Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Career Assessments In Transition Planning: An Exploratory Study, Annmarie J. Schimmel

Theses

The Self Directed Search (SDS) and the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) were administered to a group of college age students who were either School Psychology graduate students or undergraduate students enrolled in a Career Exploration course at a local, private university. It was hypothesized that the SDS and the 16PF profiles for the students would differ between the two groups, showing that the profiles for those enrolled as School Psychology graduate students would be similar to the career summary codes previously identified for their chosen careers. Independent t-tests showed that on the SDS the School Psychology graduate students scored …

The Meaning Of Natural Environment Occupations: Exploring The Experiences Of Sierra Club Members, Tulin Roselynn Ture

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Poets and writers have long lauded the beauty and necessity of nature. More recent literature and research has provided support for the healthful benefits of the natural environment. This literature spans the breadth of many disciplines. Yet, very little occupational therapy literature focuses on the natural environment. This is somewhat surprising given occupational therapy’s focus on space and place.

This thesis explores the experience of participation in natural environment occupations by adult members of the Sierra Club. Five Sierra Club members were interviewed and two local Sierra Club outings were observed. Qualitative data analysis revealed two major themes: childhood beginnings …

Dysphagic Patient Compliance With Thickened Liquid Recommendations, Carrie Potts

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In light of the growing prevalence of dysphagic patients on Speech-Language Pathologists’ caseloads and the frequent prescription of thickened liquids as a treatment strategy (Garcia, Chambers & Molander, 2005; Low, Wyles, Wilkinson & Sainsbury, 2001; Robbins, Nicosia, Hind, Gill, Blanco, & Logemann, 2002), our limited understanding of the factors that contribute to patient adherence presents a significant challenge to the management of dysphagia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the decisions patients make regarding dysphagia recommendations. Drawing upon adherence/compliance research from the field of behavioral medicine, the results of this study revealed a complex interplay of …

Relationship Between Workplace Skills And Grade Point Averages As Predictors For Employment, John Nelson

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between workplace readiness skills test scores of students' with their current year grade point average in the Information Technology and Telecommunication ATC courses as a predictor of successful employment.

Using Brain Compatible Assessment To Obtain Higher Test Scores As Compared To Multiple Choice Tests, Raena Weimer

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine whether high school students enrolled in Resource Management for Independent Living obtained higher test scores when evaluated using brain-compatible assessments.

An Examination On The Impact Of School Grade Configuration On Eighth Grade Student Academic Achievement In Reading, Writing, And Math, Joyce Lutrey

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research effort was to examine the impact of grade configuration on eighth grade student achievement in Math, Reading, and Writing. The quantitative research design used publicly available data and studied the 2000 through 2007 Arizona standards-based, eighth grade student test results across six grade configurations for all Arizona eighth grade students. Additional variables included student gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and charter versus public schools.

Chi-square testing showed there were student achievement differences in Math, Reading, and Writing across grade configuration, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and between charters and public schools. These differences were likely due to the …

An Examination Of The Relationship Of Six Risk Factors Associated With Dropping Out Of High School For Students With Disabilities In South Central Michigan, Dawn Gallup

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative, retrospective (ex post facto), research in south central Michigan was to determine the relationship of six risk factors associated with dropping out of high school to students with disabilities (SWDs). The six risk factors were (a) grade retention (never held back or held back one or more times), (b) age compared to peers (same age as peers or one year or older than peers), (c) limited English proficiency (English speaking or English as a second language), (d) category of disability (learning disabled/emotionally impaired or cognitively impaired/other), (e) mobility (the number of school districts or …

Osteoporosis Education In College-Age Women, Elizabeth Byrne Rodzik

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Osteoporosis, a degenerative bone disease, is a preventable disease. The purpose of this study was to determine if an educational intervention would increase knowledge and influence women to change their behaviors (i.e., exercise and dietary calcium intake) related to osteoporosis.

A random sample of 149 college female students participated in this study. Participants completed two questionnaires consisting of the Osteoporosis Knowledge Test and the Osteoporosis Self-Efficacy Scale. Participants were surveyed to determine their knowledge of osteoporosis and their intent to change their health behavior before and after an educational intervention.

Statistical analysis indicated that an educational intervention increased the subjects’ …

The Manufactured Experience, Debra Ruzinsky

Theses

Repeatedly what I see around me are places and messages that generate manufactured experiences, manipulated by someone with an agenda to promote. My thesis work, entitled "Sweet Reassurance," is a personal approach to re-invention; a conceptually driven body of work that explores my obsession with irony, a need to vent frustration with public policy, complacency, and misguided priorities. The work springs from a notion to create proposals for architectural projects that are rather absurd and could never really be realized. They are my brand of visionary architecture, existing somewhere between the Utopian and the Dystopian. I have developed a vocabulary …

How Modes Of Interviewing Affect Self-Disclosure, Sara Elizabeth Nicholls

Theses

This study examined how different modes of interviewing affect the self-disclosure of sensitive information in emerging adults. Participants included 61 students ages 18 to 22 years old who attended a Western New York university. Internalizing behaviors such as feelings of depression and anxiety were measured using three questionnaire formats: face-to-face, computer, and paper/pencil. Results showed that participants answered significantly different between the interview modes on 6 of the 21 questions. Those in the computer group were significantly more likely to endorse "No" on questions pertaining to feelings of depression and anxiety. These results suggest that the computer mode may be …

Self-Portrait, Hong Seon Jang

Theses

My primary aim is to investigate and analyze the ways in which my cultural identity as an Asian artist has been shaped, redefined, and recognized, and how my questions of cultural identities cannot be separated from the broader context of major social, philosophical, and cultural exchanges under the guise of 'Globalization.' [...] The thesis project is a continuation of my inquiries about my cultural identity and how my interpretation of others in the concepts of my art practice has been affected by the authoritative standards of art and humanities set by Western powers over the centuries. I seek to understand …

Si Dios Quiere ..., Katrina Marcelle D'Autremont

Theses

This thesis explores issues of closeness and distance within families. By looking at how aspects of cultural identity further complicate this dynamic as well as how photography is used as a way of mapping a family character, this thesis encompasses topics ranging from Argentine artists to early daguerreotype photography. Using her own Argentine- American heritage as a subject for the photographs, the artist focuses on her grandfather's apartment in Argentina, which acts as a stage, and character in her family story. Traditional modes of photographic posing are borrowed and explored in this work, not only to reference the old photographs …

School Days, Hope Rovelto

Theses

My thesis exhibition, 'School Days,' is a collection of autobiographical sculptures. My thesis is inspired by the difficult memories of my childhood education. During school I felt condescension from my teachers and peers; I felt like I was actually wearing a dunce cap. This body of work represents the feeling of being ostracized from others in a classroom. I used the form of school chairs for my sculpture. The school chairs are the primary metaphor reflecting my early formal education. We, western industrial society, have an almost universal relationship with the school chair. As an artist, I use its form …

The Effects Of Writing About Positive Reminiscence On Happiness With Adolescents, Alison M. Senter

Theses

Much research has been done with adults in the field of positive psychology, reminiscence, and journal writing. Previous findings reveal that reminiscing about positive memories enhances one's happiness, well-being, life satisfaction, and self-continuity. The current study sought to expand this to adolescence. A group of 19 male and female ninth graders from a northeastern, suburban high school were assigned to a positive reminiscence or a daily hassles journal writing group. Analyses revealed significant effects on participants' positive affect; journal writing in general and specifically writing only about positive memories both significantly increased participants' ratings of perceived positive affect. However, no …

The Missing Link: Marital Virtues And Their Relationship To Individual Functioning, Communication, And Relationship Adjustment, Amanda Veldorale-Brogan

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Relationship adjustment research is being expanded beyond established connections with communication and individual functioning. In recent years, researchers have looked to positive psychology and virtues. That research shifts the focus from psychopathology and communication to more core values and ways of being. The present study seeks to expand this knowledge base using Blaine Fowers (2000) framework of marital virtues. His framework views what a person puts into an intimate relationship as an important predictor of relationship adjustment. The present study uses this framework in conjunction with previous research to examine the direct and indirect links amongst individual functioning, marital virtues, …

Irritability, Executive Functioning, And The Alcohol-Aggression Relation, Aaron John Godlaski

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The purpose of this investigation was twofold. First, to test the hypothesis that irritability and executive functioning (EF), two previously established risk factors for alcohol-related aggression, would interact to conjointly confer multiplicative risk for intoxicated violence that is not observed when testing either variable alone. Second, to test the hypothesis that irritability would mediate the relation between EF and alcohol-related aggression. EF was measured using seven well-established neuropsychological tests. Irritability was measured using the Caprara Irritability Scale-CIS. Participants were 310 male and female social drinkers between the ages of 21 – 35 years old. After consuming an …

Distress And Health Information Interests Of Women Following A Benign Breast Biopsy, Rachel Fancher Steffens

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Benign breast biopsy (BBB) can be a stressful experience for many women. Few studies have examined the specific aspects of the BBB more and less distressing. However, no research studies have examined demographic and clinical variables as they relate to distress associated with specific aspects of the BBB or the informational interests of women following a BBB. This study evaluated the magnitude of distress associated with each aspect of the BBB (additional mammography, waiting for the results of the mammography, being informed of needing a biopsy, etc.) as well as the clinical (family history of BC in first degree relative, …

The Impact Of Natural Disasters On Employee Turnover: The Shocks And After-Shocks Of Hurricane Katrina On It Professionals, James Davis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive natural disaster in American history and created the need for organizations along the Gulf Coast to employ disaster management and recovery plans. With the ubiquitous nature of computers and technology, IT professionals were critical organizational assets in executing those plans in order to insure the safety and recovery of valuable information. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the impact natural disasters have on IT professionals and their subsequent turnover decisions. The theoretical guide for this study was the Unfolding Model of Turnover (Lee and Mitchell 1994) that identifies …

Performing Photographs: Memory, History, And Display, Melanie A. Kitchens

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In my study, I place concepts and practices of photography and performance in dialogue to enable our understanding of how photographs perform and how performance contains or can contain elements we attribute to photographs. The connection between photography and performance that most intrigues me is how they make memories and when collected or restored in some socially shared way make histories too. My specific aim is to understand how photographs and performance might benefit from each other in how they make and transmit memories and histories. To activate the study, I select and focus on five specific events in which …

Enriching Or Depleting: An Investigation Of Communication And Behavior Within The Family Business, Joyceia Marie Banner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the prevalence of family firms, researchers often ignore the significant impact of the family on the business. Thus, if organizational scholars do not account for the family as a variable in their research, they will not account for a significant number of the organizations they purport to understand. The fact that family businesses comprise such a large percentage of organizations proves that the family business context deserves more attention from both organizational and organizational communication scholars. With this in mind, the original intent of this dissertation was to explore the impact of family relationships on communication practices and behaviors …

The Road Ahead: A Dynamic, Interactive, And Multidimensional Flash Website, Hung-Ju Hsia

Theses

Everyone has several dreams in his/her life. To be an International student in the United States, I am fulfilling one of my dreams. At December 17th 2001, I stepped on the United States, a dream territory where I had never been to, and started a fantastic journey. Everything was so fresh to me. In California, I felt the warm sunshine, friendly people, and a vigorous life style. In New York, I found beautiful snow, a serious attitude on working, and a stylish life style. Traveling across the country, I realized why people call America a dream territory. Maybe two years …

Transmute, Joseph Montroy

Theses

Man has an enduring subconscious connection with anthropological imagery and narrative. This association extends to the methods and practices that place importance on certain objects over others. In every culture throughout history the shared understanding of existence has been determined by images, symbols and archetypes. Intuitive logic and shared unconscious knowledge pervaded the daily lives of pre-modern man. Early people maintained a stronger connection with nature, spirituality and the subconscious. Archaic man acknowledged one stone among many as possessing spiritual properties. That stone could become a sacred receptacle that differentiated it from all others and saturated it with meaning and …

The Many Masks Of Louisa May Alcott’S Gothic Heroines, Lisa Poggi

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Many of the female characters in the Gothic thrillers of Louisa May Alcott wear masks or are or portrayed as “actresses” who conceal their passion with the appearance of being the typical domestic woman. This idea is most clearly presented in “Behind a Mask” and “Pauline’s Passion and Punishment.” In these thrillers, hidden passion causes problems in each heroine’s life, either because her strong will is an unacceptable female characteristic and she will therefore be shunned in some way by society or by those dear to her; or, expressing her passion will result in disaster of some kind. This representation …

Perceptions Of Second-Level Managers' Performance In Student Affairs, Jennifer Kingsley

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study explored first- (subordinates) and second-level (managers) student affairs professionals' perceptions of managers' skills and abilities (N = 193). Participants in this study were members of the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators, National Association for Campus Activities, Association of College an University Housing Officer-International, and the Association on Higher Education and Disability in Virginia. Two instruments were used for the study: (1) Demographics, collecting demographic information and qualitative data, (2) Survey of Management Practices, which assesses managers' skills and abilities.

The respondents were predominantly Caucasian (82%), female (62%), between 26–40 years old (72%), and held a master's degree …

On The Use Of Emg-Ratios To Assess The Coordination Of Back Muscles, Christian Larivière, A. Bertrand Arsenault

Études primaires

No abstract provided.

Where Can The Phd Take You? Lessons From Diverse Career Paths, Renee T. Clift, Sharon Chubbuck, Wendy Burke

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Implementation Of The One-Year Bar To Asylum, Karen Musalo, Marcelle Rice

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

College Students' Attitudes Toward Singlehood, Lisa Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Exercise Status And Gender On Frequency And Direction Of Exercise-Related Images, Kristen M. Greek

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluations And Outcome Expectancies For Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse, Troy W. Ertelt

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.