Education Commons^™

Children’S Interactions With Peers Before And After Participating In A Positive And Negative Peer Nomination Technique, Elizabeth Ann Barton

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Positive and negative peer nomination techniques are essential to the identification of children with social skills deficits. Some researchers, school administrators, teachers, and parents view the administration of peer nomination techniques as harmful to children. The present investigation examined the effects of positive and negative peer nomination techniques on children's peer interactions and on Unpopular peers; (i.e., Rejected and Neglected) interactions. Fourth graders (n = 54) completed nomination techniques, the children's Loneliness Questionnaire, and the Children's Friendship Questionnaire. The experimental group (n = 26) completed positive and negative peer nomination techniques, and the control group (n = 28) completed positive …

Utility Of The Mmpi-A In Predicting Suicidal Behavior In Adolescent Inpatients, Kimberly Juhl King

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was designed to examine whether the new Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--Adolescent (MMPI-A) Content Scales could assist in the identification and prediction of suicidal behaviors in adolescent inpatients. In addition, the relationship of the MMPI-A Content Scales and four indirect and four direct measures of suicidal risk were examined. The four indirect measures of suicidal risk were the Brief Symptom Inventory subscales of depression, psychoticism, and hostility and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Subjects were adolescent inpatients ages 15 to 18 (n = 135). Subjects were divided into two groups based on psychiatric diagnosis at admission and responses of …

Television Violence: An American And Japanese Comparison, Tanya I. Clausen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the incidents of violence broadcast by American and Japanese television networks, as measured by the Index of Television Violence (ITV), to determine if they differed with respect to (a) the variation between the broadcast networks observed in each country, (b) the variation between the day observed in each country, (c) the variation between the day and the broadcast network observed, (d) the observed incidents of televised violence, and (e) the types of televised violence. Data were gathered from three national broadcast networks in each country on three alternate nights from the hours …

Science In A Constructivist Classroom: Progress In A Five-Year-Old Child's Reasoning About Water Dynamics, Hyang-Lim Kwak

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study is to understand changes in a target child’s reasoning about water dynamics, specifically, draining and movement of water in tubes. The study also focuses on development and evaluation of activities and teaching strategies. The activities were conducted with all children in the preschool at a public elementary school in Iowa as part of the regular classroom constructivist program inspired by Piaget’s work. Using Piaget’s theory to provide insights into the child’s reasoning and knowledge, analysis focused on the child’s construction of regularities between his actions and reactions of water, and on the construction of relationships …

Factor Analysis Of The Wais-R And Selected Indices Of The Wms-R, Kathy S. Hayward

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study replicates a study conducted by Harmon, Clausen, and Scott (1993) in which these researchers attempted to define the number of factors present in the cognitive factor structure of adults in a vocational rehabilitation setting. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Verbal Memory and Visual Memory Indices of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) were the instruments used to define the factors in the Harmon et al. (1993) study as well as the current study. A larger sample size was utilized in the present study and went on to define the cognitive factor structure of these individuals by …

The Impact Of Follow-Up Discussion On Student Learning From Channel One, Gary Arthur Borlaug

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Channel One, a news and features program delivered via satellite to over 40% of junior and senior high school students in the United States, has been the subject of persistent scrutiny regarding the educational value of its daily 10-minute presence in schools. Channel One’s curriculum includes three major components: (a) current events; (b) social issues such as drug abuse, teen pregnancy, depression, prejudice, and so on; and (c) commercial advertisements. Previous studies have been conducted to examine the impact of the current events and advertisement components but not of the social issues component.Studies designed to measure how much students learned …

Perceived Importance Of Iso 9000 Factors As Indicators Of Quality In Industrial Technology Related Programs At Four-Year State Regional Universities, Floyd L. Olson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Industry has often used a quality standard known as ISO 9000. No evidence has been located demonstrating the applicability of an industrial quality model to a singular academic department. The problem of this study was to determine if the guidelines for ISO 9004-2 could have been considered appropriate for Industrial Technology related programs and how they could have been used to indicate quality within such programs.

The purpose of this study was to seek knowledge relating the importance of ISO 9004-2 guidelines to audit and/or improve the quality management of Industrial Technology related departments at 4-year state regional universities. This …

The Identification And Analysis Of Factors Perceived As Important To The Success Of Interactive Distance Education, Terry Dean Goro

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to provide distance education instructors, who teach over a two-way audio and two-way video interactive system, a list of strategies or skills that could be applied in the distance education environment to help ensure success. Further, differences in perceptions among users of the system regarding importance of these strategies were identified.

A Delphi study was done, utilizing a professional panel, to establish important strategies for distance education. The results of the Delphi study resulted in the identification of 99 important items. These items were placed in a survey which was administered to four groups …

Code-Switching And Sentence Imitation By African-American Students, Aaron Richardson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

he purpose of the present study was to identify the accuracy of sentence imitation and code-switching by the African-American child between the ages of 6 years O months and 7 years 2 months. Despite well documented descriptions of Black English (BE) phonology (Dillard, 1972; Labov, 1972; Wolfram & Fasold, 1974), little has been published about the emerging phonology of BE speaking children. Most descriptive studies of BE have focused on the adult system.

The present study investigated the following research questions, "Will African-American children in this study, when presented with the task of imitating BE and IE sentences, code-switch each …

Childhood Obesity, Denise Kay Volker

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The contributing factors in childhood obesity include psychological, physical fitness, and social elements. Much previous literature has studied such variables in isolation or in limited combinations. There is a need for multivariate approaches to the research in childhood obesity. The research question in this study was to determine was there any relationship between the subjects self-esteem, psychological and health locus-of-control, nutritional knowledge, food choices, and physical fitness, that will significantly distinguish overweight and normal weight youth, as determined through the measures of the PiersHarris Children's Self Concept Scale (PHCSCS), the Nowick~Strickland Loc4s-of-Control scale (CNS-IE), the Multidimensional Health Locus-of-Control scale (MHLC), …

An Investigation Of Changing Concerns Toward Instructional Computer Use During Student Teaching, Roderick E. Winters

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated hypothesized change in the concerns of student teachers toward instructional computer use during an eight week student teaching experience. In Phase 1, information concerning seven variables which have the potential to influence teacher computer utilization was collected from student teachers and their cooperating teachers. In addition, seven dimensions of concern toward employment of instructional computer use were examined by administering the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) before and after the student teaching experience.

Multiple regression analysis indicated that change in only one of the seven stages of concern (concerns toward collaboration) could be predicted by any of …

Participative Leadership: A Study Of Faculty And Administrators In A Lutheran Liberal Arts College, Tekeste Teclu

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Despite the numerous reference to and importance of the term "participative leadership" in various leadership and organizational theories and practices, the term itself remains ambiguous. While it is often used synonymously with terms such as collaborative, autonomy, influence, participative decision making, collegiality, and team, many people questioned whether these terms are truly synonymous. Moreover, because those who advocate this approach to leadership have many purposes in mind, the practice of participative leadership manifests itself in different forms. Hence, a need exists to clarify as to what practices are actually participative.

This study examines the meaning of the concept in theory …

A Comparative Study Of The Perceived Educational Needs Of Iowa Merged Area Vii Manufacturers And Iowa Technical Educators, David D. Bradney

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research was a descriptive pilot study that compared the perceptions of Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturers and Iowa technical educators regarding technical curricula, occupational skill certification, and drafting practices as these relate to Associate Degree programs in Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology. The problem was to determine what should be taught in two year technical curricula in Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology. The purpose of the study was to compare the perceived educational needs of Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturers and Iowa technical educators regarding the content of Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology curricula. The populations used for this …

Are Learning Disabilities Discovered Or Constructed: The Unintended Consequences And Failures Of Realism As The Philosophical Basis Of Learning Disabilities Theory, Nicole C. Buhl

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

The historical and current conceptualization of learning disabilities was analyzed in terms of its underlying assumptions and guiding paradigms. It was determined that since its beginning, the field of learning disabilities has been dominated by the traditional realist perspective under the mechanistic paradigm. It was argued that such a perspective is inadequate in the field of learning disabilities. A nonrealist perspective as part of a holistic paradigm was suggested as more appropriate for the conceptualization of learning disabilities.

Cognitive Rehabilitation In Mild To Moderate Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Comparison Of Pqrst And Think-Aloud Strategies, Kris Marie Franzen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The present study-investigated the effectiveness of Robinson's (1970) PQRST technique for improving reading comprehension in two 10 year old boys with mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). A counterbalanced cross-over design was utilized and Smith and Dauer's (1984) think-aloud technique was used as an attention control condition. A third, 10 year old, boy without a history of TBI also participated in the study for comparison purposes and received no active intervention. The PQRST technique was successful in improving several measures of reading comprehension. While the study was not designed to definitively identify the technique's generalizability or long-term benefits, effectiveness …

Process Of Educational Innovation: A Micropolitical Study Of The Implementation Of A Team Teaching Model, Bruce Steven Frana

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This is a two-year case study, conducted in a large school district (over 10,000 students), of an attempt to introduce interdisciplinary team teaching at the high school level. The purpose of this study was to examine what teachers do and think as they engage in the process of implementing educational reform. I believed initially that the success or failure of educational reform depended largely on the actual teachers involved in implementing that reform. Once I was in the setting, however, it was clear that administrators must be included because reform depends on much more than what teachers do and think. …