Digital Commons Network^™

Online Higher Education Faculty: Perceptions, Learning, And Changes In Teaching., Frances M. Dolloph

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine higher education faculty members’ perceptions as compared to their students’ perceptions of the psychosocial environment in distance learning courses as shown in the results of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) and to understand how faculty learn and change their teaching for course development and delivery using technology. Research shows that an increasing number of colleges and universities are offering online courses and programs and an increased number of students are enrolled in distance learning. The need to look at how faculty teach, learn, and change their online courses is …

Smoking As A Maladaptive Method Of Weight Control In Female College Students: Perceived Negative Health Effects And Weight Control Properties., Melissa M. Garrison

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Women are at great risks for smoking-related health consequences. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. A relationship exists between smoking behavior and weight control in women. Women are more likely to smoke to control their weight and experience higher relapse and dropout rates in smoking cessation programs due to issues of weight concern. The most effective smoking cessation programs are those that contain a cognitive behavioral component that addresses issues of weight concern in conjunction with the standard smoking cessation treatment. However, women are still experiencing high relapse and dropout rates …

The Impact Of Teaching Explicit Listening Strategies To Adult Intermediate- And Advanced-Level Esl University Students, Jeanette Clement

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated beliefs about strategy use for the improvement of second language listening comprehension. The study compared participants' self-reports of their strategy use prior to and after four electronically-delivered interventions consisting of explicit instruction and illustration of strategies that can assist in listening comprehension. Participants were 64 international students at intermediate to advanced level of language proficiency (as determined by the Michigan Listening Comprehension Exam (Upshur, Koba, Spaan, and Strowe, 1972) studying English as a Second Language (ESL) at two universities in the Eastern United States. Data were collected using three instruments, the Strategies Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) …

Oncology Nurses' Attitudes Toward Cancer Clinical Trials And Their Perceptions Of Patients' Understanding, Paul D'Amico

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Clinical trials in oncology that evaluate new cancer treatments are essential. However, in the United States only 2%-4% of eligible adult cancer patients participate in the National Cancer Institute's clinical trials annually. Oncology nurses have a major role in the care of patients contemplating enrollment into cancer clinical trials, yet little is known about their attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions.

The Modified Nursing Attitude Survey and a demographic form were used to collect data. This study discovered significant predictors to attitudes and perceptions; however, all R² (coefficient of determination) values were very low, which indicates that some other unknown variables could …

Modular Architecting For Effects Based Operations, Emel Meteoglu

Masters Theses

"Effects Based Operations (EBO) is a way of thinking for planning, executing and assessing any operations for the effects they produce, rather than dealing with actions, targets or even objectives. The literature on EBO has been growing day by day; however, there is still a need for modeling techniques and tools that provide more efficient and effective effects based assessment, planning and analysis in order to further develop the capabilities of the operations. In this context, this thesis presents an introduction to EBO by focusing on its methodology, its challenges and also its applicability in different systems. Moreover, this thesis …

Coming Out In The Workplace: Stigma And Boundary Management For Homosexual Men, Eric A. Evans

Masters Theses

Disclosing their sexuality is an experience that is unique to homosexuals. At times disclosure can be a difficult decision, including disclosing in the workplace. This study explores how gay men manage the privacy boundaries of their sexual orientation in the workplace. The core of this study is the dialectical tension of disclosing or concealing their sexuality. Stigma, coming out and Communication Privacy Management Theory provided the framework for this study. Interviews with gay men were conducted and then analyzed using the Grounded Theory. The social phenomenon of coming out in the workplace for gay men is explored in this study.

Fathers' And Young Sons' Everyday Talk: A Conversation Analytic Study Of Topic Initiation And Development, Stacia Jayne Ozier

Masters Theses

As Floyd and Morman (1999) argue, "there are few male-male relationships that may be more socially significant than that between father and son"(p. 310). This study is an introduction to the exploration of topic in father-young son interaction. Using the method of conversation analysis we have identified how three father-young son groups initiate topic in actual everyday conversation. Both fathers and sons used aspects of the physical environment and social activities as resources for topic initiation. In addition, one father used other-focused questions to initiate topics with his young sons. In the examination of the practices used by the fathers …

Gender, Race, And Membership Status: Perceptions Of Hazing On A University Campus, Robyn Bethany Paige

Masters Theses

This thesis addressed the issue of hazing and specifically the potential relationship of three demographic factors, race, gender, and membership status, on student attitudes about hazing. This research to improve the understanding about what motivates individuals to engage in such behavior is designed to provide help to practitioners in creating better prevention and education about hazing.

An on-line survey was used to collect data from students at a large, public, Research I institution in the Mid-west. The survey was based on Sedlacek and Brook's (1970) Situational Attitudes Scale. The original instrument was modified to fit the topic of hazing. It …

Assessing Levels Of Hope And Motivation In Two Groups Of At-Risk Undergraduate College Students, Victoria M. Zeter

Masters Theses

Among the many prominent motivational theories addressed in this study, one was central to the research - hope theory. Hope is a goal directed cognitive process that involves three components: goals, pathway thinking, and agency thinking (Snyder, Feldman, Shorey, & Rand, 2002). The focus of this study was to assess the levels of hope and motivation of two at-risk undergraduate student populations attending Eastern Illinois University (EIU). All of the subjects were participants in one of two student support programs: a) Gateway, an alternative admissions program designed to provide access to higher education to underrepresented and disadvantaged students; and b) …

The Effectiveness Of Support Groups In A Community Diabetes Prevention Program, Traci Worby

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a support group in a community Diabetes Prevention Program. The research questions to be answered were: (1) did participation in the intervention group result in better outcomes compared to the participants in the control group, (2) did the participants in the intervention group and the control group feel that the Diabetes Prevention Program's exercise program helped them make positive changes in their life and taught them the importance of continued exercise to help reduce the risk of diabetes according to statements answered on the survey, (3) did the participants …

Presenting Problems And Treatment Outcome Of College Counseling Center Clients: The Role Of Gender And Academic Major, Erik Lennart Timothy Fister

Masters Theses

The current study examined whether gender and/or academic specialization had any relationship to students presenting issues, symptom severity, and treatment outcome at a university counseling center. The participants were 484 clients and the data were collected at an East Coast university counseling center. Clients were included for the analyses if they were a new intake, clearly fit into one of six categories for academic major, and attended more than one session. Each client filled out both the Personal Information Form (PIF) and Behavioral Health Questionnaire (BHQ) at intake, and was administered the BHQ prior to each subsequent session. Based on …

School-Related Predictors Of Test Anxiety In Middle-School Students, Jayme Holt

Masters Theses

Test anxiety has been associated with many school-related factors. In the present study, the presence of an academic label was expected to be a better predictor of test anxiety than memory, study habits, or grade point average in a sample of middle-school students. A total of 48 middle-school students, 19 with academic labels, were administered the Survey of Study Habits & Attitudes (Brown & Holtzman, 1967), Test Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1980), and the Children's Memory Scale (Cohen, 1997), while teachers supplied each student's current G.P.A. The hypothesis that an academic label would be a better predictor of test anxiety was …

Science And Application: A Comparison Of Graduate Training In Counseling And Clinical Psychology, Nupur Jain

Masters Theses

Often times, when considering training and careers in psychology, students have difficulty deciding whether to pursue clinical psychology or counseling psychology as a career. The decision made might be a result of limited or biased information. Additionally, students often fail to make important distinctions between counseling psychology and the professional field of counseling, which has implications for the career path they pursue. The purpose of the current literature review is to provide readers with the range of knowledge and ideas, including contrasting perspectives and viewpoints that have been established in this area.

Students also often fail to make important distinctions …

Evaluation Of Year Round Education: Does It Increase Isat Reading Scores In Third And Eighth Grade Students?, Kristy Marlett

Masters Theses

Little is known about how a modified school calendar influences student achievement in reading. The present study investigated how students performed on the ISAT reading test after the district switched to a year-round calendar when compared to scores when the district was using a traditional school calendar. In other words, this longitudinal study attempted to answer if performance on the ISAT is related to the type of calendar, gender, grade level, and receiving special education services. Participants were 900 students in the third and eighth grades of one Illinois school district that transitioned from traditional school calendar to Year Round …

The Relation Of Teacher Burnout To Teachers' Expectation Of An Elementary Student's Outcome, Megan Brianne Mcdowell

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine what aspect(s) of teacher burnout, if any, predicted a teacher's expectation for a student's academic outcome, a teacher's expectation for a student's behavior outcome, and the teacher's ability to work with that student. Thirty-four K through 6th grade teachers, from four rural Illinois schools, completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey (MBI - ES; Maslach, Jackson, & Schwab, 1986) and the Teacher Expectation Questionnaire (TEQ; Aloia & Aloia, 1983). Results suggested that only the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the MBI - ES predicted the three scales of the TEQ: Teacher's Expectation …

Calibration Of Reading Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Students With Reading Disabilities, Melissa Mickelson

Masters Theses

A study was conducted to measure self-efficacy calibration, or accuracy of performance beliefs, in reading by high school students with reading disabilities. This study examined participant's reading metacognitive skills, reading self-concept, reading comprehension, and reading self-efficacy. Fifty-two participants were placed into a group of students with reading disabilities and a comparison group of normal achieving students. These students completed all measures and group results were compared to determine the degree of calibration, metacognitive abilities, and self-concept of students with reading disabilities as compared to normal achieving students. Results of the study found that students with reading disabilities did not significantly …

Perceptions Of Sororities Among Sorority Women, Deborah Denise Appleby

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine sorority women's perception ons on certain aspects of sororities and how they believe sororities are perceived by non-sorority women and faculty. The benefits of the study include awareness of the perceptions that sorority women hold of sororities, improvements can be made in areas that haveе negative perceptions, and the positive aspects of sororities can be promoted more.

A survey was used to collect data and SPSS statistical software wavas used to analyze data. Eight of the nine Panhellenic sororities at Eastern Illinois Universi versity were surveyed, providing 395 respondents. Their ages ranged …

Media's Portrayal Of Women: Impact On Aggressive Attitudes And Beliefs, Danielle Trezek

Masters Theses

The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study was to examine images in magazine advertisements and the impact of these images on aggressive attitudes and beliefs towards women. The three research objectives were: 1) to explore the appeal of the portrayals of women in magazine advertisements to males and females, 2) to examind the attitudes and acceptances of violence, gender-roles, and gender stereotypes of the participants after viewing the different portrayals, and 3) to compare the results of males and females to explore the differences in aggression between genders. The participants consisted of 71 college males and females from a Midwestern …

The Influence Of Physical Activity, Eating Habits, And Social Physique Anxiety On Obesity In Adolescent Females, Rachel Marie Hardesty

Masters Theses

Childhood obesity is becoming a more serious problem as time goes by. A large part of the problem is adolescent children are less active, have poor eating habits, and have negative feelings regarding their body shape. PURPOSE: In order to identify those factors most closely associated with obesity. This study compared the eating patterns, activity patterns, and social physique anxiety in non-obese to over weight and obese adolescent females. Also, this study investigated the relationships between eating patterns, activity patterns, and social physique anxiety to body mass index in adolescent females in order to identify those factors most closely associated …

An Assessment Of The Crawl Program: A Brief Alcohol Intervention For First Time Alcohol Offenders At Eastern Illinois University, Catherine T. Passananti

Masters Theses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of an alcohol intervention program instituted at Eastern Illinois University. More specifically, the purpose was to assess how much knowledge student participants gained about their personal drinking behavior and how it affected other individuals. Results from the study include that the program had a positive educational effect on some, while other participants were in need of more individual and intensive alcohol education and counseling.

A Formative Evaluation Of The 2005-2006 Eastern Illinois University Resident Assistant Selection Process, Brian O'Neal Johnson

Masters Theses

The present study was conducted as a formative evaluation of the 2005-2006 Eastern Illinois University Resident Assistant Selection Process. The purpose of the present project was two-fold: 1) to assess participates' perceptions, candidates and instructors, of the five-week Resident Assistant workshop course; and, 2) to generate potential recommendations from research participants for future resident assistant selection processes.

Existential Anxiety And Religious Commitment, Daniel J. Pelak

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Paul Tillich's theory of existential anxiety and religious commitment. The study attempted to determine if there was type of existential anxiety that religion might perpetuate or alleviate. Two hundred and twenty-nine individuals who endorsed a Christian or Catholic belief system completed a series of surveys on an internet website; participants were recruited through various Christian message boards or a standardized email that was sent to various church leaders; the measures of the assessment were Tillich's theory of existential anxiety, death anxiety, moral anxiety, meaninglessness anxiety, religious commitment, and personality …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Prayer And Subjective Well-Being, Brandon L. Whittington

Masters Theses

The present study examined the relationship between types of prayer (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, reception, and obligation) and self-esteem, life satisfaction, and life meaning, while testing optimism, belief in prayer, and spiritual support as mediators. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine relationships. Optimism was confirmed as a mediator between adoration and life satisfaction, thanksgiving and life satisfaction, and thanksgiving and self-esteem. Spiritual support was confirmed as a mediator between reception and life meaning. As hypothesized, optimism played a large role in predicting well-being, especially in adoration and thanksgiving, prayer focused on positive themes. Overall, prayer was shown to predict …

Factors Influencing Early Literacy Skill Acquisition Among At-Risk Kindergarten Children, Jill E. Feller

Masters Theses

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 placed federal mandates on education in which all children will be expected to read grade-level text by the 3rd grade in the academic year of 2013-2014. Risk factors that can be linked to interventions in order to reach the goals of NCLB were investigated. In this study, the risk factors of parental involvement (Reading Minute Index), parental literacy interaction style (Home Questionnaire), and Overactive and Underactive problem behaviors (ASCA composite scores) were analyzed in relation to the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills kindergarten spring benchmarks.

This study was conducted in …

Assessing Effectiveness Of The Differential Assessment Of Autism And Other Developmental Disorders (Daadd) As A Diagnostic Screening Instrument, Caroline Dahlstrom

Masters Theses

Children with developmental disorders were thought to be more similar than different in the past (Greenspan & Wieder, 1998). Many developmental disorders are a result of neurological differences and/or delays in a child's acquisition of general skills and can present similarly at a young age (Richard & Calvert, 2003). Therefore, there has recently been an emphasis on the need for developmental disorders to be differentiated because of the differences being noted. Many assessment tools, including specialized checklists, interview formats, and standardized tests used to assist in the diagnosis of developmental disorders are available. The Differential Assessment of Autism and other …

Methodological Variables For Eliciting Maximum Phonational Frequency Range In Adults, K. Lenee Moseley

Masters Theses

The current study employed an experimental research design to compare the effect of elicitation tasks (glissando versus discrete-steps) and the integration of visual feedback (auditory-only model versus visual feedback with an auditory model) on obtaining an individual's maximum phonational frequency range (MFPR). Participants included forty normal speaking males and females. A one-way ANOVA indicated the glissando elicitation task yielded a significantly higher MPFR than the discrete-steps elicitation task. [F (1,159) = 34.39; p < .01]. A one-way ANOVA approached but did not reach statistical significance [F (1,159) = 3.104, p = .08] for the difference between the auditory-only model and the auditory model with visual feedback. However, the frequency means depicted a larger MPFR when visual feedback was included within each of the elicitation tasks.

The Effect Of Objective Data In Narrative Observation Notes On Changing Supervisee Behavior, Rudyard C. Watson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research study was to determine if two different types of narrative observation notes impacted supervisee clinical behaviors. Narrative observation notes alone and narrative observation notes coupled with objective data were used as the independent variables. Sixteen supervisees and 5 supervisors participated in the study. The supervisees were divided into two numerically even groups of eight and provided with one of the independent variables.

The study consisted of eleven total therapy sessions, with the first three sessions providing baseline data and the following eight involved administration of the independent variables. Group one received narrative observation notes alone …

Customers' Perceptions Of The Marketing Mix And The Effect On Taiwan Hypermarkets' Brand Equity, Hui-Chu Chen

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Brand equity has increased in importance and created the need to develop more complex measures than are now used. Customer-based brand equity (CBBE) evolved from brand equity and was based on customer's perceptions of brands. Using the marketing mix (price, store image, advertising spending, distribution intensity and price deals) to predict CBBE (brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand association) was an essential goal of this study. Comparing customers' perceptions of the marketing mix, and hypermarket stores (Carrefour, RT-Mart, COSTCO and Geant) effect on CBBE in Taiwan was an additional goal. The study's final purpose was to test the …

2007 Commencement Program, Seattle University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

A National Putative Father Registry, Wells Conference On Adoption Law, Mary M. Beck

Faculty Publications

This Article will discuss the mechanics of putative father registries, review jurisdictional issues, analyze the policies behind their development, and review relevant case law over the last 5 years.