Burgess, Ernest E.

The purpose of this study was the development of
a one trimester calculus course to meet the special
needs of management majors at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University. A traditional calculus course was previously
required of these students and the traditional course
provided subjects for the control group in a pretestposttest
quasi-experimental design.
The experimental course that was developed was
different from the traditional course that it was designed
to replace in several major respects. The slope
of a tangent line and the area under a curve as motivation
for the derivative and definite integral, respectively,
in the traditional course were replaced with examples
that seem more relevant to management students. The
concept of a limit is nearly eliminated from the experimental course. Intuitive arguments are used instead of
formal proofs as are given or cited in a traditional
course.
The achievement of an experimental group who took
the experimental course was compared with the achievement
of a control group who took the traditional calculus
course offered for management majors. Achievement was
measured by final examination scores and course grades.
When these measures of achievement were statistically
adjusted for initial differences in the control and
experimental groups, using prerequisite course grades,
the experimental group was significantly above (p < .01)
the control group.

This study was designed to determine the effects of curriculum specific computer aided instruction on student achievement in a College Algebra course. Curriculum specific software is microcomputer software which provides both computerized instruction and practice for each topic in the accompanying textbook and is now available for many college mathematics texts. Using methods outlined by Diem (1982) in a previous study, College Algebra students were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Six hypotheses were formulated and tested by comparing both post-test scores and growth quotients for various appropriate groups. At the.05 level of significance the following hypotheses were rejected: There is no significant difference in achievement in learning mathematics between College Algebra students who study linear inequalities using curriculum specific microcomputer drill and practice with traditional lecture and College Algebra students who study linear inequalities using a traditional lecture-homework approach. There is no significant difference in achievement among those receiving curriculum specific microcomputer aided instruction as a result of students' score on the pretest, whether placed in the upper, middle, or lower third of the pretest scores. Implications of the study included the following: (1) The use of curriculum specific computerized drill and practice can significantly increase the mathematics achievement of those students receiving a traditional lecture. (2) There is a significant relationship between a student's pretest score and their level of success when using curriculum specific microcomputer aided instruction. Recommendations for further study included the following: (1) Replication of this experiment investigating different factors such as: (a) Differences related to age, (b) attitude toward computer aided instruction, (c) type of text and software, and (d) differences related to previous computing experience. (2) Research which compares various forms of curriculum specific drill and practice. (3) Development of computerized tutorials which significantly increase student achievement.

This study was designed to determine the effects of
requiring student completion and submission of homework
problem assignments, their correction and return, on a regular
basis, on community college student achievement in two
mathematics courses. These courses were introductory college
algebra (designated Mathematics X) and college algebra (designated
Mathematics Y). Additionally, student persistence
in the courses was studied. Implications of the study included the following:
1. Requiring homework problem assignments to be
completed and submitted on a regular basis as a teaching aid
is acceptable for the instructor who approves of this practice.
For the instructor who does not, any other teaching
tool currently in use is equally effective.
2. Proper placement in the mathematics sequence
may be the influential factor for persistence. This was indicated by the one statistically significant experimental
outcome.
Recommendations for further study included the
following:
1. Determination of methods to improve instruction
in community college mathematics courses.
2. Determination of improved placement techniques
for students in community college mathematics courses.
3. Determination of factors which increase persistence.
4. Determination of factors which will reduce the
large within-groups variance found in this study (which may
be the placement techniques mentioned above).

This study compared the perceptions of Associate
(ADN) and Baccalaureate (BSN) nursing faculty and
students regarding undergraduate critical care
nursing education.
The purposes were to: 1) identify attitudes
and beliefs of ADN and BSN nursing faculty and
students regarding undergraduate critical care
nursing education; 2) explore the extent to which
faculty perceptions differ in relation to student
perceptions; 3) explore the extent to which faculty
perceptions differ in relation to the types of program
in which they are teaching; 4) explore the extent
to which faculty perceptions differ in relation to
their demographic and biographic characteristics; and
5) explore the extent to which student perceptions
differ in relation to students in the alternative
program of study. The Critical Care Nursing Education
Questionnaire, was developed for use in this study by
the investigator and administered to 50 Associate and
Baccalaureate nursing faculty and 211 Associate and
Baccalaureate nursing students. Descriptive and
inferential statistical procedures were used to
analyze the group responses. Significant differences
were identified by ANOVA testing of the eight null
hypotheses and led to rejection of four null
hypotheses at the .05 level of significance.
Perceptions of faculty regarding undergraduate
critical care nursing education include:
1> instruction should be offered at the baccalaureate
level of undergraduate nursing education; 2) students
should be permitted to perform critical care nursing
procedures under the guidance of a critical care nurse
or nursing instructor; 3) such instruction should be
general in nature, offered over one full semester with
between 48 and 96 hours of clinical experience;
4) instruction should be an elective available to all
senior students; 5) the intensive care unit is not
threatening for students, rather undergraduate
critical care nursing education helps students gain
confidence in their basic nursing skills; and 6) upon
graduation, students should not be expected to function as practitioners of critical care nursing.
Students were in stronger agreement with such
instruction being required in all undergraduate
nursing programs. Baccalaureate students were more
likely to believe that upon graduation the nurse
should have the knowledge and skill to function as a
beginning practitioner of critical care nursing.
All faculty and students indicated that
undergraduate exposure to critical care nursing is
important.

This study was designed to determine the extent to which micro-computer instruction affects the learning of mathematics in College Algebra when used as a substitute for traditional methods of instruction. The computer programs involved in the study were designed to teach the student how to find and graph the solution set of linear inequalities with two variables. The lessons were programmed on an Apple II microcomputer and were designed using relatively simple linear branching techniques. The subjects involved in the study were enrolled in two sections of College Algebra in an upper division university. The students were randomly assigned to four groups and each group was taught using varying methods of instruction. One group received traditional classroom lecture followed by textbook homework. A second group was exposed to a computer tutorial program followed by textbook homework. A third group received classroom lecture followed by a computer drill and practice program. A fourth group completed both the computer tutorial and the computer drill and practice programs. Prior to exposure to different teaching methods, each group was administered a pre-test to determine the extent of their knowledge of the subject matter, establish the randomness assertion, and to determine whether or not the groups were equivalent at the outset. After each group received instruction, a post-test was administered to determine relative levels of achievement. One way between subjects analysis of variance was used with the pre-test scores to determine initial differences between the groups. The same statistical procedure was used with the post-test scores. The results of analysis of variance, at the .05 level, indicated that no significant differences in learning took place between the four groups in the study. However, observation of the data seemed to suggest differences which favored the more conventional lecture, homework group. Recommendations for future study included replication of the experiment using the same or modified populations. Additional variables could also be identified such as student attitude, academic background, sex, and age.