Since the late 1960's, there has been a growing body of research seeking to provide explanation for why blacks continue to be underrepresented in higher education enrollment; however, none of these studies provides a full explanation. Ogbu (1969, 1978, 1985), who has given the fullest explanation of black underachievement for students at the primary and secondary levels, suggests that his caste system paradigm be used to explain black underrepresentation in higher education. This paradigm suggests that blacks are members of a caste because of a history of discrimination and exploitation. This past history led to a folk theory of unequal opportunity, which has affected the way that blacks perceive, interpret, and respond to educational barriers. In this exploratory study, the researcher investigated a lower socioeconomic community in Baltimore, Maryland, which in many ways represents the general black population, to learn if Ogbu's caste paradigm explained black underrepresentation in higher education. It was learned that the caste system was in operation, and a very recent history of discrimination and exploitation existed. A folk theory of "unequal opportunity" and a collective identity that "blacks cannot compete with the white man," led to the use of oppositional/counter cultural strategies to "get ahead." Such strategies as pushing drugs, "beating the system" and stealing, coupled with high incidents of homicide, violence and teen pregnancy, impacted upon the ability of residents to graduate from high school and enroll in college. Furthermore, strategies used in the community were operational in the school, which served to detract from school learning. / Ed. D.

The publisher of the Degrees of Reading Power test of reading comprehension (DRP) calibrate their test using an item response model called the Rasch or one-parameter logistic model. The relationship between the use of the Rasch model in calibration of the DRP and the use of the DRP as a component of the Virginia Literacy Passport Testing Program (LPT) is addressed. Analyses concentrate on sixth grade students who were administered the DRP in 1991. The question that arises is whether the Rasch model is the appropriate model to use to calibrate the DRP in this high-stakes setting. The majority of research that has been reported by the publisher of the DRP to assess the adequacy of the Rasch model have not included direct checks on model assumptions, model features or model predictions. Instead, they have relied almost exclusively on statistical tests in assessment of model fit. This study will assess the adequacy of fitting DRP test data to the Rasch model through direct examination of the assumptions, features and predictions of the IRT model. This is accomplished by comparing the Rasch model to the less restrictive two- and three-parameter logistic models. Robust IRT-based goodness-of-fit techniques are conducted. When the DRP is used in a high stakes setting, guessing is likely for those in jeopardy of failing. Under these circumstances, we must attend to the possibility that guessing may be a factor and thereby calibrate the DRP with the three-parameter model, as this model takes guessing into account. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to assess benefits of completing a doctoral degree in education for females versus males relative to expected benefits upon entry to Virginia Tech. Relationships between expected benefits, accrued benefits, and selected demographic data by gender were studied. The basic design of the study involved a survey completed by 265 (90%) of the doctorate recipients between 1980-1984. Specific computational procedures utilized in data analyses included frequency distributions, percentages, and chi-square procedures. Results of the study indicated more similarities than differences for the female (87%) and male (93%) respondents. Median age at doctorate was 38.5 years. Most respondents (75.4%) were married. Approximately 62% respondents reported their career decision assumed equal or greater importance than spouses’ career decisions. Most spouses (79.6%) were employed full-time. Most respondents (94.4%) were employed full-time. Respondents (74.9%) earned $12,000-$35,988 annually prior to entry into the doctoral program. Following the completion of the degree respondents (45.5%) earned $24,000-$35,988 in 1984. Research indicated some significant differences in expected versus accrued benefits by gender. Females expected significantly more opportunity to use training or schooling and more autonomy and independence on the job following completion of the degree. Males perceived that they had accrued significantly more benefits relative to improved autonomy and independence at work, congeniality of work relationships, visibility for jobs at other institutions or organizations, and mechanical ability. The females and males expected the same 18 out of 20 most important benefits and perceived that they had accrued the same 18 out of 20 most important benefits relative to improved aspects of employment and intellectual qualities and skills. Relationships between the age at obtaining the doctorate and accrued benefits were found for the youngest age group (27-34) for four of 36 benefits: working conditions, congenial work relationships, public speaking ability, and academic ability. Among respondents, 91.4% reported the doctoral degrees had a positive effect on career development. Respondents perceived personal benefits were primary. Professional and financial benefits were second and third, respectively. Ninety-one percent of the respondents reported it was worth the time, effort, and expense‘ involved to complete the doctoral degree. / Ed. D.

This study described the Department of Agriculture at Alcorn State University (ASU) as perceived by the agricultural baccalaureate degree graduates. Additionally, the study established a biographic and demographic data bank of these graduates for future reference and use by the Department. A descriptive research design was used for the study. The total population for the study was the 160 graduates from all agricultural program areas at ASU from 1982-1986. Data was collected by a questionnaire developed by the researcher with assistance from two review panels. Mailed instruments were returned by 102 graduates representing a 64% response rate. Data were summarized by frequency distributions, percentages, measures of central tendency and measures of variability as appropriate for each variable item. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis System computer package at ASU. The following major conclusions were reached: (1) the graduates perceived the faculty as being effective in the Department of Agriculture at ASU, (2) graduates perceived that certain curricula in the Department were less than adequate, especially that the number of semester hours in communication skills and agricultural engineering courses needed increasing, (3) the graduates perceived the facilities in the department as insufficient and that additional intern training centers are needed, {4) graduates reported little participation in professional and civic activities, (5) graduates were willing to participate in recruitment for the department, and (6) most graduates were currently employed. Major recommendations made were: (1) strategies be developed to improve communications with agricultural agencies and industries, (2) the Department of Agriculture closely review the current curriculum to determine how communication, agricultural engineering and computer skills could better be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum, (3) agricultural graduates be contacted to assist in locating appropriate off-campus training centers for student internships, and (4) each program area of the Department needs to further analyze the data collected from the graduates to assist in making programmatic improvement. / Ed. D.

The aim of this paper is to investigate if there is a difference between the grades of boys and girls inSpanish as a foreign language within the Swedish secondary school and what are some of thereasons for the existence of such differences.For this purpose we have used the following method: we have analyzed the research reportsprepared by the Delegation for gender equality in schools in Sweden (which aim to collect anddisseminate knowledge and stimulate discussion on gender equality in Swedish schools) and wehave collected supposed qualities of girls and boys that might influence their academicperformance; we have made a survey based on those assumptions.This questionnaire study was conducted with 158 students representing 3 secondary schools. Thequestionnaire contains, in addition to the personal information and the grade of each student, 20affirmations which measure students levels of agreement or disagreement (Likert ordinal scale).The results show that girls get better grades than boys. They also show that girls have easier forSpanish as a foreign language than boys; that more girls (36%) than boys (22%) consider to workharder and spend more time at work in the same subject; that when it comes to the instrumentalintrinsic motivation and the gender of the students we have observed that statistically significantcorrelation does exist. The girls would be more motivated than boys by practical factors such as thegrade of access to high school.

This study seeks to understand upper limb tremor in subjects with essential tremor (ET). A thorough understanding of tremor distribution will allow for the more effective development of tremor suppression devices, which offer an alternative to current treatments. Previous studies primarily focused on tremor in the hand only. This study seeks to characterize the distribution of tremor throughout the upper limb. We measured tremor in 25 subjects diagnosed with ET using motion capture, which provided 0displacement information of the limb during multiple postural and kinetic tasks. Inverse kinematics allowed us to analyze the motion capture data in the 7 major degrees of freedom (DOF) of the upper limb. The power spectral density estimate was used to determine: relative tremor magnitude throughout the DOFs, tremor variation between tasks, variation between subjects, and frequency variations between DOFs. Data analysis revealed that tremor increase is roughly proximal to distal. We also show that tremor magnitude in kinetic tasks is significantly higher than in postural tasks. Although we found some variation in tremor distribution between subjects, the roughly proximal to distal increase in tremor severity holds for several subsets of the study population. Finally, we found that tremor frequency doesnt vary significantly (<<> 1 Hz) between DOFs, in subjects with severe tremor. Our study shows that tremor distribution is quite stereotyped between subjects with ET. Furthermore, we have shown that tremor is greatest in the distal DOFs. This provides a compelling starting point for the development of future tremor suppression devices.

The purpose of this study is to determine the possible relationship between post-doctoral research productivity of doctorally prepared nurses and instructional experiences of doctoral study, conditions of employment and other factors that may be related to research productivity. The design of the study is causal comparative.

This study is a description and analysis of change in selected personality characteristics of junior-level undergraduates in the first phase of the curriculum for the Guidance Associate degree at North Texas State University.

Na área do turismo, o processo de consolidação dos programas de pós-graduação stricto sensu está acelerado, porque, em 2013, havia seis programas que ofereciam mestrado e apenas dois que ofertavam o doutorado; já em 2018, passou a existir onze programas oferecendo mestrado, incluídos os de caráter profissional e os acadêmicos, e quatro programas, o doutorado. Diante desse cenário, questionamos, neste estudo, como está estruturada a pós-graduação stricto sensu em turismo no Brasil a partir da análise da produção docente. O objetivo geral deste trabalho é a análise da produção bibliográfica dos docentes dos programas de pós-graduação stricto sensu em turismo no Brasil no período de janeiro 2013 a dezembro 2016. Os objetivos específicos definem realizar um exame quantitativo e qualitativo que (re)conheça a estrutura acadêmica desses programas, a partir do fazer-saber de seus docentes. O corpus selecionado foi o conjunto dos dados divulgados nos currículos dos professores permanentes, inativos e colaboradores de nove programas de pós-graduação stricto sensu em turismo no Brasil: Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi-UAM, Universidade Caxias do Sul -UCS, Universidade do Rio Grande do Norte-UFRN, Universidade Estadual do Ceará-UECE, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí-UNIVALI, Universidade de BrasíliaUNB, Universidade Federal Fluminense-UFF. Esses dados foram coletados, por meio da plataforma Lattes. O escopo temporal selecionado foi escolhido, porque esse período foi utilizado pela Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) para avaliar os programas de pós-graduação no último quadriênio. A metodologia utilizada para a interpretação dos dados foi a Análise do Conteúdo (AC), proposta por Bardin (1977) e Krippendorff (1990). Essa perspectiva teórica é um procedimento que compreende os dados como fenômenos simbólicos de estruturas subjacentes, qualitativa e quantitativamente. Diante dos dados coletados e analisados, constatou-se que aumentou a internacionalização da pesquisa produzida pelos docentes analisados, porque houve o acréscimo do número de indexação dos periódicos nacionais e o número de publicação em periódicos internacionais. Em relação aos artigos científicos, observou-se que as instituições que se destacaram quantitativamente foram: UFRN, UFPR e UAM, já qualitativamente UNIVALI, USP e a UFPR. Considerando as palavras-chave dos artigos, livros e capítulos de livros, verificou-se que existe um viés desenvolvimentista na área do turismo. Apesar de todos os benefícios em coautoria, os dados evidenciam que, dos 157 docentes analisados, 59 não publicam em coautoria. Em relação ao Índice H, notou-se que é preciso melhorar as variáveis de análise, pois ater-se apenas e somente em uma ou duas variáveis de produtividade não garante a validade da análise em seus critérios qualitativos e quantitativos. Tentamos fazer com que a interpretação dos dados, na perspectiva da análise do conteúdo (BADIN, 1977), correlacionasse diferentes e diversos indicadores de produtividade acadêmica. Como uma das contribuições desta pesquisa, constatou-se que o fator tempo não é definidor para o maior ou o menor índice de produção docente em um programa. Este estudo, portanto, representa um retrato contemporâneo do cenário da pesquisa feita pelos docentes em turismo no Brasil nos programas de pós-graduação stricto sensu / In the area of tourism, the process of graduate programs consolidation is accelerated, because, in 2013, there were six programs offering masters and only two offering the doctorate; yet in 2018, there were eleven master\'s degree programs, including those of a professional and academic nature, and four programs offering the doctorate. Given the scenario, we questioned, in this study, how the programs of masters an doctors degrees in tourism in Brazil are structured from the analysis of teaching production. The general objective of this study is the analysis of the bibliographic production of the professors of the programs of masters and doctors degrees in tourism in Brazil from January 2013 to December 2016. The specific objectives define a quantitative and qualitative exam that (re)know the academic structure of these programs, from the know-how of their professors. The selected corpus was the set of data published in the curricula of the permanent professor, inactives and collaborators of nine programs of masters and doctors degrees in tourism in Brazil: Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi-UAM, Universidade Caxias do Sul -UCS, Universidade do Rio Grande do Norte-UFRN, Universidade Estadual do Ceará-UECE, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí-UNIVALI, Universidade de Brasília-UNB, Universidade Federal FluminenseUFF. These data were collected through the Lattes platform. The selected temporal scope was chosen because this period was used by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) to evaluate graduate programs in the last four years. The methodology used for the interpretation of the data was the Content Analysis (AC), proposed by Bardin (1977) and Krippendorff (1990). This theoretical perspective is a procedure that understands the data as symbolic phenomena of underlying structures, qualitatively and quantitatively. Considering the data collected and analyzed, it was verified that the internationalization of the research produced by the analyzed professors increased, because there was an increase in the indexation number of the national journals and the number of publication in international journals. Regarding the scientific articles, it was observed that the institutions that stood out quantitatively were: UFRN, UFPR and UAM, and qualitatively UNIVALI, USP and UFPR. Considering the keywords of the papers, books and chapters of books, it was verified that there is a developmental perspective in the tourism area. Despite all the co-authorship benefits, the data show that, of the 157 professors analyzed, 59 do not publish in co-authorship. In relation to the H index, it was noticed that it is necessary to improve the analysis variables, because sticking in only one or two productivity variables does not guarantee the validity of the analysis in its qualitative and quantitative criteria. We attempted to make the interpretation of the data, from the perspective of content analysis (BADIN, 1977), correlate different and diverse indicators of academic productivity. As one of the contributions of this research, it was verified that the time factor is not defining for the highest or the lowest index of teacher production in a program. This study, therefore, represents a contemporary portrait of the scenario of the research done by the teachers in tourism in Brazil in the programs of master\'s and doctor\'s degrees

Este trabalho contempla o projeto de um manipulador robótico cilindro atuado por motores de passo com cinco juntas de atuação. As etapas do projeto do robô, que tratam este estudo, foram divididas em: projeto mecânico; modelagem matemática; projeto do controlador; e simulações. O projeto mecânico apresenta uma proposta de configuração e dimensionamento mecânicos que supre a demanda exigida para a operação analisada. O modelo matemático apresenta as características elétricas e mecânicas do atuador e as características mecânicas do robô. O projeto de um controlador linear é realizado por meio da alocação dos polos do sistema em malha fechada através da realimentação dos estados de posição e de velocidade angulares do rotor unidos a um integrador do erro de posição angular. Para o primeiro grau de liberdade, por conta da variação do momento de inércia de massa associado a essa junta, um controlador com ganhos parametrizados foi projetado, no qual os ganhos são calculados baseado no modelo matemático relativo ao momento de inércia de massa associado a essa junta. Por meio de simulações computacionais, avaliou-se o projeto dos controladores no movimento ponto a ponto dos cinco eixos de atuação e a variação do momento de inércia de massa sobre a primeira junta. Os resultados dessas simulações mostraram que os controladores propostos cumprem com a dinâmica desejada nos cinco graus de liberdade do robô. / This work contemplates the design of a robotic manipulator, which is operated by a stepper motor with five actuation joints. The robot design steps were divided into: mechanical design; mathematical modeling; controller design; and simulations. The mechanical design presents a proposal of mechanical configuration and sizing that supplies the required demand for the analyzed operation. The mathematical model presents the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the actuator and the mechanical characteristics of the robot. The design of a linear controller is accomplished by allocating the poles of the closed loop system by states feedback of the position and angular speed of the rotor attached to an angular position error integrator. For the first degree of freedom, due to the variation of mass moment of inertia associated with this joint, a controller with parameterized gains was projected, in which the gains are calculated based on the mathematical model related to the mass moment of inertia associated to this joint. By means of computational simulations, we evaluated the design of the controllers in the point-to-point movement of the five actuation joints and the variation of the mass moment of inertia on the first joint. The results of these simulations showed that the proposed controllers comply with the desired dynamics in the robot’s five degrees of freedom.