A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of the Small-group Method and command Method of Teaching a Physical Education Activity Course

This study compared the effectiveness of the small-group method and command method of teaching a physical education activity course, including a comparison of the behaviors of students in small-group classes and command classes. The study was conducted utilizing 79 male and female subjects enrolled in four beginning swimming classes at The University of New Mexico during the Spring semester of 1974. The study employed both empirical and descriptive research methodologies. The empirical study consisted of measuring changes in seven dependent variables: (1) attitude toward the physical activity, (2) attitude toward the instructor of the course, (3) self-esteem, (4) personal- self, (5) physical-self, (6) social-self, and (7) skill acquisition. The instrument used to measure personal-self, physical-self, social-self, and self-esteem was the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, as developed by Fitts. It was administered following a pretest/posttest procedure. The instrument used to measure students\u27 attitudes toward the physical activity and the instructor of the course was the Students\u27 Reaction to Instruction and Courses, 2nd Edition, as developed by Hoyt and Owens. It was administered following a posttest only procedure. Skill acquisition was measured by the individual instructor of each course and the researcher. The swimming skills measured were the front crawl, the back crawl, elementary backstroke, sidestroke, and breaststroke. The seven hypotheses were tested using two analyses of variance and four analyses of covariance. The design of each test was a 4 x 1 with the type I error rate set at .05. No significant differences were found with any of the statistical tests. It was found that students\u27 attitudes toward beginning swimming and the instructor of the course were the same regardless of whether students were in classes where the small-group method or the command method of teaching was used. It was also found that students\u27 self-esteem, personal-self, physical-self, and social-self remained unchanged regardless of whether they were in classes where the small-group method or the command method of teaching was used. Results also indicated that students\u27 self-concept, which included the personal-self, physical-self, social-self, and self-esteem, was not subject to manipulation by different methods of teaching. The descriptive research consisted of approximately 10 observations of each class. The purposes of these observations were to insure that the instructors followed the assigned method of teaching, to develop small-group instructional strategies, and to compare the behaviors of students in the small-group and command classes. Results indicated that it was necessary for an instructor to understand, accept, and be comfortable with the premises embodied in the rationale for small-group methods of teaching, that there are no major differences between using small-group methods in a content course and a physical education activity course, and that, although class time must be allowed for students to become acquainted, it was not necessary for students to study group dynamics for small-group methods of teaching to be used effectively. The results of this study indicate that a teacher can manipulate the classroom climate so as to produce certain behaviors from students, and the method of teaching used in a physical education activity class does not necessarily affect several measures of self-concept. However, the student behaviors in response to the two teaching methods do differ along predicted dimensions

Comparison of Teacher\u27s Attitudes of Disciplinary Instances in Technology Education and Teen Living Classes

In order to properly compare the disciplinary instances of the eighth grade technology classes to the other elective classes, certain objectives must be met. These include: 1. Determine the disciplinary instances of eighth grade students in technology education; 2. Determine the disciplinary instanced of eighth grade students in other elective classes, in this study, teen living will be used; 3. Determine if a significant difference in disciplinary instances exists between grouping methods

Influence of Functional Components on the Film Formation of Colloidal Dispersions

A number of colloidal dispersions were synthesized to advance knowledge and gain understanding regarding interactions between individual components and for elucidation of complex processes governing their film formation. These studies show that for methyl methacrylate/n-butyl acrylate (MMA/nBA) colloidal dispersions, the presence of functional components significantly affects film formation. The incorporation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) into pMMA/nBA colloidal dispersions creates competing environments between the copolymer particle surfaces, aqueous phases, and dispersing agents which results in migration with self-induced stratification occuring during coalescence. pMMA/nBA/PVOH films stratify to form sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) rich film-air (F-A) interfaces, and the -SO3 moieties exhibit preferential parallel orientation with respect to the surface. At the same time, the bulk of the film is dominated by intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the PVOH phase and the copolymer matrix. This behavior is attributed to significant interactions between PVOH and pMMA/nBA resulting in limited mobility Of PVOH. Also, colloidal dispersions of poly(methyl methacrylate/n-butyl acrylate) in the presence of methylene bisacrylamide (MBA), n-(hydroxyl methyl)-acrylamide (HAM), and methacrylic acid (MA) crosslinkers have significant influence on the mobility of individual components and their stratification during and after coalescence. Utilizing thermomechanical and spectroscopic analytical tools, these studies show that physical and/or chemical crosslinking, which is a function of temperature, significantly alters interactions among the film components. While the presence of physical crosslinks significantly affects the mechanical strength of polymer networks at lower temperatures while chemical crosslinks are effective at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the degree of crosslinking also influences stratification of selected components. These studies also examine the role of nano-SiC\u3e2 particles during colloidal synthesis of poly(methyl methacrylate/n-butyl acrylate) (pMMA/nBA) and their effect on the polydispersity index (PDI). Due to the presence of defects on the surface of SiC\u3e2 nanoparticles, these entities are capable of controlling the propagation of free radicals. In contrast to previous assessments that Si02 nanoparticles serve as a loci of polymerization, SiC\u3e2 nanoparticles adsorb on the exterior of surfactant micelles where they couple with carbon based propagating radicals in the oil phase and the hydroxyl radicals produced in the aqueous phase. The control of carbon based radicals as well as the trapping of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals is shown to lower the PDI of pMMA/nBA from 15 to 93%, depending upon the initiator as well as reaction conditions. Finally, the creation of bioactive surfaces has garnered much interest due to potential applications in the medical industry. Many well-known methods used for the creation of bioactive surfaces utilize post modification techniques. With this in mind, we focused on the creation of bioactive surfaces with stimuli-responsive character without the need for further modification. These studies explored the concept of controlling inter/intramolecular interactions of multicomponent systems during the film formation process to create tailor-made surfaces of colloidal films. By utilizing the ionization of aspartic acid (Asp) by controlling the pH of poly-(methyl methacrylate/n-butyl acrylate) (pMMA/nBA) colloidal dispersions, bioactive surfaces could not only be created but also controlled. At acidic pHs, a surfactant rich layer could be observed at the film-air interface, while at basic pHs bioactive Asp islands were observed

A Survey of Existing and Proposed State Legislation Protecting High School Students\u27 Rights to Free Expression and a Free Press, and a Proposal for such Legislation in West Virginia

Since the U.S. Supreme Court\u27s controversial and historic 1988 Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier decision, the debate over whether high school newspapers should have First Amendment protection and rights has been waged from one end of the country to the other. Many principals hailed the decision as giving school administrators the responsibility they should have by putting the high school press in its proper relationship with principals (Dickson, How Advisers View 2). Conversely, many advisers, students, and journalists criticized the ruling for limiting constitutional rights of student publications to remain free from censorship as guaranteed by the First Amendment (Garneau 12; Goodman 34+; Heath 15+; Hentoff 114+). Ed Sullivan, director of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, said, Hazelwood is a bad law and bad educational practice. It gives schools the power to legally create a \u27pabulum press\u27 that caters to the rosy, public relations image often sought by today\u27s harried school administrators (qtd. in Heath 17). The National Association of Secondary School Principals, however, has never issued an official statement regarding the Hazelwood decision, according to Caroline Glascock, secretary to Tom Koemer, the group\u27s associate executive director