Digital Commons Network^™

Portrayals Of Appalachia In America's Major Metropolitan Newspapers., Honey Leigh Comer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to Gerbner's cultivation theory, misrepresentations in the media create false realities in the minds of society. To date, much research has been done on the impact of this phenomenon on women, minority races, and the homosexual community. Little consideration has been given, however, to geographic minorities such as Appalachians. This study attempts to identify the frequency and manner of representations of Appalachia in major metropolitan newspapers across the U.S. By conducting a framing analysis on a sample of 823 individual mentions of "Appalachia" in 2005, the author is able to illustrate interesting relationships between geographic proximity and the type …

Training For Diversity In Journalism: Tracking The Columbia Summer Program Graduates, 1968-1974., Mary Alice Basconi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Columbia University's Summer Program, created by Fred Friendly, was the first enduring effort to prepare non-whites for jobs in the news media. It operated from 1968 to 1974 at the Graduate School of Journalism, training 223 journalists for print and broadcast jobs. Three decades after the closing of this elite program, 110 graduates responded to a telephone survey on attitudes toward first employers, careers, and their experiences at Columbia. Results from this exploratory study show respondents spent an average 17.6 years in news media after the Summer Program, and 30.9 percent of respondents spent thirty years or more in journalism. …

The History Of The Development Of The Department Of Technology At East Tennessee State University (1911-2002)., Vincent Edward Banks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to produce a written account of the history of the development of the Department of Technology at East Tennessee State University, from 1911 to 2002. Information about the department's history was gathered from various sources and was then organized into a manuscript format. Throughout the document, emphasis remained on four main topic areas; significant name changes, academic/curriculum modifications, faculty changes, and other notable changes/events. This research was unique since in the department's ninety-plus years of existence, no consolidated, written account of its history had ever been created.

A Perceptual Study Of The Impact Of Athletic Programs In Selected Community Colleges In The State Of Tennessee., Lee Martin Cigliano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the economic, institutional, and human impact of athletic programs at community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents community college system to determine how the athletic programs affects the benefits, or lack of benefits, for students, the institutions, and the communities.

Sixteen participants were interviewed: two presidents, two athletic directors, four coaches, and eight student-athletes. The student-athletes represented four different sports and came from a variety of educational backgrounds and academic standing. The primary benefits perceived for the institutions and the student-athletes were the impact on missions, enrollment, educational and athletic opportunities, …

Perceived Teacher Self-Efficacy In Early Childhood Settings: Differences Between Early Childhood And Elementary Education Candidates., Bradley Carroll Billheimer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the degree of perceived teacher self-efficacy between early childhood preservice teachers and elementary education pre-service teachers. There were 88 participants: 44 elementary education pre-service teachers and 40 early childhood pre-service teachers. Participants were mostly white, female pre-service teachers enrolled at East Tennessee State University. Using Bandura's 30-item "Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale" pre-service teachers rated their perceived self-efficacy on 7 subscales: decision-making, influence on school resources, instructional efficacy, disciplinary efficacy, enlisting parent involvement, enlisting community involvement, and creating a positive school climate. Significant differences were found between groups for 3 of the 7 subscales. Early childhood education pre-service teachers …

“Part Of My Internal Landscape”: Religious Ideology As A Construction Of Place In Randall Kenan’S Let The Dead Bury Their Dead And Crystal Wilkinson’S Water Street, Frances Abbott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the contributions of contemporary authors Randall Kenan and Crystal Wilkinson to the construction of place in the traditions of Southern literature and African-American literature. These two traditions have generally operated exclusively, and writers who create texts that speak to both black identity and Southern identity have often been cataloged as members of either one tradition or the other. While Kenan and Wilkinson speak to both traditions through many narrative devices, the creation of a religious landscape of the contemporary southern black community emerges as a significant commonality. Their depiction of spirituality in this context embraces two spheres …

Property Rights As A Precondition To Development: A Case Study Of Jamaica, Leah Kral

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emerging research suggests that property rights play a significant role in the economic and social development of nations. To test this proposition, this study examines the case of Jamaica and whether there is a relationship between property rights and development. In order to carry out this investigation, this study gathers and analyzes existing research to:

1. define the extent that Jamaicans lack property rights and how this affects their everyday quality of life and vulnerability to poverty;

2. examine the relationship between the absence of property rights and underdevelopment; and

3. explore how the current international and local Jamaican policy …

Portraits Through The Lens Of Historicity: The American Family As Portrayed In Ladies Home Journal 1950-1959, Nancy Patton Mills

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problems associated with communication and the American family have often been the subject of academic research projects. The 1950s family is unique and offers the researcher a complex web of interwoven narratives and situational hermeneutics that have affected the American family. In an attempt to understand what was happening in the 1950s, it is imperative that an understanding of the historical moment and its significance be explored.

This dissertation examines the American family through the lens of several interpersonal communication paradigms and theories to generate a conceptual framework for understanding the "story" of the family told through its communicative …

An Examination Of The Service-Learning Program At A Comprehensive University Through The Lenses Of Program Theory And Institutional Theory, Cathy Duff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Case study design, employing qualitative research methods, was used to document and examine a mandatory service-learning program at a new, comprehensive, public university. The study examined service-learning from multiple perspectives. Institutional theory provided a framework for examining the influence of the environment on the conceptualization, adoption, and implementation of service-learning. Program theory was used to identify and analyze the program's conceptual underpinnings, including goals and objectives, intended outcomes for students, and program processes. Knowledge of how a program is supposed to work is useful for developing assessment questions, evaluating institutional effectiveness, and improving program performance. The study included a review …

Exploring Transient Identities: Deconstructing Depictions Of Gender And Imperial Ideology In The Oriental Travel Narratives Of Englishwomen, 1831-1915, Carrieanne Deloach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Englishwomen who traveled to the "Orient" in the Victorian era constructed an identity that was British in its bravery, middle-class in its refinement, feminine in appearance and speech and Christian in its intolerance of Oriental heathenism. Studying Victorian female travel narratives that described journeys to the Orient provides an excellent opportunity to reexamine the diaphanous nature of the boundaries of the public/private sphere dichotomy; the relationship between travel, overt nationalism, and gendered constructions of identity, the link between geographic location and self-definition; the power dynamics inherent in information gathering, organization and production. Englishwomen projected gendered identities in their writings, which …

Landsat Scene Normalization Using Modis 250 Meter Tree Cover Map, Bernard Adusei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High spatial resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM +) bands 4, 5, and 7 coupled with pre-existing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250m resolution maps as reference information were employed in an attempt to catalog anthropogenic impacts on the Congo Ba in's humid tropical forest. The utility of Landsat multi-spectral data depends both on the extent to which surface properties can be estimated from the radiometric measurements and on the ability to observe the surface through the atmosphere. Cloud cover is a major impediment to optical remote sensing of humid tropical regions. Accordingly, applications may …

The Hospitality Of Jim Crow : Tourist Development In Mississippi, 1936-1964, Sara L. Newell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Hope Vi: A Case Study Of Pittsburgh And New Orleans, Amy Ingram

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

HOPE VI is a housing policy that attempts to revitalize distressed public housing communities to create mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods. This research examined the application of HOPE VI in two neighborhoods, one in Pittsburgh and one in New Orleans, to determine policy success or failure. The research hypothesis is that HOPE VI was successful in revitalizing these communities. The method of research utilizes population projections and descriptive social indicators from data collected by the US Census for 1990 and 2000. Evaluation of ten social indicators derived from HOPE VI goals generally indicates that HOPE VI failed to achieve its objectives in …

Part Of My Internal Landscape : Religious Ideology As A Construction Of Place In Randall Kenan's 'Let The Dead Bury Their Dead' And Crystal Wilkinson's 'Water Street', Frances Abbott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Online Education On Academic Performance For Ladies Professional Golf Association Teaching And Club Professionals, Jill Fjelstul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ladies Professional Golf Association Teaching Professionals are scattered throughout the country, many of whom are self-employed. There was not a review session for Class A written test preparation prior to this study. The focus of this research, thus, was to assist first time test takers in their preparation of the LPGA Class A written evaluation through an online medium. The study was conducted between July and November, 2005, and was offered to LPGA T & CP Class B first-time test takers. Components of the online review session included self-evaluations, discussion postings involving test-related content, and practice quizzes. The study compared …

The Effectiveness Of A Specifically Designed Green Roof Stormwater Treatment System Irrigated With Recycled Stormwater Runoff To Achieve Pollutant Removal And Stormwater Volume Reduction, Michael Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of our greatest threats to surface-water quality is polluted stormwater runoff. In this research, investigated is the use of a green roof irrigated with recycled stormwater runoff to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff and reduce the volume of stormwater runoff leaving developed areas. The green roof properties of interest are the filtration and biological processes as well as the roof's ability to hold water and increase evapotranspiration, reducing the volume of stormwater runoff from the source. Because of the above mentioned reasons the experiment consists of a water quality analysis and a water budget done on several experimental chambers …

Trianon And The Predestination Of Hungarian Politics: A Historiography Of Hungarian Revisionism, 1918-1944, Dezso Bartha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes to link certain consistent themes in the historiography of interwar and wartime Hungary. Hungary's inability to successfully resolve its minority problems led to the nation's dismemberment at Trianon in 1920 after World War I. This fostered a national Hungarian reaction against the Trianon settlement called the revisionist movement. This revisionist "Trianon syndrome" totally dominated Hungarian politics in the interwar period. As Hungary sought allies against the hated peace settlements of the Great War, Hungarian politics irrevocably tied the nation to the policies of Nazi Germany, and Hungary became nefariously assessed as "Hitler's last ally," which initially stained …

Middle School Mathematics Teacher Certification, Degree Level, And Experience, And The Effects On Teacher Attrition And Student Mathematics Achievement In A Large Urban District, Bonnie Swan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the backgrounds and experiences of middle school mathematics teachers that often distinguish "quality" teachers, including certification, experience, degree type, and degree level and how those demographics and others vary for different types of schools. The emphasis was on profiling teachers in a large urban district by describing their basic features and distributions, as well as how middle school mathematics teachers, according to those differences, relate to student mathematics achievement, teacher attrition and teacher mobility. Student achievement was measured by test results from the Norm Reference Test-Normal Curve Equivalent (NRT-NCE) mathematics portion of …

Moby Dick! The Musical: A Travesty In Travesti, Rebecca Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Moby Dick! The Musical is a comedic parody based on Herman Melville's 1955 classic novel Moby Dick about a madman who seeks revenge on the great white whale that crippled his body and consumed his spirit. The thesis role I have chosen is "Starbuck", the ship's first mate. If this were a dramatic telling of the classic tale, my role would be considered an absurdity for the sure-known fact that Starbuck is a male character. However, since Moby Dick! The Musical is a spoof that features a play within a play, many, if not most, of the roles are being …

A Quantitative Examination Of Title I And Non-Title I Elementary Schools In East Tennessee Using Fourth-Grade Math And Reading Standardized Test Scores., Amy M. Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In January 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind legislation into law. The law established new standards of accountability for individual students, schools, and school systems. Because of No Child Left Behind, the penalties for schools with poor academic performance in our country are the loss of reputation, student enrollment, and financial support. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in standardized test scores in reading and math between fourth-grade students in Title I schools and those in NonTitle I schools. The study focused on the following subgroups: gender, …

An Analysis Of Tennessee Gateway Exams And The Variables Related To Student Results., Judy W. Webb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the variables that are associated with the percentage of students who pass Tennessee's Gateway exams in high school. Associations were examined between the Gateway exams and variables such as: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, dropout rate, graduation rate, attendance, average daily membership, per-pupil expenditure, teachers' salary, and elementary-school reading scores.

Pearson correlations between school characteristics and pass rates of three Gateway exams were calculated. Schools were divided into quartiles based upon socioeconomic status and ethnicity in order to examine pass rates of the Gateway exams among different quartiles. Independent samples t tests were performed …

Regionalism In The New Globalized Economy : Politics Of Scale And The Discourse Of Regionalism--Comparative Politics Of Two Japanese Global City-Regions., Takashi Tsukamoto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effects of globalization on state restructuring and the status of cities and local governments. I conduct a comparative case study of two Japanese world cities, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. Existing globalization theories offer only partial explanations that fail to grasp the dynamic aspects of such rescaling. To explore the dynamics of government restructuring, this study investigates the relationship between decentralization, regionalization and globalization, highlighting the role of local leaders who employed political rhetoric in their efforts to rescale the city. This research finds that uneven economic effects of globalization are not the direct cause for the …

The Perception Of The Value Of The Use Of Primary Source Documents Among East Tennessee Lakeway Area History Teachers In Grades 5-12., Matthew Elliott Drinnon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the perceptions of history and social studies teachers in the Lakeway Area of East Tennessee concerning the use of primary source materials in classroom instruction. The purpose of this study was to determine what value the educators in the intact group held for the use of primary source documents, how much time was devoted to the analysis of primary source documents by students in those classes, and potential barriers to the implementation of the use of primary source materials.

The research design was descriptive and used data gathered from a survey instrument constructed by the researcher. A …

A Comparative Study Of The Perceptions Of Elementary School Administrators, Teachers, And Students Regarding Recess And Free Play In The Public School., Amy Bennett Banner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to recent studies, the number of schools that have severely limited or eliminated recess and free-play opportunities is on the rise across the nation. School officials cite the increasing levels of state and federal pressure to perform on standardized tests as the primary reason for this shift away from the playground. The threat of lawsuits and safety concerns are also listed as factors in this change of policy.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the perceptions of directors of schools, supervisors, principals, assistant principals, teachers, and students regarding recess and free play in three East …

Graph Theory For The Secondary School Classroom., Dayna Brown Smithers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After recognizing the beauty and the utility of Graph Theory in solving a variety of problems, the author decided that it would be a good idea to make the subject available for students earlier in their educational experience. In this thesis, the author developed four units in Graph Theory, namely Vertex Coloring, Minimum Spanning Tree, Domination, and Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles, which are appropriate for high school level.

Mud And Ashes., Timothy Mcdonald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The artist discusses the work in Mud and Ashes, his Master of Fine Arts exhibition held at Slocumb Galleries, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, from March 28 to April 1, 2005. The exhibition marks a turning point in the artist’s work, occupying a beginning place as he completes his graduate career. The work consists of fifteen paintings and one sculptural installation. The paintings are on paper and employ local materials such as red clay, pollen, and beeswax along with traditional artist’s materials such as oil and charcoal. Fire and a power sander have also been used as …

Historical Responses Of Marine Turtles To Global Climate Change And Juvenile Loggerhead Recruitment In Florida, Joshua Reece

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Marine turtle conservation is most successful when it is based on sound data incorporating life history, historical population stability, and gene flow among populations. This research attempts to provide that information through two studies. In chapter I, I identify historical patterns of gene flow, population sizes, and contraction/expansion during major climatic shifts. In chapter II, I reveal a life history characteristic of loggerhead turtles previously undocumented. I identify a pattern of juvenile recruitment to foraging grounds proximal to their natal nesting beach. This pattern results in a predictable recruitment pattern from juvenile foraging ground aggregations to local rookeries. This research …

The Body Unbound, Kelley Pratt Sharp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Knowledge Management Model In Large-Scale International Space Science Projects, Jose Luis Nunez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large-scale international science projects (LISPs) are those projects where two or more countries formally agree to cooperate toward the achievement of a scientific, research and development, or engineering goal. In general, only projects exceeding $1 billion U.S. are considered LISPs, so sheer size commands attention, and because they are so costly and visible, failure can lead to significant scientific, financial and political consequences. This researched focused on how 7 different critical success factors impacted the level of technical interface knowledge shared among international partners involved in a large-scale international space science project (LISSP) – the International Space Station (ISS), which …

Florence Hedlestone Crane : A Mississippi Woman Painting In Korea, Mayumi Morishita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.