The effectiveness and cost of two alternate models of formative evaluation for printed instructional materials was investigated. Ten instructional designers were divided into two groups: one group of five designers formatively evaluated and revised a printed module of instruction using student data as a basis for making the revisions; the other group of five designers used instructional editing guidelines incorporating the attributes of effective instruction, to make the revisions. Instructional effectiveness was based upon: (a) student performance on the module posttest, and (b) a content analysis of the modules. The data revealed no significant difference in student performance between the two formative evaluation models. However, it cost significantly more to develop the modules in which student data was used. The content analysis also revealed differences between the ten modules in terms of the attributes listed in the instructional editing guidelines. The modules revised by the designers who used the instructional editing guidelines incorporated more of the attributes of effective instruction than the modules revised by the designers who used student data. However, the modules revised on the basis of student data more consistently matched instructional content and posttest items. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-09, Section: A, page: 2873. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of Florida business education teachers toward perceived barriers to implementing the Florida developed competency-based business education curriculum and to identify characteristics of those business education teachers most likely to receive and adopt curriculum innovation. / A five-part survey instrument was mailed to a proportional random sample of 325 Florida business teachers in secondary schools, vocational-technical centers, and community colleges. A co-relational descriptive design was used for the study to investigate attitudes of the teachers toward change and barriers to implementing the competency-based business education curriculum. / One-way Analysis of Variance was used to determine differences in teachers' attitudes toward barriers to implementing competency-based curriculum and change. Results of these analyses indicated that vocational-technical center teachers saw fewer barriers to competency-based business education curriculum implementation while secondary teachers saw the greatest number of barriers. Those barriers to competency-based business education curriculum implemetation most often identified were lack of time and clerical assistance. Vocational-technical center business teachers were found to be more receptive to change while secondary business teachers were found to be least receptive. / Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that the most predictive demographic variables for perceived barriers were the type of school, the amount of inservice, related work experience, and working in the vocational geographic region (IV) of the state. The more inservice the teacher had received, the fewer barriers were perceived. This was also true for specific classifications of barriers for the amount of related work experience and geographic region. Amount of inservice, type of school, and the number of students were the most predictive of teachers' attitudes toward change. / A correlation between the disposition toward change and barriers showed the strongest relationship to exist between barriers and individualization of instruction/behavioral objectives and team teaching/differentiated staffing. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2031. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Investigation was made to (1) accumulate researcher visual, auditory, and kinesthetic left and right hemispheric reading behaviors and to (2) determine if modality-specific brain dominance patterns were related to reading achievement. From previous research similar numbers of left and right hemispheric reading behaviors were accumulated implying the importance of each hemisphere to reading. When 346 right handed, seven and eight year old children's reading achievement was compared using ANOVA statistical design to eight varied modality-specific hemispheric dominance patterns, the following resulted: (1) neither children with predominantly left nor right hemispheric dominance patterns were significantly greater in achievement, (2) children with crossed dominance patterns were weaker in achievement than children with unilateral dominance of either hemisphere, and (3) children, comprising 8.7% of the sample who were right handed with heavy left handed latency and who were more right ear dominant, had significantly lower reading achievement at the 0.21 level using F-Test measures than any other hemispheric pattern. Typically, though statistically no longer as significant, these pupils were also visually dominant with their left eye creating a double crossed dominance with their left eye creating a double crossed dominance between left eye and right hand and right ear and left handed latency. / The value of this study lies in demonstrating that the left hemisphere is no more important in both reading functions and achievement than the right hemisphere, both appear similarly involved in reading behaviors and achievement. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0654. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This naturalistic study considered some relationships between the motivational variables expectancy of success and perceived value, instructional philosophy, and skills and knowledge achievement for 309 prison inmates who participated in a social skills course taught by college instructors. The research evolved out of both expectancy-value theory which considers that people must value a goal and expect success in order to expend effort in pursuit of the goal, and a general lack of consideration of motivation in instructional design models and theory. / Students with higher expectancy and value scores were expected to achieve more; the value variable was expected to account for more of the observed variability in achievement than the expectancy variable; knowledge and skills achievement were expected to depend on motivation in higher and lower ability groups; for higher ability persons, achievement subscores were not expected to depend differentially on motivation; the skills score was expected to depend more on motivation for lower ability persons than for higher ability persons; the difference between knowledge and skills scores was expected to depend on motivation for lower ability persons; and higher ability students were expected to achieve more with independence-oriented instructors while lower ability students were expected to achieve more with conformity-oriented instructors. / The data supported the hypotheses that both expectancy and value variables are positively related to achievement, especially with lower ability students, and that for higher ability students, knowledge and skills subscores did not differ significantly. Contrary to the prediction, achievement depended more on expectancy than value. Neither the hypotheses involving differences between the motivation variables and higher and lower ability students on the knowedge and skills test, nor the hypothesis concerning instructional philosophy and higher and lower ability subjects were supported by the data. Motivational theory is considered to be of utilitarian value for inclusion in instructional design models. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-09, Section: A, page: 2671. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Despite massive expenditures in research and development, quality instructional products often have less than optimal impact upon student achievement. Many educators have concluded that traditional modes of product dissemination into schools contribute substantially to this problem. Traditional dissemination practices display a retail orientation, failing to consider the difficulty experienced by school practitioners in making decisions about product adoption. / Recognition of the limited decision making capability in schools resulted in the development of the Linkage Model of Dissemination. Linkage trains school faculties to employ a systematic, problem-solving approach to making decisions about product adoption. The model encourages widespread teacher participation in decision making, coordinated by change agents known as linkers. / This study investigated participatory decision making and systematic problem solving, within the Linkage Model, and their relationship to product acceptance. Data were collected from faculty members in elementary schools participating in the Florida Linkage System. The following major findings emerged from investigation of five research questions: (1) The correlation between teacher participation in decision making and acceptance of an instructional product was relatively low. (2) The extent of teacher participation in decision making was moderately related to the leadership style of the principal. The principal's leadership style bore no significant relationship to product acceptance. (3) The implementation of systematic problem solving displayed a moderate correlation with acceptance of an instructional product. (4) School practitioners (facilitators) trained in systematic problem solving perceived the following: (a) Systematic problem solving was useful and practical. (b) Linkers were most helpful with the tasks of problem identification and planning for implementation. (c) Linkers were second in helpfulness within and across all problem-solving tasks, exceeded by school-based curriculum coordinators. District personnel and external consultants, due to lack of proximity to schools, were less helpful. This perception was in accordance with the design of the Florida Linkage System. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3260. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

In their taxonomy of educational outcomes and objectives, Gagne and Briggs (1979) suggest consideration of five domains of learning outcomes when designing instruction: information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills. Briggs and Wager (1981) provide a summary matrix of how learning in each domain may support learning in the other domains, but there is little research to furnish principles for sequencing instruction among the different domains. / The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of varying sequences of instruction for a specified unit of a methods course in elementary school physical education on pre-service teachers' performance on a posttest of information and intellectual skills and their attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding children's physical education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-07, Section: A, page: 2444. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that presentation of ideas by video picture and by sound track in a documentary had on the learning and retention of those ideas by elderly people. An existing documentary on the Xinguana, an Aborigines tribe in South America, was used in the study. A procedure whereby ideas presented in the video were recorded and then written as a script was developed for use in the study. Individual ideas in the script of the audio and the script of the video were identified through a propositional analysis. The two resulting propositional analyses were then compared to identify ideas which were presented either iconically, linguistically, or in combination. / The six resulting domains of presentation (2 levels x 3 sources) were then sampled to obtain the ideas which would be tested on a cued-recall test. A volunteer group of senior citizens at a Senior Citizen Center were shown the documentary and then asked to answer the questions on the cued-recall test and a demographic questionnaire. / Retention for each source and level domain ranged from a low of 41% to a high of 65%. Overall retention was 49%. A significant interaction was found between the source of presentation and the level of the idea being presented. Retention of main ideas presented in the video and audio modes in combination was substantially higher than those presented only iconically or only linguistically. Only small differences were found in retention of subordinate ideas from the various sources. / Significant positive correlations were found between grade level completed and five of the six domains. Also significant negative correlations were found between age and three of the six domains. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-03, Section: A, page: 0780. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Ex post facto research was conducted exploring the relationship between field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles and persistence and performance in the instructional television curriculum of a Florida community college. The conceptual framework was the influence of field dependence and field independence as predictor variables of persistence rates and performance levels in the impersonal pedagogical approach of instructional television, an approach that is incongruent with the cognitive style of field-dependent learners, who prefer reliance on human interaction, or the "field," for analysis and structure in ambiguous information-seeking conditions. The expectation was that if a field-dependent or field-independent cognitive style were systematically associated with the instructional television program, inferences could be made about completion rates and performance levels and an explanation would be yielded for recurring high levels of attrition and unsuccessful performance. / The 103 subjects were categorized by cognitive style; by the nature of the disciplines in which they were enrolled: the natural sciences, the academic interests of field-independent learners, or the behavioral sciences, the academic interests of field-dependent learners; and by gender, age, and ethnicity. / The following conclusions emerged from this study: (1) Field-independent learners excelled field-dependent learners in successful performance. (2) Field-independent learners excelled field-dependent learners in successful performance in both the natural sciences and the behavioral sciences. (3) Field-independent females excelled both field-independent males and field-dependent females in successful performance, and field-independent males excelled field-dependent males in successful performance. (4) Field-independent learners in the under 22 age category excelled field-dependent learners in the under 22 age category in successful performance. (5) Field-dependent Caucasian learners excelled field-dependent Black learners in successful performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0402. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this investigator's study was to ascertain the critical compentencies needed by instructional supervisors as perceived by selected school personnel in Florida. A secondary purpose was to determine the competencies needing to be emphasized by Florida School District supervisors in order to perform effectively on the job. / A list of competency statements was identified through the review of the literature: (1) on the role of expectations of supervision, (2) role of the supervisor in Florida, (3) development and identification of leadership competencies, (4) studies related to impact legislation, (5) Florida legislation passed 1967-1984 and (6) question-answer responses acquired from administrative-supervisory personnel concerning legislation affecting the instructional program in schools. / There were 120 instruments (response sheets) distributed to the outside panel members comprised of a variety of supervisory job titles. These were made up from the State Department of Education consultants, university professors, district administrative/supervisory personnel and Teacher Education Center and inservice staff development directors. / The outside panel of respondents was asked to evaluate and rank order the 73 competency statements on a two-column scale. / A taxonomy was used to classify the competency statements. This included Critical Functions and Supervisory Domains. / Of the seventy-three competencies, the data revealed that sixty-nine were accepted on the evaluation scale and sixty-seven on the rank order scale. Among the sixty-nine competencies accepted, 8 out of 23 or 49 percent were evaluated in the I - Conceptual Function cluster as "always necessary." Of the sixty-seven competencies "always needing emphasized" 9 out of 23 or 39 percent were in the I - Conceptual Function cluster. It may be concluded that such a small number is not significant enough to show any overall differences in the evaluation of the competencies being necessary as opposed to the rank order of these competencies being emphasized for Florida instructional supervisory personnel job performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, Section: A, page: 0058. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of the temporal presentation of cognitive training on motor skill acquisition, retention, and transfer. Four groups of subjects (N = 8 in each group) were presented training, based on the cognitive aspects of a basic flight maneuver, at different times during the acquisition of the motor skills needed to perform that maneuver. Results indicate that the performance of the group that received extensive cognitive training prior to attempting the associated motor skills was significantly better (p < .05) than the groups that received the same cognitive training interspersed during the initial learning of the motor skills. This finding was true even when the interspersed training was preceded by extensive cognitive pretraining. Results also show that cognitive training interspersed with motor skill learning produced some interference in learning as the performance of the two groups receiving the training was below that of the control group which received no cognitive training whatsoever. Transfer of training to a similar maneuver indicated that the group that was initially trained using only extensive cognitive pretraining performed significantly better (p < .05) than the group that received only interspersed cognitive training. There were no significant differences between groups on the retention trial. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, Section: A, page: 0066. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.