Education Commons^™

Characteristics Of Community Foundations At Different Ages And Asset Sizes, Kathryn Ann Agard

Dissertations

This dissertation identifies a growth pattern for community foundations. The study is based on a comparative review of 89 community foundations selected on a stratified random sample basis from the membership of the Council on Foundations. Changes in the administrative , social, strategic, and technical systems were studied. Measurements were taken on 35 indicators and analyzed through descriptive and correlational statistics .

The findings of this study indicate that there is a pattern to the change in each of the administrative, social, strategic, and technical systems in the foundations studied. The pattern of change is correlated to the two independent …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Matching Student Learning Style To The Method Of Instruction, Addamae Akin

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if matching student learning style and teacher teaching style w ill result in any difference in achievement of students in the classroom as measured by the number of students receiving credit in ninth-grade world history classes.

The study was conducted in a mid-size Macomb County, Michigan, school district. Two hundred fifteen ninth-grade students and four teachers participated in this study. World history classes were used because of their heterogeneous grouping and because i t was a required ninth-grade class.

Students were administered the Learning Style Profile (Keefe & Monk, 1986) from the …

Factors Associated With Success In A Participative Decision Making Program For Supervisors, Managers, And Salaried Professionals, Eric Paul De Nijs

Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the factors associated with success in a participative decision making program, based on the quality circle concept, involving teams of first-line supervisors, managers, and salaried professionals. The teams were formed to initiate and implement cost saving projects. A total of 35 subjects from six teams participated in the study conducted in a food processing company located in the Midwest. Cross-functional teams representing the main functional areas of a company were ranked on the basis of their success, defined as the proportion of the savings goal the team attained. From this ranking, the top three …

A Study Of Selected Strategies For Allocating Funds To Improve County Roads, Ronald E. Reid

Dissertations

Strategies for the ranking of county road improvement projects can be based on a rating that reflects the physical condition of the pavement, a rating that reflects the pavement roughness, a rating that incorporates the combination of physical condition of the pavement and the pavement roughness (its pavement serviceability rating), or a rating that takes into account the age of the pavement and amount of traffic

This study compared the relationship between the strategy of the ranking of each road segment based on that segment's: (a) surface distress rating and roughness rating, (b) surface distress rating and pavement serviceability rating, …

The Naturalistic Study Of Performance Feedback In A Higher Education Administrative Setting, Karen M. Reese

Dissertations

Examined in this study is the performance feedback provided to administrative staff at the research location and the relationship of that feedback to performance. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from 27 subjects at a small midwestern coeducational public university. Six research questions were investigated: the conditions under which feedback occurs, the sources of feedback and their relative usefulness, barriers to feedback giving and seeking, and the relationship of feedback to performance.

The desire to correct a deficiency was the primary catalyst to informal feedback being given to staff. Supervisors became aware of staffs' deficiencies through observation and complaints from …

An Analysis Of Student Math Scores Based Upon Teacher Training In The Instructional Theory Into Practice Model, Martha O'Kray

Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to determine if teacher participation in Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP , Hunter, 1978) training resulted in any difference in student achievement. Student outcomes were measured by scores received on the district's Exit Level Mathematics Test (Roseville Community Schools, 1986).

The study took place in Roseville Community Schools. Six hundred forty-nine students and 32 teachers in Grades 3, 4, and 5 participated.

Fourteen teacher observations were included to confirm the appropriateness and frequency of ITIP strategies in classroom instruction. Observers using the Instructional S kills Observation Instrument (ISOI, Wolfe, 1984) scored non-ITIP-trained teachers …

Identifying A 9-12 Curriculum For High Schools In The Upper Peninsula Of Michigan, Patrick Manning

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify high school graduation standards for high schools in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The standards should meet the state of Michigan recommendations or standards for high school graduation. In addition, recommendations of local, state , and national studies and commission reports were included. A comparison was made between a ll Upper Peninsula high schools' graduation requirements for both non-college-bound and college-bound students and the Michigan State Board of Education recommended graduation requirements and those of the Michigan College Presidents Council.

Inquiry was made into course cred it requirements for graduation, recommended curriculum …

An Analysis Of The Utilization Of Power By Florence Nightingale 1856-1872, Louise C. Selanders

Dissertations

This historical analysis sought to determine the types of power utilized by Florence Nightingale while providing leadership to major reforms and how these power acts were implemented- The scope of the study was her productive post- Crimean years from 1856 through 1872. Events which were examined included the reform of the health of the British Army including the Royal Commission, the establishment of modem, secular nursing education and the establishment of public health standards in India during British colonization.

The power acts were examined relative to the constituents of power defined by Dahl (1957). The source of power contained subsets …

Women And Leadership: The Effect Of Gender, Gender-Role Orientation, Socioeconomic Status, And Parental Influence On Women’S Aspirations To Leader Roles, Barbara Katherine Kreuzer

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine which factor or combination of factors are related to the degree to which university women aspire to leadership positions. A random sample of university seniors (N=311) from the business, teacher education, and political science curricula were surveyed by mail. The study attempted to answer the following seven research questions: (1) Are there gender differences among university seniors' aspirations to leader positions, (2) are there differences among university seniors' aspirations to leadership based upon curriculum, (3) are there gender differences among university seniors in their projections of classmates into career roles, (4) are …

The Effects Of An Integrated Environment On Specific Target Behaviors In Severely Impaired Young Children, Rosemarie R. Smith

Masters Theses

Four severely impaired children, ages four to seven, were integrated in a non-handicapped preschool setting during a free play period. A multiple baseline design was used to study the environment's effect on specific target behaviors. No intervention, other than the classroom setting, was implemented to effect levels of these behaviors. The results were mixed with one student showing a marked increased in the desired behavior from.136 occurrences per minute to 1.73 occurrences per minute. However, a second subject's desired behavior decreased from 2.0 occurrences per minute to.194 occurrences per minute. The target behaviors of the remaining two subjects remained unchanged. …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Developmental Kindergarten Program In The Troy Schools, Troy, Michigan, Dennis H. Raetzke

Dissertations

This study evaluated the long-term effects of developmental kindergarten on reading achievement, grade retention, and special education services. Data were collected for 84 subjects from 12 participating elementary schools in Troy, Michigan. Forty-two subjects in the experimental group were matched with 42 subjects from the control group. Pairs were matched according to age within 6 months, gender, and to ta l score on the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R, Mardel1-Czudnowski & Goldenberg, 1983) screening test.

Multivariate analysis of covariance, used to analyze the effects of developmental kindergarten participation on reading achievement over time, indicated no significant results …

The Effect Of Varying Weightload Intensities On Biceps Curl Technique, Jeffrey C. Gailhouse

Masters Theses

This study described biomechanical deviations from proper biceps curl technique specifically in the shoulder, trunk, body and knee angles, that occurred in response to varying intensities of an individual's 1 RM (repetition maximum). Ten college age males participated in the study. Subjects were required to perform one repetition at 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and 100% of his 1 RM. The only differentiating factor was the order in which the five intensities were performed. Condition order was randomized to minimize bias. Movement was filmed with a high-speed motion picture camera, digitized and then analyzed with computer software.

The findings indicated that …

The Effects Of Public-Posted Feedback On The Use Of A Photocopy Machine By Faculty In An Academic Department, Shijing Hu

Masters Theses

This study assessed the effects of a public-posting intervention on photocopy machine use by faculty members in an academic department. Public posting included posting of a chart that displayed number of copies made each week by individual faculty members along with the average cumulative rate of copying for previous weeks for each person. The intervention was applied in an A-B-A reversal design where data were collected prior to the intervention under usual conditions (A), during public posting (B), and after the public posting intervention was removed and usual conditions were restored (A). The results indicated that: (1) number of copies …

Effects Of Western Education On Employees' Participation And Job Satisfaction In Saudi Arabian Industries, Abdulrahman Y. Al-Selaim

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what degree Western education and Saudi Arabian employees' degree of participation in quality circle programs influences their job satisfaction. These variables were investigated using a survey administered to 150 Saudi Arabian employees working in the production department of a Saudi Arabian company. The Questionnaire of Participation and Satisfaction (QPS) instrument that was used in this investigation is a 20-item questionnaire; items 1-13 were developed by the researcher, and items 14-20 were developed by Abbas (1985). The questionnaire consisted of three components designed to determine: where employees were educated, as well as …

Transformational Leadership: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Joseph Mark Gasper

Dissertations

Transformational leadership was introduced by James MacGregor Bums in 1978. This new paradigm described the leader and follower interaction as a mutually elevating process which Bernard Bass later described as performance beyond normal expectations. Transformational leadership theory has been expanded and extended by numerous authors and has been the focus of numerous research studies over the years.

Bass and his colleagues have been the most prolific researchers on the subject. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass, 1985) was developed to measure the extent to which a leader demonstrates transformational and transactional leadership. The MLQ also provides a measure of the …

Factors Influencing Persistence Of Adult Students In High School Completion Programs, Joan E. Garbarino

Dissertations

This research was conducted to contrast adult persisters' and dropouts' perceptions of the importance of institutional, situational, and dispositional barriers to high school completion.

Institutional factors included staff support, curriculum , student services, and logistical considerations. Situational factors were family and friend support, time, employment, and health. Dispositional factors included attitudes toward education, academic preparedness plus expectations, and satisfaction.

Completers who graduated and noncompleters who dropped out before graduation were surveyed. Statistical analysis allowed the researcher to test differences between the perceptions of persisters and dropouts in regard to eleven factors found in the three major barriers. It also revealed …

The R Value At Vo2 Max During Maximal Graded Exercise Treadmill Tests Of Coronary Artery Diseased And Nondiseased Subjects, Sherry S. Williams

Masters Theses

This study examined the R value at VO2 max during maximal graded treadmill exercise tests to determine if it was a reliable indicator of VO2 max and could therefore be used as a test termination criterion. The subjects in this study were 160 coronary artery diseased (CAD) patients and 170 nondiseased individuals. Data were collected from existing stress test records. The R value was also analyzed to determine if proportions of diseased and nondiseased subjects were the same. The time it took 100 CAD patients to reach VO2 max and exhaustion once R rose above 1.00 was also examined.

The …

The Effectiveness Of Special Education Placement And Services: A Descriptive Study, Michelle D. Lewis

Masters Theses

This descriptive study evaluated the effectiveness of special education placement and services over a three year period o f time. The files of seventeen students were chosen for the study. The study took place in two school districts in Southwestern Michigan.

The findings from this study indicate that: (a) there was an increase in test scores in the area of Performance IQ, and (b) there was a significant decrease in test scores in the area o f Math Calculation. There was a general trend, although not significant, of a decrease in scores in all areas of ability and achievement except …

A Study Of Cooperative Learning At The High School Level, Lisabeth S. Margulus

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions:

1. Which teacher skills are necessary to implement effective teamwork in a classroom?

2. What kind of learning environment is optimal for implementing effective teamwork in a classroom?

3. In classrooms using teamwork, does greater student achievement occur than in classrooms not using teamwork?

The study outlined the specific teacher skills and described the optimal learning environment for implementing cooperative strategies in high school classrooms. To address the third question , an experimental study was conducted in which sixty-four 10th-,11th-, and 12th-grade Business Applications and Technology students in …

Self-Efficacy And Academic Success Of Integrated And Segregated Emotionally Impaired Adolescents, Jerry William Davisson

Dissertations

In this study, levels of self-efficacy and levels of academic success of emotionally impaired adolescents in both integrated and segregated settings were analyzed. The data were analyzed to determine if placement setting (integrated or segregated) impact: self-efficiency levels, academic success levels, and the relationship between self-efficiency and academic success.

Subjects were selected from two junior high schools within Macomb County, Michigan. The integrated junior high educated emotionally impaired students with nonimpaired students and the segregated junior high educated emotionally impaired students with only other emotionally impaired students. Eleven students from the integrated junior high and 28 students from the segregated …

A Descriptive Study Of The Development And Validation Of A Curriculum Development Process For Occupational Therapy In An Institution Of Higher Education, Alfred G. Bracciano

Dissertations

This was a descriptive study of a curriculum development process for occupational therapy at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. A four-stage process was designed and documented. These stages included: (1) feasibility , (2) curriculum design and development, (3) review and evaluation-validation for each component, and (4 ) implementation stage.

The study was conducted to develop a curriculum development process that was academically appropriate for occupational therapy programs for institutions of higher education and which met identified needs as set forth by the feasibility study and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), Division of Education. Further, the study undertook to …

The Financial Implications Of School District Consolidation In Michigan, William P. Letarte

Dissertations

The consolidation of public school districts in Michigan has again become an issue with the state legislature with the introduction of Senate Bill 570 of 1989 and Senate Bill 344 of 1991, both of which have proposed a reduction in the number of school districts to a maximum of 200 and a minimum size of 2,000 students per district. The last major legislative initiative in Michigan was from 1960 to 1970 when the number of public school districts was reduced from 2,149 to 638.

The purpose of this study was to develop a model of school district reorganization and then …

The Extent To Which The Career Guidance And Counseling Component Is Addressed In The Administration Of Tech Prep Programs, Linda Joan Kwasny

Dissertations

This study examined the career guidance and counseling component of tech prep projects that were being planned and implemented in Michigan during the 1990-91 school year. A survey was conducted of all eleven consortia operating funded tech prep projects to determine the involvement of secondary and post-secondary guidance professionals in tech prep planning, the extent of articulation of guidance services for regular and special populations tech prep students, and the nature and extent of the career guidance and counseling programs that were being planned for regular and special populations students.

The findings from this study indicate that for secondary and …

Mathematical Problem Solving: Changing Students' Attitudes Through The Use Of Heuristics, Lori Fulton

Honors Theses

Current research indicates that "...the teaching of problem solving is regarded by many as the most important and fundamental goal of school mathematics instruction" (Silver & Thompson, 1984). The fact that problem solving is considered a goal of mathematics instruction leads this writer to believe that the methodology involved should also be examined. In order to have successful programs both the teachers and the students must feel comfortable working with the problems. Past experience has made this writer aware that often this is not the case.

A High School Physics Program Stressing Application To Concept Instead Of The Traditional Concept To Application Approach, William Semrau

Honors Theses

It is well documented that there is a general lack of enthusiasm displayed by most high school students towards the sciences. Questions such as "Why are we studying this, I'll never use it?", "This is boring.", and "How does this relate to the real world?" are common in the classroom. This study seeks answers to why so many students feel this way, what has been done to improve student attitudes and interest, and includes recommendations to improve high school science education, particularly in physics.

Choreography For The Camera: An Historical, Critical, And Empirical Study, Vana Patrice Carter

Masters Theses

This study investigates whether a dance choreographer's lack of knowledge of film, television, or video theory and technology, particularly the capabilities of the camera and montage, restricts choreographic communication via these media.

First, several film and television choreographers were surveyed. Second, the literature was analyzed to determine the evolution of dance on film and television (from the choreographers' perspective). Third, shooting and editing theories that maximize kinesthesis were examined.

Three primary conclusions were drawn: (1) Historically, choreographers of critically acclaimed film or television products seemed to understand major principles for shooting and montage; (2) choreographers who expanded their knowledge of …

A Comparison Of Junior High Schools To Middle Schools With Respect To Achievement And Attendance, Darrell Clay

Dissertations

During the past 30 years, the middle school movement has been a comprehensive effort to restructure middle level education. Literally thousands of school districts have chosen to change from junior high schools to middle schools for a variety of reasons. Research to support this massive reorganization of American schools has not been evident. The early research did not provide consistent evidence of improvement for middle school students. Most of this early research was based solely on the grade configuration of the schools being compared rather than the conceptual framework of the school.

The purpose of this study was to compare …

A Comparison Of Percent Body Fat Calculated By Three Methods: Hydrostatic Weighing, Skinfolds, And Near Infrared Technique, James W. Hill

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the near infrared technique for assessing body composition. Hydrostatic weighing was used as the criterion measure to which skinfold technique and near infrared technique (as measured by the Futrex-5000) were compared. Two hundred subjects (115 females, 85 males) had their body composition assessed by the three techniques. The intraclass reliability of the Futrex-5000 was measured at r = .997. The Pearson product-moment correlation between hydrostatic weighing and the Futrex-5000 was r = .71 p < .01. The mean percent body fat derived from hydrostatic weighing was 19.3% compared to 21.6% for the Futrex-5000. At test indicated a significant difference between the mean percent body fats calculated by hydrostatic weighing and the Futrex-5000, t(160) = -5.21, p < .01. This study indicated that the Futrex-5000 was not as valid as either skinfold technique or hydrostatic weighing.

Performance Prediction In Track And Field, Ted James Dabbs

Masters Theses

The study investigated the degree to which predicting performance in track and field relates to individual performances of track athletes. Predictive scores were determined for 26 male and 14 female athletes using prediction equations and test procedures developed by Henson, Turner, and Lacourse (1989a; 1989b). Predictive scores were compared to athletes' individual event point scores published in International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) men's and women's multi-event scoring tables ("Scoring Table for Men's," 1962; "Scoring Table for Women's," 1971).

Each subject's height, weight and age were recorded as well as performances on the following tests: vertical jump, standing long jump, five …

The Reading Connection: A Leadership Initiative Designed To Change The Delivery Of Educational Services To At-Risk Children, Gary Compton

Dissertations

For many young children, the process of learning to read in school is cumbersome and extremely difficult. As a result, remedial or compensatory services are provided to these students. Once these at-risk students are targeted for remedial services, generally through the Chapter 1 program (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 1965), they receive small group reading instruction from a specifically trained professional teacher. A problem occurs when these children, generally the poorest readers in their class, do not make significant gains when compared to their age-appropriate peers.

In the winter of 1988, a collaborative project between Western Michigan University and the …