Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2005. / Title from title page screen, viewed on April 13, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth Lugg (chair), Dianne Gardner, Joseph Pacha, John Rugutt. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-156) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education and Dept. of Psychology. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in education and psychology." Advisor: Linda S. Garavalia. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed March 12, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-134). Online version of the print edition.

Although the literature is replete with techniques to assist the researcher with the evaluation task, very few techniques regarding an effective process for evaluating developmental education programs have emerged. Those techniques that have emerged have been criticized for not producing useful results. The central purpose of this research was to develop a process for evaluating the instructional component of developmental education programs. The Educational Opportunities Program at Oregon State University was used as a case study. The review of literature established a theoretical basis for the model that was developed. A detailed description of the program is provided, as well as interviews with instructional staff. An instrument for eliciting program participants' views and opinions is included. The entire evaluation process was then evaluated for effectiveness. The evaluation process proved to be effective as a means for evaluating the instructional component of developmental education programs considering the original purpose of the evaluation. Although the focus was originally on the product, the process proved to be the most powerful catalyst for change. Future evaluators are cautioned to consider carefully the purpose, audience and intended outcome before proceeding further in the evaluation of the instructional components of developmental education programs. / Graduation date: 1992

Since the first course in rhetoric began at Harvard in the 1890's, college and university English departments have been concerned about the writing proficiency of freshmen. This concern was magnified by the adoption of open-admissions policies in the sixties, and as a result many English departments began developing remedial English courses to deal with the unprepared student.This study proposes to investigate this development from a variety of perspectives. Its main purpose is to present a model textbook for remedial composition, explain how it was used, and analyze the results of its use in the classroom. The first three chapters provide a justification for such a textbook. The first chapter contains a discussion on the changing attitudes toward education in general and freshman composition in particular that have resulted from the drop in SAT scores and the adoption of open-admissions policies.The second chapter is an analysis of information about remedial programs at American universities based on a questionnaire which asked the following questions: 1) How do you identify the remedial student? 2) What is the relation of your remedial program to your regular program? 3) Who teaches your remedial courses? Is there an orientation program for the staff? .4) What is the focus of your curriculum? sentence? the paragraph? the essay? 5) What texts using? 6) Do you have any self-study documents that see?The third chapter is a history of the development of the remedial English course at Ball State University over the past five years. It includes an evaluation of the texts that have been used, the different types of standardized tests that have been given, and the progress of a selection of 102 students.The fourth chapter is the model textbook, Beginning Writing, that was used in two special sections of English 102 in the Fall Quarter of 1976. Each chapter of Beginning Writing, follows the same format. First there is an illustrative quotation, usually from a literary work, followed by a carefully written introduction to the various forms of writing assigned in the remedial English program. Next are three illustrative essays: one by a professional writer, one by a strong student writer, and one by a weak student writer. Each selection is followed by questions related to its organization and development, assignments for a journal, and a list of theme topics. Finally, there is a cartoon that emphasizes a major point discussed with the chapter.The fifth chapter contains a journal of the quarter and case studies of twelve students from the two sections which used Beginning, Writing. This analysis identifies the strong features of the textbook and those sections that will require revision.

Thesis (MTech (Faculty of Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-121). Also available online.

It is well documented that students are struggling in developmental and introductory mathematics courses at community colleges across the nation. However, the reasons that these students struggle are not as well known. While numerous researchers have investigated the effects of inquiry-based learning on K-12 students, the research on this topic at the community college level is lacking. For my dissertation work, I have collected attitudinal surveys, observational data, and final exams from eight sections of a developmental mathematics course and nine sections of College Algebra at a large Texas community college. Approximately half of the instructors involved in the study incorporated some level of inquiry-based teaching strategies in their classrooms (referred to in this dissertation as “student-led” sections) while the remaining instructors employed a more direct strategy (referred to as “lecture” sections). Using this data, I investigated the relationships between teaching methods and attitudes, teaching methods and content knowledge, and attitudes and content knowledge. The evidence showed that IBL teaching strategies have a greater effect on students’ attitudes for students enrolled in a developmental mathematics course than those enrolled in College Algebra. IBL teaching strategies had no positive effects on developmental students’ performance on a skills-based final exam, but student-led sections performed just as well as lecture sections. In College Algebra, participants in student-led sections scored significantly higher than lecture sections on two out of five objectives: write the equation of a line in slope-intercept form (p<0.001) and use properties of logarithms to write an expression as a single logarithm (p<0.01). Lecture sections scored significantly higher than student-led sections on one objective: write the equation of an exponential function given two data points (p<0.05). However, the wording of the problems for this objective differed between lecture and student-led sections. Finally, when comparing the eight Basic Math Skills objectives with the 17 attitudinal variables, 1.4% of pairs were significantly correlated on the pre-survey and 15.4% of pairs were significantly correlated on the post-survey. Of the five College Algebra objectives and 17 attitudinal variables, 16.5% of pairs were significantly correlated on the pre-survey and 7.1% of pairs were significantly correlated on the post-survey. / text

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