Digital Commons Network^™

Simulation Of Optimal Drive Systems Consisting Of Gear-Cam Mechanisms With Brushless Dc Servomotors, Norbert Fritz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study presents the development of flexible tools for the numerical simulation of processing machine drives that consist of servomotors, mechanisms, and machine tools. The simulation allows predicting the motions or vibrations of linkages, forces and torques in joints, motor currents, and system response times as well as evaluating stability and characteristic frequencies of the drive system The simulation tools were implemented as macro components in macro component libraries using the EASY5* Dynamic System Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis software by the Boeing Company. Application of the developed macro components allows fast and efficient modeling of a variety of different drive …

Dimensions Of Roles, Responsibilities, Training Background And Needs, Policies, And Procedures For Paraeducators Dealing With Students With Special Needs, Beverly Anne Plagge

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The problem of this research study was to delineate and synthesize the roles, responsibilities, skill level, and training background and needs of paraeducators working with students with special needs from a state that requires paraeducator certification and a state that does not require paraeducator certification. The five core areas of roles and responsibilities were: (a) instructional support, (b) behavior management, (c) diagnostic support, (d) classroom organization, and (e) personal care assistance from the special education paraeducator and the special education teacher who teams with the paraeducator. Very few differences existed between what paraeducators and their teachers felt were appropriate and …

Forgiveness Education As A Factor In Adolescent Adjustment To Parental Divorce, Amy L. Knupp

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

An educational intervention with forgiveness as the goal, was implemented with five adolescents who had experienced a parental divorce. The adolescents were all from a Midwestern city, ages 12-14, and Caucasian. The goal of the intervention was for the experimental participants to forgive their parents for a hurt associated with a parental divorce. An exploratory design with a static control group was used. Five subjects volunteered for the forgiveness education intervention, comprising the experimental group, and five subjects agreed to fill out pre- and post-test measures, for monetary reimbursement, composing the control group. The educational intervention lasted 10 weeks, and …

The Use Of Rapd To Detect Genetic Variation In Populations Of Liatris Aspera Michx., Duane Joseph Kitchen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The tall grass prairie is one of the most degraded and fragmented ecosystems on earth. Interest in conserving, restoring, and reconstructing tallgrass prairie began early in the 1900s, and has increased dramatically since the 1960s. Early restoration and reconstruction efforts relied primarily on seed collected from prairie remnants near the planting site, but with the increase in prairie planting efforts came a greater demand for large quantities of affordable, viable seed of native prairie species. Following an increase in the use of cultivated varieties (cultivars) of seed, concerns over the loss of genetic integrity of local populations and low genetic …

Dramaturgical Perspective In Modern Police Work : An Analysis Of Interviews And Observations, Michael P. Wagner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Using a qualitative approach, I analyze data collected from two small Midwestern police departments. I gathered this data through a combination of methods: ethnographic interviewing, participant observation, and content analysis of police artifacts and documents. Most of the data derive from (1) my ethnographic interviews of 17 police officers and (2) my observations of officers during 16 "ride-along."

My analyses are guided by Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical analysis of face-to-face interaction, Manning's (1971; 1977) dramaturgical approach to policing, and Hunt and Manning's (1991) dramaturgical studies of police lying and the use of normal force (see also Hunt 1985). I rely most …

Gender, Religion, Causal Attributions, And Correctional Orientations Among Juvenile Justice Personnel, Amy Lynn Lyons

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine the attitudes and orientations of juvenile justice personnel from four urban counties within the state of Iowa. The nonrandom sample used in the present study is secondary and originally collected for a larger study conducted by Leiber (1993). A closed-ended, self-report survey was administered to each respondent. The total sample for the present research is 263. The hypotheses guiding the present study are based on the assumption that women experience religion differently from men, and in turn, will blame society for youth crime and favor orientations supporting diversion.

Carol Gilligan (1982) …

The Perception Of Arabs And Media's Influence, Abdou Nader

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Arabs by American students. The study sought to answer three questions. These questions focused on the perceptions of Arabs by American students and the influence that mass media and specifically TV has on students.

The literature reviewed in this study indicated that historical events played an important role in shaping the current relations between Arabs and Americans. Further, the literature discussed the relationship between television exposure and the creation of consumer social reality and perceptions. According to the literature review, there was no conclusive evidence that media shaped stereotypes …

School Vision, Teacher Autonomy, School Climate, And Student Achievement In Elementary Schools, Connie J. Erpelding

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine within an elementary school context (a) the relationship among teachers' perceptions of their principal's school's vision, of their sense of autonomy, and of the school climate; and (b) how these core variables were associated with student achievement and student socioeconomic status. Leadership and effective schools literature link the visionary principal with a variety of school-related variables including those in this study.

Data were collected using three survey instruments and a questionnaire administered to fourth grade general education teachers in the sample. The principals of the schools included in this study were also …

The Impact Of Idea 1997 On Teachers' Beliefs And Collaborative Practices As Participants On Iep Teams At One Middle School, Mary Ann Walsh Schroeder

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of the IDEA Amendments of 1997 on teachers' beliefs and collaborative practices as participants on IEP Teams at one middle school. Regular educators are now required to serve as members of IEP Teams for students identified with special needs, the majority of whom will now be served in the regular classroom. Collaboration, the process of interactions between regular and special educators to provide instruction in inclusive settings, was the practice investigated. This study examines laws and policies, teachers' beliefs, supports and barriers, collaborative practices, and evidence of change over …

Circle Of Friends And Attitudes Toward Children With Adhd And Other Disabilities, Joan E. Mccrory

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is an occurring disorder which · affects about one child in every elementary classroom. Children with ADHD are at risk for having poor peer relations. Research has shown that over SO¾ of children with ADHD have poor peer relations. Studies of various interventions with children who have ADHD and poor peer relationships have yielded mixed results. Psychopharmacological therapy has shown no positive effect on peer interactions. Behavioral interventions; behavior therapy and medication; cognitive-behavioral therapy; and cognitive-behavioral therapy and medication have all found favorable results, although not many combination treatments have been examined for their impact …

The Efficiency And Effectiveness Of Self-Monitoring For Increasing Fourth Graders' Work Completion, Stacy S. Jeffrey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research study investigated the efficiency and effectiveness of self-monitoring as an individual intervention technique. Data were collected for 10 weeks in a public elementary school in a small city in central Iowa. The subjects were 1 fourth-grade regular classroom teacher and 1 of her students and 1 special education teacher and 1 student from a fourth-grade regular classroom in which the special education teacher team-taught. Both teachers had willingly volunteered to participate in the research study and later identified a student in their class who had low rates of work completion. None of the 4 subjects had received formal …

The Reasons For Living Inventory For Adolescents (Rfl-A) : Validation In Three Adolescent Populations, Joe S. Rich

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study is intended to examine further psychometric characteristics of the Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (RFL-A), a self-report measure developed specifically for use with adolescents. Three separate groups were utilized in this study: a psychiatric suicidal group, a psychiatric inpatient non-suicidal group, and a non-clinical control group from a local laboratory school. Specifically, the factor structure, discriminant validity, internal consistency reliability, and convergent validity of the RFLA total and subscales were examined. Overall, results indicated that the five-factor structure that was identified by Osman et al. (1998) was replicated. Further, results showed that the measure demonstrated adequate internal …

The Impact Behavior Of Austempered Ductile Iron At Sub-Zero Temperatures, Mikhail V. Riabov

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The objective of this study was to investigate impact properties of ASTM A897 Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) grades 125/80/10, 150/100/7, 175/125/4, 200/155/1 and 230/185/- tested at sub-zero temperatures. Final results were compared to impact toughness of ferritic ductile iron (DI) grade 60-40-18 and pearlitic DI grade 100-70-03.

Two series of experiments were conducted: in the first series unnotched specimens of each ADI grade along with ferritic DI grade 60-40-18 and pearlitic DI grade 100-70-03 comparative samples were tested at temperatures of -40°C and -60°C. V-notched samples of ADI grade 1 and ADI grade 5 were tested in the second series …

Perceptions Of Iowa High School Principals On The Relationship Of Leadership, School Size, And Socioeconomic Level To School Culture, Kevin Wayne Fiene

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

American society is changing. Consequently, public schools are being called to change as well. Previous reform efforts have failed to bring about substantive change and improvement. Current reform efforts are calling for the changing of school culture. What factors influence school culture? What role does leadership, school size, and socioeconomic levels play in developing school culture?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of leadership, school size, and socioeconomic level to school culture utilizing the Competing Values Framework. The Competing Values Framework provided four ideal culture types and eight leadership roles. Culture types included group, developmental, rational …

The Commonweal In The Heartland: Charles T. Kelly And Iowa's Industrial Army, Ryan James Sprau

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Decades before the 1930s, or the period most Americans refer to as the Great Depression, the United States suffered through one of the worst economic crises in national history. While not as devastating nor as prolonged as the economic disaster that affected the United States in the 1930s, the depression that gripped the nation from 1893 to 1897 forced millions out of work. The Commonweal of Christ, more commonly known as the industrial army movement of 1894, offered one solution to the nation's crippling unemployment problem. Crusade founder Jacob S. Coxey planned to lead the nation's unemployed and discontented into …

A Study Of Factors Affecting The Implementation Of Iso 9000 In Taiwan's Construction Industry, Chuan-Chen Hung

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitude of Taiwanese construction companies regarding the adoption and implementation of ISO 9000. This was accomplished by conducting a survey to investigate the perceived factors affecting the intention to adopt ISO 9000 and its successful implementation.

The survey instrument was developed through the review of related literature as well as through validations. One hundred eighty (180) construction companies were randomly sampled from the 1998 Membership Directory of the National Construction Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which consisted of 60 Type-A, Type-B, and Type-C construction companies. In total, 62 respondents …

Social Class Depiction In Selected Award-Winning Children's Narrative Fiction, Edward L. Starkenburg

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This qualitative content analysis was designed to meet the following three objectives: to build an awareness of the depiction of social class in children's literature, to bolster the literature base on this depiction, and to better inform those who work with children's literature of its content in order to facilitate knowledgeable decisions regarding the selection and discussion of this literature. Eisner's (1991) connoisseurship and criticism heuristic guided the research throughout the data gathering as well as the inductive and deductive analyses of that data. The results of the study facilitate understanding and discerning social class in future experiences with children's …

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: How Effective Is Cbc With Ethnic Minorities, Tina L. Hoffman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The literature over the past decade has provided evidence of the positive relationship between home-school collaboration and student success. Yet such educational partnerships are not as common as they should be, particularly among minority families and their schools. Empirical evidence of effective, culturally sensitive, homeschool partnership models focused on the individual-child level of collaboration is virtually absent in the literature. Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) is one model of home-school collaboration at the individual child level. CBC represents an expansion of traditional behavioral consultation. In CBC both parents and teachers serve as joint consultees to provide a more holistic view of …

An Evaluation Of Adhd Assessment, Intervention, And Progress Monitoring Practices In One School According To Best Practice Recommendations, Kristin M. Briggs

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated the quality of ADHD assessment, interventions, and progress monitoring practices in a school building. Education personnel were also surveyed (n = 8) to gain further insight into the current school policies and practices for ADHD. Barkley's 1990 model of ADHD assessment and intervention was chosen as the standard of best practice in which current practices were compared. One school was selected for participation in the study. All students on medication for ADHD in kindergarten through twelfth grades served as subjects (n = 13). Data analysis revealed that seven of these student files (54%) did not include documentation …

Psychological Maltreatment : The Case Of Verbal Abuse, Majedah Khalifah

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between parental verbal abuse and children's emotional development (depression, anxiety, stress, self esteem, and anger). The participants were 29 male and 89 female college students whose average age was 19. Five instruments were used to collect data: Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21), Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, Verbal Abuse Measure, Child Attitude Toward Parents Measure, and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. For data analyses, several tests were used. The Pearson correlation was calculated to see the inter-correlations of each emotional variable. A multiple regression analysis was used to find out what …

Providing Services For A Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Student In A Small Midwestern Elementary School : A Qualitative Case Study, Candace L. Kist-Tahmasian

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Presented is a case study of an eight-year-old boy who is learning English as a second language in a midwestern elementary school. The number of students needing ESL and/or bilingual education is rapidly growing throughout the United States. Many non-urban schools and districts must now begin to meet these needs. Observations of the student in various school settings were done over a period of six weeks for a total of 24 hours. Interviews of key personnel provided additional information important to the study. Three themes of concern in regard to the student's educational situation became the focus of the case …

Sex, Violence, And Hand Puppets: History And Structure Of Punch And Judy Performance Tradition, James Robert Davis

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Punch and Judy are characters who exist only within the boundaries of the puppet theatre, in performances where characters are portrayed by inanimate figures. Nonetheless, the history of the puppet theatre, and particularly that of Punch and Judy, is closely related to the history of more widely accepted, actor-based theatre, where characters are portrayed by human beings. While the two traditions-share many common elements--such as the importance of characterization, direction, and design--the essential difference between actor-theatre and puppetry is the manner in which the performance is presented. The approach of this study is threefold: first, a linear history of the …

Personality Characteristics Associated With People Who Frequently Experience Flow, Mark A. Ackerman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Flow is a state of mind that has been found to occur when people become immersed in a challenging activity that matches or slightly exceeds their skill level. It has been suggested that some people may be more likely to enter this state of mind than others. The purpose of this study was to attempt to identify personality traits common to people who frequently experience flow.

Amount of flow generally experienced in 115 college undergraduates was measured with two modified flow measures, the modified Flow State Scale (FSS) and the modified Flow Descriptions Questionnaire (FDQ). Eight personality characteristics were hypothesized …

Effects Of Sludge Application On Prairie Establishment, Brenda Joan Durbahn

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Native prairie in Iowa has all but disappeared since the development of agricultural land by European settlers over the past 165 years. Reconstructing prairie is one way to replace some of the acreage that was lost. A byproduct of settling an area is the generation of garbage and other wastes. Currently there is a surplus of sludge, the waste product of waste water treatment facilities. This material is usually disposed of in landfills, used on agricultural land or reclamation projects.

A small area of prairie was reconstructed on the top of a closed portion of the Black Hawk County Solid …

A Study Of The Motives, Barriers, And Enablers Affecting Participation In Adult Distance Education Classes In An Iowa Community College, Roger Joseph Rezabek

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to explore the motives, barriers, and enablers that affect adult students in their decision to enroll in community college distance learning credit classes.

Three methodologies were used in the study: an online focus group of distance learning and adult education experts, enlisted to identify the main issues and questions that would be used in interviews with distance students; a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 210 distance students to determine motives, demographic information, and to act as a screening device for the interviews; in-depth interviews with 23 community college distance learners in northeast Iowa, …

Yusef Komunyakaa: Questioning Traditional Metaphors Of Light And Darkness, Katarzyna Jakubiak

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The theory of language promoted by cognitive linguistics points to metaphor as the crucial element of language and thought: a mode of thinking which determines our perception of reality. Stressing the importance of metaphor in our everyday life, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and Mark Turner state that the nature of poetic metaphors is the same as the nature of conventional metaphors which appear in "standard" language. Creating poetic metaphors, poets simply explore "conventional" metaphors, using four major strategies: expanding, elaborating, composing, and questioning. Focusing on questioning as the main strategy through which American "multicultural" literatures can undermine basic Western concepts …

Adolescent Depression : Further Examination Of Gender Differences, Elizabeth Marie O'Neill

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was designed to examine pertinent research questions that remain unanswered by past investigations of adolescent depression. Specifically this study investigated potential differences between high and low scoring depressed adolescents, and whether gender is an influential variable for consideration. Subjects were 175 adolescent boys and girls from a laboratory school in Midwestern Iowa. Subjects were divided into four groups based on gender and responses two questions on the BDI-A. Specifically, the four groups were: boys who scored at or above IO on the BDI-A (sub-clinical group--boys), boys who scored below 10 on the BDI-A (control group--boys), girls who scored …

In Their Own Words : Women's Caregiving Experiences, Loralie L. Wiebold

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to examine the caregiving situation as told by women involved in parent care. With current demographic trends such as increasing longevity and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, along with structural changes in medical care, the family (or more appropriately women), are called on to provide care to aging family members. Although current literature documents the situation of caregiving women, rarely are their voices heard and words included in pertinent analyses. This study is a qualitative and interpretive study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women and participant observation of caregiver support group meetings to understand, …

The Relationship Between Phonemic Awareness And Preschool Children's Literacy Activities, Cheryl M. Geurts

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between preschool children's phonemic awareness and the literacy activities in which they choose to engage. Children (N=l4) in the study were observed twice weekly for 12 weeks in the normal preschool environment. Data collection was divided into two phases. The first phase consisted of watching one child at a time for 15 minutes and recording everything that child did during that time. The next phase c~ data collection consisted of watching the entire class and indicating on checklists what the children were doing during free play, circle time, and …