Digital Commons Network^™

Ell And Non-Ell Students' Misconceptions About Heat And Temperature In Middle School, Leah Weiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

All students come to the classroom with their own ideas about a number of science phenomena. In the classroom setting, English language learners may have ideas about heat and temperature that present additional challenges for teachers. In fact, their ideas can stem from many different influences and English language learners (ELL), in particular, may have misconceptions about topics and language barriers, or misconceptions, that are culturally or language-based (Lee, 2001). This action research thesis was performed to explore the research questions: How did my use of formative assessment affect ELL students' misconceptions about heat?, How did my use of formative …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Adolescent Females' Use Of Social Networking Websites, Janine Pate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the present study was to explore the ways adolescent females, age 14 through 17, utilized social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook for communication, self-presentation and identity development purposes. Uses and gratifications theory served as a framework for identifying the participants' motivations for heavily using these websites, which allow users to post pictures, interests and updates for their friends to view and interact with online. Using a qualitative method, one preliminary focus group and ten in-depth interviews were conducted, totaling fifteen female participants between the ages of 14 and 17. Interview questions covered topics such as …

Exploring The Association Of The Attributes Of Self-Service Kiosks, Customer Check-In Satisfaction, And Customer Commitment In C, Gary Deel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research regarding self-service technology and its integration into the traditional service environment is relatively limited as it applies to the lodging industry. The purpose of this study was to investigate the customer check-in satisfaction and customer commitment impacts of self-service hotel kiosks as implemented in convention hotels by examining perceptions of kiosk users. It has been theorized that customer perceptions of self-service technology attributes are positively related to satisfaction and subsequent commitment. A model was employed in this study that had been previously supported outside of the hospitality industry which demonstrated support for a universal standard of investigating self-service technology …

Inclusionary Practices: Impact Of Administrators' Beliefs On Placement Decisions, Maria Vazquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School leaders are charged with responding to the challenges presented by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the education of students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. The idea of least restrictive environment moves schools from educating students with disabilities in special education to regular education classrooms, from special education schools to neighborhood schools. Providing inclusive settings poses many obstacles and challenges to school based administrators and in their capacity school leaders can either alleviate or generate barriers for the process; they can inhibit or inspire school personnel to accept the inclusion of students with disabilities in the …

The Effects Of Two Group Approaches On Counseling Students' Empathy Development, Group Leader Self-Efficacy Development, And Experience Of Hte Therapeutic Factors, Jonathan Ohrt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Counselor education programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) require their students to participate in a group experience as a member for 10 clock hours over the course of an academic term (CACREP, 2009). In addition, the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) recommends that students participate in a group experience as a member or a leader for at least 10 hours and states that 20 hours of participation is preferable (ASGW, 2000). Counselor education programs satisfy the requirement in a variety of ways (Anderson & Price, 2001; Armstrong, 2002; Merta et …

The Effect Of Brief Training In Motivational Interviewing On Client Outcomes And Trainee Skill Development, Tabitha Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based practice that focuses on working through client ambivalence and increasing clients' motivation to change. The purposes of this study were to investigate the effect that a unique student-based training in MI had on counselor trainees' ability to perform MI, and on client outcomes. This training program consisted of one initial four-hour training session, two hours of follow-up supervision, and formal feedback via MITI 3.0 scores. Counselor-trainee skill was assessed via the MI Knowledge Questionnaire, the Helping Responses questionnaire, and the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity code 3.0. In addition, the following instruments were used to …

Principal And Teacher Perceptions Of Change Implementation Practices In 2007 And 2008 Small Learning Communities Grant Recipient, Benjamin Bristo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leading through change is a difficult process. School leaders who hope to create meaningful, long-term change must be cognizant of numerous factors. This study was undertaken with the hope of increasing educational leaders' awareness of how their decisions are viewed by those who follow them. Case studies revealed pertinent data within two schools that have undertaken a significant change initiative. All 2007 and 2008 Small Learning Communities (SLC) grant-recipient schools in Florida were invited to participate in a series of case studies. Participating principals were questioned about their perceptions of how they fulfill their change leadership role related to the …

The Impacts Of Co-Teaching On The General Education Student, Alicia Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate four research questions concerning the impact of co-teaching on general education students educated within a classroom inclusion model. General education students who received instruction during their 10th-grade year in a co-taught language arts or mathematics class were compared with other 10th-grade students receiving instruction from the same teacher but without the additional co-teacher. Achievement data from the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) were gathered on these students. The state of Florida calculates and reports developmental scale scores (DSS) for students taking the FCAT. These scores are calculated to track student progress over …

Student Digital Piracy In The Florida State University System:An Exploratory Study On Its Infrastructural Effects, Jeffrey Reiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital piracy is a problem that may never disappear from society. Through readily available resources such as those found in a university, students will always have access to illegal goods. While piracy is a global phenomenon, an institution's resources combined with the typical college student's lack of funds makes it more lucrative. Students use a number of methods to justify their actions ranging from previewing media to bringing justice to a corrupt company. While trying to understand the mindset of pirates is one route to deal with piracy, corporations attempted to alleviate the situation using added software encoding. These messages …

A Correlational Study Between The Amount Of Property Wealth Behind Each Student Attending Florida District Schools And The Acade, Willie Saenz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the concern for standardized testing continues to rise, so to does the concern for providing students with an appropriate and equal educational opportunity. The goal of this research was to investigate relevant data to determine if there is a relationship between the wealth behind each student and the academic proficiency amongst 5th grade white, black, and Hispanic students within the 67 counties of Florida. The desired outcome of this study was to produce information relevant to political leaders, educational leaders, and teachers in Florida public school districts with influential strategies necessary to increase the proportion of 5th grade students …

Learning For The Next Generation: Predicting The Usage Of Synthetic Learning Environments, Arthur Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The push to further the use of technology in learning has broadened the attempts of many to find innovated ways to aid the new, technologically savvy generation of learners, in acquiring the knowledge needed for their education and training. A critical component to the success of these initiatives is the proper application of the science of learning (Cannon-Bowers and Bowers, 2009). One technological initiative that can benefit from this application is the use of synthetic learning environments (SLEs). SLEs are instructional systems embedded within virtual worlds. These worlds can be simulations of some task, for instance a simulation that may …

Empirical Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Eye Tracking-Based Search Performance Diagnosis And Feedback Methods, Meredith Carroll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's complex combat environments, troops are often faced with increasingly challenging tasks different from those experienced in the past. Warfighters must be trained in adaptive perceptual skill sets, such as search strategies that enable them to detect threats across any number of environmental, cultural, and situational conditions. The goal of the present study was to explore how advanced technology, specifically eye tracking, can be used to increase understanding of perceptual processes such as search and detection and provide tools that can be used to train search skills. Experiment 1 examined a method of diagnosing perceptual performance in order to …

Structural, Electronic, Vibrational And Thermodynamical Properties Of Surfaces And Nanoparticles, Handan Yildirim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main focus of the thesis is to have better understanding of the atomic and electronic structures, vibrational dynamics and thermodynamics of metallic surfaces and bi-metallic nanoparticles (NPs) via a multi-scale simulational approach. The research presented here involves the study of the physical and chemical properties of metallic surfaces and NPs that are useful to determine their functionality in building novel materials. The study follows the 'bottom-up' approach for which the knowledge gathered at the scale of atoms and NPs serves as a base to build, at the macroscopic scale, materials with desired physical and chemical properties. We use a …

Epitaxial Growth, Characterization And Application Of Novel Wide Bandgap Oxide Semiconductors, Jeremy Mares

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, a body of knowledge is presented which pertains to the growth, characterization and exploitation of high quality, novel II-IV oxide epitaxial films and structures grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The two compounds of primary interest within this research are the ternary films NixMg1-xO and ZnxMg1-xO and the investigation focuses predominantly on the realization, assessment and implementation of these two oxides as optoelectronic materials. The functioning hypothesis for this largely experimental effort has been that these cubic ternary oxides can be exploited - and possibly even juxtaposed - to realize novel wide band gap optoelectronic technologies. The …

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (Mems) And Agile Lensing-Based Modules For Communications, Sensing And Signal Processing., Syed Reza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes the use of the emerging Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and agile lensing optical device technologies to design novel and powerful signal conditioning and sensing modules for advanced applications in optical communications, physical parameter sensing and RF/optical signal processing. For example, these new module designs have experimentally demonstrated exceptional features such as stable loss broadband operations and high > 60 dB optical dynamic range signal filtering capabilities. The first part of the dissertation describes the design and demonstration of digital MEMS-based signal processing modules for communication systems and sensor networks using the TI DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology. Examples of …

Fast Response Dual Frequency Liquid Crystal Materials, Qiong Song

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dual frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) exhibits a positive dielectric anisotropy at low frequencies and negative dielectric anisotropy at high frequencies. The frequency where dielectric anisotropy is zero is called crossover frequency. DFLC can achieve fast rise time and fast decay time with the assistance of applied voltage. However, one drawback of DFLC is that it has dielectric heating effect when driven at a high frequency. Thus, the first part of this dissertation is to develop low crossover frequency DFLC materials. The dielectric relaxation and physical properties of some single- and double-ester compounds were investigated. Experimental results indicate that the double-ester …

Machinima And Video-Based Soft Skills Training, Curtis Conkey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multimedia training methods have traditionally relied heavily on video based technologies and significant research has shown these to be very effective training tools. However production of video is time and resource intensive. Machinima (pronounced 'muh-sheen-eh-mah') technologies are based on video gaming technology. Machinima technology allows video game technology to be manipulated into unique scenarios based on entertainment or training and practice applications. Machinima is the converting of these unique scenarios into video vignettes that tell a story. These vignettes can be interconnected with branching points in much the same way that education videos are interconnected as vignettes between decision points. …

Integrating Universal Design For Learning Concepts Into Secondary General Education Instructional Methods Courses, Kimberly Pawling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because many general education teachers feel unprepared to provide students with disabilities with appropriate instruction, changes to teacher education programs are needed (Burdette, 2007; Smith et al., 2010). Teacher education programs need to integrate content regarding instructional methods for teaching and accommodating students with disabilities in secondary, general education classrooms (Burdette, 2007; Smith et al., 2010). The results of the research should provide insight (1) to determine if integrating instruction on UDL into preservice SGE students' instructional methods courses will increase students' knowledge of UDL and (2) to determine if integrating instruction on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) will affect …

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac: Creatures Of Regulatory Privilege, David J. Reiss

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This book chapter addresses the appropriate role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered, privately owned mortgage finance companies, in the United States housing finance sector. The federal government recently placed Fannie and Freddie in conservatorship. These two massive companies are profit-driven, but as government-sponsored enterprises they also have a government-mandated mission to provide liquidity and stability to the United States mortgage market and to achieve certain affordable housing goals. How the two companies should exit their conservatorship has implications that reach throughout the global financial markets and are of key importance to the future of American housing finance …

Phonological Features Of Hong Kong English : Patterns Of Variation And Effects On Local Acceptability, Andrew John Sewell

Lingnan Theses

The changing dynamics of international communication in English have led to a intense questioning of the relevance of native-speaker pronunciation models in language teaching and testing. In addition, the World Englishes approach to local varieties has increased their level of recognition. Both of these developments suggest that English pronunciation models need to be reviewed, and Hong Kong represents an interesting case study. Although it has been claimed that Hong Kong English is at the ‘nativization’ stage, the existence of exonormative attitudes towards English is also well known. Two important questions arise from this inherent tension, neither of which has been …

A Comparison Between The Verbal Interruptions By Speakers Of English As A Lingua Franca (Elf) And Speakers Of English As A Native Language (Enl), Yue Yuan Li

Lingnan Theses

Previous research focused primarily on how interruptions vary according to social factors in situations where English is the native language for all speakers (see Menz and Al-Roubaie, 2008; O‟Reilly, 2008; West and Zimmerman, 1983; Zimmerman and West, 1975). Little has been done on interruptions in situations where English is used as a lingua franca. The purpose of this research is to 1) provide conversational evidence on how experienced ELF speakers make interruptions, 2) explore functions of interruptions in ELF communication; 3) compare the types and functions of interruptions in ELF communication with those in ENL communication; 4) compare the types …

Do Analyst Earnings Beta Explain Growth Anomaly?, Sophie Phuong Thanh Doan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Using a measure of cashflow risk derived from analyst forecasts, I find that cashflow risk offers a partial explanation for the value – growth anomaly. In particular, the lowest asset growth portfolio has a higher earnings beta than the highest asset growth portfolio. Approximately cashflow risk measured by earnings beta carries a significant positive risk premium of 1.24% with a t-value of 3.51.

Corporate Governance And Earnings Management Before Share Repurchase Announcements In Singapore, Jian Ming Chua

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Share repurchase in Singapore was legalized in 1998. It is well known that investors view share repurchase as good news. This study is based on share repurchase announcements from 2006 to 2009. The mean Cumulative Market-Adjusted Returns (CAR) for the period [0, +1] and [-1, +1] are significant at 1.25% and 1.33% respectively. In Singapore, there are positive abnormal returns following share repurchase announcements in support of the ―free cash flow‖ hypothesis. By using the Singapore Corporate Governance Index as a proxy, the weakly governed companies exhibit the strongest, positive and significant CAR of 2.62% for the period [0, +1]. …

Fragmented Authoritarianism And Politics Of Hydropower In China : Case Studies Of Tgp & Nrp, Miu Fai, Tommy Wong

Lingnan Theses

Thanks for economic improvements since the ‘open-door policy’ in 1978; China’s international status has been improving economically and even politically. For instance, she has become a major contributor of BRIC which is a group of four most rapidly developing countries in the world, i.e. Brazil, Russia, India and China, and the largest buyer of U.S. treasury bonds in the world. Nevertheless, a number of intellectuals like Liu and Shirk pointed out that there are still a number of difficulties – both exogenous and endogenous – underneath.1 This research would like to concentrate on one of the aspects which Chinese investigators …

Auditor Type, Firm Ownership And Auditor Reporting Under A Joint Audit Requirement : Exploratory Evidence From India, Ting Zou

Lingnan Theses

India is one of the largest developing countries in the world. Although many issues and phenomena arising from its transitional economy are worthy of research from an accounting perspective, the Indian accounting market is a field that remains relatively unexplored in the extant literature. One of the institutional features of India is that while it is mandatory for public sector companies and banks to have joint auditors, their appointment is voluntary for other companies. In a thesis motivated by this and other institutional features and the absence of related accounting and auditing studies conducted in an Indian setting, I examine …

The Effects Of Perceived Brand Globalness On Consumer Responses To Brand Failures, Xue Gao

Lingnan Theses

Even big companies cannot guarantee their brands never ever fail customers. Recently the brand failures of Toyota taught us a vivid lesson that a brand takes decades to be built up but to be ruined overnight. Although, the advantages of building global brands are well recognized in literature, the superiorities of global brands in brand failure context are not yet studied. This study aims to investigate the effects of perceived brand globalness (PBG) on consumer affective and behavioral responses to brand failures. Global brands are perceived superior to local brands due to factors like higher quality perceptions and prestige feelings. …

Goal Interdependence And Conflict Management For Government And Business Collaboration In China, Xinru Wu

Lingnan Theses

This study empirically examines the dynamics and conditions of conflict managing approaches on government and business collaboration. It posits that conflict for mutual benefit critically effects government and business collaboration outcomes. This study adopts Deutsch’s (1973) theory of goal interdependence to understand when and how government officials and business managers adopt the mutually beneficial conflict approach. It proposes that cooperative goals between government officials and business managers promote the mutually beneficial conflict approach and reduce win-lose competitive conflict and avoiding conflict.

A total of 101 interviews were conducted in China in 2009. Results of structural equation modeling and other analyses …

The Impact Of Universal Design For Learning-Representation Practices On Concept Maps And The Development Of Quality Scientific Explanations, Lisa A. Finnegan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research project was to determine how my practice of implementing Universal Design for Learning-Representation (UDL-R) principles influenced my students’ understanding of content and enhanced their ability to organize their knowledge using concept maps. A secondary purpose of this action research project was to determine if student created concept maps served as a useful tool to enrich students’ written scientific explanations. Students in this study completed concept maps and wrote explanations about adaptations before and after participating in lessons enriched with UDL-R principles that included the use of multimedia sources, website searches, and trade books. The …

Issues In Validity Generalization The Criterion Problem, Raquel Hodge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Schmidt and Hunter‟s validity generalization model poses seven sources of error variance affecting validation studies. Of the seven sources of error variance, only four sources have been tested. This study looks at an additional source of error variance, the difference between studies in the amount and kind of criterion contamination and deficiency, as proposed by Schmidt and Hunter. The current study proposes a method of evaluating criterion contamination and deficiency in criterion measures in order to minimize their effects on the relationship between criterion and predictor measures. Two unique criteria are used including a traditional subjective measure of current performance …

Magnetic Nanosensors For Multiplexed Bacterial Pathogenesis Identification, Charalambos Kaittanis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing diagnostic modalities that utilize nanomaterials and miniaturized detectors can have an impact in point-of-care diagnostics. Diagnostic systems that (i) are sensitive, robust, and portable, (ii) allow detection in clinical samples, (iii) require minimal sample preparation yielding results quickly, and (iv) can simultaneously quantify multiple targets, would have a great potential in biomedical research and public healthcare. Bacterial infections still cause pathogenesis throughout the world (Chapter I). The emergence of multi-drug resistant strains, the potential appearance of bacterial pandemics, the increased occurrence of bacterial nosocomial infections, the wide-scale food poisoning incidents and the use of bacteria in biowarfare highlight the …