Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2008

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 12091 - 12120 of 13174

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

An Analysis Of Predictors Of Enrollment And Successful Achievement For Girls In High School Advanced Placement Physics, Darlene Depalma Jan 2008

An Analysis Of Predictors Of Enrollment And Successful Achievement For Girls In High School Advanced Placement Physics, Darlene Depalma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A problem within science education in the United States persists. U.S students rank lower in science than most other students from participating countries on international tests of achievement (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). In addition, U.S. students overall enrollment rate in high school Advanced Placement (AP) physics is still low compared to other academic domains, especially for females. This problem is the background for the purpose of this study. This investigation examined cognitive and motivational variables thought to play a part in the under-representation of females in AP physics. Cognitive variables consisted of mathematics, reading, and science knowledge, as …

Go to article

A Study Of An Attempt To Improve The Reliability Of Teachers' Holistic Scores Of Elementary Writing Through In-House Profess, Lisa Farmer Jan 2008

A Study Of An Attempt To Improve The Reliability Of Teachers' Holistic Scores Of Elementary Writing Through In-House Profess, Lisa Farmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a school-based training that attempted to improve the reliability of holistic scores teachers assigned to the writings of elementary school students. Seventeen teachers at one suburban elementary school located in the Southeastern United States participated in three training sessions that allowed for scoring practice and group discussions. The trainers, or presenters, were "faculty-experts." A comparison of scores the participants assigned to students' writings before and after the training was conducted. The analyses included t-tests that compared the participants' mean scores to the scores assigned by raters from the state, a within-group analysis of reliability …

Go to article

A View From The Field: Urban Special Education Directors' Perceptions Of Essential Competencies For Newly Appointed Special, Carolin Pratt Marrett Jan 2008

A View From The Field: Urban Special Education Directors' Perceptions Of Essential Competencies For Newly Appointed Special, Carolin Pratt Marrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine what competencies urban directors of special education perceived to be essential for newly appointed urban special education administrators. Two research questions and two null hypotheses were generated to investigate the underlying factors in competencies perceived by urban special education directors to be essential for newly appointed special education administrators and to investigate the relationship between years of experience as a director of special education and these underlying factors. A factor analysis revealed that there were three underlying factors reported to be essential for newly appointed special education administrators. A multiple regression …

Go to article

The Effects Of The Attainment Of Functional Assessment Skills By Preschool Teachers And Their Assistants On Students' Classr, Karen Wagner Jan 2008

The Effects Of The Attainment Of Functional Assessment Skills By Preschool Teachers And Their Assistants On Students' Classr, Karen Wagner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teaching functional assessment skills to three Prekindergarten teachers and their teaching assistants. The effects were measured by examining the behavior of the teachers and assistants, as well as the behaviors of the students; before, during and after the delivery of three, two-hour functional assessment classes. The teaching staff videotaped themselves and their students during a regular class time, predetermined by the researcher and each teacher prior to the onset of baseline data collection, over an approximate nine-week period. The video was taken in twelve-minute segments every day. Later, the …

Go to article

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Using Handhelds To Increasecomputational Speed By Enhancing Working Memory Forsecondary Stude, Marcey Kinney Jan 2008

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Using Handhelds To Increasecomputational Speed By Enhancing Working Memory Forsecondary Stude, Marcey Kinney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using a single subject research design, the effects of computer based brain training were examined to determine if computational fluency increased after completing the brain training activities. The study took place in a large public high school. Participants were students with learning disabilities who were also below level in mathematics. During the baseline phase, all participants completed a timed math probe daily for 1 week. Because the timed math probes were timed, the researcher was looking for an average gain for each student. During week two students completed the brain age activities daily, prior to completing the math probe. Average …

Go to article

The Effect Of Cognitive Aging On Multimedia Learning, Boaventura Dacosta Jan 2008

The Effect Of Cognitive Aging On Multimedia Learning, Boaventura Dacosta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

If not designed in consideration to the workings of the human mind, multimedia learning environments can impose too high a demand on working memory. While such high cognitive load presents challenges for learners of all ages, older learners may be particularly affected as research on cognitive aging has shown the efficiency of working memory declines with age. Research has suggested that cognitive load theory (CLT) and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) are likely to accommodate the cognitive needs of older learners; however, few of the principles emerging from these theories have been examined in the context of cognitive …

Go to article

Effects Of A Computer Game On Mathematics Achievement And Class Motivation: An Experimental Study, Mansureh Kebritchi Jan 2008

Effects Of A Computer Game On Mathematics Achievement And Class Motivation: An Experimental Study, Mansureh Kebritchi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last few years educational computer games have gained attention as a tool for facilitating learning in different sectors of society including but not limited to military, health, and education. However, advances in computer game technology continue to outpace research on its effectiveness. Few empirical studies have investigated the effects of educational games in the context of formal K-12 settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a series of mathematics computer games on mathematics achievement and motivation of high school students. In addition, the role of prior mathematics knowledge, computer skill, and English language …

Go to article

Predicting The Performance Of Interpreting Instruction Based On Digital Propensity Index Score In Text And Graphic Formats, David Norman Jan 2008

Predicting The Performance Of Interpreting Instruction Based On Digital Propensity Index Score In Text And Graphic Formats, David Norman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Practitioners have proposed that Digital Natives prefer graphics while Digital Immigrants prefer text. While Instructional Design has been extensively studied and researched, the impact of the graphical emphasis in instructional designs as it relates to digital propensity has not been widely explored. Specifically, this study examined the performance of students when presented with text-only and graphic-only instructional formats. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between Digital Propensity Index scores of individuals and their performance when interpreting online instruction. A sample of students from the population of a large metropolitan university received the Digital Propensity Index questionnaire, …

Go to article

Prospective Teachers' Development Of Whole Number Concepts And Operations During A Classroom Teaching Experiment, George Roy Jan 2008

Prospective Teachers' Development Of Whole Number Concepts And Operations During A Classroom Teaching Experiment, George Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A classroom teaching experiment was conducted to document prospective teachers' development of whole number concepts and operations. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the collective understanding of prospective teachers in an elementary mathematics content course. Design research methodology, specifically a classroom teaching experiment was the methodology selected for this study since it allows learning to be documented in a classroom environment and is iterative in nature. A revised hypothetical learning trajectory and instructional tasks from a previous classroom teaching experiment were used in this study (Andreasen, 2006). Research about children's development of whole number concepts and operations …

Go to article

Music Standards Implementation And The Relationship To Fourth Grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test Scores From 2004 To 20, Neal Phillips Jan 2008

Music Standards Implementation And The Relationship To Fourth Grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test Scores From 2004 To 20, Neal Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the possible relationships among the perceived implementation levels of elementary music standards and Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores for fourth graders in reading, mathematics, and writing for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006. Survey data for the study were obtained from 32 school district music supervisors from large, medium, and small districts who returned fully or partially completed questionnaires. The study was focused on the relationships, if any, between a school district's mean scale scores in reading, mathematics, and writing from 2004 to 2006 in grade 4 and (a) elementary music standards implementation, (b) the average …

Go to article

An Investigation Into The Use Of Retention As An Intervention Strategy For Struggling Students As Measured By Student Success On, Maria Katz Jan 2008

An Investigation Into The Use Of Retention As An Intervention Strategy For Struggling Students As Measured By Student Success On, Maria Katz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retention of students having academic difficulties continues to be a very popular intervention, even though many studies suggest that retention of students does not improve their academic success or their social and emotional attitude towards school. This study was based on an analysis of 10,875 Seminole County students that had been retained at least one time in their educational career. The study used 2006-2007 FCAT Reading and Math scores to determine the success of their retentions. Students were grouped by the categories of gender, age, race, grade retained, ESE status, ELL status and SES and their success evaluated. The study …

Go to article

Strengths And Talents Of Potential Administrators In Orange County Public Schools, Florida, Arthur Anderson Jan 2008

Strengths And Talents Of Potential Administrators In Orange County Public Schools, Florida, Arthur Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the increased demands on principals and a shortage of qualified, acceptable candidates, school districts that have to replace principals are in a difficult position. These factors, combined with the importance that the principal role has in relation to student achievement, make the identification of potential administrators and the hiring process for new administrators a top priority for all school districts. This study answered the following two major questions; a) what characteristics or talents, as identified by the StrengthsFinder profile, did Orange County Public School principals in 2007 look for in identifying potential school administrators and b) what differences, if …

Go to article

Chromatographic And Mass Spectral Analyses Of Oligosaccharides And Indigo Dye Extracted From Cotton Textiles With Manova And Ano, Jessica Frisch Jan 2008

Chromatographic And Mass Spectral Analyses Of Oligosaccharides And Indigo Dye Extracted From Cotton Textiles With Manova And Ano, Jessica Frisch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research was conducted on thirteen 100% cotton denim samples using an acid wash, established by Murray, to extract oligosaccharides from the cellulosic material. The oligosaccharide ion groups (+, +, and +) for molecules with degrees of polymerization between two and seven (DP2-DP7) were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry with an electrospray ionization interface (LC-ESI-MS). The results were compared using the least-squares means in a Multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) test followed by Univariate ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests and demonstrated that the method could correctly determine that two samples were statistically different 85.9% of the time when analyzing the …

Go to article

Development And Forensic Application Of Dye Probe Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer For Improved Detection Of Changes In Dn, Micah Halpern Jan 2008

Development And Forensic Application Of Dye Probe Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer For Improved Detection Of Changes In Dn, Micah Halpern

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discovering, screening, and associating changes in DNA sequence are important to a broad range of disciplines and play a central role in Forensic Science. The typical types of changes include sequence variations [single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)] and length variations [short tandem repeats (STR)]. The steps for forensic DNA sample processing are similar for both types of changes but diverge at the point of detection. A number of approaches are being explored for SNP genotyping while STR analysis primarily consists of size-based analysis by capillary electrophoresis. Limitations exist for all current detection methods that pose significant impacts to forensic analysis. Bi-allelic …

Go to article

The Effect Of Mathematical Manipulative Materials On Third Grade Students' Participation, Engagement, And Academic Performan, Caryn Ross Jan 2008

The Effect Of Mathematical Manipulative Materials On Third Grade Students' Participation, Engagement, And Academic Performan, Caryn Ross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is the summary of research conducted in a third grade classroom during a unit on multi-digit addition and subtraction. The classroom teacher utilized mathematical manipulative materials throughout the course of this unit as a supplement to aid in the conceptual understanding of addition and subtraction. This study showed the effects of those manipulatives on third grade students' participation, engagement, and academic performance. Data collected from teacher observations and video recordings indicated a positive relationship between manipulatives and student participation and engagement. A pre-test/post-test and student work samples were used to determine effects on academic performance. Data showed students' …

Go to article

The Effects Of Problem Solving Strategy Instruction, Journal Writing And Discourse On 6th Grade Advanced Mathematics Student Per, Melissa Wittcop Jan 2008

The Effects Of Problem Solving Strategy Instruction, Journal Writing And Discourse On 6th Grade Advanced Mathematics Student Per, Melissa Wittcop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are two purposes to this study. The first was for me, as a teacher, to try something new in my instruction and grow from it. The second purpose of this study focused on the students. I wanted to see what level of performance in problem solving my students are at currently, and how the use of journaling and discourse affected the students' problem solving abilities. A problem-solving unit was taught heuristically in order to introduce students to the various strategies that could be used in problem solving. Math journals were also used for problem solving and reflection. Classroom discourse …

Go to article

Effects On Student Performance Of Using Hands-On Activities To Teach Seventh Grade Students' Measurement Concepts, Darlene Hoke Jan 2008

Effects On Student Performance Of Using Hands-On Activities To Teach Seventh Grade Students' Measurement Concepts, Darlene Hoke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student performance on measurement concepts in mathematics was the basis for this action research study. This study summarizes research conducted in a seventh grade classroom at an urban middle school during fall of 2005. The study investigated the practice of using hands-on activities in addition to the standard mathematics curriculum to improve student performance in measurement tasks. Students were asked to respond to questions posed by both teacher and other students in the classroom. Data were collected using measurement survey, focus group discussions, math journals, and teacher observations. Results of this study showed that student performance on measurement tasks increased …

Go to article

Helping At-Risk Students Solve Mathematical Word Problems Through The Use Of Direct Instruction And Problem Solving Strategies, Lurdes Lopez Jan 2008

Helping At-Risk Students Solve Mathematical Word Problems Through The Use Of Direct Instruction And Problem Solving Strategies, Lurdes Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined the influence mathematical strategies had on middle school students' mathematical ability. The purpose of this action research study was to observe students mathematical abilities and to investigate whether teaching students problem-solving strategies in mathematics will enhance student's mathematical thinking and their ability to comprehend and solve word problems. The study took place in an urban school in Orlando, Florida in the fall of 2004. The subjects will be 12 eighth grade students assigned to my intensive math class. Quantitative data was collected. Students' took a pre and post test designed to measure and give students …

Go to article

A Numerical Analysis Approach For Estimating The Minimum Traveling Wave Speed For An Autocatalytic Reaction, Erika Blanken Jan 2008

A Numerical Analysis Approach For Estimating The Minimum Traveling Wave Speed For An Autocatalytic Reaction, Erika Blanken

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the traveling wavefront created by the autocatalytic cubic chemical reaction A + 2B → 3B involving two chemical species A and B, where A is the reactant and B is the auto-catalyst. The diffusion coefficients for A and B are given by DA and DB. These coefficients differ as a result of the chemical species having different size and/or weight. Theoretical results show there exist bounds, v* and v*, depending on DB/DA, where for speeds v ≥ v*, a traveling wave solution exists, while for speeds v < v*, a solution does not exist. Moreover, if DB ≤ DA, and v* and v* are similar to one another and in the order of DB/DA when it is small. On the other hand, when DA ≤ DB there exists a minimum speed vmin, such that there is a traveling wave solution if the speed v > vmin. The determination of vmin is very important in determining …

Go to article

Fractal Interpolation, Gayatri Ramesh Jan 2008

Fractal Interpolation, Gayatri Ramesh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is devoted to a study about Fractals and Fractal Polynomial Interpolation. Fractal Interpolation is a great topic with many interesting applications, some of which are used in everyday lives such as television, camera, and radio. The thesis is comprised of eight chapters. Chapter one contains a brief introduction and a historical account of fractals. Chapter two is about polynomial interpolation processes such as Newton s, Hermite, and Lagrange. Chapter three focuses on iterated function systems. In this chapter I report results contained in Barnsley s paper, Fractal Functions and Interpolation. I also mention results on iterated function system …

Go to article

Analysis Of Kolmogorov's Superposition Theorem And Its Implementation In Applications With Low And High Dimensional Data., Donald Bryant Jan 2008

Analysis Of Kolmogorov's Superposition Theorem And Its Implementation In Applications With Low And High Dimensional Data., Donald Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we analyze Kolmogorov's superposition theorem for high dimensions. Our main goal is to explore and demonstrate the feasibility of an accurate implementation of Kolmogorov's theorem. First, based on Lorentz's ideas, we provide a thorough discussion on the proof and its numerical implementation of the theorem in dimension two. We present computational experiments which prove the feasibility of the theorem in applications of low dimensions (namely, dimensions two and three). Next, we present high dimensional extensions with complete and detailed proofs and provide the implementation that aims at applications with high dimensionality. The amalgamation of these ideas is …

Go to article

Comparing Assessment Methods As Predictors Of Student Learning In Undergraduate Mathematics, Nichole Shorter Jan 2008

Comparing Assessment Methods As Predictors Of Student Learning In Undergraduate Mathematics, Nichole Shorter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This experiment was designed to determine which assessment method: continuous assessment (in the form of daily in-class quizzes), cumulative assessment (in the form of online homework), or project-based learning, best predicts student learning (dependent upon posttest grades) in an undergraduate mathematics course. Participants included 117 university-level undergraduate freshmen enrolled in a course titled "Mathematics for Calculus". Initially, a multiple regression model was formulated to model the relationship between the predictor variables (the continuous assessment, cumulative assessment, and project scores) versus the outcome variable (the posttest scores). However, due to the possibility of multicollinearity present between the cumulative assessment predictor variable …

Go to article

Data Mining Methods For Malware Detection, Muazzam Siddiqui Jan 2008

Data Mining Methods For Malware Detection, Muazzam Siddiqui

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the use of data mining methods for malware (malicious programs) detection and proposed a framework as an alternative to the traditional signature detection methods. The traditional approaches using signatures to detect malicious programs fails for the new and unknown malwares case, where signatures are not available. We present a data mining framework to detect malicious programs. We collected, analyzed and processed several thousand malicious and clean programs to find out the best features and build models that can classify a given program into a malware or a clean class. Our research is closely related to information retrieval …

Go to article

Low Noise, High Repetition Rate Semiconductor-Based Mode-Locked Lasers For Signal Processing And Coherent Communications, Franklyn Quinlan Jan 2008

Low Noise, High Repetition Rate Semiconductor-Based Mode-Locked Lasers For Signal Processing And Coherent Communications, Franklyn Quinlan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation details work on high repetition rate semiconductor mode-locked lasers. The qualities of stable pulse trains and stable optical frequency content are the focus of the work performed. First, applications of such lasers are reviewed with particular attention to applications only realizable with laser performance such as presented in this dissertation. Sources of timing jitter are also reviewed, as are techniques by which the timing jitter of a 10 GHz optical pulse train may be measured. Experimental results begin with an exploration of the consequences on the timing and amplitude jitter of the phase noise of an RF source …

Go to article

Ultrashort Laser Pulse Interaction With Photo-Thermo-Refractive Glass, Leo Siiman Jan 2008

Ultrashort Laser Pulse Interaction With Photo-Thermo-Refractive Glass, Leo Siiman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass is an ideal photosensitive material for recording phase volume holograms. It is a homogeneous multi-component silicate glass that demonstrates all the advantages of optical glass: thermal stability, high laser damage threshold, and a wide transparency range. Moreover the ability to record phase patterns (i.e. spatial refractive index variations) into PTR glass has resulted in the fabrication of volume holograms with diffraction efficiency greater than 99%. The conventional method of recording a hologram in PTR glass relies on exposure to continuous-wave ultraviolet laser radiation. In this dissertation the interaction between infrared ultrashort laser pulses and PTR glass is …

Go to article

Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Photonic Crystal Lasers And Photonic Devices, Ying Zhou Jan 2008

Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Photonic Crystal Lasers And Photonic Devices, Ying Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation discusses cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) and polymers based photonic devices including one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal lasers and broadband circular polarizers. CLCs showing unique self-organized chiral structures have been widely used in bistable displays, flexible displays, and reflectors. However, the photonic band gap they exhibit opens a new way for generating laser light at the photonic band edge (PBE) or inside the band gap. When doped with an emissive laser dye, cholesteric liquid crystals provide distributed feedback so that mirrorless lasing is hence possible. Due to the limited surface anchoring, the thickness of gain medium and feedback length is …

Go to article

Integrated Optical Spr (Surface Plasmon Resonance) Sensor Based On Optoelectronic Platform, Hyungseok Bang Jan 2008

Integrated Optical Spr (Surface Plasmon Resonance) Sensor Based On Optoelectronic Platform, Hyungseok Bang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current major demands in SPR sensor development are system miniaturization and throughput improvement. Structuring an array of integrated optical SPR sensor heads on a semiconductor based optoelectronic platform could be a promising solution for those issues, since integrated optical waveguides have highly miniaturized dimension and the optoelectronic platform enables on-chip optical-to-electrical signal conversion. Utilizing a semiconductor based platform to achieve optoelectronic functionality poses requirements to the senor head; the sensor head needs to have reasonably small size while it should have reasonable sensitivity and fabrication tolerance. This research proposes a novel type of SPR sensor head and demonstrates a fabricated …

Go to article

Extended Focus Range High Resolution Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography, Kye-Sung Lee Jan 2008

Extended Focus Range High Resolution Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography, Kye-Sung Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, medical imaging is playing an important role in medicine as it provides the techniques and processes used to create images of the human body or parts thereof for clinical purposes (medical procedures seeking to reveal, diagnose or examine disease) or medical science (including the study of normal anatomy and function). Modalities are developing over time to achieve the highest possible resolution, speed of image acquisition, sensitivity, and specificity. In the past decade, advances in optics, fiber, as well as laser technology have enabled the development of noninvasive optical biomedical imaging technology that can also be applied to endoscopy to …

Go to article

Tactile Working Memory And Multimodal Loading, Peter Terrence Jan 2008

Tactile Working Memory And Multimodal Loading, Peter Terrence

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work explored the role of spatial grouping, set size, and stimulus probe modality using a recall task for visual, auditory, and tactile information. The effects of different working memory (WM) loading task modalities were also examined. The Gestalt spatial organizing principle of grouping showed improvements in response times for visual and tactile stimulus probes with large set sizes and apparently allowed participants to effectively chunk the information. This research suggests that tactile information may use spatial characteristics typically associated with visual information, as well as sequential characteristics normally associated with verbal information. Based on these results, a reformulation of …

Go to article

Game On: The Impact Of Game Features In Computer-Based Training, Renee Derouin-Jessen Jan 2008

Game On: The Impact Of Game Features In Computer-Based Training, Renee Derouin-Jessen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term "serious games" became popularized in 2002 as a result of an initiative to promote the use of games for education, training, and other purposes. Today, many companies are using games for training and development, often with hefty price tags. For example, the development budget for the U.S. Army recruiting game, "America's Army" was estimated at $7 million. Given their increasing use and high costs, it is important to understand whether game-based learning systems perform as billed. Research suggests that games do not always increase learning outcomes over conventional instruction. However, certain game features (e.g., rules/goals, fantasy, challenge) might …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last