Digital Commons Network^™

Critical Hermeneutic Inquiry In Kagaa, Kenya : Refiguring Village Health Education Through Community Inquiry, Peninah N. Kaniu

Doctoral Dissertations

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Microfinance In Myanmar : A Critical Hermeneutic Inquiry Into Ontological Economic Capacity, Timothy Payne

Doctoral Dissertations

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Being And Becoming Public School Teachers: Career Mobility Of Chinese Overseas-Trained Teachers In The San Francisco Bay Area, Lily L. Chow

Doctoral Dissertations

Teacher shortage and retention has persisted in the United States for decades. Ethnic minority teachers are underrepresented in public K-12 schools as well as teachers for English learners. Untapped pools of overseas-trained teachers who are lawful permanent residents exist but are unemployed, underemployed, or working in other fields. To earn a local teaching credential, the immigrant bears the burden of proving equivalent knowledge and skills to re-enter her or his profession in the United States. At the time of this study, there was no research about overseas-trained immigrant teachers entering the teaching profession for primary and secondary public school students …

Agent-Based Analysis And Mitigation Of Failure For Cyber-Physical Systems, Jing Lin

Doctoral Dissertations

"Techniques exist for assessment, modeling, and simulation of physical and cyber infrastructures, respectively; but such isolated analysis is incapable of fully capturing the interdependencies that occur when they intertwine to create a cyber-physical system (CPS). The first contribution of this doctoral research includes qualitative representation of the operation of a CPS in a single multi-agent model. Dependable operation of a CPS is contingent upon correct interpretation of data describing the state of the system. To this end, we propose agent-based semantic interpretation services that extract useful information from raw sensor data. We utilize the summary schemas model to reconcile differences …

Assessing System Architectures: The Canonical Decomposition Fuzzy Comparative Methodology, Jason Paul Dauby

Doctoral Dissertations

"The impacts of decisions made during the selection of the system architecture propagate throughout the entire system lifecycle. The challenge for system architects is to perform a realistic assessment of an inherently ambiguous system concept. Subject matter expert interpretations, intuition, and heuristics are performed quickly and guide system development in the right overall direction, but these methods are subjective and unrepeatable. Traditional analytical assessments dismiss complexity in a system by assuming severability between system components and are intolerant of ambiguity. To be defensible, a suitable methodology must be repeatable, analytically rigorous, and yet tolerant of ambiguity. The hypothesis for this …

Dichotic Auditory Training In 6 To 15 Year Olds, Chasity M. Mccrum

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if participants with normal auditory processing skills would improve after receiving the Dichotic Auditory Training (DAT) when compared to a group of normal participants who only received pre- and post-testing. Twenty participants, age 6:0 to 15:11 years, participated in this study. A standard audiological evaluation was completed for each participant. Pretest and posttest were completed that included (1) DAT testing, (2) SCAN-C/A, (3) Staggered Spondaic Word test, and (4) Dichotic Digits (Single/Double). The results were analyzed for statistically significant differences between pre- and post-testing results and between groups. Any significant results …

Who Do I Say I Am? Evangelical Identity And Academic Writing, Jeffrey M. Ringer

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores how evangelical Christian students negotiate their identities in their academic writing. Specifically, this study addresses two overarching questions: 1. What happens to evangelical students when they write academically? 2. How are evangelical students' identities integrated into and implicated by their academic writing?

In answering these questions, this project seeks to bridge two key scholarly discussions in rhetoric and composition, namely the discussions about writing and identity and about evangelical discourse. This project also seeks to challenge reductive stereotypes about evangelicals perpetuated in rhetoric and composition and in the academy at large. The research for this project comes …

Studies In Indian Informal Sector, Arpita Banerjee Chakraborty

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to the literature in two ways. It explores the link between the trade liberalization policies and the informal sector wages, and examines the economy of the self-employed sector of India. Specifically, this dissertation (i) develops a general equilibrium model incorporating the self-employed sector as a separate informal sector and demonstrates the connection between the trade liberalization policies and the informal sector wages; (ii) presents a system analysis for the economy of the self-employed sector; (iii) highlights the distinctive characteristics of the self-employed sector and generates a better understanding of the difference between the self-employed and the wage-working …

Creek Diplomacy In An Imperial Atlantic World, Deena L. Parmelee

Doctoral Dissertations

"Creek Diplomacy in an Imperial Atlantic World," argues that Creek leaders saw opportunities for Creek peoples to play an important political and economic role in the Atlantic world even while the Confederacy itself was still forming. This study explores Creek participation in the Atlantic world in two ways. First, it traces Creek diplomatic travel to European centers. Second, it examines Creek reception of European traders and diplomats in Creek towns. In this way, it traces Creek diplomacy in its external and internal forms, as Creeks moved outward to establish diplomatic relations with others, and dealt with outsiders who came to …

Campaigning For Authenticity, Erica J. Seifert

Doctoral Dissertations

In the fall of 1976 Jimmy Carter wanted to be "an American President... who is not isolated from our people, but a President who feels your pain and who shares your dreams." With humble, hopeful, homey images of Plains, Georgia, campaign advertisements sold Carter as a fresh-off-the-farm, peanut-picking Cincinnatus---an authentic American to whom voters could relate.

Authenticity became increasingly important to candidate selection in the late twentieth century for multiple reasons. As a priority of the Babyboom Generation, the value of authenticity informed Americans' relationships to own another and evaluations of their cultural products. Political and cultural upheaval resulting from …

Learning Systems: An Ecological Perspective On Advanced Academic Literacy Practices Of Multilingual Writers, Steve Simpson

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent work in composition's leading journals has challenged the field's exclusive focus on native English speakers and has called for a more international perspective on writing research and pedagogy. This dissertation, which grew from requests from multilingual graduate students in my own institution for more advanced academic writing support, extends this call to explore ways writing programs can better account for the needs of international graduate students, a growing population in US institutions. The role English has assumed as the lingua franca of international academic communication has made writing in English a critical skill for these students' professional development. In …

The Self-Help Of Composition: Peter Elbow's "Writing Without Teachers", Composition Studies, And The Extracurriculum, Alexandria Peary

Doctoral Dissertations

The influence of Peter Elbow's Writing without Teachers on Composition Studies and classroom-based writing instruction is indisputable, yet the central message of the book has been continually sidestepped. At the heart of Elbow's book is an inherent contradiction to classroom instruction: the original impetus for the book was based on self-instruction, or learning about writing outside of any course. For Composition Studies, Writing without Teachers, starting with its title, is a riddle or a Zen koan the discipline has delayed answering for over thirty-five years. This project examines Writing without Teachers as a self-help book on writing and thus as …

The Reminiscence Bump In Autobiographical Memory: An Investigation Of The Life Script Hypothesis, Ryan Alexander Dickson

Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have consistently found that older adults report a higher percentage of autobiographical memories for experiences that occurred between ages 15 and 30 compared to any other period of life. This reminiscence bump is evident for memories involving positive emotions but not for memories involving negative emotions. The life script hypothesis proposes that people share cultural knowledge for the types and timing of positive landmark events expected to occur over the life course and that this shared knowledge guides the retrieval of autobiographical memories. In a series of five studies, the valence (positive and negative) and expectedness (not surprising and …

Navigating The Cultural Gaps: Whiteness And Diversity In Two Elementary School Classrooms, Rachel Parse Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study asked how two white, in-service elementary school teachers within the context of their classrooms navigated the cultural gaps between themselves and students from whom they differed (e.g. racially, ethnically, socio-economically, and/or linguistically). Three sub-questions examined: 1) what life experiences shaped how the teachers understood difference and diversity within their classrooms; 2) what system(s) of beliefs the teachers learned and constructed through those experiences; and 3) what identities the teachers assumed and/or assigned to themselves and their students. The study employed a sociocultural theoretical framework. Ethnographic data collection strategies included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and material collection. Discourse analysis …

A Mixed Method Case Study : Bar-On Eq-I Framework Of Emotional Intelligence And The School Leadership Experiences Of Principals Who Completed An Urban Leadership Program In Northern California, Jasvinder Kaur

Doctoral Dissertations

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History In The Making : Narratives Of Selected Asian Pacific American Women In Leadership, Mary Almandrez

Doctoral Dissertations

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At The Crossroads Of Learning And Culture : Identifying A Construct For Effective Computer-Assisted Language Learning For English Language Learners, Yun Shaw

Doctoral Dissertations

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The Role Of Spanglish In The Social And Academic Lives Of Second Generation Latino Students : Students' And Parents' Perspectives, Araceli Osorio

Doctoral Dissertations

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Interactions In A Two-Way Immersion Program : Impact And Challenges, Yoko Koki

Doctoral Dissertations

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Decolonization Of The Mind And Spirit : Healing Strategies Through Latin@ Critical Consciousness, Victor Garza

Doctoral Dissertations

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The Implementation Of Connection Prompts In Building Substantive Engagement In The 2nd-Grade Classroom Through Book Club Conversations, Amy Alamar

Doctoral Dissertations

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Meta-Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Task-Based Interaction In Form-Focused Instruction Of Adult Learners In Foreign And Second Language Teaching, Marina Cobb

Doctoral Dissertations

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The Artistic Process In Community Development : Disclosing Cultural Narrative And Identity Through Art Practices In Uganda, Maria Palmo

Doctoral Dissertations

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Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Kindergarten Readiness, Nancy Cappelloni

Doctoral Dissertations

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Re-Starting The Conversation About Race In Academia : Transcultural Narratives In The Lifeworld, Francisco Gamez

Doctoral Dissertations

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Preparation In Multicultural Teacher Education : Perceptions Of Pre-Service Teachers And Their Professor In A Teacher Credentialing Program, Marina Estupiñan

Doctoral Dissertations

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Structure And Content Semantic Similarity Detection Of Extensible Markup Language Documents Using Keys, Waraporn Viyanon

Doctoral Dissertations

"XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) has become the fundamental standard for efficient data management and exchange. Due to the widespread use of XML for describing and exchanging data on the web, XML-based comparison is central issues in database management and information retrieval. In fact, although many heterogeneous XML sources have similar content, they may be described using different tag names and structures. This work proposes a series of algorithms for detection of structural and content changes among XML data. The first is an algorithm called XDoI (XML Data Integration Based on Content and Structure Similarity Using Keys) that clusters XML documents …

Computational Intelligence Methods In Wireless Sensor Networks, Raghavendra V. Kulkarni

Doctoral Dissertations

"Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are networks of autonomous nodes that sense, compute and communicate in order to monitor an environment collectively. Ad hoc deployment, dynamic environment and resource constraints in nodes need to be considered while addressing WSN challenges such as deployment, localization, routing and scheduling. Adaptive mechanisms that exhibit intelligent behavior in complex and dynamic environments are desirable to address these challenges. The potential of computational intelligence ( CI) based approaches for addressing WSN challenges is investigated in this study. Contributions of this dissertation are in the following three areas: critical literature analysis, new architectures and approaches, and new …

Examination Of The Clinical Benefit Of Adding Reversal Theory Concepts To The Expressive Writing Paradigm, Stephanie Ellis

Doctoral Dissertations

Expressive writing as a form of emotional disclosure produces many physical and psychological benefits (Pennebaker, 2004). Central to the present study are findings that expressive writing decreases symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD (Koopman, Ismailji, Holmes, Classen, Palesh, & Wales, 2005; Opre, Coman, Kallay, Rotaru, & Manier, 2005; Russ, 1992). Reversal Theory (RT) suggests that individuals experience the world from eight different psychological states including serious, playful, conforming, rebellious, mastery, sympathy, self, and other (Apter, 2007). Teaching individuals to be aware of and elicit these states also decreases depression and anxiety (Charat, 2006). The present study sought to determine if …

The Impact Of Summer/Academic Year Learning Projects On The Academic Achievement Of Student Participants, Glenn Scott Beer

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined differences in the academic achievement between students who participated in the Louisiana Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (LA GEAR UP) Summer/Academic Year Learning Projects and students who did not participate in the program. The sample consisted of 111 students who attended schools participating in the LA GEAR UP program and who attended at least 4 LA GEAR UP summer learning camps and a comparison group of 111 students attending the same schools but who did not attend a summer learning camp. Participating students were individually matched with non-participants on 7 variables, including 6th-grade Iowa …