The effects of Chinese painting appreciation education on the artistic achievement of junior high school students in Taiwan

For the Chinese, fine art is one of the most important items in human life. The goals of fine arts education enhance the student so that s/he can make reasonable judgments about work, gain knowledge of color and understand the process of designing environmental layouts. Related technique and creativity training are offered students in accordance with individual differences and social expectations.^ Traditionally, Taiwan's junior high school fine art program teaches mainly painting technique. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan determines the curriculum of junior high school fine art education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of teaching Chinese painting appreciation on the artistic achievements of junior high school students in Taiwan. The subjects were seventh grade students who had never learned Chinese painting before. Two classes were randomly chosen from each target school and were designated as the experimental or control group. Instruction in all groups was delivered by the researcher himself. At the end of the study, data about subjects' related knowledge, creative technique, and feeling toward Chinese painting were systematically collected and analyzed.^ The result of the study was that students in the experimental group were more motivated to learn Chinese painting than were the students in the control group. Students in the experimental group made better progress in the development of creative skill, had better critical ability, and demonstrated better performance in Chinese painting form, set up, stroke and color of related knowledge than did students in the control group. It was therefore concluded that Chinese painting appreciation education can promote better artistic achievement and that this approach should be used in other areas of art education. ^

A comparison of the effects of social constructivist and traditional approaches to teaching on students' attitude and achievement in high school chemistry

Current views of the nature of knowledge and of learning suggest that instructional approaches in science education pay closer attention to how students learn rather than on teaching. This study examined the use of approaches to teaching science based on two contrasting perspectives in learning, social constructivist and traditional, and the effects they have on students' attitudes and achievement. Four categories of attitudes were measured using the Upper Secondary Attitude Questionnaire: Attitude towards school, towards the importance of science, towards science as a career, and towards science as a subject in school. Achievement was measured by average class grades and also with a researcher/teacher constructed 30-item test that involved three sub-scales of items based on knowledge, and applications involving near-transfer and far-transfer of concepts. The sample consisted of 202 students in nine intact classrooms in chemistry at a large high school in Miami, Florida, and involved two teachers. Results were analyzed using a two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with a pretest in attitude as the covariate for attitudes and prior achievement as the covariate for achievement. A comparison of the adjusted mean scores was made between the two groups and between females and males. ^ With constructivist-based teaching, students showed more favorable attitude towards science as a subject, obtained significantly higher scores in class achievement, total achievement and achievement on the knowledge sub-scale of the knowledge and application test. Students in the traditional group showed more favorable attitude towards school. Females showed significantly more positive attitude towards the importance of science and obtained significantly higher scores in class achievement. No significant interaction effects were obtained for method of instruction by gender. ^ This study lends some support to the view that constructivist-based approaches to teaching science is a viable alternative to traditional modes of teaching. It is suggested that in science education, more consideration be given to those aspects of classroom teaching that foster closer coordination between social influences and individual learning. ^

The effects of the ethic of care in an all-boys school from 1903 to 1974

Nel Noddings’ 1984 publication, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education was the first formal introduction of the concept of an “ethic of care”. It is a concept that stresses the importance of compassion in any relationship. For the purpose of this dissertation, the ethic of care was studied in a specific educational community. ^ This research focused on the role of care ethics in a secondary school (The Ransom School for Boys) from 1903 to 1974. The researcher identified this school as one that operated with an ethic of care and collected and analyzed data from historical school documents as well as from 60–90 minute individual interviews with six alumni, five retired faculty, and two administrators. ^ The case study addressed how students and faculty experienced care ethics within the school and how it has been maintained throughout the adult lives of alumni. An a priori coding rubric was used to examine the presence of care ethics at the Ransom School for Boys and in the adult lives of its alumni. This rubric was generated using information taken from the literature review and encompasses 36 different words to identify the presence of care ethics. ^ The primary research question was: How have alumni incorporated care ethics into their personal and professional lives? Secondary questions included: (1) How did the ethic of care present itself over the span of 71 years? (2) Was character education part of the formal curriculum at the Ransom School? (3) Was character education part of the hidden curriculum at the Ransom School? (4) Did the presence of care ethics support the values being taught in the home? ^ While there has been research done on the importance of care ethics in an educational institution, the research is void of direct evidence associated with care ethics in a school community, specifically, an all-boys, private school. Through deductive analysis, care ethics was found to be present and utilized at the school. The interviews and historical documents suggested that moral education was an integral part of the informal curriculum and helped to integrate the ethic of care within the community.^

Differential effects of single -sex versus coed education on the mathematical reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability, and self-concept of high school girls

This study explored the differential effects of single-sex versus coed education on the cognitive and affective development of young women in senior year of high school. The basic research question was: What are the differential effects of single-sex versus coed education on the development of mathematical reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability, or self-concept of high school girls?^ This study was composed of two parts. In the first part, the SAT verbal and mathematical ability scores were recorded for those subjects in the two schools from which the sample populations were drawn. The second part of the study required the application of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale to subjects in each of the two sample populations. The sample schools were deliberately selected to minimize between group differences in the populations. One was an all girls school, the other coeducational.^ The research design employed in this study was the causal-comparative method, used to explore causal relationships between variables that already exist. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the data produced by this research, no significant difference was found to exist between the mean scores of the senior girls in the single-sex school and the coed school on the SAT 1 verbal reasoning section. Nor was any significant difference found to exist between the mean scores of the senior girls in the single-sex school and the coed school on the SAT 1 mathematical reasoning section. Finally, no significant difference between the mean total scores of the senior girls in the single-sex school and the coed school on the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was found to exist.^ Contrary to what many other studies have found in the past about single-sex schools and their advantages for girls, this study found no support for such advantages in the cognitive areas of verbal and mathematical reasoning as measured by the SAT or in the affective area of self-concept as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. ^

The effects of school mobility in pre -assessment grade levels on student performance and school accountability in urban Title I schools

This study examined the effects of student mobility and educational enrollment experiences on academic achievement. The educational progress, school enrollments and transfers of inner-city elementary students were tracked over a four-year period. Student achievement was measured by criterion-referenced reading tests administered in the second semester of the third grade. It further analyzed the degree to which the switch to different basal reading textbooks interrupted the continuity of education thereby contributing to the detrimental effects of intra-district mobility. ^ Mobility histories of 2,913 third grade students were collected to evaluate the number of times each student entered or withdrew from a Miami-Dade County Public School beginning in August 2000 through March 2004, and distinguished between transfers that occurred during the academic school year and those that occurred during summer months. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations and multiple regressions to determine if school mobility contributed to performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Third Grade Reading Test (FCAT). Transferring from one school to another was found to have a significant negative impact on student test scores. Transfers within the academic school year were more detrimental than transfers that occurred during the summer months. Third grade students who transferred into schools that used the same reading textbook series were found to have significantly higher FCAT reading scores than third graders who transferred into schools that used different reading textbooks. ^ The effects of mobility rates on overall school performance were also examined. Data was collected on 124 Title I elementary schools to determine the degree to which mobility affected school accountability scores. Title I schools with high student mobility rates had significantly lower accountability scores than schools with lower student mobility rates. ^ The results of this study highlight the impact of education and housing policy and imply a need for programs and practices that promote stability in the early elementary years. ^

Positive Effects of Peer Modeling and Positive Reinforcement on Healthy Food Intake in Elementary School Children

The current study aims to discover the effects of “Food Dudes” peer modeling videos and positive reinforcement on vegetable consumption using a delayed multiple baseline design across subjects. Results suggest peer modeling and positive reinforcement as effective means to increase vegetable intake.

An investigation of the effects of a school-based intervention on feelings of personal expressiveness in multi-problem adolescent youth

This study was conducted to determine the effects of the Changing Lives Program intervention on troubled adolescents' feelings of personal expressiveness, believed to be one domain of positive identity development. Forty-three intervention and twenty nonintervention comparison control participants were given a battery of pre-, post-, and follow-up assessments including the Personally Expressive Questionnaire (Waterman, 1995), which was used to derive participants' feelings of personal expressiveness scores. Using Repeated Measures Analysis of Multivariate Analysis (RMANOVA), a significant four-way interaction of Time X Condition X Gender X Ethnicity was found relative to the Control, Roy's Ɵ = .166, F(2,47) = 3.899, p < .027 indicating that intervention participants' feelings of personal expressiveness did increase significantly relative to the control group. Furthermore, the results suggest differential outcomes based on ethnicity, suggesting the need for future study with respect to specificity of effects and mechanisms of identity formation in differing ethnic subgroups.

Reaganomics and its effects on pricing and participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County public high schools

Problem: This research proposes to examine the effects of Reaganomics on pricing and participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. Subproblems: The first subproblem is to examine the effects of Reaganomics on pricing in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. The second subproblem is to examine the effects of Reaganomics on participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. Hypotheses: The first hypothesis is that Reaganomics has resulted in price increases to the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. The second hypothesis is that Reaganomics has decreased the percentage of the regular paying sector participating in the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools.

The effects of an augmented art curriculum on the attitudes of high school art students toward diversity in art

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an augmented art curriculum on high school art students to determine if those receiving it had more positive attitudes toward diversity in art and used diversity in their art more than students receiving traditional instruction. This study was conducted in a South Florida public high school, with beginning art students. Using a posttest-only control group design and ANOVA (a = .05), it was found that students (n = 54) receiving an augmented art curriculum did not have significantly higher scores on the Attitudes About Art questionnaire than students (n = 57) receiving traditional instruction F (1, 91) =.00, p > .05. However, using the Checklist of Cultural References in Student Art to evaluate student work it was found that there was a significant teacher effect F (1, 30) = 14.14, p

Public school administrators' knowledge of special education law

The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of public school administrators with respect to special education (ESE) law. The study used a sample of 220 public school administrators. A survey instrument was developed consisting of 19 demographic questions and 20 situational scenarios. The scenarios were based on ESE issues of discipline, due process (including IEP procedures), identification, evaluation, placement, and related services. The participants had to decide whether a violation of the ESE child's rights had occurred by marking: (a) Yes, (b) No, or (c) Undecided. An analysis of the scores and demographic information was done using a two-way analysis of variance, chi-square, and crosstabs after a 77% survey response rate.^ Research questions addressed the administrators' overall level of knowledge. Comparisons were made between principals and assistant principals and differences between the levels of schooling. Exploratory questions were concerned with ESE issues deemed problematic by administrators, effects of demographic variables on survey scores, and the listing of resources utilized by administrators to access ESE information.^ The study revealed: (a) a significant difference was found when comparing the number of ESE courses taken and the score on the survey, (b) the top five resources of ESE information were the region office, school ESE department chairs, ESE teachers, county workshops, and county inservices, (c) problematic areas included discipline, evaluation procedures, placement issues, and IEP due process concerns, (d) administrators as a group did not exhibit a satisfactory knowledge of ESE law with a mean score of 12 correct and 74% of responding administrators scoring in the unsatisfactory level (below 70%), (e) across school levels, elementary administrators scored significantly higher than high school administrators, and (f) a significant implication that assistant principals consistently scored higher than principals on each scenario with a significant difference at the high school level.^ The study reveals a vital need for administrators to receive additional preparation in order to possess a basic understanding of ESE school law and how it impacts their respective schools and school districts so that they might meet professional obligations and protect the rights of all individuals involved. Recommendations for this additional administrative preparation and further research topics were discussed. ^

A study of the relationship between parental self-efficacy and indicators of school involvement exhibited by Hispanic parents of elementary school children

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hispanic parents' sense of self-efficacy at various degrees of acculturation to the United States and specific indicators of school involvement in their elementary school children's education. It assessed the effects of acculturation on the level of parental self-efficacy and their degree of school involvement. The theoretical framework guiding this investigation was Bandura's theory of self-efficacy which advocates that the amount of effort a person devotes to the accomplishment of a specific outcome is related to a person's beliefs in their capabilities regardless of actual competencies.^ The research method involved a correlational design measuring levels of parental self-efficacy, acculturation, degree of school involvement and related demographic characteristics. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the degree of relationships existing between the predictor variables of self-efficacy and level of acculturation, and level of school involvement. The data was subjected to a path analysis to test the validity of the causal model advanced in this study specifying a positive relationship between the constructs of acculturation, parental self-efficacy and level of school involvement.^ A total of 109 Hispanic parents of students enrolled in five elementary public schools in Dade County, Florida, were selected for participation in the study. Results revealed a significant positive correlation r =.23, p $<$.05 between level of parental self-efficacy and number of hours parents spent helping their children with homework. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between acculturation and level of self-efficacy r =.21, p $<$.05. Statistically significant positive correlations were also found between acculturation and such indicators of parental school involvement as participation in parent-teacher conferences r =.20, p $<$.05, volunteering at school, r =.22, p $<$.05, attendance at school sponsored sports activities r =.26, p $<$.01, and volunteering in field-trips r =.28, p $<$.01.^ The multiple regression analysis equation predicting level of homework assistance provided by parents and self-efficacy was statistically significant, F(2,106) = 3.59, p $<$.03. The beta weights revealed that self-efficacy contributed the most to the prediction of homework assistance by parents, B =.258, p $<$.009. In turn, the variable of acculturation was the most significant predictor of number of school based parent involvement activities, B =.281, p $<$.05 level. The path analysis confirmed the results obtained in the multiple regression analyses, establishing self-efficacy as having a direct effect on the level of homework assistance provided by parents. Conversely, the variable of acculturation had a direct effect on the number of school based parent involvement activities. ^

The effects of sex of teacher, sex of scenario principal, and leadership style on the performance ratings of scenario principals by teachers

This study was designed to address questions regarding the effects of sex and leadership style on teacher perceptions of principal effectiveness. On a researcher-designed instrument, middle school teachers rated the effectiveness of a scenario principal's response in several situations. The responses reflected varying levels of Task and Relationship Behavior.^ The design incorporated two between subjects factors (Teacher Sex and Principal Sex) and one within subjects factor (Leadership Style) which was treated as a repeated measure. An analysis of variance revealed no significant effects except for Leadership Style. Overall, High Task/High Relationship behavior rated significantly higher and Low Task/Low Relationship rated significantly lower than the others. The null hypothesis concerning differences could not be rejected and the stated research hypotheses were not supported.^ Additional analyses of variance were conducted substituting subject demographic variables for Teacher Sex in the research design. No significant interactions or main effects other than Leadership Style were noted when either Age or Ethnicity were substituted.^ A significant two-way interaction was noted for Teacher Experience and Leadership Style (p =.0316). Less experienced teachers rated principal's performance lower when exhibiting High Task/Low Relationship style than did more experienced teachers. A significant three-way interaction was noted for Administrative Aspiration x Principal Sex x Leadership Style (p =.0294). Teachers who indicated an intent to enter administration differed more on their ratings between male and female principals exhibiting mixed styles of High Task/Low Relationship and Low Task/High Relationship than did teachers who indicated no or undecided.^ Sex of the teacher appears less important than sex of the principal on performance ratings. Results suggest further study of the effects of teacher experience and teacher administrative aspiration on perceptions of principal effectiveness. ^

Effect of an inservice on the teachers' knowledge of general school law, Section 504, and the Meta Consent Decree

It is generally assumed by educators that inservice training will make a significant difference in teacher knowledge of topics related to education. This investigation addressed that assumption by examining the effects of various factors, e.g., amount and timing of inservice training, upon teacher knowledge of educational law. Of special interest was teacher knowledge of the law as it pertained to ethnic and other characteristics of students in urban school settings. This study was deliberately designed to determine which factors should be later investigated in a more deterministic form, e.g., an experimental design.^ The investigation built upon that of Ogletree (1985), Osborne (1996) and others who focused on the importance of teacher development as a method to enhance professional abilities. The main question addressed in this study was, "How knowledgeable are teachers of school law, especially with regard to general school law, the Meta Consent Decree and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973."^ The study participants (N = 302) were from the Dade County School System, the fourth largest in the U.S. The survey design (approved by the System), specified participants from all levels and types of schools and geographic representations. A survey instrument was created, pilot tested, revised and approved for use by the district official representatives. After administration of the instrument, the resultant data was treated by several appropriate tests, e.g., multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA).^ Several findings emerged from the analysis of the data: in general, teachers did not have sufficient knowledge of school law; factors, such as amount and level of education, and status and position were positively correlated with increased knowledge; factors such as years of experience, gender, race and ethnicity were not correlated with higher levels of knowledge. The most significant, however, was that when teachers had participated in several inservice training experiences, typically workshops, and, when combined with other factors noted above, their knowledge of school law was significantly higher. Specific recommendations for future studies were made. ^

A frame analysis of the leadership styles of dental and medical school deans

The purpose of this study was to determine how dental and medical school deans perceived their own leadership styles and how many management/leadership perspectives they used when approaching a problem. A descriptive and correlational study was conducted which examined the leadership orientations or "frames" utilized by these deans. Four frames--the structural, the human resource, the political, and the symbolic--emerged from leadership studies which described the behavior of leaders in organizational actions and problem solving.^ Employing the repeated measures ANCOVA, it was found that there were no significant interactions between type of dean and perceptions or perspectives. However, the main effects of both leadership style perceptions and the use of perspectives were significant. This indicated that over the total sample of deans, both perceptions and perspectives were used differently; the deans perceived themselves and used perspectives the highest for the human resource frame and the lowest for the political frame. Also, dental deans' mean use overall of the four perspective frames was higher than the medical deans. In addition to the ANCOVA, t-tests performed on perceptions revealed that the deans perceived the frames differently in three human resource items. Pearson's correlations indicated that for the combined sample of deans, significant negative correlations existed when the human resource or symbolic frame was compared to the structural frame. All of the deans used multiple frames, allowing them to re-frame or combine frames according to the situation. ^

Sibling relations in preadolescence and adolescence: Compensatory and buffering effects

The current study is an examination of how support from siblings relates to psychological and academic well-being in preadolescence and adolescence in general, and the buffering and compensatory effects of sibling support in particular. Participants for the study were 694 African-American, European-American, and Hispanic-American students in grades 6 and 8. Participants were interviewed in school regarding their social support, ecological risk, and psychological well-being. Academic well-being was assessed using teacher reports and school records. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that greater brother support was associated with more positive school attitudes and with higher overall self-esteem. In addition, sister support moderated the relationship between ecological risk and school adaptation. In terms of a compensatory effect, students under low mother support conditions receiving greater support from brothers, and students under low friend support conditions receiving greater support from brothers exhibited higher school achievement. The potential benefits of sibling support warrant a closer examination of the wide ranging issues involved in sibling relations. ^