Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of The Effects Of The Length Of Student-Teaching Experiences On New Teacher Efficacy., Alan Wayne Addison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between the length of student-teaching experiences and new teacher efficacy. Each year thousands of prospective new teachers endure the interview processes to be hired, complete induction programs, and begin their careers only to determine that the teaching profession is not what they assumed it would be. Local school districts spend thousands of dollars each year on orientation for these new teachers only to find them resigning within the first 5 years of service. Increasing new teacher efficacy is imperative to reducing new teacher attrition rates. The more student-teaching experiences an individual collects before entering the …

Molecular Evidence Suggests Multiple Evolutionary Origins Of Sociality In The Polyphenic Spider Anelosimus Studiosus (Araneae: Theridiidae)., Nathaniel O. Weber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anelosimus studiosus exhibits two behavioral phenotypes: subsocial and social. This is the only documented spider inhabiting a temperate climate exhibiting social behavior. While the subsocial phenotype is most common throughout the range, the social behavior occurs in isolated pockets in northern latitudes. This study examines the origins of the social phenotype within a segment of the spider's range. Two hypotheses are tested: 1) pockets of social behavior represent a single origin or 2) pockets of social behavior represent local evolutions, thus leading to multiple origins of evolution. Microsatellite loci were used to determine genetic structure of the population and to …

Self-Determination And Career Planning Model For Students With Disabilities: An Analysis Of Evidence-Based Practices., Elizabeth Fussell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the capacity of a self-advocacy curriculum implemented in Tennessee suggested components that make up the conceptual framework of self-determination curriculum, (2) school-wide intervention had occurred, (3) self-determination goals were included in individualized education programs (IEPs) and transition plans, and (4) there was awareness of the curriculum capacity among Tennessee educators.

This study employed descriptive and comparative statistical methods to establish assumptions regarding the curriculum's effectiveness. Educators were grouped based on their teaching role (i.e., special education, regular education, and administration) and whether or not they received training and technical assistance from the University of Tennessee's Center on …

Fatherhood And Fatherland In Chimamanda Adichie's "Purple Hibiscus"., Audrey D. Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purple Hibiscus, a novel by third-generation Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie, appears at first glance to be a simple work of adolescent fiction, a bildungsroman in which a pair of siblings navigate the typical challenges of incipient adulthood: social ostracism, an abusive parent, emerging desire. However, the novel's setting-a revolutionary-era Nigeria-is clearly intended to evoke post-Biafra Nigeria, itself the setting of Adichie's other major work, Half of a Yellow Sun. This setting takes Purple Hibiscus beyond the scope of most modern adolescent fiction, creating a complex allegory in which the emergence of self and struggle for identity of the …

Automation And Its Effects On The Workforce., Daniel L. Lawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Companies are constantly involved in automating processes to make them more efficient. Project details concentrate on corporate details. Little, if any, information is released about employees and how they are affected. This study is designed to determine if employees affected by the automation of a manufacturing or business process have a better life and consider themselves to be successful from their own perspective 5 years after the automation was completed. The study also established the things that helped and barriers that hindered their success. A survey was developed and sent to 63 individuals who have participated in a project to …

High Impedance Arc Fault Detection In A Manhole Environment., Thomas Arthur Cooke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The scope of this thesis was to develop a prototype high-impedance arc detection system that a utility worker could use as an early warning system while working in a manhole environment. As part of this system sensors and algorithms were developed to increase the sensitivity of detecting an arc while ignoring loads that can give false positive signatures for arcing. The latest technology was used to repeat measurements performed in previous research from decades ago that lacked in sampling speed and amplitude resolution. Several types of arcs were produced and analyzed so to establish a library of various waveform and …

Good Grapes - Good Wine., Meilin Chung Curtis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Good grapes are required to make good wine. Quality wines start in quality vineyards. Vineyard design, installation, and operation, including site location, trellis options, vine selection, and canopy management, along with when to harvest are discussed. While winemaking is the final phase in the pursuit of the winemaker's passion, it is but a simple formula. The beginning of a good wine is in a good vineyard. This study includes a financial projection for a 10-acre vineyard as well as for starting an onsite, complementary sized winery. Even though many small-to-medium vineyards-to-wineries have started over the last decade, the reason to …

P300-Based Bci Performance Prediction Through Examination Of Paradigm Manipulations And Principal Components Analysis., Nicholas Edward Schwartz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Severe neuromuscular disorders can produce locked-in syndrome (LIS), a loss of nearly all voluntary muscle control. A brain-computer interface (BCI) using the P300 event-related potential provides communication that does not depend on neuromuscular activity and can be useful for those with LIS. Currently, there is no way of determining the effectiveness of P300-based BCIs without testing a person's performance multiple times. Additionally, P300 responses in BCI tasks may not resemble the typical P300 response. I sought to clarify the relationship between the P300 response and BCI task parameters and examine the possibility of a predictive relationship between traditional oddball tasks …

The Sir Model When S(T) Is A Multi-Exponential Function., Teshome Mogessie Balkew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The SIR can be expressed either as a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations or as a nonlinear Volterra integral equation. In general, neither of these can be solved in closed form. In this thesis, it is shown that if we assume S(t) is a finite multi-exponential, i.e. function of the form S(t) = a+ ∑ⁿ_k=1 r_ke^-σ_kt or a logistic function which is an infinite-multi-exponential, i.e. function of the form S(t) = c + a/b+e^wt, then …

Vital Collaboratives, Alliances, And Partnerships: A Search For Key Elements Of An Effective Public-Private Partnership., Charles Keith Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Owing to the significant structural changes that have occurred in the global marketplace over the past 2 decades, a corresponding increase of public-private partnerships have been established among the business sector, local governments, and public community colleges. This qualitative project sought to identify and substantiate key elements that may be common to the formation, implementation, and maintenance stages of public-private partnerships. Who or what minimum conditions are necessary to the successful navigation of each stage? What obstacles typically arise during each stage, and how are they managed or circumvented? What sorts of benefits are generated through these partnerships and what …

The Impact Of Job-Embedded Professional Development Coaches On Teacher Practice., Donna T. Hamblin Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this qualitative study was to understand the impact of job-embedded professional development coaches on teacher practice. Coaches in this study worked with teachers to plan lessons, model lessons with feedback, and disaggregate data. This qualitative study was conducted using interviews of coaches to gain their perceptions of the work they did with teachers and how this work influenced teacher practice. Teachers were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the impact coaches' work had on their classroom practices. Analysis of the coaches and teachers' reflective journals was also conducted to establish the participants' perceptions of their work together …

Educational Interventions For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Perceptions Of Parents And Teachers In A Northeast Tennessee School System., Paula Anderson Nickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigated the perceptions of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), special education teachers, and general education teachers in a Northeast Tennessee public school system regarding educational interventions for children with ASD including what interventions they have found effective, the barriers and challenges they have faced, and how they view their relationships with one another.

Data were collected through interviews with a purposeful sample of 7 parents of 6 children with autism spectrum disorders, 8 special education teachers, and 6 general education teachers and a review of documents. Parent and teacher participants represented children at …

Costume Designing For Theatre Of The Absurd - Come And Go, Footfalls, And The Dumb Waiter., Leslie Rose Epling

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In October of 2010, ETSU staged three one-act plays in the Theatre of the Absurd genre--Come and Go and Footfalls by Samuel Beckett and The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter. This thesis gives a brief overview of Theatre of the Absurd and how Beckett and Pinter helped to shape and define the genre. It also gives an analysis of these three plays from the perspective of the costume designer.

Residential Broadband Access For Students At Walters State Community College., Mark A. Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of internet access for students attending Walters State Community College during the spring semester 2010. In particular, it is unknown to what degree broadband internet access is available in the counties that Walters State considers the service area of the college.

The research was conducted during the spring semester 2010 including the months February, March, and April of 2010. Data were gathered by surveying currently enrolled students of the college. Twelve percent of the population responded to the study. The survey instrument covered the areas of demographics, Internet connection type …

Mosaic Analysis With Double Markers (Madm) As A Method To Map Cell Fates In Adult Mouse Taste Buds., Preston D. Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Taste buds are chemosensory endorgans embedded in the oral epithelium composed of cells that undergo continuous replacement. Mature taste cells live on average 10-14 days and are replaced by new cells when they die. However, the mechanism by which taste cells are produced and integrated into the taste bud as mature taste cells remains unknown. Previous studies approached this issue from either cell cycle gene expression properties or lineage tracing of precursor cells. In our study, we apply a new fate mapping technique that combines these two ideas. This technique, Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers, allows for simultaneous gene knockout …

A Comparison Prior To And After Implementation Of A Ninth Grade Academy In East Tennessee High Schools., Judy Alisa Teffeteller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify student progress during the 9th grade year by evaluating student data prior to and after the implementation of a 9th grade academy in 2 east Tennessee high schools. The testing variables included the number of core credits earned, the number of elective credits earned, number of absences, and grade point average. Grouping variables included all 9th grade students and 9th grade students by gender prior to and after implementation of the 9th grade academy. Data were collected over 5 years (2005-2010). Paired-samples t-tests were used to make comparisons prior to and after …

Freshman Academies: A Study Of Student Outcomes., Karen Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition to high school has been identified by researchers as a pivotal point in students' lives. The addition of a Freshman Academy in some schools has targeted the 9th grade year to ease students' transition to high school and increase the likelihood of academic success.

One purpose of this study is to compare student outcomes of schools that have implemented a Freshman Academy with schools that have not. Student outcomes are defined for this study to include graduation rates, attendance rates, instances of out-of-school suspensions, and instances of expulsions. The second purpose of this study is to compare student …

2010 December 7 - Medical Student Education Committee Minutes, Medical Student Education Committee, East Tennessee State University

Medical Student Education Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Study - 2010, Facilities Management, East Tennessee State University

Campus Facility Master Plans

No abstract provided.

Social Support And Family Criticism: Potential Moderators Of The Relationship Between Functional Impairment, Illness Burden, And Depression., Joshua Paul Hatfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social support and family criticism variables were examined as potential moderators of the association between illness burden and depression and between functional impairment and depression in a secondary data analysis. Participants (n=735) were older adults aged 65 and older from internal medicine and family medicine primary care offices. It was hypothesized that both illness burden and functional impairment would be associated with increased depressive symptoms and a diagnosis of depression. In addition, it was hypothesized that higher levels of social support and lower levels of family criticism would moderate this relationship. Both linear and logistic multivariate hierarchical regression analyses were …

2010 November 15 - Graduate Council Minutes, College Of Graduate And Continuing Studies, East Tennessee State University

Graduate Council Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

2010 November 1 - Faculty Senate Agenda, Faculty Senate, East Tennessee State University

Faculty Senate Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

Etsu Today - Fall 2010, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU Today [magazine]

We have welcomed an all-time enrollment record this fall semester, exceeding 15,000 students for the first time in the 99-year history of the institution. here is no question that ETSU has become the dominant organization in this region. With enrollment higher than ever and a work force of some 2,300 faculty and staff, we currently contribute about three–fourths of $1 billion to the regional economy. It’s an amazing story, really. How a small school for teachers, originally enrolling 29 students on October 2, 1911, has evolved into the East Tennessee State University of today. ETSU has survived depression and war, …

A Multi-Phase Suzaku Study Of Τ Sco., Richard Ignace, L. Oskinova, M. Jardine, J. Cassinelli, D. Cohen, J.-F. Donati, R. Townsend, A. Ud-Doula

ETSU Faculty Works

We obtained relatively high signal-to-noise X-ray spectral data of the early massive star τ Sco (B0.2V) with the Suzaku X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) instrument. This source displays several unusual features that motivated our study: (1) redshifted absorption in UV P Cygni lines to approximately +250 km s−1 suggestive of infalling gas, (2) unusually hard X-ray emission requiring hot plasma at temperatures in excess of 10 MK whereas most massive stars show relatively soft X-rays at a few MK, and (3) a complex photospheric magnetic field of open and closed field lines. In an attempt to understand the hard component better, …

2010 September 27 - Graduate Council Minutes, College Of Graduate And Continuing Studies, East Tennessee State University

Graduate Council Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

2010 September 7 - Medical Student Education Committee Minutes, Medical Student Education Committee, East Tennessee State University

Medical Student Education Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Role Of Sabp2 In Systemic Acquired Resistance Induced By Acibenzolar-S-Methyl In Plants., Diwaker Tripathi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plants have evolved an efficient mechanism to defend themselves against pathogens. Many biotic and abiotic agents have been shown to induce defense mechanism in plants. Acibenzolar-S-Methyl (ASM) is a commercially available chemical inducer of local and systemic resistance (SAR) response in plants. ASM functioning at molecular level is mostly unclear. This research was designed to investigate the mechanism of ASM action in plants. It was hypothesized that SABP2, a plant protein, plays an important role in ASM-mediated defense signaling. Biochemical studies were performed to test the interaction between SABP2 and ASM. Transgenic SABP2-silenced tobacco plants were used to determine the …

Cyanoscorpionates And Transition Metal Complexes., Donald Martin Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The new dihydrobis(4-cyano-3-tert-butylpyrazolylborate) ligand has been synthesized. Isolated crystals of the thallium complex were collected and structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction. Transition metal complexes of the ligand are currently under investigation.

Rural Versus Urban: Tennessee Health Administrators' Strategies On Recruitment And Retention For Allied Health Professionals., Derek Ray Slagle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing interest in understanding recruitment, retention, and turnover of allied health professionals considering employment trends and workforce mobility, an increased need to understand the healthcare delivery system, and the dynamic nature of the allied health workforce especially for rural areas. A survey was sent to allied health administrators across a variety of allied health disciplines from the state of Tennessee hospitals in order to gauge opinions on retention and recruitment strategies. Overall successful strategies for recruitment and retention of allied health professionals were reported as well as differences between urban and rural areas, differences among allied health …

East Tennessee State University Faculty Attitudes And Student Perceptions In Providing Accommodations To Students With Disabilities., Terre D.M. Byrd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine ETSU faculty attitudes and student perceptions in providing academic accommodations to students with disabilities.

Participants of the study were ETSU students with disabilities who are registered with the Disabilities Services office and faculty members of ETSU. Students with disabilities were interviewed. An online survey was sent to faculty members via the ETSU email system. Disability law and disability compliance year books served as the primary documents that were reviewed for pertinent information.

Grounded theory using a constant-comparison methodology served as the conceptual framework for the study. The grounded-theory approach allowed for the …