Digital Commons Network^™

Middle School Students' Understanding Of The Natural History Of The Earth And Life On Earth As A Function Of Deep Time., Azalie Cecile Pulling

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to use deep time, that is geologic time as a mechanism to explore middle school students' understanding of the natural history of the earth and the evolution of life on earth. Geologic time is a logical precursor to middle school students' understanding of biological evolution. This exploratory, mixed model study used qualitative and quantitative methods in each stage of the research to explore sixth grade students, understanding of geologic time, their worldviews (e.g., conceptual ecology), and conceptual change. The study included fifty-nine students in the large group study and four case studies. The primary …

Campus Responsibility For Alcohol -Related Injuries: A Law And Policy Analysis., Nathan Mccain Roberts

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the evolution of the legal concept of legal liability of higher education institutions for alcohol-related injuries using a theoretical framework provided by tort law. The analysis was designed to provide a greater understanding of how and why the law concerning this concept has evolved. In addition to a legal analysis, interviews were conducted with student affairs administrators at institutions participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "A Matter of Degree: Reducing High-Risk Drinking Among College Students" program. Particular attention was given to the influences identified by the student affairs administrators as catalysts …

School Culture, Teacher Efficacy, And Decision -Making In Demonstrably Effective And Ineffective Schools., Jacquline Jeanine Bobbett

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose for this study was fourfold. First, a conceptual model was developed to help understand teacher perceptions of the schools' professional culture, teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, participation in decision making and linkages to school effectiveness. Second, an original measure of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about their own teaching effectiveness was developed and tested. Third, characteristics of the measures (quantitative and qualitative) were reported. Fourth differences in the mediating variables related to school effectiveness were examined. A stratified sample made up of 1,057 total school faculty in 41 elementary schools representing the uppermost and lower most quartiles of poverty in a southern …

A Study Of The Measurement And Sources Of Teachers' Self And Collective Efficacy Beliefs In Professional Learning Environments., Amy Marie Barrilleaux Dellinger

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examined relationships between sources of efficacy information available in teachers' professional learning environments and teacher self-, work-group collective and faculty collective efficacy beliefs. An argument is presented that teachers' individual and collective efficacy beliefs are vital factors that mediate linkages between professional learning and meaningful change in schools. School professional learning environments are hypothesized to provide efficacy information that may serve to enhance teachers' beliefs in their abilities to accomplish tasks that are linked to effective teaching and learning. Social cognitive theory and triadic reciprocal causation provided the framework for this research. Self-efficacy theory, a sub-theory of social …

Teacher Education Reform And Accountability: A Study Of The Louisiana Blue Ribbon Commission On Teacher Quality., Patricia Ann Davis Exner

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study describes Louisiana's 1999--2000 Blue Ribbon Commission on Teacher Quality, focusing primarily on Commission proceedings and the evolution of its recommendations within a context of standards-based teacher education reform history. Employing case study methodology contextualized in historical and ethnographic narrative, this nine month study examined policy recommendations for Louisiana's teacher education programs that resulted from Commission meetings. Aims of the study included describing the development of these recommendations, their relation to national teacher education reform movements, and their potential impact on university teacher preparation programs. The research provides not only documentation of Commission proceedings of some historical value, but …

An Exploratory Study Of The Influence Of National And State Standards On Middle School Science Teachers' Classroom Assessment Practices., Kathy Jean Mcwaters

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Classroom assessment practices of middle school science teachers were identified and the influence of national and state science standards on these practices was examined. In Phase I of this study a mail questionnaire was sent to 450 middle school (grades 5,6,7 and 8) science teachers in 17 parishes in Louisiana to obtain information about their classroom assessment practices. In Phase II, nine middle school teachers in eight departmentalized classrooms, two classes at each grade, participated in a qualitative study. Data were collected through questionnaires, classroom observations, interviews and document analysis. Data analysis revealed three major categories of classroom assessment targets: …

Understanding The Connections Between High-Stakes Test Consequences And School Literacy Experiences., Deborah Karen Setliff

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to connect the remedial summer school experiences of two fourth-grade students and four fifth-grade students with their school literacy experiences the following year. Understanding the students' experiences and connecting the experiences with school personnel provided a link between the students' and school personnel's perceptions of high-stakes testing consequences. Bridging these perceptions through cross-case analysis revealed the physical, emotional, and philosophical effects high-stakes testing is having on the students, school administrators, classroom teachers, and reading curriculum and instruction at the two elementary schools studied. Integrating the findings at the two schools helped develop a …

Navigating Knowing/Complicating Truth: African American Learners Experiencing Oral History As Real Education., Lavada Taylor Brandon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Dominant explanations for why urban African American learners dropout is that these students are "at-risk" (Swanson, 1991; Sartain,1989; Levine, 1988; Macchiarola, 1988). Such explanations blame the victim while exonerating the role schooling plays in shaping students' "at-risk" conditions (Woodson, 1933/1998; Tatum, 1997; Freire, 1970/1997; Shujaa, 1994; Gordon, 1993). This research contests these explanations for why African American learners dropout by centering 10 African American students' voices to highlight the role curriculum plays at casting them at-risk. Consequently, this work shifts reproach from individual students' home environments to the larger structural dimensions of curricula (what we know) and instruction (how we …

Professional Culture And Efficacy Correlates Of Organizational Effectiveness In Cooperative Extension Services., Rebecca Elaine White

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Several important lines of inquiry have been developed during the past fifty years to study the complex nature of educational organizations. In particular, theorists, researchers, and educational policy makers have become increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of educational institutions. Recently, significant research and policy maker attention has been focused on issues of effectiveness of higher education. The Cooperative Extension Services as ancillary outreach units of state land grant universities are no exception and the extant literature has been focused primarily on outcomes as organizational effectiveness measures. This study addresses the need to develop more comprehensive conceptual frameworks for studying perceived …

Teacher Efficacy, Administrator Efficacy, School Culture, And Leadership Density., Roy Wade Smith

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examined new means for conceptualizing leadership in schools from a non-centrist perspective. Specifically, leadership in schools was conceived of, and studied as, an organizational construct rather than a set of personal attributes associated with positional authority. This non-centrist view of leadership is termed leadership density (Sergiovanni, 1987; Ellett, 1996), and is metaphorically represented in the study by characteristics of a small jazz combo. The primary focus of the study was the development of a new conceptual model of leadership, grounded within the small jazz combo metaphor. In an attempt to understand leadership from this new perspective, linkages between …

An Inquiry Into The Influence Of Taped Books On The Oral Reading Performance Of Struggling Third-Grade Readers., Dolores Doga Harris

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the nine-week study was to explore, using taped book intervention, the oral reading fluency of six struggling third-grade readers. The low-income, inner city, African American students were selected using teacher recommendations, standardized test scores, and the school system's Grade Level Indicators of Essential Knowledge---Grade 3 English Language Arts. Procedures used in the study were observing, collecting field notes, reviewing documents, conducting open-ended interviews, prioritizing book selection interests, and making assessments. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included the following: (1) oral reading rate---the Gray Oral Reading Test-3 (GORT-3), two-minute timed readings, and Corduroy benchmark probes; (2) word recognition---Slosson Oral …

Ways Of Incorporating Photographic Images In Learning And Assessing High School Biology: A Study Of Visual Perception And Visual Cognition., Brenda Chaumont Nixon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study evaluated the cognitive benefits and costs of incorporating biology-textbook and student-generated photographic images into the learning and assessment processes within a 10th grade biology classroom. The study implemented Wandersee's (2000) 20-Q Model of Image-Based Biology Test-Item Design (20-Q Model) to explore the use of photographic images to assess students' understanding of complex biological processes. A thorough review of the students' textbook using ScaleMaster R with PC Interface was also conducted. The photographs, diagrams, and other representations found in the textbook were measured to determine the percentage of each graphic depicted in the book and comparisons were made to …

The Call From The Stranger On A Journey Home: Curriculum As Creative Transformation Of Selfhood., Hongyu Wang

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Both utilizing and problematizing the notions of stranger, home, journey, and self through cross-cultural inquiry, gender analysis, psychoanalysis, and autobiography, this study attempts to draw a new picture of the human self and a new vision of curriculum. It draws upon the works of three great thinkers: Michel Foucault, a French philosopher; Confucius, an ancient Chinese sage; and Julia Kristeva, a French psychoanalyst. Traveling through a contradictory yet generative space provided by the Foucaultian subject, the Confucian self, and the Kristevian subject, this study intends to address the issues of differences, connections, and creativity in depicting a new landscape of …

Comparison Of Four Screening Procedures For Identifying Students For Special Education: Validation Of Problem Validation Screening., Amanda Mathany Vanderheyden

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Four screening methods were compared to determine the extent to which each method accurately identified students who exhibited math and reading problems severe enough to warrant a full psycho-educational assessment for special education eligibility determination. Methods examined were teacher referral, two subtests from the Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills, Revised, the Developmental Reading Assessment, and a new screening measure called "Problem Validation Screening" (PVS). PVS consisted of three components: classwide curriculum-based measurement probes in math and reading, performance/skill deficit assessment, and a brief instructional session. All students enrolled in first and second grade classes at a participating school were exposed …

Obstacles In Recruiting African Americans For Clinical Trials., Betty Monroe Kennedy

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Previous abusive clinical trials have caused several obstacles in recruiting African Americans for clinical trials today. The memory of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study alone remains a hard pill to swallow and is a constant hindrance to recruiting potential African Americans specifically males, for clinical trials. The basic trust that African Americans have for physician researchers, U.S. government doctors, U.S. government-sponsored research, and biomedical research in general has been seriously, although not irrevocably, breached. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs African Americans have that support decisions to either participate or not …

The Development Of An Instrument To Assess Strategical Information Processing Style., Beverly Allain Farrell

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Underpinned on the theories of individual differences and the information processing paradigm, the author hypothesized that there were five different strategical information processing styles (SIPS) that individuals prefer to use when processing information. The five constructs are visuo-spatial, analytical, social, categorical, and verbal. Based on this hypothesis, the researcher developed a self-assessment instrument containing specific measurable descriptors for each of the five hypothesized constructs. However, in this study the empirical evidence verified only four strategical information processing styles: visuo-spatial, analytical, social, and categorical. Although the verbal style is theoretically appealing, it did not prove to be a valid construct in …

Holding Up And Holding On: Socialization Experiences Of Beginning Teachers In Differentially Effective Schools., Pamela Sanders Angelle

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The current study examined the socialization experiences of beginning teachers within the context of differentially effective middle schools. A mixed method design, using quantitative and qualitative approaches, was employed. The sample consisted of ten middle schools in Louisiana, five matched pairs, using an intensity strategy. The study was conducted in six phases of data collection. Phase One designed and carried out a pilot study. Interview data from school principals and mentors was collected in Phase Two, while Phase Three involved the collection of survey data from beginning teachers to measure perceptions of assistance, monitoring, team-building, and intention to remain in …

The Open Gates: The Rise Of Student Loan Indebtedness And The Social Processes Of Borrowing Money In The Pursuit Of Higher Education., Wendell Wayne Brumfield

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of students at a two-year college about their student loan debt management and the level of indebtedness incurred as a result of utilizing student loans. A survey was conducted in the Spring 2001 semester at Louisiana State University at Eunice in which a systematic random sample was selected. The 37-question survey instrument used in the study included 15 demographic questions and one-open ended question requesting respondents to provide suggestions that could be used to help other students. In addition, 21 perception statements were asked loan recipients. This study found that …

Factors Associated With Research Anxiety Of Human Resource Education Faculty In Higher Education., Chadwick Charles Higgins

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The dissertation examined factors associated with research anxiety of university faculty members. Faculty at research universities have, in the past and at the present, had to deal with pressures associated with roles as researchers, teachers, and service initiators (Miller, 1994). The "publish or perish" atmosphere that accompanies most research university faculty positions often generates questions regarding confidence in one's ability to not only conduct meaningful research, but also to develop a solid and statistically sound research study. The purpose of the study was to determine if certain factors explain possible causes of research anxiety in higher education. These factors included …

An Exploration Of Middle And High School Students' Perceptions Of Deviant Behavior When Using Computers And The Internet., Annie Jean Harris Daniel

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

If the current trend continues, the use of computer technologies and the Internet will increase for teaching and education. It is urgent that researchers study computer and Internet deviance. The purpose of this study was to explore middle and high school students' perceptions of deviant behavior when using computers and the Internet. The target population for this study was middle and high school students. The accessible population included all students who attended a middle or high school in the East Baton Rouge Parish School which has computers that are capable of accessing the Internet (1,150 students---575 middle school students and …

Exploring Organizational Learning Of The Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service: A Qualitative Study Involving Parish Chairs Of Less Than Three Years Experience., Cathy Hirsch Hamilton

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative study was designed to facilitate the description, analysis and utilization of continual learning within the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (LCES). The research linked exploration of a learning culture within an organization with the reflective practice of participatory action research methodology. Learning organizations promote knowledge sharing that allows for individual learning to make the transition into collective organizational learning. In order for transformative learning to occur, individuals must reflect on their actions to make sense of an experience. Explaining and thinking about what one is doing makes tacit knowledge explicit, therefore able to be shared and used for change. …

Transition To Work: A Study Of New College Graduates., Carolyn Carter Collins

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The success of the transition to work is affected by many factors, including the organization entry process itself. Research shows that the first year of employment is a critical time period and the organizational entry process is not dearly understood. The central focus of this study was to determine what exactly do new college graduates encounter as they enter the workplace, and does that experience affect their opinions and attitudes. Further, do women and African Americans have a similar or different experiences than white males in the transition process. An exploratory descriptive study of a random sample of Louisiana State …

The Stevensville High School Transcript Study For The Class Of 2000 Stevensville Montana Usa, Michael J. Kincaid

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Ce 605 The Servant As Teacher, Daryl L. Smith

Syllabi

The Pastor as Religious Educator, Robert L. Browning, ed. “The Means of Grace and Ways of Knowing: A Wesleyan Approach to Sacramental Learning,” (Christian Education Journal, Spring 2000), Dean G. Blevins The Safest Place on Earth, Larry Crabb. John Wesley’s Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples, D. Michael Henderson. Learning Styles, Marlene LeFever Creative Ministry, Henri Nouwen Patterns in Moral Development, Catherine M. Stonehouse. From the following list select one book to read (see Learning Group section below) that meets your learning goals. Leading the Team-based Church, George Cladis. Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, Doug Fields. Revitalizing the Sunday Morning …

Cd 651 Professional Foundations Of Christian Education, Harold W. Burgess

Syllabi

Models of Religious Education: Theory and Practice in Historical and Contemporary Perspective, Harold W. Burgess (Evangel Press, 2001).

Ce 510 Moral Development And Christian Education, Chris Kiesling

Syllabi

James C. Wilhoit and John M. Dettoni. Nurture that is Christian: Developmental Perspectives on Christian Education. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1995. Reading Packet for Moral Development (available at the bookstore). James Fowler. Faithful Change: The Personal and Public Challenges of Postmodern Life. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996. Jean Piaget, The Moral Judgment of the Child. New York, Free Press, 1965. E Stanley Jones, The Christ of the Mount. Choose one from the following: C.S. Lewis. The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis. The Great Divorce Walter Wangerin. The Orphean Passages

Ce 605 The Servant As Teacher, Harold W. Burgess

Syllabi

Textbooks 1. Robert L. Browning, The Pastor as Religious Educator 2. D. Michael Henderson, John Wesley’s Class Meeting 3. Henri Nouwen, Creative Ministry 4. Robert Pazmino, Basics of Teaching for Christians 5. Catherine Stonehouse, Patterns of Moral Development 6. Morton Kelsey, Can Christians Be Educated? 7. Ann Wimberly, Soul Stories

Developing Schools' Capacity To Make Performance Judgements, William Loudy, Helen Wildy

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Faculty Perceptions Of University Technology Transfer By Level Of Institutional Success In The Technology Transfer Process., Paula T. Jacobi

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to gather information concerning faculty perceptions of university technology transfer and to compare the perceptions of faculty towards university involvement in technology transfer activities by the relative success of the institutions in technology transfer. The objectives were to describe selected faculty at two land grant universities in the southern portion of the United States. The study was designed to describe faculty based on certain personal, professional, and demographic characteristics, and to compare faculty at an institution defined as successful in technology transfer and an institution that is relatively unsuccessful on certain selected measures. Participants' …

The Effectiveness Of The High-School Academic Program In Preparing Graduates For Post-Secondary Education As Perceived By Alumni From Four Seventh-Day Adventist Senior High Schools In Canada, Janice P. Maitland

Dissertations

Problem. Questions have been raised regarding the preparation of high-school students for postsecondary studies. This study was designed to measure the effectiveness of the high-school academic program in preparing graduates for postsecondary education as perceived by alumni from four Seventh-day Adventist senior high schools in Canada.

Method. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement for each of 18 statements on a Likert-type (survey) instrument, strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), measured against a scale—I-2.5, minimally effective; 2.51-3.5, moderately effective; and 3.51-5, highly effective. Mean scores and standard deviation scores were calculated to answer the first research question. …