Digital Commons Network^™

A Lawyer's Hidden Persuader: Genre Bias And How It Shapes Legal Texts By Constraining Writer's Choices And Influencing Readers' Perceptions, Bret Rappaport

Journal of Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

"My English Is Good Enough" For San Luis: Adopting A Two-Pronged Approach For Arizona's English Fluency Requirements For Candidates In Public Office, Maeve Callagy

Journal of Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Gender And (Religious) Attire: A Matter Of (Free) Speech, Alejandro Madrazo

Journal of Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

"They Want All Of Your Kids To Be Gay And Oppose God": Incivility And Othering In Yahoo! News Comments, Emily Vajjala

Masters Theses

In 2004, many newspapers in the U.S. allowed public commenting on news articles posted to their websites, however since then, many U.S. news websites have removed public comment boards, ceased archiving public comments, or turned to moderators to edit or delete hateful or overly aggressive comments (Hughey and Daniels, 2013). Yahoo!, however, continues to utilize comment boards on Yahoo! News reports, in which incivility continues to run rampant. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, this study addresses incivility and "othering" in Yahoo! News article comment sections from news reporting on LGBTQ-related stories. From a sample of 1000 Yahoo! News comments using open …

Understanding Workplace Meetings: A Qualitative Taxonomy Of Meeting Purposes, Joseph A. Allen, Tammy Beck, Cliff Scott, Steven G. Rogelberg

Psychology Faculty Publications

Purpose - Meetings are a workplace activity that deserves increased attention from researchers and practitioners. Previous researchers attempted to develop typologies of meeting purpose with limited success. Through a comparison of classification methodologies, we consider a taxonomy as the appropriate classification scheme for meeting purpose. The goal of our study is to propose a taxonomy of meeting purpose. We then utilize the developed taxonomy to investigate the frequency with which a representative sample of working adults engaged in meetings of these varying purposes. Our proposed taxonomy provides relevant classifications for future research on meetings and serves as a useful tool …

Finding The Right Fit: Multiculturalism And Low-Income Urban Schools, Grace Shin Won Kim Canada

Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed the difficulty of recruiting and retaining qualified teachers by examining the qualities and characteristics of teacher fit in a group of Southern California charter schools that serve low-income Black and Hispanic students. Given the significance and importance of culturally relevant and responsive education in schools that serve primarily Black and Hispanic students (Castagno, 2009; Gay, 2000; Howard, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 1994; 1995; 2006; Lindsey, Karns, & Myatt 2010; Nieto, 2005a; Poveda & Martin, 2004), three survey instruments; a demographic questionnaire, the Teachers Multicultural Attitudes Survey (TMAS), and the Multicultural Teaching Competency Scale (MTCS); were used to assess teacher …

Developing A Model For Understanding Mindfulness As A Potential Intervention For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Steven I. Rudoy

Theses and Dissertations

The paucity of effective alternative or augmentative treatments available for OCD coupled with the emerging potential of mindfulness-based treatments indicate that exploring the potential utility of such interventions for the OCD population is a useful area of inquiry. In addition, although more general examinations of the mechanisms by which mindfulness contributes to positive change have been conducted, those mechanisms of action have never been theoretically linked with the mechanisms of action believed to underlie the mental processes in OCD. The current study will include a critical analysis of the existing literature covering the cognitive and biological bases for understanding the …

A Guide For Mental Health Practitioners Working With Collective Trauma Victims From Latin America: An Experiential Approach, Melissa Cordero

Theses and Dissertations

A resource guide for mental health practitioners working with Latino victims of collective trauma was developed based on a review of the literature. The development of the resource was also informed by two structured interviews with experts in the field of collective trauma within the Latino population. Review of the literature and structured interviews were used to develop culturally sensitive treatment approaches for victims of collective trauma from Latin America. The resource guide offers clinicians culturally adapted interventions, including PTSD measures, a table to identify culture bound syndromes, PTSD psychoeducation handouts (provided in Spanish and English), relaxation skills (e.g. breathing …

Views Of Student Engagement Among Students And Faculty In Online Courses, Amy Elizabeth Berger

Theses and Dissertations

As part of an effort to learn more about the technologies currently available to students, three executives in the online division of a private, not-for-profit four-year university requested a survey of students and faculty to learn more about the technologies to which they currently have access. Additionally, each of three executives wanted to better understand student and faculty views of student engagement in the division's online courses. To that end, research-based questions about student engagement levels were added to a survey about access to technology. This mixed-method non-experimental study collected data from students and faculty about which definition of student …

Recognition And Response: Early Literacy In An Inclusion-Based Preschool Program, Irene Gonzalez-Castillo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to investigate and describe Recognition & Response (R & R) practices, a model of early literacy Response to Intervention, utilized by multidisciplinary staff teams in a purposively selected, inclusion-based preschool program in Southern California. Investigated R & R practices included: (a) recognition of student needs through assessment, (b) collaborative problem-solving as a process to plan and evaluate next steps for students, and (c) response through a multi-tiered instructional approach. The researcher utilized a qualitative case study design. The single district preschool program selected is comprised of ten inclusion-based classrooms located on two elementary …

Emotional Intelligence And Racial Identity's Impact On Academic Achievement In American Multiracial High School Students, Mary Ann Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

Minorities reached 50.4% of the American population, representing a majority for the first time, and those self-reporting as multiracial grew by a larger percentage than those reporting a single race (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). Millennials born after 1980 are the most racially diverse generation (Pew Research Center, 2014). This study investigated how racial identity and emotional intelligence might impact academic achievement among U.S. Millennial multiracial adolescents of African descent. Research suggests a student's racial identification has a significant impact on academic performance (Herman, 2009) and minority youth struggle academically (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014). The theoretical framework included the construct …

An Exploratory Study Of The Lived Experience Of Japanese Undergraduate Efl Students In The Flipped Classroom, Jeffrey Gerald Mehring

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, Japanese higher education has decided to transition from a traditional teacher-centered to a more student-centered, communicative classroom. One promising possibility that could help in the transition is the flipped classroom technique. Examining the lived experiences of Japanese university English as a foreign language (EFL) students who have taken part in a course taught using the flipped classroom technique will help in determining possible benefits of the flipped classroom in EFL higher education in Japan. This study will use a qualitative approach with a case study design to focus on the lived experiences of Japanese EFL university students at Iwate …

Anatomy Of An Uprising: Women, Democracy, And The Moroccan Feminist Spring, Karla M. Mckanders

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

During the Arab Spring, Moroccan men and women first took to the streets on February 20, 2011 to demand governmental reforms. Their movement became known as the Mouvement du 20-Février. In a series of protests, Moroccans called for democratic change, lower food prices, freedom for Islamist prisoners, and rights for the Berber people. Initially, King Mohammad VI attempted to suppress the movement. When this approach did not succeed, in a televised speech, the King agreed to reform the government. In June 2011, the constitutional committee proposed changes that would reduce the King’s absolute powers, implement democratic reforms, and create a …

The Impact Of Computer-Assisted Instruction On Ninth- And Tenth-Grade Students, Melanie Mcneely

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With over 60 years of education reform, including the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002, the achievement gap still existed at the beginning of the 21st century, and the effectiveness of the U. S. public school system continued to be questioned. This study was conducted to examine the effect of the use of a computer-assisted instruction curriculum, Achieve 3000, among select secondary reading students in a central Florida school district and their implications for student achievement. This study showed significant difference existed in …

Traversing The Terrain: A Least Cost Analysis On Intersite Causeways In The Maya Region, Alexander Rivas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of ancient Maya causeways is crucial for understanding Maya social and spatial organization. Archaeologists have been interested in Maya causeways for decades, specifically documenting their locations. More recently, the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, has been used for understanding the spatial organization of archaeological sites. GIS analyses on ancient Maya causeways however have been very limited. This thesis aims to evaluate ancient Maya causeways through GIS analysis. Specifically, five intersite causeway systems are looked at: the Mirador Basin, Yaxuna-Coba-Ixil, Uxmal-Nohpat-Kabah, Ake-Izamal-Kantunil, and Uci-Kancab-Ukana- Cansahcab. These causeway systems were evaluated using least-cost paths based on the terrain. …

Eurocentrism, Modernity And Chinese Sociality : An Ethnographic Study Of Everyday Socio-Cultural Life In New-Millennium China, Tung Yi Kho

Lingnan Theses

This dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of Eurocentrism, Modernity,and their impacts on traditional Chinese cultural formations. It is based on ethnographic research conducted in Shenzhen, South China and Qinghai, West China, and explores the impacts of Chinese modernization on everyday forms of sociality.

I conceive of Eurocentrism foremost as an Ontology, a mode-of-being grounded in a cosmology about the nature of reality and human being-and-becoming in the world. I argue that because Eurocentrism is an ontology predicated on materialism and individualism - “matter” being the basis of reality and the “individual”, the fundamental unit of society, respectively - …

A Thomistic Critique Of The Ethics Of Alasdair Macintyre, Marcus Otte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alasdair MacIntyre argues in favor of a historicist Thomism in ethics and political philosophy. In his theory, sociological categories take up much of the space traditionally occupied by metaphysics. This peculiar feature of MacIntyre's Thomism, and its merits and demerits, is already a subject that has been taken up by many critics. In this thesis, these criticisms are supplemented and unified by identifying what is perhaps the most fundamental difficulty with MacIntyre's ethics: his version of Thomism is problematic because it treats epistemology as first philosophy. This misstep compromises MacIntyre's ability to provide a defense of moral objectivity, while also …

Augmentative-Alternative Communication Access For Individuals With Communication Disorders In Medical Settings, Stephanie Amundsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study surveyed speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in medical settings in the state of Florida in order to: (a) assess the availability of AAC devices, related materials, and services in acute, sub-acute, long-term care, and outpatient medical facilities, (b) examine barriers and supports in providing AAC services to patients with complex communication needs (CCN) in the aforementioned settings, and (c) determine perceived levels of AAC knowledge of health care practitioners. One of the study's major findings was that 97.59% of SLPs served at least one patient they identified as having CCNs, and 94.1% of respondents indicated that their patients could …

Enhancing The Reading Strategies Of Parents Of English Language Learners Through Reading Strategies And Interventions(Rsi) Workshops, Milagros Rivera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandated that school districts and schools ensure that English Language Learners (ELLs) are provided with equitable opportunities and experiences that support student success academically. However, many ELL students have faced challenges at school, have not been academically successful, and struggle to read on grade level. NCLB has also mandated that elementary schools give parents the tools needed to support their children's learning in the home. Researchers have supported the importance of parental involvement in the academic success of children. The purpose of this study was to determine whether parents' knowledge of reading strategies and …

A Single Case Analysis Of The Impact Of Caregiver-Student Collaborative Learning On An Urban Community, Heather Edmundson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of caregiver-student collaborative learning classes on an urban community. The study examined whether the self-efficacy of the caregivers increased with helping their children with school work due to the caregiver-student classes. The study also examined whether providing access to a resource not normally provided within this particular community led to increased self-efficacy within caregivers. The research questions that guided the study were as follows: How do collaborative caregiver-student classes that focus on collaborative strategies impact the self-efficacy of the caregivers in helping their children with school work? How does increasing …

دور الإجماع الاستراتيجي لأعضاء مجالس ادارات الشركات العامة في تعزيز فاعلية القرارات الاستراتيجية, صالح عبد الرضا رشد, حيدر محمد قاسم العبادي

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

تتناول هذه الدراسة الدور الذي لعبه الإجماع الاستراتيجي لفريق الإدارة العليا ببعديه: الإجماع حول الأهداف الاستراتيجية، والإجماع حول الأسبقيات التنافسية في تعزيز فاعلية القرارات الاستراتيجية سواء ما يتصل بجودة تلك القرارات أو سرعتها. وقد اعتمدت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي التحليلي لاراء (146) من الرؤساء وأعضاء مجالس الإدارة لعدد من شركات القطاع العام في وزارة الصناعة والمعادن العراقية بلغ عددها (21) شركة. وأظهرت نتائج الدراسة وجود علاقة ارتباط وتأثير ذات دلالة معنوية بين الإجماع الاستراتيجي ببعديه وفاعلية القرارات الاستراتيجية للشركات المبحوثة. وخرجت الدراسة بمجموعة من التوصيات والمقترحات ذات الصلة بموضوعها، ومنها حاجة الشركات الصناعية لتطوير فلسفتها الخاصة وتوسيع اهتماماتها بالإجماع الاستراتيجي لمجالس …

Philosophy Of Law: Reply To Critics, Andrei Marmor

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The author addresses issues raised by commentators on his book, Philosophy of Law (2011).

Examining Preservice Teachers' Performances And Pedagogies Of Practice In An Urban Classroom Through The Use Of A Simulated Learning Environment, Kelly Jennings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The failure to staff the nation’s classrooms with highly qualified teachers, especially those in disadvantaged schools, is a problem in American education. Novice teachers who begin teaching in urban, low-income, diverse schools leave the field of education at alarmingly high rates. Schools are not being provided with the teachers they deserve; new teachers are especially ill-prepared to meet the needs of students in high-need urban settings. In return, these lowincome schools are not retaining sufficient numbers of the teachers they do recruit. A teacher’s performance has a tremendous impact on a child’s learning and academic journey. Teacher preparation programs need …

Chemical Differentiation Of Human Osseous, Non-Human Osseous, And Non-Osseous Materials Using Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (Sem/Edx) And Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Cayli Meizel-Lambert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identification of osseous materials is generally established on gross anatomical factors; however, highly fragmented or taphonomically altered materials are often problematic and alternative methods, such as biological, histological, or chemical analysis, must be utilized. Recently, chemical methods have been proposed to sort unknown materials according to their Ca/P ratios. Ubelaker and colleagues (2002) proposed using SEM/EDX to achieve this distinction and Christensen and colleagues (2012) have validated X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) for this application. An alternative method of analysis involves performing principal component analysis (PCA) on element spectra to classify unknown materials based on their trace element composition. Zimmerman (2013) …

Reclaiming Indigenous Narratives Through Critical Discourses And The Autonomy Of The Trickster, Robert D. Hunter

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

How do prevailing narratives about Native Americans, particularly in the medium of film, conspire to promote the perspective of the dominant culture? What makes the appropriation of Indigenous images so metaphorically popular? In the past hundred years, little has changed in the forms of representation favored by Hollywood. The introductory chapter elucidates the problem and outlines the scope of this study. As each subsequent chapter makes clear, the problem is as relevant today as it has been throughout the entire course of filmic history.

Chapter Two analyzes representational trends and defines each decade according to its favorite stereotype. The binary …

On The Digital-Political Topography Of Music, Daniel William Lawrence

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The persuasive power of music is often relegated to the dimension of pathos: that which moves us emotionally. Yet, the music commodity is now situated in and around the liminal spaces of digitality. To think about how music functions, how it argues across media, and how it moves us, we must examine its material and immaterial realities as they present themselves to us and as we so create them. This dissertation rethinks the relationship between rhetoric and music by examining the creation, performance, and distribution of music in its material and immaterial forms to demonstrate its persuasive power. While …

Component Numeracy Skills And Decision Making, Saima Ghazal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Numeracy—i.e., one’s practical understanding of mathematics in context—is one of the strongest predictors of people’s general decision making skill, independent of other cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence, working memory, attentional control). Despite notable scientific progress on the nature of numeracy and decision making, the cognitive and decision sciences have yet to investigate individual differences in numeracy components (e.g., algebra versus probability). In this dissertation, I report on my efforts to develop new measurement technology and quantitative models of cognitive and decision skills. Analyses include the first known investigations of the relations between the major adult component numeracy skills and general decision …

Undergraduate Catalog, Georgia Southern University

Undergraduate & Graduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Global And Local Perspectives In Spanish And New World Performances Of Calderon's Four Parts Of The World, Beth K. Aracena

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

The first published collection of Pedro Calderon de la Barca's autos sacramentales(sacred dramas) dates from 1677, during Calderon's lifetime (1600-1681), and includes an explanation of the works penned by this great Spanish dramaturge. In his preface, recognizing that readers may be annoyed at similarities in the printed repertoire of more than seventy autos, Calderon justifies the collection: "The autos were performed but once [sic] a year, and this volume contains works which were produced at intervals over a period of more than twenty years. They were not written to be printed together and read one after another:" Calderon also …

The Word And The Seed: The Theological Use Of Biblical Creation In Alma 32, David E. Bokovoy

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

No abstract provided.