The purpose of this mixed methods program evaluation study was to investigate the ways in which one public school district and its teachers implemented a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative. This study also measured teachers' computer self-efficacy, as measured by Cassidy and Eachus' (2002) Computer User Self-Efficacy Scale, and investigated the relationship between the teachers' computer self-efficacy and use of BYOT. The study sought to discover the successes and challenges the teachers in the district faced with implementation in their schools and classrooms. Participants included teachers in the four high schools in the district. The study used the CIPP model of program evaluation to guide data collection on the context, input, process, and products of the BYOT program. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected using teacher surveys, extant student surveys conducted by the district, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The successes teachers had included student engagement, ease of classroom research, and productivity uses of student-owned technology. The challenges teachers faced included students' inappropriate use of technology, difficulty accessing the district's wireless network, and the task of monitoring students using BYOT. The teachers in the district had high computer self-efficacy, but its relationship to successful integration of technology was unclear. Recommendations for future research and continuous program improvement include providing appropriate bandwidth for successful BYOT programs, a process for managing students' use of BYOT, and appropriate professional development to support integration of BYOT into classroom instruction.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the ability grouping of a student and his/her attitude toward teachers and the learning process. Three groups of students enrolled in the Logan County School System in the spring of 1988 were administered the Arlin-Hills Attitude Survey. These groups of students were those who had been identified as gifted/talented, special education (EMH or LD) and regular class students. The findings of this study indicated that the three groups did not differ significantly in attitudes toward teachers or attitudes toward the learning process.

A follow-up study of five Senior Classes of Oldham County High School (Kentucky) was conducted to determine students' initial status six months after graduation. Study findings based on survey responses from slightly aver 83 % of the 2,025 students listed as seniors in the spring semester for the years 1979-1983 included the following: It was found that 58% of the respondents entered educational activities, 36% entered the work force and 6% were unemployed. Eighty-five percent of all graduates entering college did so at an in-state, state supported institution. Results further indicated that 25% of all graduates attended either the University of Kentucky or the University of Louisville and that most students entered four year colleges in the educational category and retail sales in the employment categories. It is suggested that Oldham County High School could benefit from a reevaluation of the school's curricular program offerings and further study comparing the academic program followed in high school versus actual college and/or career pursuits. The study includes data tables showing a summary percentage of survey respondents by class year and sex, educational and occupational categories, by specific postsecondary schools attended and by academic programs indicated in high school. Appendices include more detailed information by class and sex.

The purpose of this study was to find out: the number and kinds of schools in which industrial arts is being taught; what industrial arts subjects are being taught in the approved high schools; the amount of teaching time given by each teacher to the subject; the number of teachers and scholastic preparation of each; the school from which each teacher got his training; his age and salary; the teaching experience of the teachers; and as far as possible, the progress of industrial arts.

It is the purpose of this study to determine to what extent industrial arts has been developed as a part of the educational program in the United States.

Consumer research has indicated that financially uneducated adults who live in rural areas often make poor financial decisions that plague them for decades. As a result of increased home foreclosures, student loan defaults, and bankruptcies, policymakers at the state and federal level, business leaders, academic communities, and non-profit agencies have identified a need for quality financial education programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a financial literacy program created for financially uneducated adults living in a rural community, as measured by participants' perceptions of their financial concepts knowledge and financial management ability after program completion. The conceptual framework was guided by the transtheoretical model of change theory, which holds that an individual's behavior and beliefs affect his or her surroundings and self-perceptions. Data were collected from 36 former program participants through a mailed 3-part survey developed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-sample chi-square tests to determine whether responses to 3 survey items measuring knowledge gain and improved ability to manage finances were equally distributed. The tests were significant and indicated that all participants (100%) agreed/strongly agreed that they were more financially knowledgeable after the financial literacy program and could use what they learned independently. Most participants (86%) also reported that, after completing the financial literacy program, they were better able manage their finances on their own. Implications for positive social change include providing research-based findings to the program administrators, which may assist in promoting the program and improving the financial literacy of the adults in this rural community.

This thesis reports the results of studies set up to investigate formative assessment in the context of a computer managed learning (CML) practice test. The studies sought to determine whether taking the practice test affects performance on later CML assessed tests for first year university students and to determine the characteristics of the most effective CML practice test. The study was carried out in the context of CML testing at Curtin University of Technology. Because data were collected in a real testing environment, the research questions were addressed using a series of small studies, each focusing on a one-semester unit for first year students. Those students who sat a practice test improved their performance from the practice to the assessed test. Further, they outperformed the non practice test group on the assessed test. The effect was statistically significant in eleven of the twelve studies where CML test results were investigated. Student ability, anxiety level, and sex did not affect test performance or choice to sit the practice test. Students preferred to be given the correct answer for an incorrect response and to have a practice test that was the same length as the assessed test but students continued to show improved performance regardless of these conditions. They reported that they used the feedback in a variety of ways including identifying important areas of content, identifying their own error areas and as a motivator for further study. The findings suggest that using the CML system as a formative assessment tool improves student performance on summative assessment. The practice test is contributing to improved performance, however this improvement cannot be attributed to a single factor. In those cases where the practice test only partially covers the content of the assessed test, the improvement is seen on that common part, however when ++ / there was no overlap of content the group who did the practice test still performed better on the assessed test than the group who did not. This suggests that a contributing factor may be familiarity either with the CML system, items or test type. It is also possible that the beneficial effect was due to prior exposure to the CML system and that only one test is required for this purpose.This research has implications for current teaching practices because the acceptance of a practice test provides feedback to both students and lecturers prior to the assessed test. The optimal practice test c covers the same content as the assessed test with the same number of items and provides the correct answer for a item answered incorrectly. The key recommendation for use of the CML system is the provision of a practice test for formative purposes, for the use of both lecturers and students. Lecturers need to encourage student participation not just on an initial practice test but on all practice tests provided. Students need to be encouraged to review their error summary, as is the current practice in the CML Laboratory. Lecturers need to make more use of the feedback provided by the tests, in terms of content coverage, revision and consolidation of work, and quality of test items.

Understanding the influences on e-learning effectiveness in workplaces is a necessary, but contentious task. The transfer of knowledge about e-learning from higher education to workplace situations has resulted in discursive tensions between expectations and practice. Measurement of the aspects of e-learning effectiveness is often discussed in the literature in terms of discrete economic, pedagogical and technological criteria. Few studies have investigated e-learning use in terms of the complexity of factors in a workplace environment and there is a scarcity of relevant substantive models of e-learning effectiveness factors in workplace contexts. This study aimed to improve understanding of the factors influencing e-learning effectiveness, particularly in large, dispersed workplaces and to develop a model based on the understanding of these factors. This study represents the first external research into the Australian Army’s e-learning projects. The Army was selected as a large, dispersed workplace organisation with ten years experience in designing and using multimedia rich CD-ROM learning materials. The Army had undertaken trialing and evaluation of its e-learning courses prior to providing substantial infrastructure for implementation in training centres. These evaluations indicated e-learning effectiveness in terms of training efficiencies and learning outcomes that at least matched traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. That is, that e-learning fitted with the training requirements. The study was aimed at the understanding of how the Army’s workplace environment was influencing the effectiveness of e-learning courses from multiple perspectives.Using an inductive Grounded Theory approach provided an established analytical method for developing a substantive model. While the field-based research was limited to a single organisation, it included multiple sites across Australia and a cross-section of e-learning activities and respondents throughout the organisational hierarchy. The main data source was 101 open-ended interviews conducted with respondents at Army bases or by phone. Where interviewing was not possible due to Army operational concerns, questionnaires were used (129 responses). Other data sources included Army documents and the researcher’s observations and participation in e-learning classes.While the Army’s internal evaluation processes had justified the adoption of e-learning courses, it was evident in the study that the interaction of factors within the Army’s culture was influencing perceptions and experiences of e-learning effectiveness. An Integrated E-learning Culture Model (IECM) based on the analysis of stakeholder perspectives in the Army is presented. The IECM is based on the four factors that emerged as influencing e-learning effectiveness, which were organisational priorities, the learning environment, the instructor’s role and learners’ needs. The main concern for respondents was to manage tensions associated with these four factors by integrating e-learning into the organisational culture. That is, e-learning effectiveness was discussed in terms of a process of alignment of the e-learning culture with the organisational culture.Comparison of the IECM with some empirical studies of e-learning use in other large, dispersed workplaces indicates its relevance outside the Army context. An E-learning Comparative Alignment Framework (ECAF) for using the IECM in other research was developed in this study. Further comparison of the ECAF with alignment theories from related research disciplines suggests areas for further theoretical research. This thesis proposes that by adopting the perspective that e-learning environments are not value-free, it is possible to identify and align the competing priorities and discourses that influence how e-learning effectiveness is constructed and experienced in an organisation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a developmental approach to teaching pre—school children vocabulary nouns. The subjects were drawn from a pool of pre—school children in an Atlanta privately owned Head Start Center. A sample of ten children was chosen from the twenty children in the Head Start class. Their chronological age ranged from 4 years 1 month to 1 years 11 months. The experimental treatment employed in this study consisted of three parts; picture notins identification, word nouns identificatlon, and picture—word association. The T-test for corrolated scores was employed to analyze the significant differences between the mean score obtained under the experimental condition and the control treatment condition. A comparative analysis was employed in order to determine the effective—nass of the two treatments.

The study examines the relationship between preschool teacher qualifications, preschool teacher accountability, and it impact on kindergarten readiness in Atlanta, Georgia. The independent variables are preschool teacher work setting, teacher qualifications, teacher professional development, and teacher accountability. The dependent variable is the degree to which the indicator of kindergarten readiness as measured by the Rrisance Screening Instrument. A quantitative survey was distributed to one hundred teachers of four-year-old students in Atlanta, Georgia. Sixty-two teachers of four-year-old students responded via U.S. mail. The results of the study indicate there is a statistically significant relationship between teacher's professional developn~enta nd teacher's accountability to the site administrators. There is also a significant relationship between teachers' professional development and teachers' accountability to central office!state department. Also, there is a significant relationship between teachers' professional development and teachers' accountability to parents. Based upon the results of this study, it is recommended that preschool teachers be afforded the opportunities for professional development. Administrators should expect documents and inspect teaching practices to ensure students are ready for kindergarten.