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Quality Of Discourse Organization On A Story-Reconstruction Task In Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Normally Developing Peers, Sonia C. Mashikian

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether children with two subtypes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) differ from normally developing children in their discourse-organization abilities on story-reconstruction tasks. Participants were 68 children, aged 7 to 13 years, from two groups: an ADHD group from archival clinic files comprised of both the inattentive and combined subtypes, and a normal comparison group recruited from a YMCA program. Children in the normal comparison group were administered four tasks, which the clinical group had been administered previously. The tasks assessed receptive language, memory for sentences and stories, and visual construction. The …

An Examination Of Collaborative Practice In Anesthesia Care Team Settings And Occupational Stress In Nurse Anesthetists, Steve Louis Alves

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the nature of certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) scope of practice (SOP), collaboration with anesthesiologists in anesthesia care team (ACT) settings, and occupational stress. A critical philosophy viewpoint serves as a broad perspective in understanding the depiction of domination and conflict between CRNAs and anesthesiologists in ACT environments. The theoretical basis for this study was derived from the quality of nursing practice framework, with an elaboration of the process component to examine CRNA's scope of practice, collaboration between CRNAs and anesthesiologists, and role-related occupational stress. A mailed survey …

Peer Group Instructional Conversation: Collaboration In Context, Linda Greene Capalbo

Open Access Dissertations

American schools traditionally have reflected and promoted societal values of autonomy and independence in the development of the individual child. This limited perspective on how humans come to know focuses on the accrued cultural capital of each learner and neglects the role of 'the other' in the construction of meaning. Such a view can be especially debilitating for students who have been identified as marginal learners. This study examines how social interaction organizes participation opportunities and strategies for members of a peer learning group, including a student designated language learning disabled. The study documents the development and negotiation of individual …

Holistic Grading Of Essays Written By Native And Non-Native Writers By Instructors And Independent Raters: A Comparative Study, Margaret Mary Sheehan

Open Access Dissertations

This research examined the effects of the presence or absence of linguistic features identifying a writer as a non-native speaker of English on the evaluation of a student's text, and the ability of raters to distinguish between native and non-native writers based on their overall perception of a text. Classroom instructors, expert evaluators and independent raters graded eighty essays written by college freshmen during their first semester of composition instruction. The classroom instructors graded the essays according to the standards established by their department. The independent raters graded the same essays holistically using a fixed rubric with levels 1-5 that …

Effects Of Reading Disability In Adolescents On Self-Concept And Future Expectations, Miriam I. Meyer

Open Access Dissertations

This study investigated whether reading problems affect adolescents' self-concept and examined adolescent opinions regarding the consequences of reading ability. Three groups of adolescents participated: 68 special education students (SE), 41 regular education poor readers (REP), and 164 regular education students (RE). Two surveys were administered to the participants, the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS) and the Meyer Reading Opinion Survey (MROS), along with standardized measures of reading ability and intelligence.

Results indicated that on the MSCS, RE students had significantly higher academic self-concept than REP and SE students; differences were not noted between the latter two groups. RE students also …

The Effectiveness Of Transitional Bilingual Education On The Reading Performance Of Cape Verdean Students From Crioulo-Speaking Homes, Kay Helene Wood

Open Access Dissertations

This research examines the reading performance in English of Cape Verdean students who received three years of Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) in comparison to the performance of Cape Verdean students who did not receive TBE or other bilingual language services. It also compares the performance of Cape Verdean students in grade five to their performance in grade six. Lastly, it compares the students' performance with that of the district-wide population at the same grade levels. Results on the reading subtest of the California Achievement Test, Fifth Edition (CAT/5) administered in grades five and six are used for comparisons. ANOVA is …

Legal Subjects: The Tropological Construction Of "Woman" In Legal Narratives, Kate Mele

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines the legal narrative as a contemporary discursive structure whose patriarchal operations depend upon the tropological construction of "woman." As gender categories break down, the legal narrative of the 1980s and 1990s provides a forum within which various ideological constituencies encounter, resist, and assimilate one another--in other words, where feminisms meet patriarchy. I argue that "woman" emerges as the material of production through which patriarchal ideology perpetuates itself in the legal narrative. According to Althusser, ideology operates so as to obscure its own operations. If we read his theory through the lens of rhetoricality, where the shifting ground …

The Influence Of Teacher Response On African American Students' Codeswitching, Celeste Minor Bowler

Open Access Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between teacher response and African American codeswitching. The main question of this study was, "How does teacher response influence codeswitching of African American high school students?" The study was conducted in a large urban high school, in two separate college preparatory English classes. The subjects were nine African American students. The Experimental Group consisted of four African American students in one English class. The Control Group consisted of five African American students in the other English class. The same teacher taught both groups of students. Data collected over a five-week period from audiotapes and field …

Piety And Intolerance: A Rhetorical Inquiry Into The Constituting Of Christian Fundamentalist Identity, Mary K. Cardinale

Open Access Dissertations

"Piety and Intolerance: A Rhetorical Inquiry Into the Constituting of Christian Fundamentalist Identity" explores the connection between fundamentalist texts and the promotion of prejudice--prejudice defined as intolerance, discrimination, and "negative intergroup attitude[s]" toward outsiders. Studies suggest a relationship between religious fundamentalism and prejudice; however, no study has found conclusively what links them. In response, this study analyzes and interprets passages from two fundamentalist texts in order to locate link/s between the texts' rhetorical elements and their effects on constituting an exclusive fundamentalist identity that positions outsiders as God's enemies. I argue that epideictic rhetoric and the enthymeme, employed as a …

Providing Phonemic Awareness Instruction To Pre-First Graders: An Extended-Year Kindergarten Program, Thomas Terrence Cleary

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation presents a longitudinal study of kindergartners who participated in a summer instructional program. The study addressed the question: To what extent does an extended school year program for kindergartners, featuring phonemic awareness instruction, improve children's reading proficiency in the 1st and 2nd grade? Utilizing two district made surveys, the Phonemic Awareness Interview (PAI) and the Literacy Curriculum Scale (LCS) as pre-tests, 62 children from the 1997-1998 kindergarten cohort of 238 children were identified as exhibiting literacy and phonemic awareness deficits; they were invited to participate in the Kinder Camp Program. Of the 62 children invited 40 elected to …

Movin' On Up To The 21st Century: Multiculturalism… Making The Abstract Applied, Vonda Dionne Jones-Hudson

Open Access Dissertations

The following evaluative study looks at a psychology department's organizational development and change process. Using the Multicultural Environment Inventory (MEI) (Pope-Davis & Liu, 1995), the Departmental Cross Reference to the MEI (DCR-MEI) (Jones-Hudson, 1997), and a short version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Reynolds, 1982), this research assessed the psychometric properties of the surveys and the effects of the 3-year intervention designed to assist the University of Rhode Island's Psychology Department in its journey towards multicultural proficiency. Using information from an initial consult in 1995, data was collected in 1998 to measure change specific to the environment and curricula …

Are Iq Discrepancies Between Ses Groups Primarily The Result Of Verbal Scale Differences?, Carol Lee Macnaught

Open Access Dissertations

Historically, comparison groups of children from low socioeconomic status (SES) have done less well on intelligence tests than their more well-to-do counterparts. This study was undertaken to explore the contribution of verbal ability to general intelligence and to consider the possibility of developmental change in the relative contributions of the verbal and performance scales. The analyses used verbal, performance, and full scale scores of a subgroup of the standardization sample of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Third Edition (WISC-III). The scores used were attained by children in three age groups (7, 11, and 15 years) with four levels …

Historical Uncertainty And Moral Ambiguity In Postwar America: An Examination Of Selected Black Humor Novels Of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, Jeffrey Matthew Foster

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lars Saabye Christensen's "Beatles": A Study In Literary Translation And Cross-Cultural Influence, Kerstin Elizabeth Ketteman

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Emergent Readers' Joint Text Construction: A Descriptive Study Of Reading In Social Context, Mary Lee Prescott Griffin

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Encouraging A Civic Literacy: A Pedagogy Of Self-Reflection, Agency, And Action, Susan L. Derosa

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Puerto Rican Family Functioning, Acculturation And Attitudes Toward Family Counseling, Maria Vazquez

Open Access Dissertations

Puerto Ricans are the second largest Latino group in this country. Although this is a group whose demographics are changing and will probably be major consumers of counseling services in the near future, there is very little research on Puerto Rican families. A major problem identified in the mental health literature with Latinos is the underutilization of services. This study attempts to explore Puerto Rican family functioning and utilization of family counseling services.

This investigation examines the validity and applicability of the Family Functioning Scale (FFS) using a Principal Components Analysis with varimax rotation with a sample of Puerto Ricans. …

Comparing The Achievement Of Eighth-Grade Boys And Girls On Norm Referenced And Performance Tests In Language Arts, Reading And Mathematics, Helen Christina Barboza

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Phonological Representations Of Adult Poor Readers: An Investigation Of Specificity And Stability, Jean A. Dietrich

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Learning Network Model Of School Psychological Services: A Heuristic Framework For A Formative Program Evaluation And Organizational Development Plan, Christopher Scott Willis

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Student Desire And The History Of Composition, Jeffrey Laurence Hoogeveen

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Representations Of Violence In Gothic Literature: Consumer Practices And Cultural Identity, Katherine A. Mcgurl

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Correlates Of Early Reading Performance In A Transparent Orthography, Kurt Johann Muller

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Father's Role In Self-Concept Development, Jon Lopez Kimpton

Open Access Dissertations

The present study was undertaken to provide information on the relationship between father involvement and multiple dimensions of a child's self-concept. The Father Involvement Scale (FIS), a measure of father involvement and substitute father involvement, was constructed for use in this research. Included in the study were 104 sixth and seventh grade middle school children (ages 11-14). Each were administered the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (Bracken, 1994). Scores from the FIS were used to divide the participants into four groups. Results from a MANOVA yielded a significant main effect for substitute father involvement, but not father involvement. Potential reasons for …

Phonological Awareness And Reading Achievement Of Children From Differing Socioeconomic Status Backgrounds, Krista L. Robertson

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Representation Of Women In Contemporary Bangladeshi Literature: A New Challenge In The Postcolonial Field, Saiyeda Khatun

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Conserving The Balance: Frank Herbert's "Dune" As Propaganda, Barbara Ann Silliman

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Rhetorics, Politics, And Ecologic: The Production Of Nature In American Culture, 1840-1990, Lisa Terese Lebduska

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transcendence As A Human Response To Life Threatening Illness: Description And Understanding Through Narratives, Jane Williams

Open Access Dissertations

This study explored the phenomenon of transcendence as it occurs in the context of life-threatening illness. Transcendence is a term that is frequently used to describe a patient's response to suffering, but it is an elusive, poorly understood phenomenon.

Narrative interviewing and analysis was the method. Participants diagnosed with terminal cancer provided personal accounts of their experience during in-depth interviews. Three participants were interviewed after being selected by professional nurses working in an oncology clinic as having transcended their illness. The linguistic approach to systematic study of the accounts

(Gee, 1985, 1986, 1991; Riessman, 1993) and the voice-centered relational method …

Of Subversion And Sexuality: A Discursive Analysis Of Late Twentieth-Century American Popular Culture, S. Elaine Craghead

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.