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Understanding The Perceived Experiences Of Goal Setting Of Mothers Of Preschool Children: A Narrative Analysis, Dawn Eckhoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mothers are often asked to use goal setting to help their children achieve optimal health. Before mothers can be successful, they must grasp the meaning and process of goal setting. Currently there is a glaring lack of published research regarding how goal setting is understood and experienced by mothers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the self-described understanding and experiences of mothers, regarding goal setting for their preschool children. Narrative Inquiry was used to explore mothers' experiences with goal setting. A purposive sample of mothers with children in a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program were recruited from the central …

The Effect Of Using Board Games In Reducing Language Anxiety And Improving Oral Performance, Yi-Chun Cheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many English as a second language (ESL) learners feel anxiety about speaking English, and their oral performance is affected in this situation. This study aims to determine the effect of using board games on the improvement of ESL students’ oral performance. Task-based instruction and communicative approaches to pedagogy were used for the games. This is a descriptive method of research which intends to determine the correlation between the usage of educational board games and the level of learners’ language anxiety as well as their improvement in oral performance. The pre-test and post-test which were adapted from the Speaking Proficiency English …

Down Under Punks And Dixie Rock: Reflections On Making The Documentary Film Chinese Whispers - Southern Roots In The Australian Swampy Sound, Gretchen Labudde Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transitioning From A Monolingual To A Dual Language Program: A Case Study Of An Elementary School, Alex Davies

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the lived experiences of administrators, teachers, and parents from an elementary school that was in its first year of dual language transition. The majority of past studies conducted on dual language education focused on students' linguistic and academic outcomes (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). Studies investigating dual language schools' planning, policies, and classroom implementation are significantly less, and those that have, were at schools that were already functioning as dual language with the intent to examine what made the school successful (Alanis & Rodriguez, 2008; Freeman, 1996; Hunt, 2011). Through a phenomenological and case study approach, the current study …

The Effects Of Regulatory Orientation On Subjective Task Values, Ability Beliefs, And Gameplay In A Grammar Editing Computer Game, Stephen Strnad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated mean group differences in composite subjective task values, ability beliefs, and gameplay behaviors between low promotion and high promotion English as a Second Language (ESL) postsecondary students while playing two versions of a grammar-editing computer game. First, students were categorized according to their scores on the General Regulatory Focus Measure. Next, students played two identical versions of the grammar-editing game; in the second game version, an independent variable was added in the form of an in-game punishment. In the middle of each game version, students completed a modified version of the Expectancy-value Questionnaire. Independent samples t-tests were …

Whetting Their Appetite: A Spatial Analysis Of Seasonal Flooding And Raised Field Agriculture In The Llanos De Mojos, Bolivia, Samuel A. Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Llanos de Mojos, a region of the southwestern Amazon, is a seasonally flooded savannah located in the Beni department of Bolivia. The area sustained a significant pre-Columbian population up to the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in the late 17th century. Local communities constructed agricultural landscape modifications to help cultivate crops such as maize, manioc, and sweet potato. Raised fields contributed to soil nutrient intensification and helped to manage flooding. This study examines the relationship between 40,766 raised agricultural fields which were digitized by the Proyecto SIG Arqueologico del Beni using Google Earth and maps of surface flood coverage. Flood …

Altruistic Punishment Theory And Inter-Group Violence, Clayton Besaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of altruistic punishment, the act of punishing outsiders perceived to harm members of one's group at a personal cost, in explaining individual motivations to participate in inter-group violence. It first develops a social theory of this type punishment. This theory argues that an egalitarian social logic may be key to understanding motivations of parochial altruism, and that one's social environment may influence thresholds of anger needed to induce punishment behavior. Empirically, it conducts two survey-experimental studies. The first experiment utilizes subject partisan identity in the context of American politics and hypothetical acts of violence to …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Key Concepts In Islam From The Perspective Of Imams, Chandler Dobiyanski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The continuous occurrence of terrorist attacks in the name of Islam has shown this ideology and its tenets are at least somewhat connected to jihadists committing attacks in its name. This ideology in terms of 13 themes was investigated by the researcher in 58 sermons outlined in the tables in the appendix. These themes include: brotherhood, death, freedom, human rights, justice and equality, love, oppression, peace and treaty, self-defense, sin, submission, terrorism and truth vs. lies. The researcher used a sample of 10 sermons from U.S.- born imams and 10 sermons from foreign-born imams as the basis for the analysis …

Structural Inclusion Tools For Theatre Teaching Artists, Leah Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term "inclusion" has been increasing in its use with students of various abilities, specifically students with autism. Creating inclusion work is a growing need within the field of theatre, and a catalyst for this work can be seen through the creation of the Theatre Development Fund's sensory-friendly performances in 2011. These sensory-friendly performances are primarily marketed to families and students who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, as ASD often creates a sensory sensitivity to bright lights, sudden movements, or loud sounds. As a theatre practitioner, the guiding question of my research is exploring whether inclusion practices can …

Exploration Of Teaching El Students Using The Arts With The Focus On Theatre Arts, Carinita Quintero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Education has become a revolutionary field in which constant change and diversification of students in the classroom has sought for much differentiation in lessons and instructions. One of the popular forms for differentiation is that of drama or theatre techniques. Theatre has been used in many forms for fostering education. One of the elements from ESL teacher's experience is using theatre in the English as a Second Language classroom or EL class to aid students in learning English. The study focused on the influence theatre arts components have on students learning English as a second language. I proposed to present …

Lexico-Grammatical Complexity In Eap Student Writing: A Learner Corpus Analysis, Ekaterina Goussakova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this descriptive linguistic study, the lexico-grammatical complexity of placement and exit English for Academic Purposes (EAP) student writing samples was analyzed using corpus linguistic methods to explore language development as a result of student enrollment in the EAP program. Writing samples were typed, matched, and tagged. A concordance software was used to produce lexical realizations of grammatical features. A comparison was made of normed frequency counts for nine phrasal and clausal features as well as raw frequencies for type to token ratio (TTR), average word length, and word count. In addition, the contribution of variables such as advanced grammar …

Analyses And Comparisons Of Three Lexical Features In Native And Nonnative Academic English Writing, Xiaoli Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Built upon the Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA) framework, this corpus-based research analyzes three lexical features (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and cohesion) in native and nonnative English writers' academic writing and examines the potential differences in lexical performance 1) between native and nonnative English writers and 2) across all writers from various language backgrounds. The differences in lexical performance in academic writing between native and nonnative English writers and the unique characteristics of writers from different language backgrounds suggest the necessity of targeted academic writing instruction based upon learner needs. Using text length as the covariate, two Multivariate Analysis of Covariate …

Understanding Why Women Stay: Examining Persistence Factors Of Women Majoring In Science And Technology Programs In Public Ethiopian Universities Using A Mixed Methods Design, Meseret Hailu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amongst African nations, Ethiopia is a unique case in many respects. The country has the second largest population on the continent, is currently experiencing an economic boom, and is a relatively stable nation in the geopolitically volatile "Horn of Africa" region. In the past two decades, the higher education sector in Ethiopia has experienced rapid growth, as evidenced by an increase in both student enrollment and the number of universities. Amongst the various types of higher education institutions, public universities are especially important because they receive the greatest financial support from the Ministry of Education. Moreover, science and technology programs …

Best Practices Used By Assistant Superintendents Of Curriculum And Instruction: Improving Teacher Instruction In A High Accountability Environment, Julie Madden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative multi-case study investigated not only the role of assistant superintendents of curriculum and instruction, but the strategies and best practices used by four assistant superintendents of curriculum and instruction and a deputy superintendent of teaching and learning from East Texas in order to improve classroom instruction and support teachers in the high-stakes testing environment. The study sheds light on the role of central office leaders, their views related to the high-stakes testing environment and the impact they have on instruction for teachers and students. The responses given in this qualitative case study were carefully analyzed in order to …

Educating Critically : Challenging The Familiar Contours Of Literacy Teacher Education., Bianca Nightengale-Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The shifting cultural ecologies of U.S. classrooms emphasize acknowledging difference, accepting diversity, and sustaining both cultural and linguistic plurality (Banks & Banks, 2009; hooks, 1994; Paris 2014). Teacher education programs play an integral role in preparing Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) with skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessitated by a growing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) student population (Cruz, Ellerbrock, Vasquez & Howes, 2014). To enact equitable teaching practices reflective of 21st century students, PSTs need to demonstrate a level of cultural awareness that acknowledges the racially, socially, and politically charged societal structures that shape education for CLD students (Hall & Carlson, 2016). …

A Framework For Clustering And Adaptive Topic Tracking On Evolving Text And Social Media Data Streams., Gopi Chand Nutakki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances and widespread usage of online web services and social media platforms, coupled with ubiquitous low cost devices, mobile technologies, and increasing capacity of lower cost storage, has led to a proliferation of Big data, ranging from, news, e-commerce clickstreams, and online business transactions to continuous event logs and social media expressions. These large amounts of online data, often referred to as data streams, because they get generated at extremely high throughputs or velocity, can make conventional and classical data analytics methodologies obsolete. For these reasons, the issues of management and analysis of data streams have been researched extensively …

Highly Student-Rated Teachers Of Multicultural Classrooms : A Qualitative Study Of Teacher Practices., Rose M. Glasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I selected three mathematics teachers teaching in multicultural classes who were highly rated by their students. I examined these teachers’ practices in relation to multicultural instructional practices, language and critical knowledge. The participants were two secondary mathematics teachers, and one middle mathematics teacher who exclusively taught English learners who had lived in the United States for less than two years. Some of their students were considered Significantly Interrupted or limited Formal Education. The teachers, Marlon, Yasin and Abigail were from Cuba, Turkey and the United States, respectively. Using recommendations from Yin (2014), I employed multiple-case, qualitative methodology …

The Feelings We Harbor - The Role Of Collage In Arousing Powerful Emotions In An Esl Classroom., Irina V. Mcgrath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional literacy education in the U.S. relies exclusively on language-based models. This can be particularly challenging for English language learners, who often find themselves bound by the constraints of the English language and limited in their expressions of thought and emotion. Current research on English language teaching, largely targeted towards native English-speaking students, suggests that incorporating various alternate modes of communication and representation improves literacy learning. Studies that address English language learning for non-native speakers are sparse. The purpose of this arts-based, qualitative, descriptive study is to fill this gap in the literature. Using collage making as a communicative mode, …

Authorship Identification Of Translation Algorithms., Keishin Nishiyama

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Authorship analysis is a process of identifying a true writer of a given document and has been studied for decades. However, only a handful of studies of authorship analysis of translators are available despite the fact that online translations are widely available and also popularly employed in automatic translations of posts in social networking services. The identification of translation algorithms has potential to contribute to the investigation of cybercrimes, involving translation of scam messages by algorithmic translations to reach speakers of foreign languages. This study tested bag of words (BOW) approach in authorship attribution and the existing approaches to translator …

Preschool Enrollment And Elementary School Achievement In An East Tennessee School District, Derek Voiles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant difference in achievement scores exists among students based on whether or not they attended preschool as measured by standardized achievement reading-language arts and math scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Achievement Program assessment for fourth grade students in a single East Tennessee school district. The variables of grade level and preschool attendance were considered. The population consisted of fourth grade students during the 2014-2015 school year. Data were gathered from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program achievement test scores obtained from the 2014-2015 school year and from the school district’s preschool …

Levels Of Feedback Observed In Kindergarten Classrooms: Perceptions And Reality, Jacqueline Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The most powerful influence on student achievement is the classroom teacher and the most effective instructional strategy teachers can use to increase student learning and achievement is effective feedback (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The research on teacher feedback in kindergarten classrooms is scarce therefore this study helps reduce the void in the literature on the importance of teacher feedback in kindergarten classrooms.

The purpose of this study was to examine effective teachers’ perceptions of the amount and kind of feedback they provide to their students and to determine if their perceptions match the feedback they actually provide. The participants in …

Impact Of A Technology Based Intervention Package On The Inappropriate Behavior Of A Child With Severe Disability, Amani Alshehri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One useful strategy to support students with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) to promote appropriate behaviors across environments and gain the social skills is using social stories. In addition, experts have recognized iPads and apps were associated with less challenging behavior and more academic engagement over traditional materials (Lee, Lang, Davenport, Moore, Rispoli, Meer, & Chung, 2013). The focus this study was to examine the effectiveness of an intervention package featuring social stories delivered via an iPad and simultaneous prompting on frequency of targeted challenging behavior and comprehension of the social story of a student with IDD. A single-subject multiple …

Parental Perceptions Of Preschool-Age Children’S Literacy Development In A Rural Appalachian Community, Kimberly Austin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early Childhood educators agree on the significant influence of a parent on a child’s literacy development. The environment a parent provides, in addition to the opportunities a child has in the early years, have a major influence on a child’s literacy development. This study sought to determine how parents in a low-income socioeconomic group perceived literacy development and how their preschool-age children performed on an emergent literacy assessment. The 64 study participants were recruited from a Head Start program in the central Appalachian Mountains. An overwhelming majority of participants were mother/child dyads, every participant spoke English as a primary language, …

Exploring A Multifactorial, Clinical Model Of Thought Disorder : Application Of A Dimensional, Transdiagnostic Approach., Mara Ann Hart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Bleuler saw thought disorder as the core defining feature of psychotic phenomena, reflective of the “splitting of the psychic functions” that occurred when, in the process of thinking, one’s ideas and feelings disconnect, becoming fragmented and competing functions. Unfortunately, interest in thought disorder as the conceptual core of psychosis was lost with rise of the modern DSM system, paralleling the shift towards a more simplistic, categorical way of defining psychiatric disorders. Aims: This study examined thought disorder from a dimensional perspective, with the aim of disentangling qualitative heterogeneity and diverse sources of influence. Analyses were based on …

Comparing Total Expenditures By Source Of Long-Term Services And Supports., Maresa R. Corder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compares total expenditures between beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Long-Term Care (LTC) and beneficiaries enrolled in Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) in a Quasi-Experimental Simple Ex Post Facto study utilizing multiple linear regression with inverted propensity score weighting. The results demonstrated, during the two years of the study period, that total expenditures were on average $14,565.03 (with a p-value oflessfor the total two years of the study, for HCBS beneficiaries when compared to their LTC counterparts. There remains today a belief that expenditures of elderly, dual beneficiaries electing to age-in-place for supported self-care expend less than that of …

Articulating The New Normal(S) : Mental Disability, Medical Discourse, And Rhetorical Action., Andrew Wesley Holladay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Articulating the New Normal(s): Mental Disability, Medical Discourse, and Rhetorical Action” studies the writing of people diagnosed with autism and post- traumatic stress disorder within online discussion boards related to mental health and outlines their unique rhetorical strategies for interacting with biomedical ideologies of psychiatry and activist discourses. The opening chapter situates this dissertation in relation to previous scholarship in Rhetoric, Disability Studies, and other fields. I also provide a summary of the set of mixed methods I use to gather and analyze my data, including rhetorical analysis, corpus analysis, and qualitative interviews. In Chapter 2, “Medical Terminology and Discourse …

How Muslims Help : An Ethnography Of Muslim Voluntary Assistance For Syrian Refugees In Louisville, Ky., Irene Levy Yates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Islamic faith-based organizations’ involvement in Syrian refugee resettlement in Louisville, KY with special attention to the impact of an Islamic Relief USA community engagement grant awarded to Kentucky Refugee Ministries in 2014. A description of local Muslim community support for newly arrived refugees was constructed via participant observation and semi-structured interviews with former and current resettlement agency employees, a diverse set of Muslim community volunteers, and refugees who participate in and/or are supported by Islamic faith-based organizations. Muslim communities in Louisville approach refugee resettlement in ways that are significantly different from both resettlement agency staff and past …

New Perspectives On The History Of The Ohio Valley Frontier, 1750-1838 : Connecting Recent Scholarship With Public Interpretation., Ellen Rich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to interpret for the public both the native and white perspectives of the conquest and colonization of the Ohio Valley frontier by Anglo-Americans in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Its focus is a planned museum exhibition, “Conquering the First American West: The Ohio Valley Frontier, 1750-1838,” which explores interactions between American Indians and Anglo-Americans on the Ohio Valley frontier and their consequences. The introduction justifies the need for the exhibition and outlines its major arguments. The second section examines the historiography of the conquest of the Ohio Valley and shows why stronger public interpretation is needed. …

American Muslim Men And Stigma : The Use Of Religious Communities As Mechanisms For Stigma Management., Jack R. Allen Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of American Muslim men deserve further study because they are relevant to current civil rights discussions, especially in a social-political climate that is growing increasingly hostile toward the Islamic world. Despite acknowledging the significant impact of gender, relatively little research has focused exclusively on masculine Muslim experiences of stigmatization. This research addresses the experiences of religiously practicing Muslim men and addresses the following questions: How do Muslim men experience stigma in their communities? What experience do these men have with religious institutions? And finally, how do these experiences with religious institutions inform how these individuals manage stigma? Using …

Traces Of The (Un)Familiar : Family, Identity, And The Return Of The Repressed In The Photographs Of Ralph Eugene Meatyard., Hunter Martin Kissel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the ways in which photographs by Ralph Eugene Meatyard provoke the uncanny—or Das unheimlich as Freud originally wrote in 1919—by breaking from conventions of mid-twentieth century family photography often utilized to establish and maintain genealogical unity. Meatyard’s photographs of his family and friends are accentuated by blurring techniques, prolonged exposures, and the incorporation of dime-store masks, and as a result depict moments when reality is disrupted by the return of repressed material from childhood. For a multitude of reasons, Meatyard’s photographs elicit comparisons to Surrealist photography as well as certain American modernists who also explored the notion …