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1997 Dissertation Abstracts: Part 16
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ORDER NO: ABA97-32750
THE INTEGRATION OF QUALITY METHODS INTO INSTRUCTION: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF A CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INSTRUCTIONAL PILOT IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE (URBAN EDUCATION, GREAT LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE, MICHIGAN) Author: HOLM, MAUDIE LOUISE Degree: PH.D. Year: 1997 Corporate Source/Institution: CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY (0466) Adviser: RALPH MAWDSLEY Source: VOLUME 58/05-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL. PAGE 1557. 230 PAGES Descriptors: EDUCATION, COMMUNITY COLLEGE; EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATION; ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL; PSYCHOLOGY, INDUSTRIAL; EDUCATION, PHILOSOPHY OF In this study, the researcher follows the progress of three educators who join in an instructional pilot at Great Lakes Community College, located in the Midwest. The College has three campuses, which are located in culturally and racially diverse urban and suburban communities. It employs 1,100 full-time personnel, includes four unions, and enrolls approximately 20,000 students per quarter. The three participants applied Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) methods in twenty-four classes during a six month period and shared their perceptions of their experience. Community colleges share similarities; however, each organization possesses its own culture as formed by its history, leadership and social dynamics. This pilot assumes that the most effective changes in an organization are best initiated from within its own culture. Research substantiates that instructional faculty act as a dominant variable in proposed change. Although Continuous Quality Improvement has been suggested by administrative leaders, little is known about the faculty's perspective of such cultural change in the classroom. The study arises out of the need to better understand the relevance of manufacturing models in education and in classroom applications, specifically. The researcher seeks the faculty's perspective and asks: Why should faculty incorporate the use of an "alien paradigm" in the classroom? How does one infuse CQI methods and philosophy into the classroom? The researcher uses a qualitative design to document, describe, and interpret the experience of three tenure-track faculty who participated in an instructional pilot over the course of an academic year. Data were collected through long interviews, electronic mail, group discussions, and field notes. As the faculty advanced through the pilot, they modified their work, introduced more techniques, and determined that CQI could be used with first-year and second-year students. The research findings will aid educational professionals in implementing alternative instructional methods that address the needs of the adult learner. The analysis uncovered two cultural and two analytical themes: faculty reculturing, faculty readiness (cultural categories), and communication as a learning tool, Organizational Development implications within educational change (analytical categories). The conclusions suggest that the processes we initiate for change are secondary to the shared meaning we assign to those experiences through group communication.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32659
Research has established that the beliefs of prospective teachers play a central role in their development. Since professional growth often requires modification or radical change of tenacious beliefs, it is crucial for teacher educators to understand the processes and surrounding conditions of belief formation, change, and stabilization. In the current period of program reform and experimentation, it is even more important to study the dynamics of belief systems within specific contexts. This research project is a collective, instrumental case study which extended over the 1995-96 academic year in a Midwestern school-university partnership. Participants are 26 prospective teachers enrolled in an experimental program with Freshman Early Field Experience and Apprenticeship components. Using Kelly's Personal Construct Psychology as a framework to conceptualize teachers' belief systems as practical theory, paradigm, and image, the study sought to detect and to illuminate belief change processes. The methodology included structured and unstructured interviews, participant observation, and artifact collection; data was analyzed textually and numerically. The findings were also presented as an ethnography in an artistic videotape. Findings: (1) Prospective teachers bring firm moral and educational beliefs to their formal preparation. (2) These beliefs are embedded in their guiding classroom images. (3) During professional growth, beliefs change by dialectical and paradoxical processes, belief systems become more complex and coherent, and beliefs and practice become more congruent. (4) The prospective teachers engage in the active construction of a personal practical theory that is best characterized as a morally guided journey toward teacher wisdom. (5) Professional growth is promoted by program and field contexts that provide conditions for concept change and transformative social exchanges. Implications: (1) Recognition of the centrality of moral commitment and beliefs in the development of teachers may require teacher preparation programs to undergo a paradigm shift to the professional model of teaching . (2) Kelly's repertory grid technique with complementary methods is a productive approach to the study of teacher beliefs and personal practical theories or philosophies of education. (3) Understanding can be enhanced by combining the artistic rendering of findings with more traditional forms of analysis and presentation.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32656
The study compares the ADN and BSN nurse use of nursing process measures in home health nursing. The subjects were 50 home health nurse volunteers working in nine different home health agencies. Subjects ranged in age from 24 to 58. Forty-nine were female, one was male. Subjects were assigned to one of two groups based on prelicensure educational preparation and educational level at the time of the study. One group of 25 ADN nurses was compared to a second group of 25 BSN nurses on nursing process measures obtained by nonparticipant observation during home visits. Each visit was scored on the Schmele Instrument to Measure the Process of Care in Home Health (SIMP-H). One home visit was made with each nurse for a total of 50 visits. Direct discriminant function analysis (.06) reveals no significant difference (.05 level) between groups on the dependent measures obtained from the SIMP-H. Possible explanations include redundancy in nursing process measures on the SIMP-H and use of minimum sample size. Correlational analysis of years of experience in nursing and years of experience in home health with nursing process measures indicates no significant differences (.05 level) between groups. One significant correlation ($-$.42) is noted between the nursing process measure of evaluation and years of experience in nursing for the ADN group. In this sample, as years of experience in nursing increased for the ADN, the score on evaluation is lower. The BSN group scores indicate higher performance in the home care role with less years of experience in nursing. Suggestions for future research include replication in a different geographical location with a larger sample, refinement of the SIMP-H instrument to reduce redundancy of measures, replication with design modifications to include both direct and stepwise discriminant analysis, and replication with correction of study limitations.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32653
The purpose of this study was to investigate students' and teachers' attitudes toward graphics calculators in the college calculus courses. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative methods in collecting the data. The sample of the study consisted of four instructors and 131 students in four sections of the calculus courses MATH 263A and MATH 263B, two sections from each, in the winter quarter 1997 at Ohio University. The instruments used in this study included: two equivalent but different forms of the 16-item Graphics Calculator Attitude Scale modified from LaTorre (1991), one for students and one for instructors; students' questionnaire; individual interviews with 12 students; and individual interviews with the four instructors in the sample. The researcher used the 2-way ANOVA to analyze the quantitative data and theme analysis to analyze the qualitative data. The results of quantitative part of the study indicated that there were significant gender differences in students' attitudes toward graphics calculators favoring males. The results also indicated that there were no significant differences between the low and the high achievers, and no significant interaction between the gender and the student's achievement level in students' attitudes toward graphics calculators. The results of the qualitative part of this study can be summarized in the following three points: (1) The findings of the questionnaire revealed several themes from the open-ended questions. Students, generally had positive attitudes toward graphics calculators. (2) The findings of students' interviews revealed eight themes: reasons for liking graphics calculators, disadvantages (difficulties), learning-teaching practices in and outside the class, teacher's role, experiences with graphics calculators other than calculus, attitudes toward graphics calculators, predictions of the future of graphics calculators, and suggestions for improving the use of graphics calculators in calculus. (3) The findings of instructors' interviews revealed five themes: benefits, difficulties, learning styles, teaching styles, and suggestions.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32648
The study examines eight organizational problems that undergraduate interdisciplinary programs may experience. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship these problems may have to the vitality and the viability of such programs. A survey was mailed to the directors of interdisciplinary programs. The survey collected data on the two dependent variables of program vitality and program viability. Data were collected on five demographic variables: (a) type of program, (b) length of program existence, (c) program size, (d) type of control, and (e) level, two-year or four-year, of parent institution. Data were also collected on nine other independent variables: (a) program costs, (b) accommodation of student diversity, (c) faculty selection, (d) egalitarianism, (e) burn-out, (f) accommodation of faculty diversity, (g) relations with disciplinary departments, (h) internal communication, and (i) external communication. A multiple regression analysis using the nine variables of theoretical interest is found to explain 52% of the observed variation in program vitality, and 42% of the observed variation in program viability. For the criterion variable of program vitality, egalitarianism, accommodation of faculty diversity, and relations with disciplinary departments are found to make the greatest contribution. For the criterion variable of program viability, faculty selection and internal communication are found to make the greatest contribution. It is concluded that directors and planners of interdisciplinary programs should carefully consider such issues as the level of egalitarianism in the program, the ability of the program to accommodate diverse faculty interests, the quality of relations between the program and disciplinary departments, the methods by which program faculty are selected, and the ability of the program to communicate its mission to the campus community in order to enhance the vitality and viability of the program.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32645
The study examines the Arithmetic Achievement Test (AAT) and its value as a placement test for students enrolling in entry-level algebra courses at two-year technical colleges. The participants were 415 students enrolled at six different two-year technical colleges in the state of Ohio. Each participant was given the test during the first week of the term. Participating institutions administered the test between Spring 1996 and Fall 1996. At the end of the quarter, final grades and final exams of students across each course, each institution, and all institutions were examined in relation to the AAT results. Z-tests run using Fisher's Transformation revealed that in all courses and institutions the correlation of the AAT to both final grades and final exams was either not significantly different from r =.35 or was significantly greater than r =.35 (p $<$.05). The median correlation of the AAT and final grades is each was r =.48; the median correlation between the AAT and final exam grades in each course was r =.49. The median correlation of the AAT to final grades at each institution was r =.44; the median correlation of the AAT to final exam grades at each institution was r =.45. Across the entire population, the correlation of the AAT to final grades was r =.41; this was not statistically different from r =.35. Across the entire population, the correlation of the AAT to final exam grades was r =.45, which was shown to be significantly higher than r =.35 (p $<$.05). In addition it was shown that through the use of optimal cut scores, the AAT did quite well at separating those who would likely earn satisfactory grades from those who would likely not. At individual institutions the median success rate of students in the upper performance group (with higher AAT scores) was 83%; the median success rate of those students in the lower performance group (with the lower AAT scores) was only 35%.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32566
The purpose of this study was to examine two required, interdisciplinary, general education courses at University of the Pacific. The curriculum was composed of classical and timely questions and issues. The study examined the thinking and writing skills of the students for the purpose of improvement through program assessment. The program goals, including activities assumed to lead to their attainment, not only played a dominant role in instrument development, but were also formatively assessed. A survey was designed in relation to program goals. Pretesting and posttesting for change in thinking and writing skills utilized holistic assessment via a set of writing criteria and a set of thinking criteria related to program goals. Periodic focus groups during the first academic year, and retrospective individual interviews during the sophomore year, were derived from sets of questions convergent with the focus on program goals. The qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated and analyzed through the lens of the Perry Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development. The study addressed four research questions. The results of the study indicated complex issues and perceptions were related to the diverse nature of the two courses, as well as a dominant multiplistic, intellectual stage through which students were progressing. Certain types of students were enabled to meet relevant program goals in relation to their individual, intellectual stage. While this study focused on one university and two courses within its particular general education program, findings in an assessment of this type are limited to similar types of institutions with similar programs.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32379
The primary purpose of this research was to assess the effect of four paper-based jobs aids, specifically cueing, association, proceduralized and analog, in facilitating student cognitive development. The investigation: (1) identified the effects of various paper-based job aids in the achievement of different educational objectives, (2) determined if job aids are equally effective in the acquisition of knowledge among students who possess low or high prior knowledge, (3) determined if there was an interaction between low and high prior knowledge and paper-based job aids and (4) determined the effectiveness of job aid types in the acquisition of knowledge among students who possess low or high prior knowledge. The research population included 300 full-time undergraduate students attending The Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus. A pretest score was used to assigned each subject to either a high or low prior knowledge group. From the prior knowledge groups, subjects were randomly assigned to one of five assessment modes and received one of the five instructional treatment booklets. The effect of paper-based job aids was measured by individual scores of four criterion posttests. Each criterion posttest measured a different educational objective commonly used in educational environments. Research conclusions indicate that: (1) the four paper-based job aid types, specifically cueing, association, proceduralized and analog, which accompanied the instructional material of this study, are not equally effective in facilitating the achievement of different educational objectives, (2) high prior knowledge and low prior knowledge are not equally effective in facilitating the achievement of different educational objectives and (3) paper-based job aids and prior knowledge have little effect on each other. Research implications indicate that the cueing, association, proceduralized and analog job aids used in this study as rehearsal strategies significantly facilitate knowledge acquisition, are functionally different though structurally similar and offer the potential to be the least costly instructional intervention among alternative low-cost instructional delivery methods.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32363
The purpose of this study was to examine the instructional effects of different types of structural knowledge learning strategies in complementing verbal instruction and interaction time with the instructional script. The types of structural knowledge learning strategies that were examined were spider mapping, frame mapping, and semantic mapping. The study was conducted at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA, with 248 volunteer students taking educational psychology and statistics courses. Subjects were divided into two groups: group A and group B. Subjects in group A were asked to interact with instructional script at their own pace. Subjects in group B were asked to interact with instructional script for 30 minutes. Subjects in each group were randomly assigned to 4 treatment subgroups: treatment 1 (control group), receiving no structural knowledge learning strategy; treatment 2, receiving the spider mapping structural knowledge learning strategy; treatment 3, receiving the frame mapping structural knowledge learning strategy; and treatment 4, receiving the semantic mapping structural knowledge learning strategy. Following the instructional script, subjects in group A (self-paced interaction time) and group B (controlled 30-minutes interaction time) were given the four tests to examine different educational objectives. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in achievement among students in each treatment group. It may be concluded that the structural knowledge learning strategies that were used in this study tend to confuse the learner and hinder performance. Also, students need to be familiar with the structural knowledge learning strategies, and learn and practice them ahead of time so that they understand the purpose and function of those strategies and feel comfortable interacting with them. In addition, the conclusion may be drawn that although the structural knowledge strategies (spider mapping, frame mapping, semantic mapping) used in this study are structurally different, they are functionally identical. Significant differences were found on the time spent studying the instructional script between group A (self-paced) and group B (controlled 30-minutes interaction time). However, no significant differences were found in achievement between students in group A (self-paced) and group B (controlled 30-minutes interaction time). The conclusion may be drawn that it is more efficient for students to interact with structural knowledge learning strategies embedded in instructional script at their own pace.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32300
A survey was completed of technological college students comprised of traditional and non-traditional adult students (median age 21, mean age 24) who have completed, one to three years previously, a course in algebra-trigonometry based physics. The survey response rate was 74%. Information was obtained about their current understandings regarding the attributes of projectile motion, their self-assessment of their current understanding of projectile motion, and their evaluation of the instructional components that were most influential in their acquiring an understanding of projectile motion. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) Adults who demonstrated a high level of understanding of the attributes of projectile motion immediately following instruction will demonstrate a high level of understanding a year or more after instruction ; (2) Adults who demonstrate a high level of understanding of projectile motion a year or more after instruction will rate themselves high on self-confidence about their understanding of the attributes of projectile motion; (3) Adults who demonstrated a high level of understanding of the attributes of projectile motion a year or more after instruction will rate laboratory activities as very important or extremely important to their acquiring an understanding of the attributes of projectile motion. Three hypotheses were confirmed at a p = $<$0.05. A regression of the current understandings onto the prior understandings regarding the attributes of projectile motion indicated a strong causality (F = 13.246, p $<$ 0.000, n = 91, df = 1). Students' self-assessment of their current knowledge about projectile motion indicated an accurate evaluation of what they actually know (t = 10.408, df = 90, p $<$ 0.000). Students indicated that the most important instructional component influencing their learning was the author's laboratory activity. As their self-assessment was strongly indicative of their current understanding, additional credibility can be placed on their assessment of what they believed most contributed to their learning, that is, the author's laboratory activity. The laboratory activity required five years of development. It is included in the appendix. Other instructional components that were rated high included teacher demonstrations, homework activities, and teacher explanations.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32268
Until recently, a large part of the existing literature in foreign language teacher education has focused on the efficacy of various methodologies and has given suggestions to teachers for classroom activities. Few researchers have directly studied the teachers themselves, their learning and teaching experiences, or their beliefs. An understanding of the cognitive and affective components of foreign language teachers has been lacking. To partially fill that gap, this study examined, from psychological and phenomenological perspectives, what university level teaching assistants believe is critical in helping them grow into foreign language (FL) teachers. Specifically, it aimed to understand: (1) What beliefs are held by teaching assistants of foreign languages at the university level? (2) How do TAs understand the role experience has played in their development as teachers? The analysis was based on data collected through long interviews with four teaching assistants of foreign languages. Interview data were triangulated by conducting interviews with their methods course instructor and language coordinators/supervisors. Analysis of the data revealed a strong influence of past experiences in participant's current instructional beliefs and practices. Consistent levels of self-awareness among the teaching assistants of their instructional practices emerged, including both strengths and weaknesses. There was also evidence for opposing beliefs held by teaching assistants and their supervisors. Differences in perceived expectations gave rise to personal and professional misunderstandings on the part of both the TAs and their supervisors. Rich in detail, this research has substantial implications for second language teacher educators: it challenges some of our common assumptions about target language use and TA evaluation. The research also raises questions for further investigation about the role of psychological factors in learning to teach. It will help teacher educators, researchers, theorists, and teachers to identify areas for further exploration such as teacher reflection, self-evaluation, and action research. Finally, this study offers evidence for the relevance of and hence need for qualitative research in the investigation of questions in language teacher education.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32249
The voices of teachers, those primarily responsible for implementing innovative curricular decisions, have been conspicuously absent in the professional literature. This study, therefore, explores the impact a weekly meeting in a computer-equipped classroom had on teaching assistants of third-semester university French classes. In response to calls for research to include descriptions of what actually happens during computer-based instruction, this study employed qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. Research methods encompassed interviews, document and video analysis, and participant-observation in classrooms, teaching assistant meetings and training seminars. Following in the tradition of symbolic interactionism, an epistemological framework of social constructionism was embodied into the collection and interpretation of data. The researcher first analyzes how the mergers of industry, government, and educational policy have supported and sustained, in large part, de-contextualized reflection on the benefits of instructional technology. In the chapters which follow, findings reveal one teacher-participant, expert with technology, who believes strongly in the technology as an efficient tool to shape student writing. Despite his enthusiasm, the intersection of teacher beliefs, linguistic difficulties, and technical problems serve to impede an environment conducive to sustaining lessons in the target language and additionally privilege computer literacy over linguistic proficiency. The observations and descriptions of another teacher-participant's classroom challenge the literature on computerphobia which, heretofore, has employed questionnaires to determine the reasons for teachers' unwillingness to incorporate computers into their lessons. This study, however, points to the complex factors which arise when an inexperienced user of computer technology, who questioned its value, struggles to use the equipment and integrate computerized lessons that are in concert with her philosophy of teaching. The teachers' voices tell different stories concerning attitudes and practices of computer integration in their classroom, but their stories merge to demonstrate that the computer often co-opts the lessons it has been created to serve. These chapters call into question many of the long-standing assumptions about the benefits and utility of computers for foreign language teaching and point to a need for innovative curricular decisions to be meaningfully and regularly informed by the beliefs, practices, and experiences of those for whom innovations are designed.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32242
The present study was conducted as an exploratory investigation of college student stress. The goals of the study were twofold. The first goal was to identify student stress patterns throughout the course of a semester. The second goal was to investigate the effectiveness of exercise as a method of stress management. Study participants consisted of 9 undergraduate male and female college students enrolled full-time in a 15-week spring semester. At the beginning of the semester, each participant completed the Daily Hassles Scale-Short Form and the Exercise-Stress Questionnaire. In addition, participants were given a Stress Journal with instructions to record their subjective experiences of stress on a weekly basis throughout the semester. At midsemester, each participant again completed the Daily Hassles Scale-Short Form. This process was completed once more at the end of the semester. Analysis of the data revealed a specific pattern of stress over the semester including peaks at the beginning, middle, and end. As a group, the participants responded to high stress dysfunctionally almost twice as often as they responded functionally. Academic pressure was the stressor that most commonly lead to high stress although interpersonal difficulties and student organization responsibilities were also commonly experienced stressors. Exercise was found to be an effective means of stress management and provided additional benefits highly valued by the participants. It was concluded that a program designed to enhance understanding of the relationship between stress and exercise would be beneficial.
ORDER NO: ABA97-32241
The purpose of this experimental study was to measure the effects of participating in a collaborative learning community on new student outcomes. Once it was determined that students experienced a collaborative learning community environment, both short-term and long-term effects would be measured. Learning outcomes included writing proficiency and intellectual development (both short-term) and grade-point averages, retention rates, and interest in the subjects (all long-term). Short-term effects were measured by comparing the differences in mean scores on posttests administered to two groups of new freshmen: (1) an experimental group placed in a collaborative learning community environment compared with (2) a control group of new freshmen enrolled in similar courses taught according to traditional instructional techniques. In addition to the posttests described above, students completed a follow-up survey at the end of the semester which measured: (1) characteristics of the learning environment, (2) academic and social integration, and (3) intellectual gain. Principal-axis factoring was applied to each of the three scales to measure between group differences. This study employed a single semester pretest-posttest control group experimental design. Freshmen were randomly selected and assigned to a collaborative learning community entitled "Interdisciplinary Collaborative Experience," consisting of two thematically linked courses, or a control group consisting of two similar but independent courses. The students in this study were enrolled at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, and the two general education courses offered to both groups were "Problems in Philosophy" and "Introduction to Sociology" which were taught by the same instructors. Analysis of covariance was utilized to compare differences in mean scores between the two groups on tests of writing proficiency, intellectual development, and academic achievement (grade-point averages) in the two courses, for all fall semester courses, and for all courses taken during the academic year. Statistical analysis revealed that the two groups were comparable at the beginning of the experiment, and that there were no significant differences between the two groups for mean scores on posttests of writing proficiency, intellectual development, nor academic achievement (as measured by grade point averages). Mean scores for the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group on responses to a follow-up survey that measured student academic and social experiences during the first semester in college.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31975
Since the establishment of the evaluation system in 1975, the junior colleges in the Republic of China (Taiwan), have gone through six formal evaluations. We know that evaluation in schooling, like quality control in businesses, should be a systematic, formal, and a continual process. It can doubtless serve as a strategy to refine the quality of education. The purpose of this research is to explore the current practice of junior college evaluation in Taiwan. This provides insight into the development of and quality of the current evaluation system. Moreover, this study also identified the source of problems with the current evaluation system and provided suggestion for improvements. In order to attain the above purposes, this research was undertaken in both theoretical and practical ways. First, theoretically, on the basis of a literature review, the theories of educational evaluation and, according to the course and principles of development, a view of the current practice in Taiwan. Secondly, in practice, by means of questionnaires, an analysis of the views of evaluation committeemen, junior college presidents, and administrators were obtained on evaluation models, methods, contents, organization, functions, criteria, grades reports, and others with suggestions for improvement. The summary of findings concludes that most evaluators and evaluatees think the purpose of evaluation can help the colleges explore their difficulties and problems. In addition, it was found that there is significant difference between the two groups regarding the evaluation methods, contents, organization, functions, criteria, grades reports and others, while analyzing these objective data forms the basis for an improved method of evaluation for Junior Colleges in Taiwan.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31890
This research examines the communication processes of juries from a narrative perspective. It identifies, using a narrative perspective, the types of information jurors use in their decision-making, and it provides a first step toward understanding the communication processes of juries and developing a comprehensive theory of jury decision-making. Fifteen, six-person mock juries, drawn from a pool of student volunteers at a Midwestern University, watched a videotaped two-hour stimulus trial. The subjects completed pre and post deliberation surveys identifying verdict preferences and information used in decision-making. The groups deliberated until reaching a unanimous decision on one of five verdict choices. Deliberations were videotaped, transcribed, unitized, and then coded according to narrative based categories. All communication of jurors was broken into codable units, then coded as one of 30 possible categories of information impacting jurors' decisions. The coding scheme categories were developed from a narrative perspective and organized around the eight general topics of evidence completeness, evidence consistency, story construction, fidelity, instructions, process, evaluation, and response. Pre and post deliberation survey answers were also unitized and coded. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for all categories of the coding scheme. The 15,757 coded transcript units, revealed that jurors communicated about story construction in 49 percent of their utterances, and legal instructions in 15 percent of their utterances. Qualitative analysis provided evidence of how jurors used competing stories to persuade one another and how they struggled to understand key legal concepts by creating narrative examples. This research suggests that narrative is a useful perspective for analyzing jury decision-making. It builds on other research that shows jurors organize trial information into stories by showing that jurors also use story structures in their group communication as a mechanism for reaching decisions. They organize information into story structures which they judge using narrative tests of logic. The narrative perspective helps explain why jurors use particular information, and how it is used in the totality of the decision-making process. This research reveals that jurors communicate with a focus on narrative.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31868
The purpose of this study was to examine the views and perceptions of faculty and academic deans regarding student evaluations. Respondents were asked how evaluations are used. They were also questioned about how evaluations might be used to improve teaching or aid course revision, particularly in combination with consultation or mentoring. The interviews included questions on improvement of the form and process of student evaluations, and if they could be complemented by colleague, administrative, or self evaluations. The study was guided by two major research questions: (1) What do faculty and academic deans from three private liberal arts colleges think about student evaluations of their teaching ? (2) What factors or experiences have shaped faculty and academic deans' beliefs about student evaluations of teaching ? The method of data collection was 18 open-ended interviews. Subjects were academic deans and randomly chosen faculty from three small liberal arts colleges in Iowa. Respondents represented a wide array of disciplines. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method which involved coding and categorizing of the information, Faculty perceptions of student evaluation have been largely ignored in the research of this phenomenon. This study determined that overall, most faculty view student evaluations positively. However, many have suggestions for improving the form or process or prefer their own formative evaluations over the mandatory college form. Many respondents objected to the subjectivity and anonymity of the evaluations. Several respondents thought that student attitude and performance were associated with how students evaluated faculty. Demographic information on respondents and their courses was collected. Instructor and course characteristics were not associated other than by discipline. Faculty in the hard sciences and general education were concerned about use of the same evaluation form for different disciplines. Despite expressing some reservations about student evaluations, over two-thirds of respondents reported that they use them to improve their teaching. Mixed perceptions were noted among interviewees regarding the use of peer, administrative, and self evaluations with student evaluations. Teaching experience was the main factor that shaped faculty beliefs about student evaluations.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31862
The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of the Vee heuristic as a pre-laboratory requirement on students' achievement in a General Chemistry I Laboratory class. The study followed a small scale quasi-experimental design with the treatment group differing from the control group in that the former received instruction in Vee diagramming and were writing the pre-laboratory requirements in Vee diagrams, while the latter completed conventional pre-laboratory requirements. Measurements of student achievements included after-lab questions and problems, laboratory quizzes, and the comprehensive laboratory final exam. The after-lab questions and problems served as informal assessments in that they were finished outside of the classroom over a period of a week, whereas the quizzes and the laboratory final were in-class formal assessments. The students in the treatment group performed consistently better than the students in the control group in both the informal and formal assessments based on the analysis results of MANCOVA and ANCOVA. These results supported the thesis that the utilization of the heuristic as a pre-laboratory requirement can improve students' understanding and performance and provide a structure on which students can rely for the effective organization of background knowledge.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31791
Thirty-three students with learning disabilities from five selected Iowa colleges and universities participated in a study to identify LD (learning disability) services and programs that are beneficial to students in the areas of (1) comprehensive student services; and (2) career and vacational services. FOCUS groups were held at each of the five institutions. FOCUS group participants included male and female students aged 16 to 56 years, and enrolled in freshman through graduate levels. The colleges and universities in the study included two independent institutions, two community colleges, and one public university. Demographics from the participating students and institutions, and perceptions and opinions of the students were obtained. Data were analyzed for two main research questions: "What comprehensive support services are identified as beneficial by students with learning disabilities in selected Iowa colleges and universities?" and "What career and vocational services are identified as beneficial by students with learning disabilities in selected Iowa colleges and universities?" The five most beneficial comprehensive support services identified by the focus group participants include coursework and testing accommodations, LD staff, peer support groups, and tutors. The five most beneficial career and vocational services include career guidance counseling, an individual career plan, work experience, transitioning from school to work, and job shadowing. Other recommendations for postsecondary LD programs as a result of the study include: (1) faculty programs to increase awareness and to provide information regarding instructional and institutional accommodations for LD students; (2) self-esteem training and awareness for LD students; (3) publicity and student awareness of LD programs and services available at the institution; and (4) improvement of exiting services. The positive effect of smaller institutions on LD services, students' expectations of LD services at the postsecondary level, and students' perceptions of "success" were also identified.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31785
This study examined whether college students learn more effectively in single-gender versus mixed-gender cooperative learning structures and whether females may benefit differentially from greater organization of such structures. The two sections (n = 54) of an introductory accounting course were assigned to either an experimental or control condition. The students were assigned primarily to groups of four. The experimental groups used cooperative learning activities and structures characterized by positive interdependence, appropriate team formation, individual accountability, social skills, and group processing. The control groups used loosely structured group processes. Other course elements, such as the grading system, lectures, assignments, and instructor, were the same for both sections. A 2 x 2 x 2 analysis of covariance was used to compare learning and attitudes between males and females, single- and mixed-gender groups, and experimental and control sections. Pretest scores and prior grade point averages were used as covariates to control for prior accounting knowledge and ability. No significant differences in learning (as measured by posttest scores) were found for either males or females based on the gender mix of their cooperative learning groups. Furthermore, males learned equally well in the control and experimental conditions. Consistent with previous research, experimental group females showed greater learning than did those in control groups. Results in terms of perceptions were more complex. The interaction of gender and group composition did appear to impact females' perceptions. Females in single-gender groups reported higher levels of group process than did females in mixed groups. Males reported no difference in group process between group compositions, or between treatment conditions.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31758
The study examined the effectiveness of using a teacher inservice model developed in a western culture in a developing country context. Specifically, the Science PALs model developed at the University of Iowa was adapted for implementation in a Jordanian setting. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research strategies was used to study the reactions of seven third grade teachers, all of the students in four of the seven teachers' classrooms, and the parents of these students. Teacher attitudes toward and understanding of principles of constructivist teaching, the specific use of student ideas, and the role of non-text reading materials were studied in a pre-test, post-test, post-post-test design. Student reactions to the study teachers' attempts to incorporate the ideas presented in the inservice were collected via a modified form of a student teachers and their students during science instruction as well as interviews with teachers, students and parents provided a rich base of qualitative data for the study. Analysis of the teacher survey data revealed that Jordanian teachers seemed to understand and enthusiastically embrace basic constructivist ideas promoted in the adapted version of the Science PALs inservice. Classroom observations and interviews with teachers, students, and parents showed that teachers made legitimate efforts to lecture less, question more, use student ideas, incorporate children's literature, and involve parents, all of which are critical elements of the Science PALs model. The data also showed that parents were positive about doing science activities with their children and taking an active role in their child's science instruction, attitudes rarely held by Jordanian parents. Study data also revealed that students were more actively involved and enthusiastic about science. Again, contrary to custom, students were observed asking more questions, requesting more activities and science time, and engaging in science discussions.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31728
This study investigates the jeopardy in content-area testing for English as a Second Language (ESL) students in university settings. A theoretical model is proposed which suggests that language proficiency, test anxiety, and test preferences are variables which predict ESL students' performance on content-area tests. Language proficiency was measured using the Michigan Test of English Proficiency, and a writing assessment. Test anxiety was comprised of both state- and trait-anxiety measures. Testing preferences assessed students' attitudes toward true/false, multiple-choice, short-answer/completion, restricted-response, and extended-essay formats using a semantic differential scale. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered. First, thirteen ESL students were interviewed, and a content analysis of the data provides a general overview of the problems, preferences, strategies, and teacher practices related to content-area testing for ESL students. Second, quantitative data relating to language, anxiety, preferences, and test performance were gathered in a specific course--American Heritage--with 38 ESL students at Brigham Young University. Data were analyzed using a multiple regression approach investigating the relationships among variables in the theoretical model (i.e., path analysis). In addition, four American Heritage ESL students were interviewed. The qualitative and quantitative findings suggest that the testing jeopardy for ESL students is a multidimensional phenomenon, with aspects internal and external to the student's control. In the course-specific context, the theoretical model accounted for 60% of the variance in test performance. Language proficiency and testing preferences did not account for a significant amount of variance; however, test anxiety was found to be the strongest predictor of students' content-area test performance. This study provides qualitative and quantitative evidence that the American Heritage professor's instructional and testing accommodations minimized the language proficiency and testing preference jeopardy in testing for ESL students. Implications for theory, pedagogy, and research are presented.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31700
The Masters of the Blue Room is an investigation of the relationship between environment and ideology. As such, it focuses on a single educational institution, The College of William and Mary, in a specific time/space setting, 1836-1846, Williamsburg, Virginia, to explore the relationship between the institution and its environment, the mental and physical formative environments of its faculty, and the value systems represented by their lifestyles and teaching. The period 1836-1846 covers the tenure of Thomas Roderick Dew's presidency of William and Mary with the following faculty members: Nathaniel Beverley Tucker, professor of law, Robert Saunders, professor of mathematics, John Millington, professor of chemistry and natural philosophy, Dabney Browne, professor of humanities, and, replacing Browne in 1842, Charles Frederick Minnegerode. The Dew faculty was a microcosm representing a critical and exciting juncture of western values as well as the unique perspective of tidewater Virginia. Acutely aware of the forces unleashed by the developing industrial revolution, the rise of the fourth estate, and romanticism, at least five of these men were also intensely sensitive to the leveling tendencies within American society which threatened the economic base of their Lockian liberalism, especially the institutions of landholding and slavery, at a time when the future of tidewater ascendancy was questionable. Their perception of what was meaningful in their society and how it was to be preserved they passed to their students, most of whom were products of the same environment and shared the same values. The dissertation is organized into ten chapters on six topics: an introduction with a presentation of purpose and method, an interpretation of Williamsburg as an environmental influence, an interpretation of the College of William and Mary as an environmental influence, an analysis of the college 's curriculum, the physical and ideological environmental influences on the faculty along with the values reflected in their lifestyles, an analysis of the published lecture notes used in three courses taught by two of them, Thomas Dew, himself, and Nathaniel Beverley Tucker. The investigation documented in The Masters of the Blue Room yielded provocative results which may challenge some of the current thinking about southern intellectual life and the values it represented. Of special note would be the faculty's "Quidistic" political philosophy, closely akin to the English country whig belief system, its eighteenth century reason-natural law bias rationalizing its perception of a meaningful life, its cyclical view of history and the related fear of change, and, most especially, its homogeneity in lifestyle and ideology. The Dew faculty, even those of foreign birth, held the same fundamental credo which reflected the historical landscape, supported the mores of college and community, and, in a way more European than American, regarded the past as part of the present and essential to the future.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31615
The research in the present study investigates the contribution of learners' knowledge of linguistic factors, namely, vocabulary and syntax to English as a foreign language reading comprehension. Four research questions are addressed: (a) Is there a correlation between lexical knowledge and reading comprehension of English as a foreign language (EFL)?, (b) Does lexical knowledge predict EFL reading comprehension?, (c) Is there a correlation between syntactic knowledge and EFL reading comprehension?, and (d) Does syntactic knowledge predict EFL reading comprehension? A total of ninety-four freshman students at the University of Hebron/Palestine participated in the study. The students' lexical and syntactic knowledge were assessed by means of the vocabulary and structure sections of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Comprehension was assessed through recall protocol of two English authentic texts. A series of correlational analyses was used to determine the relationships among the variables. Then another series of multiple regression analyses was conducted in order to determine the contributions of the independent variables, namely, lexical and syntactic knowledge, to the dependent variable, namely, reading comprehension of English as a foreign language. The results showed significant correlations between lexical and syntactic knowledge with reading comprehension. Syntactic knowledge, however, turned out to be a much stronger predictor of reading comprehension than lexical knowledge. When entered into the regression model, syntactic knowledge accounted for 64% of the variance in reading while lexical knowledge accounted for 21% of the total variance. With regard to the classroom implications, it is suggested that: (a) both lexical and syntactic development be adequately emphasized in the classroom, and (b) vocabulary and syntax instruction be informed by research and congruent with our current views concerning the nature of language and learning.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31529
The federal Tech Prep Education Act (1990) provides funding to local consortia to bring about changes in local community colleges and high schools that link the two organizations. When multiple organizations are involved in the change process, how does successful change occur? There is little research available on the process used by multiple entities to effect successful change. Purpose. The purpose of the study was to describe the process by which multiple entities--the secondary and postsecondary faculty and administrators in two successful Tech Prep consortia--passed through the stages of analysis, planning and implementation to effect required change and institutionalized the change. Methodology. Literature research helped to identify a change model to study multiple entity change in two successful Tech Prep consortia in California. The sites were selected based on an outside evaluator' s determination of successful consortia. The model selected for the study was Thomas Harvey's short-form change checklist found in Checklist for Change (1995). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty-one teachers and administrators using an interview guide based on Harvey's ten-step model. The data were recorded, coded by variable, and then presented in tabular and narrative format. An analysis of the congruency across cases was rendered. Findings. (1) Of the seven required elements of Tech Prep, only two (Curriculum Development and Curriculum Design) were reported as changes that had occurred. (2) Payoffs that were identified as motivators for teachers to change were student satisfaction and success as well as working in teaching teams. (3) High school teachers were frequently described as both the changers and the changees. (4) There was an expressed belief that change can occur at the high school and at the community college and that Tech Prep is a realistic change effort. (5) Strong central leadership was reported and the consortium director was most frequently identified in this role. (6) Resistance to Tech Prep reportedly came from conflicting organizational and group norms. (7) Resistance to change was overcome by creating norm incongruence. (8) Examples of normative-reeducative and rational-empirical approaches were most frequently described as change strategies. (9) Change processes did not occur simultaneously across both organizations.
ORDER NO: ABA97-31503
Four hundred sixty students in four public high schools were used as subjects to determine which of eleven academic and demographic factors studied were significant predictors of success for the Advanced Placement Biology Examination. Factors studied were attendance, class rank, gender, grade level at the time of the examination, grade point average, level of prerequisite biology course, number of Advanced Placement Examinations taken in the year prior to the Advanced Placement Biology Examination, number of Advanced Placement Examinations taken in the same year as the Advanced Placement Biology Examination, proposed major in college, race, and SAT mathematics, verbal, and combined score. Significant relationships were found to exist between the Advanced Placement Biology Examination score and attendance, class rank, gender, grade level at the time of the Advanced Placement Biology Examination, grade point average, number of Advanced Placement Examinations taken in the year prior to the Advanced Placement Biology Examination, number of Advanced Placement Examinations taken in the same year as the Advanced Placement Biology Examination, race, and SAT scores. Significant relationships were not found to exist between Advanced Placement Biology Examination score and level prerequisite biology course and Advanced Placement Biology Examination score and proposed major in college. A multiple regression showed the best combination of predictors to be attendance, SAT verbal score, and SAT mathematics score. Discriminant analysis showed the variables in this study to be good predictors of whether the student would pass the Advanced Placement Biology Examination (score a 3, 4, or 5) or fail the Advanced Placement Biology Examination (score a 1 or 2). These results demonstrated that significant predictors for the Advanced Placement Biology Examination do exist and can be used to assist in the prediction of scores, prediction of passing or failing, the identification of individuals potentially in need of extra assistance, and the development of strategies to improve the Advanced Placement Biology Program.
ORDER NO: ABA97-30863
Most newly appointed academic chairpersons are unfamiliar with and inexperienced in the complexities and scope of their role and responsibilities. Despite the importance of the department to the success of the academic institution, and the critical role the department chairperson plays in leading the academic department, chairs receive virtually no orientation or training in preparation for this vital leadership role. The purpose of this study was to examine how newly appointed academic department chairpersons learned the role requirements of their position as they moved from the faculty ranks into the chairs' position. What do department chairs need to know and how do they learn were the research questions which guided this inquiry. This study was conducted at a large research university located in the northeast United States. Five new department chairs were interviewed for a year. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews which were tape-recorded. A coding scheme was used to identify broad themes and an interview summary matrix was constructed which summarized the lessons learned and the learning methods employed by the chairs. The transcripts were reviewed to identify these themes within each participants' experiences and recurrence among the different participants. The findings suggest that the lessons learned and the learning methods were influenced by the social or cultural history of the department, the chairs' perceptions of their role, how this role fit with the traditional faculty roles of teaching and research, and the specific tasks and problems the chairs encountered. Further, what the department chairs learned and how they learned was intricately linked to the position they occupied and the social context of their department. Contrary to prior research and despite the lack of formal preparation for their position, the chairs had learned from extensive informal preparation for the job while serving as faculty. This learning was subsequently carried over to their new position of department chairperson. Furthermore, experiential learning and learning from and with others were the primary methods employed by the new department chairs once on the job.
ORDER NO: ABA97-30855
Statistics education, i.e., the learning and teaching of collegiate introductory probability and statistics, appears in crisis. Previous interventions meant to resolve the crisis have failed, partly because they were either curricularly-based or teacher-centered, and did not focus sufficient direct attention on the expressed needs of the students. All such interventions could be enhanced if researchers and practitioners had a better awareness of and appreciation for what undergraduate students experience in a statistics course. Through the use of three-column student journals and subsequent interview transcripts, the results of this research project describe what college students experienced while participating in an introductory statistics course at a small, independent institution of higher education. Through the qualitative research method of comparative analysis, a catalog of 28 individual or grouped insightful moments were identified; these moments were additionally codified into 12 clusters. These clusters were then characterized by the appropriate corresponding psychological domains: affect, cognition, or, as this researcher has suggested, interpretation, which serves as a bridge between the other two. Of the 28 confirmed moments, all but five appeared in at least one reaction column journal entry (i.e., were affective in nature), whereas only a few appeared in any summary column journal entry (i.e., were cognitive in nature). From this finding, this researcher concluded that among students sampled for this study, expressed affective issues were described with a greater variety of moments than were cognitive matters. Subsequent attempts to resolve the crisis in statistics education that reflect the results of this study, i.e., what experiences undergraduate students underwent from their own perspective while participating in an introductory statistics course, would seem better prepared to respond to student needs. Incorporation of such research findings should enable approaches of any orientation to become more student-centered as well. As one such model, the learning journal was offered for additional utility as an in-service research instrument, where practitioners can continually determine the expressed needs of the actual learners in their own classrooms in an effort to respond appropriately, accordingly, and immediately.
ORDER NO: ABA97-28052
The role of the university school of education in the constructing of educational reform in local schools has just begun to emerge in the reform literature. The university professor's role in facilitating the professional development school has not been clearly delineated in the reform work. The reform literature suggests that cooperative ventures like student teacher programs dominate the school-university educational relationship. This research studied the dilemmas indigenous to educational collaborations; the discovery of the organizational processes that incite interinstitutional collaboration; and the inquiry that generates a collaborative action research organization. Data for this study were gathered from three participants, a professor-facilitator and two teachers, and from participant observation, fieldnotes, journals, semistructured interviews, school documents, memos, audiotaped meetings, an unpublished article, and a questionnaire. The research design, a case study, provided the framework within which research-generated data and participant-generated data were compared. Samples of journals, interviews, the unpublished article, and the transcripts of meetings were coded for analysis by the researcher and two associate professors of teacher education. Triangulation processes verified the data-gathering and analysis procedures. Five general categories emerged from the content analysis of the data with some 13 subcategories. The co-coders arrived at an approximate 90% agreement with the researcher's data analysis. The obvious limitations of this case study presented any generalizations pertinent to facilitating collaborative learning organizations from being extended. This study suggested that universities committed to reform through school collaboration need to understand the initiation and development of collaboration processes. One implication of this study was the need for an "invitational year" to assess the readiness of the partners to engage in a second "orientation to collaboration" year to learn inquiry processes and socialization to the partnership thus eliminating "false-start" initiatives. A professional development school with a 2-year introduction permits time for shared reflection, shared inquiry, and the emergence of a new discourse community. A university facilitator might find these beginning years useful for estimating the issues that dominate a school- university learning organization.* ftn*Originally published in DAI Vol. 58, No. 3. Reprinted here with corrected author name.
ORDER NO: ABANN-17953
The purpose of this dissertation is (a) to propose a general principle--the Endigmatic principle--to guide modes of thinking, composing, expressing and interacting, and to establish a theoretical foundation for the Endigmatic principle; (b) To explore, through an empirical study, the opportunities offered or the needs served by the general principle, and by the manifestations of this principle in modes of thinking, composing, expressing and interacting. In Chapter 2, a segment of the interdisciplinary literature was examined. Components were drawn from this literature and combined with other interdisciplinary concepts to generate a new general principle, the "Endigmatic principle", as an alternative to the "Paradigmatic principle". In this dissertation, a theoretical framework for the Endigmatic principle was established through analogy with various concepts from composition theory, mathematics, quantum theory and semantics. A key point for this dissertation is that technical results given elsewhere in the interdisciplinary literature supply substantial examples that cannot be regarded within the purview of traditional rational analysis, and thus assist in providing a theoretical foundation for the general principle proposed in this dissertation. This theoretical foundation formed the basis for the general principle, the Endigmatic principle, and the manifestation of this principle in modes of thinking, composing, expressing and interacting. The essence of the Endigmatic mode of expressing and interacting is that the "entity-field participation", not a pre-existing model, should determine the mode of expressing and interacting, and that submission pieces by students should be interacted with, and not evaluated. Two alternative modes of expressing and interacting which resulted from the exploration of the complexity of thought and of composition were introduced as tokens of the type, the Endigmatic mode of expressing and interacting: (a) the "Ideagraphic mode of expressing and interacting" and (b) the "Epistemic mode of expressing and interacting". The ideagraphic mode is a diagrammatic mode of expressing the complexity of the interdependence of multiple aspects inherent in the entity-field as the conceiver and co-conceiver participate at or beyond the limit of possibilities within the entity-field. The Epistemic mode is a mode of expressing the complexity of the interaction between the conceiver, co-conceiver and the entity-field during the composing, expressing and interacting processes. In Chapters 3 and 4, the method and outcomes of an empirical study with 25 College students were reported. This study is related to the nature and extent of the opportunities offered and needs served by the Endigmatic principle. The study supported the necessary inclusion of alternative modes of thinking, composing, expressing and interacting. Students confirmed that knowing "whatever emerged from their composing process would be accepted, would be interacted with and would not be evaluated" affected the development of their thought. In particular the non-evaluative context affected their willingness to explore difficult thought and to take risks. In Chapter 5 the interplay between the theoretical principle and empirical processes was explored. A possible correspondence between the statements made by the authors cited from the interdisciplinary literature and those made by the students cited in the study was examined. It was found that correspondence was evident in relation to the limitations of models and to the need to move beyond the common practice of requiring adherence to traditional models. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
ORDER NO: ABANN-17923
Although there has been considerable research interest in examining the relative advantages of either writing notes or reviewing them in learning from a lecture, there is an absence of studies investigating the benefits of notetaking and review strategies in concert. The purpose of the present study is to determine whether teaching students to write Matrix notes and to review them by writing Examples benefits students' recording and recall of lecture ideas. Four notetaking strategies were examined in the study: Example-Matrix, Example Only, Matrix Only, and Conventional. Across these groups, four questions were explored: (a) whether the Example-Matrix strategy enhanced students' encoding as measured by a cued-recall test containing the headings that were included on the Matrix chart, (b) whether the Example-Matrix strategy aided in the quantity of ideas noted, (c) whether the Example Only strategy had utility for students, and (d) what the relationship was between ideas noted and recalled. Research participants were drawn from students in grades eleven and twelve from schools in the Greater Victoria and Sooke Districts (N = 156). A total of 12 classes participated in the pretest, posttest, and retention sessions in conjunction with their attendance at training sessions. For each of the pretest, posttest, and training sessions, students watched a videotaped lecture while writing notes that were collected immediately prior to their completing the cued-recall test. After a one-week delay, an identical cued-recall test was readministered to measure retention. Correlational analyses at posttest found a relationship between ideas noted and recalled both across and within the four notetaking groups ($p < .001$). Analyses of covariance did not detect an advantage for the Example-Matrix group nor for the Example Only group for ideas noted ($p > .05$), nor for ideas recalled immediately ($p >.05$) and following a one-week delay ($p >.05$). Analyses of covariance did, however, detect the superiority of the Matrix Only group for ideas noted ($p <.001$), recalled ($p <.001$) and retained over a one-week period ($p <.001$). In the closing chapter of this dissertation, limitations of the levels of processing theory are addressed in accounting for the seemingly contradictory findings. The relevancy of explaining these findings in terms of the encoding specificity principle and transfer-appropriate processing is discussed. Implications for theory and instructional practice are offered in addition to recommendations for future research. | ||||||||||||
