Education Commons^™

Long-Term Effects Of Performance Funding: A Case Study Of 20 Years At Tennessee Technological University, Jeffrey Lorber

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, the principal investigator sought to determine what effect, if any, that performance funding has had on academic decision making at a public higher education institution in Tennessee. In conducting a case study, the principal investigator interviewed 18 current and former administrators and faculty members to determine attitudes and perceptions about performance funding at the institution. An extensive review of campus documents provided additional information for the study. Findings of the study focused on institutional policy changes since the performance funding policy was implemented, strengths and weaknesses of the policy, and recommendations for future actions relative to the …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between Learning Styles, Personality Temperaments, Mathematics Self-Efficacy, And Post-Secondary Calculus Achievement, D. Sharon Husch

Doctoral Dissertations

With the availability of the internet, many web-based tutorials, and related materials and computer based tutorials, students continue to fail and/or do poorly in calculus classes. On average about fifty percent of students receive a grade of D, F, or W (withdraw) in first semester calculus at the university level. To meet the needs of all students, regardless of learning style, attitude towards mathematics, or ability level, teachers should utilize modern technology, such as computers or graphing calculators. These tools are able to serve the needs of the students in ways that other tools have not been able to accomplish. …

Tellin' It Like It Is: Disempowerment And Marginalization Of First-Generation, Low-Income College Students: A Participatory Research, Charlene P. Lobo

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the origins and outcomes of disempowerment and marginalization in five first-generation, low-income college students who were participants in Student Support Services, a federally funded TRIO program at a large urban commuter state university. Using dialogic introspection and participatory research, the participants reflected on their experiences in the areas of disempowerment, marginalization, educational equity, oppression and the needs and concerns of first-generation low-income students. Generative themes fell into three areas: creating conditions for learning; silencing the voice; and resistance, persistence and hope. Themes that created negative experiences for the students included disparities between academic and personal cultures, lack …

Coming To Voice: Exploring The Experiences Of Teacher Education And Special Education Professors Of African Descent In Institutions Of Higher Education, Kimberly L. Mayfield

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to explore the perceptions of employment experiences and the pursuit of promotion and tenure by teacher education and special education professors of African descent. This study investigated the perceptions held by teacher education and special education professors of African descent in the areas of recruitment, retention and the tenure and promotion process. Lastly, the present study engaged in an inquiry with these professors regarding their perceptions of critical areas of research needed to improve educational equity and achievement for African American students. This population was encouraged to reflect on these areas in terms …

Children's Song-Makers As Messengers Of Hope: Participatory Research With Implications For Teacher Educators, Peter J. Baird

Doctoral Dissertations

Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, Suni Paz and six other leading children's musicians in the U.S contributed their experience to this study about the crucial role of music and singing for social justice in children's lives and its shrinking presence in U.S. pre-school and elementary schools. The study built its theoretical framework on arts and music education, transformative education, and folk and socially conscious children's music. Participatory research, based on the revolutionary education theories of Paulo Freire, guided the dialogues with the participants. These activist singer-songwriters were asked how they define social justice, how they involve children in singing, and what …

Tennessee Performance Funding And The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville: A Case Study, Kimberely B. Hall

Doctoral Dissertations

This case study was undertaken to provide a description of the Tennessee Performance Funding Policy's impact on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville over the past twenty years. Answers to three research questions were sought:

1. How has the Tennessee Performance Funding Policy impacted the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with regard to (a) awareness of the policy and its purposes and (b) the activities of the institution in relation to the policy?

2. How has educational decision making been affected by the Tennessee Performance Funding Policy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville?

3. Based on professional experience and opinion, are strengths/liabilities …

Utilization And Integration Of Technology By Teachers: A Case Study, Dawn Shipley Basinger

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning process of teachers as they begin to implement an innovation. The research problem was based on the need to understand better the processes by which teachers come to integrate technology into their instructional practices. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (Hall, Wallace, & Dossett, 1973) provided the conceptual framework for facilitating change in teachers' use of technology to support instructional practices. The constructivist approach to learning characterized the setting for the courses-Introduction to Technology for Teachers (ITT) and Software Applications, Teaching Methods, and Software Development for Teachers ( AMDT …

The Relationship Between The Student Teachers' Self-Reflection Of Performance And The Student Teachers' Performance Evaluation As Viewed By Their Evaluation Team, Bonnie Peterson Eder

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between the student teachers' self-reflection of performance and the student teachers' performance evaluation as viewed by their evaluation team.

The study involved the use of a "Student Teaching Evaluation" instrument based on the Framework for Evaluation and Professional Growth that has been adopted by the Tennessee State Department of Education as the procedure through which K-12 public school teachers are evaluated. This study focused on the student teachers' self-reflection as measured against their on-site evaluation team's appraisal. The subjects of the study were 108 student teachers in elementary and …

Factors Affecting Computer Implementation And Impact On Teaching And Learning In Northeast Louisiana, Ruth Bonner-Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between degree of computer implementation and (a) teacher personal use of computers, (b) teacher motivation, (c) curriculum integration training, and (d) curriculum integration support. The study also investigated the relationship between degree of computer implementation and (a) collaborative learning, (b) self-directed learning, (c) active learning, and (d) teacher practices. An analytical survey provided a numerical description of bow the independent variables and the dependent variables were related in the population.

Quantitative data were analysed using the following statistical procedures: (a) Mann-Whitney U test to determine the relationship between teacher motivation and degree of computer implementation, …

Effect Of Cooperative Learning (Student Teams -Achievement Divisions) On African American And Caucasian Students' Interracial Friendships, James Edward Cook

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gauge the impact of cooperative learning teams on interracial friendships. The participants were 256 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in English classes (20% African American and 80% Caucasian) at a rural middle school in Louisiana. After delivery of instruction, the experimental group studied worksheets in teams, received rewards based upon the team's performance, and received individual grades based upon individual exam scores. The control group studied worksheets individually and received individual grades. This eight week study utilized the sociometric question, “Who are your friends in this class?” as the pretest and posttest …

Concerns Of Liberal Arts Faculty Toward Instructional Technology, Vicki G. Sells-Lewallen

Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of A Local Food System Policy: Evaluating Implementation And Impact, Julie Lynne Thies

Doctoral Dissertations

The impact of a local food system policy, implemented by a food policy council from 1982 to 1992, on access to food in Knoxville, Tennessee was evaluated in this research study. Both a quantitative and qualitative analysis were completed. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine whether a local food system policy made an impact on access to food by changing participation trends in three national food assistance programs at the local level; 2) describe this impact; and 3) describe the Council's processes and activities as a means of better understanding how the Council operated and the results …

Perceptions Of Administrators, Counselors, Teachers, And Students Concerning School Safety And Violence In Selected Secondary Schools In North Louisiana, Sharilynn Duckworth-Loche

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purposes of this study were to determine the perceptions of administrators, counselors, teachers, and students, regarding levels of school safety and violence in selected secondary schools in north Louisiana; the types of violence that had the greatest impact on safety; and strategies that were currently being used to address violence in the schools. The secondary purpose was to determine the differences in perceptions of school safety and violence of administrators, counselors, and teachers by ethnic background, gender and years of experience. A tertiary purpose was to determine the perceptions of students by ethnic background, gender, age, and grade …

The Effects Of Structured One-On-One Tutoring In Sight Word Recognition Of First-Grade Students At-Risk For Reading Failure, Laureen Goers Mayfield

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an alternative reading program on the performance of at-risk first graders. Sixty first graders from three north Louisiana public elementary schools with high poverty rates, who were determined by their teachers and principals to be functioning in the bottom 20 to 30% of first grade reading students, were purposefully selected. Students were pretested on three subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (WRMT-R), Form G: Letter Identification, Word Identification, and Word Attack. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. Experimental group students received 15 …

Analysis Of The Relationship Between Student Satisfaction And Student Perception Of Interaction In A Compressed Video Setting, Monty E. Sullivan

Doctoral Dissertations

This study used subjects participating in courses offered via the statewide Louisiana Compressed Video Network for the purpose of analyzing the relationship between student perception of interaction and student satisfaction. A correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between student perception of interaction (sixteen interaction directionalities) and student course satisfaction (including instructional, technical, and overall satisfaction). Data were collected using the Compressed Video Student Perception of Interaction Scale and the Compressed Video Course Student Satisfaction Scale. The nine correlations used to answer the nine research questions resulted in a considerable number of significant correlations. The data generally indicated that …

Changing And Choosing Together: A Case Study On Improving Professional Development And Student Achievement Through A Teacher-Initiated Early Literacy Program, Theresa Connor Molinelli

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain teacher's perceptions of the success of an early literacy professional development program designed to achieve more meaningful student assessment, facilitate observation of effective teaching practices, promote teacher-centered staff development, and encourage greater teacher collaboration. This research study also examined the extent to which teachers believed that school- and district-administrative support for this program benefited their classroom teaching practices.

The Lozanov Method, Ryan James

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Personality As A Predictor Of Reading Comprehension Skills, Victoria Jacobs-Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

In an attempt to reduce the number of students who begin their college careers with a year of remedial and developmental reading courses. This study was designed to search for a method of early detection of possible reading comprehension skill problems. Early identification of students who may be predisposed to problems with particular reading comprehension skills could lead to earlier intervention.

To accomplish this the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) score of 400 college bound high school students were paired and analyzed. The thirteen reading comprehension skills showed a statistical difference in the mastery …

A Comparison Of Student Achievement, Self-Esteem, And Classroom Interactions In Technology -Enriched And Traditional Elementary Classrooms With Low Socioeconomic Students, Michael Shawn Page

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the attainments of elementary students in technology-enriched classrooms and students in traditional classrooms, while considering performance levels in student achievement, self-esteem, and classroom interactions. Student achievement was measured by the reading and mathematics sections of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the California Achievement Test (CAT). Composite self-esteem, as well as subscale self-esteem levels, was measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventories (CSEI), and classroom interaction analysis measurements were conducted using an adaptation of Flanders Interaction Analysis System.

Intact classes from 5 Louisiana elementary schools were randomly assigned to either …

The Relationship Among Knowledge Of, Attitudes Toward, And Use Of Portfolios For Assessment By Teacher Education Professors, Naomi C. Coyle

Doctoral Dissertations

The major purpose of this study was to examine the evaluation of portfolios as an alternative assessment tool along with those factors which influence the implementation practices of portfolios by faculty in colleges of education. The specific goals of this study were to determine the relationship between college and university professors' knowledge of portfolio assessment and their attitudes toward using portfolios as an alternative to traditional assessment practices, as well as college and university professors' knowledge of portfolio assessment and use of portfolios in the courses that they teach, and professors' attitudes and use of portfolios. Other areas of investigation …

Collaborative Learning: A Study Of Two Classes, Joseph L. Armstrong

Doctoral Dissertations

This study described and documented collaborative learning by students in two sections of a graduate education course. Ethnographic observations were made of the two groups and participants were interviewed about their experiences in their respective groups. Analysis of fieldnotes from the ethnographic observations and interview transcripts revealed three categories of themes that described the process of collaborative learning in the two groups: 1) group process, 2) learning process, and 3) group facilitation. Each category had multiple themes. The group process category contained the themes of cohesion, trust and respect, confusion and frustration and conflict; the learning process category contained the …

The Experience Of Rural, Southern Appalachian, First-Generation College Students At A University: A Narrative Study, Ruth A. Darling

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this narrative study was to obtain and analyze stories of rural, first-generation students from Southern Appalachia in order to understand their collegiate experiences in light of the home culture they brought with them. Based on my university experience working with similar students and a review of relevant literature, I determined there was a need for research studies that: a) seek to understand the meaning, for these students, of the accounts they give of their lives and experiences as college students, b) seek to understand how these students make sense of their lives in the context of their …

Intergenerational Programming: Yesterday's Memories, Today's Moments, And Tomorrow's Hopes, Kathleen Ann O'Rourke

Doctoral Dissertations

Even though the numbers and scope of intergenerational programs continue to grow, research about their impact is limited. The purpose of this study was to compare 12 behaviors of older adults in the presence of absence of children. Six adults with dementia, aged 57 to 86, were videotaped during 10 art activities, 5 with preschool children and 5 with peer adults. The design was a quasi-experimental applied behavioral analysis. Chi-square tests showed that the older adults' behaviors were significantly dependent on children's presence or absence. Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that children's presence or absence had a significant effect on the …

A Study Of Teachers' Perceptions About Staff Development Factors And Their Classroom Implementation Of Reform-Based Science Instruction, Deborah Thompson Silver

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to determine whether or not there were significant differences in implementation levels of reform-based science instructional strategies by teachers who participated in an established staff development program, Project LIFE and those who did not, and (2) to distinguish specific program factors that may have impacted the level of implementation of reform-based instructional classroom practices. The instrument used, the Survey of Reform-Based Science Teaching Strategies (SRBSTS ), was developed by the researcher and had reliability of .912 as measured by Cronbach Alpha.

An independent samples t-test analysis was used to compare the …

Effects Of Cis And Trans Unsaturated Fatty Acids On Blood Ethanol Clearance In Rats, Mei-Shin Mong

Doctoral Dissertations

The effects of saturated fatty acids (SFA), cis fatty acids (CFA), and trans fatty acid (TFA) on blood ethanol clearance were determined in 5-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats. In the first phase, it was established that the blood ethanol concentrations (BEC) of the SFA and CFA groups were higher than those of the TFA group after 2 weeks of dietary treatment. While the concentrations of liver triglyceride were significantly lower in the TFA group, the levels of plasma triglyceride were not affected by the types of dietary fatty acids.

Possible mechanisms of dietary fat related changes on BEC were investigated in …

The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward First-Language Maintenance And First-Language Literacy Skills Among Japanese Children Sojourning In The San Francisco Bay Area, Yumi Moriguchi-Mccormick

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between attitudes toward first-language maintenance and first-language literacy skills among Japanese children sojourners in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Increasing Access To The University Of California: A Case Study Of Senate Constitutional Amendment 7, Jamillah Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine alternatives to the admissions process for students seeking enrollment in the University of California. As the University of California was the first public university in the nation to eliminate the consideration of race within their admissions process under SP-1, this study focused on undergraduate admissions solely within this institution. In addition, SP-1 did not ban affirmative action therefore this study did not focus on it. It should be noted that the University of California Board of Regents established SP-1 based upon Governor Wilson's executive order which called for the end of …

A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of The Expanded Food And Nutrition Education Program, Janie L. Burney

Doctoral Dissertations

Data on the economic value of nutrition education programs, such as the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), can help decision makers choose between alternative programs based on costs and benefits. A cost-benefit analysis of EFNEP was conducted to determine if savings in food expenditures exceeded implementation costs. Costs were collected over a 6-months using expenditure reports and other records. Benefits were determined using prospective data from 371 females enrolled in EFNEP who completed a 24-hour food recall, behavior survey, and recorded the amount of money spent on food monthly at program entry and exit. Two treatment groups received …

Mothers' Perceptions Of Family-Centered Early Intervention Service Coordination, Elsa Macmillan Nownes

Doctoral Dissertations

Profound changes have taken place in the way professionals work with families who have young children with disabilities. These changes have taken place because of revisions in what professionals believe is best practice and changes in laws that govern early intervention. Although previous researchers have addressed many questions pertaining to how best to serve young children and their families in early intervention, no previous researchers have used qualitative methods to explore parental perceptions of early intervention service coordination.

Mothers with children with special needs who resided in all nine districts served by Tennessee's Early Intervention System were interviewed. The sample …

A Life Of Paradox: The Experience Of Eating Disorders In Five University Women Athletes, Deeanne K. Pearson

Doctoral Dissertations

A qualitative research investigation using the phenomenological interview was conducted to describe the experience of eating disorders in five university women athletes, aged 19-23 years, who had been clinically-diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa and/or Bulimia Nervosa. At the time of the interview, one athlete was a current competitor while the other four had retired from their sport prior to their senior year. Three athletes retired due to complications from their respective eating disorders; one retired because of a sport-related injury. The thematic analysis suggested that the eating disorder experience of these women was one of paradox and was invariably bivalent, i.e., …