Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009)
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This collection gathers digitized University of Houston theses and dissertations dating from 1940.
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Browsing Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009) by Author "Abrahamson, Richard F."
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Item A comparative study of the effectiveness of trained and untrained parent tutors on reading comprehension performance of intermediate grade students(1980) Colvin, Marilyn Ann Berry; Tomas, Douglas A.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; McDaniel, Clyde O., Jr.; Mountain, Lee H.; Stetson, Elton G.The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of parent training on reading comprehension performance of intermediate grade students. An experimental pretest, posttest, control group design was used to compare differences in literal, inferential, and total reading comprehension performance among three groups of children: Those receiving trained-parent tutoring, those receiving untrained-parent tutoring, and those receiving no parent tutoring. More specifically, the study examined the influence of parent training in five comprehensive categories: (a) predicting outcomes and extending ideas, (b) locating information, (c) organizing, (d) remembering, and (e) evaluating (Guszak, 1978) on fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students1 literal, inferential, and total reading comprehension performance. Research hypotheses were tested controlling for sex, grade level, reading teacher, and score ranking within experimental groups. [...]Item A content analysis of fourteen Nigerian young adult novels(1981) Osa, Osayimwense; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Verner, Zenobia B.; Mountain, Lee H.; Newman, Katherine K.; Indakwa, JohnPurpose of the Study. The purpose of this study was, in essence, to come out with a composite picture of the Nigerian young adult novel. This goal was achieved through an in depth content analysis of fourteen Nigerian junior novels. Findings of the Study. Twelve content questions were posited to be looked into in the novels. It was found that the Nigerian junior novel, in the main, has a didactical bent because it hits at the core of traditional African education-character development. It also mirrors developmental tasks of Nigerian youth: discovering his sex role, developing new relationships with people his own age, achieving an easy relationship with members of the opposite sex, accepting his physical body, changing his relationship with his parents, working for pay, finding a vocation, becoming aware of his value patterns, and learning to accept the finality of death. Each of the fourteen novels deals with one or more of the aforementioned tasks. All the fourteen Nigerian young adult novels have a common locale-Nigeria. They deal with contemporary issues and problems primarily rooted in the Nigerian adolescent world. There seems to be some rigidity in technique. This junior novel is generally shorter than the adult novel and the third person point of view narration features prominently and there is little, if any, switching of that viewpoint. Only Ekwensi's Juju Rock is narrated from the first person point of view in this study. While some of the novels like The Drummer Boy and Adewoye's The Betrayer are bluntly didactic, some, like Oguntoye's Too Cold for Comfort and Areo's The Hopeful Lovers, have enough indications to make the reader conclude that they are didactic. Nigerian junior novels depict action mainly on a physical plane rather than emphasizing the psychological state of a character. Such a stance partly causes the paper thin nature of the adolescent and adult characters in the novel instead of fiull roundedness of character. The action in all the novels for this study progresses in a chronological manner rather than through flashbacks or views of events yet to happen. The plot is of both character and incident. The virtual absence of complex sentences, literary allusions, or complex literary symbolism in these novels makes the style, in general, quite simple and easy to read for the Nigerian high school student. Conclusions. This dissertation, which is the first extensive and sustained scholarly work on the Nigerian junior novel, comes out with a composite picture of what the contemporary Nigerian junior novel is. The dissertation is, at best, a major stepping stone on a scholarly path that critically examines the new phenomenon of young adult books in Nigeria. Like the junior novel in the United States, the forte of the Nigerian junior novel is in the area of personal and family problems. The major interest in these novels is in the content. Local and pedagogical in content and in orientation, the Nigerian junior novel touches the lives of Nigerian youths. It differs from contemporary American junior novels in its hardline moral stance. It essentially presents literature as a vision of life which the adolescent can readily understand, and not a complex mass of information experientially irrelevant to Nigerian youths. The novels make literature meaningful, at least to the Nigerian adolescent, by making contact with cultural values, social functions, and individual lives. To do less makes literature irrelevant in a Nigeria that cannot afford any more irrelevancies.Item A national survey to determine the status of the young adult novel in the secondary school English classroom, grades 7-12(1982) Samuels, Barbara G.,1941-; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Mountain, Lee H.; Munson, Carlton E.; Verner, Zenobia B.Recognizing that young adult novels are transitions to adult literature, serve important developmental and cognitive needs of students, and encourage lifetime reading habits, this study attempted to determine the status of the genre in secondary schools. The goals were twofold. The study surveyed a random sample of teachers to find out what they knew and how they felt about young adult novels. Secondly, the questionnaire analyzed the uses of the young adult novel in secondary schools.Item A study to determine the relationship between elementary principals' knowledge of reading and second-grade student's reading achievement(1979) Moore, Cynthia Ann Monk; Lane, Wilson H.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Bishop, John E., Jr.; Kennedy, V. J.; Sheridan, Jack M.The principal is recognized in the literature as a key ingredient in a successful reading program. The literature also revealed that the factor of the "principal's knowledge of reading" was the most frequently listed characteristic of the principal deemed necessary for the success of the reading program. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between elementary principals' knowledge of reading and second-grade students' reading achievement when controls for teacher knowledge of reading, student socio-economic background, student ethnicity, and student turnover rates were applied. Principals' and teachers' knowledge of reading was evaluated through The Inventory of Teacher Knowledge of Reading by A. Sterl Artley and Veralee B. Hardin. Three items were added to the inventory to reflect current trends in reading instruction that have emerged since the development and revision of the instrument in 1975. Participating schools were randomly selected from campuses within the Region IV Education Service Center area, an area including seven counties in and around Houston, Texas. These participating schools contained a fifteen percent or less student population eligible for free or reduced meals and a fifteen percent Of less student minority population. Student achievement scores for five students randomly selected from each teacher's classroom were recorded for testing completed in April, 1979. The study consisted of 24 elementary principals, 85 second-grade teachers, and 425 second-grade students located in thirteen school districts. Six hypotheses were tested to examine the relationship between principals' and teachers' knowledge of reading and second-grade student reading achievement. Several additional analyses were also performed. The statistical analyses failed to yield evidence to reject any of the null hypotheses. There were no significant differences at the .05 level on scores from the inventory between elementary principals and second-grade teachers; between elementary principals who had and who had not taken two or more professional reading courses; and betv/een principals and teachers who had and who had not been in their position for nine years or longer. There were also no significant differences in schools and classrooms where principals' and teachers' scores on the inventory were labeled "high" and schools and classrooms where these scores were labeled "low." No correlation was found between teachers' scores on the inventory and second-grade students' reading achievement scores. The results of the item analysis revealed that the principals' scores were higher than the teachers' on sixty-five percent of the inventory. : The principals surpassed the teachers in the areas identified by the International Reading Assocation as "language foundations of reading," "comprehension," "diagnostic teaching," and "program planning and improvement." The teachers' scores exceeded the principals' on thirty-five percent of the inventory. The teachers attained higher scores in the categories of "word analysis" and "enjoyment of reading." However, these differences were not significant. Both teachers and principals excelled in the areas of "diagnostic teaching" and "program planning and improvement." Their scores were lowest in the category of "language foundations of reading." [...]Item A survey of the adolescent poetry preferences of seventh, eighth, and ninth graders(1985) Kutiper, Karen S.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Terry, C. Ann; Munson, Carlton E.; Yaden, David B.This study surveyed the adolescent poetry preferences of 575 seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students in a suburban Houston school district using the 1972 Terry study as a model. Purposes of the study were (l) to determine what survey poems were most enjoyed; (2) to analyze the most popular poems considering type, content, and certain poetic elements; (5) to compare relationships between student preferences with the preferences of students at other grade levels using the results from the 1972 Terry study and the 1979 Bryan-Agee study; and (5) to compare differences in preferences when different modes of presentation are used. The collected data was used to test three hypotheses and to answer the following nine related research questions: 1. Will the most popular poems of subjects in the 1985 study be similar to the most popular poems of students in the Terry study (1972) and the Bryan-Agee study (1979)? 2. Do boys and girls in this study prefer the same poems ? 3. Do seventh, eighth, and ninth graders prefer the same poems? 4. Will similar reasons for selecting poems be given by these 1985 subjects when compared with subjects in earlier studies? 5. Will the preference for certain forms of poetry be similar to preferences of subjects in other studies? 6. Will there be differences in the poetry preferences of those subjects who only listen to the poems, who only read the poems, and who both listen to and read the poems? 7. What are the main sources of poetry which is shared in the classroom by seventh, eighth, and ninth grade teachers. 8. How often do teachers of seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students read poetry to their classes? 9. Will there be a relationship between student preferences for poetry before the study and their preferences for poetry during the study? Subjects were grouped into three modes of presentation: listening only; listening and reading; and reading only. Those subjects listened to, listened to and read, or read 10 poems a day for 10 days and then recorded their preferences on preference sheets using a five-point rating scale. Subject also wrote responses to two poems each day. Using SPSSx, a frequency count of preferences was computed to obtain mean scores. An analysis of variance of the mean scores was computed to test the three hypotheses. In addition to an analysis of the written responses, other data was obtained from a student poetry survey and a teacher questionnaire. Although there were no differences in preference by sex or grade level, statistically significant differences existed among the mean scores of subjects in the three modes. Students preferred reading poems rather than listening to them or listening to them and reading them simultaneously. Other findings confirmed those of previous studies at all grade levels. Subjects preferred rhyme, the humorous narrative form, and content based on familiar experiences. Haiku and free or blank verse were the least popular forms of poetry. Prior acquaintance with the poems had no influence on preferences.Item Children's classics : a reading preference study of fifth and sixth graders(1985) Wilson, Patricia J.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Mountain, Lee H.; Munson, Carlton E.; Wicker, WalterIn light of the current focus in education upon a return to basics and an emphasis on the classics of literature, this study investigated the preferences of fifth and sixth graders for those books generally recognized as classics in children's literature. The purposes were: (1) to identify the children's classics that were the most and least preferred by fifth and sixth graders; (2) to compare relationships between the children's classics and grade level and sex; (3) to determine if any relationship existed between children's preferences for specific classics and the age of the classics; (4) to analyze the most popular children's classics in regard to characteristics such as (a) content, (b) tone, and (c) literary elements. Procedures. Twenty-seven children's classics were selected from a list published by Horn Book and entitled Children's Classics (1976). Four sets of the 27 classics in paperback were sent to nine elementary schools in a Houston-area school district. A videotape was used to acquaint the youngsters with the study. To encourage the children to read the classics, the investigator sponsored a reading contest, and awards were given. Three groups of students, based upon number of classics read, were examined. A total of 773 students (Group 1) took part in the survey over a four-month period. Upon completion of each classic, the students indicated their level of enjoyment on a 5-point scale and provided written comments concerning their reasons for liking and disliking particular classics. A total of 374 students (Group 2) read three or more classics. At the end of the study, the students reading three or more classics were given a ballot to vote on their favorite classic. Group 3 was comprised of nine girls who read all 27 classics. The responses of the students were analyzed. Frequency counts of the student responses to the classics were used, and the mean scores were calculated to rank each book and to determine the most and least preferred classics. The voting results of those students reading three or more classics were also analyzed. T-tests were used to determine the preference differences according to sex and grade. [...]Item The effect of a short-practice informative narrative writing program on ninth grade writing competence(1985) Perry, Marian; Mountain, Lee H.; Stetson, Elton G.; Randall, Robert H.; Abrahamson, Richard F.The purpose of the study was to examine the effects on ninth graders' composition scores of a research-based twelve-week program of short daily practices in informative narrative writing. The effects of the program were assessed by two different measures, holistic scores and readability scores. The study also investigated the relationship between the two different scoring measures. Hypotheses. The hypotheses for the study were: 1. There will be a significant difference favoring the experimental group, pretest to posttest, between the holistic scores of students receiving the experimental program of daily practices in composition and those of the control group in the regular English program. 2. There will be a significant difference, pretest to posttest, between the readability scores of students receiving the experimental program of daily practices in composition and those of the control group in the regular English program. 3. There will be a positive correlation between the holistic assessment scores and the readability grade level scores on the composition pretests and posttests. Design of the Study. The subjects of the study were 118 ninth grade students. The type of writing chosen for the twelve-week intervention was informative narrative, as defined by Kinneavy (1971). The students in both the experimental group and the control group wrote pretest and posttest compositions which were evaluated by holistic scoring and readability scoring. During the twelve-week experiment the control group progressed through the regular English curriculum. The experimental group, while also following the regular English curriculum, spent the first ten to fifteen minutes of each class doing short research-based practices on informative narrative writing. These short daily practices continued for the first two weeks of each three-week cycle; during the third week of each cycle the students wrote an assignment synthesizing the skills they had practiced. This cycle was repeated four times to complete the twelve-week intervention. The pretest and posttest compositions were evaluated by both holistic and readability scores. An analysis of variance and t_test for significance were conducted on the scores to ascertain the effect of the intervention. A Pearson correlation was run to ascertain the relationship of the holistic and readability scores. [...]Item The effects of specific Read-aloud strategies on the attainment of concepts about print in kindergarten children(1988) Brannen, Susan Stilwell; Stewart, Ida Santos; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Morrow, James R., Jr.Numerous research studies have described children's awareness of the conventions of print and their understanding of the metalanguage of reading at the earliest stages of instruction. Reading instruction should direct children's attention to print concepts. The present study investigated teaching early reading concepts during read-aloud episodes. Three research questions were addressed by the present study. Do kindergarten children understand the metalanguage of reading? Do kindergarten children understand beginning reading concepts about print? Is read-aloud an effective teaching strategy for teaching beginning reading concepts? The research hypothesis was: Kindergarten children receiving instruction through read-aloud activities in addition to receiving instruction through commercial curriculum will possess a better understanding of early reading concepts than kindergarten children receiving instruction limited to commercial curriculum. [...]Item The effects of the Stetson reading-spelling approach on the spelling achievement and attitude of selected first, second, and third grade students in the Pasadena Independent School District(1981) Taylor, Wendelin Davis; Stetson, Elton G.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Gee, Thomas C.; Stevens, Jody L.; Tomas, Douglas A.Introduction. Investigators have reported evidence of successful instructional methods for spelling since the late nineteenth century, yet many teachers have not applied such findings. This study was designed to provide a research-based model of spelling instruction. Statement of the Problem. Questions addressed by this investigation were: 1. Will teachers giving instruction with the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach, in conjunction with the Harbrace Spelling Program demonstrate a more positive attitude toward spelling instruction than teachers giving instruction with the Harbrace Spelling Program only? 2. Will students receiving instruction with the Stetson Reading- Spelling Approach, in conjunction with the Harbrace Spelling Program, demonstrate a more positive attitude toward spelling instruction than students receiving instruction with the Harbrace Spelling Program only? 3. Will the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach, when utilized with the Harbrace Spelling Program, result in significant gains on standardized achievement tests as compared with gains achieved using the Harbrace Spelling Program only? 4. Will the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach, when utilized with the Harbrace Spelling Program, result in significant gains on long term retention tests as compared with gains achieved using the Harbrace Spelling Program only? 5. Will the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach, when utilized with the Harbrace Spelling Program, result in significant gains on weekly spelling tests as compared with gains achieved using the Harbrace Spelling Program only? Procedures. Subjects were 1345 first, second, and third grade students and 55 teachers from four selected schools in Pasadena, Texas. During a twelve- week treatment period, all students received instruction using the Harbrace Spelling Program. Experimental Group students received instruction supplemented with the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach. The week preceding and the week following the study all teachers were given the Teacher Attitude Test. All students were given the Student Attitude Test, the Wide Range Achievement Test Spelling Subtest, and the Long Term Retention Test. Monday pretests and Friday posttests were given for twelve textbook units. Analysis of the Data. Frequency and percentage distributions, t-tests, and analysis of covariance were used to test the hypotheses with three performance groups in each of three grades, grade level populations, and overall study populations. Results. 1. Significant differences in teacher attitude were not indicated on fifty-one of sixty research knowledge and application statements, but were indicated on four statements favoring the Experimental Group and five statements favoring the Control Group. 2. Significant differences in student attitude were not indicated with grade level or overall study populations, but were indicated with one performance group sample favoring the Experimental Group and one performance group sample favoring the Control Group. 3. Significant differences in spelling achievement were indicated with one performance group sample favoring the Experimental Group, two performance group samples, one grade level sample, and the overall study population favoring the Control Group. 4. Significant differences in long term retention of spelling words were indicated with one performance group sample, one grade level sample, and the overall study population favoring the Experimental Group. 5. Significant differences in short term memory of spelling words were indicated with one of 108 performance group samples favoring the Control Group, 23 performance group samples, 18 of 36 grade level samples, and 11 of 12 overall study samples favoring the Experimental Group. Recommendations. It is recommended that the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach be utilized in studies with the following experimental groups: students receiving instruction using the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach only, students in various geographical areas, fourth and fifth graders, secondary students, bilingual students, and low achievers. It is also recommended that teacher education programs be designed to inform teachers about research-supported spelling methods.Item The effects of two spelling approaches among sixth grade students and their participating teachers : a study of spelling achievement and teachers' attitudes toward staff development(1979) Williams, Herschel L.; North, Stewart D.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Kennedy, V. J.; Stetson, Elton G.; Stevens, Jody L.The increasing inability of American school children to spell has in recent years become a problem of special concern. The need for staff awareness of and curricular improvements in this area has been viewed as urgent. The purpose of the study was to determine how an administrator can influence teacher behavior, thereby affecting student performance. The specific concern of the study was student spelling performance. The study posed the following question: can a staff development program that focuses on two comparable methods of teaching sixth-grade spelling elicit instructional participation to the extent that the desired goals of improved student performance are achieved? The study was designed to test the following hypotheses: (1) there will be significant differences between the attitudes of teachers using the Silver Burdett Spell Correctly program and the Stetson Reading-Spelling Approach (SRSA) and the teachers using only the traditional Silver Burdett Spell Correctly (SBSC) program with respect to staff development program designed to improve student spelling performance; (2) there will be a significant difference in short- range spelling achievement favoring the experimental group, as measured at the end of each week of study; (3) there will be a significant difference in the long-range spelling achievement favoring the experimental group, as measured at the conclusion of the nine-week study; and (4) there will be significant differences in spelling ability favoring the experimental group as measured by the spelling portion of the Metropolitan Achievement Tests at the conclusion of the nine-week study. The sample population was comprised of 1,114 sixthgrade students attending three Sixth-Grade Centers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Students enrolled in the Mackey Center became the experimental group. The remainder of the students comprised the control group and were enrolled in the Madison and Kit Carson Sixth Grade Centers. The study took place in five phases: solicitation for the experiment and in-service training, pretesting, treatment period, posttesting, and follow-up interviews with teachers. Three test instruments were used to collect the data: the nine weekly tests, the Silver Burdett Long-Range Spelling Retention Test, and the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Forms F and G. [...]Item Two nutrition education stories for the preadolescent(1978) Mancini, Christine Ann F.; Mitchell, Barbara D.; Abrahamson, Richard F.; Ezell, Shirley; Langfur, Stephen J.Two nutrition education stories are written and illustrated. They are geared toward the preadolescent (ages seven through ten). The first story focuses on the nutrient iron. Vitamin A is the nutrient highlighted in the second story. The stories are acconpanied by twenty-three teaching activities which are designed to build a working vocabulary of the foods that supply iron and vitamin A.