Digital Commons Network^™

The Motivation Beliefs Inventory: Measuring Motivation Beliefs Using Four Motivation Theories, David C. Facer Jr. Phd

Dissertations

Among organizational consultants, human resources practitioners, and organizational leaders, there has been a resurgence of interest in the subject of employee motivation, in part due to the best-selling book, Drive (Pink, 2009). In this book, the author challenged readers to question their beliefs about what motivates employees; this challenge was based on research that questions the validity of widely used management approaches to employee motivation, particularly those based on reinforcement theory. Answering this challenge was difficult, however, given the lack of instruments designed to measure motivation beliefs at all, much less beliefs from a range of prevalent theories. Using principal …

Voice Of A Fifth-Year High School Student: An Exploration Of The Journey To Achieving A Diploma, Joan L. Bludorn

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Look Inside Firefighter Families: A Qualitative Study, Catherine Phillips Carrico

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

"It Was Beautiful, But It Wasn't Supposed To Be There": Spirituality In The Work Lives Of Higher Education Administrative Leaders, Laura Beer

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No abstract provided.

Interregnum: An Original Work Incorporating Archaic Compositional Elements, With A Study Of "Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis" By Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alta E. Graham

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Among Self-Esteem, Romantic Attachment, Gender, And Safe Sex Behaviors In Emerging Adults, Erica L. Hope

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No abstract provided.

Taiwanese Master Of Business Administration (Mba) Students' Attitudes Toward People With Disabililties, Ying-Ting Huang

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No abstract provided.

Male Counseling Students' Perceptions Of Female Clients, Peers, And Faculty, Jody L. Huntington

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No abstract provided.

A Study Exploring The Relationship Between Personal Trauma, Gender, And The Experience Of Vicarious Trauma Among Counseling Professionals, Kristin Danielle Kushmider

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No abstract provided.

An Experimental Investigation Of Hand And Finger Usage In Braille Reading, Loana K. Mason

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No abstract provided.

Using The Learners-As-Ethnographers Approach To Enhance Intercultural Learning Among American College Students Learning Chinese As A Foreign Language, Minhui M. Lu

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No abstract provided.

Musical Signification Of Three Jungian Archetypes Found In Children's Opera, Jeff Kensmoe

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Response Of Riparian Areas Of The Shortgrass Steppe To Anthropogenic Disturbance And Assessment Of Students' Changed Understanding Of Ecosystem Reclamation Through Experience, Michael Henry Schiebout

Dissertations

Most vegetation communities are in some way impacted by humans. This dissertation is composed of a series of studies aimed at understanding how the shortgrass steppe in northeastern Colorado responds to human disturbance. Specifically, it addresses the impact of gravel mining on a riparian area of the shortgrass steppe and its response to reclamation efforts. In addition, the impact of cattle grazing on the shortgrass steppe was investigated using exclosures. Studies concerning competition of noxious weeds present at the reclamation site were also conducted, both in the field and greenhouse. Finally, a qualitative study was completed addressing how student understanding …

Learning To Spike In Volleyball With Verbal And Visually-Enhanced Feedback, Michael Claude Rhoads

Dissertations

The relative effectiveness of verbal versus visually-enhanced feedback was compared for teaching spiking in volleyball. Factors that might produce a greater effect using visually-enhanced feedback were examined. In addition, the current study sought to explore thoughts that participants had while learning to spike. Two outcome measures were assessed to determine if the addition of visual feedback to verbal feedback (visually-enhanced feedback) was a superior way of coaching in comparison to verbal feedback alone. Participants took part in an experimental cross-over design wherein they learned through two types of instruction (verbal and visually-enhanced feedback). Participants received one type of instruction for …

Social Involvement, Existential Awareness, And Perceived Vulnerability In Older Adults, Maria Zarlengo

Dissertations

The current study explored perceptions of old-age vulnerability by seniors as well as separate and combined effects of social involvement and existential awareness on the level of perceived vulnerability to aging. Two hundred and forty four seniors participated in the study. The data were collected with the use of a 101-question survey based on three published measures plus demographic questions. The dependent (criterion) variable was the vulnerability to old age measured by the Perceived Vulnerability Scale (PVS). The explanatory (predictor) variables included the degree of social involvement measured by the Social Provisions Scale (SPS) and the level of existential awareness …

A Multidimensional Perspective Of Faculty Mentoring And Job Satisfaction During The First Year Of Teaching At Lindenwood University, Carla Mueller

Dissertations

Higher education requires exemplary faculty to provide a high quality education to college-level students. When faculty is new to an institution, issues of transition can affect job satisfaction negatively. The literature concludes that job satisfaction can affect retention of quality personnel. As a result, college and university administrators have addressed this concern with the development of mentoring programs for faculty new to their institutions. One of the goals of mentoring programs is based on the assumption that mentoring can affect job satisfaction in a positive way; thus, involvement in such programs will ensure faculty members are more likely to be …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Writing Instruction In An Ungraded Informal Learning Environment, Samuel Patterson Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate and describe the teaching of writing in an informal setting through the voices of teachers and students. The intent of this study was to describe the roles of teachers and students in this learning environment and specifically to describe the role of writing response groups in this environment. Research in both writing instruction and informal education suggests that writing instruction is a good contextual match to camp-style informal education. Both informal education and writer's workshop-style writing instruction put the individual and their choices at the center of the experience. VI This …

Investigating The Impact Of A Mentor Text Inquiry Approach To Narrative Writing Instruction On Attitude, Self-Efficacy, And Writing Processes Of Fourth Grade Students In An Urban Elementary School, Christine Marie Kealoha Kane Edd

Dissertations

Writing in its many forms, is the signature means of communication in the 21st century. Writing is also arguably the most complex and difficult challenge facing all students in school. The purpose of this study was to monitor the narrative writing performance of urban students who received explicit writing instruction using a mentor text inquiry approach. A mentor text is a published piece of writing whose ideas, structure,or written craft can be used to inspire a student to write something original. It is a piece of quality literature text that students can use as an exemplar text to model their …

School Counselor And Principal Perceptions Regarding The Roles Of School Counselors, Tyra Terrell Bailey

Dissertations

The roles of the school counselors have changed significantly over this century. Due to the pressures of high-stakes testing and budget cuts, counselors often are tasked with roles that are not aligned with state or national standards for school counseling programs (Brown, Galassi, & Akos, 2004; Gysbers & Henderson, 2001).

This study examined the differences in perceptions of the roles of school counselors by using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, MANOVA, multiple linear regression, and paired t-tests. The differences in perceptions of the roles of school counselors were found to be consistent with previous studies in some areas and inconsistent in other …

An Analysis And An Historical Contextualization Of Frank Ticheli’S “Cajun Folk Songs”, Jody Anthony Besse

Dissertations

This document was constructed using a qualitative research approach to discuss and illuminate the various compositional techniques used by Frank Ticheli in his composition Cajun Folk Songs. The content will include a biographical background of Mr. Ticheli, documentation related to the Cajun Culture and Cajun Music, an analysis of Ticheli’s composition Cajun Folk Songs, and valuable information related to the rehearsal and performance of this work. The intent of the study is to shed light on the relevant aspects pertinent to the musical interpretation of the selected work for the conductor, the performer, and the listener.

An Introductory Guide To Vibraphone: Four Idiomatic Practices And A Survey Of Pedagogical Material And Solo Literature, Brian Scott Cheesman

Dissertations

The Vibraphone is the most recent addition to the mallet percussion family. In the last sixty to seventy years, the vibraphone has emerged as a legitimate jazz, concert, and solo percussion instrument. The wealth of literature, both solo and pedagogical, is a testament to the instrument’s gain in popularity whether in a solo or ensemble setting. Since its creation in the early 1920s, composers, performers, and pedagogues within the jazz, classical, and percussion genres have contributed to the instrument’s rapid gain in popularity.

The physical characteristics unique to the vibraphone require the performer to use techniques often not applicable to …

Surface, Bulk, And Rheological Properties Of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane/High Density Polyethylene Nanocomposites, Robert Douglas Cook Jr.

Dissertations

In the formulation of high performance nanocomposites, control of miscibility and dispersion of filler material through a polymer matrix is of utmost importance. Due to their inorganic nature most nanofillers are insoluble in polymers, leading to costly/complicated surface modification as a primary means of increasing miscibility and interaction with organic matrices. Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanostructured chemicals offer an attractive alternative to conventional nanofillers. Due to their hybrid organic-inorganic nature, POSS has the potential to be tailored for miscibility in a wide range of organic matrices not by chemical surface modification but through modification of the molecular structure of the …

K-1 Teachers’ Visual Arts Beliefs And Their Role In The Early Childhood Classroom, Blythe Annette Goodman-Schanz

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the visual arts beliefs and practices of eight K-1 teachers in four schools and in two different school districts in a southern state. Using a phenomenological framework (Creswell, 2007; Leedy & Ormrod, 2005), the research revealed the teachers’ understandings of beliefs and how they applied them to their early childhood classrooms. Data were collected consisting of formal and informal interviews with the eight teachers. Interview data were analyzed using triangulation in phenomenological reflection suggested by van Manen (1990). The analysis yielded three major themes and three sub-themes. The first …

The Effects Of An Educational Intervention On The Aging Knowlege Of Graduate Counseling Students, Damien Gent Dotson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of an educational intervention on the aging knowledge of graduate counseling students. Overcoming misconceptions, such as positive and negative stereotypes about older adults, is essential for graduate counseling students to be effectively trained to work with the aging population. Educational interventions have been found to be the most consistently effective way of increasing aging knowledge and helping individuals overcome ageist beliefs rooted in faulty aging knowledge. For this study, it was hypothesized that a comprehensive educational intervention (approximately 2 hours in duration) would increase overall aging knowledge, increase aging and …

Giving Students The Reins: Taking Advantage Of Service-Learning's Potential As A Pedagogy For Teaching Writing, Tereza Joy Kramer

Dissertations

Service-learning helps students experience the practical applications of learning to write well; it also offers opportunities for students to develop a sense of civic responsibility. Although service-learning is growing in popularity, this pedagogy is not prevalent in English departments. Additionally, service-learning courses across all disciplines typically do not empower students to make their own project decisions. Given these tendencies, it is useful to consider whether service-learning is an effective pedagogy for writing, whether students should be designing their own projects, and what writing instructors could do to facilitate students' growth as writers while completing projects in the community. This is …

You Can Breastfeed But . . . : A Rhetorical Analysis Of Images And Commentary On Breastfeeding, Jonna Ziniel

Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of breastfeeding images and the commentary about those images, from a rhetorical perspective. Specifically, I use a feminist lens in order to analyze images of breastfeeding in both magazine and online environments, as well as online commentary about the images. I examine both celebrity and non-celebrity images of breastfeeding from popular pregnancy and parenting magazines, non-traditional parenting magazines, company web sites, and online articles and blog sites. Chapter one presents a statement of purpose, research questions, and an examination of the current literature pertinent to the study including sections on breastfeeding benefits, the sexualized woman's …

The Military, Economy And The State: A New International System Analysis, Muhammed A. Asadi

Dissertations

In this dissertation, I outline a theoretical justification for a new world systems analysis in order to understand economic development and underdevelopment, and stratification systems that emerge within nation states because of their global social location. I present my detailed case for amending Wallerstein's World-Systems Analysis by empirically incorporating the interplay of the military, economy and state as opposed to his primarily economic division of labor that defines the core, periphery and semi periphery. I do this by uncovering the latent structure of militarization and its articulation within the world system controlling for state strength. I also outline the basic …

The Integration Of Character Education And Its Impact On Teachers' Professional Practice, Katie L. Bahm

Dissertations

Research on pre-service teacher training in character education is minimal at best, as is the case with research on best practices in pre-service education in general. What does exist suggests that there is a lack of pre-service training about specific character education strategies. There are few empirical studies investigating the effects of pre-service character education training as it applies to later practice in K-12 school settings. This study explored the perceptions of beginning teachers regarding their past preparation and current implementation of character education. Each participant graduated from a university in a Northwest state that currently implements character education in …

"Robert Frost Blues”, Gregory Arthur Weiss

Dissertations

Robert Frost Blues collectively argues, stylistically and thematically, that apprehending the world is difficult. If one is able to know the world to some degree, the efficacy of that knowledge will be significantly affected by whether other people agree that that apprehension of the world is correct. But beyond that, Robert Frost Blues, with its casual sestinas and villanelles, colloquial language, found language, prose poems, dialogues, and iambic narratives, implicitly argues that the most important aspect of knowing the world is not the form that knowledge fits into or the literary devices it employs. Instead apprehending the world requires both …

Relationships And Learning In Early Childhood Education: A Structural Equation Model, Alicia Gordy Westbrook

Dissertations

A study of the relationship between mediated learning experiences (MLE), social and emotional development, student-teacher relationships, and overall development using structural equation modeling was conducted. With attachment theory as the theoretical base, the current study proposed that the educational constructs have a direct effect on the overall development of young students and the relationships between the constructs have an indirect effect on overall development. This research suggests that through positive student-teacher relationships, teachers engage students in mediated learning experiences which promotes social and emotional development and effects the students’ overall development.

Data collected from 118 pre-primary teachers and students were …