Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Simplified Schema-Based Instruction On Elementary Students' Mathematical Word Problem Solving Performance, Houbin Lewis Fang

Dissertations

This study is an evidence-based mathematical intervention in word problem solving for elementary students. One of the purposes of teaching mathematics is to help students apply mathematics to real life situations. As we know, teaching word problem solving is a very suitable format for this purpose. Schema-based instruction (SBI) is one of the most supported methods for teaching word problem solving. In the current literature, there are four steps in SBI: identifying the problem type, applying corresponding method, determining an operation, and solving the problem. The problem with the current SBI is that there are no agreed-upon definitions for word …

"Are You Talking To Me?": Evaluating Possible Cognitive Mediators On The Relation Between Narcissism And Aggressive Traits In Adolescents, Jessica Diane Pickard

Dissertations

Narcissistic personality characteristics (e.g., grandiosity, entitlement, exploitativeness, exhibitionism) are associated with various forms of problem behaviors in children or adolescents, including aggression. The aim of this study was to extend what is known about the relation between narcissism and aggression. Specifically, social-cognitive factors (i.e., hostile attributions, attitudes supporting the use of aggression) were hypothesized to mediate this relation. Two hundred nineteen (219) participants between the ages of 16 and 19 years (M = 16.83 yrs; SD = .80) were recruited for this study. Participants were of both sexes (85% male) and of Caucasian (62%), African American (37 %) and …

A Comparative Study Of Teachers' Attitudes And Practices Regarding Homework In The Elementary, Middle, And High School Grades, Courtney Pisarich Peltier

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes and practices of elementary, middle, and high school teachers regarding homework. In addition, the study sought to find if there was a relationship between the teachers’ attitudes and practices of homework, as well as finding the differences between the grade levels.

The questionnaire used for this study consisted of 18 items focused on teachers’ attitudes toward homework using a five-point Likert scale. In addition, six questions on the survey were asked regarding demographics, and there were eight questions pertaining to teacher homework practices. A Pearson Correlation was used to examine …

Student-Centered Versus Teacher-Centered Teaching Styles In High Poverty And Low Poverty Schools And Their Impact On Language Arts And Math Mct2 Scores, Hollie Moore Parker

Dissertations

Because No child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, ensures that all students reach a specified minimum standard of academic success, teaching styles tend to be scrutinized by school leaders constantly. This research included Math and Language Art teachers from 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. This meditational study examined whether or not teaching styles mediates the relationship between on academic achievement based on Socio-Economic and School Accountability Status. Using Principals of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) respondent data was analyzed via Mediation.

The principal dissertation research questions addressed in this study were: a) Do students score higher on Language Arts Mississippi …

A Century Of Singing: 100 Years Of Choral Music At The University Of Southern Mississippi, John Howard

Dissertations

The year 2010 marked the centennial anniversary of The University of Southern Mississippi (hereafter referred to as Southern Miss), whose School of Music is one of the largest in the southeastern United States. A major part of the School of Music at Southern Miss is the choral program. Until now, no effort has been made to collect and document the historical development of this choral program. This is an attempt to research, collate, and record the history of the choral program at The University of Southern Mississippi, focusing on the areas of choral leadership, choral ensembles, and notable activities and …

Closing The Gap Between Teacher Perception And Response To Intervention (Rti) Student Achievement, Melissa A. Hyatt Bouchér

Dissertations

Many communities rely on public schools to educate and properly train students who become the future members of society. So with educational groundwork constantly changing, districts are charged with excelling in various areas like Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Quality of Distribution Index (QDI). One area within that concern focuses on student behavior prevention programs by improving student achievement and increasing state test scores. Educational leaders reexamine teacher qualifications, rigor and relevance in classroom instruction, class size reduction, and providing effective professional development sessions aligning in accordance to each school’s vision and goals.

The purpose of this study was to …

Women's Cognitive Appraisals Of Their Birth Experience As Predictive And Maintaining Factors Of Postpartum Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity, Lauren Carr Spooner

Dissertations

Empirical support has accumulated for evidence of posttraumatic stress symptoms following approximately 30% of childbirth experiences (Olde, van der Hart, Kleber, & van Son, 2006). Researchers have suggested that there is a complex relationship among predisposing, precipitating, and maintaining factors that impact postpartum PTSD (Slade, 2006). Anxiety, perception of support, and negative cognitions are such factors that have been shown to significantly correlate with PTSD symptoms (Foa & Rothbaum, 1998; Olde et al., 2006; Soet, Brack, & Dilorio, 2003), but have not been studied together in relation to PTSD associated with traumatic birth. The current study controlled for trait anxiety …

Barriers And Enablers Of Interdisciplinary Research At Academic Institutions, Leslie Suzanne Thornton Butler

Dissertations

This research study examines the factors that motivate and lead to the success of faculty members who conduct interdisciplinary research. Because a comprehensive study of the research patterns of interdisciplinary researchers has not been conducted, the main intent of this research project was to create an instrument that would measure research habits and attitudes. It is important that such research be conducted using individuals who are interdisciplinary researchers as well as disciplinary researchers. One intent of the research study was to provide comparisons between disciplinary researchers and interdisciplinary researchers. Another intent was to provide university administrators with a better understanding …

Leading Schools To Increased Reading Achievement: An Investigation Into Effective Reading Instruction, Patricia Anne Alford

Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of two models of middle school reading instruction as measured by mean scores of middle school students on a state criterion-referenced test. Two cohorts of students were repeatedly compared over a three year period: students who received reading instruction as a core content class (Intervention A) and students who received reading instruction through content-area courses of math, social studies, science, and language arts (Intervention B). The independent variable was the reading program implemented and the dependent variables were the scale scores on the Reading portion of the CRCT test. A mixed model analysis of variance …

The Relationship Between Teacher Collaboration And Student Achievement, Sandra Reid Ervin

Dissertations

NCLB mandates have placed a strong sense of responsibility on educators to ensure that all students are performing at their optimal academic levels. The collaboration of educators is needed as the accountability for student performances increases. At the school level, collaboration and a focus on instruction influence productivity, morale, teacher retention and ultimately, student achievement. The role of the administrators is to provide a collaborative culture where teachers are empowered to analyze and work together to solve problems. Administrators should provide time and space for the teachers to collaborate.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to ascertain the relationship …

Factors Affecting Private School Choice, John Herman Hartsell Sr.

Dissertations

This study explored the underlying factors that influence parents’ choices of educational institution for their children in private schools in a southern United States coastal city. It also explored why parents chose the specific private school their child is currently enrolled in and their satisfaction level with teacher, parent and student relationships. Parental satisfaction with the overall instructional program and the services provided was also explored in this study. Data was collected from parents with students currently enrolled in one of two different private schools with input from 253 parents.

A central finding in this research is that parents who …

A Comparison Of Adult- And Peer-Mediated Intervention For Autism: A Case Study, Maura Jones Moyle

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

This study examined the response of a young child with autism to two play-based intervention conditions: adult-mediated and peer-mediated. The client was five years old, demonstrated moderate-to-severe autism, and exhibited developmental functioning between the 14 to 34 month level. The peer-mediated condition, based on a modified Integrated Play Group approach, utilized a typically developing peer who was three years of age. The study utilized an ABAB alternating treatment design to compare the impact of the adult- and peer-mediated interventions. Results from the current study suggest that the adult-mediated intervention resulted in increased engagement and more sophisticated social-communicative behaviors than the …

How The Poor Are Getting Poorer: The Proliferation Of Payday Loans In Texas Via State Charter Renting., Christopher Konneker

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Using International Human Rights Law To Combat Racial Discrimination In The U.S. Criminal Justice System., Terrence Rogers

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Statistics tend to show Black people commit most of the crime in the United States. Those statistics fail to account for unequal treatment of minorities at each stage of the criminal justice system. This unequal treatment may take the form of buy-and-bust operations, racial profiling, street sweeps, and other police activities which target people in low-income communities populated mainly by minorities. The American criminal justice system contains a cyclical, self-perpetuating aspect to the treatment of certain minorities. These perceptions direct a disproportionate amount of law enforcement attention on minorities, which leads to disproportionate arrests of minorities. The result shows racial …

Police Programs, Canines, And Contingency Theory: An Explanation Of Canine Numbers Among Large Police Departments, David Wayne Welker

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF DAVID WELKER, for the Master of Arts degree in CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, presented on OCTOBER 18, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: POLICE PROGRAMS, CANINES, AND CONTINGENCY THEORY: AN EXPLANATION OF CANINE NUMBERS AMONG LARGE POLICE DEPARTMENTS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Joseph Schafer Canines have provided services for humans over many centuries. More recently, they have been used for police work. Canines are used to apprehend suspects, track people, and find drugs. They are also seen as a less-than-lethal weapon and can be used in a number of different programs such as D.A.R.E./crime …

The Role Of Verbal Working Memory In New Word Learning In Toddlers 24 To 30 Months Old, France Weill

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Pittsburg State University Annual Commencement, December 2011, Pittsburg State University

Commencement, 1903-Present

Program of undergraduate and graduate commencement exercises at Pittsburg State University on December of 2011

Factors Influencing Participant Perceptions Of Program Impact: Lessons From A Virtual Fieldtrip For Middle-School Students, Omolola A. Adedokun, Loran C. Parker, Jamie Loizzo, Wiella D. Burgess, Joseph P. Robinson

Journal of Extension

Participant perceptions of program effectiveness and impact are undoubtedly a popular focus of Extension program evaluations. However, the effects of participants' characteristics and contextual variables on program perceptions and how the resulting data can be used for program improvement are less explored in evaluation studies. Using data from the evaluation of an electronic fieldtrip as an exemplar case, this article describes a study that employed the method of linear regression to examine the influences of demographic variables and program contextual factors on participants' perceptions of program effectiveness. The implications for Extension evaluation and programming are also discussed.

Effect Of Psychological Conditioning Supported With Technology On Some Psychological Skills Tennis Players And Level Of Performance For Table, Mervat Deeb, Hashem Adnan Kilani

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The purpose of the study was to detect the effect of a psychological program supported by Macromedia Flash technology on some of psychological conditioning skills and the level of skills performance for table tennis players. Seven subjects comprised of 5 male and 2 female players from the Jordan national team with age ranges 12-15 year of old were intentionally selected. Measurement of muscle relaxation, mental imagery, state of competition anxiety, self talk, and colored readiness concentration (in-house built) for table tennis players. Skill performance during the competition was also assessed using special forms. Experiment design involved one group with pre …

Editor's Introduction, Henry C. Theriault, Samuel Totten

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The field of genocide studies is concerned with all aspects of the crime of genocide (including pre- and post-events). It is a relatively new (some thirty-five years old) but burgeoning field. Its scholars come from diverse fields: political science, history, sociology, psychology, law, literature, anthropology, philosophy, education, and even medicine. Most genocide scholars publish their research in their respective dis- ciplines’ journals as well as journals that primarily focus on genocide.

Full Issue 6.3

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Genocide Studies: An Australian Perspective, Colin Tatz

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The burgeoning field of genocide studies is faced with several concerns. Foremost is the challenge of finding a space for encompassing and embracing the Holocaust with some comfort. The Judeocide is an ally, not an enemy, and not on the margins. Our maturing discipline needs to find a sense of collegiality, consensus on terminology, and yardsticks with which to measure scales, dimensions, and degrees of the crime. Several other themes also need attention: wider perspectives on the prerequisites of genocide, starvation as a genocidal weapon, a clear separa- tion between motive and intent, genocide by omission, the elusive concepts of …

Leaving The Parental Home: An Overview Of The Current State Of Genocide Studies, Daniel Feierstein

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article examines current developments in genocide studies, focusing specifi- cally on three main areas of conflict and debate between different perspectives: the question of how to define genocide, causal models and comparative studies, and prevention. Further, this article presents an analysis of Eurocentrism in the field, arguing that genocide studies needs a broader scope to include new and unique perspectives from all areas of the world. What is needed, in fact, is genuine intercultural dialogue, which can transform the field of genocide studies into a broad, culturally diverse field.

Critique Of Current Genocide Studies, Robert Melson

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The present article critiques the views that (1) modern genocide does not substan- tially differ from its historical predecessors, (2) that all genocide is a product of imperialism, and (3) that the study of genocide can be reduced to a study of perpe- trators and collaborators, while the testimonies of victims and survivors need not be taken into account. In contrast, this article suggests (1) that there are signifi- cant differences between modern or contemporary genocide and the mass murders of the past, (2) that there is no single explanation for genocide since there are different types of genocide that …

Revisiting A Founding Assumption Of Genocide Studies, A Dirk Moses

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Genocide studies has come a long way over the past decade, having attained a level of intellectual sobriety, academic credibility, and public recognition virtually inconceivable forty years ago. At the same time, there have been signs of convergence between the fields of genocide studies and Holocaust historiography and studies. This development can be challenging for those in Holocaust studies and historio- graphy because the relationship betweem the two disciplines is complicated by genocide studies’ claim to incorporate the Holocaust into its object of inquiry, whereas the reverse does not hold. There is a potentially subordinate situation here, or at least …

The Relationship Between Parent Involvement And Preschool Children's Social Competence And Learning Behaviors, Amanda Dewar

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between parent involvement and preschool children’s social competence and learning behaviors. Research is emerging to suggest a positive relationship between parent involvement and preschool children’s social competence and learning behaviors among Head Start populations. The participants in this study were a volunteer sample of parents and teachers of 130 preschool students. These preschool students attended preschool as tuition-paying students, students who attended preschool in order to receive special education, or students who attended preschool at no cost through a program that identified them as being at-risk. Parent involvement was measured …

Nursing Educator's Experiences In Implementing The American Association Of Colleges Of Nursing's Accreditation Standards Related To Cultural Diversity Education, Molly Kuhle

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Students' Experiences Of Seeing The Whole Of A Clinical Situation, Mary Kay Rolloff

Dissertations

Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals. Their ability to think critically and communicate effectively even in ambiguous and uncertain situations has a direct effect on the quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness of health care. Nurses must be able to utilize critical thinking to move beyond seeing individual pieces or components of patients' clinical pictures to seeing the whole, with an appreciation of how the pieces connect and interrelate. Graduate nurses have reported difficulty in seeing the whole of a clinical situation. This qualitative study used descriptive phenomenology to describe how senior nursing students came to see the whole …

Preservice Teachers' Self Efficacy And Knowledge Of Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Shani Shillingford

Dissertations

The extent of preservice teachers' knowledge of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and their self efficacy were examined in this research. The participants included a convenience sample of 230 (184 females, 46 males) undergraduate general education and special education preservice teachers enrolled in Fall 2011 teacher education classes in a mid-sized Midwestern university, located in a mid-sized city. The age of the participants ranged from 19 to 51 with a mean age of 23.37 years (SD= 6.8 years). The Teacher Self Efficacy Scale (TSES) (long form) and Knowledge of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders questionnaire were administered to the sample. The …

Nurses Information Appraisal Within The Clinical Setting, Heather D. Carter-Templeton

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Information appraisal is foundational to information literacy, a necessary skill to support evidence-based practice. Little discussion in nursing literature exists regarding how nurses appraise information. If nurses lack information appraisal skills they cannot safely and effectively apply evidence in practice. Furthermore, if nurses at all levels are to engage in evidence-based practice, information appraisal in the clinical setting must be understood. The research study used an interpretive description design to define and describe the process of information appraisal in the clinical setting. Participants of this study represented a stratified purposeful sample of 44 registered nurses employed at a regional medical …