Digital Commons Network^™

Percy Grainger And Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Comparative Study Of English Folk-Song Settings For Wind Band, Shawna Meggan Holtz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis provides a comparison and study of English folk music collected by composers Percy Grainger and Ralph Vaughan Williams in the early twentieth century. Individuals who played a key role in beginning the folk music collecting movement are discussed, as well as the Folk Song Society's position in regulating and organizing folk-song collecting. A brief biography on Grainger is provided, along with his methods of collecting and setting folk-songs, and his ideas and processes on "free music." Chapters on Ralph Vaughan Williams follow, exploring his folk-song collecting and settings for the church. Grainger and Vaughan Williams' most well-known band …

Reanalysis Of Some Effects Of The Mutual Exclusivity Constraint And Their Operation In Bilingual Children, Marina Kalashnikova

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the operation of the Mutual Exclusivity constraint in two groups of three-year-old children: monolingual Spanish speakers and bilingual Spanish-English speakers. Previous research has yielded controversial findings regarding the differences in the intra-lingual level operation of the constraint in monolingual and bilingual children. This investigation sheds light on the conflicting outcomes of previous studies by proposing that non-linguistic cognitive and processing abilities may account for the effects attributed to the constraint and that there may be observable differences in monolingual and bilingual children in the development of some--but not all--of these abilities. Although, this study yielded no significant …

The Journey Of An Image: The Western Perception Of Tibet, Diana Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper is about how Western travelers perceived Tibetans from 1900 until 1950. It explores the travelogues of Westerners from various national and professional backgrounds to examine how their view of Tibetans had changed.

The Exquisite Pain Of Sunny Afternoons, Jessica Jeanne Miller

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Exquisite Pain of Sunny Afternoons is a novella exploring one young woman's journey through mental illness. She struggles with many delusions and extreme emotional reactions to these delusions until she finds balance. She finds balance, if not total recovery, through the help of her mother and three young Canadian travelers. The novella begins with an escape from a psychiatric hospital to Oaxaca, Mexico.

High Temperature Oxidation Characteristics Of Nb-10w-Xcr Alloys, Maria Del Pilar Moricca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The use of refractory metals in high temperature applications has been attractive for several years. Systems based on niobium represent a potential new generation of refractory materials systems because of their low density, high melting points, and strength at elevated temperatures. Despite these desirable characteristics, the widespread use of niobium-based alloys is limited because its oxidation resistance is still inadequate for structural applications. Understanding the oxidation kinetics of Nb-based alloys and the role of the different phases in the oxidation process is of crucial importance to improve the oxidation resistance of these materials.

The effect of Cr content on the …

Development Of The Video Suggestibility Scale For Children: Spanish-Language Version, Claudia Ornelas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Video Suggestibility Scale (VSSC). A cross-cultural validation with a sample of 3-5 year old Spanish speaking children was performed to evaluate its psychometric properties (N = 79). The development of the VSSC Spanish language version (VSSC-S) is described. The new version was created using the translation-back-translation process to increase the instrument‟s equivalence. Internal consistencies were satisfactory. Construct validity was assessed by using factor analysis and the Varimax procedure. As expected, the VSSC-S items loaded on two separate factors. Overall, results suggest that the VSSC-S taps into similar constructs …

Hip Hop Rhetoric: Relandscaping The Rhetorical Tradition, Roberto Jose Tinajero Ii

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a rhetorical analysis of hip hop music and culture. Chapter 1 focuses on adding hip hop rhetoric to the discussion and terrain of rhetoric and writing studies and to the rhetorical tradition. Chapter 2 uses the rhetorical notion of kairos to discuss the ethos of hip hop culture and discourse. Chapter 3 uses hip hop rhetoric to discuss the tensuous-solidarity between Latinos and African Americans. Chapter 4 focuses on Latino/Borderland Hip Hop and discusses the multi-consciousness of Latino identity. Chapter 5 focuses on Christiian religious imagery in gangsta rap music. There is also a short conclusion.

Survey Research On Communication And Language For English Language Learners And Native English Speakers Enrolled In A College Course On Statistical Literacy, Maria Guadalupe Valenzuela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine in what ways language is a factor that affects the learning process of students in an introductory statistics class. This research used a questionnaire survey instrument called: CLASS, Communication, Language And Statistics Survey that was applied to a total of 137 college students from a large southwestern public university, 83 of these students were self-identified as native English speakers (NOELL) and 53 were self-identified as English learner speakers (ELL) and one was dropped. This research found that in statistical instruction, there are some particular differences in behavior and learning process in the …

Patterns And Challenges Of Parenting School-Age Children Among Selected Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Parents In Southwest Michigan: A Multiple-Case Study, Israel M. Kafeero

Dissertations

Problem. Parenting among immigrants presents unique challenges to parents whose cultural orientation is different from the host culture. Because of the meager research literature on immigrant families in the USA, little is known about the phenomenon of parenting among sub-Saharan African immigrant parents. This study investigated the patterns related to the parenting practices of selected sub-Saharan African immigrant parents, how they conduct corrective discipline to their children, and the challenges they face rearing children in Southwest Michigan.

Method. Qualitative research methods including interviews, observations, focus group discussions, and artifact collection were used in this dissertation to generate data. A snowball …

The Role And Status Of The Catholic Church In The Church-State Relationship Within The Roman Empire From A.D. 306 To 814, Jean Carlos Zukowski

Dissertations

This study analyzes and compares information from historical documents on the role and status of the church in the development of church-state relationships within the Roman Empire from A.D. 306 to 814 (from Constantine's ascendancy to the throne, to Charlemagne's death).

After the introductory chapter, chapter 2 analyzes church-state relationships at the time of Constantine. The chapter presents the Christian and Roman ways of understanding religion before Constantine, the changes that occurred because of Constantine's conversion to Catholicism, and his religious policies.

Chapter 3 analyzes the church-state relationships that existed form the time of Constantine's sons to the reign of …

The Effects Of Nclb On The Principal's Authority To Manage The Success Of English Language Learners, Dr. Annalisa Banegas-Peña

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) legislation on principals' authority to manage the success of English language learners (ELL). Seven research questions guided inquiry about the perceived effects of NCLB on the principal's authority to manage the success of the ELL. Participating principals were randomly selected. The only criterion was that their schools had to serve English language learners and that this population of students was aggregated into the accountability performance of the campus.

Definitions for transactional and transformational leadership styles were given to respondents to select from …

Science Versus Religion: Protestant Dominance And Cultural Discrimination In Public Schools, Melissa Marie Brock

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research offers a critical analysis of the current controversy concerning religion. The study explores the establishment of the public school system under Protestant dominance and use of this dominance to assert authority over minority groups. Legislation and court action have created a position of opposing policy; placing science as the opposite of religion, and Atheists and Christian activists are using curriculum as an ideological battle field. Currently, since 9/11, religious discrimination and hate crimes are on the rise. In order to investigate this controversy, this study explores literature, published surveys, and government documents. The American public school systems are …

Getting To Know You: The Effects Of Familiarity And Time On Social Perception, Clarissa Arms Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A new direction in social perception research is developed. The present research explored the impact of familiarity and time on social perception processes based on cognitive neuroscience models, social categorization models, and memory consolidation constructs. Familiarity was manipulated within an exposure task and time was manipulated by testing participants both 2-6 hr and 48 hr after the exposure task. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of familiarity and time on the argument of the automaticity of social categorization and associated stereotypes by testing the argument with two separate tasks. Experiment 1a tested the influence of familiarity and time on associated stereotypes …

Project L.E.A.N.: An After-School Health And Exercise Project For Elementary School Children In El Paso, Texas, Hendrik De Heer

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: After-school activities provide valuable opportunities for health promotion activities that do not interfere with the regular school day, especially in minority populations with higher rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The current study is an evaluation of an after-school health education and physical activity program conducted in nine elementary schools in 2008 in El Paso, Texas. METHODS: The intervention consisted of a 10-12 week (twice a week) after school program consisting of a pilot (with two experimental schools) and main intervention (six schools each including a control and experimental group). The main outcome variables were Body Mass Index, …

Evaluation Of Selected Physical Activities On Maintenance Of Target Heart Rate In Hispanic Middle School Students, Christopher Ray Estrada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

No One Over Your Bones, Veronica E. Guajardo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis, a collection of poems, is sometimes in English, some all in Spanish,and others poems are bilingual. Others still use slang, Calo, and other Pachuquismos. This collection of poetry is divided into 4 section, with an introduction that prefaces the collection by providing an explanation of the origins of the work, the influences of the poet, etc., all while proposing provocative questions such as, what is an American Poem, for example. The Thesis poems delve into issues of immigration, migration, memory, love and violence, masculiniity and feminity, survival,and of course, language. Lnaguage is central,and music also is important to …

Core Conditions In Student-Centered Learning, Margaret Ann Hartford

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study explored core conditions in student centered educational settings by utilizing an ethnomethodological design to examine the experiences of self-selected educators throughout the United States. Through surveys and follow up interviews, educators reported their professional experiences regarding the core conditions in student centered learning as outlined by Carl Rogers and the impact these conditions played in the quality of educational experiences for the educators and their students in diverse settings. This study was also concerned with educators' self reports regarding their training and education regarding core conditions in student centered learning environments. This paper shares with readers a literary …

The Effectiveness Of Multicultural Based Social Stories To Increase Appropriate Behaviors Of Children With Developmental Delay, Ning Hsu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse background have become a growing concern in America. It is a great challenge for educators to provide appropriate education for culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities. Although there are some researchers that espouse effective principles of multicultural special education, there have been few empirical on the effectiveness.

Social Stories are a practical behavioral intervention which has been regarded as an individualized intervention since the student's needs, background and learning style should be took into consideration. This present research used an ABA design to compare the modified social story with and …

Assistive Technology As A Cognitive Developmental Tool For Students With Learning Disabilities Using 2d And 3d Computer Objects, Felipe D. Guevara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study presented a theory in which assistive technology and body kinesthetic helped students understand concepts taught in the regular education classroom. The study included students already identified and diagnosed with a learning disability (LD). The research is based on cognitive theories that state that cognitive development could use alternative representation to have a deeper impact in the way Students with LD process information by activating different parts of the brain that are involved in the learning process. The study included students from 9th thru 12th grades. Students were selected from the ones receiving services from the special education department …

Templeton's Peace, Trent Devell Hudley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This novel is a work of fiction.

Perceptions Of Leadership Capacity And Student Achievement, Joe Allen Keith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine leadership capacity perceptions in high schools and their relationship to student achievement. The study explored perceptions of leadership capacity of principals, assistant principals and teachers on high school campuses in a border county. Correlation statistics were employed to investigate the existence of relational patterns between Lambert's (2003) Leadership Capacity Survey and student academic achievement. Results from the math, English-language arts and "all tests taken" portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests were analyzed and compared with survey results using Pearson r correlations.

Extant literature related to the purpose …

Nondestructive Testing For Finding Out The Displacement Of Crack In Silicon Nitride, Sriharsha Kurra

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nondestructive testing (NDT) has become an increasingly vital factor in the effective conduct of research, development, design and manufacturing. Only with the appropriate use of nondestructive testing techniques, the benefits of advanced materials science can be fully realized. NDT has a wide range of industrial applications and various methods and techniques are employed to perform the nondestructive testing. The current work aims to demonstrate the nondestructive testing technique applied to determine the damage in silicon nitride. Ceramics are brittle materials and non destructive evaluation methods are required to assess the quality and reliability of them. A nondestructive evaluation technique has …

Riding The Borderlands: The Negotiation Of Social And Cultural Boundaries For Rio Grande Valley And Southwestern Motorcycling Groups, 1900-2000, Gary L. Kieffner

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation presents an analysis and interpretation of particular aspects of the social, cultural, and ideological history of motorcycling in the US-Mexican Borderlands from 1900 to 2000. It is based on interviews with historical correspondents, archival and other documents as well as thirty years of participant reflection during which the author was immersed in biker culture. The motorcycle served as a vehicle for personal and group identity, resistance, and liberation. Issues related to identity, gender, race, marginalization and resistance, imagery, and rhetoric become clearer when considering the perspective of riders. This study surveys interactive processes that occurred between historic motorcyclists, …

Un/Commonplaces: Redirecting Research And Curricula In Rhetoric And Writing Studies, Brian J. Mcnely

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Un/Commonplaces is guided by a broad and fundamental question of inquiry regarding writing and disciplinary research: how can some of the predominant ways that our discipline has approached writing be retheorized to better approximate the complexity of contemporary rhetorical knowledge work? A corollary inquiry explores the resonances with English Studies that persist--and seeks to uncover how they persist--in our field. I argue that we can negotiate such issues by tracing and troubling some of our core disciplinary commonplaces, those commonsense notions and practices too frequently and easily adopted from English Studies and perpetuated within the often tumultuous and hegemonic relationship …

Intermittent And Light Smoking Cessation In A Predominantly Hispanic College Sample, Natasha Kathleen Naylor

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Smoking is deleterious to one's health and is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; no level of smoking has been found to be safe. Hispanic and college populations smoke at lower levels but for longer periods of time than non-Hispanic whites and are at risk of escalating their smoking. In this study the effect of a brief tailored intervention on quit status, smoking reduction, Transtheoretical measure change, as well as potential correlates of smoking cessation and reduction, were examined. Two hundred fifty participants completed questionnaires at baseline, 1-, and 3- month follow-ups. Questionnaires assessed: demographic information, …

Production Of Future Forms By L2 English Learners, Sabrina Mossman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines forms of future expression used by L2 English learners, which can be different from those used by native English speakers. Three types of data were collected for this study--language produced daily by L2 English learners in an ESL classroom, language produced in response to open questions in an interview, and language produced in a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). Twenty-six ESL learners from multiple language backgrounds participated in the interview and DCT portions of the study. Of these twenty-six, five also participated in the classroom production portion. Twenty-seven native speakers acted as a control group. The results of …

Claiming The Discursive Self: Mestiza Rhetoric Of Mexican Women Jouranlists, 1876-1924, Cristina Devereaux Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the last two decades, scholars in Rhetoric and Writing Studies have been calling for a greater representation of voices of those from other cultures who participated in rhetorical practices. As Jacqueline Jones Royster contends, rhetoric has been framed as mostly white, male, and elite, and that these positions distort the democratic perspective of our discipline. Claiming the Discursive Self: Mestiza Rhetoric of Mexican Women Journalists, 1876-1924 presents women rhetors who were participating in not only creating a national identity, but also in constructing a public identity that would insure women's contribution and participation for future generations. It closely examines …

Three Essays On The Quantification, Validation, And Application Of Gray's Accounting Values, Ramon P. Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This doctoral Dissertation creates, validates and uses a quantification of country-level accounting values based on Gray's (1988) framework. This Dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay reports the theoretical foundation and method for the quantification of the accounting values. The quantification results in reported scores for each of Gray's (1988) four accounting values - Professionalism versus Statutory Control, Uniformity versus Flexibility, Conservatism versus Optimism, and Secrecy versus Transparency. Accounting values scores are reported for 58 countries. The second essay reports the method and results of validation testing preformed on the accounting values scores. The primary validation method, Multi-Trait Multi-Method …

Optimization Of Flow For Plastic Pbt With 45% Glass And Mineral Fiber Reinforcement In An Injection Over Mold Process Using Taguchi, Cpk And Mold Flow Simulation Software Approaches, Israel Sanchez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis analyze the plastic injection molding parameters in order to identify which parameters significantly affects the flow properties of Polibuthylen Thereptalate with 45% glass/mineral reinforcement, and which levels are the best to use for those parameters. With the purpose of optimizing the plastic flow conditions in an injection mold to obtain parts free from short shots (term used to describe a plastic part that is incomplete due to the poor plastic flow in the mold runners and cavities).

The used approach is Taguchi design of experiments to define which parameters have significant effect on the response variable, and the …

Mexican-American Concepts On Gender And Identity: A Teacher's Perspective In A Fifth Grade Classroom, Cynthia Soto

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study primarily focuses on fifth-grade Mexican-American students and the factors that influence their views on gender and identity. Gender perspectives in the classroom have the potential to improve instruction and can positively affect students' motivations to learn. Literature can also influence students' gender perceptions and also contribute to gender bias in the classroom. This study works toward creating a non-biased learning environment.