Digital Commons Network^™

Analyzing Motivation And Sense Of Belonging Belonging In Cs1 Review Sessions, Cory Longenecker

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The Computer Science Department at James Madison University has a Teaching Assistant program which aims to help students succeed in early-level Computer Science courses. Part of this program is a review session, the Fourth Hour, which provides students extra help on the concepts taught each week in class. Historically, attendance at this review session has been low. Because of this, the study aimed to increase attendance by motivating students through interventions, primarily offering quiz retakes to students who attended. Additionally, this study looked at the reported sense of belonging for participants who attended.

We made three conclusions from survey data …

Improving College Students’ Views And Beliefs Relative To Mathematics: A Systematic Literature Review Followed By A Multiple Case Mixed Methods Exploration Of The Experiences That Underpin Community College Students’ Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, And Values In Mathematics, Marquita H. Sea

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics is particularly important due to its relevance in our daily lives. It is a general requirement throughout schooling. Unfortunately, many students openly declare negative views/beliefs regarding math in their personal and academic lives. These in turn, negatively influence students’ achievement related behaviors and outcomes. First, a systematic literature review was conducted to determine what types of studies/initiatives have aimed to enhance students’ views/beliefs relative to mathematics, including domain general and specific perceptions of math as well as their judgements of who is successful in mathematics and if they themselves can be successful. Specifically, the review centered on the components …

An Information-Theoretic Analysis Of Adherence To Physical Exercise Routines, Lily Foster

Computational and Data Sciences (MS) Theses

One of the most common recommendations in healthcare is to simply form healthy habits, but little research has been done to understand the formation and continuation of a healthy habit that isn’t heavily influenced by an individual’s interpretation. Arizona State University’s WalkIT study aimed to analyze how goal setting and financial reinforcement can influence moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in adults, while using data from accelerometers to alleviate individual bias. In this trial, 512 insufficiently active adults were recruited to wear an accelerometer for 1 year and were then randomly assigned to one of the four study groups. Each group had …

Development And Validation Of A Scale To Measure Songwriting Self-Efficacy (Sses) With Secondary Music Students, Patrick K. Cooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social cognitive theory was developed to explain how individuals learn, in part, by witnessing the behavior of others. Self-efficacy is a construct within social cognitive theory which indicates the beliefs that an individual can be successful at a task under specific situational demands. The sources of self-efficacy include self-evaluating past experiences to predict future success, comparing our abilities to those around us, the verbal and social feedback we get from others, and the physiological feelings we experience when engaged in or thinking about the task. Measures of self-efficacy have been shown to be accurate predictors of successful learning outcomes, achievement, …

Studies On Diagnostic Coverage And X-Sensitivity In Logic Circuits., Manjari Pradhan Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Today’s integrated circuits comprise billions of interconnected transistors assembled on a tiny silicon chip, and testing them to ensure functional and timing correctness continues to be a major challenge to designers and test engineers with further downscaling of transistors. Although substantial progress has been witnessed during the last five decades in the area of algorithmic test generation and fault diagnosis, applications of combinatorial and machinelearning (ML) techniques to solve these problems remain largely unexplored till date. In this thesis, we study three problems in the context of digital logic test and diagnosis. The first problem is that of fault diagnosis …

Motivation Factors For Using Mobile Information Systems In M-Learning, Neelima Bhatnagar

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Organizations of all types have benefited from the development and use of information systems. With the explosion of mobile applications, also known as mobile information systems, new uses are emerging. One such application of mobile information systems is mobile learning, referred to as m-learning hereafter. M-learning has found its ways in the corporate world for employee training and development, and in higher education for teaching and student learning. However, m-learning has not seen the same extent of usage as distance learning and e-learning, often attributed to technological limitations. Motivational factors, though, may also contribute to the slow adoption of m-learning. …

An Investigation Of Factors Motivating Employee Attitudes And Intentions To Share Knowledge In Homeland Security, Evette Maynard-Noel

CCE Theses and Dissertations

The terrorist events of September 11, 2001, highlighted the inability of federal employees and officials to collaborate and share actionable knowledge-based information with the right people at the right time. However, much of the literature on knowledge sharing provided insight into knowledge sharing in private sector organizations and foreign public-sector organizations, instead of domestic public sectors or the United States federal government. While the importance of knowledge sharing for homeland security has been documented in the literature, there are no established frameworks that evaluate knowledge sharing motive and intentions in this context. The main goal of this research was to …

Dreadd Targeting Projections From The Nucleus Accumbens To The Ventral Pallidum With Nicotine Self-Administration, Amanda Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Projections from the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) to the Ventral Pallidum (VP) play a critical role in motivation and reward. Rewards and reward-associated cues are thought to alter this pathway by suppressing GABA release to the VP, however, the role of the NAc to VP pathway has never been investigated with regard to nicotine self-administration. We hypothesized that increasing GABAergic signaling from the NAc to the VP would decrease the reinforcing effects of nicotine. To increase GABA release, CRE dependent DREADD was expressed in the NAc of male rats. Administration of low dose clozapine activated the DREADD receptor and showed a …

A Critical Analysis Of Mystery In Videogames, Ali Alkhafaji

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Historically, videogame research has focused on how different videogame attributes (like challenge, fantasy, control, goals, etc.) impact the player experience. This type of research is important because it can provide insight into how to design more enjoyable videogames. However, very little exists within the current literature that focuses on mystery and its impact on the player experience. This dissertation is concerned with providing the research community with a better understanding of how mystery manifests in videogames and consequently impacts the player experience, specifically curiosity and motivation. To this end, the research questions are: 1. How do players experience mystery in …

An Empirical Assessment Of Senior Citizens’ Cybersecurity Awareness, Computer Self-Efficacy, Perceived Risk Of Identity Theft, Attitude, And Motivation To Acquire Cybersecurity Skills, Carlene G. Blackwood-Brown

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Cyber-attacks on Internet users have caused billions of dollars in losses annually. Cybercriminals launch attacks via threat vectors such as unsecured wireless networks and phishing attacks on Internet users who are usually not aware of such attacks. Senior citizens are one of the most vulnerable groups who are prone to cyber-attacks, and this is largely due to their limited cybersecurity awareness and skills. Within the last decade, there has been a significant increase in Internet usage among senior citizens. It was documented that senior citizens had the greatest rate of increase in Internet usage over all the other age groups …

Cultivating Community Interactions In Citizen Science: Connecting People To Each Other And The Environment, Bret Allen Finley

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Citizen science leverages a distributed user-base which participates in crowd-sourced scientific inquiry. Geotagger is a citizen science project that allows people to collaboratively investigate the natural world around them and share their findings. Citizens are rarely compensated for their work and individual contributors can feel isolated which leads to motivation problems. This thesis focuses on engaging citizen scientists and motivating their contributions via social interaction and engagement. As a part of this work, a number of social enhancements have been developed as extensions to the existing Geotagger project. These enhancements and their effect on social engagement were evaluated using in-field …

A Study Of Fourth-Grade Students' Perceptions On Homework Environment And Academic Motivation In Mathematics, Stefanie Harmon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem at an elementary school is teachers' lack of knowledge and information on the perceptions and motivation of students to complete independent mathematics homework. The purpose of this study was to identify students' perceptions regarding their homework environment and academic motivation in mathematics. The study's conceptual framework, attribution theory, supported the examination of drivers of motivation for participants related to homework completion. Guiding research questions, supported by Keller's ARCS model, focused on the identification of students' perceptions of homework attention, relevance, curiosity, satisfaction, and their preferred homework environment. This qualitative research study obtained data from semistructured interviews with 44 …

An Integrated Evaluation Of The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program In South Dakota, Jarrett D. Pfrimmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Grassland restoration efforts in North America typically share the goal of improving ecological conditions for wildlife; however, it is unclear in many cases if goals are met. The South Dakota Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) was initiated to alleviate agriculturally-related environmental degradation by converting 40,469 hectares of eligible cropland and marginal pastureland to perennial vegetation. The program aims to provide habitat for obligate grassland breeding songbirds, while producing an additional 285,000 pheasants and 60,000 ducks annually. As part of a collaborative comprehensive evaluation effort, my research assessed the response of grassland-dependent breeding birds to CREP implementation at varying spatial scales …

Infinite Color Urn Models., Debleena Thacker Dr.

Doctoral Theses

In recent years, there has been a wide variety of work on random reinforcement models of various kinds. Urn models form an important class of random reinforcement models, with numerous applications in engineering and informatics and bioscience. In recent years there have been several works on different kinds of urn models and their generalizations. For occupancy urn models, where one considers recursive addition of balls into finite or infinite number of boxes, there are some works which introduce models with infinitely many colors, typically represented by the boxes.As observed in [51], the earliest mentions of urn models are in the …

Identities And Motives Of Naturalist Development Program Attendees And Their Relation To Professional Careers, Jennifer A. Mraz

Dissertations

In recent years, there has been much concern over the decline of biologists who actually identify themselves to be naturalists, which negatively impacts the field of conservation and the study of biology as a whole. This could result in a decrease in individuals who participate in naturalist-like activities, such as informal environmental education and environmental volunteerism. The purpose of my study was to determine what discourse identities were held by naturalist development program participants, how these discourse identities related to their volunteer motives in environmental settings, and how discourse identity related to professional careers. I defined identity through the lens …

The Role Of Motivation And Curriculum In Shaping Pro-Sustainable Attitudes And Behaviors In Students, Kathleen Bamford

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Sustainability is an area of growing pertinence as our future and the future of our planet depends on its acceptance and application. Determining patterns in pro-sustainable attitudes and behaviors, and revealing motivations behind these behaviors have important implications for the future of sustainability education. The primary objective of this study is to discover the relationships between educational experience and sustainability attitudes and behaviors in elementary school students. A secondary objective is to determine the motivation behind pro-sustainability behaviors and to establish the role this plays in educational programs. The study utilizes mixed methodology through two modes of data collection: 1. …

A Client-Vendor Relationship Perspective Of Cultural Differences On Cross-Border Information Technology Outsourcing, John Kennedy Bosire

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cross-border information technology (IT) outsourcing continues to rise due to the demand for business process outsourcing. Issues such as miscommunication and management problems have emerged because of cross-cultural disparities between clients and vendors across national borders. The theoretical framework of this study was based on the organizational culture model studies of Meek, Spradley, Smith, and Draft for examining and understanding complex organizational practices. The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory sequential case study was to qualitatively identify and quantitatively determine the management approaches that are effective in managing cross-cultural differences and the constitution of the elements of global adjustment, motivation, mindset, …

Motivating The Solicited And Unsolicited Sharing Of Tacit Knowledge Through The Process Of Externalization, Sheila Yvonne Sorensen

CCE Theses and Dissertations

While several U. S. firms have invested in Knowledge Management (KM) tools and software, it has become apparent that investments must be made in additional facets of KM, such as knowledge sharing (KS), thought by many researchers to be the most important component of KM. Of the two types of KS, explicit and tacit, the sharing of tacit knowledge has been shown to contribute the most to an organization’s performance. However, since tacit knowledge is difficult to both convey and acquire, this unshared tacit knowledge may ultimately harm an organization when, without the appropriate knowledge, individuals cannot effectively perform their …

The Effects Of Gamifying Optional Lessons On Motivation, Aaron Zemach

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Adding video-game elements to non-video-game interfaces (“gamification”) has become a common engagement strategy over the past several years in the domain of education. While prior studies have found that adding game elements to mandatory educational materials can increase students’ motivation to complete the materials, there has yet to be a study to investigate if game elements can make users more likely to engage with optional educational materials. In this study, we investigate whether users of a gamified educational interface are more motivated than users of a non-gamified interface to voluntarily complete educational materials. We found users of a gamified interface …

Sign Me Up! Determining Motivation For High School Chemistry Students Enrolling In A Second Year Chemistry Course, Nilda N. Camarena

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A sample of 108 Pre-AP Chemistry students in Texas participated in a study to determine motivational factors for enrolling in AP Chemistry and University Chemistry. The factors measured were academic attitude, perceptions of chemistry, confidence level in chemistry, and expectations/experiences in the chemistry class. Students completed two questionnaires, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end. Four high school campuses from two school districts in Texas participated. Two campuses were traditional high schools and two were smaller magnet schools. The results from this study are able to confirm that there are definite correlations between academic attitudes, …

Designing A Goal Journaling Application, Kevin Lufkin

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

Achieving a personal goal and making a positive change in one’s life can be a difficult and elusive task. Everyday people are creating and setting new goals for themselves, but more often than not these goals are never realized. Motivation, determination, and discipline are all key elements when it comes to accomplishing a goal, but if there is no clear idea as to how to connect the dots from where one is to where one wants to be these important qualities lose their effectiveness.

The applications that exist today largely fit in the realm of goal/task management and planners. This …

Reinforcement Learning With Motivations For Realistic Agents, Jacquelyne T. Forgette

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Believable virtual humans have important applications in various fields, including computer based video games. The challenge in programming video games is to produce a non-player controlled character that is autonomous, and capable of action selections that appear human. In this thesis, motivations are used as a basis for learning using reinforcements. With motives driving the decisions of the agents, their actions will appear less structured and repetitious, and more human in nature. This will also allow developers to easily create game agents with specific motivations, based mostly on their narrative purposes. With minimum and maximum desirable motive values, the agents …

Recreation Displacement Of Bass Fishermen From Central Coast Lakes, Erin Gray

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

The purpose of this study was to assess the impacts of aquatic invasive species preventative measures on recreation displacement of bass fishermen from Central Coast lakes. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to participants at a local bass fishing tournament. Thirty-six respondents completed the questionnaire. The results indicated that boat inspection procedures do not necessarily cause bass fishermen to displace. This study found that fishermen are likely to avoid recreating at a Central Coast lake in fishing practice conditions rather than in tournament conditions, and are likely to avoid tournaments at their least favorite lake if boat inspection procedures take too …

Playing In Trelis Weyr: Investigating Collaborative Practices In A Dragons Of Pern Role-Play-Game Forum, Kathleen Marie Alley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive case study examined adolescents' and emerging adults' literate and social practices within the context of a role-play-game (RPG) forum, investigating the ways participants read and collaboratively composed within this space. As a researcher, I was interested in how this space functioned and how the interactions between members impacted their composing processes, with particular attention to the role of online spaces and popular culture in adolescents' motivation to engage in this forum. This study was guided by three research questions: (1) In what ways is Trelis Weyr, an RPG forum, organized as a virtual environment?; (2) In what ways, …

Understanding "Just Enough" Computer Users: Motivation Style And Proficiency, Harriet Cook King

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Among daily computer users who are proficient, some are flexible at accomplishing unfamiliar tasks on their own and others have difficulty. Software designers and evaluators involved with Human Computer Interaction (HCI) should account for any group of proficient daily users that are shown to stumble over unfamiliar tasks. We define "Just Enough" (JE) users as proficient daily computer users with predominantly extrinsic motivation style who know just enough to get what they want or need from the computer. We hypothesize that JE users have difficulty with unfamiliar computer tasks and skill transfer, whereas intrinsically motivated daily users accomplish unfamiliar tasks …

Spectral Properties Of Large Dimensional Random Circulant Type Matrices., Koushik Saha Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Consider a sequence of matrices whose dimension increases to infinity. Suppose the entries of this sequence of matrices are random. These matrices with increasing dimension are called large dimensional random matrices (LDRM).Practices of random matrices, more precisely the properties of their eigenvalues, has emerged first from data analysis (beginning with Wishart (1928) [132]) and then from statistical models for heavy nuclei atoms (beginning with Wigner (1955) [130]). To insist on its physical applications, a mathematical theory of the spectrum of the random matrices began to emerge with the work of E. P. Wigner, F. J. Dyson, M. L. Mehta, C. …

Wiki Behavior In The Workplace: Emotional Aspects Of Content Development, Deborah A. Gears

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Wikis have been found to be an easy-to-use, low-cost, and Internet-based technology useful in creating and mobilizing knowledge. Wikis hosted within firms (corporate wikis) have become a popular way for employees to share information and collaborate.

Preliminary research suggested that as few as 6% of wiki consumers contributed to the development of wiki pages. Conventional approaches argued that employees judged the costs of participating in wikis (e.g., authoring or changing material, reading messages, following an argument, and posting responses) to exceed the benefits of participating in wikis (e.g., recognition, reputation etc.) - thus many people "lurked" but did not post. …

Increasing The Recycling Rate In Clark County, Nevada, Emerald Laija

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate policies that could increase the amount of municipal solid waste recycled in Clark County, Nevada. Clark County has not met the Nevada State goal of a 25% recycling rate since it was established by the Nevada Legislature in 1991. Using the system dynamics problem solving approach, a model for Clark County was adapted from a model developed by Stave (2008) to test policy options. There was no feedback in the model due to the long lifespan of the landfill servicing Clark County and the relatively shorter time horizon of the …