Education Commons^™

Customer Acquisition Training For Acn Independent Representatives, Kaly Gillette Shippen

Theses and Dissertations

The following report discusses the design, development, and evaluation of an online training on customer acquisition of telephone customers for a telecommunications company called ACN. The report includes a description of the following elements of the project: (a) the need and purpose for the instruction, (b) the target audience of the instruction, (c) the methodology and rationale for the design of the instruction based on relevant literature, (d) an existing materials search, (e) the instructional materials, (f) the evaluation, (g) the critique, (h) the schedule, and (i) the final budget report. The instruction was found to effectively teach learners the …

Delayed Versus Immediate Feedback In An Independent Study High School Setting, Duane C. Lemley

Theses and Dissertations

Although there is general agreement that feedback plays an important role in student performance, the majority of the studies found in the research literature explore the impact of different types of feedback in a traditional and university-level setting. In order to explore the impact of different feedback types in a non-traditional distance learning setting, 352 high school students enrolled in courses offered through BYU's Independent Study (IS) department received either delayed feedback or immediate feedback generated by Speedback™, BYU's automated grading and feedback program, depending on whether they had opted to submit end of unit assignments by mail or …

Toward A Domain Theory Of Fluent Oral Reading With Expression, Reo H. Mcbride

Theses and Dissertations

Today's educators are in need of tests or rating systems that provide specific and valid feedback to parents, students and programs. This need includes the area of expressive fluent oral reading. One way to address this need is to provide a rating system based on theoretical models that explore how fluency develops. This study explores the dimensions, constructs, or aspects that make up fluency. It also explores whether there is a sequence or order in how fluent oral reading with expression develops and the theoretical reasons for that ordering. This study further addresses whether word recognition or accuracy confounds the …

A Metaevaluation Of An Evaluation Of A Second Language Course, Edmilson Bezerra Torres

Theses and Dissertations

This project is a metaevaluation or critique of an evaluation of an intermediate course in a second language curriculum. In this report, the intermediate course evaluation is described to provide a basis for understanding the metaevaluation. Then the metaevaluation is presented. The evaluation was the first stage of a department-approved and college-supported curriculum redesign project to improve the quality of a second language curriculum in terms of instructional materials, methodological approaches, and pedagogical practices to promote optimal second language learning gains. Through the evaluation, strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum were identified so that these issues could be addressed during …

The Stress Management Self-Efficacy Inventory (Smsei): Development And Initial Psychometrics, Kristin Higgins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of the current study was to develop, pilot, and establish the initial psychometrics of the Stress Management Self-Efficacy Inventory (SMSEI). Once developed and positive psychometrics established, middle school counselors and other mental health professionals can use the SMSEI to identify children who lack self-efficacy in the area of stress management. Once adolescents are identified as having low stress management self-efficacy, this measure can also aid professionals in creating programs and interventions. The SMSEI measures how well adolescents believe they can manage their stress as well as measures specific areas or management techniques that a child believes they …

Advanced Structured Query Language Instruction For Engineers Of The Office Of Information Technology At Brigham Young University, Vincent Brian Rackliffe

Theses and Dissertations

This report describes the purpose, design, development and analysis of SQLTips, an online instructional delivery framework and set of instructional modules relating to advanced features and performance tuning of Oracle's Structured Query Language (SQL). SQLTips was developed using Wiki, server-side software that allows users to edit web pages with almost any browser. The report includes a literature review of existing SQL instructional materials and a review of instructional theory. The report also includes a description of the formative evaluation process and results. These results show that SQLTips is easy and enjoyable to use. Based on a scale of 1 to …

Teacher Evaluation In Chinese Elementary Schools: An Historical Account, Ping Zeng

Theses and Dissertations

This research is an historical account of the development of teacher evaluation in Chinese elementary schools. Descriptive by nature, it reviews the historical origins that have shaped the teaching profession and evaluation practice. It also describes the effort made by the government and educators in the reform to improve the elementary school teacher evaluation system in China. The findings of this research focus on the complexity and problems in the teacher evaluation system and painful struggles teachers have experienced. Suggestions are provided in terms of possible improvement of the teacher evaluation system and establishment of national evaluation standards to facilitate …

The Effects Of Reading & Reading Strategy Training On Lower Proficiency Level Second Language Learning, Lane O. Steinagel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate what effect reading in a second language has on the knowledge and language performance of young adult missionaries studying to learn a foreign language. It was hypothesized that reading would improve vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension, and it was further hypothesized that reading aloud would improve language speaking performance. The subjects of the study were 214 missionaries learning Spanish as a second language at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. The missionaries were all beginner level students of Spanish, and they were randomly assigned to reading aloud and silent reading groups, …

Understanding And Implementing School-Family Interventions After Neuropsychological Impairment, Jane Close Conoley, Susan M. Sheridan

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Children who have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) or have neurological impairments due to disease, toxins, or genetic makeup present challenges that are best addressed by coordinated treatment and support activities among all their caregivers. Such systematic approaches to treatment, rehabilitation, teaching, and parenting are both complex to describe and difficult to create and maintain. The goal of this chapter is to focus on one of the key systems that affects children’s learning and behavioral adjustments: the interface between schools and families. Other Handbook authors have described specialized consultation to teachers needed to support their efficacy with children. This chapter …

International Students: Culture Shock And Adaptation To The U.S. Culture, Stefanie Theresia Baier

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Annually thousands of international students attend US colleges and universities which requires them to adjust to a new environment, often accompanied by a culture shock experience.

This study analyzes to what degree cultural background, gender differences, language proficiency, self-confidence/self-efficacy, and social support networks impact the adjustment process of international students to the US culture.

Forty-five international students attending a Michigan community college were surveyed and interviewed to assess the relationship among self-confidence/self-efficacy, cultural background, gender and social support networks. Western students reported more positive cultural adjustment (M=29.0) than non-western students (M=29.0). Males adjusted better (M …

Consultation: Conjoint Behavioral, John W. Eagle, Susan M. Sheridan

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is defined as a "structured, indirect form of service delivery in which parents and teachers are joined together to ad-dress the academic, social, or behavioral needs of an individual" (Sheridan & Kratochwill, 1992, p. 122). CBC incorporates a data-based, behavioral approach to supporting children's needs in naturalistic settings within an ecological-systems theoretical framework. CBC is a process that is guided by a consultant (e.g., school psychologist, special educator, or other team member) who facilitates a problem-solving process through the use of technical and interpersonal skills (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001). The foci of CBC are remediating and …

On-Demand Tutoring In Distance Education: Intrinsically-Motivated, Scalable Interpersonal Interaction To Improve Achievement, Completion, And Satisfaction, Peter B. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to test an intrinsically-motivated interaction approach, designed to increase distance education support, for both content and motivation, in a cost-effective manner. The literature summarized shows that distance education students desire content and motivational support beyond course materials and are limited in their success without it. Further, while researchers explore increased interaction as a solution, professors usually do not have time for it and attempts to provide it are often restricted by institutions' limited resources. Very little has been published on the effects of distance education tutors and the need for more research in this …

Balancing Approaches : Revisiting The Educational Psychology Research On Teaching Students With Learning Difficulties, Louise A. Ellis

Australian Education Review

In most Australian schools, there are significant numbers of students who are failing to learn effectively. They underachieve in all or some of the basic skill areas of the curriculum. Concerns regarding the most appropriate methods with which to address the needs of these students remain widespread amongst teachers. This book examines the findings from local and international evidence-based research, with particular reference to meta-analyses deriving largely from the fields of educational psychology. The author identifies and illustrates methods that are effective for a wide range of students in mainstream classrooms, but which are especially powerful for students with learning …

Threats Of Terror: Objectives, Options And Obstructions In Moral Education, Isreal Idalovichi

Essays in Education

This article analyses the intellectual, religious, national and moral processes through which a democratic society has had to confront in its day-to-day routines under the ever-present threat of terror. It discusses the effects of the terror over the character of Israeli society and the critical debates in its system of education. As far as it can be ascertained through the observations in this study, the general publics’ attitude could be defined as a mildly moral realistic one: people think that terror and violence have objective foundations but certainly embody some subjective human conventions and beliefs.

Scale Construction And Halo Effect In Secondary Student Ratings Of Teacher Performance, Eric Paul Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

The use of rating scales in the evaluation of secondary teacher performance has been called into question and widely criticized. Of particular concern has been the use of student ratings of teacher performance. A review of instruments and practices used in the rating process reveals serious design flaws that account for the criticisms leveled against the use of rating scales. This study sought to address the limitations evident in previous rating efforts by utilizing a combination of design methodologies and measurement models including elements of Classical Test Theory (CTT), factor analysis, and Item Response Theory (IRT). The IRT model employed …

Using A Diglot Reader To Teach Kanji: The Effects Of Audio And Romaji On The Acquisition Of Kanji Vocabulary, Kazumasa Aoyama

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a computer-based Japanese/English diglot reader on the breadth and depth of the acquisition of kanji-words. On a diglot reader, L2 text is embedded in L1 text, thus allowing L2 learners to receive enough context to understand the L2 text and learn vocabulary in it. This study was also conducted to determine the effects of two methods of presenting pronunciation of kanji-words, audio recording and romaji, on the acquisition of the meaning and pronunciation of kanji-words as well as the overall effect of learning of pronunciation on the learning and …

Alcohol Expectancies Among A Sample Of Thai High School Students, Ian Newman, Duane F. Shell, Saranya Innadda, Tiandong Li

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to identify and describe the alcohol-related expectancies of a sample of Thai high school students. A convenience sample of 2,227 high school students in Chon Buri province completed an alcohol expectancy questionnaire. The initial factor analysis was done with data from 875 questionnaires and identified four factors. The four factors were cross-validated on two separate sets of 676 questionnaires. A relationship was found between expectancies and drinking behaviors. High school students who drank alcohol had significantly greater positive expectancies for alcohol and greater expectancies that alcohol would enhance sexual performance and power. Students who …

Commentary On Evidence-Based Parent And Family Interventions: Will What We Know Now Influence What We Do In The Future?, Susan M. Sheridan

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

As has been demonstrated in this exceptional review of the empirical literature, much has been written about models, programs, and services for working with families. Indeed, the Task Force of the Family and Parent Intervention domain can be commended for its diligent and thorough approach to uncovering and dissecting research in this domain. Speaking through the lens of a researcher in this area, the purpose of the present commentary is to highlight some of the findings of the task force, recommend research priorities, and call for the identification of means to increase the utility of the Task Force findings in …

Major Elements Of Re-Orienting A Higher Education Institution Toward A Focus On Lifelong Learning: An Update, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

This paper focus on making a shift from a traditional higher education institution toward a focus on lifelong learning, including the following: Research on the background and experiences of various institutions in this regard, developing a policy statement on elements of this re-orientation as a product of a worldwide conference, and ultimately constructing "measurable performance indicators" for the seven elements - overacting frameworks, strategic partnership, and linkages research, teaching and learning, processes, administration policies and mechanism, decision support systems, and student support systems and services.

Safer Schools: Promoting Safe Play On School Playground Equipment, Kimberly Elaine Seckinger

Masters Theses

Each year, over 200,000 people receive emergency room care for injuries sustained on recreational equipment, and a vast majority of these injuries involve children under the age of 15 who have been hurt on school playground equipment. To date, a single empirical study has been conducted applying behavioral technology to decrease children's risky behavior on playground equipment (Heck, Collins, & Peterson, 2001 ), and showed reductions in risk-taking behavior when programmed consequences were in place. The purposes of the current investigation were to replicate and extend previous research though a component analysis of an injury prevention package designed to decrease …

Design, Development And Evaluation Of Chinese Radical And Character Tutorial By Hypermedia, Su-Ling Hsueh

Theses and Dissertations

This project report describes the instructional design, development and evaluation of the Chinese Radical and Character Tutorial (CRCT) project. The web-based CRCT project integrated hypermedia resources (audio, video, graphics, animation and hyperlinks) to teach undergraduate and graduate students basic Chinese radical and character recognition and writing. One-to-one test, expert review and small-group test were utilized in the formative evaluation. Statistical significance was found in the small-group test, which suggests that supplemental hypermedia material can effectively facilitate student learning of Chinese reading and writing outside of the classroom. Moreover, the qualitative data indicated that students enjoyed using CRCT's drills, feedback features …

Transactive Discourse During Assessment Conversations On Science Learning, Homer Arthur Russell Iii

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Transactive Discourse During Assessment Conversations on Science Learning by Homer A. Russell III It has been argued that development of science knowledge is the result of social interaction and adoption of shared understandings between teachers and students. A part of understanding that process is determining how student reasoning develops in groups. Transactive discussion is a form of negotiation between group members as they interpret the meaning of their logical statements about a topic. More importantly, it is a form of discourse that often leads to cognitive change as a result of the interaction between group participants as they wrestle with …

A Contextual Approach To The Assessment Of Social Skills: Identifying Meaningful Behaviors For Social Competence, Emily D. Warnes, Susan M. Sheridan, Jenenne Geske, William A. Warnes

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

An exploratory study was conducted which assessed behaviors that characterize social competence in the second and fifth grades. A contextual approach was used to gather information from second- and fifth-grade children and their parents and teachers regarding the behaviors they perceived to be important for getting along well with peers. Data were gathered from children through structured interviews with the researcher. Parents and teachers provided information through open-ended paper-pencil surveys. Qualitative methodology was used to analyze the data in this study. Specifically, a three-stage coding process derived from grounded theory was utilized (A. Strauss & J. Corbin, 1998). Triangulation, a …

Homosexual Prejudice: Comparing Self-Report To Perceived Interaction, Megan C. Kleefeld

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the level of homosexual prejudice that existed in the sample population and to determine if there were differences in the way that high versus low prejudice individuals reacted to a situation in which they believed they would be working with an individual who was a homosexual. A questionnaire completed by 254 college students (69 male, 185 female) was used to determine their level of prejudice. At a later time, 53 students (25 males, 28 females) participated in a second phase where they believed that they would be interacting with a partner who …

Visual Motor Coordination And Reading: A Correlational Analysis Part Ii, Marita C. Marcionese

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between reading rate and visual-motor coordination. This study was a replication of the researcher's prior study. The population of interest was the only differing aspect. This study used 32 high school 9^th and 10^th grade students from an all boys college prep school. Reading rate was measured by two tests: the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and a 40-letter test. The game Perfection and a bead stringing task were the measures used to determine visual-motor coordination. Aggregated scores combined the z-scores to create a total score for …

The Effects Of Subliminal Weapons Effect On Aggressive Behavior In College Level Students, Gary A. Roskoski

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the difference in displayed aggression in subjects randomly assigned to either a subliminal weapons effect condition or to a controlled condition. 30 students from a small public University in New Jersey signed up for the study to receive credit for their introductory psychology course. The subjects were then randomly assigned to one of the two conditions; the subliminal weapons effect conditioned consisted of a poster of "Scarface" holding a gun pointed toward the subject on the blackboard (the poster had a sign asking that it not be removed by a professor). The controlled condition had no stimuli …

Occupational Stress In Child Protection Social Workers, Kristina M. Narcum

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine if social workers in a child protection agency report greater levels of stress than individuals working in other professions. Paper-and-pencil versions of the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI) questionnaire were distributed to all participants as a measure of occupational stress. Participants' responses were analyzed using an independent samples t-test to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the two groups. There were significant findings in nine out of twenty-four subscales of the PMI. The results from these areas show that the social workers feel more insecure about …

Do We Really See The World In Black And White?, Christine Deriso

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not there is a double standard of punishment between Black and White Americans and to evaluate the social perceptions of Black Americans in our society. Seventy-two teachers were given surveys concerning an eleven-year-old boy with aggression. On half of the surveys, the boy's name was Tommy and on the other half of the surveys, the boy's name was Tyrone to allude to differences in race. The teachers were asked to determine the punishment for the boy's latest outburst and to answer questions concerning how they perceived the story. This allowed …

Impact Of The Lack Of Sleep On Academic Performance In College Students, Tammy L. Hampton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to research the effects that sleep has on a college student's academic performance, measured by the student's self-reported grade point average (GPA), and to examine whether there is a difference between graduate students' and undergraduate students' results. 136 students at Rowan University in southern New Jersey, 61 graduate students and 75 undergraduate students, were asked to complete a short survey on their sleep habits, demographic information, self-reported GPA, and average number of hours of sleep per night that they received. An independent Two-Way ANOVA was then performed to analyze the information indicating the following …

Communication Responses To Positive Or Neutral Facial Expressions Between The Genders, Kimberly R. Hollingsworth

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to determine whether or not college students would respond with any communication to a stimulus of nonverbal communication of either eye contact alone or paired with smiling to the same or opposite gender. The characteristics of this study may have implications on how successful nonverbal communication can be.

One-hundred-sixty students, 8 groups within, were randomly stimulated by either a female or male with either a positive or neutral facial expression and their natural responses were recorded. The responses were coded on a Likert scale and analyzed with a 3 way ANOVA.

The data presented …