Digital Commons Network^™

Nurturing Faith Within The Catholic Home: A Perspective From Catholic Parents Who Do Not Access Catholic Schools, Carmela G. Suart

Theses

Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has regarded the family as the most influential factor in shaping and nurturing the faith of each generation. Within the family, parents are considered to be the first and primary educators of the faith of their children. Irrespective of years of genuine effort by the Catholic Church in Australia to support parents in their task of nurturing the faith of their children, the area of family catechesis still remains inadequately addressed, hence the significance of the study. The aim of this research was to investigate how Catholic parents, who do not send their children …

Existential Counselling Condensed In Fenelon's Spiritual Letters, Megan Levy

Theses

The findings of this research suggest a compatibility between Fenelon’s Spiritual Letters and Existential theories of personal growth. The Psychotherapy and Counselling Codes of Ethics in Australia, America, and England emphasize the importance of personal growth as an essential tool to ensure responsibility and quality in professional practice. Self-knowledge and self-development are consistent with the ethical principles of Fidelity, Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence, Justice, and Self-respect. Enriching self to deliver better quality and high ethical service in mental health should be seriously considered for both the trainee and the experienced psychotherapist. The similarities between Fenelon Spiritual Letters and Existential Psychotherapy may …

From Dream To Reality: A Study Of British Migration To Western Australia In The 1960s, With Special Emphasis On Those Who Travelled On The Ss Castel Felice, Hilda June Caunt

Theses

This work is a unique contribution to the history of Western Australia. Over a million people left the British Isles to migrate to Australia during the 1960s. One hundred thousand migrants, not all of whom were British, came on the Castel Felice, one of the many ships travelling between Europe and Australia in the post-war movement of peoples. My thesis addresses the question of what motivated those who left Britain to do so at that time, for in Britain there were improving housing conditions, generally full employment, an impressive national social security system and the active social experience of the …

Accountability For Mental Health Counseling In Schools, Catherine Ann Lesio

Theses

Accountability has become an important concept in school-based mental health because students face many social and emotional issues that demand highly effective interventions (Repie, 2005). This study examined the data of a survey that was conducted with 147 members of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) regarding their counseling practices in the schools. The results indicated that a majority of NASP members only “sometimes” use pre and post measures with their counseling cases. A Stepwise Regression showed one significant predictor for the use of progress monitoring through pre and post measures in counseling – the more prepared for counseling …

Assessing Executive Functioning In Children With A Hearing Loss, Elizabeth Oberg

Theses

This study examined a variety of executive functioning assessment methods with a group of deaf children. The relationship between parent/teacher reports of 22 deaf and hard of hearing students' executive functioning, students' performance on cognitive tests and students' performance on selected achievement domains was studied. The findings showed significant positive correlations (p<.01) between the parent/teacher Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) on six of the eight clinical scales. Secondly, there were significantly positive correlations between the parent/teacher BRIEF reports and the students' scores on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the (Children's) Color Trails Test and the Woodcock- Johnson: Writing Fluency subtest. Lastly the importance of considering etiology when assessing deaf children was examined. Students with genetic deafness were rated as significantly different (p<.05) on BRIEF scales and performed significantly different on select student measures than students with other causes of deafness.

Student's Perception Of School Climate, Jodi L. Roberts

Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate student's perception of school climate in the middle school. More specifically, this study examined school climate as it relates to student's academic achievement, attendance, and disciplinary referrals. Participants consisted of 29 females and 14 males in grades 6th, 7th, and 8th and their parents from a rural middle school located in upstate New York. School climate was measured using the Student version of the Yale Child Study School Development Program, School Climate Survey-Revised Version (Emmons, Haynes, & Comer, 2002). Parents reported on their child's school performance. Data analysis consisted of a One …

Parental Perceptions Of School Climate And Middle School Students' Performance, Christine Demart

Theses

This research study explored the relationship between parental perceptions of school climate and middle school students' academic and social success. In particular, this study investigated what specific school climate factors may have the greatest impact on students' academic achievement, disciplinary referrals, and school attendance.

Tum Tum Yum Yum, Nongyao Moon Krapugthong

Theses

Not included

Artfully Concealed, Athesia V. Benjamin

Theses

The following document is a summary of the development of my work during two years in the MFA painting program at Rochester Institute of Technology. The process intrinsic to thesis development eventually brought me to my final concept of obscuring my identity as a way to develop a body of figurative paintings. Along with the eleven pieces created during this two-year period, I have thoroughly studied this specific topic within the context of contemporary and historical art and identified artists with like concepts and images.

Using Eye Tracking To Understand Banner Blindness And Improve Website Design, Chad Lapa

Theses

Banners, as a form of advertising on the web, are important for businesses. Conversely customers want to navigate the site without being distracted by irrelevant or annoying ads. Design and placement of banners is not well understood and "banner blindness", which occurs when users overlook the banner entirely, is what causes the ineffectiveness of the banner. This study employs eye tracking to investigate how banner background color and the banner’s relevance to users’ tasks influence banner blindness. Eye movements were collected for users performing several tasks and viewing banners in a task-free context. Different banners were counterbalanced with task order. …

How Ehs Managers Can Influence Environmental Excellence Within Their Organization, Joseph Whitaker

Theses

The objective of this work is to evaluate the various management styles and systems applicable to the Environmental, Health, and Safety ('EHS') profession; furthermore, it will present ways in which managers will discover how to understand and evaluate projects from a 'business' point of view, allowing them to compete within their organization for capital and human resources. ... This paper will also discuss various evaluations used to ensure proper buy-in from management -- a process that will facilitate the allocation of human and financial resources to environment, health, and safety projects. The evaluation will focus on two primary elements. The …

Situational Awareness In The Marine Towing Industry, Boris Towns

Theses

Loss of situational awareness has been cited as the most common cause of accidents in the maritime industry. However, current research has not proven beneficial in determining the factors that underpin situational awareness. This study examined situational awareness among licensed captains and pilots of the inland towing industry. Twenty towboat captains, who operate on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) from New Orleans, LA to Houston, TX and who represented 16 towing vessel companies, were interviewed and participated in an integrated survey that explored fatigue, communication, dangerous drugs and alcohol, social stress, and mental workload. These factors were believed to have …

Applying User-Centered Design In The Development Of A Software Application For The Treatment Of A Mental Health Disorder, Stacey L. Meacham

Theses

The research that follows will provide a process for applying a user-centered design methodology to the development of a virtual environment software application for the treatment of a mental health disorder, specifically post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal is to create a screen-based virtual environment product that focuses on the end user rather than the technological aspects of the system. Moreover, past and present treatments in the mental health and healthcare fields and their effectiveness will be analyzed through an extensive literature review.

Implications Of Reading Assessments: Investigating The Developmental Reading Assessment And Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills - Oral Reading Fluency As Related To The Terranova 2nd Edition Vocabulary And Comprehension Tasks For Third-Grade Students, Courtney Wheeler

Theses

The present study investigated the relationship between Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) as related to the TerraNova 2nd Edition Vocabulary and Comprehension. Historical test data gained from 46 third grade participants during 2004- 2005 school year from an urban elementary school was utilized. The DRA protocols were coded and correlations were run to determine the relationship between the three tests. Significant correlations were found consistently between the DIBELS scores with DRA Phrasing and Fluency and DRA Story Level. Of particular interest, the overall best predictor for DIBELS scores …

School Psychologists' Perceived And Ideal Role In Grade Retention Decisions, Sean P. Scott

Theses

This study examined school psychologists' reports of their perceived and ideal roles in retention making decisions. A random national sample of 231 school psychologists completed a questionnaire regarding their perceptions of the rates and trends of retention in their school, as well as their perceived and ideal role in grade retention decisions. The majority (86.6%) of respondents indicated that their school practices retention, whereas 1 9% noted an increase in the amount of retentions. The rate at which respondents agreed that school psychologists should be involved in retention decisions was significantly higher (91.5%) than the percentage of school psychologists that …

Reading First Teachers' Knowledge Of English Phonology And Attitudes Toward Reading Instruction, Courtney Richmond

Theses

The Reading First grant requires teachers to go through professional development and education about reading instruction to improve their teaching methods. The purpose of this study is to determine whether teachers' knowledge of the English language and their attitudes toward explicit reading instruction improved after working in schools that received the Reading First grant. Seventy-six teachers from four schools that received the Reading First grant were surveyed to determine their knowledge of English phonology and attitudes toward explicit and implicit reading instruction. Reading First teachers had more knowledge of English phonology than other teachers, but did not differ in their …

The Role Of Identity Formation And Career Indecisiveness In Effective School-To-Work Transitions For Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disabilities, Elizabeth S. Garfield

Theses

Many school districts devote the majority of their transition resources to those students that are graduating and continuing their education through college. However, only about 15% of ninth grade students go on to graduate high school and obtain a 4-year college degree within six years of their high school graduation. Schools focus their resources and curriculum on the college bound minority instead of the work bound majority. This contributes to ineffective transition planning for those students going directly from school to work; and is especially true for students with Emotional/Behavioral disabilities (ED/BD). These students are leaving school unprepared to be …

Determination Of The Fundamental Image Categories For Typical Consumer Imagery, Kenneth N. Fleisher

Theses

Many tasks in imaging science are image-dependent. While a particular dependency might simply be a function of certain physical attributes of an image, often it is closely related to the perceived semantic category. Therefore, a thorough understanding of image semantics would be of substantial practical value. The primary goal of this research was to determine the fundamental semantic categories for typical consumer imagery. Two psychophysical experiments were performed. Experiment I was a Free Sorting Experiment where observers were asked to sort 32 1 images into piles of similar images. Experiment II was a Distributed Experiment conducted over the internet which …

Landscapes Of Beethoven's Signature "From The Heart, May It Go To The Heart", Virginia L. Martin

Theses

"Landscapes of Beethoven's Signature, an exhibit consisting of twenty-two works of art in a variety of media, is a tribute to the revolutionary composer Ludwig van Beethoven [...]. Landscapes of Beethoven's Signature comprises a body of visual works showing the hand of Beethoven the Creative Artist. Literal landscapes, which also incorporate Beethoven's calligraphy, have been interpreted in the two larger oil paintings, 'In Moonlight' and 'Look Through These Trees.' Figurative depiction of 'landscape' and 'signature' is represented in a variety of ways within the sculptures, prints, books and calligraphy. For several of the pieces, visual material was derived from Beethoven's …

The Integration Of Graphic Communication And Educational Tools For Children With Dyslexia, Amar Abdulla Behbehani

Theses

Design for education is an important approach in the graphic design field. The intention of this thesis is to conduct further research that can help educators and designers build healthier learning environments for children with learning disabilities. Learning environments are not limited to physical environments such as classroom designs or school architecture; they are extended to cognitive environments that are greatly affected by external influences such as sensory stimulation and learning methods. Children with special educational needs could benefit from effective design solutions for better information processing. This designer attempts to develop typographic solutions to facilitate the reading process of …

Is There A Mass Market For Ethical Fashion In Ireland?, Shirley Quinn

Theses

The following research dissertation was carried out with the intention of solving the question of whether there is a mass market for ethical fashion in Ireland. To answer this question, awareness of ethics in fashion among Irish consumers was investigated, along with general attitudes to ethical fashion, and whether ethics affects fashion purchase behaviour. The research was carried out over the space of six months and comprised a triangulated multi-method approach, consisting of primary and secondary research. Quantitative descriptive research was conducted through a questionnaire and the primary qualitative method used was a focus group. Secondary research took the form …

An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Fear Appeals Used In Road Safety Campaigns, Darren O'Sullivan

Theses

This research project looks at Fear appeals as a method of communication. It is an evaluation of the use of this method based on a number of criteria. These criteria look at differing aspects of fear appeals which form the basis of the evaluation. Issues such as ethics, involvement of the audience, credibility and the level of fear used are all examined in a bid to determine the overall perceived effectiveness of this form of communication.

The first section of the project examines the research question and the objectives which the research hopes to achieve in order to arrive at …

In Tension, Alicia Ross

Theses

The conceptual subject matter of in_tension falls between two major categories: the personification of two conflicting female roles (the need to be a nurturer and the longing to be an object of sexual desire) and the amalgamation of biological and societal foundations in which we see ourselves and others. These two major categories are more principally bound by the larger schema of relations between the sexes and the molding of our desires through social conventions. My artwork tends to explore the conflict many women encounter—including myself—of which roles they wish to partake and the friction between the voyeur or the …

Relationships Among Reading Assessments: How Do Dibels Oral Reading Fluency And Dra Scores Relate To Terranova2 Performance In Second-Grade Students?, Melissa Walker

Theses

The present study investigated the relationships between the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) as related to TerraNova2 Vocabulary and Comprehension scores for second grade students. Archival data gained from 60 participants during the 2004-2005 school year were utilized. The participants were from a school receiving Reading First funding in a northeastern city. Correlation and regression analyses were run on the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency scores, DRA codes, and TN2 scores to determine the relationships among the three tests. Results found significant correlations and predictors for TN2 performance.

Assessing Deaf College Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Behavior Rating Inventory Of Executive Function – Adult Version Versus Caars, Rebecca Mowell

Theses

This study examined the sensitivity of two instruments used in assessing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with deaf individuals. Forty deaf college students, 20 with a diagnosis of ADHD and 20 controls, completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Adult Version (BRIEF-A) and the Connors’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS). An analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA), and sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value analyses found that both the BRIEF-A and CAARS were adequate behavior rating scales for measuring ADHD symptoms in a deaf population. Results also revealed that the BRIEF-A was a more specific measure …

Typographic Decision-Making: Children's Book Design, Christina R. Fisher

Theses

Most children's first encounter with words and the act of reading is in the form of having a children's book read to them. Whether it is a cardboard book with only a sprinkling of words, an illustrated storybook with more narrative, or an independent reader with a few images and a larger concentration of words, children's books are essential to developing a child's reading ability and to fostering an enthusiasm for reading. Despite the importance of these books, their typographic design is often neglected. Little attention is paid to the integration of text and image, and typographic variables are often …

Ambivalence & Hope, Jeremy C. Stipano

Theses

A descriptive narration of the creation of the artist's thesis exhibition, the central pieces of which are Ambivalence, a walnut and zebrawood sculpture, and Hope, a mahogany and canary wood sculpture. Other pieces and materials surrounding Ambivalence and Hope include mono-prints made with paint and found objects, ink drawings, and two experimental multimedia sculptures, Inner Hope and External Ambivalence.

The School-To-Work Transition Of Students With Learning Disabilities: The Influence Of Identity Status, Personality, And Career Decidedness On Career Decision Making, Jennifer L. Merry

Theses

Students with learning disabilities have higher dropout rates and have lower wages and employment rates. Furthermore, students with learning disabilities are less likely to have a full-time job and are more likely to attend a two-year college rather than a four-year college compared to those without disabilities. Approximately three million students are classified as having a specific learning disability in the United States. The challenges and struggles they deal with during the school years continues into the world of work. Federal legislation (e.g., IDEA) mandates that a transition plan is included in a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which needs …

Strange Way Home, Seema Raju Mukhi

Theses

Set in India, this novel follows the narrator, sixteen-year-old Asha Mehtani, in her two-year struggle to decide between following tradition and following her own desires. Asha encounters an American teacher at her school who encourages her to read, to learn, and to follow her own path in life. But Asha¿s parents want her to get married right after she finishes high school, in an arranged marriage. By refusing to get married, Asha will damage her family¿s reputation and ruin her younger sister¿s chances of finding a good husband. Will Asha choose to follow her heart, to go to college and …

Many Are The Deceivers, Cassie Worley

Theses

This thesis examines the adaptations and disseminations of ancient and modern dominant Western Parables. It investigates both Biblical myths and fairy tales, as they are used as socializing tools, which set standards in Western culture, and prescribe conventions to our children. Within the thesis, themes from Little Red Riding Hood will be extrapolated, and compared to those found in Old Testament tales such as, The Expulsion from Eden, the Deluge, The Ten Plagues, and Exodus. Throughout the thesis, the history and function of the myth and fairy tale will be defined, and questions will be raised regarding the role of …