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 …

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.

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 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 …

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 …

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.

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.

This study investigated the attitudes toward teaching and research among biology faculty in Texas institutions of higher learning. The purposes of the study were to: 1) determine what the attitudes of Texas biology faculty were toward teaching; 2) to determine the attitudes of Texas biology faculty toward research; 3) to determine if biology faculty attitudes toward teaching vary according to faculty rank; 4) to determine if biology faculty attitudes toward research vary according to faculty rank; 5) to determine if attitudes of biology faculty in Texas toward teaching vary according to institutional type; and 6) to determine if attitudes of biology faculty in Texas toward research vary according to institutional type.

The purpose of the study is to find answers to the following questions. 1. Is there a significant difference in any of the three simple pair-wise comparisons of the attitudes of the three groups of mathematics instructors of college preparatory courses toward teaching those courses? 2. Is there a significant difference in any of the three simple pair-wise comparisons of the attitudes of the three groups of mathematics instructors of college preparatory courses toward the MAA-NCTM recommendations? 3. Is there a significant correlation between the attitudes toward the MAA-NCTM recommendations and the attitudes toward teaching the college preparatory mathematics courses held by the mathematics instructors in each of the three groups? The data led to the conclusion that all three groups held the same favorable attitude toward teaching college preparatory mathematics courses. Also, there were no significant differences among the three groups' attitudes toward the MAA-NCTM recommendations. However, while no significant correlation was found for the high school instructors, there did exist a significant positive correlation between the two attitudes for each of the other two groups studied.

The problem of this study was the investigation of burn-out in child protective services social workers. The purposes of the study were to 1. Estimate certain causes and symptoms of burn-out; 2. Determine certain characteristics of the individual child protective services social workers; 3. Develop profiles of the burned-out and the burning-out workers; 4. Develop profiles for the items on the characteristics instruments which the computation of the data indicates might be important for selecting, training, and managing workers.

This investigation compares the effectiveness of two methods of teaching production work in beginning typewriting. One method is defined as the traditional approach, which adheres to suggestions and materials for teaching found in current typewriting textbooks. Students are paced, drilled, and timed on straight copy to build speed and accuracy, but not on production work; they usually type from perfectly arranged copy; and they circle their errors for at least half the course. The other method, developed at North Texas State University by Payne and Anderson, is defined as the teacher-directed approach. Students are intensively paced, drilled, and timed by the teacher on short, simple jobs or parts of jobs; they usually type from unarranged copy; they learn to erase errors on production work during the first production unit; and they are evaluated on the basis of the number of mailable items produced during a specific time period.

The present study compared the academic stress levels of 450 college sophomore students at a public university and a public two-year college. This investigation also explored the levels of academic stress by institutional type, age, gender, and ethnicity. Data were obtained from having the subjects complete the Academic Stress Scale, a questionnaire which lists thirty five stress items found in the college classroom. Analysis of variance and t-tests were used to analyze the data. There were 225 subjects each in the community college group and the university group. The university group had a statistically significant higher mean stress score than the community college group. 294 traditional age (23 and younger) and 156 nontraditional age (24 and over) subjects stress levels were compared. It was found that the traditional age college student group experienced a statistically significant higher academic stress level in both academic settings. Group means were compared between the stress scores of 245 female and 205 male subjects. At both the community college and university levels, the female group had a statistically significant higher level of academic stress. The academic stress levels were also compared according to ethnicity. The minority group consisted of 104 subjects and 346 subjects comprised …

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.

This study investigated the relationship of high school curriculum to performance in academic foundation college courses. The purposes of the study were twofold: First, to study the relationship of a practical arts high school curriculum as opposed to a college preparatory high school curriculum to performance in academic foundation college courses. Second, to analyze this relationship and its implications for high school students, parents, teachers, and counselors.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of comparing a learning systems approach to a lecture-demonstration-rotation approach of teaching the manipulative skills of office machines.

The problem under consideration in this study is a description of teacher preparation for elementary school health instruction. The dissertation is organized into six chapters, which are as follows: Introduction, Review of Related Literature, Procedures for Collection and Treatment of Data, Input from Texas Teachers, Competency-Based Health Education, and Summary and Recommendations. The following recommendations are made: (1) the program should be implement into the undergraduate tacher preparation program; (2) revision should be made based upon data collected during implementation; (3) research to produce objective questions for pretesting and posttesting purposes in each of the competency areas would be beneficial; and, (4) the Dearborn College Health Knowledge Test should be administered to those students who complete the program, and a comparison of scores made.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the ability of two-year college students and faculty in one area of activity and to gain a more adequate understanding of them. A dearth of taxonomic literature on plant populations at the local level prompted this study. It has been observed that amateur botanists have accomplished satisfactory and commendable work in plant taxonomy. Also, it has been observed that a high percentage of students in two year colleges commute considerable distances. These disparate observations led to a potential solution to the botanical dilemma.

The purpose of this study was to determine what knowledge and skills are currently being taught in beginning microbiology in junior/community colleges in Texas. This information was determined from a survey questionnaire sent to junior/community college teachers of beginning microbiology. Also surveyed were senior college teacher who teach courses which require beginning microbiology as a prerequisite. This additional survey was to determine what preparation is needed for students progressing from beginning microbiology to upper level microbiology courses. Information gathered from the two populations of teachers was then compared to determine if any differences exist in the depth of coverage assigned by these teachers.

This study constructs a curriculum guide to supplement the half-unit elective in Texas high school psychology. The guide is designed to provide a basic course structure to assist the secondary-level psychology teacher. Material already in existence in high school psychology was determined from The Educational Index, Psychological Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts, and the Education Research Information Center. The Texas Education Agency provided guidelines for teaching secondary psychology and all other state-level information on high school psychology. The American Psychological Association furnished information about their work in secondary psychology, and the fifty state departments of education provided other state-level information. Further, a survey was conducted of the 111 high school psychology teachers in the 85 schools in the State of Texas which offer secondary-level psychology courses. An equal number of counselors within these same schools was also surveyed, as well as an expert panel of six judges. Points of emphasis in high school psychology textbooks were determined from the tables of contents in the eight such texts voluntarily used in the state. Relatively little published information provides guidelines for a high school psychology curriculum. The survey of the fifty state departments of education produced no statewide curriculum guides. The survey of teachers, …

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of providing a current academic and racial description of the intercollegiate football participants at North Texas State University and the construction of a current participants' profile. The subjects employed were 259 football participants from the 1966 Fall Semester through the 1971 Fall Semester, The descriptive analysis is based upon 234 participants; the profile is a composite of eighty-one currently (1971) enrolled participants, This study has a twofold purpose, The first is to provide a current description of the academic status of both white and non-white participants; the second is to construct a current profile of the participants, The study is designed with the idea that the findings could be of use to coaches and administrators of this university in football programming, Transcripts, coaches, and the Public Information Office of this university provided the data used in the descriptive analysis, Eighty-one participants answering self-report questionnaires provided data for the profile,

The problem was to identify the differences in attitudes toward physical activity of students and faculty within a health, physical education, and recreation professional preparation program.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of stimulus meaningfulness and position on the cue selection of elementary school children in verbal paired-associate learning.

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.