Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Systems, Leadership and Workforce Development. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-199). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2005. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 179 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Technology and Workforce Education. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The problem of this study was to compare performances of college students given relaxation instructions and those not given those instructions on a paired-associate learning task. The results indicated that relaxation instructions alone produced a decrement in recall. When subjects received relaxation instructions as well as the suggestion that relaxation enhances learning, the decrement did not occur. Thus, situational demand characteristics appeared to be a significant variable in determining what effect relaxation instructions had on recall.

This study determined the reading skills that community college faculty perceived as necessary for their students' success in certain English, history, and biology courses. Three questions were posed: What reading skills do faculty perceive as necessary for their students' success? Which skills are perceived to be most important? To what extent are the perceptions of English, history, and biology faculty similar or different? Sixty-one faculty from nineteen Texas community colleges completed three Delphi questionnaires for this study. Perceived reading skill needs were rated by levels of importance. Ratings were analyzed by determining medians and interquartile ranges for each identified skill.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is the identification of selected factors that are closely associated with academic performance. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship of academic performance to age, gender, reading score, credit hours attempted, and self-assessed personal life skills (self-esteem, growth motivation, change orientation, interpersonal assertation, interpersonal aggression, interpersonal deference, interpersonal awareness, empathy, drive strength, decision making, time management, sales orientation, commitment ethic and stress management).

This study is concerned with the problem of determining and analyzing the characteristics and concerns of Hispanic women who are enrolled in a large metropolitan community college district. The purposes include (1) the description of demographic data on these Hispanic women in terms of (a) specific group ethnicity, (b) marital status, (c) estimated total income, (d) age, (e) number of hours currently enrolled, (f) number of dependent children, (g) number of hours employed per week, and (h) language usage (English or Spanish); (2) identification of the concerns of these students; (3) determination of the degree of concern as reported by these Hispanic women students regarding specific problems; (4) assessment of the relationships between the demographic characteristics and the degrees of concern about specific problems. The study population sample is composed of 748 Hispanic female students from the Tarrant County Community College District enrolled for at least one credit hour during the Fall Semester of the 1984-1985 academic year. The sample for the study is 400 randomly selected students from this population. A survey instrument originally developed by Kathie Beckman Smallwood was revised for this study and produced a 52.25 per cent response return. Response frequencies and percentages were gathered to show degree of concern for each problem and the characteristics of the Hispanic female students. Mean scores to show the average degree of concern are also reported for each potential problem. Chi square contingency coefficient was used to show every possible association between concerns and demographic variables. The findings indicate that Hispanic female students concerns are academically and career oriented. Respondents indicate that getting a good job after graduation is their primary concern. Ability to succeed in college is the second highest reported concern followed by knowing how to study efficiently. Seventy four per cent of the respondents are Mexican-American, three-fourths are part-time students, over half are working from 21-40 hours per week, and over half report an estimated total family annual income of under $15,000. The lower the income, the greater the degree of concern for several problems.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between student and faculty ethnicity and possible effects upon student ratings of faculty performance in an urban community college setting characterized by extensive ethnic diversity. Problem: Though many variables on student ratings of instruction have been studied in the past, studies of the effects of student and faculty ethnicities on student ratings at the post secondary level have not been conducted. As increased numbers of minority students embark on post secondary studies, the question arises as to whether these students perceive instructors and their efforts in the classroom differently than traditional students. Methodology: A survey-type instrument, the Student Feedback Questionnaire, was developed at Miami-Dade Community College and administered to students enrolled in randomly selected English composition courses (N=948 students, 72 instructors). Factor analysis was conducted on the instrument and the relationship of these factors with student and faculty ethnicity was examined by means of multivariate analysis of variance. Instructors were separated into higher and lower rated groups according to a total score obtained from the instrument. Differences on student ratings for these two groups according to student and instructor ethnicity were examined. Findings: The following factors were obtained: Factor 1: Focus on the Individual Factor 2: Competence in Classroom Factor 3: Approach to Material Factor 4: Grading Policy Factor 5: Listening to Students Factor 6: Clarity in Course Objectives Factor 7: Fairness of Exams Factor 8: Active Learning Hispanic faculty were rated less favorably by white non-Hispanic students for Factor 2, Factor 3, and Factor 5. For Factor 5, Hispanic students rated white non-Hispanic faculty lower than black students. For higher rated instructors there were no significant differences in ratings according to student ethnicity. For lower rated instructors, students of the same ethnicity as their instructor did not give significantly different ratings than other students. Student gender was significant for both higher and lower rated instructors, with males giving significantly worse scores.