Education Commons^™

Temperament And Personality In Preschoolers: Are The Concepts The Same Or Different?, Cathy Grist Litty

Doctoral Dissertations

Individual differences among adults have generally been conceptualized in terms of personality theory and traits and attributed more to life experiences and conditioning than innate dispositions. In contrast, to the more limited extent that individual differences among young children (birth to kindergarten) have been recognized and studied, they have generally been conceptualized in terms of temperament theory and traits, attributed to innate biological programming than to experience.

Recent developments in the field of personality theory begin to blur this distinction, suggesting that individual differences even in young children can be productively studied from the standpoint of personality traits. Specifically, the …

A Philosophical Analysis Of Chet Bowers’ Ethical Theory Of Ecojustice: Shifting Towards Uncertainty Thinking In Science Education, Michael Paul Mueller

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze Chet Bowers’ ethical theory of ecojustice as the basis of an ecological philosophy of education that recognizes Earth’s uncertainty. Bowers’ main thesis is that the commons, or what were once shared by members of the community, should be strengthened by education reforms based on ecojustice criteria. He argues for certain ideologies of the local authority of the commons, “Western” science and scientists, and the “ecological crisis.” I argue that these certainties are uncertain, which justifies part certainty as deciphered by local people in places, in relation to others. Further, I develop a …

For A Moment I Feel Free: Homeless Women And A Garden-Based Learning Program, Catherine Ann Pierce

Doctoral Dissertations

A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2007) concluded that in January 2005 at least 754,147 people were homeless on an average day. Families with children are the fastest-growing sector of the homeless population and comprise 40% of the homeless population. Most of these families are headed by single women and reside in shelters rather than on the streets. Loss of one’s home, the conditions of shelter life, and the physical and sexual abuse that often precipitate homelessness result in diminished self-efficacy and hope. There is an urgent need to mitigate the psychological traumas …

Identifying The Processes Of Teacher Application And Adoption Of A Novel Instructional Strategy, Jennifer Kathryn Richards

Doctoral Dissertations

Research on adolescent learning shows that students learn best when they are actively engaged with the content and when metacognitive teaching strategies are employed. Despite these findings, current studies show that most classrooms are still teacher centered and that passive learning strategies are the norm. To help teachers incorporate highly effective instructional strategies into their classrooms countless professional development workshops are offered each; yet most of these workshops fail to effect true change in the classroom behavior of teachers.

The design of this study compares teachers’ attempts to employ new instructional strategies within the context of a model curriculum with …

A Study Of Middle School Teachers' Use Of Assessment Team Data From Learning Disability Evaluations, Carole Cavender Witt

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine teacher usage of assessment data from learning disability evaluations received in multidisciplinary team/individualized educational plan (MDT/IEP) meetings. Teacher perception of the helpfulness and usefulness of different types of assessment data, and the helpfulness of different types of data compared to each other were focuses of the study. Effects of teacher characteristics such as type of training received, amount of training received, and the amount of experience possessed on the level of teacher usage of assessment data were analyzed. Effects of teacher participation in referral procedures for students with suspected learning disabilities and …

Weblogs Used As Online Discussion Boards In The Secondary Classrooms, Kevin Mark Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of weblogs as discussion boards (WeBo) in a secondary English department. Five classes of students enrolled in English in the fall of 2006 and their three teachers were organized into four groups. Groups 1 and 2 were made up of two sections of advanced placement English, twelfth and eleventh grades. Group 3 consisted of two lower level sections of 11 Regular English, and Group 4 consisted of one section of tenth grade College Prep. All of the group–members’ assignments were posted on the WeBo by their teachers. Participation by all …

Levelising As A Quality Management Tool, Denise Lynn Gaskin

Doctoral Dissertations

Behavioral health organizations have new requirements to participate in quality improvement practices, thus prompting the need to proactively improve service delivery. A behavioral health team in western North Carolina embraced Levelising as a quality improvement tool. Levelising is an aspect of reflective practice that engages participants in multiple perspectives on ways of practicing. In this study, I used DATA-DATA, an action research model developed by Peters (2004), to reflect on and study an aspect of my practice as quality management director.

I taped recorded team meetings, conducted interviews, and wrote about my observations in a reflexive journal. Outside rater-observers listened …

“Because It Happened Here”: Holocaust Education In Contemporary Poland, April Marie Crabtree

Masters Theses

Each year, we move away from the Holocaust as active history. On each subsequent anniversary, we carefully repackage this atrocity in history with claims of ‘never again’ or ‘remember.’ The focus on this past should be crucial to our actions in the present and important to our future. One of the biggest questions asked has been ‘what have we learned?’

As students today grow further and further away from the Holocaust era, it remains to be seen if these lessons in humanity and inhumanity will simply fade away. With the danger of the Holocaust falling solely into history textbooks, Poland …

An Investigation Of How Students Experience Corporate Advertising In Public Schools, Amanda Gail Wilson

Masters Theses

In order to discover the experiences of public school students with the presence of corporate advertising available in their schools, data was collected from a public elementary, middle, and high school. This included a walkthrough of the schools to make note of advertisements available to students on a regular basis; informal interviews with school staff; and collection of classroom materials from teachers. Also, a total of ten students representing three different grade levels were interviewed in three focus groups, one per grade level. This study is a qualitative analysis conducted from a critical and phenomenological standpoint. The impetus for the …

The Use Of Horticulture Therapy Techniques With Four Comprehensive Development Classroom Students In Four High School Horticulture Classes, Jamie Lynn Mundy

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore people-plant interactions and discover the affects of using horticulture therapy techniques with four comprehensive development classroom (CDC) students in four high school horticulture classes. The central research question addressed during the study was, “How do horticulture therapy techniques affect cognitive abilities, emotional behaviors, and social behaviors of CDC students in high school horticulture classes?”

The researcher used a total of three different instruments in order to measure various capabilities of each child. These three quantitative instruments utilized during the study consisted of a General Horticulture Knowledge Test, an Emotions Face Test, and …

It’S Not What They Do, It’S How They Do It: Athlete Experiences Of Great Coaching, Andrea J. Becker

Doctoral Dissertations

Throughout the history of sport, a select number of individuals have emerged from their peers as superior coaches. We have come to know these individuals as the coaching greats: Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, and John Wooden of the UCLA Bruins to name a few. The context of sport lends itself to the study of coaching greatness; however, no studies have directly explored this phenomenon. More often than not, society identifies coaches as “great” based on two criteria: win/loss records and public attention that is garnered through the media. This narrow …

How Adult Students Experience Having Their Beliefs Challenged In An Undergraduate Religion Class: A Phenomenological Analysis, Steven Blake Frye

Doctoral Dissertations

The challenging of one’s existing ideas has long been acknowledged as an integral component of the learning experience. In a university classroom, challenges are often inherent to the process. When challenges address personal beliefs, there is potential for the experience to be unsettling. The current study is designed to gain a deeper look into this phenomenon.

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of adult students in a college religion class who have encountered questions about and challenges to their previously held beliefs. The study was conducted with adult non-traditional students who have participated in an academically-focused …

Teachers’ Experience Of Working With Underachieving Students: A Comparative Phenomenological Study Of Teachers In South Africa, Russia, And The United States, Maria J. Oreshkina

Doctoral Dissertations

This research project presents three phenomenological studies: (1) teachers’ experience of working with underachieving students in South Africa, (2) teachers’ experience of working with underachieving students in Russia, and (3) teachers’ experience of working with underachieving students in the United States. It also involves a comparative study of teachers’ experience of working with underachieving students in the three countries. All teacher participants in these studies were recommended as expert teachers who displayed qualities of teacher professionalism such as (1) commitment to learners; (2) the ability to make decisions in complex and ill-defined contexts; (3) reflective practice; and (4) a body …

Comparing Recent High School Graduates Placed In Developmental And College-Level Mathematics Courses, Crystal Renee Rice

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine any significant differences among recent high school graduates placed in developmental and college-level mathematics courses. The focus of the investigation was on students’ high school course-taking patterns in mathematics and their attitudes and beliefs towards mathematics. High school location was also considered.

The study was conducted at two community colleges in east Tennessee. Students placed in both developmental and college-level mathematics courses completed surveys at the beginning of the fall semester 2006. Four scales of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales (1976), along with the Indiana Mathematics Belief Scales (Kloosterman & Stage, 1992), …

Program, Classroom, And Teacher Characteristics: Their Associations, Mihyang Ryu

Doctoral Dissertations

With data from the NCEDL Multi-State Pre-Kindergarten Study, the relationship between the characteristics of program, classroom, and teachers and classroom quality was examined in this study. Classroom quality was measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System and the Emerging Academics Snapshot. The sample consisted of 227 pre-k teachers in state-funded programs from six states. The percentage of children from low-income families in the classroom and the number of children with limited English proficiency (the only two predictive variables that described children’s characteristics) were found to be statistically significant predictors of classroom process quality. These findings were discussed with regard to …

Reliability And Validity Of The Unit - Gifted Screening Scale (Unit - Gss), Rebecca Grace Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

The psychometric integrity of the UNIT - Gifted Screening Scale (UNIT -GSS; McCallum & Bracken, in press) was explored by examining Cronbach's Alphas for each of its scales (reliabilities ranged from .95 to .98). In addition, the concurrent validity was evaluated by comparing scores from non-academically oriented UNIT-GSS scales to other instruments that measure the same constructs for 106 2^nd through 8^th grade students, rated either by their teachers or themselves, on the UNIT-GSS, the Gifted Rated Scales (GRS; Pfeiffer & Jarosewich, 2003), and a self-report instrument designed to measure emotional intelligence, the Bar-On Emotional Quotient: Youth Version …

Increasing On-Task Behavior In Second-Grade Students: An Empirical Validation Of The Color Wheel Intervention, Daniel L. Fudge

Doctoral Dissertations

When transitioning a class from one activity to another, ineffective classroom management can reduce academic learning time and increase disruptive and anti-social behavior. The purpose of the current study was to determine if a classroom management procedure, referred to as the Color Wheel, could enhance on-task behavior in second-grade students during regular scheduled instruction and transitions. Analysis was conducted on the average on-task (OT) behavior of the entire class (i.e., 12 students) and across each of the 12 students in the class (individual analysis of each student’s OT behavior) to determine if the Color Wheel procedure increased OT behavior.

The …

Physical Therapy Patient Education For The Management Of A Low Back Derangement Syndrome, Ute Hohenfeld Breese

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the content and design of physical therapy patient education programs recommended in the literature and to assess the consistency between those recommendations, the recommendations of physical therapy educators and the practices of physical therapist clinicians. A patient example was used as the focus of the patient education program. The patient example was classified as having a low back derangement syndrome.

A national sample of 600 physical therapists was surveyed, and physical therapy educators from 20 professional education programs were interviewed. The surveys yielded data from 264 physical therapists, and 31 educators in …

Emergency Disaster Preparedness And Community Mental Health Facilities Capacity Following Hurricanes Katrina And Rita, Linda Lee Cannon Peoples

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the research study was to assess the impact of the hurricanes Katrina and Rita on community mental health facilities client service capacity and emergency preparedness in the disaster declared and non-declared areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Texas in the U.S.A. The impacts associated with client service capacity and emergency preparedness were evaluated. A survey instrument was created, tested for reliability and used to assess the client service capacity and status of emergency disaster preparedness at community mental health facilities following the hurricanes Katrina and Rita disaster. Differences in the reported client service capacity and emergency …

Linkage Between Daily Writing Activities And Performance On Major Multiple-Choice Exams, Haley Crisp Turner

Doctoral Dissertations

Presumably, one approach for improving exam performance in college courses is to increase the quantity and quality of pre-class preparation. Over a two-semester period, students in six sections of a large undergraduate course in human development at a large southeastern university participated in a study designed to assess the efficacy of an intervention to enhance student preparation for class. The treatment involved administration of daily five-minute writing activities based on pairs of concepts embedded in the instructor notes of each unit in the course. The principal dependent variable across semesters was student performance on unit-exam items related to content in …

An Evaluation Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Test Of Dyslexia-Rapid Assessment Profile, Sara Jean Mccane

Doctoral Dissertations

The Test of Dyslexia-Rapid Assessment Profile (TOD-RAP), designed as a group-administered instrument for the purpose of identifying persons at-risk for reading difficulties, was administered to 357 primary/secondary and collegiate summer school students in a southeastern state, along with the Reading Fluency subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III), the Spelling and Reading portions of the Wide Range Achievement Test 3 (WRAT-3), and Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF). Internal consistency coefficients of TOD-RAP subtests ranged from .79 to .96 and test-retest coefficients ranged from .70 to .94, indicating adequate reliability. Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) yielded significant …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Academic And Athletic Satisfaction Among Division Ia Student-Athletes, James Joseph Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic and athletic satisfaction for Division IA intercollegiate athletes. Student-athletes (n = 367; 16 teams) at a Division IA university in the Midwest completed the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI), in addition to a demographic survey. The data was analyzed using a variety of analytical procedures including descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and hierarchical regression in order to answer the research questions guiding this study:
1. What is the relationship between Division IA intercollegiate athletes’ satisfaction with their academic and athletic experiences?
2. What …

The Experience Of Participants Using An Online Discussion Forum In A Graduate Course, Jennifer W. Summerlin

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was designed and implemented to describe the experiences of doctoral students using an online discussion forum and determine the effectiveness of this type of instructional tool. Specifically, this study examined the students' experiences with overall communication, themes of the discussion board/forum, and traits and/or skills, which were needed for this online environment, with the purpose of determining how these experiences may have enhanced or hindered their overall course experience.

The specific approach used for this research was a qualitative case study methodology, which consisted of face-to-face interviews conducted with doctoral students from a small private university in the …

A Study Of Collaborative School-University Partnerships Involving Teams Of Educators From Bulgaria And The United States, Edward L. Diden

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to analyze collaborations involving three teams of educators participating in a school-university partnership, the "My Place, Your Place, Our Place: Integrating Education for the Neighborhood and the World" project. The three groups of educators included the Tennessee team (a school-university partnership), the Bulgaria team (a school-university partnership), and the setting created by the combination of both (a cross-cultural integration).

The conceptual framework for this research was based upon Sarason’s (1972) work, The Creation of Settings and the Future Societies. Due to the intercultural nature of this project, Hofstede and Hofstede’s (2005) five …

Organizational Health And Student Achievement Gains In Elementary Schools, Christopher Lee Henderson

Doctoral Dissertations

With increasing pressures to improve student performance, schools are in need of ways to positively affect student achievement that they can control. The concept of organizational health, which includes academic emphasis, teacher affiliation, collegial leadership, resource influence, and institutional integrity, offers educators an opportunity to gauge the climate of their building and in turn positively affect academic outcomes. Using Hoy and Tarter’s (1997) concept of organizational health in elementary schools as a conceptual framework, this study undertook a mixed method approach to examining the relationship between organizational health and student achievement gains in elementary schools. The Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary Version, …

The Effectiveness Of A Dynamic Interdisciplinary Food Safety Curriculum Targeted On Middle School Students In Scott County, Sarah M. Johnson

Masters Theses

The focus of this study was to provide a comparison of data collected from seventh grade students on food safety knowledge who have been through USDA’s National Integrated Food Safety Initiative program with those seventh grade students who have had no formal school instruction on this topic. Middle school students were specifically targeted because they are more likely to synthesize this information in a way that will lead to the development of new behaviors.

The population consisted of seventh grade students at Burchfield, Fairview, Huntsville and Oneida Middle Schools. Burchfield and Huntsville were the two schools used as the comparison …

International Education Personified: Community In An International “Buddy” Program, Jannan Poppen

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to ascertain whether participation in the buddy program at a large public research university in the Southeastern United States by international students and students who have studied abroad is perceived to contribute to a keener sense of belonging, elimination of loneliness, and formation of social networks (Cheng 2004). Cheng describes these three aspects as “directly associated with his or her [student’s] sense of community” (p. 221). Through in-depth interviews, the researcher explores perceptions of community between the two populations of students.

Presentation Software And Its Affects On Developmental Students’ Mathematics Attitudes, Julianna Gregory

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated whether the use of presentation software as the primary delivery system would affect developmental mathematics students’ attitudes toward mathematics and investigated the differential impact presentation software might have on mathematical attitudes of students with respect to their gender, locale (rural vs. non-rural), or age (traditional vs. nontraditional). The student’s locale was determined by the Johnson code assigned to the high school he or she graduated from by the National Center for Education Statistics. A student was classified as traditional (under 21 years of age) or nontraditional (21 years of age or older).

An experimental study was conducted …

Tennessee State Public School Counselors’ Time, Tasks And Knowledge, Laura Michelle Hebert

Doctoral Dissertations

To prepare school counselors to work in the current school environment, school counselors, and counselor educators need to understand the challenges, the environment and the demands to be faced. The researcher initiated a research project called Tennessee State Public School Counselors’ Time, Tasks, and Knowledge. The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of public school counselors’ time and tasks required and preferred, as well as specific knowledge the school counselors possess and need to learn to be competent as school counselors in the state of Tennessee.

The first objective of this research was to measure how …

A Conversation Between Confucius And Dewey On Individual And Community — A Hope For Human Unity, Hongmei Peng

Doctoral Dissertations

The relationship between 'individual' and 'community', or others, is a focal concern in philosophy both in China and in the Euro-western world. Individualism and collectivism, the two entirely different traditions of philosophy that describe a different relationship between 'individual' and 'community', have a long polemic history and are still practiced in our everyday lives. They play an essential role in schools in terms of the way teachers teach our children and relationships children develop with their classmates. This dissertation is a philosophical comparative effort to explore the conceptions of individual and community, and the relationship between the two in Confucian …