An appraisal of the graduate program leading to the master's degree at Saint Francis College, Fort Wayne, Indiana

The purpose of this study was to appraise the quality and effectiveness of the master's degree program at Saint Francis College, Fort Wayne, Indiana.Data were obtained through the technique of survey research, employing a combination of the open form - closed form type of questionnaire which was devised by the investigator. Data were obtained from three separate population groups. Group A was comprised of those persons who earned the Master's Degree in Education from 1962 through 1972. Group B consisted of those persons enrolled in the program at the time this study was conducted. Samples were selected at random from Groups A and B. The entire population of the graduate faculty was utilized for purposes of this study.A pre-evaluation study was conducted to generate the contents of the questionnaire. Initially, broad questions designed to approach the evaluation from the viewpoint of present students, past students, as well as faculty members teaching at the graduate level were prepared for the prestudy. These questions were submitted to sample groups from each of the population groups. Persons participating in the pre-study were not utilized in the final study.Responses to the questions used in the pre-study helped to determine items used in the final form of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was field tested in order to eliminate any remaining ambiguities.The final form of the questionnaire was mailed with a cover letter of explanation to a random sample of 500 persons from Group A and 300 persons from Group B. All of the faculty population, a total of 45 persons received the questionnaire.Data received from the questionnaire were used to provide a detailed description of the respondents. Frequency tabulations and percentages were calculated for comparison purposes. A measure of central tendency, the mean, and the standard deviation were calculated for the responses. Rank orders were established for both the perceived importance of items and the perceived evaluation of the institution, Saint Francis College, used in the study. This allowed meaningful comparisons to be made.Thesis (D. Ed.