published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the GED-ON-TV project operated by Muncie Community Schools in 1986-87, and to look at the effect of the program on under-educated adults in east central Indiana. The study also offered recommendations for improving the operation of the GED-ON-TV project for use by other adult education providers throughout Indiana and the country.GED-ON-TV began to broadcast a series of 43 television in Muncie, Indiana, in November, 1986. The programs were designed by Kentucky Educational Television specifically for adult high school drop-outs who wished to prepare to take the General Educational Development (GED) Tests, and earn a high school equivalency credential. The series featured programs on reading, social studies, science, writing and math.The target population for the series was the 41,150 drop-outs in the six east central Indiana counties, who received the WIPB-TV signal, and who left high school somewhere between theprocedures used ninth and eleventh grade. The counties participating in the project were Blackford, Delaware, Henry, Jay, Madison and Randolph.A massive advertising campaign was launched to recruit students from throughout the area. The promotional campaign resulted in 994 inquiries to an "800" telephone number. Of these, 498 students enrolled in the program. At the end of the series, 157 adults took the GED Tests and 134 passed and received a high school equivalency certificate.The project surveyed all students who enrolled in the program and learned that over 58 per cent claimed that the learn-at-home series was the first contact they had had with any adult education program.This study explains in detail the operating by the project and offers 11 specific recommendations for improvement of the project that may be used by other adult education providers wanting to begin a GED-ON-TV program. / Department of Telecommunications

The purpose of this dissertation was twofold. First, the study sought to determine if the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) Reading score predicts success on the Examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET). Second, the study addressed the effect on individuals of color of raising the minimum TASP Reading score entrance requirement for admission to teacher preparation programs. Data were collected from the ExCET Office of a Carnegie I metropolitan university. The defined sample consisted of 961 participants who had a TASP Reading score and had taken an Elementary Comprehensive ExCET, an Elementary Professional Development ExCET or a Secondary Professional ExCET between September 1999 and January 2001. Linear Regression, Box Test, Predictive Discriminate Analysis, and frequency distribution tables were used for analyses. This investigation examined the effects of the independent variable of TASP Reading score on the performance of participants on the dependent variable, the ExCET. Four null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. The TASP Reading score was a statistically significant predictor for success on the Elementary Comprehensive ExCET, Elementary Professional Development ExCET, and the Secondary Professional Development ExCET. However, the Predictive Discriminate Analysis indicated that a TASP Reading score of 220 predicted that no candidates would fail the Elementary Comprehensive ExCET, 6 participants would fail the Elementary Professional Development ExCET and 19 participants would fail the Secondary Professional Development ExCET. Five hypotheses addressed the effect of raising the TASP Reading score to 250. Findings of four hypotheses showed that raising this admission standard would impact the number of individuals of color granted admission to the teacher preparation program. These results call for the recommendation that governing agencies address the impact of state teacher education program accreditation that often results in the policy of relying on the TASP Reading score as one of the primary admission standards for teacher education programs. The unintended outcome of raising the reading admission standard in the anticipation of continued state accreditation is a noticeable loss of candidates of colors, especially African American candidates.

This study investigated the possible differential effects of a series of soluble discrimination problems on internal versus external locus of control subjects. It was hypothesized that externals exposed to a series of discrimination problems would perform better on a test task than external controls, while internals exposed to the same problems would not perform better on the test task relative to their controls. As anticipated, the internals were not affected by the discrimination problems. However, contrary to expectations, the externals were not facilitated by exposure to the soluble problems. Since many external subjects failed to solve all of the soluble problems, a facilitative effect may depend upon the problems being solved.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Configuration Management (CM) plays a vital role in the development of trusted computing systems. The Common Criteria (CC) provides a framework for performing Information Technology (IT) security evaluations of these systems and further emphasizes CM's role in the development and evaluation process by specifying a minimum set of CM qualities for each Evaluated Assurance Level (EAL). As an evaluation guide, the Common Methodology for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Part 2: Evaluation Methodology (CEM), recommends a set of minimum CM guidelines which can be used by evaluators in the performance of a CM evaluation at the lower Evaluated Assurance Levels. Evaluators and developers will quickly note the CEM's lack of recommended CM guidelines at the higher assurance levels. Thorough study of the listed references supports the hypothesis for this work: Configuration Management guidelines are useful in the evaluation of trusted computing systems. As an assurance mechanism, complete CM guidance helps users of high assurance products obtain a degree of confidence the system security requirements operate as intended and do not contain clandestine code. Complete CM guidance provides evaluators with a "completed assurance scale" and ensures only authorized changes were made to the TOE during development. Useful CM guidelines at the higher assurance levels (EAL5, 6, and 7) will help developers and evaluators ensure products meet the minimum requirements needed for high assurance systems. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Sexual abstinence has become the primary response to prevention against sexually transmitted infection (STI) and unplanned pregnancies amongst young people. However, not much is known about the perceptions of young men on sexual abstinence. The central aim in this study was to explore the perceptions of sexual abstinence among young black males. The research aims to examine men’s understandings of their own sexuality and the way these might influence their decision on sexual abstinence. A total of 10 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with young men aged between 18 and 25 years, studying at The University of the Witwatersrand. All data collected were then qualitatively analysed through the use of thematic content analysis (TCA). Findings show that in constructing their masculinities participants predominantly endorsed discourses of male hegemony. At some instances the young men retracted to subjective alternative masculinities, although there was a stronger need to fit in with their peers, to protect themselves from being ridiculed or rejected. As such conforming to the hegemonic masculinity was expected. The young men constructed women as sexual objects and as a means towards affirming their masculinity. A key conclusion drawn was that some traditional notions of manhood still held sway, and these tied in strongly with how these participants constructed their masculinity and this influenced most of them to not sexually abstain.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education. / This research is an attempt to reveal aspects of History teaching concealed in conventional or popular beliefs about the Black Matriculation pass/fail statistics. The classroom practices of two History teachers are described. One comes from an "achieving" Soweto secondary school. The school is popularly contrived as an "achieving" school because it is known in the community for producing better than average DET Matriculation results. The classroom practices of another teacher. from an "underachieving" school. are also described. This school is known in the community for producing lower than average DET results over a number of years. These classroom practices are illuminated against the backdrop of the high pass/low failure rate during the eighties, with particular reference to the year 1989. This is the year in which the DET matriculation pass/failure rate was the worst in the decade of the eighties. (Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2019

This mixed-methods study was situated within one Florida county and investigated the impact of a newly initiated end-of-course Civics examination upon middle school teachers’ instruction and student learning. High-stakes testing is often a polarizing issue regarding the perceived benefits and challenges for both students and teachers. Participating teachers completed surveys comprised of Likert-type items and short-answer questions inquiring about their instructional choices and resulting student learning with and without the presence of the Civics EOC examination. A subset of department instructional leaders were interviewed providing additional qualitative data with a wider scope due to their dual positioning as teachers and as links between the social studies teachers at their school and the School District of Sunshine County. The analysis of the data reveals that while civics teachers value the increased prestige brought to the subject area with the introduction of the end-of-course examination, the heightened importance of standards has a resulted in a focus on breadth of content coverage rather than depth of learning, leading to content-centered rather than student-centered classroom environments and subsequent loss of voice and choice in curricular decisions for teachers and students. Teachers feel intense pressure to cover the curriculum, raise test scores and engage in test preparation; they question the soundness of the examination to adequately assess the learning of all students and to capture the essence of civics education: active engagement. Teachers’ perspectives on the effect of the examination on teacher practice and student learning were framed within contextual factors that emerged in the analysis: the abandonment of the policy to introduce foundational content at the elementary level; a lack of communication among stakeholders, but particularly between state-level decision makers and local educators; and an absence of the ongoing scaffolding required to create a strong foundation of knowledge and skills to foster continued growth. Consequently, the recommendations of this study of educators’ voices on the policies that impact their profession are directed primarily at state level policy makers and future researchers regarding the flow of communication, inclusion of teacher feedback, continued teacher development, addition of a participatory component, and curricular alignment. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Orientador: Dirceu da Silva / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-02T16:34:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Stevao_ChristianeBellorioGennariDeAndrade_D.pdf: 3637193 bytes, checksum: 59618eefb30d1940e3b80146e8614f26 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Este estudo fundamenta-se na avaliação dos aspectos positivos da aplicação da Teoria da Resposta ao Item (TRI) na definição da nota de corte da 1ª fase do processo seletivo do vestibular da UNESP (Universidade Estadual Paulista), bem como na adoção de um instrumento que subsidia a seleção dos candidatos a serem convocados para a 2ª fase, mantendo-se o cálculo da nota final do processo pela Teoria Clássica de Medidas (TCM). O modelo da TRI utilizado é o de três parâmetros, considerando que na prova do vestibular sempre existe a possibilidade de resposta ao acaso. O objetivo principal da pesquisa é mostrar a implantação de uma metodologia para estabelecer um cálculo, que permita selecionar os mais bem preparados sem prejudicar o aluno que por engano possa colocar a resposta errada em uma questão ao passá-la para o gabarito e, desse modo, determinar que a nota de corte não avance muito com o passar dos anos. Este trabalho possibilita aumentar o número de alunos classificados para a 2ª fase do vestibular com a certeza de estar selecionando os alunos com maior habilidade em todas as disciplinas avaliadas, sem prejudicá-los em um único item. O problema levantado por esta pesquisa vem da implantação do Vestibular UNESP 2010 com a 1ª fase eliminatória (Prova de Conhecimentos Gerais). Com a metodologia proposta foi possível conseguir um modelo matemático para o cálculo do número de candidatos para a 2ª fase nos próximos vestibulares e apresentar um estudo preliminar para a necessidade do aumento de vagas nos cursos mais concorridos no decorrer dos próximos anos. Neste estudo considerou-se também o questionário respondido pelos concorrentes ao efetuar a inscrição para verificar como se classificam os alunos das escolas públicas e de baixa renda. Para isso trabalhou-se com amostras de três cursos selecionados: Direito da cidade de Franca curso diurno, Engenharia Civil da cidade de Guaratinguetá em período integral e Medicina da cidade de Botucatu período integral, nos vestibulares de 2010 e 2012 / Abstract: This study is based on the evaluation of the positive aspects from the Item Response Theory's (TRI) application in defining the minimum score of the first phase of the selection process, of UNESP's (Universidade Estadual Paulista) Entrance Exam, as well as in the adoption of an instrument that subsidizes the selection of candidates to be called for the second phase, keeping the calculation of the final grade of the process by the Classical Theory of Measures (TCM). The TRI model used will be the one of three-parameter considering that in vestibular there is always the possibility of random response. The main objective of this research was the implementation of a methodology for establishing this calculation, which allows select the better prepared without harming the student who mistakenly can put the wrong answer on a question when transferring it to the final answer paper, and this way determine that the minimum score do not advance much over the years. This work makes it possible to increase the number of students classified for the second phase of the Entrance Exam with the certainty of being selecting students with higher skills in all evaluated subjects, without harming them into a single item. The problem raised by this research comes from the deployment of the 2010 UNESP entrance examination with the 1st knockout round (General Knowledge Test). With the proposed methodology was possible to achieve a mathematical model for calculating the number of candidates for the second phase of the upcoming university entrance exams and submit a preliminary study for the need to increase the vacancies in courses with greater demand over the next few years. In this study it was also considered the questionnaire answered by competitors when making the inscription to check how students from public schools and with low income are classified. For this, it was made a sample of three selected courses: Law, from Franca city, a daytime course, Civil Engineering from the city of Guaratinguetá, a full-time course, and Medicine from Botucatu city, a full-time course, in the entrance exams of 2010 and 2012 / Doutorado / Ensino e Práticas Culturais / Doutora em Educação

Objective. To evaluate the impact of an interprofessional blended learning course on medical and pharmacy students’ patient-centered interpersonal communication skills and to compare precourse and postcourse communication skills across first-year medical and second-year pharmacy student cohorts. Methods. Students completed ten 1-hour online modules and participated in five 3-hour group sessions over one semester. Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) were administered before and after the course and were evaluated using the validated Common Ground Instrument. Nonparametric statistical tests were used to examine pre/postcourse domain scores within and across professions. Results. Performance in all communication skill domains increased significantly for all students. No additional significant pre/postcourse differences were noted across disciplines. Conclusion. Students’ patient-centered interpersonal communication skills improved across multiple domains using a blended learning educational platform. Interview abilities were embodied similarly between medical and pharmacy students postcourse, suggesting both groups respond well to this form of instruction.