Digital Commons Network^™

A Handbook For First-Year Teachers Dealing With Parental Communication, Connie Nowosacki

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to create a handbook beneficial to teachers in dealing with parental communication. A review of the research yielded a wide range of practices that teachers can use to involve parents.

These practices can particularly help the first-year teacher communicate effectively to gain support needed for academic, discipline, and homework efforts.

An instrument was devised asking respondents to rank in order of importance ten of the most common topics and activities used in teacher-parent communication. Responses were arranged according to Very Important, Important, or Not Important. The list was sent to five public relations experts nationwide and …

Correlational Study On Reading Readiness And Reading Achievement Test Scores, Josephine A. Morales

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between Reading Readiness and Reading Achievement Test scores. Reading Readiness was associated with higher Reading Achievement.

Three schools in a low socio-economic section of an inner city school district provided the sample used in this study. The sample consisted of thirty-five Limited English Proficient Students (17 boys and 18 girls). All children were of Hispanic heritage.

The Reading Readiness and Reading Achievement Test scores were compared and analyzed. A Spearman's rho correlational coefficient was used to measure and describe the relationship between both reading test scores.

The analysis …

Computer Science Curriculum In The Community College: An Evaluative Study, Rosemary R. Boiano

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the sufficiency of the Computer Studies curriculum at Camden County College in meeting the needs of its local job market.

A questionnaire was distributed to 106 computer-based businesses in southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the greater Philadelphia area. The purpose of the survey was twofold. it was first necessary to ascertain whether or not these businesses would hire individuals possessing an associate's degree in Computer Science and if so, how many such positions might they have available in any given year. The survey then questioned respondents about the individual needs of …

Journal Writing For College Students In A Developmental Mathematics Class, Mary Anne Dorofee

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to measure academic achievement in a developmental mathematics class through the use of journal writing. Twenty-seven college level students were part of the experiment. Two classes of "Introduction to College Math" were used. Their age levels ranged from students who had just graduated from high school to returning adults in their fifties. A variety of ethnic groups were represented in both classes. The experimental group consisted of eighteen students who kept a journal on various mathematics topics. The control group consisted of nine students and they did not keep a journal. The academic achievement …

A Study To Determine The Effectiveness Of Various Factors In The Reduction Of Mathematics Anxiety, Mindy S. Hutter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if increasing the amount of problem solving, journal writing, group work, and praise would decrease the level of mathematics anxiety experienced by eighth grade students. The forty-seven students involved included twenty-one average to below average students and twenty-six average to above average students. Both groups were pretested and posttested using the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale - A. During a six week period, class time contained a high concentration of problem solving, journal writing, group work, and praise. A dependent t test was used to analyze the results.

The conclusions showed a significant …

Personality Differences Between Men And Women, Lori K. Ingoldsby

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare personality types of men and women and to examine if Jung's predictions of certain personality types occurring more frequently in males is supported. Subjects were 20 male and 20 female undergraduate volunteers, ranging in age from 18-26 years. Personality types were measured using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, form G. A chi-square test for independence showed support that personality type is dependent on gender. A significant difference was found for the following personality attitudes and functions: introversion and extraversion, and thinking and feeling. Men were found to be more likely to be introverted …

Perceptions Of Secondary School Mathematics Teachers On The Importance And Presence Of Elements Associated With Effective Staff Development, Paula L. Leo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the importance and the actual practice of elements associated with effective staff development as perceived by Secondary School Mathematics Teachers. A questionnaire consisting of 24 statements was developed by the researcher after a review of the research on effective staff development practices.

An analysis, using the Pearson r correlation coefficient, found r values between -0.17 and 0.4 suggesting a moderate to low correlation between the perceived importance and actual practice of those elements of staff development.

In testing rho, to find the population correlation between perceived importance and perceived …

A Study To Determine The Effects That Concrete Manipulatives Have On Mathematics Anxiety And Achievement, Nicholas R. Brian Simione

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this five week study was to test any effects that concrete manipulatives had on mathematics anxiety and achievement. Two groups of high school freshmen were selected. A control group (n = 23) was taught using traditional teaching methods of lecture-homework-review-test. An experimental group (n = 20) used concrete manipulatives to reinforce a lesson after it was introduced. Manipulatives replaced worksheets as the sole source of review.

To assess changes in mathematics anxiety in the experimental group, the adolescent version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS-A) was administered. The researcher used dependent t test procedures to determine …

A Course In Mathematics Appreciation, Daniel J. Kraft

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to create a mini-course in mathematics appreciation at the senior high school level.

The mathematics appreciation course would be offered as an elective to students in the 11th or 12th grade, who are concurrently enrolled in trigonometry or calculus.

The topics covered in the mathematics appreciation course include: systems of numeration, congruences, Diophantine equations, Fibonacci sequences, the golden section, imaginary numbers, the exponential function, pi, perfect numbers, numbers with shape, ciphers, magic squares, and root extraction techniques.

In this study, the student is exposed to mathematical proofs, where appropriate, and is encouraged to create …

The Database Management Course At Camden County College And The Effect On The Technological Needs Of Industry, Jennifer R. Lupo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Database Management course at Camden County College to determine if it currently meets the needs of businesses in Camden County. A review of recent literature and the proposal of the Data Processing Management Association expressed that technological courses should be reviewed every two years. The researcher queried one hundred randomly chosen Camden County businesses and twenty-seven Camden County College Database Management students from the Spring, 1995 semester. Opinionnaires were mailed to local businesses and a survey was administered to the students. A comparison was made between industry's needs and the students' …

A Robust Method Of Solving Nonlinear Boundary Value Problems Via Modified Compromise Programming, John L. Zornick

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an extension of Ng's previous work in which goal programming was used to determine an approximate solution to a boundary value problem. This approach follows the same basic approach developed by Ng in which the method of collocation was recast as a compromise programming model. Hence, instead of solving a system of simultaneous nonlinear equations, one seeks a compromise solution which minimizes (in a weighted residual sense) a vector norm of the differential equation residuals. A difference in this approach is that it makes use of a genetic algorithm as the optimizing engine as opposed to the …

The Educational Systems Of Sparta And Athens, Robin N. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Remedial Post-Secondary Education And Subsequent College-Level Performance: A Comparative Study, Kelly Rapatski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between remedial instruction in a mathematics course, Basic Algebra, offered at Rowan College, and subsequent performance in a first college-level math course. The subjects utilized in the study consisted of remedial attendees or students who completed the course, test-outs, or students who were placed into the course but tested out of it, and non-remedial students, or those who never needed the course.

Mean grades for each of the three groups were then computed. A chi-square analysis indicated no significant difference between the three groups.

Based on the findings, the decision …

The Development Of A Unit On Fractal Geometry Appropriate For The High School Student, Ira A. Fine

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a three week fractal geometry unit plan and analyze its success at the high school level. The researcher evaluated the research and literature related to fractal geometry and fractal geometry education suitable for the high school student. A fractal geometry unit plan was constructed. Topics covered in the unit plan included introductory concepts, the Koch curve, Sierpinski's triangle, coastline length, the chaos game, complex numbers, the Mandelbrot set and computer generated fractal images.

The unit plan was taught to three tenth grade honors geometry classes at Washington Township High School in Southern …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between Degree Of Brain Dominance And Student Preference For Spatial Dimensionality In The Production Of Art At The High School Level, Darlene Ann Gates

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to investigate relationships between hemisphericity and preference for spatial-dimensionality in the production of art and to determine whether cognitive processes are different in students who prefer different spatial activities. Specifically, this study investigated the relationships between students' preference for two and three dimensional art projects and their scores on Excell's Hemispheric Mode Indicator (HMI) test.

The total population of eighty-five art students from a rural, regional New Jersey high school were included in this study. Two instruments were administered. Scores from the teacher-made survey served as data for criterion measure one and determined spatial-dimensionality …

Intrinsic Motivation In Students: A Comparison Of Students With Learning Problems And Their Non-Handicapped Peers, Karen D'Orazio

Theses and Dissertations

The question of what motivates a child to learn has been an important interest to educators, psychologists, and parents as well. Within the domain of motivation, "intrinsic motivation" is an area that holds promise to students with learning problems. The purpose of this study is to see whether students with learning problems are less intrinsically motivated than their non-handicapped peers.

There are two groups of subjects: 30 third grade students in self-contained classrooms and 30 third grade students in regular classrooms. Each subject was given the "Scale of Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom." Statistical procedures were used to …

Cognitive Apprenticeship: Authentic Problem-Solving Experiences Challenges Traditional Isolated Learning Outcomes, Nancy R. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine if seventh grade basic skills and special education students who experienced different teaching styles would demonstrate an increased ability to solve problems on a criterion-referenced test. Pre and posttesting requiring multiple choice responses were given to a sample of 27 seventh grade students. The Control group consisted of 11 BSI students while the experimental group of sixteen students contained 6 classified, 2 ESL students, and 8 borderline BSI students.

A task performance project, Games-Recycled Math, in which students of the experimental group planned, designed, and constructed a mathematical game, was designed and implemented …

Self-Managed Teams And Traditional Pyramid Management: Attitudes Of Extension Field Educators., Sharon Diane Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The management structure of Extension Services at the state level has remained relatively stable since the beginning of the organization in 1914. Because of staffing changes at the state and field levels, new program needs, and declining budgets, the need exists to study management structures for the Extension Service which may be more relevant and cost effective than the traditional pyramid style.The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes over time of Extension Service field staff working under a traditional management pyramid style with the attitudes of Extension Service field staff working under a self managed work team concept. …

In The Footsteps Of Gordon Kahl?, Ronald Eldon Spreng

Theses and Dissertations

In the early 1980s five northern Minnesota men were arrested and convicted of an assortment of criminal offenses including possession of illegal or unregistered firearms, conspiring to rob the bank in Dunseith, North Dakota, and threatening the life of an Internal Revenue Service employee. These men were the core of a right-wing militant tax protest and anti-government movement in the Bemidji, Minnesota area.This study, drawn from personal and telephone interviews, court and other public records, and the literature written and disseminated by the men themselves, helps clarify the ideological, political, financial, and religious motivations of the protesters, and explains how …

Demographic Study Of Science Topics And Instructional Media In Early Childhood Special Education Settings., Bonni Schmiess Gourneau

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was acquiring direction for developing science instructional material for early childhood special education teachers. The collateral problems were determining what science topics are preferred, what the impediments are for science teaching, and in what format the instructional material should be prepared.This study also assessed the needs and availability of science instructional material for early childhood special education teachers. Other concerns included the influence of years of teaching experience and geographic region on the choices of science topics, impediments for science teaching, and format desired for the needed instructional material.Surveys were sent to 525 early childhood …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of The Importance Of Teaching Scientific Attitudes., Carolyn Rex Brauner

Theses and Dissertations

The degree to which elementary teachers of North Dakota perceived the "scientific attitudes" aspect of science as an important goal to foster in relation to fostering scientific products and scientific processes was examined. Elementary teachers' receptivity to changing the emphases placed on these aspects of science in their grading practices was documented. The teachers' demographics, science teaching practices, and perceived needs for additional learning related to the different aspects of science, pedagogy, and assessment also were surveyed.A survey instrument developed by the researcher was mailed to 995 elementary teachers in North Dakota. There were 560 surveys returned for a response …

Hadamard Transform Infrared Spectrometry., Zhou Zhou

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this research is the design and application of a stationary mask Hadamard transform infrared (HT-IR) spectrometer. Previous research in the area of stationary Hadamard encoding focused on the use of switching materials for the masks. However, these masks could not pass infrared radiation and, as a result, the advantages of stationary Hadamard encoding could not be applied to infrared spectrometry. A nontraditional mask, called a thermo-optic array for the stationary encoding of radiation (TOASTER), was proposed and implemented to perform the stationary Hadamard encoding. The Hadamard encoding procedure was performed with an array of electrically controlled …

Multipoint Quadratic Approximation For Numerical Optimization, Michael A. Blaylock

Theses and Dissertations

A quadratic approximation for nonlinear functions is developed in order to realize computational savings in solving numerical optimization problems. Function and gradient information accumulated from multiple design points during the iteration history is used in estimating the Hessian matrix. The approximate Hessian matrix is the available for a second order Taylor series approximation to the functions of interest. Several truss and frame models will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new Multipoint Quadratic Approximation (MQA) in solving structural optimization problems.

Teaching Accommodation Task Skills: From Human Demonstration To Robot Control Via Artificial Neural Networks, Paul V. Whalen

Theses and Dissertations

A simple edge-mating task, performed automatically by accommodation control, was used to study the feasibility of using data collected during a human demonstration to train an artificial neural network (ANN) to control a common robot manipulator to complete similar tasks. The 2-dimensional (planar) edge-mating task which aligns a peg normal to a fiat table served as the basis for the investigation. A simple multi-layered perceptron (MLP) ANN with a single hidden layer and linear output nodes was trained using the back-propagation algorithm with momentum. The inputs to the ANN were the planar components of the contact force between the peg …

Analysis Of Heads-Up Display Quickening Versus Handling Qualities, Gary M. Konnert

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated an analytical means of selecting the quickening time constant for the standardized Heads-Up Display flight path marker. The theoretically determined time constant allowed a faster, less resource intensive means of selecting the quickening time constant. The theoretically best time constant for pilot-aircraft handling qualities was equal to the airframe pitch attitude high frequency zero time constant, T_θ2. Flight test indicated an empirical, more labor intensive method yielded better handling qualities, even though paper analysis indicated the theoretical method was better. The theoretically determined time constant gave slightly lower handling qualities. but was less costly to …

Formal Foundations For The Specification Of Software Architecture, Mark J. Gerken

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation establishes a formal foundation for software architecture that allows for the specification of large, non-trivial software systems using well founded, consistency preserving construction techniques. Two fundamental problems were addressed: how to define and express architectures formally using the concept of theories, and how architecture theories can be practically applied in specification construction. The initial stages of this investigation sought to establish a formal, mathematical relationship between functional specifications of behavior and specifications defining system structure. Experimental results lead to the conclusion that architectures defining the structure of functional operations can be defined using functional logic, but more complex …

Investigation Of Ground Target Detection Methods In Fully Polarimetric Wide Angle Synthetic Aperture Radar Images, Wayne B. Mclaggan

Theses and Dissertations

Target detection is a high priority of the Air Force for the purpose of reconnaissance and bombardment. This research investigates and develops methods to distinguish ground targets from clutter (i.e. foliage, landscape etc.) in Wide Angle Synthetic Aperture Radar (WASAR) images. WASAR uses multiple aspect angle SAR images of the same target scene. The WASAR data was generated from a pre-release software package (XPATCH-ES) provided by the sponsor (WL-AARA). A statistical analysis and feature extraction is performed on the XPATCH-ES data. Polarimetric and wide angle covariance matrices are estimated and analyzed. From an analysis of the wide angle covariance matrix …

A Decision Model For Environmental Assessment Of Process Waste Products, Kyle F. Byard

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental managers must compare the potential impacts of waste products when deciding upon courses of action. The estimation and comparison of these impacts is a subjective process, and few methods of comprehensive, quantitative comparison of waste products currently exist. The intent of this study is to develop a decision methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts of waste products and to score them for comparison. The method will follow established system design principles and incorporate significant characteristics of the waste material. Scores derived to represent the environmental impacts of materials will then he analyzed employing statistical and probabilistic methods to assess …

Analysis And Modeling Of An Airport Departure Process, Joseph E. Hebert

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes departure delays at a major airport using probability models to represent this non-homogeneous process. The models developed in this study expand on the Markovian models presently used by employing the method of stages to represent some of the model processes. This technique improves the user's ability to achieve a close fit for the service time probability distribution while maintaining the advantages of the Markovian model. The three types of models developed and compared all assume a Markovian system entry process. The first model uses an exponential distribution to model the service process. The second uses an Erlang …

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis For Radioactive Waste Remediation Alternatives, Thomas P. White, Ronald J. Toland, Dorian Y. Buitrago

Theses and Dissertations

This research has two primary objectives. The first is to develop a generic, interactive, spreadsheet-based life-cycle cost model that uses net present value and risk analysis techniques for cost comparison. The second is to apply the model specifically to the vitrification and cementation methods of waste remediation. By using spreadsheet analysis and graphics capabilities, the model will provide direct and objective comparisons of remediation alternatives. Since vitrification is a new technology, the plant design and operations are conceptual. Therefore, computer simulation and engineering judgement are integral to the vitrification LCC estimate.