The effect of multimedia instruction on achievement of college history students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of multimedia instruction on achievement of college students in AMH 2010 from exploration and discovery to1865. A non-equivalent control group design was used. The dependent variable was achievement. The independent variables were learning styles method of instruction, and visual clarifiers (notes). The study was conducted using two history sections from Palm Beach Community College, in Boca Raton, Florida, between August and December, 1998. Data were obtained by means of placement scores, posttests, the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS), and a researcher-developed student survey. Statistical analysis of the data was done using SPSS statistical software. Demographic variables were compared using Chi square. T tests were run on the posttests to determine the equality of variances. The posttest scores of the groups were compared using the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at the .05 level of significance. The first hypothesis there is a significant difference in students' learning of U.S. History when students receive multimedia instruction was supported, F = (1, 52)= 688, p < .0005, and F = (1, 53) = 8.52, p < .005for Tests 2 and 3, respectively. The second hypothesis there is a significant difference on the effectiveness of multimedia instruction based on students' various learning preferences was not supported. The last hypotheses there is a significant difference on students' learning of U.S. History when students whose first language is other than English and students who need remediation receive visual clarifiers were not supported. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated no difference between the groups on Test 1, Test 2, or Test 3: F (1, 4 5)= .01, p < .940, F (l, 52) = .77, p < .385, and F (1,53) =.17, p > .678, respectively, for language. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated no significant difference on Test 1, Test 2, or Test 3, between the groups on the variable remediation: F (1, 45) = .31, p < .580, F (1, 52) = 1.44, p < .236, and F (1, 53) = .21, p < .645, respectively.

The effects of required/sequenced preparatory courses on academic success and retention at a community college

This dissertation had two purposes: first, to analyze how required sequenced college preparatory courses in mathematics, reading, and writing affect students' academic success and, second, to add to a theoretical model for predicting student retention at a community college. Grade point average, number of degree credits earned, and reenrollment rate were measured as determinants of academic success. The treatment group had a significantly higher grade point average than the control group. There was no significant difference in the number of degree credits earned or re-enrollment rate for the groups. A series of logistic regressions used the independent variables E-ASSET scores in math, reading, and writing; number of college prep areas required; credits earned; grade point average; students' status; academic restrictions/required course sequencing; sex; race; and socio-economic status to determine the predictor variables for retention. The academic variable that showed the greatest potential as a predictor for retention was grade point average. Overall, receiving financial aid was the greatest predictor for reenrollment. For a financial aid recipient the odds of reenrollment were 2.70 times more likely than if no financial aid was received.

Utilizing Traditional Cognitive Measures of Academic Preparation to Predict First-Year Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Majors' Success in Math and Science Courses

For the past several years, U.S. colleges and universities have faced increased pressure to improve retention and graduation rates. At the same time, educational institutions have placed a greater emphasis on the importance of enrolling more students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs and producing more STEM graduates. The resulting problem faced by educators involves finding new ways to support the success of STEM majors, regardless of their pre-college academic preparation. The purpose of my research study involved utilizing first-year STEM majors’ math SAT scores, unweighted high school GPA, math placement test scores, and the highest level of math taken in high school to develop models for predicting those who were likely to pass their first math and science courses. In doing so, the study aimed to provide a strategy to address the challenge of improving the passing rates of those first-year students attempting STEM-related courses. The study sample included 1018 first-year STEM majors who had entered the same large, public, urban, Hispanic-serving, research university in the Southeastern U.S. between 2010 and 2012. The research design involved the use of hierarchical logistic regression to determine the significance of utilizing the four independent variables to develop models for predicting success in math and science. The resulting data indicated that the overall model of predictors (which included all four predictor variables) was statistically significant for predicting those students who passed their first math course and for predicting those students who passed their first science course. Individually, all four predictor variables were found to be statistically significant for predicting those who had passed math, with the unweighted high school GPA and the highest math taken in high school accounting for the largest amount of unique variance. Those two variables also improved the regression model’s percentage of correctly predicting that dependent variable. The only variable that was found to be statistically significant for predicting those who had passed science was the students’ unweighted high school GPA. Overall, the results of my study have been offered as my contribution to the literature on predicting first-year student success, especially within the STEM disciplines.

Establishing a Baseline Measurement of Intercultural Competence of Ukrainian Faculty: Setting the Stage for Domestic and Global Intercultural Understanding

Post-Soviet Ukraine is in a time of upheaval and transition. Internal relations between pro-Western and pro-Russian supporters have deteriorated in the light of recent political events of Euro Revolution, Russia’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula, and the militant confrontations in the southeastern regions of the country. In the light of these developments, intercultural competence is greatly needed to alleviate domestic tensions and enable effective intercultural communication with the representatives of different cultures within the country and beyond its borders. This study established a baseline of psychometric estimates of intercultural competence of Ukrainian higher education faculty. A sample of 276 professors of different academic majors from one university in Western Ukraine participated in the research. The Global Perspective Inventory (GPI; Merrill, Braskamp, & Braskamp, 2012) was chosen as a research instrument to measure intercultural competence of the faculty members. The GPI takes into account cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal domains, each of which contains two scales reflective of theories of cultural development and intercultural communication – Cognitive-Knowing, Cognitive-Knowledge, Intrapersonal-Identity, Intrapersonal-Affect, Interpersonal-Social Responsibility, and Interpersonal-Social Interaction. Because the research instrument has neither been previously used as a measure of intercultural competence, nor administered in Ukraine, it was cross-validated using a Table of Specification (Newman, Lim, & Pineda, 2013) and two sets of factor analyses. As a result, a modified version of the GPI was created for use in Ukraine. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to test relationships between the participants’ GPI scores on intercultural competence, and several independent variables that consisted of academic discipline, intercultural experience, and how long the participants taught at the university. The analyses determined a positive relationship between the scores on three out of six scales of the original version and two out of five scales of the modified version of the GPI and all the independent variables simultaneously. The relationship between the faculty responses on the six scales of both GPI versions and the independent variables controlling for each other produced mixed results. A unique role of intercultural professional development in predicting intercultural competence was discussed.

A Comparison Study of the English III/American Literature Success of African American High School Students and That of Students Whose Home Language is Haitian Creole

The purpose of the study was to compare the English III success of students whose home language is Haitian Creole (SWHLIHC) with that of the more visible African American high school students in the Miami Dade County Public Schools System, in an effort to offer insight that might assist educators in facilitating the educational success of SWHLIHC in American Literature class. The study was guided by two important theories on how students interact with and learn from literature. They are Reader Response Theory which advocates giving students the opportunity to become involved in the literature experience (Rosenblatt, 1995), and Critical Literacy, a theory developed by Paolo Freire and Henry Giroux, which espouses a critical approach to analysis of society that enables people to analyze social problems through lenses that would reveal social inequities and assist in transforming society into a more equitable entity. Data for the study: 10th grade reading FCAT scores, English III/American Literature grades, and Promotion to English IV records for the school year 2010-2011 were retrieved from the records division of the Miami Dade County Public Schools System. The study used a quantitative methods approach, the central feature of which was an ex post facto design with hypotheses (Newman, Newman, Brown, & McNeely, 2006). The ex post facto design with hypotheses was chosen because the researcher postulated hypotheses about the relationships that might exist between the performances of SWHLIHC and those of African American students on the three above mentioned variables. This type of design supported the researcher’s purpose of comparing these performances. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA), two way ANOVAs, and chi square tests were used to examine the two groups’ performances on the 10th grade reading FCAT, their English III grades, and their promotion to English IV. The study findings show that there was a significant difference in the performance of SWHLIHC and African American high school students on all three independent variables. SWHLIHC performed significantly higher on English III success and promotion to English IV. African American high school students performed significantly higher on the reading FCAT.

Trends in Water Quality within the Broward County Portion of the Biscayne Aquifer

Continuous and reliable monitoring of contaminants in drinking water, which adversely affect human health, is the main goal of the Broward County Well Field Protection Program. In this study the individual monitoring station locations were used in a yearly and quarterly spatiotemporal Ordinary Kriging interpolation to create a raster network of contaminant detections. In the final analysis, the raster spatiotemporal nitrate concentration trends were overlaid with a pollution vulnerability index to determine if the concentrations are influenced by a set of independent variables. The pollution vulnerability factors are depth to water, recharge, aquifer media, soil, impact to vadose zone, and conductivity. The creation of the nitrate raster dataset had an average RMS Standardized error close to 1 at 0.98. The greatest frequency of detections and the highest concentrations are found in the months of April, May, June, July, August, and September. An average of 76.4% of the nitrate intersected with cells of the pollution vulnerability index over 100.

The use of computer technology to compare and analyze community college dissertations

A purpose of this research study was to demonstrate the practical linguistic study and evaluation of dissertations by using two examples of the latest technology, the microcomputer and optical scanner. That involved developing efficient methods for data entry plus creating computer algorithms appropriate for personal, linguistic studies. The goal was to develop a prototype investigation which demonstrated practical solutions for maximizing the linguistic potential of the dissertation data base. The mode of text entry was from a Dest PC Scan 1000 Optical Scanner. The function of the optical scanner was to copy the complete stack of educational dissertations from the Florida Atlantic University Library into an I.B.M. XT microcomputer. The optical scanner demonstrated its practical value by copying 15,900 pages of dissertation text directly into the microcomputer. A total of 199 dissertations or 72% of the entire stack of education dissertations (277) were successfully copied into the microcomputer's word processor where each dissertation was analyzed for a variety of syntax frequencies. The results of the study demonstrated the practical use of the optical scanner for data entry, the microcomputer for data and statistical analysis, and the availability of the college library as a natural setting for text studies. A supplemental benefit was the establishment of a computerized dissertation corpus which could be used for future research and study. The final step was to build a linguistic model of the differences in dissertation writing styles by creating 7 factors from 55 dependent variables through principal components factor analysis. The 7 factors (textual components) were then named and described on a hypothetical construct defined as a continuum from a conversational, interactional style to a formal, academic writing style. The 7 factors were then grouped through discriminant analysis to create discriminant functions for each of the 7 independent variables. The results indicated that a conversational, interactional writing style was associated with more recent dissertations (1972-1987), an increase in author's age, females, and the department of Curriculum and Instruction. A formal, academic writing style was associated with older dissertations (1972-1987), younger authors, males, and the department of Administration and Supervision. It was concluded that there were no significant differences in writing style due to subject matter (community college studies) compared to other subject matter. It was also concluded that there were no significant differences in writing style due to the location of dissertation origin (Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, Florida International University).

Variables motivating parents to choose a specific type of private school

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons associated with parents' choices of specific types of private schools. The researcher hoped to determine if there were any significant differences in the reasons parents reported for enrolling their child in a specific private school. Studies in the past have explored why parents choose private schools. This study focused on why parents chose a specific type of private school, what were the variables involved, and were there any significant differences in the motivation of parents with children enrolled in different types of private schools.^ The study gathered data using a survey instrument which centered on 14 variables generally associated with the choice of private schools. The survey asked parents to rate the variables using a Likert type scale. The Likert rating was used because it does not require respondents to choose between variables. The general areas of emphasis were (a) academics, (b) religion and values/morals, (c) nurturing educational environment, and (d) proximity and convenience of the school. The survey also gather qualitative data in the form of comments volunteered by over a third of the respondents.^ The survey was mailed to 560 randomly selected families from 30 private high schools in a 50 mile radius of Miami, Florida. The 10 high schools, represented five types of private schools, Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Independent, Jewish, and Fundamentalist Christian. After four mailings a total of 401 surveys were returned for a rate 72%.^ Significant differences appeared as the data was analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's HSD pairwise analysis. The variables showing significant differences between types of schools were (a) quality of instruction, (b) commitment of teachers, (c) emphasis on religion, (d) small class size, (e) well-defined academic goals, (f) proximity of the school's location, (g) preparation for desired secondary schools/colleges, and (h) convenience of school's operating schedule.^ Parents appeared to have specific reasons for choosing a particular private school. They appeared to look for a school that would satisfy the special needs of their child and would be compatible with their own values, morals, and personal philosophy. ^

Predictors of Independent Living Outcomes Among Older Women Receiving Informal Care

This study examined the predictors of independent living outcomes among community–living older women who received informal care. The central hypothesis was that older women’s level of functioning is influenced by their relationship with their informal caregiver. The study attempted to understand the independence of older women through the perspective of both informal caregivers and the older women themselves. The following eight variables were measured: 1) the older women’s independence (dependent variable); 2) the relationship between older women and their informal caregivers (independent variable); 3) roles of both the informal caregiver and older women (independent variable); 4) the older women’s attitudes toward aging (independent variable); 5) the older women’s age identity (independent variable); 6) the older women’s health (control variable); 7) the older women’s level of social support (control variable); and 8) the older women’s level of depression (control variable). The variables were measured from the perspective of the older woman herself and her informal caregiver. This study used an ecological and developmental framework along with role theory to understand the interaction among the aforementioned variables through a cross-sectional design. The recruited older women participants of this study were receiving ongoing care and personal assistance from two large home care agencies located in Miami, FL. An analysis was conducted through a mixed-methods incorporated into the study design. The present study aimed to contribute to the understanding of how the relationship between older women and their informal caregivers influences older women’s ability to maintain independent outcomes. The primary finding of this study was that there were both positive and negative experiences within the relationship dynamic of older women and their informal caregivers and that this relationship was either unidirectional or bi-directional.