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Exploring Detracting Elements And Coping Mechanisms Reported In Four Trails Along The Going-To-The-Sun Road Corridor In Glacier National Park, Diana Maritza Bedoya

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The results of the ongoing study to monitor visitors use, and the shuttle experience in Glacier National Park demonstrate that use levels in the park have increased considerably. Thus, it was pertinent to evaluate to which extent the conditions on the trails are so undesirable or unexpected for visitors that they would usually employ coping responses to deal with those situations. This research was structured to provide a description of the salient setting attributes and personal factors associated with the identification of the detracting elements of the recreational experiences, and types of coping mechanisms usually used. The study reported here …

Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches' Perceptions Of And Preferences For Continuing Education, Collin M. Fehr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to better understand U.S. intercollegiate tennis coaches’ perceptions of professional development and the factors that influence their participation in such endeavors. Based on discussions in the literature, a survey was created to quantify this population’s attitudes toward various components of continuing education. The survey included several closed-ended questions as well as rating questions, on a 5-point Likert scale. 181 participants (Male= 136, Female= 45) responded to the survey, representing 93 intercollegiate tennis conferences in the United States. The major findings of this study were: (i) the majority of intercollegiate tennis coaches perceive continuing education …

A Study Of The Relationship Between High School Principal Leadership Style And The Number Of Bullying Behaviors In Montana Public High Schools, James Edward Fuller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This quantitative study examines the relationship between the leadership style of 19 Montana high school principals and the number of incidents of serious bullying that occurred in their schools during the 2011-2012 school year. Bullying behavior and its many negative ramifications is a problem of paramount importance for educators today. This study shines new light on the topic by testing the effect of the principal’s leadership behavior on one measurement of the bullying problem.

Data on principal leadership style, the independent variable, was gathered via the Multi- Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 360 Form 5X Short). This survey measured each leader’s …

Generational Perspective Of Higher Education Online Student Learning Styles, Chad James Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students associated with a generational group exhibit similar learning styles as identified by the Felder and Soloman Index of Learning Styles instrument. The secondary purpose was to determine to what degree these generational groups rate their satisfaction with online education through the use of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) instrument. The instruments were administered to Montana University System students who were enrolled in one or more fully online courses. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and ANOVA. The collected data of 1426 (n) from a total surveyed …

The Effect Of Spillover Onto Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors At The Schaffer-Ca1 Synapse In Hippocampal Slice, Katie Marie Hoffman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is crucial for processes such as learning and memory. Due its importance as a signaling molecule, the extracellular glutamate concentration is tightly regulated, largely by the excitatory amino-acid transporters (EAATs). In these studies, we investigated the role of EAAT1-3 in synaptic transmission at the Schaffer-CA1 synapse in acute hippocampal brain slices. My results demonstrated that transport block by L-TBA resulted in glutamate spillover and activation of NMDARs. Further investigation showed that L-TBA-mediated activation of NMDARs was facilitated by the Mg2+ unblock of the receptor. Furthermore our data indicate that NMDAR …

Implementation & Evaluation Of A Peer Mentor Walking Program For Transitionally Housed Women In Missoula, Mt, Emily Jane Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Single women and families with children are rapidly growing segments of the homeless population (NCH, 2009b). Homeless women generally report a lower quality of life, and are at a greater risk for various physical and mental health issues than their housed counterparts (NCH, 2009a). Mental illness, including depression and anxiety, impacts 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States, compared to 6% of the general population (NCH, 2009b). Social support can serve as a mediating factor between undesirable life events and depression (La Gory, Ritchey, Mullis, 1990). Unfortunately, the social support system among homeless individuals is sometimes …

Aufarbeitung Der Vergangenheit Through The Medium Of Myth In Heinrich Böll's Short Stories Der Mann Mit Den Messern And Nicht Nur Zur Weihnachtszeit, Marcus James Cardarelli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

German history of the 20th century was marked with unimaginable horrors and hardship. Both the First and Second World Wars left an indelible mark on the German psyche. Most specifically, the consequences of the Second World War were a turning point in German notions of cultural identity. The objective of this thesis is to analyze the various manners by which Heinrich Böll deals with the emerging cultural crisis in the post-war period of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. I have chosen two of his short stories, Der Mann mit den Messern (1948) and Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit (1951), for …

An Exploratory Study On Social Learning Theory, Social Bond Theory, Experiences With Police And Demographic Effects On College Student Attitudes Toward Police, Tyson Allen Mclean

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Research on public attitudes toward police is principally conducted through survey methods focused on analyzing the effects of experiences with police, satisfaction with police services and respondent demographics. Most research collects data from the general public, which overall reports high levels of satisfaction with the police. However, few studies focus on the college student population and fewer integrate theoretical frameworks to explore this complex issue. This research incorporates tenets from social learning and social control theories as a conceptual framework from which the analysis is built. It also explores the role that personal and vicarious contact and demographic influences play …

A Year Of Practice And Performance: Improving Piano Skills To Become A Better Choral Director, Ellen Mckenzie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Piano skills are extremely important to a choral teacher’s success, and I always considered my piano playing as a weak point in my teaching. The intent of my project was to dedicate a year of intensive practicing and performing as an accompanist in order to improve my piano technique, gain a wider repertoire of music to use in teaching private lessons and choir, and gain confidence in my abilities as an accompanist. Through one hundred and three hours of documented practice time, eight performance experiences in a variety of settings, and eighteen pieces prepared and performed, my playing has improved …

The Whale And The World In Melville’S Moby-Dick: Early American Empire And Globalization, Zachary Michael Radford

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Reading Moby-Dick; or, the Whale (1851), this study examines literary arguments regarding Melville’s capacity to appear prophetic through his written works in his predictions of the vast empire that America would one day become and the strategies which the country would employ to do so. In my introduction I assert that Melville is not a “Prophet,” but rather, he is a keenly analytical observer of the world around him as he recognized in America patterns of imperialism: structures he charted in his global voyages as a merchant and then a whaler. In his observations, he saw that America was not …

A Needs Assessment Of People Living With Hiv In Montana, Emily Olive Epperson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to assess the HIV testing, prevention, and treatment needs of people living in Montana who are infected with HIV. This study identified the demographic characteristics, the unmet needs, and the barriers to accessing assistance, prevention, and treatment services for people living with HIV in Montana. Qualitative data was collected in the form of focus group and key informant interviews and quantitative data was collected in the form of a questionnaire. The results of this assessment identified successful services that contribute to the improved mental, emotional, and physical health of people living with HIV including …

Developmental Mathematics In Two-Year Community Colleges And Student Success, Brenda Catherine Frame

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Poor success rates of developmental mathematics courses at community colleges have currently received nationwide attention. Efforts to remedy the situation include complete course redesigns and intervention strategies. A recent intervention strategy in use is the implementation of success courses that are aimed at changing the learning perspectives of developmental students. The purpose of this mixed-method comparative study was to closely examine this strategy as it relates specifically to students studying developmental mathematics at the lowest level at one community college. Students taking the lowest level developmental mathematics course at the participating community college were designated into one of two groups: …

Subjective Quality Of Life In Dialysis Patients, Cindy Schaumberg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With the ever increasing ability of medical technology to prolong life, quality of life is an increasingly legitimate medical outcome. This is an ethnographic study on the perceived quality of life of hemodialysis dependent end stage renal disease patients. The study used participant observations and in-depth patient interviews to elicit the perspective of hemodialysis dependent end stage renal disease patients. Findings addressed the utility of dialysis for patients of, patient values leading to renal replacement therapy, and issues that might make patients perceive treatment as futile.

Assessing The Role Of Shame And Honor During The Alta Conflict, Michael T. Bremmer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

For nearly a century the Sami peoples of Norway were subject to colonial policies of assimilation and integration. According to historians of the Sami, colonial processes stigmatized Sami individuals and the Sami culture, producing feelings of shame. The concept of shame, for both individuals and groups, centers on experiencing fear, pain, and/or uneasiness, and requires a judging audience. Honor is about individuals transcending self-interest and the need for individuals and groups to acquire self-esteem for that purpose; it also requires a judging audience. Concepts of shame and honor played an important role during the Alta conflict; a watershed moment in …

Wilderness, A Spiritual Antidote To The Everyday: A Phenomenology Of Spiritual Experiences In The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Ian Foster

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore, describe, and explain the phenomena of spiritual experiences in wilderness. The motivations for the research included: growing interest in empirical studies on the relationship between spirituality and human health, increasing concern over human’s loss of spiritual relationships with nature, and personal curiosity about the wild and spiritual nature of wilderness experiences. Research was focused on overnight visitors traveling by canoe in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northeastern Minnesota. Data from thirty-two semi-structured interviews was used to question, update, and improve understanding of the phenomena. Phenomenological interviews (interviews that situate comments …

Dysfunction, Anna Kirsten Lemnitzer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

dysfunction examines how we perceive normalcy and in turn, differentiate those who are abnormal through visual metaphors of the interior structures and features of the home. My thesis exhibition explores psychological disorders through installation, painting, drawing, sculpture and performance. The viewer’s interaction with the installation, which references an individual’s domestic and very personal spaces, allows a physical awareness and appreciation of another’s personality and psychological characteristics. This is done in order to create a more in-depth understanding or empathy of abnormal psychology and various mental states, such as intense anxiety or anger, which exist within all of us.

Praesentia Ex Machina: The Millennial Technoculture, Liveness And Theatre, Reid J. Reimers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This work examines the modern technoculture, its component parts and the changing role of theatre in Anglo-American culture. Our contemporary society is marked by the ubiquity of digital technologies and has become reliant on their commodities. The emerging Millennial Generation has matured with many of these devices and has embraced the modern technoculture. Many changes in daily life brought on by new technologies are obvious, but fundamental shifts remain obscured by the nature of technology itself. These subtle transformations are cumulative and have caused a technological disorientation with broad reaching implications. Liveness, initially defined as that which is unrecorded, has …

Prevalence And Correlates Of Smoking Status Among Depressed Individuals In Veterans Affairs Primary Care, Anayansi Lombardero

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Smoking is the primary and most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, with smoking rates being particularly high among Veterans who experience high rates of mental health and substance use disorders. This study investigates the prevalence of smoking among depressed patients in Veterans Affairs primary care. Correlates of smoking status were examined in order to improve understanding of the relations among smoking status, psychosocial characteristics, physical and mental health problems, suicide risk, mental health stigma and substance misuse, and to find predictive factors of smoking abstinence and cessation over time. Study findings have potential to inform …

Are Perceptions Reality? A Look At Subjective Well-Being In East Timor, Emily Klungtvedt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Subjective well-being has been of growing interest over the past several years for multiple reasons. One reason is that this model gives an idea of the importance of the determinants (education, employment, etc.) of individual life satisfaction. But the question arises, does the relative importance of each explanatory variable in the subjective well-being model match the relative importance of individual’s perceptions of the most important factors to increase overall life satisfaction? For example, if the model suggests that employment status is the most important factor for improving subjective well-being do people perceive this to be true as well? This study …

Measuring Trauma: A Pilot Application For Children And Adolescents, Molly Kathleen Mcdonald

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The current definition of a ‘traumatic event’ in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition—Text Revision (DSM—IV TR; APA, 2000) may be too narrow to describe the myriad of difficult experiences that many youth undergo. Furthermore, youth may develop a distinct pattern of symptoms in relation to complex trauma, that is, when multiple stressful experiences occur or when an experience occurs chronically. It is argued that these children are likely to develop the proposed “developmental trauma disorder” (DTD; van der Kolk, 2005). The present study examined a new measure of childhood trauma exposure through a two-fold process. …

Emotional Availability And Touch Among Deaf And Hearing Mother-Infant Dyads, Grace Silvia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Much attention has been paid in past literature to deaf children's development, especially in regard to how they compare to their hearing peers over time. Most deaf children (approximately 90%) are born to hearing parents. In these cases, the child's hearing impairment can be difficult to accommodate due to the parents' lack of familiarity with ways of interacting without heavy reliance on the auditory modality. Using Deaf parents as a model for comparison, previous research has found that frequent use of touch for purposes of gaining attention is an important strategy when interacting with a deaf child.

The purpose of …

Explanatory Style As A Protective Factor For Victimized Lgbt Adolescents, Lauri Mae Lindquist

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Comprised of the attributions one makes about negative life events, explanatory style (ES) can be conceptualized as either negative (attributing adverse events as due to internal, global, and stable causes) or positive (attributing events to external, specific, and transient causes). A negative ES has been associated with higher levels of depression, whereas a positive ES may provide resilience from depression, as shown in previous research on the general population. However, research on ES has yet to extend to a sexual minority population. Sexual minority adolescents report higher levels of depressive symptoms than do their heterosexual peers, likely due to the …

Implementing Montana's Indian Education For All: A Phenomenological Study On The Experiences, Beliefs, And Practices Of Outstanding Providers Of Professional Development, Anna E. Baldwin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 1999 the state of Montana included in its educational legal code a requirement that all Montanans learn about Montana's indigenous populations and that such knowledge be transmitted in a culturally sensitive manner. This law, called Indian Education for All (IEFA), has created challenges and rewards for educators. To learn to implement the law, teachers have participated in many types of professional development, especially since the mandate was funded in 2005. In some cases, these opportunities have been exemplary and effective, and more professional development must be offered to teachers. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to describe …

Influence Of Positive Expectancies And Adaptive Goal Investment On Relationship Abuse, Geniel H. Armstrong

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 21.5% of women and 3.6% of men were identified as victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) between 2001 and 2005 (Catalano, 2007). However, it is likely that these are underestimated rates due to un-reported incidents of IPV. A national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention found that 35.6% of women and 28.5% of men reported having experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner at some time in their life (Black, Basile, Breiding, Smith, Walters et al., 2011). Several attempts have been made to address the problem …

Gender, Justice, And Jim Crow: North Carolina Judge Elreta Alexander And The Long Civil Rights Era, Virginia Lyndsay Summey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Elreta Melton Alexander (1919 – 1998) was a pioneering African-American attorney from Greensboro, North Carolina. Coming of age during the Jim Crow period of the South, she was the daughter of a Baptist minister and a teacher and grew up comfortably as a part of the black middle class. The descendant of two white grandparents, her bi-racialism formed her early awareness of colorism within the African-American community. Alexander received her Bachelor of Arts from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University before going on to become the first African-American woman to graduate from Columbia Law School in 1945. In 1947, she …

Coping As A Mediator Between Childhood Trauma And Current Trauma Symptoms In Female Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Aryn Violet Ziehnert

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been estimated to affect one in four women in her lifetime (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), and research has found that women with previous childhood abuse experiences are more likely to enter into relationships with IPV. The purpose of the current study was to investigate differences between female IPV survivors who have and who have not experienced childhood abuse. Three hundred and ninety four women, recruited through flyers across Western Montana, participated in the original study (Fiore & Kennedy, 2000). They were interviewed on different aspects of their most recent violent relationship, their past experiences with …

The Effects Of A Career Development Course On Career And College Major Decision-Making In College Students, Sidra Tabassum Ashraf Baig

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study explored the effects of a semester-long, 2 credit career development course on the undecided college students. Participants included undergraduate students enrolled in the Career Development (COUN 105) class and comparison group students enrolled in Introductory Psychology (PSYX 100), and Intimate and Family Relationship (COUN 295) classes at The University of Montana. Students were assessed at the beginning and the end of the Spring and Fall semesters, 2010 by using the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (CDSE-SF; Betz & Taylor, 1983), Career Orientation scale, Career Decision Scale (Osipow et al., 1976), and Decisional Process Inventory (Hartung, 1994). The main …

Classifying Emotion Using Streaming Of Physiological Correlates Of Emotion, Nathan J. Elmore

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The ability for a computer to recognize emotions would have many uses. In the field of human-computer interaction, it would be useful if computers could sense if a user is frustrated and offer help (Lisetti & Nasoz, 2002), or it could be used in cars to predict stress or road rage (Nasoz, Lisetti, & Vasilakos, 2010). Also, it has uses in the medical field with emotional therapy or monitoring patients (Rebenitsch, Owen, Brohil, Biocca, & Ferydiansyah, 2010). Emotion recognition is a complex subject that combines psychology and computer science, but it is not a new problem. When the question was …

Communication Apprehension And Perceived Responsiveness, Elise Alexandra Fanney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to construct a training program designed specifically for college students struggling with Communication Apprehension in the public speaking context. Research has consistently found that perceived responsiveness acts as one form of social support, and social support has been found to decrease stress (Maisel, Gable, & Strachman, 2008). Given the fact that anxiety is stressful, the purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between perceived responsiveness of an audience and CA. Using data from an earlier pilot study measuring for correlation between CA and perceived responsiveness in one‟s close relational partner, and using …

An Analysis Of Retention Factors In Undergraduate Degree Programs In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics, Mike H. Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This mixed-methodological study explored the factors that predict a student's likelihood to complete an undergraduate program in a STEM discipline at one campus reliant upon that mission. Offered in response to a national imperative for the U.S. to compete globally, researchers contend educators must better prepare a STEM foundation and inspire STEM careers. This study employed a quantitative and qualitative approach to (a) identify key indicators of success for students entering a STEM discipline, (b) determine that living in the residence hall had an impact on success, and (c) identify quantifiable drop-out rationale for students who did not complete their …