Digital Commons Network^™

School Size And Its Effect On School Climate And Academic Achievement In Rural South Georgia High Schools, James Benjamin Lawhorn

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

While leaders in rural South Georgia have continued to debate the notion of school size as it applies to high schools, limited research was available to support staying small or continued growth through consolidation. In this study, schools from rural South Georgia were examined in order to collect data that could provide communities with the resources available to either advocate for large or small rural high schools. Moreover, it could also provide the rationalization necessary for some larger schools to split. The purpose was to establish the relationship between school size and academic achievement, and the relationship was between school …

The Perspective Of School Personnel In A Georgia School District Concerning The Recruitment Of Minority Teachers, Shyla D. Ridley

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recruiting and attracting minorities into the teaching profession is difficult. Given the competitiveness of the current job market and the heavy emphasis on standardized testing for all teacher candidates, the difficulties of attracting quality minority teachers are becoming more challenging. The lack of a racially and culturally diverse teaching staff remains a major issue in education nationally and locally, especially since projections indicate that the representation of minority teachers is declining while the number of minority students is increasing. This need for more minority teachers is even more critical in urban public schools characterized by large percentages of minority students …

The Ability Of Firefighting Personnel To Cope With Stress, David Milen

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of the coping strategies and resources that firefighters use to deal with personal and workplace stressors. One hundred and fifteen firefighting personnel from 4 fire departments in Illinois and Indiana participated. The Coping Resources Inventory for Stress (CRIS) Scale measured stress levels and coping strategies. The results showed that firefighters who were not physically fit, who lacked social support, and who were unable to control tension and structure daily activities experienced feelings of low confidence. The findings from this study can provide fire department administrators and company officers with ways …

Discrepancies In Reporting Of Physical And Sexual Abuse Among Homeless Young Adults, Kimberly A. Tyler, Lisa A. Melander

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study investigated risk factors for discrepant reporting of physical and sexual abuse among 172 homeless young adults. Discrepant reporting includes situations in which a respondent denies experiencing abuse in general but reports being a victim of specific forms of maltreatment. The results revealed that discrepant reporting rates tended to be highest for minor physical assault and for noncontact sexual abuse. Multivariate results revealed that demographic characteristics were important correlates of both discrepant physical and sexual abuse reporters. Family background characteristics also played a role in discrepant reporting for physical abuse. Overall, some young people with abuse histories are not …

Neighbors In The Pews: Social Status Diversity In Religious Congregations, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

For the most part, Americans interact with other people like themselves—those with similar social and economic backgrounds. This homogeneity of social networks contributes in turn to social stratification and to the unequal distribution of social capital and civic integration. Religious congregations offer a rare opportunity for Americans to interact across social status lines. I use data from the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, which includes survey responses from relatively large samples of attendees nested within a large random sample of congregations, to examine the prevalence of income and education diversity in religious congregations. In contrast to racial diversity, which is …

Beyond Lines On The Cv: Faculty Applications Of Their Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning Research, Kathleen Mckinney, Pat Jarvis

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This paper reports on a study focusing on a key issue in the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The goal of our research was to examine the frequency, types, supports, and barriers for the practical application of SoTL results. In this paper we report on quantitative and qualitative results from a study assessing the level and forms of concrete applications of SoTL to improve teaching and learning. We obtained data from a self-administered questionnaire and a focus group with respondents drawn from 20 faculty/staff recipients of internal SoTL grants at a large Midwestern university as well …

Online Course Design: A Case Study, Sharon Dole, Lisa Bloom

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This case study uses the How People Learn (HPL) framework as the conceptual model to examine an online course in a teacher licensure program for evidence of high level learning outcomes that involve collaboration, reflection, mentoring, and problem solving. The HPL framework focuses on the learning environment and indicates that effective learning takes place to the extent that the learning environment is learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered. Analysis of the data resulted in themes that coincide with the elements of the HPL framework: professional growth, peer learning, teaching presence, and collaboration. The design of the course appeared to have a …

Click Or Clique? Using Educational Technology To Address Students’ Anxieties About Peer Evaluation, Ruth Walker, Graham Barwell

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Peer bias is recognised as a primary factor in negative student perceptions of peer assessment strategies. This study trialled the use of classroom response systems, widely known as clickers, in small seminar classes in order to actively engage students in their subject’s assessment process while providing the anonymity that would lessen the impact of peer pressure. Focus group reflection on the students’ impressions of the peer evaluation process, the use of clickers, and their anxieties about potential peer bias were analysed in the light of the results of teacher and class evaluations of each individual student presentation. The findings revealed …

Two Minute Training In Class Significantly Increases The Use Of Professional Formatting In Student To Faculty Email Correspondence, Nancy Aguilar-Roca, Adrienne Williams, R Warrior, Diane O’Dowd

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Many university faculty value email as an important tool for communicating with colleagues, but express frustration with a high incidence of unprofessional email correspondence from students. The goals of this study were to document the frequency of specific formatting mistakes that contribute to faculty’s unfavorable perception of student emails and to determine if training could reduce these errors. We analyzed emails from students to three instructors of different rank and gender co-teaching two sections of a large introductory biology class: one section received two minutes of basic email etiquette training, the second section served as the control. We report a …

The Grasp Of Physics Concepts Of Motion: Identifying Particular Patterns In Students' Thinking, Ihab Obaidat, Ehab Malkawi

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

No abstract provided.

How Do Management Students Prefer To Learn? Why Should We Care?, Ednilson Bernardes, Mark Hanna

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This paper reports the findings of a study of the learning styles of students in the operations management class at a regional comprehensive university in southeastern United States. Extant learning styles are found to be highly diverse and differ by student gender. However, in contrast to at least one prior study, the learning styles of our respondents did not differ by student major. Five areas of opportunity for future research arising from the results of this study are identified in the paper’s conclusion.

Using Modeling And Creating A Research Discourse Community To Teach A Doctoral Action Research Course, Cher Hendricks

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching action research through modeling. Participants were 11 doctoral students enrolled in a two-semester practitioner-based research course. In this study, I was both instructor and member of the research community. I modeled the steps of action research as I conducted a study of my practice, which focused on having students engage in reflective activities for the purpose of aligning their core educational values and the actions taken in their research studies. The students and I engaged in discussions of our research projects, and as part of the research community, …

‘Additional Comments’: The Final Word In Assessment For Humanities Undergraduates, Despina Michael

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

A key component to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) is reflection on teaching methodology and, in particular, assessment practices and how they impact on undergraduate students. The aim of this article is to explore how one particular technique—the written expression of ‘additional comments’ in a generic assessment criteria-based form—can be utilised effectively as a means of clear, constructive feedback and simultaneously as a means of engagement in dialogue with students. Dialogue is, in fact, postulated as one of the most important pedagogical tools underpinning and informing deep learning. Understanding how our words leave an impact on our students …

Creative Problem Solving For Generaleducation Intervention Teams: Examining Student Outcomes, Jennifer S. Sears

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Individuals with Disabilities Act 2004 (IDEA, 2006) emphasizes that examining a student's responses to interventions, and knowing the variables that better predict student outcomes, will improve outcomes for students going through the intervention process. This study examined four issues regarding a specific intervention process, Creative Problem Solving for GeneralEducation Intervention Teams (CPS for GEI): (a) whether students referred to the CPS for GEI teams process progressed differently based on student outcomes relative to the area of concern; (b) whether the overall quality of the action plans differed across schools; (c) whether there was a difference in student outcomes across …

Disorders Of Extreme Stress, Not Otherwise Specified, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, And Borderline Personality Disorder: A Vignette Study Exploring Clinicians' Diagnostic Perceptions, Awen Knowles

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that some individuals who suffer invasive, early childhood trauma develop significant character pathology, and may meet the criteria for both Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Trauma researchers have proposed a new diagnostic category for these individuals, called Disorders of Extreme Stress, Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS), also known as Complex PTSD. The present study compared clinicians' symptom ratings for two case vignettes to determine if DESNOS was a better description of the cases than PTSD, BPD, or comorbid PTSD/BPD. Additionally, potential sex bias in diagnosis was examined by manipulating the sex of the client in …

Caravan Second Homes: An Empirical Study Of Consumer Behaviour Towards A Depreciating Property Asset, John Martyn William Steer-Fowler

Plymouth Business School Theses

This research draws upon a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaire data to investigate the role static caravans play within second home consumerism. Fundamentally it seeks to explain why people buy such a fast depreciating property asset. Results suggest how irrespective of their income two thirds of such consumers show a passionate loyalty towards their static caravan and have little regard for alternative forms of retreat they could afford. Clearly there are significant reasons beyond price which explain such investment. At their broadest static caravans proved to be desirable for reasons of escape, salvation, control, enhancement and opportunity but …

The Inspection Time And Over-Claiming Tasks As Predictors Of Mba Student Performance, Bryan Pesta, Peter J. Poznanski

Business Faculty Publications

Elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) are typically used in laboratory settings for basic research on the structure of intelligence. More recently, ECTs have been shown to predict important educational and clinical outcomes. Here we found that ECTs possess both criterion and incremental validity over IQ and the graduate management admission test (GMAT) as predictors of (N = 116) MBA student grades and scores on a capstone exam. Validity coefficients for the ECTs ranged from 0.24 to 0.50. A median split on an ECT component showed that the best-performing ECT group had substantially higher grades, exam scores, IQs and GMAT scores. The …

Nyar Savannah Program 2009, National Youth-At-Risk Conference, Savannah

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

N/A

Litigating Groups, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Scholarly Works

Large-scale litigation, such as the Vioxx, Zyprexa, and asbestos cases, breeds conflict. Conflicts arise between attorneys and their clients (agency problems), plaintiffs and other plaintiffs (group problems), and plaintiffs' attorneys and other plaintiffs' attorneys (competition problems). Although these cases cannot be certified as class actions, they still proceed en masse to achieve economies of scale and present a credible threat to defendants. Assuming that coordinating and consolidating large-scale litigation is systemically desirable, this Article explores a new approach to removing the group and agency problems that increase aggregate litigation's costs and undermine its normative goals such as fairness, compensation, and …

Getting The Bug: Exploring Running Group Therapy For Youth With Affective Disorders, Jamie Lee Bell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mental health problems in adolescents place them on a trajectory for ongoing difficulties into adulthood. Treating youth with affective disorders using conventional interventions such as medication and talk therapy can be problematic. Important questions have been raised about the efficacy and safety of medications and some youths’ willingness to engage in counseling. There is, therefore, a need for constant attention to innovative and youth focused treatment options.

Since 2006, Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada has offered youth diagnosed primarily with depression and anxiety an opportunity to address their mental illness with the alternative treatment of running. The purpose …

Exploring The Nature Of Collaboration Between Organizations Assisting Persons Experiencing Poverty In The Region Of Waterloo, Ontario, Morgan E. Braganza

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study was designed to examine the experiences of organizations assisting individuals who are economically vulnerable in Waterloo Region through interorganizational collaboration. Several questions were explored in order to gain a deeper understanding of the definition of collaboration, for whom collaboration is useful, how often and with whom organizations collaborate, techniques used during collaboration, and whether collaboration should be increased and improved. Twenty Executive Directors from organizations most strongly involved in the assistance of those experiencing poverty were asked to participate in face-to-face interviews where they were asked questions based on the above mentioned questions. Qualitative analysis of the …

Including Spirituality: A Means To Cope With Cancer And Recommendations For Health Care Professionals, Lisa Green

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although psychosocial oncology is gaining in popularity as more research is conducted to support its inclusion in health care, there is still a lack of incorporation of spirituality in health care. The purpose of this study is to answer the following research questions: 1) How do participants use spirituality to aid in their healing? 2) How would participants like their health care professionals, specifically social workers, to incorporate spirituality into their formal care?

A qualitative, phenomenological methodology was selected for this investigation in an effort to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of people with cancer. Semi-structured interviews were …

Exploring The Experience Of University Students Coping With Acquired Or Traumatic Brain Injury, Halina Kay Lin Haag

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mild to moderate brain injury (MBI) can be a complex condition resulting in diffuse impairments that require flexible and creative supportive interventions for university students living with MBI. This study sought to increase awareness and understanding of MBI, enrich the body of lived experience research, amplify the voices of the participants and create a catalyst for change. The participants’ lived experience of the role of the negative social perception of impairment within an organizational context and the individual’s internalization of this social construct into chronic shame are critically examined. The study utilizes a multimethod approach that is influenced by the …

Neural And Behavioral Responses To The Use Of Auditory Feedback In Vocal Control, Colin S. Haweo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A large body of evidence suggests that the motor system maintains a forward model that predicts the sensory outcome of movements. When sensory feedback does not match the predicted consequences, a compensatory response corrects for the motor error and the forward model is updated to prevent future errors. Like other motor behaviours, vocalization relies on sensory feedback for the maintenance of forward models and to stabilize vocalizations.

Experiment 1 used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine sensory processing of short feedback perturbations during an ongoing utterance. In one session, participants produced a vowel at an FO of their own choosing. In …

Can Overeating Induce A Conditioned Taste Avoidance In Previously Restricted Rats?, Amanda Louise Hertel

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

While feeding is rewarding, the feeling of satiation has been theorized to be aversive under certain conditions. Using a food-restriction model of overeating developed in our laboratory the results presented here suggest that overeating, and the resulting experience of satiation, is capable of supporting a conditioned taste avoidance.

Rats had either ad lib (n=8) or restricted (n=24) food access (receiving 50% of the food eaten by ad lib fed rats) for 8 days. All rats were then given 24 hr access to a 0.1% saccharin solution, and two groups of food-restricted rats were given access to either 100% of the …

Implementing Technology In The Classroom: Assessing Teachers’ Needs Through The Use Of A Just-In-Time Support System, Alissa N. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the importance of computer technology in classrooms today, it is crucial to identify the types of supports that will facilitate teachers’ effective implementation of technology. Ten teachers (four kindergarten, four grade one, and two grade one/two) received just-in-time support while introducing a reading software program in their class. An additional 12 teachers (four kindergarten, seven grade one, and one grade two) were exposed to the software, but did not receive just-in-time support. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of instructional sessions were conducted in order to determine the kinds of support that teachers required throughout the intervention. Results provided an …

Exploring The Reintegration Process For Child Soldiers: A Case Study Of Young Women And Their Children In Northern Uganda, Allison N. Martin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Child soldiering has occurred throughout history in the never-ending battle over land, resources and human rights. The earliest mention of minors in war comes from antiquity however it was not until the 1970s that the first international convention came into effect in an attempt to limit the participation of children in armed conflict (Wikipedia, 2009b). Unfortunately, children remain active in armed conflicts around the world as combatants, porters, spies, messengers, sex slaves and human shields. Human Rights Watch (2007) estimates that 200,000 to 300,000 children are currently serving in rebel and government forces in over 20 countries around the world. …

Population Density, Circulating Testosterone And Dawn Chorus Behaviour In White-Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia Albicollis), Simon Richard Hall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An integrative approach to biological research has facilitated the study not only of specific phenomena, but of the connections between these phenomena. A particularly striking example is that of the relationships between testosterone, social behavior, and social context. Increased levels of testosterone increase the frequency of aggressive behaviors and reduce the quality of parental care in many songbird species, and these changes in behavior can affect the surrounding social environment. Different social contexts, population density as a readily studied example, affect the cues that control the release of testosterone into the bloodstream. The distinct tan-stripe and white-stripe phenotypic morphs of …

Effects Of Context On Target Localization, Cheryl M. Lavell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how the presence of non-target objects can influence the planning of a movement towards a remembered target location. One specific aim was to examine how the temporal effects of the task could affect movement planning. The final aim of this thesis was to examine whether or not the mere presence of extrinsic cues can suppress the encoding of intrinsic cues.

It was found that when non-target objects are presented simultaneously with the target, interference occurs; however, if the non-target objects are presented at least 250 ms in advance of the targets performance …

Birds Of A Feather Sit Together: Physical Similarity Predicts Seating Choice, Sean Mackinnon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The relationship between physical similarity and seating preference was examined using two observational studies and one laboratory study. Using Campbell et al.’s (1966) seating adjacency formula, Study 1 found significant aggregation by glasses-wearing status and sex when observing seating patterns in a library computer lab. That is, men sat beside other men, glasses-wearers by other glasses wearers, and so on. Study 2 broadened this methodology by examining a wider variety of physical traits in university classrooms; specifically, race, sex, glasses-wearing, hair length and hair colour. Broadly speaking, multivariate tests revealed an overall tendency for people to sit beside physically similar …