Digital Commons Network^™

Faculty Perspectives On Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Integration: A Descriptive Study From The American University In Cairo, Sondos Mohamed Moshtohry

Theses and Dissertations

The interdisciplinary approach and the science of the brain are successfully wedded. Globally, neuroscience is expanding and offering substantial advances and versatile applications within various domains affirming the worthiness of its investments; however, nationally, a similar engagement with the field is not evident. This study proposes the integrative research cloud model as a framework for interdisciplinary engagement. The American University in Cairo (AUC) is known for its forward-looking strategy and belief in interdisciplinarity that is why it was chosen as the setting for this study. Accordingly, the opinions and perspectives of its faculty from the different schools and departments on …

Using The Transactional Reading Theory To Galvanize The Meaning Of Construction Process And Promote Fourth Grade Students Reading Comprehension, Cognition, And Motivation, Tamara Gatewood-Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The sequential mixed-methods study was conducted to examine the effects of a transactional intervention with emphasis on background knowledge, questioning, and motivation, that galvanize the meaning of the construction process to internalize strategies, promote engaging discussion of the text, and shift students from the observer to the participant, to the mediator. Participants included two fourth grade teachers, thirty-nine fourth grade students, and twelve fourth grade students who were selected from the thirty-nine to participate in the qualitative phase of the study. Quantitative data pre-and post-data were collected to assess student's cognition and motivation. Quantitative data revealed the intervention influenced background …

Treasure, Women, And Agency: Exploring Objectification In A World Of Living Objects, Alexa Parker

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the poems Beowulf and Judith with a focus on the ways in which peaceweavers and treasure objects are portrayed. In Old English texts, such as Beowulf, peaceweaving women have been compared to the role of treasure, with claims that peaceweavers act in the same way and perform the same duties as objects of exchange: they bring peace between men. By using an object-oriented perspective to examine the relationships between these agentive objects and the women objectified as such, I argue that a more nuanced understanding of women’s agency and power in early medieval England can be reached. …

Professional Development And Change In Teachers' Beliefs And Practice For Teaching English Language Learners, Kerong Wu

Theses and Dissertations

To provide quality education to all students, including ELLs, teachers need professional development designed and enacted according to best practice. However, a common problem for professional development is that teachers' practices often do not change. Implemented through the partnership collaboration with university, education, and public school faculty, the professional development designed in this study focused on educating teachers about needed content and engaging them in ways that would increase the likelihood they would enact such practices in their classrooms (Desimone, 2009; Opfer & Pedder, 2011; Penuel et al., 2007). The professional development program comprised six courses that adhered to the …

The Motivation And Attitude Of Arab Heritage Children And Their Parents’ Perspectives Toward Learning Arabic, Nada Naji

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unstable circumstances in the Middle East in the last decade, a large number of immigrants from Arab origins immigrated to non-Arab countries. This immigration created a new generation of Arab heritage learners who want to learn the Arabic language as a heritage language for different reasons. This study investigates the motivation and attitude of Arab heritage children between 10 and 16 years of age and their parents’ perspectives toward learning Arabic as a heritage language in host countries. 143 participants (92 parents, 51 children) living in 17 different non-Arab countries have participated in this study. The method …

Rebel Movements & Autonomy: “A Similar Path, Divergent Outcomes” A Comparative Analysis Between The Zapatista Movement In Mexico, The Kurdish Movement In Turkey & The Polisario Front In Morocco, Amira Mostafa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the factors that can explain why some rebel movements attain territorial autonomy while others do not. This was studied through a cross-regional comparison of three movements, the Zapatista movement in Mexico, the Kurdish movement in Turkey and the Polisario Front in Morocco. These cases were chosen with the aim to present a causal inference of their divergent outcomes, especially that the three rebel movements primarily sought to achieve some measure of self-determination. While it was relatively attained by the Zapatista movement through territorial autonomy, the Kurdish movement has been listed as a terrorist organization and the Polisario …

Signal To Noise: Harmonic Temperaments And Patterns Of Interference, Dylan A. Marcheschi

Theses and Dissertations

An audio/visual exploration of historical tuning systems. Most contemporary Western audiences will seldom if ever encounter harmony outside of post-Renaissance tuning conventions. This presentation highlights some of those pre-orthodox harmonic relationships which existed throughout most of history. The corresponding paper documents correlates in recent advances of acoustic ecology.

Wildfires In The Uncanny Valley, Jenna Beasley

Theses and Dissertations

My work considers our affectual relationship to a rapidly changing environment through ideas about the philosophy and representation of nature, materiality, and the uncanny. In this text, I trace my artistic explorations of notions of apocalypse and catastrophe as they lead me to a deepened ecological viewpoint.

Posthumous Painting: On Pigment And Binder, Jameson G. Magrogan

Theses and Dissertations

Modernism brought about a logical culmination of painting, an epoch where logic and reason can no longer attempt to account for or speculate its behavior. This paper considers the perpetuation of painting from an ontological standpoint, documenting its inherent aporia, its relationship to meaning, and its function in contemporary society.

Musical Irony In Selected Piano Sonatas By Ludwig Van Beethoven, Andrew J. Hochler

Theses and Dissertations

In the third variation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 111, there is an abrupt shift in rhythms that almost resembles an excerpt of early jazz. This passage is so seemingly out of place that it appears to be an ironic commentary on the music that came before. This variation thereby raises an interesting question: how can irony play a role in music?

In an attempt to answer this question, this thesis examines the aesthetic property of irony, suggesting ways in which might be understood to impact three piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven: namely, his …

Home, It Turns Out, Is Always A Matter Of Paperwork, Leonardo Madriz

Theses and Dissertations

A meandering of life-thinking on notions of migration & diaspora, assimilation, place & home, family & loss, cruel optimism and new imaginaries - through text, film & video, installation, and expanded cinema.

Information Structure In Mangghuer: A Narrative Text Analysis Of Topic And Focus In A Mongolic Language Of Northwestern China, Cory Christopher Coogan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes information structure in Mangghuer, a Mongolic language spoken in northwestern China. My analysis relies on a set of twenty-three narrative texts published in the 2005 volume, Folktales of China's Minhe Mangghuer (Chen et al. 2005), and I also draw from the text "Lu Buping," published in the 2001 Mangghuer Folktale Reader (Stuart & Zhu 2001). I rely on Lambrecht's (1994) approach to information structure as a theoretical framework to analyze these texts. I also apply methods from Levinsohn's (2015) "Self Instruction-Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis." Default information structure in Mangghuer is the topic-comment sentence. The default form …

Language Archive Records: Interoperability Of Referencing Practices And Metadata Models, Hugh J. Paterson Iii

Theses and Dissertations

With the rise of the digital language archive and the plethora of referenceable content, a critical question arises: “How easy is it for authors to use existing tools to cite the content they are referencing?” This is especially important as people use archived materials as evidence within published language descriptions.

Archived resource metadata is well discussed in language documentation circles; however, bibliographic metadata and its accessibility are less discussed. Discoverability metadata, a subset of archived resource metadata, serves aggregators like OLAC by declaring a resource exists. In contrast, bibliographic metadata functions within documents by declaring where to find a resource …

Factors That Influence Teachers' Utilization Of Siop Learning Strategies When Teaching English Language Learners, Courtney R. Stuart

Theses and Dissertations

Despite standardized certification tests and popular English Language Learner trainings, the strategies and methods used in two educators’ classes would not be identical. In this case-study we look to see what variables cause teachers to utilize certain strategies and how these variables affect the number of strategies used consistently when teaching ELLs. We study the effect of teachers’ language experiences, certifications, participation in SIOP trainings, education levels, perceived preparedness, and years spent in the classroom.

Using quantitative and qualitative data we conclude that dual-language fluency and professional advancements can lead to teachers using more ELL learning strategies in their classrooms, …

Theory Of Mind Performance Among College Students At Hispanic Serving Institutions, Mauricio Alejandro Yanez

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has yielded mixed findings about relations among sociodemographic variables and Theory of Mind (ToM) performance. The current literature lacks robust studies that utilize multiple types of ToM assessments. Additionally, most ToM research has assessed samples of young, white children and adolescents. The present study addresses these limitations by examining the association between sociodemographic variables and ToM performance among Hispanic emerging adults, utilizing three ToM measures across two sites. Participants included 867 college students from two Hispanic serving institutions who completed questionnaires including an embedded false belief task, Strange Stories, and the Constructivist Theory of Mind (cToM) task. All …

A Typology Of Morphological Argument Focus Marking, Aidan Alexander Aannestad

Theses and Dissertations

One of the methods that languages use to indicate which argument (if any) is in focus is morphological; however, there seems to be a major gap in the literature when it comes to understanding the variety and classification of morphological argument focus marking constructions. This thesis is an attempt to fill that gap. I present here both an overview of the types of morphological focus marking constructions found in the world's languages, and a taxonomic classification of said constructions based on the grammaticalisation pathways that result in their genesis. Such constructions include not only the traditional `particle focus' constructions, but …

Transatlantic Triangulations: Genre And Traumatic Memory In The Novels Of Esmeralda Santiago And Alejandro Zambra, Amanda A. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

When a traumatic event collectively happens to a group or body of people, be that geographically, emotionally or physically, an imprint is left behind which impacts a part of a culture or society. The larger the scale of the incident, the wider the scope in terms of lives affected and memory established, which creates a new history for many.

In Alejandro Zambra’s (2011) Ways of Going Home, Zambra remembers his traumatic childhood growing up under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in war torn Chile in the 1980s. While this postmodern novel uses memory and historical perceptions from a child’s …

Perspectives On Bilingualism In Persons With Autism Spectrum Disorder In The Rio Grande Valley, Rosa N. Benavidez Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the perspectives of both professionals and parents regarding bilingualism in persons with autism spectrum disorder. The participants included 40 professionals and 5 parents from the Rio Grande Valley. Data was collected via an online survey. These findings will not only provide fundamental knowledge but will allow for breaking the silence on the topic of bilingualism in the field of ASD. Therefore, the outcome of this research is to expand the literature for both parents and professionals, in order for them to make informed decisions about this population, and to encourage the development of bilingual services and …

An Analysis Of The Privileged Syntactic Argument In Three Sayula Popoluca Texts, Corey Havlicek

Theses and Dissertations

Sayula Popoluca is a Mixe-Zoquean language spoken in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The data in this thesis was collected by Lawrence Clark and published in Clark (1961). Using Role and Reference Grammar as described in Van Valin (2005), I show that Sayula Popoluca marks the Privileged Syntactic Argument (PSA) in a clause based upon whether it is the single argument of an intransitive verb (S), the actor of a transitive verb, or the undergoer of a transitive verb. It does this through an increasing markedness in the combination of pronominal prefixes and aspect/mood suffixes, with S being the least …

Exploring Aspects Of Reported Speech In Vehicular Jula Of Burkina Faso, Susan Marie Locklin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a systematic description of reported speech in vehicular Jula of Burkina Faso as well as the degree to which several recent models of reported speech would account for the two distinct variations of reported speech found in Jula. The descriptive and theoretical aspects of this thesis speak into the fields of typology, discourse, and pragmatics. Some of the interesting typological aspects of Jula reported speech are the use of logophoric pronouns in one category of reported speech, the fact that a quotative particle is present with both categories of reported speech, and the fact that pronominal cataphors …

Safety Risk Assessment And Improvement Method For Precast/ Prestressed Concrete Industry Plant, Sayali G. Joshi

Theses and Dissertations

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) is the technical institute for precast/prestressed concrete industry. The plant involves activities such as placing high tensile steel strings inside the concrete products before they harden. This process needs the strings to be "stressed" hydraulically with high tension, which provides possibility of breaking the strand. Hence, employees may face a severe injury around the stressing bed. As various activities take place on the plant at the same time, employees must follow certain safety protocols while being around the plant. Another safety concern on the precast plant is silica exposure. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) …

Retention Of The Female, Hispanic, Adult Education Esl Learner In Community College Adult Education Classes, Kimberly Lott Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide qualitative data on challenges faced by female, Hispanic, adult students attending ESL classes within community college programs; data on challenges they face achieving long-term educational goals; and ways the community college adult education programs can help students be more successful. Meeting needs of female, Hispanic, adult, ESL students is challenging, and many are nontraditional learners who have life factors that compete for available time and educational resources. Often, adult, female, Hispanic students experience challenges that cause barriers to success. Because each student is unique, exploring challenges in the areas of gender, age, …

Thinking And Talking About Kinds, Ye Ji Seoung

Theses and Dissertations

Three experiments investigated whether definite singular generics (e.g., the dog barks) require that the kind does not contain multiple subkinds. No effect of generic form was found in experiment 1 and 3. However, experiment 2 found people thought there were fewer subkinds when definite singulars referred to the kind.

Representation Of Sex-Linked Properties: Implications For Conceptual Representation And Generics, Olga A. Leus

Theses and Dissertations

Four experiments provide evidence that we represent principled connections between kinds and sex-linked properties such that one type of instance of the kind has a principled connection for the presence of the property and the other type has a principled connection for the absence of that property.

The Relationship Between Derivational Morphology And Reading Comprehension For Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Students In Fifth-Grade, Claudia Crespo Crespo Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This correlational study investigated the direct and indirect relationships derivational morphology had to reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking language minority students in the fifth-grade. It also investigated the direct and indirect effects Spanish phonological awareness had on reading comprehension. Multivariate path analysis was used to investigate the unique relationship the independent variables (derivational morphology, vocabulary, language comprehension, decoding, and Spanish phonological awareness) had on reading comprehension for fifth-grade students (N = 71). The results indicated derivational morphology significantly contributed to reading comprehension after controlling for vocabulary, language comprehension, and decoding. The results further indicated that Spanish phonological awareness was not statistically …

Dynamic Assessment Of Narrative Language For Diverse School-Age Children With And Without Language Disorder: A Large-Scale Psychometric Study, Anahi Kamila Derobles

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine and cross-validate how well a dynamic assessment of language can accurately identify a large sample of school-age students with a representative ratio of language disorder. The participants included 362 school-age children with and without language disorder from kindergarten to sixth grade in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Each participant received a battery of assessments including a dynamic assessment of narrative language. The dynamic assessment investigated in this study demonstrated good to excellent levels of sensitivity and specificity. The results of this study also determined that, in concurrence with previous dynamic assessment research, posttest …

Yo Pertenezco Aqui: Uncovering The Experiences And Sense Of Belonging Of Latinx/A/O Students At A Predominantly White Institution, Brittany C. Passano

Theses and Dissertations

As human beings, it is essential that we feel included in and connected to the communities in which we function. These feelings of inclusion and connection are referred to as feeling a sense of belonging. As a minoritized student population, Latinx/a/o students experience the difficulty of transitioning into an educational culture that is not prepared to welcome and serve them. The purpose of the following phenomenological qualitative study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of Latinx/a/o students and the ways in which their perceptions shaped their sense of belonging at a predominantly white institution (PWI). The …

Tessellated Pictures And Traditional Piety, Matthew K. Higham

Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 300 years before the rise of a ‘Christianized,’ Eastern Roman Empire, generations of inhabitants in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East had witnessed a considerable variety and evolution of religious thought. As a result of the expansion of Christian sects throughout the Near East and Mediterranean, in 325 CE, Emperor Constantine I convened a theological council to unite his vast kingdom in the East under a single religious creed. While revisions to the text of the first ‘Nicene Creed’ and subsequent councils would be organized, many dissenting factions refused to relinquish their long-held beliefs and traditions. Some of these …

Exploring African American Vernacular English And Disproportionality In Special Education, Camille O'Quin

Theses and Dissertations

More than 80% of African Americans in the United States of America speak the dialect African American Vernacular English (AAVE) (Green, 2002); however, misperceptions of AAVE may have a direct impact on African American students’ equitable access to education in United States public schools (Beneke et al., 2015). African Americans are disproportionality over-represented in special education in disability categories that require subjective clinical judgements, including specific learning disabilities. Numerous factors may contribute to this phenomenon, including the subjective process for special education referrals (Herzik, 2015) and teachers’ biased perceptions of cultural differences, including students’ use of AAVE (Gupta, 2010). The …

Exploring Elementary Pre - Service Teachers Technological Knowledge For Teaching Literacy: A Phenomenological Study, Christy Nicole Grigsby

Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the fundamental changes to education due to COVID-19, this study focuses on the readiness of pre-service teachers to meet the literacy needs necessary in this technology mediated world by utilizing a theoretical framework that consists of a learning framework: Transformative Learning, a literacy framework: Multi literacies, and a technological framework: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to include the 2019 addition of another knowledge base: ConteXtual Knowledge (XK). It is this context component of TPACK that is so frequently overlooked that may encompass the cultural aspects of teaching and learning including the primary and secondary Discourses, the …