<p> The purpose of this doctoral research project was to determine if the impartation of the step-by-step "business plan" of Nehemiah in a nine-week class would assist participants in learning and applying this process to determine their unique calling from God, and integrating their faith in whatever realm they are called upon to lead: home, church, community, or workplace. </p><p> In Chapter One, "Introduction," the research author stated the ministry problems being addressed (lack of "integration" or "dis-integration" of faith and life; need for clarity regarding one's calling), and the contribution that this <i>Nehemiah: Leading with Integrity</i> class could make to the re-integration of faith and life and clarity of one's calling. </p><p> In Chapter Two, "Literature Review," the research author reviewed books on integration of faith and life (particularly books and articles on the Puritans); commentaries, books, articles, and papers on the content of the book of Nehemiah; books and articles on leadership (particularly integrity in leadership); books, articles, and papers on a theology of work and divine calling; and other research projects related to Nehemiah. </p><p> In Chapter Three, "Procedure and Research Methodology," the research author described hypotheses ("Nehemiah Project"); the intervention (the Nehemiah course); summary (weekly topics; the development of the <i>Nehemiah</i> manual and the integrated leader evaluation); the evaluation process; and assessment toward goals. </p><p> In Chapter Four, "Results," the research author reviewed the data collected from this study in two sections: (1) "Quantitative Analysis," analyzing the data collected from the Integrated Leader Evaluation (ILE) to determine if, in fact, there was a perceptible increase in a sense of integration in the nine areas of life listed above, as well as an increase in clarity regarding one" calling; and (2) "Qualitative Analysis," analyzing the journaling, classroom discussion, and "discovery papers" that outlined the individual steps that led to an increased sense of integration and calling that was expressed by the participants in this study. </p><p> In Chapter Five, "Conclusions," the research author summarized conclusions from this study. Included in this chapter were the restatement of the purpose of the study, interpretation of results (quantitative and qualitative results), conclusions based on the evaluation of data, overall recommendations, and recommendations to improve the project and conduct further research.</p>

Although much has been written on cooperation and coordination, there has been little documentation of statewide efforts to promote such activities in the field of adult and community education. In 1976, the Florida Legislature mandated the establishment of Community Instructional Services (CI / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-01, Section: A, page: 0060. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Cooperative Extension in New York State has as its primary purpose to help people to improve their lives, families, and communities through interpretation of research and extension of new knowledge from the land grant university to deal with their concerns. Attainment of this purpose depends greatly on the effectiveness of elected program committees responsible for guiding informal educational programs and services in each county. / In 1978, a project was conducted, the purpose of which was to design a plan of action for helping county extension agents improve program committee effectiveness. A design method created by Roy J. Ingham (1972) was used to develop the plan of action. Project steps were performed in accordance with his "Method of Designing Action Systems" (MODAS). Implemented steps are: / (1) Description of the present state of the situation (S). In 1977, less than 30% of all New York counties had program committees rated as performing at or above a "good" level of effectiveness. / (2) Description of the desired state (S(,1)). The preferred situation was to have no less than 75% of the counties with program committees performing at or above a "good" level by June 1980. / (3) Formulation of a rationale for S(,1) to substantiate its value. / (4) Identification of a more encompassing class of phenomena which includes the observed situation (S). Through a literature search it was learned that a rating of performance could be classified as an instance of organizational effectiveness. / (5) Location of a relevant and reliable knowledge base. Rensis Likert's (1967) theory of organizational behavior was selected as the explanatory system most adequate to explain the means for achieving member acceptance of high goals, a concept identified as having strong potential for controlling organizational effectiveness. The identified means concepts are high leader goals, supportive leadership, group methods of leadership and leader work facilitation. / (6) Design of a specific plan of action (POA(,1)) by translating identified means concepts into concrete observable actions. Sixteen activities, attributes of which specifically matched the means concepts, were designed for the plan of action for increasing member acceptance of high goals. / (7) Identification and measurement of exogenous variables (external environmental factors) which, if in a certain state, might prevent the POA(,1) from attaining the desired state; then, modification of the plan of action (POA(,2)) to account for these variables. The three program leaders in a county selected for POA implementation and their state supervisors were interviewed and available records were examined in light of variables identified in social science literature. The organization climate was examined by a survey of committee members. / (8) Preparation of a plan for process and product evaluation. Interviews of committee members were planned to determine what, and how, components of the plan of action were implemented. Pre- and post-project member surveys were planned to measure the present and desired states of the means concepts in the selected county and a comparison county. / (9) Implementation of the POA(,2). One new and two experienced program leaders in the project county implemented POA(,2) with different program committees over a period of ten months. / (10-12) Evaluation of the process with necessary modifications and determination of the state of member acceptance of high goals in the program committees through product evaluation. Evidence obtained from survey responses, corroborated by reported member actions, supports the claim that attainment of (S(,1)) can be attributed to POA(,2). / Fellow extension administrators urge that POA(,1) be used in other counties of New York. Also, they suggest using MODAS to assist extension agents in designing plans of action for improving other aspects of Cooperative Extension. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 0898. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Society seems in the midst of what many futurists, sociologists, and others predict will be chronicled as the transformation of industrial society, a theme discussed as the foundation of the study. According to Lewis Mumford, approximately six broad transformations have occurred in the history of humankind. Writing in 1956, he predicted that the next transformation would concentrate on our inner world to match our current externalism, and that learning would become the principal business of life. Based on this observation, lifelong learning and transpersonal psychology--two global movements rapidly evolving over the past decade--collectively address the composite ingredients which Mumford predicted as characteristic of, and essential to, a new transformation. / Accordingly, the underlying theme of the present inquiry was that both movements are manifestations of a much more fundamental transformation occurring in society-at-large, and that each has the potential to contribute to the other's growth. The main purpose of the study was to afford a comprehensive analysis and overview of both movements in order to understand their commonalities and complementarities, concentrating on the potential hypothetical contributions transpersonal psychology might offer to lifelong learning. The inquiry basically progressed through the following steps: (a) Exposition, (b) Analysis and synthesis, (c) Application, (d) Implications. / A comprehensive literature review provided the primary basis for an exposition of the lifelong learning movement, particularly since an elucidation and analysis of the concept-characteristics had already been explicated. Since the transpersonal field was not as well conceptualized, an identification of key contributors to the field was undertaken, followed by an intensive review and synthesis of their major publications. Based on these efforts, a five page conceptualization of the field was developed and sent to the identified group for verification/modification. The feedback received was incorporated into a refined, expanded version, which formed the basis of the chapter on transpersonal psychology. / Chapters One and Two, accordingly, presented an exposition of lifelong learning and transpersonal psychology, respectively, as two organized, collective movements. Chapter Three addressed the analytic and synthesizing components, juxtaposing the two movements in order to make their commonalities, particularly in reference to the coming transformation, more visible. Also, the various ways in which they might act in a complementary manner to each other were highlighted, emphasizing how transpersonal psychology complements and may contribute to lifelong learning. Chapter Four explored how transpersonal psychology may provide a foundation for structuring a depth dimension for lifelong learning to complement current articulation on vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertical deals with society's responsibility to make learning opportunities available to individuals at all ages and stages of growth, while horizontal addresses the breadth of the movement, cutting across a spectrum of learning agents, spheres, and formats. The depth dimension, development of which was proposed by adult educator J. R. Kidd, would address a continuum of needs from simple to sublime. By applying the transpersonal framework to its articulation, the quality of life concept--an overarching aim of the movement--is addressed, recognizing that different definitions and descriptions will be given to both quality of life and lifelong learning at various points along the depth continuum. The combined use of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in conjunction with Gibb's Environment Quality (EG) Scale are proposed in this regard, thus incorporating both individual and societal growth in an integrated movement toward a learning society. In conclusion, Chapter Five offered implications and recommendations for further inquiry. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 3834. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

To explore the subject of the relationship between levels of dogmatism or open-mindedness and teaching style among adult education teachers, a series of specific hypotheses were formulated based on findings reported in the research literature of social psychology and adult education and on the opinion of a series of adult educators contacted for the purposes of the study. To test these hypotheses, a specially-designed survey was administered to a random sample of adult education teachers currently employed in three districts of Florida. / The instrument administered to the adult education teachers in the sample included a questionnaire and the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Form E. The questionnaire had two parts: part one on background characteristics was designed to collect information on the demographic characteristics, previous experience and personal attributes of the teachers; part two on teaching style was designed to determine, insofar as possible, the teaching style of the respondents by the use of a Likert-type preference scale. / The results of the study of the relationship between level of dogmatism and certain aspects of teaching style showed a negative relationship between level of dogmatism and flexibility in adaptation to classroom situations (r = .50, p = .001), and between level of dogmatism and empathy and warmth (r = .41, p = .01). More open-minded teachers were both more flexible and more empathetic in their teaching style. No relationship between the level of dogmatism and a democratic classroom style was found, however. / As concerns relationship between level of dogmatism and personal characteristics, the sex of the teachers was the only variable found to be significantly related to level of dogmatism. Women proved to be less dogmatic. None of the other background variables examined--age, level of education, number of years teaching adults, amount of professional training in adult education, or variety of former experience-showed a significant relationship with level of dogmatism in the sample. / The primary importance of the study was to open up a new field of investigation in adult education and bring into focus one socio-psychological variable that may have an impact on the teaching style of adult education teachers. Findings must be regarded as tentative. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4246. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Illiteracy among adults is a chronic condition in the United States and elsewhere. Considerable resources have been expended to improve this condition. In the United States, the public schools through their adult education divisions have attempted to make a contribution to this effort. Impeding this effort has been their inability to create and use methods that result in attracting illiterate adults in sufficient numbers to attend their programs. / This dissertation describes a project designed to increase the number of illiterate adults enrolled in the adult basic education (ABE) program in a community school in Tallahassee, Florida. The project made use of a method for designing effective plans of action (POA) developed by Ingham and Hanks (1978), for changing existing states of affairs into preferred states. / Through Ingham and Hanks' (1978) Method of Designing Action Systems (MODAS), a plan of action (POA(,1)) was developed to increase the number of enrollments in ABE, at Godby High School, Tallahassee, Florida. / POA(,1) incorporated a series of actions which operationalized three variables or means concepts: (1) personalized recruitment, (2) significant others' influence, and (3) parenthood. / As a result of partial implementation of POA(,1) and some complementary activity by the practitioner, enrollments of Eligible adults in ABE rose from an average of 3.4 per quarter for the five previous quarters, to 30 for the Winter quarter of 1980, (i.e., a 882% increase). / Process evaluation procedures included interviews with the personnel and the Eligible adults. Time series analysis and the nonequivalent comparison group procedure served as a basis for designing product evaluation. / A revised plan of action (POA(,2)) was introduced to incorporate new data generated by process and product evaluation. A fourth means concept, structural requirements, was added to the explanatory system. / Finally, a critique of MODAS based on the experience gained from its implementation resulted in a revised design method. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0339. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The need for improvement within the nutrition education component of many congregate meals programs for the older adult has been widely discussed. Personal experience, observations and conversations with other professionals experiencing the problem suggest the need for more personalized nutrition education activities and the need for ways to arouse the participants' interest in nutrition as possible solutions to the problem. / An intensive search of the literature revealed that problems did, in fact, exist with the nutrition education component of a large number of congregate meals programs. Throughout the literature, the need to stimulate older adults to want to know more about nutrition and the need to plan the learning experiences around the needs and concerns of the older adult as they perceive them was documented. Even so, the literature as it is, does not instruct the practitioner as to how to go about determining the specific needs of the older adults nor does it provide concrete information on how to stimulate their interest in nutrition. / This study was designed to address this problem as it occurred in a specific congregate meals program. The investigator used the case study approach and diet history questionnaire to collect data on thirty volunteer participants in a congregate meals program in Tallahassee, Florida. A systematic record was kept on program participants for the purpose of deriving generalizations upon which the investigator developed a practical needs assessment technique. The practical needs assessment technique was used to determine the nutrition education needs and concerns of the older adults participating in this congregate meals program and to stimulate their interest in nutrition. / The administration of the practical needs assessment technique produced the outcome desired by the investigator. This investigation is valuable in that it provides for the practitioner involved in providing nutrition education to older adults with attributes similar to those in this study a technique that can be used to determine the needs of his/her group. Also, the pamphlet developed in conjunction with this study is useful to the individual with little background knowledge about older adults. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0342. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

A case study of one voluntary association was conducted to identify and link into a conceptual schema concepts that would describe the educative environment of that organization. A grounded theory methodology was used in analyzing several sources of data. Documents promulgated by the organization, interviews with the organization's members and others knowledgeable about the organization, newspaper articles, and observation of organizational meetings were used. / Although not an organization with education as its primary goal, the Hillsborough County (Florida) League of Women Voters nonetheless created an educative environment which simulated mainstream politics and served as a socializing agent for its members, seven of whom entered mainstream politics and served as a socializing agent for its members, seven of whom entered mainstream politics by running for public office between 1972 and 1974. This educative environment was created through the interaction of three aspects of the League, the concepts identified in this study: the issues studied by the League, the activities conducted by the League, and the social context of the League. Organizational practices and procedures associated with each concept are set forth, as well as the significance of each concept to the socialization of League members into politics. / Participation in the League's educative environment enabled members to achieve certain learning outcomes which may be summarized as learning about and mastering political processes. Seven such potential learning outcomes are identified. In gaining these skills, knowledge, and other attributes, League members could have changed from amateur to professional politicians. Finally, six propositions which extend the findings of this study to other voluntary associations are stated. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3245. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study examined the degree to which the adult student's perception of family behavior, defined as adaptability and cohesion, was associated with academic achievement. The two nominal independent variables, adaptability and cohesion, described family behavior in terms of perceived flexibility and emotional bonding. Perceived flexibility and emotional bonding were measured using Olson's (et al, 1982) Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES II), and was presented in one of four levels. The nominal dependent variable, academic achievement, was defined as cumulative grade point average and was presented in one of two levels, one above and one below the median. Of the 519 students surveyed in 29 credit-earning community college classes, the target population consisted of 291 students 24 years of age and older. / The Chi Square Test of Independence was used to determine associations between each level of adaptability and cohesion and high and low academic achievement. There were no significant associations between family adaptability and cohesion and academic achievement. However, when age was factored in, adults 35 years old and older perceiving their family as either structured or rigid achieved higher grade point averages than similar students who perceived their family as either flexible or chaotic. When marital status was factored in, there was a tendency for unmarried students perceiving their family as either rigid or chaotic to achieve higher grade point averages than unmarried students perceiving their family as either structured or flexible. When marital status was factored in, there was also a tendency for married students perceiving their family as either separated or connected to achieve higher grade point averages than married students perceiving their family as either connected or enmeshed. / Though family adaptability and cohesion did not directly influence academic achievement, associations were observed when other personal and situational characteristics were considered. Perceived family behavior was therefore believed to be a factor in the academic achievement of adult community college students, particularly when age and marital status were considered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 1012. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study investigated the association between differential perception of innovation attributes and the adoption of an educational innovation. It was hypothesized that an inverse relationship existed between the disparity in perception between agent and client and the adoption of innovations. Respondents were asked to rank order the five attributes of an innovation (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) in terms of their influence on the adoption decision. Determinations of similarities in perception were made among three different institutional types (community colleges, area vocational technical schools, and correctional institutions), between adopters and nonadopters, between levels of clients and levels of agents, and between agents, adopters and nonadopters. The findings indicated that (1) institutional types were similar in their perceptions, (2) adopters and nonadopters differed in their perceptions, (3) client levels were more similar in their rank orderings than were agent levels, (4) agents and nonadopters exhibited more similarities in perception than did agents and adopters. The hypothesis that an inverse relationship existed between disparity in perception and innovation adoption was not supported. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3248. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.