Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Applied Thermoplastic Screw Plastication Theory: Industry Acceptance And Implications For Plastics Processing Education, Paul V. Engelmann

Dissertations

Rapid expansion of the thermoplastics processing industry has increased the need for plastics education and training. Screw plastication is the major method of melting plastics in order to mold or extrude them into useful products. Thus, information about the role of plastication is needed to provide guidance for plastics education and training.

This study sought confirmation of suspected differences existing in the amount of knowledge personnel have about thermoplastic screw plastication, dependent upon: (a) the type of plastics process used, and (b) their job classifications. Furthermore, the study collected data in three additional areas: (1) the extent to which persons …

An Assessment Of The Relationship Between Decision-Makers' Opinions About Comprehensive Sex Education And Factors That Influence Those Opinions, M. Terri Voit-Devine

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate decision-makers' opinions about what was to be contained in comprehensive sex education programs, the degree to which decision makers believed course information was likely to be part of their own curriculum, and how much support they believed the community would give to various parts of the curriculum.

The instrument used in the study was created by combining parts of surveys by Wayne (1981) and Marini and Jones (1983). The study compared the opinions of decision makers about guidelines to be used when implementing sex education, reasons for offering sex education, reasons for …

The Effects Of Using Print Media In Teaching Critical Thinking Skills To Adult Students, Gloria Jean Mccormick

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of an educational program in which print media were employed to teach critical thinking skills to adult education students. The major problem of this research was whether or not adult students, who lack a high school diploma, show greater improvement in critical thinking if they participate in a critical thinking skills program using print media, than if they do not. Adult education students in three suburban school districts of Macomb County, Michigan were the subjects of this study.

The methodology used in this study was a non-randomized control group, prettest-posttest …

Administrator And Consultant Perceptions Of Consultant Services In Michigan Schools, Julia A. Berg

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine administrator and consultant perceptions regarding consultant services in Michigan schools as related to: (a) services provided, (b) roles, (c) sources of funding, (d) sources for identifying services, (e) characteristics and components that may influence selection, and (f) methods used for evaluation. A review of literature was conducted related to the six survey questions of the study.

Responses to surveys were analyzed from 116 (85% response rate) randomly selected Michigan school superintendents and other administrators and 58 (58% response rate) consultants identified as providing service in Michigan school districts during the 1986-87 school …

The Effects Of Caretaking Settings On School Readiness Of 4-Year-Olds, Joan C. Sergent

Dissertations

The effects of daytime caretaking settings and the nature and number of activities in those settings on school readiness and receptive language levels of 4-year-old children were investigated. Daytime caretaking settings, defined as the setting experienced by the 4-year-old the year prior to entering kindergarten, were determined through interviews administered to the parent/guardian of each of the 185 4-year-old participants. School readiness and receptive language levels of the 4-year-old participants were determined by individual administration of the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test (GSRST) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) respectively. The settings were categorized as group educational, such as preschool …

A Survey Of Oral Communication Instructional Practices In The Elementary Public Schools Of Michigan, James N. Walker

Dissertations

Instruction in oral communication is critical to education. Oral communication skills are needed in the development of skills in written language, math, problem solving, and reading. Oral communication skills are important in achieving academic, vocational, and personal success. On November 1, 1978, speech education was recognized as a basic skill by United States law.

The purpose of this study was to determine the oral communication instructional practices in Michigan public elementary schools grades K-5. Eight research questions were identified:

(1) Is instruction provided? (2) What is the "basis" for instruction? (3) What materials are used? (4) What is the method …

Educational Outcomes Of Children With Two Working Parents, Michael B. Dib

Dissertations

In this study five measures of ability or achievement (I.Q., reading comprehension, vocabulary, math concepts, and math computation) for each of four grade levels (third, fourth, fifth, and sixth) were analyzed to determine whether there were significant differences for students from traditional working parent families and students from two-working-parent families. An ex post facto design was used.

Subjects were 335 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students from a single public school district in the state of Michigan. These students were identified by teachers or principals as being from either a traditional or a two-working-parent family. All ability and achievement …

The Certification Of Training And Development Professionals: Employers' Perception Of Problem Prevalence And Certification's Efficacy, Susan Lynn Atchison-Day

Dissertations

The certification of training and development (HRD) professionals is under consideration by professional training associations. Certification programs can be advantageous; however, they are also costly and present potentially undesirable side effects. Therefore, verifying the worth of a certification program is a logical prerequisite to design and implementation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the problems for which intervention, through a certification program, might be needed and the ability of certification to meet the need.

This study gathered data to determine whether companies: (a) had experienced common problems for which certification might be a solution; (b) viewed certification as …

A Study Of A Prekindergarten Screening Test: The Project Intercept Inventory, Francis J. Rutowski

Dissertations

The emphasis on the importance of early childhood education has brought attention to techniques used in determining the readiness of young children to successfully undertake kindergarten programs.

The Project Intercept Inventory is a criterion-referenced prekindergarten screening test that has been used in the Grand Rapids, Michigan public schools for 12 years. The test consists of 21 items distributed among seven developmental areas. The test was locally developed and no previous analyses had been done to determine the reliability and validity of the test.

The information gained from the use of this test has been used in making educational programming recommendations …

Investigation Of The Relationship Between Occupation, Learning Style, And Productivity Preference, Charlotte Wenham

Dissertations

Businesses spend millions of dollars each year on selection and placement of personnel, on training, and on organizational development activities. Each one involves the learning processes of the individual; the effectiveness of these activities is dependent upon the receptiveness of the individual learner or worker to the specific activity. The purpose of this study was to verify if certain occupational groups demonstrated particular learning styles and productivity preferences and to determine if there were systematic differences among the occupational groups and the magnitude of those differences. Members of nine different occupational groups working in a branch facility of a Fortune …

Comparison Of International And American Doctoral Graduates' Expectations, Satisfaction, And Appropriateness Of Their Programs In Education At Andrews University, Libin Kutup Rampasan

Dissertations

Problem

The proportion of international students in the doctoral programs, School of Education at Andrews University, raises concerns over (a) the ability of the programs to meet the varied expectations and needs of the international and American students and (b) the relevance of the students' academic preparations to their careers. Possible differences between the international and American doctoral graduates' appraisals of their programs were investigated.

Method

This ex-post facto study obtained data from two sources: All's records and the graduates' responses to survey questionnaires sent to 143 of the 151 doctoral graduates with known addresses. A 72.7% return rate was …

Effects Of Administrator Implemented Homogeneous And Heterogeneous Grouping On Reading Achievement Of Selected Sixth-Grade Students, Jerry L. Thacker

Dissertations

Problem. A Nation at Risk reported that the average achievement score of high-school students on most standardized tests is lower now than it was a quarter of a century ago, and the majority of the brightest students fail to achieve according to their ability. A salient problem in educating pupils is that of attaining reading comprehension achievement scores comparable to their intellectual potential. This study examines the effects of administrator implemented homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping on the reading achievement of selected sixth-grade students.

Method. This was a quasi-experimental study using parametric techniques. The tests for hypotheses were analysis of …

Field Testing Of An Instrument For Measuring Educator Knowledge Of Laws Of The State Of Michigan, Barbara A. Souve

Dissertations

In this study, educator literacy about selected laws of the state of Michigan pertaining to education is examined. Literature related to laws and litigation have often included assertions that educators are not familiar with laws and court decisions related to their workplace.

The purpose of this study was to develop and field test an instrument for measurement of educator knowledge of laws of the state of Michigan related to education and judged important as laws about which educators should be knowledgeable. A test was developed from three sources: the Michigan School Code of 1976, Michigan Laws Relating to Education, and …

A Study Of The Relationship Between High School Graduation Requirements And Student A.C.T. Assessment Scores In Public High Schools In The State Of Michigan, William M. Pritchard

Dissertations

The literature has pointed toward changes in high school curriculum as a contributor to the decline of standardized test scores during the 1960's and 1970's. During the past few years, many schools have increased graduation requirements in various subject areas in an effort to increase learning on the part of students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the number of years of required study in various subject areas on student achievement.

The population that was studied included all public high schools in the State of Michigan. Two hundred thirty-eight schools were sampled from the population, …

The Relationship Between Nonsupervisory Employees' Self-Assessment Of Their Supervisory Skills And The Amount Of Satisfaction They Believe They Would Receive From Being A Supervisor, Arthur W. Hoffman

Dissertations

This descriptive study investigated the relationship between perceived supervisory effectiveness (competence) and perceived supervisory satisfaction for nonsupervisory professional-technical employees who may aspire to supervisory positions. The study participants are employees of a large industrial company engaged in the engineering and manufacturing of diversified products for the automotive industry. Specifically, the study attempted to (a) collect employee selfassessment data regarding the employee's perceived supervisory job effectiveness and perceived job satisfaction, (b) determine whether a relationship existed between perceived supervisory effectiveness and satisfaction, and (c) determine if the employee's age and educational level were influencing factors.

In order to investigate the relationship …

Selected Educational Indicators For Monitoring The Primary-School System, Jamaica, Edith G. Marshalleck

Dissertations

Problem. Since the 1960s there has been increasing interest in the development of social indicators, educational indicators being an important subset of these. Studies in the U.S. and Europe have sought to (1) establish a conceptual framework for educational indicators, and (2) identify indicators useful for economic planning and monitoring the state of education. The need for these indicators in developing countries has also been identified. The researcher sought by (1) a correlational/predictive study and (2) an exploratory opinionnaire to validate a list of indicators for monitoring primary education in Jamaica and guiding financial choices.

Method. Utilizing scores from …

An Investigation Of Parents' Perceptions Of The Junior-Academy Principal's Role In The Lake Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, John Carey

Dissertations

Problem. If he/she is to satisfy or accommodate the expectations of the various groups that interact with him/her, the principal needs to be aware of how they perceive his/her role; but no studies were found on parents' perceptions of the junior-academy principal's role. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine parents' perceptions of the role of the principal in Seventh-day Adventist junior academies in the Great Lake states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Method. A descriptive survey design was utilized for this study. A closed-type questionnaire developed by the researcher was submitted to a panel of eleven …

A Study Of Michigan Local School District Community Information/Relations Systems, Stanley Joseph Olson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to review the relationship between the operation of a full-time community information/relations program and citizen financial support in Michigan local school districts. The study also identified and investigated model components of successful full-time community information/relations programs.

Financial support records of 11 local school districts identified as operating full-time community information/relations programs (community information/relations districts) were compared to those records established by a comparable sample group of local school districts which did not operate a program (traditional districts) during a five year period, 1977-1982. This was done to determine whether districts operating community information/relations programs …

Teachers' Growth/Development And The Organizational Climate Of Elementary Schools, Louise Birch

Dissertations

The purposes of the study were: (a) to determine the types of professional development in which elementary teachers voluntarily participated and the extent of that participation, and (b) to investigate the relationships between school climate and teachers' participation, enrollment size and teachers' participation, and enrollment size and school climate.

The survey included all of the 356 regular elementary school teachers in two southwestern Michigan school districts who each held a tenured position and was assigned to a building with the same principal for at least the 1980-81 and 1981-82 years. The number of schools was 15 in District A and …

The Importance Of, And Capability To Perform, Program Evaluation As Perceived By Wisconsin District Media Directors, Roger Leslie Hartz

Dissertations

Working from a theoretical framework developed by merging the CIPP Evaluation Model with the concepts of formative and summative evaluation, this study attempted to discover the perceptions of Wisconsin school district instructional media directors regarding the importance of, and capability to perform, various types of evaluation activity.

Two survey instruments were developed, pilot tested, and administered to Wisconsin school district media directors. One form, administered to half of the population, sought information about the importance of the evaluation activities. The second form, administered to the remainder of the population, sought information about the perceived capability to perform the evaluation activities. …

A Comparison Of Three Operational Definitions Of Job Satisfaction, Thomas J. Kuieck

Dissertations

The major purpose of the study was to provide to educational leaders information pertinent to the selection of job satisfaction instruments. The Need Satisfaction Questionnaire created by Porter, as modified by Trusty and Sergiovanni, and the Quality of Employment Job Satisfaction Survey developed by personnel from the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan were compared with the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by Weiss, Dawis, England, and Lofquist to investigate the concurrent validity of the instruments. The study focused primarily on the psychometric aspects of the Need Satisfaction Questionnaire, an instrument used by earlier investigators to assess individuals' …

A Delphi Study To Identify Possible Futures Of Community Education In Michigan, Ilene Gail Sheffer

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Community Educational Leaders: A Demographic Description And Investigation Of Marital Status, Lynwood Earle Smith

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Model For The Development Of Educational Specifications For Small Schools, Raymond K. Wilkinson

Dissertations

Problem. The process of carefully planning school facilities to accomodate and support a particular educational program is but a recent addition to educational theory and practice. In fact, the use of educational specifications, in which educators describe how a school will operate, and thus guide the architects in their process of design, has developed within the same general period of time during which schools have grown in size and complexity (Callahan, 1962; Roaden, 1963). As a result, the process of planning has largely been related to big schools, and the distinctive needs of small schools have been neglected. The …

An Assessment Of The Vocational Technical Education Needs Of The Lake Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Larry Dean Mahlum

Dissertations

Purpose. In response to pressure from their constituents for more vocational education in their schools, the educational leaders of the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists comprising the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, requested a survey be conducted to assess the extent of this need. The purpose of this study was to answer as objectively as possible the following questions: Is there a need for more vocational-technical education courses in the secondary schools of the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists? If there is a need, what type of courses are desired?

Procedure. The curriculum desires of the …

Development Of An Institutional Research Model : Lake Michigan College, Jonas M. Dalton

Dissertations

Problem. Institutional research is a form of organizational self - study designed to help colleges gather data, analyze , and present the results for the purpose of aiding the administration in achieving long -range goals, ascertaining the effectiveness of institutional programs, and identifying new programs and operational changes needed to achieve institutional goals and objectives. In view of the fact that Lake Michigan College does not have an Office o f Institutional Research , the purpose of this study was: (1 ) to develop a proposed Institutional Research Model for Lake Michigan College , and (2) to determine the informational …

An Exploratory Study Of Nursing Personnnel Needs In Seventh-Day Adventist Hospitals In The Continental United States With A View To Educational Assessment And Planning, Robert Thompson Andrews

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to collect, organize, and analyze data from Seventh-day Adventist hospitals, nurses, SDA church leadership, and general statistics to provide nursing-personnel resource information for Adventist hospital and nursing education planning.

Some of the objectives of this study were to obtain a descriptive profile of nurses working in Adventist hospitals, to discover personnel selection patterns, turnover rates by position, annual job openings, numbers and percentages of Adventist-educated nurses, and the supply and demand for nurses in different nursing and administrative positions.

Method. Population of this descriptive study included all nurses working in forty-seven hospitals in …