UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 5 of 17859

The Development of an Instrument to Differentiate Among Public School Teachers on the Basis of Attitudes Toward Professionalism
(1978) Uhlan, Eugene Arthur; Goldman, Harvey; Administration, Supervision and Curriculum; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument which would measure the level of professionalism attained by public school teachers. The development of such an instrument is based upon the assumption that there are degrees of professionalism rather than a simple dichotomy between the professional and the nonprofessional. Procedures: A review of the literature revealed that the characteristics of a profession are of two basic types. First are those characteristics which are part of the structure of the occupation including such things as formal education and entrance requirements, the formation of a professional organization and the adopting of a code of ethics. The second type is attitudinal. These attributes of professionalism reflect the way in which the practitioners view their work. If the occupation has met the structural prerequisites of a profession, the approach taken in practice determines the level of professionalism reached. In order to determine the extent to which the approach taken by public school teachers toward their work approximates the professional model, the researcher developed an initial pool of 104 items for a Teacher Attitude Scale based upon the following six attitudinal attributes of a profession: 1. The use of the professional organization as a major reference. 2 . Involvement of the individual in the professional culture. 3. A belief in service to the public . 4 . A belief in the right to self -regulation. 5. A sense of calling to the field. 6. A belief in autonomy. The initial pool of items was submitted to three professionally trained teachers who were provided full definitions of each attribute above and were asked to match each item with the attribute it was intended to measure. The work of this group indicated that the six attributes should be collapsed into three. Thus, use of the professional organization as a major reference and involvement in the professional culture were combine . A belief in service to the public and a sense of calling to the field were combined and autonomy was combined with a belief in the right to self-regulation. A second panel examined the items for clarity and unnecessary duplication. This process resulted in the selection of sixty (60) items, twenty designed to measure each of the three combined attributes. The sixty item Teacher Attitude Scale was then sent to a total of 500 randomly selected teachers in eight different county school systems in Maryland. The statistical analysis was based upon 408 usable responses or just over an eighty percent return. Twenty-two items were selected for use on a field test version of the Teacher Attitude Scale. Responses from 100 randomly selected teachers in Cecil County, Maryland, resulted in the selection of nineteen items for the final instrument. Findings: The research indicates that there are two factors contributing to the professionalism of public school teachers which can be measured through the use of a self-report instrument. These factors relate to the use of the professional organization as a major reference and a belief in commitment to the profession including a sense of calling to the field. Implications: The score a subject obtains on the instrument developed through this study should be considered an attitude score . In general, the interpretation of an attitude score on a summated- rating scale cannot be made independently of the distribution of scores of some defined group. This should present no problem since the purpose of using the instrument is to place the attitude of each subject in relation to the attitudes of other subjects. Scores on summated rating scales can be interpreted in this relative sense . In terms of further research, the purpose will be to compare the mean change in attitude scores as a result of introducing some experimental variable. A study of the teachers exhibiting the more professional attitudes, according to the instrument, may reveal training and/or organizational differences which relate to this professionalism. Administrators and teacher educators could then encourage the use of those training techniques which enhance professionalism.
An Examination of the Effects of Three Testing Techniques on Word Accuracy, Comprehension, Rate, and Percentages of Semantic Substitutions in Oral Reading
(1972) Stafford, Gerald Edward; Sullivan, Dorothy D.; Early Childhood Elementary Education; University of Maryland (College Park, Md); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
Authoritative opinion of long standing has recommended that purposes for reading be established prior to reading. In spite of such recommendations, testing procedures for oral reading typically have not involved reading for purposes. Furthermore, research designed to examine the effectiveness of reading for purposes has generally produced divergent findings. Superior reading performance has been observed when purposes for reading were established prior to reading as well as when they were not established prior to reading. Moreover, research designed to examine the effectiveness of purposeful reading has been confined almost exclusively to the area of silent reading. To date not a single investigation has been found which clearly illustrated the effects of purposes for reading on oral reading performance. The present study was designed to investigate the relationships between three testing techniques and performance on four dimensions of oral reading performance. The three testing techniques employed in this study were identified as (1) careful reading, (2) reading for specific purposes, and (3) reading for general purposes. The four dimensions of oral reading performance on which comparisons were made involved oral reading word accuracy, comprehension, rate, and the percentages of semantic substitutions. The four research hypotheses examined in the investigation are stated as follows: 1. There is a difference in oral reading word accuracy under the treatments careful reading, reading for specific purposes, and reading for general purposes for third and sixth graders. 2. There is a difference in oral reading comprehension under the treatments careful reading, reading for specific purposes, and reading for general purposes for third and sixth graders. 3. There is a difference in oral reading rate under the treatments careful reading, reading for specific purposes, and reading for general purposes for third and sixth graders. 4. There is a difference in the percentages of semantic substitutions made under the treatments careful reading, reading for specific purposes and reading for general purposes for third and sixth graders. To obtain data for this study, forty-five third grade and forty-five sixth grade subjects were randomly selected from two elementary schools. The ninety subjects chosen for the study were then randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Each subject was requested to read orally in the manner dictated by the treatment group to which he had been assigned. The materials from which subjects read were the appropriate passages from Form A of the Gilmore Oral Reading Test (1852). Measurements for oral reading word accuracy, comprehension, rate, and percentages of semantic substitutions were computed for each subject. A 2x3 analysis of variance design was used to test for differential treatment effects. An analysis of the data from the study indicted that none of the research hypotheses was supported at the .05 level of significance. The present study led to recommendations in the areas of theory, diagnosis, teaching, and research. Authoritative opinion has suggested that many of the classification schemes used for analyzing oral reading errors are a theoretical. It is possible that performance differences not evidenced through the classification scheme employed in this study could be found using a classification scheme having a sounder theoretical basis. It was therefore recommended that the effects of the three treatments employed in this study be reexamined using a classification scheme built around a theory of reading. In contrast to investigation in the area of silent reading, the present study did not evidence differences in reading performance under the treatments employed. The failure of oral reading performance to vary in the manner observed for silent reading suggested that the two forms of reading are in some respects dissimilar. It was therefore recommended that that diagnostic procedures include measures of both oral and silent reading . Recent investigation has suggested that children often need greater skill in reading for different purposes. One possible explanation for why differential treatment effects were not obtained in the present study was that subjects did not have skill in reading for different purposes. The recommendation was made, therefore, that classroom teachers place greater. emphasis on teaching children to read for different purposes. The following recommendations were made for the area of research. (1) It was recommended that research be undertaken to develop measures of oral reading comprehension, rate, and percentages of semantic substitutions which have greater test-retest reliability. (2) The sample chosen for this study was restricted to third and sixth graders whose performance on a standardized silent reading test placed them in the second or third quartile of the normative population. A replication of this study using subjects from other grade and performance levels was recommended. (3) It was recommended that investigation be undertaken to further examine the relationships between oral and silent reading. Special consideration should be given to identifying those factors in which a satisfactory generalization from oral reading to silent reading can be made. (4) This study did not evidence differential treatment effects using reading materials and purposes for reading supplied by an examiner. It was recommended that investigation be undertaken to examine the effectiveness of using pupil-selected materials and pupil purposes for reading.
Stress-Controlled Versus Strain-Controlled Triaxial Testing of Sand
(1994) Alqutri, Samir Ahmed; Goodings, Deborah J.; Civil Engineering; University of Maryland (College Park, Md); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
The purpose of this research was to compare the strength characterizations of Mystic White Silica Sands using stress-controlled loading versus strain-controlled loading in a standard compression triaxial tests. To this end one hundred sixty-six tests were conducted involving two types of quartz sand, one fine MWSS45 and one medium coarse MWSS18 , tested at three low to intermediate confining stresses of 14 kN/m2, 28 kN/m2 and 55 kN/m2 with only one specimen diameter size of 71.1 mm. Of the one hundred sixty-six tests, eighty-six were stress-controlled tests and eighty were strain-controlled tests. All specimens were dry, but both loose and dense specimens were tested. The results were evaluated individually and as group. Comparison of the two types of loading tests were evaluated for repeatability, stress-strain characteristics and strength parameters. The plots show that stress-controlled loading in general gives more reproducible results with smoother. steeper stress-strain plot s and a larger average deviator stresses at failure than strain-controlled loading at all three levels of confining stresses for both sands. This results in somewhat larger values of Φ' . Stress-controlled specimens were stiffer and failed with a clear cut failure surface while strain-controlled specimens mostly barreled.
A Force for Reform: The American Presbyterian Mission Press in China, 1836-1870
(1877) Dove, Kay Lee; Folsom, Kenneth E.; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
The American Presbyterian Mission Press (PMP) was a vital, if indirect, force in stimulating intellectual reform in China. During its early years, 1836-1870, the PMP developed technological innovations in the printing of the Chinese language that led to the modernization of the Chinese printing industry, which, in turn, provided textbooks for modern education and periodical literature for the development of public opinion. At the same time, the Press trained a corps of Chinese in modern printing technology, which was then able to apply this training in Chinese private and governmental printing offices. The PMP worked with Chinese printing establishments, selling them Chinese type and assisting them to purchase printing presses and other equipment which was necessary for use with metal movable type. Before the 19th century Chinese printing had become a finely developed art, but by this time, printing technology in Europe and America had modernized, and it was more efficient and less expensive. Type founders and missionaries in Europe and Asia reduced the 40,000-character Chinese language to amanageable number by determining which characters were necessary for printing Christian literature. Then they mass-produced them in metal movable type. The PMP was the pioneer that succeeded in this effort, thereby modernizing China's printing industry and promoting the massive introduction of Western secular as well as religious thought. The modernization of China in general rests upon the modernization of the printing industry, for this development preceded and made possible the reforms which followed it.
Interaction Patterns in the Neighborhood Tavern
(1971) Bissonette, Raymond Peter; Lejins, Peter P.; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
This study was undertaken in order to develop a systematic description and analysis of the social reality of the public drinking establishment with special reference to the neighborhood workingman's tavern. The perspective adopted was a focus on the non-pathological aspects of behavior associated with the consumption of beverage alcohol. Underlying this point of departure was the recognition that most research on drinking behavior is related to alcoholism but most drinking is not. The study had two purposes: first to attempt a descriptive analysis of social interaction in the tavern setting by translating observed behavior into relatively standard sociological concepts of norm, role, ecology, and communication. Beyond the descriptive purpose of this approach was the expectation that the organization of observations into such a conceptual scheme would enhance the scientific utility of the effort by providing for assimilability and comparability of the data with other research and theory. The second purpose was to test a new theoretical focus for its adequacy as an explanatory model. The focus is on behavior in public and semi-public places - an area falling some where between group studies on the one hand and studies of collective behavior on the other. The major component of this theoretical framework is the mechanism of involvement allocation which refers to the ways in which actors regulate the duration and intensity of their involvement in interpersonal interaction. As was anticipated much of what is unique to sociability in the tavern setting was explainable in terms of involvement allocation. Principally responsible for this is the fact that a tavern, regardless of its official definition, has the dual functions of dispensary and social event. Although the tavern is a prototypic case for involvement allocation it was concluded that this explanatory model might have wide application in interpersonal and intergroup behavior. The data were collected over a three year period by means of participant observation in a wide variety of settings. The core data represent observations taken over a two year period in four selected neighborhood taverns. The synchronic observation of these case taverns were then supplemented by spot observations taken in over one hundred other establishments. The third source of data was the published findings of similar and related studies. The contrast and comparison provided by these additional data aid considerably in verifying the raw data and their interpretation - an inherent problem in this kind of approach. The findings demonstrate that the social reality of the tavern setting consists in patterned behavior amenable to systematic description and analysis. Drinking is a never-present variable but rarely an exclusive preoccupation. A more fruitful approach in understanding the role of drinking in such a setting is to focus on its social rather than physiological consequences. As a part of the definition of the tavern, drinking is always an accepted major involvement and as such affords the individual considerable flexibility in his involvement in the social activities occurring simultaneously. Throughout the study much of what is characteristic of tavern behavior is explained in terms of the involvement allocation options offered by the tavern's dual function as dispensary and social event.

Browse

Recent Submissions