Digital Commons Network^™

Modification Of The "Gold Standard"? Leadership Selection From An Attachment Lens: A Critical Analysis., Rebecca Pearlstein

Theses and Dissertations

The demands of corporate America are placing increased pressures on supervisors and executives to create and manage optimal organizational cultures. Relational capabilities and emotional intelligence have come to the fore as an essential component of effective and successful business leadership. When leaders are unable to create positive relationships with their working teams and navigate the day-to-day stressors of the workplace, the costs can be significant. In addition to losses in productivity, absenteeism, stress, burnout, and demoralization all take a heavy toll. From the perspective of attachment theory, the ability to connect with others, cope with stress, and engage in productive …

Strategic School Solutions: A Capacity Building Framework For Leaders Accelerating 21st Century Teaching And Learning, Alessaundra D. Mills

Theses and Dissertations

This grounded theory study sought to create a viable framework that may help school leaders accelerate the expansion of an authentic 21st century instructional model. The U.S. economy is now more dependent on knowledge work than manufacturing. Yet, many for-profit, non-profit, and public sectors perceive schools as not adequately preparing students for 21st century careers and colleges. However, customary principal-led change is challenging. Leaders face several complex organizational challenges, including a modern-day duty and role expansion that limits time, and the inherent difficulty of human-behavior and organizational change, observed in the fact that schools have deeply entrenched norms: an estimated …

Stem-Themed Schools: A Case Study Of Its Effect On Student Educational Pathways, Monika R. Mcknight

Theses and Dissertations

As the country looks to increase the STEM workforce it is important to examine the effect of the programs in place, specifically the effect on the students choices in education. The Mathematics & Science Academy (MSA), is a STEM-themed, public magnet school in Southern California whose mission is to increase the nation’s pool of graduates in mathematics and science. It is 1 of the many schools and programs in place to increase the United States (U.S.) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. This study, designed as a qualitative case study investigated how MSA has influenced female, African American students …

The Disparity In A Free Appropriate Public Education: Minority Parents And Access Through Advocacy, Melissa E. Moxley

Theses and Dissertations

The United States has been providing federally mandated educational access to children with disabilities for more than 35 years. During this relatively short period of time, the quality of education for children with physical, mental, emotional, and genetic challenges has been enhanced exponentially. Through federal legislation and nationwide litigation, formal structures have been created to ensure that the nation's 7.1 million students with special needs receive a free and appropriate public education. Despite these remarkable achievements, special education is impacted by social, cultural, and economic disparities that continue to plague education in the United States. One inherent inequality in special …

The Radical South: Grassroots Activism, Ethnicity, And Literary Form, 1960-1980, Elizabeth Fielder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“The Radical South” examines the art and writings of Civil-Rights-era social movements and locates U.S. based political structures in a hemispheric and global network. I reveal that the Civil Rights Movement, ethnic nationalism, and second-wave feminism were not separate entities; rather, the cultural work of activists was an intersectional effort that defied national strategies, such as non-violent protest and race-based separatism, that were often determined by their urban counterparts. Thus, I argue that new political aesthetics emerged from grassroots activism and set in motion ethnic and racial cultural expressions that embraced multiple, even conflicting, identities. As much as this art …

Students' Critical Meta-Awareness In A Figured World Of Achievement: Toward A Culturally Sustaining Stance In Curriculum, Pedagogy, And Research, Limarys Caraballo

Publications and Research

Students' academic experiences are often shaped by normalized conceptions of literacy that do not honor the interrelatedness of multiple identities, languages, and literacies. This qualitative case study in an urban middle school highlights students' critical meta-awareness of their identities-in-practice in the figured world of their classroom via a narrative analysis of students' writing, interviews, and focus group discussions. The authors focuses on students' internalization and/or resistance within/beyond the curriculum as the basis for developing culturally sustaining stances toward curriculum, pedagogy, and research that actively disrupt cultural, ethnic, racial and epistemological hierarchies of power in academic contexts and beyond.

Language Modularity, Lindsay N. Harris, Iwona B. Lech

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Intermediate Russian Through Formula Tales, Tamar Karakozova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation presents a study of on the benefits of formula tales in university-level foreign language classrooms during grammar practice activities. The study investigates students’ attitudes toward the use of such texts in the post-secondary foreign language environment. In addition, differences between and among the participant-students is analyzed. Cognitive learning theory, noticing hypothesis, and content-based instruction provide the theoretical framework for the study.

Strangers Among Us: Invasive Plants In British Literature, 1669-1800., Thomas Lance Bullington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exotic flora in the long eighteenth century (1666-1800) embodied a point of contact between the natural and imaginary worlds, bearing witness to the ways that ideology relocates living things according to human desire. Most accounts view these exotics through the lens of ecological imperialism and “invasive” species. Both of these terms are twenty-first century metaphors that materialize the role of imperialism in circulating exotics, applying the narrative of invading British empire to the behavior of foreign plants. However, such accounts do not fully acknowledge the cultural work that images of foreign plants do. I opt instead for an ecocritical reappraisal …

Linguistic Variations Between Cajun French, Pedagogical French, And Mississippi Gulf Coast French, Virginia Jane Geddie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates lexical variation between three dialects of French in various stages of language death. Those dialects are Pedagogical French, an international language, Cajun French, an obsolescing language, and Mississippi Gulf Coast French, an extinct language. In order to determine the degree of variation, thirty-two lexical items or phrases that display variance with Pedagogical French are selected from Mississippi Gulf Coast French. They are then compared with counterparts in Pedagogical French and Cajun French to determine the amount of variance between dialects. I hypothesized that there is a larger degree of variation between the Gulf Coast dialects and Pedagogical …

I Speak Better Arabic: Arabic Native Speakers’ Perception Of Arabic Dialects, Mahmoud Sayed Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Rahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A limited number of studies in the field of perceptual dialectology covered the Arab World. This is a perceptual dialectology study that aims at investigating Arabic native speakers’ perception of Arabic dialect areas. This study utilized a questionnaire that is based on Preston’s (1999) techniques for investigating perceptual dialectology. This questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part includes a detailed map of the Arab world and participants are asked to identify as many dialect areas of Arabic as they could. The second part of the questionnaire investigates Arabic native speakers’ perception of different Arabic dialects in terms of where …

Global Leadership: Strategies And Practices To Develop Intercultural Skills, Edward Van Luinen

Theses and Dissertations

Globalization is a transformational change phenomenon that is significantly and rapidly impacting today’s organizations, leaders, and people. In turn, the role of the global business leader has become quite complex, and Fortune 500 organizations are facing a dearth of global leaders capable of addressing today’s business leadership challenges. In response to this challenge, one particular strategy for developing global leaders focuses on building intercultural skills. However, given the complexity of their roles, global leaders may face difficulties in developing these skills. By first acknowledging these obstacles global leaders can then, through their work, develop effective strategies and practices in the …

Crossing The Tracks: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Of An Urban Inner City Charter High-School, Yuliya Reznikova-Eisenberg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the college-related self-efficacy of 12th Grade English learners enrolled in a public charter school in Southern California. College-related self-efficacy is defined as a student's belief that they can attend college. This qualitative exploratory study was designed to explore the beliefs and attitudes that current English language learners (ELL) have regarding the possibility of attending college. A cross sectional data collection approach was utilized to explore college-related self-efficacy during English Learner's senior year. The senior class studied was the first to experience a high-school pathway designed to culminate in English language learners …

Wandering The Web--Exploring Information Of Japanese Americans' Experiences In Internment Camps During World War Ii, Tadayuki Suzuki

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Self-Perceived Cognitive Decline, Neuropsychological Functioning, And Depressive Symptoms In Hiv+ Spanish-Speakers, Ahoo Karimian

Theses and Dissertations

Within the United States, HIV is a growing epidemic that has important neuropsychological and functional consequences. Early detection and treatment of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) is associated with better outcomes. In major metropolitan areas such Los Angeles County, HIV disproportionately impacts the Latino community. For those individuals who are primarily Spanish-speakers, there may be limited access to comprehensive neuropsychological assessment in the preferred language. Consequently, self-reports of cognitive functioning are often relied on to help determine the presence of HAND. However, self-reports of cognitive decline may be influenced by factors such as depressed mood, variable motivation, and culture, raising important …

What Tutor Researchers And Their Mentors Tell Us About Undergraduate Research In The Writing Center: An Exploratory Study, Christopher Ervin

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Development Of Nanoelectrodes For Electrochemical Applications, Séan Barry

Theses

The demand for direct, selective and rapid determination of chemical and biological analytes has led to a growing interest in electrochemical sensor devices. Particularly the use of nanomaterials and nanoelectrodes has received increased interest due to their enhanced electrochemical properties. In this thesis these enhanced properties are exploited in order to develop multiple sensing applications.

Firstly a sensitive microband based sensor is described for the detection of trinitrotoluene and for its discrimination from other nitroaromatic compounds. Square wave voltammetry was used to identify characteristic reduction peaks for these compounds and a calibration plot for the quantification of TNT was also …

Does An Oral Health Education Program Increase Oral Health Literacy And Access To Dental Care In A Refugee Population?, Romana Muller

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Purpose: To assess oral health literacy (OHL) of refugees in St. Louis, Missouri and evaluate the effect of an oral health education program on OHL and oral health perceptions. Methods: The three-phase non-experimental quantitative research included a group of 52 refugees : implementation of an oral health education program and a pretest/posttest analysis of two surveys; a Socio-demographic Survey and Oral Health Perceptions of Refugees ; and an Estimate of Oral Health Literacy-Bilingual 40 (EOHL-BL40). Results: Participants scored higher on EOHL-BL40 Posttest 1 with a mean of 28.61 (SE=2.41) versus Pretest with a mean of 15.29 (SE = 1.24). Good …

Automatically Processing Tweets From Gang-Involved Youth: Towards Detecting Loss And Aggression, Terra Blevins, Robert Kwiatkowski, Jamie C. Macbeth, Kathleen Mckeown, Desmond Patton, Owen Rambow

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Violence is a serious problems for cities like Chicago and has been exacerbated by the use of social media by gang-involved youths for taunting rival gangs. We present a corpus of tweets from a young and powerful female gang member and her communicators, which we have annotated with discourse intention, using a deep read to understand how and what triggered conversations to escalate into aggression. We use this corpus to develop a part-of-speech tagger and phrase table for the variant of English that is used, as well as a classifier for identifying tweets that express grieving and aggression.

Daoism And Disability, Andrew Lambert

Publications and Research

Ideas found in the early Daoist texts can inform current debates about disability, since the latter often involve assumptions about personhood and agency that Daoist texts do not share. The two canonical texts of classical Daoism, the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi, do not explicitly discuss disability as an object of theory or offer a model of it. They do, however, provide conceptual resources that can enrich contemporary discussions of disability. Two particular ideas are discussed here. Classical Daoist thinking about the body undermines normative assumptions about it that attributions of ‘disabled’ often depend upon; and Daoism vividly problematises the …

Knowledge-Based Tweet Classification For Disease Sentiment Monitoring, Xiang Ji, Soon Ae Chun, James Geller

Publications and Research

Disease monitoring and tracking is of tremendous value, not only for containing the spread of contagious diseases but also for avoiding unnecessary public concerns and even panic. In this chapter, we present a near real-time sentiment analysis service of public health-related tweets. Traditionally, it is impossible for humans to effectively measure the degree of public health concerns due to limited resources and significant time delays. To solve this problem, we have developed a computational intelligence approach for Epidemic Sentiment Monitoring System (ESMOS) to automatically analyze the disease sentiments and gauge the Measure of Concern (MOC) expressed by Twitter users. More …

Cyberbullying Detection With A Pronunciation Based Convolutional Neural Network, Xiang Zhang, Jonathan Tong, Nishant Vishwamitra, Elizabeth Whittaker, Joseph P. Mazer, Robin Kowalski, Hongxin Hu, Feng Luo, Jamie C. Macbeth, Edward Dillon

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Cyberbullying can have a deep and long lasting impact on its victims, who are often adolescents. Accurately detecting cyberbullying helps prevent it. However, the noise and errors in social media posts and messages make detecting cyberbullying very challenging. In this paper, we propose a novel pronunciation based convolutional neural network (PCNN) to address this challenge. Upon observing that the pronunciation of misspelled words in informal online conversations is often unchanged, we used the phoneme codes of the text as the features for a convolutional neural network. This procedure corrects spelling errors that did not alter the pronunciation, thereby alleviating the …

Using Natural Language Processing And Qualitative Analysis To Intervene In Gang Violence: A Collaboration Between Social Work Researchers And Data Scientists, Desmond Upton Patton, Kathleen Mckeown, Owen Rambow, Jamie C. Macbeth

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

The U.S. has the highest rate of firearm-related deaths when compared to other industrialized countries. Violence particularly affects lowincome, urban neighborhoods in cities like Chicago, which saw a 40% increase in firearm violence from 2014 to 2015 to more than 3,000 shooting victims. While recent studies have found that urban, gang-involved individuals curate a unique and complex communication style within and between social media platforms, organizations focused on reducing gang violence are struggling to keep up with the growing complexity of social media platforms and the sheer volume of data they present. In this paper, describe the Digital Urban Violence …

The Coherence Of Conceptual Primitives, Jamie C. Macbeth, Marydjina Barionnette

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Intelligent systems that process natural language need representations of knowledge to support a human-like thought process, and they often use natural language words or phrases to name and represent concepts in a knowledge base. But some theories of cognition claim that language and thought are not the same thing, and that human thought processes occur at a deeper level of representation than words and phrases in language. In this paper we present results of a human subjects study of language-free primitive decomposition as a representation for commonsense knowledge. We found that our subjects could comprehend and use a primitive decomposition …

Characterizing Pediatric Primary Care In Greater New Haven, Meredith Ann Camp Binford

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Healthcare access is a complex concept that involves more than insurance coverage and resource utilization. Influenced by milieu, an understanding of the local dimensions of access is essential to develop community strengths as well as create appropriate solutions to access gaps. Accordingly, the objectives of the study were to identify, enumerate, and characterize medical practices delivering primary care to children within greater New Haven.

In partnership with community leaders, a community-based participatory approach was used to design a 57-question and 21-observation item, practice-based survey. The survey was administered in-person to 17 pediatric practices and 19 school-based health centers (SBHCs) in …

Abercrombie 2.0 - Can We Get There From Here? The Thoughts On 'Suggestive Fair Use', Joseph S. Miller

Scholarly Works

Professor Linford, unlike Caesar’s Antony, seeks not only to bury Abercrombie, but to praise it, at least in part. Using linguistic evidence, both historical and experimental, he would relocate a bobbled boundary—from the descriptive–suggestive transition to the suggestive–arbitrary transition—and thereby establish a reformed template for sorting word marks according to their source-signifying strength. The basic difference between acquired and inherent distinctiveness not only remains in Linford’s account, however; it draws new strength from insights about semantic change. Behold, Abercrombie 2.0! His recent article, which is both provocative and engaging, continues the reconstructive work Linford began in his critique of …

Postcolonial Management Of The Transboundary Guaraní Aquifer System: Indigenous Input As A Guide For Environmental Sustainability, Melissa Leonard

Tribal Law Journal

This article discusses the Guaraní Aquifer System, which is a vast groundwater source that spans across Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. The Guaraní Aquifer System is located beneath the ancestral homelands of the Guaraní indigenous peoples, yet it is exclusively managed by nation states. The Guaraní indigenous peoples have been deprived of their ancestral land and have no say in the utilization or management of the Aquifer. This article discusses social and legal theory relating to water management and governance, as well as Guaraní social organization, belief systems, and customary environmental law in the context of “postcolonial” water management. This …

Parent-Child Book-Reading Styles, Emotional Quality, And Changes In Early Head Start Children's Cognitive Scores., Keely Cline, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to understand how book-reading style and emotional quality of reading interact and relate to cognitive skills in a sample of at-risk infants and toddlers. Participants included 81 parents and their children participating in Early Head Start programs in the rural Midwest. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis that parental book-reading style and emotional quality interact and relate to changes in children's cognitive scores for culturally and linguistically families. Results included that there were variations in how book-reading qualities interacted and related to changes in child cognitive scores for families …

Social Narrative And Sustainability Of A Danish Diaspora Community In The American Midwest, Craig A. Molgaard, Amanda L. Golbeck

The Bridge

This longitudinal study (1972-2015) focuses on the largest Danish American speech community in the United States of America, which is in Audubon, Cass, Pottawattamie, and Shelby Counties in western Iowa (the towns of Elk Horn, Kimballton, Audubon, Harlan, Exira, and Atlantic). The sociolinguistic mechanisms (code switching, speech acts, storytelling) of Danish social and cultural narrative are identified and examples are provided. We examine the social aspects of sustaining identity and heritage in a now globally linked community, and note lessons learned for other communities seeking to sustain their heritage in a healthy and productive fashion.

Full Issue

The Bridge

No abstract provided.