Digital Commons Network^™

A Study To Research The Feasibility Of Establishing A Southern New Jersey Chapter Of The Public Relations Society Of America, Joanna F. Bruschi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to research the feasibility of establishing a southern New Jersey chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Some major findings included: (a) more than fifteen southern New Jersey members of PRSA are interested in joining a southern New Jersey chapter; (b) more than thirty public relations practitioners, not holding membership in PRSA, are interested in joining a southern New Jersey chapter of PRSA.

The findings of the author's survey concluded that establishing a southern New Jersey chapter of PRSA is feasible.

Christian Conservative Bias In Newspaper Print: A Content Analysis, Ted Christian

Theses and Dissertations

The major purpose of this study was to analyze the content from six major U.S. newspapers regarding their coverage of Christian Conservatives. The newspapers chosen for the study were the: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times and Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

Articles from these newspapers from June 1993 through July 1994 were analyzed for their bias against Christian Conservatives or lack thereof. Samples were selected from the newspapers during the time frame chosen when one or more of the following five descriptors appeared in the newspaper text: Christian …

Persuasion Theories In The Practice Of Public Relations In The 1990'S, Susan E. Owens

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to present ways in which persuasion theories are currently used in public relations and how persuasion theories could be used in public relations. Some public relations textbooks devote a chapter or section to persuasion theories and how they relate to public relations. The public relations practitioner needed a publication that expanded on these theories and provided cases of how they are used in public relations today.

To research persuasion theories and current application of them, current textbooks and periodicals were reviewed at several libraries. The searches at Rowan College, Richard Stockton College and Ocean …

Teachers' Attitudes Toward The Inclusion Of Young Children With Special Needs Into Regular Early Childhood Classes, Marilyn I. Forbes

Theses and Dissertations

All children have special abilities and special needs that make them unique individuals. Most teachers work with children who have a wide range of abilities and learning styles. Early childhood teachers are no exception. They may have children enrolled in their classrooms who have subtle learning disabilities, significant physical, mental or emotional problems, high intelligence, or conditions which limit speech and motor development. Teachers may not have been taught that the continuum of development is similar for all children, but that timetables may vary. This thesis examines staff attitudes toward the placement of young children with special needs into regular …

Guidelines For College And University Publications Directors On Building Effective Partnerships With Printers And Graphic Designers, Susan L. Enzman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis project was to compose guidelines to help facilitate communication and understanding between graphic designers and printers as they work together to service higher education publication offices.

A review of previous research pertinent to this study was conducted. Original research was undertaken in the form of a mail survey distributed to 100 publication directors/managers at four year colleges and universities throughout the country.

The survey was used to determine how various publications offices operate and to elicit suggestions publication directors/managers have for working effectively with graphic designers and printers.

The core of this project was the …

A Study Of The Effects Of Shared Peer Reading On Students' Reading Attitudes, Christine Ellen Arsenis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of shared peer reading on students' reading attitudes. It was hypothesized that students who participate in shared peer reading would show significant reading attitude improvements, as measured by the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey, over students who do not participate in shared peer reading. The study was a quasi-experimental design consisting of students in two first grade classrooms. Twenty students from each classroom participated in the study. One class was identified as the "participation group" and the other class was identified as the "nonparticipation" group. Both groups were first pretested using …

A Study Of Students' Attitude Toward School Climate As Compared Within A Conflict Resolution Group And A Traditional Group, Dawn D. Kelly-Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate students' attitudes toward school climate. One group received Conflict Resolution training and the other group received no training. The program, SCRC, Students Creative Response to Conflict was designed to empower students by giving them the tools to confront and resolve problems that develop on a daily basis. The program focuses on five major areas: affirmation, communication, conflict resolution, cooperation, and bias awareness/appreciation of differences.

The sample group was drawn from four fourth grade classrooms. Each group consisted of thirty-six subjects. There were 61% males and 39% females. Further, 64.6% were Caucasian, 31.7% …

Study Of The Effects Of Inclusion On The Academic Progress Of Regular Education Students, Tracy Alcoy-Clouser

Theses and Dissertations

It was the goal of this study to evaluate the effectiveness of the Team Approach to Mastery (TAM) program on the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) scores of regular education students in the TAM classroom. The hypothesis suggested that the TAM students would do as well as or better than the students in the non-TAM classroom.

This study observed the progress of twenty-nine fourth grade students that live in a rural area with an urban school population. A pretest posttest design was used. The dependent variable was the MAT, and the TAM program was the independent variable.

An analysis of the …

Student Ethnicity And Teacher Expectations, Daisy Mercado

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between student ethnicity and teacher expectations and how these expectations were communicated to students through the types of questions they were asked. The subjects for this study were twenty-two second grade students. The first phase of the study consisted of observations in which the questions asked by the teacher and the ethnicity of the student were recorded. They were later categorized as low order and high order questions. Finally, a Chi square test was used to determine if there was a significant relationship between ethnicity and teacher expectations. The study revealed that no significant relationship …

Correlational Study Of Self-Concept, Social Self-Perception, Academic Self-Concept And Behavior Problems Among Elementary School Children, Malthi Lingaraju

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships, if any, between General Self-Concept, Social Self-Perception, Academic Self-Concept, and Behavior Problems among elementary school children. Twenty-two third grade students participated in this study. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was used to measure self-concept. Social Self-Perception and Academic Self-Concept were measured by subscales of the Coopersmith Inventory. The Connors' Teacher Rating Scales-39 was used to measure the general dimension of behavior problems. Findings from these two measures indicated a significant positive correlation between General Self-Concept and Social Self-Perception; General Self-Concept and Academic Self-Concept, and Social Self-Perception and Academic Self-Concept. There was, …

General Educators And Their Needs For Inclusion Classrooms, Lisa B. Minkin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the perceptions of available inclusion supports by elementary teachers and their attitudes toward inclusion education. This correlational study used a non-random, convenience population: all thirty-nine members taught in a common district that implemented inclusion. They completed a closed-ended questionnaire which measured attitudes toward inclusion and their perceptions of available supports.

The research yielded inconsistent evidence related to the null hypothesis. Attitudes of teachers concerning inclusion and their perceived level of supports were not found to be statistically related. However, there were corresponding percentages of those who considered substantial resources …

A Study Of Television Violence And Its Effects On Elementary School Children's Social Interactions, Shari Lonker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the amount of antisocial and aggressive television shows a child views and the occurrence of negative social interactions in which that child is involved while under school supervision. One hundred 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders in a southern New Jersey school district were given television viewing questionnaires to take home and fill out with their parents. Upon completion, the questionnaires were scored according to the child's habit of watching specific television shows targeted with violent content. Each student's teacher then rated the frequency of the child's antisocial or aggressive …

Effective Motivation Of Front-Line Employees, Regina M. Audio

Theses and Dissertations

Motivating front-line employees to perform at optimum levels is a challenge for managers and business owners. Non-management employees from Southern New Jersey for-profit and non-profit companies responded to a survey to offer comments as to which of six specific types of motivational phrases would best motivate them to perform optimally in common workplace situations involving: quality, teamwork, personal responsibility to organizational policy and procedure, initiative, and customer service issues. Participants considered top performers by their managers were asked to choose which phrase would best motivate them in each situation in an attempt to identify which phrases are most effective in …

The Relationship Between Self-Esteem And Romanticism Among Parenting And Nonparenting Adolescents, Francine D. Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations

This study's purpose was to assess the difference between romanticism and self-esteem among parenting (n=13) and nonparenting adolescents (n=18). One subject did not specify status. Parenting adolescents where those who were or had been pregnant. Nonparenting adolescents were those who had never been pregnant. Of the thirty-two subjects, 29 were African American and three were Hispanic. All were a part of a social support group. The subjects ranged in age between 13 and 19. The Dean Romanticism Survey and Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory combined were administered. An independent t-test was performed on the variables. The results indicated that parenting adolescents did …

A Correlational Study Of Teachers' Attitudes Towards The Computer And The Use Of Computer-Assisted Instruction In The Classroom, Lynn Karen Lore

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the relationship between the attitude of the classroom teacher towards computers and the utilization of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAl) in the classroom instructions. The teachers were from three public schools and one private school in urban and rural districts of southern New Jersey.

The teachers completed a Computer Attitude Survey (CAS), and a Computer Assisted Instruction Survey (CAIS). The CAS measured the attitude of the teacher in four areas: their anxiety towards computers, confidence in their ability, liking of computers, and their perceptions of the usefulness of computers. Each subclass and the overall score …

The Effects Of Journal Writing On Academic Achievement In High School Integrated Mathematics I, Jane Lamarra

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the level of academic achievement in responding to open-ended questions between those students who wrote in journals and those who did not write in journals, in an Integrated Mathematics I class.

The sample consisted of thirty-three students from two Integrated Mathematics I classes; there were eighteen students who wrote in journals (the experimental group) and fifteen students who did not write in journals (the control group.) Integrated Mathematics I is a course designed for ninth grade non-college-bound students, where emphasis is placed on skills necessary …

Changing Role Of The Female In Mythically Based Fantastic Literature And Films For Young Adults, Deborah Dougherty Dietrich

Theses and Dissertations

Psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung first noted the archetypal symbolism to be found in the dreams, myths and legends of people around the world. Bruno Bertelheim, a disciple of Freud, and renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell applied these principles of universal symbolism to help explain the continuing appeal of fairy tale, legend and myth in contemporary society. The thesis addresses the universality of these archetypal messages as mirrored in contemporary fantastic fiction for young adults, showing how the adolescent rite of passage explored in the heroic quest myths of primitive peoples is still used in many works of fantastic literature …

Runaways In Young Adult Fiction – A Survey And Annotated Bibliography, Anna E. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to compare causes and consequences for runaways in real life with those in young adult fiction, in order to ascertain whether any similarity exists between the two. The thesis also provides an annotated bibliography of young adult books about runaways.

Research was carried out to obtain information about what real runaways must face, and various guides to young adult literature were consulted in order to evaluate fictional runaway lifestyles.

With few exceptions, real lives of runaway children bear very little resemblance to those of their fictional counterparts. In fiction, happy endings (or at least …

A History And Bibliography Of The Lenni Lenape, Theresa Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this history and bibliography is to promote knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the Lenni Lenape. This goal will be accomplished by increasing the public's awareness of the availability of materials concerning the Lenape. Through this awareness it will become possible for people to access previously unknown sources.

The historical data covers what is known of the Paleo-Indians up through the arrival of the first European colonists and the final migration of the Lenape people. This coverage includes the controversial Wallum Olum. The bibliography and appendices are divided into sections in order to allow the reader to locate …

The Effects Of Intensive Block Scheduling On High School Mathematics, Anna Elena Bogardus, Eileen Star Dubois

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare intensive block scheduling to the traditional scheduling used in the high school setting, especially focusing on the areas of mathematics achievement and the patterns of higher level mathematics course selection.

Surveys were sent to 67 high schools throughout the United States and Canada which are currently using intensive block scheduling. Mathematics supervisors were asked questions regarding: school population, percentage of college bound students, higher level mathematics courses offered, and the sequence of mathematics courses taught leading to Advanced Placement Calculus. The remaining part of the survey requested specific data comparing standardized test …

The Development And Evaluation Of A Basic Skills Mathematics Curriculum For Adult Learners, Shirley Hofer, Annette M. Schenkel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to develop a basic skills mathematics curriculum for adult learners, evaluate student progress, and survey the instructors' opinions.

Gagne's curriculum model was used to develop a new curriculum addressing the problems of the traditional curriculum. Research was cited to substantiate each curriculum change. The new curriculum successfully addressed each of the concepts gathered from the related literature.

Student progress was evaluated at Gloucester County College from January to March of 1996. All of the nine MAT-010 classes used the new curriculum. A dependent t-test was applied to pretest and posttest scores of the New …

Is Access Synonymous With Use?: Evaluation Of Access And Use Of Technology In Salem County High Schools, Romine B. Rosenberger

Theses and Dissertations

The high schools of Salem County were studied for their use of technology in general and the Internet specifically. Literature regarding the effective use of technology in education nationwide was researched. It was found that even though Salem County has access to much technology, it is underutilized, due primarily to lack of thorough professional development. Particular attention was given to Internet technology because of grants received by the county for the express purpose of establishing a local node for use by the schools in the county. A preliminary review of the literature indicated that the scope of the study needed …

The Effect Of Graphing Calculator Use In Algebra One, Anne Lawrence Hudock

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the learning of basic concepts of analytic geometry by students instructed with graphing calculators to that of students instructed by traditional methods. Three chapters, covering the basic concepts of analytic geometry, were taught to two separate algebra one classes at Salem High School, Salem, New Jersey over a nine-week period. The control group was taught using traditional instruction and the experimental group was taught using graphing calculator assisted instruction.

A unit test was administered to both the experimental and control groups at the conclusion of the study to evaluate student learning. From …

Recommendations For A Policy Regarding Online Searching At The Cape May County Library, Linda L. Melroy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to ascertain and compare the methods used by other New Jersey public libraries in order to best serve their patrons' needs in a technological society. The libraries of today, including Cape May County Public Library, are facing the challenge of providing online services to an ever more sophisticated clientele. At the same time, the funds for these services may be difficult to obtain.

A questionnaire was sent to fifteen New Jersey public libraries, twelve of whom responded. Questions involving the type of online searching being done at their institution were raised. Also questioned were …

A Study Comparing Two Methods Of Teaching Inequalities And Polynomials To College Prep Algebra 1 Students, Kimberly Ann O'Rourke

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant differences existed in the learning of inequalities and polynomials by using the traditional Algebra I book as opposed to Applied Mathematics units.

The population used for this study was comprised of students from two college prep Algebra I classes at Collingswood High School, Collingswood, New Jersey. The experimental group was taught inequalities and polynomials using the Applied Mathematics units and the control group was taught these subjects using the traditional Algebra 1 book. At the beginning of the study, the mean of each group's first marking period grades was used …

Effects Of Journal Writing On Mathematics Anxiety, Kevin J. Pelton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of journal writing on mathematics anxiety in developmental algebra classes at the college level. Two classes of "Elementary Algebra," comprised of twenty-three college level students, were used for this experiment. During the six week study, the experimental group, consisting of ten students, wrote in math journals on various mathematics topics assigned by the researcher. The control group, consisting of thirteen students, did not keep a journal. Both groups were pretested and posttested using the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents. Independent t-tests were used to analyze the results. It was …

The Interdisciplinary Approach To Learning: Theory, Design, And Implementation, Kathleen E. Ratz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine a synergistic form of learning known as the integrated curriculum. An interdisciplinary approach to teaching, the integrated curriculum seeks to explore the connections and interrelations that exist between academic subject areas in order to create educational experiences that reflects what We know about the learning process.

Discussed in the thesis are the theoretical and philosophical background of this form of experiential learning, historical attempts at implementation, current thinking on design and implementation, and finally practical applications. Conclusions are drawn from all of the above sources and a list of essential criteria for …

A Comprehensive Description And Critical Analysis Of Portfolio Assessment, Cindy J. Simione

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive description of portfolio assessment and analyze critically the use of portfolios for student assessment at the high school level with specific application to the mathematics content area.

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that demonstrates their learning experiences, knowledge, applications and development over time. There are many variations of portfolio assessment depending upon the specific purpose of compiling the portfolio.

Portfolio assessment is a new trend in the area of student assessment that will address the need for an alternative to traditional pencil and paper testing procedures. …

Reading Interests Of Fifth And Sixth Grade Boys, Judith E. Sheridan

Theses and Dissertations

Fifth and sixth grade boys were studied to determine their reading interests for the purpose of developing a bibliography of books that the boys had read and enjoyed to use for collection development for the school library. One class of fifth grade students and one class of sixth grade students were surveyed to determine their reading attitudes, habits, and interests. Reading logs were kept during a three month period recording books that the students read during that time and enjoyed. Both boys and girls participated in the data collection portion of the study.

Major findings reinforced the author's perceptions that …

The Development Of A Mini Course On Fractal Geometry For The Community College Mathematics Student, Kananathan Satchithananthan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to construct a mini introduction to a fractal geometry course appropriate for community college students. The researcher evaluated the related research and the literature related to fractal geometry appropriate for community college students. Fractal geometry lesson plans were constructed. The topics covered in this introduction course include the Koch Curve, Sierpinski's Triangle, iterations, complex numbers and the Mandelbrot set.

The course is intended for students who have completed Calculus I at Atlantic Community College which is located in the southern part of New Jersey. The course is intended to be taught for five weeks …