Digital Commons Network^™

Peer Group Instructional Conversation: Collaboration In Context, Linda Greene Capalbo

Open Access Dissertations

American schools traditionally have reflected and promoted societal values of autonomy and independence in the development of the individual child. This limited perspective on how humans come to know focuses on the accrued cultural capital of each learner and neglects the role of 'the other' in the construction of meaning. Such a view can be especially debilitating for students who have been identified as marginal learners. This study examines how social interaction organizes participation opportunities and strategies for members of a peer learning group, including a student designated language learning disabled. The study documents the development and negotiation of individual …

Leftist Literature And The Ideology Of Eugenics During The American Depression, Sarah Catherine Holmes

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines both literary and non-literary works to illustrate how leftist writing was profoundly influenced by notions of eugenics which circulated widely in Depression-era America, though often just beneath the surface. One of the most popular movements during the Great Depression was the attempt to prove that certain groups of the American population were "unfit" and that society should take intentional steps to intervene in citizens' reproductive rights. This eugenics doctrine was so pervasive that it became embodied in a variety of texts, including many "leftist" texts, thereby producing an ideological crisis for many of these writers. Leftist literature …

Family Functioning Of Portuguese Families With A Clinically Depressed Family Member, Marco S. Andrade

Open Access Master's Theses

There have been a limited number of studies investigating cross-cultural similarities and differences in family functioning. Previous research that has been conducted on the family functioning of families with a depressed member has indicated unhealthy family functioning as compared to families without a depressed member (Keitner, Miller, Epstein, Bishop, & Fruzzetti, 1987; Miller, Kabacoff, Keitner, Epstein, & Bishop, 1986; Sawyer, Sarris, Baghurst, Cross, & Kalucy, 1988). The purpose of this study was to: (1) investigate whether Portuguese families with a depressed member had unhealthy family functioning as measured by the Family Assessment Device (FAD) (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983); and …

Modeling Phytoplankton Production: Problems With The Eppley Curve And An Empirical Alternative, Mark J. Brush, John W. Brawley, Scott W. Nixon, James N. Kremer

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Papers reporting the results of dynamic simulation models of aquatic ecosystems tend to show predicted concentrations of the state variables. The phytoplankton compartment is typically represented as predicted biomass, expressed as the concentration of chlorophyll a, particulate carbon, or particulate nitrogen. While computed values of phytoplankton biomass generally agree with observations, many of these same models significantly underestimate primary production. Existing simulation models often base the calculation of primary production on the Eppley curve, which sets the maximum daily phytoplankton growth rate as a function of temperature. Despite the apparent wide applicability of the Eppley curve, an increasing number …

The Three Hundred And Ninety-Fifth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee: Proposal For A B.A. In Film And Screen Studies, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curricular Affairs Committee Report #395, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Committee Reports and Appendices

No abstract provided.

Assessing Depression Treatment And Outcomes Using Insurance Claims Data, Gregory Andrew Allard

Open Access Dissertations

This retrospective, longitudinal, quasi-experimental study uses insurance data to compare long-term outcomes among an adult population by depression history and treatment level. Treatment levels were assigned based on claims history correspondence with Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) depression outpatient treatment guidelines. Thirty-month outcomes included depression resurgence and total health care utilization (total utilization). Recurrent depressives (recurrents) were expected to experience resurgence at higher rates than single episode depressives (singles). Additionally, cases with AHCPR-recommended (preventative) treatments were expected to have lower resurgence rates compared to cases that received lower-level treatments. Also, total utilization in cases receiving preventative treatments …

Gender Roles And Science Beliefs And Their Relationship To Science Interest, Judith Jean Paolucci

Open Access Dissertations

This study investigated adolescents' views about the nature of science (NOS) and conceptions of their gender identities, and revealed whether these conceptions and views are related to their science interest. Participants were 566 high school students enrolled in chemistry courses at three high schools in a New England state. A questionnaire was used to assess participants' science interest, gender role perceptions, and views about science, as well as to provide background and math and science achievement data. The study found that while student scores of NOS understanding did not differ by gender, some significant differences were noted on the student …

The Speed Of Money: Investment As Consumption In Age Of Computer-Mediated Communication, Detlev Zwick

Open Access Dissertations

Using the tools of interpretive consumer research my dissertation explores individual online investing in stocks and mutual funds. Investing in the stock market means more to the individual than the pursuit of a rational financial strategy. Approaches to study investment behavior developed by disciplines such as finance and economics have produced subject-specific but from a marketing perspective empty knowledge. An analysis informed by marketing and consumer theories is able to construe investing as consuming and bring into being a richer and more contextualized description of the lived experience of online investing. Based on a hermeneutic reading of 30 in-depth one-on-one …

Indigo-Resist Prints From Eighteenth-Century America: Production And Provenance, Mary Elizabeth Gale

Open Access Master's Theses

A unique group of textiles patterned with blue designs on white cloth are called American blue-resist prints by some textile historians because, with few exceptions, they are found only in museums and private collections in America. Textile historians believe that these resist prints were produced in the eighteenth century by a unique technique but are not sure of the method used to produce these indigo-dyed fabrics or where they were produced.

This thesis explores probable methods used to create the patterns of the blue resists by studying the clues left behind by the printers in the fabrics themselves. I examined …

The Three Hundred And Eighty-Fifth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

University College And General Education Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Determinants Of Conflict Management Among Chinese And Americans, Guo-Ming Chen, Kristen Ryan, Chaichin Chen

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This study investigated the determinant of conflict management through a comparison of 50 Americans and 48 Chinese students who reflected low-context and high-context cultures respectively. The results, based on in-depth interviews, indicated differences and similarities among factors pertaining to conflict management in the two groups.

Institutional Critique: A Rhetorical Methodology For Change, James E. Porter, Patricia Sullivan, Stuart Blythe, Jeffrey T. Grabill, Elizabeth A. Miles

English and Creative Writing Faculty Publications

We offer institutional critique as an activist methodology for changing institutions. Since institutions are rhetorical entities, rhetoric can be deployed to change them. In its effort to counter oppressive institutional structures, the field of rhetoric and composition has focused its attention chiefly on the composition classroom, on the department of English, and on disciplinary forms of critique. Our focus shifts the scene of action and argument to professional writing and to public discourse, using spatial methods adapted from postmodern geography and critical theory.

Encouraging A Civic Literacy: A Pedagogy Of Self-Reflection, Agency, And Action, Susan L. Derosa

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lars Saabye Christensen's "Beatles": A Study In Literary Translation And Cross-Cultural Influence, Kerstin Elizabeth Ketteman

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Design And Implementation Of A Depression Prevention Program, Karyn Mary Forsyth

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The New Global Worker In Organizations: Implications For International Management, Peruvemba S. Jaya

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Language Used In Magazine Reports Of Rape And Sexual Assault Trials, Laura B. Chorbajian

Open Access Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the descriptors used to describe victims and alleged perpetrators in recent articles about rape trials and sexual assault trials in popular U.S. magazines to determine whether they were significantly different in connotative meaning as perceived by the respondents. Forty-four articles were examined for descriptors. The ten most commonly used descriptors for the victims and the ten most commonly used descriptors for the alleged perpetrators were then rated on Osgood's semantic differential by 107 undergraduates from the University of Rhode Island. Results showed that descriptors for the victims and alleged perpetrators were found …

The Three Hundred And Seventy-Second Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Three Hundred And Seventieth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

When Cultures Clash: Views From The Professions, Norbert Hedderich

Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications

This article summarizes the results of a study on cultural differences between Germans and Americans at the workplace. Twenty employees, ten Germans and ten Americans, were interviewed. They were asked to give their views on the issue of culture clash between Germans and Americans and to provide examples of situations which caused miscommunication due to cultural differences. The article concludes with practical advice for young Americans preparing for internships in German-speaking countries.

Student Desire And The History Of Composition, Jeffrey Laurence Hoogeveen

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Representations Of Violence In Gothic Literature: Consumer Practices And Cultural Identity, Katherine A. Mcgurl

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Foundations For The Study Of American Rhapsody, Stanley D. Harrison

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Maid In Voyage: Maid Marian And Female Heroism In Twentieth Century Retellings Of The Legend Of Robin Hood, Evelyn Mooar Perry

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Toni Morrison: Rethinking The Past In A Postcolonial Context, Hanan Abdullatif

Open Access Dissertations

Recovering submerged histories is instrumental in counteracting colonial cultural hegemony and its persistent attempts to erase the past that subject peoples had prior to the epoch of colonial rule. In Toni Morrison's novels reclaiming the past is a necessary condition of subjectivity since it restores a voice and history to those who were deprived of the awareness of both. In other words, it is a restoration of subjectivity. In a postcolonial context, reclaiming the past means more than a linear or literal recording of historical facts. Rather the process of redeeming a past requires that victims of oppression recover their …

A Media Skills Intervention For Adolescents On Gender Attitudes, Beliefs, And Behaviors, Barbara E. Silver

Open Access Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a media literacy intervention on the gender attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of a sample of 9^th and 11^th grade adolescents. As a time of identity development, adolescence can be especially challenging for girls, as they are faced with traditional cultural expectations about gender. It is proposed that the media, particularly television, reinforce traditional ideas about gender for both sexes, including traditional interactions with other gender peers, and may contribute to low social self-esteem in girls, with negative outcomes. A 7-session media literacy workshop, using a pretest/post-test control group design, was implemented with …

Morphological Variation Of Champia Parvula (C. Agardh) Harvey In Syntheic Medium With Special Attention To The Influence Of Bromide, Mary Beth Abel

Open Access Master's Theses

While under investigation as a toxicity-testing organism, female gametophytes of the small marine red alga, Champia parvula (C. Agardh) Harvey exhibited a loss of diaphragm formation in indeterminately growing branch tips. Further study revealed that this change of morphology occurred when bromide was omitted from nutrient enriched, synthetic seawater (Thursby and Harlin 1984).

The goals of this project were to verify and further document the loss of .diaphragm formation in C. parvula under bromide minus and other culture conditions and to observe developmental events associated with the loss of diaphragm formation. The working hypothesis was that diaphragm formation is dependent …

Examining The Association Between Personal And Cultural Values And Cross-National Customer Satisfaction, Adel A. Al-Weqaiyan

Open Access Dissertations

Although most marketing scholars agree that customer satisfaction is a critical determinant of post purchase attitude and product choice, research has remained largely confined to the US and few Western European countries. Given the increasing size of markets in developing countries, and that customer satisfaction is at the heart of all marketing activities, international marketers should have a deeper understanding of the determinants of satisfaction responses of the international customer.

A review of present satisfaction literature reveals the domination of the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm. Proponents of this paradigm suggest that satisfaction following a product experience depends on the magnitude and direction …