Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Wuhan da xue, 1995.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1976. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 487-499.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2008. / Vita. Appendix: leaves 119-135. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-137). Also available on microfilm.

No description available.

This study contrasts four distinct discursive responses to (or even accidental remarks on) the Victorian concept of individual and/or social improvement, or progress, set forth by the preeminent social critics, writers, scientists, and historians of the nineteenth century, such as Thomas Carlyle, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Macaulay Matthew Arnold, Charles Darwin, and Herbert Spencer. This teleological ideal, perhaps the most prevalent ideology of the long nineteenth century, originates with the Protestant Christian ethic during and in the years following the Reformation, whereupon it combines with the Enlightenment notions of rational humanity's boundless potential and Romanticism's fierce individualism to create the Victorian doctrine of progress. My contention remains throughout that four nineteenth-century writers for children and adults subvert the doctrine of individual progress (which contributes to the progress of the race) by chipping away at its metaphysical and narratalogical roots. George MacDonald allows progress only on the condition of total selflessness, including the complete dissolution of one's free will, but defers the hallmarks of making progress indefinitely, due to his apocalyptic Christian vision. Lewis Carroll ridicules the notion of progress by playing with our conceptions of linear time and simple causality, implying as he writes that perhaps there is nothing to progress toward, no actual telos on which to fix our sights. Oscar Wilde characterizes moral development as nothing short of self-inflicted cruelty, consigning his most scrupulously moral-minded characters to social subversion or untimely death (the dark reflection of MacDonald's compulsory selflessness). And finally, Rudyard Kipling toys with historical substitutes for conventional progress, such as repetitive cycles, deviating from historical unidirectionality and linear development. He often realigns his characters with their intractable fates at the conclusions of his narratives, echoing Carroll's suggestion that perhaps our goals are delusional. I conclude that while each individual author fails to holistically undermine the doctrine of progress, taken collectively, these four fantasists represent a heretofore unexamined repudiation of the Victorian era's most enduring metaphysical conceits.

The Mississippi Student Progress Monitoring System (MSPMS) was developed for the Mississippi Department of Education to be used to monitor student progress on the state framework which constitutes the curriculum for each course taught in Mississippi schools. This study was designed to investigate teachers’ perceptions of the implementation and use of the MSPMS. Research question 1 was to determine if the various independent variables of age, level of education, years of experience as an educator, level of school where teaching, perceived level of computer and/or technology comfort, perceived level of computer and/or technology experience, subject area taught, number of MSPMS tests created, number of MSPMS tests given, amount of support provided, whether program works, and importance of information gained from MSPMS made any difference in teachers’ perceptions of the implementation and use of the MSPMS; and research question 2 was to determine whether the teachers’ perceptions and the various independent variables had any significant relationships. Research question 3 looked at teachers’ attitudes toward MSPMS. There were no statistically significant differences among the dependent and independent variables. Findings for research question 2 showed that there were no statistically significant correlations among the dependent and independent variables. However, correlations among the independent variables revealed statistically significant relationships between age and years of experience, subjects taught and school level taught, technology experience and level of education, and subjects taught and number of tests given. Examination of the response frequencies for situations in the vignettes for research question 3 revealed that teachers reported feeling more frustrated than anything else when confronted with adversities with the technologies or the MSPMS. All of the findings in this study are limited to a rural Mississippi school district using MSPMS.

No description available.

The thesis offers an exposition and tentative solution of two problems: a definition of the Idea of Progress, and classification of social philosophers and sociologists according to this definition. Twelve propositions, or assumptions, are used to define the Idea, and works of selected philosophers from Hesiod to Parsons are examined in the light of this definition. Historical examination reveals that the Idea's acceptance reaches a zenith in the early nineteenth century, after which it lost credibility, becoming virtually discarded by mid-twentieth century.

No description available.

No description available.