Digital Commons Network^™

Efficiency Of Taiwanese Laptop Manufacturers, Yi-Horng Lai

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Taiwanese laptop manufacturers strive hard to maintain their high growth rates and positions as leaders in the industry. Michael E. Porter claimed that Taiwanese enterprises must increase industrial efficiency to secure competitive advantage. Hence, developing an effective means of measuring and comparing the efficiency of Taiwanese laptop manufacturers is essential. Increasing the production efficiency of inefficient companies will improve the average efficiency and global competitiveness of the Taiwanese laptop industry.

This investigation examines the efficiency of 12 Taiwanese laptop manufacturers in 2002. Although financial ratio analysis represents a conventional approach to measuring the performance of enterprises using financial reports, this …

Analyzing Traditional-Based Teaching Methods Versus Technology-Based Teaching Methods In Collegiate Aviation Classrooms, Robert Rhett Coleman Yates

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This study is a comparative analysis of traditional-based teaching methods versus technology-based teaching methods in collegiate aviation classrooms. Education is in a transformational period. Technology use in the classroom is a major part of this transformation. However, this change in pedagogy is not occurring as rapid as one might believe. Out of ten undergraduate professors in the United States teaching in higher education, fewer than two seriously use computers and other technologies in their classrooms. Of the ten, four to five professors never use the machines at all. The same is true in collegiate aviation classrooms; technology-based teaching methods and …

Factors Which Affect The Attitudes Of Teachers Of English Language Learners Enrolled In Mainstream Classrooms, Gail Ingrid Hirschfield

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Increased immigration to the United States over the past fifty years has led to a dramatic increase in enrollment of language minority students in schools throughout the United States. Federal and state laws mandate that public schools accommodate the unique needs of these linguistically and culturally diverse students. English language learners (ELLS) require academic and affective support from their teachers when they are included in mainstream classrooms.

Teachers' attitudes toward their students have been shown to be a predictor of student success. Teachers with positive attitudes are more likely to have received training and are also able to modify their …

Relationships Between Non-Linguistic Variables In Second Language Acquisition And The Attained English Language Proficiency Of Taiwanese University Students, Chihming Hsieh

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Second language acquisition (SLA) research, the study of how people learn to communicate in a language other than their native language, encompasses a broad range of questions from a wide variety of perspectives. One of the most widely recognized facts about SLA was that some individuals are more successful in learning a second language than are others (Gass & Selinker, 2001). Students with the same initial linguistic abilities, who receive the same education, even in the same institution, often do not achieve the same linguistic competency levels at program completion (Dornyei, 1998). This phenomenon cannot be explained purely by linguistic …

The Miami Barrel: An Innovation In Forensic Firearms Identification, Thomas G. Fadul Jr.

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The scientific foundation in firearm and tool mark identification is that each firearm/tool produces a signature of identification (striation/impression) that is unique to that firearm/tool, and through examining the individual striation/impressions; the signature can be positively identified to the firearm/tool that produced it. There is no set number of matching striations that are needed for concluding an identification. The inability to identify fired bullets to individual Glock pistols resulted in an in-depth study of Glock's polygonal rifled barrels, which resulted in the manufacturing of the Miami/EBIS Gun Barrel. This research study provided the scholarly research that was needed to determine …

Teacher And Student Perceptions Of African American Male Middle School Students Dropping Out Of School And Potential Intervention Strategies, A'Licia Durden

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons why African American middle school males are dropping out of middle school and the potential intervention strategies that can be used to keep them in school. African American males, in particular, have not been provided an effective public school education according to. Overcrowding and too few resources are problems in the schools, which have caused these students to feel alienated rather than being able to participate or feel a part of the real school world. Some express this through negative means. These African American male students feel that they are …

An Assessment Of The Factors That Affect The Level Of "Perception Of Office Politics", Charles U. Phillips

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The culture of an organization is often the primary indicator of the expected and accepted employee behavior. Organizations with weak directives, poor communication, and ineffectively managed cultures are breeding grounds for the negative dysfunctional interpersonal dynamics referred as "office politics." Studies indicate that considerable time and energy are lost to solving problematic issues originating from the influences of office politics in organizations with weak cultural expectations. Therefore, it is conceivable that developing a positive organizational culture that facilitates certain values is an important step in eliminating the ill effects of office politics.

The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study was …

Outsourcing Household Tasks In 1973-2002 Among The Working Mothers Of America, Mahmoud Mahmoud Khaial

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The United States has 70 percent of married mothers and 79 percent of single mothers with children under the age of 18 participating in the work force (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). Most women in the labor force work primarily because the family needs the money. Because of the decline in real family income over the past two decades, most families find it essential for both parents to work to support them at a level that used to be achieved by one wage-earner, and in many families two earners are required to keep the family out of poverty. As a result …

Effectiveness Of Implementing Computer-Assisted Language Learning Technology In The English For Specific Purposes Training Program, Chien-Yu Chiu

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

An increasing number of private and public organizations and educational institutions are incorporating Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) technology into either their traditional classroom setting, or online English for Specific Purposes (ESP) training programs. In the role of facilitating students' learning, it is important for all stakeholders of ESP training programs to investigate the effectiveness of implementing online learning CALL systems into the distance learning environment and the traditional classroom environment of the programs. In order to determine the "effectiveness" of a corporate ESP training program, the approach for this study was to evaluate trainees' pretest and posttest scores related to …

Middle School Student Responses To Family Health Questions: The Effects Of Family Caregiving On The Education Of Middle School Students With Family Health Issues, Constance T. Siskowski

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

More than currently recognized, family health situations, often compounded with family caregiving responsibilities, affect students' learning and academic performance. Three out of five middle school children (n=3,848) from a large, socio-economically and culturally diverse population sample, responded to the 88-question What Works Survey conducted in 2002, and indicated that someone needing special medical care lived either with them or close by them. Nearly two of five of these students (38.6%) documented that their learning is hindered as a result of their family health/caregiving situation. Among students with family health situations who reported hindered learning, only students who are Asian-Pacific Islanders …

A Study Into Effective Websites Properties As Defined By The Internet Commerce Evaluation Scale In Taiwan, Yue-Jer Lin

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purpose of this study was to determine the properties shared by effective Web sites in Taiwan. This study applied the Internet Commerce Evaluation Scale (ICES) Web site tool developed by Scheffelmaier and Vinsonhaler in 2002 to assess the quality of commercial Web sites in Taiwan.

This research summarized the studies and research design of properties characterizing successful Taiwanese electronic commerce Web sites. Two Web sites were chosen by the researcher and administered to 100 participants selected from college students aged 18-40 in Taiwan. This study also investigated the correlations between scores. Data analyses were conducted to examine 12 subscales …

The Impact Of Web Site Design On Consumer Loyalty In Business-To-Consumer (B2c) Internet Commerce: A Rhetorical Approach, Tsai-Shin Fong

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

With an enormous multitude of potential consumers globally, the Internet offers an opportunity that merchants have never before seen. Corporate giants to small businesses considered investments of large amounts of time, money, resources, man-hours, and venture capital a wise decision when considering the potential return-on-investment (ROI) of the Internet boom of the early to mid 1990's. However, electronic commerce has experienced the meteoric rise and subsequent crash of any behemoth entity cast aloft without moorings or foundation. When millions of dollars were lost, experts emerged &om the ashes and attempted to develop new paradigms designed to explain the failure, redirect …

The Effectiveness Of A Case Study Method As Compared To A Traditional Learning Method In One Business School In Taiwan, Chuan-Chun Kuo

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The experiential learning approach that involves active, in-depth and collaborative learning is a powerful pedagogical idea and technique to establish students' critical skills for the diverse workplace and the severe competitive global marketplace of the future. The experiential learning approach also builds a bridge across school (theory) and the real-world (experience). There is a large amount of empirical evidence that has shown the experiential learning approach worked well and successfully in business colleges and universities in many Western nations since the 1960s. However, there are only a few researchers who have looked at implementing the experiential learning approach in business …

The Impact Of Perceived Interactivity And Vividness Of Video Games On Customer Buying Behavior, Yi-Lin Yu

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

About 60 percent of Americans (145 million people) play video games, and the age of 61 percent of all game players is 18 and over (IDSA, 200 1). As the competition to excel in the video game market increasingly becomes difficult for manufacturers, it is becoming more important for manufacturers and video game developers to understand what makes people play and buy games. The major challenge to the gaming industry is to figure out what features of games can catch the consumers' attention. The purpose of this research was to examine what kinds of video games captivate consumers, determine whether …

Cultural Patterns Of Social Engagement Among The Elderly After The Loss Of A Long-Term Spouse: Unwrinkled Passion Or A Withering Of Heart, Tara Saltzman Fleisher

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This study examines the cultural patterns of social engagement among the elderly following the loss of a long-term spouse. Even though the cultural patterns and quality of life of the elderly have changed dramatically as compared with previous generations, there has been little research into the question of how today's elderly cope with their increasing longevity. To establish a framework for analysis, this study identifies four key patterns of social engagement: friendship and companionship, sexuality, community networks, and family interaction.

Using a qualitative methodological approach, the importance of each pattern for coping with the loss of a long-term spouse is …

Higher Education And Field Training Program Performance: Is There A Relationship?, Gary Sallenbach

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This study explores the relationship between college education and field training performance of police officers in a field training program. The field training files of 90 police officers hired by the Palm Beach Police Department between 1986 and 2001 were examined. Scores were averaged over a 3 day period at the midpoint and conclusion of the program. Although mean scores indicated that persons with four year college degrees scored slightly better than those with high school or two year degrees in four out of five behavioral categories (when controlling for previous police and military experience), statistical significance could not be …