Digital Commons Network^™

Arts Education In Swedish Teacher Training – What’S At Stake?, Monica Lindgren, Claes Ericsson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Swedish teacher education has undergone several reforms in recent decades aimed at incorporating teacher education into the university setting and strengthening the teaching profession. In view of earlier research that has shown how arts education in schools is ruled by dominant knowledge ideologies, the purpose of the project is to critically scrutinize current discourses related to arts learning and arts education in teacher education. The study is based on social constructionist theory and data were collected by various means, including 19 focus group interviews with teachers and students at 10 Swedish teacher education institutes.

Our analysis shows that an academic …

The Impact Of A Reflective Thinking Intervention On Nursing Students In A Child And Family Nursing Course, Vicky Holle Becherer

Dissertations

With the ever-changing healthcare systems, nursing students need to think at a high level by applying their knowledge from theory to the clinical setting by prioritizing, delegating, and problem solving to provide safe, competent, quality nursing care. Using action research, nursing students participated in R.A.V.E. (Reflective Thinking Allows Variety for Excellence) Reviews to see how they used their past experiences, knowledge, and beliefs to arrive at the appropriate answers and/or solutions to exam questions and real life situations. A purposive sample of 65 nursing students in a Child and Family Nursing course from the Spring 2010 and Fall 2010 semesters …

Social Capital: Measurement, Dimensional Interactions, And Performance Implications, James Turner

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
Recent OM literature conceptualizes social capital as being comprised of three inter-related dimensions: the relational dimension, the structural dimension, and the cognitive dimension. Existing research suggests that ocial capital offers firms the potential to leverage their interorganizational relationships to create sustainable advantage and superior performance opportunities for the firm.
However, despite the interest and attention of social capital theory among operations management (OM) and supply chain management (SCM) researchers, there is a surprising shortage of cohesive empirical research on social capital theory. The absence of reliable and valid empirical measures of social capital has limited OM researchers' ability to …

Monumental-It: A 'Robotic-Wiki' Monument For Embodied Interaction In The Information World, Tarek Mokhtar

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
Conventional monuments are concrete manifestations of memories without the capacity to reflect individual interpretations of history. In an increasingly digital society, however, there is a need for configurable monuments reflecting our contemporary, open and complex community. “Monumental-IT” reflects the dynamic and inclusive character of our time. Rather than static, Monumental-IT is a dynamic, robotic, intelligent environment reconfigured or “retuned” by citizens and by historical information accumulating on the World Wide Web. This information is periodically “coded,” altering the multi-sensorial physical-digital “Robotic-Wiki” components of Monumental-IT. Monumental-IT is designed to embody a new form of human-robotic interaction evolving from the monument …

The Rights Of Children Affected By Aids: A Policy Paper Focusing On The Right To Education, Gita Jaffe

All Dissertations

HIV and AIDS have the potential to surpass every catastrophe in Africa's history, because they encompass all of the past vulnerabilities. Thirty years after the identification of HIV, a transition from medical disease to social epidemic has occurred. The impact on family and community is threatening current economic, medical and social systems. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the region most adversely affected, 14 million children have already been orphaned (UNAIDS, 2008). And at the core of the burgeoning orphan crisis, children affected by AIDS (CABA) are unable to exercise their rights, based on their position in society. This paper will concentrate …

Addiction And Sociality: Perspectives From Methamphetamine Users In Suburban Usa, Paul Boshears, Miriam W. Boeri, Liam Harbry

Faculty Articles

This article contributes to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the social nature of drug use, abuse and addiction. Current discourses of addiction tend to focus on the individual while limiting attention on the social environment and the role of sociality. We seek to contribute a more intuitive, insiders'' perspective of the drug trajectory and a broader conceptualization of addiction. Drawing from our qualitative study on 100 current and former methamphetamine users in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia (USA), we examined the trajectories of methamphetamine use to provide greater insight on what influences drug initiation, progression, cessation and relapse …

Entertaining A False Reality: A Social Comparison Examination Of Beauty Pageant Participation And The Effect On Body Dissatisfaction, Depression, And Self-Esteem, Angela Everhart

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated the effects of beauty pageant participation on body dissatisfaction, depression, and self-esteem among women. A group of 20 women who participated in reality show beauty pageants as adults was compared with another group of 20 women who had never participated in beauty pageants. Pageant participants scored higher on body dissatisfaction as well as self-esteem. Neither group had mean depression scores in the clinically significant range. These findings suggest that beauty pageant participation among young adult women may influence their body dissatisfaction and self-esteem but may not have a significant effect on depression.

Play In The School Context? The Perspectives Of Finnish Teachers, Pirkko T. Hyvonen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Playful learning environments (PLEs) have been constructed in schoolyards in Finland with the aim of increasing learning through play in curriculum-based education. In order to better understand and inform this development, the Hyvönen sets out to ascertain how teachers view and use play in kindergarten and elementary education. Fourteen teachers were interviewed, and the data obtained were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Eight play types were distinguished, with the teacher having the roles of leader, allower, and afforder. Play types were found to be either curriculum-driven, or seen as facilitating friendship or integrating play and learning as a process. …

The Integration Of Technology Within Physical Education Teacher Education: Perceptions Of The Faculty, Helena Baert

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2008, the national Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) standards included a more integrated approach to teaching pre-service teachers about technology and stated that teacher candidates should be able to plan and implement technology infused learning experiences that meet lesson objectives. With the inclusion of the 2008 standards, PETE faculty have the task to create instruction that effectively integrates technology. This study investigated the preparedness for technology integration of 198 teacher educators within nationally recognized PETE programs. The study utilized survey research design to identify current technologies used, analyze current level of technology proficiency in relationship to the level of …

Turning The Key To Success : An Examination Of The Mathematics Attitudes Of African American Elementary Students., Dericka Denise Canada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

African American students continue to underperform and are underrepresented in areas, including mathematics (Heubert & Hauser, 1999; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, Gandara, Bial, & Educational Resources Information Center, 2001). Students' aspirations and beliefs about the education they are receiving frequently do not match with the perceptions of their teachers, especially for African American students (Garibaldi, 1992). Teachers of these students often perceive these students' academic ability, attitudes, and motivation negatively even though African American students may experience them positively. Two competing theories regarding how others' view of a student's abilities influences that student's academic attitudes are …

Interproximal Reducation In Conjunction With Plastic Aligner Therapy : A Retrospective Pilot Study., Adam Chorak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: For more than 10 years, Invisalign has been a treatment alternative to traditional bands and brackets for the treatment of malocclusion. In order to relieve crowding in the dentition, interproximal reduction (IPR) or stripping is often required. Invisalign dictates how much IPR should be done per case. Hypothesis: The hypothesis is that less tooth structure is removed by IPR during treatment than is advocated by Invisalign. Methods: Subjects will be patients from the University of Louisville who were treated with Invisalign. The mesial-distal width of the teeth on pre and post treatment models will be measured and compared against …

Examining The Relationship Between College Football Season Ticket Holders' Service Personal Values And Their Behavioral Intentions : The Moderating Effect Of Team Identification., Gary Peng-Liang Tan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, some college football programs have experienced unsustainable attendance growth, increases in revenue discrepancies, stagnant "revenue growth", and increased operating costs (Brown, 2009; Fulks, 2009; Fullerton & Morgan, 2009; Jackson, 2005; NCAA, 2009, 2010). These problems can be examined from customer service, social identification, and consumer behavior perspectives (Curtin, 1982; Katona, 1974; Wann & Branscombe, 1993; Zeithaml, 1988). This study's research purposes are to understand service personal values antecedents and outcomes, and team identification's moderating effect on the relationship between service personal values, and both consumption satisfaction perceptions and behavioral outcomes. A sample of college football season ticket holders at …

Final Report, Chronic Early Absenteeism:Prevalence And Meap Performance In Kent Isd, 2006-2009, Community Research Institute-Johnson Center

Research, Reports, and Publications

No abstract provided.

Engaging Parents Of 8th Grade Students In Parent/Teacher Bidirectional Communication, Waveline Bennett-Conroy

Education Doctoral

The study purpose was to develop and evaluate a low-cost school-based intervention to increase parent s’ involvement in their children’s education . Although parent involvement is associated with increased student educational achievement, many children who most need effective parent involvement support do not receive it. In Phase 1 of the study, 17 parents of 8 th grade students in a low-income, immigrant, minority school district were interviewed to conduct a qualitative assessment of factors for lack of effective parent involvement and to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the planned intervention. In Phase 2 of the study, 192 students in …

Consumer Experience Intensity: Towards A Conceptualization And Measurement, Ebru Ulusoy Akgun

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Experience has been accepted as a separate market offering that is increasingly being utilized by various businesses. Consequently, there is a growing need to understand the phenomenon of commercial experiences, their role in various market contexts, and the reasons of consumers’ interest in them. It is also crucial to understand the ways the consumers derive value from marketplace experiences. Yet, it would be misleading to assume that all experiences have the same significance for consumers, and consumers derive high level of value from every experience in the market. This dissertation aims to understand the experiences that consumers find to be …

Enhancing The Cultural Competence Of Women’S Health Nurses Via Online Continuing Education, Ella T. Heitzler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

By 2050, current minority groups will comprise almost half of the US population further challenging healthcare providers and nurses to deliver culturally competent care. Numerous organizations have published documents supporting cultural competence and its incorporation into nursing curricula has been encouraged since 1986. However, practicing nurses, specifically those providing care to childbearing women and families, continue to acknowledge their lack of cultural competence. This is concerning as large health disparities exist between culturally diverse women and cultural competence can lead to greater health equality and better client care. Studies have shown face-to-face education increases the cultural competence of healthcare providers; …

Statistical Analysis Of Fatalities Due To Vehicle Accidents In Las Vegas, Nv, Annabelle Marie Mathis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this thesis is to investigate factors that affect the odds of having a fatality in a vehicle collision. We will be looking at characteristics of the driver that caused the accident (age, gender, behavior, actions, influences, and seat belt worn), the characteristics of the vehicle the driver drove (type of vehicle, and air bag deployment), the characteristics of the environment in which the accident occurred (weather, road condition, lighting, time of day, the day of the week, and month of the year), the characteristics of the crash (direction of accident and how many vehicles were involved), and …

College Choice Influences Among High-Achieving Students: An Exploratory Case Study Of College Freshmen, Derek Takumi Furukawa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

College choice is an important process on the way to college matriculation. Understanding the motivators and influences of college choice can help an institution establish more effective methods of influencing the choice decision. This influence is even more significant among populations that are low in supply and high in demand, such as high-achieving students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore high-achieving student perceptions of the areas that may influence their college choice. In-depth focus groups and interviews were conducted with high-achieving students at a single institution in the Southwestern United States to establish perceptions of influences …

Curating Cultures: An Empirical Inquiry, Toni Laviece Calder

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The last twenty-five years have witnessed not only a veritable explosion of critical discourses across the entire gamut of academic disciplines, but also the virtual inseparability that characterizes their contemporary entanglement with one another and within the field of art history. Moreover, it is safe to say that each and every one of those fields of inquiry has made its mark on the discourse of non-Western art in some way. But while the post-colonial writer may address the visual arts and their involvement in Western cultural hegemony, or the curator of an exhibition might quote Said, or the catalogue might …

Temporary Assistance To Needy Families In The Advent Of Welfare Reform: How Household Composition Impacts Participation In Public Assistance Programs, Sylvia Ann Diaz

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Abstract of Dissertation Temporary Assistance to Needy Families in the Advent of Welfare Reform: How Household Composition Impacts Participation in Public Assistance Programs By Sylvia Ann Diaz Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare Stony Brook University 2011 This study explores the impact of mutual support networks on public assistance recipients by examining time series data from a three-wave panel study of women receiving TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families). The data was collected using the United States Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation or SIPP, which collects both cross-sectional and longitudinal data on income amount and sources, labor …

Mood Of Metaphor: Tropicality And Time In The Philippine Poetic, Jayson Pilapil Jacobo

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

When the trope is exhilarated and enervated by a milieu, which in this case is tropical, the category of mood must be apprehended as a theoretical opportunity where a phenomenology of the time that it takes for the imagination to work through the limits of the earth could be delineated. What is at the heart of this undertaking is to draw the history and theory of metaphor in the Philippines nearer to its original point of reference--nativity, where time is posited as self-generative in its commencement, but also potentially moving towards the modern, in spite of this anterior existence. The …

Using Growth Mixture Modeling To Identify Loci Associated With The Progression Of Disease, Tong Shen

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

In a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for a longitudinal quantitative trait, the trait is measured at multiple time points. GWAS is the examination of marker loci to identify loci associated with the progression of the quantitative trait. I use two models, a single locus model and a multi locus model, to simulate a longitudinal quantitative trait. I use the growth mixture modeling (GMM) method to assign each member of a sample into one of a small number of trajectory groups. The clinically important trajectory group is the one with fastest progression. The Bayesian posterior probability (BPP) of being in the …

Homo Politicus: On Politics And Passion, Matthew Mahler

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Based on over two year's worth of ethnographic research, this dissertation seeks to identify the specific sensibilities and forms of skillful coping that politicos develop through their immersion in the universe of politics, and which characterize them as competent political agents. Rather than any one thing or set of things that politicos learn, it argues that these competencies exist in the holistic way in which politicos come to engage with or be involved with the political universe and its overarching regularities. More specifically, it argues that in the guise of a high-powered factor analysis there are three basic ground-level preconceptual …

Horizontalism In Argentina: From Ruptures To Revolutionary Landscapes, Marina Aline Sitrin

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Title: Horizontalism in Argentina: From Ruptures to Revolutionary Landscapes Marina Aline Sitrin Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Stony Brook University 2011 Throughout history and around the world, there are moments, such as the popular rebellion of the 19th and 20th of December 2001 in Argentina, when the ways in which people see things drastically changes, when something occurs that allows alternative ways of seeing and being - creating rupture and opening cracks in history. This dissertation addresses what happens in the wake of this rupture, and how the often inspiring moments which emerge in that space can become longer …

The Role Of Narrative In Multimedia Learning, Myrna Elyse Diamond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This descriptive case study investigated the role of narrative in multimedia learning and teaching and observed how teachers applied their understanding of narrative, and new constructivist technologies, to design multimedia presentations for instruction. The study looked specifically at the cognitive strategies, visual narrative concepts, and techniques of representation three teachers used in the course of learning how to design a multimedia instructional presentation. The context of the study was a university graduate instructional design of educational software course. Data sources included visual and verbal elicitation techniques, participant observations, document collection, semistructured interviews, and videotapes in the graduate classroom. Data were …

Assessing A Combined Theories Approach To Climate Change Communication, Ted Greenhalgh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research examines the complexities of communicating climate change risk information and the underlying individual attitudes and message content that affect message reception. Using climate change messages incorporating fear appeals and normative information subject's reactions to the messages were evaluated using the Theory of Planned Behavior model. The study found that fear appeals did increase behavioral intention to adopt a lower carbon lifestyle among test group subjects. The Theory of Planned Behavior model showed that attitudes and self-efficacy were significant predictors of the behavioral intent to adopt a lower carbon lifestyle, while community norms were only marginally predictive. However, not …

Assessment And Impact Of Gentrified Public Housing Neighborhoods In The United States: A Case Study Of Chicago, Todd W. Sink

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social-mix housing policies play a unique role in shaping the geography of gentrification in cities throughout the U.S. and Europe. The HOPE VI program in the U.S. is one popular example. Since its inception in 1992, HOPE VI has simultaneously displaced thousands of urban poor from their homes and neighborhoods, reduced their housing opportunities, and created and encouraged housing development for a more affluent population. Yet over the years, very few empirical studies have emerged that examine the place-based outcomes of HOPE VI within the context of gentrification. As such, important empirical questions remain unanswered. This study focuses on the …

Self-Expansion And Couple Possessions: The Representation Of The Self And Other In Valued Possessions, Lindsey Paniccia

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study seeks to understand the influence of romantic relationships on identity symbolism, specifically the use of personal possessions as a means of achieving social validation. According to self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986), engaging in a romantic relationship alters one’s sense of self; romantic partners take on the qualities and characteristics of a partner and integrate them into the self. To understand the process of identity symbolism due to one’s newly expanded sense of self, this study investigated the link between the amount of reported self-expansion and couple representativeness as well as the function of one’s possessions (other-direct …

Strong Ties And Strong Influences: Social Networks And Hiv Prevention, Nicole M. Wengerd

Master's Theses - Sociology and Anthropology

This research builds on the social-oriented literature of HIV-risk behaviors in Gondar, Ethiopia by investigating influential social networks and why individuals would deviate from the norms established by their community.

Married And Cohabiting Men's Extra-Dyadic Relationships In Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing Two Health Behavior Models, Jared L. Ulschmid

Master's Theses - Sociology and Anthropology

Sixty percent of all individuals with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is primarily transmitted through sexual activity; having multiple congruent sexual partners is one significant source of HIV transmission in sub-Saharan African. Men are primarily the individuals to go outside of a relationship because of various social and cultural influences. The purpose of this study is to examine married and cohabiting men’s extra-dyadic affairs. Two models were used to examine men’s extra-dyadic behavior: The Health Belief Model (HBM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). These models can show if beliefs, attitudes, and norms about HIV/AIDS and the risks of …