, teaching, discipline-specific, and administrative activities. More needs to be known about impacts upon performance, quality of work, and strategies for guiding student use of networks for collaboration and information access.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36548
This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the policy determinants of educational attainment. In the first essay, I address the relationship between state alcohol policies, teen drinking and subsequent schooling decisions. I show that changes in state minimum legal drinking ages (MLDA) provide a source of exogenous variation in teen drinking that can be used to identify the impact of teen drinking on attainment. However, because no one data set contains within-state variation in both teen drinking and attainment, traditional instrumental variables (IV) procedures cannot condition on important, unobserved state attributes. Therefore, I employ a new estimation technique that generates IV estimates using the moments from two samples. Using data from the 1977-92 Monitoring the Future (MTF) surveys, I show that teens who faced an MLDA of 18 were substantially more likely to drink than teens who faced a higher drinking age. Using data from over 1.3 million respondents in the 1960-69 birth cohorts of the 1990 Public-Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), I show that teen exposure to an MLDA of 18 had small and statistically insignificant effects on high school completion, college entrance and college completion. Then, using matched cohorts from the MTF and PUMS data sets, I report two-sample instrumental variables (TSIV) estimates of the effect of teen drinking on educational attainment. These TSIV estimates are smaller than the corresponding ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates and are statistically insignificant, indicating that the strong correlation between teen drinking and measures of educational attainment does not represent causal effects. In the second essay, I use a unique data set with high school completion rates from the unified school districts in 18 states to present new evidence on the effect of competition from private schools on achievement in public schools. Using the population concentration of Catholics as an instrument, I find that such competition has a positive and statistically significant effect on public school quality. In the third essay, I address the influential but largely unsubstantiated assumption that school districts spend too few resources "in the classroom." The purposeful allocation of resources suggests that traditional educational production functions which relate resource levels to student achievement are misspecified. I estimate the effects of non-instructional and instructional resources on student achievement using two very different classes of instrumental variables. These results indicate that school districts spend too few of available resources on instruction. However, they also demonstrate that money spent on instruction in public schools is highly effective in promoting the level of student achievement when conditioned on the decision to spend outside the classroom.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36355
This study uses ethnographic methodology to investigate the role 'portfolio-culture'-based instruction plays regarding high school expository writing students' understandings about writing (processes and products), as well as their beliefs and understandings about themselves as writers. The discovery of meaning for high school writers of the nature and significance of what they learn, do, and understand is the central focus. This qualitative, comparative case study was conducted with the intent of illustrating, interpreting, and discovering--as opposed to testing--hypotheses. Two sections (classes) of a pre-college, single-semester course taught concurrently serve as the sites for the study; embedded within each site are multiple case studies of three student-writers whose understandings of writing and of themselves as writers constitute the study's units of analysis. At each site, cases include a lower, middle-, and high-achieving student-writer. Data sources include questionnaires, structured and unstructured interviews, and additional reflective documents. Interpreted according to pattern analysis, student-writer reflections were transcribed, coded, and categorized according to four themes: (1) identities as writers, (2) characteristic writing procedures, (3) writer growth and self-assessment, and (4) understandings of the nature of effective writing. Findings include portfolio-culture students' more specific and frequent talk about their approaches to and strategies for writing, their different use of peer feedback, and their greater acknowledgment of the contributions that classroom activities and personal effort--as opposed to innate ability--make to their respective accomplishments. In addition, the lower-achieving portfolio-culture student expressed a considerably higher degree of confidence in herself as a writer than did her more traditionally-instructed peer. Findings suggest that instruction emphasizing 'sustained engagement'--a recursive process of perceiving, producing, and reflecting--significantly contributes to student-writers' identities, attitudes, and understandings. In addition, study results support claims that the portfolio-culture approach to writing instruction contributes positively to students' sense of control and responsibility, as well as to their ability to apply reflections to future practice.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36339
This study investigated how teacher candidates' developing pedagogical beliefs and knowledge of technology influenced their perception of such tools in the teaching of subject matter as they complete the initial course work of their professional program. The purpose of the study was to conceptualize more clearly the relationship between prospective teachers' thinking about computer technology and the content of their professional education. A case study methodology was used to investigate changes in six pre-service secondary science teachers' thinking about technology as a pedagogical tool. Two of the teachers had extensive experience with technology upon entering the teacher preparation course-work, whereas the other four were novice computer users. Data included three semi structured interviews and non-participant observations during the technology course-work. Additional data were collected in the form of interviews with university faculty and cooperating teachers. Analysis of these data indicated that prospective candidates entered teacher education viewing technology as a tool that supports a teacher centered classroom. As the candidates explored more student centered approaches to teaching, they found less room for technology in their images of their future practice. The data also indicated that the technology course-work was isolated from the rest of the teacher education program and many of the misconceptions about technology that the candidates brought to their professional preparation were left unchallenged.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36104
Only recently have universities addressed Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) as a course of study. Of those universities, a majority of them offer HCI as a concentration in either a computer science department or psychology department. While there is a recognized need for diversity and a range of expertise in the technology design process, it is not easy for individuals to be educated in HCI outside of a technical discipline. This may be due to a limited understanding of how HCI programs can change non-technical students, and how non-technical students can change educational HCI environments. Therefore, this study addresses the critical need for a multidisciplinary HCI academic program, by examining the changes that occurred in a cohort group of technical and non-technical students in an HCI concentration of courses at the University of New Mexico. The study experience was a sequence of three courses offered during the 1996-2000 academic year. These three courses formed the MEDIA Program: A Multidisciplinary Education for Designing Interactive Applications. The program offered a cohort group of students a constructivist, problem-centered, collaborative learning experience in HCI. Each of the study participants had expertise in at least one of the following areas important to the study of HCI: education, computer science, art/design, or music. These student participants were examined over the course of the MEDIA Program for their change in the following areas: attitudes concerning Human-Computer Interaction (HCI); the use of visual and interaction design skills; the use of multimedia tools; team collaboration/communication skills; creative problem-solving skills; and skills/attitudes based on varying disciplinary cultures. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, a diversity of data collection methods were used. These methods included coding and analysis of class videotapes, student journals, Background Experience Surveys, Storyboard Surveys, Attitude Surveys, and quantitative analysis of student storyboards. It was found from this study that growth and change occurred in the students' interaction design skills and their use of multimedia tools. It was also found that the multidisciplinary nature of the program profoundly changed what and how the students learned.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36026
Secondary teachers face the challenge of planning instructional activities that combine their own subject knowledge with information from textbooks and other forms of text to help students learn content material. This study explores preservice teachers' perceptions regarding literacy instruction within the context of teaching and learning content material. The participants are senior secondary education students enrolled in a content area literacy course at a regional university in the southeast. Case studies are constructed for six preservice teachers representing different content areas. Qualitative data collection procedures included a questionnaire, guided journal entries, literacy autobiography, and personal interviews. Cross-case analysis was employed. By contrasting their past literacy experiences with contemporary instructional considerations, a better understanding of how these preservice teachers plan to organize instruction is gained. Vocabulary instruction is most frequently cited as a means to help students learn content. Definitions for various aspects of literacy are similar. There are differences in perceptions regarding the importance of literacy instruction in content area teaching. Instructional decisions are related to preservice teachers' perceptions regarding the source of content knowledge authority. Within their content areas, these teachers perceive themselves as the primary knowledge source, the textbook as a significant resource, and other text materials as supplementary resources to help students learn content. In this situation, literacy instruction is of lesser importance. However, a lack of background knowledge places the teacher in the position of learner, and literacy becomes a significant aspect of teaching. The content area literacy course experience gave these preservice teachers an awareness of how literacy strategies can be used to enhance content instruction and the impact literacy can have in secondary classrooms. Several found it difficult to discuss literacy instruction, because they did not know the proper names for literacy strategies. This study extends the research to allow for a clearer explanation of the subtle yet dynamic effect that literacy perceptions have on secondary classroom instruction. Engaging in reflective activities about literacy instruction facilitated the development of these preservice teachers' understanding of self as teacher.
ORDER NO: ABA97-36014
The focus of this study was to investigate the effects of various augmented feedback conditions on students' self-perceptions of ability (SPA), practice behaviors, and performance during motor skill instruction of a novel task. Fourth grade physical education students (n = 103) participating in a one week instructional unit on the skill of cupstacking were randomly assigned to one of four feedback conditions: (a) no feedback, (b) motivational feedback, (c) task or informational feedback, and (d) motivational and task feedback combined. While students practiced simple (3 x 6 x 3) and complex (1 x 10 x 1) cupstacking skills, instruction and feedback were provided by university education majors. Following an introductory video, students completed surveys indicating their self-perceptions of ability to learn (SPAL) cupstacking and in particular their self-perceptions of ability to perform (SPAP) the 3 x 6 x 3 skill. Pretest performance scores were recorded, and students received 30 minutes of instruction and feedback. Ability perceptions were reassessed and posttest performance scores recorded. Procedures were repeated while students under the same instructor and same feedback condition practiced the 1 x 10 x 1 skill. Classes were videotaped in order to code student practice behavior. Final SPAL cupstacking were assessed by students on a survey. The results indicate an overall increase in SPA and performance scores and a general decrease in on-task behavior. Specifically, task and combined motivational and task feedback produced greater gains in performance scores on the complex skill, and better on-task behavior patterns with both skills than did no feedback or simple motivational feedback. The results suggests the importance of task feedback during initial learning phases of a novel skill both in terms of positive student engagement and actual performance improvement, and highlight the need for physical educators capable of providing appropriate, meaningful feedback. Though SPA were not altered significantly, the combined task and motivational feedback did show a tendency towards interaction with the more specific SPAP measurement. This supports the notion of SPA specificity and correspondence to criterial task (Pajares, 1996).
ORDER NO: ABA97-35995
Defined by customs of femininity, women who transcend those definitions find it difficult to represent themselves in a comprehensible manner. The contradictions between the actual activities of life and the demands of femininity require woman to adopt unique approaches to self-representation in order to be accepted. Tied to the biological functions of their bodies through images in the media and social institutions, as well as their internalized images, women often find trying to represent themselves beyond or against their body problematic. The female body is presented as controller of destiny, both through beauty and motherhood requirements. Women often create representations of themselves which fit projected male desire and gaze, rather then their internal beliefs and aspirations, and so become alienated from themselves early in life. Autobiographical work provides a possibility to move towards overcoming this alienation. Many questions are raised in the process of composing and editing autobiography which reveal different perspectives in one's own life story. What is included, what is left out and how are the decisions are made all affect the final version of the life-story told. The conflict between what women are taught through cultural practices and their views of themselves pose contradictions, the tensions of which create a space for self-reflective exploration. Autobiographical work provides the possibility of disrupting the male ordered, patriarchal systems of thought, especially in regards to the ways women think about themselves. Likewise, photography might be used as an alternative approach in autobiography to create self-representational images to counter the images which surround women. This dissertation examines issues of gender and representation for women. It explores the possibilities of employing other forms of representation, specifically photography, to provide alternative approaches to constructing autobiography. Alternative autobiographic techniques in curriculum theory and teacher education might provide new insights into the lives of women teachers and their relationship to the students they teach.
ORDER NO: ABA97-35960
The purpose of this study was to investigate current instructional practice in the undergraduate business classroom addressing higher order cognitive learning. It was based on an elaboration of the assumption, substantiated by the review of the research, that cognitive methods of instruction produce effective and meaningful learning experiences. The study hypothesis stated that despite the evidence of effectiveness of using cognitive methods of instruction, teaching in undergraduate business classrooms is still dominated by the lecture method and the utilization of primarily lower order learning skills. A classroom observation form was used as the main instrument for the study, supplemented by two secondary tools: the instructor's questionnaire; and the syllabus analysis of the classes observed. A sample of 10 instructors was selected from: (1) The University of Pittsburgh's College for Business Administration, (2) Carlow College, (3) Slippery Rock University, and (4) Robert Morris College. Subject matter of the classes observed included: strategic management, business programming, organizational behavior, microeconomics, introduction to business, business economics, business communication, administration and human behavior, and financial accounting. The number of sessions observed was 25 class sessions, i.e. an average of 2 1/2 sessions per instructor. The questionnaire focused on the instructional activities that are geared to the use of cognitive methods and how often the instructors use them. Criteria for syllabus analysis were based on looking at three elements of the syllabus in light of being cognitively oriented. These were: objectives, instructional activities inside and outside the classroom, and evaluation of students' performance. According to classroom observation data collected from the study sample: on the average, 79% of the undergraduate business classroom time is spent on lecturing and lower level learning skills, leaving about 20% for higher level learning skills. These findings support the findings of previous similar studies. The syllabus analysis has shown that, on the average, the instructors in the sample scored 45% on writing cognitive instruction oriented syllabi. Instructors' answers collected from the completed questionnaire indicated that, on the average, instructors believe they apply higher learning level skills only 55.6% of the time allocated for those skills.
ORDER NO: ABA97-35955
This study examined the effect of intensive chemistry instruction on cognitive development, chemistry performance and achievement during a summer bridge program at a small university in southwestern Ohio. Statistical analyses were done using a bootstrap sample of 209 subjects (n = 108, females; n = 101, males). Analysis of variance and cluster analysis were used to determine the relationships among the subjects' high school educational background, level of mental development, memory demands of selected items from an ACS/NSTA chemistry examination and the subjects' performance in chemistry. Discriminant analysis was used to determine whether specific variables could correctly classify subjects by performance in the summer bridge chemistry course. Piagetian and neo-Piagetian developmental theories were applied in the interpretation of results. Male and female subjects showed a significant difference in their chemistry performance after five weeks of instruction. Females had significantly higher chemistry posttest and detrended posttest scores, an indication of higher performance and achievement. Significant differences were found in advancement of Piagetian verbal mental operativity (an indicator of mental development) for males but not for females. There was no significant change in figural operativity for either gender. The subjects' high school mathematics grade average was more significantly related to their performance and achievement in the chemistry course than composite Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, high school grade point averages and science grades. A canonical set of five variables, including three pre- instructional mental operativity variables and the high school mathematics grade, correctly classified 58% of the sample. The researcher concluded that the short-term intensive instruction effected two types of growth--"learning" and "development." The differences in the performance and achievement of male and female subjects may be attributed to this effect. | ||||||||||||
