Digital Commons Network^™

Meeting The After-School Needs Of Early Adolescents, Ann Michele Allen

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to provide a more attractive after-school program to youth at a middle school. The program was located on the school campus and offered minimal activities, which were facilitated by untrained staff, with limited activity space for the youth to congregate. The program met daily in a school classroom, offering limited supplies and activities to the youth after school. Due to these limitations, very few youth participated in the afterschool program, thereby placing themselves at risk for harmful and inappropriate behaviors in the after-school hours.

The writer developed a more attractive after-school program for the youth. …

Poetry: An Intervention To Improve The Fluency And Comprehension Skills Of Reluctant Readers In The Primary Grades, Monica A. Boyko

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation provided third grade reading students an opportunity to develop reading fluency and comprehension skills. These students had poor literacy skills as evidenced by their scores on standardized reading proficiency exams, report card ratings and reports from their previous instructors. The fluency and comprehension instruction that students received was not effective. Students were not making an emotional connection to the material they read.

Third-grade students were taught ways to apply both comprehension and fluency enhancing strategies to their reading. This was accomplished through weekly lessons focused on the poetry genre that enabled students to practice these skills in …

Improving The Reading Comprehension Achievement Of Third Grade Students, Delores L. Bedar

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Students at DePriest Elementary School were performing poorly on standardized assessments in reading comprehension. The possible causes of low student performance were (a) teachers’ beliefs and practices, (b) the reading curriculum, (c) students’ lack of knowledge as to how to read for meaning, and (d) the lack of parent involvement in their children’s schooling.

This dissertation examined the improvement of students’ reading comprehension performance through the use of strategic reading instruction, professional development of teachers, and parental involvement. It examined whether instructing students in the use of comprehension strategies improved their reading comprehension performance.

A reading comprehension strategies curriculum model …

Development And Evaluation Of Evaluation Trends And Issues Course For Concord College, Kathy J. Hawks

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this applied research project was to develop a quality graduate course entitled Education 525, Educational Trends and Issues, that would meet the needs of classroom teachers in southern West Virginia. The project also included the development of an implementation plan and an evaluation plan for Education 525.

The applied dissertation was guided by four research questions: (a) What does the literature indicate about educational trends and issues? (b) What are the main components of Educational Trends and Issues as a course at Concord College? (c) What is an implementation plan for Educational Trends and Issues as a …

Program Logic For Automatic Teaching Operations: The Effects Of Plato On High-Stakes Testing In Mathematics, Tammy A. Malich

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation describes the use of the Program Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations (PLATO) software to improve student scores on the mathematics high school exit examination in an urban comprehensive high school with a student population of approximately 2,400. Data were collected and analyzed for the same students’ mathematics exit examination scores from their junior year prior to using the PLATO lab and their senior year after using the PLATO lab. A correlation was performed and reported for the time spent in the PLATO laboratory for each student and the increase in his or her mathematics examination score. Student …

School Resource Officers: Effective Or Ineffective In Reducing Discipline Referrals And Increasing School Safety?, Cornelius B. Leach

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This report describes a program for reducing the number of discipline referrals for fighting, threats, and possession or use of weapons. The total school population was involved in this intervention program. All middle schools in the school district had 2 School Resource Officers (SRO) on campus to produce a safer school environment. The problem with the discipline referrals was documented through the archival data of discipline referrals from the 2000-2001 school year.

An analysis of probable cause data gathered indicated that low or moderate supervision, lack of parental involvement, and lack of knowledge about writing discipline referrals were factors leading …

Leap Forward: A Reading Extended Learning Program To Improve Reading Achievement, Donna Hinton

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

A group of students in 4th grade were identified as having difficulty obtaining the necessary skills to become good readers. Based on teacher observations and feedback, these students did not receive enough reading practice during the school day. The purpose of this applied dissertation was to study the effects of an extended learning program to improve reading achievement of 4th graders in an elementary school in rural Georgia. The school population was approximately 389.

The writer developed Project LEAP Forward to allow students the opportunity to improve reading skills through a structured, extended learning program. The program included a summer …

Effects Of Electronic Trading On The Hang Seng Index Futures Market, Joseph Fung, Donald Lien, Yiuman Tse, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper investigates the effects of the migration of the Hang Seng Index futures from open-outcry trading to electronic trading. Using trade data over a window of six months we find evidence that, after the migration, the bid-ask spread of the futures contract decreases and the contribution of the futures price in information transmission increases. Furthermore, the asymmetry in volatility spillover reduces and the open interests of the futures market become smaller. These results suggest that the anonymity in trading and the higher speed of order execution in the electronic trading system attract informed traders to the futures market and …

Exclusion Bias In Sample-Selection Model Estimators, Myoung-Jae Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

Exclusion restrictions are routinely used in sample-selection models with selection and outcome equations. A false restriction, however, can cause an exclusion bias for the outcome equation estimator. In this paper, the specific form of the exclusion bias is derived for various sample-selection model estimators. Furthermore, it is shown that the outcome equation parameters for regressors with zero coefficients in the selection equation are immune to exclusion bias if only one regressor is excluded. Exclusion bias, or a lack thereof, is verified through a simulation study with the regressors taken from Mroz (1987). JEL Classification Numbers: C24, C34. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic Descriptions Of English Corners In Shanghai, Gary Jones

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explored the phenomenon of English Comers (EC) in Shanghai. These are informal communities formed for the purpose of practising English. In 1978, just after the death of Mao Ze Dong and the fall of the 'gang of four', many eager Chinese people gathered together to practise their oral English in the Shanghai People's Park. Many of these were old men and had been educated in English at missionary schools in Shanghai in the early 20th century. Today we see many successors to such groups in the ECs which meet in different locations throughout the city and which comprise …

Emergency Vehicle Siren Noise: A Potential For Hearing Loss, Douglas A. Riach

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this thesis was to critically investigate the noise produced by the sirens fitted to South Australian Police general patrol vehicles and calculate if this noise was of an intensity to cause noise induced hearing loss. Previous studies in Western Australia and in South Australia examined noise emissions from emergency vehicle sirens for the purpose of selecting the most suitable siren for emergency vehicles, this being the siren emitting the greatest intensity of sound. This study has researched emergency vehicle sirens from the perspective of employee exposure to siren noise. Noise levels were recorded from inside the police …

Geostatistical Optimisation Of Sampling And Estimation In A Nickel Laterite Deposit, Mark P. Murphy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Nickel and cobalt are key additives to metal alloys in modem industry. The largest worldwide nickel-cobalt resources occur in nickel laterite deposits that have formed during the chemical weathering of ultramafic rocks at the Earth's surface. At the Murrin Murrin mine in Western Australia, the nickel laterite deposits occur as laterally extensive, undulating blankets of mineralisation with strong vertical anisotropy, near normal nickel distributions, and positively skewed cobalt distributions. The mineral resources in nickel laterite deposits in Murrin Murrin are usually estimated from drilling and sampling on relatively wide-spaced drill patterns that are supported by local clusters of close-spaced sampling. …

A Study Of The Representation Of Marriage And The Family In The Film Muriel's Wedding, Zoe Chambers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Representations of the family in the Australian popular media in recent years appear to have shifted from a traditional nuclear family form to more diverse constructions, and the family has become an institution that is more often associated with dysfunction rather than the idealised notions of caring and support. This study will examine this re-evaluation of the nuclear family through a close analysis of the film Muriel's Wedding (1994). How the discourses of gender and nationalism intersect with those of marriage and family will be studied, in an attempt to understand this reappraisal of the Australian family.

Development, Implementation And Evaluation Of An Interactive Multimedia Instructional Model : A Teaching And Learning Programming Approach, Kacha Chansilp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study sought to explore the outcomes from the use of a dynamic interactive visualisation tool among novice programmers in an introductory computer programming course. The proposed model, Dynamic Interactive Visualisation Tool in Teaching C (DIVTIC), was designed to use multimedia and visual imagery to provide learners with a step-by-step representation of program execution in the C language as a means of enhancing their understanding of programming structures and concepts. DIVTIC was designed to support constructivist learning principles and combined collaborative and visualisation learning strategies with use of the Internet and the World Wide Web to support the learning of …

Facilitating Second Language Acquisition (Sla) Through Computer-Mediated Communication (Cmc) In An English For Civil Engineering (Ece) Environment, Masputeriah Hamzah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explores the application of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in an English for Civil Engineering (ECE) learning setting. The aim is to examine the interactional opportunities present in the computer-mediated environment for evidence of conditions deemed facilitative of second language acquisition, based on the tenets prescribed by the Interaction Hypothesis. This theory emphasizes the importance of interaction in language learning and the necessity for learners to have access to meaningful and comprehensible input. It is based on the premise that acquisition will occur through interaction where learners arc provided opportunities to negotiate meaning in order to develop mutual understanding. In …

Determining The Effectiveness Of Deceptive Honeynets, Nirbhay Gupta

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Over the last few years, incidents of network based intrusions have rapidly increased, due to the increase and popularity of various attack tools easily available for download from the Internet. Due to this increase in intrusions, the concept of a network defence known as Honeypots developed. These honeypots are designed to ensnare attackers and monitor their activities. Honeypots use the principles of deception such as masking, mimicry, decoying, inventing, repackaging and dazzling to deceive attackers. Deception exists in various forms. It is a tactic to survive and defeat the motives of attackers. Due to its presence in the nature, deception …

Pulling Down Their Breaches : An Analysis Of Centrelink Breach And Appeal Numbers From 1996 To 2001 Using A Case Study Of A Single Centrelink Office, Lyndal Sleep

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is about current Centrelink breach and appeal figures. It is also about the current conservative neo-liberalising climate of Australian social policy reforms, with which they are inextricably connected. It shows that while Centrelink breach numbers have increased more than three fold since 1996, formal appeals against Centrelink decisions have not increased similarly. This thesis asks: what might this mean? It answers this question through a single case study of a Centrelink office. Data was collected using individual focused interviews, documents collected from the site, and direct observation (including a map of the office drawn by the researcher). Various …

Secondary Students Beliefs About, Understandings Of, And Intentions To Act Regarding The Greenhouse Effect, Premnadh M. Kurup

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The greenhouse effect (GHE) is a concern to everyone on this planet. To understand the GHE, students and citizens need an understanding of the chemical processes underlying this environmental phenomenon. Citizens need to be scientifically literate in relation to this phenomenon in order to participate in democratic decision-making and to take appropriate actions in their daily lives. As the GHE is a global issue it will require collective and individual actions to prepare for the likely climatic changes and to reduce the further impact of the GHE. This study focused on high school students' beliefs about, understandings of the GHE …

Do Size Differences Of Juvenile Snapper (Pagrus Auratus) In Two Regions Of Shark Bay, Western Australia, Reflect Different Environmental Conditions, Nadia Tapp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aspects of the population biology of juvenile Pagrus auratus in the western gulf of Shark Bay, Western Australia, were investigated to explore the causes of an observed size difference between 0+ fish (first year of life) in the northern and southern regions of that gulf. Five trawl surveys were conducted in each region of the western gulf, from November 2000 to December 2001, to collect juvenile P. auratus. The 0+ fish from the northern region were found to be consistently greater in length by between 10 and 20mm LCF, than those in the southern region, thereby confirming those observed size …

Aims, Separation And Attitudinal Factors In Mediation: An Exploratory Investigation, Darryl Frank Menaglio

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The general aim of this research was to explore issues regarding mediation in family law about which there appears to be uncertainty. Study I investigated: (a) what stakeholders (practitioners and separated spouses) believe the aims of mediation should be; (b) what they believe are the effects of the separation factors, that is, perceived mutuality (whether the decision to separate was made by one or both spouses), perceived status (whether spouses view themselves as Ieavers, lefts or neither), and the attribution and strength of blaming someone for the decision to separate on attitudes towards engaging in mediation; and (c) stakeholders' views …

Life After Diagnosis : The Social Experience Of Adolescents Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And How They Manage Their Lives, Georgia L. Carragher

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is the most frequently diagnosed developmental disorder in school-age children in Western Australia today. It concerns and frustrates the children and adolescents who are diagnosed with the disorder, their parents, teachers and the general community. In spite of the plethora of research associated with AD/HD, dissension abounds in the community, literature and the media over its diagnosis and the best treatment and response to the disorder. Notwithstanding the body of research very little is known about adolescents' experiences, opinions, needs and problems associated with the disorder as research and treatment regimes are currently determined by adults. The research …

A Study Of Subject Omission In The Spoken Language Of Indonesian Primary School Children Aged 6 To 12 In Jakarta, Endang Sutartinah Soemartono

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigates the occurrence of subject omission in spoken Indonesian spoken as a first language by primary school children in grades one to six and aged between six and twelve years in Jakarta. It also investigates the developmental stages of subject omission, and the effects of age, gender and degree of formality on the occurrence of empty or null subjects. Since the acquisition of language is ongoing during the students' primary schooling, this study also considers how null subjects in Indonesian may have an impact on learning and teaching at school. The omission of subjects occurs independent or matrix …

Clarifying The Lower Incidence Of Birth Defects In The Midwest Of Western Australia : A Study Using Capture Re-Capture Methodology, Donna Baker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In April 2000 the Western Australian Birth Defects Registry held its 20th Anniversary Scientific Symposium to signify the first 20 years of the Birth Defects Registry in Western Australia. At the Symposium, significant trends and occurrences in birth defects within Western Australia over the past 20 years were addressed. One factor highlighted in the Registry's 1980-1999 report was that birth defects were reported less frequently in rural regions compared with metropolitan areas. Data collected from the metropolitan area is considered by the Birth Defects Registry to be the most accurate. Therefore, incidence rates of birth defects in this area arc …

Alcohol Restraint Television Advertisements Targeted At Adolescents : A Three-Way Comparison Of Reinforcement Styles On Attitude To The Advertisement, Attitude To The Cause And Attitude To The Act, Neil Robinson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Adolescent binge-drinking is an area of great concern in Australia as it is with many other developed countries around the world. Every year in Australia, Commonwealth and State health authorities invest considerable resources into trying to address this issue and the results have been described as being at best, mixed. Health promotion initiatives such as school programmes, media promotion and health programmes coupled w1th restrictions on supply of alcohol are all used to try and curb the incidence of adolescent binge drinking. In recent years television advertising has specifically been used to try and curb the incidence of adolescent binge-drinking …

A Study Of Destination Attractiveness Through Tourists' Perspectives : A Focus On Chiang Mai, Thailand, Chompunoot Morachat

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study seeks to gain insights into the overall attractiveness of a destination by applying the multi-attribute Fishbein model. This approach has been carried out twice before in the international context and this dissertation contributes further to the concepts of destination attractiveness especially through the application of multi-attribute models of measurement and analysis with the context of localisation. It also adds to the body of knowledge on the understanding of tourism product preference and perceptual attitudes held by tourists from specific geographical origins to the South-East Asian region, specifically within Thailand. The study investigated (i) tourists' perceived overall attractiveness of …

Teaching Innovative Preventive Strategies To Minority Students With Limited English Proficiency, Joyce Wright-Evans

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The major purpose of this applied dissertation was to address the issue of minority students with limited English proficiency not meeting the educational standards necessary to graduate from high school within 4years of entry. The relationship of achievement with self-determination is described in this report. The theoretical base for this study centered on the work of R. M. Ryan and E. L. Deci (2000) in the areas of motivation and self-determination, the self-determination theory. Moreover, the social cognitive career theory (R. Lent, S. W. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1996) provided a strong theoretical base in the areas of career and …

Development Of An Academic Assessment Plan And Evaluation Process For Devry Institute Of Technology Curricula Delivered By Devry Online, Donna Gardner Liljegren

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

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Natural Radioactivity Of Uae Coastal Areas, Yaqoub Abdalla Mohamed Al-Ali

Theses

Many materials that are usually found in the earth's crust contain small but measurable amount of naturally occurring radioactivity.

In the present study, the natural radioactivity due to the presence of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in beach sand along the UAE costal line has been measured. The measurements were performed using gamma-ray spectrometry with a high-purity Germanium (HPGe) detector connected to a multi-channel analyzer.

Chapter 1 includes an introduction about natural radioactivity, gamma ray spectrometry, types of detectors employed and analysis of gamma ray spectra. A literature review of the related work is also included at the …

Development Of An Expert System Tool For Environmental Impact Assessment, Raed Mohamed M. Al Marzouqi

Theses

In this study, approaches to environmental impact assessment are reviewed and discussed. An expert system tool has been developed via the use of Microsoft Access tool for data management and Visual Basic programming for decision-making. Policies and regulations included in the program are based on the Technical Guidelines # 4 of the Dubai Municipality. The salient features of the program can be summarized as follows: the program allows the EIA applicant to input all the necessary information about his/her company and its activities. All discharges to air, water and land are compared with TG # 4 and status report is …

The Bias Of The National News Media: How Broadcast Journalism Influences Public Opinion, Stephanie Christel Hanner

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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