Education Commons^™

The Role Of Creativity In Naturalistic Decision-Making Environments: A Systems Approach, Richard Hendrik Feenstra

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of creativity in
problem solving situations. Previous research suggested that both
background knowledge and the inability to transfer knowledge across
contexts are important factors in how a problem is ultimately resolved.
Given these findings, the researcher undertook a study on the role
creativity might play when individuals lacking sufficient background
knowledge are faced with a novel real world problem. A question raised
by the researcher whether an absence of background knowledge might
encourage novices to be more creative than their more experienced
counterparts in novel problem solving situations.

Findings of …

Verbal Cues: Producing The Same Results In Stereotype Threat Research?, Tarryn E. Mcghie

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the notion that stereotype threat experiments can be influenced through linguistic manipulation. The cueing of a phrase (whether stereotypical or non-stereotypical) can produce performance differences between groups, rather than cueing of a stereotype, as used in previous research. Participants (n=95) mostly Caucasian females (68%) ranging in age from 18-45 (M=22.7). The design involved three groups and participants were randomly assigned in order to control for consequential affects. The control group received no verbal cues. The stereotypical group received a stereotypical cue (i.e. men tend to do better on this test than women). The counter-stereotypical group received a …

Predictors Of Recall And Reading Time For Seductive And Nonseductive Text Segments, Ivan V. Ivanov

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This correlational study explored how concreteness, relevance, importance, and interestingness related to the recall of seductive details and base text, while controlling for text coherence, and student background knowledge. Previous research has provided evidence for the significant relationship between these variables and the seductive details effect in particular and text recall in general. However, this is the first study to consider all these variables simultaneously. A group of 68 undergraduates read an expository text on lightning formation, performed an immediate test on free recall, and rated each text sentence for concreteness, relevance, importance, and interestingness. A simple regression analysis revealed …

The Multiple-Choice Concept Map (Mccm): An Interactive Computer-Based Assessment Method, Ioan C. Sas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research attempted to bridge the gap between cognitive psychology and educational measurement (Mislevy, 2008; Leighton & Gierl, 2007; Nichols, 1994; Messick, 1989; Snow & Lohman, 1989) by using cognitive theories from working memory (Baddeley, 1986; Miyake & Shah, 1999; Grimley & Banner, 2008), multimedia learning (Mayer, 2001), and cognitive load (Chandler and Sweller, 1991, 1992; Cerpa, Chandler, & Sweller., 1996) to identify potential design weaknesses of traditional select-and-fill-in (SAFI) concept map assessment and then to guide the design of the new and improved multiple-choice concept map (MCCM) assessment method. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the …

Use Of Task-Value Instructional Inductions For Facilitating Engagement And Conceptual Change, Marcus L. Johnson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this study, 166 undergraduates from an Educational Psychology subject pool were randomly assigned to different task value instructional inductions (utility, attainment, and control) to determine whether inducing students with differing task values would be effective and result in different degrees of engagement for a learning task, as well as result in different degrees of conceptual change on the topic of the causes of the common cold. It was hypothesized participants would adopt characteristics that were consistent with the task value with which they were induced, that the participants in the utility, attainment, and control conditions would differ in their …

An Analysis Of The Equity Of Utah’S Public School Funding System, Garrick Peterson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has not been an equity study of the public school funding allocation system, in the state of Utah, since 1990. The purpose of the study was to conduct an analysis of the equity of the Utah state funding allocation system for K-12 education including a trend analysis for the decade 2000-2009. The conceptual framework for the analysis applies four broad concepts of equity framed by Kern Alexander; (1) communitative equity, (2) distributive equity, (3) restitutive equity, and (4) positivism. The analysis of the Utah State funding system used Berne and Stiefel's methodology and included commonly used statistical measures of …

High School Student Interests In Architecture, Construction, And Engineering Education, Krishna P. Kisi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is a common and widely held belief that the greatest influencing factor for high school students to enter an architecture-, construction-, or engineering-education program is because either their parents, relatives or friends work or have worked in the industry. However, there is little research that supports this belief. The focus of this research was to analyze characteristics and academic interests of Clark County School District (CCSD) Career and Technical Academies (CATA) students enrolled in architecture, construction and engineering (ACE) curricula.

This research analyzed data collected from a survey conducted by CCSD of their students enrolled in ACE courses. Comprehensive …

Principal Stress: Working In Conflicting Paradigms From Newtonian To New Science, Shelley Kresyman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Shortages of qualified principal candidates and retention of motivated principals, combined with the evidence that the principal is a vital part of effective school improvement, has ominous implications for the future quality of education. A body of research exists describing school administrators' stress over the last 25 years; yet, limited research reflects the impact the changing role of the principal in the accountability era of No Child Left Behind has had on principal stress and the possible connections to the shifting paradigms in organizational leadership.

If principals perceive themselves to be overstressed and unprepared to meet the current expectations and …

A Change Management Effort In One Large Public Organization: An Exploration Of The Perception Of Needed Skills For Managing Change, Brian Paul Knudsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Public managers are a key component of a bureaucracy. The reliance on a public manager by an elected official is high as is the expectations that these managers have the necessary skills to manage a public organization. The goal of this study was to explore what elected officials perceive are skills needed by managers to lessen the impact on the human resource, financial, and political challenges when faced with significant change efforts in order to meet their expectations and that of the citizens to whom the organization is responsible.

Findings indicate that managing upward and managing the political impacts are …

The Efficacy Of Emotional And Instructional Support (Eis) Training And Consultation On Head Start Teacher-Child Interactions, Rory Brown Sipp

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There is an increased need for quality in the field of early care and education and, teachers interactions with his or her students are the catalyst for providing and ensuring quality within early childhood environments (La Paro, Pianta, & Hamre, 2008). The study examined the effect of training and consultation on Head Start teacher and child interactions as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, also known as the CLASS.

Twenty-one Head Start teachers located in Southern Nevada served as participants in the study where non-threatening and evidence based training and consultation was provided over six weeks. Trainings were provided …

An Analysis Of First Amendment Jurisprudence On The Supreme Court Case Of Locke V. Davey, Alexander John Herzog

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Scholarship programs authored by state legislatures may conflict with a state's constitution. In the case of Locke v. Davey 540 U.S. 807 (2003), Joshua Davey challenged the State of Washington's withdrawal of his Promise Scholarship claiming violation of his First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.

This study is a historical case study analyzing the Supreme Court jurisprudence regarding legal issues concerning the issuance of state funded scholarships for the purpose of religious studies. A complete legal study was conducted that included a review of all relevant court cases, court filings, legal journals and legal briefs.

A micro legal …