Digital Commons Network^™

Demographic Study Of Science Topics And Instructional Media In Early Childhood Special Education Settings., Bonni Schmiess Gourneau

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was acquiring direction for developing science instructional material for early childhood special education teachers. The collateral problems were determining what science topics are preferred, what the impediments are for science teaching, and in what format the instructional material should be prepared.This study also assessed the needs and availability of science instructional material for early childhood special education teachers. Other concerns included the influence of years of teaching experience and geographic region on the choices of science topics, impediments for science teaching, and format desired for the needed instructional material.Surveys were sent to 525 early childhood …

Acquiring Consistent Knowledge For Bayesian Forests, Darwyn O. Banks

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops a methodology and a tool for knowledge acquisition with the new probabilistic knowledge representation-the Bayesian Forest. It establishes the structure of the Knowledge Acquisition and Maintenance module of the Probabilities. Expert Systems, Knowledge and Inference (PESKI) architecture. The tool, MACK, is designed to be used directly by the domain expert(s) rather than by knowledge engineer(s), and thus supports automated knowledge acquisition. This research determines and implements the constraints necessary to ensure the consistency of Bayesian Forest knowledge bases as data is both acquired and subsequently maintained. The impact to the PESKI architecture of time-dependent information and default …

A Response-Centered Approach In The Secondary Language Arts Classroom: The Teachers' Perspective., Barbara Smith Livdahl

Theses and Dissertations

This paper considers the perceptions of six teacher-researchers as they constructed the response-centered approach to teaching language arts. The response-centered approach rests on the assumptions that (1) knowledge systems develop naturally and simultaneously with children's language development, (2) language is integral to the learning process, (3) learning occurs in the social setting.Three secondary English teachers, two student teachers, and a professor of education were collaborators in this study. They constructed the response-centered approach after having read and discussed research literature relevant to language and learning. They continue to define and redefine the response-centered approach as they teach. The data gathered …

The Development And Validation Of The Missionary Language Performance Test, Blair E. Bateman

Theses and Dissertations

Performance tests are an effective way of assessing examinees' ability to perform specific job-related tasks. This thesis details the development and validation of a performance test designed to measure LDS missionaries' ability to perform missionary tasks in a foreign language, the Missionary Language Performance Test (MLPT).

The development of the test involved identifying a set of relevant missionary tasks, specifying the criteria to be evaluated, designing test items, devising a procedure for sampling tasks and for administering and rating the test, and training raters to administer the test. Three separate studies were conducted to validate the test: (a) both the …

The Emergence Of Nonverbal And Verbal Communication In A Child Adopted From Romania : A Case Study, Claudia F. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Spectral Alteration, Central Auditory Processing, And Prose Memory, Travis W. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Contextual Influences As Diagnostic Indicators In Aphasic Syndromes As Performed In High-Context And Low-Context Versus No-Context Sentence Completion Tasks, Kari J. Ewert

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Frame Analysis Of The New York Times' Coverage : The World Trade Center Bombing, Philline M. Deraney

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Aging And Its Relationship To Phonatory Behaviors Of Young And Elderly Males, Sharon Gould

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Motion Control Via A Fuzzy Sliding Mode Approach (Stability Analyses, Design, And Implementation), Guang Wu

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Attitudes Toward Native American Women Among Anglo College Students, Stephanie M. Larocque

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Aural Side Of Stanley Kubrick : An Interpretive Discussion Of The Unique Integration Of Music And Sound In Five Of His Films, Joseph L. Amirault

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Construct Validity Of The Critical Ratio Format For Screening Preschool Language, Kimberly A. Tomhave

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Benefit From Adaptive Compression Circuitry As A Function Of Auditory Site Of Lesion In The Elderly, Judi Israel

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Priming And Specific Word Recall In Individuals With Senile Dementia Of The Alzheimer Type, Kimberly Freiderich

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

United States Immigration Policy : The Policy Dilemma For The 1990'S, Patricia A. Brynjolfson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

"Writing A Picture": Adolph Gottlieb's Rolling And Yoshihara Jiro's Red Circle On Black, Ginger Suzanne Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Calligraphy and calligraphic elements in abstract art demonstrate the differences between Japanese and American approaches to abstraction. An examination of the use of calligraphy in Japanese art can reveal how its historic tradition in Japan lends depth and meaning to an image, which is not effectively possible for American artists using the same forms. These differences descend from a Japanese writing system that developed as abstracted images in themselves. Though the Western tradition of Abstract Expressionism art sought to make the experience of painting purely visual without the aid of narrative, explanation, or text, both American and Japanese artists used …

Development Of An English For Gospel Purposes Vocabulary List: The Latter-Day Saint Lexicon As A Second Language, Jennifer H. Burrill

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to explore the non-native English-speaking LDS adult's comprehension of the English LDS lexicon. Stahle (1981) conducted a study of the LDS lexicon which established at least 249 words as "basic" vocabulary. The current study had two foci: it first sought to determine how difficult these words were in both English and Spanish for native Spanish-speaking LDS adults living in the U.S. To assess this, a dual-language vocabulary instrument was administered to 245 subjects from Texas, California, and Utah. Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis was used to calculate difficulty levels of words and these values were plotted two-dimensionally …

Generalized Probabilistic Reasoning And Empirical Studies On Computational Efficiency And Scalability, Eric P. Baenen

Theses and Dissertations

Expert Systems are tools that can be very useful for diagnostic purposes, however current methods of storing and reasoning with knowledge have significant limitations. One set of limitations involves how to store and manipulate uncertain knowledge: much of the knowledge we are dealing with has some degree of uncertainty. These limitations include lack of complete information, not being able to model cyclic information and limitations on the size and complexity of the problems to be solved. If expert systems are ever going to be able to tackle significant real world problems then these deficiencies must be corrected. This paper describes …

Factors In Human-Computer Interface Design (A Pilot Study), Susan Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

The DoD has budgeted over $9.8 billion for 1995 for information technology, yet many government office workers let their existing systems sit idle. This thesis explores why these computers are sitting idle. This researcher's initial hypothesis was that certain features of the human-computer interface can positively or negatively affect efficiency, retention, and satisfaction level of workers. Although some research is being done in this area, interfaces continue to be of poor quality, especially in the DoD, where long procurement cycles, forced purchases, and limited budgets result in out-of-date software. Intuitively most programmers know the human-computer interface impacts on a person's …

Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation And Head Motion Tracking In A Virtual Environment: An Engineering Approach, James E. Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Software engineering tools and techniques were applied to design and implement an application that reduces lag typically present in virtual environment displays. The application was a Multiple Model Adaptive Estimator (MMAE), composed of three Kalman filters, that predicted head orientation one sample period into the future. The environment rendering software used these predictions to generate the environment display. Each of the filters in the MMAE was designed for a different assumed head motion type (benign, moderate, or heavy), which allowed the MMAE to adapt to changes in head movement characteristics. The use of Ada 9X as an implementation language for …

Who's Speaking Whose Language? A Study Of Contact Signing Between Deaf And Hearing Co-Workers, Marilyn K. Plumlee

Theses and Dissertations

This study documents signed communication between a deaf woman and five hearing co-workers who have worked together for periods ranging from two and a half to twenty-three years.

The study has two primary foci:

(1) to describe the linguistic features observed during contact signing between deaf and hearing interlocutors, all fluent in English, who communicate in a manual, visual channel, and

(2) to identify the dynamics affecting the linguistic choices made by both the hearing and deaf signers during contact signing.

The primary data base for this study were videotaped recordings of conversational dyads consisting of the deaf woman and …

Empiricism, Anatomy, Reality: Reading Herman Melville In The Menippean Tradition., Francis Carter Kaplan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to draw together the art of Herman Melville, Menippean satire, and the empirical tradition in English and Scottish philosophy. Historical and biographical concerns serve as a background for exploring Melville's satire of Platonism, transcendentalism, and hermeneutic apriority. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Washington Irving are discussed in this respect. The dissertation also contains related fiction pieces.The dissertation develops several intertwined conceptions of analysis, drawing together an empirical critical basis derived from Ludwig Wittgenstein and "ordinary language philosophy," the notion of satire as criticism, and the exploration of these concepts through an examination of …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Lean Logistics On The Current Air Force Reparable Pipeline: A Simulation Study, Tracey L. Hill, William N. Walker

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the effect of Lean Logistics proposals on the current Air Force repairables pipeline. Lean Logistics proposes reducing reparable asset levels at operating bases, reducing transportation time between bases and depots, and reducing depot repair times. Computer simulation is used as a tool to perform a 3X3X3 full factorial experiment to determine the effects of the Lean Logistics proposals on fully mission capable aircraft and transportation cost. Results indicate that lean Logistics outperforms the current repairables pipeline in term of fully mission capable aircraft. A cost benefit analysis is performed to determine the trade offs between transportation costs …

Coherence And Usability Of An Environmental Impact Statement, Jill A. Easterly

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research effort was to investigate the application of certain principles of effective communication to improve the comprehension, and ultimately the usability, of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Principles from cohesion theory (an area of research describing effective design) were used to manipulate the design of select sections of two sample EISs. Each sample EIS was altered to manipulate the presence and/or absence of visual and linguistic cohesion. Subjects were required to read select versions from each section of the two sample EISs and answer four short answer questions. The dependent variables were accuracy in answering the …

Solvent Substitution Methodology Using Multiattribute Utility Theory And The Analytical Hierarchical Process, Jaimie S. Tiley

Theses and Dissertations

This study developed a multicriteria decision making methodology for the ranking of solvent cleaning process alternatives. This includes development of univariate value functions and criteria and the incorporation or required alternative attributes. It also compares the Analytical Hierarchical Process and Multiattribute Utility Theory in reference to a cleaning substitution process. An actual Air Force cleaning process evaluation problem is considered to verify the research. The test problem ranks several cleaning alternatives for the replacement of a hazardous solvent used in the general cleaning of aircraft engine components.

Relative Clauses In Southern Uzbek, Benjamin Unseth

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the structure of both finite and nonfinite relative clauses in Southern Uzbek. As such, it represents the first linguistic analysis of a topic in Southern Uzbek published in English. English research on Standard Uzbek establishes the existence of nonfinite relative clauses but does not examine them thoroughly, nor does it even sketch Standard Uzbek's uncommon finite relative clauses. In Southern Uzbek, finite relative clauses are more common than in Standard Uzbek. This research is based on texts collected from three men from Andkhuy, Afghanistan, and on elicited sentences.

A few characteristics of Southern Uzbek's relative clauses emerge …

"The Desire Of The Woman Which Is For The Desire Of The Man" Feminist Readings In Austen And Atwood, Mary M. Pringle

Theses and Dissertations

Three novels by Jane Austen are compared to three novels by Margaret Atwood in the context of reading and writing as feminist activities. Anna G. Jonasdottir's theoretical discussion of male authority supported by women's alienated love elaborates the apparent truth of W.B. Yeats's observation that "the desire of the woman ... is for the desire of the man," the thematic link between the three essays which focus on women's concerns regarding love, maternity, and professionalism. Austen and Atwood are presented as early and late forms of a bright, coherent, middle-class female subjectivity that has remained remarkably coherent over two centuries …

A Comparison Of Aphasic Adults' Scores On The Western Aphasia Battery And Ratings On The Functional Independence Measure, Carla Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine for aphasic adults the relationship between scores on the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) and ratings of the Functional Independence Measure (FLM). Fourteen aphasic adults with a mean age of 71 years, participated in this study. Each subject was interviewed by the researcher. Their communication skills in the areas of verbal expression, written expression, auditory comprehension, and reading comprehension were then rated on the FIM. The researcher conducted interviews using the seven point ordinal scale of the FIM. with each subject’s speech-language pathologist and a family member about the subjects' communication skills. The …

The Relationship Between Receptive Language And The Sensory Measures Of Vision And Hearing, Nanette M. Spooner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between receptive language, cognition, and the sensory measures of audition and vision among primary elementary students. Thirty-two students between the ages of 6.3 and 9.9 years were placed into one of two groups. One group was identified to be language delayed through special service placement and formal test results in the area of receptive language.

The formal language test administered was the Test of Auditor/ Comprehension for Language-Revised (TACL-RV Cognitive status was assessed by administering the vocabulary portion of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised ( WISC-R). The relationship between …