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United States Intervention in Vietnam: A Critical Evaluation of Policy and Decisionmaking
Get PDF81 leaves. Advisor: C. Walter ClarkThe United States intervened in South Vietnam in an attempt to prevent formation of a communist state there. The intervention was a failure; the country came under communist control. This thesis describes and analyzes the goals and policies of American intervention during the period 1950 through mid-1968.
"United States-Vietnam Relations: 1945-1967", the Pentagon Papers, served as the primary source for defining the goals and policies. The writings of Bernard Fall were used to evaluate them. An operational definition of intervention proposed by James N. Rosenau was a framework for discussion. Rosenau defined intervention as an action that breaks sharply with the past and is directed at a nation's authority structure.
The intervention was predicated on an assumption that monolithic communism threatened to spread over all of Indochina. The fear of communism
was exaggerated. A more significant factor was the potency of Vietnamese nationalism, but this was not appreciated by American policymakers.
They followed outmoded concepts of containment and relied too much on conventional military tactics that were incompatible with the political nature of the internal war in Vietnam
The Self Expressed Needs of Physically Handicapped Persons Living in Iowa During 1976
No full text108 leaves. Advisor: Stuart TiedemanThe Problem. The purpose of this study was to
determine the self-expressed needs of physically handicapped persons living in the State of Iowa during 1976.
Procedure. A questionnaire was designed by the
contributions of handicapped persons exclusively. The questionnaire was then distributed to six hundred physically disabled persons residing in the state of Iowa. The names and addresses of these persons were supplied by the Iowa Easter Seal Society from a list of clients who corresponded with the agency. Respondents were asked to indicate five problems they encountered which limited them the most in their efforts to live a normal and satisfying life. These five problems were chosen from a list of twenty-one
problems which other groups of handicapped persons had identified in various conferences in the
United States and Canada. The respondent had the option of identifying a need or problem not included on the list. As part of the questionnaire each respondent indicated his or her age, sex, degree of disability (mild, moderate, or severe), length of disability, resident community population and educational level (0-11 years of education, high school graduate. technical school training, some college education, college graduate).
Findings. A total of 261 questionnaires were returned (44%). There were two hundred fifty unsable questionnaires. The composite rank order of needs along with the percentage of the sample population who identified each need follows; income security (48 percent), information needs (45.6 percent), architectural barriers (37.6 percent), transportation (28 percent), health services (27.2 percent), recreation (25.6 percent), social acceptance (25.2 percent), insurance (24.4 percent), home care (23.6 percent), political representation (23.2 percent), legal services (21.2 percent), personal adjustment (17.6 percent), housing (17.2 percent), vocational education (16.8 percent), employment (14 percent), family problems (12 percent), sexual adjustment (10.4 percent), caseworkers (8 percent), special equipment (7.6 percent), education (7.2 percent), institutionalization (4.4 percent). Rank-orders of needs were established for each of the categories of disabled persons identified in the questionnaire. These included rankings by age, sex, degree of disability, length of disability, population of resident community, and educational background of respondents. Each of these rank-orders varied from the composite hierarchy in regard to one or two important needs.
Conclusions. Three basic conclusions could be drawn from this study. First, there are some common needs which disabled persons living in Iowa perceived as obstacles in their attempt to live a normal life. Income security, information concerning services or regulations for the handicapped, architectural barriers, transportation and health care proved to be the most vital of such needs. Second, factors such as age, sex, degree of disability, length of disability, education, and population of resident community seem to influence perceptions of needs enough to justify a further study of such relationships. Third, handicapped persons living in Iowa are, with few exceptions, in agreement with handicapped persons residing in the state of Massachusetts in terms of their perceived needs.
Recommendations. Further research should include a descriptive and comparative analysis of the financial conditions of handicapped persons living in Iowa. Also a study to discover what the most troublesome architectural barriers are in specific geographic locations in Iowa would be of direct aid to disabled persons, as would a study regarding adequacy of health care services in Iowa. Self concept studies, particularly among younger handicapped persons, could be of value to counselors and educators. A further investigation of significance would be to compare and contrast the perceptions of needs of the disabled held by professionals working with them and those of disabled persons themselves. Finally, since each need was not identified as of extreme concern by all of the respondents if could be revealing to analyze how those persons who did not identify a need as crucial coped with the problem
An Evaluation of Woodside Middle School's Written Discipline Policies and Discipline Review Board
No full text208 leaves. Advisor: Charles RowleyThe problem. The fall of the 1976-77 school year saw a new Woodside. It was no longer a junior high with grades 7-8-9. It was now a middle school with grades 5-6-7-9. Yet with this massive change of philosophy, students, and staff, Woodside was still using the same written discipline policies and Discipline Review Board. Were Woodside's written discipline policies and Discipline Review Board effective in this new setting?
Procedure. Questionnaires were presented to 150
students at Woodside representing a composite of all grades and types of students. Parents of 100 students were also asked to complete a questionnaire, as well as 42 teachers. All 64 middle school principals in Iowa were asked to
complete a questionnaire which provided information that served as a basis for evaluating Woodside's written discipline policies and Discipline Review Board.
Findings. It was found that Woodside was a leader
among the States 64 middle schools in discipline practices and procedures. A majority of all students, parents, and teachers at the school felt that Woodside's written discipline policies and Discipline Review Board were effective.
Conclusions. It may be concluded that Woodside
Middle School is doinq an effective job in dealing with its discipline problems.
Recommendations. It is recommended that a committee of students, parents, teachers, and administrators be established to revise and up-date Woodside's written discipline policies, gearing the vocabulary to grades 5-6-7-8. It is also recommended that the Discipline Review
Board contain at least one parent and at least one student
The Effects of Peer Prompting On The Study Behavior Of University Students
No full text28 leaves. Advisor: Kenneth E. LloydThe problem. The effects of various prompting procedures in gaining official admittance.
Procedure. Fifteen provisionally accepted first
semester university students were required to earn 6,500 points and complete 30 assignments to pass a study course. Students initially earned points simply for making plans to study in a library study hall. Later points could be earned for matching planned study time with actual study
time in the study hall and for completing assignments.
Following the point contingency two separate prompting conditions were utilized. One-half of those students who did not increase the number of assignments completed or points earned during the point condition were assigned to a peer prompting condition. Peers first prompted the students by telephone. Following a return to the point
contingency these students were assigned to an in-person prompting condition. The other half of the students were assigned to the telephone prompting condition three weeks later than the first half.
Findings. The telephone prompt resulted in an
increase in both studying completed assignments for both halves. The multiple baseline design across halves of students produced the same in both halves, an increase in both studying completing assignments. The peer prompt by telephone seemed more effective than the in-person prompt.
Conclusions. Peer prompting by one or more means
was successful in producing more study behavior.
Recommendations. Further research could focus on
a more detailed evaluation of the telephone prompt, the in-person prompt and some combination of prompts and reinforcement
The Role of Elementary Counselors as Perceived by Elementary Counselors and Principals in the State of Iowa
No full text108 leaves. Advisor: Stuart TiedemanAmong educators there is a diversity of opinion regarding the elementary counselor's role. Consequently job descriptions, where they exist, are inconsistent and arbitrary. Some educators feel that the classroom teacher should be responsible for counseling responsibilities, while others recommend that a professionally trained counselor be on every elementary school staff.
The disparity of views led the writer to initiate this investigation. Consequently, the goal is to examine the role of practicing elementary school counselors in Iowa as perceived by elementary school principals and the counselors themselves.
A mail survey was used to gather information related to the elementary counselor's role. Ninety-eight elementary counselors and 97 elementary principals in Iowa were surveyed. The survey instrument consisted of an Information Sheet as well as an Opinionnaire. The data were tabulated to show how principals and counselors compare in their perceptions of elementary counselors' roles.
The data yielded few differences in perception between principals and counselors. Often, where differences did occur, they were within groups. However, there were areas of principal-counselor disagreement community involvement, the importance of testing programs, the counselor's role in dealing with individual problems
Validation and Comparison of Two Sensory Perceptual Examinations
Get PDF55 leaves. Advisor: James WhitehouseThe problem. Inaccurate diagnosis of brain damaged and non-brain-damaged subjects when utilizing sensory perceptual examinations may be due to a lack of standardized
administration procedures. The purpose of this
study is to provide validation data for the Reitan-Klove Examination and evaluate an alternative standardized testing procedure which is based on subtests similar to the
Reitan-Klove Examination.
Procedure. Von Frey hairs, tuning forks, calipers, wire numbers, and raised designs were used for standardization. The control group consisted of 11 male and 23 female hospital staff members with a mean age of 40 years. The experimental group consisted of one female and 33 male brain-damaged patients with a mean age of 49 years.
Findings. The procedures were compared on the
occurrence of false positives and false negatives. Both procedures yielded no false positives and a small incidence (6%) of false negatives; both procedures were valid. Subtests
involving the same variables were then compared. The comparison revealed that in the area of tactile perception and fingertip number writing perception, the discriminative
validity of these tests was increased by procedural standardization.
Conclusions. There are indications which suggest that procedural standardization could increase the validity of sensory perceptual examinations.
Recommendations. Further research on this issue
incorporating less severely brain-damaged and psychotic subjects is suggested in an attempt to provide more information regarding procedural standardization
A Comparison of Special Education Students with Regular Students Using Audio and Visual Stimuli
Get PDF52 leaves. Advisor: Charles D. RowleyThe problem. The purpose of this study was to compare the reaction times of three selected junior high school populations: learning disabled, regular, and mildly mentally disabled to a
simple audio and visual stimuli.
Procedure. The Automatic Performance Analyzer was used to test the simple reaction times of the fifty-four students. Each person was given ten individual trials for measurement of his/her
reaction time to a simple stimuli. Each students was allowed five trials with the audio stimuli and five trials with the visual stimuli. During each trial, the length of time from activation
of the stimuli to the presentation of the stimuli was varied. All reaction time scores were recorded to the nearest one-one hundredth of a second.
Findings. Reaction time to an audio and/or a visual stimuli may vary from student to student; however, such similarity or variance is neither dependent upon nor an operation of the classification of that student at the junior high school level as either learning disabled, regular, or mildly mentally retarded. It may be further stated that a student's membership in any of
these groups cannot be accurately predicted by that student's reaction time score(s).
Conclusions. Four conclusions can be made as a direct result of this investigation. First, no one group (L.D., Reg., and M.D.) showed significantly higher or lower reaction time scores to an
audio or visual stimuli. Second, group placement (L.D., Reg., and M.D.) had no significant impact on an individual's reaction time scores to an audio or visual stimuli. Third, no accurate predictions with respect to placement (L.D., Reg., and M.D.) can be made based upon either of his/her reaction time scores to an audio and/or
visual stimuli. Fourth, if a person scored slowly, moderately, or rapidly to an audio stimuli, he/she also scored slowly, moderately, or rapidly to a visual stimuli.
Recommendations. Based on the findings in this investigation, it is recommended that further research be conducted. A more complex audio and visual stimuli should be used with a wider
population base
Elements of Iridophore Pigmentation in Green and Blue Phenotypes of the Siamese Fighting Fish, 'Betta Splendens'
No full text47 leaves. Advisor: Dr. Gene LucasMetallic pigmentation in Betta splendens varies in color and also in densiity and/or distribution. Questions persist as to the mechanisms involved and the specific genetic controls. Metallic effects such aa this are usually produced by crystals (primarily guanine) in integumentary cells called iridocytes or iridophores. Betta phenotypes are identified as green (the wild type), blue, and steel blue. Generally green colors of this nature are thought to be caused by a yellow screeninq substance over a blue underlying color. This could be the case for Bettas but it has not been described. No physical or physiological explanation has been presented to explain the existence of two blue phenotypes. This study attempted to reveal differences in iridophore elements which might explain this difference. Variations were found in crystal elements as follows: (1) numbers of crystals in
clusters, (2) distances between crystals, (3) sizes and thicknesses of crystals, and (4) the general patterns of orientation of crystals.
Examination of electron-micrographs of 32 clusters or stacks of crystals from steel blue fish and 65 from blues revealed that in general crystals in steel b1ues tend to be larger, to have more space between each crystal, to have lower numbers of crystals per stack, and there was less variation in orientation of stacks. In addition, evidence
was found for existence of "dermal chromatophore units.
Attendance at Activities with a Geriatric Population: Antecedets and Consequences
No full text29 leaves. Advisor: Jayme WhiteheadThe problem. Participation in social and leisure activities enhances both physical well-being and satisfaction with life for elderly adults. However, few residents of nursing homes seem to take part in social and leisure activities. Many strategies have been suggested for increasing attendance at activities of residents in geriatric
facilities, but few of these strategies have been
empirically evaluated. This study investigated the effectiveness of various intermittently programed and delayed consequences to activities and antecedents to activities in maintaining attendance at activities of residents at a
geriatric facility.
Procedure. A special, intemittently programmed or
a delayed consequence for attendance was added to regularly scheduled activities. Attendance at activities with and without the consequence was compared. Later, antecedent events which typically occurred prior to activities were suspended. These antecedent events were then re-instituted one at a time. Attendance at activities with and without antecedents was compared.
Findings. The intermittently programmed and delayed consequences had little effect upon attendance. When the typically occurring antecedent events were removed, attendance
dropped markedly. One antecedent, staff encouragement, was more effective than the other two antecedents (calendars of events and announcements).
Conclusions. To maintain attendance at activities,
staff at a geriatric facility should encourage residents to come to activities and offer to bring them, post large, easy to read calendars of events, and each day announce the activities which will be occurring on that day.
Recommendations. Further research is needed to
assess the effectiveness of intermittently proqrammed or delayed reinforcing consequences for attendance
Comparative Assessment of Critical Goals and Competencies Related to Teacher Preparation
No full text90 leaves. Advisor: Dr. Richard BrooksPurpose. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the relative importance of specific goals and objectives held for teacher preparation programs vary between master teachers, university teacher education department chairmen,
and consortium representatives.
Procedures. Comparisons of the rankings of goals and objectives held for teacher preparation programs were made between master teachers and teacher education department chairmen, between master teachers and consortium representatives,
and between teacher education department chairmen and consortium representatives by using Spearman-Rho rank-order correlational techniques to determine the strength of the relationship
between the respective groups.
Findings. There is a significant negative relationship between the perceptions of master teachers and education department chairmen concerning the relative importance of specific goals and objectives held for teacher preparation
programs. There is a significant negative relationship between the perceptions of education department chairmen and consortium
representatives. There is a significant positive relationship between the perceptions of master teachers and consortium representatives.
Conclusions. There is similarity in the relative
importance assigned specific goals and objectives of teacher education programs by master teachers and consortium representatives. There is no identifiable relationship between teacher
education department chairmen and consortium representatives. There is disagreement in the direction of importance of goals and objectives for teacher education programs between master
teachers and university teacher education department chairmen.
Recommendations. Colleges and universities should seek the advice and council of classroom teachers' representatives in order to determine those things that teachers view as being particularly important to their effectiveness. The U.S. Office of Education, along with state and local accreditation agencies, should address themselves to reviewing instructional needs of the classroom teacher as perceived by the classroom teacher.
Similar research can be conducted examining factors such as age, sex, experience, training, etc. of respondents to determine if such demographic data relates to perceptions held as goals and objectives for programs