The SAT is a major milestone for many high school juniors and seniors. Scoring as high as possible is of utmost concern for college bound students because SAT scores often determine the college or university they may attend and the scholarships they may receive. As a result, those who can financially afford to take prep courses for the SAT do. / Over the past forty years research studies have found that SAT preparation increases test scores. These previous studies have been concerned only with increasing test scores. To date, no study has investigated if one method of preparation produces higher gains than another, nor has any study identified those students for whom preparation is most beneficial. A comparison of methods among existing studies is impossible because most reports do not include the methods or materials used. / The contents of most SAT preparatory books deal primarily with a review of the mathematical concepts involved. However, an inspection of several SAT items reveals that the SAT tests more than mere rote calculations and algebraic manipulations--it tests "understanding," "application," and "nonroutine" methods of problem solving. Therefore, the present study was proposed to examine and assess the effectiveness of two methods of student preparation for the SAT-M: the first method of preparation explored content review, solving each item in a rigid traditional manner, and the second method of preparation examines the use of flexible problem solving strategies to answer the items rather than using routine mathematical manipulations. / Sixty-two juniors and seniors participated in the study. The results of the study showed that the students taught test-taking strategies scored significantly better than the control group. However, this strategies group did not score significantly better than the group who was taught content. The content group did not score significantly better than the control group. This indicates that students could benefit from instruction in flexible, nonroutine methods of solving SAT-M items efficiently. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-01, Section: A, page: 0074. / Major Professor: Herbert Wills. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The process of determining whether a prospective international teaching assistant or professor has adequate oral language skills varies from university to university throughout the country. At The Florida State University oral language certification of a prospective candidate is done in either of two ways: (1) the candidate can take the Test of Spoken English (TSE) and receive a score of 220; or (2) the department chair can certify that the candidate would receive a score of 220 on the TSE if the individual took the test. This research study was undertaken to examine the validity of the policy. / Five international students who met the university's requirement to become graduate students and teaching assistants were given the SPEAK test (the institutional form of the TSE) and were also interviewed using typical interview type questions. The SPEAK tests were then scored by certified raters. The audio-taped interviews of the international students were given to 26 department chairs. The chairs were asked to state whether the individual students would receive a score of 220 on the standardized test. Also, the chairs were asked to predict the scores the students would receive on overall comprehension, pronunciation grammar and fluency after examining the TSE/SPEAK scoring guidelines. / The results of the SPEAK test showed that 3 out of the 5 students received scores of 120 or higher. The chairs were approximately 97% successful judging the students who had 220 or higher but were nearly 76% incorrect when judging the two students who did not receive the minimum score required. The range of scores given on the sub-sections indicate wide-spread disagreement or misunderstanding of the TSE scoring guidelines. The results indicate that the policy of having chairs judge oral proficiency is inconsistent and needs further examination. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-03, Section: A, page: 0996. / Major Professor: Frederick Jenks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

A reinforcer assessment was used to determine operant training potential for 15 profoundly mentally retarded people with and without training problems (TP and NTP groups). A modified, standard reinforcer assessment included increased and individualized assessment opportunities. Training was conducted in free operant sessions with a switch designed to activate with minimal effort. Stimuli most and least preferred from the assessment were used as consequences for the responses and alternated in a reversal design. Expert judges determined which stimulus effects replicated across the repeated conditions. Operant training was more likely with people assessed to have reinforcers than those with no reinforcers (Fisher's Exact Test, $p$ =.009). All NTP participants had assessed reinforcers and demonstrated training effects. Two TP participants had reinforcers, and one of them showed training effects. Efforts to increase the believability and replicability of the investigation were emphasized for the dependent variables, independent variables, and adjunct measures having a potential relation to results of the study. Reliability and validity of the Reinforcer Assessment as a testing procedure was discussed. Assessing operant training potential was discussed as "limitation research" and emphasized the need to develop data-based treatment alternatives to improve the lives of persons with low operant training potential. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-05, Section: A, page: 1254. / Major Professor: Jon S. Bailey. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The underlying assumption of this study was that some students have difficulty learning because they have self-regulatory learning process deficits. If there were valid measures of self-regulatory learning process deficits, then these measures could be used to diagnose and prescribe assistance for high-risk students in higher education. / The purpose of this study was threefold. First, this study investigated the relationship(s) between selected self-regulatory learning process and academic achievement. Second, this study evaluated the use of bivariate correlation versus multivariate regression in predicting academic failure of high risks students in higher education. Third, this study determined the treatment utility of using self-regulatory learning process measures to diagnose learning deficits of high risk students in higher education. / Freshmen students across a full range of aptitudes completed three inventories to assess their self-regulatory learning processes. Pre-college mental ability and achievement data were also collected. It was concluded that construct validity using these measures did exist. It was also found that while a linear set of selected self-regulatory learning process subscale scores was more effective in predicting the academic failure of students in higher education than a single self-regulatory learning process measure, the accuracy of prediction was little better than chance. The selected measures were judged to be ineffective for making predictive or a priori diagnostic decisions concerning students who might have academic difficulty. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1134. / Major Professor: Robert Stakenas. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Business and industry training is a growing area of practice in the field of adult education. Evaluation of the results of training is a challenge for both practitioners and scholars. A qualitative study of the nature, origin and use of indicators for evaluating training results was conducted over a two-year period in a nuclear utility setting. The study's participants were trainers, supervisors, managers, students and staff personnel. / Data collection involved in-depth interviews, participant observations, document reviews, journal writing, and member checking. Field notes were coded and categorized based on themes and patterns. Data analysis involved deriving categories and their properties, defining inclusion rules, constructing memos and models, formulating working hypotheses, and generating substantive theory. / The study posits four models, grounded in practice and integrated with theoretical literature. The first model, a Training Results Framework, provides a classification tool that is organized using three distinct types of results (performance, satisfaction, in-process) and six system levels (training, job, worksite, company, industry, society) relevant to business and industry. A Four-Stage Process Model for Establishing Indicators provides a systematic, ongoing methodology of activities and tasks involved in identifying, prioritizing, selecting and utilizing useful indicators. A Holistic Results-Oriented Training Evaluation System model emphasizes the quality checkpoints for monitoring a system of multiple indicators to determine the value added by training, and to provide feedback for continuous improvement of training quality. A Holistic System View of Planning and Evaluation model emphasizes the linkages among requirements, planning, evaluation and results at the various system levels, and the relationship of feedback to maintaining or modifying requirements for future planning efforts. / The study provides implications for theory showing how the findings support and build on the adult education field's existing knowledge base. The study's findings fill a gap in the literature on evaluation and monitoring of training/HRD in an organizational setting. The study provides practical implications for trainers, managers and industry leaders, and for professors and graduate students in adult education and HRD, and provides recommendations for future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4248. / Major Professor: Irwin R. Jahns. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The identification of gifted minority students is an especially sensitive problem. Currently in America Black students are underrepresented in classrooms for the gifted and overrepresented in classrooms for the mentally and emotionally handicapped. Low referral rates by classroom teachers has been suggested as a factor that may account for the underrepresentation of Black children and other minorities in gifted programs. The present investigation addressed the following questions related to referral bias in teachers' nomination of Black and White children to gifted programs: (1) does race of the teacher and/or the race, sex, or school behavior of students (or possible interaction of these variables) relate to teachers' referral of children for gifted evaluations? and (2) What is the relationship between teachers' racial attitude and referral decision? Participants were 120 (60 Black, 60 White) third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers who taught regular academic classes in a large metropolitan public school district in Florida. Participation was voluntary and all participants were paid $5.00 for completing a questionnaire packet. The results were analysed using a log linear procedure and t-tests. / The results indicated that teachers in this study did not make differential referrals on the basis of sex, race or student behavior. In addition, there was no significant relationship between teachers' racial attitude and referral decision. The implications of these results are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: B, page: 1046. / Major Professor: Joyce Lynn Carbonell. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This study was an investigation into the validity of cognitive style measures, as represented by Hill's Cognitive Styles Inventory (CSI) or Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), as predictors of student study behavior. Students were first categorized as visual or auditory learners through the use of the CSI, and as field dependent or field independent according to the GEFT. The learner behavior of interest was student use of videotapes of a statistics class taught at The Florida State University. The students attending the class had free access to videotapes of the same class for the purpose of study and review. / The sample consisted of 89 graduate statistics students, 51 (57%) female and 38 (43%) male. A crosstabs analysis of learner type (visual-auditory) and frequency of videotape use was conducted to determine if visual learners used videotapes more than auditory learners. A t-test was used to test for differences between the mean scores of course grades of the visual and auditory learners who utilized videotapes. Visual and auditory groups were determined by the score on Hill's (CSI) to determine the mean scores of the visual and auditory learners who utilized videotapes. / Findings indicated that: (1) graduate students in the basic statistics (EDF 5400) classes in this study were predominantly visual learners (88%); (2) field dependent learners utilized the videotapes more than field independent learners, mean scores were 9.4286 and 4.7368 respectively; (3) fifty-three (60%) of the subjects were shown to be field independent learners, thirty-five (39%) were field dependent learners and one (1%) was missing; (4) there was no significance found at the.05 alpha level between the mean grade scores of subjects who utilized videotapes and the subjects who did not utilize videotapes. / The CSI shows evidence of construct validity (Hill, 1981). Witkin (1971) found the reliability index for the GEFT has been indicated to be.82. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 0890. / Major Professor: Joseph C. Bechham. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The purpose of this study was to correct certain deficiencies in performance assessment as currently practiced in social service programs by providing measurement and evaluation specialists with guidelines for designing and developing sound performance assessment instruments tailored to the requirements of social service program evaluations. Such guidelines serve two purposes--as a process for planning and developing consumer performance assessment systems and as a set of criteria for evaluating the utility of performance assessments currently employed in social service programs. / Two activities were conducted to meet these purposes. First, a set of design and construction consumer performance assessment guidelines that embodied the characteristics of the assessment process in social service agencies were developed. As part of the development process, guidelines were revised on the basis of a formative evaluation conducted with experienced evaluators. Second, the consumer performance assessment guidelines were field tested on an assessment instrument used by a state agency. These guidelines were judged by agency personnel to be a valid framework for evaluating existing performance assessment instruments and for developing more valid performance assessments applicable to social service contexts. / The conceptualization of the guidelines was based on a grounded theory approach to the assessment development process and a review of the characteristics and assumptions of performance assessments conducted in educational and social service settings. These field based analyses revealed major differences between the education and social service context with respect to the contextual components of the assessment process, the roles of participants in the testing process, and the utility of assessment results. A review of current testing and program evaluation standards also pointed to the need for consumer performance assessment guidelines for social service programs. / A professionally defined basis for judging performance assessment instruments from the consumer's perspective has not been available to evaluators. By providing a concise set of professional guidelines, this study constitutes a first step in filling that void. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0784. / Major Professor: Garrett Foster. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purpose of this study was to experimentally manipulate two levels of motivation, Attention and Confidence, in a course context, and observe the effect of these manipulations on the relevant subscales of the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) and on achievement. Considering the lack of evidence of discriminant validity in the IMMS under controlled conditions, it was hoped that this study would help determine whether these two factors could be varied independently or were too highly correlated to stand alone as conceptual components. In this study, three sets of printed self-instructional materials were used to test for influences on attention and confidence. One set enhanced attention, the second enhanced confidence, and the third was relatively neutral in these respects. There were three groups of subjects, each receiving one of the three sets of materials. Upon completion of the lesson, students in all three treatments responded to the IMMS, and then took the posttest. / There were seven hypotheses to test. An analysis of variance was undertaken to compare treatment and control group scores on each of the dependent variables: the four IMMS subscales (A, R, C, S), the IMMS Total score, and achievement. / The results showed that students who completed the revised lesson with enhanced attention had a higher score on the attention subscale than the control group and the confidence treatment group which both had similar scores on that subscale. Moreover, the three groups scored similarly on the relevance and satisfaction subscales, but the lesson with enhanced confidence had no effect on the confidence subscale. There was no significant effect of the treatments on achievement or on IMMS Total score. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-06, Section: A, page: 2112. / Major Professor: John Keller. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This investigation consisted of two phases. Phase 1 utilized 26 male and 30 female elite Chinese athletes (17 to 25 years) including: 23 speed skaters, 18 swimmers and 15 runners. Subjects state confidence and anxiety levels were assessed with The State Sport-Confidence Inventory (SSCI, Vealey, 1986), The Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SEFC), and The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2, Martens, 1990). / Pearson Product-moment correlation, multiple regression, hierarchical, and stepwise analysis were employed to determine relationships among these psychological variables and the relationship between these variables and performance. As hypothesized, SSCI, SEFC, SC, and performance were positively correlated with one another. COG and SOMA negatively correlated with SSCI, SEFC, SC and performance. However, a separate multiple regression analysis revealed that: COG was a better predictor of SEFC, SC, and SSCI than SOMA. SEFC and SSCI were better predictors of COG and SOMA than SC. In addition, results revealed that COG and SEFC reciprocally predicted each other. SEFC and COG were the two best predictors of performance. SEFC accounted for 12% and COG accounted 7% of the variance of performance, respectively. SEFC and COG shared 69% of the variance in predicting performance. In particular, low self-efficacy and high cognitive anxiety impaired performance while high self-efficacy and low cognitive anxiety enhanced performance. / In phase 2, subjects were 140 male (68) and female (72) elite Chinese athletes from different sports (e.g., gymnastics and diving etc.). Subjects were required to report their perceptions relative to previously experienced sport-confidence and competitive state anxiety, in reference to past important competitions. Modified forms of the CSAI-2 and SSCI were administrated twice to subjects (in a one week period) relative to one "most successful performance" and one "most unsuccessful performance". The modification changed the focus of the respondent from the present to the past. / A one way Analysis Variance revealed that low competitive anxiety and high self-confidence was associated with subjects' recall of successful past competition while high competitive anxiety and low self-confidence was associated with subjects' recall of unsuccessful competition. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: A, page: 0138. / Major Professor: David Pargman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.