Digital Commons Network^™

Convergent And Divergent Validity Of The Learning Transfer Questionnaire., Annette Irving Bookter

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The Learning Transfer Questionnaire (LTQ) was developed as a comprehensive instrument to identify potential factors in the work environment that influence learning transfer (Holton & Bates, 1996). The purpose of the study was to examine the construct validity of the LTQ by focusing on convergent and divergent validity. Specific objectives included: to identify a set of theoretically-based, psychometrically-valid measures which could be used the examine the convergent and divergent validity; and, utilizing correlation analysis, to examine the associations between the 16 LTQ factors and the identified measures. Scales from seventeen measurement instruments were utilized as comparison measures to correlate with …

Parental Participation In A Title I Family Literacy Program: Results From A Mixed -Model Study., Karen Boudreaux

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

A family literacy, Title I program was studied to determine the attitudes and beliefs which affect parental participation in a family literacy program. The theoretical framework of cultural capitol assumed that parents who chose to participate in a family literacy program possess different components in their cultural capitol than parents who choose not to participate. There were 3 Hypotheses and 6 Study Questions which guided this parallel mixed model study with dominant (qualitative)-less dominant (quantitative) design. A Title I Family Literacy Program located in a large, urban, public school system was the study site. The sample size consisted of 40 …

Preparing New Teachers To Use Technology: A Comparative Study Of Preservice Teacher Education Programs., Patricia Ann Duhon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe and analyze the technology components in three teacher education programs, and to investigate the technological preparedness of recently graduated first-year elementary (K--5) teachers. The research questions addressed were: (a) How are the teacher education programs at each university in this study preparing students to integrate technology into their classrooms and instruction, and how do the programs compare? (b) How do recently graduated first-year teachers at each university rate their skills in using technology, and how do their ratings compare? (c) How and to what extent do recently graduated first-year teachers at …

Perceptions Of Louisiana High School Students Toward Selected University Types: Predominately White Institutions And Historically Black Institutions Of Higher Education., Dennis Wayne Dillon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the perceptions of 11th grade African American and Caucasian American students attending public Louisiana high schools. The students' perceptions are explored in relation to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) and Predominately White Institutions (PWI's). Based on a review of current literature, four common areas emerged. The areas of consideration were perception of academic quality, peer relationships, socio-cultural fit, and faculty/student relationships. The sample of students included 177 students enrolled in the Louisiana public school system in parishes where there were "pairings" of universities (HBCU and PWI). The four parishes where such pairings occurred were Caddo Parish, …

Gaps In College Biology Students' Understanding Of Photosynthesis: Implications For Human Constructivist Learning Theory And College Classroom Practice., Phyllis Baudoin Griffard

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The main research question of this study was: What gaps in biochemical understanding are revealed by a range of university introductory biology students as they work through a critically acclaimed multimedia program on photosynthesis, and what are the corresponding implications for elaboration of the Ausubel-Novak-Gowin Learning Theory (ANG, now Human Constructivism)? Twelve students, mixed for ability, gender and ethnicity, were recruited from two sections of "Bio 101." Before and after instruction in photosynthesis, in-depth clinical interviews were conducted during which participants completed a range of cognitive tasks such as sorting, concept mapping, explaining and predicting. Some tasks involved interacting with …

Factors Influencing Effectiveness Of Exhibit Displays On Family Learning In A Public Aquarium., Kodi Rae Jeffery

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

An important goal in science education reform is to create a scientifically literate society. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (1989b) has stated that for people to understand biology, they must first have personal experiences with it. There are severe limitations on the types of firsthand biology experiences available in the classroom. Informal learning institutions, however, are not limited by these constraints. Visitors enjoy a free-choice environment, where they can thoroughly explore things unavailable in most classrooms. Thus, museums are key resources that may help society achieve scientific literacy. This study asked what aspects of the Aquarium of …

College Choice: Psychological Factors Influencing *Postsecondary Aspirations And Expectations Of Ninth-Grade Students., Stuart Earle Johnson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between several variables which help to explain the process by which adolescents decide to pursue a college education. Previous models were enhanced by including important theoretical constructs well documented in social cognitive and attributional theories as elements of human agency. The psychological constructs, self-efficacy and locus of control were the primary focus of attention as independent variables and for their significance as mediating variables affecting the relationship between previously identified factors attributed to students' postsecondary attendance decisions, and students' college aspirations and expectations. Particular attention was given to the college choice …

College Students' Understanding Of Stereochemistry: Difficulties In Learning And Critical Junctures., Gary Lester Lyon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Because stereochemistry is an important part of both high school and college chemistry curricula, a study of difficulties experienced by students in the learning of stereochemistry was undertaken in a one-semester college organic chemistry course. This study, conducted over the course of two semesters with more than two hundred students, utilized clinical interviews, concept maps, and student journals to identify these difficulties, which were then tabulated and categorized. Although student journals were not a productive source of information, the types of difficulties that emerged from the concept maps were compared and contrasted with those that emerged from the clinical interviews. …

The Effect Of Accurate/Inaccurate Teacher Instruction, High/Low Teacher Delivery, And On - /Off -Task Student Behavior On Musicians' Evaluation Of Teacher Effectiveness., Melissa Katia Madsen

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of accurate/inaccurate teacher instruction, high/low teacher delivery and on-/off-task student behavior on musicians' evaluations of teaching effectiveness. An additional purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in the musicians' evaluative responses of teacher effectiveness would occur due to differences in their experience level. Subjects (N = 168) were musicians and were grouped accordingly: (1) grades 6--8; (2) grades 9--12; (3) undergraduate; and (4) experienced teacher. The subjects viewed and evaluated a videotape of eight teaching segments for teacher effectiveness. The segments had been simulated by the investigator …

Addressing The Problems Of Beginning Teachers: An Evaluation Of Teacher Induction Programs., Daphene O. Singleton

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to identify the characteristics of effective teacher induction programs, (2) to determine the relationship between teacher induction and retention in a northeastern Louisiana school district, and (3) determine if teacher induction practices in that district are useful to new/beginning teachers. A pilot study was conducted, and a validity panel of experts validated the content and face validity of the survey and interview instruments developed for the various participants. The participants included the superintendent Central Office staff persons, selected principals, and new/beginning teachers. There was some discrepancy between the responses of the teachers …

Curriculum And The Holocaust: Competing Sites Of Memory And *Representation., Marla Beth Morris

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Curriculum theory is a call to understanding. My call as a curriculum theorist is to attempt to understand work around the Holocaust. This study examines the ways in which the Holocaust gets represented in texts written by historians as well as texts written by novelists. I argue that memory is the larger category under which history is subsumed; history is the systematization of memory. Although historians draw on archives and are constrained by their discipline, nevertheless they operate out of their own memories. Psychological transference, repression, denial, projection and reversal shape historians' memories and therefore determine, to a certain extent, …

The Performance Of Prekindergarten Children On Representational Tasks Across Levels Of Displacement., Emily Flake Smith

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This investigation was guided by Nelson's (1996) experiential theory and the Situational-Discourse-Semantic (SDS) model of Norris and Hoffman (1993, 1997, in press) which was used to establish predictions regarding the representational difficulty of each of the task conditions. Subjects were 32 four-year-old children enrolled in four prekindergarten programs located within a small city in southern Louisiana and represented both lower and middle SES populations. The tasks required subjects to represent knowledge of the bedtime routine, ranging from personal enactments with props through generation of stories and event scripts for hypothetical situations. Performances were analyzed for content in terms of event …

Toward An Understanding Of Instructor-Student Interactions: A Study Of Videoconferencing In The Postsecondary Distance Learning Classroom., Thomas R. Atkinson Jr

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative case study examined interactions, the effect of instructional strategies on interactions, participant attitudes, and perceptions that occurred during two courses taught via interactive videoconferencing in higher education. Analysis of coded observational data, field notes, and interviews with students and instructors provided insights about the distance learning environment. Using an interaction model, the classroom interactions were grouped into the following categories: (a) learner-content, (b) learner-instructor, (c) learner-learner, and (d) learner-interface. Results showed that learner-instructor and learner-learner interactions were highest during classes which were organized as discussion sessions with specific guidelines for the content and the nature of questions on …

Portraits Of Teachers: The Professional And Personal Characteristics Of Twelve Primary Teachers., Veronica Faye White

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the personal and professional characteristics of six teachers who reported high developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices and six teachers who reported low developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices. The sample was identified using teachers' scores on a self-reported survey measure of developmentally appropriate practice based on the 1987 guidelines by NAEYC. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with open-ended questions. By providing an in-depth description as a literary portrait of each teacher, this study provides insight into the beliefs and practical knowledge that inform the teaching practices of 12 primary grade teachers. A …

Predictors Of Practice Role Commitment And Practice Role Value For Doctorally Prepared Nursing Faculty., Anna Karin Walker Jones

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between environmental, career, and personal factors and practice role commitment and practice role value of doctorally prepared full-time nursing faculty within the theoretical framework of faculty role performance by Blackburn and Lawrence (1995). A mailed survey was used to collect data related to faculty practice from 506 faculty who were members of the American Nurses Association or the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. Practice role commitment was level of engagement in the practice role. Practice role value was importance assigned to the practice role by the faculty. Environmental variables …

An Empirical Test Of A Structural Model Of The Dispositional Antecedents Of Motivation To Improve Work Through Learning., Sharon Smith Naquin

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The development and success of employee training programs necessitates employer awareness of the individual differences of their employees that contribute to their motivation to improve work through learning. And, because of the potential benefits associated with employees who are highly trained, employee motivation to improve work through learning should be a chief concern within organizations. Therefore, a better understanding of the relationship between personality type, affectivity, values, level of work commitment and motivation will provide organizations with valuable insights that will enhance training efforts and contribute to the competitiveness and success of organizations. The purpose of this study was to …

Mentoring In Adolescence: A Sociocultural And Cognitive Developmental Study Of Undergraduate Women And Sixth-Grade Girls In A Mentoring Program, Katharina Maria Fachin Lucas

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, a quasi-experimental study was conducted to explore the cognitive developmental effects of taking on the role of "mentor" as an undergraduate or the role of "mentee" as a sixth grader in one university-based mentoring program. Second, an ethnographic study was conducted to study the experiences of ten sixth graders and ten undergraduates as they took on the role of "mentor" or "mentee" in a planned mentoring relationship. A sociocultural analysis explored processes occurring on the personal, interpersonal, and community level that shaped the mentoring experiences of the participants.

The participants in this …

Queering/Querying Identities: The Roles Of Integrity And Belonging In Becoming Ourselves, Cari Ann Elizabeth Moorhead

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a picture of the complexities and contradictions in the daily lives of people in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire who identify as, or are identified as, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and allied people (LGBTQQA). The focus of this study is the "Create Our Destiny" conference, a social change project. Philosophically, I viewed this project through a Postmodern feminist lens, and methodologically I used a grounded theory approach.

This dissertation is divided into three sections. Within section one, I present more detailed descriptions of my philosophical and methodological approaches, a description of the geographical and …

Memoirs, Movements, And Meaning: Teacher/Student Research In Freshman Composition, Carol Ann Hawkins

Doctoral Dissertations

The author interprets her memoirs as a reader and writer to describe how the movement from I to We, a process of "repositioning," shifted her perceptions from "hating school" to wanting to teach. She begins by tracing her roots as a "white," working-class woman from Cleveland (1952--1970) and ends by disclosing "what worked and what didn't work" when teaching freshman composition at the University of New Hampshire (1994--1997). She draws on feminist, ethnographic, rhetorical, and critical theory to compose "thick descriptions" of her reading, writing, and teaching life. She juxtaposes her struggles with Others', like Min-Zhan Lu, to identify, interpret, …

Thinking Through Performance: Children Make Sense Of Characters And Social Relationships Through A Gesture-Based Theatre Convention (Tableau), Georgia Patricia Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations

This inquiry considers a gesture-based theatre convention called tableau as used by first and second graders during language arts instruction. I argue that tableau acts as a medium of thinking, used to make sense of literary text and of social relationships. Tableau is largely non-language-based; it augments instructional practices that are primarily language-based. Tableau reveals sophisticated understandings children cannot yet put into language. As such, tableau offers educators a means to cast children as capable analysts of literature.

Qualitatively oriented, this inquiry uses instrumental case study methods of observation and data analysis coupled with a concurrent conceptual study of the …

Learning To Read Music Cooperatively In A Choral Setting: A Case Study, Andrew Inzenga

Doctoral Dissertations

Two volunteer cooperative teams of ninth grade girls were studied for six months to discover whether and how they learned to read music. The two teams represented novice students and students who had received private instruction. Study teams represented the population of the freshman Girls Chorus. Teams met regularly during daily chorus rehearsals, with only occasional help from the director. These meetings were analyzed through video tape recordings to observe if students employed traditional teaching and learning strategies to assist each other in learning. It was determined that team members regularly use certain teaching and learning strategies to assist in …

University Preference : A Conjoint Analysis, Julia P. Turner

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The business of tertiary education has become more and more competitive in recent years due to reductions in government funding and higher study fees. As the nature of the environment grows more competitive the role of marketing, previously non-existent in most universities, has grown significantly. One of the key pieces of information that would assist the marketing effort of any university is an understanding of what determines university preference. This study examines university preference in Western Australia. A form of conjoint analysis, known as Adaptive Conjoint Analysis (ACA), was used to investigate the relative importance of a number of attributes …

The Ethics Of Intimate Student-Faculty Relationships, Brian Craig Steinberg

Graduate Research Papers

What are the ethics behind intimate student-faculty relationships in higher education? Should such relationships be allowed? Can they be legally controlled? Should there be a penalty for faculty and students who engage in these relationships? Consenting romantic and/or sexual relationships between faculty and student, or between student services professional and student, although usually not expressly forbidden, are generally deemed unwise (Cahn, 1986). According to Svinicki (1994), codes of ethics for most professional associations forbid "professional-client" sexual relationships. In an educational institution, the professor-student and student affairs professional-student relationships are thus such "professional-client" relationships. The respect and trust accorded a professor …

Counselor -In -Training Preferences For Ideal Supervisor Characteristics Of Attractiveness, Expertness, And Trustworthiness By Experience And Gender, Lois Hope Reed

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether there were significant differences between male and female counselors-in-training (CITs), at three levels of supervised training experience in preference for supervisor characteristics of attractiveness, expertness, or trustworthiness. The Supervisor Rating Form (Heppner & Handley, 1982), renamed the Supervisor Preference Form for the current study, was used to assess these three dimensions. Participants in the study consisted of 70 females and 28 males who met the inclusion criteria of enrollment in a CACREP-accredited Master's or APA-accredited doctoral program in counselingPsychology, or were interns from an accredited program in an APA-accredited internship. The participants were divided into level …

Psychometric Properties Of Measures Of Behavioral Inhibition With Preschool -Age Children, Randy Granville Floyd

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Measures of behavioral inhibition offer promise in identification of young children with ADHD. This study investigated the factorial validity, ecological validity, and temporal reliability of 6 performance-based measures of behavioral inhibition in a sample of 70 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. A single factor, Behavioral Inhibition, appeared to influence the scores on these measures. This factor was found to be significantly correlated with teacher ratings of aggression and inattention and to differentiate between genders and between older and younger children. Several individual measures were correlated with ratings of aggression and inattention and demonstrated adequate 1- to 2-week test-retest reliability.

African-American Freshmen Student Persistence Factors In Comparison To White Freshmen Student Persistence Factors At Indiana State University, Gwendolyn Lynette Lee-Thomas

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 1990 national census report revealed that Indiana ranked 47 th in the nation in regard to individuals over the age of 25 with bachelor degrees. Forty-nine percent of the 1995–96 Indiana high school graduates matriculated into Indiana higherEducation institutions—56 percent in-state and out-of-state (Indiana Commission for HigherEducation Report, 1998). However, the African-American student persistence rate is 24 percent, regarding those who attain a bachelor degree within four years compared to 51 percent for all students. However, if extended to six years, the percentage increases to 42.2 percent compared to 57.5 percent for all students. This study determined certain retention …

Perceptions Of 4th And 6th Grade Students, Regarding Their Academic Abilities And Achievement, As Related To Participation In Distance Learning Using Interactive Television, Frances C. Stromsland

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Possible Predictors And Effects Of Rape During The First Semester Of The First Year Of College, Christine Ellen Frydenborg

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Early Childhood Education: The Disadvantaged Child: How Early Is Early?, Eileen O'Neill

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

This paper is influenced by many years of work in residential services for children in need. My experience has spanned the changing nature of residential care, from the group home model of the 1970 and 1980's - which provided long term care to children, apart from their family, with little or no family contact, - to the more individualised care offered in units today for children with very specific needs, for short periods of time, usually in conjunction with their own families. This is in keeping with the spirit of the Child Care Act (1991). Children admitted to care are …

Technology Partnership Curriculum Initiative: A Descriptive Case Study Of Its History, Development, And Implementation, Ingrid Wright-Jones

Dissertations

Problem

Curricular reform has a pathetic history. Curriculum documents, some of the major tools of reformers, have had a minor effect on transforming education because the power of pedagogy has been ignored (Cuban, 1993). Teachers in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) system voiced similar concerns about curriculum documents. Additionally, they felt that their 2-4-day in-service training did not adequately prepare them to implement curricular changes. This initiative, aimed at restructuring both the content and process of teaching, was to be implemented in a distance-learning pilot project in eight one-teacher schools.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to: (1) define the …