An Adult Educational Research Model for Developing an Evaluation System for Clergy (open access)

An Adult Educational Research Model for Developing an Evaluation System for Clergy

Formal job performance evaluation of a church's pastoral staff has been almost nonexistent in many churches. While business and education have been making strides in evaluation techniques during the past three decades, the church is just beginning to notice the need for this kind of accountability and ongoing professional development. In this research, the author applied the evaluation techniques of education to church pastoral staff members. Evaluation can be understood as both a formative process and a summative decision. The steps to planning an evaluation that will be both formative and summative are discussed. Qualifying the ministerial tasks through objective job descriptions will enable the church to quantify the job performance through evaluation. Suggestions are given for developing a ministerial evaluation instrument. In this research a model from educational evaluation was adapted for use in a local church setting. One denomination was selected to demonstrate the process of evaluation development. Denominational governments differ considerably. Therefore, the key stakeholders of the church for the chosen denomination were identified as pastors and church board members. These stakeholders were used as a "panel of experts." The Delphi technique was used to develop consensus from the participants concerning (1) the core skills of ministerial …
Date: August 1998
Creator: Burnside, Burnie R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Approach to Teaching Adults to Play Beginning Piano through the Use of Educational Television (open access)

An Approach to Teaching Adults to Play Beginning Piano through the Use of Educational Television

The purpose of this paper is to establish a need for more accessible fine arts courses offered to adults and more specifically in music, to design a series of programs that would give an introduction to beginning functional piano through the use of educational television. The paper includes ten lesson outlines for thirty minute program segments including a pilot script. This educational television series is designed to stimulate the student's continued playing of the piano with guided instruction through class or private lessons. A particular method of piano pedagogy used for educational television is explored. Procedures followed in order to be able to film the project are also covered, It is suggested that a survey in the particular viewing audience area be conducted and tests given to a cross-section of adults before implementation of the program.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Fore, Katherine Ellen Moser
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Association Between Selected Health Characteristics and Participation in Learning Projects by Retired Educators (open access)

The Association Between Selected Health Characteristics and Participation in Learning Projects by Retired Educators

This study identified the number of learning projects undertaken by thirty-eight retired educators and examined the extent to which these experiences were associated with the body weight and the exercise patterns of the subjects. A list of 1091 names of retired educators was obtained and 400 names were randomly selected to receive a brief survey seeking responses to demographic, personal and miscellaneous questions relating to their efforts to continue to pursue learning. Interviews were arranged with thirty-eight subjects who met established criteria. The 19 8 3 Metropolitan Height and Weight Tables were used to estimate weight characteristics and a probe sheet was designed to identify the number of hours spent exercising in activities vigorous enough to increase heart beat. In-depth interviews were conducted by the investigator using the questions from Tough's Interview Schedule for Studying Some Basic Characteristics of Learning Projects, and the probe sheet designed by the investigator. The interviews focused on the efforts to continue learning during the past twelve months and on the participation in vigorous exercise during the past twelve months. Findings were analyzed by computing t-tests for independent means and the Pearson product moment method of correlation. Comparisons of the results from this study were …
Date: August 1985
Creator: Simmons, Anne Harris
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bonaro Wilkinson Overstreet: Her Significance in Adult Education (open access)

Bonaro Wilkinson Overstreet: Her Significance in Adult Education

The purpose of this study was to determine Bonaro Wilkinson Overstreet's significance and development as a leader in adult education. This study provided information on her life, her individual and collaborative contributions with Harry Overstreet in adult education, and her interest in poetry. Data were collected using online database searching; review of published, unpublished, and informal documents of Bonaro Overstreet; and correspondence and interviews with professional colleagues, employers, and personal acquaintances. Interviews were conducted with current authorities in the field of adult education for informational purposes. Bonaro Overstreet did not influence or alter the course of adult education as a field of study. Her strength was in her role of practitioner and contributor to research, theory, and professional development of the adult education field. She broadened the depth of adult education as an advocate of knowing oneself and acting responsibly in the context of democratic responsibility.
Date: May 1990
Creator: Dorman, Brigid Byrne
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Needs of the Elderly and Delivery of Services as Perceived by Directors of and Participants in Senior Centers and Nutrition Sites (open access)

A Comparison of the Needs of the Elderly and Delivery of Services as Perceived by Directors of and Participants in Senior Centers and Nutrition Sites

This study was a comparison of the perceptions of directors of and participants in senior centers with regard to needs of the elderly and delivery of services to them. The sample consisted of a random selection of 200 of the 741 centers in the state of Texas. Responses were received from 111 center directors and 609 elderly participants. An instrument that used a Likert-type scale to measure the importance of needs and frequency of delivery of services was devised to survey needs in the areas of health, nutrition, recreation, education, and transportation. No statistically significant differences were found between perceptions of directors and participants with regard to needs, delivery of services, or the differences between needs and actual delivery of services at the centers. When participants were grouped on the basis of gender, age, and ethnicity, males and minority groups rated both needs and delivery higher than did females and the majority ethnic group. The sixty to seventy age group rated education needs significantly higher than did the older age groups.
Date: August 1984
Creator: Webb, Dorothea B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Delphi Investigation Concerning Two-Year College Administrators' Perceptions of the Future Enrollment of Older Adult Students and the Provision of Education for This Population at Two-Year Colleges (open access)

A Delphi Investigation Concerning Two-Year College Administrators' Perceptions of the Future Enrollment of Older Adult Students and the Provision of Education for This Population at Two-Year Colleges

The problem of this study was the description of two year college instructional and vocational-technical administrators' expectations concerning the enrollment of adults over thirty years of age in two-year colleges and the colleges' need to respond to this population. Ninety of 125 Texas administrators eligible to participate and the Delphi process developed a consensus of opinion. The Delphi process consists of a series of three rounds of solicitation of opinion from panelists through responses to questionnaires and controlled feedback to the panelists of information relevant to the issue in the form of a group statistical response.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Jones, Wendell W. (Wendell Wraye)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Delphi Investigation of Staff Development Knowledge and Skills Needed for Primary School Principals in Thailand (open access)

A Delphi Investigation of Staff Development Knowledge and Skills Needed for Primary School Principals in Thailand

This study sought to determine the staff development knowledge and skill needs of school administrators as perceived by primary school principals in Thailand. This study posed the following questions for investigation: what specific knowledge and skills do primary school principals in Thailand perceive as necessary for them to perform the role of staff developer in their schools, and which competencies are perceived to be the most important?
Date: May 1991
Creator: Rajnapong, Ranee
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Delphi Investigation of Staff Development Needs of the Child-Care Personnel in the Juvenile Detention Facilities in the State of Texas (open access)

A Delphi Investigation of Staff Development Needs of the Child-Care Personnel in the Juvenile Detention Facilities in the State of Texas

This investigation was concerned with the problem that the staff development needs of child-care personnel in juvenile detention facilities in the State of Texas have not been identified and described. The study utilizes the Delphi technique in determining juvenile detention administrators' perceptions of the skills/knowledge required to be a competent detention child-care worker. The assumption was made that detention administrators can supply relevant input to study.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Brown, Melvin, 1941-
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development and Contributions of the Department of Adult Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, to Adult Education in Nigeria: 1945- 1980 (open access)

The Development and Contributions of the Department of Adult Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, to Adult Education in Nigeria: 1945- 1980

This study examined the historical development of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and its contributions to adult education both in Nigeria and in other African nations. This was aimed at providing up-to-date insight into the department's contributions to the development of adult education in Nigeria and in other African nations. Specifically, this study examined the department's founders and their goals, the department's management structure, its relationship with other adult education agencies in Nigeria and in Africa, its programs and services, and the participants in these. This study reveals that the department's founders were both British and Nigerian politicians, educators, and humanitarians. They were concerned with eradicating illiteracy, preparing adults for democratic roles, and improving the economic well-being of these adults. The department does not have a consistent pattern of management. The selection of its leadership is usually based on seniority and academic merits. The department initially relied on donations and on the revenues from the local, state, and federal governments of Nigeria to operate. It now relies on those from the profit from its services to the public and on those from Nigeria's state and federal governments. The department interacts with other departments of the university and with other …
Date: May 1987
Creator: Adeniji, Olufemi O. (Olufemi Ogunruku)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Educational Design for Consciousness-Raising in Social Justice Education for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word: Paulo Freire's Philosophy and Methodology Applied to the Congregational Ministry for/with the Economically Poor (open access)

An Educational Design for Consciousness-Raising in Social Justice Education for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word: Paulo Freire's Philosophy and Methodology Applied to the Congregational Ministry for/with the Economically Poor

The purpose of the investigation was two-fold: (1) to develop an educational design for consciousness-raising in social justice education using Paulo Freire's literacy method, and (2) to investigate its effect on the Incarnate Word sisters' attitude toward the economically poor, Workshop sessions examined social justice concepts of the economically poor as stated in the Acts of the Congregation's General Chapter and applied Freire's method of consciousness-raising outlined in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed and his Education for Critical Consciousness.
Date: May 1987
Creator: Palmer, Margaret Rose
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of a Short-Term Videotape Training Program for Guides Conducting Older Adults on Tours in Public Spaces (open access)

The Effects of a Short-Term Videotape Training Program for Guides Conducting Older Adults on Tours in Public Spaces

The problem of this study was a test of a specific videotape designed to influence the actions of tour guides for older adult groups. The purposes of the study were to observe guide performances and older adult responses before and after training in techniques for sharing information with older adults in public spaces. The hypotheses were tested. 1) Guides after training would exhibit significant differences in behaviors of pointing, repeating, pausing, questioning, conversing, facing art when talking, talking inaudibly, pacing rapidly. 2) Older adult drop-outs would decrease on tours with especially trained guides.
Date: August 1985
Creator: Wolens, Sylvia E. (Sylvia Elaine)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Participation in a Buddy System on the Self-Concept, Academic Achievement, Attrition Rate, and Congruence Level of Community College Developmental Studies Students (open access)

The Effects of Participation in a Buddy System on the Self-Concept, Academic Achievement, Attrition Rate, and Congruence Level of Community College Developmental Studies Students

This dissertation sought to determine the effects of a buddy system on a student's self-concept, academic achievement, attrition rate, and congruence levels. The buddy system treatment randomly paired two students for the purposes of sharing ideas, working on assignments, getting to know each other, and supporting one another. The study included three randomly selected sections of pre-college level, developmental writing classes from the Brookhaven College of the Dallas County Community College District. Three other classes served as the control group, and one instructor taught all six sections of the course. Three instruments were used as measures of change: the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS), designed by William H. Fitts, measured self-concept levels; the Personality and Educational Environment Scale (PEES), created by Roger Boshier, measured congruence levels; and a written paragraph measured achievement levels in English. Attrition percentages were based on the number of students enrolled during the second week of class who were not present during the sixteenth week of class. To test for significance, an analysis of covariance procedure was used on the TSCS, PEES, and written paragraph results, and a test for the difference between proportions for independent groups was used on the attrition percentages. The class sections were …
Date: December 1985
Creator: Cinclair, Carol
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Influencing Nigerian Adults to Participate in the Adult Basic Education Programs of the Nigerian Baptist Convention Which Lead to the First-School-Leaving-ertificate (open access)

Factors Influencing Nigerian Adults to Participate in the Adult Basic Education Programs of the Nigerian Baptist Convention Which Lead to the First-School-Leaving-ertificate

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of determining the specific stated factors that influenced Nigerian adults to participate in adult basic educational programs of the Nigerian Baptist Convention which lead to the first-school-leaving-certificate. The purpose of the study was to identify and examine the factors that influence Nigerian adults to participate in the adult basic and certificate educational programs of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, and to make recommendations for program improvements based on these findings. The data for this study were collected from questionnaires which included demographic information about the participants and a list of reasons for educational participation and needs-met statements. Questionnaire items were rated on a five-point scale. The researcher mailed 600 questionnaires to both adult basic and certificate education students in the adult education programs of the Nigerian Baptist Convention in Ibadan, Nigeria. The basic education group responded to 126 questionnaires, while the certificate groups responded to 122 questionnaires.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Aderinto, John A. (John Adeboye)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Influencing Registered Nurses to Participate in Educational Programs Leading to a Baccalaureate or Higher Degree (open access)

Factors Influencing Registered Nurses to Participate in Educational Programs Leading to a Baccalaureate or Higher Degree

This study proposed to determine the reasons given by registered nurses for participation or nonparticipation in programs leading to a baccalaureate or higher degree. The purpose of this study was the following: identify the factors influencing registered nurses to return or not return to school for an advanced degree and to compare the needs (met or unmet) of the participants with the anticipated needs (met and unmet) of the nonparticipants.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Inman, Charlene
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gowin's Knowledge Vee: A Heuristic for Adult Religious Education (open access)

Gowin's Knowledge Vee: A Heuristic for Adult Religious Education

The application of Gowin's knowledge vee as a means to design instruction for adult Bible study was investigated in this study. The study was designed to determine whether subjects using this instructional approach differed from subjects using traditional instructional materials regarding their attitudes toward Bible study, attendance, knowledge retention, application of study materials to life, and recruitment of new class members.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Funck, James H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Historical Development and Demise of the University of Plano (open access)

The Historical Development and Demise of the University of Plano

The University of Piano was a private, liberal arts college with a campus in Piano, Texas and an extended campus in Frisco, Texas. The University was incorporated in 1964 under the original name of the University of Lebanon. Classes began in temporary space in downtown Dallas in 1964 and continued on its campuses in Piano and Frisco until the summer of 1976. The University of Piano was comprised of two separate schools within the University: the School of Developmental Education and the Frisco College of Arts and Sciences. This study explores the curricula of both schools and the students and faculty who participated in both programs. This study focuses on the establishment, development and final closing of a wholly privately supported university which accepted both traditional college students and students whose basic academic skills or neurological development prevented their acceptance into traditional college programs. It addresses the history of the University, the roles of its leaders, and the lasting effects of its programs.
Date: May 1989
Creator: Revel, Linda Foxworth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ideas About Adult Learning in Fifth and Fourth Century B.C. Athens (open access)

Ideas About Adult Learning in Fifth and Fourth Century B.C. Athens

The problem of this study was to determine to what extent contemporary adult education theory has similarities to and origins in ancient Athenian ideas about education. The methodology used in the study combined hermeneutics and the critical theory of Jurgen Habermas. Primary sources incuded Aristotle, Plato, Aristophanes, and Diogenes Laertius; secondary sources included Jaeger, Marrou, Dover, and Kennedy. In the analysis of Athenian adult education, three groups of adult educators were identified—the poets the sophists, and the philosophers. The poets were the traditional educators of the Greek people; their shared interest or way of perceiving the world emphasized the importance of community cohesion and health. In Athens in the mid-fifth century B.C., a new group of educators, the sophists, arose to fill a demand of adults for higher and adult education in the skills necessary to participate in the assembly and courts. The sophists emphasized a pragmatic human interest and taught the skill of rhetoric. Socrates and Plato created a new school of educators, the philosophers, who became vigorous ideological opponents of both the poets and the sophists. The philosophers exhibited a transcendental interest or approach to knowledge; the purpose of life was to improve the soul, and the preferred …
Date: December 1986
Creator: Hancock, Donald H. (Donald Hugh)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Impact of a Part 48 Training Program on the Health and Safety Knowledge Level of Newly Employed Inexperienced Miners (open access)

The Impact of a Part 48 Training Program on the Health and Safety Knowledge Level of Newly Employed Inexperienced Miners

The impact of a mandatory Part 48 training program on the health and safety knowledge level of newly employed inexperienced miners in Texas was studied. Part 48 training was defined by compliance with Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) mandatory health and safety training requirements. A two-group pretest, posttest research design was utilized. Group one individuals were newly employed inexperienced persons who received mandatory Part 48 training in accordance with MSHA guidelines. Group two subjects were newly employed inexperienced persons who worked for companies that were exempt from conducting a Part 48 training program. MSHA's health and safety knowledge inventory was utilized. A significant difference was found in the health and safety training program when compared with individuals who did not receive the training . A significant difference was also found in the posttest scores for eight of the ten subject areas of the MSHA health and safety knowledge inventory for persons who completed a Part 48 training program when compared to persons who did not receive the training . Analysis of gain scores resulted in significant differences in the same subject areas indicated by posttest scores. It was concluded that MSHA Part 48 did have a significant impact on …
Date: December 1985
Creator: Revel, Layton
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Impact of a Short-Term Training Program on Learned Helplessness Among Staff and Residents of Nursing Homes (open access)

The Impact of a Short-Term Training Program on Learned Helplessness Among Staff and Residents of Nursing Homes

The impact of a short-term training program upon learned helplessness among nursing home staff and residents was studied. Learned helplessness among staff was defined in terms of depression, self-monitoring, short-term memory, absenteeism, and turnover. Among residents, urinary incontinence was the selected measure of helplessness.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Pinder, Margaret M. (Margaret Marie)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Impact of Staff Development Programs on Public Community College Teachers in Texas (open access)

The Impact of Staff Development Programs on Public Community College Teachers in Texas

The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of faculty development programs by two groups of full-time community college faculty members—arts and sciences instructors and vocational-technical instructors. To guide the development of this study, the following research questions were formulated. 1. Do organized faculty development programs have the same impression on the arts and sciences faculty members as on the vocational-technical members? 2. What specific effects do these faculty members believe that faculty development programs have had on instructional strategies, related faculty activities and professional attitudes? 3. To what extent do these faculty members perceive that the faculty development program is related to the reward system? 4. To what degree do faculty members perceive that institutional or departmental innovations have resulted from faculty development programs. What types of innovations have occurred, and what types should occur?
Date: August 1980
Creator: McQueen, Ruth Marie Rush
System: The UNT Digital Library
Inferential Set Adoption by Nursing Students (open access)

Inferential Set Adoption by Nursing Students

This study examines nursing students' adoption of inferential sets in a clinical situation. The investigation determines (1) the particular inferential set(s) nursing students adopt toward a patient in a clinical situation; (2) the particular inferential set(s) adopted by sophomore and senior nursing students in a clinical situation; and (3) whether or not inferential sets adopted by the sophomore and senior nursing students differ. Sophomore and senior nursing students at a woman's university in Texas were asked to complete a research tool designed to determine inferential set adoption.
Date: August 1986
Creator: Garza, Christine Seftchick
System: The UNT Digital Library
Instrumental vs. Expressive Learning Preferences of Older Adults in Church Situations (open access)

Instrumental vs. Expressive Learning Preferences of Older Adults in Church Situations

The purpose of this study was to survey the educational activities offered for persons age sixty and over in Southern Baptist churches in a five-state area (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) and to determine if there are significant differences (1) in the preferences shown by older persons between church-sponsored instrumental and expressive learning activities and (2) between the number of church-sponsored instrumental and expressive learning activities. The population for the study consisted of 114 Southern Baptist churches in ten selected metropolitan areas identified as providing educational activities, other than Bible study, for adults age sixty and over. Data were collected by a questionnaire mailed to these 114 churches. The data from the responses were tabulated, compared, and summarized, using descriptive statistical procedures.
Date: December 1982
Creator: Basden, Merle Timothy
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of Factors Deterring Participation in Continuing Professional Education (open access)

An Investigation of Factors Deterring Participation in Continuing Professional Education

This study was conceived as an attempt to determine .and analyze factors deterring participation in continuing professional education among social workers in environments where continuing education for relicensure is mandatory and voluntary. The specific research design implemented to complete this study was the ex-post facto descriptive design. The sample included 106 social workers randomly selected in the state of Texas where continuing education is mandatory and 94 social workers in the state of Louisiana where continuing education is voluntary. The instrument used was the Deterrent to Participation Scale developed by Scanlan (1983) and a demographic inventory. Scanlan (1983) earlier identified six factors deterring participation in continuing professional education: Disengagement, Lack of Quality, Family Constraints, Cost, Lack of Benefit, and Work Constraints. The study concluded that social workers in both states considered work constraint as a major factor deterring participation in continuing professional education. Also the factors of cost and lack of quality were also considered as crucial barriers in their efforts to participate in continuing professional education. The Wilks' multivariate test of significance of the means and univariate F tests at alpha level p < .05 revealed differences in the combined mean scores of social workers in both states when …
Date: December 1985
Creator: Akintade, Aribigbola
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of the Relationship Between Personality and the Use of Learning During the Life Transitions of Adults (open access)

An Investigation of the Relationship Between Personality and the Use of Learning During the Life Transitions of Adults

In a three stage investigation the relationship between personality type and the use of learning as a coping device during the life transitions of adults was studied. Based on the assumption that a paper and pencil device could be constructed to achieve the same or nearly the same results that have been achieved through interviews with adult learners, the first two stages of this investigation involved the construction and validation of an instrument, the Adult Development Learning Inventory (ADLI), to measure the use of learning during life transitions of adults. The inventory has five subsections: a demographic profile, Life Events, Coping Strategies, Learning Activities, and Adulthood Tasks. Content validity of the ADLI was established through both the theory based in adult learning and developmental psychology and the panel of experts. Construct validation tools included principal component factor analysis and the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA with age as the variable of discrimination. The instrument was capable of differentiating among age groups' perception of the tasks in the adult life cycle. For internal consistency, reliability estimates ranged from .83 to .94 for the subsections of the ADLI. Stage III of the investigation explored the relationship between the ADLI and personality as measured by the …
Date: December 1985
Creator: Watson, Jackie R. (Jackie Rieves)
System: The UNT Digital Library