Digital Commons Network^™

Selected Perceptions Of Second Career Novice Teachers, Lucile Faulkner Maples

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insight into the perceptions that second career novice teachers have about their preservice training and their preparedness for taking on the challenges of teaching during their first semester as “real” teachers. Through an increased understanding of novice teachers’ perceptions and experiences, teacher educators may be better equipped to structure preservice learning that is both relevant and meaningful for teacher education candidates.

Four second career novice teachers were involved in this study that spanned the first semester of teaching after their graduation from a fifteen-month alternative program. Qualitative methods of data collection …

The Effects Of Participation In Extracurricular Activities On The Mean Grade Point Average Of High School Students In A Rural Setting, Anthony Brian Watkins

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of participation in extracurricular activities (band, drama, student council and vocational clubs) on the mean grade point average (GPA) of students at one rural high school located in the South. Male and female students (n=3,274) who were enrolled in the academic program from 1997-2002 were categorized into one of the following four groups: interscholastic athletics only, co-curricular activities only, both co-curricular activities and interscholastic athletics, and no extracurricular activities.

Differences in mean GPAs of the various extracurricular activity groups by gender were tested with a One-way Analysis of Variance, followed …

The Stories Readers Remember: An Interview Study Of The Enduring Effects Of Literature, Carolyn Roberts Boswell

Doctoral Dissertations

This interview study explores the legacy of the reading experiences of adults. The researcher, working from a constructivist paradigm, seeks to answer these two questions: (a) What are the characteristics of stories that participants remember, and (b) how do participants say these stories affect their thinking, their character, their worldview?

Eight participants, volunteers and referrals, were interviewed about their memories of their reading experiences. After each initial interview, the researcher read some of the literature cited by the participant as personally significant. A follow-up interview focused on the participant’s response to the literature cited.

The researcher used a typological analysis …

A Study Of The Perceptions Of Job Satisfaction Of General And Special Education Teachers In Selected Georgia Elementary Schools Implementing The Inclusion Model, Jonathan Edward Willard

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of job satisfaction of general and special education teachers. Full-time teachers in grades K-5 in 26 randomly selected Georgia elementary schools were surveyed. Differences in job satisfaction were measured through the use of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire – Short Form (MSQ) and a descriptive survey accompanying it. Differences in responses based on the descriptors were analyzed using the Mann Whitney U and multivariate analysis of variance at a confidence level of .05.

General education teachers reported greater levels of satisfaction than special education teachers on the MSQ scales of Achievement, Social …

Teachers' Attitudes And Perceptions Of Multicultural And Diversity Awareness In Elementary Schools, Joy Lynne James

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how teachers perceived teaching multicultural students and their own training toward teaching multicultural children. The aim of this study was to determine whether to what extent those perceptions could be attributed to teacher training, multicultural curriculum, and teacher attitudes and perceptions of multicultural and diversity awareness. The research design included a quantitative inquiry. A questionnaire was given to 50 elementary teachers from 5 schools who taught second and fifth grade. The questionnaire attempted to measure teachers attitudes and perceptions of cultural and diversity awareness.

While teachers' general attitudes toward cultural diversity were …

The Health Related Behaviors And Attitudes Of Student Nurses, Maribeth Vowell

Doctoral Dissertations

Nurses are an important component of primary medical care, and patient education is a common and important role of most nurses. Patient education and positive role modeling by nurses have the potential to influence patients’ life style choices and the serious diseases that may be affected by those choices. A greater understanding of the ways nurses think about their own health could help facilitate healthier choices for them and in their patients. The purpose of this inquiry was to examine the experiences, attitudes and beliefs of student nurses related to their personal health, and to investigate those experiences, attitudes and …