Digital Commons Network^™

Tool Migration: A Framework To Study The Cross-Disciplinary Use Of Mathematical Constructs In Science, Chia-Hua Lin

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is concerned with the scientific practice in which a mathematical construct that was originally developed to study a particular subject matter subsequently used in other disciplines or sub-disciplines for a different subject matter, a phenomenon that I call ‘tool migration.’ I argue that tool migration can be ‘epistemically risky.’ Specifically, uprooting a research tool from one disciplinary context and re-situating it for use in another can change how the tool is applied; whatever has made the tool useful and reliable in the first place may not have stayed the same in the new context. Using the migrations of …

Beyond Standardized Test Scores: The Use Of Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy To Improve Access To Gifted Programming For Hispanic Students, Virginia G. Pratt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study was to explore how expanding curriculum in a gifted and talented English/ Language Arts (ELA) class to include a culturally and linguistically responsive strategy might broaden access to gifted programming for high-achieving children of Hispanic descent. The identified problem of practice is that the population of students from Hispanic families at Little Tree Elementary School (a pseudonym) continues to rise, yet Hispanic students are largely underrepresented in the school’s gifted program. This action research was carried out with a fourth-grade gifted ELA class in a Title I South Carolina elementary school. The …

The Impact Of Drama Pedagogy On Student Achievement, Attitude, And Empathy: An Action Research Study, Deborah J. Gascon

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study evaluated a problem of practice which emerged from the apathy and passive responses of students to reading classic literature in the high school English classroom. Teachers instructed while students received information with little investment on their part. The purpose of this study was to determine how to help students read closer and develop a deeper comprehension and appreciation of literature while expanding capabilities within the affective domain.

Through a convergent mixed methods action research design, the study addressed three research questions that explored how drama pedagogy affected student comprehension, their attitudes toward reading classic literature, and …

Role Of Resources For Care In Improving Care Behaviors, Children’S Nutritional Status And Early Childhood Development In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Sulochana Basnet

Theses and Dissertations

Poor child growth and suboptimal early childhood development are global health problems. Provision of appropriate care may help to achieve optimum child growth and development. Maternal resources for care such as education, knowledge, health, autonomy, reasonable workload, and social support may be needed to provide appropriate care behaviors, and improve children’s nutritional status, and early childhood development. The overall goal of this research was to understand the role of resources for care in improving care behaviors, child nutritional status, and early childhood development. The baseline Alive & Thrive household surveys from Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Ethiopia were used. We examined the …

Parenting And Child Self-Regulation As Mechanisms For The Relationship Of Household Food Insecurity With Child Dietary Behavior, Hoa Thi Mai Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Food insecurity is both a nutritional problem and a stressful life experience of adults and children in households dealing with food shortage. Potential mechanisms of the associations between food insecurity and adverse outcomes in children’s health and development are through parenting and child self-regulation.

Objectives: We investigated parenting and child self-regulation as potential mechanisms for the relationship of food insecurity with child dietary behaviors with two specific aims. Specific aim 1 was to understand how food insecurity and its change over time relate to parenting in early childhood. Specific aim 2 was to understand the relationship of parenting in …

The Interaction Of Individual Working Memory Capacity With Cognitive Linguistics-Based And Translation-Based Instructional Treatments During The Acquisition Of Polysemous L2 Spanish Spatial Prepositions, Joseph F. Letexier

Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated three areas in SLA related to the acquisition of polysemous L2 Spanish spatial prepositions. These three areas were (1) the effect of instructional method on the acquisition of productive knowledge of polysemous L2 Spanish spatial prepositions, (2) the effect of working memory capacity on the acquisition of productive knowledge of polysemous L2 Spanish spatial prepositions, and (3) the effects resulting from the interaction of working memory capacity with instructional method on the acquisition of productive knowledge of polysemous L2 Spanish spatial prepositions. The target learners were adult L1 English speakers 18 years of age or over …

Russian Roots In Southern Soil, James Preston Edge

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the profound influence that 19th-century Russian authors had on 20th-century Southern writers. Recent analyses of the American South have looked to the fluid nature of this region’s borders, often spreading into the Caribbean, South America, and American West, but there has not yet been any book- length study of the ways in which several Russian literary masters, including Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, influenced Southern authors, particularly Ernest Gaines, Eudora Welty, and Richard Wright. In particular, these Southern authors, in interviews and essays, have repeatedly extolled these Russian figures for their elevation of communal folklore, …

The Influence Of Consumer Inference About A Company’S Motive On Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) Evaluation, Taehoon Park

Theses and Dissertations

The author investigates the roles of consumer inferences and consumer suspicion in responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities by companies.

Chapter 1 examines how consumers infer a company’s motive for its prosocial activity when the same company is also involved in a socially harmful accident. When a company is involved in both CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and CSI (Corporate Social Irresponsibility), consumers can infer the motive for the CSR campaign from the temporal order of these two events. The author further proposes that this effect will be moderated by perceived invested effort in CSR campaign. Specifically, high effort invested …

Divine Absence, Divine Presence: The Theological Arguments Of Elizabeth Singer Rowe’S The History Of Joseph, Laura Macgowan

Theses and Dissertations

Elizabeth Singer Rowe’s Biblical epic The History of Joseph (1736), which dramatizes the events of Genesis 37-45, stands out in her oeuvre not only generically—it is her only long narrative poem—but because of how rarely God appears as an intervening agent or subject of narrative attention. Rather than highlight God’s splendor by imbuing Scripture with poetic embellishment, as is her wont, Rowe’s language downplays God’s hand in a famously Providential story (Genesis 50.20). While God shows up most often as an entity to beseech or a cultural token to reference, pagan deities govern the plot’s action; Rowe relishes in …

The Warped One: Nationalist Adaptations Of The Cuchulain Myth, Martha J. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I trace the use of the mythic Irish hero Cuchulain by early Irish nationalists. From 1878 to 1939, Standish James O’Grady, Lady Augusta Gregory, and William Butler Yeats employed this figure for specific political and cultural agendas. Cuchulain makes a fitting symbol for the “poet warrior” stereotype that was purposely and incidentally cultivated during the cultural nationalist phase of the Irish Literary Revival, when writers were beginning to explore the Cuchulain myth to demonstrate cultural and linguistic ideals. Nationalists found in Cuchulain a symbol that could tie the cultural to the political and the political to the …

Developmental Language Disorders And Reticence In Childhood, Aimee Diehl

Theses and Dissertations

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) struggle in a variety of social contexts. These children display different forms of social withdrawal, the most prevalent being shyness which is behaviorally manifested as reticence. The goal of the current study was to further explore the relationship between DLD and reticence in children using a revised set of items from the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS). A total of 220 children participated in the study. A univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if there were significant differences related to group, age, and gender on reticence. Findings revealed a significant difference …

Bringing Culture Into The Classroom: The Impact Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy On Student Engagement And Self-Efficacy In Social Studies, Siddeeqah K. Cruse

Theses and Dissertations

The presence of the achievement gap has plagued our education system for decades. One of the most astonishing trends has resulted in the racial achievement gap as White students drastically outperform minority groups with African American males being the most affected population. Educators have studied and implemented Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) to increase the achievement of African American males. CRP contends that all students are capable of learning and should be held to high expectations while using students’ culture and interests to drive instruction. This action research study examines the impact of culturally relevant teaching on the self-efficacy and engagement …

“Chosen Instruments”: Tolkien’S Hobbits And The Rhetoric Of The Dispossessed, Samuel Bennett Watson

Theses and Dissertations

Tolkien’s hobbit characters are capable of a particular type of rhetorical persuasion, one which relies on their ability to leverage their status as outsiders among the other people of Middle-earth. The hobbits are uniquely suited to the task of bringing unity to Middle-earth’s people because of the simplicity of their rhetoric, which focuses on proving their own morality and presenting truths without elaboration. When compared with the text, the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings also help highlight the importance that Tolkien placed on the simplicity of hobbit rhetoric. These abilities of the hobbits become clear through a …

The Accuracy Of A Spanish Dynamic Assessment Of Narrative Language In Identifying Language Disorder: A Cross Validation Study, Mariah Forbush Romero

Theses and Dissertations

This cross-validation study investigated the extent that a Spanish narrative language dynamic assessment accurately identified students with and without language disorder across three separate samples of bilingual and monolingual Spanish-speaking students from Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S. Students with language disorder and students with typically developing language were administered a narrative dynamic assessment in Spanish. A test-teach-retest format of dynamic assessment was followed and student modifiability, or learning ability, was rated directly following the teaching phase of the assessment. Results indicated that the most predictive dynamic assessment variables for the Guatemalan sample were posttest scores combined with two separate modifiability …

A Comparison Of Mobile And Computer Receptive Language Esl Tests, Aislin Pickett Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The option to bring-your-own-device (BYOD) to educational settings is becoming more prevalent as mobile technologies are more accessible than ever, yet little research has been done to examine the effect of those devices on language assessment. In this study, participants (n=175) were divided by stratified random sampling into four groups. Using a Latin square design to control for ordering, two forms of a multiple-choice reading and listening exam were administered over two days. On each day, participants took one test on a BYOD mobile device and one on a computer. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine the effect …

A Large-Scale Clustered Randomized Control Trial Examining The Effects Of A Multi-Tiered Oral Narrative Language Intervention On Kindergarten Oral And Written Narratives And Oral Expository Language, Mollie Paige Brough

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of a multi-tiered oral narrative language intervention on kindergarteners’ oral and written narrative and oral expository skills. The participants included 686 kindergarten students from four school districts in the upper Midwest. They were randomly assigned at the classroom level to a treatment or control condition. The treatment group received large group (tier-1) oral narrative language instruction led by classroom teachers and followed the Story Champs procedures. Students whose oral narrative retell skills did not improve after one month of large group instruction were placed in small groups and received …

Brazil And Bashō: Negotiating Japanese-Brazilian Hybrid Identity Through Mujōkan In Adriana Lisboa’S Rakushisha, Suzanne Noelle Shibuta

Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid identities occupy a unique space within the field of identity and culture. Due to the instability and transitory nature of hybrid identities, individuals who fall within the category of hybridity often struggle to recognize and accept their identities. Do such individuals identify with one culture, the other, neither, or both? Adriana Lisboa’s novel Rakushisha offers new insight into the realm of hybridity through the exploration of mujōkan, a uniquely Japanese awareness of impermanence that also helps to explain the cycle of suffering, continuity, and regeneration that Lisboa’s characters experience. Although hybrid identities by nature are unstable, constantly in motion …

Uncovering One Teacher's Knowledge Of Arts Integration For Developing English Learners' Reading Comprehension: A Self-Study, Tina Ralinn Mcculloch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore what I, a general education classroom teacher, know about using arts integration to build English Learners (ELs) reading comprehension. As the primary researcher, I am a fifth-grade, general education teacher in an intermountain West, Title 1, urban school where the typical classroom contains over 50% EL students. The studys two other participants were Martha, the director of the universitys arts partnership, and Camilla, a fellow faculty member who integrates arts into her curriculum. This qualitative Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practice research methodology was utilized to uncover my knowledge of teaching …

Walt Before Leaves: Complicating Whitman's Authorship Through Jack Engle, Christopher Preston Burright

Theses and Dissertations

The rediscovery of a number of Walt Whitman's early fictions prompts a discussion of where they belong within the larger web of Whitman scholarship. Though we have been aware of the existence of these writings for quite some time, frequently these works return to obscurity soon after being discovered due to the lack of research regarding them. This thesis presents an alternative framework whereby these novels can be integrated into a hypertextual model centered on Leaves of Grass (1855) and Whitman's overall authorial identity. I build on Ed Folsom and Kenneth Price's work creating a hypertext archive incorporating Whitman's works, …

Becoming A Culturally Relevant Feminist Teacher: An Autoethnography Of An Exchange Student, Astri Napitupulu

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis recounts the journey of an exchange student at a public university in Central Illinois on becoming a feminist teacher. By reflecting on her experiences as a Master’s student in the United States and high school teacher in Indonesia, the author unpacks her journey on becoming a feminist teacher. The author argues for the need of a feminist lens to understand the White supremacist heteropatriarchal capitalist system that is also infused in United States educational system. Finally, this research contends for a culturally relevant feminism as viable in her home institution in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The Use Of Discursive Features As A Representation Of Voice And Identity In L2 Writing: A Case Study Of Multilingual Graduate Students, Demet Yigitbilek

Theses and Dissertations

Considering the constant increase in the number of international students studying in the US universities, it is important to address the issue of self-representation in writing as there are classrooms where students are still assumed to be native English speakers by default (Matsuda, 2006). Therefore, academic writing practices of multilingual writers can easily be seen as divergences from the ‘standard’ rather than conscious acts. However, since languages are at the core of who we are (Anzaldúa, 2001), how we use our linguistic repertoires in writing should be seen as representation of our multilingual and diverse identities. This thesis, then, presents …

“Picking My Battles ”: Examining The Experiences Of Gender Non-Binary Identities Within The U.S., Mika Raylen Richards

Theses and Dissertations

As there is limited research on non-binary individuals, researching the non-binary experience was essential to normalizing their existence. The qualitative research focuses on 12 non-binary individuals who were at different stages of being out. A thematic analysis helped in understanding multifaceted responses from the participants. The data showed that non-binary individuals experience invalidation each day. Heteronormative societies and individuals tend to only see a binary within gender identity and shape their language around it, whether it be from their refusal of learning or a lack of knowledge of the problem. This failure to acknowledge non-binary individuals influenced many of their …

How Do Teachers, Counselors, And Administrators Describe Their Roles In Working With English Language Learners?, Myrtelina Martinez Cabrera

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine, through a social justice lens, how teachers, counselors and administrators describe their roles when working with English Language learners (ELLs). The study was conducted with four (N = 4) general education teachers ranging from grades 9-12, one ESL teacher (N = 1), one counselor (N = 1), and three administrators (N = 3) in one suburban school with a culturally and linguistically diverse student population. Qualitative data was collected through interviews. Results indicated that teachers lacked the necessary pedological skills and training to effectively instruct ELLs. Furthermore, the study revealed …

The Validity Of Microblogs As A Source For Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patient-Reported Outcomes, Kim Tran

Theses and Dissertations

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease which affects an estimated five million patients worldwide. Characterized by progressive respiratory failure and a median patient survival time of three to five years, this disease affects 150,000 patients in the United States (US) and results in 40,000 deaths annually. While the US mortality rate for IPF is similar to breast cancer, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis remains characterized as a rare disease. Lack of awareness and information for lesser known diseases such as IPF can affect factors ranging from proper diagnosis to the advancement of the drug development pipeline. One platform which …

Nature, Identity, And Pastoralism: Changing Landscapes And Shifting Paradigms In The Mongolian Taiga, Jessica Vinson

Theses and Dissertations

The traditional environment of pastoralism is under assault from land degradation, rangeland conservation, and development paradigms that alter the everyday lives of Tsataan Dukha reindeer herders in the Mongolian taiga. This paper seeks to analyze the ways in which identity is shaped through experiences of or relationships with particular nonhuman places and beings, and how the Tsataan Dukha renegotiate their individual and collective identities with changing local landscapes that exert considerable pressures upon the social, political, and economic organization of Dukha life. Senses of place and of space are intimately tied to a sense of self, so disruption in environmental …

Disciplinary Literacy Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Dlpck) Today: An Exploration Of Disciplinary Literacy Pedagogical Content Knowledge Of Middle And High School Science, Social Studies, And English Language Arts, Linda M. Saraceno

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this exploratory qualitative study were to a) gain an understanding of middle and high school science, social studies, and English language arts teachers' disciplinary literacy pedagogical content knowledge b) explore teachers' dispositions towards disciplinary literacy and c) to determine whether teachers dispositions influenced disciplinary literacy instruction in the classroom. Using a pre - and post-survey, semi-structured interviews, professional development workshops, teacher reflections, and classroom observation field notes, this study discovered teachers' disciplinary literacy pedagogical content knowledge was a combination of generic literacy and disciplinary literacy skills knowledge. Teachers dispositions towards disciplinary literacy were found to be favorable …

Understanding Alternative Education Student Self-Efficacy Related To Experiential And Organizational Factors, Megan Maczonis Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The need for a high school diploma or equivalent is a social justice concern as the consequences of not earning a diploma or equivalent degree are lower income, higher crime rates, and poorer health (McClatchy, 2013; NCES, 2015; NCES, 2017; Freudenberg & Ruglis, 2007; Thrane, 2006). The median earnings of young adults with a high school diploma and young adults with a bachelor's degree were 22 and 100 percent higher respectively than those of young adults without a high school diploma. Additionally, lower levels of educational attainment are related to higher rates of arrests and incarceration (Eby, 2013). Lower levels …

The Impacts Of Using Augmented Reality To Support Aircraft Maintenance, Terry R. Hebert Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) expends significant resources to address the rise in aviation mishaps derived from an overworked, understaffed maintenance community, and high operational environment. Currently, paper-based technical orders (T.O.) are utilized by maintainers to accomplish aircraft inspections, servicing, and maintenance tasks. As technology advances, many civilian agencies have begun to leverage augmented reality (AR) to improve organizational proficiency. This research seeks to identify if the inclusion of AR within aircraft maintenance will positively or negatively affect maintenance task accuracy and completion time. A single variable randomized complete block design (RCBD), within-subject design of experiment (DOE) asses the …

Fuzzy Inference Systems For Risk Appraisal In Military Operational Planning, Curtis B. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in computing and mathematical techniques have given rise to increasingly complex models employed in the management of risk across numerous disciplines. While current military doctrine embraces sound practices for identifying, communicating, and mitigating risk, the complex nature of modern operational environments prevents the enumeration of risk factors and consequences necessary to leverage anything beyond rudimentary risk models. Efforts to model military operational risk in quantitative terms are stymied by the interaction of incomplete, inadequate, and unreliable knowledge. Specifically, it is evident that joint and inter-Service literature on risk are inconsistent, ill-defined, and prescribe imprecise approaches to codifying risk. Notably, …

Conversational Agent: Developing A Model For Intelligent Agents With Transient Emotional States, Angie Dowdell

Theses and Dissertations

The demonstration of aggressive behaviors in the workplace can usually lead to negative professional consequences. However, combat-related professions may involve life and death decision making on an almost daily basis. This is one occupational area in which major duties may invoke or even require aggression. Today’s Army leaders face a different set of challenges than those faced by leaders of the past. Leaders of today must be trained to be both assertive and aggressive at the appropriate times while also displaying empathy. While this is not a new task for an Army leader, it is one that is approached differently …