Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Teachers And Administrators Of The Organizational Supports For Inclusion Programs In Southwest Florida Elementary Schools, Brian Douglas Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The success of exceptional student education, although dependent upon the teachers involved, is largely made possible both by the role the school principal performs and the organizational support provided by the school district. The primary purpose of this study was to identify the sources and components of organizational support required to implement the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education classrooms. The provision of resources by administrators, particularly the building principal, is an example of an organizational support that helps students with disabilities learn successfully in this setting. These resources include funding, special curricula, adaptive technology, organizational resources such …

Relationship Between Supervisor Locus Of Control And Employee Satisfaction In A Residential Care Facility, Patricia Chene Nowotniak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to identify factors that may contribute to employee satisfaction. Review of the literature revealed potential factors influencing employee satisfaction, such as locus of control, difficulty of the work itself, and working conditions. These literature findings guided this research, to establish if a relationship existed between employee satisfaction of caregivers employed in a developmental institution and locus of control. Supervisors and their employees were given a locus of control scale; employees were additionally given a job satisfaction survey. The relationship between the supervisors' locus of control and employee satisfaction was evaluated as well as the …

Reliability Of The Concensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation Of Voice On Pediatric Voices With Trained And Untrained Listeners, Teresa Elizabeth Pitts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rating scales are commonly used to study voice quality. The purpose of this study was to examine inter-rater reliability/agreement of graduate student clinicians with differing levels of experience in rating voice perception. The Consensus Auditory Perception Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) was used to asses 1.) overall severity, 2.) roughness, 3.) breathiness, 4.) strain, 5.) pitch and 6.) loudness from a sample of pediatric voices. Twenty-four graduate clinicians who had completed a graduate level course in voice disorders participated in the study. Twelve of the participants were randomly selected to complete a perceptual training course prior to the evaluation session. Voice …

Affective Design In Technical Communication, Michael Alan Rosen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) is based on 'cold' models of user cognition; that is, models of users as purely rational beings based on the information processing metaphor; however, an emerging perspective suggests that for the field of HCI to mature, its practitioners must adopt models of users that consider broader human needs and capabilities. Affective design is an umbrella term for research and practice being conducted in diverse domains, all with the common thread of integrating emotional aspects of use into the creation of information products. This thesis provides a review of the current state of the art in affective …

Risk Factors For Adult Victimization Among Florida's Homeless Women, Rebecca Michelle Weichsel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of the existing research on violence against homeless women has concluded that homeless women are particularly vulnerable to violence and experience victimization at rates often exceeding the rates of housed women. Little research, however, has focused upon the specific risk factors that expose homeless women to physical assault, rape, and stalking. Utilizing a sample of 737 homeless women from the Florida cities of Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami, this study investigated the risk factors for experiencing adult personal victimization. The characteristics of homelessness, demographics, drug and alcohol use, subsistence activities, childhood victimization, mental health status, and criminal activities were …

Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities: An International Perspective, Jeanette Amayo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the inclusion of students worldwide. Because the language barrier would impede the gathering of the necessary research, this study was delimited to only those English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The researcher examined many aspects of the education of students with disabilities in each country and how that attributed to the extent in which students with disabilities were being educated in the regular classroom. First, the researcher analyzed the legislation regarding students with disabilities, especially those directives that called for the Inclusion of …

A Dialectical Methodology For Decision Support Systems Design, Wafa Elgarah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As organizations continue to grow in size, reaching global proportions, they have ever increasing impacts on their environments. Some believe that a much broader array of concerns should be brought into organizational decision-making processes, including greater consideration of social, political, ethical and aesthetic factors (Mitroff and Linstone, 1993; Courtney, 2001). Decision environments such as these are decidedly "wicked" (Rittel and Webber, 1973). Designing decision support systems in such environments where there is a high level of interconnectedness, issues are overlapping and a multiplicity of stakeholders is involved, is a very complex task. In this dissertation a methodology for the development …

The Maintenance Of Ethnic Culture And Manifestations Of Ethnic Identity In The Life Stories Of Finnish Immigrants, Minna Grantham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether Finnish immigrants show evidence of assimilation or if they have maintained their ethnic culture in the United States. More specifically, the purpose was to examine how the ethnic culture has been maintained and the ways that ethnic identity manifests itself in their life stories. Ten qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Finnish immigrants and children of Finnish immigrants, and emerging themes were identified in the data. The results indicate a strong ethnic identity among Finnish immigrants, yet it appears to be a very much taken for granted experience for them. The immigrants' lives were influenced by …

Investigation Of The Outcomes Of Delivering Training To Spanish Speakers In Standard Spanish Versus Their Native Dialect, Mary Kosarzycki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored the outcomes of delivering training to Spanish speakers in either their native dialect or in Standard Spanish in the context of a self-running, narrated PowerPoint presentation on a health topic, "The Importance of Vaccinations." The training outcomes that were examined included learning scores; attitudes toward the training; and attitudes toward employment with organizations that employed the same or different dialect-speaking employees, supervisors, and trainers. In addition to examining the effects of ethnicity upon outcomes, this study also examined the effect of age, education level, time in the U.S., and familiarity with the locally dominant subgroup's dialect. …

An Examination Of Best Practices In Retention In The Associate Degree Nursing Programin The Florida Community College System, Mary Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods research examined student nurse retention methods perceived as best practice by directors and coordinators in selected Associate Degree Nursing (AND) programs within the Florida Community College System (FCCS). A critical nursing shortage is expected to worsen over the next twenty years due to the aging workforce and the inadequate supply of qualified nurse graduates. The Associate degree nursing programs supply the majority of nursing graduates to the workforce. Thus, the associate degree nursing programs and student retention measures were studied. The research was conducted using a Delphi survey of directors of nursing in ADN programs within the FCCS. …

Time Estimation And Hand Preference, Maria Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work examines the effect of participants' gender and handedness on the perception of short intervals of time. The time estimation task consisted of an empty production procedure with forty trials at each of four intervals of one, three, seven, and twenty seconds. The four target intervals represent a natural logarithmic progression and a series that bracket important temporal thresholds. The order of presentation of those intervals was randomized across participants but yoked across the sexes in each of the respective dominant hand groups. The two between-subject factors, with two levels each, were sex and handedness. Participants produced forty estimates …

The Literacy Experiences Of Ninth-Graders And Their Teacher In An English Language Arts Workshop, Elizabeth Scanlon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The question guiding this qualitative study was: What are the literacy experiences of ninth-grade students in an English language arts workshop classroom? This study is an autoethnography and it chronicles six months in my ninth grade English classroom where I played the role of observant participant. It examines the process of reading and writing and how my perspective as a reader and a writer shapes my curricular decisions and influences my students as readers and writers.

The Relationship Between School Culture And Student Achievement In Middle Schools, Karen Vislocky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was developed to produce data about the cultures of selected Florida middle schools. The research was intended to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on collaboration, collegiality, and self-determination/efficacy as related to student achievement. The focus for this study was provided through three research questions: (a) to determine to what extent middle schools scoring in the top half and the bottom half on the modified version of Wagner and Masden-Copas' School Culture Triage Survey differed on various demographic elements; (b) to determine what differences, if any, existed between the cultures of the selected Florida middle schools and …

From Seclusion To Inclusion: A Comparative Case Study Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders In Middle Schools, Cheryl Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition of students with emotional and behavioral disorders has often been difficult when the move is made from self-contained classes to a less restrictive environment in general education classes. This study analyzed the perceptions of students and teachers when six middle school students with emotional and behavioral disorders moved from self-contained classes to inclusive placements in general education classes in three schools that were part of a large metropolitan school district in the southeastern United States. Data were collected over a 2 month period using semi-structured student interviews and teacher surveys, as well as student records and other school …

A Probe Into Learning Approaches And Attitudes Towards Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (Tell) In Chinese Instruction, Rong Yuan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative research, carried out at the military environment at the Defense Language Institute investigated whether learning approaches could predict learners' language proficiency and learners' attitude towards technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). In addition, it also examined whether learners' demographic factors, such as age, educational backgrounds, prior experience in foreign language learning and in TELL as well as their ability to use PC and the World Wide Web could predict the above mentioned language proficiency and attitude. A cluster sampling method was adopted and data was collected in four Chinese departments at the institute. Both the learning approaches inventory ASSIST and …

Review: Writing Groups Inside And Outside The Classroom, Roberta D. Kjesrud

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Family Friendly / Work Life Balance Policies: Perspectives Of Irish Employers And Employees, Caroline Williams

Theses

This study assesses the emergence of family friendly / work life balance arrangements within Irish organisations in view of changing conditions on the labour market, particularly with the increased participation of women. It incorporates the experiences, opinions and commentaries of both Human Resource representatives responsible for the implementation of such practices, and employees availing of them in a broad spectrum of public and private sector organisations.

This research addresses the perceived explicit and implicit barriers, such as organisational size, location and culture which challenge employers and employees in terms of alternative working arrangements. It illustrates the significance of introducing and …

An Investigation Into The Role Of Social Marketing In Preventing Adolescent Drinking., Cian Long

Theses

In recent years, there has been increased concern about the level of alcohol abuse by Irish teenagers. Countless studies have shown that underage drinking is now becoming an epidemic. Up to 100 million young people around the globe are alcohol dependent and another 400 million drink to excess. Research has shown that early onset of alcohol use can lead to alcohol dependency, violence, absenteeism, crime and subsequent health problems. It is estimated that alcohol related problems cost the Irish economy €2.65 billion in 2003. Unfortunately, this alcohol problem is not going to vanish or disappear. Alcohol has become Ireland’s number …

A Blueprint For Physical Activity Promotion In A Small Urban Town (Mallow, Co. Cork), Elaine Mary Dennehy

Theses

This research project aims to establish current levels of participation in physical activity amongst the adult population of the Mallow Urban District Council (UDC) area. Using an adaptation of The Scottish Physical Activity Questionnaire (SPAQ) (Lowther et al, 1999) used by the Health Education Bureau for Scotland (HEBS) an attempt will be made to establish the respondents’ readiness for change in relation to physical activity participation. This research methodology is new to Ireland but has been used successfully by the HEBS, (Lowther et al, 1999).

The objectives of this work are to:

1. Establish current levels of participation in physical …

Employee Retention And Customer Relationships In Services Industry, Aileen O'Connell

Theses

The business environment of the 1990s has seen a shift in firms’ emphasis away from recruiting new customers, towards nurturing and retaining those that they currently have (Palmer, 1996). The marketing emphasis has moved from customer acquisition to customer retention. Reicheld, (1996a) has identified a link between customer and employee retention, but this link has not been extrapolated by many researchers. For the purpose of this study, the researcher proposes to examine this link.

A large number of people who work for organisations are no longer what would be termed “traditional” employees of those organisations, i.e. employees for life. These …

All Children Can Write! Teaching Strategies For Helping Children With Autism, Bridgette R. Buehrly

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Pilot Survey Of Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Adults In Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, Christopher Okunseri, Amit Chattopadhyay, R Iván Lugo, Colman Mcgrath

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Oral health studies conducted so far in Nigeria have documented prevalence and incidence of dental disease using traditional clinical measures. However none have investigated the use of an oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) instrument to document oral health outcomes. The aims of this study are: to describe how oral health affects and impacts quality of life (QoL) and to explore the association between these affects and the oral health care seeking behavior of adults in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey recruited 356 adults aged 18–64 years from two large hospital outpatient departments and from …

An Investigation Into The Role Of Social Marketing In Preventing Adolescent Drinking., Cian Long

Theses

In recent years, there has been increased concern about the level of alcohol abuse by Irish teenagers. Countless studies have shown that underage drinking is now becoming an epidemic. Up to 100 million young people around the globe are alcohol dependent and another 400 million drink to excess. Research has shown that early onset of alcohol use can lead to alcohol dependency, violence, absenteeism, crime and subsequent health problems. It is estimated that alcohol related problems cost the Irish economy €2.65 billion in 2003. Unfortunately, this alcohol problem is not going to vanish or disappear. Alcohol has become Ireland’s number …

Activist Or Automaton: The Institutional Need To Reach A Middle Ground In American Jurisprudence, Richard L. Lavoie

Akron Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Alice In Wonderland Meets The U.S. Patent System, Jay Dratler

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Among the joys of being a professor, as distinguished from practicing law, are the leisure and incentive to think and write about the big picture. Another joy is being able to say what you really think. We professors don't have to focus on attracting clients or maintaining an impression of studied understatement and moderation for judges and juries.

In this talk, I'm going to exercise both of these prerogatives. I've been thinking about the big picture in patents for over a quarter century, and I'm more worried than I've ever been.

Let me begin by making my usual (and truthful) …

Single Mothers, Social Capital, And Work-Family Conflict, Teresa Ciabattari

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The purpose of this paper is to examine work-family conflict among low-income, unmarried mothers. I examine how social capital affects work-family conflict and how both social capital and work-family conflict affect employment. I analyze the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national sample of non-marital births collected in 1998-2000 and 1999-2002. Results show that social capital reduces unmarried mothers' reports of work-family conflict, especially for low-income women. In addition, mothers who report high levels of work-family conflict are less likely to be employed; this pattern holds for women who are not looking for work as well as those who …

Why Is Elder Abuse Overlooked? : Media And Ageism, Skye N. Folkert

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

United States Supreme Court Decisions That Have Shaped K--12 Education In America 1972--2004, Kelly M. Benson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Crystalized Versus Fluid Intelligence In American Indian Children Referred To Developmental Clinics: An Examination Of Multiple Measures And Indicators, Billie Jo Kipp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Intuitive Parenting Repertoire Utilization By Caucasian-American And Mandarin Chinese Mothers With Two- And Four-Month-Old Infants, Candace M. Crosby

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.