This study was concerned with determining the effect of two levels of electromyogram (EMG) induced physiological arousal and therapeutic instructions on self-reported test anxiety, test performance, and on-task behavior. The rationale for such a study is the fact that treatments of test anxiety have presented inconsistent results. Little research has been undertaken with regard to the effect of EMG biofeedback as a treatment for test anxiety or non-specific effects associated with such a treatment. Results indicated that self-reported test anxiety was significantly higher (p<.05) under the high physiological arousal condition than under the low physiological arousal condition and that self-reported on-task behavior was significantly greater (p < .05) for the positive therapeutic instruction group. Physiological arousal levels did not have any significant effect upon test performance or self-reported on-task behavior. Also, therapeutic instructions did not have a significant effect on self-reported test anxiety or test performance. The results indicated a cognitive change with regard to test anxiety which was not reflected in test performance. Also, on-task behavior did not enhance test performance

The problem addressed in this study is how selected universities in the South and Southwest recognize and attempt to deal with alcohol use and other drug use among students. The purpose of the study was to determine current practices and policies concerning student alcohol and drug use among the 20 selected universities. The data were obtained by means of a descriptive survey questionnaire which was mailed to 20 selected universities under the jurisdiction of the Southern Regional Accrediting Board. The instrument was designed to identify practices and programs concerning student alcohol and drug use. A copy of each institution's alcohol and drug policy was requested. The content and procedures of the programs implemented by the responding institutions were reviewed, in order to evaluate the extent and degree to which they provide for the recognition, education, intervention, and treatment for students with alcohol- or drug-use problems. Results are presented in tabular form. Of the 20 major state-supported universities which were mailed questionnaires, 75% returned usable instruments. All responding institutions felt they have an alcohol or drug problem of some magnitude, and all either have, or believe they have, some kind of policy to deal with substance use by students. All of …

The problem of this investigation was concerned with the effects that a computer-assisted and managed learning program had on the test outcomes of college students enrolled in a basic communication course. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of participation in a computer-assisted and managed learning on the test outcomes of college students enrolled in a basic communication course. In order to facilitate the experiment, four hypotheses were formulated: 1. There will be significant differences in the posttest scores among the three groups. More specifically (a) the computer-assisted and managed learning (CAML) group will have significantly higher posttest scores than the teacher-assisted learning (TAL) group and the control group. 2. Computer apprehension will be significantly lower for students assigned to the CAML program, than students assigned to the TAL or control groups. 3. Computer complexity will be significantly lower for students assigned to the CAML group, than the students assigned to the TAL or control groups. 4. Computer utility will be significantly higher for students assigned to the CAML group, than students assigned to the TAL or control groups. Two experimental and one control group was used in the study. The experimental groups consisted of CAML (computer-assisted …

The purposes of this study are to (1) identify and classify the needs of pre-service primary teacher education in Cross River State, Nigeria; (2) establish a priority of identified needs by perceived importance; and (3) propose a model for the preparation of primary teachers in Cross River State, Nigeria, based upon the needs identified.

Contemporary definitions of human listening suggest that it is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Short-term and interpretative listening may be viewed as important aspects of the listening process. However, research in time-compressed speech has focused on listening comprehension while not adequately treating other important types of listening. A broader view of the listening process would include all of the skills considered relevant to everyday human communication. This study examined the effect of time-compressed speech on comprehensive, interpretative and short-term listening. The Kentucky Comprehensive Listening Test was used to measure the three types of listening. Cut and splice tape editing was employed in the development of four master test tapes: a control tape presented at normal rate and tapes with test stimuli time-compressed by 30%, 45%, and 60%. Each of four randomly selected groups, 120 total subjects, was exposed to one of the four test tapes. The data from the test administrations was analyzed by analysis-of-variance and simple means tests. Results indicate that a statistically significant amount of the variance in comprehensive, interpretative and short-term listening scores may be explained by the manipulated variable, time-compression. However, the amount of variance-accounted-for is relatively low for both short-term and interpretative listening. Closer examination of the …

Higher education has always occupied an important place in this nation's concerns. This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine how the Founding Fathers, especially the nation's first six presidents, regarded the subject of higher education. The study was limited to these six men because they were charged with inaugurating the new government and because these six men were all participants in the drafting and ratifying of the Constitution. Findings for this study came from the personal and private papers of the first six presidents, government documents, and the press. A comparison of the findings indicates that these men shared many beliefs while disagreeing on some aspects of higher education.

Forty spinal cord injury (SCI) patients were studied in order to determine the effects of an attribution based therapeutic recreation program on their perception of freedom in leisure. Perception of freedom in leisure of SCI patients was measured by a seventy-two item scale. This scale was translated into Spanish, adapted, revised, validated, and tested for reliability. The reliability of the Spanish Version of the scale was very similar to the English Version of the scale.

The problem of this study was an analysis of the relationships between performance on certain admissions measures and academic achievement of students in master's degree programs in music education. The purposes of the study were (1) to determine the strength of relationships between scores on each measure included in an admission battery and the academic achievement of master's degree music education students; (2) to determine the strength of the relationship between the final grades in Admission Seminar and the academic achievement of master's degree music education students; and (3) to determine which combination of admissions measures best predict the academic achievement of master's degree music education students.

The purposes of this study were as follows: (1) to compare what coaches deem important with what players consider important in the player's selection of which university to attend; (2) to compare black athletes with white athletes and their reasons for the selection of university; (3) to determine if there are differences in the reasons athletes choose private institutions rather than state institutions; (4) to determine if Texas basketball players choose universities for different reasons than students from other states; and (5) to compare decisions made by high school recruits and junior college recruits with respect to their choice of a university to attend.

This research was a reanalysis of an extant data set on a Youth Employment Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) summer program. The ten week, seven site program combined classroom training with a worksite experience and was targeted to drop-outs, potential drop—outs and adjudicated youth. Eligible youth were randomly assigned to participant and control groups and were measured at pre— and postprogram and three and eight month follow-up. The data set included information on 1901 participant and 978 control youth.

The direct effect of spouse presence during graded exercise testing on anxiety and performance has not been previously delineated. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to (a) ascertain if spouse presence during graded exercise testing affects state anxiety or physiological performance variables, and (b) determine differences in psychological status between cardiac patients and healthy adults.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of developing a theory in vocal pedagogy, voiception, which could provide teaching techniques with tangibility for gaining control of both voluntary and involuntary functions of the singing act. This study appears to show that feeling tone and cognition are innately involved with singing, since the vocal instrument is actually a part of the singer. Analysis of the sung vowel through the singing sensation is the connecting link for gaining control of involuntary vocal functions.

The purpose of the study is to determine if there is an effect on intervention/nonintervention attitudes associated with an introductory microeconomics class. The population consisted of all students enrolled in eighteen sections of Economics 1100 during the Fall semester, 1984, at North Texs State University. There were seven sections of Economics 1100, ten sections of Sociology 1510, and ten sections of Political Science 2010 used as control groups. The instruments used for pretesting and posttesting were the twenty-three item Attitude Scale and Demographic Questionnaire. The Attitude Scale contained twelve intervention and eleven nonintervention questions. Intervention questions were reverse scored so that a high score is noninterventionist and a low score is interventionist. Data were analyzed using a multiple linear regression to determine how each variable affected the intervention/nonintervention student attitudes.

This study was an experimental design, using twenty-two variables, twelve covariates, and six criterion measures. The purpose of the study was the effect of the use of selected transcription drills in beginning shorthand on the ability of students to produce both typewritten copy and mailable letters from shorthand notes. The bases for comparison were five minute timed transcription tests, three-minute dictation tests, and thirty-minute mailable letter production tests, of both previewed and unpreviewed material.

The problem of this study was to determine the status of marketing activities among four-year, publicly-controlled institutions of higher education in the United States. A survey was conducted of all 549 four-year, publicly controlled institutions listed in the 1980 Education Directory. Questionnaires were mailed to those administrators whose titles implied public relations responsibilities. This group of respondents was presumed to comprise the individuals who were most likely to be knowledgeable about marketing activities in their institutions. Responses were received from 364 (66.3 per cent) of the officers, who represented 364 institutions from 49 states.

The problem of this study was to investigate the extent to which businesses use the scientific method in the organization and preparation of written business reports. Data for this study were collected by the use of a questionnaire which was devised, validated, and pilot testes. Questionnaires were mailed to 50 systematically, selected members (200 total) of each of the four major group categories (banking and finance, government and education, manufacturing and utilities, and sales and services) from Region V's 1985-1986 Association of Records Managers and Administrators membership roster. One hundred six responses were received, representing a 53 per cent return. Additional information was obtained from sample records and telephone interviews.

The purposes of the study were: to determine the relationship between class size and academic achievement among university students in first-semester calculus classes, and to compare opinions about the instructor, course, and classroom learning environment of university students in small first-semester calculus classes with those in large classes. The sample consisted of 225 university students distributed among two large and two small sections of first-semester calculus classes taught at the University of Texas at Arlington during the fall of 1987. Each of two tenured faculty members taught a large and small section of approximately 85 and 27 students, respectively. During the first week of the semester, scores from the Calculus Readiness Test (CR) were obtained from the sample and used as the covariate in each analysis of covariance of four periodic tests, a comprehensive final examination, and final grade average. The CR scores were also used in a logistic regression analysis of attrition rates between each pair of large and small sections of first-semester calculus. Three semantic differentials were used to test the hypotheses relating to student opinion of the instructor, course, and classroom learning environment. It was found that for both pairs of large and small first-semester calculus classes …

Using the framework of the reformulated learned helplessness (RLH) model of depression, this study examined the nonachievement of self-expectations of primigravidas desiring natural childbirth in terms of their attributional style and the possible resulting depression. The RLH model predicts that individuals who have a depressive attributional style experience a sense of helplessness when faced with situations which seem difficult or out of their control and are more apt to fail and become depressed. Natural childbirth is an experience which has the potential of appearing out of control to women involved in the birth process. Using a before and after design, the study was based on a sample of forty-one married primiparas who had an uncomplicated pregnancy, attended Lamaze childbirth classes, and anticipated an uncomplicated, unmedicated vaginal delivery. Sixteen subjects stated they did not meet their self-expectations during childbirth and twenty-five stated they did meet their self-expectations. The hypothesis were tested using two matched groups of sixteen each. Data from all subjects were used for post hoc analysis of the hospital data.

It was the purpose of this research, to develop and test an artificially intelligent, learner-based, computer-assisted physics tutor. The resulting expert system is named ARPHY, an acronym for ARtificially intelligent PHYsics tutor. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase of the research, the system was constructed using Ausubel's advance organizer as a guiding learning theory. The content of accelerated motion was encoded into this organizer after sub-classification according to the learning types identified by Gagnds. The measurement of the student's level of learning was accomplished through the development of questioning strategies based upon Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. The second phase of this research consisted of the testing of ARPHY. Volunteers from four levels of first-semester physics classes at North Texas State University were instructed that their goal was to solve three complex physics problems related to accelerated motion. The only students initially instructed by ARPHY were from the class of physics majors. When the threshold values of the pedagogical parameters stabilized, indicating the fact that ARPHY's instructional technique had adapted to the class' learning style, students from other classes were tutored. Nine of the ten students correctly solved the three problems after being tutored for …

The purposes of this study were to determine whether differences existed between the communication styles and teaching effectiveness, respectively, of native and non-native teaching fellows, as perceived by their undergraduate students. In addition, the study sought to determine whether a positive correlation existed between the final grades and the communication styles and teaching effectiveness, respectively, of native and non-native teaching fellows as perceived by their undergraduate students. In order to carry out the purposes of this study, six hypotheses were tested concerning the perception of native and non-native undergraduate students toward the communication style and teaching effectiveness of teaching fellows in North Texas State University.

The problem of this study is that of developing a program of study of Mexican literature at the graduate level at North Texas State University. The study of literature and culture is approached by probing into the influences on the thinking of the Mexican and by using an in-depth study, rather than an "anthology" approach to teaching. The findings of the study indicate a need for an upper level course in Mexican literature at North Texas State University. Therefore, the following recommendations seem appropriate: (1) that North Texas State University initiate a course in Mexican literature which may be utilized by both students in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and students in the Bilingual/Bicultural Education program; (2) that the course be made available to both graduate and upper-level students; (3) that oral communication be emphasized in the course and that student participation in the target language be maximized.

The purpose of this study was to determine the business communication needs and problems of women in entry-level, middle, and upper management positions in Texas. A questionnaire was completed by sixty-eight female managers (twenty-one entry-level; forty middle; and seven upper). Female managers were asked to indicate the frequency of use and the importance of fourteen types of written and seven types of oral business communication, the importance of twenty-seven skills or knowledge, and the frequency with which they consider thirty-two skills or knowledge as problem areas. Data were also collected for the same number of male managers and were used to further interpret and complement the data on female managers. Results for female managers as a total group and male managers as a total group were evaluated by performing chi-square tests.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate metabolic, cardiorespiratory, and perceptual responses during recumbent cycle ergometry performed at various seat back angles and different work rates. Healthy college-aged men performed steady-state exercise at two work rates, 100 watts (n=46) and 150 watts (n=26), using five back seat angles, 90, 105, 120, 135, and 150 degrees. The results of this study suggest that recumbent seat back angles of 135 to 150 degrees are associated with lower metabolic and cardiorespiratory stress during rest and submaximal exercise than more upright positions. The reduced stress at these angles is accompanied by lower perceptions of exertion and improved seating comfort. The failure of the base-line correction for resting V0 2 to remove the effect of seat back angle implies that the reduced physiological stress associated with these positions is due to reasons other than attenuated resting metabolic costs. It is concluded that the selection of recumbent seat back angles between 135 and 150 degrees can result in improved efficiency, reduced physiological stress, diminished perceptions of exertion, and increased seating comfort.

This study identified determinants existing within the academic environment of professional education faculty that influence the development and implementation of an information technology system to support their professional endeavors. Such a system would encourage these faculty to integrate technology into their curriculum and, consequently, produce teacher graduates who could employ information technology effectively in teaching. This study used a field survey research design with a mailed questionnaire. Both institutional and personal demographic factors were examined. The population exhibited a high level of homogeneity. This study indicated that ease of use, reliable operation, and capability to integrate technology into their personal work style were the most important concerns of faculty members. These factors reduce the emotional and intellectual costs of using technology.