Theoretical tensions between theories of saturation, bonding and leisure were explored from feminist perspectives. Saturation defined by Gergen as a state of relational overload, may cause I of connection between family members. Leisure scholars suggets that bonding occurs during leisure, and a feminist perspective emphasizes that leisure includes conflict and inequality families. Participants were primarily White, and all were upper-middle class married couples with children aged 6 to 12. Individual and family interviews were held with parents and children. Data was analyzed qualitatively according to Strauss and Corbin's (1990) grounded theory procedures. Saturation, as a metaphor, does not capture the dynamic nature of how people grappled with time use. Being saturated reflects being filled up, but the experience described by participants may be closer to feeling drained, and more useful may be a concept that attends to both. Parents demonstrated four kinds of orientations to saturation: resistant, reformed, absorbent, and saturated. The persons who defined their experience as saturated were two men, both breadwinners with homemaker wives. Women took time-stress for granted, and were the main organizers and monitors of family leisure. Technology did not seem to add to time-stress, but TV in most households was restricted to weekends. Parents did not clearly associate bonding with leisure time. Bonding was defined as building connections and trust, showing warmth and caring, and being involved in each other lives. While bonding required attentiveness, leisure was an event where parents were free of responsibility for others. Parents discussed ideal vs. actual employment arrangements. Female homemakers were interested not in leisure, but in finding part-time work. Male breadwinners were wedded to their provider roles. Many adults would make changes in their employment situations, but felt stymied by gendered workplace culture. Children could describe times they felt time pressured, but mostly were content, and asked for parents not to rush them from one activity to the next. Children's leisure preferences were free time and family time, as opposed to organized activities, chores, and TV. / Ph. D.

Scholars in the history and sociology of engineering in the United States have commented critically on the unwillingness of twentieth century engineers to participate actively in politics. Alfred Chandler, for example, has noted the absence of engineers in Progressive Era reform movements, while Edwin T. Layton Jr has criticized engineers in the 1920s for an excessive focus on sterile status seeking. This perceived lack of twentieth century engineering activism is especially puzzling given that nineteenth-century American engineers and engineering societies did not hesitate to lobby openly for clean water, smoke abatement, municipal reform, and numerous other issues. / Ph. D.

The performance of fiber-reinforced composites is often controlled by the properties of the fiber-matrix interface. Good interfacial bonding (or adhesion), to ensure load transfer from matrix to reinforcement, is a primary requirement for effective use of reinforcement properties. Thus, a fundamental understanding of interfacial properties and a quantitative characterization of interfacial adhesion strength can help in evaluating the mechanical behavior and capabilities of composite materials. A large number of analytical techniques have been developed for understanding interfacial adhesion of glass fiber reinforced polymers. Common adhesion tests include contact angle measurements, tension or compression of specially shaped blocks of polymer containing a single fiber, the single fiber pull-out test, single-fiber fragmentation test, short beam shear and transverse tensile tests, and the vibration damping test. Among these techniques, the vibration damping technique has the advantage of being nondestructive as well as highly sensitive for evaluating the interfacial region, and it can allow the materials industry to rapidly determine the mechanical properties of composites. In this work, we contributed a simple optical system for measuring the damping factor of uniaxial fiber-reinforced-polymer composites in the shape of cantilever beams. A single glass fiber- and three single metallic wire-reinforced epoxy resin composites were tested with the optical system. The fiber- (wire-) matrix interfacial adhesion strength measurements were made by microbond test. A reasonable agreement was found between the measured interfacial adhesion strength and micromechanics calculations using results from vibration damping experiments. The study was also extended to multi-fiber composites. The interfacial damping factors in glass-fiber reinforced epoxy-resin composites were correlated with transverse tensile strength, which is a qualitative measurement of adhesion at the fiber-matrix interface. Four different composite systems were tested. For each system, glass fibers with three different surface treatments were used at three different volume fractions. The experimental results also showed an inverse relationship between damping contributed by the interface and composite transverse tensile strength for all of the multi-fiber composites. / Ph. D.

Public guardians are individuals appointed by the state to care for the interests of incapacitated citizens. The nature and quality of their care is examined at sites in Maryland, Delaware, Tennessee, and Virginia. In the first three states public guardianship programs have been running for at least ten years; in Virginia two pilot projects are currently underway. All sites use different service delivery models. In addition to studying case file notes, public guardians, program supervisors, and wards were observed and interviewed with regard to their background, their views on public guardianship, accountability and effectiveness, and services provided. The aim of this study is to contribute to a better qualitative understanding of how well state public guardian programs intersect intimately with individuals for whom no other responsible decision maker exists. The study concludes with recommendations regarding the roles of the public guardian in improving wards' quality of life through substitute decision making and in enhancing democratic governance to give voice to wards through their own participation in decision making and relationships with their public guardian. / Ph. D.

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a block scheduling evaluation model. Conceptual development of the model was based on a review of the literature which targeted the components of the school program most consistently identified with scheduling type: instruction, school climate, student outcomes, and operating efficiency. The model included an interview with the principal, analysis of documents, survey of teachers, and survey of students. The model was pilot tested in three high schools in Western Virginia. The principals of the three pilot schools and the researcher evaluated the model according to pre-established evaluation criteria. The evaluation identified several improvements including: instrumentation refinements aimed at providing more detailed information on teacher concerns about preparation and planning on the block schedule; data analysis refinements centering on technology; inclusion of other indicators such as standardized test scores and cost analysis; and, expansion of data collection techniques centering on systematic observation over an extended period of time. / Ed. D.

No description available.

The National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) ( 1989) has defined career development guidelines for all groups from elementary school students through adulthood. These guidelines have been adopted by over 40 states. Virginia has chosen not to adopt them and currently does not have state standards against which to identify or assess exemplary career development practices in middle schools. Such identification procedures would serve to (a) provide guidelines for program development and expansion, (b) provide a means of accountability, ( c) provide a standard of performance, ( d) provide consistency among middle schools, and ( e) showcase exemplary programs. This study examined exemplary career development practices at 43 middle schools in Virginia during the Fall of 1996. The researcher identified these schools by asking for recommendations from State Department of Education Field Representatives, university faculty with expertise in the fields of counseling, middle school education or both, and current and most recent past officers of the Virginia Counselors Association and the Virginia School Counselor Association. A survey method was used to identify general curriculum design, physical facilities, technological capabilities, activities and strategies used to incorporate career development into the curricula of the identified middle school. Three site visits and one in-depth telephone interview were conducted by the researcher to verify exemplary career development practices. The following common themes were found concerning exemplary career development practices: <ol> <li>There were teacher-advisory programs in which a variety of career development activities took place in the academic classrooms.</li> <li>There were middle school teams in which groups of teachers worked together on career development activities which were integrated into the core curriculum through these teaming efforts.</li> <li>There were curriculum design efforts in which career development exploratory classes were offered on either a 6, 9, 12, or 18 week rotation.</li> <li>There were special interest clubs, many of which directly related to career development. </li> <li>There were classroom guidance activities conducted by counselors related to career development. </li></ol> Evaluations of the Survey findings, recommendations and conclusions of this study were reported in the hope that middle school career development programs in Virginia's middle schools will strive for exemplary practices for the benefit of their own students. / Ed. D.

A displacement-based Rayleigh-Ritz finite element model is developed to simulate the static and dynamic behavior of stiffened plates. By con1paring natural frequency, time-history, and power density predictions with experimental results, it is shown that the model can be used to predict the vibratory behavior of wood floor systems constructed With either solid-sawn joists, I-Joists, or parallel-chard-trusses. Furthermore. using the model. it is shown that appropriate structural modifications can be used to improve the performance of wood floor systems by increasing natural frequency and reducing peak time-history velocity. Using the techniques described. a design example is included that indicates ho,v floor acceptability can be achieved. / Ph. D.

This is a descriptive study of 47 teacher education programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The study includes a characterization of changes made in teacher education programs and the catalyst for these changes. The methodology for this study included gathering demographic data and data that revealed different changes in teacher education programs and their incentives. Surveys were sent to the deans/directors of teacher education at 97 HBCUs. Demographic data The majority of the schools studied had undergraduate enrollments between 2,000 and 4,000. The highest degree offered by the majority of the schools studied was the undergraduate degree. The largest number of African American graduates per year was between 50 to 100 students. Changes made in teacher education programs over the past 10 years The majority of the schools (76%) studied had actively been involved in making changes in its teacher education programs over the past 10 years. Most of these programs revised their education core courses and increased academic advisement. Several schools also developed professional development schools. Catalyst for changes These schools generally made changes to increase enrollment or to ensure that their preservice teachers would pass the National Teachers Examination or other state mandated credentialing and certification tests. / Ed. D.

This case study described how a team of teachers, students, a parent, and a principal applied action research to study issues in an alternative school for at-risk students. The literature review indicated that action research could be used for school renewal, school reform, and educational change. The purpose of this study was to (1) describe the action research process followed, (2) study the role of the principal in the action research process, and (3) observe the interactions of the participants in an action research team. A case study methodology and a participant -observer technique was used in an action research team as the forum for implementing the process. The researcher in this single case study was the principal of the school. Data collection documents were field notes of the researcher, journals of the participants, and transcribed notes from interviews of selected participants. Data was sorted into bins for analysis of recurring patterns and convergence of themes across different data sources. / Ed. D.