The purpose of this research was the development of a vocational interest inventory for the child development and family relationships areas. Three broad occupational areas covering the field - child development, family service, and teaching/extension - were identified. Responses of professionals concerning characteristics of their vocation were utilized to develop thirty questions for each area. Items were randomly arranged into a questionnaire which was administered to a sample of 462 undergraduates whose responses underwent principal components factor analysis followed by orthogonal rotation. Six factors - Teaching/Extension, Child Development, Family Service, Work with Handicapped, Group Child Care, Child Service Organizational Activities - were identified and factor-related scores were generated for each respondent. All MHFD junior/senior scores (N = 91) underwent pattern analysis which revealed three groups whose probability of chance occurrence was S .03. Occupational profiles generated from each group represent minimum and maximum response levels obtained by group members for each of the six factors. Two Child Development and Family Service profile were generated. These three profiles do not represent all junior/senior respondents. Only 27% and 18% of the Child Development and Family Service respondents, respectively, contributed to profile development. When all freshman/sophomore scores were compared with the identified profiles, approximately 20% of the respondents had occupationally interpretable patterns. Thus, many individuals cannot be counseled positively on the basis of inventory results. Results should be considered tentative and should be used as a guide in conjunction with other vocational guidance techniques. Administration to a large professional sample is recommended. / M. S.

M.S.

M.A.

M.S.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived skills and knowledge levels that were being taught in the Cooperative Office Education programs in the state of Virginia and to determine if those skills and knowledge competency levels are accurately meeting the needs as perceived by the graduates who are employed in office occupations. The population for the study consisted of all the secondary Cooperative Office Education teacher-coordinators in the state of Virginia who conducted programs during the 1974-1975 school year and who continued in that same capacity in the 1975-1976 school year, and their 1974-1975 graduates who were employed in office occupations. Instruments were mailed to graduates employed in office occupations upon return of the teacher-coordinator responses. The data were processed at the Computing Center, Virginia Polytechnic Institute University, Blacksburg, Virginia. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was the computer program that was used. A t-Test was used to determine if there were significant differences in the level taught by teacher-coordinators and the perceived level of use by graduates for each of the forty-two items of skill and knowledge. The differences were considered significant at the .01 level. Teacher-coordinators of the Cooperative Office Education programs taught skills and knowledge at a significantly different level than graduates employed in office occupations used them in nineteen of the forty-two skills and knowledge items listed on the questionnaire. The items are as follows: alphabetic filing, oral and written reports, business ethics, addressing machine skill, rotary calculator, banking procedures, standard electric typewriting, geographic filing, carbon paper process, applying for a job, full-key adding machine, bookkeeping/ accounting machines, ten-key adding machine, manual typewriting, Gregg shorthand, electronic calculator, transcribing machine, stencil process, and fluid process. Seventeen of these nineteen items were perceived to have been taught at a significantly higher level than graduates perceived these items to be used in office occupations. Only two of these nineteen items; bookkeeping/accounting machines, and addressing machine skill, were perceived to have been used by graduates at a higher level than teachers attempted to teach that skill or knowledge. The data indicated that teacher-coordinators were setting high standards in the Cooperative Office Education programs of Virginia. A significant difference did not exist between the perceived levels of teaching skills and knowledge and the perceived levels of their use for twenty-three of the forty-two items listed on the questionnaire. The items are as follows: numeric filing, subject filing, recordkeeping, automatic typewriting, proportional space typewriting, machine shorthand, composing letters, telephone training, receptionist duties, use of reference materials, simulated keypunch, keypunch, appearance, attitude, travel and transportation, office supplies, parliamentary procedure, offset printing process, photocopier, key-driven calculator, business math, personal money management, and consumer education. / ED. D.

The purpose of this exploratory research study was to investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the hypothesis that the manipulation of concrete materials can contribute substantively to the learning of the operation of multiplication of polynomials and its inverse, factorization, in children who are in eighth-grade pre-algebra mathematics classes. The study involved a comparison of the achievement of students who used manipulatives to learn how to multiply and factor polynomials with the achievement of those who did not use manipulatives to learn to operate on the polynomials. The instructional material designed for use by both treatment groups was based on the theory of learning developed by this writer. It was theorized that as students use manipulatives to learn mathematical concepts the actions performed upon the concrete materials would be abstracted or internalized in the mind as operations. The study involved four teachers and 173 students from two middle schools in the Pulaski County School System, Pulaski, Virginia. The means and standard deviations of the students' scores on both the immediate posttest and retention test were compared as well as inferences made from the data using several analyses of covariance. The Orleans-Hanna Algebra Prognosis Test served as the pretest for this study. The F ratios from the analyses of covariance conducted on the immediate posttest scores from Experiment I indicated that (1) using the total population of students, there was no statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p = 0.385); (2) using only Teacher A's students, there was no statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p = 0.609); and (3) using only Teacher B's students, there was a marginal difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p = 0.071), favoring the nonmanipulative group. The F ratios from analyses of covariance conducted on the retention test scores from Experiment I indicated that (1) using the total population of students, there was a statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p < 0.005), favoring the manipulative groups; (2) using only Teacher A's students, there was a statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p < 0.009), favoring the manipulative group; (3) using only Teacher B's students there was no statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and the nonmanipulative groups (p = 0.241). However, the mean score of Teacher B's manipulative group was higher than the mean score of his nonmanipulative group. The study was replicated (Experiment II) immediately following Experiment I in two classes taught by Teacher D.* The F ratio from an analysis of covariance conducted on the immediate posttest scores indicated that there was no statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p = 0.762). The F ratio from an analysis of covariance conducted on the retention test scores indicated that there was no statistical difference in mean scores between the manipulative and nonmanipulative groups (p = 0.143). However, the mean score of the manipulative group was higher than the mean score of the nonmanipulative group. In summary, there are implications from these findings that the manipulation of concrete materials by students does aid the learning of the mathematical transformation of multiplication of polynomials and its inverse, factorization. This was especially evident for retention of the operations. These findings support the theory of learning conceptualized for this study. *Teacher C was omitted from the analyses of the data since she taught only a manipulative group. / ED. D.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare two laboratory training systems for teaching integrated circuit concepts which surveys of industry have indicated as having a high priority in industrial education electronics programs. More specifically, the study sought to determine if either system could be effectively used to teach those concepts which industry recommended. The population from which the sample was obtained consisted primarily of industrial arts and industrial technology majors in the Industrial and Occupational Education Department at Mississippi State University. An intact class enrolled in an industrial electronics course was selected as the sample for the experiment. It consisted of thirty-five students who had similar educational backgrounds and abilities. The sample was randomly divided into two experimental groups. Each experimental group received the same instruction in integrated circuit theory through the conventional lecture technique. Experimental Group A utilized existing laboratory equipment while experimental group B utilized a teacher-designed and constructed laboratory training system to conduct assigned laboratory activities. The instructional series which was used in the experiment included four instructional units which were: (1) introduction to integrated circuits, (2) digital integrated circuits, (3) linear integrated circuits, and (4) digital and linear integrated circuit applications. The following hypotheses were investigated in this study: 1. There is no significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores when selected integrated circuit concepts are taught using the lecture method supplemented by either System A or System B. 2. The participants' median posttest score in either experimental group A or experimental group B will be less than the cutoff score of 75. 3. There is no significant difference between the two laboratory training systems in terms of overall student achievement on the complete instructional series when selected differences are controlled. 4. There is no significant difference between the two laboratory training systems in terms of the students' overall retention of information taught during the integrated circuit instructional series. 5. There is no significant difference between the two laboratory training systems in terms of student achievement on individual units when selected student differences are controlled. Six criterion measures were used to measure student achievement and retention on integrated circuit subject matter material. These included four unit tests, a posttest, and a retention test. Statistical procedures chosen for the analysis of the data included: the t-test for correlated samples, the median confidence interval, and the analysis of covariance. On the basis of the data analysis, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Existing laboratory equipment, not including commercial laboratory training systems, can be effectively used to teach integrated circuit concepts which industry has recommended and at an industry-accepted level of performance. 2. Teacher-designed and constructed laboratory training systems, of the type evaluated in this study, can be effectively used to teach introductory concepts of integrated circuits and digital and linear integrated circuit applications which industry has recommended and at an industry-accepted level of performance. 3. Existing laboratory equipment and teacher-designed and constructed laboratory training systems of the type evaluated in this study produce equal levels of retention of selected integrated circuit concepts. 4. Teacher-designed and constructed laboratory training systems and existing laboratory equipment of the type evaluated in this study produce approximately equal student performance levels when used to teach: (1) introductory concepts of integrated circuits, (2) digital integrated circuitry including gates and flip-flops, (3) linear integrated circuitry including operational amplifiers and timers, and (4) digital and linear integrated circuit applications. / ED. D.

The public enterprise sector has shown an increasing trend in many countries. As the public enterprise sector competes with the private sector for the limited resources, it becomes paramount to evaluate the effects of undertaking the productive activity under public ownership as opposed to private ownership. The scope of this dissertation is the economic efficiency of public enterprises. The analyses attempt to identify the role of alternative institutional arrangements on the behavior of decision-makers. This attempt is based upon the proposition that differences in the underlying structure of property rights within firms affect systematically the choices of utility maximizing managers. The economic efficiency of public enterprises is viewed from two perspectives. On the "demand-side" the pricing behavior of public enterprises is analysed by examining the impacts of public ownership on manager-politicians. On the "supply-side," the choice concerning the employment of productive factors is analysed by examining the impacts of alternative forms of property rights on the decision-makers involved. In both cases the analyses imply that the lack of an enforceable specification in the manager-voter contract regarding the performance of-public enterprises can lead to political manipulations of these enterprises which, in turn, can retard economic efficiency. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the "Rat" (freshman) training program at the Virginia Military Institute alters the anxiety and self-concepts of participants. "Rat" training consists of various activities involving physical and psychological stress, that have been modeled after activities contained in Outward Bound and various military programs. Sixty-eight male first-year cadets at the Virginia Military Institute were randomly assigned to one of five experimental groups. The "Rat" Training Experimental Group (RTE) (N=l3) and the Gas Stressor Experimental Group (GSE) (N=l2) were administered the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) prior to and after participation in the "Rat" training program, while the primary Control Group (C) (N=l4) received only the pre-test and post-test without participating in the "Rat" training program. The RTE group was also administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) immediately prior to its initial participation in "Rat" training and again following 11 weeks of participation and just prior to a session of "Rat" training activities. The GSE group was administered the STAI prior to participation in a military gas chamber exercise. A post-test of the STAI was administered after 11 weeks participation in "Rat" training and immediately prior to what appeared to be a second exposure to the gas chamber. The C group also received a pre-test and post-test of the STAI, but did not participate in the "Rat" training program. The "Rat" Training Control Group (RTC) (N=l4) participated in the "Rat" training program, but received only post-tests of the TSCS and the STAI. The Gas Stressor Control Group (GSC) (N=lS) was not pre-tested, but participated in "Rat" training and was administered a post-test of the STAI immediately prior to participation in a gas chamber exercise identical to that participated in by the GSE group. A post-test of the TSCS was administered to the GSC group following participation in the program. The "total positive" score from the TSCS and the "state" and "trait" anxiety scores of the RTE, GSE, and C groups were analyzed using a Groups x Tests analysis of variance with repeated measures on the latter factor. In addition, a one-way analysis of variance was performed on the post-test "total positive" TSCS scores and the "state" J and "trait" anxiety scores of all five groups (RTE, RTC, GSE, GSC, C). Where significant differences were found through ANOVA, the Scheffe test was utilized to locate the specific cell mean differences. Comparisons of mean self-concept scores revealed that no significant alterations in self-concept took place as a result of participation in "Rat" training. A reduction in "state" anxiety to the gas chamber exercise did take place, but it was not statistically significant. No such reduction took place with regard to the activities within the "Rat" training program and mean "trait" anxiety scores were not altered significantly as a result of participation in "Rat" training. It was concluded that "Rat" training does not positively alter the personality variables examined. / ED. D.

An approach and technique for optimizing mine environmental planning was developed. As a basis for discussion, the perspective of the environment was reviewed for several disciplines. The characteristics of environmental planning and some common methods in environmental planning were reviewed. As a further basis for discussion, mining and environmental practices were reviewed. A specific discussion of various subjective and qualitative approaches to and ways of optimizing mine-environmental relations were presented, prior to development of the new quantitative approach. This approach relies on analysis of three-component resource-action-receptor chains and the real and subjective value flows associated with these. Two techniques for optimizing these chains were presented as (1) graphical solution and (2) linear programming. A case study of a simple mining project is analyzed by the graphical and linear programming techniques. Then a discussion is presented of the various limit cases in mining and how they would be resolved in such a type of analysis. / Ph. D.