Digital Commons Network^™

A Longitudinal Study On The Effectiveness Of Preschool Special Education, Kimberley L. Maneval

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this longitudinal cohort study was to analyze the grade school placements of children who received preschool special education services in order to determine how this type of early intervention impacted future learning. Data was obtained through non-interactive evaluation of existing class lists, student records, and Application for State School Aide (ASSA) reports of 342 disabled or developmentally delayed children between 3 and 5 years of age who participated in Evesham Township's Preschool Disabled Program between 1990 and 2001. Data from this study was also used to re-evaluate the preschool curriculum, policies and procedures, and to plan new …

Determining The Effectiveness Of Two New Reading Programs In The Lower Alloways Creek School, Linda A. Levitsky

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the two new reading programs on the improvement of students' reading scores and the enhancement of instruction in the Lower Alloways Creek School District using an action research design. Teachers involved in using the new programs were surveyed. Student grades from the previous year in the first marking period and the current year during the first marking period were analyzed and compared. At the time of the study, the school enrollment was approximately 220 students. Grades first through eighth were included in the study. The research instruments were a …

Tracking Student Discipline Referrals And Providing Additional Support To Students In Order To Decrease Student Discipline Problems, Katherine Jasmin Keramidaris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to track student discipline referrals throughout the school year in order to provide additional support to those students who exhibited a pattern of having discipline issues. Students were identified based on the number of infractions they had and then they were targeted and received additional support from the researcher. The researcher compiled a list of the students and met with them regularly in order to establish a relationship with them. Through such a relationship, some students' discipline referral write-ups decreased; others continued to break the school rules. However, all students benefited from such a …

Improving Routing Security Using A Decentralized Public Key Distribution Algorithm, Jeremy C. Goold

Theses and Dissertations

Today's society has developed a reliance on networking infrastructures. Health, financial, and many other institutions deploy mission critical and even life critical applications on local networks and the global Internet. The security of this infrastructure has been called into question over the last decade. In particular, the protocols directing traffic through the network have been found to be vulnerable. One such protocol is the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol. This thesis proposes a security extension to OSPF containing a decentralized certificate authentication scheme (DecentCA) that eliminates the single point of failure/attack present in current OSPF security extensions. An analysis …

What Impact Does An Attendance Incentive Program Have On Student Attendance?, Marilyn Cosme

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an attendance incentive program on the attendance of students in a small, rural elementary school setting. The methodology of the study consisted of collecting attendance data from the previous school year. The data were then compared to the attendance data from the current school year. During the previous school year there was no attendance incentive program. During the present school year an attendance incentive program was created and promoted by the school. The study was conducted on the entire student population in a New Jersey elementary school that housed …

The Use Of Performance Enhancing Supplements And The Need For Drug Testing Policies, James J. Battersby

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the use of performance enhancing supplements of Buena Regional High School student-athletes and the need for drug testing policies. The subjects included 120 student-athletes who had participated at the varsity or sub-varsity level. The student-athletes completed a 21 item survey that consisted of 6 items that measured the students demographics such as age, gender, grade, race, sport and level. The survey also consisted of 15 statements that determined student's use of performance supplements, reasons why they use supplements, the types of supplements that are used and their feelings about drug testing policies. The data were analyzed using …

The Effectiveness Of A Multicultural Awareness Day Program, Anne-Sophie I. Kruse-Guth

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Multicultural Awareness Day program on improving student understanding, awareness, and appreciation of world languages and cultures. The study was based on a quantitative analysis research design. The sample used for this study included 7^th and 8^th grade students at Glassboro Intermediate School in the Glassboro Public Schools District of New Jersey. A randomly selected sample of seventh and eighth grade social studies students participated in the study. One technique, surveying, was used as a means for data collection. The data were analyzed both before and after …

Teachers' And Students' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of A Middle School Bully Patrol, Arnold Jeffrey White

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness, as perceived by teachers and students, of the Glassboro Intermediate School's Bully Patrol in reducing bullying for seventh and eighth grade students. The data gathering procedures were teacher and student surveys using the convenience sampling technique. The results of this study were based upon the analysis of the feedback that the teachers and students provided.

The major conclusions of this study provided important insights into the Glassboro Intermediate School's Bully Patrol. The data revealed that almost all of the teachers perceived the bully patrol to be effective in eliminating bullying …

Organizational Culture And Strategic Planning: A Relationship, Shannon L. Sauer

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Promoting The Culture Of Breastfeeding In A Small Rural Minnesota Hospital, Rebecca J. Poolman

Theses and Dissertations

The benefits of breastfeeding have been well defined for both mother and baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively breastfeed for at least the first 6 months of life (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005). The Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding objectives include 75% of infants initiating breastfeeding in the early postpartum, 50% of infants being breastfed at 6 months of age, and 25% of infants being breastfed at one year of age (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). To increase the support of breastfeeding in hospitals the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative was developed. The …

The Effects Of Nutrient Concentrations On Macroinvertebrate Distributions In Georgia, Paula Michele Pollock Brossett

Theses and Dissertations

Nutrients are considered the second largest nonpoint source pollutant in Georgia's running water ecosystems. Nutrients can naturally occur in low amounts and are typically increased in streams as a result of industry, agriculture, silviculture, and urbanization. In large amounts, nutrients can cause many problems to occur in the stream ecosystem. Macroinvertebrates have been established as good indicators for determining the level of impairment of a stream; however, not much research has been done on how nutrients affect macroinvertebrates in a stream. Approximately 225 reference and impaired streams were sampled over a 3 - year field season, (index period from September …

Alterations In Uterine And Placental Sodium Pump Abundance May Contribute To The Onset Of Mouse Labor, Carlos Jacob Vance

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Reductions in sodium pump (SP) abundance can give rise to increases in contractile force in uterine and vascular smooth muscle as well as an increased secretion in secretory cells, including potentially those of the placenta. To determine whether the mouse might serve as a model for human pregnancy in terms of the SP and to determine whether changes in SP abundance anticipate or follow labor, we studied pregnant mice over the final trimester of their pregnancy.

Study Design: C57Bl6 dams (n=46) were bred and studied during their pregnancy. Animals (n=4) were sacrificed at specific gestational time points. Other mice …

Family Deepening: A Qualitative Inquiry Into The Experience Of Families Who Participate In Service Missions, Alexis A. Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to discover what families perceive as the benefits of participating in family volunteering; specifically service missions and the substantive impact the experience had on the families. A grounded theory approached was used. Five families were identified through a criteria-based snowball sampling technique. The data were analyzed using constant comparison. Based on the data analysis a core category emerged that encapsulated the result of the family service experience. The core category was coined, "family deepening." Family deepening encompassed the essence of the process the families in this study experienced. In order to achieve family deepening …

The Difference In Hr Response Between Track And Treadmill Running At A Pre-Determined, Self-Selected Pace, Marisha Corey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not differences exist in heart rate (HR) between jogging on the track and jogging on the treadmill at the same speed. Twenty-four college-age (19-31 years old) male (n = 12) and female (n = 12) recreational runners volunteered to participate in this study. Each participant performed a maximal graded exercise test (GXT) and four exercise sessions. During the first exercise session, participants completed a 1-mile steady-state jog on either the track or treadmill at a self-selected submaximal pace that could be maintained for 30 minutes. The following three exercise sessions …

Matthew's Gift: Teaching Parents Of Children With Disabilities To Deal Effectively With Their Child's Problem Behavior, Karolyn King Peery

Theses and Dissertations

This study represents a unique collaboration between the State of Utah's Division of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD) and Brigham Young University's Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education (CPSE) and the Family Studies Center. Families with children with disabilities and problem behaviors may spend 5 to 10 years on the Utah DSPD Family Support waiting list before receiving support services. Families with children with disabilities and problem behavior experience difficult challenges with limited amounts of resources. CPSE graduate students offered behavioral education to 17 families on the DSPD waiting list in the family's homes for 10 weeks. Positive …

The Byronic Myth In Brazil: Cultural Perspectives On Lord Byron's Image In Brazilian Romanticism, Matthew Lorin Squires

Theses and Dissertations

Byron's reception in one of the nineteenth century's largest and most culturally significant post-colonial outposts, Brazil, has been virtually ignored in English studies. The implications of Lord Byron's influence in Brazil are extensive since he was overwhelmingly popular among poets but also subversive to the nationalistic aims of Brazilian Romanticism. Nearly all of the well known Brazilian Romantics were not only influenced by him, but translated him. Their notion of what it meant to be "Byronic," however, differed from ideas held in Europe. The Brazilian Byronic hero was more extreme, macabre, and sentimental, lonelier, darker, and deadlier. Byron had various …

The Relationships Among Literacy, Church Activity And Religious Orientation: A Study Of Adult Members Of The Lds Church In Utah County, Bruce R. Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

The study assessed the interplay among literacy, church activity, and religious orientation and examined the extent to which literacy predicts church activity in the presence of private religious behavior. One hundred fifty-seven subjects were administered measures of intrinsic religiousness, extrinsic religiousness, literacy levels and measures of church activity. The findings from this study suggest that literacy is related to activity, but in a way that is more complex than many investigators have considered. The results of the multiple regression analysis helped clarify the ability of literacy to predict church activity in the presence of religious orientation. Results further indicated that …

Differences In Maximal Speed Running Between Baseball Players And Sprinters, Erin Kathleen Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in technique between sprinters and baseball players while running at maximal speeds. 20 male NCAA Division I athletes participated; ten members of the track and field team specializing in the 100 m or 200 m sprint or the 100 m hurdles and ten members of the baseball team. Each subject performed a maximal effort 80 m sprint while their sprint times were recorded every 10 m starting at the 20 m mark. Each subject was filmed at they ran through a set10 m marking that included where they reached their …

Effects Of Same-Day Strength Training On Serve Performance In Female Collegiate Tennis Players, Staci Kayleen Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of same-day strength training on velocity and accuracy of a tennis serve among five female Division I intercollegiate athletes at the second and sixth week of a strength training program. Velocity and accuracy of 20 tennis serves were measured approximately four hours after a morning split-body (lower legs and trunk) strength training session termed the lift-day (LD) and were compared to measures taken on days that no lifting took place, termed the non-lift day (NLD). For each test day, velocity was multiplied by accuracy to provide an overall serve performance …

The Effects Of Choice On Student Motivation And Physical Activity Behavior In Physical Education, Jillian Ward

Theses and Dissertations

Public school physical educators have the opportunity to help students understand the importance of engaging in regular physical activity in order to combat America's obesity problem. However, students are often unmotivated to participate in their physical education classes. Providing students with an autonomy supportive environment increases intrinsic motivation. Self-determination theory states that higher levels of intrinsic motivation should lead to an increase in behavior, or higher activity levels in a physical education class. This study examined (a) the effects of increased autonomy on self-determination, and (b) the effects of increased autonomy on physical activity levels. Seventh and eighth grade girls …

The Effects Of Direct Supervision On Therapist Behavior: A Functional Analysis, Shawn L. Thurber

Theses and Dissertations

Live (Direct) Supervision has always been key to training therapists. However, little research has been done to determine which type of direct supervision is most effective in changing therapist behavior. This study compared bug-in-the-ear (BITE), phone-in, and computer assisted (CA) supervision. The purpose of this study was to (a) complete functional analysis of each supervision type via an alternating feedback session, to determine each therapists' most effective form of supervision; (b) determine the effect of using the most-effective form of supervision on the therapists' adherence to treatment protocols during follow-up sessions; (c) determine the effect of therapist adherence on client …

Algal Succession And Nutrient Dynamics In Elephant Butte Reservoir, Eric J. Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

A water quality model was created for Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico to understand nutrient dynamics and algal response during a three year period. The model chosen for this study was CE-QUAL-W2 because of its proven ability to represent hydrodynamics and the ability to represent multiple algal groups. Elephant Butte has been subject to large algal blooms. This study examined the phosphorus loading into the reservoir to see if it could sustain the observed algal growth. Data showed that the amount of bioavailable phosphorus was more than enough to support large blooms. This study also was an initial attempt to …

Effects Of Neuromuscular Training On The Dynamic Restraint Characteristics Of The Ankle, Christena Linford

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To examine the influence of a 6-week training program on the electromechanical delay (EMD) and reaction time of the peroneus longus muscle.

Design and Setting: The study was guided by a 2 x 2 factorial design with repeated measures on the time factor. The independent variables for this study were group (training and control) and time (pre- and post-training). Dependent variables for this study were muscle reaction time and electromechanical delay of the peroneus longus muscle.

Subjects: Thirty-six healthy, physically active, college-age (21.8 ± 2.3 yr) male and female (M = 14, F = 28, height = 173.7 ± …

The Impact Of A University Wellness Requirement On Student Nutrition And Physical Activity Behavior, Lisa Marie Blaser

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The Brigham Young University General Education Wellness Program has three options available to students to fulfill the programs requirement. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of these three wellness options. Specifically we wanted to know; does the university wellness requirement affect student nutrition and physical activity behaviors and do the various options available differ in their abilities to impact student nutrition and physical activity behaviors?

Methods: A three-group pretest/posttest design was used and a survey was administered, at both the beginning and end of the semester, to all students enrolled in HEPE 129, live and …

A Uintan (Late Middle Eocene) Flora And Fauna From The Uinta Basin, Utah, Stephen Dee Sandau

Theses and Dissertations

Late Middle Eocene time marks one of the most dynamic periods of the Paleogene in the western interior of North America. Analysis of an extensive, new collection of plant, invertebrate, and vertebrae fossils from the Uinta Formation in the Uinta Basin, south of Myton, Utah, USA, provides evidence of environmental change. Paleobotanical specimens are preserved in late stage Uinta Lake sediments and coarse-grained fluvial sediments which are stratigraphically 650 to 660 m above the Green River Formation. Deposition rates estimates of 18 to 55 cm/kyr, for Uinta Lake sediments in the Uinta Basin suggest a period of 1.18 Ma to …

A Study Investigating The Health Care Support Service Training Needs For Gloucester County And Workforce Development Demand, Maureen D'Andrea

Theses and Dissertations

The Division of Lifelong Learning at Gloucester County College conducted a survey of medical offices in the county to determine what occupations they employed and what their projected employment need for those occupations was in the next three years. The purpose of the study was to determine if GCC should develop training programs for those occupations. GCC also wanted to provide training for occupations that would qualify for workforce development funding. Over 500 surveys were mailed to medical offices in the county and responses were received from 72 offices. The research data indicated there was a need for training by …

The Purposes And Evaluation Methods For State Residential General Contractor Licensing, James Ellis Fenn

Theses and Dissertations

The main topic in the licensing debate is whether licensing affects construction quality. Available literature and previous studies indicate that it does not. The real question is not whether licensing improves quality, but whether the improving quality is the actual purpose of licensing. There is little information available on the purpose of licensing as defined by state licensing departments as well as a general lack of information on how states evaluate whether licensing is fulfilling the intended purpose. In order to effectively resolve some of the issues surrounding the construction licensing debate, the true purpose of licensing and the methods …

Preparing Students For Peer Review, Alison Irvine Mcmurry

Theses and Dissertations

In order to enhance the effective use of peer review, I have developed materials to assist teachers in compliance with the standards for Masters' projects enacted by the Department of Linguistics and English Language. Published literature shows that as peer review grows in popularity in both L1 and L2 English writing classes, many researchers and teachers are trying to increase its effectiveness. In some cases it is very effective, while in others it is marginally effective. This has led researchers to ask why. The difference between helpful and less helpful peer review seems to be in the preparation. In studies …

The Silent Majority: Conservative Perception, Mobilization, And Rhetoric At The Utah State International Women's Year Conference, Jenny Lynn Mcgee Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Held in 1977, the Utah State International Women's Year (IWY) Conference became a battleground. Mobilized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and conservative groups, 14,000 women revolted against the state coordinating committee. Chaired by Jan Tyler, Utah's IWY committee tried to plan the conference to include both liberals and conservatives; however, they found themselves overwhelmed by the audience. The participants rejected all nationally formulated resolutions, voted against or reworded workshop sponsored resolutions, and elected to the National IWY Conference an overwhelmingly LDS, conservative slate of delegates. Mobilization of conservatives at Utah's meeting was complex. The LDS …

Contextual Relationship Model Across Four Cultures, Gary T. Horlacher

Theses and Dissertations

Research by a number of scholars working with different data has shown validity for a contextual model of relationships whereby a person's background characteristics affects or predicts her/his interpersonal style, which then affects or predicts her/his relationship satisfaction. This study tests if this relationship model is equivalent across four different cultural samples. This research also presents descriptive family data on a sample from Micronesia, a culture that has not previously been described in family science literature, compared to three other cultural groups. A total of 550 individuals from Micronesian (N=131), Hispanic-Americans (N=139), Non-LDS Caucasians (N=140), and LDS-Caucasians (N=140) filled out …