Published also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago. / Studies from the Psychological Laboratory of the University of Chicago.

Published also as thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago. / Studies from the Psychological Laboratory of the University of Chicago.

<p> The ability to change is essential in the field of education and of great concern to teacher educators. While some change initiatives have succeeded, many others have failed to be transformative or sustainable. A need exists to better understand the process of behavioral change to inform the design and evaluation of change initiatives and assess progress using a common vocabulary. This study addresses this need by synthesizing change models from clinical psychology, advertising design, and social cultural learning to create a theoretical model for behavioral change. A temporal change model composed of stages has theoretical and practical significance for those promoting behavioral change in education and other professional fields. This new framework was applied to two groups of pre- and in-service teachers engaged in a change initiative around questioning behavior. Data analyses indicated that individuals entered the model at different entry points and moved sequentially through stages, with participants generating the lowest pre-intervention percentages of the target behavior making the most amount of relative change. Qualitative data revealed resistance to change due to personal attitudes and beliefs about roles in conjunction with the behavior. The utilization of behavioral change as the focus of this study necessitated the reconceptualization of behavior as scientific knowledge capable of being defined, modeled, and taught. Additional theoretical and practical significance is the positioning of other behaviors as knowledge, capable of being structured and generalized.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 2005. / Chairs: David M. Koceja; Paul R. Surburg.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-07, Section: A, page: 2528. Chairs: David M. Koceja; Paul R. Surburg. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 5, 2006)."

<p> The abstract is not available from PDF copy and paste.</p>

<p> Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric disorder among children (APA, 2000). This information is especially relevant to teachers in the elementary school population where this disorder is often first evidenced (Wilens, Faraone, Biederman, &amp; Gunawardene, 2003). Individuals with AD/HD frequently experience significant difficulty meeting social/emotional, academic, and behavioral expectations. </p><p> Even with the high prevalence and significance of AD/HD, very little research has investigated teachers' knowledge of AD/HD or defined a protocol for quickly updating teachers' knowledge of this subject. In particular, there is limited literature examining primary-school teachers' overall knowledge in this area (Kos, Richdale, &amp; Jackson, 2004). </p><p> This study developed and assessed the effectiveness of a 45 minute on-line accelerated AD/HD training developed for elementary school teachers. This on-line Accelerated Elementary School Professional Development AD/HD Training was geared towards educators who have some basic knowledge and experiences with children who have AD/HD but who have been unable to keep abreast of new findings regarding AD/HD and associated gender, culture, and environmental factors. </p><p> Training effectiveness was assessed by comparing results obtained in on-line pre and post training testing as well as by assessing responses to 11 post training "interview questions". The basic assessment instrument used was the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Survey (KADDS). Each training participant completed a Descriptive Demographics Questionnaire which was correlated with their KADDS' test results. </p><p> Analysis of participants' responses to the KADDS questions, across the three categories of knowledge reflected in the KADDS, combined with a qualitative assessment of responses to the Post Training Interview Questions, support the conclusion that the study was able to assess the effectiveness of the 45 minute Accelerated Elementary School Professional Development AD/HD Training (herein referred to as the "Accelerated AD/HD Training"). This training was developed to increase teachers' awareness of their significant role in the early identification of children at risk for AD/HD and to equip them with general knowledge of AD/HD as well as its symptoms and interventions. The training provides essential information regarding gender, cultural and environmental considerations as they impact presentations of AD/HD. As part of this study, strengths and weakness of the training were identified and recommendations were provided to address specific training weaknesses as well as KADDS shortfalls in the areas of AD/HD knowledge relating to gender, culture, and environmental factors. This study is one of the first to demonstrate that a web-based medium can quickly improve the AD/HD knowledge of elementary school teachers. </p><p> Following implementation of noted training improvements, the protocol may serve as a model for development of future AD/HD trainings and also specifically address the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Recommendations were also made regarding possible future studies. The studies identified are based upon observations made during this study and teachers' responses to Post Training Interview Questions.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Kinesiology, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 7, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 3794. Adviser: John B. Shea.

Working memory provides us with the capacity to both store and process information. It is a fundamental ability that we use throughout our daily lives to interpret, make sense of and understand the world around us. In particular, verbal working memory capacity has long been recognised as foundational to children’s ability to learn, and is especially implicated in language development, reading, comprehension and mathematics abilities. Recognising the fundamental importance of working memory, seminal research has recently demonstrated that repeated practice on computerised training programmes can lead to increases in children’s working memory capacity. However, while these programmes are promising, there are some inherent difficulties which are likely to restrict their application and uptake within the school context, both for the individual child or whole class. To overcome these limitations, the present research aimed to develop and evaluate a practical, whole-class working memory training programme. Achieving this could potentially offer every teacher and child a viable, effective way to improve their working memory capacity and, in doing so, increase their fundamental learning ability. The first phase of the research aimed to create a theoretically effective and practical programme which was grounded in the needs and preferences of teachers and children. This was achieved by first developing prototype materials based on the theoretical literature of what would make an effective programme, before drawing upon the experiences and expertise of teachers within a focus group, and children within a playtest exploration. A wide range of proposals were made which had implications for the final design and implementation procedures. The final working memory training programme involved pairs of children engaging in a series of five different card-based working memory activities, each with three levels of difficulty. The second phase of the research involved the implementation and evaluation of the programme within a mainstream primary school classroom for fifteen minutes a day for six weeks. Measures of children’s working memory demonstrated that they made significant gains in their working memory, and verbal short-term memory. These improvements were significant both immediately following the programme and at a two month follow up. Children’s responses on a questionnaire, as well as interviews with the children and class teacher demonstrated that the programme proved easy to use in the classroom to the extent that it was run almost autonomously by the children. Reports also indicated that children found the programme to be an engaging and enjoyable experience. The demonstration of a practical and effective whole class working memory training programme holds considerable potential to increase children’s capacity to learn and achieve. The wide range of factors which potentially enable a WM training programme to be effective, enjoyable and practical are discussed, and the future implications of this research are explored.

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