Digital Commons Network^™

Participatory Action Research As Professional Development In Multicultural Education: What Are The Effects On A Staff In A New York City Public School?, Jimmy Ivan Kalamaras

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation studies the impact of Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the format for professional development of teachers in the domain of multicultural education. The study was conducted in a public elementary school, hereby known as Queens Multicultural, within the New York City Department of Education. Using PAR as a guiding framework, eleven teachers at Queens Multicultural created the Multicultural Education Participatory Action Research (MEPAR) group to develop an approach to address multicultural education at the school level. PAR was found to be an effective form of professional development that allowed staff members to engage in deep and rich discussions …

Relationship Of Students' Spelling Gains To Teacher Knowledge And Teacher Practice, Alison Puliatte

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined the impact of classroom teachers' linguistic knowledge and spelling instructional practices on Grade 2 and 3 students' spelling gains over the course of one school year. The purpose of this study was to identify teacher level variables that impact student spelling gains. This study employed a correlational research design aimed at finding relationships between two independent variables and one dependent variable. The two independent variables were teacher instructional practices and teacher linguistic knowledge. Teacher level variables were identified through two measures, an Instructional Practices Questionnaire and a Linguistic Knowledge Survey. The dependent variable was the student spelling …

Object Categorization In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Jaime Vitrano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate hierarchical object categorization in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), examining three levels of category inclusiveness (superordinate, basic, subordinate) across three tasks (sequential touching task, generalized imitation task, sorting task) in three domains (animals, tools, kitchen utensils) in the same group of children with ASD. Previous research on the categorization abilities of children with ASD has shown mixed results. This study was designed to clarify past discrepancies in the literature.

Ten children with ASD participated in this study (mean CA = 4 years, 10 months; range 3 to 6 years; mean VMA …

Dramatic Form And Embodiment: Robert Browning And The Epistemology Of Romantic Drama, Laura Helen Wallace

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Browning's famous distinction between the subjective and the objective poet, Shelley and Shakespeare, as well as his own abandonment of the lyric in favour of dramatic poetry, has been commonly interpreted as an epistemological demarcation that separates Browning, as a Victorian poet, from his Romantic predecessors. Defining Shelley as the subjective poet who looks through the individual soul toward "not what man sees, but what God sees--the Ideas of Plato" (283), and Shakespeare as the objective poet who looks, not to his own soul, but upon the material world, choosing "to produce things external" and to "deal with the doings …

Adonis' Poetics Of Vision And Modernity, Rasha Arabi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Syrian poet and cultural critic Ali Ahmad Said (1930 - ) (Adonis) is one of the most influential Arab poets of the 20th century. His poetry represents a radical rupture with what was established before. Adonis’ poetry is associated with innovation and revolution, and his language is characterized by mysticism and hermeticism. While living in Beirut, he co-founded the influential literary journal Shi'r (1956-63) with the Lebanese poet Yusuf al-Khal (1917-1987), and a few years later he founded his own journal, Mawaqif (1968-1998). Both journals served as a prominent literary platform for cultural modernity and radical criticism of the …

Proust's Medusa: Ovid, Evolution, And Modernist Metamorphosis, Gregory John Mercurio

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ovid's Metamorphoses has served as an indispensable text for Modernism, not least for such foundational Modernists as T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis. This dissertation examines how these writers characteristically employ Ovidian metamorphoses with a specifically evolutionary inflection, particularly in a post- Darwinian world informed by varying -often authoritarian- notions of biological adaptation, as well as an increasing emphasis on Mendalian genetics as the determining factor in what would become known as the Modern Synthesis in evolutionary theory. Using the theoretical platforms of both Queer Theory and Object Ontology, this dissertation proposes that a more pluralized, less authoritative …

Mental Discipline And Musical Meaning, Alice Harriet Jones

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Musical meaning, or what a musical experience communicates to a listener, is predicated on a shared habitus of listening between the musical creator (i.e., composer, performer, or improviser) and the listener. The meaning a listener takes away from a musical experience is partly dependent on the vessel transmitting it (i.e., who is performing, the quality of performance, or the visual aspects of performance), and a musical creator's actions are the result of his or her training, past experiences, enculturation, attentional focus, and bodily control in the heightened mental state in which creativity occurs. Even in traditions that consider the musician …

Playing Dead: Staging Corpses, Ghosts, And Statues In Early Modern Drama, Sarah Outterson-Murphy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Semi-animate corpses, physically powerful ghosts, and natural looking statues serve a powerful metatheatrical purpose in early modern drama. Such liminal bodies, which I define as figures caught between the fictional body and the living actor, model the relation between playgoer, actor, and playwright as they work together to produce theatrical fictions. The dramatized impact of liminal bodies on their onstage spectators draws playgoers' attention to their own experience of the liminally present theatrical world. Such displays of the power and pleasure of artifice paradoxically free theater from the constraining obligation of so-called accurate representation and highlight the pleasure playgoers and …

The Accession Of Greece To The European Communities, Bernhard Schloh

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Abu-Rish To Co-Convene Ohio Symposium On Middle East Studies, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

A Literary And Psychological Portrait Of The Belle Epoque, James Difilippo

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation depicts the Belle Epoque (1870-1914) whose Zeitgeist was epitomized by the motto, fluctuat, nec mergitur (Willms 339). The transformation in the spirit of Europe revealed the emergence of the conscious, the influence of the unconscious and the discovery of psychoanalysis. Although the fin de siècle was a period of degeneration, the epoch also represented hope for a new beginning. The Belle Epoque in Paris displayed a coat of arms that represented a metaphorical emblem of a tumultuous, sailing ship having an unattainable destination. The national self-awareness engendered a collective pathology, self-confidence and pride that characterized the consciousness of …

Leaping Off The Page And Melding Modes: The Multimodal Space Poem As A New Form Of Poetry, Todd J. Erickson

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper develops and makes an argument for a new form of poetry referred to as a space poem, defined as a poem that is composed with an awareness of multimodality during its creation in such a way that results in a poem in which multiple modes work together symbiotically to create the poem. I trace the development of this concept over the course of my experience as a student in the Critical and Creative Thinking Master’s degree program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Beginning with a consideration of my past artistic multimodal projects created at different moments during …

The Thinking Mode And The Literature Originated From Chinese Characters: The Value-Added Intersection Between Comparative Literature Studies And Cultural Linguistics Studies, Naiqiao Yang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Scholars posit that thinking mode originated from Chinese characters and the formation principles of Chinese characters show cultural psychology of Chinese. The formation principles of Chinese characters may take on the nature a cultural meta-code, and morphological features of Chinese language as a symbol system define Chinese literature as s literature grounded in Chinese characters. Comparative literary studies need to investigate how Western comparatists and sinologists grasp Chinese thinking mode that is encoded by Chinese characters as different languages will shape different ideas of literary writing.

Fun With Administrative Law: A Game For Lawyers And Judges, Adam Babich

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The practice of law is not a game. Administrative law in particular can implicate important issues that impact people’s health, safety, and welfare and change business’ profitability or even viability. Nonetheless, it can seem like a game. This is because courts rarely explain administrative law rulings in terms of the public purposes and policies at issue in lawsuits. Instead, the courts’ administrative law opinions tend to turn on arcane interpretive doctrines with silly names, such as the “Chevron two-step” or “Chevron step zero.” To advance doctrinal arguments, advocates and courts engage in linguistic debates that resemble a smokescreen—tending to obscure …

Martin Ruccius And The Synod Of Manitoba And Northwest Territories, Michael Diegel

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Malware Detection Using Dynamic Analysis, Swapna Vemparala

Master's Projects

In this research, we explore the field of dynamic analysis which has shown promis- ing results in the field of malware detection. Here, we extract dynamic software birth- marks during malware execution and apply machine learning based detection tech- niques to the resulting feature set. Specifically, we consider Hidden Markov Models and Profile Hidden Markov Models. To determine the effectiveness of this dynamic analysis approach, we compare our detection results to the results obtained by using static analysis. We show that in some cases, significantly stronger results can be obtained using our dynamic approach.

Apocalypse Now: Walter Benjamin And The Legacy Of Political Messianism, Wolin Richard

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Walter Benjamin's essay on the "Kritik der Gewalt" (Critique of Violence) has had a curious afterlife. When it first appeared in 1921, it passed almost unnoticed. However, following the collapse of communism, among proponents of the Cultural Left it acquired a canonical salience, in large measure owing to Jacques Derrida’s systematic reliance on it in "The Force of Law: the Mystical Foundation of Political Authority" (1994). However, many of these later interpretations have overlooked the pivotal role that Benjamin's justification of "divine violence" played in his early attempts to revivify political theology, in "Kritik der Gewalt" and related texts. Finally, …

Assessing The Promise Of A Supplemental Reading Intervention For At-Risk First Grade Students In A Public School Setting, Kouider Mokhtari, Joanna Neel, Forrest Kaiser, Hong-Hai Le

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this exploratory quasi-experimental case study, we assessed the promise of a yearlong supplemental reading intervention with a small pilot group of at-risk first grade readers in an elementary school setting. Using standardized measures of reading proficiency, we found that after 47 hours of one-on-one tutoring instruction, students read significantly more proficiently than did non-tutored students in a matched group of first grade peers in the same school. These results are encouraging in light of literacy research documenting the impact of one-on-one tutoring by qualified tutors of at-risk early grade readers. We used lessons learned from this pilot study to …

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Forest And The City (2013), Edited By Helen Conrad-O’Briain And Gerard Hynes., Kelley M. Wickham-Crowley

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien: the Forest and the City (2013), edited by Helen Conrad-O’Briain and Gerard Hynes. Book Review by Kelley M. Wickham-Crowley

The Effects Of Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Exercise On Cognition And Arousal In Extrovert And Introvert Personality Types, Deborah Riquelme

Open Access Dissertations

The present study examined differences in cognitive function between extrovert and introvert personality groups using a modified flanker task that included easy (congruent) and more difficult (incongruent) trials, at rest and during exercise. Dependent variables included amplitude and latency of the N100 component of event-related potentials, and behavioral measures included accuracy and reaction time. Fifteen extroverts and 14 introverts, ages 18-30 (22 women and 7 men), participated in the study. Although there were no significant differences in cognitive function between personality groups for any measures, cognitive function improved from rest to exercise for the entire sample as indexed by decreased …

Testing The Global Ratings Of Environments [Groe] In South Africa, Melissa Aives

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The author retested an observational tool called the Global Ratings of Environments. The tool was used in nearly six early childhood development (ECD) centers across two provinces. A detailed report of observations and findings are included in this paper. Also included are recommendations and revisions of the GROE for future use.

Effects Of Point-Of-View Modeling To Teach Life Skills To Students With Cognitive Impairments, Madeline Zacharkow

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of point-of-view (POV) video modeling in teaching culinary skills to elementary students with developmental and cognitive disabilities, compare when the video contains narration versus sound indicators, and to evaluate students' maintenance of gained skills without watching the video. A total of 8 students in grades 3-5 with an age range from 8-11 participated in the study. A single subject research design with ABCD phases was used in this study (Phase A baseline, Phase B and C intervention, and Phase D maintenance). Results showed that students gained skills during the intervention …

The Storm Still Echoes: Suspense And Ambivalence As A Way Of Life, Shailen Mishra

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three interrelated components that inquire into two themes: the epistemological and aesthetic merit of narrative suspense, and the generative potential of constraint-based writing. In the opening chapter, titled "Doubt in Perpetuity: Rethinking Suspense as a Mode of Aesthetics, and an Epistemological Inquiry," I undertake a theoretical inquiry to prove that suspense can be a rich analytical device to study complex aesthetics of writers. I theorize suspense at its elemental level and from an epistemological standpoint to prove that suspense is not simply a plot-level concept of "what happens next." Instead, by analyzing particular scenes from …

Abuse And Harassment Diminish Free Speech, Anita Bernstein

Pace Law Review

Owen Fiss focused on “the robustness of public debate” to conclude on his last page: “The autonomy protected by the First Amendment and rightly enjoyed by individuals and the press is not an end in itself, as it might be in some moral code, but is rather a means to further the democratic values underlying the Bill of Rights.”

This article embraces the same values but more conservatively. Whereas Fiss defended state-sponsored coercion, I leave the government mostly outside the descriptions and arguments presented here. Scholars have sought to apply the law—of crimes, torts, intellectual property, and statutory allotments and …

Family Planning And Reproductive Health Experiences Of Latina Women In A United States Border City, Erika Ojeda, Margarita Manzo-Casio

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

Family planning and reproductive health services are essential protective factors against unwanted, unintended, or mistimed pregnancies. However, underserved women such as those who are low-income, uninsured, or geographically or linguistically isolated may not have optimal access to these essential services. This study explores the experiences of Latina women in a United States’ border city in accessing family planning care through focus group discussions. We conducted two focus groups with Latina women of reproductive age in a border town in the United States, n=16. Focus groups were conducted in Spanish and audio recorded for transcription. Two independent bilingual student researchers transcribed …

Identifying Common Characteristics Of Malicious Insiders, Nan Liang, David Biros

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Malicious insiders account for large proportion of security breaches or other kinds of loss for organizations and have drawn attention of both academics and practitioners. Although methods and mechanism have been developed to monitor potential insider via electronic data monitoring, few studies focus on predicting potential malicious insiders. Based on the theory of planned behavior, certain cues should be observed or expressed when an individual performs as a malicious insider. Using text mining to analyze various media content of existing insider cases, we strive to develop a method to identify crucial and common indicators that an individual might be a …

Learning In Green Spaces : A 1st And 2nd Grade Curriculum On The High Line, Alyssa Anker

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This social studies curriculum provides educators with the framework for teaching 1st and 2nd graders about the High Line and other New York City parks. It provides the lens for students to explore how parks are used, observe the commonalities among different parks, and investigate the uniqueness of the High Line.

Incorporating Community Cultural Wealth In A Community-Based Organization, Henriette S. Ako-Asare

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project examined how Hack the Hood, a Bay Area non-profit organization, successfully works with low-income youth of color in an outside of school context using technological skills to empower them. Critical Race Theory, community cultural wealth, and the many studies on academic success provided a model through which to examine the efficacy and cultural relevance of Hack the Hood programming using interviews and data already gathered on the organization. Based on the analysis of Hack the Hood and the promising findings related to how their work advance several of the tenets of the community cultural wealth model, this project …

Michael C. Astour: A Biographical Essay, James J. Weingartner

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Michael Astour's scholarly productivity was prodigious and was recognized and respected by the international community of historians of the ancient Near East. His accomplishments would have been impressive in anyone, but were especially so given the tumultuous and tragic events of his personal life, which were part and parcel of the tragic and tumultuous century in which he lived. The Festschrift that grew out of a celebratory conference in his honor begins with a paraphrase of an ancient Sumerian proverb: “A scribe who does not know Sumerian, what kind of a scribe is he?” It reads, “Scholars of Mediterranean, Biblical …

Teaching Reading Comprehension Skills To Saudi Female Students At The University Levels: A Handbook For Teachers, Dina Sofi

Master's Projects and Capstones

By using innovative language teaching techniques and methodologies based on Communicative Language Teaching Approach and Multiple Intelligences Theory , the author of this project aimed to develop a handbook for EFL female teachers in Saudi Arabia. The handbook serves as a guide for teaching reading comprehension to Saudi female students at the university levels. The handbook illustrates different teaching methods that activate different learning modalities. It also include sample units with reading passages and activities that model teaching reading, integrate different language skills and enhance the students’ communicative skills.