Research studies conducted where word processing programs were used for composition and revision indicate that computers affect the way writers at all maturity levels compose and revise. Student writers, as a rule, are not given an opportunity to use word processing for composing since many schools are not equipped with enough computer terminals to allow for extensive use of word processing by teachers in their writing programs. However, when student writers are able to use word processing, research indicates they are motivated to spend more time writing, they have a better attitude about revising, and they begin to understand that one draft does not represent a finished product. These three findings would indicate that word processing is a positive alternative to the traditional paper and pencil composition instruction used to teach writing and revising. Encouraged by the positive results of previous research findings, this study was constructed to provide a group of young writers with intensive writing practice using the APPLEWORKS word processing system. The goal of the study was to build on the motivational aspects of computer use and to determine if combining it with use of word processing software would encourage higher level revision strategies to develop in student writers. A variety of writing topics were presented to two groups of seventh grade students and three levels of revisions (mechanical, structural and conceptual) were monitored during one school semester. The importance of revising was stressed to both groups, and students were encouraged to revise often and get feedback on each revision. A higher incidence of structural and/or conceptual revisions to a composition would indicate a shift in revision strategy, since student writers primarily focus on mechanical revision. Structural revisions made by the word processing group showed a significant change that was not evident in the group writing with paper and pencil. This would indicate the use of word processing does impact levels of revision with student writers. A questionnaire is also included in the study. It was designed to gauge a student's perception of the revision process as a result of the study.

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers of low vision children with concomitant disabilities were influenced by the results of two kinds of functional vision assessments, isolated and contextual. Teachers wrote 72 activities to teach vision use, which were classified by the raters as isolated or contextual and judged by the experts as appropriate or inappropriate for instruction. Six teachers selected were certified to teach children with low vision, six were certified to teach children in another area of special education. The investigator and two raters reached a 79% level of agreement for classification of the activities as isolated or contextual. Three of four experts reached a 68% level of agreement for judgments of appropriate and inappropriate for teacher activities. The judgments of appropriate activities were analyzed to determine if school setting, teacher preference for one kind of assessment, teacher preparation for instructing children with low vision, teacher preparation for using functional vision assessments and years of teaching experience significantly influenced the judgments of appropriateness for activities written by teachers. Results of the study indicated that teachers with and without certification in vision were rated as writing more isolated than contextual activities regardless of the kind of assessment instrument used. Teachers certified in vision received about the same number of judgments of appropriate for activities written as the result of both assessments. Teachers not certified in vision received more judgments of appropriate for activities written from contextual assessment results. There were no significant differences in the number of expert judgments of appropriate activities for teachers as related to the five variables of preference for a kind of assessment, school setting, years teaching experience, preparation for using a functional vision assessment, and preparation for teaching children with low vision. Further research is needed to investigate the use of contextual and isolated activities in instructing children and to educate teachers to write contextually based vision activities. Teachers need instruction in how to recognize, label and use the dimensions of appropriate (visual performance abilities and the chronological age of the child) as related to visual instructional activities.

The purpose of this research was to test two null hypotheses: (1) there will be no significant differences in career decision-making between Thai and American college students, and (2) there will be no significant relationship in career decision-making within the Thai and American college students in regard to: (1) gender, (2) their parental socioeconomic status as implied by the father's occupation, (3) self-efficacy, (4) interest, (5) sex-role orientation, (6) occupational expectations, (7) occupational aspirations, and (8) career certainty. Three measures were used in addition to demographic data: (1) a measure of career decision-making, (2) a measure of self-efficacy, and (3) a measure of sex-role orientation. The sample of this study were undergraduate students who enrolled in Introduction to Psychology classes at Khon Kaen University, Thailand, in 1990 and American undergraduate and graduate students who enrolled in Basic Skills in Counseling classes at the University of Arizona, U.S.A., in 1990. Each subject was asked to fill out the three questionnaires. T-test analysis was used to address the first hypothesis. Multiple Regression Analysis was used to determine how well gender, parental occupations, self-efficacy, interest, sex-role orientation, occupational expectations, occupational aspirations, and career certainty could predict the dependent variable career decision-making to address the second hypothesis. For career decision-making, the Thai students showed higher indecision than the American college students. Finally, the predictor variables of this research were not able to predict the Thai students' career decision-making.

The aim of this study was to describe the interactions among mathematics educators, particularly high school mathematics teachers and university mathematics educators, with a view to determining the professional development that occurs in a university setting. Two university mathematics departments were selected for this study on the basis of their proactive stance in mathematics education. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and written materials pertaining to the mathematics education programs offered. Six university mathematics faculty members and six high school teachers were studied in depth to gain insight into the history, the current endeavors, the goals, the beliefs, and the outcomes of the various programs offered at the two sites. The data were analyzed using Glaser's (1967) constant comparison method to allow explicit coding procedures to accompany the generation of theory in a systematic manner. Having students as the focus of interactions is a characteristic at both sites as is an emphasis on problem solving. Both university educators and high school teachers believe in the work they are doing and think of themselves as being on the cutting edge of developments in mathematics education. The contexts in which the interactions operate display conditions of support, trust, respect, openness, commitment, and vision. The educators are involved in processes of mutual sharing in environments conducive to thinking about change. It can be concluded that interactions among mathematics educators in a university setting can be beneficial. The development of relations and interactive processes take time to establish and require the dedication of individuals who truly believe that mathematics education can be improved. Future studies could focus on the development of a framework for mathematics teachers' beliefs and on the ramifications of linkage structures that exist in collaborative ventures between schools and universities.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relative importance of theoretically constructed variables upon the giving behaviors of the $1 million contributors to a Southwestern Research I University and upon donor/recipient relationships. The results were intended to expand the overall knowledge about donors and to improve the fund-raising strategies of higher education institutions. In the utility maximization framework of this study, four giving submodels (motivations) and three bilateral submodels (two-way transactions) were constructed. Two research questions were developed in accordance with the theoretical framework. The study utilized an interview process to gain information from those donors contributing a minimum of $1 million (lifetime gifts, pledges, and commitments) to a Research I University in the Southwestern United States. Thirty interviews (seventeen individuals, eight corporations, and five family foundations) were conducted by telephone or in person over a five-month period. Unstructured questions were utilized to initiate and to summarize the seven sections of the guide. The sections were arranged to follow what was thought to be the typical gift process. Structured questions were used secondarily to elicit elaborations of the initial interview responses and to explore topics not discussed by the interviewee. A fourteen-item questionnaire based upon the seven theoretical submodels was administered after each interview. Donors were asked to indicate on a Likert scale the relative importance of each question in their decision to give a substantial gift to the University. In the qualitative assessment, the responses were coded and analyzed utilizing the seven submodels developed in the framework. In the quantitative assessment, the questionnaire scores were utilized to calculate the means and standard deviations for each submodel. The findings were organized in accordance with the seven submodels. Among the four giving submodels, altruism was clearly the primary motivation for giving, followed by profit maximization, reciprocity, and direct benefit. Among the three bilateral submodels, donor involvement and foreground activities were clearly most important to donors, followed by background activities. This research should lead to a more complete explanation of donor/recipient behavior.

This research tested the predictability of the self-perceptions of female community college administrators from their Adlerian birth order designations and parents' educational levels. The population consisted of women chosen as the Leaders for the 80's Professional Development Project sponsored by the American Association of Women in Community and Junior Colleges and the League for Innovation in the Community College. Of 309 women, 228 responded to the Women in Community College Administrative Positions Questionnaire. A portion of the WCCAPQ, the Self-Perceptions Questionnaire (SPQ) was used for this study. Only middle children of three and five sibling families were included reducing the number of subjects to 172. To regress the interrelationship of birth order, parents' educational levels, and the reported self-perceptions of female community college administrators a step-wise multiple regression analysis was performed. A factor analysis was performed to test validity and reliability of the SPQ. Female community college administrators' self-perceptions can be predicted from their Adlerian birth order designations and parents' educational levels in some instances. Parents' educational levels had little predictable impact on the self-perceptions of the population. The results of three separate regression analyses regressing birth order and parents' educational levels on each self-perception factor produced specific predictive combinations of the independent variable which were most predictive of self-assuredness, achievement orientation, and general affect.

This dissertation presents a qualitative of a study utilizing non-fiction African-American Folktales with struggling readers in second, third, and fifth grades. The study was conducted to explore how teachers, reading/library media specialists, and students utilize a variety of non-fiction folktales in their classrooms and the library media center. From this topic the following research questions were devised. The researcher discovered the challenges that teachers are faced with the implementation of folktales, how is folktales aligned with the (CCSS) Common Core State Standards, what role do heroes play in folktales, and what traits and/or characteristics would students prefer their hero to have. This qualitative study was conducted due to a curriculum change on the local, state, and national levels. Implications of these findings through process and product are discussed in this study. The results of this study indicate that the Common Core State Standards curriculum guide need to be revised and the selection of folktale stories in the curriculum need to be increased in the library and the classrooms in order for education to improve.

The statutory early childhood curriculum in England, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has been described as a 'ready for school' model in which children are viewed as human 'becomings' - in terms of what they can do for society. This research project is underpinned by the premise that there is no one view of childhood but many views that are bound by context and involves a study of the early childhood curricula of settings in New Zealand (Te Whariki) and Wales (the Foundation Phase). Both are based on sociocultural theory, a term developed by psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978; 1986). They can also be defined as 'ready to learn' models in which learning dispositions are foregrounded over early formal learning. The research was conducted as an interpretivist study using ethnographic methods. This methodology accepts that reality is subjectively conceived through a connection between the researcher and the field, and that any truths revealed are partial and situated. Fieldwork was carried out for three weeks in a kindergarten in New Zealand and one week in a school in Wales in order to understand the culture of each setting and to provide evidence-informed insights and contextualized knowledge. Data were collected through participant observation and the use of photography. They were analysed using three sociocultural planes: community, interpersonal and personal (Rogoff, 2003). The study concludes that enculturation and mediation enabled the intentional development of learning dispositions, which were enhanced trhoguh extended learning periods, provocation and extensive communication, and that the sociocultural environment influenced the children's self-identity as capable and confident learners. The research maintains that a sociocultural play-based curriculum affords children the right to a childhood exempt from the pressures of 'becoming' whilst also promoting learning dispositions such as self-regulation that are likely to have an impact on academic achievement at school. These findings ahve the potential to influence practitioners in the independent sector at a time when exemption from EYFS has been announced.

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