Digital Commons Network^™

Examination Of Engineering Design In Curriculum Content And Assessment Practices Of Secondary Technology Education, Todd R. Kelley

Dissertations

This descriptive study examined the current status of technology education teacher practices with respect to engineering design. Participants were drawn from the current International Technology Education Association (ITEA) high school teacher membership database. A survey instrument gathered data about the extent to which engineering design concepts are incorporated into the curriculum content, and assessment practices employed by secondary technology educators. Moreover, the survey identified challenges faced by technology educators when seeking to implement engineering design. Current curriculum content that addresses engineering design concepts consisted of the following seven subsets: (a) engineering design, (b) engineering analysis, (c) application of engineering design, …

Impact Of Mentorship Programs On African-American Male High School Students’ Perception Of Engineering, Cameron De'leon Denson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of mentorship programs on African-American male high school students’ perceptions of engineering. In this study, indicators of students’ perceptions included students’ perceptions of engineering, their self-efficacy in the area of math, and their self-efficacy in the area of science. This study used a two-group, posttest only, experimental design with randomly selected participants. A survey was used to collect data from 20 participants attending the Middle College at A&T. Using an independent t-test to determine a difference of statistical significance, inferential statistics were provided to answer the following research questions; (a) …

Complex Systems In Engineering And Technology Education: A Mixed Methods Study Investigating The Role Computer Simulations Serve In Student Learning, Douglas James Walrath

Dissertations

This research was conducted to determine if students receiving complex systems instruction in the form of software simulations recognize patterns and underlying elements of complex systems more effectively than students receiving traditional instruction. Complex systems were investigated with an analytic (reductive) approach in a control group and with a synthesis approach in the treatment group. Exploration of this top-down approach to learning complex systems counters traditional bottom-up methodologies, investigating systems and subsystems at the component level. The hypothesis was that students experiencing complex systems scenarios in a computerbased learning environment would outperform their counterparts by constructing a greater number of …

Perceptions Of Technology Use In Rural And Urban Pennsylvania High Schools, Brenda M. Freeman

Dissertations

Purpose

Policy makers are implementing standards and developing guidelines for integrating technology into K-12 schools. With this in mind, the integration of technology into curriculum is an ever-growing point of discussion among high-school education professionals. Technology uses in teaching and learning present significant issues in educational reform literature. Rather than trying to describe the impact of all technologies as if they were the same, this study focuses on the differences in the ways technologies are being used in the classroom as well as the role technology played in instruction. There is also a need to investigate whether or not student …

The Trauma Of Stalinism Narrated In Varlam T. Shalamov's Kolymskie Rasskazy : Missiological Implications For Contemporary Russia, Yuri N. Drumi

Dissertations

Stalinism and the punitive system of the Gulag left an indelible stamp on the entire social matrix of Russia. Because of the multidimensional and multigenerational nature of the trauma of Stalinism, Russian society retains the label of a traumatized culture. This dissertation explores the significance of this phenomenon for contemporary Christian mission in Russia.

The narratives of Varlam T. Shalamov's Kolymskie rasskazy provided an empirical (based on sensory evidence) inquiry into the reality of enormous sufferings experienced by the inmates of the Kolyma Gulag. Holy Scripture, on the other hand, provided the theological (faith-based) inquiry into the causes and implications …

Marketing Seventh-Day Adventist Higher Education : College-Choice Motivators And Barriers, Vinita Sauder

Dissertations

Purpose. Approximately 75% of Seventh-day Adventist college-bound youth do not attend the church's 15 colleges in North America. This study explored the views of Adventist college-bound participants regarding the factors (motivators and barriers) that influence college choice.

Method. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, qualitative and quantitative data were collected in a sequential two-phase design. Insights from focus groups conducted in Los Angeles and Nashville guided the development of a nationwide telephone survey of college-bound Adventists. Three groups sorted by type of high school were identified from a sample size of 226 and compared in terms of awareness and college-choice motivators …

Development Of A Framework To Leverage Knowledge Management Systems To Improve Security Awareness., Dennis Lupiana

Dissertations

Security awareness is very essential in securing intellectual property, in particular internal corporate information assets and its “Knowledge”. The dynamic nature of security attacks and the need to comply with government policies in protecting organisation’s data has a major influence on seeing organisations focus on strengthening against threats from the human element. This is a difficult challenge. Organisations must have a degree of trust their employees. They must trust their employees to interact responsibly as end-users with their information systems. They must trust their employees who work as developers to work responsibly and be motivated to develop systems with the …

Elimu 2.0: Investigating The Use Of Web 2.0 For Facilitating Collaboration In Higher Education., Bajuna R. Salehe

Dissertations

The latest web innovations and technologies which has made the Web into a ‘Platform’, are become increasingly applied in the higher education arena. Tools such as Google docs, Google groups, Wikis, Blogs, RSS and Podcasting are gradually becoming more popular within higher education in teaching and learning. Yet their huge potentials have not been fully explored. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are common terms in higher education, and in the corporate world of the today’s knowledge economy. However better infrastructure and facilities that enable these important issues are yet to be set and fully utilised in higher education. In the higher …

Knowledge Sharing: Using Searchable Email Databases, Frank Wedgeworth

Dissertations

In today’s knowledge driven economy, a company’s intellectual capital is increasingly becoming its most important asset. The knowledge of how to create value defines a company’s success. Through knowledge management the value of knowledge within a company can be increased. One way of increasing the value of knowledge is by making it more accessible. The accessibility of knowledge can be facilitated by integrating the search for knowledge into the user’s workflow. Another way to increase the value of knowledge is through the capture of undocumented, tacit knowledge and converting it into explicit, documented knowledge. Email has been identified as the …

A Knowledge Management Initiative In A Juvenile Detention School, Noel Sweeney

Dissertations

The preservation of knowledge has been a human endeavour since the dawn of time. Using whatever resources possible, humans have recorded knowledge for the purpose of bequeathing it to the next generations. With each technological advance, it would appear that the resources available for recording knowledge have improved. Not only this, but with each advance, the accessibility and availability to this knowledge has been enhanced; and in our present times, the impact of technology has made it easier than ever before. As with education, the consequence of making knowledge more available and accessible is the creation of more knowledgeable individuals …

Using Xml Topic Maps To Create A Knowledge Model Of Postgraduate Computer Science Degrees In Ireland For The Purpose Of Marketing Analysis, Catherine Mulwa

Dissertations

Marketing intelligence is a future-oriented activity that helps an organization cope in its market. It includes all ways an organization acquires and uses information. It is comprised of all kinds of information on the market and marketing research; the collection and analysis of internal data, competitive analysis; analysis and reverse engineering of competitor’s products; understanding how and where to add value for customers; and the process of synthesizing large amounts of informally gathered information about the industry and business environment. While marketing and marketing intelligence are widely used in business, they are less used in non-business organisations such as academic …

Investigation Of The Visual Aspects Of Business Intelligence, Niall Cunningham

Dissertations

As the need for Irish firms to move into knowledge economy increases knowledge management is being more important. Among its central aims is for knowledge creation and development to enhance knowledge and inspire innovations. One of the ways knowledge management achieves these aims is through the development of knowledge management tools for the firm. Among these tools is the option to use business intelligence to enhance knowledge in the firm by exposing hidden knowledge and building on it. In particular data mining has been highlighted as being effective within business intelligence and knowledge management in discovering hidden knowledge. This dissertation …

The Knowledge Side Of The Web, Max Kudrenko

Dissertations

The World Wide Web has become a household name long before its official sixteenth birthday last August (2007), not lastly because of its Knowledge potential encompassed in its vast Knowledge resources and its suitability for Knowledge activities. Out of the three main types of Web usage, which are Procedural, Leisure and Knowledge, this work will concentrate on the Knowledge one and try to analyse the rationale behind its growing popularity among both producers and consumers of Web content. The extensive Knowledge usage of the Web both demands and offers a specific type of Knowledge, Web Knowledge, which will be assessed …

Understanding The Relationship Between The Diligence Inventory-Higher Education Edition And The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator In The Admission Of College Students To An Orthopaedics-Based Honors Program, Michael A. Harstine

Dissertations

Problem. The Orthopaedic Scholar Institute (OSI) Team realized its need for a more objective selection and admission process that, as much as possible, quantified the characteristics desired in OSI students rather than relying solely on referral perception, intuition, and an interview, but it did not have a clear method or approach to do so. Administering standardized inventories that highlighted these desired characteristics and aided in the selection and admission process seemed to be an objective approach to obtain more quantifiable data. The problem for my study was, therefore, whether the Myers- Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) alone could measure a student’s …

A Five Year Comparison Between An Extended Year School And A Conventional Year School: Effects On Academic Achievement, Vanessa Khankeo Vandergraaf

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic achievement of third grade students in an extended year school to that of third grade students in a conventional school. The problem statement was that both schools were academically deficient according to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The comparison between the two schools used communication arts and science data from 2002-2006 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). It also examined the effects of variables such as summer breaks, socioeconomic status, and student attendance that affect student achievement beyond adding more instructional time. Examination of research related to …

The Historical Development, Philosophical Foundation, And Mission Of The Religious Education Program At Andrews University, Jorge E. Rico

Dissertations

Topic. This study focuses on the evaluation of the historical development and philosophical foundation of the Religious Education program at Andrews University. The program has been instrumental in training individuals as Bible instructors, church and educational leaders, and overseas missionaries. Its challenges and advantages have led leaders to define the program and implement a biblical philosophy of religious education.

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development, challenges, and attempts to define the Religious Education program from its inception to the present. The investigation also analyzes the biblical basis, philosophical framework, mission, and contribution of the Religious …

An Examination Of Principal Leadership Practices And School-Level Variables In Connecticut Schools With Achievement Gains Above And Below The State's Average Performance Gain On State Assessments, David R. Cormier

Dissertations

Problem

Effective-schools research has demonstrated that a building level administrator’s leadership practices contribute to the success or failure of change efforts and impact school culture and student achievement. Research in this area has focused primarily on comparing high and low performing schools and the various antecedent/context variables of such schools. This study examined schools with annual achievement gains above and below the state’s average gain in student performance and sought to determine if there were significant differences in school antecedent/context variables, leadership practices, and mediating variables between these schools.

Method

Research participants represented a sample of Connecticut elementary schools with …

An Initial Exploration Of The Undergraduate English Major Curricula Issued By The 2000-2001 Member Schools Of The Council For Christian Colleges And Universities, Maralee Sue Crandon

Dissertations

Problem

This study made the initial exploration of English major curricula among 101 members of the 2000-2001 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), describing their nature and state and discerning evidence of Christian thought.

Method

Stewart’s (1989) Modified Categories of English Majors and Eisner’s (1991) education criticism provided frameworks to categorize all curricula and to describe a purposeful sampling of 20 selected by region, religious, and enrollment.

Results

Types 1.0 Straight Literature and 1.5 Primarily Literature majors represented 78% of the population and 75% of the sampling; Type 2.0 More Flexible majors represented 18% of the population and 25% …

The School Experiences And Achievement Of Black Males: The Voice Of The Students, Sarah Joan Barzee

Dissertations

Problem

Black children are not achieving in public schools. What are the challenges of the schooling experience and contradictions of achievement for Black males, according to the students themselves? The answers to these questions are unclear, because they have not been given sufficient attention. Despite decades of research on achievement, few studies specifically address how students themselves define achievement, as well as what students do, feel, and think about in school.

Method

This qualitative study used focus groups and pre-existing data from 1:1 semi- structured interviews as a means to inquire about the schooling experiences of Black males. Thirty-two Black …

The 1919 Bible Conference And Its Significance For Seventh-Day Adventist History And Theology, Michael W. Campbell

Dissertations

The Topic

The 1919 Bible Conference was held immediately after World War I during a heightened interest in the apocalyptic and soon after the death of Ellen White. Patterned after the Fundamentalist prophetic conferences of 1918 and 1919, it was arguably the first “scholarly” conference held by Seventh-day Adventists. During a theologically turbulent time, Adventists found the emerging Fundamentalist movement attractive for its biblicist theology, its opposition to modernism and evolution, and the apparent popular appeal of its prophetic conferences.

The Purpose

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the significance of the 1919 Bible Conference for Seventh-day Adventist …

Teacher Perceptions Of Their Effectiveness In Supporting Reading Strategies As A Result Of Collaboration With A Literacy Coach, Sharon S. Miller

Dissertations

Problem

The poor reading and comprehension skills of many secondary-school students present a challenge for secondary teachers, the majority of whom have no training in the teaching of reading. The increasing expectations of the No Child Left Behind legislature add to the pressures on public educators. Is coaching an effective way to support and encourage secondary content-area teachers to include reading strategies in their daily work with students?

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to examine the literacy coach initiative in two small junior-senior high schools. A further purpose was to closely study the coach and two of the …

Knowledge Visualisation Of Wikipedia, Jinhui Wang

Dissertations

Wikipedia is a popular online encyclopaedia, in which articles are created together by anyone who is willing to contribute. There is debate on the quality, reliability and consistency of articles due to its openness. Besides, it is hard to see the growing path of articles because there is no centralised control in Wikipedia. The history of articles is available but in form that is difficult to process to get a picture of article evolution. Knowledge visualisation addresses the problem by providing analysis and comprehension of large amounts of data to gain insights and to facilitate knowledge creation and sharing. However, …

Building Organisationally Sensitive Technological Solutions For Knowledge Management In It Support Services, David Tonade

Dissertations

With the advent of the internet, information and communications technology has changed the way organisations operate and do business. There now exist an extremely dynamic and competitive business landscape, where information and knowledge are continuously created, used and distributed across business units. People have become more involved with the use of technology to aid them in their business tasks. In the course of generating and transmitting information comes the realization that knowledge is a vital asset of the company. Thus, most firms embark on various initiatives to enable Knowledge Management (KM). This study revolves around the IT tools involved in …

Assessing The Impact Of Organisational Culture When Introducing Web.2.0 Technologies Into A Non-Profit Organisation For Knowledge Managment, Heather Madden

Dissertations

Some of the key challenges that any organisation faces today are those of knowledge sharing and collaboration. This research investigates knowledge sharing in existing communities of practice in a non-profit organisation and the challenges that are faced by attempting to facilitate online interactions for these communities. Organisation culture can either incentivise or impede this process and this research will describe how people and culture are two of the most important factors when considering a knowledge management initiative. Given that the impact of culture is such a key issue, a number of organisations are interviewed and evaluated to compare and contrast …

Natal Dispersal And New Group Formation In Capybaras (Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris) In A Seasonally Flooded Savanna Of Venezuela, Elizabeth Rae Congdon

Dissertations

This study examines natal dispersal and new group formation in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in a seasonally flooded savanna in Venezuela. The first section describes a novel approach to the study of dispersal that could be applied to many taxa. Dispersal is considered in three stages (emigration, transience, and immigration) and its proximate and ultimate mechanisms are clearly differentiated. The second chapter describes dispersal behavior in capybaras, including which individuals disperse, when, and to where. In the third chapter, I evaluate dispersal in capybaras with respect to social subordination and social cohesion hypotheses. In this population, some support was …

A Comparison Of An Individually Tailored And A Standardized Asthma Self-Management Education Program, Judy Ann Shackelford

Dissertations

Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the United States (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2003). According to the CDC (2003), prevalence of asthma continues to rise in epidemic proportions and is very costly. While asthma cannot be prevented or cured, it can be controlled to improve quality of life. Self-management is key to controlling asthma (CDC, 2003; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI], 2002). State of the science for asthma self-management establishes that health care costs decrease for self-management intervention groups (Lindberg et al, 2002; Thoonen et al, 2003). Education is essential to support asthma …

Missouri Ozark Women's Experiences Of Living With Postpartum Depression Symptoms, Nathalie B. Williams

Dissertations

Depression is a serious complication of the postpartum period that affects not only women but their children and families as well. Rural women are of particular concern because of the significant barriers to health care that they experience as a result of isolation, poverty, traditional beliefs, and a lack of accessible and adequate health related services. A review of the literature to identify evidence based nursing interventions that focused on primary and secondary prevention of postpartum depression revealed few interventions and there were no studies identified that targeted or even included women living in rural areas of the United States. …

The Experience Of Technology Integration By Teacher Educators In Higher Education, Patricia Ann Suess

Dissertations

With the advancing use of technology globally, it is becoming essential for K-12 educators to have knowledge of educational technology and its appropriate classroom use. Thus, it is important for higher education faculty involved in the preparation of those K-12 teachers to achieve technology integration in their teacher education programs. It is not sufficient to simply provide computers and peripheral devices to future teachers. The critical issue is the way in which those tools are used to promote student learning. Therefore, it is necessary for faculty in higher education to model the use of technology as a teaching and learning …

Intensive Professional Development In Early Literacy Instruction For Preschool Teachers, Rebecca Brinks

Dissertations

This study assesses the efficacy of using an intensive professional development program to improve preschool teachers' practices related to early literacy. A mixed methods approach was employed to review secondary data from a federally-funded Early Reading First Grant. The population studied consisted of thirty-one preschool teachers at four diverse programs serving low income children located in the mid-western urban community of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The intensive professional development used in this study resulted in significant improvements in the mean scores for all areas of the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) when comparing baseline to the final scores in …

What Allows Teachers To Extend Student Thinking During Whole-Group Discussions, Nesrin Cengiz

Dissertations

Research indicates that extending students' mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions is challenging, even for the most experienced teachers. That is, it is challenging for teachers to help students move beyond their initial mathematical observations and solutions during whole-group discussions. To better understand this phenomena, the teaching of six experienced elementary school teachers, who had been teaching aStandards-based curriculum for several years and had participated in a multi-year professional development project focused on that curriculum, is explored in this study. In particular, two issues are addressed: what it looks like to extend student thinking during whole-group discussions and how …