Digital Commons Network^™

Organizational Responsiveness To Anti-Offshoring Institutional Pressures, Shaji Ahmed Khan

Dissertations

This study explores the extent to which organizations are responsive to pressures from institutional constituents against offshoring of information technology and business processes. Drawing on a theoretical framework that integrates institutional and strategic explanations, it proposes that organizational responsiveness to anti-offshoring institutional pressures is a function of both the characteristics of such pressures as well as organizations’ prior success with offshoring. Results based on moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses on survey data from 84 offshoring client organizations indicate the following. First, both greater organizational expectations of enhanced social legitimacy obtained from compliance and mimetic influences from other organizations led to …

The Impact Of Students With Special Education Needs In The General Education Setting On Missouri’S State Assessment, Chad D. Lent

Dissertations

Schools and educators have been increasingly educating students with disabilities in the general education setting; while at the same time the level of accountability for making a positive outcome on high stakes assessments for all students has increased. This study began with utilizing the data from 1250 elementary schools from all 524 districts in the state of Missouri over a three-year period (i.e. 2008, 2009, and 2010). This study examined the impact that students with disabilities participating in the general education setting had on the Missouri’s Assessment Program’s (MAP) Communication Art and Mathematics assessments for student with and without disabilities. …

Advising Style Perceptions And Preferences Of Students And Advisors, Gladys Patricia Brown Jordan

Dissertations

The best style of advising to offer students has been questioned over and over. The literature review revealed uncertainty related to national surveys of advisors and students and encouraged smaller institutional reviews.

The Academic Advising Inventory (Winston and Sandor, 1984b), was administered to a proportionate to size random sample of advisors (faculty and professional) and then to the advisees of the advisors who responded to the survey. Variables of interest for advisors included age, gender, type (faculty or professional), and college. Variables of interest for students included gender, ethnicity, age, classification, generational status, and GPA.

A standard multiple regression, one-way …

Development Of An Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Primary Care Telephone Clinic, Linda G. Kaiser

Dissertations

Abstract Development of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Primary Care Telephone Clinic This pilot project developed and implemented a telephone clinic based on established Veterans Affairs telephone policy and procedures and determined patient acceptability of this new visit type as an alternative to face to face visits. The review of the literature produced research that indicates telephone clinics are a viable visit option for patients. Telephone visits provide access to the primary care provider while being convenient and economical for patients. Research studies demonstrate that patients are satisfied with this visit option. The pilot project was successfully implemented in a …

Contribution Of The Mnr2 Protein To Magnesium Homeostasis In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Nilambari Prafulla Pisat

Dissertations

Magnesium is an essential metal nutrient with diverse roles in biology. To maintain the optimal function of key biological processes, intracellular Mg2+ concentration is tightly regulated. Despite the importance of this process however, relatively little is known about mechanisms of Mg2+ homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. An understanding of homeostasis starts with defining the function of key transport proteins that allow the passage of Mg2+ ions across the membranes. Yeast geneticists have identified four proteins from Bakers' yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) involved in regulating the accumulation of Mg2+ within the cell (Alr1 and Alr2) and within the mitochondrial compartment (Mrs2 and Lpe10). …

Evaluation Of Electronic Assessment Systems And Their Ability To Meet Ncate Standard 2, Anthony Kirchner

Dissertations

The pressures relating to accountability and data collection, not only from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) but also from other national organizations, continue to increase the demand for educator preparation programs to systematically collect, analyze, and report on the success of their students and their programs. Many educator preparation programs have turned to electronic assessment systems (EASs) to help ease the data collection burden, to allow for the collection, aggregation, disaggregation, and reporting of data for programmatic improvement, as well as to meet the needs of the accreditation process.

The purpose of this study was to …

Factors Influencing The College Choice Of Music Majors Attending A Four Year Institution: A Comparative Study, Ryan Curtis

Dissertations

The purpose of this research sought to investigate and compare the factors influencing the college choice of music majors attending four-year private and four-year public universities. A comparison of college choice data among four universities was completed in the following areas: academic, institutional, financial, and personal/social. These influences leading to college choice are based on the study of real-life decision-making (Galotti, 1995) and the factors which influence the music majors choice of institution (Locke, 1982). The four main factors deemed important in college choice, surveyed through a 31 question survey and a follow up interview, focused on which of these …

Interpreting And Implementing English Language Arts State Standards/Expectations In Secondary Classrooms, Amanda Stearns-Pfeiffer

Dissertations

In my dissertation, I investigate the way in which English Language Arts (ELA) state standards are being interpreted and implemented, and how this implementation process affects the curricular decisions teachers make. This project focuses generally on the standards movement in American education, and more specifically on the ways teachers navigate the standards in their own classrooms.

The goal of this study is to problematize and better understand the end-result of current standards as they are conceived of by the final arbiters and interpreters of those standards – classroom English language arts teachers. Much work has been done in creating standards, …

An Inquiry Into Workplace Incivility: Perceptions Of Working Graduate Students, Ashley E. Greene

Dissertations

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine and determine the level of incivility in the workplace as a growing problem from the perceptional views of graduate students enrolled in accelerated degree programs for graduate studies in Business Administration, Criminal Justice Administration, Gerontology, Health Management, and Human Resource Management at a private Midwestern university. Modest research on the subject of incivility in the workplace has emerged only recently to identify the problem exists in today‘s workforce, while studies inclusive of diverse populations of employees with short and long term career paths and ranges of employment service years …

A Study Of Support Services And Their Relationship With School Effectiveness In American Public Schools: Findings From The School And Staffing Survey (Sass) 2007-2008, Diane J. Gibbs

Dissertations

This study inquires into support services in schools and their relationship to school effectiveness by using data from the National Center for Education Statistics 2007–2008 School and Staffing Survey (SASS). Students’ ability to learn is impacted by their physical and mental health. It is more difficult to measure the influence of nonacademic factors on academic achievements than traditional academic factors. This study focuses on (a) the extent support services, beyond regular classroom instruction, are provided, (b) how provision is affected by school background, (c) whether and, if so, how providing support services relates to school effectiveness, and (d) whether and, …

Identification And Characterization Of Suppressors Of Hopm1; A Plant Pathogen Effector Of Pseudomonas Syringae Pv. Tomato Dc3000, Vanessa Revindran

Dissertations

We have created a yeast model system to study the action of the plant pathogen effector HopM1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pseudomonas syringae, causative agent of bacterial speck in tomatoes, utilizes the type III secretion system to shuttle the effector proteins into the host cell.

When expressed in yeast, HopM1 is lethal on solid media at 21°C, but not at 30°C and 37°C. The same temperature sensitive ability of HopM1 to cause death on solid media is also observed in liquid. As demonstrated by SDS PAGE-Western blot analysis, HopM1 protein is present at 21°C, 30°C and 37°C. At 21°C, a full-length …

Optical And Electrochemical Sensors For The Detection Of Metal Ions And Nerve Gas Mimics Via Fluorescein And Coumarin Derivatives, Fasil Adefris Abebe

Dissertations

Trace element detection of metals, for example, iron, Copper and zinc, are important in biological systems and in the environment. Many of us are aware that our cells contain metal ions that are “tied” up in proteins. However, chelatable or “free” trace elements can also be found in small quantities, and can have a negative impact on our bodies. Despite the increasing surge in developing sensors for metals and nerve gas agents, efficient detection still remains a challenge. Among the various sensors developed so far, fluorescence sensors play an important role due to their simplicity. I design fluorescein-based chemosensors for …

Faithful Remembering: Constructing Dutch America In The Twentieth Century, David E. Zwart

Dissertations

The people of the Dutch-American community constructed and maintained a strong ethnoreligion identity in the twentieth despite pressures to join the mainstream of the United States. A strong institutional completeness of congregations and schools resulted from and contributed to this identity. The people in these institutions created a shared identity by demanding the loyalty of members as well as constructing narratives that convinced people of the need for the ethnoreligious institutions.

The narratives of the Dutch-American community reflected and reinforced a shared identity, which relied on a collective memory. The framing, maintaining, altering, and remodeling of the collective memory from …

Stop Snitching: Hip Hop's Influence On Crime Reporting In The Inner City, Ladel Lewis

Dissertations

The “stop snitching” phenomenon is a social epidemic that is affecting inner cities from coast to coast. These street politics have an adverse effect on the way individuals in the inner city view cooperation with police. With hip hop culture claiming a larger stake on the global stage, and mainstream artists sparking attention by denouncing cooperation with authorities while reproving others that choose to do so, this research examines if a relationship exists between individuals that adhere to the “code of silence” and self-professed hip hoppers. While much has been written about the significance of hip hop culture on the …

Missouri Educator Perceptions On The Use Of Smartphones/Cell Phones In A Secondary School Setting: Their Relationship To Instruction, Christopher Birch

Dissertations

This mixed methods study evaluated the differences in the perceptions of educators in the state of Missouri on cell phone use in the classroom setting and its relationship to instruction. Specifically, this study analyzed the difference in perceptions and relationships that exist among educators (teachers and counselors) and administrators in Missouri public schools. Furthermore, this study also examined relationships between region (rural versus suburban), school setting (middle school versus high school), and education level (bachelors and masters/specialist/doctorate) and interest level in using cell phones as an instructional tool. In addition, this research investigated current instructional practices involving mobile technology. Through …

Patterns Of Interaction And Mathematical Thinking Of High School Students In Classroom Environments That Include Use Of Java-Based, Curriculum-Embedded Software, Karen L. Fonkert

Dissertations

This study analyzes the nature of student interaction and discourse in an environment that includes the use of Java-based, curriculum-embedded mathematical software. The software CPMP-Tools was designed as part of the development of the second edition of the Core-Plus Mathematics curriculum. The use of the software on laptop computers in small groups of students, and in whole-class interactive lessons with a single computer at the front of the classroom was explored. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and selected items from the students’ regular assessments. During the observations, classroom discussion was audio-taped and videotaped, and field notes were taken. The …

In Their Own Words: The Lived Experiences Of Unemployed African American Men, Kenlana R. Ferguson

Dissertations

Due to staggering unemployment rates, African American men's experience with work in the U.S. has historically received widespread attention in the media and social science literature. Terms such as black male unemployment crisis, puzzle, epidemic and catastrophe have been used to describe the unemployment woes of black. Attempts at explaining why African American men are experiencing such difficulty in the world of work has been undertaken across the disciplines, however much of this work has amounted to nothing more than acknowledgement that isolating independent factors as causes does not suffice and that a more interdisciplinary framework is needed if we …

The Perceptual Difference In Roles And Responsibilities Of Special Education Paraprofessionals, Carmen Renee Harris

Dissertations

Based on the researcher's experience as a coordinator of special education, general and special education administrators are challenged with creating, implementing, and supervising special education services addressing the diverse needs of students with disabilities in the general education setting. The researcher has collaborated with principals to review programming options for students with disabilities participating in inclusive general education classrooms and found that often this inclusive programming involves the use of a special education paraprofessional. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine if there was a difference in perception between a student's team members (general education teacher, special …

Examining The Relationship Between Spirituality And Persistence Of Community College Graduates Who Matriculate To The Baccalaureate Degree Granting Institution, Shawn L. Govan

Dissertations

Community college students, more often than not, face challenges not typical to those of traditional-aged students. They are more likely to attend part-time, tend to be the least academically prepared, more financially challenged, often working, and have a greater likelihood of being single parents. What drives these students to not only graduate from the community college, but go on to continue at four-year institutions? Also, how do these students define, or come to “make meaning” of the force that drives their persistence in higher education?

The purpose of this study examines the relationship between spirituality and persistence of Illinois community …

Analysis Of A Composite Dielectric-Ferrite Loaded Resonator Using The Transmission Line Model With Application To A Tunable Dual Mode Bandpass Filter, Charlotte Blair

Dissertations

A magnetically tuned filter is presented in this dissertation. Filter tuning of a dielectric ceramic resonator is accomplished using by using two oppositely biased ferrites. Specifically, a change in the applied magnetic field is used to alter the permeability of the ferrite so as to achieve maximum tuning range. Through electromagnetic (EM) simulations and laboratory experiments, tuning of the filter passband by 20 MHz is demonstrated.

This investigation focuses on the design of a bandpass resonator using a combination of dielectric-ferrite material layers. An initial simplification of the geometry of the structure is used as the basis for a program …

Hot-Melt Mixing Of Partially Miscible Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient-Polymer Mixtures, Min Yang

Dissertations

Solid dispersion/solution processes for producing pharmaceutical oral dosages such as hot-met extrusion (HME) have received increasing attention by industry and academe because they can enhance drugs’ solubility and even bioavailability to a great extent by converting drugs from crystalline to amorphous form. HME can be carried out at two process temperature regimes: one where T_process > T_m of the drug and the T_g of the polymer (or the T_m for the case of semi-crystalline polymers); the other at T_m > T_process > T_g (T_m for the case of semi-crystalline polymer). Processing below the drug’s …

Micromechanical Study Of Two-Phase Flow During Air Sparging, Shengyan Gao

Dissertations

Air sparging (AS) is an in-situ soil/groundwater remediation technology, which involves the injection of pressurized air/oxygen through an air sparging well below the region of contamination. The efficiency of the in-situ sparging system is mainly controlled by the extent of contact between injected air and contaminated soil and pore fluid. Hence, characterizing the mechanisms governing movement of air through saturated porous media is therefore critical to the design of an effective cleanup treatment. However, in spite of the success of air sparging as a remediation technique for the clean-up of contaminated soils, to date, the fundamental mechanisms or the physics …

Development Of X-Ray Holography Methods For Structure Determination : Application Of High Speed Detectors And Novel Numerical Methods, Yuhao Wang

Dissertations

Holographic methods show much promise to enable direct determination of atomic structure with minimal assumptions and approximations. The approach can, in principle, provide three dimensional information on atomic positions. However, significant developments in experimental techniques, instrumentation and in data collection and analysis are needed. A review of the holography method is given with a focus on X-ray fluorescence holography. Methods for analysis of X-ray holographic data are also reviewed. An overview of the detectors relevant to X-ray measurements is also presented. An experimental apparatus for rapid acquisition of X-ray holographs using novel X-ray detectors has been developed. The integration of …

Approximate String Matching Methods For Duplicate Detection And Clustering Tasks, Oleksandr Rudniy

Dissertations

Approximate string matching methods are utilized by a vast number of duplicate detection and clustering applications in various knowledge domains. The application area is expected to grow due to the recent significant increase in the amount of digital data and knowledge sources. Despite the large number of existing string similarity metrics, there is a need for more precise approximate string matching methods to improve the efficiency of computer-driven data processing, thus decreasing labor-intensive human involvement.

This work introduces a family of novel string similarity methods, which outperform a number of effective well-known and widely used string similarity functions. The new …

Hear3d: A Study Of Spatial Sounds Effect On Language Learning, Brendan Cregan

Dissertations

Spatial sound is the manipulation of audio to add the illusion of position to the source of the sound, i.e. making sounds seem to originate from behind you or from different points around a room. Headphones must be used to achieve the optimum level of 3D sound. At any time over half a billion people are learning languages with the aide of audio which is why and the study of the effect or potential effects that the spatial sounds have on language learning is particularly interesting. If the application of spatial sounds to educational audio clips could be shown to …

Sports Data Mining Technology Used In Basketball Outcome Prediction, Chenjie Cao

Dissertations

Driven by the increasing comprehensive data in sports datasets and data mining technique successfully used in different area, sports data mining technique emerges and enables us to find hidden knowledge to impact the sport industry. In many instances, predicting the outcomes of sporting events has always been a challenging and attractive work and is therefore drawing a wide concern to conduct research in this field. This project focuses on using machine learning algorithms to build a model for predicting the NBA game outcomes and the algorithms involve Simple Logistics Classifier, Artificial Neural Networks, SVM and Naïve Bayes. In order to …

Accessible Information: Advocating The Use Of Technology For Individuals With Intellectual Disability On Their Path To Individualised Services, Michelle Moloney

Dissertations

Providing people with an intellectual disability (ID), opportunities for social integration have been shown to have a reliable positive influence on their well-being (Wehmeyer et al., 2006; Bunning, 2009). A large percentage of individuals with ID are unable to read and write. For this reason in order for the person to make an informed choice the person needs to have good information presented in a way that they can understand. They may need to see tangible visual aids (video, role play, film, photographs). It may need to be demonstrated to them a number of times. This assists a person in …

The Prevailing Obstacles In Web Accessibility On Three Well-Known Websites For Older People With Sight Difficulties, Sarah O'Reilly

Dissertations

Prior research has argued that there is no one best approach to evaluating web accessibility and proposes the adoption of multiple approaches. Following these proposals this research used three different approaches for evaluating accessibility on websites for accessibility to older persons with sight difficulties as there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. Approached used included: (1) Using automated tools to determine accessibility, which looks at the code of websites to get a general overview of accessibility issues. (2) Manually looking at the design, code and also how it might impact the user. This involved a manual assessment of each …

Investigating Staff Morale In An Elementary School Setting, Bethany Pendino

Dissertations

The way that employees feel about their workplaces and their jobs has implications not only for each individual but for the success of the workplace as well. In a school setting, investigating how teachers and other staff members feel about their jobs and their workplace and then seeking to improve employee morale may benefit schools. This action research investigated staff morale at Sparkling Springs Elementary School. The investigation examined how efforts to improve staff morale influenced staff members, students, and parents. Through staff surveys and focus groups, the researcher obtained information on staff members‟ feelings and attitudes related to the …

An Empirical Look At Recipient Benefits Associated With A University-Issued Student Leadership Award, Robyn L. Adams Phd

Dissertations

Within academia there is an elaborate and extensive system of awards for both students and faculty (Frey, 2006). Although the majority of student-based awards are for outstanding leadership and related accomplishments, there has been virtually no research on the impact of receiving such a leadership award (Frey, 2006). Due to the conspicuous absence of empirical studies in this area, a significant knowledge gap exists regarding the possible value or positive effects associated with winning a university-issued student leadership award. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, this study examined the San Diego State University (SDSU) Quest for the Best award …