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This study deals with the problem of evaluating curriculum documents which prescribe or make recommendations for curricular change. In 1980 a number of state and national education authorities in Australia released documents which contained proposals for reformulating the curriculum. Several of these proposals took the form of prescribing or recommending a core curriculum while others opted for a whole curriculum approach to the problem of the selection and transmission of educational knowledge. Although these are presented as practical documents - as proposals for action - they also contain theoretical and ideological components which are usually understated. It is the contention of this study that the evaluation of such proposals should not be based solely on their pragmatic or technical aspects but that their theoretical adequacy and links with ideology should also be taken into consideration. To this end, four of these documents have been selected, two of each type of proposals, and are used to provide material to develop criteria for making evaluative decisions about the theoretical and ideological aspects of curriculum proposals. Internal criteria, based on an analysis of the coherence and consistency of curriculum proposals, are derived by relating the proposals to one of two general theories of education. External criteria derive from a meta-critique where an attempt is made to formulate broader propositions which recognise the existence of opposition among various assumptions and are inclusive of those in conflict.

The purpose of this study is to provide empirical data that reports the association between students? personality type preferences as understood by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality profile and their achievement and perception of satisfaction in web-based learning environments. Data were collected from two graduate level courses offered entirely online using the WebCT learning management system during one semester. The data of interest were extracted from the course information; MBTI profile (learning style), numeric end of course grade (performance), course evaluation (used for satisfaction indicator). The demographic subject profile information such as gender, ethnicity, and age were extracted from the MBTI profile database collection. Data analysis and generation were done using SAS software. For the given sample, the data show the MBTI scale preference for Thinking-Feeling make a statistically significant difference in the satisfaction ratings of Learner-to-Learner and Learner-to-Content interactions within Web-based instructed (WBI) courses. Students with MBTI preference for Feeling rated their satisfaction with Learner-to-Learner and Learner-to-Content interactions in the WBI courses higher than those with Thinking preference. Satisfaction with Learner-to-Instructor interaction was not related to MBTI preference, but was statistically significantly different by age range. MBTI preference, age and gender did not make a difference in achievement as measured by end of course grade in the WBI courses. These findings suggests Web-based instruction should ensure effective methods and strategies are used to accommodate student learning preference with regard to course interactions.

Teachers should have access to new and innovative tools in order to engage and motivate their students in the classroom. This is especially important as many students view school as an antiquated and dull environment â which they must seemingly suffer through to advance. School need not be a dreaded environment. The use of music as a tool for learning can be employed by any teacher to create an engaging and exciting atmosphere where students actively participate and learn to value their classroom experience. Through this study, a product and process was developed that is now available for any 8th grade science teacher interested in using music to enhance their content. In this study 8th grade students (n=41) in a public school classroom actively interacted with modern songs created to enhance the teaching of chemistry. Data were collected and analyzed in order to determine the effects that the music treatment had on student achievement and motivation, compared to a control group (n=35). Current literature provides a foundation for the benefits for music listening and training, but academic research in the area of using music as a tool for teaching content was noticeably absent. This study identifies a new area of research called âMusic-based Teachingâ which results in increases in motivation for 8th grade students learning chemistry. The unintended results of the study are additionally significant as the teacher conducting the treatment experienced newfound enthusiasm, passion, and excitement for her profession.

This study examined the effects of mentoring on standardized achievement for African American males in the elementary and middle grades. Mentoring has been deemed effective regarding social development and various academic indicators, but scant empirical data is available regarding the effects of mentoring on standardized testing. Thus, standardized test data of African American males participating in a district-wide mentoring program were examined over a three-year period. Results show that mentoring has smaller effects on standardized testing, while other factors continue to have substantial impact on student results. Recommendations for improving the academic success of African American males through mentoring and other school-based approaches are provided.

This research effort investigates relationships among factors that typically impact student performance in computer skills. The study utilizes a causal-comparative (ex post facto) research design to examine the effects of several variables on the computer skills of low performing eighth grade students. Students from two county school systems were selected for inclusion in comparison groups. The relative contribution of literacy training, reading comprehension, race, and family income will be considered using multiple regression analysis. The results will be examined for the difference in effect sizes and/or existence of interactions between variables. The findings will be summarized at the conclusion of the study, along with possible implications for future research and instructional planning.

To better understand issues of congruity between the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and its teacher membership, this study surveyed a sample of NCAEâs membership about issues related to curriculum and instruction. The research reported here utilized a model (exchange theory) that makes a distinction between voluntary membership organizations and non-voluntary membership organizations. The survey sampled 263 NCAE teacher members. Descriptive statistics, ANOVAs, and content analysis addressed three specific questions about congruity of positions taken by NCAE on curriculum and instruction issues and the beliefs of NCAE members. Results suggest NCAE members hold views very congruent with NCAE leadership. The importance of making distinctions between teacher views in non-bargaining states is a major implication of the findings.

<p>ABSTRACTMASON, CHERYL LARAY. An Analysis of Patterns of Computer Mediated Communication Within the Social Studies Student Teaching Experience. (Under the direction of Dr. Peter H. Martorella.) The purpose of this research has been to examine the computer mediated communication (CMC) among a cohort of middle school social studies student teachers and their university supervisors. CMC was facilitated by desktop videoconferencing and web-based groupware. Desktop videoconference sessions were held weekly using CU-SeeMe software, while, web-based groupware messages were posted voluntarily with NetForum software. The two modes of CMC provided the student teachers the opportunities for professional collaboration from their field placement. A qualitative design was used to identify patterns of discourse and to describe the participants? uses of technology. As a result of the participants? active participation in an online learning community, opportunities for peer collaboration and reflection were enhanced. Data from online conversations, interviews, and observations suggested that the intervention of CMC in the student teaching experience allowed the participants to engage in self-directed professional dialogue. The findings suggest that the participants translated the use of technology from the personal context to the classroom context. As a result of this, they acquired perceptions of themselves as technology users.Desktop videoconferencing as a mode of CMC provided more immediate and satisfactory feedback for the participants than the web-based groupware.<P>

<p>ABSTRACTJACKSON, ALECIA YOUNGBLOOD. Peer Response Groups Using Electronic and Traditional Communications: A Portraiture of a Class. (Under the direction of Dr. Carol A. Pope.) This participatory action research project was a qualitative inquiry into the contextual variables that influence peer response groups using electronic and traditional communications. The research participants, students of the teacher/researcher, were twenty-two university freshmen enrolled in two sections of a reading and writing course required for students with low verbal SAT scores. Students wrote five autobiographical stories in the narrative genre. For the first two writings, students paired with the same peer from their class for the face-to-face conferences. For the third writing assignment, students had both in-class conferences with the same peer in addition to an e-mail conference with a peer from the other class. Students used e-mail only to communicate with both partners about writing assignments four and five. Data collection took place throughout the fifteen weeks of the semester and consisted of participant observations, document analysis of students' reaction journals, document analysis of students? first and second drafts of writing (with peer comments), and individual interviews. Findings are presented as a portraiture of the collective classes and a portraiture of a peer response triad. The main theme that emerged from the findings is "acts of negotiation and balance." In general, students depended on the established social relationships with their in-class partners when making revision decisions. Students acknowledged that e-mail exchanges about writing were convenient and widened their audience, but they did not work to establish a relationship with their e-mail partners. Most students valued the complementary aspects of using the two different modes of communication for feedback about their writing. However, preference for mode of communication was secondary to their peers' possessing qualities of honesty, trustworthiness, and sensitivity. How peers achieved this rapport within their relationships was idiosynchratic to each response group. This study concluded that individual student attitudes, values, and expectations influence and are influenced by multiple contextual variables in the writing classroom (i.e., physical context, social context, mode of communication, the peer response group, and time). A model of reciprocity is proposed to illuminate the complex dynamics within peer response groups. Future research on peer response groups should include more systematic inquiry into contextual forces that contribute to the success or collapse of peer response groups. Teachers should work to understand the inevitable interchanges between individual students and class context in order to assist their students as they grow and develop as readers and writers in peer response groups. <P>

<p>The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to examine a new approach to information delivery and communication within Teacher Education courses. Advanced technologies in the Internet, Listserv, E-mail, NetForum and electronic forms were integrated, and the learning was guided by the clinical analysis/reflection and structured self-evaluation in a differentiated environment to promote individual development in both cognition and ethics.A cluster sample of sixty-eight pre-service teachers enrolled in the Introduction to Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences course in the Spring of 1999 at the North Carolina State University. Both pretest and posttest were conducted using Defining Issues Test by James Rest for the evaluation of moral growth of the students and Computing Concerns Questionnaire by Jean Martin for the concerns of the students in computing. The qualitative conclusion reached by the researcher suggested students have improved in both quantity and quality of their work more than previous semesters. The quantitative data showed a trend of decrease in students' concerns with regard to computing through Technology-Assisted-Reflection. Despite the statistically insignificant result, study indicated moral development of our pre-service teachers at the Stage 4 of moral development, which is within the norm of the national standard for undergraduate students. <P>