Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Range Of Notes, Gender, And Songs With Text Or Without Text On The Vocal Accuracy Of First, Second And Third Grade Students, Nancy J. Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

There are four problems that address the effects of range of notes, gender, and songs with text or without text on the vocal accuracy of first, second and third grade students.

Thirty students each from grades one, two and three were recorded singing four songs in solo. Each student sang a song with a restricted range of notes with text and then on the neutral syllable "loo." Each student then sang a song with a wide range of notes with text and then on the neutral syllable "loo." The recordings of the students singing were then evaluated for accuracy of …

Postal Workers And Stress, Bobbie A. Person

Theses and Dissertations

It is suggested that a plausible theoretical link exists between the management of change and recent killings in the United States Postal Service. The degradation of labor associated with the scientific management of technological change produces stress and frustration that weaken employee integration and undermine existing forms of social control. Certain employees reject prevailing definitions of situations provided by those in power and develop alternative meanings and patterns of behavior, including assaultive violence.

To examine this theory in more depth, 120 Occupational Stress questionnaires and rating sheets were randomly distributed to 30 Mailhandlers and 30 Machine Clerks working the "day" …

The Relationship Between Birth Order Status And Personality Traits, Michele D'Angelo

Theses and Dissertations

Alfred Adler pioneered birth order research having found that birth order had a great deal to do with how adults interact in the world and the development of personality traits. In an expansion of his theory, the relationship between birth order and personality was examined in this study. One hundred thirty undergraduate and graduate students, with ages ranging from eighteen to forty-six and different ethnic backgrounds were tested. They were group administered the BASIS-A Personality Inventory as well as a questionnaire which assessed their birth order. The BASIS-A is based on Alder's Individual Psychology and asked the participants to recollect …

Comparing The Stress Levels Of Inclusion Teachers And Non-Inclusion Teachers, Michelle Lynne Robertson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the practice of inclusion had a significant effect on the stress levels of inclusion teachers. Forty-seven elementary school teachers were compared across various teacher demographics. The hypothesis stated that the stress levels of inclusion teachers would be higher than the stress levels of regular education teachers based on the belief that inclusion teachers have a heavier workload. In previous studies, a heavier workload has been shown to be significantly related to higher stress levels. The Occupational Stress Inventory was administered in two schools in Southern New Jersey in January …

A Reliability Study Of The Joseph Self-Concept Scale For Young Children, Jeffrey R. Kelly

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to establish test-retest reliability coefficients for the Joseph Self-Concept Scale for Young Children (JSSYC). This study employed a one-week duration between administrations of the test instrument. There were thirty-four sixth-grade subjects used, ranging in age from eleven to thirteen. The JSSYC is an individually administered, interview type self-concept measure. The adolescent version of the JSSYC was used in this study, which is designed for use with children seven years of age and older. The Pearson product-moment correlation statistical procedure was used to calculate the correlation coefficients for this sample. The correlations for both the …

A Descriptive Study Of The Opinions Of Fifth Through Eighth Grade Students On Addictive Substances, Denise Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine whether changes in attitudes would occur in students from Grade Five through Grade Eight in regard to addictive substances, such as alcohol and cigarettes. The study consisted of 85 students enrolled in a local Roman Catholic Grammar School. Students were given the Youth Attitude Survey, which was developed at Columbia University. The survey yielded results that were related to risk factors for future drug use. In a variety of areas, including whether marijuana should be legalized and if the student believed they would use drugs in the future, there was a pronounced …

Cochlear Implants, A Study Of Children Implanted Prelingually And Postlingually: What Age Best Facilitates Oral Language Development, Lisa A. Stillwagon

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the most appropriate age for young hearing impaired children to receive a cochlear implant that would best facilitate oral language development. The study compared the oral language skills of five hearing impaired preschoolers, before and after implantation. Information was obtained through student case files including both formal and informal records and reports. Records included: progress reports, IEPs, audiological evaluations, and speech and language assessments.

The results of the study indicated that the development of oral language skills in hearing impaired preschoolers who received cochlear implants at ages 3 and 4 varies due …

A Validity Study For The Adolescent And Adult Self-Concept Retrospective Scale And The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: 2, Kelly R. Fleming

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the Adolescent and Adult Self-Concept Retrospective Scale (AASRS) by comparing it to the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: 2 (TSCS: 2) on a population consisting of fifty-nine college students ranging in age from 18 to 20. The study also examined whether there is a significant correlation between male and female adolescents with regard to self-concept.

Two trained examiners administered the AASRS and the TSCS:2. One examiner administered the AASRS and the other administered the TSCS:2. All fifty-nine students were tested on both tests over a two-week period.

A Pearson Correlation produced …

Effects Of Divorce On Levels Of Conflictual Independence In Late Adolescence, Jill Fredricks

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of divorce on late adolescents' levels of conflictual independence during the separation-individuation process.

The sample consisted of 94 undergraduate students from Rowan University in southern New Jersey. This was a between subjects research design which involved a self-report inventory. Levels of conflictual independence were measured by the conflictual independence subscale (Cl) of Hoffman's Psychological Separation Inventory, a 138 question inventory which asks questions about one's relationships with the mother and father.

The statistical test used to analyze the data in this study was a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) as …

The Effectiveness Of Functional Analysis And Behavioral Intervention For Children Who Are Multi-Handicapped And Exhibit Challenging Behaviors, Barbara A. Horner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of functional analysis of challenging behaviors and behavioral intervention programs on children with multiple handicaps. It was hypothesized that there would be difference in the exhibition of challenging behaviors in children with multiple handicaps following administration of a functional analysis and a behavioral intervention plan. Ten challenging behaviors exhibited by seven children who are multi-handicapped were examined using the process of functional analysis (records review, Motivation Assessment Scale and Analog Setting/Environmental Manipulation) and behavioral intervention. The children ranged in age from five years, four months, to eight years, nine months. …

Comparative Study On The Incidence Of School-Related Violent Crimes In Urban, Suburban, And Rural Locales, Trina C. Ragsdale

Theses and Dissertations

Concern about school violence, crime and victimization has been a pressing issue since the 1950's. Only recently have the many facets of the complex social issue of school violence been thoroughly investigated, particularly, the high rates of violence among middle and elementary school students, and the upsurge of violence in suburban and rural school districts. Due to the increasing rate of school related violent crimes, Congress mandated districts to track the rate at which violent crimes occur in their school and develop intervention plans aimed at ameliorating the problem. Results of the study suggest school violence is not constrained by …

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of Project Read On The Reading Achievement Of Primary Age Disabled Learners, Susan L. Pennock

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a multisensory approach to reading being used in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District's Special Services Department. Project Read, developed by Language Circle Enterprises, is being used to teach phonology, comprehension, and written expression to students with learning disabilities. A pull-out approach is used with the second and third grades in one elementary school. Students are mainstreamed for homeroom, lunch, science and social studies. They are pulled out and sent to a Learning Center in the school for reading, language arts, and math. Reading scores were used from the previous …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of A Direct Instruction Program In Mathematics, Jennifer A. Laurrell-Klotz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to determine if participation in a year long mathematics direct instructional program would accelerate the rate of mathematical achievement in a group of learning disabled children. The subjects of this study were comprised of five eleven-year-old fifth grade students who were classified as Learning Disabled. Outcome measures utilized included teacher assigned report card grades, a basic skills test, a two-step word problem assessment and the Key Math Diagnostic Arithmetic Test-Revised as a functional measure.

The results of this study indicate that, when utilizing formal and functional measures, students make greater progress acquiring facts and …

Internet Filtering Vs. Unrestricted Access In Public Libraries And School Media Centers In Southern New Jersey, Elizabeth A. Sevast

Theses and Dissertations

Where do we stand as educators on the debate involving Internet filtering vs. unrestricted access? The focus of this study was to examine Internet access privileges in local public libraries and kindergarten through twelfth grade school media centers. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire sent to 100 randomly selected public library directors and school media center specialists throughout the eight counties in southern New Jersey. They were asked if their libraries offered Internet access and if filtering software had been installed on their Internet terminals. Other questions involved the successes and/or failures of implementing (or in not implementing) filters, …

A Pre-Publication Reliability Study Of The Revised Joseph Self-Concept Scale For Young Children, Dianne Wilkens

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability of the Joseph Self-Concept Scale For Young Children, as an instrument for measuring self-concept. The sample consisted of thirty-four first and pre-first students from the Mary E. Roberts Elementary School, Moorestown, New Jersey. The timeframe for the testing was November 1998 through February 1999. Each student was individually tested utilizing the JSSYC.

The null hypothesis, stating there is no difference between the test and re-test scores, was rejected. The alternative hypothesis, stating that there is a difference between the test and re-test scores was accepted.

A paired sample correlation analysis …

An Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of The Glass Analysis Method Of Word Decoding With Second And Third Grade Disabled Learners, Leanne Bernosky

Theses and Dissertations

Glass Analysis for Decoding Only is one of the many methods available for teaching decoding skills to students with disabilities. This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of Glass Analysis for Decoding Only on the reading achievement of primary age students with learning disabilities. A convenience group of eight second and third grade students receiving instruction in the self-contained special education classroom served as subjects. For a period of five months, students received Glass Analysis as the primary method of decoding instruction. Research examined the effect of this instruction in the areas of word recognition, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, …

A Validity Study Of The Revised Joseph Pre-School And Primary Self-Concept Screening Test, Angela Lee

Theses and Dissertations

In order to identify students with low self-concept accurately, a valid test must be developed and administered. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the revised Joseph Pre-School and Primary Self Concept Screening Test (JPPSST). The alternate hypothesis investigated in this study was that the revised JPPSST is a valid test when compared to the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale. Both tests were given to 34 African-American students at a Philadelphia elementary school. An additional research question was investigated to determine whether the test scores could be used to predict academic performance. The results of both tests were …

Changing The Image Of Vocational Education, Laura Timberman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to (1) determine existing opinions of vocational education and (2) identify steps to be taken by vocational schools to improve image problems and to attract students.

A written survey was sent to the 21 New Jersey public vocational school superintendents. Twenty responses were received.

The results of the study indicate that the term "vocational" indeed carries a stigma. The leading association for vocational education recently underwent a name change. Many vocational schools are following suit, changing their names to eliminate the word "vocational."

The study also addressed the new courses being taught at vocational …

Solving An Inverse Control Problem Using Predictive Methods, Chad J. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Model Predictive Control is the class of control methods that optimizes a specified performance index in order to minimize the weighted future output deviations from a setpoint trajectory. This thesis applies MPC in the inverse sense -- known aircraft outputs are applied in the performance index as setpoints in an attempt to determine what control histories caused those outputs. Using this method, aircraft mishap investigators could then have a means of determining what the control surface deflections were throughout an incident since Flight Data Recorder data does not include control surface deflections. The actual Flight Data Recorder data from aircraft …

Positive Anisotropic Group Scattering Cross Sections For Radiation Transport, J. Mark Delgrande

Theses and Dissertations

In solving the Boltzmann transport equation, most discrete ordinates codes calculate the source term by first approximating the scattering cross section using a Legendre polynomial expansion. Such expansions are insufficient when scattering is anisotropic and the Legendre expansion is truncated prematurely. This can lead to nonphysical negative cross sections, negative source terms and negative angular fluxes. While negative sources are problematic for standard discrete ordinates methods leading to poor convergence or convergence to incorrect results, they are of particular concern to exponential methods, causing such calculations to fail. We've developed and tested a new technique to solve this problem called …

Image Fusion Using Autoassociative-Heteroassociative Neural Networks, Claudia V. Kropas-Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Images are easily recognized, classified, and segmented; in short, analyzed by humans. The human brain/nervous system; the biological computer, performs rapid and accurate image processing. In the current research the concepts of the biological neural system provide the impetus for developing a computational means of fusing image data. Accomplishing this automatic image processing requires features be extracted from each image data set, and the information content fused. Biologically inspired computational models are examined for extracting features by transformations such as Fourier, Gabor, and wavelets, and for processing and fusing the information from multiple images through evaluation of autoassociative neural networks …

Close Formation Flight Control, Andrew W. Proud

Theses and Dissertations

In this research the close formation flight control problem is addressed. The formation consists of a lead and wing aircraft, where the wing flies in close formation with the lead, such that the lead's vortices produce aerodynamic coupling effects, and a reduction in the formation's drag is achieved. A controller, i.e., a formation-hold autopilot for the wing aircraft, is designed such that the formation's geometry is maintained in the face of lead aircraft maneuvers. In the formation flight control system, the wing and lead aircraft dynamics are coupled due to kinematic effects, and, in the case of close formations, additional …

"Billy Yank" On The Northern Plains: The Lives Of Union Soldiers On The Minnesota-Dakota Frontier From The Great Sioux Uprising To 1866, Darrin F. Boehm

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will tell the generally forgotten story of the Civil War era soldiers on the Minnesota-Dakota frontier who fought in the Great Sioux Uprising from 1862 to 1865. It will also compare the frontier soldiers’ campaign experience with the experiences of Bell Irvin Wiley’s Civil War ‘'Billy Yanks.”

This thesis covers enlistment procedures, food, clothing, shelter, discipline, disease, boredom, combat, the “galvanized” Yankees, the Dakota landscape, and the role of the cavalry. This story of the frontier soldiers’ expeditions against the Sioux on the northern plains is told using direct quotations from frontier soldiers’ diaries and manuscripts, along with …

Perceptions Of American Indian Students Of Their Experiences And Factors Related To Retention In Selected Institutions Of Higher Education, Donald R. Day

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of American Indian students regarding higher education and to examine factors that contribute to or create obstacles to their retention and graduation. The sample of American Indian students was selected from five Upper Midwest institutions of higher education and was stratified by age and by gender. A total of 100 students participated in the study, with 20 from each institution representing equal numbers of traditional age females (18–24 years of age), traditional age males, females older than average (25 years of age or older), and males older than average.

All …

Pregnancy-Related Hypertension In North Dakota: Incidence, Outcomes, And Nursing Care Practices, Karen S. Reed

Theses and Dissertations

Preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension complicate 6 to 7% of all pregnancies in the United States with the incidence varying among different regions, counties, and states. For improved perinatal outcomes in high-risk pregnancies there must be adequate care given in a timely and appropriate manner. Very little has been written on the incidence and trends in rural America and even less is known about incidence and trends in the rural Native American population. It is unknown how effective small rural hospitals are in the nursing care of the hypertensive pregnant women they encounter.

This project was an epidemiological retrospective cohort study …

Experiments On Active Control Of Vibration Of An Elevator Vable With Varying Length, Lars J. Teppo

Theses and Dissertations

The scaling laws used to build and analyze a model of a high speed, high-rise elevator were formulated, and the effect of each parameter on the model scaling was investigated. The model was used to investigate the active control of the cable vibration during upward elevator movement and decreasing cable length. A Hat band was used to model the cable and to constrain transverse vibrations to a single plane. The motion profile of the elevator was successfully scaled, but it was found that bending stiffness of the cable, tension changes due to gravity and tension changes due to acceleration can …

The Lived Experience Of Graduate Nursing Students In Distance Education, Nancy L. Mosbaek

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the lived experience of graduate nursing students enrolled in an interactive television course offered through distance education. Areas of focus were the technology of distance education, instructional strategies, the learning community, and communication. The qualitative research methods of interviewing, observation, and artifact/documentation review were employed. Students reported returning to school for both personal and professional reasons; self-satisfaction was most frequently mentioned. The need to work in a changing health care system was the major professional reason given. Due to multiple role responsibilities which made the participants time- and place-bound, distance education was reported to be the only …

The Suburban Middle Class At Risk: A Profile Of Students Who Are Referred To The Office, Carole Joyce Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study was to identify the at risk students at a suburban high school based on the frequency of referrals to the office, and to determine why these students continue to misbehave. A list of students called down to the office was provided daily. Using the Call Down List, names of students who were referred to the office most frequently were compiled. A random sample of 23 students frequently on the list was used to develop a profile of the nature of the misbehavior, and the administrative action taken; patterns of attendance, lateness, and academic standing …

Mainstreaming The Marginalized: Secondary Mainstream Teachers' Perceptions Of Esl Students, Cheryl Stanosheck Youngs

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study focused on the following question: What are the perceptions and experiences of mainstream classroom teachers working with ESL students in their regular, content area classrooms? There are increasing numbers of ESL students entering mainstream classrooms. Unfortunately, most mainstream teachers often are not trained to teach ESL students.

This study was conducted in a Great Plains community. It began with a district-wide survey to profile the typical mainstream teachers' experience with ESL students. Then, eight mainstream teachers were recruited for a series of intensive interviews, and interviews of three ESL administrator/teachers also were conducted.

The survey showed that …

A Community Wide Study Of The Hospice Referral Process, Jarilyn K. Gess

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to understand the decision making process when seeking hospice care. The objectives were to identify the decision maker for the patient when seeking hospice care, why they were seeking hospice care, who initiated the referral, if the decision maker was aware they can self refer to hospice care, and the benefits of hospice care for the patient and family.

The study is a qualitative and quantitative descriptive study utilizing a telephone survey design as described by Dillman (1978). One hundred patients who had been referred to Hospice of the Red River Valley (HRRV) …