Digital Commons Network^™

Educating Boys In Jamaica: In Search Of A New Lens, Marcia Sharon-May Chin

Dissertations

The need for innovative solutions to enhance educational outcomes for Jamaican high school male students is evident. For over two decades, national exam results demonstrate that these students have consistently underachieved. Using aqualitative research design, this study explores the possibility of scaling up a student leadership educational model, developed by one U.S. school that has proven successful in educating an inner city minority male student population, to a similarly placed Jamaican high school. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with stakeholders at an all male Jamaican school and with administrators at the Ministry of Education, to understand their perceptions regarding …

Bullies And Allies Near The Playground: Mothers' Experiences Of Aggression In Their Children's Schools, Mara Vicente Robinson

Dissertations

Despite an increasing understanding of the importance of both parent-involvement and aggression among women, there appears to be little understanding of how these two areas influence each other; specifically, the lack of literature examining the extent to which female guardians experienced aggression from other female guardians and the effect it had on their involvement in their children’s schools. In an effort to investigate the extent to which aggression was prevalent among female guardians, the factors that influenced the aggression, and the effects of that aggression on women’s involvement in their children’s education, a convergent parallel mixed methods design was used …

Iranian Leadership Ideals: A Culturally-Based Leadership Approach, Azadeh Davari

Dissertations

In light of many current financial and ethical crises, scholars have called for looking beyond our existing Western-based approaches for innovative leadership practices. Recent research about the success and unique management practices of Indian corporations (Cappelli et al., 2010) shows a unique style based on both people and profit and one that blends capitalist profit-based structures with caring for people and community. That research has been the basis for suggestions for the existence of a distinct Indo-European leadership (IEL) style (Nahavandi, 2012a; Nahavandi & Krishnan, 2017) with philosophical roots in Iran and India and provides impetus for looking beyond Western …

An Examination Of Generational Factors On Faculty Engagement In Shared Governance In The Northern California Community College System, Gina Lord

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe the factors that motivated northern California community college faculty of the Baby Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial generations to become engaged in shared governance and campus-wide committees, and to determine what differences existed between the generations.

Methodology: This research used a qualitative methodology and applied a phenomenological approach. The data for this study was gathered by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 16 fulltime faculty members from the Solano, Marin, and Sonoma County community college districts.

Findings: The findings from this study identified factors that motivated faculty to engage …

The Effects Of Geospatial-Intelligence On United States-Mexico Border Security, Heather Martin

Dissertations

Following the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terror attacks on American soil, politicians and the media drew a parallel between US-Mexican border security issues such as illegal immigration, and terrorism, highlighting an increased need to secure our southern border in an effort to prevent another 9/11-style terror attack (Maril 2011). Under securitization theory, the linking of border security issues such as illegal immigration to terrorism can be defined as a securitization act or more simply put, the portrayal of a specific issue as a threat to national security (Balzcaq 2011). Once an issue has been deemed a threat (“securitized”), the use …

Knowledge, Technical Skills, And Employability Skills Required Of Accounting Graduates: Perceptions Of Certified Public Accountants In Mississippi, Lisa Sandifer

Dissertations

Employers report recent college graduates are not prepared for the workforce and a skills gap exists (O’Bannon, 2016). Research indicates accounting graduates do not have the skills needed when entering the workforce (Altarawneh, 2016). The skills gap is costing companies money (Nanduri, 2017). Employers report extended job vacancies cost U.S. companies close to one million dollars annually (Nanduri, 2017). Also, the skills gap costs the U.S. economy an estimated $160 billion per year (Fisher, 2014).

This research determined the knowledge, technical skills, and employability skills required of accounting graduates in the workforce as perceived by Mississippi CPAs and determined if …

African American Women: The Role Of Education, Spirituality, And Resilience In Their Transition From Poverty, Donna Scott

Dissertations

African American women born into impoverished families often have difficulty moving beyond their low socioeconomic circumstances (Cozarelli, Wilkinson, & Tagler, 2001). Although education has been shown to influence the lives of African American women, limited research has been conducted relative to the influence of education in their transition from poverty. Also, while there is considerable evidence regarding the authoritative role of spirituality in the lives of women, and for African American women in particular (Mattis, 2002), little research has focused on how African American women utilized spirituality as a source of strength in response to the challenges of poverty. The …

Assessing At-Risk Students' Attitudes Toward The Implementation Of Instructional Technology, Christopher Harper

Dissertations

With the growing trend on the reliance on technology in today's youth, education has also been changing with the implementation of technology in the classroom setting. With immigrant populations increasing in the US, K-12 education must meet the demand in education to not only first generation immigrant students, but also to their reliance on technology. Research has been conducted on at-risk students and the implementation of technology in the classroom, but not so much on what first generation immigrant at-risk students think of the implementation of one computer for every student in the classroom setting and if they find it …

Consciously Becoming Black: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Sub-Saharan African International Students' Racial Identity Development At Historically Black Colleges And Universities In The American South, Tanyaradzwa Chipo Mandishona

Dissertations

Research about the experiences of Black international students studying in the United States is limited and often grouped with the experiences of all international students. While all international students share similar experiences and difficulties adjusting to their lives in the United States, Black international students have a unique experience based on their race and the historical connection they share with their Black American peers. Many Black sub-Saharan African international students are raised in countries where race is not a significant identity and therefore do not view race as significant part of their identity. However, race is a salient part of …

Exploring Churn And Alignment Between Retention And Occupational Culture As Perceived By Professional Truck Drivers, Catherine M. Cole

Dissertations

Despite advances in logistics software and increased driver pay, the trucking industry continues a historic wave of human capital risks in the form of driver turnover and driver shortages. Previous efforts to understand the phenomenon of driver turnover rely heavily on supply chain, transportation, and logistics based disciplines. The current study provides a human capital ontology towards understanding professional truck driver perceptions. Within the interpretive framework of pragmatism, the study applied a simultaneous ethnographic and phenomenological research design to explore the phenomenon of churn and professional truck driver perceptions of environmental alignment between trucking industry retention strategies and the occupational …

K-12 Teachers' Beliefs On The Impact Of Corporal Punishment On Students' Academic Performance, Robert Sanders

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to take a closer look into the perceptions of K-12 teachers on the impact of corporal punishment on students’ academic performance. The qualative data from this study was gained through a survey administered to K-12 teachers from schools in the state of Mississippi that allow corporal punishment and schools that do not allow corporal punishment. The survey was administered to the volunteers after their staff meetings or Professional Learning Communities. The researcher read a brief statement to the participants and collected the surveys after they completed them. Mississippi is one of the states that …

Rendering Reliance: Consuming Coloniality In The Global North, Victoria L. Brown

Dissertations

In this dissertation, I offer a theoretical lens for understanding how the Global South is imagined by the Global North. The Global South has become a popular cause that for-profit companies use in order to engage in what Samantha King terms cause-marketing. While individuals in the South are certainly helped by these campaigns, they are harmed through Northern consumers being empowered by private companies encouraging them to adopt a colonizing gaze that subjugates those in the South with adhering to stereotypes. I develop three rhetorical devices that fulfill stereotypes long-held about those who are “other.”

First, I offer the endangered …

Creating Digital Stories With Saudi Arabian Pre-Service Teachers: Using The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Model To Promote Lesson Plan Development, Yosra Mohammed Bugis

Dissertations

In this digital age, teachers need to incorporate advanced technology into their classrooms. Digital storytelling (DST) is one such skill that has been shown to be effective for learners. However, not enough teachers have adequate training to implement this strategy and interventions are focused mainly on current teachers. There is a need to train teachers before they finish their teacher training programs. However, to do this effectively, the field of teacher education needs more knowledge and understanding of pre-service teachers’ perceptions, needs, and experiences in using DST as a structured teaching model. This qualitative study examined 38 Saudi Arabian pre-service …

The National Hockey League Totals Market: Efficiency, Profitability, And Heuristic Behaviors, Alexander Traugutt

Dissertations

The National Hockey League (NHL) totals market provides an optimal setting to test the theory of efficient markets. Under the notion of market efficiency, prices of an asset are reflexive of all publicly available information, making it impossible to enjoy consistent, above-average, returns. In contrast to the other major professional sporting leagues in North America, the NHL was the last to become fully integrated into sportsbooks, thus making it more susceptible to inefficiencies. To date, there has only been one published study related to the NHL totals market, which found deviations from market efficiency. The present research builds and expands …

Systems Of Quantity Judgment In Various Species: A Meta-Analysis, Tiffany A. Woodard Baker

Dissertations

An abundance of behavioral and neuroimaging literature supports the presence of two cognitive systems for quantity judgments (Agrillo & Bisazza, 2014). In particular, small quantities are thought to be guided by the object-file system, a precise system that uses mental files to map onto real world objects, and large quantities by the approximate number system, an imprecise, estimation system (Dehaene, 1997). Evidence supporting both systems exists in a variety of species including nonhuman primates (Boysen & Hallberg, 2000), birds (Garland, Low, & Burns, 2012), amphibians (Uller, Jaeger, Guidry, & Martin, 2003), and fish (Agrillo, Dadda, Serena, Bisazza, 2009), but support …

Identifying The Social Contexts Present For Mouthing Behaviors In Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Erin E. Frick

Dissertations

Much of the research on dolphin communication has focused on the acoustic signals produced in a variety of social contexts. Although acoustic signals are undoubtedly an important aspect of dolphin communication systems, dolphin communication is multifaceted and multimodal (e.g., postural, visual and tactile signals, acoustic cues). The present study examined behaviors that involve the mouth (i.e., mouthing behaviors) in a group of captive dolphins using 2,696 minutes of underwater acoustic and video recordings collected from 2010 – 2014. Target behaviors are described as primarily visual (e.g., open-mouth display), both visual and acoustic (e.g., jaw claps), and tactile (e.g., mouthing, biting). …

Investigating The Construct Of Health Literacy Assessment: A Cross-Validation Approach, Bethany Miller

Dissertations

According to researchers, low health literacy is considered a worldwide health threat (Lee, Tsai-Tzul, Tsai, & Kuo, 2010). With the recent emphasis on healthcare and improving health status, knowledge has proven vital in the struggle for improved health status and health prevention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the measurement of health literacy utilizing a cross-validation approach. Health literacy measurement has been assessed using three health literacy instruments that are currently available: Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (STOFHLA), Newest Vital Sign (NVS), and Health Literacy Skills Instrument (HLSI). This study used an exploratory research design. …

The Flutists Of The John Philip Sousa’S Band: A Study Of The Flute Section And Soloists, Ramon Da Silva Moraes

Dissertations

The Sousa Band is widely known because of its leader and his compositions. Although it was one of the most successful ensembles in history, most of the instrumentalists and individuals who contributed to its success have had their legacies forgotten. The flute section of the Sousa Band is an example of a group of musicians who were recognized as some of the best in the United States during their time, but are neglected by the present flute community.

My research focused on gathering data about the flute section and the individuals who were instrumental for the creation and development of …

Grant Green: An Analysis Of The Blue Note Guitarist’S Musical Vocabulary, Teague Stefan Bechtel

Dissertations

This study examines the musical vocabulary of Blue Note Records guitarist Grant Green. By analyzing transcribed solos recorded between the years 1961 to 1965, this study seeks to establish a consensus of rhythmic and harmonic vocabulary that can be attributed to the jazz guitarist. Green’s harmonic vocabulary has been discussed in relation to elements outlined in the Jerry Coker book, “Elements of the Jazz Language for the Developing Improviser.” Elements of rhythmic vocabulary, time feel, phrasing, and sound concept have been discussed as stand-alone subjects. Sections are addressed with a foundation of theoretical and historical context, as well as with …

Effectiveness Of Student Engagement Using Learning Management System In The Blended Learning Environment At Saudi Electronic University, Yousef Almoslamani

Dissertations

The use of learning management systems (LMS) in higher education continues to grow, yet research into the impact of the amount of engagement on student outcomes is still developing. This dissertation investigated the relationships between student engagement and student outcomes in the blended learning environment of Saudi Electronic University. It used data from LMS activities self-reported by students with special attention to whether gender played a role in the level of engagement and quality of outcome. This dissertation used a quantitative method to analyze the correlational relationship between the perceived amount of time students spent hourly participating in LMS activities …

The Effects Of In Vitro Fish Oil And Dietary Fish Meal Supplementation On Microdomains Within Bovine Luteal Cells, Michele Renae Plewes

Dissertations

Lipid microdomains are regions of plasma membrane rich in cholesterol and sphingolipids, ranging in size from 10–200 nm in diameter. These structures serve as platforms to facilitate co-localization of intracellular signaling proteins during agonistinduced signal transduction. The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are a distinct class of fatty acids that have been shown to incorporate into lipid microdomains, disrupting the structural integrity of domains, and possibly attenuation of cell signaling. Fish byproducts, such as fish oil or meal, are a rich source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that can be supplemented into cell cultures and diets of breeding females as a …

Catholic Students Intersecting With The Academy: An Exploration Of Religious Identities, Sara Elizabeth Miller

Dissertations

This study is a constructivist, narrative case study exploring the experiences of Catholic college students at a secular university. Eight student narratives are explored through the lens of intersectionality theory, in the context of classroom experiences. This study reviews the history of religion in higher education, Christian privilege, religious identity development, and sense of belonging in order to contextualize the participants’ perceptions of being marginalized in academic settings. With consideration for current social issues and political debates, students reflected on their experiences and ultimately revealed that Catholic students are feeling marginalized in their classrooms, not only for their specific beliefs, …

The Postmodern Indian: Representation And The Films Of Sherman Alexie, Tara P. Mccrink Burcham

Dissertations

For hundreds of years, Native Americans have been characters in American media. For most of those years, whites determined the way in which Native Americans were represented. First in print, radio, silent movies and later talkies and television, representations of Native Americans have included being uneducated sidekicks, savages, noble savages seeking to steal white women, drunken idiots, or hilarious jesters all for the entertainment of viewers. This troublesome history of negative depictions of Native Americans is the reason this research is directed at the films by Native American writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie. This research is a qualitative analysis of …

The Characterization Of The Transcription Factor Msab And Its Role In Staphylococcal Virulence, Justin Batte

Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus is a common human pathogen that is responsible for a wide range of infections, ranging from relative minor skin infections to life-threatening disease such as bacteremia, septicemia, and endocarditis. S. aureus possesses many different virulent factors that aid in its ability to cause this wide array of infections. One major virulence factor includes the production of capsular polysaccharide (CP). The production of CP plays a major role in the virulence response during infection specifically by providing S. aureus an antiphagocytic mechanism that allows the pathogen to evade phagocytosis during an infection. S. aureus has developed complex genetic regulatory …

Hand And Wrist Overuse Injuries In Flutists: Physical Causes And Prevention, Xin Jing

Dissertations

In music, overuse injury is a common problem that is insufficiently addressed by many instrumentalists. Research has shown a significant number of flutists have suffered from overuse-related injuries. If flutists become cognizant of the anatomy, alignment, and function in their fingers, hands, and wrists, they will recognize how practicing wisely can prevent injuries. By incorporating informed, preventative measures into practice routines, the need for treatment is unnecessary or minimized. However, in current literature, there is a lack of research pertaining to physical causes and prevention of overuse injuries for this population and this issue. In this dissertation, the author delves …

Cowboy Art Song: A Contextual And Musical Analysis Of Libby Larsen's "Cowboy Songs", Ann Gabrielle Richardson

Dissertations

This dissertation sprang from a combination of two personal interests: cowboy culture and classical art song. The union of my cowgirl heritage with my career as a classical vocalist has long fueled an interest in a particular niche of repertoire: soprano art song with thematic connections to the North American cowboy. A conducted state of research reveals no scholarly literature exploring this specific topic. Libby Larsen’s collection, Cowboy Songs, fulfills the aforementioned niche, successfully capturing the spirit, musical idioms, and cultural themes of the North American cowboy.

Chapter I lays a contextual foundation for cowboy song, providing a catalogue …

A Conductor's Guide To Christian Wind Band Literature, Wesley Dykes

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a conductor’s guide of the highest quality high school, collegiate, and professional Christian wind band literature readily available to those wind band conductors desiring to perform such works. Before this study, wind band conductors who wished to program sacred works did not have a convenient way to find such works, nor obtain pertinent information about them. The National Band Association Selective Music List was used as the source for all of the works in this conductor’s guide to help ensure the quality of the literature included; the list contains works of Grades …

Teachers' Confidence And Preparedness For Teaching Mobile Learners, Kelley Kirk Gonzales

Dissertations

Mobile devices, such as tablets, laptops, and Smart phones have changed the landscape of education requiring teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. The integration of mobile devices in the classroom is referred to as mobile learning, and requires teachers to be confident and prepared in their ability to teach mobile learners. This study was an attempt to explore and examine teachers’ confidence and preparedness in teaching mobile learners and close some of the gaps in the research. A quantitative method of investigation and analysis was used for this study to draw conclusions relative not only to teachers’ confidence and …

A Qualitative Case Study In Augmented Reality Applications In Education: Dimensions Of Strategic Implementation, Abrar S. Almoosa

Dissertations

The main purpose behind technology integration is to improve the teaching and learning process. Augmented reality (AR) is a new instructional tool in the educational field. Current literature showed AR integration is successful in the United States. However, it does not exist for Kuwait. Despite the time and money invested to integrate different instructional tools, teachers in Kuwait have been unaware of the existence of the AR application and its potential use in the classroom. There is a need to help teacher educators in Kuwait use AR applications and maximize the benefits of this technology for students’ best interests. This …

How Current Rural Superintendents Believe Aspiring Superintendents Can Best Prepare For The Position, Jeremy Alan Burmeister

Dissertations

The demands and challenges placed upon individuals starting a new career as a school superintendent can be daunting. As the chief education officer (CEO) of the school district, the superintendent faces a tremendous number of dynamic issues and complex problems ( Cambron-McCabe, Cunningham, Harvey, & Koff, 2005; Kowalski, McCord, Peterson, Young, & Ellerson, 2011). At a time of increasing complexity with the role of the superintendency, approximately 49% of the individuals in the position that participated in an AASA survey in 2010 stated they planned to retire by 2015 and an additional 33% responded in an AASA survey taken in …