Digital Commons Network^™

The Unsung Heroes For Intercollegiate Athletics: Examining The Dialogic Principles Of Communication In Community College Athletic Departments, Matthew Alan Stilwell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore community college athletic departments and how they connect and facilitate messages to their stakeholders. With limited resources, it’s important to understand how the athletic departments are applying best strategies and principles of relational management. Therefore, the goal and importance of this project was to explore how a mass communication tool in Twitter and how it is used in community college athletics, an area that is not a focal point in either collegiate athletics or sport communication scholarship. Using Kent and Taylor’s (1998) dialogic principles of communication as a guide for this project, …

About Us Without Us: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Homelessness At The United Nations, Joanna Louise Padgett Herz

Theses and Dissertations

The United Nations plays a major role in creating, changing, and challenging international discourse on social inequities and injustices. Homelessness has historically been an underrepresented social problem within the UN system. To date, no official definition has been established. How has discourse on homelessness been shaped at the UN, if no official definitions have been established? What are the implicit meanings that representatives have used over the years? Homelessness was ignored for many years at the United Nations, and when it was talked about it was described vaguely. How was the discourse on homelessness created and how has is changed? …

The Role Of Historical Simulations In An International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program Social Studies Class, Anna Hasenkamp

Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents an action research study as part of a Dissertation in Practice. Based on observations from the classroom of the participant-researcher, Problem of Practice is described: an over-reliance on teacher-centered instructional methods and the mismatch of these instructional techniques to the pedagogy endorsed by the International Baccalaureate. Through the identification of this PoP led to a research focus concerning student achievement, instructional methods, and the use of historical simulations in the social studies classroom. As a result of this research focus, the research question of what, if any, is the possible impact of historical simulations on student achievement? …

Temporal Trends In The Cardiorespiratory Fitness Of 2,525,827 Adults Representing Eight High- And Upper-Middle-Income Countries Between 1967 And 2016, Nicholas Rye Lamoureux

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To estimate international and national temporal trends in the cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) of adults, and examine relationships between CRF trends and trends in socioeconomic and health-related indicators.

Methods: Data were obtained from a systematic search of studies that explicitly reported temporal trends in the CRF of apparently healthy adults aged 18–59. Sample-weighted temporal trends were estimated using best-fitting regression models relating the year of testing to mean CRF. Post-stratified population-weighted mean changes in percent and standardized CRF were estimated. Pearson’s correlations were used to describe associations between linear trends in CRF and linear trends in socioeconomic and …

Children In Trouble With The Law And The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child, Jennifer L. Swick

Theses and Dissertations

Children in trouble with the law are the focus of much research in the US, but when the scope broadens to include these children across the world, few studies can be found. The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) articulates a set of universal rights for children. For children in trouble with the law, there are seven articulated rights across Articles 37 and 40; these are: protection against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; the right not to be detained in jails or prisons with adult convicts; the right to maintain contact with family …

Acculturation Stress And Depression Among First-Year International Graduate Students From China And India At The University Of South Carolina, Kyunghee Ma

Theses and Dissertations

This cohort study used a mixed-methods pretest/posttest measurement study design. The quantitative method was used to explore the relationship between acculturation stress and depression among first-year international graduate students from China and India enrolled at the University of South Carolina(UofSC), examine the role that social support plays in that relationship, and identify changes in acculturation, social support, and depression over one academic year. The qualitative method helped to further explore how Chinese and Indian international graduate students experienced acculturation stress and to what extent social support helped them cope with their stress.

The sample included 55 students. Primary data were …

The Information-Seeking Strategies Of Humanities Scholars Using Resources In Languages Other Than English, Carol Sabbar

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE INFORMATION-SEEKING STRATEGIES OF HUMANITIES SCHOLARS

USING RESOURCES IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH

by

Carol Sabbar

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Dr. Iris Xie

This dissertation explores the information-seeking strategies used by scholars in the humanities who rely on resources in languages other than English. It investigates not only the strategies they choose but also the shifts that they make among strategies and the role that language, culture, and geography play in the information-seeking context. The study used purposive sampling to engage 40 human subjects, all of whom are post-doctoral humanities scholars based in the …

Who Benefits From Income Inequality? An International Examinationof The Relationship Between Income Inequalityand Student Achievement, Christina Ruth Edmunds

Theses and Dissertations

This study directly tests the relationship between income inequality and student mathematics achievement. Furthermore, I examine the degree to which the relationship between income inequality and student achievement is moderated by student SES. To test these relationships, I created a database of national wealth measures and linked it with student achievement data from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results of multilevel models indicated that income inequality is negatively related to student achievement scores. Additionally, this relationship is not moderated by student SES, indicating that the relationship between income inequality and student achievement is the same for …

A Phenomenological Study Of Women In India Striving To Achieve Work-Life Balance In Finance With Competing Priorities, Linda Shahisaman

Theses and Dissertations

There is a common phrase used in India, Na Stree Swathantrayam Arhati, which translates into women not deserving independence. This ideology gives women a disadvantage at an early age in life. This study strives to strengthen the ability of women that are enduring disabilities, gender issues, and inequality in the home and work place. There has been increased research on the topic in India especially due to the increased discrimination against women in the country. Women's empowerment can be viewed as women gaining control or power over their lives and this study strived to gain that. This particular study is …

Investigating Knowledge And Behavior Intention Among Ghanaian Smallholder Farmers, Alyssa Marie Barrett

Theses and Dissertations

Rural farmers in developing countries lack knowledge, access to educational resources, and capacity to stay informed of and implement current farming and health practices. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of an educational program on the utilization of native plants in farming and health practices among rural farmers in Ghana. The research objectives were to describe the population, assess farmers’ knowledge of farming and health practices, describe participants’ current and planned behavior, and observe the implementation of the practices taught. Results indicated participants’ knowledge of farming and health practices increased after the workshops. Results also indicated …

The United States Growth Over 16 Years Of Student Correct Responses On The Timss: Are We Really That Far Behind?, Jacob Michael Zonts

Theses and Dissertations

National rank on international assessments, as measured in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), gives a limited view of the data presented. This study used average scale score data from the TIMSS (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011) that were then disaggregated based on content domains (i.e., number, algebra, measurement, geometry, data, earth science, life science, physical science, biology, physics, and chemistry). These data were graphed to show the growth of the U.S. national average scale scores in comparison to three top scoring countries (i.e., Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore), and three other post-industrial countries similar to the U.S. …

Work To Live Or Live To Work?: The Impact Of Gender, Personal Resources, And National Policy On The Importance Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic Work Rewards In Post-Industrial Nations, Christy Haines Flatt

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic work rewards among women and men in 12 post-industrial nations in the Global North. Guiding my analyses was Esping-Andersen’s theoretical framework and the following three main research questions: (1) how individual attributes and national policies influence the salience individuals assign to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards; (2) how individual attributes and national policies differ from each other in relative magnitude as predictors of the value individuals assign to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards; and (3) how individual attributes and national policies impact the importance individuals assign to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards differs …

Cultural Awareness Levels Of Professionals And Students At Mississippi State University: International Education's Challenge, William Edward Stephen Cottrell

Theses and Dissertations

The literature indicates that America's demographic transformation is becoming a priority issue for higher education. Consequently, progressive educational leadership has a stake in international education development. Since enhanced cultural awareness is essential to this process, its scarcity in terms of measurable evidence has given rise to this study. Research questions included: (1) What is the level of cultural awareness among professional employees and students at Mississippi State University as measured by the Culture Shock Inventory Measurement Table? (2) Do demographic factors relate to cultural awareness levels of professional employees and students at Mississippi State University? (3) What role does international …