This study examined the academic achievement of national social fraternity pledges compared to non-fraternity students at the University of Texas at Arlington. It was done to determine whether significant differences existed between the grade point averages of pledges of social fraternities and those of students who did not pledge a social fraternity, and to determine whether significant differences existed among fraternities when compared with each other with respect to academic achievement. This study was meant to provide a research design that could be used by other colleges and universities with fraternities to conduct the same comparison of academic performance. In the fall semester of 1989, 164 pledges were selected as the population for the study to be matched with non-fraternity students based on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, age, sex, classification, academic major, and number of hours attempted. A T-test of like groups was performed on the entire population with no significant difference found at the .05 level between all the fraternity pledges and all the matched pairs. A T-test of like groups was performed on the pledges from each separate organization and there was a significant difference among three of the fraternities. Two of the fraternities had significantly higher …

Two major purposes existed for this study. The first purpose was to compare how persisters and nonpersisters in the first year of a two-year nursing program differed in locus of control, selected personality traits, and seven demographic variables. The second major purpose was to develop a predictive model for the persisters and the nonpersisters. The particular personality variables examined were intelligence, superego strength, extraversion, anxiety, tough poise, and independence as measured by the 16PF. The summary findings were that persisters had significantly higher scores on the NDRT and the B and G traits, significantly lower externality, and were generally younger with no previous nursing experience, and more likely not to have prekindergarten age children than the nonpersisters. The major significance of this research comes from its use of data gathered at the beginning of an educational program to make predictions which can be available to teachers, counselors, and administrators who may make use of the information to improve the chance potential nonpersisters have of completing the nursing program, or perhaps to assist students in reexamination of their career choice.

The major problem of this study was to compare the views of the role of the student in a science class as reported by college science educators and secondary science teachers of grades 6-8 and of grades 9-12. Analysis of individual items. The Q-sorts indicate that all groups in this study recommend greater emphasis on student activities, student discovery, student questions, teacher accepting students' new ideas and viewpoints, student freedom to ask any science question, student enjoyment of science, more time spent in doing things other than listening, student ease in getting equipment, student revealing likes and dislikes in science, student maintenance of science equipment and student use of laboratory equipment.

The problem of this study was to determine through the use of taped media receptivity to dissonant or consonant information and to appraise those conditions which bring about change in attitude in light of dissonance theory.

The purposes of this study were to ascertain the relationship between the treatment and creativity post-test gains with independent variables of sex, grade, group, and Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills total battery scores. Major conclusions include the following. 1. Girls appear to benefit more than boys from the Multiple Talent Approach to Teaching. 2. Fifth grade students appear to benefit more than third grade students from the Multiple Talent Approach to Teaching. 3. The creativity test score gains favoring the experimental students seem to justify the conclusion that it is potentially possible to enhance creative thinking through a teaching process.

This study explored the feasibility of predicting academic achievement in prerequisite Anatomy-Physiology Classes for prospective nursing students and Medical Surgical Nursing Classes for students enrolled in a diploma program. This was accomplished by using three instruments that measure the attitudes of nursing students about the nursing profession or preferences towards learning environments . The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if the subgroup or total scores were correlated with final examination scores for each class, (2) to determine if the subgroup or total scores interacted with one another to increase the power of prediction, and (3) to compare the effects of different teaching styles, upon the instruments used to measure attitudes and preferences

This study sought to determine the effectiveness of an instructional program for developing creative thinking, a positive self-concept, and leadership among intellectually and academically gifted elementary students in grades four, five, and six. The purposes of the study were to determine the effect of experimental treatment on test scores measuring creativity, self-concept, and leadership; to compare the performance of the moderately intellectually gifted with that of the highly intellectually gifted; to determine whether boys or girls benefited more from instruction; and to determine whether fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-grade students achieved greater test gains after experimental treatment.

This study sought to investigate the secondary school principal's leadership behavior as perceived by secondary school teachers and principals in Nakorn Pathom, Thailand. The study had two purposes: to determine whether significant differences existed between teachers' perceptions of principal leadership behavior based on the variables of sex, years of teaching experience, educational level, and size of school; and to determine whether significant differences existed between the perceptions of principals and teachers with regard to the principal's leadership behavior.

This study investigates the effect of Witkin's cognitive-style variable on training success in two different orientations to counseling. Field-dependent individuals exhibit more social orientation, social compliance, and emotional warmth than field-independent individuals. Conversely, field-independent individuals exhibit more internal directedness, achievement orientation, emotional distance, and analytical task orientation than field-dependent individuals. Traits associated with field dependence appeared more complementary to an interpersonal-skills counseling approach, while traits associated with field independence appeared more complementary to behavior-modification techniques. Thus it was hypothesized that field-dependent individuals would be significantly more successful and satisfied with interpersonal skills training than would field-independent individuals, and that field-independent individuals would be more successful and satisfied with behavior modification training.

The problem of this investigation is to survey the total programs of selected kindergartens. Major emphasis on the program for the development of large muscle skills and activities will be carried out in the analysis.

This study compares the effect of the objectives-based test collections of the Instructional Objectives Exchange on reading comprehension and word-attack skills of fifth-grade students in a basal reader program. The IOX, a non-profit educational organization, was established in the late 1960's to provide educators with instructional materials such as criterion-referenced tests to allow realistic assessment of students in reference to specific instructional objectives. IOX Director James Popham states the Exchange's purpose as encouraging educators throughout the country to use criterion-referenced instructional procedures. The study compares gains in reading comprehension and word-attack skills of a research group with the gains of a control group, using the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test for both pre-test and post-test. The IOX criterion-referenced tests were added to the reading program for the research group but were not given the control group.

This study examined correlations between assessed intelligence and two major categories of reading comprehension: literal-explicit and inferential-implicit. In addition, efficiency of prediction for criterion variables was investigated by utilizing two regression models which incorporated intelligence scores squared and the square root of intelligence scores. Since it is generally accepted that the higher the assessed intelligence of an individual, the higher will be his achievement in all areas of reading comprehension, the present study sought to discover whether there was a curvilinear relationship between intelligence and the two categories of reading comprehension with the factor of intelligence statistically controlled. It was felt that the hypothesized curvilinear relationship would result in significantly better performance by brighter students on inferential questions and significantly better performance by less-bright students on literal questions. Although no cause and effect has been established, based on the data presented in this study and within the. limitations of this study, the following conclusions seem tenable. 1. Since reading comprehension may be viewed as a thinking process, it is important to note that a relationship exists between the assessed intelligence of an individual and his performance on both literal and inferential tests of that process. 2. This study has demonstrated …

The purpose of this investigation was to extend the study of possible differences between Negro and white boys on measures of physical fitness and to determine the relationship between certain variables and physical fitness for Negro and white boys.

The problem of this study was to compare the social alienation of upper elementary students receiving reading instruction in five types of environmental settings.

The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of reading instruction in a program using children's trade books instead of basal readers, and to identify patterns resulting in hypotheses regarding the nature of instruction. The study informs practitioners by providing descriptions of actual instruction, enabling readers to envision how reading instruction is accomplished using children's trade books, and it informs the research community by developing grounded theory concerning the nature of instruction in one literature-based reading program. The study can help bridge the polarization between traditionalists and whole language advocates through the descriptions of how traditionally accepted academic domains of reading instruction were accomplished. Also, it provides a model of a successful way to structure instructional time so that students spend more time actually reading, and it documents the social dimensions of instruction as important domain of reading instruction.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a death education laboratory approach on the participants. Measures of death anxiety, general anxiety, and self-concept were thought to be of particular importance and thus were used as dependent variables. The study was designed to obtain measures of the variables through appropriate testing administered immediately following participation in a death lab and one month after participation in the 16-hour death lab. This design was selected because the possibility exists that anxiety levels may increase during a workshop on death and dying. None of the eight hypotheses in this study were statistically validated. Thus the assumption that the death lab as used in this study would have a positive impact on the participants was rejected. However, non-statistical observations and inferences from analysis of covariance and t-test data suggested that the use of a waiting list control group may have biased the results of the study. A second observation made in this study was that high death anxious treatment group members tended to have reduced anxiety scores on post-testing and low death anxious treatment group members tended to have increased death anxiety scores on post-testing. It is not known if this …

The problem of this study is to compare prior health care experience with satisfactory adjustment in a long-term care facility. Both quantity and quality of prior experience in a health care facility are examined in terms of the significance to successful relocation. Demographic data and perceived control of health are examined in relation to significance of the findings.

The present investigation involved the development of a psychobiologic profile of individuals who experience exercise-related mood-enhancement and those who do not. The sample (N=301) consisted of students participating in 10-week exercise classes at North Texas State University. All subjects completed pre-test inventories assessing various psychological (i.e., trait anxiety and depression, attitude toward physical activity, self-estimation of physical ability and attraction to physical activity, expectancies of health benefits from exercise, and self-motivation) and biological (i.e., aerobic capacity and body fat percentage) variables. Trait anxiety and depression were also assessed before and after the 10-week exercise program and state anxiety and depression were assessed on an acute basis on two separate occasions during the program. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis were employed to determine which variables maximally discriminated between individuals who experienced mood-elevations following exercise and those who did not enjoy such rewards. The hypothesis that these two groups of individuals differ significantly from each other was not upheld by the results; thus, an overall psychobiologic profile could not be developed. However, the data did reveal that individuals who held a more positive attitude toward physical activity for the purpose of health and fitness reduced their state anxiety and …

The extent of the application of the strategic planning process on dental education institutions was the problem in this descriptive study. The specific purpose was to describe the status of strategic planning based on the perceptions of the respondents. The organization, the characteristics and the impact of the strategic planning process would be investigated and described by this research. The total population of the doctoral and post-doctoral dental education institutions were included in the study. A specifically developed research instrument was used to elicit the perceptions of the respondents, both experts and chief executive officers (deans). All the experts (100 percent) completed and validated the research instrument and 65 percent of the dental education institutions completed the research instrument. The research instrument evaluated three areas of strategic planning: organization, characteristics, and the impact of strategic planning on their institutions. It was concluded that all dental education institutions participate in the strategic planning process and that the organization in the strategic planning process and that the organization and characteristics are generally similar to those in higher education institutions. The application of the strategic planning process has been proven beneficial in higher education institutions and there are perceived benefits in dental education. …

The purposes were (1) to examine the relationship of four motivational characteristics, as measured by the Merritt College Motivation Inventory (MCMI), to final introductory psychology grades in the two methods of instruction, and (2) to determine the usefulness of the MCMI as a tool for guiding students into open circuit television and on-campus traditional introductory psychology courses. The following research questions were formulated: (1) Can a prediction model using four motivational scales (Intrinsic, Self-Enhancement, Per son-Orientation, and Goal-Deficiency as measured by the MCMI) be developed which will adequately predict achievement in open-circuit television and on-campus traditional introductory psychology courses? (2) Can a prediction model using three of less of the four MCMI scales be developed which will adequately predict achievement in open-circuit television and on-campus traditional introductory psychology courses? (3) Of the four MCMI scales, which one or combination will be applicable in counseling students into open circuit television and on-campus traditional introductory psychology courses? All four hypotheses were confirmed. However, the four motivational characteristics as measured by the MCMI may not adequately predict achievement for the on-campus or telecourse students, The prediction efficiency of the Full and Restricted Models for both groups left significant proportions (81.41 per cent or …

This study concerned the paucity of group counseling procedures designed specifically for use with parents of handicapped children. Purposes of the study were- (1) design of an affective-cognitive group counseling procedure, (2) investigation of affective-cognitive group counseling procedural effects with parents of handicapped children, (3) determination of procedural effects in a. changing the intra- and interpersonal attitudes of parents, b. increasing parents' knowledge of Positive Behavior Management, and (4) determining comparative procedure effects. Four research hypotheses related to the efficacy of the affective-cognitive group counseling procedure were formulated and tested at the .05 level of confidence. Statistical analysis of data indicated that parents participating in the affective-cognitive group counseling procedure did not achieve significantly higher posttest mean scores on the Acceptance of Self and Others test or in the five areas of the Parent Attitude Survey Scale than did parents participating in the affective, cognitive, or control group. Data did reveal that parents participating in the cognitive group did achieve significantly higher adjusted posttest mean scores on the Positive Behavior Management Assessment than did parents participating in the affective-cognitive, affective, or control group. Data also indicated that parents in the affective-cognitive group did not obtain greater mean scores on goal-attainment …

The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the major goals of independent senior colleges and universities in Texas, (2) to survey the opinions of persons in positions of leadership in independent senior colleges and universities in Texas with respect to existing and preferred goals, (2) to determine if there are significant differences of opinion among these persons, and (4) to develop projections of the probably priorities for goals of independent senior colleges and universities in Texas, based upon the expressed opinions of these persons in positions of leadership. According to the opinions of institutional leaders, the major goals pertain to quality faculty and academic freedom, to areas which are directly related to the personal, social, and intellectual development of students, and to the continuance of quality academic programs. Based on the opinions of these groups, plans and decisions in independent higher education in Texas over the next decade will be influenced more by financial matters than by any other factor. Other goals which will be important include continued development of strong academic programs, spiritual and moral growth of students, stabilization of enrollment, and development and retention of quality faculty.

The problem of this study was an examination of the relationship between low achievement and physical abilities.This study focuses on the areas of musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial and bodily-kinesthetic abilities. This correlational study found that low achievers as a group, identified by achievement test scores, scored above the mean on a measure of motor ability. For children who are struggling to achieve in school, it would seem prudent to explore their strengths in other areas of intelligence. Further research is suggested in the areas of high and average achieving students' motor development.

This study explored the relationship between cheating among university students and their cognitive developmental levels, use of neutralization techniques, self-concept as a multifaceted cognitive construct, and attitude toward cheating. The purposes of this study were to investigate: (1) The relationships between academic dishonesty and each of the following overall independent variables: cognitive development, use of neutralization techniques, self-concept as a multifaceted cognitive construct, and attitude toward cheating, and (2) the reasons behind college student academic cheating behaviors. The study used data from anonymous, self-report surveys administered to undergraduate students in-class and at supplemental sessions. Student participation was voluntary. The study was correlational. The five hypotheses were: (1) Self-concept is significantly and negatively related to academic dishonesty; (2) Cognitive development is significantly and negatively related to academic dishonesty; (3) Attitude toward cheating is significantly and negatively related to academic dishonesty; (4) The use of neutralization techniques is significantly and positively related to academic dishonesty; (5) Cognitive development, self-concept, and attitude toward cheating will make significant contributions to the regression model for the dependent variables of academic dishonesty. The data supported the first, third, and fourth hypotheses. However, the second and fifth hypotheses were supported under certain conditions. The roles of cognitive …