Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item Special Classes and Group Therapy: An Evaluation of Their Effects on Achievement and Behavior in a Public School Setting(1971) Weinstein, Howard G.; Goering, Jacob; Human Development & Quantitative Methodology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)This investigation was designed to test the relative effectiveness of four educational-treatment methods of providing adequate services for children with special learning problems in elementary school Special Learning Problems classes. The focus was on the relative effectiveness of these methods in bringing about positive achievement and behavior change. The subjects were 50 elementary school pupils enrolled in e ight existing Special Learning Problems (SLP) classes in Fairfax County, Virginia. The Ss represented a wide range of behavioral and/or educational disorders reflected in an equally wide range of inappropriate behavior and/or educational retardation of at least one, and generally two years. Each of the eight pre-established SLP classes was randomly assigned to one of four educational-treatment groups. Two SLP classes were assigned to each treatment group. The experimental methods consisted of special class placement and: (A) "Child Therapy Only" (CTO); (B) "Parent Therapy-Only" (PTO); (C) "Child and Parent Therapy" (CPT). In addition, a "Special Class-Only" (SEO) control group was included. Subjects in the CTO and CPT groups participated in 24, 90-minute group therapy sessions. The parents of the children in the CPT and PTO groups received 24, 90-minute parent group therapy sessions. The SEO (control) group did not receive group therapy nor did their parents. Group therapy sessions were conducted by trained and experienced group therapists from the Mental Health Center. The California Achievement Tests, The Wide Range Achievement Test, the Behavior Rating Scale, and the Human Figure Drawing Test were administered in mid-October, 1969 and repeated in mid-April, 1970. The difference between pre- and post-test scores were computed and the differences between treatment groups' mean gain scores were tested for significance by means of t-ratios. The null hypotheses tested were: Hypothesis 1. There will be no significant differences in mean gain scores on any of the achievement measures or on the behavior ratings between the control group (SEO) and any of the experimental groups (CTO, PTO, CPT). Hypothesis 2. No significant differences in mean gain scores on any of the achievement measures or on the behavior ratings will be found between the three experimental groups (CTO, PTO, CPT). Hypothesis 3. There will b e no significant differences in mean gain scores on any of the achievement measures or on the behavior ratings between those students designated as NEW (1st year SLP) and those FORMER students in SLP classes. The analyses of the results from the achievement and behavior measures provided, with only three exceptions, support for not rejecting the null hypotheses. With regard to Hypotheses 1 and 2, although only two comparisons reached statistical significance (i. e. , the CPT group obtained significantly higher CAT-Reading and WRAT-Arithmetic gains than the SEO group), it was found that the achievement mean gain scores were generally greater for the CPT group than for either the SEO group or for either of the other two experimental groups (CTO and PTO). In contrast, the SEO group obtained a greater behavior scale mean gain than any of the three experimental groups (CTO, PTO, CPT), although this difference did not reach significance. With only one exception (WRAT-Arithmetic), no significant differences were found between the NEW and FORMER groups. Subsequent to the experimental period, the NEW students demonstrated a significantly greater mean gain in Arithmetic than their FORMER group counterparts. Behaviorally, the FORMER group obtained a greater mean behavior rating gain than the NEW group, although not statistically significant. In general, the present findings provided no evidence for differential favorable effects from any of the educational-treatment methods utilized in terms of significantly greater achievement or behavioral gains. However, some noted trends were suggestive of the fact that perhaps each of the four educational-treatment methods is best suited for different situations, goals, and subjects. Further research was recommended.Item The Influence of Behavior Rehearsal Techniques on Children's Communicative Behaviors(1973) Cassidy, Edward W.; Rhoads, David; Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of behavior rehearsal techniques on the behavior of shy children as determined by a measure of verbal behavior. Answers were sought to the following questions: 1. Does participation in a behavior rehearsal program affect the verbal behavior of shy children? 2. Is there a difference between standard and personal hierarchies used in behavior rehearsal? 3. Is there a difference between group and individual behavior rehearsal approaches? The sample included one hundred seventy-seven elementary school children from nineteen fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classrooms. The subjects were pupils who had a history of low frequency of verbal participation in group and individual settings. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two principal treatments or a control group. The first treatment was identified as Behavior Rehearsal-Personal. In this treatment subjects developed their own personal anxiety hierarchy. The second principal treatment was identified as Behavior Rehearsal-Standard. In this treatment the subjects were assigned to rehearse items from a hierarchy developed by the experimenter. The two treatments were applied in both one-to-one and group counseling settings. Besides treatment and setting, sex of subject and counselor were used as classification variables and included in a 2^4 factorial analysis of variance design. At the conclusion of a four week treatment period the subjects were observed on the criterion behavior, unsolicited communicative response, during a thirty minute controlled discussion session. Analysis of the data demonstrated that there was no change in verbal behavior as a result of participating in a behavior rehearsal program. It appears that in this study the behavior rehearsal procedures had no differential effect on the verbal behavior of the shy children. No significant difference was found on any of the other factors which· were measured. Neither the treatment setting, nor the sex of the subject, nor the counselor appeared to have a significant effect on the final results of the study. Although research studies indicate that the behavior rehearsal technique should be an effective technique for shaping assertive behaviors, no such evidence was found in this study. Nor was support found for the traditional view that personalized hierarchies are more effective than standard hierarchies. The lack of research on the behavior rehearsal technique suggests that more intensive and systematic research is needed to assess the specific effects behavior rehearsal has on the behavior of shy children.Item The Effectiveness of Differential Social Reinforcement Strategies in Facilitating Achievement Behavior of Lower Socioeconomic Status, Primary Grade Children(1971) Fishman, Harold; Matteson, Richard; Human Development & Quantitative Methodology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)This study was designed to ascertain whether Positive Social Reinforcement (PSR), Negative Social Reinforcement (NSR) and the condition of no verbal feedback (Control) have a differential motivational effect on the achievement behavior of low socioeconomic status, primary grade Ss. Two related objectives of this research were : (a) to determine whether black and white Ss are differentially motivated to achieve in response to the aforementioned three social reinforcement-feedback contingencies and (b) to determine whether Ss who are at different developmental levels are differentially motivated to achieve by these three classes of social reinforcement-feedback parameters.Item The Effects of Variation in the Amount of Play Materials on the Play Behavior of the Preschool Child(1978) Rechsteiner, Ann E.; Leeper, Sarah L.; Human Development & Quantitative Methodology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Major questions have arisen concerning the function of play in the development of the young child. Changing attitudes towards the significance of play reflect changing social patterns. The present study was concerned with the effect that a removal of a specified amount of play material had on the play behavior of young children. Ten intact groups of children from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area ranging in age from three to five years old were studied by this researcher. A time sampling technique using a modified version of DUSOPAC was used to measure the play behavior of the groups. The data collected by the observers were compiled and analysed using a one way ANOVA for a repeated measure design for each of the eleven variables (Disruptive, Unoccupied, Solitary, Onlooker, Parallel, Associative, Cooperative, Not Play, Child-Child, Child-Adult, Child-Self.) The findings indicated that a significant relationship (at the .05 significance level) existed between the amount of social play observed and the amount of play equipment that was available to the young child. Less social play was observed when the material was removed on the first treatment day than when the material was present. No significant relationships were observed between the amount of equipment available and the amount of non-social play, the amount of child-child interaction, the amount of child-self interaction, or the amount of child-adult interaction that occurred. Investigation of the mean score values revealed trends for both interaction patterns and play behavior. Females were found to display more child-self interaction behavior and males more child-child interaction behavior. Also, for all days of observation, regardless of treatment, the most frequently occurring interaction behavior was child-child followed by child-self. The least frequently occurring interaction behavior was child-adult. For play behavior for all days of observation, regardless of treatment, males displayed more disruptive, unoccupied, associative, cooperative, parallel and social play behavior than did females. Females were found to display more solitary, onlooker, not-play and non-social play behavior than were males. These findings were not in agreement with Langlois, Gottfried and Seay (1973), and Sitzky, Haywood and Isett (1970 ). The results of this study seem to indicate that there is a need for more research to 1) update earlier studies; 2) study the role of play in the development of social interactions; 3) investigate saturation levels of equipment as they relate to a child's play; 4) to explore in more detail environmental influences on play behavior.Item Partially Covariant Quantum Theory of Gravitation(1972) Moncrief, Vincent E.; Nutku, Yavuz; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)In this thesis it is argued that a strict law of conservation of probability is necessary for the unambiguous interpretation of any proposed quantum theory of gravitation. After a brief review of the current canonicnl methods for quantizing the gravitational field we conclude that they do not guarantee conservation of probability owing to the difficulty of finding a suitable intrinsic time coordinate. In an attempt to circumvent this problem we have proposed an alternative method of quantization which has a conventional Schrodinger equation and therefore a law of probability conservation. This result is achieved by imposing a weaker form of the quantum constraint equations than that of the conventional theory. In order to justify this approach it is necessary to show that, in spite of the weak form of the constraint equations, the Einstein theory is recovered in the classical limit . A partial proof of the desired result is given. The proposed quantum theory is developed somewhat by considering the interaction of matter and gravitational fields. Quantum analogs of the covariant conservation laws are derived for the special case of a massive spin-zero field. Charge conservation is also considered and an invariant scheme for defining the number of particles and anti-particles is developed.Item Hinge-Bill Orientation Techniques for Automated Oyster Processing(1977) Gird, John; Wheaton, F.W.; Bioengineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)The width and thickness dimensions of oysters and an inclined V-shaped trough were studied as means for achieving end orientation. Two series of experiments were conducted on 2,430 oysters sampled from three different locations in the Chesapeake Bay. Both width and thickness were measured every 0.2 inch along the oyster length from the hinge to the bill end. A width to thickness ratio was found to be the best dimensional combination for distinguishing between the hinge and bill ends. Less than 0.50 percent of all oysters failed the ratio test conditions. Statistical analysis on five width to thickness ratio tests with failure rates between 0.25 and 0.49 percent showed there to be no differences in the percent oyster failure over all bars and across all tests. Results indicate that comparable oyster orienting efficiencies can be attained by width to thickness ratios with orienting points located 0.4 to 1.0 inches in from the oyster ends. Negative results occurred when an inclined V-shaped trough was used for orienting oysters. There were significant differences in the proportion of hinge and bill leading oysters exiting the trough for each trough loading position over all bars and oyster axes. The tendency for the oyster axes to behave differently explained some of the differences in the trough's orienting efficiency. However, there were no significant relationships between orienting efficiency and oyster axes.Item Plans, Targets, and Trends in Ethiopian Education(1970) Bjerkan, Ole-Christian; van Zwoll, James A.; Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)The purpose of this study was to trace the progressive recognition of educational needs as expressed in targets and objectives in educational and development plans in Ethiopia from 1944 to 1968, and to discover the relationship between the needs and the actual attainment of the goals and targets. A study was also made of the contribution of the non-government schools to the fulfillment of presentday educational needs. By reviewing the literature pertaining to the development of the educational system in Ethiopia, some of the forces which have and are influencing educational policies and plans were discussed. An analysis of the educational and development p lans revealed clues to the progressive identification of educational needs as expressed in the different plans. After crystallizing the educational needs as expressed in educational objectives and targets, an attempt was made to find to what extent these needs have been fulfilled. The needs in Ethiopia were found to be similar to those in many of the African nations in spite of a different cultural background and political history of the country. The differences in problems were rather in degree than in kind. The educational plans for Ethiopia have, with the exception of the Addis Ababa Plan of 1961, been made without any relation or comparison with other African nations. In most cases the targets and goals of the local plans were surpassed, but when related to educational "desired averages" for the African countries taking part in the Addis Ababa conference, the educational development in Ethiopia proved to be seriously lagging. compared with the "desired averages" of the Addis Ababa Plan, of an age-group population enrollment of 100 per cent for the first level, 23 per cent for the second level and 2 per cent for the third level to be reached within the year 1982, a projected enrollment in keeping with the historical trend for the last ten years in Ethiopia indicates that these targets would not be reached within the target date.Item Land Tenure, Property Ownership, and Home Mortgages in the Late Nineteenth Century: A Case Study of Baltimore's Germans(1976) Vill, Martha J.; Groves, Paul A.; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)During the late nineteenth century the rapidly expanding urban population of the United States created an increased demand for housing. At the same time, mortgage money for the finance of home purchases was in short supply because of the availability of more lucrative investment opportunities elsewhere and because there were legal restrictions on the power of banks to lend money on real estate . Recent literature has emphasized the importance of property ownership among different components of the population, including immigrant groups. Little attention has been paid to the process of property acquisition or to the patterns of land tenure which resulted. An immigrant population, handicapped in numerous ways, was likely to have limited access to available mortgage financing, thereby limiting its ability to purchase property. Yet, the literature suggests that immigrants actively acquired property. This study examines some preliminary ideas about tenure patterns and home mortgages within immigrant residential areas, using a sample of Baltimore's Germans as a case study. The argument presented is that housing acquisition was facilitated by the activities of the immigrants themselves. In view of the restrictions on the supply of mortgage money, financing for property purchases had to come from sources independent of the city's major financial institutions, and the immigrants had to generate their own sources of capital. It was expected that tenants and landlords would have common national origins, another reflection of the immigrants' reliance on members of their own group for housing. Another expectation of the study was that Germans of different origins in Germany would exhibit different tenure patterns. Arguing that the term "German" was an imprecise indicator of national origins, and that the residential patterns of immigrants from different parts of Germany were distinct, it was expected that this diversity would also find expression in tenure patterns. The selection of the sample areas in the study was, therefore, conditioned by the need to isolate areas inhabited by Germans of diverse origins. Land tenure, property ownership, and relationships between landlords and tenants were analyzed. The hoped for differences in rates of property ownership did not materialize, and home ownership was not systematically related to age, income, or family employment. The findings do indicate, however, that home ownership was within the grasp of people with relatively low income. The mechanism which enabled home purchasers to obtain mortgages was the building and loan associations which were organized and directed by men whose origins, occupations, and residences reflected those of the associations' clientele. Thus, the hypothesis that immigrants generated their own mortgage funds was confirmed. The findings of the study concerning landlords and tenants further substantiate the argument that the provision of housing was accomplished by the immigrants themselves. Landlords' residences were close to the properties they rented, and there was a marked tendency for tenants to rent from landlords who shared their German origins.Item The Effect of Behavioral Objectives on Measures of Learning and Forgetting on High School Algebra(1972) Loh, Elwood Lockert; Walbesser, Henry H.; Mathematics and Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)During the past decade, the number of educators who advocate the use of behavioral objectives in education has increased. The increase in the number of advocates of behavioral objectives has been followed by an increasing awareness of the need for empirical research to give credence to such a viewpoint. At present, there is not a substantial number of research studies in which behavioral objectives have been used as a manipulated variable. In previously reported learning studies in which behavioral objectives have been used as an experimental variable, measures of learning and measures of forgetting have been derived from achievement scores. The results obtained in the learning studies have not been singular in support of the use of behavioral objectives, however, the results obtained in forgetting studies have consistently supported their use. This two part study investigated the effect of presenting behavioral objectives to students during the initial phase of a learning program. There were six criterion variables observed: index of learning, rate of learning, index of forgetting, rate of forgetting, index of retention, and index of efficiency. Two 2-year algebra one classes with a total of 52 students were randomly partitioned into two treatment groups for the learning phase of the study. The classes were further randomly partitioned into three retention groups for the forgetting phase of the study. The instructional materials were programmed within the framework of a learning hierarchy. The use of the learning hierarchy facilitated the use of a procedure for separating behaviors not yet possessed by a student from behaviors previously acquired. This was accomplished by presenting students with preassessment tasks prior to instruction for a behavior in the learning hierarchy. If the subject's response to the preassessment task indicated that he possessed the behavior, instruction was not given for that behavior. If the response indicated that the subject had not previously acquired the behavior, instruction was presented. The measures of the time needed to acquire the behavior were subsequently used to compute the six experimental measures. Three retention periods of 7 calendar days, 14 calendar days, and 15 to 21 calendar days were used for the forgetting phase of the study. The results of the three retention periods were pooled for the two forgetting measures, the index of retention, and the index of efficiency. The data collected in the study were analyzed by six separate tests using a one-way analysis of variance. A 0.05 level of significance was used for each of the six tests. The following results were obtained: 1. The index of learning for students who were informed of behavioral objectives during the initial phases of the learning program was not greater than the index of learning for students who were not so informed. 2. The rate of learning for students who were informed of behavioral objectives during the initial phases of the learning program was not greater than the rate of learning for students who were not so informed. 3. The index of forgetting for students who were informed of behavioral objectives during the initial phases of the learning program was not less than the index of forgetting for students who were not so informed. 4. The rate of forgetting for students who were informed of behavioral objectives during the initial phases of the learning program was not less than the rate of forgetting for students who were not so informed. 5. The index of retention for students who were informed of behavioral objectives during the initial phases of the learning program was not greater than the index of retention for students who were not so informed. 6. The index of efficiency for students who were informed of behavioral objectives during the initial phases of the learning program was not greater than the index of efficiency for students who were not so informed. It was concluded that the results of the study do not support the use of behavioral objectives as a procedure for improving either measures of learning or measures of forgetting which are functions of the time needed to reach criterion in a learning program using programmed instruction for teaching an algebraic topic to below average mathematics students in senior high school. It was recommended that further research is needed to determine a reliable and valid procedure for measuring learning and forgetting. It was also recommended that alternatives to programmed instruction be considered for learning and forgetting studies.Item INTENDED AND INCIDENTAL LEARNING OUTCOMES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES WITH A SELECTED AUDIOVISUAL PRESENTATION(1978) Main, Robert Gail; Berman, Louise M.; Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Problem: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the use of learning objectives with an audiovisual presentation on the intended (objective relevant) and incidental (non-objective relevant) learning outcomes. This study was conducted to provide evidence regarding the facilitative effects of using learning objectives as an organizer with a fixed-pace, fixed-format, non-print medium. The investigation was based on one phase of David P. Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning: the advance organizer, Ausubel hypothesized that organizers facilitate learning when presented to students in advance of a learning passage. In this investigation, the organizer consisted of the learning objectives for the students, and the curriculum material was an audiovisual slide-tape presentation. The organizer was presented prior to the presentation, following the presentation, and interspersed within the presentation immediately preceding the objective relevant content. Procedure : An experiment was conducted to determine the effect and interaction of five independent variables with an audiovisual slidetape program: presence of learning objectives, location of learning objectives, type of knowledge, sex of learner, and retention of learning. A factorial design replicated for retention of learning was selected for the analysis. Student learning of intended knowledge and incidental knowledge, as measured by paper and pencil tests, were the dependent variables. A commercially produced educational slide-tape presentation concerning advances in communication technology was used as the stimulus. The participants were 108 college students enrolled in an introductory mass communications course at a California State University. Students in the class were stratified by sex and randomly assigned to four groups. Each experimental group viewed the slide-tape presentation either without learning objectives (control group), with learning objectives grouped at the beginning of the presentation (advance organizers), grouped at the end of the presentation (post organizers), or located throughout the presentation immediately preceding the relevant content (adjunct organizers ). Viewing and listening factors were carefully controlled for each of the four groups. Students completed an immediate posttest measuring intended and incidental knowledge as well as their feelings toward the subject and the manner of presentation. They were tested again two weeks later for intended and incidental knowledge only. The data were subjected to analysis of variance and other selected statistical procedures for testing differences between the experimental groups. Results : Although all three treatment groups had higher intended learning scores, only the performance of the group receiving the learning objectives before the slide-tape presentation achieved significance at the .05 level. The comparison of the immediate and delayed posttest analyses indicated that the relative effects of the experimental treatment did not change over time for the intended learning. No significant differences were found between experimental groups in the learning outcomes of incidental knowledge. No interactions were found between treatment and the grade point average or sex of the student. Significant differences did occur in the participants' evaluation of the slide-tape presentation. While there was no significant difference between the treatment groups and the control group, the group receiving the learning objectives before the presentation gave a significantly higher evaluation rating to the slide-tape program than did the group where the learning objectives were interspersed during the presentation. Conclusions: As a result of this experiment, the author concluded that the use of learning objectives facilitated the learning of objective relevant knowledge from a slide-tape presentation when the learning objectives were presented at the beginning of the program. Learning objectives used in this manner as "advance organizers" do not inhibit the acquisition of incidental (non-objective relevant) information contained in the instructional program. Furthermore, the use of learning objectives with a slide-tape instructional program does not detract from the students' evaluation of the program. Recommendation : Learning objectives can be developed by instructors for the audiovisual materials they use. The insertion of the learning objectives prior to the presentation of the audiovisual program can be accomplished rather easily. If the primary concern of the user of audiovisual materials is to increase intended learning, the insertion of learning objectives prior to the presentation is recommended.