Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Summer School Programs And The Effect On Student Achievement: The Correlation Between Stanford-10 Standardized Test Scores And Two Different Summer Programs, Brian J. Koop

Dissertations

School districts looking for ways to minimize summer learning loss have implemented a variety of programs to combat this problem. Since No Child Left Behind and the need for school districts to meet the goals of Adequate Yearly Progress, it is no longer enough to limit summer learning loss. Now school leaders find it necessary to use the summer months to increase student achievement and prepare students for rigorous learning in the coming school year. This collaborative, quantitative study is an examination of one district’s attempt to improve summer programming in order to meet the need for increased student achievement. …

A Similarity Matrix For Irish Traditional Dance Music, Padraic Lavin

Dissertations

It is estimated that there are between seven and ten thousand Irish traditional dance tunes in existence. As Irish musicians travelled the world they carried their repertoire in their memories and rarely recorded these pieces in writing. When the music was passed down from generation to generation by ear the names of these pieces of music and the melodies themselves were forgotten or changed over time. This has led to problems for musicians and archivists when identifying the names of traditional Irish tunes.

Almost all of this music is now available in ABC notation from online collections. An ABC file …

The Effects Of It, Task, Workgroup, And Knowledge Factors On Workgroup Outcomes: A Longitudinal Investigation, Srikanth Mudigonda

Dissertations

In order to successfully manage the knowledge-related processes occurring in their workgroups, organizations need to understand how different contingency factors affect the knowledge-related processes of a workgroup, ultimately affecting the workgroup's knowledge outcomes and performance. To obtain a deeper understanding of the longitudinal effects of different contingency factors on knowledge outcomes and performance of workgroups, this dissertation was guided by the research question: Which factors, from the five categories of factors (a) characteristics of the workgroup; (b) characteristics of the tasks assigned to the workgroup; (c) the interface between the workgroup and the tasks; (d) characteristics of the knowledge required …

School Resource Officers In Missouri Public Schools: School Safety And Academic Success, John W. Link

Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the relationship between the presence of a school resource officer and a safe school climate, as well as, increased student achievement. Additionally, the perceptions of public school superintendents regarding the impact of school resource officers on safe school climate and academic success were investigated using the Correlates of Effective Schools as a framework. The research was divided into sections to observe two sets of data. Section I included an examination of Missouri school districts with a student population of 2,000 or less, comparing 20 schools with school resource officers to 20 schools without school …

Development Of A Tool For Windfarm Site Analysis In Electrical Networks With High Levels Of Wind Power Generation, Edward Carroll, John Mcgrory

Dissertations

Controlling electrical networks that contain high levels of wind power will be a challenge facing many System Operators in the coming years. The intermittency and uncertainty of the power supplied by wind turbines create difficulties surrounding scheduling of plant, operating reserve and grid integration. The current process for windfarm selection is carried out by an individual stakeholder and lacks the consideration for all other stakeholders involved, which can create problems in the long term when the levels of wind power increase on the network. This paper proposes a collective approach to analysing potential windfarm sites using the key factors which …

Mothers Who Use Illicit Drugs:An Exploration Of Professional Workers’ Perceptions Towards Mothers Who Use Illicit Drugs, Julieann Lane

Dissertations

Although much has been written in recent times about women’s drug use, there has been a scarcity of research into motherhood and drug use in Ireland as it remains both a complex and sensitive issue. Since the 1980’s Ireland has seen a dramatic and unprecedented increase in the availability of illicit drugs. This increased availability reflects rising consumption of illicit drugs amongst women. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions that a sample of professional workers hold of mothers who use illicit drugs in Ireland. The study reviews the literature applicable to the area of drug use …

Cloud Computing:Strategies For Cloud Computing Adoption, Faith Shimba

Dissertations

The advent of cloud computing in recent years has sparked an interest from different organisations, institutions and users to take advantage of web applications. This is a result of the new economic model for the Information Technology (IT) department that cloud computing promises. The model promises a shift from an organisation required to invest heavily for limited IT resources that are internally managed, to a model where the organisation can buy or rent resources that are managed by a cloud provider, and pay per use. Cloud computing also promises scalability of resources and on-demand availability of resources.

Although, the adoption …

A Comparison Of The Career And Technical Education Programs In A Us Community College And A Chinese Institution, Harry Hou

Dissertations

This research study explores and compares the career and technical education programs offered in a US community college and the vocational/career and technology education programs offered in a comparable Chinese postsecondary institution. The study sought to find positive transferable characteristics of the career and technical education programs in each country, which could be shared by similar institutions in China and the US.

Under the impact of globalization, international cooperation and collaboration between institutions and programs becomes more and more important, particularly considering there are many shared problems and thus the potential for shared solutions. This research offers insights and information …

Atomic And Electronic Structure Studies Of Nano-Structured Systems : Carbon And Related Materials, Sumit Saxena

Dissertations

Modeling in the framework of density functional theory has been conducted on carbon nanotubes and graphene nano-structures. The results have been extended to non-carbon systems such as boron nanostructures. Computational studies are complemented by experimental methods to refine the structural models and obtain a better understanding of the electronic structure.

It is observed that the zigzag edged bilayered graphene nanoribbons are highly unstable as compared to their armchair counterparts. A novel approach has been proposed for the patterning of chirality/diameter controlled single walled carbon nanotubes. Nanotube formation is found to be assisted by edge ripples along with the intrinsic edge …

The Public Understanding Of Climate Change : A Case Study Of Taiwanese Youth, Shih-Yun Kuo

Dissertations

Global climate change is likely to be the most challenging environmental dilemma of the 21st century because its impacts on ecosystems and human society are transnational in scale and long term in scope. Due to its high scientific complexity and uncertainty and high political and economic sensitivity, mitigating the problem will require interdisciplinary cooperation and collective and sustained efforts on the part of all nations. Sufficient domestic support from both government and the lay public will not only be significant to the success of an international climate regime, but also crucial to the effectiveness of potential domestic climate policies.

Such …

The Perceptions Of Elite Male Gymnasts Of The Effects Of Punishment On Self-Efficacy And Athletic Performance, Jason David Selk

Dissertations

Existing literature suggests that coaches should use rewards rather than punishment for motivational purposes with athletes. The greatest argument against punishment lies in the evidence that the short-term positive effects on skill achievement are outweighed by the longterm negative effects on self-efficacy. Still, punishment is widely practiced within the coaching world; however, little research on coaching practices exists addressing the possibility that punishment could be utilized more effectively. As a beginning exploration of this topic, twelve elite male gymnasts were interviewed to determine what reinforcement their coaches used to motivate them. The results of the interviews seemed to reveal five …

Coping And Assumptive World Views: Comparing Parents Of Murdered Children And Parents Of Missing/Returned Children In The Management Of Their Grief, Miriam Joy Anderson

Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between psychological coping, religious coping, and assumptive world views of parents of murdered children and parents of missing/returned children. The latter group refers to parents who had a missing child who was returned prior to participating in the study. A sample of 82 parents of murdered children and 14 parents of missing/returned children completed a series of self-report measures assessing grief, coping, and assumptive world views. Due to statistical power limitations in the missing/returned group, proposed hypotheses were examined using only data from parents of murdered children. The hypothesis that longer time since the event …

Consistency Of Written Trauma Narratives Over A Course Of Trauma-Focused Therapy, Juliette Marissa Mott

Dissertations

Several of the procedures commonly used in trauma-focused therapies are similar to techniques that have been shown to influence the consistency and accuracy of memory in experimental settings. These techniques include verbalizing a non-verbal memory, repeatedly recalling an event, and recalling an event in the presence of another person. In an effort to examine the impact of such techniques on memory for a traumatic event, and in turn the impact of traumatic memory change on treatment outcome, the present study examined changes in written trauma narratives created over the course of trauma-focused therapy. Participants were PTSD-positive female survivors of interpersonal …

Monticello Rising, Charles Edward Campbell

Dissertations

Monticello Rising is a compilation of fiction accompanied by a critical preface. The pieces within were all composed during my studies at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers between the years of 2008-2010. The collection is about aspects of growth, initiation, and loss in human relationships.

The Taifa Of Denia And The Medieval Mediterranean, Travis Bruce

Dissertations

This dissertation treats the Muslim kingdom of Denia on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Through a singular political program, the eleventh-century rulers of Denia created a maritime kingdom based on the resources and networks of the Mediterranean. Denia played a unique role as a Mediterranean polity, developing economic links with Christian Barcelona, Sardinia, Pisa and Genoa that would connect Muslim and Christian populations over several centuries. The dissertation demonstrates the importance of economics in the Muslim-Christian relations of the western Mediterranean using Latin archival documents, Latin and Arabic narrative sources, and archaeological and numismatic evidence. It explores the extent to which …

Urban Middle School Teachers: Tenured Versus Non-Tenured Teachers And The Impact They Have On Academic Achievement, Rochelle Harris-Clark

Dissertations

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is used in the district of Study School No. 1 to give insight on student academic skill level in terms of years and months. Teacher strategies and expertise in the area of education is an integral part of the educational process. Tenure status, or the years of experience, is plagued with the idea that it promotes or has an impact on student achievement. Although there were a significant number of tenured special education and general education teachers at the study school during the 2005–2006, 2006–2007, and 2007–2008 school years, the school did not …

Postsecondary Education Of Students With Disabilities: Review Of Faculty And Of Students With Disabilities Perceptions For Training, Jerry René Alliston

Dissertations

The percentage of students with disabilities who are pursuing post-secondary education has consistently increased over the past few decades. To meet all legal requirements, postsecondary institutions have established disability support services for students with disabilities. One notable responsibility given to postsecondary disability support service staff was the training of faculty on various issues related to disability in general. The focus of this study was to determine the perceived issues of faculty to students and students to faculty, in a two-campus university system in the southeastern United States, in working with students with disabilities in postsecondary education on the six theme …

Criterion-Referenced Assessment Literacy Of Educators, James David King

Dissertations

This study investigated the assessment literacy of educators in regard to criterion-referenced tests. For the purpose of this study, administrators included principals and assistant principals within a school. First, the study determined the degree of training in measurement, assessment, and statistics that educators have received. Second, the study investigated the assessment knowledge of educators based on their performance on the Criterion-Referenced Questionnaire. Third, the study investigated if years experience, type of certification, or highest degree held had a significant difference on their performance on the Criterion-Referenced Questionnaire. Fourth, the study investigated educators’ attitudes toward the use of measurement, assessment, and …

Tongueless: Representation Of The Mentally Disabled And The Novel, Brent Walter Cline

Dissertations

This study examines the representation of the mentally disabled in the novel for two related outcomes. The first is to prove that the representation of the mentally disabled is not merely a subset of the representation of the disabled in general. This is intended less as a political statement as it is a literary one. Acknowledging and building off the work of writers in disability studies such as David Mitchell, Sharon Snyder, and Tobin Siebers who concentrate on the body of the disabled, this study shows that attempts to represent the mentally disabled are fundamentally different than those who are …

Lgb-Affirmative Therapists' Use Of Developmental Models Of Lgb-Identity In Therapy. A Phenomenological Investigation, Victoria E. Cane

Dissertations

Socially sanctioned hostility toward sexual minority persons continues to be a reality in the United States and worldwide. Therapists working with sexual minorities have responsibility to provide non-pathologizing, affirmative therapy to these clients. A central aspect of affirmative therapy is therapists' recognition and understanding of sexual orientation (SO) identity and developmental models of sexual minority identity have a played a vital role in promoting this understanding. Although such models have been central to the practice and training of affirmative therapy, therapists' applied use of the models has not been empirically investigated. For this phenomenological study, nine affirmative therapists were interviewed …

A Sequential Analysis Of Staff Training Procedures To Efficiently Teach Novice Instructors To Implement Errorless Discrete-Trial Teaching Procedures, Jamie M. Severtson

Dissertations

Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is the most common techniques incorporated into intensive behavioral intervention programs for children diagnosed with autism. Errorless learning (EL) prompt fading strategies are frequently recommended during DTT because they often result in more efficient and effective instruction. Several variables may prevent agencies from offering extensive supervised training to instructors; therefore, timeefficient DTT staff training protocols are needed. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a sequential analysis of the efficacy of three methods for teaching errorless DTT procedures to novice instructors. These methods included: (a) a self-instruction manual, (b) an instructional video, (c) and …

Pattern Recognition For Fault Detection, Classification, And Localization In Electrical Power Systems, Qais Hashim Alsafasfeh

Dissertations

The longer it takes to identify and repair a fault, the more damage may result in the electrical power system, especially in periods of peak loads, which could lead to the collapse of the system, causing the power outage to extend for a longer period and larger parts of the electrical network. Reducing the outage time and immediate restoration of service can be achieved if the fault type and location are determined in a timely and precise manner.

An integrated algorithm that is based on generating unique signatures from the electric current signal to detect, classify, and localize a fault …

Development Of A Task Assignment Tool To Customize Job Descriptions And Close Person-Job Fit Gaps, Bryan W. Booker

Dissertations

Does the knowledge worker fit the job or should the job fit the knowledge worker? This research developed a methodology and a tool to customize a knowledge worker’s job design to better fit their knowledge, skills, abilities and characteristics. The research outcomes support the customization of the job design to improve person-job fit, the documentation of the customized job design as a position description, and the use of a structured person-task assignment process. The recommended task assignment process includes a job aid that uses multivariate equations to predict expected task performance. Data were collected from two knowledge worker sub-groups: lean …

Assessing Problem Solving Strategy Differences Within Online And Face-To-Face Courses And Their Relationship To Pre-Service Teachers' Competence And Confidence For Integrating Technology Into Teaching, Sharon L. Peterson

Dissertations

This quantitative research study identifies the problem solving strategies preservice teachers use in learning specific technology skills within an educational technology methods class which is offered both online and face to face. It also examines how such strategies differ by the format of this course, and to what extent these strategies and/or course format correlate with the students' expressed level of confidence and competence to integrate technology into their future classroom settings. The study utilizes data extracted from surveys of over 1,500 students who had taken the educational technology methods course via online or face-to-face format during one of nineteen …

Exploring The Accuracy Of Highly Positive Self-Evaluations: A Bogus Pipeline Examination Of Fragile Self-Esteem, Erin Michele Myers

Dissertations

The present study tested the prediction that individuals with fragile high selfesteem are engaging in impression management when they claim to possess highly positive feelings of self-worth. Phase One participants (N = 449) completed internetbased measures of self-esteem level and self-esteem fragility under standard conditions. Phase Two participants (N = 75) completed laboratory-based measures of self-esteem under control or ‘bogus pipeline’ conditions designed to encourage participants to respond more honestly to questionnaires concerning their self-worth. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed partial support for the impression management hypothesis such that individuals with discrepant high self-esteem (i.e., high explicit selfesteem and low …

Assessing The Need For Community College Baccalaureate Degree Programs In Mississippi, Johannah Bell Williams

Dissertations

This study involved assessing the professional and personal opinions of Mississippi community college students, faculty and administrators regarding the need for community college baccalaureate degree programs in Mississippi. The goal of this study was to determine if students, faculty and administrators at Mississippi community colleges believed that the implementation of baccalaureate degree programs at their respective colleges would be beneficial to the college and to the students. Furthermore, this study sought to determine if the opinions of said participants regarding the implementation of baccalaureate degree programs were affected by certain factors. Students, faculty and administrators from each of the 15 …

Information Acquisition And Sociality Among Migratory Birds, Zoltán Németh

Dissertations

Information use is a key feature of adaptive behavior: the better informed an individual, the better it is able to adjust its behavior to meet the demands of a variable world. Therefore, most animals attempt to reduce environmental uncertainty by gathering information when it is available. However, tracking unpredictable ecological factors may carry costs as individuals invest valuable time and energy in the process of information acquisition. Social learning (i.e., use of social information inadvertently produced by other individuals) enables the individual to gain rapid and more complete assessment of its novel environment. This process may be particularly important for …

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 …

The Relationship Between Principal Effectiveness And The Use Of Counseling Skills, Valerie Suzanne Hodge Cleckler

Dissertations

In most educational leadership programs, the working relationship of the principal with teachers, parents, and the community is discussed, but the relationship of the principal and counselor is typically not given much, if any, attention. Principals are not trained in the use of counseling skills in educational leadership programs at Mississippi universities (Delta State University, 2008; Jackson State University, 2007; Mississippi State University, 2008; Mississippi University for Women, 2008, 2009; The University Southern Mississippi, 2009; University of Mississippi, 2007). The leadership training provided to school administrators is very important because of the role they play in the success of the …

If And To What Extent Spirituality Impacts The Leadership Practices Of Four African American Superintendents, Christopher James Williams Sr.

Dissertations

Public school superintendents have one of the most challenging, demanding, and visible positions in American society. They provide educational leadership in approximately 15,499 school districts across the United States. Their visibility is marked by the fact that the majority of leadership positions are held by non-minority individuals (American Association of School Administrators, 1992). The underrepresentation of minorities in public school leadership positions on a national level has been thoroughly documented over the years, and the limited representation of African Americans in top positions of public school administration is glaring (AASA, 1992, 1983; Jones & Montenegro, 1988, 1985; Montenegro, 1993). The …