The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction of select variables (cognitive style, gender, and achievement) when middle school students are involved in learning about music through two different instructional modes. The two modes of instruction explored were a researcher-designed interactive hypermedia program and an expository teaching method. The sample consisted of the entire grade six and seven population of one public elementary school in a western Canadian city. A researcher-designed preknowledge test was administered to determine if any of the potential subjects had previous information about the lesson material--the steel band orchestras of Trinidad. To test for cognitive style, the Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to all potential subjects. Based on the results of these two tests, four groups were created: field dependent males, field dependent females, field independent males, field independent females. Half of the Ss from each of the four classifications were randomly assigned to the hypermedia instruction (experimental) group and the other half to the expository teaching (control) group. All Ss completed an achievement posttest immediately after treatment and a delayed posttest approximately six weeks later to test for long term retention. Results suggest that cognitive style, mode of instruction, and gender do not, either alone or in combination, affect long term retention of information by middle school music students. Irregardless of instructional mode, girls and boys in this project achieved similar results when measured using an achievement posttest. However, it was also found that field dependent female students using the hypermedia program achieved significantly lower posttest scores than any other combination of Ss' cognitive style, gender, and the mode of instruction being used. Contrary to previous studies, it was found that Ss receiving hypermedia-assisted instruction achieved significantly lower scores on the initial posttest than those experiencing an expository teaching lesson. Based upon these findings, recommendations for future research were made.

The purpose of this dissertation is to compare the quantity and quality of writing produced by L2 students after participating in either (1) collaborative, computer-mediated communication (CMC), or (2) non-collaborative, computer-assisted writing skills practice. The subjects for this study were 42 students enrolled in French classes at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The CMC treatment consisted of 45 minutes of collaborative, simultaneous written "discussion" among student clusters of 3 or 4 students. The writing skills group focused on vocabulary building, grammatical review, and format review, using the French writing software program, Système-D. A computerized text analysis program, as well as experienced foreign language instructors then analyzed students' compositions. This study also addressed learner attributes (including gender, grade point average [GPA], and personality variables) and L2 proficiency and their interaction with the two computer-based contexts. Finally, it assessed learners' attitudes toward each of the two pre-writing activities. Results revealed that the effects of participating in either collaborative CMC or non-collaborative writing skills practice on L2 writing, in terms of the 6 variables considered (total number of words, grammatical accuracy, lexical density, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and overall writing quality) were minimal. While gender did not have a significant impact on quantity and quality of writing in the two contexts considered, GPA and language proficiency were significantly correlated with grammatical accuracy and overall writing quality. Selected personality variables had minimal effects on L2 writing. While subjects were markedly interested in both CMC and Système-D , quantitative as well as qualitative analysis of the attitude questionnaire showed a clear preference for Système-D over CMC. This study showed that students benefited from both types of pre-writing activities. The CMC group had the benefits of interaction and increased target language production, while the computer-assisted writing skills group benefited from access to a computerized data base of grammar, vocabulary and phrases for their compositions. Overall, students had positive attitudes toward both computer-based activities. If positive attitudes lead to increased motivation and enhanced second language development, it follows that these computer-based activities should be integrated into the traditional second language acquisition syllabus.

This study, conducted in a large southwestern U.S. city during the spring semester, 1997, explored an environment in which students in an engineering and technology magnet middle school were to work with video and computers to produce a series of products. The initial purpose of this exploratory-descriptive study was to look for literacy events relating to learning about these technologies. This study's population included the teacher, her classroom aide, the school's principal, and approximately 21 students. Students, who were to develop individual 10-step video production projects, achieved a mean of 4.55, a median of 4, and a mode of 3 based on step completed. only one student finished the project. Expecting each student to produce an individual project appeared to restrict the discourse necessary for students to learn the literacies of video and computers. Other mitigating influences involved materials and equipment, teacher health, and outside influences (e.g., a death in the family and university course work). Future studies should consider: (1) a classroom in which a strong collaborative/cooperative group relationship is established among the students and/or; (2) an approach examining several video production classes each day for an entire semester.

Teachers' perspective of technology integration with pedagogical practices and their perceptions of the correlation with student success were examined in this study. One hundred and ninety-two southwestern elementary school teachers volunteered to be a part of the study. Quantitative and Qualitative research methods were conducted. Relationships between teachers' attitude toward computers and computer usage were considered. Regression analysis was employed to examine the results of the two part survey. Telephone interviews were conducted to augment the study. While most of the findings were not statistically significant, they provided insight into how teachers used computers at elementary schools. The results suggest that effective instructional computer use at the elementary school level should implement effective teaching practices. Data were drawn from elementary school teachers completing surveys and interviews. Data includes information on computer usage in the classroom, access to computers in school, and the kinds of instructional uses of computers in the schools. The results of this study find evidence that teachers were using computers regularly, and the ways in which they are used. There were differences in the frequency of computer use in elementary classrooms. The major barriers to curriculum integration by elementary teachers were time and lack of upgraded computers in classrooms. The findings also indicate that computers are not a panacea for problems facing the schools. When used adequately computers may serve to enhance the educational environment and improve student success. Findings from this study offer practical implication for school districts and teacher education college programs working toward supporting and promoting change in teaching roles and practice that use new technologies.

This is a study to examine and describe of elementary teachers' beliefs regarding the use of the Internet in K-5 classrooms and the impact of the use of the Internet on their teaching practices. Primary participants were drawn from a pool of 277 teachers from 15 sites selected for convenience from a large urban school district in the southwestern United States. Data included a semi-structured and an open-ended interview. Participants also completed the Stages of Concern Questionnaire, a thirty-five item Likert scale from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Quantitative data was collected in the form of a paper/pencil survey and questionnaire. The selected literature review covered the use of the Internet in schools, teacher professional development, motivation, and the diffusion of educational innovations.

This study is about the effect of direct vocabulary instruction using CAI on vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and speed of word recognition. The purposes of the study were to find out if students in an intensive English program who use CAI to learn highly frequent vocabulary will learn a significantly larger number of words than those in a control group; if they will decrease their reaction time for frequent word recognition as compared to the control group; and if they will exhibit significantly better reading comprehension than a control group. In this experimental study the students in the treatment group studied the highly frequent words of English on the computer for three hours per week for eight weeks whereas the students in the control group completed three hours of reading and reading comprehension exercises. The research findings are that both groups showed increases in vocabulary gain, reading comprehension, and decrease in reaction time for frequent word recognition. However, the treatment students showed significantly greater gains than the control students.

There is a limited understanding of the effects of practice on reading efficiency and comfort when students with low vision read standard print with optical devices. This descriptive study used a multiple baseline single-subject design to examine effects of practice on the reading rate, accuracy, duration and visual fatigue of three high school students with visual impairments when they read standard print with newly prescribed optical devices (reading spectacles). The study also examined differences between measures of reading efficiency and comfort when students read large print without optical devices and when they read standard print with optical devices. Baseline data were collected prior to intervention. Intervention consisted of daily practice sessions reading novels in standard print with individually prescribed optical devices for a maximum of thirty-eight minutes. Measures of reading efficiency and comfort were graphed daily during baseline and intervention. Oral reading rate, accuracy, and comprehension were probed during intervention and maintenance. A positive relationship between practice and oral reading rate was demonstrated for three students and a positive relationship for silent reading rate for two students. No relationship was demonstrated between practice and duration nor between practice and fatigue. One student maintained oral reading rate three weeks after cessation of practice sessions. There were no advantages for reading large print over reading standard print with optical devices for two of the students on measures of reading rate, accuracy, or duration; one student demonstrated no differences between reading media while the other demonstrated faster reading rates with standard print. One student demonstrated no differences in accuracy, but faster rates and longer duration with large print. Although students reported the same symptoms of visual fatigue with both media, they demonstrated more frequent occurrences of fatigue when reading standard print with optical devices. All expressed preference for reading standard print with reading spectacles. Reasons included portability, availability of materials, and social implications. There were two additional findings not related to the purposes of this study. Although all students were proficient readers, their oral and silent reading rates were almost equivalent. Individual patterns of miscues appeared to reflect students' visual field losses.

During the fail semester of 1995, a demonstration of educational delivery via two-way video began as a partnership among the major academic units of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau, the University of Alaska Learning Center, KUAC-TV, Telecommunication Network Services and Arctic Sivunmun Illisagvik College in Barrow. The project broke new ground in Alaska by combining open broadcast of PBS television signal with a closed circuit compressed video network. Success of the project depended on the close collaboration across academic disciplines, institutional boundaries, and epistemologies. Native Ways of Knowing (ANS 461) was taught by Dr. Oscar Kawagley from a studio in Fairbanks to 10 co-located students, 26 distributed enrolled students, and hundreds of un-enrolled students in the broadcast audience. The project was technologically complex as it sought to combine the advantages of a widely distributed student cohort, five distinct eco-systems, a mandate for significantly increased courseware distribution in the University of Alaska system, and cutting edge telecommunications hardware in a rural, remote setting. This analysis of the project seeks to answer two questions related to choice of discourse features. First, how do the participants in a distant education project translate their goals and interests into discourse features? Second, how well did the features of the achieved NWK design reflect the competing interests of the participants? Clearly, discourse design is not value free. but must emerge as a result of a politicized contest. The features of a discourse such as: regulation of turn-taking, protection of privacy, and access to a speaking turn have direct consequences for discourse outcomes. This study seeks to include discourse features as a problematic outcome from a negotiated distribution of resources.

Giving grammar feedback to ESL writers is still debatable among researchers. While researchers like Truscott (1996) argue that grammar feedback does not help ESL students, others like Ferris (2001) argue that it does. Moreover, scholars debate whether the modes of feedback (written and oral versus computer) might affect student revisions. Research has been conducted on the effectiveness of different types and modes of feedback, but it is inconclusive and decontextualized. The present study addresses the effectiveness of different types and modes of feedback in the ESL writing classroom. Thirteen ESL students at a southwestern university participated, where they were required to write three papers. They were divided into two groups. Group 1 received rhetorical and grammatical feedback combined on the first paper, while Group 2 received only rhetorical feedback on that paper. On Paper 2, the order was reversed. For Paper 3, the students were re-grouped into two groups. Group 1 received rhetorical and grammar feedback combined through computer and Group 2 received it in the written mode. A mixed approach, quantitative and qualitative, was used. The frequencies of the errors and the corrections that the students made on each paper were calculated and tabulated. The students wrote journals and were interviewed regarding their reaction to the different types and modes of feedback. The study revealed rather a complex picture of how and why students use different types and modes of feedback. The students' backgrounds, their perception of writing, their writing and revision processes and their motivation affected their use of grammar feedback as well as computer feedback. Although the students did not make a lot of changes, error feedback drew their attention to their errors and made them more aware of these errors. Students did not use computer feedback successfully and they attributed that to their cultural background, attitudes, writing styles and the dynamics of computer feedback. This study suggests that training students on self-editing might help them in detecting and correcting their errors. It also suggests that we need to integrate computer feedback with other formats of feedback and to assess the students' reactions to using computer as well as the ways in which they use it. This assessment can be employed to adjust our pedagogical approaches.

The purpose of this case study is to describe the faculty development workshop experiences of the participants and facilitators of the Laptop Workshop, a workshop designed to support the reform of undergraduate teaching and learning at a Research I institution in the Southwest. In this case study, I utilize a qualitative research paradigm and take an interpretative approach. The research study includes in-depth interviews with the workshop's designers and facilitators, beginning and ending workshop surveys administered to the participants in three 2001 workshops, an online questionnaire administered to 150 of 165 participants, a field study of one faculty participant, and interviews with seven faculty participants. This study was nested in four timely areas of scholarly research, namely post-secondary faculty development, technology-centered faculty development, the diffusion of innovations, and educational reform. Through the research questions, I sought to understand the workshop from the perspectives of the facilitators and faculty participants. Their perceptions illuminated the ways in which this instructional intervention impacted their behaviors and beliefs about integrating technology tools and teaching strategies in their courses. The qualitative data reported and analyzed in this study are shared in the form of profiles and vignettes constructed from the study participants' own words. This faculty development initiative contributed to the success of another educational reform effort on this campus. It effectively addressed the participants' learning needs and helped to diffuse technology-enabled teaching methodologies. The findings suggest a unique convergence of people, place and process created an effective learning environment that supported 21st-century university faculty development.