The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that students of unequal writing ability are frequently placed in the same beginning media writing classes in college journalism. It is difficult for a teacher to be effective when the ability of the students ranges from those who cannot write clear complete sentences to others whose work already appears in newspapers and magazines. The purpose of this study is to determine whether students who are ability grouped into slow—average and advanced groups do the same, better, or worse than heterogeneously grouped students. In the spring semester of 1987, students in Journalism 1345, Media Writing laboratory, at the University of Texas at Arlington, were given a pretest to determine how well they wrote a simple news story and a simple feature story. On the basis of that test, which was graded by three raters, the students were placed in two separate ability groups in three classes. The fourth class contained students with heterogeneous abilities who were not placed in groups. At the end of the semester a posttest was given in news and feature writing. A two-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the posttest scores of sixty-seven students. There was …

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining the ability of economically disadvantaged black children to comprehend a specific grammatical operation, the non-identity requirement of pronominalization. In addition, the study is also concerned with describing selected characteristics of the language of the subjects in the study through the utilization of a task of imitation. The subjects of the study were forty-eight black children who were between the ages of four and ten years. All subjects were from families in which the natural parents were living together in the same household. The parents and children were native residents of the area and were recipients of federal welfare aid. None of the subjects in the study had histories of physiological, psychological, neurological, or auditory problems, and none were presently enrolled in rehabilitative language programs. A general estimate of intelligence was provided by the administration of the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale.

This study provides a rationale for adopting course materials. It demonstrates the relationship between ability to read assigned materials and academic achievement, and that selection of materials creates two groups having different probabilities of success. The sample was selected from a population of all students enrolled in Principles of Economics courses at North Texas State University in the spring semester of 1986. The Nelson-Denny Reading Test was used to determine reading ability. Assigned materials were analyzed for readability. A frustration level was determined and used to divide the sample: the group of interest, those with reading abilities below the frustration level who underwent the treatment of reading materials written above their ability to comprehend; and the comparison group, those with reading abilities above the frustration level who did not undergo the treatment.

The focus of this study was the status of accounting instruction in public junior (community) colleges in the United States. The purposes were: (1) to make a survey and comparison of the accounting instruction which was being offered by the four types of post-secondary public institutions as listed in the Directory of Junior Colleges, (2) to determine the extent to which specially prepared materials were being utilized, (3) to determine the methods of instruction which were being utilized, and (4) to determine the work experience and educational level of the average full-time instructor who taught accounting in these institutions. The following conclusions have been drawn from an analysis of the findings: 1. The post-secondary institutions in the United States have accepted the challenge to provide technical accounting instructional programs provided this acceptance is indicated by the number of courses in accounting offered. 2. Although the institutions reported extensive offerings of different accounting courses, the instructional materials and methods were found to be the same as those in traditional accounting classes at four-year institutions which offer only degree programs in accounting. 3. Use of the cooperative method of instruction for technical accounting students was minimal. 4. The accounting instructors employed by …

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of facial muscle activity in forming and maintaining the soprano clarinet embouchure. The purposes of the study are to collect and analyze data in the following areas: 1. Activity of the following muscles during performance on the clarinet: (1) upper orbicularis oris, (2) lower orbicularis oris, (3) upper half of the buccinator, and (4) lower half of the buccinator. Muscular activity is read as electronic potential and is presented on recordings through the use of electromyography. 2. Possible effects which the electromyographic apparatus might impose upon performance. Tape recordings weremade of the subjects' performing prescribed tasks both before and during electromyographic analysis. The possible effects of the electromyographic analysis upon performance were then tested by comparing these two recordings.

This study is concerned with the administrative and educational contributions of Don Heath Morris to Abilene Christian College. The aim of this investigation is to ascertain the purposes of those who founded Abilene Christian College and to study the effects of the philosophy and work of Don H. 'Morris on the school. Attention is also given to the changes that occurred in Morris' philosophy as he adjusted to the vicissitudes of a growing college during a period when American higher education was making dramatic changes. Perhaps the outstanding quality of Don H. Morris as a college administrator was his persistence and single-mindedness in pressing for the achieving of the school's goals. He had the ability to see a goal clearly and to work toward it tirelessly. He never allowed the burdens of office that might have deterred a less committed and determined person to come between him and his devotion to the purposes of the school. Morris' basic philosophy of Christianity and Christian education was matured and intensified during his years at Abilene Christian College. His life was fulfilled in his work at Abilene Christian College, and Abilene Christian College bears the lasting impression of his personality and philosophy.

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 study was an analysis of an individual study instructional approach of teaching mathematical concepts as they relate to business needs. The purposes were as follow: (1) to identify mathematical competencies required by business firms; (2) to further validate CVAE materials; (3) to evaluate the achievement of vocational office education students using programmed materials to review business mathematics; and (4) to develop, present, and describe a teaching model for these applications.

The focus of this study was to determine how attribution patterns of children with an internal or external locus of control differ when playing a computer video game. Forty subjects each (twenty internally controlled and twenty externally controlled) were placed in a competitive or non-competitive treatment setting with a successful or unsuccessful outcome. Each subject played a computer video game made by a major manufacturer. At the completion of each session, each subject was asked to rate the four attributes of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The results were then analyzed using analysis of variance with age as a covariate.

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a curriculum guide to be made available to junior high schools in the state of Arkansas. A study of the amount of health knowledge possessed by eighth grade students in Arkansas was made to assist the investigator in the construction of the curriculum guide. The objective of the study was to determine the quality of the health education possessed by the eight grade students in Arkansas, in terms of teacher qualifications and number of hours heath education is taught per year, and compare it with students across the nation to build a suggested curriculum guide in health education. The following conclusions were reached: 1) Arkansas eight grade students are one school year behind national norms, relative through the AAHPER Cooperative Health Test results. 2) Female students scored higher than male students. 3) There is little variance between the different sizes of schools and the knowledge possessed by students in the several content areas on the AAHPER Cooperative Health Test. 5) The instruction of health education varied greatly in quality among Arkansas schools in the study. 6) Instructors teaching health education to eighth grade students in Arkansas were usually teachers not prepared to …

This study attempted to determine the specific mathematics necessary to a student in a beginning course in behavioral science research statistics. To determine the most desirable form for a review of mathematics prior to a research statistics course,, it was first necessary to determine the following: (1) the specific overall content of such a course, (2) the specific mathematics topics of such a course, and (3) the specific mathematics operations utilized in such a course. The study consisted of three parts. The first phase was a determination of the content of a typical beginning course in research statistics for the behavioral sciences. To make this determination, a survey was conducted among forty universities chosen by random sampling from those in the United States offering the Doctor of Education degree. Course outlines and textbooks used by these universities were analyzed, and topics were tabulated. In addition, a selection of recent statistics texts was analyzed, and these topics were also tabulated. These tables were used as a means of content determination.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the physics instructors, major-physics students, and nonmajor-physics students regarding actual teaching performance and effective teaching performance. The sample consisted of a total of 56 physics instructors, 120 major-physics students, and 120 nonmajor-physics students at eight public universities in Thailand. A total of 53 physics instructors or 94.64 percent, 101 major-physics students or 84.17 percent, and 107 nonmajor-physics students or 89.17 percent responded in this study. Multivariate analysis of variance, univariate analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression were used in the follow-up assessment, with the .05 level of significance. The physics instructors, major-physics students, and nonmajor-physics students perceived actual teaching performance in class to be significantly different from effective teaching performance. The three groups rated actual teaching performance on every factor to be less than sffective teaching. There was a significant difference between the physics instructors' perceptions and the major-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance, and also there was a significant difference between the physics instructors' perceptions and the nonmajor-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance. However, there was no significant difference between major-and nonmajor-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance. There was no significant difference among …

The problem with which this research is concerned is the documentation of Allan Rogers Lindquest's vocal teaching techniques and contributions to the field of vocal pedagogy in America from 1974 to 1981. The purpose of this study is the identification and compilation of voice building techniques and vocal exercises that were formulated for vocal pedagogy by Lindquest. As a result of reviewing the literature related to vocal pedagogy, which identifies methods of voice teaching and contrasts pedagogical styles, the research questions developed for this study concern the identification and classification of Lindquest's teaching techniques in instructional areas that include breath and breath support, areas of resonance, vowels and vowel modification, vocal registers, other related areas of vocal production, and the directions for and expected results of special vocal exercises. The sources of data for this study are verbatim transcripts of fifty-six audio tapes of voice lessons conducted by Lindquest with seven students.

The problem of this study was to address the question of the relationships between linguistic principles and film surface-structure. The analysis of motion pictures traditionally has been an analysis of films as art. At the same time, the techniques and effects of film often have been referred to as the "language of film." Until recently, however, no one took seriously the linguistic implications of the phrase. The theoretical evidence for linguistics of film is controversial but growing in acceptance and maturity of the concept. The study began with the assumption that film is a language. The method bypassed much of the philosophical discussion of whether film is a language in favor of finding the theory's practical usefulness. The findings produced some clues to the linguistic structure of particular films which may relate to film as a whole. The analysis clearly demonstrated the presence of visual rules of grammar. The findings not only supported a linguistic view of film but also generated structures that resembled accepted linguistic form. The basic units of analysis were found to have unit integrity, class form qualities, limitations on their employment, and a hierarchical relationship to other larger units. The analysis also pointed out some visually …

This dissertation reports research into the problem of how to teach mastery of the English writing system (MEWS) to students of English as a second language (ESL). The problem involves the relatedness of English orthography and phonology. The research had two purposes. First was development of classroom instructional materials for improving reading proficiency in ESL students by application of generative phonological principles. Second was use of the instructional materials in a pilot study of fifty-three ESL college freshmen. A major finding was that subjects' reading proficiency was far below that of native speakers at the college level. Another was that the subjects had more difficulty with English vowels than with consonants. The subjects' scores on nonsense-word tests correlated significantly with five other criteria, including measures of ability to use ESL. A uniform disparity between ESL-student and native-speaker scores on tests of nonsense words was identified. Native-speakers generally had perfect scores, and ESL students had low scores. A chief implication is the importance of understanding orthography in reading English. Recommendations are that ESL proficiency be determined by nonsense-word tests and that the MEWS program be used by students of English as a second dialect.

This study was conducted to examine the use of microcomputers and other computers by top administrators in the twenty—seven public colleges and universities in Oklahoma; to assess the impact that training and other factors have on the extent to which microcomputers are being used; and to identify trends in administrative computer usage. The survey technique was utilized in collecting the data for this study. The survey instrument was developed for use in this study from a review of the literature, an evaluation by a panel of judges, and a pilot study. The survey instrument was sent to the administrators for business, academic, and student affairs via the president of each university in the 1986 spring and summer semesters. Seventy-four of the eighty-one or 91.4 percent of the administrators responded. Following is a summary of the major findings of this study. 1. Fourteen of the seventy-four or 18.9 percent of the respondents personally use a microcomputer and 51.3 percent of the respondents have someone use a microcomputer on their behalf. 2. The most prevalent use of microcomputers is word processing; the most prevalent uses of mainframes are word processing and database management; and the majority of the respondents do not use …

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 …

The problem with which this study was concerned is the association between exposure to computer instruction and changes in attitudes toward computers. The study had a two-fold purpose. The first was to determine the attitudes of undergraduate students toward computers. The second was to determine whether exposure to information about computers and their uses is associated with changes in students' attitudes toward computers. A computer literacy test was administered to subjects as a pre-and post-test. The major findings of the study indicate that there were significant, positive attitude changes among students exposed to computer instruction. There were also significant increases in knowledge about computers among participants exposed to computer instruction. The major conclusions are that attitudes are not fixed and develop in the process of need satisfaction. Participants in the study experienced attitude changes, which supports the suggestion that attitudes are developmental. Futhermore, the attitude changes observed in the study occurred in the process of learning about computers, a process assumed to be rooted in the educational and/or career needs of the participants. Attitudes are shaped by the information to which people are exposed. Attitude modification seldom, if ever, occurs in a vacuum. Instead, it most often takes place in …

A nonexperimental descriptive study was conducted to determine the interrelatedness among coping strategies, humor and burnout among nursing education faculty. The conceptual framework of this study was based on the constructs of coping strategies and humor which were conceptualized as having a direct relationship to burnout. Areview of the literature concerning coping, humor and burnout supported this proposition and emphasized the need for empirical testing. Coping Humor Scale. Wavs of Coping Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory were the instruments used to measure the constructs. Academic history and demographic data sheets were also used. Hie instruments were mailed to 285 nursing faculty teaching in programs of nursing in the Dallas /Fort Worth, Texas area. The return rate for the mailing was 70.07%. Burnout among nursing education faculty showed a low degree of emotional exhaustion (54.8%), a low degree of depersonalization (84.7% and a low degree of personal accomplishment (60.7%). The findings did not reveal a high or low degree of burnout but rather a pattern of burnout suggestive of a different stage. Humor as a coping mechanism during stressful events was not frequently used. The highest proportion of nursing education faculty used distancing (46.53%) as a coping strategy. The second strategy …

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.

This study examines the main research hypothesis that there is significant interaction between the effects of computer use/non-use and level of computer training among community college educators in the state of Texas regarding attitudes toward the implementation of administrative and instructional computing. A statewide survey was conducted with deans of instruction and full-time faculty members who represented the three academic transfer departments of natural/physical sciences, social science, and humanities/fine arts. Fifty-five deans of instruction and three hundred fifty-six faculty members participated in the study. A factor analysis of data from the questionnaires revealed four factors which were identified and labeled: Factor One: Computer Applications: Advantages and Disadvantages; Factor Two: Administrative Computer Applications: Advantages and Disadvantages; Factor Three: Apprehensions About Educational Computing; Factor Four: Situational Factors Associated With Computer Applications in Education. A 4x3x2 (professional position x level of computer training x level of computer experience) multivariate analysis of variance of both main and interaction effects was then performed within and across these factors.

The attitudes toward the integration of faith and discipline of full-time faculty members at five selected Southern Baptist colleges and universities which are members of the Christian College Coalition were explored for this study. The integration of faith and discipline is a concept unique to Southern Baptist higher education. Arthur Walker, Jr., of the Education Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention defines the concept as referring to the mission of the institution, the personal faith of faculty members, and the professional involvement and interaction of faculty members with their students, regardless of disciplines. Since little information exists on faculty attitudes toward this concept, data were collected through a survey instrument on three dimensions of integration: professorial integration in the classroom, professorial integration in and out of the classroom, and institutional integration of faith and discipline.

This study seeks to determine the attitudes of public school and municipal recreation authorities in the state of Texas with respect to policies pertaining to the joint acquisition, planning and development, and use of school areas and facilities for school and recreational use. This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the attitudes of selected public school and municipal recreation authorities toward certain policy statements pertaining to the joint acquisition, planning and development, and use of public school areas and facilities for school and recreational use. The second is to develop guidelines for public school and municipal recreation authorities for the resolution of possible conflicts.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is the ascertainment of the attitudes of members of the Texas film industry toward the film curriculum offered in Texas institutions of higher learning. Based on the findings the following conclusions have been reached. There is not a high regard overall for film-studies programs in Texas institutions of higher learning within the film industry. This may be overcome by an interaction of the professional film community as an active participant in curriculum planning and development. Of prime consideration should be an association of film schools coordinating programs in cooperation with the Texas Film Commission. An effective curriculum for film-studies education may be organized by utilization of learning modules. This plan would organize the learning experiences in a functional manner and would move toward involvement of a career nature.