Digital Commons Network^™

Preparation Of Aminoalcohols And Their Application For The Synthesis Of Heterocycles And As Potential Sensors For Nerve Agents, David L. Sellers

Dissertations

Oxazoles and oxazolines are important heterocyclic scaffolds commonly used in pharmaceuticals and optoelectronic materials. Traditionally these heterocyclic compounds are prepared by condensation methodology that suffers from poor reactivity when using electron deficient or sterically crowded reaction partners. Condensation methods also exhibit low tolerance of many functional groups as the reactions typically use strong acids and high temperatures. This dissertation describes an alternate strategy for the formation of these compounds by employing an epoxide opening followed by oxidation to form these heterocyclic compounds.

Epoxide opening reactions with primary aliphatic, allylic, and benzylic amines, aminolysis reactions, often achieve high yields regardless of …

Pedagogical Moves As Characteristics Of One Instructor’S Instrumental Orchestrations With Tinkerplots And The Ti-73 Explorer: A Case Study, James L. Kratky

Dissertations

Those supporting contemporary reform efforts for mathematics education in the United States have called for increased use of technologies to support student-centered learning of mathematical concepts and skills. There is a need for more research and professional development to support teachers in transitioning their instruction to better meet the goals of such reform efforts.

Instrumental approaches to conceptualizing technology use in mathematics education, arising out of the theoretical and empirical work in France and other European nations, show promise for use to frame studies on school mathematics in the United States. Instrumental genesis is used to describe the bidirectional and …

An Integrated Approach For A Better Understanding Of The Paleo-Hydrology And Landscape Evolution In The Sahara During The Previous Wet Climatic Periods, Abotalib Zaki Abotalib Farag

Dissertations

Paleoclimatic regimes over Saharan Africa alternated between dry and wet periods throughout the Pleistocene Epoch, and it is during the wet periods that the Saharan fossil aquifers were recharged. The present study investigates the role of groundwater-related processes in shaping the Saharan landforms (e.g., theater-headed valleys [THV]; depressions, escarpments, playas, and tufa deposits) over areas occupied by the largest of these aquifer systems, the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS). The present study reviews the suggested hypotheses for the origin of these landforms in the Sahara, and in similar settings elsewhere, and presents evidence in support of the following: during the …

Design And Validation Of An Electro-Hydraulic Pressure-Control Valve And Closed-Loop Controller, Jerry Boza

Dissertations

Electro-hydraulic pressure-control valves are used in many applications, such as manufacturing equipment, agricultural machinery, and aircrafts to name a few. They are often used to actuate hydraulic clutches, such as those found in power shift transmissions. A traditional pressure-control valve with open-loop control algorithm is typically used in clutch applications. This scheme often results in inconsistent or undesirable system behavior due to the nature of open-loop control as well as the nonlinear system dynamics and uncertainties.

In this research two new electro-hydraulic pressure-control valves were designed in order to decouple the valve and control port (hydraulic) dynamics. This was achieved …

Development Of Printed Cross-Functional Sensors For Gearbox Lubricant Prognostics, John Omondi Manyala

Dissertations

Lubricant oil degradation is a major cause of failures in transportation machinery such as pumps, engines, and gearboxes. Proactive oil maintenance techniques such as the off-line oil sampling for laboratory analysis are not only costly but are also susceptible to various influences during the oil sampling, transportation and testing. In this study, an on-line oil condition monitoring system is presented with an integrated predictive prognostic scheme, describing the evolution in time of the identified fault indicators for purposes of estimating the remaining useful life of oil in real-time inside the gearbox. The proposed methodology facilitates on-demand gearbox maintenance rather than …

Higher Education Perspectives: The Role Magic The Gathering Plays In Whole-Person, Academic, And Career Development, Bob Ellsworth Lynch

Dissertations

Games contribute to the whole-person, academic, and career development of collegeaged individuals (Alderman, 2015). However, many higher-education institutions do not sponsor gaming as a collegiate extracurricular activity, thereby possibly eliminating the opportunity of an all-inclusive environment (Alderman, 2015). To elucidate the problem, Astin and Antonio’s (2012) I-E-O model was engaged as conceptual framework for college-aged individuals’ perception of Magic the Gathering’s role in their whole-person, academic, and career development. The purpose of the study was to employ Magic the Gathering as the input; higher-education institutions as the environment; and wholeperson, academic, and career development as the outcome. Descriptive survey data …

The Impact Of Gifted Schools On The Academic Self- Concept Of Gifted Students In Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Alhanaya

Dissertations

Academic self-concept and gifted education are of particular importance to the field of education. Positive academic self-concept is correlated with several favorable educational outcomes but can be impacted by various educational factors such as ability grouping. The purpose of this study was to investigate the academic self-concept of gifted students in mixed ability schools and gifted schools in Saudi Arabia and determine the predictors of academic self-concept including school type, grade point average (GPA), grade level, class ranking, and gender. The sample of this study was 147 male and female gifted students in grades seven, eight, and nine enrolled in …

Fast Method Of Particular Solutions For Solving Partial Differential Equations, Anup Raja Lamichhane

Dissertations

Method of particular solutions (MPS) has been implemented in many science and engineering problems but obtaining the closed-form particular solutions, the selection of the good shape parameter for various radial basis functions (RBFs) and simulation of the large-scale problems are some of the challenges which need to overcome. In this dissertation, we have used several techniques to overcome such challenges.

The closed-form particular solutions for the Matérn and Gaussian RBFs were not known yet. With the help of the symbolic computational tools, we have derived the closed-form particular solutions of the Matérn and Gaussian RBFs for the Laplace and biharmonic …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Professional Longevity Of High School Science Teachers In Florida, James Alexander Ridgley Jr

Dissertations

This dissertation is an exploratory quantitative analysis of various independent variables to determine their effect on the professional longevity (years of service) of high school science teachers in the state of Florida for the academic years 2011–2012 to 2013–2014. Data are collected from the Florida Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress databases. The following research hypotheses are examined: H₁ – There are statistically significant differences in Level 1 (teacher variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H₂ – There are statistically significant …

Analysis Of Professors’ Perceptions Towards Institutional Redevelopment Of Brownfield Sites In Alabama, Berkley Nathaniel King Jr.

Dissertations

This study was conducted to analyze professors’ perceptions on the institutional redevelopment of brownfield sites into usable greenspaces. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011) refers to brownfields as sites, (either facility/land) under public law § 107-118 (H.R. 2869), which are contaminated with a substance that is classified as a hazard or a pollutant. Usable greenspaces, however, are open spaces or any open piece of land that is undeveloped, has no buildings or other built structures, and is accessible to the public (EPA, 2015).

Open green spaces provide recreational areas for residents and help to enhance the beauty and environmental quality …

Design And Synthesis Of Dynamic Covalent Polymer Scaffolds With Controlled Architectures, Emily Annette Hoff

Dissertations

The design and synthesis of functional, controlled polymer architectures is essential to the development of new materials with precise and tailorable properties or applications. The work described in this dissertation focuses on the development of controlled polymer architectures with dynamic linkages for the design of multifunctional materials and surfaces via robust, efficient, and stimuli-responsive strategies.

In Chapter III, a post-polymerization modification strategy based on ambient temperature nucleophilic chemical deblocking of polymer scaffolds bearing N-heterocycle blocked isocyanate moieties is reported. Room temperature RAFT polymerization of three azole-N-carboxamide methacrylates, including 3,5-dimethyl pyrazole, imidazole, and 1,2,4-triazole derivatives, afforded reactive polymer scaffolds …

Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Study Of Semiconductor Nanoparticles Towards Sensitive Detection Of Biomolecules, Yiliyasi Wusimanjiang

Dissertations

The main focus of this dissertation is to unfold the fundamental aspects of electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) generation from semiconductor nanoparticles (also known as quantum dots or QDs) within different ECL systems. The ECL and photo-physical interactions between the CdTe QDs (λ_emission= ~760 nm) and the CdSe QDs (λ_emission= ~550 nm), as well as the effects of carbon nanotubes on ECL of QDs were separately investigated. Optimum experimental conditions for peptide bond formation on an electrode surface through EDC (1-ethyl-3-(-3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride)/NHS (N-Hydroxysulfosuccinimide) coupling were also revealed using cyclic voltammetry technique. Based on the information …

Nanostructured Morphologies In Glassy Polymer Networks, Brian Greenhoe

Dissertations

The body of this work describes a novel approach for the dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in a high T_g epoxy prepolymer matrix using a twin screw high-shear continuous reactor. The method demonstrated improves on previous dispersion methods in several ways. It offers increased efficiency through excellent heat transfer, while being solvent-less, scale-able, and tailorable to drive dispersion states to judiciously chosen dispersion states. Furthermore, it was shown that dispersion state and agglomerate morphology can be directed, in several ways, through processing conditions and also by controlling the matrix viscosity profile through cure. Broadband dielectric spectroscopy, optical hot-stage microscopy, …

Crystallography And Magnetism Of Magnetocalorically Important Ni-Mn-X Based Heusler Alloys, Amila S. B. Madiligama

Dissertations

Ni-Mn-X Heusler alloys, demonstrating strong coupling between crystalline structure and magnetic state, were studied. They undergo field-induced, first-order transformations from a low symmetry martensite to a high-symmetry austenitic phase around room temperature. The substantial difference between the entropies of the two phases results in a large adiabatic temperature change, called “Giant Magnetocaloric Effect (GMCE)”. Consequently, these alloys are promising refrigerants for near-room temperature cooling systems. This magnetic cooling is an energy-efficient and eco-friendly technology.

Crystalline structures and magnetic states of these alloys, which determine their magnetocaloric performances, highly depend on their composition. To examine new paths to optimize their magnetocaloric …

The Case For Cultural Proficiency For Teachers Of Students Of Color Who Live In Poverty: A Policy Advocacy Document, Perry A. Finch

Dissertations

This document explores how expanding educators’ cultural proficiency leads to increased learning opportunities for students of color who live in poverty. Through the development of culturally responsive curriculum and instruction, teachers might increase their abilities to meet the needs of previously disenfranchised students. A connection exists between differentiated instruction and culturally responsive instruction, as both require a heightened understanding of students’ schema, interests, and culture. This policy argues that increasing educators’ cultural proficiency should not be done simply to increase teacher effectiveness with instruction but rather because it is a moral obligation of schools.

Understanding The Effects Of Summer School, Technology, And 21st Century Skills On Student Academics, Jennifer Camilleri

Dissertations

District XYZ has hosted traditional summer school for more than 20 years to assist students not quite ready to advance to the next grade. The district has become more diverse, and many students end the school year without solid mastery of that grade’s objectives. Therefore, summer school is a pivotal time for these students who have not mastered the grade-level content to gain a solid foundation before moving on to the next grade. Because of both the changing needs of the district’s student population and the relatively short amount of time in which summer school occurs, technological tools that can …

The Phenomenon Of Gifted Underachievement In Saudi Arabia, Naif Alfurayh

Dissertations

The underachievement of high potential students is considered a significant issue in the field of gifted education in the United States. For decades, researchers have studied why gifted students fail to achieve at high levels in school; however, the research base on this topic is limited in most Middle Eastern countries and nonexistent in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative research study was to gain an understanding of the perceptions of gifted education teachers, parents of gifted children, and gifted coordinators in Saudi Arabia regarding the phenomenon of gifted students who underachieve in school. Three parents of …

A Monte Carlo Simulation Comparing The Statistical Precision Of Two High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation Methods: A Value-Added Model And A Composite Measure, Bryden Michael Spencer

Dissertations

Value-added models are a class of growth models used in education to assign responsibility for student growth to teachers or schools. For value-added models to be used fairly, sufficient statistical precision is necessary for accurate teacher classification. Previous research indicated precision below practical limits. An alternative approach has been explored in which value-added models are incorporated into composite measures of teacher quality alongside subjective indicators. The aim of the current research was to explore the relative precision of the two evaluative approaches using simulated data. It was found that the composite measure produced fewer classification errors than the stand-alone value-added …

The Bayesian Method Of Estimation For The Number Of Latent Classes In Growth Mixture Models, Chittanun Sitthisan

Dissertations

It is widely accepted that blindly specifying an incorrect number of latent classes may result in misidentifying the class membership of observations and in inconsistently estimated parameters. The current dissertation examined the Bayesian method to estimate the number of latent classes in growth mixture models. The procedure for estimating the number of latent classes was developed via Markov chain Monte Carlo using the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. The key idea was to construct the likelihood function and then specify the prior information toward the number of latent classes (K), and then calculate the posterior distribution for K. Simulated observations were generated by …

Associations Between Teacher Interactional Quality And Student Achievement: A Classroom-Level Analysis Of Randomized And Non-Randomized Teacher Assignments In The Measure Of Effective Teaching Project, Chelsie Amber Hess

Dissertations

The powerful role teachers have on students’ learning and academic performance has been well established in the empirical literature. However, researchers have not been successful in explaining what exactly it is about teachers that foster students’ academic success in the classroom. The premise of this dissertation was that teachers who provide affirming, supportive, and organized interactions, also known as teacher interactional quality, have beneficial effects on students’ academic achievement. This dissertation used the largest education dataset of United States students, known as the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET), to examine the association of teacher interactional quality on classroom achievement. The …

Faculty's Knowledge, Pedagogy, And Integration Levels In The Implementation Of Ipads As An Instructional Tool, Xin Wang

Dissertations

Current literature showed there is a need to help faculty improve their iPad integration practices. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the researcher explored the relationship among faculty’s iPad integration levels, their teachers’ knowledge (TPACK), and pedagogy among faculty members who had integrated iPads into their teaching for at least two semesters. The data were collected with a cross-section questionnaire, follow-up interviews and artifacts. Responses were collected respectively with the three sections of the questionnaire: iPad Usage (N=160), TPACK (N=151), and demographics (N=147). Eight participants were interviewed after the survey. The results indicated TPACK and learning-centered pedagogy were necessary but insufficient …

Property Rights And International Trade: An Institutional Determinant Of Export Structure, Gregory Alan Bonadies

Dissertations

This work investigates the connection, independent of other factors, between a country’s system of law and property rights and patterns of trade. Stronger property rights institutions are hypothesized to lead to greater diversity in exports and a greater proportion of higher value-added exports. Production and export possibilities depend on capital, labor, and technology. Technology is the way in which capital and labor resources can be organized for productive purposes. Property rights condition expressions of technology and thus production possibilities and export potential. Consequently, if property rights vary between countries, then technological expression, production possibilities, and export potential vary as well. …

An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Demonstration Classroom Professional Learning Experience, Nicole M. Robinson

Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of the Demonstration Classroom professional development opportunity in meeting its stated goals:

• To increase teacher efficacy
• To share best practice instruction
• To increase collaborative culture
• To positively impact student performance
• To ensure that professional learning is applied and consistently implemented
• To give support to teachers in implementing new initiatives in the district.

The Demonstration Classroom experience allows teachers to observe others in practice and includes an application piece for observers to demonstrate their understanding of the new learning. To capture the perceptions of teachers involved in the Demonstration Classroom process, …

Personalized Professional Learning For Elementary Bilingual Educators: A Policy Advocacy Document, Nicole M. Robinson

Dissertations

This policy advocacy document advocates a policy to strengthen an existing elementary bilingual program through personalized professional development. Twin goals of the proposed policy are to (1) increase student achievement and (2) increase bilingual teacher retention. District 32’s bilingual program recently shifted from a Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) model to a Developmental Bilingual Education (DBE) model, which emphasized biliteracy. As a small suburban school district with a rapidly rising Hispanic and low-income student population, this shift raised awareness among district administrators of the need for a new professional development model geared toward its mostly inexperienced bilingual teachers. To be immediately …

Minority Middle And High School Students' Interest In Science: An Exploration Of Teachers' Perceptions, Caroline Makere

Dissertations

A high school teacher conducted a study about minority middle and high school students’ interest in science. The problem was to find out why African American and Hispanic students were showing very little interest in science. The researcher used four middle school science teachers and nine high school science teachers, all from inner city schools in a big city of the Midwest United States except for one middle school teacher from a nearby suburb. The participants answered a survey questionnaire followed with a face-to-face recorded interview. The findings of the study confirmed that students showed little interest in science due …

An Exploration Of Student Views On Grading And Learning In An Alternative School Setting, Lisa Heipp

Dissertations

Reducing barriers to learning is vital. High school teachers focus tirelessly on how best to engage students in learning; however, grading, which is a fundamental aspect of a teacher’s responsibilities, may be a significant barrier to learning. This dissertation examines students’ views on grading and learning in an alternative high school setting. The twelve students who are the focus of this research have experienced traditional school settings and an alternative charter school setting, thus they offer a perspective on grading and learning that is more widely informed than the majority of students in schools. This study is motivated by three …

From The Voices Of California Female Superintendents: Examining Barriers And Support Systems In A New Era Of Educational Reform Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Jennifer L. Martin

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to examine the barriers and support systems female California public school superintendents experienced while attaining and serving in their current position in a new era of educational reform in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

Methodology: This qualitative study examined 12 female California public school superintendents’ experienced barriers and support systems. Convenience sampling was applied to identify participants of specific criteria. The researcher collected and coded data from in depth interviews; interview protocol directly correlated with the research questions of this study. A variety of related artifacts were additionally gathered and analyzed …

A Mixed Method Study On Schema-Based Instruction, Mathematical Problem Solving Skills, And Students With An Educational Disability, Bill Casner

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the student outcomes of implementing schema-based instruction on students in grades 3-8 identified with an educational disability and ascertain how students’ developed mathematical problem solving skills. After special education teachers in a metropolitan school district in the Midwest administered a pre-assessment, the researcher used the results to select 21 students with an educational disability to participate in the mixed-methods study. Special education teachers implemented Asha K. Jitendra’s (2007) educational program titled, Solving Math Word Problems: Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities Using Schema-Based Instruction, during the 2013-2014 school year and taught participants using …

Fine Arts Coursework And Student Achievement Among African-American Students In A Midwest Setting, Douglas Erwin

Dissertations

The researcher designed this study to investigate a possible correlation between the number of years of fine arts coursework and achievement on the American College Test (ACT). The district studied was predominantly African American; therefore, similar schools may use the results to plan strategies to reduce the achievement gap. Results included a mild positive correlation between student ACT achievement and coursework in visual arts, and a moderate correlation between ACT achievement and performing arts. The more fine arts coursework a student received, the higher his or her ACT score. The researcher conducted a z-test for difference in means to compare …

Comparison Of Classroom Grades And Missouri End-Of-Course Exam Scores, Rodney Delmont

Dissertations

Educational leaders are tasked with finding the best practices for motivating students and accurately reporting progress (Popham, 2011). Additionally, the alignment of curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy can facilitate changes in education (Klenowski & Wyatt-Smith, 2014). Therefore, as districts align curriculum to assessment standards, students’ scores on assessments should increase (Squires, 2012). The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between Missouri English II end-of-course (EOC) exam scores and student grade-point averages (GPAs) earned in English II. Moreover, data were examined to determine if a correlation exists among student gender, Missouri English II EOC scores, and student …