Publication Date

1968

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Stehr, B. W.||Cambridge, R. W.

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Business Education

LCSH

Business education--Curricula; Electronic data processing--Study and teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of data processing courses and/or units of instruction in data processing in the business education curricula of public high schools of the northern 21 counties of Illinois, excluding the city of Chicago. The major objectives of the study were to determine: (1) what data processing courses and/or units of instruction were being taught; (2) what equipment was avail­able for student use; (3) at what grade levels instruction was given; (4) what formal instruction business teachers had re­ceived in data processing; and (5) what instructional materials were used. Names and addresses of public high schools in the nor­thern 21 counties of Illinois were obtained from the Directory, Illinois Schools, 1967-1968; Directory of Business Education Teachers, 1965-1966; and from the Department of Business Edu­cation, Northern Illinois University. Two questionnaires were used as survey instruments. One, which sought the status of data processing, was sent to departments heads; a second, which sought to determine formal education in data processing, was sent to business teachers. Two follow-up mailings were sent, each at three-week intervals. From the responses to these mailings, data were tabulated and analyzed. The significant findings concerning data processing courses were: (1) 15.58 per cent of the schools offered such courses; (2) 80.65 per cent of the schools which offered courses had equipment, with key punch machines available in greatest quantity; (3) the majority of courses were offered in the 11th or 12th grade; and (4) textbooks were used as the basic material for instruction. The significant findings concerning units of instruc­tion in data processing were: (1) 68.34 per cent of the schools included at least one unit; (2) more than one half of these schools had equipment, with the majority being key punch machines and simulators; and (3) textbooks were listed as the basic instructional material for approximately one third of the units and practice sets for approximately one fourth of the units. The significant finding concerning teacher education was that approximately 40 per cent of the business teachers had some formal education in data processing. The significant conclusions of the study were: (1) data processing courses have developed, for the most part, in large high schools; (2) data processing courses reach few stu­dents; (3) data processing courses are, generally, brief, introductory courses and do not lead to job competency; (4) data processing equipment available is almost exclusively unit record equipment; and (5) business teachers are interested in data processing as evidenced by the number who have received formal education in the field.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

xii, 150 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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