Book categories

The Real Insider's Guide to Military Basic Training

A Recruit's Guide of Advice and Hints to Make It Through Boot Camp (2nd Edition)

by Peter Thompson

2003

This book is the one many people in the military do not want recruits to read. The guide contains extremely helpful hints and advice to help new enlistees during the rigors of military training. Most important, the information is free from biased interests because it is "written by a recruit for a recruit." Although tailored toward the Army and Marines, any person enlisting in the Armed Forces will find the information exceedingly valuable. Even if a person is just thinking about the military, this book will help.

Intensive Kids - Intensive Interventions

Designing School Programs for Behaviorally Disordered Children and Youth

by Kevin I. Coats

2006

The book focuses on what schools can do to educate and support children with serious emotional and behavioral problems. Written for the busy school administrator, school psychologist, special educator and other school leaders, it serves as a research-based, yet practical guide that pulls together key principles, information and resources helpful in the process of developing and implementing school-based programs. The reader will gain an understanding of the essential elements that contribute to quality intensive programming as well as information related to positive behavior management supports and program evaluation.

The Badventures of Creepy Cat

by Gordon Wright

2006

Differential Effects of a Multiple Intelligences Curriculum on Student Performance

by Thanh T. Nguyen

2002

The Fuller School is one of the six elementary schools in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a small urban community known for shipbuilding and fishing. Fuller students come from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds (from public housing facilities to affluent families) and a variety of ethnic groups (including Italian, Hispanic and Vietnamese). With its diverse population, the Fuller School represented an excellent environment to test the use of Multiple Intelligences (MI) as a foundation for its curriculum. This study aimed to examine one of the ten objectives of the FIRST Schools and Teacher Program Grant: "To improve student achievement on standardized tests" by using "multiple intelligences instruction." The results of the California Achievement Test/5 (CAT/5) given at grade 5 tended...

Online Distance Education

Historical Perspective and Practical Application

by Margaret Gorts Morabito

1999

Many educators and the public are interested in online distance education, in particular Internet-based schooling. The underlying assumption is that this is a new and untested fad in education. This is due in part to a lack of documentation within academia of the early development of online distance education, and, in part, to a shortage of experienced, practicing online schools. On the Internet, one may become confused by the flurry of activity and by the various claims from organizations that they are providing a revolutionary method of instruction--online teaching. Furthermore, many people are unaware of the long and distinguished history of distance education itself that is the root of current day Internet-based schooling. Despite the uncertainty, the public is clearly demanding o...

Attitudes Toward Interactivity in a Graduate Distance Education Program

by Brent Muirhead

1999

As distance education schools grow in popularity, contemporary educators are raising important instructional questions about quality of these programs. A vital question involves concerns about the level of interactivity or interaction between students and between teachers and students. Interactivity is a challenging subject because there are few research studies that address the issue. It is a dynamic entity that involves a number of important elements, but the researcher stressed three vital elements: communication, participation, and feedback. The study highlights research results from a survey of students who were pursuing on-line graduate degrees (masters and doctoral). Important distance education issues are discussed such as feedback from professors and the quality of academic dialo...

Redefining Babes, Booze and Brawls

Men Against Violence -- Towards A New Masculinity

by Luoluo Hong

1999

Despite evidence that 90% of violent crimes are committed by men, higher education professionals and researchers still understand relatively little about the process by which male students acquire the attitudes, knowledge, values and skills which serve as deterrents to perpetrating violence against women and against other men. Men Against Violence is a peer advocacy organization at a large, public Research I institution in the South which focuses on the special and unique responsibility men have to end violence. Through participation in a wide array of service learning, community action and leadership opportunities, MAV members challenge cultural norms which link masculinity with violence. Types of violence targeted by MAV include: fighting, domestic violence, rape, vandalism, hazing, h...

A Study of Undergraduate Fire Service Degree Programs in the United States

by Thomas B. Sturtevant

2001

Recent national efforts to coordinate and promote higher education in the fire service led to this national survey of fire service degree programs. The main purpose of the study was to gather descriptive information concerning fire service degree programs offered at two-year and four-year accredited institutions. A second purpose of the study was to identify the perceptions fire service degree program coordinators/directors hold concerning current and future issues affecting their programs. The information collected as part of the study can be used in a variety of ways from benchmarking among fire service degree programs to assistance and support with policy formation at the local, state, and federal level. Of the 248 institutions identified for this study, 222 (89.52 percent) were...

The Impact of Adventure-Based Training on Team Cohesion and Psychological Skills Development in Elite Sporting Teams

by Ian T. Boyle

2003

Adventure-based training has become an effective medium for delivering experiential training programs within a variety of disciplines such as; school outdoor education, corporate teamwork development, youth at risk and psychological counseling. In addition, Meyer & Wenger (1998) and Meyer (2000) were instrumental in pioneering research in to the efficacy of adventure-based training with sporting teams. This investigation adds to the growing body of knowledge in this area by demonstrating the positive effects an adventure training intervention has on athletes ability to learn new team and psychological skills. In addition, results indicated that individual and team performance might have been enhanced because of skills learnt during the intervention. This stud...

An Evaluation of Computer Based Training for Police Radar Operators

by Paul E. Konschak

2003

The purpose of this study was to examine two instructional methods for delivering a radar operators training class for members of a municipal police department. The first method examined was the traditional classroom-based training with a certified radar instructor. The second method was a computer-based training (CBT) course based on the instructional material from the classroom-based course. The CBT course was administered on CD-ROM using the police department s Windows© based computers. This study compared the two methods of delivery to determine if the CBT course was as effective as the traditional classroom-based course.Effectiveness was measured by the completion times of the two courses, examination scores, and overall participant satisfaction levels. These measures were conducted u...

Due Diligence

A New Theoretical Model for the School Board's Role in Creating Strategic Educational and Financial Planning Coherence

by Frances S. De Nuit

1999

The role of the school board in public K-12 schools is considered from the agency and the stakeholder perspectives. A new theoretical model for the school board members practice of due diligence encompassing content and process issues is developed from empirical literature on agency and stakeholder relationships, vision content and process, and strategy-making process capability. A four pronged methodology is used to test the model and resolve research issues on the practice of due diligence: 1) Development of an accountability measure of student performance using the Accountability Report from the New Mexico State Department of Education; 2) Testing of 10 propositions and 7 hypotheses using case studies of seven districts, survey results of 89 district board presidents and superinte...

Elemental Movement

A Somatic Approach to Movement Education

by Rae Johnson

2001

This thesis describes the theory and methods of an original somatic approach to movement education. Based on the five Elements of ancient philosophical tradition, Elemental Movement integrates somatic and alchemical principles, processes, and practice. It employs movement as the primary vehicle for a wide range of personal explorations, using the Elements both as a framework and as a set of symbolic tools. The first two sections offer a review of the literature on Elemental, alchemical, and psychological theory related to the development of Elemental Movement. The third section outlines a basic conceptual framework, and the fourth describes the methodology of the approach. In addition to describing the historical, theoretical, and methodological bases of Elemental Movement, this book is...

Individualized Education

Understanding in Light of the Introduction of the Progressive/Regressive Forming and Establishing Developmental Model, as a Human Right That Ultimately Promotes Higher Quality of Life Globally Through Local Practices

by Gary L. Hoover

2003

Individualized Education: Understanding in Light of the Introduction of the Progressive/Regressive Forming and Establishing Developmental Model, as a Human Right That Ultimately Promotes Higher Quality of Life Globally Through Local Practices is an interdisciplinary Ph. D. thesis that analyzes and discusses the importance, influences, and practicality of IEPs (Individualized Educational Programs) in global terms. Furthermore, this thesis statement introduces the Progressive/Regressive Forming and Establishing Developmental Model. This model is a theoretical tool for analyzing individuals in light of social expected norms and how synergy of collective individuals, families, and social organizations local through global positive and negative potential synergy. Using this model, IEPs can b...

Alcohol and the Chosen Few

Organizational Reproduction in an Addictive System

by James C. Arnold

1998

This dissertation is an interpretive case study that examines alcohol use by a specific subculture of undergraduates, a college fraternity. Based on nearly three years of investigation using interviews, observation, and document analysis, this study takes a detailed look at the organization's indoctrination process and the ways that their practices are explained by its most astute observers, specifically high-status insiders. Various elements of the author's biography are integrated into the text and used to enhance understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The multiple purposes of this research were to offer a thick description of college student drinking practices, to describe and understand the organization's socialization processes, and, ultimately, to present an analysis of...

Making It

Resilient Women Overcoming Adversity in Defiance of Negative Predictors of Success

by Linda L. Meccouri

1998

Social indicators such as low socioeconomic status, minority status, battering, chronic illness, trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, and poor social environment are negative predictors of educational and social success. Why is it that some people, however, overcome adversity and succeed despite the odds? This study identifies and describes the context and factors involved for an ethnically diverse group of twenty adult women from low socioeconomic status being able to "succeed" despite the odds. Using qualitative in-depth oral history interviews, this study includes women whose voices are seldom heard in the literature - those who have many of the social indicators associated with failure, but who have defied the negative predictors for success and persisted beyond high school to pos...

Success Factors Among Community College Students in an Online Learning Environment

by Paula B. Doherty

2000

Little is known about student success in online learning environments, especially how the predisposing characteristics that the learner brings to the learning environment may differentially affect student outcomes. This study explored the question of whether a student's "readiness" to be a self-directed learner is a predictor of student success in an online community college curriculum. The specific goal of this investigation was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between self-directed learning readiness-as measured by Guglielmino's (1977) Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS)- and student success-as measured by course completion, grade point average (GPA) and student satisfaction, the latter assessed by student responses to an opinion poll. The subject...

Primary Education in Ecuador's Chota Valley

Reflections on Education and Social Reproduction in the Development Era

by Kevin Lucas

2000

In November 1998, the author arrived in Mascarilla, a small village in Ecuador's predominantly-black Chota Valley, to begin a six-month teaching assignment at the Escuela "Hernando Tquez" (the local primary school). Based both on his own observations and on the assessments offered by various former students, parents, community leaders, and Ecuadorean scholars, the author judges the educational performance of the Escuela "Hernando Tquez" to be grossly inadequate. Indeed, the various shortcomings attributed to the school (and documented as a case study in chapters three and four of this book) are so glaring that the author was led to question how such a dysfunctional school could be allowed to exist in a country where the government states that "to improve education is to improve the q...

An Ethnographic Study of a Special Education School

The Harris-Hillman Story

by Frederick L. Patrick

1997

The purpose of this study was to describe, using the tools of ethnography and qualitative research, selected events in the history of a public special education school and its school culture. The year of the study, 1994-1995, the school served 125 students with cerebral palsy and other disabilities affecting some or all of their physical, sensory, and cognitive abilities. Study participants included faculty and staff, former students, parents, school administrators, and others identified with the school and in the Nashville community during the 1994-1995 school year. In-depth interviews with study participants, on-site observations, semi-structured interviews with informants, document, and archival research were used to create five collective tales based on stories of those who k...

Educational Qualifications of Middle-Grade School Teachers

What Principals of Schools Along the Texas-Mexico Border Seek in New Hires

by Mike F. Desiderio

1998

Principals of middle-grade schools in port of entry communities along the Texas-Mexico border were surveyed to learn about the education and preparational experiences these principals believed novice teachers should have before coming to teach in their schools. Demographic data about themselves, teachers, students and middle-grade schools, along with suggestions for improving Texas teacher education programs were also obtained. Mexican Americans were the dominant ethnic group and culture in these schools for principals, teachers and students. Principals were mostly male, well educated, and certified for the position they held. Student populations ranged from 437--1,603 in rural, urban and suburban settings. Eighty-two percent of the student population participated in the Federal Free ...

Funding Strategies for Institutional Advancement of Private Universities in the United States

Applications for African/Congolese Universities

by Jean-Pierre K. Bongila

2003

This study examined the institutional advancement programs of successful American private/Catholic universities, two private universities in the United Sates, and two institutions in the Congo. Funding strategies constitute the backbone of advancement programs for successful American private universities/colleges. This study also investigated the funding mechanisms that successful private universities in the United States utilized to obtain philanthropic dollars. Further, the research assessed the roles of the successful private university presidents and trustees, and determined how public relations impacted the institutional advancement results of those institutions. Finally, the results of this investigation suggested practical applications for the Congolese/African universities. Grun...

The Moral of the Story

Content, Process, and Reflection in Moral Education through Narratives

by John H. Lockwood

1999

The problem this project attempts to solve is to develop a workable moral education in light of the clash between religious forms of moral education and U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning them. The concept of story and storytelling has been suggested as a unifying focus for disparate prescriptions for moral education. Several recent approaches to moral storytelling have been proposed. The approaches of William Bennett, Nel Noddings, and Herbert Kohl are among those which have attempted to combine moral education and storytelling within the last decade. Bennett is identified with other theorists whose primary concern is the moral content of a story. Noddings is identified as a process theorist, whose primary concern is the process of moral storytelling, not the content. Kohl is i...

Effects of Computer-Based Cooperative Learning on the Problem Solving Skills of Grade Six Students

by Steven Poris

2000

This study was designed to determine if sixth-grade students' problem solving skills were improved by means of their experience with a computer-based logical puzzle game designed to increase reasoning skills, and, in turn, problem solving ability. Students worked on this game either in cooperative learning pairs or alone. Baseline and post-experimental problem-solving ability was measured through the administration of a Problem Solving Test; Form A was utilized as a pretest for this purpose, Form B was used as a post-test. Comparisons of problem-solving ability based upon post-test scores (Form B) were made among four groups of students (N = 106): Group 1: Students (n = 26) who worked on the computer-based puzzle game in cooperative learning pairs Group 2: Students (n = 27) ...

An Alternative Framework for Community Learning Centers in the 21st Century

A Systemic Design Approach Toward the Creation of a Transformational Learning System

by Michael F. Reber

2003

Public Community Learning Centers (CLCs), at least in the context of the United States, are social structures that have been established to address particular community needs. In the beginning, they were instituted as extensions of state departments' human services in order to assist communities with programs such as adult literacy and high school graduation certification. Today, they have taken on a broader role as a result of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Title X, Part I) that gives rural and inner-city public schools nearly $2 billion over five years (1999-2004) to develop CLCs for programs such as mentoring in basic skills or helping high school students prepare for college. Despite these noble efforts, public CLCs are still not integral parts of community sustainabil...

The Sacrament of Confession as a "Sequela Christi" in the Writings of A. von Speyr

by William Schmitt

2001

Adrienne von Speyr in her book "Confession" and throughout her writings speaks of the "confession" of Jesus Christ. This is a startling use of the term because Christ never sinned. The author examines all the writings of von Speyr in the light of Roman Catholic soteriology and sacramental theology and in view of the influences that existed between her and Hans Urs von Balthasar. The author then shows how the theme of confession is central to von Speyr's writing, aids in illuminating her theology of Holy Saturday and the Paschal Mystery, and serves as the basis for the renewal of the sacrament of confession.

A Review of Books, Studies and Journal Articles Published in the U.S.A. from 1955-1995 Relating to the Sociological Impact of Corporate Relocation on the Family System

by Barbara W. Cummings

1999

America is a mobile nation and frequent relocation is a way of life for many corporate families. This qualitative review of literature relating to the sociological impact of relocation on the corporate family appears to show that relocation has short-term and long-term implications for the family system. Relocation is not an isolated event but a process of adjustment over time involving emotional stages similar to the stages of grief and loss. Each family member may experience the relocation differently and progress through the stages at a different rate. This creates a period of disorganization and disorientation for the family similar to a prolonged jet-lag, which I call Relo-Lag™. This period of adjustment for the family system is the most frequently cited short-term effect and c...

Tutor Evaluation by Self-Assessment for Chabot College Tutorial Instructional Program

by Charles R. Natson

1998

Society's evolving perception of the role of and value of higher education relates to education's role in employment. Employment is the most cited reason for school completion. The creation of peer tutoring programs was to improve the academic performance of underprepared students. This study evaluated tutors registered in the Tutorial Training Course T-15 at Chabot College, Hayward, California. The Tutor Evaluation and Self-Assessment Tool (TESAT) was utilized to measure the tutors' performance. Thirty tutors performed the pre- and post-assessments. The instructor also evaluated the tutors with the TESAT, after the tutors' post-assessments to investigate the relationship between the tutors' and their instructor's perception of their tutorial skill. The tutors rated themselves as be...

Instructional Technology, Motivation, Attitudes and Behaviors

An Investigation of At-Risk Learners in the Middle School General Music Classroom

by Sharon A. Clark

2003

In middle schools today, teachers meet many challenges. Students come to school with a wide variety of experiences and economic backgrounds. They come with varying needs and abilities. Middle school is a time of many changes for students. One of the many goals of middle school is to meet the needs of the students in academics as well as the social, physical and emotional needs. The research question addressed in this dissertation was: What are the effects of instructional technology on motivation, attitudes and behavior of at-risk learners in the middle school general music classroom? The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of instructional technology, specifically digital piano keyboards and computers, in the middle school general music program would...

A Labor Approach to the Development of the Self or "Modern Personality"

The Case of Public Education

by Paul C. Mocombe

2001

Karl Mannheim, and Karl Marx suggested that there is a relationship between economic and political institutions and that behaviors and attitudes are influenced by this. Viewing this postulate as a conception which posits the economic mode of production as the locus of causality for culture, this examination of capitalism as culture, investigates how education and its pedagogical techniques, as a means of "enculturation," reflects the capitalist economic mode of production. Building on the theoretical notions in the Sociology of knowledge and Structuralism, this hermeneutical analysis discusses how pedagogical techniques and curriculum arrangements of public schools in capitalist societies correlate with the organization of labor (for it is that role of the self which is dominant in capi...

Effect of Clarifying Students' Misperceptions Associated With Alcohol Consumption at a Connecticut Public University

by C. Kevin Synnott

2001

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of clarifying students' misperceptions regarding their peers' consumption of alcohol and feelings of comfort in drinking situations. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to determine if providing students with information would impact on their perceptions. A posttest-only control-group experimental design was employed to investigate the efficacy of clarifying students' misperceptions. The experimental group was provided with information gleaned from the literature regarding students' misperceptions. Participants were administered a questionnaire developed for this study to determine: (a) their drinking habits (i. e., frequency and quantity), (b) how comfortable they feel in drinking situations, (c) their perceptions regard...

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

A Noble Theory, An Ignoble Practice as Unfolded Through One Teacher's Heuristic Inquiry

by Nila L. Haworth

2004

A careful examination of the evolutions of Curriculum as Political Text and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1973 disclosed certain contributory facets to teacher disillusionment in an inclusive high school environment. A diminishing sense of professional self-efficacy, self-empowerment, and optimism stemmed primarily from the political machinations of a hidden curriculum and a misapplication of an inclusive classroom practice.The process used to arrive at these conclusions was heuristic research, wherein outward perceptions and realties assumed meaning vis-a-vis inward reflection and introspection,disclosing an unequivocal new awareness, illumination, and enlightenment. Such personal enrichment, however, arrived only after a journey-of-self unfolded through the three pha...

Teacher Selection and Interview Portfolios

Principals' Perspectives

by Ronald K. Theel

2002

The major research questions for this study were: (a) What forms do teacher interview portfolios take? (b) What meaning do school principals make of these portfolios? (c) How, if at all, are teacher portfolios being used by principals in deciding whom to hire?This was a case study using qualitative research procedures. The study was situated in the hiring policies and practices of Central City School District from 1995 to 1999. Semi-structured interviews of 18 k-12 principals and 4 key informants were primary means of data gathering. Document analyses supplemented interview data.Interview portfolios typically consisted of lesson plans; photographs of projects, activities, and teacher-student interactions; and supporting examples of classroom practice. Statements of educational philosoph...

Information Technology Usage in Metro Manila Public and Private Schools

by Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo

2003

Both public and private schools in the Philippines are using information technology (IT) as a tool to improve teaching and learning. While both government and private sector initiatives indicate national commitment to IT in education, there is little up-to-date information on how extensively the Philippines are using computers and for what purposes. The researcher s goals were to determine the extent to which Metro Manila public and private schools used IT and to determine how these results compared with analogous data on schools in other developing and developed countries. The researcher gathered data with mail-in questionnaires adapted from the International Assoc...

A Model of Freshman Use of Microcomputers Related to Intellectual and Social Development

by Daniel R. Judd

2002

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between freshmen's use of microcomputers and their social and intellectual development in a university environment. A review of related literature describes the theoretical foundation of this research and identifies questionnaire items for measuring the critical variables of microcomputer use and student development. To conduct the study, data obtained from 400 freshman students prior to entering Utah State University (USU) in the fall of 1996 were compared to data collected from the same students during Spring Quarter of 1997. Correlational analysis was used to study changes in freshman students' use of microcomputers and variables known to predict studentsÍ social and academic integration into the institution. Regression a...

Scientific Misconduct and Its Cover-Up

Diary of a Whistleblower

by Solomon Rivlin

2004

The book describes a true and detailed account of a scientific misconduct case involving two department chairmen in a major medical school, the whistle blowing that exposed their misdeeds, the attempts of cover-up by the university administration and the retaliatory actions of the administration against the whistleblower. The book also describes how the leadership of one of the largest scientific societies in the US has chosen not to investigate a charge of signature forgery on a Society's form . The charge was filed against a member of the society who happened to be one of the chairmen involved in the scientific misconduct case described in the book. While experts on the topic continuously assuring the public that scientific misconduct continues to be newsworthy because it continues to be...

Charter Schools

A Descriptive Study of Empowerment within the Operation of Charter Schools

by Steve P. Jefferson, Ed.D.

2004

The purpose of this book was to describe the variables that contributed to the establishment of a charter school in an urban Arizona and rural California school district, noting the similarities and dissimilarities and disclosing the factors used to justify implementation of the Montessori theory of education. The secondary purpose of this book was to describe the guidelines for maintaining a charter school, the evaluation methods and factors used in the school’s unique experience with staff development. The two schools experienced many similarities when the same variables were applied to both schools. As a result, the stakeholders of both schools used the principles of the organizational theory area of empowerment to implement choices in curriculum. This book provides an insight for pa...

A Teacher's Cry

Expose the Truth about Education Today

by Lewis W. Diuguid

2004

The book is an examination of education from the inside. It is rooted in a four-year project in which I returned to high school and wrote about 100 columns published in The Kansas City Star from studying with the Class of 1999 at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kan. A teacher's cry for attention to what takes place in an urban school led to the project. This book would appeal to educators, teachers colleges, parents, businesses and community groups. The book is broken into teachable moments pulled from the columns. The manuscript insists that community involvement in the schools and in the classrooms is how education can best be improved. Journalists and schools of journalism also would benefit from the book because it teaches a different way of covering education. The book attacks ...

Success Education

Differentiated Curriculum Strategies for ESL and Learning Disabled Students

by Steve P. Jefferson and Bettye Sweet

2005

This book provides strategies for educating learning disabled and English as a Second Language students. Unlike a one-size-fits-all curriculum where all students are expected to learn the same materials, in the same way, in the same amount of time, differentiated instruction provides options. This book uses an array of instructional strategies, including multiple texts and supplementary materials, reality learning games, group investigations, and flexible evaluation.

In addition, Dr. Jefferson and Ms. Sweet's book provides a variety of lesson plans on differentiated instruction that will make any teacher's life easier. This book is written to help both new and veteran teachers make classroom lessons engaging and fun again.

Study of Factors Affecting Attitudes of Young Female Students Toward Chemistry at the High School Level

by Santonino K. Banya

2005

Chemistry is a human endeavor that relies on basic human qualities like creativity, insights, reasoning, and skills. It depends on habits of the mind: skepticism, tolerance of ambiguity, openness to new ideas, intellectual honesty, curiosity, and communication. Young female students begin studying chemistry curiosity; however, when unconvinced, they become skeptical. Researches focused on gender studies have indicated that attitudes toward science education differ between males and females. A declining interest in chemistry and the under representation of females in the chemical science was found (Jacobs, 2000). This study investigated whether self-confidence toward chemistry, the influence of role models, and knowledge about the usefulness of chemistry were affecting the attitudes toward...

Surviving Academia

A Guide to New Professors

by K. Obeng

2005

This book is about how to survive university teaching. It is written for new faculties joining academic ranks the first time, those returning to university teaching and those advising doctoral students. Its focus is providing guidance to new faculties in what they should do to establish records of teaching, research and service to be successful in promotion and tenure decisions, and other evaluations. It draws upon the experiences of successful faculties to make it interesting reading while not diluting its substance. To accomplish its objective of providing guidance, it devotes separate chapters to becoming an effective teacher, developing a research record, involvement in service, and the procedures new faculties must follow to receive promotion and tenure. The book recognizes that the p...

Will They Like It or Use It?

The Development and Use of an Instrument to Measure Adult Learners’ Perceived Levels of Computer Competence, Attitudes Toward Computers, and Attitudes Toward e-Learning Within a Corporate Environment

by Steven R. Yacovelli

2005

While "e-learning" has proliferated in our society, the problem exists that many corporations are delving into e-learning without fully understanding end users’ self-reported computer competence or attitudes toward e-learning or computers in general, which could ultimately impact the success of e-learning at an organization. Studies have been done to examine these phenomena, but the vast majority center around the academic environment, and many are deemed archaic due to advances in technology. To examine this problem, this research study’s goal was to develop a valid and reliable instrument that measures self-reported computer competence, overall attitudes toward computers, and attitudes toward e-learning appropriate for the corporate, adult learner. The author reviewed various investig...

Development of a Training Program for Frontline Service Employees' Improvement of Student Services

by Debbie S. Persaud

2005

Frontline employees represent the bloodline of an organization. This applied dissertation focused on development of a training program to improve skills necessary for quality student-customer service. Six research questions were answered. First, what skills are required to enhance customer service satisfaction? Second, what are employees' perception of attitudes and expectations relative to delivery of goods and services? Third, what action is required to improve employees' performance to effect customer satisfaction? Fourth, what content-- knowledge, skills, and procedures--are necessary for inclusion in the training plan? Fifth, how can training best be structured and developed to improve the necessary skills? Sixth, how and by whom should the plan be implemented, and if implemented...

Developmental Reading, Achievement and Persistence of African American Community College Students

by M. Eileen Morelli

2006

This ex post facto study was used to compare community college transcripts of African American students who participated in a developmental reading course at a multi-campus, urban community college and those who declined to participate in the developmental reading program.

The study examined 513 records to determine if participation in a developmental reading course in a community college improved achievement and persistence for African American college students.

Results discuss the positive relationship of overall and third semester achievement to enrollment in a developmental reading course as shown in the student QPA.

Neither enrollment in a developmental reading course nor reading level was related to persistence as measured by the number of semesters enrolled in college.

The Art of Inclusion

Success Stories of African Americans in the Nonprofit Sector

by Norris Rashe Dorsey

2006

Success Stories of African Americans in the Nonprofit Sector presents the stories of 6 executives whose stories define African-American business success. Thriving in spite of multiple obstacles, they have enjoyed extraordinary careers at (and helped build the fortunes of) nonprofit organizations. In remarkably candid interviews, these exemplary professionals reveal not only the secrets of their successes, but the sources of their fears, their most difficult challenges, and their hopes for the future. Their experiences are presented according to what they reveal about the black experience in the white-centric workplace, from uncertainty to confidence, from struggle to strength, and from enjoying success to giving back in the name of those whose ...

A Study Of Job Satisfaction Among Directors of Classified Personnel In Merit (Civil Service) Systems in California Public School Districts, County Offices of Education, and Community College Districts

by Donald R. McCann

2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate the general job satisfaction, intrinsic job satisfaction, and extrinsic job satisfaction levels of Directors of Classified Personnel in the 97 Merit (Civil Service ) Systems school districts in California that employ approximately 60 percent of classified employees. Also examined was the influence or relationship of job satisfaction to variables such as the Director's gender, age, highest degree (or equivalent) earned, years of Director experience, size of organization (district), responsibility for certificated only or both certificated (teaching) and classified (non-teaching) employees, and current minimum and maximum monthly salary amounts. It was found that Directors of Classified Personnel in California Merit System school districts were ...

The Effects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act on the Departments and Schools of Education at Independent Colleges and Universities in Kentucky

by Ramona Ann Hall

2004

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 drastically changed the state’s entire educational system in ways of curriculum, governance, and finance. KERA has served as somewhat of a blueprint for reform legislation in a number of other states. A literature review revealed that traditionally the relationship between K-12 reform and higher education (teacher preparation) in the United States has not been very strong. Although the connections between the two were unclear early on in Kentucky’s reform efforts, much progress has been made in linking KERA to the teacher preparation programs in the state. Some documentation on how the state colleges and universities have responded to the legislation exists. Very little literature, however, on how the private institutions have responded ...

Pictures in Place

Adolescent Usage of Multimedia Messaging in the Negotiation, Construction and Sharing of Meaning about Local Environments

by Kenneth Y T Lim

2006

This study describes data that was gathered in 2004 from fieldwork conducted by students from four schools in Singapore, around tasks of wayfinding and debate. The fieldwork tasks were designed specifically to permit participants to exercise their powers of observation, as opposed to more traditional tasks of collection of empirical data. To this end, the study was constructed such that students were given opportunities to collaboratively explore and navigate unfamiliar environments using text- and picture-messaging, as well as to engage in debate, and use multimedia evidence recorded in the field to defend their positions both to peers in the field and in the classroom, regarding various issues of concern to these environments, with specific links being made to their studies in geography...

A Comparative Study of Educational Leadership Characteristics and Attitudes of American and Russian Secondary School Administrators in Moultrie, Georgia, U.S.A. and Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Russia

by Richard C. McLendon

2006

Since 1991, the Russian Federation has dealt with extreme political, economic, and social change. On the national level and at the local level, opponents of democratic reforms have retained their control of many important offices. This has resulted in contradictions and confusion in regards to national and local laws and policies, and has had little impact on local educational policies and practices. Added to this general crisis of Russian education reform is the inability of so-called Western education experts to comprehend the complexities and cultural differences of Russia and its education system when compared to the west. There have been several studies of business management ideology since the breakup of the Soviet Union, but American and Russian comparative educational leadershi...

Adventure Education as Cultural-Historical Activity

A Study of Experience, Learning and Social Processes in Project Adventure Workshops

by Jayson Seaman

2006

The present study aims to illuminate the way participant learning in adventure experiences intersects with broader social, cultural and institutional contexts, and was guided by the following questions: How is participant experience constructed in a facilitated, small group adventure setting? How is the construction of the adventure experience related to the intentions and orchestrations of the trainer? How is the construction of the adventure experience related to the institutional and social context in which it occurs? This study used grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) and cultural-historical activity theory (Engeström, 1987; Leontiev, 1977; Vygotsky, 1978). Activity as an analytic device facilitates the mapping of historical, social and cultural influences on local ac...

An appraisal of Batswana Extension Agents' Work and Training Experiences

Towards Enhanced Service Coordination

by Rebecca Nthogo Lekoko

2002

Hermeneutic-phenomenological interviews were conducted to explore community-based extension workersÍ (CBEWsÍ) previous work and training experiences and how such experiences contributed to their present working relationships as partners in community development. CBEWsÍ responses foreshadowed challenges and problems of coordination that could have otherwise been addressed had they been considered integral elements of previous training curricula. The findings throw light on how government policies, though explicitly formulated to enhance conditions of service coordination, can be in variance with realities of coordination at the village level. Awareness of the fissure of policies and actual coordination does not refute the importance of government intervention in community development, gi...

A Communications Protocol in a Synchronous Chat Environment

Student Satisfaction in a Web-Based Computer Science Course

by Paul J. Giguere

2003

The effects of a communications protocol in a synchronous on-line chat environment on the satisfaction of students in a Web-based computer science course was studied. Two undergraduate faculty members who teach Web-based courses, and 42 students in four separate computer science courses participated in the study. Students completed a pretest that measured their prior experience, current attitudes, and expectations with regards to synchronous chats in a Web-based course. Two classes of students were introduced to a communications protocol by the instructors that was used throughout the course while in synchronous chat. The other two classes did not use a protocol. A posttest was administe...