Digital Commons Network^™

Northeast Tennessee Educators’ Perception Of Stem Education Implementation, Kristin Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A quantitative nonexperimental survey study was developed to investigate Northeast Tennessee K-8 educators’ perceptions of STEM education. This study was an examination of current perceptions of STEM education. Perceived need, current implementation practices, access to STEM resources, definition of STEM, and the current condition of STEM in Northeast Tennessee were also examined. The participating school districts are located in the Northeast Region of Tennessee: Bristol City Schools, Hamblen County Schools, Johnson City Schools, Johnson County Schools, Kingsport City Schools, Sullivan County Schools, and Washington County Schools. Educational professionals including both administrators and teachers in the elementary and/or middle school setting …

Recognizing 'Game Changers' In Extrapolation Models: An Application To Counterinsurgency, Micah Dolcort-Silver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent empirical studies suggest insurgencies may be accurately described by aggregated extrapolation models, such that past behavior becomes the best predictor for future action. I argue that aggregated extrapolation models possess two flaws that make it a poor choice for examining insurgencies. First, aggregated extrapolation models ask the wrong question. The more interesting question is to ask when present action is no longer explainable by past behavior. Secondly, aggregate models mask changes that a phenomenon undergoes over time which are only revealed upon disaggregating the data. Starting with a model and findings provided by Neil Johnson, I use casualty data …

Remembering Dearfield: A Study Of An Early 20th Century Black Community, Mary Connell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the different meanings of Dearfield, an early 20th Century black farming colony in northeastern Colorado, from the way the settlers’ conceived of their community, to the way that it was portrayed by the founder, to the way that it is remembered today. Through analysis of archival data and government records I show that there were two sides of Dearfield, that remembered by most of the settlers, and that portrayed by the founder O.T. Jackson. A magnetometer survey shows that the townsite was not as densely occupied as the common narrative of Dearfield would suggest, indeed many homesteaders …

¿Del Mar Quién Es Dueño? Artisanal Fisheries, Tourism Development, And The Struggles Over Access To Marine Resources In Playa Gigante, Nicaragua, Nikolai Alexander Alvarado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In post-revolutionary Nicaragua tourism development has been embraced as a way to inject foreign exchange into an ailing economy. Despite rapid growth of the sector, particularly along Nicaragua's southwestern Pacific coast, little attention has been given to the impacts of this development on local producers. This research focuses on the tourism development taking place in the fishing community of Playa Gigante and its impacts on artisanal fisheries. Additionally, I focus on the struggles over access to marine resources, especially with creation of La Anciana Marine Protected Area (MPA), a marine conservation corridor being pushed forth by the largest resort development …

Impact Of Rail Transit On The Denver Metro Region: Transportation And Land Use, Sutapa Bhattacharjee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among the reasons behind construction of the light rail system in the 1990s and 2000s and currently the FasTracks lines, in Denver metro region, has been reduction of traffic congestion and consolidation of land use. This research analyzes the success of the rail transit system in achieving the above-mentioned goals.

A temporal and spatial analysis of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) data from 1992 to 2008 on the highways in Denver has been conducted to determine if traffic congestion has reduced after the initial light rail service began in 1994. Temporal analysis provides an insight into the changes in the level …

Pioneers, Proclamations, And Patents : A Narrative Of The Conquest, Division, Settlement, And Transformation Of Kentucky., Brandon Michael Robison 1986-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study provides a narrative of Revolutionary Kentucky, focused on three key areas. First, it traces the struggle Native Americans, white settlers and speculators, and the various colonial, state, imperial, and national governments that claimed the territory for control and possession of Kentucky’s lands in the late eighteenth century. Second, this study focuses on the long-term effects of the struggle over Kentucky’s lands, paying particular attention to Virginia’s land laws of 1778-79, which created the framework by which the state distributed Kentucky’s land, and based on poor implementation of Jeffersonian notions of republicanism and allodial land ownership. Third, this study …

Adherence To The American College Of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines For Pharmacotherapy In New York Heart Association Class Ii-Iv Heart Failure Patients And Associated Re-Hospitalization Rates., Matthew T. Mefford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will assess differences in the rates of re-hospitalization among New York Heart Association class II, III, and IV heart failure patients, focusing on levels of adherence to the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for heart failure patient pharmacotherapy. Hospitalization data on 128 HF patients will be analyzed looking at 14 day, 30 day, and 6 month time points, assessing key aspects of treatment and patient characteristics as potential risk factors in predicting re-hospitalization trends. Effectiveness of ACC/AHA adherence to pharmacotherapy upon primary hospital discharge will be itemized in an intention to treat analysis, with guidelines determined …

Predictors Of Social Vulnerability : A Multilevel Analysis., Regardt J. Ferreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past three decades there has been a rapid increase in the number of disasters occurring worldwide that affect communities, households and individuals. The increase in disasters and the associated impacts are evident in our society. The impact of disasters can have more chronic impacts generating social and economic hardship, loss of employment, dissolution of personal relationships, and the long-term decline of physical and mental health. A study was undertaken to develop an understanding of the predictors of individual social vulnerability on individuals nested within communities. The Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System and 14 other community level data sources …

"Two Machines Similarly Constructed" : Humanity Between Apes And Clones., Emily Regina Freund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Two Machines Similarly Constructed”: Humanity Between Apes and Clones explores the development of scientific taxonomies of difference and the proliferation and evolution of the definition of the “human.” A focus on Enlightenment naturalists’ texts and images of apes reveals how these scientists defined the human “difference” and lends to Michel Foucault’s archaeology of the invention of “man.” This establishes the concept of a classifying discourse and argues that a narrative of human exceptionalism pervaded subsequent ideas of progress and civilization. Analyses of two texts, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, develop a discussion of how the …

Interactivity In Louisville Museums., Robert Stephen Goforth 1983-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines interactive exhibits in a selection of museums in Louisville, Kentucky, and argues that interactive exhibits are a necessary addition to contemporary history museums. It examines the importance of interactivity, how it is used within museums, and critically evaluates the interactive exhibits examined in Louisville on their effectiveness. This effectiveness is judged using three measures: amount of self-directed learning or level of interaction involved, contextual information available, and information imparted to the visitors through the interactive experience. The study examines forty-three exhibits and concludes that a slight majority succeed with all three measures. The paper concludes that studies …

Tgf-B Signaling Pathway, Er-A And The Heterogeneity Of Breast Cancer Risk Among Hispanic And Non-Hispanic White Women., Stephanie Denkhoff Boone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many risk factors for breast cancer differ between race/ethnic groups. Few studies have included Hispanic women: a genetically admixed population that differs from other ethnic groups for breast cancer incidence, survival, and tumor phenotype. The objective of this study was to determine if genetic variation in ERa and TGF-ß signaling genes (TGF-ß1, TGF-ßR1, RUNX1, RUNX2, RUNX3) is associated with breast cancer risk, and if these associations differ between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women (NHW). Data from The Breast Cancer Health Disparities (BCHD) study were used. BCHD is a multi-site consortium including two case-control studies within the U.S. and one in …

Examining Alignment : National And Local Assessments And The Common Core State Standards In Mathematics., Ryan M. Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In support of the national movement to improve mathematics instruction and assessment, states and districts are looking for the best tools to measure student progress toward proficiency. There is a national dialogue about how to use 8th-grade measurements like ACT EXPLORE and NAEP as predictors of student success and school accountability. This dissertation shares research that examined alignment of district and national assessments to the 8th-grade Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM). Three research questions were examined in this study to determine the extent of content validity and mathematical practice representation in three 8th-grade assessments compared to the CCSSM. …

Stranded Strangers : Ethiopian Refugees And The Quest For Urban Citizenship In Nairobi, Kenya., Derese Getachew Kassa 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a burgeoning literature on Right to the City much of which is inspired by the pioneering works of Henry Lefebvre who wrote about urban citizenship for all inhabitants of the city, access to rights and resources in the city, and political participation in the management of urban affairs. This study explores whether the Right to the City approach can help explain the dynamics of state- refugee relations in the urban centers of Africa. Hence, I took the case of Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi (the capital city of Kenya) to answer the following research questions: a) How do Ethiopian …

Land Use Controls, Equine Landscapes And The Role Of Political Culture In Managing Sprawl Development., Lynn Roche Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of land development growth management programs at two communities that are thoroughbred horse centers - Ocala/Marion County, Florida and Lexington/Fayette County, Kentucky. The study period was 1970 to 2010. Marion County has had a state-mandated growth management program in place since 1985 and Fayette County has had an urban growth boundary since 1957. The agricultural use of the thoroughbred horse industry was selected because it is known to be highly sensitive to sprawl-type development and the long-term economic strength of each location is dependent upon a strong thoroughbred industry as it …

Site Location Modeling And Prehistoric Rock Shelter Selection On The Upper Cumberland Plateau Of Tennessee, Lucinda M. Langston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using data collected from 2 archaeological surveys of the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP), Pogue Creek Gorge and East Obey, a site location model was developed for prehistoric rock shelter occupation in the region. Further, the UCP model was used to explore factors related to differential site selection of rock shelters. Different from traditional approaches such as those that use (aspatial) logistic regression, the UCP model was developed using spatial logistic regression. However, models were also generated using other regression-based approaches in an effort to demonstrate the need for a spatial approach to archaeological site location modeling. Based on the UCP …

Academic Performance Of First-Year Students At A College Of Pharmacy In East Tennessee: Models For Prediction, Cheri W. Clavier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the increase of students applying to pharmacy programs, it is imperative that admissions committees choose appropriate measures to analyze student readiness. The purpose of this research was to identify significant factors that predict the academic performance, defined as grade point average (GPA) at the end of the first professional year, of pharmacy students. The population consisted of 466 students enrolled in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program in northeast Tennessee over a 5-year period. Statistical procedures included bivariate correlations, t-tests for independent samples, and multiple regression. Analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the students in the population …

"Queen Of All Islands": The Imagined Cartography Of Matthew Paris's Britain, John Wyatt Greenlee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the middle decade of the thirteenth century, the Benedictine monk and historian Matthew Paris drew four regional maps of Britain. The monk's works stand as the earliest extant maps of the island and mark a distinct shift from the cartographic traditions of medieval Europe. Historians have long considered the version attached to the monk's Abbreviatio Chronicorum – the Claudius map – as the last and most thorough of Paris's images of Britain. However, scholars have focused on the document's limitations as an accurate geographic representation and have failed to consider critically Paris's representation of Britain with an eye towards …

Never Quite Settled: Southern Plain Folk On The Move, Ronald J. Mccall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the settlement of the Mississippi Territory through the eyes of John Hailes, a Southern yeoman farmer, from 1813 until his death in 1859. This is a family history. As such, the goal of this paper is to reconstruct John’s life to better understand who he was, why he left South Carolina, how he made a living in Mississippi, and to determine a degree of upward mobility.

Local, state, and federal government records provide the general context of this study and accurately track John’s movements and land purchases within the territory. John's frequent movements and the land he …

Collegiate Academic Enhancement Programs: The Benefits Of Multi-Year Programs Compared To The Benefits Of One-Year Programs For Traditionally Underrepresented Students, Derriell M. Springfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student retention rates and graduation rates currently play a major role in measuring the success of institutions of higher education. To contribute to the likelihood of this success many institutions offer programs designed to increase the academic performance of their students especially those classified as incoming freshmen. Others are more focused and target those who are from underrepresented populations. Nonetheless not many programs have been designed to aid those students in the subsequent years that follow freshman year.

The purpose of this research project was to determine if there are significant differences in the success of those students who participate …

The Urban Heat Island And Its Influence On Precipitation In Denver, Colorado, Diana Thunen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic modification of the climate is an unintended yet serious effect of urbanization and it is happening in every city across the globe in the form of the urban heat island. The purpose of this study was to see if Denver, Colorado exhibits evidence of an urban heat island using meteorological data and if there has been a change in precipitation amounts since the urbanization of the city. It was concluded that Denver, Colorado does have an urban heat island that varies seasonally throughout the year with an average magnitude of 3.57°C during the day and 3.82°C at night. The …

Mimicry, Mirroring, Subversion, And Critique: Reading Heterotopia In The Cubicula Of The Sacraments, Eric Christopher Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the spaces commonly called the Cubicula of the Sacraments, five rooms in the Callistus Catacomb in Rome, in light of Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia. I argue that the Christian communities that created the Cubicula constructed their spaces and construed the symbolic worlds they conjured there as a way of mimicking, mirroring, subverting, and critiquing the "other" spaces and cultures that surrounded them.

This work takes place along four lines of inquiry. The first of these is space and place, and uses Foucault's and Henri Lefebvre's notions of heterotopia to describe the Callistus Catacomb's location in the …

Fresh Squeezed: The Dilemma Of Local Food Production Along Colorado's Front Range Urban Corridor, Amanda Jessie Weaver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, the Front Range Urban Corridor of Colorado is one example from the urban/agricultural battlefield. The history of food production and urbanization in this area is similar to many regions throughout the western United States. Originally an extraction based economy, Colorado later became agriculturally/pastorally based, and more recently became a service-based, urban economy. On the Front Range Urban Corridor specifically, the urban core of Denver and Boulder developed with rich agricultural lands toward the northeast to Weld County along the northern border of the state. Though a semi-arid region, this agricultural zone produces a volume and variety of food-based crops …

Chinese Intellectuals And China's Policy Toward Japan, Wenting Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims at integrating two scholarships: state-society relation studies and Chinese foreign policy analysis. I created Two-level Perception Gap Model to analyze different intellectual groups' relations with party-state by confirming Chinese intellectuals play a role in CFP making in general, China's Japan policy in particular. This model is an alternative approach, instead of conventional wisdom patron-client approach, to explain and analyze the pluralized intellectual-state relations in China. This model first analyzed the role of two intellectual groups, namely think tank scholars and popular nationalist, in China's Japan policy making, and then based on these analyses it explains the interactional …

Mobility And Aging In Denver, Colorado: Travel Behavior, Mobility Barriers, And Perceptions Of Transit, Sylvia Arriaga Brady

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The number of seniors in the U.S. today is growing rapidly because of longer life expectancies and the aging Baby Boomer generation. This age groups' travel behavior will have substantial impacts on transportation, economics, safety, and the environment. This research used a mixed-methods approach to address issues of mobility and aging in Denver, Colorado. A quantitative approach was used to answer broad questions about travel behavior and the effects of age, gender, work status, disability, residential location and socio-economic status on mobility. Qualitative interviews with seniors in the Denver metro area were conducted to identify barriers to mobility, decision-making processes …

Comparing Integrative Complexity Of Holocaust Rescuers And Perpetrators, Fernando Alberto Ospina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To contribute to the social psychological literature on Holocaust rescue, this thesis seeks to explore possible connections between open-mindedness and rescuing during the Holocaust, a previously unexplored intersection in the social science literature. Open-mindedness is the ability and/or willingness to adopt alternative points of view (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), while rescuing entails helping others in high-risk circumstances without expectation of reward or compensation.

While most of the scientific study of psychology has focused on how human beings are flawed and damaged. People are seen as sick or damaged and the scientific study of psychology tends toward trying to alleviate these …

The Impact Of Transit Oriented Development On The Travel Behaviors Of Workers In Denver, Colorado, Gregory J. Kwoka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To combat unsustainable transportation systems characterized by reliance on petroleum, polluting emissions, traffic congestion and suburban sprawl, planners encourage mixed use, densely populated areas that provide individuals with opportunities to live, work, eat and shop without necessarily having to drive private automobiles to accommodate their needs. Despite these attempts, the frequency and duration of automobile trips has consistently increased in the United States throughout past decades. While many studies have focused on how residential proximity to transit influences travel behavior, the effect of workplace location has largely been ignored.

This paper asks, does working near a TOD influence the travel …

Addressing Roman Jews: Paul's View On The Law In The Letter To The Romans, Dennis Haugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many years, Pauline scholars have wrestled with two related questions: (1) how did Paul envision the composition of the audience for his letter to Rome? (2) What did Paul see as the role of the Law in the community of Jesus followers? As to the first question, I contend that Paul wrote to an implied audience composed of non-Judeans who had first converted to Judaism and then acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, or who became Jews at the time of their acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. In either case, they adopted the beliefs and practices of the followers of Jesus …

Similarity Of Climate Control On Base Flow And Perennial Stream Density In The Budyko Framework, Liuliu Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Streams are classified into perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams based on flow durations. Perennial stream is the basic network, while intermittent or ephemeral stream is the expanded network. Connection between perennial stream and base flow at the mean annual scale exists since one of the hydrologic functions of perennial stream is to deliver runoff even in low flow seasons. The partitioning of precipitation into runoff and evaporation at the mean annual scale, on the first order, is captured by the ratio of potential evaporation to precipitation (Ep/P called climate aridity index) based on the Budyko hypothesis. The primary focus of …

Evaluating The Utility Of A Virtual Environment For Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder, Nina Sarver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Two significant challenges for the dissemination of social skills training programs are (a) the need to provide sufficient practice opportunities to assure skill consolidation and (b) the need to assure skill generalization (i.e., use of the skills outside the clinic setting). In the case of social anxiety disorder, virtual environments may provide one strategy to address these issues. This investigation describes the development of an interactive skills-oriented virtual school environment and evaluated its utility for the treatment of social anxiety disorder in preadolescent children (Study 1). This environment included both in-clinic and at-home solutions. In addition, a pilot replication/extension …

Crimean Rhetorical Sovereignty: Resisting A Deportation Of Identity, Christian Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On a small contested part of the world, the peninsula of Crimea, once a part of the former Soviet Union, lives a people who have endured genocide and who have struggled to etch out an identity in a land once their own. They are the Crimean Tatar. Even their name, an exonym promoting the Crimeans’ “peripheral status” (Powell) and their ensuing “cultural schizophrenia” (Vizenor), bears witness to the otherization they have withstood throughout centuries. However, despite attempts to relegate them to the history books, Crimeans are alive and well in the “motherland,” but not without some difficulty. Having been forced …