Digital Commons Network^™

Private And Public University Students' Perceptions Of Cultural Adjustment Problems In Study Abroad Programs, Walter R. Heinecke Edd

Dissertations

In a world that is increasingly integrated by economics, communications, and politics, higher education is asked to deliver graduates who can function professionally in the international arena. One way to do this is through study abroad programs, which have skyrocketed in popularity among American students over the last 15 years, increasing by 83% to more than 205,000 students in 2007. Despite the obvious benefits associated with such programs, there are challenges to living abroad as well—especially for young adults. To get some sense of these challenges, during the 2005-2006 academic year 114 study abroad students from 2 Southern California universities …

Parliament Of Owls, Allison Renee Riddles

Dissertations

In this work of poems, I experiment with different forms (villanelles, sonnets, cinquains, sestinas, prose poems, and free verse) to create an original accompanying space for the existence of my speakers. I also use many of my poems to illustrate moments, feelings, and scenarios of relationships as well as place new perspectives on poems based on the work of other poets. Parliament of Owls provides an array of vistas on relationships, loneliness, and triumph.

Toward A Free Collegiate Press: An Analysis Of Influences That Can Lead To Censorship At College Newspapers, Shaniece Bell Bickham

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the impact that influences at the individual, organizational and societal levels had on content in college and university student newspapers. Specifically, this research examined the ways that influences at the three levels could lead to censorship of the student press. A quantitative study was conducted through the use of online survey research. Student editors, faculty advisers, and academic affairs administrators of journalism and mass communication programs that are recognized as being accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) were surveyed to gather information about the structure …

The Constitutional Protection Of Children In Ireland - An Analysis Of The Status Quo And Proposals For Reform, Oliver Fitzgerald

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

How Can Art Education Enhance The Content Subject Area In An Urban School Setting?, Lonnie Ford

Dissertations

Parents and educators have traditionally viewed it as mere "enrichment" rather than a viable and essential part of the school curriculum. To address this issue, professional groups such as the National Art Education Association (NAEA) have consistently advocated for the importance of art by framing it as another core subject area that should be valued as highly as science, math, social studies, and language arts. Unfortunately, such a stance ignores another critical argument for the value of art. When it is framed as a stand-alone core subject area, essential connections among art and the other disciplines are neglected.

In this …

A Study Of Teacher Leadership And Its Relationship With School Climate In American Public Schools: Findings From Sass 2003-2004, Donghai Xie

Dissertations

This study made inquiry into teacher leadership and its relationship with school climate in American public schools by using the data from SASS 2003-04 by National Center for Education Statistics. The study was focused on the statistical assessment of public school teachers' perceptions of teacher leadership in the areas of school operation and classroom operation. Another aspect to be inquired was teachers' perceptions of school climate in the dimensions of school leadership and teacher collaboration.

The results of descriptive analyses in the study indicated that the majority of public school teachers did not consider they had much influence over the …

The Nonprofit Ethics Survey: A Contextual Approach, Audrey Dawn Barrett Phd

Dissertations

Organizational ethics require the attention of nonprofit leaders as regulatory trends and accountability measures increase. In spite of this interest, little empirical research has been conducted on ethics assessment within the nonprofit sector and more importantly, no survey instrument currently exists exclusively designed for nonprofit organizations to assess the perceptions of ethics within their organization. This lack of tools and information prohibits comprehensive self-assessment, and forces a reactive, single-loop approach to ethical issues, rather than a feedback system based on actual data. To address this need, the Nonprofit Ethics Survey provides a practioner-friendly survey designed to assess the perceptions of …

Predictors Of Re-Hospitalization For Home Healthcare Patients, Brenda Fischer Phd, Msn, Mba, Rn, Cphq

Dissertations

The overall purpose of this study was to examine the predictive capability of OASIS admission data for acute care re-hospitalization of home healthcare patients. Secondary data analysis using logistic regression was conducted on retrospective data from OASIS collected during the time period of July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007. This study was conducted in a Medicare certified Home Health organization that is part of the largest public health system in California. The sample of 1802 patients with complete episodes of care was derived from a data set of 5,523 patients. All patients were included in the analysis and logistic …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Inquiry Into Moral Distress, Compassion Fatigue, Medication Error, And Critical Care Nursing, Jeanne Maiden Phd, Ms, Rn, Cns

Dissertations

A correlational embedded mixed method design was used for this study. A purposive sample of 205 critical care nurses (CCNs) provided quantitative data for the study. A focus group interview of five CCNs provided the qualitative data. The Moral Distress Scale (MDS), Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), and Medication Administration Error (MAE) Scale and demographics form were used to measure quantitative data. Quantitative findings included the majority of participants were female (91.7%); mean age 47 (SD = 7.91) years; mean years worked as a nurse was 23 (SD = 8.48); mean years worked on respective unit was 13.6 (SD …

Dyspnea: Effect Of Auricular Acupressure In End Stage Lung Cancer Patients, A Pilot Feasibility Study, Roger Alan Strong Phd

Dissertations

Introduction: Dyspnea is a debilitating symptom, common in advanced lung cancer patients, and poorly controlled. The National Institutes of Health has promoted the need for research regarding end of life care symptom control. Purpose: Conduct a feasibility study evaluating auricular acupressure effects on dyspnea in hospice lung cancer patients. Theoretical framework: The UCSF School of Nursing Symptom Management Faculty Group's Model for Symptom Management was used for the conceptual framework. The model includes three dimensions: symptom experience, symptom management strategies, and symptom outcomes. The Human Energy Field Theory provided context for using auricular acupressure. Aim: Conduct a pilot study evaluating …

Obesity Risk Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, And Physical Activity In Families Of Adolescents, Elaine M. Rutkowski Phd, Msn, Rn, Cns

Dissertations

There were no significant relationships found between parental obesity risk knowledge and physical activity in their children. nor between parent's self efficacy and their children's physical activity. In addition there was no significant relationship between the adolescents' obesity risk knowledge and their physical activity. There was, however, a statistically significant relationship between adolescent's self efficacy and physical activity. The result of the correlation between parent's self-efficacy and their level of physical activity was not significant but approached significance (p = .07) and may be identified as a trend. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between parents who describe their …

International Aid Evaluation: An Analysis And Policy Proposals, Thomaz Kauark Chianca

Dissertations

Evaluation has been intertwined with international aid work since its inception in the late 40's-early 50's, but it is still an area with considerable room for improvement. If, as is often alleged, evaluations of international development efforts are methodologically weak they are misleading international agencies about the real impact of the sizable amount of resources being spent. A recent study by Chianca, described in this thesis, with a sample of 50 US-based international non-profit organizations (INGOs) illustrates the serious situation of the structure and practice of evaluation in those agencies.

A number of efforts to improve this situation have been …

Critical Components To Improve Literacy Learning For All Students, Marcia Harriet Kaye

Dissertations

The purpose of this multiple case study was to understand the critical components to improve literacy learning for all students. The central focus of the study involved looking at principles for classroom instruction in reading and writing that are essential for students to become good readers and writers. According to Allington and Cunningham, the following principles are critical: (a) the amount of time students spend on reading and writing each day, (b) the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies, (c) modeling writing and reading daily, (d) student engagement in thoughtful literacy learning, and (e) literate rich classroom environments.

Six classrooms were …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of A School District's Mentoring / Professional Development Plan For Beginning Teachers, Henry William St. Pierre

Dissertations

The purpose of the study of the mentoring/ professional development program within the teaching profession was to determine the extent and perceived value of the existing formal mentoring program in the Fort Zumwalt School District. The study found that the district's mentoring and professional development program for new teachers is effective as perceived by both beginning teachers and their administrators. The instrument used in this study was a survey designed by the District and distributed to beginning teachers who finished their first year of teaching and the formal mentor program during the 2002-2003 through the 2006-2007 school years. Surveys were …

Prospective Faculty Developing Understanding Of Teaching And Learning Processes In Science, Jose I. Pareja

Dissertations

Historically, teaching has been considered a burden by many academics at institutions of higher education, particularly research scientists. Furthermore, university faculty and prospective faculty often have limited exposure to issues associated with effective teaching and learning. As a result, a series of ineffective teaching and learning strategies are pervasive in university classrooms. This exploratory case study focuses on four biology graduate teaching fellows (BGF) who participated in a National Science Foundation (NSF) GK-12 Program. Such programs were introduced by NSF to enhance the preparation of prospective faculty for their future professional responsibilities. In this particular program, BGF were paired with …

Creating The Path Together: A Case Study Of A Mathematics Professional Development Program For Teachers Of English Language Learners, Alison Marie Whittington

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to describe and analyze the Mathematics Access for Language Learners (MALL) professional development project. This project’s primary goal has been to provide teachers with the knowledge, strategies, tools, and materials to help make mathematics content accessible to their English Language Learner students. This study used case study methodology. Data was collected from archival records, participant observations, and interviews with project participants, facilitators, and the project director. The results and analysis of this study are provided through the framework of Bernice McCarthy’s 4MAT instructional model. The project is then analyzed to determine if it …

Abstraction, Extension And Structural Auditing With The Umls Semantic Network, Yan Chen

Dissertations

The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) is a two-level biomedical terminological knowledge base, consisting of the Metathesaurus (META) and the Semantic Network (SN), which is an upper-level ontology of broad categories called semantic types (STs). The two levels are related via assignments of one or more STs to each concept of the META.

Although the SN provides a high-level abstraction for the META, it is not compact enough. Various metaschemas, which are compact higher-level abstraction networks of the SN, have been derived. A methodology is presented to evaluate and compare two given metaschemas, based on their structural properties. A consolidation …

Ontology Learning For The Semantic Deep Web, Yoo Jung An

Dissertations

Ontologies could play an important role in assisting users in their search for Web pages. This dissertation considers the problem of constructing natural ontologies that support users in their Web search efforts and increase the number of relevant Web pages that are returned. To achieve this goal, this thesis suggests combining the Deep Web information, which consists of dynamically generated Web pages and cannot be indexed by the existing automated Web crawlers, with ontologies, resulting in the Semantic Deep Web. The Deep Web information is exploited in three different ways: extracting attributes from the Deep Web data sources automatically, generating …

The Development And Evaluation Of Software To Foster Professional Development In Educational Assessment, Morgan C. Benton

Dissertations

This dissertation sought to answer the question: Is it possible to build a software tool that will allow teachers to write better multiple-choice questions? The thesis proceeded from the finding that the quality of teaching is very influential in the amount that students learn. A basic premise of this research, then, is that improving teachers will improve learning. With this foundation, the next question became what area of teaching to improve. The literature on educational assessment indicated that teachers lack competence at effective assessment, particularly in the area of multiple-choice question generation. It is likely that improvement in this area …

User Evaluation Of The Performance Of Information Systems, Edward Mahinda

Dissertations

Information technologies (IT) are considered the primary survival factor for many organizations and the most critical success factor in businesses today. To justify the necessary investment in IT, user evaluation of information systems' performance in organizations is a key consideration. This research investigated a comprehensive and convenient means for end users to assess this performance.

Among the existing theories and models on the evaluation of information system performance based on intrinsic technological properties, the Web of System Performance (WOSP) model provides the most comprehensive basis for information system evaluation, and therefore merited further investigation. The research question was how well …

Complex Adaptive Systems Based Data Integration : Theory And Applications, Eliahu Rohn

Dissertations

Data Definition Languages (DDLs) have been created and used to represent data in programming languages and in database dictionaries. This representation includes descriptions in the form of data fields and relations in the form of a hierarchy, with the common exception of relational databases where relations are flat. Network computing created an environment that enables relatively easy and inexpensive exchange of data. What followed was the creation of new DDLs claiming better support for automatic data integration. It is uncertain from the literature if any real progress has been made toward achieving an ideal state or limit condition of automatic …

Leader Delegation And Trust In Global Software Teams, Suling Zhang

Dissertations

Virtual teams are an important work structure in global software development. The distributed team structure enables access to a diverse set of expertise which is often not available in one location, to a cheaper labor force, and to a potentially accelerated development process that uses a twenty-four hour work structure.

Many software teams are partially distributed, that is, part of the team is colocated. Such partially distributed global software teams are an important work structure in software development projects. However, little is known about what affects or improves team members’ motivation and job satisfaction in the partially distributed environment. This …

Automatic Prediction Of Solar Flares And Super Geomagnetic Storms, Hui Song

Dissertations

Space weather is the response of our space environment to the constantly changing Sun. As the new technology advances, mankind has become more and more dependent on space system, satellite-based services. A geomagnetic storm, a disturbance in Earth's magnetosphere, may produce many harmful effects on Earth. Solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are believed to be the major causes of geomagnetic storms. Thus, establishing a real time forecasting method for them is very important in space weather study.

The topics covered in this dissertation are: the relationship between magnetic gradient and magnetic shear of solar active regions; the relationship …

Taux : A System For Evaluating Sound Feedback In Navigational Tasks, Robert J. Lutz

Dissertations

This thesis presents the design and development of an evaluation system for generating audio displays that provide feedback to persons performing navigation tasks. It first develops the need for such a system by describing existing wayfinding solutions, investigating new electronic location-based methods that have the potential of changing these solutions and examining research conducted on relevant audio information representation techniques. An evaluation system that supports the manipulation of two basic classes of audio display is then described. Based on prior work on wayfinding with audio display, research questions are developed that investigate the viability of different audio displays. These are …

A Comparison Of Perinatal Care Providers' Use Of The National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development Standardized Terminology In Documentation Of Intrapartal Fetal Heart Rate Patterns, Faye M. Sigman

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if perinatal team members; nurses (RN) and primary care providers (PCP), were using the NICHD standardized terminology to document Fetal Heart Rate patterns during labor. Agreement in documentation of FHR and agreement in concept between the RN and PCP was also studied. A descriptive, comparative research design was used. Cohen?s Kappa statistics measured agreement in documentation of FHR patterns and Chi square measured agreement in concept, p< 0.05 for each. A retrospective medical records chart review was performed on 400 charts, meeting inclusion criteria, from three community hospitals. There were three data collection points and four criteria reviewed. This study found the use of NICHD terminology to document FHR alarmingly low (RN=51%; PCP=13%). It was used most often for decelerations (81%) RN, (22%) PCP, and least often for variability (19%) RN, (3%) PCP. Incomplete documentation was extremely high for the PCP (69%) and 81 charts (20%) had no FHR documentation. Agreement in documentation varied between the RN and PCP. They agreed most often on accelerations (81.4%) and least often on baseline rate (41.5%). When looking at all there points in time the RN and PCP agreed in documentation 59% but agreed in concept 78%. There were four areas where the RN and PCP agreed in their use of NICHD terminology: Accelerations on admission n=151, Kappa=0.091, p=0.007; variability during labor n=68, Kappa=0.27, p=0.015; variability prior to delivery n=33 Kappa=0.33, p=0.010, and decelerations during labor n=103, Kappa=0.16, p=0.018. Data from this study supports expanding this research, to identifying barriers to documentation. It also appears that education in use of NICHD terminology is needed.

Development Of A Knowledge Management Strategy For Academic Staff, Leslie Whyte

Dissertations

We are living in a knowledge society. Knowing what we know and managing it better to know more is considered the key enabler to sustainable economic growth. 70 to 80 percent of economic growth is directly attributed to new or better knowledge. With information communication technologies (ICT) readily facilitating the globalisation of economic activity, the key competitive advantage of this era is the ability to create, use and disseminate knowledge effectively. Although traditionally creators, guardians and disseminators of knowledge, universities and institutions need to also adapt to the challenges the knowledge society can bring and evolve their roles in education, …

Perceptions Of Creativity In Art, Music And Technology Education, David Russell Stricker

Dissertations

This study was conducted to examine the perceptions of art, music, and technology education teachers with regard to creativity in their respective fields. The survey used in this study was designed around the themes borne out of creativity literature generally and creativity specific to the fields of art, music, and technology and engineering education. As a result the themes of creative process, products, personal traits, and environment shaped the items contained in the survey.

Although participants from all three subjects perceived the creative process as important to creative work generally, technology education teachers were less interested in the importance of …

A Critical Analysis Of The Relationship Between Salvation And Social Justice In The Minjung Theology, Ilmok Kim

Dissertations

The intent of this study is to investigate the relationship between salvation and social justice in minjung theology. Minjung theology grew out of social awareness in the 1970s that created adesire to fight oppression and misery in Korea.

The introductory chapter defines the problem, which is to critically evaluate minjung theology's attempts to reconstruct the traditional Korean Christian notions of salvation. This study is primarily limited to the works of two representative minjung theologians: Nam Dong Suh and Byung Mu Ahn.

Chapter 2 traces the historical context of Korea from which minjung theology emerged. The chapter particularly notes the religious …

A Mixed-Method Study Of The Environmental And Personal Factors That Influence Faculty Research Productivity At Small-Medium, Private, Doctorate-Granting Universities, Gustavo Gregorutti

Dissertations

Problem. This study sought to determine what organizational factors and personal characteristics of faculty members most relate to research productivity at small- to medium-sized not-for-profit, private, doctorate-granting universities.

Method. A mixed methodology was used that included an online survey, follow-up email surveys, and two face-to-face interviews. The main statistical tools used were multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and regression. The final sample came from 12 small- to medium-size, private, not-for-profit doctorate-granting American universities. A group of 277 professors responded to the online survey. An online follow-up qualitative survey was conducted with 34 replies. Two additional face-to-face interviews were …

"The Anchor Of The Soul That Enters Within The Veil": The Ascension Of The "Son" In The Letter To The Hebrews, Felix H. Cortez

Dissertations

Problem
This dissertation studies the nature of Jesus’ ascension to heaven and its role in the argument of Hebrews.

Method
The study consists of an analysis of those passages in which Jesus’ ascension is referred to directly (Heb 1:6; 4:14-16; 6:19-20; 9:11-14, 24; 10:19-22) and a study of the imagery Hebrews uses to couch its theology, giving special attention to the role of this imagery in the progression of the argument. The study is both exegetical and theological in nature, seeking to provide an analysis of specific passages as well as systematization of their import.

Results
The six passages that …