"The purpose of this study was to determine the status of the environmental conditions of home economics departments in Polk County, Florida, in relation to the aspects of pupil safety, physical features of the classroom, and the teacher work area. Careful and thoughtful designing of the physical environment should be chosen and used so that it contributes fundamentally to the objectives of the home economics curriculum"--Chapter 1. / "August 1975." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Department of Home Economics Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Agnes F. Ridley, Professor Directing Research Problem. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53).

This study was designed to attain the following purposes: To determine the exploratory courses which were being offered in the eighth grade of the five-year high school programs. To determine the course content of these exploratory courses in homemaking. To determine the practices followed in organizing and conducting these courses. To determine the length of the exploratory course in homemaking. To determine what effect the eighth-grade exploratory homemaking course had on enrollment in the vocational course in homemaking. / Master of Science