Digital Commons Network^™

The Development And Testing Of A Relational Model Of Competence In The Context Of Nature-Based Tourism, Christine Marie Oschell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Communication competence is a framework that has been used in many disciplines to understand communication events and their success or failure in achieving objectives. The model most often used to describe competence is the relational model proposed by Spitzberg & Cupach (1984) which includes three elements: knowledge, knowing what behavior is best suited for a given situation; skill, having the ability to apply that behavior in the given context; and motivation having the desire to communicate in a competent manner. This study used the model of relational competence to understand the communication process between guide and client in a nature-based …

The Effect Of Imagined Interactions On Secret Revelation And Health, Adam Stephens Richards

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined the influence of imagined interactions on the decision to reveal secrets and some health outcomes. Recent research has only begun to investigate how individuals decide to reveal or conceal secrets. It is accepted that people base decisions to reveal on predictions of expected outcomes of revealing/concealing (Caughlin, Afifi, Carpetner-Theune, & Miller, 2005). Imagined interactions, the imagined cognitive rehearsal of potential conversations, are proposed to serve as a mechanism for making predictions, which influences the decision to reveal. Particularly, imagined interactions where hypothesized to influence one’s expected outcomes and increase one’s confidence in feeling like they can communicate …

Examining The Role Of Grief In The Etiology Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) Symptoms In American Indian Adolescents, Aaron Morsette

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is reported to be comparatively high in child and adolescent populations (Reinherz, Gaiconia, Leftkowitz, Pakiz, & Frost,1993). However, recent research has suggested that there may be differing etiological factors, specifically, Child Traumatic Grief (CTG), that contributes to the development of PTSD symptoms in American Indian adolescents (Morsette, at al., 2007). First this study demonstrated that CTG symptoms predicted PTSD symptoms above and beyond that which was predicted by violence exposure. Second, it was found that CTG predicted depression above and that which was predicted by PTSD symptoms. Third, it found that grief was …

Reinvention In The Line Of Death: A Reconsideration Of Geoffrey Hill's Commemorative Verse, Michael Christopher Bartch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper considers the embodied ethics of Geoffrey Hill’s poetic practice. Hill stages his engagement with poetry through the idioms, images, tropes, and diction of the literary tradition. Through this pragmatic rehearsal of the language of the dead, Hill’s poetry projects the tradition into the present. Hill resists the ethical entrapments of appropriative poetry through his insistence upon the brute physicality of atrocity and through a rigorous (for both poet and reader) formal difficulty. Hill’s practice refuses to console after the models of Peter Sacks, Jahan Ramazani, or John Vickery. Instead, concerned with modernity’s disconnectedness, Hill’s poetry returns us to …

The Role Of The Cb1 Receptor In Learning, Memory And Anxiety-Like Behaviors, Loretta Lynn Bolyard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Several lines of evidence support a role of the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in cognition and anxiety. This study explores cognitive processes and anxiety-like behaviors in wild type (CB1+/+) and CB1-receptor-deficient (CB1-/-) mice of differing ages. Differences were observed between CB1+/+ and CB1-/- mice in a Morris Water Maze acquisition task. Furthermore, CB1-/- mice did not display deficits in extinction during reversal learning. In the Light-Dark Box and Suok tasks, the CB1-/- mice demonstrated greater anxiety-like behaviors relative the CB1+/+ mice. No differences were observed in the Open-Field task, suggesting that the observed behavioral differences may be related to anxiety rather …

Crossing The Threshold: What Motivates Individuals Who Are Actively Abusing Substances To Enter Treatment?, Katherine Michelle Peavy

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Although there is an abundance of research in the area of substance abuse, much of it samples people who are already enrolled in treatment. The treatment seeking population may differ from people who are actively using substances. One aim of this study is to describe a sample of individuals who have not sought out treatment, but still actively use substances. Specifically, the investigators assessed 51 county detention facility inmates recently arrested on drug- or alcohol-related charges, examining the factors that both inhibit and promote treatment seeking. We hypothesized that motivation levels for seeking treatment would differ based on several factors: …

“The Sort . . . Of People To Which I Belong”: Elizabeth Gaskell And The Middle Class, Allison Masters

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis, I examine Elizabeth Gaskell’s development as a middle-class author, which is a position that most scholars take for granted. Moving away from traditional Marxist readings and drawing on revisionist class studies, I reconsider Gaskell as the typical bourgeois woman of her era by looking at her relationship with the middle class and its ideals over the course of her career. Overall, her large body of work reveals an increasing awareness of, and willingness to engage with the divisions within the middle class. In turn, as Gaskell explores such tensions and negotiates middle-class boundaries and values in her …

"This Blessed Plot": Negotiating Britishness In Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners, Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha Of Suburbia, And Zadie Smith's White Teeth, Kathleen Vickers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis considers how contemporary British literature helps us negotiate better ways of being in an increasingly diverse world. Britain understood itself as a relatively homogenous white society and reacted badly when commonwealth citizens unexpectedly began to “return” following World War II. Colonial migrants’ increasingly large presence, particularly as many settled and had children, challenged the myth of a “pure” Anglo-Saxon Britain and forced a re-conceiving of what it is to be British. This thesis particularly examines how colonial immigrants found ways to (re)negotiate their identities as British in the face of hostility in their “mother country.” Chapter One looks …

The Influence Of Sibling Support On Children's Post-Divorce Adjustment: A Turning Point Analysis, Kimberly Ann Jacobs

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Most previous research on children’s adjustment following the divorce of their parents has focused on the consequences of parents’ actions and communication choices. Relatively little is known about the impact that sibling relationships have on post-divorce adjustment. The current study was designed to explore the relationship between sibling social support (emotional, instrumental, and informational support) and adjustment. Data was collected from 34 participants using the Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT). Participants identified key turning points in their adjustment process and used those points as an interview guide to talk about support from and communication with their siblings. Numerical questionnaire data was …

The Elusive "Poem Of The World": The Task Of The Reader And The Problem Of Knowledge In Heinrich Von Kleist's Novellas "Die Marquise Von O..." And "Das Erdbeben In Chili", Lindsey Brandt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The literary works of Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811) have long been an important influence on thinkers and writers interested and engaged in the German cultural tradition, particularly due to the enigmatic and highly problematic nature of his narrative approach. In recent years, however, there has been a notable surge of interest in Kleist’s works, which has led to the production of several articles, papers, and even entire conference panels dedicated to the investigation of his oeuvre from various angles. Why does Kleist still fascinate his readers so much, and what is it about his texts that allow for such a …

The Relationship Between Positive Behavior Supports, Student Achievement, Severe Problem Behavior, And Administrative Stress, Jennifer Guthals

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Guthals, Jennifer, Ed. D., May 2009 Educational Leadership

The Relationship between Positive Behavior Supports, Student Achievement, Severe Problem Behavior, and Administrative Stress

Chair: Dr. John Matt

Due to the pressures and expectations for current and future principals to create safe and welcoming schools with high student achievement, a better of understanding of the relationship between Positive Behavior Supports (PBS), student achievement, severe problem behavior, and administrative stress was needed. This study investigated the relationship between these four factors, as measured through the Effective Behavior Supports Survey (Sugai, Horner, & Todd, 2003), Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) (OPI, 2008), suspension/expulsion rates, the …

“It Is A Strange Thing For Us To See Water Being Sold”: Local Perceptions Of The Fijian Bottled Water Industry, Jessica Dawn Ulrich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite the availability of affordable, clean water from taps in our homes, increasing numbers of people are willing to pay for the convenience of portable water, and to consume bottled water imported from an exotic location, such as Fiji. Consequently, FIJI Water, an American-owned multinational corporation, now constitutes approximately 29 percent of Fiji’s domestic exports. An important question that no one has asked to date is how do stakeholders in Fiji make sense of the rapidly growing bottled water industry? Examining how water is changing from a natural entitlement to a commodity throughout the world, and exploring how this is …

A Case Study Investigation Of The Physical Activity Levels Of Disabled Students At A Small Missoula, Montana Middle School, Chelsea Marie Bond

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bond, Chelsea, M.S. July 2009 Health and Human Performance, Health Promotion Title: A case study investigation of the physical activity levels of disabled students at a small Missoula, Montana middle school. Chairperson: Dr. Annie Sondag Introduction: One of the major goals for the nation, described in the Surgeon General’s Report Healthy People 2010, is to promote the health of people with disabilities, prevent secondary conditions, and eliminate disparities between people with and without disabilities in the U.S. population (World Health Organization, 1997). Children with disabilities have lower physical activity participation rates, lower levels of fitness, and more frequent participation restrictions …

A Taxonomy Of Rules: Authority, Dangers, And Possibilities, Muriel Rebecca Friedman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rules, originally a means toward group solidarity, are the alternative to the need for ongoing physical dominance. Seemingly omnipresent in modern life, rules can be overt or subtle, explicit or tacit, rigidly enforced or overlooked. They may clash with our autonomy. This thesis names and explores different functional types of rules: safety, personal, socio-cultural, legal-religious, and technical. Rules in general are discussed from social and ethical theoretical viewpoints and using ideal type methodology. Understanding that there are different types of rules and the authority behind them makes it easier to determine one’s obligations to follow them, especially with the notion …

Barriers To E-Learning Job Training: Government Employee Experiences In An Online Wilderness Management Course, Lisa Ayrdrie Kathleen Eidson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Learning at work as an employee is inherently different from being a student in an academic setting and, as such, is beset with different challenges. As trends in the adoption of e-learning for the delivery of job training increase, new challenges related to distance learning with technology have also emerged. Recognition that continued learning in the workplace, now via technological methods, is required for maintaining proficiency and achieving career goals means that understanding the challenges unique to learning at work is paramount.

This qualitative study explored barriers to successful online job learning. Interviews with thirty federal government employees from the …

Beyond Wilderness: Wildness As A Guiding Ideal, Christopher James Dunn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis is largely a response to William Cronon’s essay “The Trouble with Wilderness or Getting Back to the Wrong Nature,” found in The Great New Wilderness Debate. Cronon is himself responding to many things, in large part to Bill McKibben’s The End of Nature and also to the wilderness vision typified by Dave Foreman; thus this thesis is also a response to McKibben and in many respects a defense of Foreman-like thought. Besides Cronon, I consider a wide variety of sources, taking from them in order to build a case for, and to explicate, wildness as a guiding ideal. …

American Indian Artist Angel Decora: Aesthetics, Power, And Transcultural Pedagogy In The Progressive Era, Suzanne Alene Shope

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study looks at Angel DeCora, Winnebago artist and teacher (1871-1918) with regard to her visionary influence as an Indian school art teacher. By exploring interactions among DeCora, policy makers, and American Indians, this chronological study addresses: how DeCora's Indian arts curriculum and aesthetics influenced her American Indian students at Carlisle; how DeCora used elements of her Winnebago culture, the Pan-Indian culture, and the Euro-American viewpoints to serve her purposes as an arts educator and activist; and what her aesthetic motivations were as embodied by her art, curriculum design, and students' work. Educated on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska until …

Knowing The Natural World: The Construction Of Knowledge About Evolution In And Out Of The Classroom, Alison Emily Havard Perkins

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Evolution is a central underlying concept to a significant number of discourses in civilized society, but the complexity of understanding basic tenets of this important theory is just now coming to light. Knowledge about evolution is constructed from both formal and "free-choice" opportunities, like television. Nature programs are commonly considered "educational" by definition, but research indicates the narratives often promote creationist ideas about this important process in biology. I explored how nature programs influenced knowledge construction about evolutionary theory using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Because misconceptions about evolution are common, I examined how students` conceptual ecologies changed …

Disordered Eating, Antifat Attitudes, And Barriers To Treatment In College Women From Urban And Rural Areas, Alison Christine Pepper

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Disordered eating (DE) is associated with physical and emotional consequences. Most incidence studies comparing rates in urban and rural regions are international. Only one examined regional differences within the United States, and no significant differences emerged. Additionally, no investigations focus on DE treatment barriers specific to rural regions. In 106 college women with significant DE patterns, this study investigated weight-based prejudices, system-level barriers, and regional status. Despite no significant regional differences in DE or barriers to treatment, results revealed high prevalence of DE and exposed barriers to DE-treatment among college women. Exploratory analyses supplement the dearth of research focusing on …

Landscape And The Feminine Voice: Reclaiming Identity In The Works Of Maryse Conde, Simone Schwarz-Bart And Andre Schwarz Bart, Kathleen Marie Ruth

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines Caribbean literature and its value in establishing identity for Caribbean peoples. The discourse of Caribbean literature as a tool for re-establishing or reclaiming identity is examined, as well as the domination of the male voice throughout Caribbean literature and theory. Through examination of the intimate connection between the feminine and the landscape of the Caribbean, the presence and significance of the female voice is established in the works of Andre Schwarz-Bart, Simone Schwarz-Bart, and Maryse Conde. The recognition of particularity of women’s struggles and the consequent contribution of female authors to Caribbean literature replenish a historiography which …

Moving Toward Development Of A Chunghwa Postal Office Business Model Of Sustainability, Perng Cheng Shih

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research integrated western and eastern organization theory in order to restructure the Chunghwa Postal Office (CPO). The goal was to create a more efficient and sustainable business model that would serve the future needs of Taiwan. A region of the CPO, the Hsinchu Post Office (HPO), received training in 2008 in order to provide a pilot study regarding the concepts of sustainability and learning organizations.

The research produced a CPO Sustainability Model in which learning organization theory is conceptually woven into the Chinese Tai Ji map. This Model has two core domains, namely vision and evaluation. Using two parallel …

Teaching Intercultural Communication Competence In The Healthcare Context, Jelena Stojakovic

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this project was to design a training program focused on intercultural communication competence in the health care industry. While international students make an important link between different cultures, serve as great resource in the exchange of cultures and ideas, and make large contributions to the U.S. economy; international students also pose new challenges for higher education. One of the challenges that came up as a result of the diversification of U.S. campuses has to do with intercultural competence, which is an important quality for anyone who wishes to competently and effectively navigate intercultural interactions. Along these lines, …

The Effects Of Intimate Relationship Education On Relationship Optimism And Attitudes Toward Marriage, Veronica Ida Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study evaluated the effects of relationship education on undergraduate students' optimism about relationships and attitudes toward marriage. Participants included undergraduate students enrolled in an Intimate and Family Relations class and students enrolled in a comparison class at the University of Montana. Students were assessed during the first week of the fall semester, 2008, and again at the conclusion of fall semester, 2008. Students' attitudes and optimism towards marriage and intimate relationships were assessed using the Optimism about Relationships scale (Carnelly & Janoff-Bulman, 1992), the Family-of-Origin scale (Hovestadt, Anderson, Piercy, Cochran, & Fine, 1985), and the Marital Attitude Scale (Braaten …

The Experience Of The Female Volunteer Student Advocate: A Phenomenological Study Of University Of Montana Student Assault Resource Center Advocates, Kerry S. Maier

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This qualitative research explores how volunteering as an advocate at the Student Assault Resource Center (SARC) at The University of Montana, impacts the lives of the student advocates. Unstructured interviews with six SARC advocates were analyzed through the process of phenomenological reduction providing essential descriptions of the experience in the participants' natural language.

Analysis indicated the importance of adequate training, formation of trust among the advocates, and the need for playfulness in the midst of challenging and difficult work. Results further revealed that the participants experience self-care as an important and necessary part of advocate training and of their daily …

Training Characteristics Of Males At The 2008 Ncaa Division I Cross Country Championships, Philip A. Keller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The focus of previous running research has been on physiological determinates of performance utilizing small sample sizes and short time frames with little regard to previous training methods. PURPOSE: The goal of this research was to describe, compare, and evaluate the relationships between anthropometric, run training, and ancillary training variables during the 2008 season and performance of male finishers at the NCAA Division I cross country championship 10k race. METHODOLOGY: An online survey was created based on previous research and all coaches who had male runners finish the 2008 NCAA championship race were asked to include their athletes in the …

Animal Vegetable Mineral, Eva Lys Champagne

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a radical unity supporting the vast diversity of appearances in nature that makes distinct categorizations like “animal, vegetable or mineral” superficial at best. The unifying element has been called energy, or, as Emerson put it, “thought is the common origin.” This guiding principle, a life spent by the sea, and an enduring fascination with nature’s forms, has resulted in my current body of work. By combining formal references to animals, vegetables and minerals I create intentionally ambiguous ceramic sculptures that seem to exist in the fluid margin between categories. My aim is toward something composite that challenges the …

Health Issues And Aging In American Indian Older Adults: Resilience Through Adversity, Ennis F. Vaile

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The average life expectancy of American Indian (AI) older adults has paralleled mainstream aging trends and is set to continue growing as global increases in longevity continue to improve (Jervis, Boland, & Fickenscher, 2010). However, the disproportionately high levels of chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases) observed in this group may outstrip the coping resources of some individuals, potentially leading to unsuccessful aging outcomes such as adverse mental health outcomes (specifically depression). As described in Goins and Pilkerton (2010, p. 346), comparatively higher rates of chronic health conditions have created an “expansion of morbidity,” where American Indians are …

Educational Travel And Adolescent Development, Ann Saitow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Educational travel forms the basis for novel learning experiences that enhance adolescent development by enabling students to make choices about their own survival in an unfamiliar setting. This biological adaptation is driven by stimulation of the midbrain which produces high levels of dopamine, the chemical associated with learning. The elements of educational travel that promote sustained adolescent learning are: clear communication, commitment and action, communal trust and respect, maturity developed through assigned responsibilities and exposure to varied life circumstances, flexibility, and transition back to traditional school environments.

The Experience Of Attrition: A Phenomenological Study Of Freshmen In Academic Good Standing At The University Of Montana, Cheryl L. Minnick

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to gain clear, precise systematic descriptions of the experienced meaning of voluntary non-continuation of academic studies, attrition, after the first-year. Based on interviews with six college freshman in academic good standing, with phenomenology as a research method, the study documented ways in which college freshman perceived, experienced and defined their decision and experience of dropping out of college.

Data were collected via one-on-one, open-ended, unstructured interviews conducted to gain an uncensored account of the experience of attrition reflected by the query, "Please share with me your experience of deciding not to continue …

Shame, Guilt And Society's Conception Of Sex, Hailey M. Magsig

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a dominant conception of sex in American society that has profound effects on our sexual lives. Often this can be a negative influence because our society’s conception is distorted. My thesis considers how this skewed view on sex and sexuality results in the presence of shame and guilt in our sexual lives. I first define society’s conception of sex and present it visually through fashion advertising. Each of the pornographic elements (objectification, submission, hierarchy and violence) utilized in advertising are explained. The advertisements are meant to provide a visual portrayal of society’s conception of sex, which is relevant …