Digital Commons Network^™

The Naming Of Strays, Erin Elizabeth Smith

Dissertations

The Naming of Strays is a collection of poems that deal with issues of place, gender power, sexual fidelity, and transience. While the majority of the poems are written in free verse, the dissertation also features a handful of formal poems including sonnets, sestinas, and prose poetry. n

The Effects Of Different Types Of Prompts On Achievement And Attitude In Mathematics, Barbara R. Greer Edd

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of three different types of writing prompts, procedural, summary, and self-monitoring, on achievement and self-concept of ability in mathematics. Participants included 81 eighth grade students taking a course designed to prepare students for algebra in the ninth grade in a large urban school district in Southern California. Data were gathered using a quasi-experimental design, teacher-researcher created pre-and post-tests, the Minnesota Mathematics Attitude Inventory, teacher field notes, student responses to prompts, and individual and group interviews. Controlling for demographic and other variables identified in the study, simultaneous regression analysis revealed that only summary writing had a …

Missouri Elementary Teacher Certification Programs And The Education Provided On How Boys And Girls Learn Differently, Elizabeth Anne Cooper

Dissertations

Teacher education programs, professional development, and higher education should provide educators with the information needed to address the ways that boys and girls learn differently. This mixed-methods study discovered the amount of education provided to teachers during their Teacher Education Programs in regards to how girls and boys learn. This study focused on a purposeful sample of five school districts within a chosen region in Missouri. Data were collected from elementary schools within these districts in the fall of 2008. The subjects included a purposeful sample of elementary teachers throughout these districts. In addition, twelve elementary teachers within this region …

A Study Of Correlation Between Student Achievement And Reading Instructional Methods, Kelly G. Lowe

Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 forced school districts to become more accountable by requiring all students to read on grade level by the year 2014. In southwest Missouri, school districts are currently using different reading models, instructional time, and staff development in an attempt to reach the goal of NCLB. This study examined different instructional strategies implemented and compared student achievement on the third grade 2007-2008 Missouri Assessment Program communication arts test. Data were collected from 70 participating public, elementary school buildings to determine whether a correlation existed between reading models and instructional strategies implemented and …

Personality Traits Of Bus Drivers Conducive To Maintaining Good Student Behavior, S. Brent Depee'

Dissertations

School administrators are faced with the responsibility of disciplining students for misconduct on the school bus. Some bus drivers frequently send discipline referrals to the administration, whereas others seldom do. This study attempts to identify certain personality traits of bus drivers that contribute to good student behaviors. Bus drivers from rural Missouri school districts who drove regular school routes were given the Global 5 Personality Trait Test. Building principals from these rural school districts gathered bus discipline referrals for the first semester of the 2008-2009 school year. The research design is quantitative causal-comparative in nature, while the data was collected …

From Strain To Success: A Phenomenological Study Of The Personal And Academic Pressures On African American Male Community College Students, John R. Mosby Phd

Dissertations

For many African American college students, the challenges to achieve academic success are overwhelming. The disproportionate number of African American male students enrolled in the community college system is of substantial concern because community colleges have not traditionally been successful in producing African American male graduates and transfers at the same rate as their counterparts from other racial and gender groups. Moreover, the pressure for African American male students to choose between academic success and their cultural frame of reference often jeopardizes their chances of successfully completing their undergraduate degree. Consequently, African American males who choose the community college system …

Gender, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension And Science Reasoning As Predictors Of Science Achievement Among African-American Students At A Historical Black College Or University, Consuella Artiemese Davis

Dissertations

This study investigated predictors that influence the science achievement of African-American non-science majors in a Physical Science class. The population consisted of male and female college students enrolled in Physical Science courses at a historical black college or university (HBCU) located in the southeastern portion of the United States. A personal data information sheet was administered to 120 participants during the Fall of 2008. The personal data information sheet consisted of questions pertaining to the high school courses, students took in math, language arts and science. It also consisted of basic background information. Students also gave written consent for their …

Interventions, Perceptions Of Accommodations, And Motivating Factors Impacting The Achievement And Successful Mainstreaming Transition Of English Language Learners, Desiree Atchley

Dissertations

This study was inspired by the many English language learners who have overcome the struggles of achieving proficiency in English. The district studied is a small school district with approximately 1850 students. In 1999, there were 148 Hispanic students, and this number has more than doubled in the last nine years. For a school that was basically void of diversity twenty years ago, it is now a school in which almost one-fifth of its population is a second language learner. Currently over seven languages are represented in its population, and those numbers continue to grow. The district has faced many …

Metacognitive Awareness And Strategy Use In Academic English Reading Among Adult English As A Second Language (Esl) Students, Yuko Iwai

Dissertations

This mixed method research study explored the role of metacognitive awareness in reading among adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students of various academic levels enrolled in a university in the southeastern part of the United States of America while engaged in academic reading. In addition, this study examined metacognitive reading strategies employed by those students.

In the quantitative portion of the study, 98 students responded to the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) instrument and a background information questionnaire. The SORS measured metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies. In the qualitative portion of the study, six students (two …

Training The Execution Of Single-Case Research Methodology Skills In An Early And Intensive Behavioral Intervention Setting, Jessa R. Love

Dissertations

Early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism is a fruitful area for conducting research on clinically relevant problems in an attempt to investigate some of the unanswered questions about which procedures are most effective and efficient. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that therapists providing these services have received adequate training in conducting relevant single-case design research in this area. Providing such therapists with the skills needed to implement single-case design research protocols could improve the use of the scientist-practitioner model in these settings and greatly expand the base of scientific knowledge in the area.

Behavioral Skills Training (BST; …

Representaciones De La Memoria De La Guerrilla Antifranquista En La Novelística Española Contemporánea, Nuño Castellanos

Dissertations

In the last few years a very controversial concept known as "the recovery of historic memory" has become of utmost importance in certain social and political spheres in Spain. This matter has been addressed by a law approved in July of 2006 during the socialist government under Rodríguez Zapatero. This law recognizes the efforts of those who in 1936 defended the Republican democracy, those who were persecuted by Franco regime and suffered internal and external exile, and those who fought against dictatorship and in defense of the fundamental liberties that Spaniards enjoy today. This complicated process of memory recuperation is …

Contesting National Identities In An Ethnically Homogeneous State: The Case Of Armenian Democratization, Arus Harutyunyan

Dissertations

This study of recent Armenian identity politics raises two intertwined theoretical questions. First, it asks whether there can be contesting national identities in an ethnically homogeneous state. Second, following theoretical propositions of liberal nationalism it explores whether identity contestation in an ethnically homogeneous state affects political trust, perceptions of social justice, and democratic attitudes.

My research focuses on the analysis of politically relevant national identity issues: Genocide and Relations with Turkey, War in Mountainous Karabagh and Possible Solutions, and Dual Citizenship for Diaspora, and the ways these are perceived by the public and political elites in the Armenian Republic. To …

Global Competency In Hospitality Management Programs: A Perfect Recipe For Community Colleges, David Jonathan Beer

Dissertations

Globalization is redefining and transforming interactions between people all over the world. Although nations differ in their level of globalization, it is critical in this day and age that nations foster global competency in their citizens and students. Education is one key area in developing and promoting global competency. For the United States, creation of a dynamic workforce, both domestic and abroad, is imperative if America is going to compete in a global society. Students who have a diverse and knowledgeable view of the world, can communicate in another language, and can exhibit cross-cultural adaptability, will be able to efficiently …

Novanet Online Curricula And The Course Completion Of Alternative High School Students, Margaret Elizabeth Munger

Dissertations

Studies on alternative schools have previously been qualitative in nature and provided information on the characteristics of a quality alternative school. Quantitative research in the area of alternative education has been limited. Previous research involving NovaNET Online Curriculum has centered on credit recovery, remediation and a small amount has been conducted on student use of the system. Currently, many alternative schools are using NovaNET or other online curricula to assist students move towards graduation without the possibility of losing credit due to poor attendance. The system is being marketed as a means for students to earn additional credits and progress …

Opinion Mining With The Sentwordnet Lexical Resource, Bruno Ohana

Dissertations

Sentiment classification concerns the application of automatic methods for predicting the orientation of sentiment present on text documents. It is an important subject in opinion mining research, with applications on a number of areas including recommender and advertising systems, customer intelligence and information retrieval. SentiWordNet is a lexical resource of sentiment information for terms in the English language designed to assist in opinion mining tasks, where each term is associated with numerical scores for positive and negative sentiment information. A resource that makes term level sentiment information readily available could be of use in building more effective sentiment classification methods. …

The Relationship Between Parental Influence And Christian Spiritual Practices Among Adventist Youth In Puerto Rico, Obed Jiménez

Dissertations

Problem. Typically, parents do not realize how influential they are in fostering spiritual growth in their children and are not aware of key influential factors that can motivate their children in practicing spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, meditation, and church attendance.

Method. This study used data from the Avance PR study conducted during the months of March and October 1995. The population for this study was high-school students enrolled in Seventh-day Adventist academies and youth who attended Seventh-day Adventist churches in Puerto Rico. The youth sample (ages 13-25) consisted of 1,377 single, never-married subjects: 586 males and 775 …

Factors That Contribute To The Educational Success Of Haitian-American Women, Magdana Louis

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence academic success among Haitian-American women.

Methodology. A survey research method was used in this study. A quantitative approach was taken when analyzing the data. For this study, 213 Haitian-American women with college degrees completed the Inventory of College Success for Haitian-American Women. One descriptive analysis was conducted and 10 hypotheses were tested by one-way ANOVA.

Results. This study examined 16 dependent variables and 10 independent variables with 10 hypotheses. The results indicated that Haitian-American women perceived self-motivation, financial assistance, accessibility to resources, self-perception, time management, spiritual …

An Investigation Of The Perceptions Of Clergy And Laity On Race-Based Organizational Segregation In The Southern Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, David K. Penno

Dissertations

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United States maintains a racially segregated organization in a society that has intentionally dismantled segregation in most of its organizations. The church needs to evaluate its current conference organization in light of this reality. The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of Seventh-day Adventist clergy and members in two conferences in the Southern Union concerning race-based organizational segregation in the church.

Method

This study used a mixed method and was descriptive in design. Four focus groups were conducted to explore the dimensions of the research problem. This step was followed …

Identity, Oppression, And Group Rights, Andrew Jared Pierce

Dissertations

The dissertation argues for a conception of group rights based on Habermasian discourse theory, as an alternative to the dominant multicultural liberal approach to group rights, which treats group rights as instrumental to individual rights.

Empirical Development Of An Instructional Product And Its Impact On Mastery Of Geometry Concepts, Donaldson Williams

Dissertations

Problem

Relatively poor levels of mathematical thinking among American school children have been identified as a major issue over the past half century. Many efforts have been made to increase the mathematics performance of children in schools. Additionally, out-of-school-time programs have attempted to address this issue as well. Holistic development is one of the distinguishing features of Seventh-day Adventist instructional programs. Yet, as of 2007, the Pathfinder program, an informal educational program operated by the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist church, had no instructional product designed to foster participants’ cognitive development in mathematics. This study focused on the empirical development of an …

Cultic Allusions In The Suffering Servant Poem (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), Kyesang Ha

Dissertations

This study investigates the Hebrew cultic allusions in the Suffering Servant Poem (Isa 52:13-53:12) in order to discover the nature or meaning of the suffering of Yahweh's Servant. The survey of literature reveals that the background of the Suffering Servant Poem is to be found in the Hebrew cultus. Thus the nature or meaning of the Servant's suffering is determined by a penetrating as well as comprehensive study of the text, specifically from the Hebrew cultic perspective. However, there has never been any careful, comprehensive study of the cultic allusions in the Poem in connection with the Suffering Servant. This …

Connection, Caretaking, And Conflict: The Recalled, Lived Experience Of Adultdaughters Of Bipolar Mothers, Louise Ribeiro Presley

Dissertations

At present in the United States approximately four million people (1.6%) suffer from bipolar I and bipolar II disorders. About 20% are not helped by medication. Each bipolar person has two parents,and may have siblings, friends, spouses and children. All of these people are affected by the feelings and behavior of the bipolar person. The children are especially vulnerable to behavior disorders, depression, and anxiety, even if protective factors mitigate the family situation.

This qualitative research addresses the events recalled by adult daughters whose mothers are bipolar: what they recalled of what they thought, felt and did in response. Events …

A Study Of The Leadership Of High-Poverty, High-Performing Schools Through The Lens Of Moral Leadership, Scott David Fech

Dissertations

This study examines the leadership of principals who work in schools which have been identified as having a large student population living in poverty and have a record of sustained academic success as measured on standardized tests. The goal of this study was to identify which sources of authority these principals demonstrate in these high-poverty, high-performing (HP HP) schools where students achieve at higher levels than expected. Another goal of this study was to identify commonalities in leadership style and traits, which would include the concepts of moral leadership, among these principals in HP HP schools. This study used Thomas …

Language Attitudes, Linguistic Knowledge, And The Multicultural Education Of Pre-Service Teachers: A Sociolinguistic Study, Maria Elisa Paredes

Dissertations

Abstract This research created, implemented and evaluated the impact of a language unit designed to increase linguistic knowledge and change attitudes toward linguistic diversity for pre-service teachers taking an education class that focused on child and adolescent development at an urban university in Missouri. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used to document learning and attitude change toward linguistic variety during 4-8 hours of instruction. The language unit included a pretest/posttest design, an overview of general linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition and bilingualism; the unit utilized multiple digital tools (DVD & CD) created by the researcher. Demographic correlates to …

The Effects Of A Research-Based Intervention Program On Kindergarten Student Achievement, Melvin J. Bishop Jr.

Dissertations

The current system for identifying at-risk students, which employs the wait-and-see method, provides teachers no formal way of getting the necessary interventions needed in order for their students to be successful. The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of a research-based intervention program, Response To Intervention, would increase the academic performance of kindergarten students identified as at-risk.

Kindergarten students entering school for the first time were tested for basic knowledge of alphabetical letter recognition and letter sound recognition. Children who demonstrated a deficit were given a series of research-based reading interventions by an intervention specialist to …

The Impact Of A Character Education Based Interactive Discipline Program On At-Risk Student Behavior In An Alternative School, Michael G. Hylen

Dissertations

Student problem behavior is incompatible with academic achievement and positive interpersonal relationships. It has become necessary for schools to develop codes of conduct to address inappropriate student behavior. But, current school disciplinary policies are ineffective instruments for effecting positive change in student problem behavior (Goodman, 2006). In response to this problem, public school districts are developing a wide variety of approaches to dealing with the needs of problem behavior students. One approach has been the development of alternative high school programs - school district initiatives specifically designed to meet the needs of students lacking success in the traditional high school …

The Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of The Phoenix Alternative Program, Jason Dethor Laffitte

Dissertations

Many school districts throughout the United States utilize alternative schools for students who have not been successful in a traditional school setting. The Phoenix Program is a second chance alternative school in Mobile, Alabama that provides educational opportunities to students who are at risk of dropping out or school or under a long-term suspension from a regular school program.

This study was conducted to determine the perceptions of the effectiveness of the Phoenix Program on students who have been suspended from their assigned school for a long term. Participants in this study included 36 principals and assistant principals, 30 students, …

Factors That Contribute To A Successful Secondary Vocational Education Program In The State Of Mississippi, Erin Leigh Parker

Dissertations

This study was designed to assess and identify factors that make a vocational program successful. Using qualitative methods for collection and analysis of data, vocational instructors and students in programs identified to be successful were interviewed to better depict the classroom setting, teachers, methods, etc. of these successful programs. Participants included instructors of and students enrolled in secondary vocational programs in the state of Mississippi identified to be most successful according to C-PAS test scores in each of the following training areas: Building Trades (carpentry), Business and Computer Technology, Marketing Management Technology, and Allied Health. MS-CPAS test scores were analyzed …

Factors Related To Nonacademic Adjustment Of Freshmen Students, Nykela Horne Jackson

Dissertations

Student retention remains a major concern of higher education institutions. With decreasing state funding, higher education institutions have implemented creative strategies and methods to recruit students. Once students are recruited it is critical that they be retained. Research has confirmed that student withdrawals can be attributed to the lack of successful transition and adjustment to the college environment. Numerous studies have focused on how demographic factors (socioeconomic status, race, employment, and parental education level) affect retention with the major focus on academic adjustment. Current research has shown that nonacademic adjustment (social adjustment, personal/emotional adjustment, and institutional attachment) plays a significant …

The Influence Of Verbal Aggressiveness And Verbal Argumentativeness On College Student Leadership Styles, Jane Anne Mattina

Dissertations

The behaviors and styles of leaders have been studied for many years yet, the study of college study leaders has not been as prevalent. This study examined the possible relationships between the levels of verbal aggressiveness and verbal argumentativeness and college student leadership styles as described by the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes & Posner 1995).

Using quantitative and qualitative approaches with multiple college student leadership groups at three different universities and community colleges, this study found that college student leaders are less verbally aggressive than student non-leaders, and are more verbally argumentative than student non-leaders. Furthermore, positive and negative …