Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-78).

Dissertation (D.P.E.)-- Springfield College, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 148-170.

Thesis (M.A. in human development)--Washington State University, May 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-44).

Thesis (D.P.E.)--Springfield College, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Through observing my grade eight learners I noticed that most of them found the transition from primary to high school difficult as they appeared to struggle to manage their time effectively towards completing and submitting quality class assignments. Houck is one of many researchers to present setting and attaining personal and academic goals as a positive coping method in high-stress situations. The purpose of this inquiry was to analyse and understand how grade eight learners' organize their conversation and what they converse about on their experiences in utilizing goal-setting strategies towards better time-management and self determination in completing a class assignment. This inquiry utilized an ethnomethodological Design whereby both Content Analysis and Conversation Analysis were my mode of analysis. Through the qualitative Content Analysis I was able to identify ten categories or themes that explained the experiences these grade eight learners had in utilizing goal-setting strategies towards better time management and self-determination in completing a class assignment. The Conversation Analysis of the video recorded conversation of a small group of six grade eight learners was analysed on four levels. On the experience of completing an assignment utilizing goal-setting strategies the inquiry found that, the participants demonstrated an understanding of the benefits of goal-setting (planning, prioritizing and meeting deadlines) within the school learning context. As expected, goal-setting has made a positive difference in the attitude of these participants towards themselves, their abilities and their school work. Additionally, through this conversation participant voices and perspectives were honored as they refined ideas and judged whether there was anything of merit offered by their fellow participants. It is recommended that teachers and therapists working with grade eight learners converse with learners within the classroom on how to approach their different learning areas' workload utilizing goal-setting strategies in order to achieve the learning outcomes successfully.

The literature sees community members of Mexican ancestry as persons who are denied full participation in matters of school policies and practices. It also cites that forty percent of children of Mexican ancestry who enter school drop out before they graduate from the twelfth grade. In view of these perceptions, this study was designed to examine what relationship existed among three factors: (1) the goals of a school district; (2) student academic achievement as indicated by GPA; and (3) the intra- group variability among Chicano, Mexican American and Mexican students. This study assumed that if students, parents and teachers prioritized goals congruently, students would do better in school than if there was not a congruity of ranking. However, data results revealed that the existence or nonexistence of goal -ranking congruence among students, parents and teachers made no practical significant difference in student GPA. The research sample included 267 middle school age students of Mexican ancestry, their parents and 74 teachers. The three groups of students, that is, Chicano, Mexican American and Mexican, each ranked communication, work skills, logical thinking, critical thinking skills, study of one's own heritage and other ethnic groups, and accomplishing one's own potential among the seven most important goals. It is recommended that school districts develop their goals with representative input from the total community and that goals be coherently and consistently publicized among professional and lay people in order that the purpose and consistency of school practices be underscored.

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While self-determination researchers emphasize the importance of pursuing internally motivated goals for self-regulation, cybernetic theorists instead highlight the structural features of goal systems and the manner in which such structural features should facilitate controlled behavior in daily life. However, it was our intuition that a consideration of both these literatures might best explain self-regulatory processes in daily life. Along these lines, we conducted two studies in which we measured the degree to which a person's goals are organized in hierarchical manner with respect to their intrinsic versus extrinsic properties. In Study 1, we found that individuals with hierarchical goal structures were less likely to experience increased motivation to quit following frustrating events. Consistent with this pattern, in Study 2 we found that negative feedback concerning goal progress adversely affected only those without hierarchical goal structures. Implications of these findings for perspectives on self-regulation are discussed, as well as potential new directions for testing cybernetic concepts within human functioning.