Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Reading Constructs With Struggling Readers At Different Ages, Cortney M. Fritz

Psychology Dissertations

This study examined the degree to which core reading-related latent constructs, such as reading comprehension, language comprehension, word decoding, non-word decoding, phonological awareness, and speed, are equivalent and reflective of the same underlying constructs across different age groups of poor readers. Within this framework, we also worked to better understand whether poor readers at different ages are similar or different in their pattern of relationships among core reading-related constructs. The sample was poor readers at different ages, including 430 elementary students, 584 middle school students and 236 adults. Using confirmatory factor analysis, four models of reading were tested for each …

Assessing Learning Strategy Use In English- And Spanish-Speaking Older Adults During Verbal Learning Tests, Cynthia Funes

Psychology Dissertations

This study investigated learning and memory performance similarities and differences between healthy, Spanish-speaking older adults of Hispanic/Latino descent and English-speaking Caucasian older adults. It explored the possibility that the novelty of verbal memory tasks, along with cultural and educational differences, may lead to performance differences in Spanish-speaking older adults' effective use of organizational strategies, such as semantic clustering. It hypothesized that an alternative strategy instruction, which provided explicit detail on how to use the effective semantic clustering strategy, would reduce differences observed between the Hispanic and Caucasian groups. Forty-eight healthy, Spanish-speaking older adults and 55 healthy, English-speaking older adults were …

L¡Deres Comunitarias: Evaluation Of Community Workshops On Domestic Violence, Rosemarie L. Macias

Psychology Dissertations

Domestic violence (DV) affects communities across a variety of nations and cultures, at significant physical, psychological, and economic costs to families. In the United States Latino families affected by DV often face unique challenges influenced by changing ecologies and personal as well as political histories. Peer-led workshops are one way for communities to disseminate information about social issues like DV in a culturally relevant manner, and they have the potential to promote capacity for addressing DV within communities. The impact of peer-led DV was examined using an embedded mixed-method design, where participant feedback collected throughout the study served to enhance …

Event-Related Potentials In Episodic And Semantic Memory: Distinguishing The N400 From The Fn400, Stephanie Ross

Neuroscience Honors Theses

In the present study, we conducted an event-related potentials (ERP) study to examine episodic and semantic memory. We focused on two well-known patterns: the semantic N400 and the old/new fN400. Some researchers have argued that they reflect the same neuropsychological response (Voss & Federmeier, 2011). Others have suggested that they have distinct spatial-temporal signatures and reflect different psychological processes (Bridger, Bader, Kriukova, Unger, & Mecklinger, 2012). In the present study, we analyzed data using the basic N400/fN400 paradigm. We expect to find similar results to Bridger et al. (2012) in that the N400 and fN400 to be reliably different in …

Maps, Tourism, And Historical Pedagogy: A Study Of Power, Identity, And The Politics Of Representation In Two Southern Cities, Jessica Marie Moss

Anthropology Honors Theses

In what ways can historical power relationships be interpreted through a chronological analysis of historical maps, and how are these coded versions of history produced and reproduced through the modern tourist experience? I argue that historical maps can be interpreted to reveal the political influence and agendas inscribed upon the built environment. I review how the implications of these value systems can be seen in the cultural constructs and institutions that have been used over time to generate revenue through a two stage process,: first, through an analysis of historic and modern maps in two Southern cities, New Orleans and …

English In The Margins: Cajun Literacy Communities In Bec Doux Et Ses Amis, Samantha Jakobeit

English Theses

In this thesis, I will explore the dual language Cajun-French and English comic strip, Bec Doux et ses amis, in terms of its value within the literacy communities of southwest Louisiana. I will claim that the text subverts the established power dynamics which existed between the American English speakers, the unreconstructed Cajuns, and the bilingual Cajun French and English speaking communities through the use of text placement and trickster figures.

Hegel On Marriage: The Importance Of The Wedding Ceremony, Joshua T. Bisig

Philosophy Theses

In the Philosophy of Right, Hegel insists that a marriage is only established after a wedding ceremony has taken place but he provides no satisfactory justification for thinking this. In this paper, I attempt to provide some justifications for him. I advocate an interpretation of Hegel that (1) understands the declaration of consent uttered in the wedding ceremony to be a performative act whose force is what transforms a relationship into a marriage and that (2) understands Hegel’s general concept of personality to inform his requirement that the agreement to marry be declared publicly.

Daily Activity Space And Exposure: A Comparative Study Of Hong Kong’S Public And Private Housing Residents‘ Segregation In Daily Life, Donggen Wang, Fei Li

USI Publications

Differences in individuals' exposure to social/physical environment in daily life or activity–space segregation have aroused renewed interests in socio-spatial separation in geography and urban studies. However, there are not many empirical studies that comprehensively assess activity–space segregation perhaps due to the scarcity of detailed data to define and characterize activity space. This paper aims to help fill in this gap by contributing an empirical study in Hong Kong. We compare the daily life experiences of public and private housing residents in terms of activity space and exposure to people in their daily life. We find that inhabitants of public housing …

Cultural Competency Among Undergraduate And Graduate Respiratory Therapy Students, Ziyad Alshehri

Respiratory Therapy Theses

Background: In the United States, minorities are numerous and account for 28% of the population. It is well known that some of the cultural elements are related to the patients’ health. Therefore, it is an obligation of healthcare providers to become culturally competent to improve minorities’ overall healthcare.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the cultural attitudes, skills, and knowledge of undergraduate and graduate respiratory therapy (RT) students at an urban university located in the southeastern United States.

METHODS: The study used a descriptive exploratory design with a self-reporting survey. The survey instrument used was a …

Sonic Vocality: A Theory On The Use Of Voice In Character Portrayal, Cindy Milligan

Communication Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to discover whether and how the voice alone can change audiences’ perception of character in films. It further sought to determine some of the specific changes in vocal performance that might construct that difference. Data were gathered from three focus groups that screened film clips between two and five minutes long. The clips were edited from five pairs of matched films—an original and its remake. Films were chosen to represent a variety of genres and release dates, and they included scenes where the dialogue was identical or similar. Although each focus group experienced …

The February 20th Movement Communication Strategies: Towards Participatory Politics, Houda Abadi

Communication Dissertations

The wave of mass protests in the Middle East and North Africa highlighted the crucial role of information communication technologies in mobilization and political change. Debate among scholars revolved around the Internet’s potential for toppling authoritarian regimes. However, rather than seeing the Arab Spring as a direct result of social media, this study examines how the online and offline media strategies converged, interacted, or prevailed within the various socioeconomic and political contexts. It looks at the purposes and functions of each medium, with a discussion of the dialectical relationship between them.

Drawing on interviews and fieldwork in Morocco, as well …

Triangulating Racism: French And Francophone African Reactions To The African American Freedom Movement (1954-1968), Allyson Tadjer

History Dissertations

This dissertation examines the meanings and significance of the African American freedom movement for the French and Francophone Africans at the momentous juncture of decolonization. By analyzing the French and Francophone African press, as well as the writings of French and Francophone African intellectuals, this project demonstrates that American racial events of the 1950s and 1960s allowed both communities to begin a reflection on the phenomenon of French racism. In particular, the French historical traditions of universalism and egalitarianism, important pillars of French colonial discourse, shaped the French and Francophone African responses to American racism. French and Francophone Africans’ frequent …

Learning To Repair Transgressions: Toddlers' Social Learning Of A Reparative Prosocial Act, Meghan Donohue

Psychology Theses

This study investigated children's social learning of prosocial behaviors in a transgressor context. Two-to three-year-olds (24-47 months, N = 54) saw videos of an adult help another adult in distress by performing a novel prosocial action. Children were then led to believe that they had transgressed to cause their parent's pain and sadness. It was hypothesized that children in the experimental condition who watched the video and then transgressed would be more likely to perform the novel action (imitation) and to display non-demonstrated prosocial behaviors (goal emulation) relative to children in two control conditions: (a) children who did not view …

Problem Formatting, Domain Specificity, And Arithmetic Processing: The Promise Of A Factor Analytic Framework, Katherine Rhodes

Psychology Dissertations

Leading theories of arithmetic cognition take a variety of positions regarding item formatting and its possible effects on encoding, retrieval, and calculation. The extent to which formats might require processing from domains other than mathematics (e.g., a language domain and/or an executive functioning domain) is unclear and an area in need of additional research. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate several leading theories of arithmetic cognition with attention to possible systematic measurement error associated with instrument formatting (method effects) and possible contributions of cognitive domains other than a quantitative domain that is specialized for numeric processing (trait …

Negotiating White Science In A Racially And Ethnically Diverse United States, Patricia S. Dunac-Morgan

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

Scholars have empirically examined, rigorously developed, and analyzed various strategies to increase teachers’ capacity to reach students of color. These instructional strategies and philosophies include the study of multicultural education, teaching for social justice, and theorizing the connection between school and home life. While these instructional strategies highlight the need for a more inclusive approach, they do not center race enough. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is the pedagogical, content, and cultural knowledge a teacher exhibits (Ladson-Billings, 1995). CRP does not explicitly problematize race; yet the theory and praxis of CRP should include a critical analysis of race and racism. As …

Can You Hear My Voice? Students' Reflections Regarding Access To Music Participation During Secondary School, Paulette T. Sigler

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

This research was purposed to discover how students perceived the impact of participation or lack of participation in school music classes on their global school experiences during secondary school. The research stemmed from concern that recent focus on state and federal mandates may have resulted in a return to educational policies that discount consideration of student experience. All choir students (N = 160) at a large university in the southeastern United States comprised the participant population for the initial screening questionnaire, with 135 students returning completed surveys. Questionnaire results informed the purposeful sampling of 16 students in six focus …

Investigating Student Learning And Perceptions Through Concept Journaling: An Exploratory Case Study In Coordinate Algebra, Amber Steele

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

In order for students to comprehend mathematics, they must be able to think and apply learned knowledge to inform skill acquisition (Schoenfeld, 2013). Written communication is a skill that enables students to prepare to learn mathematics and express thoughts. Using qualitative case study methodology within symbolic interactionism framework, this study examined the effect of concept journaling on the learning of seven students in one high school Coordinate Algebra classroom. The study further explored how these students perceived concept journaling as a tool for learning mathematics. Concept journaling is defined as a type of writing activity using prompts that incorporate graphs, …

Examining The Relationship Between Imitation, Motor Movement, And Language Skill In Young Children With Developmental Disabilities, Ani Whitmore

Psychology Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between imitation, motor movement, and language skill in 70 children with developmental disabilities. Four primary research questions were addressed: 1) What are the imitation, motor movement, and language profiles of young children with developmental disabilities?; 2) What is the relationship between imitation skill, motor movement, and language skill?; 3) What is the relationship between imitation, motor movement, and language skill, when accounting for reported spoken imitation skills?; and 4) Does motor movement skill moderate the relationship between imitation and language skill? Standardized direct assessments, parent report, and observational kinematic motion capturing was used to measure …

Perception And Theory-Of-Mind Development In Preschool Children: Comparing Visual And Auditory Modalities, Anita A. Hasni

Psychology Theses

Research on theory of mind (ToM) has been dominated by the traditional False Belief tasks; however, recent work has established a developmental sequence for children’s mental-state understanding. Wellman and Liu (2004) formulated a ToM scale that tests four additional aspects of ToM abilities in the visual realm: Diverse Desires, Diverse Beliefs, Knowledge Access, and Real-Apparent Emotions. Our study extended the scale to include five parallel tasks assessing ToM in the auditory realm. Sixty-six typically developing preschoolers (30 female) between the ages of 3- and 5-years-old were tested using 10 ToM tasks (5 visual, 5 auditory). A 3(age) x 2(modality) x …

The Schizophrenic Warrior: Exploring Agl‘Ca In The Old English Corpus, Danielle Robinson

English Theses

This thesis attempts to create a more comprehensive catalogue of the appearance of the word aglæca throughout the Old English corpus. While the majority of these instances of the word appear in Beowulf, it also appears in such texts as Christ and Satan, Juliana, The Whale, Andreas, Daniel, Elene, and several of the Riddles from The Exeter Book. While Klaeber’s widely accepted binary glossing of “warrior/monster” is usually perfectly functional for translation, it is worth examining all instances of the word in attempt to better understand what the word would have meant to the contemporary Anglo-Saxon audience. A …

An Evaluation Of The Costs And Health Benefits Associated With An Overseas Voluntary Hiv Screening Program For Refugees Undergoing Ressettlement To The United States, Michelle Canady

Public Health Capstone Projects

Since 2010, HIV screening is no longer required as part of the overseas medical examination for U.S.-bound refugees. Estimated HIV prevalence for U.S-bound refugees range from 0% to 9%, with an average of 2.2%. Based on this data, many refugees may be at high risk for HIV and HIV-associated infections and sequelae when compared to the 0.4% to 0.9% prevalence range in the U.S. population.

This capstone is an economic analysis of costs associated with an overseas voluntary HIV screening and treatment program for refugees undergoing resettlement to the U.S. This study seeks to answer the following question:

• Will HIV …

Internships In Writing And English Studies Programs: Opportunities, Locations, And Structures, Lara Smith Sitton

English Dissertations

The Association of American Colleges and Universities considers internships as one of several “High Impact Educational Practices.” While these experiential learning exercises are not new, there are resurgent calls for universities to help students find and engage in more internship experiences before completion of their undergraduate degrees. At the same time, however, the US Department of Labor has strict guidelines as to what constitutes “internships” and what constitutes “unfair labor practices.” While there is a history of the private and public sectors creating internships for students in professional-degree programs and business schools, a need exists for more internships for humanities …

Why Pereboom's Four-Case Manipulation Argument Is Manipulative, Jay Spitzley

Philosophy Theses

Research suggests that intuitions about thought experiments are vulnerable to a wide array of seemingly irrelevant factors. I argue that when arguments hinge on the use of intuitions about thought experiments, research on the subtle factors that affect intuitions must be taken seriously. To demonstrate how failing to consider such psychological influences can undermine an argument, I discuss Pereboom’s four-case manipulation argument. I argue that by failing to consider the impact of subtle psychological influences such as order effects, Pereboom likely mis-identifies what really leads us to have the intuitions that we have about his cases, and this in turn …

Space, Settlement, And Environment: Detecting Undocumented Maya Archaeological Sites With Remotely Sensed Data, Andrew Vaughan

Anthropology Theses

This study utilizes an integrated remote sensing approach to augment settlement pattern research in the Yalahau Region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. The region has a long history of human occupation and an environment ranging from coasts, freshwater wetlands, forests, to fields and towns all above a porous karst geology. By utilizing various sensors (LiDAR, GeoEye and Landsat) and collection methods (satellite, aerial) as well as post-processing (band combinations, component analyses and indices) and cross-referencing the data, it is possible to generate a signature, which strongly correlates with evidence of prehistoric occupation. Field verification of a selection of identified signatures …

Subjective Belief Distributions And The Characterization Of Economic Literacy, Amalia Di Girolamo, Glenn Harrison, Morten Lau, Todd Swarthout

ExCEN Working Papers

We characterize the literacy of an individual in a domain by their elicited subjective belief distribution over the possible responses to a question posed in that domain. By eliciting the distribution, rather than just the answers to true/false or multiple choice questions, we can directly measure the confidence that an individual has about their knowledge of some fact. We consider literacy across several financial and economic domains. We find considerable demographic heterogeneity in the degree of literacy. We also measure the degree of consistency within a sample about their knowledge, even when that knowledge is imperfect.

Social Ontology, Spectacle, And Hyperreality: A Critical Examination Of Searle, Debord And Baudrillard, Nathan D. Ward

Philosophy Honors Theses

In this thesis I examine the philosophical views of John Searle, Guy Debord, and Jean Baudrillard. These thinkers have radically different methodologies and theoretical alignments, but they are not entirely dissimilar. John Searle argues that there are two types of facts—those independent of human observation and those whose meaning depends on agreement. Guy Debord posits that modern society has replaced authentic social life with mere representation. The “spectacle” has replaced real interactions with others so that meaning itself is no longer authentic; it is treated as a commodity or currency. Jean Baudrillard argues that society has replaced reality with signs …

Creating Space For New Teacher Voices: Examining Mentoring From The Perspective Of New Teacher Residents, Cassandra Matthews

Early Childhood and Elementary Education Dissertations

Educators and policy makers recognize the need to provide a continuum of support for beginning teachers to facilitate the transition from preservice preparation to independent practice. As a result, both have responded with the recommendation of increasing and expanding induction programs. Teacher Residency programs have recently emerged as an innovative model for new teacher induction. This qualitative study was situated within a charter school context and investigated how five beginning teachers participating in a New Teacher Residency Program perceived and experienced mentoring. Drawing on sociocultural theory, situated learning, and communities of practice as theoretical frames, the research question was: How …

A Comprehensive Examination Of The Arrowsmith Program At One Private School In Atlanta, Rhonda Hawkins

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effectiveness of the Arrowsmith Program at an Atlanta area private school during 2011-2014 school years. A mixed-methods investigation was employed using a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design to assess student achievement through the use of pre-test and post-test scores from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, a Likert-scale survey administered to parents and students, and focus groups to provide contextual data. Qualitative data was collected through the use of focus groups; one with the Arrowsmith teachers and another with the classroom teachers of Arrowsmith students. Themes from the focus groups were used to provide contextual …

Language Teacher Development: A Study Of Esol Preservice Teachers? Identities, Efficacy And Conceptions Of Literacy, Annmarie Jackson

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

This qualitative case study explores ways in which English as a Second Language (ESOL) preservice teachers’ conceptions of literacy are initially developed and how these understandings impact their emerging identities as ESOL teachers. Diaz-Rico (2008) posits that teaching of English Learners (ELs) is one of the fastest-growing professions which increases the need to prepare preservice teachers to serve the growing immigrant population. Similar to other teacher education programs, pre service teachers in ESOL focused programs often experience tensions as they embark on student teaching. There appears to be limited research-studies of ESOL preservice teachers· perceptions of their preparation and efficacy …

Turn Down For What? The Run Down Before It Goes Down: A Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Program, Tunicia Walker

Public Health Capstone Projects

The United States has seen an increase in incident HIV/AIDS rates in the past five years, especially amongst adolescents and young adults aged 13 to 24. Prior studies have shown that comprehensive sexual health education with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS education could be effective in reducing sexual risk behaviors that contribute to increases in HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) amongst adolescents, however, increased funding from congress in the past decade to promote abstinence only education has limited programs that teach this type of sexual health education, especially in states that have some of the highest rates of HIV and …