The main purpose of the study is to describe the developmental story of one of the larger university cooperative education programs in the United States to provide the evidence of outcomes and to utilize selected elements of the program in other colleges and universities. The study utilizes historical methodology with a descriptive approach to investigate and analyze the program's establishment, its development of staffing, organization, students, employers, funding, and its evaluation by using primary and secondary sources, annual reports, federal grant request proposals, evaluation reports, and the on-campus newspaper. The information for this study was also gathered through personal interviews with previous and present staff members of the program. The study shows that the program was established in the dean of students' office, but in order to get more support from the faculty, the program was moved to the academic affairs office. As a result of the academic support by the faculty, the program expanded. The findings show that the federal grant, Title VIII, contributed significantly to the initiation and growth of the program. The investigator observes that the director's leadership and the staff members' commitment to the program were two of the most important factors in the continued growth of the program. Strong commitment by the chief executive officer of the institution has also been a strong factor in the continuous growth of the program. The study indicates that close affiliation with professional organizations has benefited the program by influencing the development of quality and effective, diverse employers. The results show that the cooperative program significantly aided the students, institutions, and employers annually by placing approximately 1,200 students in their major-related working places.

The problem undertaken in this study was that of making an investigation of the nature of the contributions of the North Texas State College and the co-operating public schools under its supervision to the Texas Health Education Program during the three-year period from December, 1946, to December, 1949.

Team collaboration is necessary to fully support school-age students who use assistive technology (AT). Teams should include the student, his or her family, and school professionals. Unfortunately, team collaboration is often not realized due to constraints that range from scheduling conflicts and language barriers to lack of defined roles and access to shared information. In addition, families and students are often passive participants in the educational planning process rather than active contributors. Groupware has been used in comparable areas of professional and peer collaboration to address similar barriers. The study resulted in a groupware model intended to enhance the collaboration of individualized education program (IEP) teams supporting students who use assistive technology (AT). The groupware model had a working title of CollaborAT. Through literature review, goal definition, prototyping of alternatives, panelist review and ranking of proposed attributes, and user testing, CollaborAT was be systematically designed, developed and evaluated. Through review and ranking of prototypes by a panel of 20 experts, the design phase of the study provides insight into the aspects of computer-mediated communication (CMC), content management, member profiling and scheduling supports that the intended audience values for collaboration related to AT and the IEP process. The study also provides insight into the viability of developing a groupware tool that consists of the attributes valued most by the intended audience. The CollaborAT model was built based on the design criteria established by the panel of experts. The model was presented to the panel for review and approval. With the approval criteria met, user testing was conducted with a small sample representing the target audience. The user test group consisted of 12 participants with varied IEP experience and role assignment. The user testing results provide initial evaluation data on the usability of CollaborAT. The study provides insight into the design, development and evaluation process for groupware tools. Through the application of a panel of experts, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), prototyping, and user testing, the design criteria were defined and validated. The study provides detailed information for those interested in replicating all or portions of this research-based approach for the design and development of similar products and supports.

The combination of theory and practice in all forms of teacher training has always been a topic of debate in policy and research. Research examining university training of preschool teachers in Sweden highlights problems in the application of theory in practice in preschool teacher training. Specifically, the kind of problem identified is the lack of opportunities given to students to apply the knowledge gained through the university courses during their internships at the preschools. As a result a “gap” is created between the theory learnt and the application of this theory into practice, which in turn limits the opportunity for professional development. The meaning of professional development is to improve the knowledge and skills that the students have about their profession. The aim of this study is to understand student perspectives in relation to the combination of academic vs. practice-oriented coursework in preschool teacher training in Sweden. Specifically, this study examines the preferences of undergraduate preschool education students in Sweden regarding academic vs. practice-oriented courses, as well as if and how these courses contribute to their professional development. Final year student of a preschool education program at a college in southern Sweden completed an online survey to assess their perspectives on academically oriented and practice-oriented courses of their program. Students, regardless of whether or not they had previous experience working in early childhood education and care, reported that practice-oriented courses helped them with their professional development. Student also declared that the theory learnt through their academically oriented courses generally proved to be applicable in practice. Two types of future research are proposed in order to capture a wider variety of student perspectives about their training program as preschool education teachers.

A autoetnografia foi o viés metodológico escolhido nesta pesquisa para dar suporte ao objetivo da investigação, ou seja, a formação de formador de professores, na qual o papel do pesquisador se funde com sua atuação caracterizada pelo binômio sujeito/objeto de pesquisa. Este aporte metodológico proporciona ao pesquisador uma experiência incômoda, na qual sua intimidade é desvelada, ao passo que suas histórias de vida funcionam como um pano de fundo para caracterizar o objetivo da pesquisa. Neste sentido, busca-se por meio do papel do formador de professores/investigador e seus diversos contextos de atuação por meio de seus questionamentos impulsionados tanto por aportes teóricos quanto sua experiência em sala de aula e de mundo. Esta tese organiza-se da seguinte forma: no primeiro capítulo apresenta-se uma reflexão e discussão teórica acerca do processo metodológico escolhido nesta investigação, a autoetnografia, alinhavada com narrativas, que compõem uma das características desta investigação, prenunciando o lócus de enunciação. O capítulo II constitui-se por um mergulho no processo autoetnográfico focado na formação do formador de professores de língua inglesa, com narrativas que representam a algumas epifanias oriundas da história e experiência de vida do pesquisador no percurso de investigação, assim como pressupostos teóricos pautados pelo pensamento pós-moderno, pós-colonial, construção de sentidos, Novos Letramentos/Multiletramentos e Letramento crítico. No último capítulo são apresentados os desdobramentos deste processo autoetnográfico por meio da apresentação de Exercícios Espitemológicos e Ontológicos na/para a formação do formador de professores, retomando as reflexões dos capítulos anteriores e levantando questionamentos para futuras investigações nesta área.Por fim, nas considerações finais, apresenta-se uma análise geral do trabalho, considerações, ponderações, sentimentos e emoções causado pela necessária finalização desta proposta de investigação. / Autoethnography was chosen as the methodological perspective for this research to support the investigation aims, i.e., the teacher educator and the teacher education program, in which the research role merge with his attitudes as a teacher educator characterized by the binomial subject/object.This methodological contribution provides the researcher with an uncomfortable experience in which his intimacy is revealed, while his life histories function as a background to characterize the purpose of the research. In this sense, it is sought through the role of the teacher educator/ researcher and his various contexts of action through his inquiries driven by both theoretical contributions and his experiences in the classroom and in the world. This work is organized as follows: an introduction which shows work objectives and foreshadowing the researchers locus of enunciation. The first chapter presents a theoretical discussion and debate about the methodological process chosen in this research, the autoethnography, aligned with narratives, which make up one of the characteristics of this investigation. Chapter II consists of a dive into the autoethnographic process focused on the English-language teacher educator, with narratives that represent some epiphanies from the history and life experience of the investigator in the course of research, as well as theoretical presuppositions guided by the Postmodern thinking, postcolonial, meaningmaking, New Literacies / Multilitreacies, and Critical Literacy. In the last chapter the unfolding of this autoethnographic process is presented through the presentation of Espitemological and Ontological Exercises in the education of the teacher educator, resuming the reflections of the previous chapters and raising questions for future investigations in this area. Finally, in the final considerations, it presented a general analysis of the work caused by the necessary completion of this research proposal.

Esta dissertação apresenta resultados da pesquisa de mestrado intitulada O Programa Mais Educação: Um estudo da implantação em uma unidade escolar paulista, cujo objetivo é analisar o PME em uma escola do Estado de São Paulo. O PME foi instituído no segundo governo de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, por meio da Portaria Interministerial de 24 de abril de 2007, e integra as ações do Plano de Desenvolvimento da Educação (PDE) lançado pelo Ministério da Educação (MEC), ao mesmo tempo em que a promulgação do Decreto nº. 6.094 instituiu o Programa de Metas Compromisso Todos pela Educação, mecanismo operacional do PDE. Tem como intuito induzir as escolas públicas de Ensino Fundamental do país à ampliação da jornada escolar e à organização curricular, na perspectiva da educação integral. A metodologia adotada para o alcance do objetivo proposto para a pesquisa, de cunho qualitativo, utiliza a coleta de dados em uma unidade escolar de Ensino Fundamental, pertencente à rede municipal de São Carlos. A pesquisa dialoga com concepções expressas nos documentos orientadores do PME e com documentos legais que o estruturam na escola, além de realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com agentes responsáveis pelo programa e estudantes que o integraram. No contexto específico da escola, as limitações físicas e pedagógicas se destacaram. Verificamos a dificuldade de contratação de professores capacitados e a redução dos macrocampos. Além disso, havia necessidade de capacitação dos professores. Também, o espaço para a efetivação das atividades do programa na escola se restringiam a salas de aula, já que o local onde eram realizadas estas atividades não estava mais disponível. Aliadas a essas questões, havia a falta de integração entre o PME e a escola. Destacamos, também, a falta de interesse dos gestores municipais pelo programa, já que, não ofereciam o respaldo necessário para a sua efetivação. Apesar dos entraves na efetivação do PME, ele foi considerado, por entrevistados, uma ação positiva para os estudantes; estes por sua vez, expressaram gostar de integrar o Programa. / This masters thesis presents the results of the research entitled The Plus Education Program: A Study on the Implementation at a Scholar Unit in the State of São Paulo , whose goal is to analyze the PME in a school in the State of São Paulo. The PME was instituted at the second government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, by the Interministerial Ordinance from April 24th 2007, and integrate the actions from the Development Education Plan (PDE) launched by the Ministry of Education (MEC), at the same time that the promulgation of the Decree n°6.094 established the Targets Program All for Education, operational mechanism from PDE. It aims to induce public Elementary Schools from the whole country to extent the school day and the curriculum organization, on the perspective of comprehensive education. The adopted methodology to achieve the goal proposed for the research, that presents a qualitative nature, collects data from an Elementary School unit that belongs to the municipality of the city of São Carlos. The research dialogues with conceptions expressed at orientating documents from PME and with legal documents that structure the school, beside semi structured interviews with responsible agents from the program and students that were part of it. On the specific context of the school, the physical and pedagogical constraints stood out. We verified the difficulty on hiring trained teachers and the reduction of the macro fields. In addition, there was the necessity of training the teachers. Also, the space for the accomplishment of the activities from the program was restricted to the classroom, since the place where these activities were performed was not available anymore. Combined to these questions, there was the lack of integration between the PME and the school. We also highlight the lack of concern in the program from municipal managers, since they did not support its execution. Despite the obstacles in the implementation of the PME, it was considered by one of the interviewed a positive action for the students, who in turn, expressed to like to integrate the Program.

Master of Public Health / Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics, and Health / Sandra B. Procter / There have been major shifts in the dietary patterns of people in the United States in the last four decades. People eat fast food more frequently, eating more convenience food products, and highly processed food. On the other hand, the practice of cooking from raw ingredients or cooking from scratch has been declining. The lack of cooking skills is one of the barriers of cooking from raw ingredients. Cooking skills are one of the important determinants of food choice. People who have higher cooking skills tend to choose healthier food options. There are many programs that aim to increase cooking skills and nutrition knowledge. One of them is done by EFNEP. Over the years, EFNEP has been helping the low socioeconomic population to reach nutritional well-being. Evaluation is an important component of EFNEP. There are evaluation tools in EFNEP including behavioral checklist and dietary recall that are administered pre and post program. However, these tools do not specifically measure participants’ cooking skills. A proposed short self-reported questionnaire is designed to measure cooking skills of EFNEP participants in Kansas. The questionnaire comprises of seven questions and has been tested to a representative group.

Esta dissertação apresenta resultados da pesquisa de mestrado intitulada O Programa Mais Educação: Um estudo da implantação em uma unidade escolar paulista, cujo objetivo é analisar o PME em uma escola do Estado de São Paulo. O PME foi instituído no segundo governo de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, por meio da Portaria Interministerial de 24 de abril de 2007, e integra as ações do Plano de Desenvolvimento da Educação (PDE) lançado pelo Ministério da Educação (MEC), ao mesmo tempo em que a promulgação do Decreto nº. 6.094 instituiu o Programa de Metas Compromisso Todos pela Educação, mecanismo operacional do PDE. Tem como intuito induzir as escolas públicas de Ensino Fundamental do país à ampliação da jornada escolar e à organização curricular, na perspectiva da educação integral. A metodologia adotada para o alcance do objetivo proposto para a pesquisa, de cunho qualitativo, utiliza a coleta de dados em uma unidade escolar de Ensino Fundamental, pertencente à rede municipal de São Carlos. A pesquisa dialoga com concepções expressas nos documentos orientadores do PME e com documentos legais que o estruturam na escola, além de realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com agentes responsáveis pelo programa e estudantes que o integraram. No contexto específico da escola, as limitações físicas e pedagógicas se destacaram. Verificamos a dificuldade de contratação de professores capacitados e a redução dos macrocampos. Além disso, havia necessidade de capacitação dos professores. Também, o espaço para a efetivação das atividades do programa na escola se restringiam a salas de aula, já que o local onde eram realizadas estas atividades não estava mais disponível. Aliadas a essas questões, havia a falta de integração entre o PME e a escola. Destacamos, também, a falta de interesse dos gestores municipais pelo programa, já que, não ofereciam o respaldo necessário para a sua efetivação. Apesar dos entraves na efetivação do PME, ele foi considerado, por entrevistados, uma ação positiva para os estudantes; estes por sua vez, expressaram gostar de integrar o Programa. / This masters thesis presents the results of the research entitled The Plus Education Program: A Study on the Implementation at a Scholar Unit in the State of São Paulo , whose goal is to analyze the PME in a school in the State of São Paulo. The PME was instituted at the second government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, by the Interministerial Ordinance from April 24th 2007, and integrate the actions from the Development Education Plan (PDE) launched by the Ministry of Education (MEC), at the same time that the promulgation of the Decree n°6.094 established the Targets Program All for Education, operational mechanism from PDE. It aims to induce public Elementary Schools from the whole country to extent the school day and the curriculum organization, on the perspective of comprehensive education. The adopted methodology to achieve the goal proposed for the research, that presents a qualitative nature, collects data from an Elementary School unit that belongs to the municipality of the city of São Carlos. The research dialogues with conceptions expressed at orientating documents from PME and with legal documents that structure the school, beside semi structured interviews with responsible agents from the program and students that were part of it. On the specific context of the school, the physical and pedagogical constraints stood out. We verified the difficulty on hiring trained teachers and the reduction of the macro fields. In addition, there was the necessity of training the teachers. Also, the space for the accomplishment of the activities from the program was restricted to the classroom, since the place where these activities were performed was not available anymore. Combined to these questions, there was the lack of integration between the PME and the school. We also highlight the lack of concern in the program from municipal managers, since they did not support its execution. Despite the obstacles in the implementation of the PME, it was considered by one of the interviewed a positive action for the students, who in turn, expressed to like to integrate the Program.

The majority of city and county school systems throughout Tennessee and the United States at one time or another experience a budget crisis. In the state of Tennessee, school systems are funded through the Basic Education Program, established in 1992 as part of the Tennessee Education Improvement Act. The lawsuit of 1988, Tennessee Small School Systems v. McWherter, created the Basic Education Program. Through the years, the Basic Education Program has provided extra teaching positions, materials, and supplies and has provided the funding formula for school systems throughout the state. Many high-ranking administrators contend that the Basic Education Program has outlasted its time. School administrators from both city and county school systems indicate the program needs to be restructured to meet the current needs of the schools and students throughout the state of Tennessee. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore the perceptions of educational equality and the advantages/disadvantages of the Basic Education Program. Through quantitative data, city and county school systems were compared for per-pupil spending, average teacher salary, and student achievement in the advanced proficient category for math and reading/language. These data were collected from the Tennessee Department of Education website and the Tennessee Education Association website. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with high-ranking administrators from city and county school systems in Northeast Tennessee. These administrators were purposively selected from systems containing both city and county schools. The findings of this study demonstrated that city school systems have higher per-pupil spending and higher teacher salaries than county systems. City school systems have higher student achievement levels in the advanced proficient category than county school systems. Interview participants agree that educational equity does not exist between city and county school systems in the state of Tennessee. The participants in this study express that although the Basic Education Program in Tennessee was effective, at one time, it should be restructured or redefined to meet the current needs of all students in the state of Tennessee.

The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of diabetes education classes in increasing knowledge and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors. Thirty-three subjects participated in the classes between October 2004 and October 2005. Only six subjects agreed to participate in this study. Changes in knowledge after the classes were measured by a survey test one year following the completion of classes. Survey responses were analyzed using percentages. Subject's Hgb A1C and weights were also collected to measure the direct impact of education on participants' blood glucose management. Overall, participants were very knowledgeable of diabetes symptoms, complications, carbohydrate counting, and serving sizes after the nutrition intervention.