This naturalistic study considered some relationships between the motivational variables expectancy of success and perceived value, instructional philosophy, and skills and knowledge achievement for 309 prison inmates who participated in a social skills course taught by college instructors. The research evolved out of both expectancy-value theory which considers that people must value a goal and expect success in order to expend effort in pursuit of the goal, and a general lack of consideration of motivation in instructional design models and theory. / Students with higher expectancy and value scores were expected to achieve more; the value variable was expected to account for more of the observed variability in achievement than the expectancy variable; knowledge and skills achievement were expected to depend on motivation in higher and lower ability groups; for higher ability persons, achievement subscores were not expected to depend differentially on motivation; the skills score was expected to depend more on motivation for lower ability persons than for higher ability persons; the difference between knowledge and skills scores was expected to depend on motivation for lower ability persons; and higher ability students were expected to achieve more with independence-oriented instructors while lower ability students were expected to achieve more with conformity-oriented instructors. / The data supported the hypotheses that both expectancy and value variables are positively related to achievement, especially with lower ability students, and that for higher ability students, knowledge and skills subscores did not differ significantly. Contrary to the prediction, achievement depended more on expectancy than value. Neither the hypotheses involving differences between the motivation variables and higher and lower ability students on the knowedge and skills test, nor the hypothesis concerning instructional philosophy and higher and lower ability subjects were supported by the data. Motivational theory is considered to be of utilitarian value for inclusion in instructional design models. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-09, Section: A, page: 2671. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Despite massive expenditures in research and development, quality instructional products often have less than optimal impact upon student achievement. Many educators have concluded that traditional modes of product dissemination into schools contribute substantially to this problem. Traditional dissemination practices display a retail orientation, failing to consider the difficulty experienced by school practitioners in making decisions about product adoption. / Recognition of the limited decision making capability in schools resulted in the development of the Linkage Model of Dissemination. Linkage trains school faculties to employ a systematic, problem-solving approach to making decisions about product adoption. The model encourages widespread teacher participation in decision making, coordinated by change agents known as linkers. / This study investigated participatory decision making and systematic problem solving, within the Linkage Model, and their relationship to product acceptance. Data were collected from faculty members in elementary schools participating in the Florida Linkage System. The following major findings emerged from investigation of five research questions: (1) The correlation between teacher participation in decision making and acceptance of an instructional product was relatively low. (2) The extent of teacher participation in decision making was moderately related to the leadership style of the principal. The principal's leadership style bore no significant relationship to product acceptance. (3) The implementation of systematic problem solving displayed a moderate correlation with acceptance of an instructional product. (4) School practitioners (facilitators) trained in systematic problem solving perceived the following: (a) Systematic problem solving was useful and practical. (b) Linkers were most helpful with the tasks of problem identification and planning for implementation. (c) Linkers were second in helpfulness within and across all problem-solving tasks, exceeded by school-based curriculum coordinators. District personnel and external consultants, due to lack of proximity to schools, were less helpful. This perception was in accordance with the design of the Florida Linkage System. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3260. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

In their taxonomy of educational outcomes and objectives, Gagne and Briggs (1979) suggest consideration of five domains of learning outcomes when designing instruction: information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills. Briggs and Wager (1981) provide a summary matrix of how learning in each domain may support learning in the other domains, but there is little research to furnish principles for sequencing instruction among the different domains. / The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of varying sequences of instruction for a specified unit of a methods course in elementary school physical education on pre-service teachers' performance on a posttest of information and intellectual skills and their attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding children's physical education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-07, Section: A, page: 2444. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that presentation of ideas by video picture and by sound track in a documentary had on the learning and retention of those ideas by elderly people. An existing documentary on the Xinguana, an Aborigines tribe in South America, was used in the study. A procedure whereby ideas presented in the video were recorded and then written as a script was developed for use in the study. Individual ideas in the script of the audio and the script of the video were identified through a propositional analysis. The two resulting propositional analyses were then compared to identify ideas which were presented either iconically, linguistically, or in combination. / The six resulting domains of presentation (2 levels x 3 sources) were then sampled to obtain the ideas which would be tested on a cued-recall test. A volunteer group of senior citizens at a Senior Citizen Center were shown the documentary and then asked to answer the questions on the cued-recall test and a demographic questionnaire. / Retention for each source and level domain ranged from a low of 41% to a high of 65%. Overall retention was 49%. A significant interaction was found between the source of presentation and the level of the idea being presented. Retention of main ideas presented in the video and audio modes in combination was substantially higher than those presented only iconically or only linguistically. Only small differences were found in retention of subordinate ideas from the various sources. / Significant positive correlations were found between grade level completed and five of the six domains. Also significant negative correlations were found between age and three of the six domains. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-03, Section: A, page: 0780. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Ex post facto research was conducted exploring the relationship between field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles and persistence and performance in the instructional television curriculum of a Florida community college. The conceptual framework was the influence of field dependence and field independence as predictor variables of persistence rates and performance levels in the impersonal pedagogical approach of instructional television, an approach that is incongruent with the cognitive style of field-dependent learners, who prefer reliance on human interaction, or the "field," for analysis and structure in ambiguous information-seeking conditions. The expectation was that if a field-dependent or field-independent cognitive style were systematically associated with the instructional television program, inferences could be made about completion rates and performance levels and an explanation would be yielded for recurring high levels of attrition and unsuccessful performance. / The 103 subjects were categorized by cognitive style; by the nature of the disciplines in which they were enrolled: the natural sciences, the academic interests of field-independent learners, or the behavioral sciences, the academic interests of field-dependent learners; and by gender, age, and ethnicity. / The following conclusions emerged from this study: (1) Field-independent learners excelled field-dependent learners in successful performance. (2) Field-independent learners excelled field-dependent learners in successful performance in both the natural sciences and the behavioral sciences. (3) Field-independent females excelled both field-independent males and field-dependent females in successful performance, and field-independent males excelled field-dependent males in successful performance. (4) Field-independent learners in the under 22 age category excelled field-dependent learners in the under 22 age category in successful performance. (5) Field-dependent Caucasian learners excelled field-dependent Black learners in successful performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0402. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this investigator's study was to ascertain the critical compentencies needed by instructional supervisors as perceived by selected school personnel in Florida. A secondary purpose was to determine the competencies needing to be emphasized by Florida School District supervisors in order to perform effectively on the job. / A list of competency statements was identified through the review of the literature: (1) on the role of expectations of supervision, (2) role of the supervisor in Florida, (3) development and identification of leadership competencies, (4) studies related to impact legislation, (5) Florida legislation passed 1967-1984 and (6) question-answer responses acquired from administrative-supervisory personnel concerning legislation affecting the instructional program in schools. / There were 120 instruments (response sheets) distributed to the outside panel members comprised of a variety of supervisory job titles. These were made up from the State Department of Education consultants, university professors, district administrative/supervisory personnel and Teacher Education Center and inservice staff development directors. / The outside panel of respondents was asked to evaluate and rank order the 73 competency statements on a two-column scale. / A taxonomy was used to classify the competency statements. This included Critical Functions and Supervisory Domains. / Of the seventy-three competencies, the data revealed that sixty-nine were accepted on the evaluation scale and sixty-seven on the rank order scale. Among the sixty-nine competencies accepted, 8 out of 23 or 49 percent were evaluated in the I - Conceptual Function cluster as "always necessary." Of the sixty-seven competencies "always needing emphasized" 9 out of 23 or 39 percent were in the I - Conceptual Function cluster. It may be concluded that such a small number is not significant enough to show any overall differences in the evaluation of the competencies being necessary as opposed to the rank order of these competencies being emphasized for Florida instructional supervisory personnel job performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, Section: A, page: 0058. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of the temporal presentation of cognitive training on motor skill acquisition, retention, and transfer. Four groups of subjects (N = 8 in each group) were presented training, based on the cognitive aspects of a basic flight maneuver, at different times during the acquisition of the motor skills needed to perform that maneuver. Results indicate that the performance of the group that received extensive cognitive training prior to attempting the associated motor skills was significantly better (p < .05) than the groups that received the same cognitive training interspersed during the initial learning of the motor skills. This finding was true even when the interspersed training was preceded by extensive cognitive pretraining. Results also show that cognitive training interspersed with motor skill learning produced some interference in learning as the performance of the two groups receiving the training was below that of the control group which received no cognitive training whatsoever. Transfer of training to a similar maneuver indicated that the group that was initially trained using only extensive cognitive pretraining performed significantly better (p < .05) than the group that received only interspersed cognitive training. There were no significant differences between groups on the retention trial. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, Section: A, page: 0066. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the State of Florida's policy on child abuse and neglect prevention relating to education as established in Florida Statutes 415.501. This policy statement required Florida's State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and the Department of Education to develop ways to inform and instruct personnel in all school districts in the detection of child abuse and in the reporting process. The policy also required the Department of Education to enhance or adapt curriculum materials for teaching child abuse and neglect prevention. / To establish norms for the evaluation, the specific legislation found in Florida Statutes in 415.501 and in the subsequent State plan on the prevention of child abuse and neglect was examined. Interviews were conducted with policymakers and implementors for the development of policy norms on child abuse and neglect prevention. A review of the literature was conducted to identify minimum competencies. The policy norms and minimum competencies provided the basis for the development of the "Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Questionnaire for Educators" (CANPQE). The CANPQE was mailed to a cluster sample of 900 Florida teachers statewide and 543 were returned. A "Curriculum Materials Assessment Chart" was used to evaluate compliance with objectives regarding curriculum enhancement or adaptation. / Data from these instruments show that only 49.9 percent of Florida's teachers have received in-service education on child abuse and neglect prevention. There is significant evidence showing, that those who are subject to instruction in child abuse and neglect prevention more fully participate to reduce child abuse and neglect in the State of Florida. / One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows significant differences (P < .05) for sections of the CANPQE, when two groups, those receiving and not receiving in-service instruction were compared. The Curriculum Materials Assessment Chart indicated that the enhancement or adaptation of curriculum was not implemented due to the lack of resources and its controversial nature. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0401. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

This study examined the relationship between oral language proficiency and the minimum competency tests scores of third and fifth grade LEP students in Palm Beach County, Florida, who took the state competency tests. Language proficiency was measured by the score of students on the Language Assessment Scales I (LAS-I)@ and its five subscales (Minimal Pairs, Phonemes, Lexical, Comprehension and Production). Competency test performance was operationalized as the scores of the students on the three Florida State System Assessment Test I (SSAT-I) components (Reading, Writing, and Mathematics). / The analysis of the data showed that oral language proficiency, as assessed by the LAS-I, and minimum competency tests, as assessed by the SSAT-I, were related but the strength of the relationship varied from grade to grade and from one SSAT-I component to another. In general, the composite LAS had a stronger relationship with third grade reading than with fifth grade reading, while its relationship with writing was stronger in fifth grade than in third grade. The relationship between the composite LAS and Mathematics was weak in both grades. / The strength of the relationship of the LAS-I subscales differed also from one grade to the other. For the third grade, Minimal Pairs had the highest correlation of all the subscales with the SSAT subtests; Production, Lexicon, Comprehension, and Phonology followed, in that order, in terms of the strength of their relationships with the SSAT subtests. For the fifth grade, Lexicon had the highest correlation of all the subscales with the SSAT subtests with Production, Phonology, Minimal Pairs, and Comprehension subscales following in that order. Finally, the analysis showed that certain subsystems, especially Minimal Pairs in third grade and Lexicon in fifth grade, had a strong relationship with the SSAT subtests even after controlling for the relationship of the composite LAS. Thus, it suggested that, although oral language proficiency does influence the students' ability to master the minimum competencies successfully, different combinations of the LAS subscales may be needed for different grades or test to capture its full impact on the SSAT test achievement of the students. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-07, Section: A, page: 2441. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Reviewers of military curriculum development have repeatedly cited as a problem the absence of clear procedures for deriving learning objectives from job requirements. Traditional task analysis procedures do not provide sufficient data for determining the optimal task, skill, and knowledge content of Navy curricula which prepare enlisted personnel for job entry. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a model for translating the task, skill, and knowledge requirements of Navy enlisted jobs into the terminal and enabling objectives most essential to job entry. / The model represents a system for collecting, organizing, and using empirical data to make training decisions about job requirements. System inputs are simple and purposeful, system processes are automated, and system outputs are tailored to support curriculum development. Needs assessment is an essential feature; data are collected to provide an empirical basis for assessing the appropriateness and adequacy of existing curricula. Summaries are generated by computer to specify the curriculum development actions required to correct deficiencies and align existing curriculum content with content recommended by experts at job sites. The model provides for a comprehensive data system to ensure that the requirements of Navy jobs are documented and effectively supported by the Navy training system. The model may be adapted to a variety of military and civilian applications. / The value and completeness of the model were assessed by personnel responsible for managing or developing entry-level curricula for Navy enlisted personnel. They rated their perceptions of present conditions without the model and conditions with the model fully operational. Significant differences in ratings indicated that if the model were to become fully operational, improvements could be expected with respect to each of the 20 attributes rated. Reviewers indicated that model subsystems were adequately described. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, Section: A, page: 0072. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.