Digital Commons Network^™

Female Relational Aggression: A Case Study Investigation Of The Transitioning Out Process, Lynne Lunsford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The developmental trajectory of relational aggression (RA) can launch as early as preschool and escalate from early to middle childhood, yet it is a phenomenon that may or may not endure the adult years. There is adequate understanding of relational aggression in the active phase, yet research that edifies the transitioning out process is dearth. Through a qualitative case study research design, the narratives of six females who ceased using RA enlightened the process of desistance. All females described the transitioning out process as having an identifiable turning point accompanied by cognitive and emotional shifts associated with recognizing, valuing, and …

The Influence Of Religiosity And Adult Attachment Style On Marital Satisfaction Among Korean Christian Couples Living In South Korea, Dae Woon Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of religious commitment, spirituality and adult attachment style on marital satisfaction among South Korean Christian couples living in South Korea. Three hundred sixty nine South Korean Christian couples from nine Presbyterian churches in Seoul, Dejeon, Daegu, Gumi, and Busan participated in this research. The current study evaluated the psychometric utility of the Spiritual Assessment Scale (SAS) and investigated the relationships among religiosity (religious commitment and spirituality), attachment style (anxious and avoidant attachment) and marital satisfaction. For the psychometric evaluation of the SAS, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted for the …

The Dynamics Of Having A Fear Of God In The Walk Of The Believer, Leon Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Guaranteed immunity from hell appears to have adversely affected the motivation of the believer. There exists a possible correlation in the believer's knowledge of having eternal security and a lack of having a fear of God. This lack of godly fear has manifested itself in various types of presumptive behavior, among which includes non-compliance to clearly stated biblical commandments and directives, the removal of the repentance requirement for the convert, and biblical illiteracy. By means of consulting commentary from early church fathers, theologians throughout the New Testament church age, current research data, and completed surveys from believers, which will include …

Biblical Hermeneutics For The Twenty-First Century African American Church: Introducing Seven Key Solutions Promoting Higher Education, Jacqueline Montague

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the fact that education builds knowledge, higher learning through Seminary is preached from many African American pulpits as having little merit. The author's hope is to channel broader understanding on how the seminary experience can make a difference in accomplishing the assignment commissioned by Jesus to a postmodern society. To achieve this goal, the author divulges the importance and necessity of seminary studies from a semiotic approach. Research includes a study of the hermeneutic circle and its three parts: text, messenger, and listeners; collected data from culture analyses and statistical reports to comprise three pastoral interviews. The objective is …

Emotion Focused Therapy For Couples In Addiction Treatment: The Relationship Between Quality Of Recovery, Attachment Style, And Relational Satisfaction, Bonnie Bassett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates the efficacy of Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples in an addiction recovery program. The literature review revealed that individuals with a secure attachment style experience increased relational satisfaction and report better ability to manage life's challenges as compared with individuals with an insecure attachment style. A pretest-posttest design was used to investigate the effect of EFT on quality of recovery from addiction. The primary measure's percentile rank scores were comparatively analyzed. A single case multiple baseline design was implemented to draw inferences based on examining the participants' assessment scores across baseline and intervention phases. The purpose …

The Relationship Of Spiritual Intelligence To Achievement Of Secondary Students, Merial Smartt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this non-experimental, correlational quantitative research study was to examine the relationship between student achievement and spiritual intelligence while controlling for age and gender in two public and two private schools in a southeastern city. The variable of interest and criterion variable of achievement was measured by the American College Test (ACT). The variable of spiritual intelligence was measured using a 24 question self-report assessment entitled The Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI-24) by D. King (2008). The SISRI-24 included four subscales, critical existential thinking (CET), personal meaning production (PMP), transcendental awareness (TA), and conscious state expansion (CSE) that …

Factors That Predict Time To In-Field Employment Of Associate Degree Graduates: A Study Of One College In The Technical College System Of Georgia, Karon Futch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This regression study examined the set of graduate characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity), as well as Grade Point Average Motivation, and environmental factors (program of study, use of career services, internship completion, Grade Point Average) that predicted time to in-field employment among associate degree graduates. Graduates ranging from 2010-2012 in business, computers, healthcare, industrial, or service programs at one technical college in the Technical College System of Georgia were surveyed regarding employment status following graduation. Demographic data, as well as environmental data, were collected from the Technical College System of Georgia's Knowledge Management System in order to establish a relationship among …

Parenting Again For The Very First Time/You're Raising Your Grandchildren: Now What?, Larry Lamb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Grandparents raising their grandchildren are a new demographic emerging at a staggering rate because the parents are either unwilling or incapable of raising their own children. The rationale for this work is derived from the challenges this author and his wife have because of parenting their grandchildren. The research for this project has the value to offer support, wisdom, hope, and perspective for those who are parenting again as grandparents. Opportunities abound to lead grandchildren in a direction where they never would have gone had grandparents resisted the selfless act of parenting again. This project will be approached using surveys …

A Quasi-Experimental Control Group Design Study To Determine The Effect Of Integrating Character Education Into A High School Social Studies Curriculum Through Storytelling, Russell Long

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to offer evidence for the development of student character through the integration of historical storytelling into a social studies classroom. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of character education through historical storytelling integrated into a United States history curriculum on student commitment to ethical goodness. The study took place in a public high school in Savannah, Georgia. Student commitment to ethical goodness was measured by a paired samples t-test on pretests and post-tests taken by students. The overall study demonstrated that participants did not exhibit a statistically significant change in commitment …

The Correlation Between Attendance And Participation With Respect To Student Achievement In An Online Learning Environment, Joseph Rapposelli

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The recent and rapid growth of technology during the last several years has dramatically increased the number of new online degree programs and courses in the United States. As a result, enrollment into these online programs and courses has also increased. The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) estimated there was a total of 12.2 million enrollments in college-level credit-granting distance education courses in 2006-07. A study by the Department of Education (2011) found that from 2000 to 2008, the percentage of undergraduates enrolled in at least one distance education class expanded from 8% to 20%. A Survey of Online …

Comprehension And Motivation Levels In Conjunction With The Use Of Ebooks With Audio: A Quasi-Experimental Study Of Post-Secondary Remedial Reading Students, Kimberly Wheeler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quasi-experimental pretest, posttest nonequivalent control group study investigated the comprehension scores and motivation levels of post-secondary remedial reading students in a two-year technical college in Northwest Georgia using an eBook, an eBook with audio, and a print book. After reading a module on Purpose and Tone in the three book formats, data was collected from a convenience sample of 67 participants. Data consisted of reading comprehension scores taken from a pretest and posttest and reading motivation scores taken from a pre-survey and post-survey. The pretest and pre-survey were not used as covariates in the final analyses as they were …

Effects Of Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports On Middle School Student Achievement, Chad Knowles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Today's teachers face more frequent and more severe challenges than perhaps any generation of teachers that have come before them. Administrators attempt to support teaching in an environment of ever-increasing accountability and dwindling financial resources with new and innovative strategies. One such strategy employed by modern educators has been the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) model for clear behavioral expectations and pyramids of intervention for targeted support for students. This study compared a middle school that employs PBIS with a middle school that does not, to determine if there was any statistical improvement realized on academic achievement. Two diverse …

The Correlation Of Social, Financial, And Academic Supports To Military Benefit Recipients' Persistence In College, Bruce Mentzer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study sought to determine the strength and nature of the relationships between social, academic, and financial support and the intent of military students to persist in higher education at a large private non-profit university. The study also collected data from nonmilitary students to note contrasting relationships and looked at overall results for the two groups combined. Multivariate stepwise models confirmed the emphasis on academic support for persistence towards degree completion with all groups. Financial aid effects varied by military, nonmilitary, and for the overall population; military students were negatively impacted by loans, nonmilitary by university scholarships, and the overall …

End Of Course Grades And End Of Course Tests In The Virtual Environment: A Study Of Correlation, Jamie Philipp

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this correlational study is to understand the relationship between end-of-course grades as assigned by teachers and standardized end-of-course scores earned by students in Algebra, Geometry, Biology, Physical Science, and U.S. History courses at one virtual charter school in the State of Georgia. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analyses were performed to determine if there is a statistically significant relationship between the numerical score earned in a course and the score earned on the required End of Course Test (EOCT) for subject of study. Separate Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analyses were run for students in disability subgroups. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation …

Working On The Work Framework For Engagement: Impacting Students' Perceived Learning, Attitudes Toward School, And Achievement, Michael Forehand

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A quasi-experimental, pre-test post-test nonequivalent control group study was utilized to determine the difference in students' perceived learning, attitudes toward school, and achievement when participating in classes utilizing engagement design qualities as compared to students in classes not utilizing engagement design qualities. To inform the relationship between student engagement, perceived learning, attitudes toward school, and achievement, Csikszentmihalyi's Theory of Flow was utilized as a theoretical framework along with the implementation of Schelchty's Working on the Work (WOW) Framework with 178 third grade students in a Metro-Atlanta school system. A perceived learning questionnaire, the Elementary Form of the Battle Student Attitude …

Interim Assessment Data: A Case Study On Modifying Instruction Based On Benchmark Feedback, Tracey Lange

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The role of data analysis in the jobs of instructional leaders has become as commonplace as teachers creating lesson plans and taking roll in the classroom. Teachers and building leaders routinely use interim assessment data to develop thoughtful and robust instructional plans that address identified areas of student need. The link between the interim assessment data collection and student learning includes the pedagogical changes that teachers implement based on the data from these interim assessments. However, teachers do not always know how to use the data for this purpose or do not always make necessary changes in their instruction. As …

The Student Experience: The Effects Of Three College Retention Strategies On First-Generation Student Success Outcomes, Erica Woods-Warrior

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the growing importance of post-secondary degree attainment, existing research indicates that first-generation students (FGS) at 4-year colleges and universities are twice as likely as their peers to drop-out of school before their second year of study, and a great proportion of these students never return to complete their undergraduate degree. The present study collected and analyzed institutional data to determine the impact of three programmatic strategies on student retention and academic outcomes for FGS. The strategies are: lower/upper-level student integration, faculty mentorship, peer mentorship, and Communities of Learning (CoL). Each was investigated in the context of a student retention …

A Comparative Study Of Academic Achievement And Participation In A High School Freshman Academy, Mark Seng

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The transition to high school can be problematic for many ninth graders. Researchers and administrators have sought ways to improve academic performance and promotion rates while reducing dropout rates. A quantitative causal-comparative (ex post facto) and correlation study using a two-group design compared two freshman classes at separate comprehensive high schools in suburban Georgia. The treatment group, the freshman class implementing the freshman academy model, was compared to the control group, a traditional high school freshman class with no freshman academy. This study provides new research findings on the relationship and possible cause and effect a freshman academy may have …

The Effects Of Math Tutoring Sessions For Parents On Eighth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement And Anxiety, Susan Scott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Educators across the United States have searched for avenues to improve students' mathematics achievement since the publication of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) which reported that American students were behind students in other countries academically. Recent legislation, No Child Left Behind (2001), continues to address the need for improvement in mathematics among K-12 students. A possible intervention in middle school is to incorporate parental involvement. Numerous researchers (Colombo, 2006; Desimone, 1999; Epstein, 2008; Flynn, 2006; Henderson & Berla, 1994; Sheldon & Epstein, 2005; Wherry, 2006) have demonstrated the positive outcomes of parental involvement on …

Exploring The Relationship Between Academic, Demographic, And Sport Related Variables On Aggression: An Examination Of Male Student-Athletes Enrolled In Texas High Schools, Jeffrey Hutchinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this non-experimental, regression study was to examine the relationships and contributions between six demographic predictor variables (ethnicity, socio-economic status, type of sport, grade level, level of sport participation, and self-reported acts of off-the-field physical aggression/fighting) on aggression (criterion variable), among male athletes enrolled in four high schools in Southeast Texas. To assess aggression levels, respondents completed a modified version of the Sport Behavior Inventory (SBI). This study utilized a hierarchical regression analysis to examine contributions made by variables to the overall model and relationships between variables. The analysis of data illustrated a strong relationship between type of …

A Multiple Regression And Concurrent Validity Analysis Of High School Seniors' Social Competence, Ability To Manage Emotions, And Their Time Spent On Facebook, Charles Rhoton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study involved the investigation of high school seniors' social competence and ability to manage emotions in predicting the amount of time they spend socializing on Facebook. The study also seeks to determine if the Social Skill Improvement System (SSIS) and the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) measure similar constructs. A multiple regression design and correlation design was planned for the study. The data analysis was carried out by testing for normality, linearity, homoscedasticity, and multicollinearity. Due to violations in testing for normality, linearity, and homoscedasticity, the data was transformed using a log transformation in order to perform …

Instruction Type: Effects On Pitch Accuracy In Female Collegiate Declared Voice Majors, Betty Damon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this quantitative study, the researcher examined differences in pitch accuracy scores of 59 female collegiate voice students (N = 59) at a large university in the mid-Atlantic United States to determine instruction type efficacy on pitch accuracy. In this double-blind, true-experimental posttest only control group design, the control group (n = 19) received traditional corrective verbal cues (TCVC) only. Treatment groups received either real-time visual feedback (RTVF) with traditional corrective verbal cues (n = 20), or performed audio feedback (PAF) with traditional corrective verbal cues (n = 20). Data were collected via a demographics survey, audio-recorded vocal response, and …

Marriage As A Spiritual Discipline: Principles And Benefits, Richmond Laney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christians use spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and journaling as methods to enhance their relationship with God. However, Christian rates of divorce are not different than the United States average where more than one in three first marriages ends in divorce. This is despite a Christian belief that marriage is a special relationship. The rate of divorce among Christians should be reduced. Marriage can be practiced as a spiritual discipline that will benefit the relationship as well as yielding sought after spirituality. Marriage as a spiritual discipline would help couples increase marital satisfaction, thus driving down the divorce rate. …

Blended Worship: A Future Model Of Worship For The Presbyterian Churches In South Korea, Phillip Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many churches in South Korea are seeking a new worship style not only to reach the next generation effectively but also to connect the old and the new generations. This trend necessitates a blended worship within the Presbyterian churches in South Korea that features both the tradition of liturgical worship and the dynamics of contemporary worship. The purpose of this thesis project is to provide a future model of blended worship for the Presbyterian churches in South Korea. The project thus examines the nature of true worship in the Bible and identifies how the worship form has changed throughout the …

The Experiences Of Single Fathers Who Have Reared Academically Successful Children: A Collective Case Study, Cheri Long

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative collective case study explored single fathers' experiences in rearing academically successful children. Academic success was defined as the completion of high school or college, entering college, or attending college. A purposeful maximal sampling of five bounded systems of single fathers and their academically successful children participated in the current study, using snowball sampling. Data collection methods consisted of interviews with single fathers and their children, observations, timelines, letters, and physical artifacts. Within-case and cross-case analysis of data assisted in explaining the experiences of single fathers rearing academically successful children in order to assist other single fathers. Five emerging …

School Psychologists' Experiences With Teacher-To-Student Mistreatment, Sharon Lyles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental, phenomenological study was to describe school psychologists' experiences with teacher-to-student mistreatment in the Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 educational setting. There are few United States studies presented in the literature on the topic of teacher-to-student mistreatment and its significant negative impact on students from either the teacher or student viewpoint, but no research has been conducted on this issue from the school psychologist's perspective. The central research question addressed by the study was this: What are school psychologists' experiences with teacher-to-student mistreatment? Members of the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists (VASP) and Virginia school psychologists, …

Divorce In The Christian Society And A Prescriptive Model To Rekindle The Marriage Bond, Frederick Styles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to explore the history, consequences, and guidelines of divorce in the Christian world. God's plan for marriage is procreation of children and love between husband and wife. According to a Christian study by Jack Wellman, the top three reasons for Christians divorcing are adultery, communication, and abuse (physical and emotional). This thesis will assist couples who are contemplating divorce and provide guidance on the causes and effects of divorce. In addition, it will create a prescriptive model; guidelines for those couples to follow for each of the reasons above that will rekindle and strengthen …

The Effects Of Active Shooter Resilience Training Programs On College Students' Perceptions Of Personal Safety, George Snyder

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The effects of active shooter resilience training programs on university students' perceptions of personal safety should be understood through evidenced-based research. A quasi-experimental post-test only control-group design study was conducted to assess this potentially lifesaving educational activity. A convenience sample of 136 randomly assigned undergraduate students at a large private university participated in the study. One group completed a U.S. Department of Homeland Security active shooter resilience training program, a second group completed a private active shooter resilience training program, a third group completed both training programs, and a fourth control group received no training before the assessment. The Student …

Sacra Domus: The Anglican House Church In Theology And Context, Alan Andraeas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The author is an evangelical Anglican priest with a recently formed sacramental house church. Though the house church movement is gaining popularity, no formal guidelines or methodologies exist which address this trend from a liturgical and sacerdotal perspective--even within his diocese. Because of this void, he will examine the following critical issues:

* What are the scriptural foundations for mandating the use of liturgy?

* What are the biblical, theological, and historical precedents for house churches?

* Can there be a complementary union between priestly liturgy and the house church model?

Without guidance from other `reference parishes,' the need for …

The Correlation Between Temperament And Technology Preference And Proficiency In Middle School Students, Sabrina Sterling

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to identity the relationship between the temperament of middle school students, their level of interest and proficiency in technology-related activities. This study also aimed to identify the differences in proficiency of the students in the technology programs. Participants were selected from two middle schools in the medium-sized rural school system. State technology test results and a student technology interest survey were analyzed using analysis of variance and descriptive statistical measurements. Correlational studies help educators evaluate existing curricula, differentiate current instruction, and plan for future programs. The results of this study suggested that there is …