Digital Commons Network^™

Is There A Relationship Between The Play Attention Program And Improved Student Achievement?, Jenny Ann Webber

Dissertations

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and its effects on student academic achievement have been researched for many years. There have been many interventions that have been used in treating ADHD that have been found successful when implemented consistently. Some of the interventions that have been researched in the past are behavior modification, pharmacotherapy with stimulants, educational interventions, and a combination of these. Play Attention is an intervention that incorporates aspects of behavior modification through computerized cognitive-training, which utilizes feedback-based technology. Through Play Attention, students wear a helmet or armband embedded with sensors. These sensors read students’ brain activity in order …

Factors That Contribute To Persistence And Retention Of Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem), Sidney Kirk Mitchell

Dissertations

The objective of this research was to identify specific factors that contribute to underrepresented minority (African American, Hispanic, Native American) undergraduate students‟ success in STEM disciplines at a regional university during the 2007-2010 timeframe. As more underrepresented minority (URM) students complete STEM degrees, many will possess the skills to become part of the domestic human capital needed to meet U. S. workforce demands and enhance the nation‟s STEM innovation. According to Burke and Mattis (2007), the lack of URM students in STEM education and in the workforce is one of the major contributors to STEM shortages in the United States. …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Variables That Contribute To The Academic Success Of Freshman Student-Athletes At A Football Championship Subdivision University, Lori L. Braa

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Fringed Myotis (Myotis Thysanodes), With A Focus On Colorado Distribution, Maternity Roost Selection, And Preliminary Modeling Of Population Dynamics, Mark Andrew Hayes

Dissertations

The purpose of my research was to describe the distribution and roosting ecology of Myotis thysanodes in Colorado, and to initiate preliminary population dynamics modeling of the potential impacts of a changing climate on forest dwelling Myotis in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Seven hundred and twenty-nine Colorado capture and occurrence records of M. thysanodes were documented. I used 546 M. thysanodes records that included information about sex and reproductive status in an analysis of variance comparing elevational distribution among sex and reproductive classes. There were significant differences among reproductive classes, but not between sex classes. Sixteen actual or probable M. …

Instructor-Initiated Questions And Student Participation In College Classroom Discussion, Christopher Hill

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transcriptions Of Renaissance And Baroque Polyphony For High School Band, Laura E. Zamzow

Dissertations

Ten vocal and instrumental pieces from the Renaissance and early Baroque have been selected and transcribed to provide a unique opportunity for high school band students. Through these transcriptions, students will gain historical perspective, including information about period instruments, composers and genres. Elements of music theory, style, and musicianship can be explored. The polyphonic quality of the Renaissance transcriptions will teach students to hear and perform independent melodic lines. Each transcription has been edited for modern instruments and concert band instrumentation. Musical elements (such as dynamics, bar-lines, and articulations) that are absent in the original pieces have been added so …

An Exploration Of Concise Redundancy In Online Multimedia Learning, Yu-Feng Wu

Dissertations

With the rapid growth of multimedia in education, the importance of investigating the effect of redundancy, repeating instructional messages to enhance conceptualization in instructional material design, is becoming more important. Various studies have been conducted recently regarding the effects of different forms of redundancy. A multimedia lesson presenting concurrent on-screen text, still graphics or animations, and narration is a typical setting in redundancy research. Concise redundancy is the revision of the on-screen text into a concise form which is presented to the learners concurrently with visualizations and narration. The purpose of this study was to investigate, while controlling for spatial …

Students' Knowledge Construction And Attitudes Toward Synchronous Videoconferencing In An Online Collaborative Problem-Based Learning Environment, Chatchada Akarasriworn

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' cognitive learning process during problem-based discussions in an online synchronous collaborative learning environment via videoconferencing. In addition, students' attitudes toward the online synchronous collaborative small-group discussions with videoconferencing as well as recommendations on how to improve their online synchronous collaborative small-group discussions with videoconferencing were investigated. The participants were 28 graduate students who took a graduate-level online Mathematical Modeling course at a western university. They were assigned into eight groups of three (or four) students to work on nine collaborative projects throughout the semester. They were instructed to utilize the Elluminate …

The Effect Of Instructional Methodology On Pre-Service Educators' Level Of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Shannon Haley-Mize

Dissertations

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is presented by Mishra and Koehler (2006) as a form of complex, situated knowledge that is a prerequisite to seamless and successful technology integration into educational spaces. This form of knowledge is believed necessary for technology use to transform classrooms into vibrant, collaborative spaces that build 21^st century skills – a transformation that has been elusive in K-16 spaces. Preservice education programs are poised to develop this type of knowledge in future teachers to contribute to the development of educators that can act as change agents. This study used a quasi-experimental, pre/post-test design to …

Precision Synthesis Of Functional Materials Via Raft Polymerization And Click-Type Chemical Reactions, Joel Diez Flores

Dissertations

The need to tailor polymeric architectures with specific physico-chemical properties via the simplest, cleanest, and most efficient synthetic route possible has become the ultimate goal in polymer synthesis. Recent progress in macromolecular science, such as the discoveries of controlled/“living” free radical polymerization (CRP) methods, has brought about synthetic capabilities to prepare (co)polymers with advanced topologies, predetermined molecular weights, narrow molecular weight distributions, and precisely located functional groups. In addition, the establishment of click chemistry has redefined the selected few highly efficient chemical reactions that become highly useful in post-polymerization modification strategies. Hence, the ability to make well-defined topologies afforded by …

Utility Of The Inventory Of Callous-Unemotional Traits In Adolescent Offenders And Non-Offenders: An Item Response Theory Analysis, Lisa Laurence Ansel

Dissertations

The current study utilized Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses to examine the item functioning of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick, 2003) in the assessment of psychopathy-linked traits in adolescents. Self-report psychopathy measures, such as the ICU, have become increasingly common for use with adolescents. However, questions remain regarding their reliability and utility for accurately assessing these traits (Poythress, Dembo, Wareham, & Greenbaum, 2006). IRT analyses offer unique methods of investigating test and item functioning in regards to the underlying trait an inventory purportedly assesses. The current study examined and compared the item functioning of the ICU for the …

Investigating Nitrate-Dependent Humic Substance Oxidation And In-Service K-12 Teachers' Understanding Of Microbiology, Nastassia N. Jones

Dissertations

Humic substances (HS) are the humified portions of totally decomposed soil organic matter that are ubiquitous in nature. Although these substances have been studied for more than 200 years, neither their metabolic capabilities nor a specific chemical structure has yet to be determined. HS have been studied as a carbon source in many environments where they are degraded; however, previous studies have shown that some microorganisms are capable of utilizing humic substances as electron acceptors and electron donors in anaerobic respiration. Even though there have been humic-reducing and humic-oxidizing microorganisms isolated and studied in recent years, the mechanism of humics …

Does The Use Of A Graphing Calculator Tutorial Affect The Attitudes, Achievement, And Calculator Ability Of Non-Mathematics Majors In A Calculus Course?, Kari Michelle Everett

Dissertations

The use of graphing calculators in a mathematics classroom is becoming more common place. Teaching with technology has allowed for advancements in the rapidity with which students learn and the degree to which they retain the material taught. As a result, teachers have time to delve more deeply into mathematical topics that might otherwise have merely been touched upon.

This study shows the effects of a graphing calculator tutorial for non-mathematics major students taking calculus as a required course. Qualitative methods were used in order to provide information about the types of students taking a calculus course for nonmathematic students. …

A Som+ Diagnostic System For Network Intrusion Detection, Chester Louis Langin

Dissertations

This research created a new theoretical Soft Computing (SC) hybridized network intrusion detection diagnostic system including complex hybridization of a 3D full color Self-Organizing Map (SOM), Artificial Immune System Danger Theory (AISDT), and a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). This SOM+ diagnostic archetype includes newly defined intrusion types to facilitate diagnostic analysis, a descriptive computational model, and an Invisible Mobile Network Bridge (IMNB) to collect data, while maintaining compatibility with traditional packet analysis. This system is modular, multitaskable, scalable, intuitive, adaptable to quickly changing scenarios, and uses relatively few resources.

An Examination Of Educators' Perceptions Of The School's Role In The Prevention Of Childhood Obesity, Sharon Harris Johnson

Dissertations

Childhood obesity is a prevalent subject of research currently, and many researchers have studied the effectiveness of school programs in battling obesity among students. This case study, utilizing ethnographic tools of observation, interviews, and investigation of artifacts, examines educators' perceptions of the role of the school in the prevention of this epidemic, how perceptions affect practices, and the barriers to prevention efforts. The lens of caring theory, social justice, and critical theory frame the analysis of how educators in a medium-sized elementary school contend with the problem of childhood obesity. Educators in this setting perceived their role in the prevention …

Exploring The Relationship Between Myers-Briggs Type And Instructional Perspectives Among College Faculty Across Academic Units, Pamela Jean Moehl

Dissertations

Education has the opportunity to play an integral role in sustaining the health of our economy in an increasingly competitive, global market. A review of the issues and trends impacting higher education reveals growing pressure placed on faculty to advance instructional outcomes among more diverse populations. Imbedded is the challenge to create new knowledge about how to improve instruction. As diversity among college students in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity continues to increase, psychological type provides a means for examining important differences in choice of academic discipline(s), persistence, learning style, and teaching style preferences. Faculty members face increasing pressure …

The Role Of Amyloid-Beta Assembly State In Monocyte Maturation And Smooth Muscle Cell Degeneration, Nikkilina Renee Crouse

Dissertations

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder which is ranked as a leading cause of death among Americans. AD is characterized by the presence of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular plaques made of amyloid ß (Aß). Together these pathologies lead to severe memory impairment in patients, but research has implicated the presence of the Aß deposits as likely causes for AD progression. Aß is produced through the proteolytic cleavage of the integral membrane amyloid precursor protein, which occurs through the action of beta- and gamma-secretases and produces 39-43 amino acid Aß peptides. In AD, the Aß plaques are comprised …

Normative Comparative Analysis Of Missouri School District‘S Technology Plans Using Ict180 Evaluation Tool, Norris Lee Roberts Jr.

Dissertations

This research study explored written plans for effective technology integration. The research study included a normative and comparative analysis of school technology plans using a researcher-developed, evaluation tool named Information Communication Technology (ICT) ICT180. The sample of 30 included Missouri public school districts that had plans reviewed and approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in June of 2009. ICT180 was an evaluation tool, which was used to critically review the objectives, strategies, and action steps in the school district technology plans. The tool provided an in-depth assessment of the five Technology Focus Areas of the Missouri …

The Impact Of Community College Developmental Education Programs On Student Success, Melissa A. Batchelor

Dissertations

With more people enrolling in college today, community colleges face a higher percentage of students who do not have college-level skills. To meet the needs of the underprepared student, colleges established developmental education programs. This study examined the success of developmental programs through examination of secondary data using a z-Test for difference in means, Chi-Square test for Independence, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, and ANOVA. Through use of these statistical tests, the researcher analyzed the differences between the data and compared the variables from each institution to determine areas of strength and weakness in student outcomes to link with use …

Does Scheduling Matter? An Analysis Of A New High School Academic Schedule Policy And Its Impact On Attendance, Discipline And Academic Achievement, Carletta Denise Washington

Dissertations

ABSTRACT The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze a Missouri school district’s newly adopted academic schedule type policy. The school’s new traditional academic schedule type replaced its previous block academic schedule type, effective for the 2005–2006 school year. This study reviewed the effectiveness of the policy change by analyzing the impact of each of the high school’s academic schedule types, block and traditional, on the high school’s targeted areas of student concern: attendance, academic achievement, and discipline incidents over a period of ten academic terms, 2000–2001, 2001–2002, 2002–2003, 2003–2004, 2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2008–2009, and 2009–2010. Attendance data …

Development Of New Strategies For Expeditious Oligosaccharide Synthesis, Sophon Kaeothip

Dissertations

The important role that carbohydrates play in biology and medicine has been the major incentive for devising new methods for chemical and enzymatic glycosylation. The chemical approach to oligosaccharides involves multiple synthetic steps and the development of new strategies that allow for streamlining the synthesis of these complex biomolecules is a significant area of research. The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to develop new reagents and efficient methodologies for oligosaccharide synthesis. It was found that siver(I) tetrafluoroborate can be used as a powerful activator of various glycosyl donors for oligosaccharide synthesis. This study evolved into the development of a …

Examining The Motivating Factors That Influence Students With An Associate's Degree To Complete A Bachelor's Degree At A Private University, Rudolph D, Smith

Dissertations

The intent of this study was to shed light on the reasons and factors that influence the decision for community college graduates to complete a bachelor’s degree at a private, not-for-profit university. In addition, this study sought to identify and describe why students persist during degree completion programs, as well as the inhibitors and facilitators found throughout such programs.

This research was built on the qualitative research paradigm employing semi-structured interviews and focus groups to investigate how the elements of motivation theory influenced students to complete a bachelor’s degree program. The findings from the study validate that students are motivated …

An Exploration Of How Disability Support Services Are Evaluated In Select Community Colleges, Donna Anita Walker

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative multi-site study was to explore how disability support service programs are evaluated in select Illinois community colleges through the use of the CIPP (context, input, process, and product) program evaluation framework. Stufflebeam’s (1969) CIPP model of program evaluation was adapted for this study. The study was undertaken to determine the following: (a) the fundamental elements of these programs; (b) why and in what ways the programs are implemented; (c) the evaluation process and impact on services; and (d) the influence of the knowledge base and skills of the director.

Based on the study findings, while …

Enhanced Membrane Distillation : Analytical And Deionization Applications, Ken Gethard

Dissertations

Membrane distillation (MD) is a newer technology that is being investigated for applications such as seawater desalination and concentration of fruit and sucrose solutions. The major advantage of MD over traditional thermal distillation is that it requires a substantially lower thermal energy requirement to power the process. This allows low grade energy sources such as waste heat or solar energy to be used with MD. Compared to concentration processes such as reversed osmosis or ion-exchange, MD does not require specialized equipment, high electrical consumption, the use of strong acids and bases nor does it generate hazardous waste as a by-product. …

Anti-Solvent Precipitation And Subsequent Film Formation Of Hydrophobic Drugs For Drug Delivery, Xiangxin Meng

Dissertations

It is estimated that about forty percent of the drug molecules being developed by the pharmaceutical industry are hydrophobic in nature, leading to poor water solubility and bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract. Dissolution is a limiting factor in their in vivo performance, and increasing their dissolution rate is a major challenge. It has been proven that the dissolution rate is directly proportional to the specific surface area, which can be effectively increased by reducing the particle size. Therefore, considerable efforts have gone into developing reliable and efficient methods for the manufacture of fine particles. Particle size reduction technologies such as …

Confidence Bands For Survival Functions Under Semiparametric Random Censorship Models, Peixin Zhang

Dissertations

In medical reports point estimates and pointwise confidence intervals of parameters are usually displayed. When the parameter is a survival function, however, the approach of joining the upper end points of individual interval estimates obtained at several points and likewise for the lower end points would not produce bands that include the entire survival curve with a given confidence. Simultaneous confidence bands, which allow confidence statements to be valid for the entire survival curve,would be more meaningful

This dissertation focuses on a novel method of developing one-sample confidence bands for survival functions from right censored data. The approach is model- …

Analysis Of Mueller Matrices Of Metamaterials And Multiferroics, Paul D. Rogers

Dissertations

The optical spectra of complex materials such as magnetic-dielectric media, magnetoelectric and multiferroic crystals, materials with intrinsic chirality, and metamaterials are studied. These media are important both for: (i) their interesting optical effects, such as Negative Index of Refraction (NIR) and impedance matching; and (ii) possible device applications such as switching devices and anti-reflection coatings. Proper characterization of complex materials requires advanced spectroscopic approaches and the development of theoretical models for data analysis. Berreman’s 4´4 matrix formalism is used to derive forward models for the optical spectra of Reflectivity, Transmission, Rotating Analyzer Ellipsometry (RAE), and Mueller Matrices (MM). The forward …

Development Of Advanced Algorithms To Detect, Characterize And Forecast Solar Activities, Yuan Yuan

Dissertations

Study of the solar activity is an important part of space weather research. It is facing serious challenges because of large data volume, which requires application of state-of-the-art machine learning and computer vision techniques. This dissertation targets at two essential aspects in space weather research: automatic feature detection and forecasting of eruptive events.

Feature detection includes solar filament detection and solar fibril tracing. A solar filament consists of a mass of gas suspended over the chromosphere by magnetic fields and seen as a dark, ribbon-shaped feature on the bright solar disk in Hα (Hydrogen-alpha) full-disk solar images. In this dissertation, …

A Study Of The New York / New Jersey Coastal Water : Bio-Optical Characteristics Of The Harbor Estuary And The Effects Of Heavy Metals On Brown Tide Alga Of The Bight, Bin Wang

Dissertations

The New York / New Jersey (NY/NJ) coastal area is one of the most productive regions around the world and a major natural and scenic resource for New York and New Jersey. As a result of excessive nutrient loading in the water, algal blooms have been observed since 1950’s. The NY/NJ coastal area includes the NY/NJ Bight and the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary, and in the former, brown tides (Aureococcus anophagefferens) were first observed in 1985 becoming a more serious water quality problem over the last 25 years. The influence of micronutrients, namely trace metals, on A. anophagefferens that are widespread …

High-Order Adaptive Methods For Computing Invariant Manifolds Of Maps, Jacek K. Wrobel

Dissertations

The author presents efficient and accurate numerical methods for computing invariant manifolds of maps which arise in the study of dynamical systems. In order to decrease the number of points needed to compute a given curve/surface, he proposes using higher-order interpolation/approximation techniques from geometric modeling. He uses B´ezier curves/triangles, fundamental objects in curve/surface design, to create adaptive methods. The methods are based on tolerance conditions derived from properties of B´ezier curves/triangles. The author develops and tests the methods for an ordinary parametric curve; then he adapts these methods to invariant manifolds of planar maps. Next, he develops and tests the …