Education Commons^™

Intuition In Decision Making By Human Service Administrators, Judith Huber Halseth

Dissertations

The phenomenon of intuition includes insights and hunches, as well as the ability to pick up clues and to see patterns. The role of intuition in interpersonal relationships, in problem solving and decision making, and in creativity makes it an important cognitive faculty. As a complement to more systematic and deductive decision making, intuition provides creative insights, especially when people consciously acknowledge intuition.

This study focused on the experience of intuition as reported by 25 administrators in human service organizations. In face-to-face interviews, the 10 women and 15 men who were known to use intuition were asked open-ended questions about …

Applied Thermoplastic Screw Plastication Theory: Industry Acceptance And Implications For Plastics Processing Education, Paul V. Engelmann

Dissertations

Rapid expansion of the thermoplastics processing industry has increased the need for plastics education and training. Screw plastication is the major method of melting plastics in order to mold or extrude them into useful products. Thus, information about the role of plastication is needed to provide guidance for plastics education and training.

This study sought confirmation of suspected differences existing in the amount of knowledge personnel have about thermoplastic screw plastication, dependent upon: (a) the type of plastics process used, and (b) their job classifications. Furthermore, the study collected data in three additional areas: (1) the extent to which persons …

An Assessment Of The Relationship Between Decision-Makers' Opinions About Comprehensive Sex Education And Factors That Influence Those Opinions, M. Terri Voit-Devine

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate decision-makers' opinions about what was to be contained in comprehensive sex education programs, the degree to which decision makers believed course information was likely to be part of their own curriculum, and how much support they believed the community would give to various parts of the curriculum.

The instrument used in the study was created by combining parts of surveys by Wayne (1981) and Marini and Jones (1983). The study compared the opinions of decision makers about guidelines to be used when implementing sex education, reasons for offering sex education, reasons for …

Effectiveness Of Employee Participation Groups In A Manufacturing Company, John F. Blamy

Dissertations

This case study investigated the short term effectiveness of Quality of Work Life participation groups in a Midwest manufacturing division of a major worldwide automotive corporation. Six traditional procedural measures were used to evaluate performance. These measures of performance were: employee attendance, written grievances, scrap produced, quality audits, customer complaints, and productivity.

Six hypotheses were formulated for this study: (1) Employees in departments with employee participation groups will improve their attendance more than employees in departments that do not have employee participation groups. (2) Employees in departments with employee participation groups will decrease the number of formal grievances more than …

Determinants Of Student-Faculty Informal Contact, Alan W. Barr

Dissertations

There was an examination in this study of the relationship of classroom experiences (cues) and professorial initiative to the frequency of informal student-faculty interaction in the freshman year. The research was conducted at an independent, four-year urban college in the state of Michigan with a predominantly commuter population. A survey instrument was administered to the entire freshman class in the Spring semester of 1988. Information was derived from the survey on the nature and frequency of informal faculty-student contact.

Out of the 137 freshman receiving surveys, 101 returned them. The response rate was 74%. Data from one survey returned were …

The Effects Of Using Print Media In Teaching Critical Thinking Skills To Adult Students, Gloria Jean Mccormick

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of an educational program in which print media were employed to teach critical thinking skills to adult education students. The major problem of this research was whether or not adult students, who lack a high school diploma, show greater improvement in critical thinking if they participate in a critical thinking skills program using print media, than if they do not. Adult education students in three suburban school districts of Macomb County, Michigan were the subjects of this study.

The methodology used in this study was a non-randomized control group, prettest-posttest …

Correlation Of American College Test Scores In Mathematics With First Semester College Freshman Grade Point Average, J. David Lester

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

An applied project presented to the faculty of the School of Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Specialist in Education by J. David Lester on July 28, 1988.

An Analysis Of The Reading Program At Big Rock Elementary School, Joyce T. Sanders

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

An applied project presented to the faculty of the School of Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Education Specialist in Administration by Joyce T. Sanders July 25, 1988.

Administrator And Consultant Perceptions Of Consultant Services In Michigan Schools, Julia A. Berg

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine administrator and consultant perceptions regarding consultant services in Michigan schools as related to: (a) services provided, (b) roles, (c) sources of funding, (d) sources for identifying services, (e) characteristics and components that may influence selection, and (f) methods used for evaluation. A review of literature was conducted related to the six survey questions of the study.

Responses to surveys were analyzed from 116 (85% response rate) randomly selected Michigan school superintendents and other administrators and 58 (58% response rate) consultants identified as providing service in Michigan school districts during the 1986-87 school …

The Effects Of Caretaking Settings On School Readiness Of 4-Year-Olds, Joan C. Sergent

Dissertations

The effects of daytime caretaking settings and the nature and number of activities in those settings on school readiness and receptive language levels of 4-year-old children were investigated. Daytime caretaking settings, defined as the setting experienced by the 4-year-old the year prior to entering kindergarten, were determined through interviews administered to the parent/guardian of each of the 185 4-year-old participants. School readiness and receptive language levels of the 4-year-old participants were determined by individual administration of the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test (GSRST) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) respectively. The settings were categorized as group educational, such as preschool …

A Texas State Plan And Guidelines For The Education Of The Gifted And Talented: Is There Evidence Of Discrimination Toward Minority Children?, Danny C. Dillard

Student Dissertations & Theses

This paper addresses The Texas State Plan and Guidelines for the Education of the Gifted and Talented which was developed by the Texas Education Agency in 1980 to assist local school districts in planning and implementing programs for the gifted. The purpose of the paper is to address the plan and guidelines and determine whether or not they tend to lead to discrimination against the minority populations within schools. It examines five major areas of concern: the local definition of gifted and talented, the biases and attitudes of members of the community and educators in the school system, the criteria …

An Investigation Of The Traditional And Non-Traditional College Students' Perceived Benefits Regarding Participation In The Cooperative Education Program, Beatrice C. Ullrich

Dissertations

Cooperative education has become an important component of education. The basis for cooperative education is that learning occurs outside the classroom as well as in the classroom. The shift in employment patterns from an industrial society to a knowledge and information based society means that many of the existing types of jobs will disappear. The value of cooperative education exists in its ability to provide a transition from school to work and its flexibility to respond to industries' needs and individuals' training needs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of the traditional cooperative education student and …

Outcomes Assessment: A Model For A Private Two-Year College, D. Fred Landrum

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

Applied project presented to the faculty of the School of Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Education Specialist by D. Fred Landrum on April 20, 1988.

The Effects Of Aerobic Exercise On Anxiety In Pregnant Women, Janet L. Fourman

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine if aerobic exercise affects trait anxiety in pregnant women and if selected demographic variables relate to trait anxiety. These variables were age, occupation, family income, general physical and mental health, education, lifestyle, and previous exercise history. The independent variable was aerobic exercise. The dependent variable was anxiety which was measured by the trait portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1983).

This research was quasi-experimental and used the Solomon Four-Group Design. The experimental group consisted of women who participated in a Pregnancy Fitness Aerobic exercise program for the duration of their pregnancies. …

Training-Program Evaluation: An Investigation Of Perceptions And Practices In Nonmanufacturing Business Organizations, Sarah P. Gutek

Dissertations

Despite the proliferation of evaluation literature and business and industry's growing investment in training activities, the evaluation component of training programs remains underdeveloped. Without evaluating the merit and worth of training, there is little evidence that organizations are getting a return on investment from training programs they sponsor.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the discrepancy between the emphasis on training-program evaluation in professional literature and actual practice in the field. The writer examined the perceptions of two stakeholders in the training process: upper-level managers and training directors.

Three hypotheses concerned the relationship between the frequency with which …

Educational Outcomes Of Children With Two Working Parents, Michael B. Dib

Dissertations

In this study five measures of ability or achievement (I.Q., reading comprehension, vocabulary, math concepts, and math computation) for each of four grade levels (third, fourth, fifth, and sixth) were analyzed to determine whether there were significant differences for students from traditional working parent families and students from two-working-parent families. An ex post facto design was used.

Subjects were 335 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students from a single public school district in the state of Michigan. These students were identified by teachers or principals as being from either a traditional or a two-working-parent family. All ability and achievement …

The Influence Of Brain Hemisphericity On The Composing Process Of Twelfth Graders, Reinholdine Breien-Pierson

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Despite the popularization of the concept of brain hemispheric dominance, little serious research has been done in the area of the role of brain hemisphericity in learning and thought. The purpose of this case study was to explore the role of hemisphericity in the area of student composition to test the theory that the composing process and writing of student papers differs relative to the students' hemispheric dominance. A second area of investigation was to test the theory that teachers value papers written by students who share their hemispheric dominance.

The subjects, eight twelfth graders and four (English) teacher evaluators, …

A Survey Of Oral Communication Instructional Practices In The Elementary Public Schools Of Michigan, James N. Walker

Dissertations

Instruction in oral communication is critical to education. Oral communication skills are needed in the development of skills in written language, math, problem solving, and reading. Oral communication skills are important in achieving academic, vocational, and personal success. On November 1, 1978, speech education was recognized as a basic skill by United States law.

The purpose of this study was to determine the oral communication instructional practices in Michigan public elementary schools grades K-5. Eight research questions were identified:

(1) Is instruction provided? (2) What is the "basis" for instruction? (3) What materials are used? (4) What is the method …

A Comparative Study Of Student Directed Dialogue Journal Writing And Teacher Directed Dialogue Journal Writing, Yolanda Paez Bailey

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to compare student directed dialogue journal writing with teacher directed dialogue journal writing. Eleven students in the student directed group wrote about self-generated topics while 12 students in the teacher directed group wrote on topics selected by the teacher. Data were analyzed in the areas of amount of writing generated, types of language functions, topics and the ability to stay on topic, level of technical improvement, types of questions posed by students and teacher, and attitudes towards writing. The results revealed that both student directed dialogue journal writing and teacher directed dialogue journal writing …

Chapter 1/Learning Assistance Program Handbook: Central Kitsap School District, Martha Fitzgerald Skinner

All Graduate Projects

A review and development process resulted in a the Chapter 1/Learning Assistance Program Handbook for use in the Central Kitsap School District in 1986 as a procedural reference for the coordinated efforts of the Federally-funded Chapter 1 Regular Program and the State-funded Learning Assistance Program. The handbook details procedures which allow the school district to comply with Washington State regulations which are designed to meet Federal guidelines. During the 1986-87 school year, the handbook was utilized by school district personnel and program staff. A revision incorporating modifications of procedures and clarifications of wording was completed prior to the beginning of …

The Relationship Between A Principal's Self-Perceived Leader Style And Self-Perceived Job Stress, Paul Harrison Bisher Ii

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between a principal’s self-perceived leader style, self-perceived job stress and self-reported demographics.

The three null hypotheses were answered by analyzing data collected from a stratified random sampling of elementary and secondary principals in the West Virginia public school system. A three part questionnaire was used to collect the data. The first section of the questionnaire consisted of twelve statements regarding demographic information. The second section consisted of Hersey & Blanchard’s LEAD-Self instrument. The third section consisted of Tung & Koch's revised Administrative Stress Index which contained twenty-five job related stressor …

A Predictive Validation Study Of Criterion-Referenced Tests For The Certification Of Soldiers In Specialist-Level Military Training Programs, Darl Mcdaniels

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Problem. This study assessed the predictive validity of criterion-referenced tests in a military setting with cutoff scores set by the Angoff and conventional score-setting methods.;Procedure. Thirty-six instructors and thirty-six specialists assessed each test item for job relevance and the probability that a minimally competent person would answer each question correctly, resulting in a new test cutoff score. Intragroup variability and interrater reliability of judgments were calculated. Test predictive validity assessment compared classroom test scores, supervisory rating scores, and skill qualification test scores of 100 job performers based on the two score-setting methods. Sample sizes varied from 17 to 100. Behaviorally …

School Effectiveness Factors And Elements Likely To Enhance Student Performance In The Kell, Illinois, Consolidated School District, Bob C. Wilson

Masters Theses

This study identified from the literature and research school effectiveness factors which can be applied to the Kell Community Consolidated School District for the purpose of improvement. The seven factors identified were: (1) Safe and orderly environment, (2) Clear and focused school mission, (3) Instructional leadership, (4) School climate of high expectations, (5) Opportunity to learn and student time on task, (6) Frequent monitoring of student progress, and (7) Home-school relations. This study also identified elements within each of the seven school effectiveness factors which could be utilized by the Kell Community Consolidated School District to conduct a self-evaluation. These …

A Curriculum Design Using Mnemonic-Type Techniques To Aid Recall In Low/Average Achievers In The Fifth Grade, Blanche Floannell Fuqua Mcmath

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children in the Duval County School System in Jacksonville, Florida, who are low/average achievers have to compete in a multi-graded classroom atmosphere. These students are passed along supported by low minimum-based competency test scores. The purpose of this project was to show teachers how they can present mnemonic procedures to these students in an effort to help these students raise test scores, boost self-esteem, and provide a self-help study device that can aid their progress in subsequent grades, aid morale, and thus avoid potential drop-outs in the system. This curriculum design is offered in the subjects of health and science. …

Computers And The School Principal, Paul Henry Nelson

All Master's Theses

The presence of the microcomputer in society and education is on the increase. This study compared the expertise and use of computers by elementary principals, to the availability and attitudes of its implementation by the teaching staff. A questionnaire elicited data from principals and revealed that they indirectly influenced the increase of computer use by teachers by providing inservice opportunities, workshops, and courses, and directly influenced them by providing personal encouragement. Several recommendations were made concerning administrative use of computers.

A Study Of Principals' Leadership Behavior In One Suburban School District, Darleen Huber-Dilbeck

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the leadership behavior of principals as perceived by the teachers and principals of one suburban school district. Research questions asked were: (1) Are there significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers concerning principals' leadership behavior on the twelve subscales of the LBDQ-XII? (2) Are there significant differences in viewing the leadership role when teachers' age, gender, teaching experience, level of training, or teaching assignment is considered?

This descriptive study invited 350 randomly selected teachers and all of the principals from 35 elementary, intermediate, and high schools in one suburban school …

Enhancing Organizational Effectiveness Through Use Of The Myers- Briggs Type Indicator, Patricia Sclater Thompson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Ability Grouping Of Mathematics Students At The Argenta-Oreana Middle School, Steven L. Mitchell

Masters Theses

This field experience investigated the effects of ability grouping mathematics students at the Argenta-Oreana Middle School in Oreana, Illinois. This study investigated the perceptions of teacher attitudes toward abilty grouping mathematics students, the effects ability grouping has had on grades assigned to eighth grade students and the effects ability grouping has had on eighth grade student achievement test scores. A two tailed t-test for the difference of means at the .05 level of significance was used to analyze the data collected. The perception survey information collected from 11 teachers determined that no statistically significant differences existed between the perceptions of …

A Comparison Of The Predictive Ability Of Selected Variables Upon Success On The American Society Of Clinical Pathologists Medical Technology Registry Exam, Carmine Thomas Somma Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The use of the Allied Health Professions Admissions Test (AHPAT) as an admission tool to upper level medical technology programs was compared against the most commonly accepted criteria of overall grade point average (OG) and science grade point average (SG). The comparison was based on how well each predicted success on the Board of Registry Exam of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. The sample population included admission and program data on 129 graduates of a University 2 + 2 Medical Technology Program from 1980 to 1986. The population consisted mostly of white (81.4%) (n = 105) females (83.0%) (n …

Pre-Academy Placement In The Washington State Patrol: Factors Associated With Academy And Job Performance, Richard Franklin Hamack

All Master's Theses

Washington State Patrol Trooper Cadets serve in a number of positions, a number of locations across the state and for varying lengths of time before they are selected to attend the academy. The purpose of the present research was to determine whether these factors were related to subsequent academy performance and job performance.

To that end, 255 cadets hired between 1979 and 1985 were studied. The results indicated that only pre-academy assignment duration was significantly correlated with academy completion and academy performance. Implications for further research and departmental policy are discussed.