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From Teams To Communities Of Practice, Stephen D. Ashton Dec 2012

From Teams To Communities Of Practice, Stephen D. Ashton

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation documents the qualitative study that was conducted with the Ambassador Pilot Program team at Thanksgiving Point Institute; a non-profit farm, gardens, and museum complex and informal learning institution; from the summer of 2011 to the fall of 2012. The Ambassador team was tasked to develop an employee training program. Over time the team members were given more freedom to direct their own course and set their own objectives. To the co-directors of the program it seemed the Ambassadors began to embrace some characteristics common to a community of practice (CoP); however, it remained to be seen how the …


Never Put Your Head Down Unless You Pray: The Stories Of African American Men In The Wisconsin Prison System, Julia Marie Kirchner Dec 2012

Never Put Your Head Down Unless You Pray: The Stories Of African American Men In The Wisconsin Prison System, Julia Marie Kirchner

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research on offender narratives has not examined culture as a factor in how prisoners explain their crimes. This qualitative ethnographic research project explores the self-constructions of African American male prisoners using both participant observation with active gang members on the street and discourse analysis of over 300 letters written by incarcerated men. Focusing primarily on six prisoner consultants, this study investigates the claims that offenders make about themselves in reference to their identity. These convicted felons justify their crimes as rational under the circumstances prevalent in segregated inner cities. In reference to economic crimes such as drug dealing and …


Efficacy Of Reach Forgiveness For Foreign And Virginia Students, Yin Lin May 2012

Efficacy Of Reach Forgiveness For Foreign And Virginia Students, Yin Lin

Theses and Dissertations

People agree that forgiveness is a virtue in essentially all countries. However, different cultures have different ideas about how willing one should forgive and under what circumstances. Although the study occurred in the USA, I recruited both foreign-extraction and Virginia born-and-raised female college students (N=102) to participate a six-hour REACH forgiveness intervention, promoting their forgiveness through psychoeducational groups. In my thesis, I investigated whether students of foreign extraction and Virginia-born students would respond similarly to the intervention. I operationalized culture in two ways—by country and by individual self-reported self-construal. I measured forgiveness using two measures—decisional forgiveness and emotional forgiveness. I …


Blues Trope As A Cultural Intersection In Alice Walker's The Temple Of My Familiar And Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues, Julia Leuthardt Apr 2012

Blues Trope As A Cultural Intersection In Alice Walker's The Temple Of My Familiar And Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues, Julia Leuthardt

Theses and Dissertations

Though bound historically through hundreds of years, the African-Native American relation has not received much attention by scholars of literature; hence, the emphasis of this thesis is to investigate the literary portrayal of the interethnic relation between African Americans and Native Americans through the blues trope. The blues trope provides an intriguing literary platform for the psychological and physical struggles in finding an identity within such a diverse multiethnic society like the United States. For African American writer Alice Walker and Native American author Sherman Alexie the blues trope is a successful literary device in expressing long lost and rediscovered …


Parent And Professional Perspectives About Autism Spectrum Disorders In South India: Beliefs, Practices, And Parent-Professional Relationships., Neeraja Ravindran Apr 2012

Parent And Professional Perspectives About Autism Spectrum Disorders In South India: Beliefs, Practices, And Parent-Professional Relationships., Neeraja Ravindran

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of parents and professionals living in a large metropolitan city in South India who were raising and/or working with a child with an autism spectrum disorder. The study explored the unique perspectives of parents and professionals regarding their beliefs and practices about autism, as well as the nature of the parent-professional relationship. Nineteen parents (all mothers) and 21 professionals were interviewed in person at four schools, an early intervention program, a hospital clinic, and a physician’s office. Themes were developed using qualitative software, and reliability was established through multiple …


A Qualitative Analysis Of A Corporate Adventure Program, Kimberly Molyneux Mar 2012

A Qualitative Analysis Of A Corporate Adventure Program, Kimberly Molyneux

Theses and Dissertations

Outdoor adventure learning (OAL) provides a unique environment to teach organizational change. Therefore, there is an implication these programs can be used to foster necessary specific skills such as leading change, innovation, and thriving in hostile environments to lead in the ever-changing corporate world. Little research, however, supports the efficacy of adventure learning in achieving specific outcomes. Skeptics suggested the benefits of OAL programs do not always generalize effectively from the outdoor experience to the workplace. This paper outlines how utilizing strategic skills and theory to conduct OAL programs are effective and impactful in the corporate world. The purpose of …


Divided, They Win? A Case Study Of The New Political Generation In Egypt Since 25th January 2011, Sanaa El-Banna Feb 2012

Divided, They Win? A Case Study Of The New Political Generation In Egypt Since 25th January 2011, Sanaa El-Banna

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the political culture of the new political generation in Egypt after 25th January 2011. It aims at examining the reasons behind generational conflicts on the new political landscape. It defines political generation as â a group of people who have been subject to common social and political (â ¦) influences and circumstances' that shape their political values, attitudes, and signify their sharing of an essential destiny' . Hence, generations are defined in terms of political culture, rather than age groups. The study examines six suggestive cases: The National Movement for Changeâ Kefayaâ , the 6th of April, …


Academic Performance Strategies Implemented By Successful California Superintendents In Low-Performing School Districts, Candi Clayton-Clark Jan 2012

Academic Performance Strategies Implemented By Successful California Superintendents In Low-Performing School Districts, Candi Clayton-Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout U.S. history, numerous policies have shaped our government and the lives of individuals, both nationally and internationally. For three decades, there has been much debate over academic achievement in U.S. public primary and secondary schools as well as in colleges and universities. Demand for funding has been placed on the federal government as "cash-strapped" states continue to reduce financial apportionments to school districts, community colleges, and other institutions of higher learning. However, with more funding came more accountability. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to include accountability measures, identification of schools …


A Good Story Changes Everything, Daraunda Bryant Jan 2012

A Good Story Changes Everything, Daraunda Bryant

Theses and Dissertations

Although applied in organizational settings, storytelling is not commonly used or understood in change efforts. Furthermore, storytelling's impact on changing organizational culture has not been widely examined. This study therefore sought to answer the question: What is the effect of stories on culture change? Twenty-five participants (4 managers and 21 associates) completed one-on-one, in-person interviews prior to a storytelling workshop. All associates attended the storytelling workshop, followed by interviews of all four managers and four randomly selected associates regarding culture change. This study found that storytelling, in particular the storytelling workshop, influenced the behaviors and attitudes of organizational members and, …