Date of Award
6-1-1989
Document Type
Thesis - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Keywords
High School Equivalency Programs, Adults, Adult Students, Andragogy, Low Ability Students, Basic Skills, Learning Motivation, Cognitive Objectives, Critical Redding, Critical Thinking, Educational Strategies, Group Instruction, Individual Instruction, Instructional Improvement, Reading Strategies
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to develop a plan to facilitate the adult student in successful mastery of the five content areas tested by the 1988 General Education Development Test (GED). Pretest results for students given tested over a six month period using those revised tests showed a 95 percent failure rate, and official GED tests results showed a failure rate of 93 percent for students who had received instruction for test preparation. The writer addressed the problem by implementing a six month program of specialized instruction designed to assist adult students in improving their critical thinking skills. The program objectives were to improve adult students' reading skills, to improve cognitive learning skills, and to increase success on the official 1988 CED tests. The results showed increased levels of achievement for the target group in terms of their original reading levels as measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) and it was noted that the students increased the member of tests passed while improving their overall test scores. It was concluded that the specialized instruction which combined cognitive learning skills and critical reading skills can be used to increase student success on official 1988 GED tests. Appendices include comparison of 1988 GED test results, comparison of TABE scores, 1988 GED pre/posttest results, comparison of cognitive skills required by the 1988 OED tests, schedule of cognitive skills instructional sessions, principles in teaching critical thinking, and sample practice sheets.