Degree Level

An Analytical Survey of Educators' Attitudes Toward Competency Testing (open access)

An Analytical Survey of Educators' Attitudes Toward Competency Testing

This study addresses the attitudes of counselors, teachers, and administrators toward competency testing programs in their districts. ten districts from each of the four states --Arizona, California, Michigan, and Oregon-- were randomly selected to participate in the study. A total of 247 educators responded to the survey. The following conclusions were made on the basis of the findings: (1) The competency programs have the support the teachers, counselors, and administrators who work with them; (2) They are perceived as being effective in identifying students in need of remediation; (3) They are perceived as being most beneficial to the deficient student, but the setting of minimum standards had not lowered the expectations of the average and above average student; (4) They have not eliminated any programs or courses from the curriculum; (5) They have not limited the parameter of course content guides to concepts covered in the competency test; (6) They are perceived as nor being expensive to the district; (7) The competency program does add a burden of extra paperwork for the groups surveyed, especially the counselors; (8) Most competency programs involve teachers, counselors, and administrators in the planning; (9) Improvements in the quality of education and in student learning …
Date: August 1982
Creator: Landers, Maria Anne
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Anthem in America: 1900-1950 (open access)

The Anthem in America: 1900-1950

During the first half of this century, a wealth of anthem literature was published and performed in the United States that, as a result of the deluge of new publications since those years, has been either forgotten or is unknown to modern church musicians. The purpose of this study is to make the best of this music known, for much of it is still both suitable and desirable for contemporary worship. The research is grouped into six chapters that are entitled: The Quartet Anthem, "Anthems in the Anglican Tradition," "Prominent Choral Ensembles and the Dissemination of the Anthem," "Anthems by Prominent Music Educators," "Anthems in the Russian Style," and "The Negro Spiritual."
Date: August 1982
Creator: Fansler, Terry Lee
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment Center Ratings as a Function of Personality Factors, Sex and Rating System (open access)

Assessment Center Ratings as a Function of Personality Factors, Sex and Rating System

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between the traditional global rating scale and a new behavioral rating scale in a university-based assessment center. It was hypothesized that personality factors, as measured by the 16PF and associated with the global ratings of performance would differ from those associated with the behavioral ratings of performance. It was further hypothesized that the associated personality factors would also differ for males and females. These hypotheses were ^confirmed. Pearson correlations were computed for ratings of males, females, and all subjects combined on both global and behavioral rating scales.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Brennan, Mary Maureen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment of Posttreatment Follow-Up Evaluation Procedures with Alcohol-Abuse Patients: A Methodological Study (open access)

Assessment of Posttreatment Follow-Up Evaluation Procedures with Alcohol-Abuse Patients: A Methodological Study

The purpose of this project was to clarify the methodological considerations involved in the posttreatment follow-up evaluation of alcohol-abuse patients. A two-part project was undertaken in an attempt to answer the follow-up questions of how and when to measure treatment effects with discharged alcoholics. In Part I, a large-scale survey was utilized to examine return rates across various program evaluation methods and time frames. In Part II, the predictive validity of scores received at short-term follow-up in relation to scores received at 1-year follow-up was assessed for measures of psychosocial functioning and alcohol consumption.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Till, Steven Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Assessment of the Effect of News Announcements on Stock Prices of Oil and Gas Producing Companies (open access)

An Assessment of the Effect of News Announcements on Stock Prices of Oil and Gas Producing Companies

This empirical study is concerned with the extent to which news announcements affect the performance of common equity securities of oil and gas producing companies. The market effects of news announcements are considered to be of importance in resolving two issues. One concerns financial statement disclosure and the second concerns examination of prior oil and gas industry-related accounting research. This dissertation assumes capital market efficiency and addresses two research questions: do news announcements concerning activities of nonintegrated oil and gas producing companies affect the companies' common stock prices, and are announcements concerning nonintegrated oil and gas companies' financial, personnel, explorational, and developmental and operational activities used equally by investors in their decision-making?
Date: August 1982
Creator: Wright, Charlotte Jean
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Attitudes of Edward Bok and the Ladies' Home Journal Toward Woman's Role in Society, 1889-1919 (open access)

The Attitudes of Edward Bok and the Ladies' Home Journal Toward Woman's Role in Society, 1889-1919

Edward William Bok, the Ladies' Home Journal's editor from 1889 to 1919, remained a confirmed proponent of Victorian womanhood. Yet, dramatic changes in American society made his perceptions increasingly anachronistic and, recognizing this, he reluctantly permitted his magazine's portrayal of woman to change with the times. The first part of the dissertation examines Edward Bok's Victorian attitudes toward woman's role in society. According to him, woman's intellectual, emotional, and physical inferiority and her moral and intuitional superiority harmonize perfectly to define a special sphere for her--the home—where she fulfills her roles as wife, mother, and homemaker. Outside the home, Bok permitted only a narrow range of activity for woman—church and club activities and even employment outside the home if finances required it. The second part of the dissertation illustrates how the Journal's image of woman changed during Bok's tenure, especially during the second decade of the twentieth century. At the outset, all departments of the Journal reinforced the editor's concept of woman, but by the time Edward Bok retired, in 1919. the magazine's image of woman contrasted sharply with Bo'k's personal views.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Hummel, Michael D. (Michael Dennis)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carlos Seixas: The Development of the Keyboard Sonata in Eighteenth-Century Portugal. A Lecture Recital Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Barber, Ludwig van Beethoven, Fréderic Chopin, César Franck, Sergei Prokofieff, and Alexander Scriabin (open access)

Carlos Seixas: The Development of the Keyboard Sonata in Eighteenth-Century Portugal. A Lecture Recital Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Barber, Ludwig van Beethoven, Fréderic Chopin, César Franck, Sergei Prokofieff, and Alexander Scriabin

This presentation demonstrates the significance both historically and aesthetically of the obscure Portuguese composer Carlos Seixas, (1704-1742), to the development of the keyboard sonata during the transitional period between the Baroque and Classic eras. The relationship between Seixas and his better-known colleague Domenico Scarlatti is explored and particular musical styles and techniques generally assumed as innovations of the latter composer are shown to exist in keyboard works of Seixas which probably pre-date those of Scarlatti. Thematically-related multi-movement sonatas and structural techniques anticipating the ternary single-movement sonata design are illustrated in several of Seixas1 sonatas. In addition to the recorded performance of selected sonatas by Seixas, this dissertation includes three tape recordings of selected piano works by J. S. Bach, Barber, Beethoven, Chopin, Franck, Prokofieff, and Scriabin.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Allison, Brian J. (Brian Jerome)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Chi Square Approximation to the Hypergeometric Probability Distribution (open access)

The Chi Square Approximation to the Hypergeometric Probability Distribution

This study compared the results of his chi square text of independence and the corrected chi square statistic against Fisher's exact probability test (the hypergeometric distribution) in contection with sampling from a finite population. Data were collected by advancing the minimum call size from zero to a maximum which resulted in a tail area probability of 20 percent for sample sizes from 10 to 100 by varying increments. Analysis of the data supported the rejection of the null hypotheses regarding the general rule-of-thumb guidelines concerning sample size, minimum cell expected frequency and the continuity correction factor. it was discovered that the computation using Yates' correction factor resulted in values which were so overly conservative (i.e. tail area porobabilities that were 20 to 50 percent higher than Fisher's exact test) that conclusions drawn from this calculation might prove to be inaccurate. Accordingly, a new correction factor was proposed which eliminated much of this discrepancy. Its performance was equally consistent with that of the uncorrected chi square statistic and at times, even better.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Anderson, Randy J. (Randy Jay)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cognitive Strategies for the Control of Experimentally Induced Pain: The Role of Pleasantness and Relevance of Content in Imagery (open access)

Cognitive Strategies for the Control of Experimentally Induced Pain: The Role of Pleasantness and Relevance of Content in Imagery

This study compared the relative efficacy of four imagery techniques in increasing tolerance to cold pressor pain. Relevant pleasant, relevant unpleasant, irrelevant pleasant, and irrelevant unpleasant imagery strategies were compared in a two-way factorial design. Prior research suggested that pleasantness and relevance both affect imagery potency. This study attempted to assess the relative contribution of these two variables to increases in pain tolerance. Also investigated were the roles of several hypothesized mediating variables; namely, contextual valence, self-efficacy, treatment credibility, and involvement in imagery. The subjects were 60 female undergraduates who were randomly assigned to the four imagery groups. Two-way analysis of covariance were performed on all dependent variables, using pain threshold as the covariate. Pearons r.'s were used to test correlational hypotheses.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Geary, Thomas Dennis
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Attitudes Toward and Achievement in Biology and Descriptive Characteristics Between Community College Students Enrolled in Alternative Instructional Modes (open access)

A Comparison of Attitudes Toward and Achievement in Biology and Descriptive Characteristics Between Community College Students Enrolled in Alternative Instructional Modes

The problem of this study was a comparison of attitudes toward and achievement in biology between students enrolled in an introductory biology course taught using instructional television and as taught at Tarrant County Junior College South Campus in the spring semester of 1982.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Robertson, Carolyn C. (Carolyn Choate)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Biofeedback and Cognitive Therapy in the Control of Blood Pressure Under Stress and No-Stress Conditions (open access)

A Comparison of Biofeedback and Cognitive Therapy in the Control of Blood Pressure Under Stress and No-Stress Conditions

This study evaluated the efficacy of cognitive therapy and biofeedback training in lowering Dlood pressures of normotensives under no-stress and stress conditions. A cognitive therapy group was compared to biofeedback and habituation control groups with 32 normotensives. Subjects were taught to use the electronic sphygmomanometer that served as the device to measure blood pressure during pretreatment and posttreatment phases of the study. These measurement phases each consisted of three 19 minute periods. Trie first period consisted of no-stress, and then a stress period followed. Return-to-no-stress was the final period. Subjects in the cognitive therapy and biofeedbacK groups received five sessions of self-control training of 66 minutes each between the pre- and posttreatment phases. The cold pressor was the analogue stressor used to induce bxood pressure elevations,
Date: August 1982
Creator: Dafter, Roger E. (Roger Edwin)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Effects of a Unit on Human Growth, Development and Sexuality on Fifth-Ninth- and Twelfth Grade Urban Public School Students (open access)

A Comparison of the Effects of a Unit on Human Growth, Development and Sexuality on Fifth-Ninth- and Twelfth Grade Urban Public School Students

The purposes of this study were to determine whether there were significant differences in knowledge and attitudes among fifth-, ninth- and twelfth-grade students after having been taught a unit on Human Growth, Development and Sexuality and to determine whether there were significant differences between these students and students not receiving the unit. The study attempted to determine at which of the three levels the human sexuality unit was most effective in transmitting knowledge and changing attitude in the area of human sexuality. An attempt was made to determine if there were significant differences between males and females in the knowledge obtained or attitude changes.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Stephens, LuAnna
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conflict Management of the Organization of African Unity in Intra- African Conflicts, 1963-1980 (open access)

Conflict Management of the Organization of African Unity in Intra- African Conflicts, 1963-1980

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine and evaluate the role of the Organization of African Unity as an international organization in the solution of intra-African conflicts. For the purpose of this paper, eight conflicts from 1963 to 1980 were investigated. Utilizing these cases, the paper (a) examines four assumptions: (1) that regional actions promote settlements by isolating soluble local conflicts from more complex ones; (2) that intrastate conflicts are more difficult to resolve by regional organizations than interstate or border disputes; (3) that most of the boundary disputes in Africa are due to the arbitrary colonial boundary demarcations; and (4) that most of the causes of the ineffectiveness in its conflict resolution is as a result of poor administrative set-up, lack of resources, and failure of its commissions to operate effectively; (b) it answered the following questions: (1) Did the O.A.U. stop, help stop, or fail to stop the fighting; (2) Did the O.A.U. settle, help settle, or fail to settle the conflict; and (3) Was there super power intervention, and if so, to what effect? The methodology used is primarily case study method. Most attention is given to the way the O.A.U. handled the conflicts.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Olvo, Samuel L. O.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Counseling Outcomes and Perceived Counselor Social Influence: Validity of the Counselor Rating Form Extended (open access)

Counseling Outcomes and Perceived Counselor Social Influence: Validity of the Counselor Rating Form Extended

This study investigated predictor variables of the Counselor Rating Form dimensions of expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness using the predicted variable of therapy outcome, measured by Goal Attainment Scaling and postcounseling scores on the Counselor Rating Form. One hundred-fifteen mental health center outpatients agreed to participate. Forty subjects (25 females and 15 males) met all criteria and were labeled "completors." An additional 30 subjects, labeled "dropouts," enrolled but did not meet criteria. These subjects' data were considered in a separate analysis for prediction of treatment continuation. All subjects rated their own need for therapy before their initial interview. After the initial and final interviews, both the subject and the counselor completed the Counselor Rating Form, rating their perceptions of the counselor1s behavior during that session. The Goal Attainment Scaling was used to generate both pre- and postcounseling outcome scores on each subject's individual, personalized goals.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Rucker, Iris Elaine Votaw
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
The Development of a Wellness Instrument to Predict the Use of Accident and Health Insurance (open access)

The Development of a Wellness Instrument to Predict the Use of Accident and Health Insurance

The problem with which this study was concerned is that of developing an instrument for predicting the use of accident and health insurance. The purposes of the study were to translate selected theoretical descriptions of wellness into discrete components of behavior, to develop a valid and reliable self-report instrument, and to determine the correlation between wellness behaviors and a person's use of accident and health insurance. Content validity was established by a panel of judges, each of whom was selected on the basis of professional concern for the areas of interest in health contained in the instrument. The original instrument of fifty-five items was increased by three items resulting in a fifty-eight item instrument, which was then approved by each of five judges.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Hess, Dixie Lee Cooley
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development of Vocal Concepts in Children: The Methodologies Recommended in Designated Elementary Music Series (open access)

The Development of Vocal Concepts in Children: The Methodologies Recommended in Designated Elementary Music Series

This study's purpose was to investigate the kinds of instructions provided for teachers by authors and publishers of elementary music series for the development of children's voices. Specifically, the study was 1. to investigate the recommended methodology related to the development of vocal concepts in children, 2. to investigate musical aspects that could be indicators of expected vocal ability in children, and 3. to relate the findings of this study to other research results that give insight into the vocal capabilities of children. To collect the data, the teacher's editions of grades one, three, and five of music series published by the Silver Burdett Company and by the American Book Company during the period circa 1945 to 1975 were subjected to a content analysis and to a musical analysis. Three categories were established for the content analysis: Vocal Characteristics, Singing Objectives, and Teaching Strategies. Validity of the research tool was tested by the jury method and by logical validity. Reliability coefficients of .90 were determined by using two additional coders and by re-coding material.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Kavanaugh, Janette M. (Janette Mae)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Econometric Study of Arkansas Secondary School Teachers' Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Economic Education (open access)

An Econometric Study of Arkansas Secondary School Teachers' Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Economic Education

The primary purposes of this study were to assess the understanding and attitudes of teachers, to determine the interaction effects of certain variables, and to determine if there is a correlation between understanding of economic concepts and attitude toward economic education. The problem of the study was an assessment of the attitudes toward and understanding of economic concepts held by secondary school teachers in Arkansas who taught economics or economics-related subjects.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Arize, Augustine Chukwuemeka
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Cold Application and Flexibility Techniques on Hip Extensors and Their Influence on Flexibility in College Males (open access)

The Effect of Cold Application and Flexibility Techniques on Hip Extensors and Their Influence on Flexibility in College Males

The purpose of this study was to measure flexibility at the hip joint under four techniques of stretching, passive stretch-concentric contraction-passive stretch (PCP), passive stretch-three seconds isometric contraction of hip extensorsconcentric contraction of hip flexors-passive stretch (3-PIeCP) and passive stretch-three seconds isometric contraction of hip flexors-concentric contraction of hip flexorspassive stretch (3-PIfCP) based on proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and passive static stretch (P). Further, this study was designed to ascertain the effect of cold application (ice) in joint range of motion of the hip extensors measured with the Leighton Flexometer.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Ebrahim, Khosrow
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Contingency Management Strategies on the Bender Gestalt Diagnostic Indicators of Emotionally Disturbed Children (open access)

The Effect of Contingency Management Strategies on the Bender Gestalt Diagnostic Indicators of Emotionally Disturbed Children

Ten experimental and 10 control subjects in elementary special education were exposed to a semester of contingency management procedures for up to 6 1/2 hours per day. The experimental group was taught by teachers who were exceptionally well trained and qualified behavior analysts, while the control group was instructed by teachers with varying degrees of expertise in behavioral techniques. Both groups were given the Bender Gestalt as a pretest and posttest to determine the effect of such treatment on the diagnostic indicators of "acting out" tendencies. Furthermore, the rate of actual "acting out" was measured for all subjects by counting the number of verbal corrections resulting in placement in time out and/ or warning of forthcoming time out during 20 class days of baseline and the last 20 days of treatment.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Ninness, Herbert Arthur (Chris)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Subvocalization on Silent Reading Comprehension of College Students in a Developmental Reading Class (open access)

Effect of Subvocalization on Silent Reading Comprehension of College Students in a Developmental Reading Class

Review of the studies in the area of subvocalization reveals that its role in silent reading comprehension remains in question. It appears clear that subvocalization does occur during reading, usually among poorer readers or as reading becomes more difficult, and that it slows the reading process. However, how it affects reading comprehension, or if it affects reading comprehension, remains unclear. This study attempted to answer the question of whether subvocalization affects reading comprehension in an adult community-college population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of subvocalization on the reading comprehension of the community college students in developmental reading programs.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Perkins, Fredda Susan
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Computer Assisted Instruction as a Supplement to Classroom Instruction in Reading Comprehension and Arithmetic (open access)

The Effects of Computer Assisted Instruction as a Supplement to Classroom Instruction in Reading Comprehension and Arithmetic

The present research was an investigation of the effects of computer assisted instruction as a supplement to classroom instruction in reading and arithmetic. The purposes of this study were to determine the effectiveness of microcomputer usage in supplemental reading comprehension and math instruction. Utilizing an elaboration of the pre-test, posttest control group design, 66 fifth graders completed the 4-month study. One-way analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Easterling, Barbara Ann
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Nondirective and Paradoxical Therapist Communication on Core Therapeutic Conditions and Perceived Client Influence (open access)

Effects of Nondirective and Paradoxical Therapist Communication on Core Therapeutic Conditions and Perceived Client Influence

The purpose of this study was first to determine whether or not paradoxical communication could be designed to contain therapeutic levels of the core therapeutic conditions, and, second, to determine how paradoxical counselor communication compared to nondirective communication on the social influence dimensions of attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness. For the first phase, four judges rated audiotapes on the level of the core therapeutic conditions on one of four counseling conditions (paradox high or low on core conditions, and nondirective high or low on core conditions). For the second phase, 133 undergraduate college students were asked to listen to the four counseling conditions on audiotapes and to rate the counselor on the social influence dimensions
Date: August 1982
Creator: Beard, Myron Joseph
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Reflection, Probing and Paradoxical Therapist Responses on Client Self-Acceptance (open access)

Effects of Reflection, Probing and Paradoxical Therapist Responses on Client Self-Acceptance

Client self-acceptance is a crucial element of mental health and a goal of psychotherapy. It has been demonstrated that client self-disclosure in psychotherapy is instrumental in the promotion of self-acceptance. Reflection, probing, and paradoxical therapist responses frequently are used to elicit self-disclosure. Cognitive dissonance theory was used to provide a theoretical understanding of these techniques and their use in the promotion of self-acceptance. Reflection, probing, and paradoxical responses were conceptualized as providing a client with different perceptions of choice over self-disclosure that may affect the occurrence of self-acceptance. This study compared the effects of the reflection, probing, and paradoxical techniques on self-acceptance and anxiety following self-disclosure.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Robertson, Elizabeth A. (Elizabeth Anne)
System: The UNT Digital Library