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1997 Dissertation Abstracts: Part 19
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ORDER NO: ABA98-10958 CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND THE SECONDARY SCHOOL CHORAL MUSIC CURRICULUM Author: FIELD, SANDRA TRUITT Degree: ED.D. Year: 1997 Corporate Source/Institution: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE (0055) Sponsor: LENORE POGONOWSKI Source: VOLUME 58/09-A OF DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL. PAGE 3453. 215 PAGES Descriptors: EDUCATION, MUSIC
While researchers have demonstrated the need to promote critical thinking in the music rehearsal, little practical application of the research exists. Choral directors are often overwhelmed with the task of fulfilling performance obligations while devising and implementing a curriculum that encompasses not only the development of musical skills and aesthetic sensitivity but also the development of critical thinking skills. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop an instructional model for the secondary choral music program that restructures traditional methods and learning content and provides the choral director with rehearsal strategies designed to develop critical thinking skills. Research in the areas of music education, philosophy and psychology provide the theoretical framework for a five-step rehearsal strategy. The strategy is structured to incorporate the processes of critical thinking and emphasizes problem solving, decision making and participation in the performance outcome. Rehearsal strategies designed within this structure encompass performance skills, musical literacy and musical understanding. For assessment and final formulation, sample strategies were sent to music administrators and choral directors of elementary, high school and college music programs. The ARTS PROPEL portfolio model has been adapted for the purpose of assessing the development of critical thinking skills. Because of its multi-dimensional nature, the instructor is able to create not only a profile of the student's varied abilities but also assess those cognitive processes identified as critical thinking skills within the framework of authentic performance tasks. Qualitative measures are used to track student work, problem solving strategies, self-assessment and reflection over time. While the results have shown that students benefit greatly from instruction that engages them in critical thinking processes, choral conductors continue to express reservations regarding time constraints, intrusion upon performance obligations and realistic vs. idealistic expectations. With the aid of the proposed instructional model, choral conductors may perhaps be more able to create a rehearsal environment that promotes high standards of musicianship as well as critical thinking skills. Further research is needed to determine the impact of implementing the proposed instructional model on learning and teaching.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10956
The purpose of this study was to investigate student perceptions of the Physical Education Program at the United States Military Academy (USMA) and to examine the experiences within the program that influence these perceptions. The critical incident technique and formal interviews were used to collect data. Men and women cadets from four class levels were asked to describe the physical education experiences at USMA that they believe have had a positive or negative influence on them, their education or their future career. A total of 465 critical incident responses were collected from 236 cadets. Fourteen cadets were interviewed directly to gather additional data to clarify and expand on data collected from the critical incident responses and to provide cadet perceptions beyond the confines of a specific incident. Inductive content analysis was used to examine critical incident responses and interview data. Key elements of critical incident responses and salient features of the interviews were classified into three themes: (a) Teacher behaviors, (b) curriculum, program features and subject matter, and (c) social interaction and behaviors of cadets. Further classification yielded positive and negative categories and subcategories within each theme. Findings from the teacher behavior theme indicate that encouragement, personal attention expressed as additional, individual instruction and skill demonstrations were the most frequently perceived positive influences, while inappropriate grading techniques, public humiliation and adversarial relationships were the most frequently perceived negative influences. With respect to the curriculum theme, overcoming fear and the development of courage were ranked as most positive, with learning relevant skills second, and being challenged as the third most frequently perceived positive influence. The three top ordered negatively perceived influences regarding the curriculum were unfair grading standards, irrelevant/useless content and injury. Motivation and encouragement, acceptance and leadership were the top ranked positive perceptions regarding the social interaction and behaviors of cadets. Poor leadership and lack of sportsmanship were the two subcategories associated with negative perceptions regarding this theme. This study identified cadets' positive and negative perceptions of physical education at USMA. The majority of these perceptions are influenced by events, circumstances and behaviors that can be controlled, changed, and modified to further enhance the physical education experience at USMA and create a more positive, favorable environment. The Corps of Cadets may be USMA's greatest source of pertinent information for identifying more effective ways of teaching, interacting with students, selecting and arranging subject matter and becoming physically educated.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10817
This research examines a variation of problem-based learning in order to generate theory to explain its process of implementation. To provide students practical knowledge along with technical knowledge, this academic program used authentic work projects for its problem-based learning. A project need, not information, was encountered first in the learning process. Learning then resulted from the process of developing the project. Faculty, students, and a corporation worked together to craft projects to meet dual purposes, the learning goals of an instructional technology course and the business goals of a corporation. The ways in which the goals of participants were set, expressed, prioritized, pursued, and sacrificed, provided the intrigue about accomplishing the integration of authentic work projects and academic projects. Through use of grounded theory methodology, empirical data gathered in one naturalistic setting were analyzed and also compared to some settings found in the literature with similar conditions and methods. Research was conducted at a corporation where the masters degree program was delivered to a cohort of its its employees. The analysis generated an explanation which showed a process of adaptation was the key to how participants achieved the integration. Adaptation presents a way to handle the goals brought from all three sets of stakeholders. A specific process emerged as the means for integrating instruction and work. The process uses three stages, with an optional fourth stage. Stages of the process are (a) using strategies and conditions to set expectations, (b) adapting for ideal alignments, (c) adapting for pragmatic alignments, and (d) inspecting outcomes for reflection and feedback for future iterations. The third stage is the optional stage, set in motion by a critical event of goal conflict. The conflict causes progress to halt until a forced choice between goals gives it new direction to move forward again.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10772
This study examines how two high school educators teaching a dual credit composition course in high school constructed for their students writing for academic purposes and the activity surrounding its production in the university. The conclusion of the study claims that while the teachers followed different pedagogies and produced different definitions of academic writing and of the behavior of academic writers, the consequences for student learning were similar. Students learned to apply formulaic patterns and to focus their writing attention on rules for language production, both in relationship to an authoritatively positioned discourse. These results occurred because writing skills were decontextualized from disciplinary contexts for writing, a condition that forced teachers to act as brokers between the world of the university and the high school classroom. Teachers' practices are hypothesized as resulting from their theories about learning to write that developed from their own preparation to teach English. Teachers' inadequate knowledge of academic discourse was augmented by the failure of the dual credit program to provide for a dialogue between teachers and the university faculty liaison in the development of the curriculum. That condition, in turn, is linked to conditions deriving from sociocultural-historical relationships within the university and between it and the high schools: between composition studies and literary studies, between the English Department and the School of Education, and between the university and the high school. Recommendations suggest the development of a dialogical relationship among the parties to the program by applying an external-internal-external model to change efforts, a model based on the work of Michel Bakhtin and Lev Vygotsky. Data sources included observations in both classrooms throughout each semester-long course, interviews with teachers and students, and the collection of graded sets of all assigned papers. Analysis followed a constant comparative method. Interpretation was grounded in a definition of academic writing based on Bakhtin's notion of speech genres acting as matrices for dialogical exchange and an understanding of the position of academic writers as similar to Bourdieu's theory of "habitus" as a relational disposition towards others enabled by the knowledge required to realize the ends predicted by that disposition. Further, learning to write was framed as an external-internal-external process shaping individual growth in relation to social contexts as explained by both Bakhtin and Vygotsky.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10478
While much has been written about critical composition, there is still a "paucity of information about student experience in reform-minded classrooms" (Fishman and McCarthy, 1996, p. 364). Neglecting to offer accounts of classes engaged in the critical process or only focusing on case studies of individual students, such work loses sight of the complexity of the critical writing workshop, particularly when populated with students from diverse backgrounds. This teacher-research study provides a portrait of critical theory in practice, describing the often varied experiences and responses of students to the critical workshop. This study locates several issues which complicate students' learning in a critical workshop. One complication is students' "mental representations" of the writer's identity and the writing process; nontraditional students tend to construct the identity of the writer as an upper middle class, intellectual white male who is obsessive and willing to forgo relationships. They also construct writing as an unproblemmatic, fluid process without lapses or struggle. Such constructs not only contradict their own experiences and values, but confirm their suspicions that they are not writers, a suspicion further confirmed for them by their enrollment in a two year vocational college. Another complication this study finds is that students may be suspicious of critical theory. Formed by twelve or more years of schooling, they expect knowledge to be "deposited" into their heads. But a critical pedagogy does not impose an "authoritative discourse," employing instead a process of "problematizing" (Freire, 1973), which students may interpret as negative criticism. Challenged to explore a sociopolitical self, students may oppose critical theory, thinking its purpose is to reveal their marginalization rather than support them. Students expect to be seen as unique individuals devoid of ethnicity, class, and gender, and often believe that education is a process of distancing from class and gender categories. This study finds that critical pedagogy transforms the classroom into the very text of political categories the course is meant to address, making it necessary to work through, rather than merely 'study' these categories. The importance of students' ability to read classrooms as social texts cannot be minimized in its effect on students' responses to writing assignments. Thus Hourigan (1994) warns that the critical workshop may have "exactly the opposite effect from the one it is intended to promote, the establishment of a literacy community where people who care about one another converse" (p. 52). While this study corroborates Hourigan's warning, it also shows that conflict may provide opportunities for growth. "Affinity groups" (Ellsworth 1989) may form, providing students with support and a language for entering larger classroom interactions. "Affinity groups" should not be viewed as a failure, particularly when issues of socio-economic parity are apparent. One of the most surprising aspects of this study was how powerfully a politicized curriculum can elicit responses from students. Students' heightened sensitivities and sometimes militant self-assertions are signs of their engagement and feelings of power. The difficulty of maintaining leadership in the face of disagreements from those who are more directly involved challenges the teacher to open up the organization of learning to a critical inquiry from both students and teacher alike.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10475
The incorporation of reflective and analytical practices into tutor preparation programs is considered to be worthwhile yet very little time and attention have been given to them. In response, it is important to closely examine the first stage of college tutors reflective practices to determine how best to design and implement a tutor preparation program in which reflection and analysis are continually practiced. This study finds that in order for reflective and analytical practices to be practiced, college tutors must have the opportunity to carefully review and, openly and without criticism, reflect on and consider what took place in a tutoring session and be allowed to consider how to plan for tutoring a student writer in a subsequent tutoring session. The descriptive analysis of three college tutors' words, practices, and interactions examines the carrying out of these tasks in a urban college writing center. Each of the three college tutors had gone about their tutoring responsibilities without having been given the support or opportunity to consider if their current practices were effective in guiding their student writers to become proficient college writers. The study demonstrates that college tutors were for the most part unfamiliar with reflective and analytical practices, were not accustomed to reviewing transcripts of their tutoring sessions, and only minimally knew how to make use of the reflections they did make. Consistent for the three tutors was their having built tutoring practices that closely reflected their own background as college writers. However, also consistent with the three tutors was their not having questioned or wondered if a replication of their experiences were appropriate or effective for the students they were tutoring. Even though the three college tutors approached their student writers with the explicit goal of supporting their becoming independent and responsible writers, their tutoring approaches and practices were very different. Recognition of these differences requires careful and individual attention to the current practices, assumptions, and expectations of each tutor in order to support them in learning to reflect and make use of their reflections in their future practice.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10473
This research was aimed at investigating whether graphic design and industrial design students exposed to ethical ideals during their college experience are likely to reflect such exposure in their professional behavior after graduating. Along with inquiring into this fundamental and highly complex question, the study also explored the internal functioning of this possibly existing phenomenon by investigating which factors could potentially enhance or inhibit the chances for its occurrence. Qualitative methods of research were employed in the fieldwork at two design schools, the Institute of Design in Chicago and the Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Data were mostly obtained through extensive, in-depth interviews, on-site observations, and reading of archives and other printed materials. Forty-four subjects participated in this study, most of whom belonged to at least one of three major groups of respondents: design professionals, design professors, and design students. A significant amount of evidence indicated that design schools and professors indeed have in most cases a critical role in helping develop their students' ethical sensibility. The exposure of design students to ethical ideals was, however, found to not be a sufficient, nor even a necessary condition, but nevertheless a highly desirable component in order to enhance the likelihood that design students will later manifest ethical concerns in their future professional work. In addition, this research identified and analyzed the role of eighty-four factors as being potentially capable of affecting the outcome of the studied phenomenon. These potential factors were classified into four basic categories: factors related to the overall cultural environment; those related to the general schooling environment; those related to the professors; and those factors related to the students themselves. Also included is a survey of thirty-seven instructive metaphors and analogies that emerged during the investigations and help shed light on the internal functioning of the studied phenomenon of nurturing ethical ideals in design students. Finally, a supplementary survey is provided of thirty-two ethical ideals identified in the actual teachings of the design schools on which this research was based. After confirming the feasibility of teaching ethics in design schools and identifying the circumstances in which this seems indeed possible, this investigation concludes with a call for a new philosophy of design education for the twenty-first century, one in which ethics is assigned a central place in the determination of both educational planning and practice.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10318
This exploratory study was an investigation of one student's experiences as he made the transition into a university setting and navigated his way through his first-year composition classes in the course of two semesters. In particular, this study explored how various sociocultural factors played a part in this student's production of written texts as he made the transition to academic writing. By adhering to the idea that language processes should be studied in terms of their use, history, and connections to other parts of social life, this study concentrated on how this student made meaning in his writing. This student was from a rural town and came to this university on a football scholarship. In other words, he had two stigmas to overcome--the "country bumpkin" and the "dumb jock." The data were taken from writing conferences between the investigator and this student which were conducted twice a week. Also, interviews were conducted with the instructor who taught both classes. In addition to the interview transcripts, the data collected and examined included all drafts and final essays which the student produced for his composition classes as well as transcripts of class observations and writing conferences between the student and his instructor. All the data were analyzed based on specific research questions as well as through the themes and patterns that emerged in the data. Analysis of the data indicated that the student's emerging success in his composition classes was related to the growing understanding that he and his instructor had for one another. This growth was also aided by the collaborative nature of the writing conferences held between the researcher and this student in the Athletic Student Writing Center. His perceptions of his experiences and his contexts as well as his production of written texts were shaped by both historical and contextual factors. This student's rural background and his participation in football, which on a collegiate level demands a strong work ethic, shaped not only his texts, but his approach to writing the texts. The idea of intersubjectivity was a major focus of this study. How the participants came to mutually understand and appreciate one another's sociocultural frameworks allowed for different perspectives to enter into play thus creating an environment of positive reciprocity. Through the complex act of negotiation, they created an atmosphere of mutual respect which positively reinforced the participant's growth as an academic writer. This act of negotiation enabled both participants to find ways to construct mutual meaning making experiences.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10316
Current studies of writing and literacy are focusing much attention on the construction of meaning through sociocultural approaches and semiotics. This social interactive and meaning constructive perspective involves not only the written text but also what the writer brings to the text and the contextual elements of the writing. This exploratory study had two primary focuses. It investigated how first year college composition students understood and interpreted classroom writing assignments and to what extent the teacher's intentions for the assignments were fulfilled by the students. Also, the study examined how the students constructed meaning from the classroom writing assignments and to what extent these meanings were shaped not only by personal knowledge and investment but also by social and cultural influences as well. The study was conducted in a first year Composition 1213 class at a two year college. Data were collected from the entire class as well as four volunteer student participants and the teacher. Concurrent think-aloud protocols from three essay assignments along with open-ended interviews over each assignment were the primary data sources. The protocol and interview data were collected from each of the volunteer student participants. The teacher also participated in four interviews. Observational and questionnaire data from the entire class and the teacher supplemented the primary data sources. Data revealed that disjunctions occurred between the teacher's intentions for making the assignments and the students interpretations of the assignments on some level with all three essays. Data analysis also indicated that the written texts which the students produced were shaped by sociocultural influences, personal and educational influences, intertextual influences, and motivational influences.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10292
The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of business faculty and administrators toward distance education, the factors that influence those attitudes, and the impact that various factors have on the willingness of faculty and administrators to participate in and offer distance courses/programs. A national survey was conducted of 1,045 business faculty and administrators from the following groups: business programs accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, business programs accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, and non-accredited business programs. Usable surveys were returned from 334 respondents surveyed, for an effective response rate of 32%. Approximately half of respondents at the baccalaureate level of instruction and a slight majority of respondents at the master's level of instruction reported positive or very positive receptivity to and support toward distance education; less than half of the respondents reported positive or very positive receptivity of and support toward distance education at the doctoral level of instruction. Business accreditation, institution type, specific business discipline, age, years at current school, and familiarity and experience with distance education made significant differences in a faculty member's or administrator's receptivity of and support toward distance education. Conclusions derived from the study indicate that there is a base of support for distance education at the baccalaureate and master's levels of instruction. Distance education in the business discipline is more likely to be accepted if it is first offered at the master's level of instruction, with only individual courses, in the "soft" business disciplines (i.e., management, marketing, economics, and business education), at universities whose Carnegie classification is master's, with new faculty, or with faculty who have some familiarity with distance education.
ORDER NO: ABA98-10260
Via a quasi-experimental study, involving anglophone foreign language learners of Spanish in university -level communicative classrooms, this dissertation evaluates the relative effectiveness of two types of explicit grammar instruction for the semi-spontaneous oral production and explicit knowledge of Spanish gender agreement. The traditional treatment, embodying a strong interface position, consists of explicit grammar instruction with immediate production practice. Input enhancement for explicit knowledge, embracing R. Ellis's (1993b, 1995) weak interface model of second language acquisition (SLA), favors consciousness-raising over immediate production practice. Treatment group performance was compared to that of a control group on pre- and post-tests: Picture Description and Spot-the-difference tests of semi-spontaneous oral production, and a Written Error Discrimination Test of explicit knowledge. Repeated measures ANOVA for the semi-spontaneous production data showed: (a) a significant difference between groups in accuracy for Total and Purely Formal-Feminine Gender Agreement; and (b) no significant difference between groups for Semantic Implication-Feminine Gender Agreement, nor for Purely Formal-Masculine and Semantic Implication-Masculine Gender Agreement. Post-hoc analyses indicated that both treatment groups outperformed the control group, with no significant differences between them. Eta squared calculations, however, demonstrated that only a small proportion of score variability was attributable to treatment effect. Means comparisons and standard deviations exposed the high degree of score overlap across groups and helped to clarify why sometimes sizeable reductions in mean error percentages did not equate to significant main effects for group. The Written Error Discrimination data analysis revealed no significant difference between groups in accuracy for explicit knowledge of Total Gender Agreement. The small number of items (e.g., five for each of the four types of gender agreement) prevented the researcher from submitting these data to further statistical analysis. Methodological limitations and areas for future research are also discussed.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09787
This dissertation offers an analysis of the reciprocity between visual representation and scientific exploration of the natural world in the Netherlands ca. 1600. A number of issues having to do with the epistemological status of images in the early modern period are introduced in Part I, "Jacques de Gheyn II and the Representation of the Natural World ad vivum." A selection of de Gheyn's works on paper, including his virtuosic Lugt album (1600-1604), serve as the basis for a sustained consideration of the scientific valencies of the naturalistic strategies they engage. The section opens with a close reading of the uses of the term "ad vivum" (and its vernacular cognates) in scientific contexts, prior to its assimilation to art theory by Karel van Mander in 1604, and concludes with a chapter that considers just what made an image "scientific" or capable of serving scientific ends ca. 1600. De Gheyn lived and worked for several years in Leiden, where he maintained close contacts with the medical faculty at the newly founded Leiden University. Part II of this dissertation reconstructs and examines the academic context in which de Gheyn worked ca. 1600, and in particular the Leiden University hortus academicus. "The Use of Images in the Medical Curriculum at the Leiden University ca. 1600: From Images of Gardens to a Garden of Images" explicates the various ways in which images served medical instruction, in and out of the garden. Part II closes with a reattribution of the original ownership and function of the nearly 2000 botanical watercolors presently housed in the Jagiellon University Library, Krakow, Poland, which played a new and crucial role in the medical curriculum, and which were appraised by de Gheyn upon the death of their owner. These fascinating works exemplify the conjunction of artistic and scientific prerogatives in the Netherlands ca. 1600.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09631
This study investigates student perceptions of the nature of science and student attitudes toward science education, then employs experiential teaching strategies to determine what role, if any, these play in enhancing those perceptions and attitudes. The literature review identifies three shortcomings that justify the need for such research, concluding that a study to help broaden knowledge regarding interactive effects of attitudes, perceptions, and experiential learning could add significantly to the literature base. This is an explorative case study of 20 high school students participating in an Upward Bound summer program at the University of California in Santa Barbara. A six-week course drawing upon experiential learning theory was devised and delivered to the students, then various qualitative data collection materials were administered. The objective was to investigate pre-, during-, and post-instruction perspectives of students, thus identifying core factors concerning attitudes and perceptions. Constant comparative analysis was used to investigate the multiple sources of data, resulting in: (a) a collection of emic perspectives that distinguish between pre- and post-perceptions of the nature of science and of attitudes towards science education; (b) three themes of enhanced students' images of science and scientists; (c) two themes suggesting sociological perspectives that help broaden student perceptions; and (d) interest and boredom as key motivational considerations. A model of nature of science enhancement is proposed, proceeding through four stages of: (a) engagement in meaningful, first-hand activities; (b) student accountability for active participation and reflectiveness; (c) emphasis of high importance and high interest values; and (d) in-depth, multiple encounters with the phenomena and processes. Finally, implications of catching and holding interest are discussed. It was found that various experiential strategies proved successful in catching student interest but the findings were ambiguous as to whether the effects would hold long term. However, comparisons with findings from previous studies strongly suggest that two major conditions strengthen the likelihood of holding interest: meaningfulness and imagination. These conditions and other practical implications are considered in light of the experiential context and data collected from this study.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09630
As the number of Japanese students studying in the U.S. has been increasing, many researchers have become interested in studying these students. Many studies have pointed out these students' weakness in oral skills, whereas few studies have focused on their writing skills. Studies focused on writing skills mostly examine the characteristics of English essays written by college students in Japan or Japanese ESL students in the U.S. and have tried to identify the negative transfer between the two languages. Few studies have been done investigating undergraduate Japanese students who attend U.S. universities or understanding their writing experiences. Therefore, this study investigated Japanese students' learning experience with writing and its relationship to their U.S. college experience. The present study involved in-depth individual interviews and a survey. Ten Japanese students at UC Santa Barbara participated in the interview, which involved 10 open-ended questions. Ninety-five Japanese students at UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Los Angeles and the University of Southern California participated in the survey, which had 52 semi-structured questions. These approaches answered the following questions. (1) What are the Japanese students' previous learning experiences? (2) Where did they learn academic English writing? (3) How do they assess their writing skills? (4) What is their current college experience in relationship to their writing skills? (5) Where do they find difficulty in writing? What support do they need for overcoming such difficulty? This study found that Japanese students did not have extensive writing training in either Japanese or English. English instruction in Japan emphasized skills of translation, accuracy of grammar, and knowledge of vocabulary. The first time these students learned English writing beyond the sentence level was in the U.S. The majority of participants believed that they had to write frequently in their current situation. Although the majority evaluated themselves as average writers, they felt their weakness in English writing pertained to limitations in vocabulary and to the difficulty in the usage of articles. These students appreciated the supportive academic environment of U.S. universities, which included writing labs, tutorial services, and TAs and instructors who interacted with individual students in a positive and helpful way.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09599
The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent English departments in four-year state universities nationally use computers in instructing first-year composition. The study was designed as a cross-sectional design status study to measure the status quo of how technology is being used in the teaching of writing, the frequency of use, how writing teachers adapt instructional methods for teaching writing with the use of computers, and the relationship between institution size and the extent to which technology is being used. The sample was composed of 300 English department chairs, selected by random sampling from the 606 four-year state universities in the United States. The survey instrument contained nineteen questions designed to determine the frequency of computer instructional delivery in first-year composition classes in four-year state universities. In addition to reporting the means of each survey question, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine any significant difference between institution size and the extent to which technology is used. One significance was determined and was followed by a subsequent Tukey post-hoc test. Results of the study indicated that technological innovations are beginning to be utilized to teach writing, but that traditional methods still prevail. Faculty report that they apply uniform department-wide requirements, but do not uniformly implement technology in their classrooms. Collaborative writing, internet, and world-wide web (WWW) are seldom employed. The only significant difference regarding institution size occurred in faculty training in computers and software at institutions with enrollment of 8,001 to 12,000. Institutions of this size were more likely to offer faculty training to use computers.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09594
The purpose of this study was to experiment with the use of the Total Quality Management (TQM) Approach for teaching writing at college level to see its effects on ESL students' communicative competence in written English and study skills habits. It also explored the feasibility of using this instructional method with ESL college students. The study was quasi-experimental in design with a pretest-posttest non equivalent control group. Two dependent variables were measured: communicative competence in written English and study skills habits. The target population for the present study was composed of second year ESL college students enrolled in the Writing Techniques Business English Course (BUEN 3015) at the College of Business Administration, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. The sample of the study consisted of two BUEN 3015 intact classes which were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. The experimental group received instruction with the Total Quality Management (TQM) Approach and the control group received instruction with the traditional instructional method. Descriptive statistics, t tests, and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), were the statistical procedures used to analyze the collected data. Qualitative data collection methods were also used in this study. The results of this study reveal empirical data to suggest that ESL students who were instructed with the Total Quality Management (TQM) Approach significantly improved their communicative competence in written English and enhanced their study skills habits more than students who were instructed with the traditional method. These results also seem to indicate that TQM can be considered a feasible method to be used with an ESL college population, and that students respond favorably to its use. The findings of this study may encourage curriculum planners and program directors at college level to investigate the feasibility of experimenting with this innovative technique to teach different academic skills. The study may also contribute to experimental ESL projects currently being implemented by the Department of Education in Puerto Rico, as the TQM Approach can be considered a practical, effective method to be used in the English as a Second Language Program.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09556
This dissertation is a theoretical examination of the connections between students' lives and their work in a composition class. It considers three areas of composition research: the history of writing instruction in the United States, dialogics, and the implications of two trends in composition scholarship--cultural studies theory and ethics--for college writing teachers. It is supported by case studies of four women students. Chapter One examines the emotional distances some students have to travel in classrooms, contact zone theory, and disciplinary issues that have obscured the development of democracy and limited communication in composition classrooms. Chapter Two gives readers a multi-dimensional view of Commonwealth Community College (not its real name) and its context. Chapters Four, Five, Six, and Seven give readers the case studies of Alexis, Mayra, Jean, and Sacha. Alexis, 18, resists writing and contests the discourses that bother her by parodying class events. I see her as an agitated traveler in this first-year composition class. Mayra, a Latina, has three children and works 24 hours a week in a local hospital while taking three courses. English frustrates her. I see her as a reluctant traveler in this class. Jean has six children and her husband is seriously ill; she plans to become a pharmacist. She uses writing to analyze the powerful discourses affecting her life. I see her as an integrating traveler in this class. Sacha, student loan administrator at a bank, works 10 hours a week, and has a 12-year-old son. The discourses that direct her ensure her adherence to liberalism. I see her as a tourist in this class. Chapter Seven claims that composition researchers can learn much about developing classroom practices by observing first-year students in specific circumstances. I explain that I see Stephen North's call for "Practice as inquiry" as the essence of dialogic pedagogy because both Bakhtin and North's explored how people are changed by their encounters with others.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09362
The Chinese government made a strategic resolution in 1995 to accelerate scientific and technological progress to spur the country's economic and social development. This resolution has been reinforced ever since. Its impact on the mission of Chinese universities is broad and wide-ranging. It raises major issues related to the balance between the two primary functions of faculty: research and teaching. It aggravates the tension already stimulated by conflicting values regarding how faculty spend their time and which activities they engage in should be rewarded. The goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the extent to which the Chinese academic community really values research and teaching. Related to this goal, the major purposes are to identify the general trend of the research agenda in relation to the teaching agenda in Chinese universities; and to examine the relative importance of research and undergraduate teaching as perceived by the faculty, academic unit heads, deans, and central administrators in Beijing University. The study consists of two parts. First, a historical study reviewed government documents, policies, statistic reports, and institutional records. Second, a survey was conducted in Beijing University on the perceived relative importance of research and undergraduate teaching. The survey results were analyzed and compared to the results of the national study of research universities in the United States conducted by Syracuse University. The historical research method provided a general portrait of the research agenda in relation to the teaching agenda in Chinese higher education institutions. The study found that teaching is declining to a subordinate position to research. The survey results reveal that the academics at Beijing University think that there should be an appropriate balance between research and undergraduate teaching, but in reality, such an ideal balance does not exist in their university. Instead, there is a clear tendency in the university culture that emphasizes research over teaching. In comparison with the Syracuse study results, this research-oriented trend in Beijing University has not developed as far as the American research universities, but the study clearly indicated that the university is moving further in this direction.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09024
Separate bodies of research exist concerning the personality of creative individuals, characteristics of effective teachers and student teachers, and the significance of the classroom environment. However, relatively little attention has been directed toward specifying the nature of the relationships between these sets of variables. The present study attempts to broaden the work already done in these areas by examining how creativity and other aspects of personality influence perceptions of the classroom setting. The purpose of this study was to identify the positive and negative relationships between creativity and personality, as well as the direction and degree of association among creativity, personality, and the student teacher's classroom emphasis and orientation. An additional purpose was the development and testing of a path model to determine whether causal linkages can be established among these same sets of variables. Specifically examined were the direct effects of personality and creativity, as well as the significance of creativity as an intervening variable with indirect effect on perceptions of the classroom setting. Seventy-eight student teachers enrolled in the teacher certification program at Fordham University completed three measures of personality, creativity, and classroom perceptions. Pearson correlations and path analyses were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that student teachers who maintained a student-centered classroom focus tended to have high needs for affiliation and endurance, with low needs for cognitive structure, aggression, and harm avoidance. These same individuals also evidenced high scores on measures of creativity. More creative student teachers tended to have low needs for social recognition and cognitive structure. Five path models were generated based upon the pattern of intercorrelations obtained. Although personality and creativity were found to have some significant direct effects on classroom focus, personality was not found to have an indirect effect mediated by any of the creativity variables. The independent variables accounted for between 10% and 22% of the variance in classroom focus, indicating the need to consider additional variables for inclusion in future studies in order to improve the predictive power of the model.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09014
The main purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual curriculum framework for bilingual special teacher education programs to include the required competencies in the preparation of bilingual special education teachers. It included the areas of language proficiency, assessment, culture, planning and delivery of instruction, and professionalism. The study asked field specialists (bilingual special education teachers, administrators/supervisors, clinicians, and professors/researchers) distinguishing required competencies of bilingual special education teachers necessary to meet the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students with special needs. The data used in this study were obtained from the Preparation of Bilingual Special Education Teachers at the College Level: A Response from the Field questionnaire formulated by the investigator. The questionnaire is an inventory of belief statements about the nature of training skills or competencies of bilingual special education teachers. The questionnaire consisted of 55 statements and divided into five major areas. The questionnaire was administered to 100 bilingual special educators representing teachers, administrators/supervisors, clinicians, and professors/researchers (25 participants in each category), asking them to identify the required competency areas of bilingual special education training necessary to effectively be able to teach bilingual special education classrooms. The study employed frequency distributions and chi-square techniques in order to analyze the data. The study suggested that the curriculum of Bilingual Special Education Teacher Programs at the college /university levels need to include distinctive competencies on the areas of bilingual proficiency as well as demonstration of bilingual proficiency, assessment, culture, planning and delivery of instruction, and professionalism. The results of the analysis of the data indicated the following findings: (1) All participants identified all of the five areas indicated in the questionnaire as important competency areas in the preparation of bilingual special education teacher. Language proficiency was perceived as the most required area. (2) Although all field specialists identified the areas of assessment as very important, professors/ researchers identified two competencies as least important, while the other field specialist groups identified them as necessary required competencies. (3) Culture was perceived as a very important component in the preparation of bilingual special education teachers because it plays a crucial role in the development of students' cultural identity and self-concept. (4) Bilingual special education field specialists perceived each of the 21 competencies in the area of planning and delivery of instruction as required components in the preparation of bilingual special education teachers at the college level. (5) The area of professionalism was perceived as the least required competency. The results of this study provide a conceptual curriculum framework for bilingual special education teacher preparation programs. A conceptual curriculum framework provides the background for an articulated, shared, coherent, consistent knowledge base, and educational mission. This conceptual framework is based on what field specialists in the study perceived as required skills in the areas of language proficiency, assessment, culture, planning and delivery of instruction, and professionalism.
ORDER NO: ABA98-09003
This study investigated the academic achievement of linguistic minority students in mainstream social studies classrooms. By definition, linguistic minority students are those in whose homes a language other than English is spoken. While some of these students are thriving in the academic setting, others speak basic conversational English competently but lack the language that is necessary to cope with the academic demands of the classroom. Language was viewed theoretically as the primary semiotic tool through which students are enabled to successfully mediate the demanding academic milieu of the social studies classroom where both prior content specific and procedural knowledge are often anticipated. Specifically investigated were five strategies and conditions that appear to positively affect the academic competence and language growth of the linguistic minority students in three social studies classrooms in the middle and high schools. They included: (a) an instructional focus that develops and maintains a connection between classroom dialogue and text, (b) the teacher's elicitation of and responsiveness to student contributions, (c) the activation of relevant schemata, (d) overt teaching, and (e) the prevalence of assisted performance. Each element was analyzed within the context of the learning environment vis a vis the students' zones of proximal development. Three veteran teachers and 10 linguistic minority students participated in all aspects of the investigation. The research sites included: (a) one heterogeneous middle school class, (b) one college -preparatory high school class, and (c) one noncollege preparatory high school class. The sources of data included: (a) classroom observations, (b) teacher profiles and nonscripted interviews, and (c) nonscripted linguistic minority student interviews. The data were analyzed typologically and enumeratively. Two hypotheses were drawn from the findings and conclusions of the investigation. (1) In middle and high school social studies classes where cultural and linguistic diversity prevail, the teacher's consistent elicitation of and responsiveness to student contributions will positively affect student attitude and performance. (2) In middle and high school social studies classes where linguistic diversity prevails and students have not yet appropriated the procedural knowledge necessary to independently integrate text and classroom talk effectively, the implementation of text-based discourse as the medium of instruction will positively affect student attitude and performance.
ORDER NO: ABA98-08855
Since the middle 1960s, universities and colleges throughout the United States have instituted programs that provide academic assistance to first year students who are considered marginal, provisional, or high risk. The assistance programs were a direct result of concern about discrimination in admission procedures and instruction of inner city minority students, and paralleled the development and refinement of affirmative action and equal opportunity policies (Robinson, 1970). The term "high risk" is a theoretical concept based on an implicit assessment of the degree of negative risk associated with the educational experience (Jones & Watson, 1990). "High risk students" are minorities, the academically disadvantaged, the disabled, and those of low socioeconomic status. These students are labeled as such because they do not meet the minimal admission requirements to universities that usually require ACT or SAT in conjunction with class rank. For the purpose of this study, high risk refers to those students who are considered academically disadvantaged. According to Jones & Watson (1990), students in institutions of higher education do encounter risk, and that risk assumes several forms. It may involve a higher probability of a low grade point average, a relatively greater probability of choosing a field that is incongruent with the skills and competencies needed by the labor market of the 21$\rm\sp{st}$ century, and/or a greater chance of not completing the college degree. Thus, the potential for risk and attrition exists for all college enrollees. For some populations, however, the probabilities of risk and attrition are extraordinarily high (Jones & Watson, 1990). This study focused on students who entered Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) through the Center for Basic Skills in the Fall of 1990 and the Fall of 1995. It sought the influence on persistence that the academic environment, study habits, support services, and activities may have had on students at risk as measured by graduation rates. Questionnaires. personal interviews, and literature reviews were used to identify salient variables that relate to higher graduate rates for students who enter universities in special programs or students considered "high risk." The participants for this study consisted of students identified as being admitted to Southern Illinois University into the Center for Basic Skills, and the first year program for students considered high risk in the Fall of 1990 and the Fall of 1995. A questionnaire was developed to collect data that would give insight into students' reasons for persistence or lack of persistence. A follow-up interview was also conducted with a randomly selected group of students from the two designated populations. This information should, in turn, assist the university in making positive adjustments to the climate of the university to increase graduation rates.
ORDER NO: ABA98-08844
The purpose of this study was to contribute to a better understanding of the use of computer based communications in selected universities. The study identified issues and concerns in universities which have incorporated computer based communications as a part of their curricula. Further, the study examined selected universities to determine current utilization, assessed perceptions of university educators, and identified barriers and recommendations regarding implementation of computer based communications. A series of conclusions and recommendations were generated for consideration by the University Council for Vocational Education (UCVE). The study included both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. For the quantitative methodologies, the researcher conducted an E-mail survey of eighteen member institutions of the UCVE to assess extents to which those institutions utilized computer based communications to support distance learning. The findings suggested that vocational educators strongly believed the utilization of computer based communications to be of value to the future of their university programs. In addition, vocational education faculty believed having time to develop educational materials was an important factor in supporting computer based distance learning activities. The Internet served as the primary computer based communications technology to support traditional lecture based courses. All eighteen university programs utilized E-mail as a means of computer based communication with peers and students. Approximately ninety four percent of vocational education faculty utilized the technology in some manner to support distance learning. Clearly, vocational educators believed the utilization of E-mail and on-line List Serve discussion groups, were beneficial in supporting new forms of computer based distance learning. For the qualitative methodologies, two case studies were used to better identify characteristics of active and passive UCVE members in terms of their use of computer communications. The passive UCVE member institution was considered helpful in terms of perceptions and barriers to the implementation of computer based communications to support distance learning. Case studies revealed that university vocational education faculty perceived the re-certification of vocational education professionals and the growth of graduate student programs as potential markets for the future utilization of computer based communications. Case study participants reported the use of Internet as a computer based communications tool held a high degree of interest for students utilizing the technology. Case study participants further reported their students were more aware of materials placed on the Internet and were better prepared for class. The high degree of student interest was viewed as one of the most valuable contributions computer based communications has to offer to university learning environments. Case study participants were quick to point out that delivery of instruction via computer based communications had not made their job any easier, but the dividends of increased student interest and involvement made their efforts worthwhile. Recommendations addressed the need for further study and possible actions for the University Council for Vocational Education.
ORDER NO: ABA98-08804
The problem of this study was to examine the attitudes of volunteers and non-volunteers in 106 rural elementary schools in southeast Missouri. The subjects were asked to complete the Measure of Attitude Toward Education (MATE) and demographic questionnaires. The population for this study consisted of 201 volunteers and 201 non-volunteers in 106 rural elementary schools in southeast Missouri. The Missouri School Directory 1994-95, letter E of the Area Supervisory Districts of Instruction, was used. Letter E Area included the following counties: Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cape Girardeau, Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Dunklin, Stoddard, Bollinger, St. Francois, Madison, Wayne, Butler. The sample was purposeful and randomized. Responses were tabulated, analyzed, and reported using descriptive and inferential statistics. The collections of data were described and tables were used to display the responses. From the analysis of the results, conclusions regarding parental involvement in the educational process were formulated and recommendations for further study were offered. The results of this study indicated that attitudes toward the schools of those volunteering in the educational setting are significantly different than those who do not volunteer. In summary, the following results are reported: (1) Volunteers have significantly more positive attitudes toward the schools than non-volunteers as measured by the MATE. (2) Availability to volunteer did not make a difference in the attitude toward schools of the non-volunteer. (3) Working directly with students did not result in more positive attitudes toward education among the volunteers. (4) Number of hours volunteered in a year did not make a difference in the attitudes toward education of the volunteers. (5) Income, educational level, years in the community, and age of the volunteers and non-volunteers of the study, all had no impact on the attitudes toward education of the volunteer and non-volunteers in the study. (6) There were no significant differences in attitudes between male and female volunteers. (7) Male non-volunteers had significantly less positive attitudes toward schools than female non-volunteers. The average volunteer respondent was a female between the ages of 41 to over 55. Her family income ranged from $60,000 or less. Volunteers had more dispersion than non-volunteers at the lower end of the income scale, with 25\% listing \$0-$15,000 as family income. Most of the volunteers had a high school education. Slightly more volunteers attended college than non-volunteers. Many of the volunteers either volunteered their services on a short-term basis 1--20 hours or for a long-term commitment of over 100 hours. The majority worked directly with students and did things other than clerical work for teachers or serve as library aides. Volunteers lived in the community over 11 years (69\%). The average non-volunteer respondent was also a female. She was between the ages of 25-40. Her family income was between $16,000--\$60,000. More non-volunteers also listed a high school education as the highest education attained. Non-volunteers had also lived in the community over 11 years (70%).
ORDER NO: ABA98-08752
This study examined the relationship between early exposure to violence--both personal and community--and the later academic achievement of African American first time college students. The study incorporated several variables that were thought to impinge upon the academic achievement process. Specifically, those variables were divided into several groups: background factors (socioeconomic status, high school academic record, personal and community violence exposure), student characteristics (locus of control, educational aspirations and expectations), and university characteristics (campus safety, academic and social integration). Student achievement was measured by students' expected grade point average, as indicated on a student questionnaire. University administrators, professors, and researchers who study the nation's institutions of higher learning have long been interested in improving the academic performance of African American college students. Concomitantly, learning theories that proliferate in educational literature have gained wide recognition for their potential to explain the academic development of young adults in post secondary educational settings. Yet little research addressing the academic development of African American college students has been conducted. This study departs from similar studies that have been conducted because while its focus is academic achievement, it specifically examines the influence of early exposure to violence upon that process. Theoretically, early exposure to personal and community violence and the manner in which that exposure impacts upon the later academic achievement of college students is a complex one. Early violence exposure impacts upon the student's locus of control; the locus of control attribution then determines the student's predisposition and motivation toward seeking assistance and pursuing academic endeavors. Traditional variables that have been studied in the past were also found to have strong correlations with academic achievement. Case studies have been included as a means of strengthening the contention of a relationship between early exposure to violence and the later academic achievement of African American first time college students.
ORDER NO: ABA98-08627
Constructivist learning theories provide the basis for reforms in mathematics curriculum, instruction, and assessment recommended by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Previous research on teacher decision making focused on non-reform style instruction and was modeled after information processing theories. This study was a qualitative inquiry into the actions and decision making of two reform-oriented college instructors, conducted through classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, journaling and student assessment. The teachers' actions consisted of questioning, listening, explaining, and managing, where questioning was the dominant action. The teachers used these actions to anticipate and react to misconceptions and foster connections. Improvisational models in the performing arts provided a theoretical perspective through which the data were analyzed. One teacher's decisions focused on the tension, due primarily to time constraints, between questioning and explaining. The second teacher's decisions focused on whether to ask assessment-type or instructional -type questions. Improvisational factors, mirroring those factors considered by improvisational performers in the arts, mediated the teachers' decisions. These factors are students' prior knowledge; fostering connections; anticipating and reacting to student learning barriers; and the structural features of the lesson such as time, the role of the teacher, the perceived role of the students and the goals of the lesson. Students were able to solve problems in which they were required to mathematically model situations using geometry, algebra, and probability. Implications for future research and teacher education include: (1) improving the improvisational model and determining the factors involved in decision making; (2) designing teacher education similar to jazz pedagogy, especially emphasizing the development of listening skills; (3) supporting teachers in their attempts to practice reform-oriented instructions ; and (4) improving teachers' understandings of learning theory and the teachers' roles in the classroom. | ||||||||||||
