Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Educating For Democracy: Reviving Rhetoric In The General Education Curriculum, David M. Stock

Theses and Dissertations

This study is, in part, a response to arguments that claim higher education fails to prepare students with fundamental communication skills necessary for everyday life and indicative of "educated" persons. Though the validity of such arguments is contestable, they nonetheless reflect fundamental inadequacies in current educational theories and practices that have evolved over centuries of curricular, cultural, and socioeconomic change. Current theories and practices in higher education, specifically general education, reflect a misunderstanding of both the purpose of education in a democracy and the role of the liberal arts, specifically rhetoric, in accomplishing that purpose. The consequences of rhetorically-impoverished general …

Using Video Modeled Social Stories To Increase The Social Communication Skills Of Children With High Functioning Autism/Asperger’S Syndrome, Frank J. Sansosti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of individualized video-modeled Social Story interventions on the social communication skills of three children with High Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome (HFA/AS). Using a multiple-baseline across participants design, video-modeled Social Stories were implemented and direct observations of the participants identified target behaviors were collected two times per week during unstructured school activities (e.g., recess). Overall, data demonstrated that video modeled Social Stories were effective for improving the rates of social communication for the participants, though modifications to allow access to social reinforcement was needed in two cases. In addition, all three participants …

The Effects Of The Presence Of A Dog On The Social Interactions Of Children With Developmental Disabilities, Stephanie Walters

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effects of the presence of a dog on the social interactions between children with developmental disabilities and their teacher were analyzed in this study. We examined whether the presentation of a dog would improve the social interactions of three children with developmental disabilities. A baseline condition consisting of the child and teacher in the presence of three toys, one of which was a toy dog was followed by an intervention in which a real dog was added to the sessions. A multiple baseline design across participants was employed to assess experimental changes in interactions during the intervention condition.

All …

Know Thy Hearer!, William Mons

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

This seminar paper will support the thesis that in order to influence the heart of the hearer in the direction of true faith and a godly life, the preacher will need to know his hearers. This thesis will be supported through an exploration of four questions. The first question is "Why does the preacher need to know his hearers?" Under this section there will be a discussion of the preacher's call, the idea that sermons are to be appropriate to the hearers, preaching as pastoral care, the hearers as participants in the preaching task, the image of the preacher, and …