A descriptive study of the cognitive styles of African theological students was conducted in order to propose the most appropriate strategies for bibliographic instruction in African theological colleges. / The following research questions were asked: (1) What are the learning styles of African theological students in Kenya and Nigeria? (2) Do students in the two countries differ in their learning styles? If so, how? (3) What teaching strategies do theological students in Kenya and Nigeria prefer? (4) What teaching strategies can be recommended as those likely to be most effective for bibliographic instruction in theological schools in Africa? / The Cognitive Style Inventory for African Students and the Group Embedded Figures Test were administered to 118 theological students in two theological colleges in Nigeria and in two theological colleges in Kenya. In order to determine whether African theological students share a unique learning style, the same instruments were also administered to 87 students studying in form V in Kenyan and Nigerian government schools. / Findings. Ninety-one percent of all the students were field-dependent, and 9% were field-independent. All students (100%) in the West African schools were field-dependent, and 84% of the Kenyan students were field-dependent. / The theological students tended to be more field-dependent than the government school students. Ninety-seven percent of the theological students were field-dependent, and 83% of the government school students were field-dependent. / The results of the Cognitive Style Inventory for African Students showed the preferences of African theological students to be very similar to those of African government school students. A majority of the subjects had a visual orientation rather than an auditory one. They showed the ability to perceive meaning through touch and through sight. Depending upon the situation, the African theological students look to family, associates or themselves when making decisions. Both inductive and deductive reasoning are employed. / The data were used to propose teaching strategies for bibliographic instruction. The strategies were reviewed and approved by a panel of experts in cognitive style mapping. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-12, Section: A, page: 3527. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study was designed to develop and evaluate an Instructional Package on Thinking Operations for first graders in Venezuela. The skills developed into the Instructional Package were observing, comparing, and classifying, according to Louis Raths. The analysis and interpretation of theory and prior studies in learning to think were from the Information Processing Model. Five measures were used: test of Thinking Operations, school readiness, creative thinking, intelligence scale, and socio-economic status. The results from the posttest scores on thinking operations were used as the dependent variable. The subjects were 214 first graders from the Guarenas-Guatire school district in the State of Miranda, Venezuela. Three classrooms with a total of 114 students were randomly assigned to the treatment, and three classrooms with a total of 100 students were assigned to regular classroom activities. The research design was a classroom nested within treatment model. Analysis of variance and covariance was used for analyzing the data. / In Thinking Operations the results indicate that the treatment group performed better than the regular classroom activities group. Performance improved in the school where the treatment was applied and the classroom nested within treatment effect was significant at posttest in Thinking Operations. Within the treatment group, one of the three possible contrasts was statistically significant: it indicated that the classroom with the lowest socio-economic status performed better than the one with the highest. For the non-treatment group the classroom with the high socio-economic status was better than the classroom with the medium socio-economic status. / Another result observed was that classroom effect on performance in creative thinking was significant. Average gain scores in creative thinking were greater for students from the most deprived sector. The specific goal of enhancing the ability of first grade students in Thinking Operations was achieved with the Instructional Package treatment. This result is in accordance with what theory and prior findings had indicated. The implications of the findings and future research areas are also discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-03, Section: A, page: 0603. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The problem investigated was: What is the effect of inserted divergent and convergent questions on the achievement of internal and external locus of control (IE group) intermediate students using an individualized dictionary usage program? / The independent variables were IE group and two types of inserted questions. The dependent variable was achievement. The design was an experimental 2 x 2 with random assignment to treatments. There was no control group. Students were randomly selected and assigned to divergent and convergent treatments. Two hundred seventy-two students were used in the analysis and represented a large urban school district stratified by its four districts. / Two sets of six modules on dictionary usage were developed. The modules were identical except for inserted questions and represented the two treatment conditions. IE identification was done with Crandall's IAR scale. The study lasted ten school days. A total of three tests were administered, pretest, IAR scale, and posttest. Pretests and posttests were identical, containing both divergent and covergent items. / ANCOVA was the procedure used to analyze the data. The dependent variables (posttests convergent, divergent, and total) were analyzed with the pretest (subtests and total) as covariates. A significant relationship was found. Means were adjusted. / There were three primary findings. The first was, there was a significant interaction for IE group and treatment for posttest divergent question. The interaction was in the predicted direction. Differences were small and the interpretation of the interaction was explained as a weak confirmation of the hypotheses. The other primary findings showed: (1) no interaction for posttest convergent and (2) no interaction for total posttest. / There were three other findings, unrelated to the hypotheses. Further analysis found: (1) a significant main effect for convergent questions, (2) no main effect for divergent questions, and (3) no effect for treatment. / The study left unanswered the specific effect of inserted questions, but concluded that the effect was present, and inherent in the mathemagenic behaviors (cognitive variables) and locus of control (noncognitive variables) of the learner. The study supported the use of inserted questions as an instructional technique. The study supported the hypotheses--but not strongly. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0882. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

The primary objectives of the study were (1) to determine the impact of the Florida Department of Education program audits on curriculum in selected secondary schools and (2) to identify ways in which the audit process can be improved. Subjects for the study were the principals of audited schools who were still in those schools at the time of the study, not less than two years after the audits. / Data were collected using a mailed questionnaire and an on-site interview. As well as requests for demographic data, the questionnaire contained 23 specific items. These 23 items were grouped into the major curriculum areas of planning, implementation, and evaluation. Using a Likert-type scale, principals were asked to rate the impact of the program audits on their schools in each of these 23 areas. / Interviews were conducted with 10 principals randomly selected from the eligible group. These principals were asked to critique the audit procedure and to report on the status of the specific recommendations that were made for their schools in the basic skills areas. / Of the 49 surveys mailed, 39 (80%) were returned. On a 1 to 7 scale, the grand mean rating for all 23 questionnaire items was 4.34. The recommendations were reported as having had greatest impact in the areas of curriculum planning and evaluation and least in the area of curriculum implementation. These are the areas that can be changed most easily and the area in which change requires major expenditues of time of fiscal resources, respectively. Eighty-two percent of the audit recommendations made in the areas of mathematics and language arts were in some stage of implementation. / In the interviews the principals reported a high degree of satisfaction with the audit procedure. However, they suggested that school personnel and auditor know more about each other prior to future audits and recommended that auditors stay with their specific audit criteria and refrain from trying to impose personal philosophy on the schools. They strongly suggested a faster return of the written audit report. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0884. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

This study investigated the effects of two alternate sets of conditions of learning on state-anxiety and rule learning in a systematically designed instructional unit. Normally, systematically designed instruction (control group) presents objectives to the learners and requires written (overt) responses to practice questions. / In the "specially designed" instructional materials of the experimental group, there were no objectives or overt responding. Rather, learners were asked to just "think" (covert) their answers to the same practice questions that were responded to overtly by the control group. / There were 92 female undergraduates randomly assigned to treatment groups. Forty-nine participants were assigned to the "special" instructional group and 43 participants were assigned to the "normal" instructional group. / The participants' A-State levels were measured before (A(,1)), during (A(,2)), and after (A(,3)) the instructional treatment. These repeated A-State measures were used to assess initial A-State (A(,1)) and changes in A-State as a function of instructional treatment (A(,2) and A(,3)). Following the instructional treatment and A-State measures participants received an objective-referenced posttest to assess the quality of their rule-using learning. / The resulting data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis to determine if there were significant main effects or interaction effects. Measures of prior knowledge, instructional time, and pre-instructional A-State (A(,1)) were used as covariates in this analysis. / The results of the analysis indicated no interactions between instructional treatments and A-State levels. There were no significant predictors for posttest performance. Pre-instructional A-State (A(,1)) and instructional treatment were significant predictors of A(,2) (during instruction A-State). Contrary to prediction, participants in the "normal" instructional treatment reported lower levels of A(,2). Instructional treatment and A(,1) were significant predictors of the after instruction (A(,3)) measure of A-State. / Methodological weaknesses and inappropriate instruction possibly prevented the predicted results. These deficiencies were detailed in Chapter IV. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, Section: A, page: 0376. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, Section: A, page: 3742. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Learners vary in self-awareness and may respond differently to information about their ability to perform a novel task. This study explored the effects of entry-level skill information and feedback on learners classified as either high or low in generalized expectancy for success. / Three levels of treatment included an introduction to a hieroglyphics lesson, the lesson, and a posttest. The first level explained the lesson and listed the performance objectives. The second level added a checklist of entry-level skills. The third level included the performance objectives, the checklist, and exercises covering the entry-level skills. / Several weeks before the experiment, one hundred and eight students received the Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale. They were then ranked, matched by threes, and randomly assigned to one of the three levels of treatment. / An analysis of variance showed no main effects of treatment on the dependent variables. Students who received the list of entry-level skills and practice feedback showed no higher level of self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, attitude, choice preference, or performance than the control group. The analysis did show significant main effects for generalized expectancy level on outcome expectancies (p $<$.05) and on choice preference (p $<$.05). No interactions between experimental treatments and generalized expectancy levels were found. / The findings suggest that informing adolescent learners of instructional objectives has essentially the same effect on individuals' self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, attitude, choice preference, and performance as information on entry-level skills has. The significant effect of generalized expectancy level on outcome expectancies and expressed preference for participating suggests that: (1) generalized expectancy may be a viable personality characteristic that affects certain expectancies and attitudes in novel situations; (2) outcome expectancy and choice preference may be related; and (3) outcome expectancy and perceptions of self-efficacy may be distinct personality variables that can be measured separately. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-05, Section: A, page: 1201. / Major Professor: John Keller. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This investigation used the case study method in attempting to discover how people functioned in a computer-supported learning environment designed on the basis of constructivist values. The subject for the study was a graduate-level course developed to help students reflect on and expand their personal views of the teaching-learning process and to foster higher-order thinking skills and positive disposition toward learning. The main contributions of the study to existing literature are to reflect on the implications of constructivist values and current theories of learning for the design of computer-supported learning environments, provide information on how to design for higher-order thinking skills and positive disposition toward learning within a constructivist framework, and suggest solutions to a variety of classroom management issues that may arise when the classroom is made into an authentic learning environment. / In considering results of the study, five themes emerged that appear to have general relevance for the design of communities of learners. The themes, which represent areas of inherent tension in the teaching-learning process, include discomfort and overload, self-direction and teacher guidance, personal construction and enculturation, divergence of opinion and shared meaning, and authenticity and contrivance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 0811. / Major Professor: Walter W. Wager. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This study investigated the effectiveness of using an attitude model to motivationally enhance instruction in two skill modeling media: print and interactive video. Three theories support the investigation of the relationship of attitude modeling to attitudes and instruction and their effects on instructional motivation and achievement. Social learning theory (Bandura, 1986) proposes that people learn behavior by observing others: modeling. Instructional theory (Gagne, 1985) proposes that people can learn attitudes through modeling but it is instructional motivation theory (Keller, 1987) that describes the specific dimensions of instructional motivation: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (ARCS). / Adult students enrolled in vocational training were assigned to treatment groups. Half of the subjects in this study completed job interviewing instruction in print and the remainder completed the instruction in interactive video. Half witnessed a videotaped attitude model before beginning the instruction and the other half of the subjects did not see the attitude model before the instruction. / The instructional strategy employed in each skill modeling media presented objectives, rule-learning and verbal information with examples of rule application with practice and feedback elicited from students. / Results indicate that the presence of an attitude model does not affect instructional motivation. Results also indicate that it is possible to use either print or interactive video for skill modeling instruction without affecting instructional motivation. The skill modeling instructional media did not differentially affect three of the four dimensions of instructional motivation: relevance, confidence, or satisfaction. Learners in the interactive video reported more attention-getting properties in the interactive video instruction than in the print. / The study validates the use of Keller's instructional motivation measurement scale (IMMS) with adults on a 10th grade reading level. The IMMS subscale scores did distinguish among the four dimensions of instructional motivation and scores indicated differences between the instructional motivation of males and females. After adaptation to the instructional context, the IMMS instrument remained reliable. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-11, Section: A, page: 3466. / Major Professor: John Keller. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-06, Section: A, page: 3084. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.