<p> Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a noted deficit in executive function which concurrently employs multiple systems in the brain to complete complex tasks. Executive function skills begin developing around the age of four years and continue developing throughout life, potentially impacting the entire life span of an individual. Service providers need cost effective and efficient strategies to address executive functioning disorders in preschoolers with ASD in typical educational settings by school personnel. Using a multiple baseline design across behaviors, this research compares the use of Power Cards, video modeling, and Social Stories&trade; to: 1) teach early executive function behaviors; 2) generalize behaviors to a Pre-Kindergarten setting; and 3) maintain the behaviors after one and two months following the withdrawal of intervention materials. Results indicate all three strategies were effective in increasing executive function behaviors, although the strength of the strategies varied among the five preschoolers who participated. Three of five students were able to generalize the behaviors when instructed utilizing Power Cards and video modeling, while two of five were able to generalize to the new setting after instruction using Social Stories&trade;. Maintenance results proved to stratify the efficacy of the strategies showing four of five students maintained above intervention levels after instruction using Social Stories&trade;, three of five maintained utilizing video modeling and zero of five students maintained following the Power Card strategy.</p>

<p> En Puerto Rico, la educaci&oacute;n a trav&eacute;s de la experiencia de pr&aacute;ctica cl&iacute;nica o internado es parte de la estructura curricular de los programas de tecnolog&iacute;a m&eacute;dica. Este periodo de formaci&oacute;n universitaria se desarrolla en laboratorios cuyos profesionales asumen el rol de preceptor cl&iacute;nico. Esta investigaci&oacute;n, de tipo cualitativa y con dise&ntilde;o fenomenol&oacute;gico, tuvo el prop&oacute;sito de explorar, documentar y comparar las experiencias educativas de cuatro tecn&oacute;logos m&eacute;dicos que se desempe&ntilde;an como preceptores de pr&aacute;ctica cl&iacute;nica de estudiantes de tecnolog&iacute;a m&eacute;dica. Nos enfocamos en comprender c&oacute;mo los preceptores cl&iacute;nicos describen, de acuerdo a su experiencia, la gesti&oacute;n de supervisi&oacute;n de sus estudiantes. La informaci&oacute;n se recopil&oacute; mediante entrevistas, la observaci&oacute;n de la gesti&oacute;n educativa que organizan los preceptores y a trav&eacute;s del examen de los artefactos que median en los procesos de ense&ntilde;anza-aprendizaje que desarrollan. Los datos se transcribieron, se codificaron y se organizaron de acuerdo a categor&iacute;as tem&aacute;ticas que se desarrollaron. Entre los hallazgos, se destaca que los preceptores cl&iacute;nicos completan una gesti&oacute;n fundamental para el desarrollo de los estudiantes. La pr&aacute;ctica cl&iacute;nica, seg&uacute;n nuestros participantes, promueve el razonamiento cl&iacute;nico, la integraci&oacute;n de saberes, la comunicaci&oacute;n efectiva, la organizaci&oacute;n y el manejo de prioridades en el escenario laboral, el pensamiento cr&iacute;tico, la curiosidad intelectual, la autodirecci&oacute;n, el aprendizaje a trav&eacute;s de la vida y la capacidad de soluci&oacute;n de problemas. A pesar del &eacute;nfasis en la calidad de los periodos de formaci&oacute;n experiencial, los testimonios de los participantes reflejan que estos no participan de proyectos que fomenten su desarrollo como docentes del contexto cl&iacute;nico. Se evidencia, adem&aacute;s, que no reciben apoyo para afrontar los diversos retos que emergen al asumir un rol docente, como tampoco se reconoce su colaboraci&oacute;n en el proceso de formaci&oacute;n de los futuros tecn&oacute;logos m&eacute;dicos. La investigaci&oacute;n revel&oacute; que no existe una estructura de comunicaci&oacute;n adecuada entre los programas de tecnolog&iacute;a m&eacute;dica y los preceptores cl&iacute;nicos. La colaboraci&oacute;n con la formaci&oacute;n de los tecn&oacute;logos m&eacute;dicos, promueve el desarrollo de la identidad docente de los participantes, asunto que estos valoran porque reconocen que esta es una dimensi&oacute;n importante para su desarrollo profesional.</p>

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4862. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4994. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

This study examines selected processes and unintended effects of the Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services (BLISS) program in a Philippine rural community to determine the extent of its contribution to social change and development. BLISS is an integrated development program using nonformal education to extend benefits of education and skill training to the rural poor to build a self-sustaining community. The study describes and analyzes the values and interpretations of and cognitive orientations toward the BLISS project of the management, community leaders and selected participants in nonformal educational training components of BLISS. / The general theoretical orientation of this study is to regard the BLISS program as an organized, structured nonformal education movement aimed at mobilizing communities. Applying Paulston's typology of nonformal education in social movement, this study seeks to determine to what extent BLISS meets its goals as a mobilizing activity. La Belle's integrated development approach using nonformal education and Bock and Papagiannis' analytical framework for understanding the social and political implications of nonformal education are utilized to analyze the data. / The field research strategy combines participant observation, and social and ethnographic survey. Data was gathered by survey questionnaire on social and demographic characteristics of the BLISS participants. The general approach is participant observation. Open-ended interviews and documentary analysis provided support information for substantiating the participants' subjective views of their life situations and their perceptions of the value of the BLISS program. / The strategy selected for analysis makes it possible to determine: (1) to what extent BLISS is part of a political and social mobilization; (2) to what extent the changes in life situation--new houses of improved design, production cooperatives, specific skill training (nonformal education)--alter attitudes, beliefs, and values; and (3) the nature of the unintended effects of the BLISS program as well as social, economic and cultural implications. / This study hopes to contribute to policy makers' understanding of how development activities are perceived and understood and how they succeed or fail. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: A, page: 0638. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

In recent years educational policy makers and planners have devoted considerable attention to improving educational access for youth and adults who may have little or no formal schooling. The primary strategy for extending educational opportunity for adults has been through the creation of innovative educational activities based on cost-effective instructional technologies and learning systems appropriate for adults. The Mexican parallel education system (SNEA) is such an innovation. / While it is commonly believed that education is the key to modern industrial development, recent research concerning the role of education in the development process suggests that education--innovative or traditional--may serve functions quite inconsistent with this development purpose. / The present study provides evidence to suggest that the assumptions commonly held concerning the educational and development nexus may be as problematic as critics contend. For instance, while SNEA has definitively provided a second chance to many adults, these adults represent only a small proportion of those who have not completed their basic education. While the older generation comprises most of the target population, SNEA students tend to be young. On the other hand, the group is mostly comprised of females, suggesting that women may be using SNEA more effectively than men. / There is, with a few exceptions, a modest relationship between class background and academic achievement which suggests that SNEA may indeed mitigate against the influence of social background on academic achievement. / A critical review of Mexican census data and other related research provides ample, albeit indirect, information that suggests that male students who do not have a job may actually reduce their chances of becoming employed when they graduate from primary or secondary SNEA programs. However, this data does show that those students who already have jobs may increase their income and improve their occupational status following graduation from SNEA programs. / While these findings suggest that SNEA may be falling short of its economic and social objectives, only careful follow-up or tracer studies of SNEA graduates could confirm the extent to which SNEA outcomes are consistent or inconsistent with its original social and economic purposes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-12, Section: A, page: 3583. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This case study contains a description and analysis of the transfer, innovation, and diffusion of educational technology in Peruvian formal education between 1968 and 1980. / Through the use of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, along with the analysis of pertinent documents and literature, the researcher has examined: the antecedent conditions for the introduction of educational technology in Peru; the mechanisms used to achieve the educational technology transfer; the specific content of the innovation; the kinds of people and the range of activities involved in the implementation of the innovation; the problems and successes associated with the application of educational technology as a problem-solving tool; and the perceptions of the innovation among Peruvian educators. / The case study illuminates the political and social contexts for the Peruvian Educational Reform, which was closely linked to overall plans for national development. Educational technology, defined as the systems approach to instruction and learning, was promoted by policymakers as a strategy for achieving the aims of the Reform, particularly in the areas of teacher training, curriculum design, and the development of instructional materials. Despite the congruence of officially sanctioned political, social, and educational goals, there were many obstacles to the efficient diffusion and effective implementation of the innovation in Peruvian formal education. / The research suggests that the outcomes of the innovation-diffusion process for educational technology in Peru were largely shaped by macrosocietal, or context variables such as history, culture, politics, and economics, rather than micro level determinants, such as the attributes of the innovation and adopter traits. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 1090. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study focuses on the processes by which different social groups (family and peer group) and social institutions (church, school, and mass media) affect the political socialization of Greek-American adolescents. The study is empirically based, and relies on analyses of survey data gathered from different Greek-American communities throughout the United States. The sample was 160 male and 231 female Greek-American adolescents who were 16, 17, and 18 years of age. / The study dealt with a number of political behavior variables, such as political knowledge, political awareness, political trust, political efficacy, political participation, and future activism. The relationships of these variables were examined through the use of a formal model. / Path analysis was utilized to demonstrate the influence exerted by the socializing agents on respondents' acquisition of the different attitudes and behaviors. / Social institutions (church, school, mass media) tended to be more influential than primary groups (family and peer group). The mass media and the church exerted the greatest direct and indirect influence on acquisition of political attitudes for the Greek-American adolescents in this study. Females and high status adolescents of both sexes tended to be more politically knowledgeable than males and low status adolescents of both sexes. / Greek-American adolescents tended to deviate from the mainstream of American society in certain ways of socialization. This is evidenced through the strong and unique direct effect of the peer group--especially among females, and among both sexes when controlled for status. It was also seen in the indirect effect of the family which indirectly influenced to some extent the exerted effects of the other agents. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3345. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This dissertation focused on the formation of the 1974 education reform policy within the political context in Thailand. It offers an historical account of the dialectical process of change in the political climate and the educational system. Also, it explored the dynamic relationship between the two entities in terms of (a) educational influence on the political system since the early 1960s, and (b) the political effects on education policy making during 1973-1977. / In the early 1970s, the educational system experienced serious problems such as inequality of educational quality and opportunity, educated unemployment, and non-functional literacy. The last change in education occurred over a decade earlier with the promulgation of the 1960 Education Plan which was part of the effort to modernize the country. These problems brought about a concern among educators to reform the educational system during the late 1960s. / At the same time, the political system was characterized by stagnation: the military had ruled for most of the democratic years since the termination of absolute monarchy in 1932. By 1972, while other societal systems were moving toward "development," this unchanged political system began to stir public dissatisfaction that culminated in October 1973 when the military regime was finally overthrown. The incident marked the beginning of the liberal movements. Change was the main theme of the public demands during the democratic years (1973-1976). / The education reform policy was announced in 1974. The study found that political factors accounted for the reform on two levels. First, it provided the climate that encouraged changes. Second, it determined both the direction of the policy and the success of the policy formation process. Such influence of politics was also evident in the making of the 1977 National Education Plan which was the final stage of the reform policy formation process. That is, the conservative political climate in 1976 delayed the Plan enactment and altered some of its liberal content. The research suggests that the factors affecting the policy changes include not only the political context but also the linkage between educators and politicians, the leadership, and the bureaucratic structure. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4351. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

This study examined the effect of three socialization agents--family, mass media, and school--on students' desired family size in a recursive causal model. It attempted to investigate the school effect on students' desired family size through student achievement on population education. / In the model, family background measured by family income, mass media exposure, school characteristics, and age were treated as exogenous variables which affect students' desired family size directly and indirectly through a set of endogenous variables: teacher performance, educational expectation, student general academic ability, population awareness and mobility attitudes. / The sample was drawn using the method of stratified random sampling with unequal probability of selection. Self-administered questionnaires and tests were the instruments used in collecting the data. Data were analyzed by use of the path analysis technique; decomposition of effects was calculated to help obtain a clearer description of the pattern of effects in the model. / The findings indicate that family income and school characteristics are two strong exogenous variables which mediate their effects on students' desired family size through educational expectation and teacher performance. Mass media exposure also mediates its effects through educational expectation. It was found that educational expectation has the strongest direct effect on students' desired family size. The model reveals the important role of education in general and population education in particular on student desired family size, as reflected by the significant path from the educational expectation and population awareness variables to the desired family size of students. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3318. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.