Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling And Simulation Of Coaxial Helicopter Rotor Aerodynamics, Murat Gecgel

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A framework is developed for the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses of a series of helicopter rotor flowfields in hover and in forward flight. The methodology is based on the unsteady solutions of the three-dimensional, compressible Navier-Stokes equations recast in a rotating frame of reference. The simulations are carried out by solving the developed mathematical model on hybrid meshes that aim to optimally exploit the benefits of both the structured and the unstructured grids around complex configurations. The computer code is prepared for parallel processing with distributed memory utilization in order to significantly reduce the computational time and the memory …

Instructional Alignment Of Workplace Readiness Skills In Career And Technical Education, Sarah Jane Martin

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The United States faces a skills shortage that goes beyond academic and technical skills. Employers report entry-level workers lack the necessary "soft" skills, also referred to as workplace readiness skills, needed for success in the workforce; thus, calling on educational institutions to make improvements in high school curriculum in order to address the skills gap. The intent of this dissertation was to examine high school marketing education teachers' knowledge of workplace readiness skills and whether that knowledge had an impact on student workplace readiness skill achievement. Further, this study examined the usage of Virginia's 13 Workplace Readiness Skills curriculum and …

Transformation Paradox: A Framework For The Analysis Of Politics In Enterprise Transformations, Cindy S. Miller

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop a theoretical framework for the analysis of politics in enterprise transformations using a dialectical analysis approach (Hegel, 1989; Heraclitus, 1979; Pinkard, 1988; Skinner, 1978a, 1978b) and conduct an evaluation of the framework validity. The framework is constructed using a dialectical analysis of concepts stemming from the work of Alford and Friedland (1992) and considers four theoretical perspectives: autocratic, bureaucratic, pluralistic, and cognitive. The framework is then validated by means of qualitative metrics and adherence to critical ideology.

This research addresses the problem that there is no holistic theoretical framework for the analysis …

Middle School Parents' Perceptions Of Career And Technical Education, Virginia R. Powers Jones

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study explored middle school parents' perceptions of the contributions career and technical education could make to their child's educational or workforce plans. It also examined what actions parents undertake to influence their child's plans, specifically the impact of the career exploration tool, Coin Career Community©, on their actions. Last, the study explored the correlation between the course choices students made in ninth grade relative to their parents' perceptions.

This study took place at Halifax County Middle School, located in South Boston, Virginia, in spring 2009. This school was the only middle school in the county with a student population …

The Impact Of The 101s: A Guide To Positive Discipline Parent Training: A Case Study Of Kindergarteners And Their Parents In Bangkok, Thailand, Piyavalee Thanasetkorn

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

To reduce using corporal punishment with children, the need to introduce alternative ways for parent practices has been requested by Thai parents. However, empirical research of parents' use of positive practices to discipline their young children has been limited in Thailand. Given the effectiveness of positive discipline as an accepted method in order to improve children's social and academic competencies in U.S., a cultural extension of positive discipline techniques to Thai culture is of interest. This study investigated the effectiveness of The 101s: A Guide to Positive Discipline training on Thai positive parenting skills to increase the quality of …

Efficacy Of Dual Enrollment In Rural Southwest Virginia, Karen Glass Carter

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The intent of this dissertation was to determine if enrollment into a career and technical education dual enrollment program encouraged students to continue their education into postsecondary education and if workplace readiness skills were increased. This study completed a factorial analysis of student demographic and factorial data as associated with the enrollment of career and technical education dual enrollment in rural, southwest Virginia. Specifically, the study explored secondary students (N = 221) currently enrolled during the academic school year 2008-2009 within a Virginia approved career and technical education dual enrollment course. These students attended one of four career and …

The Effect Of Uncivil Behavior On Friendships: An Exploration Of Incivility As An Interpersonal Construct, Anna F. Carmon, Becky L. Degreeff, Ann Burnett, Julie L. Semlak, Kelly L. Wolf

Iowa Journal of Communication

Through the lens of politeness theory, this study examined the relationship between perceptions of homophily and individualized trust and uncivil behavior in friendships. Using an experimental survey design, research participants responded to one of four scenarios involving rude cell phone calls. Each represented a different combination of civility and the biological sex of the actor. Uncivil behavior was negatively related to perceptions of homophily and individualized trust. The biological sex of the actor did not significantly relate to perceptions of homophily or individualized trust.

Leadership Development Programs In Two-Year Colleges: Critical Components, Delivery Methods, And The Role Of Distance Learning Technology, Mary Clare Digiacomo

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Post-secondary education will face an impending shortage of leaders in the near future. Two-year colleges in particular are facing a dearth of leadership. Many administrators and faculty that were part of the great growth period in community colleges in the 1960's are near retirement. Therefore, developing or sustaining sufficient institutional leadership is a critical and urgent issue that must be addressed. Two-year colleges need to develop and implement leadership development programs in a timely manner to ensure a qualified pool of faculty and staff are ready to ascend to leadership positions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the …

Cognitive-Linguistic Abilities In Young And Middle-Aged Adults, Jamie Leigh Flatness

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The current study investigated the differences on cognition tests and whether or not an age effect existed between young versus middle-aged adults. Twenty young adults (ages 20-39) and twenty middle-aged adults (40-59) were given four cognitive tests to determine if differences in performance existed across the age groups. Tests included the Ross Information Processing Assessment-2nd revision (RIPA-2; Ross-Swain, 1996), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RA VLT; Rey, 1964 ), the Wechsler Working Memory (WWM) subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, 3rd edition (WMS-Ill; Wechsler, 1997), and the Cognitive Linguistic Quick Test (CLQT,· Helm-Estabrooks, 2001 ). A series of one-factor …

A Speech Motor Programming Investigation Using Inhibition, Alison Michele Corbett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Motor learning and its applications have been extensively studied, particularly in the area of sports physiology and kinesiology. From these fields, many theories of movement and its control mechanisms have evolved. Previous research has drawn upon these theatrical principles to investigate the specific parameters of skilled movements, specifically the time required to complete an action. In particular, a finger-lift task has been used to study the refractory period during which a motor program can not be inhibited when trained to occur at a particular temporal target (Slater-Hammel, 1959). The current study applies key methodological concepts from Slater-Hammel's work to examine …

Problem-Based Instructional Tasks, Larry Leutzinger

Faculty Work

No abstract provided.

The Iowa Core Curriculum And Me: How My Teaching Of Mathematics Methods Will Change, Catherine M. Miller

Faculty Work

It is an exciting time to be a mathematics educator in Iowa! We are joining the other 49 states by having a set of state standards. In fact, Iowa is exceeding federal expectations by having a curriculum to inform the work of teachers and school administrators. Because of this, we enter an era of change in Iowa and, as we know, change is never easy. To succeed in implementing the Iowa Core Curriculum (ICC) in mathematics all teachers need to learn about it and have help in implementing its core ideas and content. This includes teachers who will begin their …

Meaningful Distributed Instruction— Developing Number Sense, Edward C. Rathmell

Faculty Work

What Is Number Sense?

The primary goal for elementary and middle school mathematics is to help students learn to use numbers meaningfully, reasonably and flexibly in everyday life. This means that students must develop a deep understanding of

-- numbers and operations,
-- when operations can appropriately be used to solve problems, and
-- judging the reasonableness of their solutions to problems.

They also need to develop attitudes so they

-- believe they can make sense of mathematics, and
-- habitually try to make sense of mathematics.

In other words, students need to develop number sense.

Understandings Needed for Number …

Identifying Communication Skills Necessary For Two-Year College Graduates To Succeed In The Changing And Competitive Workplace, Sarah R. Baker

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Today's job market is increasingly competitive and businesses require job candidates to not only have degree-program expertise, but possess other general workplace skills as well. This poses a unique challenge for community colleges because instructors have just two years or less to prepare students for the workforce. They need to ensure that all career related material is taught as well as other workplace skills such as oral and written communication. The purpose of this study was to identify workplace skills, specifically those related to communication, desired by companies that hire community college graduates and explore a possible need to expand …

Baseball As Family: Successful High School Coaches’ Perceptions On Effective Communication, Aaron Barber

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study focuses on what successful high school baseball coaches think they do to communicate effectively. Interviews were used to find emerging themes and to gain anecdotal insight as to how coaches communicate in particular situations. Through the analysis of the interviews, the themes of family, leadership, credibility, identity and organization became apparent in all coaches interviewed. Each coach applied these themes using their own unique style of communication. Understanding and reflecting upon this qualitative study will provide useful insight for leaders of all types and are not limited to only coaches.

Positions Of Power, Abjection And Constraint: Evaluating Discursive Attempts To Save An Other, Ruth Janet Beerman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Beginning from the presumption that questions of agency are important, this thesis interrogates notions of who can speak, how to speak, and what constitutes agency. Feminist rhetorical theory operates as a key avenue to evaluate negotiating positions of power and privilege when examining how to liberate oppressed groups. By utilizing feminist conceptions of the body as well as theories of performance and personae, I examine how rhetorical theory contributes to such understandings where one speaks about an other. Finally, the war in Iraq serves as a case study to illustrate my theory.

Graduating Senior Survey 2008-2009, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

Survey Administration --- 2

Plans Following Graduation --- 3

Characteristics of Respondents --- 5

Institutional Summary of Results --- 6

Summary of Responses by College --- 9

Multiple Year Comparison --- 60

Appendix A --- 69

Risk Management Of Commercial Overland Food Transport And Distribution, Lucas Charles Hartman Geadelmann

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to study the contemporary safety issues related to the overland transport of perishable food items via semi-truck and trailer. An anonymous survey instrument consisting of 20 questions was developed in order to examine semi-truck driver habits. The questions pertained to truck driver safety and subsequent food safety matters related to the perishable food items contained within the trailers. The paper surveys were distributed to the semi-truck driving employees of two food distributors located in the upper Midwest, which had agreed to voluntarily participate in the study. A total of 90 surveys were completed and …

Rape Myth Acceptance In A Dynamic Environment: Application Of Social Impact Theory To Rma, Zebbedia G. Gibb

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines conditions under which attitudes related to sexual assault, commonly known as rape myths, may be transmitted through culture by applying the tenets of Social Impact Theory (Latane, 1981). Social impact theory suggests that three forces influence attitude change, namely the immediacy of the source to the target, the strength of the source, and the number of sources of a message. It was hypothesized that participants who chatted with a confederate who was similar to them and endorsed rape myths would report accepting those beliefs at a higher rate than participants who chatted with a confederate who was …

The Impact Of Mentoring On The Leadership Development Of Participants In Camp Adventure Youth Services, Michael Carl Gleason

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Contemporary organizations operate in increasingly complex environments. External pressures force many organizations to function with fewer resources. Organizational leaders work not only to meet external demands, but the many needs of individuals working within the organization so that they can retain these individuals and teach them the knowledge that will assist them in becoming future organizational leaders. Camp Adventure™ Youth Services works to help college students enhance their leadership abilities as they implement youth services worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine if and how the organization utilizes mentoring in the program to support students and promote the …

The Relationship Between Academic Achievement And Physical Fitness In Adolescents, George William Centeio

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In today's schools, there is a major emphasis placed on academic proficiency particularly in the areas of reading, math, and science. Society is also seeing increases in the number of people who are obese and inactive. Some believe that increasing physical activity and/or improving physical fitness will result in better academic achievement of students in school. This study examined the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness in adolescents. The participants included 200 ( 118 male, 82 female), high school students, at a rural high school located in the Midwestern region of the United States. Student's third trimester, end of …

Personal Epistemologies And The Learning Paradox In Teacher Education: A Neglected Dilemma, Elana Joram, Carmen Montecinos

Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we discuss the role that personal epistemologies play in teacher education, particularly with respect to the potential problems and roadblocks they may present. We suggest that epistemological beliefs govern the kind of knowledge that preservice teachers consider to be legitimate and worthwhile learning in their programs, regulate the ways in which they make choices among competing knowledge claims and justify their own choices. A body of research has examined epistemic cognition as a dimension of the cognitive growth that occurs during the college years (e.g., Baxter- Magolda, 2002; King & Kitchener, 2002; Perry, 1970), and recently, the …

The Effect Of Learning Styles And Attitude On Preservice Elementary Teachers' Conceptual Understanding Of Chemistry And The Nature Of Matter In A Simulation-Based Learning Environment, Mo H. Al-Jaroudi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This causal-comparative descriptive study investigated the achievement of pre-service elementary teachers taking an introductory physical science course that integrates inquiry-based instruction with computer simulations. The study was intended to explore if pre-service elementary teachers with different attitudes towards science as well as students with different learning styles would benefit differentially. Four research questions including four hypotheses were developed. The first major question consist of four specific hypothesis that addressed preservice elementary teachers' learning styles (Active/Reflective, Sensing/Intuitive, Visual/Verbal, and Sequential/Global) and their conceptual understanding of chemistry and the particulate nature of matter in a science class which use hands-on learning integrated …

Technology Integration: A Study On The Impact Of Increased Technology Access, Gina Kuker

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Colleges with teacher education programs have struggled to integrate technology into the curriculum. While access to technology has increased and support for technology usage is present, technology integration has not dramatically changed within the majority of classrooms (Cuban, 2001; Opperheimer, 1997; Stenson & Bagwell, 1999). Education faculty members should model effective technology integration within their classrooms in order for their preservice educators to see examples of how to incorporate technology into teaching and learning. Teachers tend to teach the way that they were taught (Judson & Swanda, 2001; Lortie, 1975). Without seeing how to integrate technology use across content areas, …

An Exploratory Case Study Of Students' Perceptions Of Online Graduate Education, Hou Chun Kuong

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate graduate students' perceptions of online education. Online learning has grown tremendously over the past several years and has made learning and teaching opportunities more available to many people throughout the world. As an increased number of higher education institutions use online education as a means of delivering courses and programs, educational researchers have been working tirelessly to uncover and delineate the factors that facilitate and enhance success in online learning. One major factor that researchers (e.g., Pérez Cereijo, 2006) have established as a predictor of success is students' perceptions of online learning. …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Supply Chain And Manufacturing Parameters On Inventory Cost Reduction For Push Type Manufacturing Systems, Mehmet Emre Bahadir

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the global network of businesses, supply chain and order fulfillment managements are the most critical functional departments to determine the winner of the global competition. In this research a network of companies that are flowing information, product and services between providers and a receiver is investigated in order to gain a better insight of the current situation. Analyses, explanations and solutions were developed through responding to the following research questions:

(1) What are the most important variables that affect the quality and delivery performances of a supply chain?

(2) What are the most important variables that affect the service …

The Effect Of Weekly Teacher Collaboration On Instructional Practices In The Classroom, Laurene A. Lanich

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Iowa Standards for School Leaders states that, “A principal is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program that is conducive to student learning and professional growth.” Instructional practices have a significant impact on student learning, with research indicating that effective teaching accounts for two thirds of the total effect of schooling on student learning. Moreover, the literature on school improvement and professional development emphasizes the building of organizational capacity through collegial interactions in school (Leonard & Leonard, 2003).

The Iowa Professional Development Model was developed …

The Effect Of Self-Efficacy And Psychosocial Development On The Factors That Influence Major Changing Behavior, Karen Cunningham

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This quantitative research study sought to determine the factors that distinguish those students who are classified as “major-changers” from those who are classified as “relatively stable” (never changing their initial major or changing only once or twice). Participants of this study were full-time undergraduate students attending the University of Northern Iowa. The following variables were measured as possible factors influencing major-changing behavior: (a) level of psychosocial development, (b) level of self-efficacy, and (c) level of parental education. The Life-Skills Inventory–College Form (LSDI-CF) was used to measure students' level of psychosocial development and the General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES) was used to …

Asian Corporate Governance Or Corporate Governance In Asia?, Shaomin Li, Anil Nair

Management Faculty Publications

Corporate governance has become an important issue for Chinese and Indian firms as they increasingly interact with regulators and investors from developed markets. For instance, tapping into global capital markets to raise funds to finance their domestic and international growth requires firms from China and India to demonstrate strong corporate governance credentials, so that investors do not discount their stock (LaPorta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer, & Vishny, 2000). The swift action of Chinese and Indian authorities in response to recent corporate scandals – such as the one at Satyam Computers – reveals that even governments in emerging countries such as China and …

Prayer Life Of A Professor, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

[Abstract from pre-print]

Borrowing from the ethnographic methodologies of Coles and Goodall, this autoethnographic account describes interconnections among a Professor's personal prayer life, teaching, and research. The contextual frame for the story is episodes and observations from a 12-year span of time, encompassing post academic tenure and promotion to present. The recurrent theme is that prayer touches and transforms all life, including content and approaches to teaching, and the direction and substance of research.