Digital Commons Network^™

The Choral Hierarchy Examined: The Presence Of Repertoire For Women's Choirs In Monographs On Choral Literature And Choral History, Lauren Elizabeth Estes

Theses - ALL

Women's choirs have been perceived as less prestigious than and inferior to mixed choirs. There is a well-documented choral hierarchy in academia that favors mixed choirs above other choir types. Most frequently, the delineation of the choral hierarchy places women's choirs at the bottom. Books about choral literature and choral history are influential media for those selecting repertoire for choirs. In this study, the monographs recommended as resources on choral literature and choral history by the American Choral Directors Association were surveyed to ascertain the quantity and kind of repertoire included for women's choirs as compared to the quantity and …

Feeling In Character: Towards An Ethics Of Emotion, John Monteleone

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation contends that emotions are subject to ethical assessment, not simply as motives or overt expressions, but in their own right. Emotions, I argue, are subject to assessment because they are aspects of a person's character. Specifically, emotions involve voluntary acts of attention, which are due to habituation. These acts show character by manifesting certain stable, deeply-held desires called 'concerns.' This view, dubbed 'Attentional Voluntarism,' is opposed to the prevalent view, dubbed 'Rationalism,' that emotions are subject to assessment because of their propositional content. Rationalism is unable to account for certain kinds of irrational emotion, where one forms an …

Voluntary Exercise Can Strengthen The Circadian System In Aged Mice, T. L. Leise, Mary E. Harrington, P. C. Molyneux, I. Song, H. Queenan, E. Zimmerman, G. S. Lall, S. M. Biello

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Consistent daily rhythms are important to healthy aging according to studies linking disrupted circadian rhythms with negative health impacts. We studied the effects of age and exercise on baseline circadian rhythms and on the circadian system's ability to respond to the perturbation induced by an 8 h advance of the light:dark (LD) cycle as a test of the system's robustness. Mice (male, mPer2luc/C57BL/6) were studied at one of two ages: 3.5 months (n=39) and >18 months (n=72). We examined activity records of thesemice under entrained and shifted conditions as well as mPER2::LUC measures ex vivo to assess circadian function in …

The Female Athlete Triad: A Literature Review:, Kelcie Severson

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Untitled Narratives, Aubree Ross

All Theses

Untitled Narratives is a photographic series about changing emotional states, and an evolving identity. The photographs represent a transformation between the confined and the free. The elements I use to portray the movement an individual makes between identities are a combination of a character and an environment. My photographs are driven by personal experiences and show recovery and openness. The character in the series is a representation of myself. The Character symbolizes emotional personas indicating past and present events, which shape the individual I am. I use the character as a representation of the hope and need for change. I …

An Exploratory Study On The Effects Of Goal Alignment, Interventions, And Motivational Factors On Innovative Engineering Design Projects, Blake Linnerud

All Theses

Innovation has become an important facet of engineering design, both in industry and the academy. Many senior-level engineering design courses encourage students to develop innovative solutions to open design projects from industry sponsors. Like industry, these academic problems are tackled by teams of students. Student teams that function at the highest level are more likely to reach the innovative solutions for which they are searching. The research presented in this work focuses on two main areas: (1) understanding what motivates engineers when working on innovative design projects and (2) determining the effects of goal alignment interventions on design teams working …

Teaching Methods For A Holistic Computer Graphics Curriculum Incorporating Active Learning Techniques, Zachariah Inks

All Theses

This paper presents various concepts and techniques for creating an educational pipeline targeted at the field of computer graphics. This proposed pipeline focuses on the teaching of core concepts, core methodologies and finally core techniques employed within the field of computer graphics. Each component is then paired with an example of an active learning strategy used to enlighten and reinforce the abstract ideas behind these components. Throughout this document outlines the importance of supporting a holistic and platform agnostic approach, which sets the foundation for learning of all core computer graphics concepts, methodologies and techniques. The end result is a …

An Examination Of Twitter's Role In The Formation Of Collegiate Sport Fans' Allegiance Using The Revised Psychological Continuum Model (Pcm), Sukjoon Yoon

All Theses

Allegiance has long been considered one of the most notable research topics in sport studies (Funk & Pastore, 2000; Wann & Branscombe 1990). Allegiant fans are those who have formed strong connections to their favorite team, and these attitudes strengthen their psychological involvement. Twitter has grown dramatically since its inception in 2006, totaling more than 500 million users as of early 2013 (Gupta, Goel, Lin, Sharma, Wang, & Zadeh, 2013). Twitter is one of the most popular communication technologies used by both fans and sport organizations (Clavio, 2011), and allows individuals, organizations, and other social groups to connect with one …

Cultural Convergences, David Armistead

All Theses

As far back as I can remember my family has had two primary outlets in regards to entertainment; going to museum exhibitions and attending or watching football games. My parents have been members of the High Museum in Atlanta for years while simultaneously having season tickets to Georgia Tech football. My current series of paintings, drawings, prints and videos examine the cultural significance of sports in American society; specifically American football. As a "big guy" who was raised in the south, it is often assumed that I played football at some point in my life. Admittedly, I feed this stereotype …

Note – The True Man & The Battered Woman: Prospects For Gender Neutral Narratives In Self-Defense Doctrines, Katelyn E. Keegan

UC Law Journal

The recent rise of controversial Stand Your Ground laws has sparked discussions on self-defense law. Comparing the new Stand Your Ground laws with another self- defense doctrine—Battered Women’s Syndrome—it becomes apparent that the law solidifies gender stereotypes by assessing when an individual is justified in using deadly force against an aggressor. “True men” are empowered to use deadly force in public without a duty to retreat, while a battered woman often must provide expert testimony on her psychological condition to prove the reasonableness of her use of deadly force in light of her severe helplessness. At their extremes, both of …

Interaction Of Parent Pain And Child Empathy On Child Depression: A Pilot Study, Ketlyne Sol

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Children aged 11-17, in their relationships with their parents, are capable of experiencing a negative mood if their parent is in pain. According to the empathy-altruism hypothesis, people that are high on empathy will want to help someone in distress with the ultimate goal of benefitting the other person. Because of this, the empathy-altruism hypothesis proposes that if an attempt to help is not resolved, the person will report more negative mood. Because children are capable of experiencing empathy for their parents in distress and feel a negative mood as a result, it was hypothesized that an interaction between empathy …

Human Action Switching In Hiv, Chinonyere Nzerem

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

We evaluated switching in human action/verb fluency to examine how it associates with other measures of executive functioning and with difficulties in the performance of IADLs in a HIV+ sample. Our sample was comprised of 29 HIV+ participants. All the participants completed measures of phonetic fluency (FAS) and semantic fluency [Animals, Human Actions (HA)] in addition to the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Stroop Color-Word Test (Stroop), Trail-making Test Part B (TMT B), Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and the Boston Naming Task (BNT). The first regression model with phonetic and semantic switching produced R2 = .260, …

An Examination Of Referral And Eventual Placement Of African American Students And English Language Learners In Special Education, Eneas Ruel Deveaux

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that educators in a large, suburban, public school district in the southeastern United States believe contribute to African American and English Language Learners (ELL) being referred to special education at a higher rate than traditional students by exploring the attitudes and perceptions of teachers, administrators, and psychologists using surveys. Data were analyzed to test for difference in perceptions by educator demographics (i.e., age, race, gender, experience, and educational level). The second purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of educator’s perception of referral to Response to Intervention (RTI) …

Second Nature: An Exploration In Planning And Design For A Place- And Community-Based Museum Process, Erin E. Hicks

Museum Studies Projects

Museums are and have been engaged in a paradigm shift. Much has been written about the social roles of museums and many in the field have sought to define museums, taking a position on why the museum exists, who it is for, and why it continues. Is the museum a temple or a forum? I wondered why it could not be both— and more—more inclusionary, more participatory, and more reflective of community. Could this be the museum of the future? This project explores how a museum transforms both physically and theoretically by applying an educational mission onto a hypothetical museum: …

Lawyering Outside The Box: Confronting The Creativity Crisis, Samantha A. Moppett

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The Great Recession was not only a defining moment in world history and for the United States economy; it was also a turning point for the legal profession.  The economic downturn resulted in a long-term structural adjustment in the legal services market that will adversely impact the legal profession permanently.  Accordingly, lawyers need to be creative in adapting to the changing realities of law practice.

Yet, despite the need for creative approaches to address the changing legal landscape, a disturbing phenomenon was recently identified: creativity in the United States is declining.  Moreover, legal education and the legal practice impose barriers …

Revisiting Colorado V. Connelly: The Problem Of False Confessions In The Twenty-First Century, Daniel Harkins

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

This Article analyzes how the current constitutional test formatted in Colorado v. Connelly no longer sufficiently excludes unreliable confessions from being admitted into evidence at trial.  In the last twenty years, a multitude of psychological studies have demonstrated that people confess to crimes they did not commit for a range of reasons wider than what is recognized by the Connelly inquiry.  This Article analyzes this phenomenon and examines potential methods (both inside and outside the constitutional standard) for preventing these confessions from reaching juries at trial.

The Second Amendment’S Fixed Meaning And Multiple Purposes, Thiago Luiz Blundi Sturzenegger

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Being faithful to the Constitution’s textual meaning may provide the interpreter with the ability to perceive the adaptability of a constitutional provision to different social and political contexts.  The text of the Constitution refers to principles of law, principles that are indispensable in different ways throughout time.  Textualism as a constitutional interpretation model may offer the path to a more versatile Constitution.

To support this statement, this Article examines the cases in which the Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  The focal point is the use of history and historic research in constitutional adjudication.  The main argument …

Patient Hand Offs: Facilitating Safe And Effective Transitions Of Care, Amanda Kaye Vandenberg

Master's Projects

Problem: The hand off at the change of shift is a critical time for information exchange which can have significant impact on quality of care and patient safety. The end of shift hand off was identified as an area for improvement on a medical-surgical-acuity adaptable hospital unit. Literature review: Literature suggests that hand offs conducted at the patient’s bedside can help to decrease overtime, improve patient satisfaction scores, and address patient safety/quality issues. Evidence also supports the use of a standardized format for report. Protocol/Intervention: The first step is to provide better education to patients and families on admission regarding …

Five Factor Model Personality Profiles Of University Of North Dakota Unmanned Aircraft Systems Students, Zachary Peter Waller

Theses and Dissertations

A great deal of effort has been made to quantify personality characteristics in the pilots of manned aircraft. However, analysis of similar characteristics of individuals interested in piloting Unmanned Aircraft (UA) remains relatively unexplored. This research examined the Five Factor Model (FFM) personality profiles of individuals pursuing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) studies at the University of North Dakota (UND). Using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) general personality index, the responses of a UAS Student group (N=65) were compared to a Normative sample group (N=248) previously collected by Petros (2013). Apart from the two highest scoring factors in each group (i.e. …

The Impact Of Counselor Level Of Spiritual Well-Being On The Morale, Global Symptoms, And Global Impairment Of Adolescents Receiving Treatment For Substance Use And/Or Other Mental Health Disorders: A Pilot Study, Michael William Holland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years there has been a movement towards a holistic perspective of human nature in the counseling leading to increased interest in the nature and role of spirituality in counseling and the counseling process. In the present study multiple regression analysis is used to determine whether Counselor Level of Spiritual Well-Being, or aspects thereof, namely, Counselor Level of Existential Well-Being and/or Counselor Level of Religious Well-Being, as measured by the Spiritual Well-Being Scale significantly impacts client outcomes, namely, Morale, Global Symptoms, and Global Impairment as measured by the Health Dynamics Inventory for adolescents receiving treatment for substance use and/or …

Understanding Faculty And Non-Traditional Student Perceptions Of Self-Directed Learning In A Practical Nursing Program, Carmen Marie Rogers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to identify and investigate nursing faculty and student perspectives of self-directed learning in a practical nursing program. It also explored the degree to which student's perceptions of self-directed learning exhibited factors consistent with that of critical thinking. This study is important because self-directed learning and its critical thinking elements are essential in providing safe, competent, effective, and efficient nursing care within practice and education. Using an explanatory case study design the practice of self-directed learning within a practical nursing program was examined through the use of: classroom observations, interviews with nursing faculty, nursing students, and document …

Environmental Literacy Of Sixth Grade Students In Arkansas: Implications For Environmental Education Reform, Lisa Suzanne Wood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental education must be better integrated into K-12 curriculum to advance environmental literacy. Producing a citizenry that can understand and address the complex environmental issues facing the world today and in the future is essential to sustainable life on this planet.

Using the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey, 6th grade students across Arkansas were surveyed to obtain a baseline measure of environmental literacy based on the four domains of environmental literacy included in the survey; ecological knowledge, environmental affect, cognitive skills, and behavior. Individual domain scores were combined into a composite environmental literacy score. Results were then compared to the …

Criteria For Initial Appointment In Rank And Subsequent Promotion For Faculty In Two-Year Public Colleges, Michael Aaron Orf

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The growth of community colleges over the last five decades has not been met with a commensurate expansion of knowledge about policy development. In order to address this gap in knowledge, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of rank among two-year colleges in the United States; to identify the criteria used to determine rank upon hire for transfer and vocational faculty; to identify the criteria used to determine promotion for transfer and vocational faculty; and to determine if there are differences in criteria between transfer faculty and vocational faculty at initial appointment and subsequent promotion. Additionally, the study sought …

The Impact Of Cognitive Behavior Techniques On The Vocational Identity Of Persons With Disabilities Receiving Ssi/Ssdi Benefits, James Joseph Quinn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effects of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) on the vocational identity, self-efficacy, and vocational satisfaction of persons with disabilities receiving SSI/SSDI. This study was carefully planned to help persons with disabilities obtain employment. A review of the relevant literature was used to determine the need for the study and to support the study. Forty participants, all were enrolled into a vocational rehabilitation program were selected for the study. Threats to internal and external validity were taken into consideration and controlled for. They received CBT as a treatment intervention to change their beliefs and irrational thoughts about the …

The Mechanisms Of Interpersonal Privacy In Social Networking Websites: A Study Of Subconscious Processes, Social Network Analysis, And Fear Of Social Exclusion, Bryan I. Hammer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing usage of Social networking sites like Facebook there is a need to study privacy. Previous research has placed more emphasis on outcome-oriented contexts, such as e-commerce sites. In process-oriented contexts, like Facebook, privacy has become a source of conflict for users. The majority of architectural privacy (e.g. privacy policies, website mechanisms) enables the relationship between a user and business, focusing on the institutional privacy concern and trust; however, architectural privacy mechanisms that enables relationships between and among users is lacking. This leaves users the responsibility to manage privacy for their interpersonal relationships. This research focuses on the following …

Workforce Preparedness Of Information Systems Students: Perceptions Of Students, Alumni, And Employers, Susan Bristow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Employers of newly hired higher education graduates report their new workforce is not prepared. Further research was required to discover insights to the workforce readiness gap. This concurrent mixed methods study explored what competencies influenced employer's perceptions of the work-readiness of Information Systems (ISYS) undergraduate students and discovered ISYS graduates' and current ISYS students' perceptions of their work-readiness. Participants consisted of a convenience sample including 69 ISYS program upperclassmen, 20 ISYS program alumni, and 8 employers of the ISYS program graduates. ISYS program alumni completed an online Qualtrics survey to measure the participants' perception of their workforce preparedness. ISYS program …

Patients’ Attitudes Towards Patient Involvement In Safety Interventions: Results Of Two Exploratory Studies, Rachel Davis, Nick Sevdalis, Anna Pinto, Ara Darzi, Charles A. Vincent

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: In recent years, patient-focused interventions have been introduced aimed at increasing patient involvement in safety-related behaviours. However, patients' attitudes towards these interventions and comfort in participating in the recommended behaviours remain largely unexplored. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate patients' attitudes towards a video and leaflet aimed at encouraging patient involvement in safety-related behaviours. DESIGN: Two exploratory studies employing a within-subjects mixed-methods design. SETTING: Six hospital wards on an inner-city London teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Medical and surgical inpatients: 80 patients in study 1 (mean age 55; 69% men) and 80 patients in study 2 (mean age 52; 60% men). INTERVENTION: Patients watched …

Review Of The Quest For God And The Good Life: Lonergan's Theological Anthropology By Mark T. Miller, Robert M. Doran

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploiting Contextual Information For Prosodic Event Detection Using Auto-Context, Junhong Zhao, Wei-Qiang Zhang, Hua Yang, Michael T. Johnson, Jia Liu, Shanhong Xia

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Prosody and prosodic boundaries carry significant information regarding linguistics and paralinguistics and are important aspects of speech. In the field of prosodic event detection, many local acoustic features have been investigated; however, contextual information has not yet been thoroughly exploited. The most difficult aspect of this lies in learning the long-distance contextual dependencies effectively and efficiently. To address this problem, we introduce the use of an algorithm called auto-context. In this algorithm, a classifier is first trained based on a set of local acoustic features, after which the generated probabilities are used along with the local features as contextual information …

Helping Children Understand And Manage Anger, Shannon Cromwell, Naomi Brower

All Current Publications

Anger is a strong emotion that often leads to negative coping strategies. Children's anger poses challenges for parents and other caregivers and accounts for stress and frustration. Engaging children in a variety of effective coping strategies can assist with their feelings of anger.