Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring A Culture Of Learning With Technology: An Ethnographic Content Analysis Of The Activity Of Learning With Educational Ipad Apps, Akio Yamanaka

Dissertations

This study explored the culture of learning with educational iPad apps using

activity theory as a guiding framework. First, the top nine educational apps were tracked

in the Top Charts section of Apple’s App Store for a duration of four months. The nine

sampled apps, selected based on their frequency of appearance, included Toca Hair Salon

2, Stack the States, Endless Alphabet, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Wildlife Count Along,

Wild Kratts Creature Power World Adventure, Wallykazam! Letter and Word Magic,

Starfall Learn to Read, Dr. Panda’s Restaurant 2, and Bug Art. The descriptions, version

updates, app content, and customer reviews for …

Tennessee Per-Pupil Expenditures In Special Education And Academic Achievement, Melanie C. Davidson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Federal legislation known as the No Child Left Behind act has required states to close achievement gaps. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between special education spending by districts in the state of Tennessee and standardized achievement for students with disabilities.

Secondary data were obtained from the Tennessee Department of Education’s website (www.tn.gov/education). Data from each local education association were collected for the years of 2010-2014 in the areas of special education spending, special education population, and TCAP proficiency percentages in reading and math grades 3-8. Data from each local education association were collected …

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Available Public Education Programming And The Influence Of Professional Perceptions, Heather Wilmot

All Theses And Dissertations

A mixed-methods research study was conducted in a small, rural western Maine school department. The intent of this research was to reveal what kind of programming is available to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and how the availability of programming is influenced by the perceptions of educators and leaders in a public school department. In addition, the research addressed how the background and professional development of the employees impacted the availability of programming for students with ASD. Forced survey questions included quality indicators for programming for students with ASD and pre-selected follow-up focus groups questions were used.

Data analysis …

Beating The Bounds: Localized Timing Cues To Word Segmentation, L White, Sl Mattys, L Stefansdottir, V Jones

School of Psychology

Prosody facilitates perceptual segmentation of the speech stream into a sequence of words and phrases. With regard to speech timing, vowel lengthening is well established as a cue to an upcoming boundary, but listeners' exploitation of consonant lengthening for segmentation has not been systematically tested in the absence of other boundary cues. In a series of artificial language learning experiments, the impact of durational variation in consonants and vowels on listeners' extraction of novel trisyllables was examined. Language streams with systematic lengthening of word-initial consonants were better recalled than both control streams without localized lengthening and streams where word-initial syllable …

Correlation Between Teacher Mindset And Perceptions Regarding Coaching, Feedback, And Improved Instructional Practice, Beth K. Stenzel

Student Work

The daily demands placed upon teachers are seemingly endless. Yet, it is the teacher’s skills that are the most important factor in influencing student achievement (Dalton, 1998; National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2002; National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future, 1996; Ripley, 2010; Stronge, 2007). The topic of coaching has become increasingly common in the field of education as a way to help teachers be effective. Coaches need to support all teachers, regardless of the type of mindset held by the teacher. The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the correlation between teacher mindset and perceptions regarding …

Veils: Truth In Translation, Katherine M. Block

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This supporting document for the thesis exhibition entitled “Veils: Truth in Translation” will discuss Block’s exploration of painting during her time at East Tennessee State University. The supporting document also provides the historical background and influences which have contributed to Block's overall process and techniques. These influences include the Abstract Expressionists, Carl Jung, Ferdinand de Saussure, John Dewey, Theodor Adorno, Joan Mitchell and Gerhard Richter. In the supporting document Block probes the idea that non-objective painting is more than a language confined by linguistic elements of sign, signifier, and signified, but is a process of thinking, which is communicated on …

African American Parents’ Perceptions Of Public School: African American Parents’ Involvement In Their Childrens’ Educations, Eric D. Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goals for public schools are to educate all students so that they may attend colleges and/or develop relevant job and citizenship skills. African American students enrolled in American public schools struggle to keep up academically, revealing a so called “achievement gap.” Consequently, many African American children are unable to realize their potential and participate as successful contributing citizens. This study examined how African American parents might engage in their children’s schooling and how schools might support this participation to better meet the needs of these students.

The segregation and racism historically practiced in public schools has led to negative …

Caultron Of Unwisdom: The Legislative Offensive On Insidious Foreign Influence In The Third Term Of President Vladimir V. Putin, And Iccpr Recourse For Affect Civil Advocates, Thomas M. Callahan

Fordham International Law Journal

Part I discusses Russian and international statutory law. It briefly outlines the structure of the government of the Russian Federation and discusses relevant articles of its Constitution. It then illustrates the legislative trend in question by discussing select legislation passed and proposed during President Putin’s third term that seeks to restrict non-Russian influence in Russian society. Part I closes with a discussion of Russia’s international human rights obligations, and the international redress available to Russian nationals affected by the laws in question. Part II considers the practical application of the laws discussed in Part I. This includes an examination of …

Detecting Experts On Quora: By Their Activity, Quality Of Answers, Linguistic Characteristics And Temporal Behaviors, Sumanth Kumar Reddy Nagarur Patil

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Question and answering sites are useful in sharing the knowledge by answering questions. It is a medium of sharing knowledge. Quora is the fastest emerging effective Q&A site, which is the best source of knowledge. Here you can ask a question, and get help in getting answers from people with firsthand experience, and blog about what you know. In this paper, we are investigating and identifying potential experts who are providing the best solutions to the questioner needs. We have considered several techniques in identifying user as an expert or non-expert. We have targeted the most followed topics in Quora …

Perception Of /Q/ In The Arabic /Q/-/K/ Contrast By Native Speakers Of American English: A Discrimination Task, Ousmane Sawadogo

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Ousmane Sawadogo, for the Master of Arts degree in Applied Linguistics and TESOL, presented on May 4, 2015, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: PERCEPTION OF /q/ IN THE ARABIC /q/-/k/ CONTRAST BY NATIVE SPEAKERS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH: A DISCRIMINATION TASK MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Soo Jung Chang Studies on speech perception have suggested that non-native sound perception is influenced by the listener’s native language. Non-native sound contrast perception depends on a given sound’s similarity or dissimilarity to the listener’s equivalent native language sound. The Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) posits that it is difficult to …

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Emotional Wellbeing And Support Needs Of New Mothers From Afghanistan Living In Melbourne, Australia, Alana Russo, Belinda Lewis, Andrew Joyce, Belinda Crockett, Stanley Luchters

Population Health, East Africa

Background: The Afghan community is a priority population for many health and social services within the southeast region of Melbourne, which is home to the largest population of Afghanistan-born people within the state of Victoria. The majority of Afghan women arriving in Australia are of childbearing age, and evidence suggests that they are at increased risk of emotional challenges following birth as a result of the refugee and migration experience. This research aimed to explored the experiences of Afghan women living in Melbourne throughout pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood, and gain insight into the aspects of their experiences that they …

Ideological Becoming : Intern Teachers' Experience Of Becoming Culturally Responsive Teachers., Sonya Burton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the ways that teachers on an intern license who have been recruited by a Teacher Recruitment program experience ideological becoming into culturally responsive teachers in the Four Corners region of the United States. Bakhtin’s theories on ideological becoming and authoritative and internally persuasive discourses frame this study with emphasis on the experiences that caused intern teachers tension and helped them make culturally responsive teaching practices an internally persuasive discourse. I used narrative inquiry methodology to discern intern teachers’ stories and experiences. I interviewed 5 intern teachers teaching in elementary classrooms in the Four Corners region of the …

The Being Of Art And The Art Of Being : Hermeneutic Ontology In Gadamer And Woolf., Adam Noland,

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Overall, the point of this project is to plumb the affinities between Gadamer’s notion of hermeneutic ontology and Virginia Woolf’s novels—how these affinities illuminate and contribute to an improved understanding of Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics and Woolf’s novels. For their part, Gadamer and Woolf belong to a similar cultural and historical milieu, each, in one way or another, a participant in the intellectual and artistic movement known as Modernism. This movement arose in response to the encroaching impersonality of scientific objectivity: both Woolf and Gadamer recognized the pitfalls of this objectivity, as it necessarily discounts the interpretive opportunity and responsibility of …

Financial Narratives Of U.S. Biotechnology Companies Before, During, And After The Great Recession, James W. Clark

Education Doctoral

The regulatory environment and associated financial disclosures required of U.S. companies have become increasingly complex as a result of dynamic market conditions and the need to assure stakeholders of the integrity of reported financial results. Advances in technology now provide the opportunity for unique investigation into the narratives included in regulated financial disclosures. The purpose of this study was to determine whether regulated financial disclosure narratives of U.S. biotechnology companies change before, during, and after a financial crisis. The research aimed to characterize financial narratives through textual analysis and the use of predetermined semantics. This is a quantitative study of …

Examining The Retention Of African American Males In Ninth Grade As A Roadblock To Graduation: Charting Student Perceptions, Tracy Smith

Education Doctoral

In the United States, more students are being retained in the ninth grade than in any other year in their K-12 school experience (Blackwell, 2008). In addition, African American males are retained more than any other group (Morrison, 2014). Studies show that when students, especially African American males, are retained in ninth grade there is an increased probability that they will drop out and consequently, fail to graduate from high school. The limitation of the majority of the prior studies on ninth-grade retention is their focus on urban districts. Thus, it is unknown if the probability of ninth-grade retention and …

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Bid To Transform International Law, David Ward

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Sonorous Bodies: Representations Of Female Sexuality In Fin-De-Siã¨Cle Austro-German Opera, From The Wiener Moderne Toward The Weimar Republic | Sonorous Bodies: Representations Of Female Sexuality In Fin-De-Siècle Austro-German Opera, From The Wiener Moderne Toward The Weimar Republic, Kathleen Hulley

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

This dissertation examines shifting musical and visual representations of female sexuality in fin-de-siècle Austro-German opera, and demonstrates the ways in which these operatic representations attest to the changing conceptions of women during this era. From theatrical, visual, and literary representations, to legal and medical writings, numerous discourses proliferated regarding " normal" and " abnormal" femininity, often in relation to the health of society. Moreover, with the era's widespread belief that theater and opera fulfilled a social and often didactic role, the stage was understood as a place that could not only shape and regulate society, but also offer new social …

Widowhood In Two Igbo Communities Of Nigeria: A Contextual Manipulation Of Patriarchy, Jerome Madumelu

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

bold,318 pages

Pronouncing The Re-Turn: Constructing And Interpreting Visual Representations Of The Caribbean From A Transatlantic, Transcultural And Diasporic Perspective, H. Allison Thompson

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

Identity, which remains a central theme for contemporary Caribbean and diaspora artists, exists in tension with a long tradition of stereotypes and tropes employed by its colonizers to describe the region through the construction of difference and otherness. The European myth of " discovery" fashioned the Caribbean as an uncivilized paradise, constructed in contrast to the normative of Western modernism. The Caribbean is compelled then to repeatedly assert its identity as well as its contemporaneity within a highly contested and over-determined space. The model of diaspora positions the Caribbean within a transnational space of dynamic cultural exchange, emphasizing the experience …

Vocal Communication Of Wild Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla), Roberta Salmi

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

The communication system of a species is the fundamental basis upon which animal social relationships are built and contributes to a species' social organization. Among group-living anthropoid primates that inhabit forested environments, vocal signals are likely to be one of the most important communication channels because reduced visibility limits the use of visual communication. Accordingly, many primates have different vocalizations that convey meaningful information to conspecifics about caller behavior, external objects or events and cues used in recognizing individuals. Thus, in order to better understand the social and ecological factors that have shaped a species' vocal communication system, we must …

Composing Image Descriptions In Natural Language, Polina Kuznetsova

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

We study the task of image description generation, which can find applications in image search, web accessibility research, story illustration, etc. Rather than concentrating on precise but robotic descriptions, we aim to generate captions, which are human-like, but which are still relevant to the image content. Human generated text is nontrivial in structure and vocabulary. A purely bottom-up approach, relying only on vision detection vocabulary, would struggle to generate such a description as " A cute squirrel having a feast under a tree" . To generate descriptions, which are close to human-like in their complexity and richness, we exploit a …

The Filth And The Filthier: Plumbing The Depths Of Controversial Stand-Up Comedy, Sean Springer

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

This dissertation is a genealogy of the filthy stand-up comedian in the United States. Using case studies of five so-called filthy stand-up comedians, each chapter looks at how the filthy label has functioned as a floating signifier that is applied to certain comedians in ways that conceal what is actually transgressive about their performances. The first chapter compares Lenny Bruce's legacy to Richard Pryor's, arguing that they have misleadingly become equated as two comedians who apparently transcended their filthy words. In actual fact, white critics saw Bruce as a filthy Other because he aligned himself with Jewish and African-American cultures. …

Intrusions: Embodied Ethics In The Films Of Claire Denis, Kristin Lené Hole

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

This dissertation develops an account of a feminist cinematic ethics through the films of Claire Denis, along with the philosophy of Jean-Luc Nancy and Emmanuel Levinas. Two facets of this ethics include what I term an ethics of sense and an aesthetic of alterity. I examine how Denis presents a counter cinema to dominant Hollywood film language, by centering non-mastery, opacity, and embodied relationality in her films. Arguing that the importance of her films is best understood through the lens of ethics, I locate these ethics both at the level of the film itself and also in the sensibility the …

Perceptual Learning In Second Language Learners, Katharina Sophie Schuhmann

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

This dissertation studied the flexibility of linguistic representations in monolingual and bilingual speakers of English. We conducted four perceptual learning studies to determine how monolingual English and English-German bilingual listeners mentally represent fricative phonemes. Listeners first completed an auditory lexical decision task in English in which critical stimuli contained either an /f/ or /s/ that had been replaced with a mixture in between [f] and [s]. Subsequently, listeners completed forced-choice phoneme categorization tasks to test for perceptual learning on the trained English /f-s/ contrast and possible generalization to other within-language contrasts, and possible cross-language generalization. We hypothesized (a) that perceptual …

Low Prevalence Of Asthma Among Textile Workers In Karachi, Pakistan, Sana Tanzil, Asaad A. Nafees

Community Health Sciences

Objective: To determine the prevalence of asthma in textile workers through post-bronchodilator spirometry and to compare the differences in prevalence based on different criteria used to assess asthma.
Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted between July and December 2013 in Karachi, Pakistan, and comprised workers from15 textile mills in the city and its outskirts. Asthma and associated respiratory symptoms were assessed using the American Thoracic Society Division of Lung Diseases Questionnaire, and post-bronchodilator spirometry. SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Among the 372 workers in the study, asthma was found in 19(5%) as diagnosed on post-bronchodilator spirometry. The …

Harding School Of Theology 2015-2016 Academic Catalog, Harding University

Harding Academic Catalogs

Academic catalog for the graduate program in Bible and religion.

Presentation Of Bicultural Identity In Hispanic Children’S Literature, Elena B. Lofton

Honors Theses

Children of all backgrounds can use literature as a means to understand the world in which they live. Therefore, it is important that children’s books represent diverse cultures and experiences. This study analyzed Hispanic children’s literature published in the U.S. that contained child characters with bicultural Hispanic-American identities. The aim of this study was to determine how the linguistic and literary elements in five books, which contained bilingual Spanish-English interwoven text, combined to present a bicultural identity and lifestyle in the United States today. The literary elements analyzed included themes, character portrayal, the roles of family and the elderly, and …

Don't Bring Me Down: A Study Of The Perceived Emotional Impact Of Positive, Negative, And Neutral Content On Facebook, Isis Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The present study seeks to examine the influence of viewing pages that are categorized as positive, negative, or neutral on the social network (SN) Facebook in relation to college students’ levels of happiness and self-esteem. Viewers were predicted to spend more time viewing the Facebook pages that have been coded as negative compared to positive or neutral pages because of cognitive saliency, and they were predicted to show lower levels of self-esteem and happiness. In addition, participants who view the positive pages were predicted show higher levels of selfesteem and happiness. The results suggested no significant difference in emotion on …

Adolescent Street Literacy: The Art Of The Hustle, Regina L. Welch

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is an ethnographic analysis of street youths, runaways and foster children. It focuses on the rhetorical and literacy practices that serve as a foundation for an underground community. Very little research, within the English field or from a literacy perspective, has been done on this demographic. This study includes data from interviews conducted with eight individuals who were “homeless” between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. Homeless is being defined as any duration spent absent of a stable living situation, including, but not limited to, foster homes, sleeping on the streets or in temporary settings, with …

Data Analysis With Map Reduce Programming Paradigm, Mandana Bozorgi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Abstract In this thesis, we present a summary of our activities associated with the storage and query processing of Google 1T 5-gram data set. We rst give a brief introduction to some of the implementation techniques for the relational algebra followed by a Map Reduce implementation of the same operators. We then implement a database schema in Hive for the Google 1T 5-gram data set.

The thesis will further look into the query processing with Hive and Pig in the Hadoop setting.

More specially, we report statistics for our queries in this environment.