Digital Commons Network^™

Students With Special Needs, Reading Education, And Principals: Bridging The Divide Through Instructional Leadership, Sanzo Karen, Jennifer Clayton, Whitney Sherman

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Principals are held accountable for achievement results of students on state-mandated assessments. Special needs students who struggle with literacy can impact the pass rates on these assessments. This study identifies how reading is taught to special needs students in both self-contained and inclusion settings at the secondary level in one school district determines how school leaders may or may not be facilitating this process and identifies ways school leaders can more effectively facilitate special education reading programs and processes.

Exploring The Effects Of An Art Based Trauma Protocol With An Active Duty Police Officer Experiencing Symptoms Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Khaki Wieters

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Because of repeated exposure to traumatic events as part of their job requirements, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a common problem found among police officers. Although treatments in some agencies are limited, they can include, Critical Incident Stress Management, mandatory referrals to mental health professionals, and trained peer support. Art therapy is an efficient treatment for trauma because it bypasses defenses and aids in processing and integrating traumatic imagery by naturally connecting the brain’s right and left hemispheres. Police diagnosed with PTSD may benefit from art therapy since it can penetrate resistance and has proven effective for processing traumatic imagery.

This …

Urban Passion, Barie Fez-Barringten

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This autobiographical narrative, which spans from Fez-Barringten’s childhood in the Bronx until the present, uses impressionistic shifts and the author’s own drawings to explore what it means to have a passion for cities and social space, thus simulating the effects of this passion on the level of form.

Narratives Of African American Female Preachers In The 21st Century, Cécile Coquet-Mokoko

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This paper offers a comparative analysis of the autobiographical narratives of contemporary African American female ministers and seeks to highlight how they both inscribe themselves in the tradition of spiritual testimonies by Black female preachers initiated in the 19th century and bring up womanist insights into the emotional conditioning of women within church communities and other church-related institutions.

Evolution, Popular Culture, And The Nature Of Scientific Knowledge, James Clinton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This article presents a view of science that counters the teleological and authoritative way in which it is presented in arenas of popular discourse ranging from public schools, science magazines (such as Wired), community meetings, and popular books written by scientists. Noting the strange conflation of “evolution” (a branch of science) and “science” (as a way of thinking), the essay presents psychoanalytic and scientific arguments that suggest that evolution is equated with science in the public because evolution represents the return of the repressed element that founds any discourse which seeks to remain self contained. In science, this repressed …

The Art Of War Reporting: Theorising Contemporary Embedded Journalism As Public Discourse, Jay Reid, Rob Cover

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

While war and conflict have always been present to some extent throughout history, since the September 11, 2001 attacks in America there has been a rise in overseas conflict and troop deployments under the banner of ‘The Global War on Terror’. For the Australian public, these conflicts take place overseas in the far reaches of the Middle East, a place to which few have first hand contact, leaving them reliant on the media establishment to inform them of events (Taylor 63). Questions however have been raised about the current forms of wartime journalism, with many in the industry …

Self-Injury And The Role Of The Human Service Professional, Laurie M. Craigen, Rebekah F. Cole, Tammi Milliken

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Given the broad field of human services, human service professionals are likely to encounter self-injury. Thus it is critical that they become knowledgeable about self-injury and understand how to best intervene with clients who self-injure. Through case studies the readers will learn about helpful ways to respond to a client who harms him/her self through the use of a non-judgmental and supportive stance. This manuscript has direct implications for direct human service providers, human service educators, human service students, and supervisors by demonstrating the wide continuum of services humans service professionals can provide to clients who self-injure including: utilizing basic …

Defining 'In Between Definition': Jamal Mahjoub And Modern African Literature, Chimdi Maduagwu

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

By exploring the recent novels of Afro-European writer Jamal Mahjoub, the author considers questions of exile, audience, and postcolonialism. Mahjoub, he argues, is an important writer because he addresses questions of identity through traditional literary forms such as the travel narrative and a lens of existentialist humanism which is more radical in postcolonial contexts than in first world countries who are heirs of the "humanist tradition."

Trauermarsch: German History As Remembered By The Extreme Right, Emily Turner-Graham

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

First paragraph

It is now well documented that Germany and Austria have struggled to come to terms with their catastrophic recent pasts and to recast their national identities from the tarnished faces with which they emerged from the Second World War. What now needs to be considered is the conundrum currently faced in these countries as extreme right groups become increasingly popular (Minority Rights Group International) [1] and those carefully considered and re-examined collective memories of the past and reconstructed national identities are brought into question. The Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party or NPD), one of Germany’s most stridently …

Emotional Intelligence And Its Potential In Engineering Management, Jesse Ray Toepfer

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Assuming that the modern connotation of Emotional Intelligence (El) took shape with Wayne Leon Payne's 1986 dissertation, A Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence, Self-Integration, Relating to Fear, Pain, and Desire, EI is nearing its thirtieth birthday. Relatively speaking, EI is still very young, and there are a handful of researchers who are still trying to explore and define El. Significant efforts have been made to develop the concept of EI, and the ramifications of EI on an individual's professional performance.

Often more technical and exacting in nature, the field of engineering management exhibits many aspects that are unique relative …

User-Generated Video Sites Effects On Aggression And Interpersonal Relations Of Old Dominion Undergraduate Students, Christopher R. Hodge

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The use of the internet and the activities available over the internet has continuously grown since their creation. A huge proportion of our society utilizes the internet and its available activities. Specifically, as a 2009 Pew Data memo shows over half of users age 18 and over utilize the internet for personal use. The use of user generated video sites (UGVS) is no different, as the largest user-generated video community YouTube boasted in 2009 that every minute YouTube receives ten hours of uploaded video. Given the popularity of user-generated video sites, some have raised concerns about potential negative effects that …

Akers' Social Learning Theory: Childhood Victimization, Witnessing Violence, Peer Violence And Later Violent Offending, Pamela Annette Styles

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The literature linking abuse and later violent offending is extensive. More importantly, the effects of witnessing violence and peer violence on later violent offending have been well established. Drawing upon Akers' social learning theory, the current study explored the effects of victimization, witnessing violence, deviant peer association on later violent offending comparing Blacks and Whites. Using data from the National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), the sample was comprised of 2746 Whites and 572 Blacks. Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed similar effects for Blacks and Whites. Examining social learning theory variables, the effects of witnessing violence, associating with violent peers and …

The Impeding Role Of Initial Unrealistic Goal-Setting On Training Performance: Identifying Underpinning Self-Regulatory Processes And Solutions, Robert C. Brusso

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The importance of goal-setting within training for enhancing performance has been touted in the literature. Goal-setting theory suggests that setting a moderately difficult, specific goal results in a modest goal-performance discrepancy between the trainee's goal and actual performance level. Such a discrepancy has been found to enhance subsequent performance, as the trainee will employ greater effort and task engagement to resolve the discrepancy. However, research has also shown that the motivating effect of a discrepancy will reverse with repeated feedback indicating that one's performance has fallen short of the desired goal. To date, no prior research has examined the effect …

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 …

Remembering To Remember And The Consequences Of Forgetting: The Role Of Prospective Memory In Consumer Intentions, Eyad M. Youssef

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Picking up your dry cleaning after work, returning library books before the due date, picking up a friend at the airport; all of these tasks have one underlying feature that links them together. The tasks cannot be completed when the initial intention is formed. Prospective memory can be defined as remembering to remember (Winograd, 1988). It can also be defined as either remembering to do something at a particular moment in the future or as the timely execution of a previously formed intention (Kvavilashvili and Ellis, 1996). Remembering to do things (prospective memory) is just as much a use of …

Electroencephalogram Artifact Removal Using A Wavelet Neural Network, Hoang-Anh T. Nguyen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A wavelet neural network (WNN) technique rs developed for electroencephalogram (EEG) artifact removal without electrooculographic (EOG) recordings. The algorithm combines the universal approximation characteristics of neural networks and the time/frequency property of wavelet, where the neural network was trained on a simulated dataset with known ground truths. The contribution of this thesis is two-fold. First, many EEG artifact removal algorithms, including regression based methods, require reference EOG signals, which are not always available. To remove EEG ai1ifacts, a WNN tries to learn the characteristics of the artifacts first and does not need reference EOG signals once trained. Second, WNNs are …

Dog Parks: An Application Of Place Attachment Theory, Andrew Pariser

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Despite their increasing popularity, dog parks have been subjected to little research. The purpose of this study was to determine if place attachment and its generally recognized sub-components of place dependence and place identity apply to dog parks. Survey respondents were given an on-site questionnaire at a Virginia and at a Florida dog park. Respondents answered questions similar to those used in previous studies of place attachment at other recreational facilities. There was a significant correlation between the constructs of place dependence and place identity and dog park usage. The combined construct of place attachment showed the highest correlation. Regression …

Examining The Dual Process Model Of Decision Making In Visual Threat Detection And Human-Automation Interaction, Patricia Chin Brennan

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the degree to which emotions and/or rational thinking should be emphasized to improve performance in target detection in complex tasks. Specifically, we evaluated the dual-process model of decision making to determine whether emotion or cognition (or a combination of the two) is more powerful in influencing decisions. Additionally, we considered how decisions are influenced with the addition of an automated agent to assist human decision making. Participants (n = 120) were randomly assigned to one of three framing manipulations, each with positive and negative incentives: the analytical frame emphasized numerical gains or losses; the affective frame presented …

Awareness Of Cotton Among Generation Y, Keidra Hatchett, Nichole Williams

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness and use of cotton in fabric and clothing by Generation Y (college students 18-15) for enhanced product marketing.

Constructing The Shitting Citizen, Deanna Grant-Smith

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Art activism uses visual and performance art to promote social and environmental agendas. In this paper, I explore attempts to raise awareness of sanitation issues at the global, local and personal level using scatological art. I focus on the successes of the open-air public art exhibition set up in the Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) central business district to celebrate World Toilet Day in 2008. The art in this exhibition featured included one hundred toilets decorated to raise awareness of global sanitation issues and the distribution of promotional materials featuring scatological images including postcards and stickers. Given the subject matter and intent, …

Politicising Queer Issues And Activism: Disciplinarity, Biopolitics And The Means By Which Activist Issues Enter The Public Sphere, Rob Cover

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This paper explores ways of understanding how an activist 'issue' is politicised by examining and analysing lesbian/gay and queer community politics. The paper focuses on the contrast between (1) the wyas in which queer political activism has taken up and politicised the issue of same-sex marriage rights as one of seeking equality and foregrounded as the queer issue of the 2000s; and (2) the issue of queer youth suicide and self-harm which is arguably one of the most under-represented yet ethically most urgent issues within GLBT discourse carrying greater risk and impact on the most marginal and least visible of …

Reminiscences: Locating The Traumatic Object, Emily Leger

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Reminiscences is an installation of digital images, video, and soft sculpture that presents experiential trauma in a ‘multiple’ autobiography. The viewer is asked to consider how theory, particularly art history and art criticism, may be omitting the complicated messy details and multiple vantage points of trauma survivors. Primarily, the exhibit explores relationships between myself, a survivor of sexual abuse, rape, and paternal incest; a character I created, Emmy Brown, who is a response to my experiences; and the viewer. The installation intends to produce a situation for play that is both overt and antagonistic and that coaxes the viewer into …

Activism As Fetishism: A Pamphlet Essay For Activists, Ann Deslandes

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

15-page, tri-fold pamphlet created by the author to present research she did for her dissertation on the ethics and politics of solidarity.

Writing Of Struggle, Gregory Alan Norton, Paris Smith, Tim Hall

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Compilation of fiction by Gregory Alan Norton, fiction by Paris Smith, and poems by Tim Hall published in Struggle: A Magazine of Proletarian Revolutionary Literature

Counselor Attitudes Toward The Harm Reduction Approach In Substance Abuse Treatment, Nicole Marie Kyser

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

In the United States, the preferred method for treating alcohol and drug addictions is the abstinence based approach. While most American mental health professionals use this approach, studies over time have demonstrated that relapse rates remain high. In Europe, the harm reduction approach, in which the primary goal is to decrease the harms associated with substance use, is beginning to be implemented as an additional approach to abstinence. Although the outcomes of the harm reduction approach are not yet clear, countries that utilize harm reduction have seen a decrease in crime, wages lost, and hospitalizations due to alcohol and drug …

The Effects Of Two Anxiety Reducing Interventions On Algebra I Test Scores For A Sample Of Rural High School Students, Sharon Wisinger

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

As the nation strives to reach the goal of 100% proficiency in reading and math in under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requirements, students may experience increased pressure to perform better on examinations. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short term expressive writing intervention and a psychoeducational intervention on general, test, and math anxieties, physical and attendance, and test scores of ninth through eleventh grade adolescents attending two rural public high schools. Participants (N=58) consisted of adolescents in three intact Algebra I classes which were assigned to write …

Persistence Of Community College Transfer Students In A Private Liberal Arts University Nursing Program, Rita M. Amerio

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The United States is bracing for the largest shortage of registered nurses that the United States health care system has ever experienced. As the population of "baby boomers," those born between 1946 and 1960, turns 65 beginning in 2011, the nation will be faced with providing health care services to the largest group of elderly Americans in history. Unlike previous generations, this group has had the advantage of advanced medical care that will allow them to live well into their 80s and even 90s.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation to identify predictor variables that …

Factors That Influence Learning Satisfaction Delivered By Video Streaming Technology, Daniel Stephen Keenan

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

In 2005, over 100,000 e-Learning courses were offered in over half of all U.S. postsecondary education institutions with nearly 90% of all community colleges and four year institutions offering online education. Streaming video is commonplace across the internet offering seamless video and sound anywhere connectivity is available effectively making any location a learning environment. The problem investigated in this study was to determine factors that affect the learning satisfaction of students that video streamed courses. This study is important to enable improvements in curriculum, delivery of content, designs of alternative study venues, and guide college administrators in making decisions on …

Two Essays On Investor Sentiment And The Profitability Of Contrarian And Momentum Strategies, Changmei Zhang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation, by employing different trading strategies, addresses the trading profitability issue in a broad scope of different markets.

In the equity market, I construct a group of BUY-SELL portfolios based on prior stock returns, and find that contrarian and momentum strategies are both significantly profitable. Investor sentiment, in addition to firm-specific risks, provides behavioral explanations to the profitability. Three popular sentiment measures are used for the purpose of study: two reduced-formed sentiment indexes that are constructed by Baker and Wurgler (2006) and the survey-based University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. Several interesting findings are revealed: (1) extreme sentiment levels …

A Study Of Relationships Between Family Members Using Familial Correlations, Corinne Wilson

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Familial correlations measure the resemblance between family members and are used in many fields of study including epidemiology, genetics, heredity, and psychology. Here, an analysis of familial correlations where male and female children of the same family can have different correlations in the unequal family size case is presented. First, three likelihood based tests, namely the likelihood ratio test, Rao score test, and Wald test, and two more asymptotic tests which use Srivastava's estimator of the intraclass correlation coefficient are considered to test the null hypothesis of equality of the intraclass correlation coefficients when families have unequal numbers of children. …