Digital Commons Network^™

Pageant Of Providence, Jill Arlene Foote-Hutton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Phytotoxins From The Leaves Of Ruta Graveolens, Amber L. Hale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Through A Glass Darkly : Reflections Of Southern Culture In South Carolina's Domestic Violence Policy, Ellen Barbara Meacham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Professionalizing The Blues : The Economic Thrust Of An Indigenous Art Form In Mississippi, 1920-1945, William Preston Lauterbach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Pride And Prejudice : African Americans In Contemporary Country Music / By Kathryn Pickett Vinroot, Kathryn Pickett Vinroot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Follow-Up Of College Students With A History Of Developmental Speech Disorders, Christine Buchheit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined 16 college students with a childhood history of an articulation disorder involving isolated "residual" phoneme errors (RE) and 16 control subjects. Subjects were administered an experimental battery designed to tax the phonological system. Measures included conventional and pseudo-word spelling, syllabification, nonsense word repetition, and expository writing. Subjects also responded to questions assessing student adjustment and academic performance. Results revealed that the RE subjects performed comparably to controls on all of the experimental and academic/adjustment measures (p < .05). Two subjects in the RE group were still producing noticeable articulation distortions as adults. One of these subjects had highly favorable outcomes, whereas the other subject performed relatively poorly on several of the experimental and student adjustment measures. These findings suggest that some individuals who make persistent articulation distortion errors as adults may display subtle phonological and or social deficits that should be explored in future research.

Evaluation Of The Design, Development, And Implementation Of The School Performance Network Portal And Communication Institute, Josephine Crame

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The School Performance Network (SPN) Portal was envisioned during the formation stage of SPN as the primary mechanism for K-12 educators and SPN partners, to communicate and to collaborate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the design, development, and implementation of the SPN Portal and Communication Institute as they demonstrate fidelity to SPN's mission: to connect educators with resources and ideas to improve teaching and learning resulting in a change of the culture of education in South Western Pennsylvania. This study investigated the formative stages of the design, development, and implementation of the School Performance Network (SPN) Portal …

An Evaluation Of The Wider Horizons Program In Pittsburgh Form 1989 To 2002, Breandan Gearard Magee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was an evaluative study of the Wider Horizons program in Pittsburgh from 1989 to 2002. This program offers young unemployed Irish and Northern Irish adults the opportunity to live and work in the USA for up to eight weeks.

A sample population of 44 past participants partook in qualitative interviews to help determine if the Wider Horizons program had achieved its three stated goals. The three dependant variables in this study were, one securing employment upon return to Ireland, secondly one returning to further education upon to Ireland, and finally a recorded increase in one's ethno-religious tolerance upon …

Feeding Identity: The Critical Hermeneutics Of Contemporary Kleinian Psychoanalytically Oriented Psychotherapy From The Perspective Of A Novice, David M. Greco-Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Clinical supervision is required for every graduate student pursuing a clinical track in psychology. Yet empirical research has focused almost exclusively on identifying efficacious supervision techniques in terms of altering "trainee characteristics" rather than investigating in depth the effects of supervision as changes in the characteristics of the trainee's communicative behavior. Moreover, the question of how the specialized communicative behavior practiced by the trainee works to facilitate change for the client/patient has not been addressed by quantitative empirical studies of supervision or psychotherapy process. This study addresses these problems by asking: (1) What characterizes the author's specialized communicative competence after …

Evaluation Of Smoking Prevention Television Advertisements By Middle School Youth: Effects Of Gender, Ethnicity, And Grade Level, Anne Bongiorno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of cancer deaths, yet more than 3,000 children start smoking each day (United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2001). There is a growing body of evidence that smoking behaviors in youth can be changed through effective health communication but little is known about how to systematically design and evaluate messages to achieve this outcome (Hornik, 2002). The literature is sparse about how messages are evaluated by youth. No published literature was found about how the ethnicity of featured actors in tobacco prevention television advertisements (spots) influenced youth evaluation of spots …

An Analysis Of Functional Behavioral Assessments Used In Public Schools In Tennessee And Georgia., Dana Winningham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey special education supervisors in public school systems throughout Tennessee and Georgia to determine the types of Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) procedures used and training provided to assessment personnel in their school systems. The primary focus of the study was on who conducts assessments, differences between the amount of training and support provided by school districts, and the use of best practices in conducting these assessments.

Surveys were mailed to 317 supervisors, 108 in Tennessee, and 123 in Georgia. These supervisors were asked to respond to questions concerning assessments in their respective school …

The Relationship Of Home Environment And Kindergarten Readiness., Nancye C. Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between home environment and school readiness of children entering kindergarten in a rural East Tennessee county. Family and home environment variables included family income, family structure, parents' education, participation in literacy activities, availability of home learning tools, and amount of children's television viewing. A self-reported parent survey was used to gather information about the family environment; the Brigance K Screen was used to determine entering kindergartner's readiness for school. Three hundred and thirty eight children and parents participated.

An initial analysis of data incorporated simple descriptive statistics in the form …

The Effects Of Looping On The Academic Achievement Of Elementary School Students., Vada S. Bogart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic achievement of students in looping programs from school systems in East Tennessee to their peers in traditional one-year instructional programs. Looping is defined as any program design that perpetuates a cohesive student group with the same teacher for more than one year. The study included all students who had completed fourth grade in 2001 at every school in East Tennessee that implemented a third/fourth grade looping design. Student scores reported for 1999, 2000, and 2001 on the TerraNova Standardized Achievement Test were obtained from individual student records. Comparisons were made …

Desired Characteristics Of Ethical Leaders In Business, Educational, Political And Religious Organizations From East Tennessee: A Delphi Investigation., Jeff Moorhouse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leadership is the moving of people towards specified goals. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. The leadership dynamic of human interaction is one of the most studied and least understood phenomena. More attention is currently being given to the ethics of leadership in light of recent situations involving misconduct in the White House, illeagal accounting practices amoung top corporations, and misuse of power in religous organizations.

In this study, I sought to identify and prioritize characteristics of ehtical leadership with the assistance of leaders in four distinct groups; the business, religious, political, and educational communities within a six county …

Perceived Barriers To The National Board For Professional Teaching Standards Certification., Jan Woodard Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since its conception in 1987, much money and effort have been expended establishing the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Although 16,038 educators in 45 states and the District of Columbia have obtained National Board Certification, there are over 1,200 teachers in the East Tennessee counties of Cocke and Sevier who are eligible for National Board Certification, but have not obtained this certification. This study sought to identify the barriers that discouraged this population from attempting to gain National Board Certification.

The research design was inferential and utilized data from a survey instrument constructed by the researcher. A pilot test …

Athletic Participation: A Test Of Learning And Neutralization Theories., Mario Bernard Hankerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Athletics has been regarded as a means of encouraging youth to build character, discipline, and develop healthy habits. However, literature has emerged that asserts athletics do not prevent deviant behaviors, but instead, influence one to commit deviant acts. As such, this research examined effects of athletics on the commission of deviant behaviors via learning and techniques of neutralization theories.

Subjects for this project included 325 college students from a southern regional university. Data were generated through the use of a self-report questionnaire, which measured variables pertaining to self-reported deviant behaviors including perceptions of peer deviance, neutralizing indicators, and sports participation. …

Determining Standards For Sources Of Free Information On The Internet For Inclusion In Academic Library Holdings By 2010., Doug D. Cross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a consensus from a panel of experts composed of library deans/directors, reference librarians, and instructors with online teaching experience. The panel developed the methodology necessary for evaluating free sources of information on the Internet for inclusion in academic library holdings by the year 2010. The following areas were explored as they related to the forecast: 1) The changes in higher education institutions that will be necessary to prepare students to deal with free sources of information on the Internet; 2) The procedures that librarians need to develop and implement to ensure that …

Organizational Structural And Cultural Variables As Predictors Of Quality In Federally Approved Nursing Homes., Lorraine V. Desormeaux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which nursing home organizational structure and cultural variables were related to the outcomes reported by the Health Care Finance Administration public use data set (HCFA-NHCD). A second purpose was to examine the effects of a new style of nursing home management called the Eden Alternative™ concept. A related purpose was to test the usefulness of the HCFA-NHCD in predicting the quality of care for residents in federally approved nursing homes. Secondary data analysis was conducted on the HCFA-NHCD, as published in December 2001. Descriptive statistics and measures of association …

A Qualitative Study Of Effective School Discipline Practices: Perceptions Of Administrators, Tenured Teachers, And Parents In Twenty Schools., Faye Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many educators and parents are gravely concerned about disorder and danger in school environments. In addition to school discipline issues, American classrooms are frequently plagued by minor infractions of misbehavior that disrupt the flow of classroom activities and interfere with learning.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate common threads of effective school discipline practices as perceived by administrators, tenured teachers, and parents in 20 schools in East Tennessee. I also attempted to determine if the views of administrators, tenured teachers, and parents are consistent with published research on school discipline practices. Data were collected from administrators, tenured …

Folk Medicine In Southern Appalachian Fiction., Catherine Benson Strain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The region of Southern Appalachia, long known for its colorful storytellers, is also rich in folk medical lore and practice. In their Appalachian novels, Lucy Furman, Emma Bell Miles, Mildred Haun, Catherine Marshall, Harriette Arnow, Lee Smith, and Charles Frazier, feature folk medicine prominently in their narratives. The novels studied, set against the backdrop of the rise of official medicine, are divided into three major time periods that correspond to important chapters in the history of American medicine: the 1890s through the 1930s; the 1940s through the 1960s; and the 1970s through the present. The study of folk medicine, a …

Students' Perceptions Of Multimedia Classrooms At East Tennessee State University., Shouhong Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of multimedia classrooms at East Tennessee State University regarding technologies in multimedia classrooms, students' learning achievements, instructors' instructional methods, and students' learning styles. Two surveys in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms were designed to measure and compare students' perceptions of multimedia classrooms. The VARK (Fleming, 2002b) learning style survey was used to calculate the students' learning styles.

The research was conducted during spring semester, 2002. Participants in this study included 187 students in multimedia classrooms and 110 students in traditional classrooms at East Tennessee State University. The majority of students …

Six Sigma : Changing A Culture., Lee E. Leathers 1966-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis was to apply what was learned from Six Sigma while working for General Electric, towards real applications to improve processes. Two manufacturing problems were targeted. One of the issues dealt with variation, in an assembly process, which caused a large amount of missed opportunities. The other issue was based on defects caused by a reflector coating process that was creating haze and affecting lumens generated by the lamp. While analyzing the missed opportunity issue, a DMAIC approach was followed, measuring the collected data and analyzing the variation and mean of the processes by the use …

Perceptions Of Patronizing Speech By Service Providers Toward Elderly Adults: A Comparison Between Older Women And Female Nursing Students., Tammi Rae La Tourette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Older adults are frequently the recipients of patronizing speech, particularly within healthcare settings where aging cues are salient and negative age-stereotypical expectations are common. Few studies have compared caregivers' and elderly adults' perceptions of patronizing speech. No studies have specifically examined perceptions of communicative competence in terms of how patronized elderly targets are evaluated, nor have they investigated the relationships between ratings of speech styles and ratings of the elderly target's communicative competence. Seventy-seven nursing students and 62 community elders viewed two vignettes, one in which a nurse spoke to an elder in a patronizing tone, and one in which …

The School's Role As A Support System For Children Of Parental Divorce., Constance Myers Cottongim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the year 2000, over one million children were involved in a new divorce. These statistics indicated that this subgroup of children would continue to be a large part of the school population. The school, because of time spent there, becomes a likely place for the recognition and identification of problems that may arise from parental divorce, thus providing an appropriate setting for interventions to be conducted.

The purpose of this study was to determine how parents, classroom teachers, and school counselors viewed the role of the school as a support system for children of divorce. The study also explored …

Connecting To The Feminine And To The Inner Self In Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country Of The Pointed Firs., Misty D. Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Dunnet Landing, Jewett creates a feminine world that is characterized by its depth and its moral and emotional significance. There is a foundation in the real world of human feeling, and while there is much grief and sorrow in this community, there are also possibilities for happiness. The connection to death and loss is what gives much in this feminine world meaning. Grief is only a part of the journey. Out of death and sorrow come strength and a restoration to wholeness. Mrs. Todd has learned this and she passes her knowledge down to the narrator. The narrator’s journey …

Don't Put Your Shoes On The Bed: A Moral Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird., Mitziann Stiltner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Harper Lee wrote a remarkable novel which provides a great deal of moral insight for its readers; through a use of history, moral instruction, and character development, Lee establishes a foundation for how people in an often intolerant world should live peacefully together. Moreover, she reminds the reader that regardless of socioeconomic status or race everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. In establishing this moral analysis one must consider the historical source of Tom Robinson’s trial, the Scottsboro Trial; the Finch children’s consistent and exemplified instruction from their widowed father, Atticus, their housekeeper, Calpurina, and other close …

The Need For Control In Interpersonal Relationships And Courtship Violence., Marcella Horn Dunaway

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored an individual's need for control and the level of violence within a dating relationship.

This was a self-report study. Subjects consisted of 175 students from a university in the southern Appalachian region of the U.S. Questionnaires were combined with a scenario depicting violent behavior. Subjects were asked to rate their level of control on the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Inventory (FIRO-B), to complete the Conflict Tactics Scale - revised (CTS-2), and to rate the acceptability of the scenario. Data were analyzed using an ANOVA.

Results did not support the main hypothesis. No relationship was found between control and …

Metallothionein Overexpression Prolongs Grafts Survival In The Early Phase Of Pancreatic Islet Transplantation., Xiaoyan Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pancreatic islet transplantation is a very promising treatment for type I diabetes. Many clinical trials have failed due to early islet loss and immune rejection. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been demonstrated to be involved in graft damage during transplantation. Metallothionein (MT) is an inducible antioxidant protein. Prior studies in our laboratory have shown that overexpression of MT in beta-cells reduces DNA damage and diabetes induced by streptozotocin (STZ), which damages beta cells by generating ROS. Therefore in this study we examined whether overexpression of MT in beta cells is beneficial to pancreatic islet transplantation. Isolated MT transgenic and normal …

Special Education Teachers' And Speech Therapists' Knowledge Of Autism Spectrum Disorder., Carol Hendrix Whaley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey special education teachers and speech therapists in eleven school districts in Northeast Tennessee regarding their knowledge level (etiology and educational programming) of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The primary focus of the study was to identify effective programs and methods used by special educators in this region, comparing them to the latest techniques and teaching methods prescribed by recent research. In addition, identified weaknesses were used to recommend future training and staff development to enable educators to provide the best possible programs for children with autism.

Five hundred fifty-two surveys were disseminated to …

Troubled Trinity: Love, Religion And Patriotism In Liam O'Flaherty's First Novel, Thy Neighbour's Wife., Robin Heavner Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research is a detailed analysis of Liam O'Flaherty's first published novel, Thy Neighbour's Wife, as an underlying autobiographical portrait depicted in the main character, Fr. Hugh McMahon. Although never touted as an autobiography, this study shows O'Flaherty drew upon his early cultural, historical, religious, and political influences in creating his main character. Primary and secondary sources, an ethnographic trip to Ireland, and a content analysis of the novel determined the findings.

The fictional McMahon faced difficult personal choices, subsequently coming to terms with past decisions. McMahon's foibles reflect O'Flaherty's early years. O'Flaherty wrote two acclaimed …