Digital Commons Network^™

Epidemiology Of Hospital Acquired Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus In A Veterans Affairs Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Unit: Fiscal Years 2008-2011, Rebecca B. Stone

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this retrospective case-control study was to assess risk factors contributing to hospital acquired methicillin Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA) and gain a better understanding of the burden of HA-MRSA infection in patients with spinal cord injuries. The study was also conducted to see if new information would be found on HA-MRSA infections and validate or refute current research for patients in a dedicated spinal cord injury unit at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. During the study period, the infection control department identified 95 cases of HA-MRSA. Additional data retrospectively collected were basic demographics, admitting diagnosis, presence of varying comorbidities, …

Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices Of Environmental Justice In Higher Education, Marjorie M. Nussbaum

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Research suggests that issues of environmental justice are not being routinely included in the curriculum of the K-12 classroom and that teachers in those grades do not feel prepared to teach it. Likewise, little has been written about the addition of these topics to higher education coursework, leaving the question of inclusion at this level of education as well. This apparent lacuna may point to at least one reason why K-12 teachers are neither knowledgeable about environmental justice nor prepared to teach it. To discover the current state of inclusion in higher education, a mixed methods study was conducted to …

Parent Expectations Of Elementary Schools And The Leaders, Teachers, And Staff: An Examination Of Elementary Schools In A Southeastern Georgia School District, Ella B. Green

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Public schools are experiencing major demographic shifts in the school-age population (Hardy, 2004; Hartman, 2002; Olson, 2005; Rodriguez, 2002; Zehr, 2000). As schools attempt to address the challenges that accompany increasing demographic changes in public schools, a key component of their efforts should include determining parental expectations and how those expectations differ and are influenced by demographics such as race and ethnicity, SES, and level of educational attainment of the parents. Elementary schools must respond to parental expectations in a manner that helps to establish a foundation for students to reach their academic potential, thus providing a quality of education …

Perceptions Of Mentoring: Examining The Experiences Of Women Superintendents In Georgia, Scarlett Copeland

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The number of women superintendents working in Georgia public schools exceeds the national average, but unfortunately, when compared to the number of men in the same position, women are not as well represented. This gap between female and male superintendents, and the reasons why this disparity exist, has been the subject of many research studies. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is a lack of mentoring for women superintendents.

This descriptive mixed methods study gathered both quantitative and qualitative data on the mentoring experiences of women superintendents in Georgia. The quantitative participants in this study included 39 women superintendent in …

Teachers' Perceptions And Satisfaction With Pbis In A Southeast Georgia School District, Deidra C. Martin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In today’s educational system, an important concern is student behavior. Problem behaviors can affect students’ academic learning as well as teachers’ instructional time. Many programs and approaches are available to improve student behavior in schools. One school-wide program known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is designed to help schools create and sustain effective behavioral supports for students. PBIS is a national framework schools can use to help them design and implement behavioral practices for students. It involves all the faculty, staff, and students in a school system. Teachers are important stakeholders in implementing PBIS. If they do not …

Cultivating The Environmental Awareness Of Third Graders Through Inquiry Based Ecopedagogy: Impact On Students’ Achievement And Attitudes, Lori Jackson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact on third grade students’ achievement and attitudes when integrating an inquiry based learning with a technology-based public service announcement component into a pollution, recycling, and conservation unit of instruction. The theoretical frameworks for this study were inquiry based learning and ecopedagogy. Forty third grade students participated in the mixed method action research study. A control group (N=19) was taught using the science textbook lesson and activities. An experimental group (N=21) was taught using the four strands of science learning practices. Quantitative data collected were pre-test and post test content, …

The Effectiveness Of Education Interventions On Coaching Education Students’ Concussion Knowledge, Retention, And Attitudes, Brienna L. Simons

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Context: Coaches who don’t have access to qualified health care providers need to be well educated on prevention, detection, assessment, and management of sport-related concussion to help decrease the risks associated. Due to the lack of assessment on educational interventions there is no way to determine the validity of the content. Objective: Determine which of three online concussion education interventions was most influential on coaches’ concussion knowledge, retention of knowledge, and their effects on attitudes amongst a sample of coaching education students. Participants: 233 coaching student’s recruited, used 154 for data analysis (71% male, x̅ age = 21.2 ± 1.68 …

The Cultural Studies Of Science Education, Karen D. Chassereau

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In an age of accountability, the demands and constraints placed on science teachers seem insurmountable. Teachers are challenged to provide students with authentic scientific experiences, yet the need to prepare students for high-stakes tests remains. The problem of attrition and job stress in the field of science teaching is growing. As pressures rise, it becomes necessary to understand what the culture of science education is like from the perspective of the science teacher. This study sought to define the culture of science education and determine how this culture informs teacher practice in the secondary science classroom. This qualitative case study …

Accelerated Data Delivery Architecture, Michael L. Grecol

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This paper introduces the Accelerated Data Delivery Architecture (ADDA). ADDA establishes a framework to distribute transactional data and control consistency to achieve fast access to data, distributed scalability and non-blocking concurrency control by using a clean declarative interface. It is designed to be used with web-based business applications. This framework uses a combination of traditional Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) combined with a distributed Not Only SQL (NoSQL) database and a browser-based database. It uses a single physical and conceptual database schema designed for a standard RDBMS driven application. The design allows the architect to assign consistency levels to entities …

Application Of Self-Monitoring For Situational Awareness, Christopher Trickler

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Self-monitoring devices and services are used for physical wellness, personal tracking and self-improvement. These individual devices and services can only provide information based on what they can measure directly or historically without an intermediate system. This paper proposes a self-monitoring system to perform situational awareness which may extend into providing insight into predictable behaviors. Knowing an individual’s current state and likelihood of particular behaviors occurring is a general solution. This knowledge-based solution derived from sensory data has many applications. The proposed system could monitor current individual situational status, automatically provide personal status as it changes, aid personal improvement, contribute to …

Narrowing The Margin: The Role Of The Black Superhero, Julian S. Strayhorn Ii

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Comic books can be understood as a visualization of popular culture in the U.S. For a long time these tales were formed by a white power fantasy, circulating in mainstream culture as over-exaggerated narrations. To give an example of white power fantasy, Dwayne McDuffie, a prolific writer in popular entertainment states:

“…if I write, as I have many times, a story where Daredevil, who doesn’t have powers, gets the drop on Thor, who has unbelievable powers, people go Oh, that was so cool! Daredevil was so clever! If I have Black Panther do the same thing that’s impossible! It’s like, …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Professional Development Activities Which Result In Successful Integration Of Classroom Instructional Technologies, Lisa Blackmon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recent research demonstrates the expectation of the use of technology in schools. Advances in technology often require teachers to learn new methods of teaching while trying to keep up with rapidly increasing technological changes. Unfortunately, many teachers report being inadequately prepared to utilize instructional technologies in their classrooms. School leaders have the complex task of providing effective training that meets their teachers’ needs. In this quantitative study, the author sought to determine teachers’ perceptions of professional development activities which result in successful classroom integration of instructional technologies in schools. Teachers from two school districts in Georgia were surveyed. Data were …

The Impact Of Religious Commitment And Motivation On African American Male Academic Achievement, Beverly Cabble Logan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method, pragmatic, research study was to determine, from successful African American college age students, what influences have contributed to their academic success. Quantitative data were collected using two survey instruments, the Religious Commitment Inventory (RCI-10) and a researcher created demographic instrument for data collection. Qualitative data were collected through five researcherconducted focus group discussions with 10 African American students enrolled in a four year university located in the southeast region of the United States. The guiding questions were: How does religious commitment impact academic achievement among minority male college students? What relationship exists between religious …

The Relationship Between Mandatory School Uniforms And Attendance, Jessica Mayweather

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a relationship exists between the implementation of a mandatory uniform policy in an urban public middle school and student attendance rates (as measured by the schools yearly progress report collected by the state Board of Education). Four schools serving students in grades 6-8 in an urban school district in Georgia were included in this study.

Three comparisons were used to determine whether or not and, if so, the extent to which the relationships existed. Some qualitative and quantitative measures were utilized in the design of this mixed method study. These methods …

Powerful Print: Identifying The Influence Of Narrative Reading Over Student's Opinion Formation, Sarah A. Lord

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the ways in which reading works of fiction affects the formation of student’s opinions and attitudes by using literature circles discussions and journal writing. It uses Louise Rosenblatt’s (1938) Reader Response Theory supported by Lev Vygotsky’s (1962) writings about the social dynamics of language development. Methodologically I followed the example of literature circles set forth by Janice Almasi and Linda Gambrell (1994, 1995).

Participants were fifth grade students in a rural South Georgia elementary school who participated during the 2010-2011 school year. The students participated in small peer-led discussion groups. The students chose the books they would …

The Tick Genus Amblyomma In Africa: Phylogeny And Mutilocus Dna Barcoding, Omobolanle Kushimo

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The tick genus Amblyomma includes approximately 130 species, 28 of which are found on the African continent and/ or in Madagascar. In order to understand the evolutionary phylogeography of the genus, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the relationships between African taxa. Therefore, the main goals of this work were to, (1) reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of the African Amblyomma available to us and (2) test markers for their usefulness as barcoding tools to link unknown immature specimens to their corresponding adults. The mitochondrial gene markers used in this study (12SrDNA and COI) did not resolve the …

Nylon Tension Pid Control During Raw Tire Assembly, Yuan-Yu Luo

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate several control methods to see which one has the best control of nylon tension during raw tire assembly. After nylon application step of the tire building process, the shape of the tire will undergo inflation that causes the nylon layers to expand and produces tension gradient. To overcome such a problem, the process needs to preapply a nylon trip with a gradient of tension so the tension can be balanced after the inflation step. The study evaluated several PID controllers and gathered data to see which controller results in the best nylon …

Psychopathy And Attachment: Examining The Relationship Between Secure Attachment Priming And Psychopathy, Victoria Allen

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to employ implicit and explicit security priming in order to examine the relationship between attachment dimensions and expressed psychopathy; specifically, it was hypothesized that security priming would reduce levels of expressed psychopathy. A repeated measures design was also used to assess the association between state attachment variables and expressed psychopathy. The results showed that security priming was effective at reducing expressed psychopathy for individuals high in trait attachment anxiety. Security priming also caused changes in the associative relationships between attachment dimensions and expressed psychopathy. These findings increase our understanding of the relationships between attachment …

Perceptions Of Teachers And Administrators Regarding The Teacher Evaluation Process, Joy Davis Sheppard

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Teacher evaluations can be a tool for increasing teacher effectiveness and accountability if it is determined how evaluations can be best used. According to current literature, this is not the case. It is more pertinent than ever that administrators use evaluations to strengthen marginal teachers and further develop skills of teachers who are already proficient. However, few studies exist pertaining to teacher and administrator perceptions of teacher evaluation effectiveness and even fewer focus Georgia teacher evaluations. The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate perceptions of the teacher evaluation process held by teachers and administrators in southeast Georgia so …

Sports Message Boarding: Association With Sports Team Identification And Social Well-Being, Brian D. Carlson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Research indicates that participating in or volunteering for sports related activities may increase overall well-being. Additionally, identifying with, or being a fan of a particular sports team may contribute to positive psychological outcomes. However, no study to date has examined whether participation in sports team message boarding is associated with positive psychological outcomes. As a result, the current study sought to determine if positive relationships exist among message board usage, team identification, and positive psychology variables. Three hundred and four members of an online sports message board completed self-report surveys examining message board usage, team identification, and positive psychological traits. …

Reimagining The Liberal Arts In An Age Of Technoscientific Progress, Melanie Moore Watson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The following study will investigate the impact of dismantling liberal arts curriculum during an era of dramatic technoscientific progress. I will explore the development of the posthuman focusing specifically on the areas of virtual reality and biomedicine. As I unravel the implications that virtual reality and biomedicine will have on society in the coming decades, I will describe how a new liberal arts curriculum must be entertained by educators in order to maintain innovation, play, and ethical considerations in posthuman developments. In order for our students to become contributing members of a global community, they must be given the opportunity …

The Laughter Behind: Curriculum Of Place, The Hypermasculine Imperative, And The Critical Education Of A Southern Cop, Frank Gene Jordan Jr.

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the thoughts and ideologies that actuate the daily behaviors of Southern rural police officers as they pertain to practices consonant with social justice and equity. The research focus is the author’s own experience as a 21-year Southern rural police officer who ultimately obtained the position of chief of police while concurrently developing a firm commitment to ensuring social justice in his own practice and that of his subordinate police staff. The central question asks how a White male police officer from impoverished and politically and socially conservative ancestral roots could acquire a sincere concern for, and devotion …

Two Small Rural Schools Under Siege: An Oral History 1969-2012, Deborah Costlow Cartee

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study is an oral history of the small rural community of Portal, Georgia, its two local schools, and its residents’ successful fight to keep these community schools. Guided by the theoretical framework of critical theory and the works of critical researchers, namely Paulo Freire (1998), Michael Apple (2006), Jean Anyon (2005), and Henry Giroux (2001), one purpose of this study was to discover what we can learn from the experiences of citizens in one small rural community who have been affected by consolidation. Since the account of the relationship between the Portal community and its hometown schools remains untold, …

"A Song For You" As Tribute To The Daughters Of The South: Illuminating The Work Of Black Women Principals, Beverly Cox

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Curriculum can be understood as a place of both struggle and possibility, where curriculum workers engage in complicated conversations about self, society, and the purposes of education (Pinar, 2004). Although curriculum theorists have contributed much to discussions of how to improve the current state of education, little attention in the field is given to the role that leadership can play in educational transformation (Ylimaki, 2011). This study contributes to the field of curriculum studies by exploring the ethics of care of Black women public school principals in the South.

By exploring the life experiences of Black female principals from the …

Housing Patterns, Academic Performance And School Choice: An Inquiry Into The Relocation Experiences Of African-American Families, Courtney Jones-Hall

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry explored the educational relocation experiences of AfricanAmerican families residing in predominately-White and northern Gwinnett County, Georgia, who relocated to pursue improved educational opportunities for their children. For poor families or African- American families with limited resources, school choice is determined largely by where one lives. Historical oppression at the local, state and federal level has encouraged the concentration of African-American families into segregated communities and segregated housing patterns (Massey & Denton, 1998; Rice, 2009; Squires & Kim, 1995), which are often associated with educational inequality (Royce, 2009). The historical oppression and racial injustices in society challenges us …

Elementary Principals' Leadership Practices Towards Response To Intervention (Rti) Implementation: Perceptions Of Teachers In Southeastern Georgia, Oatanisha Renee Dawson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Principals are responsible for overseeing all of the school’s programs and initiatives. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a federal initiative that is a multi-tiered approach to highquality instruction and ongoing monitoring of students’ academic and behavioral progress. Although RTI models vary across the U.S., it is the principal who is accountable for students’ overall achievement within the building. With teachers as the direct recipients and observers of their leadership practices, principals implement a tiered intervention process under the influence of national and state guidelines although best practices for implementation are limited.

he purpose of this study was to investigate teacher …

Global Epidemiology Of Invasive Meningococcal Disease, Rabab Z. Jafri, Syed Asad Ali, Nancy E. Messonnier, Carol Tevi-Benissan, David Durrheim, Juhani Eskola, Florence Fermon, Keith P. Klugman, Mary Ramsay, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Neisseria meningitidis is one of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis globally and can also cause sepsis, pneumonia, and other manifestations. In countries with high endemic rates, the disease burden places an immense strain on the public health system. The worldwide epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) varies markedly by region and over time. This review summarizes the burden of IMD in different countries and identifies the highest-incidence countries where routine preventive programs against Neisseria meningitidis would be most beneficial in providing protection. Available epidemiological data from the past 20years in World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention …

How Many Antennas Does A Cooperative Jammer Need For Achieving The Degrees Of Freedom Of Multiple Antenna Gaussian Channels In The Presence Of An Eavesdropper?, Mohamed Nafea, Aylin Yener

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, multiple antenna Gaussian wiretap channels with a multiantenna cooperative jammer are considered. In particular, the focus is on identifying the spatial resources needed at the cooperative jammer in order to achieve a secure degree of freedom (s.d.o.f.) for the channel in question equal to the degrees of freedom (d.o.f.). In order to accomplish this goal, the cooperative jammer sets out to send correlated jamming signals. Simultaneously, the legitimate transmitter chooses a precoder that perfectly aligns its information signals over the jamming ones at the eavesdropper. Both terminals use structured signaling, i.e., discrete constellations. The proposed approach is …

Setting Research Priorities For Preconception Care In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Aiming To Reduce Maternal And Child Mortality And Morbidity, Sohni Dean, Igor Rudan, Fernando Althabe, Aimee Webb Girard, Christopher Howson, Ana Langer, Joy Lawn, Mary-Elizabeth Reeve, Katherine C. Teela, Mireille Toledano

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

No abstract provided.

Concussion Knowledge In Amateur Motocross, Kristina Miller

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there are 1.6-3.8 million sports related traumatic brain injuries in the United States annually which occur in both mainstream and extreme sports. Many of these concussions have been associated with collisional sports, like football, but high risk extreme sports, like motocross, also have many opportunities for collisions to occur. Unlike traditional varsity sports motocross races, especially at the amateur level, do not require more than advanced life support at a race in case of emergency situation leaving the amateur rider to recognize and decide on concussion management. Purpose of this study …