Digital Commons Network^™

"Rock Against Reagan": The Punk Movement, Cultural Hegemony, And Reaganism In The Eighties, Johnathan Kyle Williams

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Despite scholars’ growing interest in the cultural movement known as punk, there has been a lack of focus on the movement’s relationship to its historical context. Punk meant rebellion, and this research looks at how the rebellion of the American punk movement during the eighties [1978 to 1992], was aimed at the president Ronald Reagan. Their dissent, however, was not only directed towards Reagan, but the culture that he encompassed. Under this influence, American culture gave way to Reaganism: a culture of individualism, greed, power, and symbols. Adding to the work by historian Dewar MacLeod and others who have focused …

Case Study: Moral And Ethical Decisions Some Students Make Pursuing Their Doctoral Degrees From Accredited For-Profit Universities, Anne Pinchera

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study is to identify issues some doctoral students face in obtaining their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from accredited for-profit colleges and universities. The three participants attended for-profit universities in the past five years and failed to obtain their doctoral degrees. Data collection is through an initial demographics survey, qualification survey, vignettes, and the interview itself. Data analysis from the Coding Manual for Qualitative Research by Johnny Saldana is used to analyze the data collected from problems doctoral students encounter in pursuit of their doctoral degree (Saldana, 2013). The theoretical foundations for this project come …

Exploring How First-Year Experiences In Higher Education Influence Student Acceptance Of Biological Evolutionary Theory, Lauren A. Winter

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the current study, I investigated whether changes occurred in the acceptance of evolution for students majoring in elementary education during their first semester of college and if so, what factors influenced the change. Thirty participants in their first semester of college completed pre-and post-tests that included the Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance to measure changes in student acceptance of evolution over the course of one academic semester. Ten of those participants completed interviews to elaborate on those factors that may have affected their acceptance in evolution. Mixed methods analysis utilizing a cognitive constructivist framework revealed that religious beliefs, explicit …

The Effects Of Blended Learning On Critical Thinking In A High School Earth Science Class, Renee Nicole Borglum

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study analyzed the effects of differing levels of technology use in a high school Earth Science class on student performance on the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR). Blended learning manipulates the combination of hands-on activities, classroom discussions, online discussions, interactive simulations and a variety of assessments that engage, instruct and assess student learning. Critical thinking is the set of skills and dispositions that foster problem solving, reasoning ability and selfregulation. The increasing use of technology in the classroom and fluctuation of content standards prompted this research. The results have implications for the classroom teacher of a wide range …

Up Close And Personal : Examining The Role Race Plays In Public Perceptions Of Law Enforcement, Olivia K. Thompson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Perceived racial biases of police officers may impact encounters with Blacks and negatively impact relations between Black communities and police officers. Understanding factors that influence public perceptions of law enforcement may help researchers and policy makers target intervention programs to improve relations. This study examined the role race plays in public perceptions of a routine traffic stop and local local law enforcement. White and Black participants, recruited at public places in a midsize city in Iowa, read a vignette about a Black or White individual who was pulled over by a White police officer. Participants then answered questions regarding whether …

Using One-To-One Computing For Differentiated Instruction In Iowa: An Investigation Of The Impact Of Teachers' Perceptions Of Teaching And Learning, Jodi A. Bermel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The 1983 seminal work entitled A Nation at Risk recommended that all high school graduates be proficient in the Five New Basics: English, mathematics, science, social studies, and computer science. To address the No Child Left Behind mandates, educators and administrators are evaluating the theory and practice of Differentiated Instruction (DI). One-to-one computer initiatives became an element of DI strategy due to the well-documented advantages in the use of technology to address individual learning needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine administrators’ and teachers’ perceptions of using one-to-one computing to differentiate instruction and to identify potential …

By Practitioners, For Practitioners: Informing And Empowering Practice Through Practitioner Research, Cordelia D. Zinskie, Dan W. Rea

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Journal

The National Youth-At-Risk Journal was developed to provide meaningful information and resources for professionals who work with youth placed at risk. In order to further this goal, we are calling on practitioners to communicate directly with their colleagues via the journal. We are especially interested in publishing practitioner reports on effective programs, strategies, or interventions that improve both the practice and well-being of youth. The editors provide an overview of practitioner research, describe three approaches to practitioner research, outline the process for conducting practitioner research, and emphasize the role of practitioner-researchers as agents of change. Resources are provided to assist …

Interview Of Christine Sleeter On Multicultural Education: Past, Present, And Key Future Directions, James C. Jupp, Christine E. Sleeter

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Journal

This is an interview of Christine Sleeter on her work in multicultural education over four decades. Links to videos of this interview are available in the Appendix after the references. Transcriptions and videos of Dr. Sleeter’s interview provide plain-spoken content for teacher educators, school administrators, and teachers interested in advancing multicultural education and its critical and practical translation into public school classrooms. The main topics covered in this interview are: (a) the “origins” of multicultural education, (b) the basics of multicultural teaching in student and community relationships, (c) advice for new teachers coming into the profession, (d) discussions of White …

Growingchange: Media Products As Therapy For Adjudicated Youth, Jason S. Hutchens

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Journal

GrowingChange is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the futures of teenage males in the juvenile justice system. The group is working to reclaim an abandoned prison in Wagram, North Carolina in order to convert it into a sustainable farm and agricultural center for the local community. If successful, GrowingChange hopes to institute a national model for converting closed prison sites into community centers across the country. Youth involved in the program undergo unique forms of therapy to reset their paths toward more promising futures. A core therapeutic component of GrowingChange is teaching youth in the program about ways to …

There’S A Skid Row Everywhere, And This Is Just The Headquarters: Impacts Of Urban Revitalization Policies In The Homeless Community Of Skid Row, Douglas Mungin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation tracks the historical shift from containment strategies for managing homeless populations in Skid Row to current strategies of using police and the penal system to periodically sweep the street of these unwanted bodies. This shift hinges on the construction of homelessness as a crisis requiring immediate and ongoing intervention. First, the state produces and reproduces homelessness as a state of crisis by withdrawing or denying support and public services and disallowing alternative, subsistence modes of survival. Then, it issues the performative utterance of the area as unclean or unsanitary. Developers and city officials mobilize the police to erase …

Community College Faculty Members’ Perceptions Of Creating Digital Content To Enhance Online Instructor Social Presence, Karen M. Arlien

Theses and Dissertations

Current technologies, specifically asynchronous video, allow instructors to enhance their online instructor social presence (OISP) by creating digital content in which they can simultaneously convey their unique persona verbally and nonverbally while supplementing course content. A strong OISP has been shown to contribute toward students’ successful course completion, which continues to be an issue at community colleges. Existing research on the use of digital content to enhance OISP, however, has primarily focused on students’ perceptions even though faculty members are responsible for establishing OISP. The purpose of this study was to ascertain community college faculty members’ perceptions of creating asynchronous …

How Do Social Norms Affect Physical Activity And Performance On An Endurance Task?, Keith David Randazzo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the extensive benefits associated with a physically active life style, less than 50% of US adults engage in recommended levels of physical activity (PA), so finding ways to structure environments to promote PA is an important concern. Social norms, conceptualized as an individual’s perception of peer behavior, provide a framework for exploring factors that influence decisions to be physically active. Although researchers have investigated how social norms influence a variety of behaviors, the PA domain has not been fully explored. The focus of this dissertation is to apply social norms theories to investigate how normative information influences PA intentions …

Violent Conventions: An Analysis Of The Unintended Aesthetics Of On-Stage Accidents, Jeremy Matthew Reynolds

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In theatre scholarship, the event of the on-stage accident is a fairly neglected area of research. Aside from brief archival detailing of some of the more tragic events, scholars have not approached the accidents from a theoretical or historiographical position. Many, I surmise, find little of interest in an on-stage accident due to its lack of aesthetic purpose or intentionality. In this project, I focus on those neglected accidents and, more specifically, accidents that take place due to a violent failure of theatrical convention. I discuss three specific moments where a theatre convention – established to concretize the world of …

Quantum Walks: Theory, Application, And Implementation, Albert Thomas Schmitz

Theses and Dissertations

The quantum walk is a method for conceptualizing and designing quantum computing algorithms and it comes in two forms: the continuous-time and discrete-time quantum walk. The thesis is organized into three parts, each of which looks to develop the concept and uses of the quantum walk. The first part is the theory of the quantum walk. This includes definitions and considerations for the various incarnations of the discrete-time quantum walk and a discussion on the general method for connecting the continuous-time and discrete-time versions. As a result, it is shown that most versions of the discrete-time quantum walk can be …

Contraceptive Self-Efficacy: Educational And Familial Influences, Jenelle Suzan Swenberger

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines educational and familial influences on contraceptive self-efficacy among young adults. Self-efficacy theory states that beliefs about personal efficacy constitute the key factor behind human agency. Contraceptive self-efficacy refers to the belief in one’s ability to utilize contraceptives in a sexual situation. Based on previous literature it is expected that young adults who have had comprehensive reproductive health education, report higher levels of individual educational attainment, and report higher levels of mothers’ and fathers’ educational attainment will report higher levels of contraceptive self-efficacy. To test these associations, data from a stratified random sample of undergraduate students enrolled at …

Going Public: How The Government Assumed The Authority To Prosecute In The Southern United States, Jason Twede

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores factors that may have influenced the transition from private prosecution to public prosecution in Georgia during the late-eighteenth century—a transition that eventually happened in every jurisdiction in the United States. There are numerous people, both inside and outside academia, who are calling for a change to the current system of prosecution in the United States. One possible change that is being advocated is a return to a system of private prosecution. Understanding the reasons the system changed from a system of private prosecution in the first instance is important when determining whether such a return is appropriate. …

Demand And Supply: College Faculty’S Perceptions Of Computer Aided Design (Cad) And Computer Aided Manufacture (Cam) In Jewelry Design And Production, Patrick Awotwe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore perceptions of university faculty and jewelry industry professionals regarding the teaching of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) in a visual arts classroom. At the time of this study, there were mixed opinions about the teaching of CAD/CAM in the production of jewelry products, and there was limited literature available on this topic. With the use of CAD/CAM technologies, a jeweler emerges as potentially an artist and a design engineer who can apply creative and innovative principles to industrial design and manufacturing processes. Considering the impact of CAD/CAM …

Teacher Perceptions Of Facilitated Video Analysis Of Instruction In Teacher Professional Development, Benson Ayang Bakabaka

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated inservice teachers’ perceptions of facilitated video analysis of instruction (FAVAI) on teacher professional development. The study borrows from the efficiency video of instruction has provided preservice teachers in previous research. The study made use of a group of five inservice teachers who took a professional development course labeled the Bakabaka Video Pedagogy (BVP). These teachers participated in watching and analyzing videos of instruction. A midcourse anonymous online survey was administered four weeks into the course. At the end of the BVP course, a post-viewing interview was administered to all the participants. The key research questions guiding …

Scanning Probe Investigations Of Multidentate Thiol And Spatially Confined Porphyrin Nanoassemblies Using Nanoscale Lithography, Xianglin Zhai Zhai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Approaches to prepare spatially selective surfaces were developed in this dissertation for constructing nanopatterns of organic thin film materials. Nanoscale surface patterns were prepared using immersion particle lithography and scanning probe lithography combined with organothiol chemistry. Organic thin films and nanomaterials can be patterned with tunable periodicities and designed shapes by selecting the diameter of mesospheres used as surface masks or scanning probe lithography, respectively. The surface platforms of well-defined nanopatterns are ideal for high resolution investigations using scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Local measurements of surface properties and conductive properties combined with nanolithography were accomplished at the molecular level. Sample …

Graphic Design Students’ Perceptions Of Using Apple Ipads To Create Sketches And Promote Idea Generation, Elizabeth Becker

Theses and Dissertations

Artists and designers typically utilize sketching during the early stages of the design process because it provides them with an opportunity to transfer ideas from their head onto paper, computer, or mobile device. Sketching is regarded by researchers in the field of design to be an essential part of the design process.

The existing research in this field is focused on comparing paper and pencil sketches with sketches completed on computers. There is a void in the literature examining sketching completed on mobile devices like the Apple iPad. Therefore, this study aimed to fill that void.

The purpose of this …

How Distribution Of Commercial Satellite Payloads Between Different Launch Providers Affects The National Space Transportation Policy, Jerra Brown

Theses and Dissertations

How does the distribution of commercial satellite payloads affect the National Space Transportation Policy? Looking at the launch of commercial satellite payloads as a market, providing profit for private ventures, the question was analyzed by linking the economic benefits of the market to policy that it influences. Historical models are used to establish an economic variable and correlate its impact on policy change through time, using the 1994, 2004 and 2013 National Space Transportation Policies. The primary methods used were different comparative text analysis to baseline the changes of the evolving policies as applicable to a growing private space launch …

Arsenic Speciation And Phytoremediation Modeling For Environmental Management, Sidney Joseph Marlborough

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Arsenic has been used throughout recorded history but during the industrial revolution widespread use led to global environmental impact. The two forms that should be considered in environment management are arsenate and arsenite. The calculations of environmental risk for arsenic exposure relies the toxicity of arsenite however, in well aeriated surface soils arsenate may be the predominate form. Ecological risk assessments based on arsenite studies will lead to restrictive remediation requirements that do not adequately reflect the level of risk. Arsenate resembles phosphate and as such has a greater affinity for phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is one of the most viable and …

How Media Ownership Affects Community Journalism: A Case Study Of The Grand Forks Herald, Angela Sue Cary

Theses and Dissertations

Local print newspapers have experienced many fiscal challenges over the past decade resulting in the downsizing of personnel and the consolidation of other resources. This restructuring ultimately affects its readers who may not receive the level of local information they need to further the ideals of civic engagement and democracy within their community. This study examines the relationship between media ownership and the amount of local news found within one newspaper serving a mid-size Midwestern city. This research was conducted through comparisons of the number of articles, column inches, and local reporter data in the newspaper’s two primary news sections …

Teachers' Of Students With Visual Impairments Perceptions And Experiences Of Teaching The Expanded Core Curriculum, Renae T. Bjorg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) in the state of North Dakota regarding the expanded core curriculum (ECC). This study included transcribed interviews from six TSVIs who taught in grades K-12.

The National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairments, Including Those with Multiple Disabilities was used to frame this study. Phenomenological methods were used to analyze the interviews into codes, categories, themes, and an assertion. Following were the seven themes supported by the data collected:

1. Teachers of students …

Creation Of A Conditional Reasoning Task For Hostile Sexism, Travis Daryl Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) is a widely used measure of sexism. The current project describes the creation and administration of an alternative measurement of sexism that utilizes a conditional reasoning task (CRT) while supporting the theoretical underpinnings in Ambivalent Sexism Theory. Arguments in favor of creating a new scale are presented along with arguments for the specific use of a CRT. By creating a conditional reasoning task for hostile sexism (CRT-HS), the current project takes the first step toward creating a new indirect alternative for measuring sexism.

The Effects Of Flipped Learning On Critical Thinking Disposition Among Undergraduate College Students, Mark J. Dusenbury

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine if flipped learning has an effect on students critical thinking disposition, how students’ perceptions of flipped learning changed during the semester, and if students in the flipped classroom performed better academically. Participants for this longitudinal, quasi-experimental classroom study included 81 participants, the majority freshman and sophomores at a large Midwestern university, whom registered for an aviation Human Factors course. Two measures in this study examined critical thinking disposition and students’ perceptions longitudinally (pretest and posttest) during the 16 week semester. Paired samples t-tests, independent samples t-tests, and a MANCOVA were used to …

Factors That Influence The Adoption Of Geographic Information Systems In A Professional Work Environment: A Study Of The Property Assessment Profession, Daniel J. Fasteen

Theses and Dissertations

The adoption of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology has been emerging in many professional work environments — including the property assessment discipline. Although many uses of GIS have been thoroughly documented throughout the literature in a variety of disciplines, there has been little research on the perceived factors that influence its adoption in professional work settings. The purpose of this research is to assess factors that influence the adoption of geographic information systems technology in a professional work environment. The work environment being studied is the property assessment profession. An online survey was sent out to property assessment professionals from …

Motivations In Exercise, Amanda Dufner

Theses and Dissertations

College students exercise for a variety of reasons, but specific differences in their motivations and perceptions have not been extensively studied. PURPOSE: The main purpose was to see if students whose primary reason for exercise is to lose fat (FATCON), gain muscle mass (MUSC), or maintain health (HLTH) had differences in their exercise motivations, social physique anxiety, and body image self-perceptions.

A secondary purpose was to explore if the participants’ supplement use reflected their exercise priorities.

METHODS: Data were collected at a university Wellness Center, or from exercise classes. Participants (N = 216) completed a packet of four questionnaires: Multidimensional …

Sex Offender Treatment And Legal Policy Perception In Relation To Information Presentation Style, Kirsten Sierra Engel

Theses and Dissertations

Sex offender treatment, policy, and perception are greatly intertwined in the numerous policies in place. Current policies tend to reflect negative perceptions toward both sex offenders and treatment and an inaccurate view of the effectiveness of current sex offender policies. The source of these inaccurate views, however, is not entirely clear, with some researchers linking it to a simple lack of exposure to accurate information. Additionally, the broadly negative perceptions, emotions, and beliefs may be leading individuals to utilize more superficial routes of processing, as explained by the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Given the potential for the public’s opinion to make …

Chronic Amphetamine Exposure Causes Long Term Effects On Dopamine Uptake In Cultured Cells, Nafisa Ferdous

Theses and Dissertations

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which belongs to the catecholamine and phenethylamine families of organic compounds, and plays an important role in the regulation of reward, movement, attention, behavior and cognition. Dopamine neurotransmission is marked by the initiation of its release from the pre-synaptic neurons and the signal is terminated by re-uptake of dopamine from the synapse. The synaptic concentration of dopamine and therefore, the level dopamine receptor stimulation is regulated to an extent by the activity of the dopamine transporter (DAT). DAT is responsible for the uptake of dopamine back into the presynaptic neuron from the synapse. DAT is known …