Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of The Wellness Levels Of Victims Of Domestic Violence With A Local Female Population, Tara Zeruie Harvey

Doctoral Dissertations

This research project is an investigation into the wellness levels of victims of domestic violence. Wellness was measured using the Five Factor Wellness Assessment by Meyers and Sweeney (2005). The research is grounded in a theoretical trifecta comprised of the works of Alfred Adler, Hiram Maslow and the global concept of wellness as defined by Jane Meyers and Thomas Sweeney. An exploratory factor analysis was run on the Five Factor Wellness Assessment to assess the goodness of fit for the population being studied. Wellness levels were assessed upon intake into a domestic violence shelter and compared with the national normative …

“Holla If You Hear Me”: A Conversation With Black, Inner-City Youth On Career Preparedness Programs, Theressa N. Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations

This research study specifically addressed; how vocational preparedness programs effect the career aspirations of Black youth, within the context of the Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts of America’s Exploring program. The goal of this research is to represent Black youth participating in a vocational preparedness program. Interviews, journals, and rich, thick descriptions are utilized in this work.

Using the lens of narrative inquiry and cultural studies, I hoped to further the field of career development through the experiences of some of its key players, African American youth. Within the context of their stories five major themes surfaced around the ideas: …

We're Not Thugs And Rappers: An Examination Of African American Male Athletes' Perceptions Of The Media, Keia Janese Bragg

Masters Theses

Manipulation of stories and events expose issues of false representation and stereotyping within the mainstream media. This research examined the media’s role in shaping the behaviors and experiences of African American male athletes while using Critical Race Theory as the framework in conducting research. A focus group consisting of six former African American male student athletes was conducted. A semi-structured interview schedule was used in order to allow for open discussion. The Constant Comparison Method was instrumental in thematizing the data while QDA Miner software was used to analyze the data. The findings suggested that African American male athletes feel …

Educators' Attitudes Toward Outdoor Classrooms And The Cognitive Benefits In Children, Carlie Speedlin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A case study was organized at a K-5 elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraksa. This school is Saratoga Elementary School and is a United States Title I Distinguished School1 under No Child Left Behind. It has a population of 266 students, with 47% being minority, 1% gifted, and 28% special education (LPS School Profile Brochure). 80% of the student population is eligible for free/reduced meals, implying that it’s a school with a lower socioeconomic status. At this school a garden space was constructed and an after school garden club was implemented for this case study. The club had been running since …

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 …

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 …

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 Effects Of Self-Monitoring On Homework Completion And Accuracy Rates Of Students With Disabilities In An Inclusive General Education Classroom, Carol Ann Falkenberg

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of self-monitoring on the homework completion and accuracy rates of four, fourth-grade students with disabilities in an inclusive general education classroom. A multiple baseline across subjects design was utilized to examine four dependent variables: completion of spelling homework, accuracy of spelling homework, completion of math homework, accuracy of math homework. Data were collected and analyzed during baseline, three phases of intervention, and maintenance. Throughout baseline and all phases, participants followed typical classroom procedures, brought their homework to school each day and gave it to the general education teacher. During Phase I of the intervention, participants …

A New Approach To Community Flood Education, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenological Study Of Children's Experiences While Families Receive Services From A Homeless Agency, Sonya Lorelle

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Children who experience homelessness have an increased risk for negative outcomes in several developmental areas (Bucker, 2008). While there are numerous programs that hope to mediate these and other risks by offering services to families experiencing homelessness, there is a paucity of research that addresses how children's psychosocial needs are being addressed in existing programs (Gewirtz, Hart-Shegos, & Medhanie, 2008). In addition, there is also a lack of research which represents the children's and parents' perspectives and experiences in supportive housing programs, such as transitional and permanent supportive housing, or in-home case management programs. With this phenomenological qualitative study, I …

An Examination Of Potential Mediating Factors On The Seductive Details Effect In Learning From Text, Emily Kay Rowland Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations

Seductive details (SDs) are interesting, but not necessarily relevant, information that may be included in text to capture students’ attention. Unfortunately, including such details often hinders learning. Schraw (1998) differentiated between context-independent (i.e., interesting without surrounding context) and context-dependent (i.e., interesting only in light of surrounding context) SDs.

In the first study, 388 undergraduate students read six paragraphs describing Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual stages (i.e., target material). Participants in four groups also read one of two biographical paragraphs. The biographical paragraphs contained SDs about Freud that were either context-dependent or -independent to the target material and presented before (primacy) or after …

Academic Dishonesty In Online Education, Wren Allen Mills

Dissertations

This dissertation examined cheating attitudes and behaviors of undergraduates, especially those enrolled in online courses. While cheating is an established problem within the academy, it is also an issue on the job and has been in the spotlight in recent years, with ethics scandals in corporate America and plagiarism in the media. With this in mind, and the foundational philosophy of the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education (Bureau of Education, 1928) and the American Council on Education’s (1937) Student Personnel Point of View, this study sought insight into students’ attitudes about cheating behaviors and practices of them in online courses …

Implications Of Napping Into And Beyond Kindergarten On Sleep, Diet, And The Awakening Cortisol Response, Alyssa Anne Cairns

Dissertations

This study is an examination of sleep distribution, dietary intake, and endocrine function of caregiver-reported Nap and Non-Nap Groups of children before and after they transition to an all-day kindergarten where napping is reduced or eliminated. Measures were assessed the summer prior to kindergarten, within two weeks, and after a month of the transition to kindergarten. The study revealed that the transition to kindergarten was associated with changes in sleep and dietary intake. Endocrine function remained stable as children transitioned to kindergarten. On average, Nap and Non-Nap Groups equally lost total sleep time as they transitioned to kindergarten. However, the …

Student Leader Lmx Relationships As Moderated By Constructive-Developmental Theory, Shelly Mumma

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This study examined how the quality of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) relationships was moderated by the Constructive-Developmental stage or Order of Consciousness of both leader and follower. Using student organization presidents and officers on a small, private, liberal arts college campus in the Midwest, the researcher used a sample of 37 students to study the impact developmental stage had on the leadership relationship. Using the Leader Member Exchange-Multi-Dimensional Measure (LMX-MDM), four dimensions of LMX were examined. The four dimensions were Affect, Contribution, Loyalty and Professional Respect. There was no significant relationship between Order of Consciousness and quality of LMX relationship. While …

Improving Irt Parameter Estimates With Small Sample Sizes: Evaluating The Efficacy Of A New Data Augmentation Technique, Brett P. Foley

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The 3PL model is a flexible and widely used tool in assessment. However, it suffers from limitations due to its need for large sample sizes. This study introduces and evaluates the efficacy of a new sample size augmentation technique called Duplicate, Erase, and Replace (DupER) Augmentation through a simulation study. Data are augmented using several variations of DupER Augmentation (based on different imputation methodologies, deletion rates, and duplication rates), analyzed in BILOG-MG 3, and results are compared to those obtained from analyzing the raw data. Additional manipulated variables include test length and sample size. Estimates are compared using seven different …

From Active Learning To Activity: Getting Beyond Busy Work And Into Deep Learning, Wendy Holliday

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

This session will report on an ethnographic study of an English composition class. The researcher observed the class for an entire semester and conducted focus groups and interviews with students and the instructor. The session will describe key activities from the class, including reflections on motivation and learning by both instructors and students. It will conclude with a discussion of how the research findings can help librarians design instruction that engages learners more deeply.

From Active Learning To Activity: Getting Beyond Busy Work And Into Deep Learning, Wendy Holliday

Wendy Holliday

This session will report on an ethnographic study of an English composition class. The researcher observed the class for an entire semester and conducted focus groups and interviews with students and the instructor. The session will describe key activities from the class, including reflections on motivation and learning by both instructors and students. It will conclude with a discussion of how the research findings can help librarians design instruction that engages learners more deeply.

Listening To Undocumented Mothers: The Experiences Of Undocumented Mexican Mothers Of High School Students Living In The U.S. And Receiving Social Services, Maria Alejandra Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

The present dissertation is based on a phenomenological study on undocumented Mexican immigrant mothers of high school students who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and received social services. Most of these mothers have emigrated from rural areas of the central and southern Mexican States of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Queretaro, among others. According to the participants, socio-economic conditions forced them to leave their homelands hoping to find a better life in the U.S.

Ten undocumented mothers of high school students living in the U.S. were interviewed from a phenomenological perspective. They were monolingual Spanish speakers (only one …

Later Life Decision-Making: Experiential Adult Learning And Successful Aging, Shauna Pearce Breland

Dissertations

The focus of this study was on how aging adults make critical life decisions such as those involving health care and health care benefits, living arrangements for later life, and organizing personal affairs. The participant group consisted of 8 sexagenarians and 4 septuagenarians who had recently made or were currently making these critical life decisions.

The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to allow the researcher to examine the phenomena of decision-making and aging within the context of the life experiences of the individuals being studied. Each subject participated in a single in-depth …

Consultation In The School Psychology Literature: Has The Field Moved Beyond The Three Traditional Models?, Michelle L. Seibert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Consultation is a crucial role for school psychology practitioners. Psychologists routinely use consultation within the schools and actually wish they could spend more of their work hours on this activity. However, when authors write about consultation in the school psychology literature, they use numerous terms and phrases, which cause confusion as to what models of consultation are prominent in the field. The focus of the current study is to examine the articles that mention consultation in School Psychology Review (Digest) in order to determine whether the three traditional models (behavioral, mental health, and organizational consultation) are still prominent in consultation …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports In The Elementary School Setting, Ashely Bryce Mcginnis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) is a heavily promoted area that focuses on promoting pro-social behavior and preventing misbehavior. Many schools are moving towards SWPBS as the universal level of support for behavior. With Response to Intervention (RtI) being at the forefront of educational reform, this type of universal support is strongly recommended for academic needs, as well as behavioral needs. Data were collected from 25 schools in the West Region of Kentucky that collaborate with the Kentucky Center of Instructional Discipline (KYCID). A series of t-tests were completed in order to examine the relationship between Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs), …

Labels For Anchors: The Good, The Bad, And The Endpoints, James Lee Hellrung Ii

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study was designed to determine if any differences in internal consistency existed between different designs of scale anchors. The three different designs explored were properly designed scales, improperly designed scales, and endpoint only scales. Two-Hundred and thirty-five participants rated the frequency of which they performed various computer activities on a survey using one of the three different designs. Contrary to expectations, internal consistency did not differ across the three designs.

Diagnostic Decision-Making: How Much Do Behavior Rating Scales Influence School Psychologists?, Lesley Ann Higgins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Behavior rating scales are commonly used as part of the evaluation process throughout the field of psychology. Behavior rating scales help assess social, emotional, and/or behavioral problems in children, adolescents, and teens. Behavior rating scales indicate the severity of problem behaviors compared to a normative sample. Four scenarios were developed that varied scores on a behavior rating scale and the amount of other information that supported a specific diagnosis. A rating of the likelihood of a diagnosis was requested to see how much influence behavior rating scale scores have on diagnostic decision-making. Each of the four scenarios was sent to …

An Evaluation Of The Convergent Validity Of Multi-Source Feedback With Situational Assessment Of Leadership - Student Assessment (Salsa©), Heather Stroupe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study assessed the convergent validity of the Situational Assessment of Leadership – Student Assessment (SALSA©), a situational judgment test (SJT), with multi-source ratings. The SALSA© was administered to ROTC cadets via Blackboard; multi-source ratings, which paralleled the leadership dimensions of the SALSA©, were administered via paper. Each cadet completed the SALSA© and was rated by 10 peers, his/herself, and at least one cadre (superior). SALSA© scores were not correlated with any of the corresponding dimensions on multi-source ratings, with one exception. Cadre ratings of Consideration/Team Skills were positively correlated with SALSA© scores on the same dimension. This finding …

Assessing Michigan School Counselors' Preparedness To Meet The Needs Of Attractional/Sexual Minority Students, J. Frederick Bland

Dissertations

This study assessed the attitudes, skills, knowledge, graduate counseling training, and willingness to engage in professional development of Michigan school counselors regarding issues and concerns of students who identify as lesbian, gay, biattractional, transgender, and students who are questioning their attractional orientation (LGBTQ).

A total of 120 Michigan school counselors completed useable surveys either online or a paper-and-pencil version at a Michigan school counseling conference. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the demographic variables age, gender, ethnicity, attractional/sexual orientation, and professional characteristics such as years of school counseling experience, school level, and school location (urban, suburban, rural). One-way ANOVAs were used …

Conscientiousness As A Mediator Of Caffeine Use And Academic Performance, Laura Lussier

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

Academic performance (AP) is of primary importance to undergraduate students because it is related to future economic and occupational success. Therefore, it is not surprising that students want to maximize their GPA, a common measure of AP. This study used a survey model to investigate the relationships among caffeine use (CU), conscientiousness (CN), and AP. Specifically, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between CU and GPA, CU and CN, and CN and GPA. In addition, CN was believed to be a mediating variable in the CU-GPA relationship. Analysis of the results revealed that the only significant …

Academic Engagement: The Impact Of Personal, Cultural, And School Factors On African American Student Academic Effort, Ruth Alisha Jenkins Hill

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Using the cultural-ecological and the personal perspective theory, this study examined the relationship of sociological and psychological factors on academic effort. This research used multiple linear regression analyses and data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 to examine the extent to which personal, cultural, and school structural variables predict academic effort among a sample of 10th grade African American students.

African American students' personal perceptions characterizing their belief in the importance of education, their value of schooling, and their desire for higher learning were strongly correlated with academic effort. The results also indicated parental involvement and parental aspirations played …

Understanding The Relationship Between Peer Mentoring And Undergraduate Capitalization, Jonathan M. Holland

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Research has demonstrated the importance of various forms of mentoring across multiple contexts. However, the topic of informal peer mentors has not been sufficiently explored. This study investigated the role of peer mentors in encouraging participation in voluntary development activities (i.e., capitalization). An online survey was completed by 288 undergraduate students. As hypothesized, mentoring was positively related to high levels of participation in capitalization activities and intentions to mentor in the future, and capitalization participation was positively related to higher levels of student satisfaction, continuance commitment, and career involvement. Contrary to expectations, capitalization participation was not significantly related to affective …

Emerging Adults Perceptions Of Their Education And Life Experience, Alison M. Lafollette, Amber Ottaway, Noor Rosli, Christine Schulz, Linn Visscher, Rebecca Bardwell

Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology Research Exchange Conference

What is meant by a successful education or a well performing school? Most studies assessing the effectiveness of k-12 education look at variables such as graduation rates, standardized test scores and college matriculation. Few studies could be found that looked at post education life outcomes. Yet it is often stated that a public education system is to provide for a well informed electorate or an effective work force. We know that a strong academic foundation leads to better life outcomes, but precisely what is it in that education that contributes to a successful life? Emerging adults between the ages of …

Customer Satisfaction With College Choice: Something To Scream About When Addressing Cognitive Dissonance, Buyer's Remorse, And The Experience Of Regret, Oscar T. Mcknight, Ronald Paugh, Aaron Mcknight, Heidi Parker

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

A modified Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] was administered to undergraduate students to assess dissonance, remorse and regret with their college choice. Results indicate a “roller coaster” affect associated with overall customer satisfaction. The SCREAM model is provided to assist marketing and enrollment managers in their retention efforts.