The purpose of the study was to analyze the perceptions of teacher trainees, first and second year practicing teachers, college educators, and public school administrators regarding the effectiveness of the undergraduate teacher preparation programs at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana; and Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The analysis of the programs may possibly be applied to teacher preparation programs in Sierra Leone, West Africa.In the study an attempt was made to discover new concepts and practices and potential approaches that would strengthen the undergraduate teacher preparation programs at Ball State University and Western Michigan University. To secure evidence concerning the existing conditions, the following population was randomly selected.(a) Two hundred teacher trainees, two hundred first and second year practicing teachers, fifty-five college educators, and fifty-five public school administrators from Ball State University.(b) Two hundred teacher trainees, two hundred first and second year practicing teachers, fifty college educators, and fifty public school administrators from Western Michigan University.The questionnaire method for obtaining data was determined to be the proper technique and some direct observation of each program was also made. The sampling included every third person in all four main groups. Based on the number of returned and usable questionnaires,(a) the perceptions of one hundred and sixty-five teacher trainees, one hundred first and second year practicing teachers, fifty-one college educators, and fifty-four public school administrators from Ball State University were tabulated, computed, described and analyzed.(b) the perceptions of seventy-nine teacher trainees, forty-eight first and second year practicing teachers, twenty-two college educators and eighteen public school administrators from Western Michigan University were tabulated, computed, described and analyzed.Significant variables also included sex, professional experience, and teaching/administrative positions.The results of the findings revealed that despite the varied expectations of what constitutes an effective teacher preparation program, a high degree of consensus was obtained among the respondents that most of the activities and practices carried out at Ball State University and Western Michigan University were effective. In most instances, the respondents indicated the items as outstanding and/or above average.Supportive and favorable remarks were expressed for specific programs such as special education programs for the handicapped and the disabled; the TOD programs; the multi-cultural programs; and the adult and continuing education program at Ball State University.Based on the findings of the study the following conclusions were made:1. The instructional programs in terms of the curricular content and instructional strategies or modules were effective.2. The supervisory and other related activities such as classroom observation, testing, grading, communication patterns in the pre-student and student teaching in-service programs were effective.3. The personal relationship between the teaching staff and the students was effective.4. The college policies and administrative procedures were effective.5. The motivation, rewards, and sanctions provided forpersonal and institutional growth were effective.6. The evaluative process in terms of staff and studentratings was effective and consistent in general.7. The total evaluative program in terms of the mechanisms of adaptability and flexibility was effective.8. The teaching, research and public services providedwere effective.Areas of concern that may need some examination were general studies; micro-teaching and laboratory experience; student advising in the area of course selection; the selection process in the pre-student and student teaching stages; activities relating to sensitivity/group dynamics; understanding the relationship with the opposite sexes; learning and respecting other cultures; student involvement in the selection of courses; and, communication patterns between college staff, students and teaching staff and the administrative staff.

This study examines a frontier businessman and the evolution of his business enterprises in conjunction with the emergence of northern Indiana from its frontier period to the time that it became a settled agricultural region with strong ties to the national economy. The subject is Allen Hamilton, an Irish immigrant who settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1823 and remained here until his death in 18514. Hamilton's involvement with the affairs of the state government, the Miami and Potawatomi Indians, retailing, land speculation, the promotion and construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal and numerous plank road and railroad projects, the fur trade and the Indian trade, the second State Bank of Indiana and the creation of the Hamilton ink involved him deeply in the economic development and the political affairs of Indiana and, to a lesser extent, of the North.This study of Hamilton's rise to wealth parallels the development of Indiana and is intertwined with it. At nearly all points in his career Hamilton achieved financial success by meeting the needs of the developing region. He functioned at first as a fur trade .end Indian trader, meeting the needs of the Indians as well as the large Eastern fur merchants. Toward the end of his career he was primarily a banker and promoter of internal improvements, serving both his own interests and those of the expanding white population of northern Indiana for credit and adequate transportation facilities.In order to compete successfully as a businessman, Hamilton found it necessary to become involved with the politics of the region and at times was himself a successful candidate for local and state offices. Generally, however, his political activities were confined to the support of influential men from northern Indiana, several of whom were his business partners. The ability to form judicious alliances which took advantage of both political influence and entrepreneurial talent was a chief factor of Hamilton's success. His business partnerships demonstrated the evolution of his activities and his partners included the most important men in that section of the state. These partnerships were flexible, allowing for significant alteration as new opportunities (such as the milling of wheat) presented themselves and older avenues to wealth (such as the fur trade) dried up. As Hamilton outgrew the older partnerships he created others that reflected not only the need for a different type of expertise in his partner but also his own changed economic, social and political situation. One of the consistencies of Hamilton's partnerships was their diversification which made them more fluid in nature and more capable of capitalizing on new opportunities.Hamilton's rise to wealth was significant not only to himself. His wealthy Irish origins had set for him a model to which the wealthy should aspire. Correspondingly, he was a social leader in Fort Wayne and nurtured in his offspring a respect for the highest of goals in education and civic responsibility. He was a patrician and a symbol not only of the opportunities of the West, but also of the fact that the West was far from being an area inhabited by social equals. Indeed, Hamilton's extensive commitment to land speculation was more than simply a means ofachieving wealth. The possession of large tracts of land symbolized, for Hamilton, the recreation of his family's former status in Ireland, powerfully augmenting the traditional status gained through land ownership in the United States.Through Allen Hamilton one may view not only the development of Indiana in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, but also a pattern of economic maturation that was often experienced in areas far to the east and west of the state.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

This thesis describes the development of computer programs and the theory for the calculations of stopping power and nuclear reaction kinematics. The nuclear reaction kinematics program computes position and nonrelativistic energy data as well as center-of-mass solid angle transformations and information on detector resolution for nuclear reactions and elastic scattering experiments involving two-body final states. The stopping power program calculates stopping power (an index of the charged particle energy absorption properties of a material) of elemental absorbers for protons, deuterons, tritons, He3, and alpha particles from minimal input data. The calculated stopping powers are accurate to within one per cent over the nonrelativistic energy range of 2 to 12 Mev.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.