A survey of Florida's vocational teachers and administrators in school districts and community colleges was performed to assess their perceptions of a proposed plan for competency-based vocational education (CBVE) system. Background variables of the respondents were used to analyze the relative advantage, compatibility, observability, trialability, complexity of and overall reactions to the proposed plan; these background variables were also used to analyze the respondents' attitudes toward competency-based vocational education. / In addition to these analyses, potential resistance to the plan was assessed by comparing the attitudes of survey recipients with a control group of respondents who received only the attitude scale without the proposed plan and its request for review. / The results of the study showed that, among teachers, statistically significant differences among perceptions (ratings) of the attributes of the plan were most often found for the variables of age, level of education, program area within type of institution and program area within administrative region. For teacher attitude scores, differences were found by age, level of education and program area. No statistically significant differences were found among ratings of the plan's attributes or attitudes toward CBVE for administrators. / Although no significant differences were found between attitudes of survey recipients and a control group, such differences were found between attitude scores of teachers and administrators, although the differences were not found to be of practical importance. / The results suggest that the findings of such differences would be of most value of the design of dissemination and diffusion strategies necessary for the promotion and adoption of educational innovations. The study is also an example of the kinds of initial efforts which should be pursued for an adequate understanding of all the dimensions involved in the research - development - dissemination - adoption - utilization process. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-01, Section: A, page: 0150. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4962. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The motivational variables of locus of control, the perceived value of an introductory psychology course, and study-specific delay and avoidance tendencies were assessed for 278 university students. These variables, along with socio-economic status, and sex were used in predicting: (1) the amount of effort spent in course-specific study activities; and (2) course performance, measured by cumulative test points for four exams. Locus of control and perceived value were hypothesized to be significant predictors of effort and performance according to expectancy-value theory. Additionally, the motivational variable of locus of control was hypothesized to be a significant predictor of tendencies toward study-specific delay and avoidance. Results of a series multiple regression analyses indicated that neither locus of control nor perceived value was a significant predictor or effort of performance. Locus of control, however, was found to be a significant predictor of study-specific tendencies toward delay and avoidance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 3962. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

This applied research project attempted to ascertain whether a carefully structured, highly motivating set of environmental conditions in an instructional reading program would bring about significantly greater improvement on several measures of reading achievement and on the classroom behaviors of a group of poor readers than either the regular high school curriculum or participation in a more traditional remedial reading program. The experimental design for this study consisted of pretest and posttest measures and control group comparisons. / Results suggested that participation in the experimental reading program led to significantly greater improvement in performance on two individually-administered oral measures of reading achievement than the regular high school curriculum or the traditional remedial program. In terms of absolute grade level improvement in performance, participants in the experimental program progressed at the expected rate, whereas participants in the traditional program and those who received no remediation made considerably less than normally-expected progress. These findings suggest that this population of learners is capable of progressing at the expected rate in reading achievement performance. However, without effective intervention, they will fall further behind their peers. / These findings were the results of analyses of student performance on two individually-administered, oral measures of reading achievement. Analyses that compared performance on these measures with performance on a third measure--a group-administered, written test of reading achievement--revealed that this measure did not indicate any significant changes in reading performance in either of the groups. This finding suggested that either the measure was insensitive to actual changes in performance or that students were failing to learn important reading skills in both the experimental and traditional reading programs, as well as in the regular high school curriculum. / Finally, in-class observations of student and teacher behavior revealed that students in the experimental and traditional programs exhibited similar amounts of attending behavior, with more variability in the experimental program. Teachers in the experimental program exhibited slightly greater amounts of instructional behavior and feedback, and slightly less non-instructional behavior. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-07, Section: A, page: 3072. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The present study sought to investigate the degree of construct validity inherent in the Carkhuff Scales for the Communication of Empathy and Genuineness in Interpersonal Processes. Since the literature afforded no one, clearcut, consistent nor reliable rating procedure for utilizing these scales a tighter rating procedure was developed. Using this procedure, 83% interrater agreement was achieved when determining a teacher's relative level of empathic functioning and 70% reliability when assessing teacher genuineness. These and other ratings, e.g., student assessment of their teacher's empathic and genuine functioning, observable behavior ratings, etc., suggest that the Carkhuff Scales while valid are probably measuring the same thing. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-07, Section: A, page: 3010. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Four experiments (101 students, average age 11 years, 1 month) included instruction designed to increase performance on 16 variants of conditional reasoning syllogisms. A Logic Board consisting of two intersecting circles (Venn diagram), object-blocks, Label Cards above the circles, and a premise Rule Card were used for one of three groups in each experiment. All materials were designed to operationalize the meaning of antecedent and consequent terms of a syllogism (whether positively or negatively stated) and the resulting areas of inclusion, exclusion, and intersection. The first experiment compared performance of a rule group, which had the Rule Card displayed during each syllogism, and a discovery group which had to generate the rule on the basis of correctly placed blocks. The second experiment compared rule instruction with that of observational instruction in which children used the same materials, but moved no blocks and saw only correctly arranged Logic Board configurations. The third experiment compared the effectiveness of the Venn diagram format of the Logic Board with that of a Cartesian plane format. The fourth experiment compared performance following rule instruction with objects versus two-dimensional drawings of the Logic Board configurations. Non-instructed control subjects were included in each experiment. / Following instruction, instructed children in all experiments improved their average performance on short term, long term (two weeks), and transfer tests. More importantly, instructed groups' performance was consistently much more variable than was the performance of the non-instructed groups. Discovery instruction was generally more effective than rule instruction. Moving the blocks and making errors in arranging the Logic Board was not especially important, and the Cartesian plane format was not very effective in increasing performance. Two-dimensional drawings were as effective as the concrete, three-dimensional materials. Instruction substantially improved solutions on the two invalid conditional reasoning syllogisms which were the most difficult for all subjects prior to instruction and which remained difficult for the non-instructed subjects in each experiment. Instruction was less effective in aiding performance on the valid forms, with instructed students actually performing less well on the deny the consequent problems following instruction. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-11, Section: A, page: 4654. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The "inner game" approach to skill acquisition and performance as presented by Gallwey was investigated in this study. His ideas were transposed into a working model which, in turn, formed the basis for all hypotheses in this study. Performance on an electronic video game was measured across two levels of "inner game" cueing, three levels of conscious attention blocking, and control, for both novice and advanced skill levels. A total of 120 subjects was utilized (72 male; 48 female). A preliminary test on the experimental apparatus (electronic video game) was used to determine skill level. Subjects were then assigned to groups (N = 10) by random stratification based on sex. / Data in this study suggest that under certain dual processing conditions, learning and performance are facilitated. The cueing method advocated by Gallwey was effective in both the novice (learning) and advanced (performing) groups. However, all aspects of the working model are not supported in this study. Nevertheless, those groups that functioned with a secondary task designd to block conscious attention performed as well as control subjects. / The approach presented by Gallwey, while in need of further exploration, may be considered a viable instructional strategy. The results are discussed in relation to previous findings reported in the motor learning literature. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-08, Section: A, page: 3505. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Past feedback studies have seldom discriminated between the intellectual skills domain of learning and verbal information. Consequently, it was assumed that feedback which worked for verbal information would also work for intellectual skills. This study hypothesized that feedback which was effective for verbal information, Knowledge of Correct Response (KCR), would not be effective with intellectual skills due to their unique nature. Rather, feedback which utilized the rules learned would be required if effective results were to be obtained. / Forty undergraduate students enrolled in a mathematics course were used in this study. The students were randomly divided into three groups and, after receiving instruction on three mathematical rules, were given a test. Corrected tests were then given to the students, along with feedback appropriate to their group. The feedback strategies were: (1) KCR plus a restatement of the rule, (2) KCR, a restatement of the rule, plus a worked-out example problem, (3) a restatement of the rule, a worked-out example problem plus an explanation of the worked-out problem. / The students were told to study the feedback and were given a parallel retest three days later. Finally, a retention test was given to the students one week later. / Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences between the test scores of the three groups. Although this result did not lead to the rejection of the null hypothesis, experimental difficulties caused final judgment about the effectiveness of the strategies to be reserved. A variety of problems, such as a small number of test items and subjects, indicates that a replication of the study with appropriate revisions is in order. Given the many conditions of learning which differ when one examines the two learning domains it is not consistent to conclude that the domains should be alike when feedback is considered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-07, Section: A, page: 3001. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Only a few studies have investigated retesting as a means of maintaining the retention of learning. The present study investigates the effects of placement and number of retests within the first week after a unit of instruction on the 28-day retention of information and intellectual skills. The study was pursued at Fort Rucker, Alabama in the context of the Warrant Officer Candidate Military Development Course with 80 Army Warrant Officer Candidates (WOCs). Seven treatments were employed consisting of differing arrangements of 0, 1, or 2 retests after all WOCs received a test on the final day of instruction. / Four parallel test forms were developed for treatments requiring repetitive testing of the same WOCs. Map reading and Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) defensive measures were used as subject matter on two tests. / No differences were apparent among treatment means for either a total test score or subscores based on intellectual skills and information items. A significant difference was found between means for all WOCs on both information and intellectual skills items. Information was retained somewhat better. All of the above tests used means expressed as the percentage of original learning. A significant correlation was also found between original (end of course) learning and 28-day retention, a finding well founded in the literature. / Content by domain and treatment by domain interactions were also observed, although they cannot be inferred beyond the experimental setting. That condition is due to the widely varied number of items on which the various scores are based, invalidating the otherwise applicable statistical test. Content is also confounded with instructional setting: lecture or self-paced. / These results provide a good basis for further research on methods of retesting as they affect retention and for selection of factors that may differentially affect the learning of information and intellectual skills. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-10, Section: A, page: 4338. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of behavioral objectives on learning of unstructured materials versus structured materials when the students have been trained in how to use those objectives as a guide to learning. The subjects were 108 undergraduate students enrolled in Educational Psychology courses at Florida State University. These subjects were divided into four groups. Group 1 received the objectives plus the structured materials. Group 2 received the objectives plus the unstructured materials. Group 3 received the structured materials only. Group 4 received the unstructured materials only. All those students who received the objectives, received also a programmed training lesson on how to use the objectives for studying. The structured material consisted in a printed programmed lesson on Mental Retardation and the unstructured material consisted in portions of texts used as content sources for the design of the structured lesson. After working on the instructional materials, the students' learning was assessed by a posttest. An analysis of covariance, with the GPA serving as the covariate, showed no significant interaction between behavioral objectives and instruction. There was a significant difference attributed to the effect of structured materials over unstructured materials. Also, effect of having behavioral objectives was significant for the unstructured materials groups. However, there was no significant difference between objectives and no objectives groups working with structured materials. / In general, the structured material was superior to the unstructured material. For those students working with the structured lesson, the objectives were superfluous information as compared with the no objectives students with the same material. However, those students working with the unstructured material, obtained higher scores than those students who did not receive the objectives. There was no significant interaction between treatments. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0930. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.