Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Registered Nurses Toward Two Patient Classification Systems, Sarah J. Follen

Masters Theses

Patient classification systems provide a means of delineating nursing activities that a patient requires. The majority of patient classification systems consist primarily of delegated services or functional tasks. Two other areas of nursing care, independent and interdependent services, are not a part of most workload measurement systems.; Two patient classification systems were developed for this study. One was designed using primarily delegated services, and the second designed according to the Clinical Practice Model of Nursing (Wesorick, 1988) and consisted of independent, interdependent, and delegated services. The researcher studied how registered nurses perceived each instrument: how acceptable was each instrument to …

Facilitating The Nursing Process For The Nursing Diagnosis "Alteration In Thought Processes", Meridell Veen

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if nurses who were given a tool to facilitate assessment of thought processes would collect more assessment data, diagnose "alteration in thought processes" more frequently, and include a care plan for this diagnosis more often. A quasi-experimental pre-treatment/post-treatment design was used. An inservice program about the Level of Cognitive Function Scale (LOCF) was the treatment.; Of the 40 randomly selected subjects from the 199 adult critical care nurses at a metropolitan hospital, 20 completed the study with pre-treatment and post-treatment data. Data were collected by scoring patient assessment/care plans pre-treatment and 4 …

Programmer And End User Communication In Computer System Development, Theresa J. Hart

Masters Theses

Many computer professionals agree that good communication between computer programmers or analysts and the people for whom a system is being created is essential for system success. This study researches possible reasons behind the communication problems that exist between programmers and end users and suggests ways to narrow the communication gap.

Many theories, including the theories of hemispheric brain dominance, thinking styles, and motivational factors may help explain the differences in communication styles between programmers and users. To further explore the communication problem, an exploratory survey was given to programmers and users to evaluate their perception of the communication that …

Angelman's Syndrome Case Study And Appropriate Educational Curriculum, Allyson Lesly Hatt

Masters Theses

The purpose of this professional paper is to provide Special Educators with information on a presumably rare type of Mental and Physical Retardation that has been diagnosed as Angelman's Syndrome.

In order to assist this presentation, a previously unpublished case study of a nineteen year and four month old female who has been categorized as having Angelman's Syndrome, will be discussed. This case study will aid in the understanding of the syndrome.

Secondary to informing, it is the author's goal to provide teachers of special education with practical lesson curriculum that will assist the teachers who have a student with …

A Comparison Of Video Disc-Presented To Teacher-Presented Direct Instruction, Charles P. Schira

Masters Theses

The video disc Mastering Fractions by Systems Impact (1984) was investigated for effects on student on-task behavior. The video disc uses basic principles of Direct Instruction and was compared to teacher-presented Direct Instruction. The study used a reversal design in a Special Education classroom where the classroom teacher normally used Direct Instruction. Three Special Education students at the junior high school level were used as subjects. The results of the study indicate a slight increase in student attending behavior with the use of the video disc. Subjects were also evaluated for the novelty effect of the video disc on attending …

Gay Masquerade: Male Homosexuals In American Cities, 1910 To 1940, Steven L. Lewis

Masters Theses

Prior to 1900, American scientists struggled to formulate a sexual norm. Their categorization of sexuality ironically led to the creation of a label (homosexual) by which individuals created and expressed a sexual identity at variance with the newly created norm.

By 1910, the climate of moral reform (Progressivism) led to the discovery (and documentation) of a homosexual subculture in larger American cities. With Chicago and New York City as examples, the author documents the growth of this sexual underground in the period between 1910 and 1940. Using primary sources such as diaries, letters, autobiographies and novels, the world of the …

Archaeology And The Public: A Survey Of People's Knowledge Of The Archaeology Profession, Heidi Stoneman

Masters Theses

Archaeologists have an obligation to communicate the significance of data and research results to a fascinated but often uninformed public. How much the public understands about the field of archaeology is important to the profession. Through the media, people learn about the discovery of spectacular artifact treasures. This information often fosters the practice of treasure hunting, the looting and destruction of important archaeological sites. Via treasure hunting, along with land alteration and traffic in the sale of antiquities, the field of archaeology loses vast amounts of valuable information.

An interview questionnaire was given to 232 people with varying levels of …

Effects Of Student Attitudes And Student Time On Achievement Gains In College Developmental Reading, Kathryn K. Welsch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to provide a new focus on college-level developmental reading programs by examining course content (i.e., instructional activities) in a developmental reading class.

Attitudes and time spent on instructional activities were monitored for 47 students in three sections of college level developmental reading. Multiple regression analyses were used to relate these data to vocabulary and comprehension gains on the Nelson Denny Reading Test (J. Brown, Nelson, & Denny, 1976).

Students made significant gains in vocabulary and in comprehension. Student attitudes predicted gains in both vocabulary and comprehension. Because of reliability problems, the time data do …

Small Michigan Schools: Course Offerings And Methods Used To Maintain Curriculum Despite Low Enrollment, Dona M. Hettle

Masters Theses

Small schools face curriculum limitations because of low student numbers and financial constraints. The purpose of this study was to determine the course offerings and techniques for maintaining curriculum in selected Michigan small schools. Principals of 50 Michigan small schools chosen at random completed a questionnaire listing 79 courses and 15 strategies for maintaining curriculum. Responses were tabulated and listed in rank order. Course offerings in Michigan small schools vary greatly in numbers and kind. Sixty-nine percent offer a basic curriculum enabling students to meet the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983) recommendations. In coping with small numbers, schools …

An Evaluation Of A Student Orientation Pilot Project And Counseling Services As Retention Activities At Grand Valley State University, Mary T. Gustas

Masters Theses

The field experience was completed in the Counseling Center in affiliation with the Dean of Students Office, and the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs, spring of 1986 through spring of 1987. An objective of the experience was to determine if an increased orientation program and counseling service impacted the retention of freshmen students at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI.

Data were gathered and compiled which supported an extended orientation program at other institutions. Recommendations for implementation were prepared and presented to the Retention Committee at Grand Valley State University.

Additional data collection was done for the …

Effects Of Intervention On The Ability Of Students With Hearing Impairments To Write Personal Narrative Stories, Beth L. Miller

Masters Theses

This study was designed to determine whether students with hearing impairments could be taught to write more mature personal narrative stories. An experimental group of junior high students received intervention focused on teaching the elements of story grammar and their application to the students' written narrative stories. A matched control group of students spent equal time with the researcher and received intervention focused on improvement of basic language skills. Pretest, posttest-1, posttest-2, and generalization samples were taken. Students' metatextual skills for telling how to write a story were also probed.

A significant difference was found between the experimental and control …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of An Educational Presentation In Increasing Chemically Dependent Males’ Report Of Sexual Abuse, Linda L. Hand

Masters Theses

Research has demonstrated several factors among sexually abused males such as males sexually abused as children becoming adult sexual abusers; one in four males reporting sexual abuse; and adult emotional trauma, drug abuse, and sexual dysfunction. To break this abuse pattern, we need to focus on increasing males' reports of sexual abuse and initiating treatment.

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of an oral educational presentation in increasing males' reports of sexual abuse. It also sought prevalence information and treatment needs. Subjects were 51 males from three chemical dependency treatment centers. One control and four experimental groups were used. The …

Productivity And Affective Responses To Work Tasks And Leisure Activities In Type A And Type B Individuals, Susan Jean Paske

Masters Theses

The Type A Personality Index, a measure of whether an individual tends to be a Type A or a Type B personality, was given to 30 male and 30 female college students who then participated in a planting activity, presented as either a work task or a leisure activity. Productivity was measured by number of pottings, and affective responses to the activity in the areas of evaluation, power, and action were determined by Osgood's 12-scale short form semantic differential (OSD). No significant correlations were found between personality type and productivity or OSD scores in either the work or leisure conditions. …

An Analysis Of The Lithic Material From The Late Woodland Component Of The Draper Park Site (20sc40) In Port Huron, Michigan, Fran Seager

Masters Theses

This research examines the lithic assemblage of the Draper Park site, which consists of over seventeen thousand specimens including detrital material, implying on-site manufacturing techniques. Artifact attributes are analyzed and correlated within the context of the site and compared with known Late Woodland fishing sites. The intensive use of the site and strategic location suggest that it was a fishing station located at the headwaters of the St. Clair River. The site was seasonally occupied from A.D. 600 through A.D. 1300.

Geometry And Kinematics Of The Central Snowcrest Range: A Rocky Mountain Forehand Uplift In Southwestern Montana, Barry Christopher Mcbride

Masters Theses

The Snowcrest Range forms the southeastern limb of the Late Cretaceous Blacktail-Snowcrest uplift. The northeast-trending uplift is bounded by the northwest-dipping Snowcrast-Greenhom thrust system which consists of seven thrust zones which merge and flatten at depth along a regional detachment horizon within the Archean basement.

The structures forming the Snowcrest Range are concave westward with trends varying from N 55° E in the southern region to north-south in the northern region. Calcite twin lamellae and fracture orientations indicate that the principal shortening direction was oriented S 85° E during late Cretaceous time. This orientation requires that a significant component of …

A Study Of The Development Of A Second Language Program Proposal For Decatur Public Schools, Linda L. Iciek

Masters Theses

The development of a second language proposal for Decatur, Michigan, Public Schools, was undertaken as a result of an established board goal for the 1985-86 school year. Chairing the committee which investigated the possibility of implementing such a program was undertaken to fulfill the requirements of a Specialist in Education degree through the Department of Educational Leadership, Western Michigan University.

The committee met on a weekly basis to study and develop the proposal by completing the following tasks: (a) identify and visit schools within the state implementing such programs; (b) research the effects of immersion language programs; (c) survey the …

An Analysis Of Four Empathy Variables As Predictors Of Marital Satisfaction, Teck Seong Chee

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to determine if empathy was predictive of marital satisfaction, and which, if any, of the four empathy variables from Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index (1980), would serve as predictors of marital satisfaction. Correlation and regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationships of fantasy, empathic concern, perspective taking and personal distress with marital satisfaction. Variables of secondary interest included those of sex. birth order, length of marriage and age married. Both Individuals and couples were used as units of analysis.

Empathic concern and perspective taking were found to be predictors of marital satisfaction. No significant …

Establishing Interagency Communication Among K-12 School Districts And Government Agencies Through An Intermediate School District, Gary R. Campbell

Masters Theses

The proposed procedure for a local school administrator to establish direct interagency communication between local, K-12 school districts and other government agencies who deal with troubled youth was to: (a) examine the function and organization of the intermediate school district, (b) evaluate the role of its superintendent, and, (c) assist the superintendent in establishment of an interagency discussion group. the This group would meet regularly to discuss mutual concerns in helping troubled youth.

This experience focused on gaining an understanding of the organization and function of a Michigan intermediate school district, the role of its superintendent, and the other non-school, …

An Analysis Of Early Woodland Pottery From Southwest Michigan, James W. Cogswell

Masters Theses

Significant amounts of Early Woodland pottery have been recovered from excavations in southwest Michigan. Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence assays date this pottery from 590 B.C. to A.D. 10. This pottery is analyzed in great detail, providing evidence for attributes heretofore unreported in the Great Lakes area. Selected vessel attributes are presented in a chronological framework, and potential trends in the regional development of Early Woodland pottery are discussed.

Characteristics Of Binding Of Interleukin-1 To Yt.Nci Cells, Susan Catherine Speziale

Masters Theses

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) demonstrated a concentration dependent, specific binding to the human, large granular lymphocyte cell line, YT.NCI with a dissociation constant of 0.2 nM. There were approximately 500 IL-1 receptors/cell.

IL-1 binding to YT.NCI cells could be inhibited by unlabeled-IL-1 and the plant lectins, WGA and Con A. Lectin inhibition of IL-1 binding could be completely abrogated by exposing lectins to specific simple sugars prior to the addition of ligand.

Tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycosylation, decreased IL-l binding to YT cells in a reversible, time- and concentration-dependent manner.

These observations suggest that glycosylation of cell surface proteins may be important …

Composite Graph Coloring Algorithms And Applications, Stephen Hong Seng Yek

Masters Theses

"A vertex-composite graph is a graph that can have unequal chromaticities on its vertices. Vertex-composite graph coloring or composite graph coloring involves coloring each vertex of a composite graph with consecutive colors according to the vertex's chromaticity with no two vertices adjacent to one another having the same color(s).

New heuristic algorithms including the use of the saturation degree method have been developed in this research. All eleven heuristic algorithms including Clementson and Elphick algorithms were then tested using random composite graphs with five different chromaticity distributions. The best algorithm which uses the least average colors from the experiment is …

Main Problems With Management Information Systems And Their Relationship To Critical Mis Success Factors, Thomas Schmitt

Masters Theses

Most companies do not exploit all potential benefits of Management Information Systems (MIS). To enhance the understanding of how MIS might be better managed, a nationwide mail-survey among 280 randomly selected chief MIS executives of Corporate 1000 firms was conducted.

The first part of the thesis investigated the areas of importance for MIS success and performance ratings of the 85 participating managers on the issues. In the second part relationships between these variables and the success of the MIS operations were established to derive critical success factors.

The findings indicate that there is a shift towards an increased strategic importance …

Quantitative Studies On Nodulation Competition Of Two Strains Of Bradyrhizobium Japonicum And Its Biological Control With A Bacteriophage, Jin Xiong

Masters Theses

Interstrain competition of Bradyrhizobium japonicum for nodulation of soybean (Glycine max) presents a serious problem to the field commercial inoculation practice. The more efficient, introduced strains are often outcompeted by the less efficient, indigenous strains. This study was conducted to determine if the competition could be effectively controlled by the massive introduction of a more efficient strain and/or the large scale reduction of a indigenous strain by the application of a bacteriophage specific to the indigenous one.

B. japonicum strain 61A123, common in Midwestern U.S. soils, and strain USDA110, representative of the strains used in commercial inocula, were chosen for …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Three Language Intervention Strategies: Imitation, Modeling, Combination, Margaret I. Slattery

Masters Theses

The literature on language acquisition and the treatment of language disorders in children has been dominated by two variables. These variables are imitation and modeling. Research regarding the best technique for eliciting, generalizing and changing overall language performance in children has been inconclusive.

This study compared the effectiveness of three language intervention strategies: imitation, modeling, and a combination of imitation and modeling in eliciting and generalizing basic concepts and improving pre and post treatment scores on three standardized tests. Six language delayed kindergarten children served as subjects. The subjects were seen twice a week for five weeks.

No significant differences …

Effects Of Instructional Television In Math, Science And Language Arts In Two Small Elementary Schools, Delbert Maroon

Masters Theses

This field experience investigated the effects of instructional television on academic achievement of fifth and sixth grade students in two small elementary schools in Bond County. A two tailed t-test for the difference of means at the .05 level of significance was used to analyze the data collected. A self assessment survey collected from nine teachers determined that no significant differences in opinion existed between members of the teaching staff regarding instructional television usage. An analysis of student grades determined that no significant increase in student grades was found in the comparisons made. Results of this study indicate that the …

The Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of An Effective Reading And Writing Program For A Rural, Small Town Junior High School, Lynn R. Curtis

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the extra time provided for reading and writing in Macon Junior High School, Macon, Illinois. The following hypotheses were tested: The reading and writing treatment has a significant effect on student reading comprehension scores, writing skills, enjoyment of reading, and on the encouragement of students to read more. There is a significant difference between the cost of the reading and writing program and the fine and applied arts courses it replaced. Subjects included students and teachers in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at Macon Junior High School. Achievement …

The Development Of A School Emergency Plan For The Blue Ridge School District #18, Farmer City, Illinois, Robert D. Hooker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to devise an emergency preparedness plan handbook for the Blue Ridge School District #18, Farmer City, Illinois. The handbook was designed to aid the school administration and staff by defining definite administrative action in carrying out the steps necessary to protect students and staff in the event of an emergency situation. A data base was formed from several sources. Information was received through a review of the literature; a review of organizational materials; a review of information from school districts through a questionnaire; interviews with individuals from professional agencies; and a review of school …

Administrative Field Experience: Educational Service Center #17, Olney, Illinois, Joyce A. Carson

Masters Theses

Being the Director of an Educational Service Center is a position of challenge, responsibility, and leadership. The internship consisted of managing the day-to-day operations of the center and completing two major projects. The first project had been implemented in the center's Full Service Plan involving the recognition of exemplary programs. The second assignment was directed by the General Assembly in regard to family life-sex education.

The day-to-day operations involved managing the Educational Service Center #17's summer staff. The staff consisted of the bookkeeper and two secretaries. Leadership and management skills were necessary. Being punctual, being productive, setting goals, praising staff, …

Preservation Of The Family Unit In Adolescent Novels, Mary M. Hutchings

Masters Theses

This thesis discusses the development of the family story from the late nineteenth century to the present, beginning with What Katy Did as an example of the earlier moral story from which this genre grows. It then focuses on Little Women as the beginning of the modern family story and uses Jo from Little Women as the starting point to discuss the development of the female adolescent protagonist in these stories. And lastly, comparing Little Women to modern family life stories which began to appear about 1940, the thesis discusses changes in didacticism which have occurred since the late nineteenth …

Communication Through Athletic History At Eastern Illinois University: 1899-1988, Michael H. Chron

Masters Theses

This study is divided into 14 chapters, with an introduction, the 12 different sports categories and the year-by-year results, and a conclusion. The sports are arranged into chapters in accordance with the scheduling of the academic year.

The method of research involved collecting and classifying source materials, and interpreting and presenting these facts and findings. This method is critical in synthesizing the development and history of intercollegiate athletics at Eastern Illinois University.

This documented data will serve as a public relations project for the athletic department as a recruiting tool for prospective athletes and coaches who contemplate coming to Eastern …