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Commencement Program, December (2016), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Small Class Setting On The Algebra I Achievement Of Ninth-Grade Students, Lisa Kissire

College of Education Dissertations

The effects of class size on student outcomes has been widely studied at the elementary level. Many such studies have found important relationships between class size and outcome in the areas of academic achievement, student discipline, and teacher retention. However, little attention has been given to the examination of how class size may affect student outcomes in the middle school and high school levels. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine the effects of class size setting, gender, socioeconomic status, and school configuration on the Algebra I achievement of ninthgrade students. Participants were drawn from four rural schools …

A Mother's Spiritual Journey With Her Disabled Son: An Autoethnography, Margaret C. Higgins Edd

Dissertations

Abstract

This autoethnographic research delves into a mother’s experiences with her disabled son over thirty-five years. Beginning with a thick description of the crib accident that resulted in physical and cognitive disabilities that profoundly change the course of both mother and son’s life, this research chronicles the search for meaning, community, and healing as they negotiate the realms of medicine, education, career, family, and spirituality. Models of disability that seek to explain various ways in which society often views disability are examined, but none resonate with the researcher’s intimate experiences nor satisfies her deepest needs for insight and healing. Making …

Turning It Up To Eleven: Belligerent Rhetoric In North Korea's Propaganda, Mason Richey

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Pushback: Critical Data Designers And Pollution Politics, Kim Fortun, Lindsay Poirier, Alli Morgan, Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, Mike Fortun

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we describe how critical data designers have created projects that ‘push back’ against the eclipse of environmental problems by dominant orders: the pioneering pollution database Scorecard, released by the US NGO Environmental Defense Fund in 1997; the US Environmental Protection Agency’s EnviroAtlas that brings together numerous data sets and provides tools for valuing ecosystem services; and the Houston Clean Air Network’s maps of real-time ozone levels in Houston. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews, we analyse how critical data designers turn scientific data and findings into claims and visualisations that are meaningful in contemporary political terms. The …

Autism Spectrum Disorder Prevalence Rates In The United States: Methodologies, Challenges, And Implications For Individual States, Emily Ramsey, Lisa Kelly-Vance, Joseph A. Allen, Olivia Rosol, Michael Yoerger

Psychology Faculty Publications

Many different studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence rates of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United States. The methodologies of these studies have varied, resulting in a multitude of publications with differing prevalence rates. Because there is such a wide range in the results of prevalence studies, it may be difficult for individual states to determine their rates. Accurate prevalence rates are important to obtain for many different reasons including increasing advocacy and awareness, increasing funding, and proper allocation of services for individuals with ASD and their families. Additionally, prevalence studies can be used to assess which …

Disciple-Making Movements Among Muslim People: Missiological Considerations, Linda Smith

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Stress In Assessing Life Satisfaction And Self-Efficacy Among Prison Officers, Kamilla Bargiel-Matusiewicz, Paulina Stelmachowska, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Stress is a major public health concern. It can be observed in all aspects of life, in everyday family life and work life. The focus of this article is work-related stress. Work stress can be observed in any work environment and in all professions. As a complex condition it affects different people in different ways. The study presented in this article was done on a sample of 59 prison officers who volunteered to participate. Among those 59 participants 34 were males and 25 were females aged between 25 to 52. Each participant received a survey to collect general information about …

Principals’ Perspectives On The Roles And Skills Of School Psychologists, Jill Mccaslin-Timmons

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Despite decades of literature on how school psychologists could be utilized to better meet needs in school, the way a school psychologist is used still varies and schools still admit that they have unmet needs. Teachers and administrators ask for more staff to help support student needs while taxpayers want to know why more staff are needed. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of principal perspectives on the roles and skills of school psychologists in order to better understand why roles vary, what barriers exist and what can be done to help both school psychologists and …

Hey, Where's The Monster? How A Storytelling Game Is Played In A Preschool Classroom, Jeremy Sydik

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how early childhood learners between the ages of 4 and 6 and their teachers experience the play of a structured cooperative storytelling game in their shared classroom environment at a university preschool child development center, with specific focus on issues of cognitive and social knowledge construction. This study used an instrumental case study approach to observe classroom game play sessions as well as qualitative interviews to explore the features of a cooperative storytelling game play activity, to ask how these features inform understanding of cognitive and social knowledge construction, to identify …

An Experiment Of Audience Awareness Effects On College Students’ Argumentative Writing, Shiyuan Wang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This experimental study explored the effects of different levels (imagined audience vs. interactive audience) and timing of audience interaction (during planning vs. revision) on undergraduate students’ self-efficacy and quality of argumentative writing. A total of 138 students from four undergraduate educational psychology courses participated in this study. Three conditions were compared: imagined audience, interactive audience during planning and interactive audience during revision. Results showed that students interacting with audience during revision produced significantly more argumentative elements (below level 1 reasons of opposing view) and had higher self-efficacy for audience awareness than the other two conditions. Students’ cognitive load and audience-related …

Professional Learning Communities (Plcs) For Early Childhood Science Education, Jungwon Eum

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study explored the content, processes, and dynamics of Professional Learning Community (PLC) sessions. This study also investigated changes in preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching after they participated in two different forms of PLCs including workshop and face-to-face PLC as well as workshop and online PLC. Multiple sources of data were collected for this study including participant artifacts and facilitator field notes during the PLC sessions.

The participants in this study were eight teachers from NAEYC-accredited child care centers serving 3- to 5-year-old children in an urban Midwest city. All teachers participated in a workshop entitled, “Ramps …

The Effects Of Active Learning Technology On Instructors’ Practices And Students’ Engagement And Grades: A Mixed Methods Study, Jeremy C. Van Hof

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Partly in response to university teachers’ changing pedagogies marked by flipping instruction, lecture capture technologies are evolving into active learning systems. Little published research exists on the effects of active learning technology on either teachers or students. This two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study details the effects that active learning systems have on instructor practices and on student grades and engagement. Phase one combined quantitative data collection with instructor interviews. Phase one findings show higher student engagement levels correlate with the use of the active learning system only in the presence of very specific, flipped classroom practices. Phase two, a …

Place Matters? Place And Legislative Behavior In Nebraska, Melissa Lee Trueblood

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The dissertation is a three-part analysis of the impact of place and place attachment on legislative behavior in the 2011-2012 session of the Nebraska Unicameral. The first analysis explores whether place or type of legislative district has an effect on roll-call voting. In the second analysis, the dissertation analyzes the relationship between place attachment (defined as the emotional bond between a person and a place) and roll-call voting. Finally, in the third analysis, the dissertation investigates through content analysis how often senators refer to their place attachment, and then, it examines the link between geographic scale of place attachment and …

Truth And Justice? Towards Comprehensive Transitional Justice In Uganda And The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Alicia Weaver

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The field of transitional justice currently views retributive and restorative justice as a means of reconciliation dichotomously. With practice becoming increasingly legalistic, the restorative approach is seen as not forcing accountability. This is a mistake. This article will attempt to show that prosecutions and truth and reconciliation commissions can complement one another to attain the most justice for the most people. Using the case studies of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I will examine under what conditions retributive and restorative justice will be used, and how they can be used to promote national reconciliation.

Advisor: Ariel Kohen

Exploration Of Student Biodiversity Knowledge And Decision-Making For A Wildlife Conservation Socioscientific Issue, Ashley R. Alred

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global biodiversity, a foundation for ecosystem function, is diminishing at a rate unprecedented in the last 50 years. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem services deterioration is linked to increased food insecurity, reduced water quality and availability, decreased energy security, higher economic losses and human suffering (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Consequently, educators should invest in supporting students in their development of ecological understanding and formal decision-making skills so they are equipped with meaningful tools they can use as scientifically literate citizens. To contribute to that mission, this study seeks to explore student 1) comprehension and explanation of biodiversity concepts and 2) decision-making …

Wellbeing And Data Quality In The American Time Use Survey (Atus) From A Total Survey Error Perspective, Ana Lucía Córdova Cazar

Survey Research and Methodology Program: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, I seek to develop a tool for the enhancement of time-use and wellbeing measures from a total survey error perspective. In particular, I evaluate the quality of the time use data produced in the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), by exploring its indicators and identifying its main predictors, including interview rapport. Results from these analyses are then used to evaluate the extent to which certain variables correlate, as predicted, with expected levels of wellbeing.

The first specific objective was to investigate the data quality of the 2010 ATUS by constructing a data quality index. In my dissertation, …

Self-Reported Sleep Apnea And Dementia Risk: Findings From The Prevention Of Alzheimer's Disease With Vitamin E And Selenium Trial, Xiuhua Ding, Richard J. Kryscio, Joshua Turner, Gregory A. Jicha, Gregory E. Cooper, Allison M. Caban-Holt, Frederick A. Schmitt, Erin L. Abner

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between baseline sleep apnea and risk of incident dementia in the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease with Vitamin E and Selenium (PREADViSE) study and to explore whether the association depends on apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele status.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis based on data collected during PREADViSE.

SETTING: Participants were assessed at 128 local clinical study sites during the clinical trial phase and later were followed by telephone from a centralized location.

PARTICIPANTS: Men enrolled in PREADViSE (without dementia or other active neurological conditions that affect cognition such as major psychiatric disorders, including depression; N = …

Current Trends In Psychological And Educational Approaches For Training And Teaching Students With Autism In California, Trisha Sugita

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Within the United States, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has seen a dramatic increase over the past twenty years. As the prevalence rate of ASD increases, an increased need for expertise in the field of education has become apparent. Psychological and educational practices for training and teaching students with ASD continue to evolve in California however, a significant gap between theory and practice remains. This article provides a historical perspective of ASD and its prevalence rates. In addition, this article examines the current shifts in teacher training and provides an overview of evidence-based strategies to support students with ASD.

A Dollar A Day: Child Sponsorship And The Marketization Of Human Development, Taylor Hallett

Capstone Collection

Child sponsorship as a method of international development offers child sponsors a personal connection to the process of alleviating poverty in the global South. As a form of human development, child sponsorship is constituted by neoliberal principles of marketization and social entrepreneurship. How does child sponsorship, in this context, require us to rethink the ethics of international development in light of ongoing debates about neoliberalism? In this research, I argue that child sponsorship reifies the binary of the “developed” and “undeveloped” worlds. Through undertaking a content analysis of three organizations (Compassion International, World Vision, and UNICEF) and applying post-structural critique …

Pain-Related Anxiety As A Predictor Of Early Lapse And Relapse To Cigarette Smoking, Lisa Renee Larowe

Dissertations - ALL

Pain-related anxiety has been positively associated with tobacco dependence, smoking motives, self-reported barriers to smoking cessation, and expectancies for negative affect reduction via smoking. Although emerging research suggests that pain-related anxiety may play a role in the maintenance of tobacco dependence, no previous work has examined pain-related anxiety as a predictor of smoking cessation outcomes. The goal of the current study was to test the hypothesis that pain-related anxiety would predict early lapse and relapse to cigarette smoking among a sample of 55 daily tobacco smokers who participated in an unaided cessation attempt (i.e., without psychosocial or pharmacological intervention). Pain-related …

Enhancing Engagement For Individuals With Physical Or Cognitive Decline Through The Use Of Multisensory Activities, Jodi Taylor

Dissertations - ALL

Traditional care models typically have a pre- schedule list of activities for elders to engage in, for the purpose of leisure, enjoyments and fun. However, there are questions remaining about the long term benefits of activities and how many residents participate. “RenewedMe” is a service design project with the goal of “Enhancing engagement in individuals with cognitive or physical decline through multi-sensory activities. This project was inspired by the Montessori method principles of education that foster development, engagement and relationships through developmentally appropriate activities. My approach was to create an “environment” that fosters/sustains individualism, builds confidence and sensorial input and …

Analyzing Nation Branding Through Public Relations Lenses-- The Case Of The 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony, Ruoshi Li

Dissertations - ALL

Abstract

Studies across several disciplines, including marketing, political science and culture studies, have already touched on the concept of nation branding. Different experts with distinct academic backgrounds look at nation branding from different angles. This paper first takes a critical review of the conceptualizations of nation branding and then revisits the public relations theories, followed by a synthesis of public relations concepts with nation branding in a case study of the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony. It also seeks to open a conversation within the field of communication and public relations on the trend of nation branding. With an aim of …

Exendin 4 Conjugation And Sequence Modification To Treat Type 2 Diabetes And Obesity, Ronald Bonaccorso Bonaccorso

Dissertations - ALL

This thesis addresses three primary questions based on the pharmacodynamics (PD) or pharmacokinetics

(PK) of the diabetes drug exendin 4 (Ex-4), and vitamin B12 (B12) bioconjugates, thereof.

Q1. (Chapter 2) What effect does B12 conjugation to Ex-4 have on agonism of the glucagon-like peptide-1

receptor (GLP-1R) in vitro and on PD/PK (including brain uptake and function) in vivo?

Goal: To remove side-effects (nausea, weight loss) of Ex-4 without loss of glucoregulation.

Q2. (Chapter 3) Can B12 dietary uptake proteins such as gastric intrinsic factor offer protection to B12

conjugated peptides or proteins (focusing on Ex-4), with a view to improving …

Brothers In Blood: The Significance Of Land And Loss In The Creation Of Jewish And Native American Ethnic And Religious Identity, Michael Eron Chaness

Dissertations - ALL

Volunteering at the Onondaga Nation School and collaborating with Chief Jacobs has exposed me to a new and subversive underbelly of American political and religious life. Working on sovereign Native land also provided valuable on the ground experience in Onondaga language and Haudenosaunee culture - food, humor, lacrosse, art, ceremony, government, education etc. Throughout my tenure at Onondaga I have used comparison as the backdrop for my experiences collaborating with Native peoples as well as the methodological backbone for this dissertation project.

My dissertation project, Brothers in Blood: the Significance of Land and Loss in the Creation of Jewish and …

The Role Of Icts In Social Movements: The Case Of The Honduran National Front Against The 2009 Coup, Fatima K. Espinoza Vasquez

Dissertations - ALL

There is an important academic conversation happening about how social movements adopt, use, and configure Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for political participation. This dissertation contributes to that conversation by taking a holistic look at ICTs, throughout a social movement's emergence and development, while considering its context, its organizational structures and sense-making processes.

I explore the case of the Honduran National Front Against the Coup (NFAC), a relevant case due to its similarities with other movements, like the use of social media, the support from the international community and its geographically dispersed networks; but also, particular in its political and …

Challenges Facing First Year Chinese International Students In A California Private School, Shelby Bumgarner

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Mandarin speaking, mainland Chinese secondary students enrolled in grades nine through twelve make up almost 50% of America's international student population (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2015). According to the literature, these students face unique challenges in their education: learning core subjects in a non-native language before they have fully grasped the language, and sitting in classes that are taught by teachers with virtually no training in making the content comprehensible for international students. The purpose of this qualitative study is to acquire an in-depth understanding of the challenges that Mandarin speaking, mainland Chinese, international secondary students face in their …

Digital Citizenship In 21st Century Education, Aimee Green Logan

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Recent Federal Government initiatives have affected equitable public school funding, which prevents many schools from becoming compliant with the California Common Core Standards. Presently, public schools in California must adopt Common Core State standards, which require the integration of technology within the classroom, however, there are no specific standards and or guidelines within the CCCS that address how students should safely conduct themselves online. This has left students and teachers unprepared to adequately support the growing needs of students online, especially without standards addressing digital literacy. Students who go online face cyberbullying, predatory contact, identity theft and other consequences that …

2016 Winter Graduate & Undergraduate Commencement, Lindenwood University

Commencement Programs

Lindenwood University Commencement program.

Relationships Between Pitch-Matching And Grade Level, Gender, Ethnicity, And Classroom Teachers’ Use Of Music In Grades K-3,, Shelly C. Cooper, Jere T. Humphreys

Music Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between pitch-matching and grade level, sex, ethnicity, and classroom teachers’ use of music among K-3 students (N = 289) taught by the same general music teacher. Portions of the data from a pitch-matching exercise that functioned as the music teacher’s roll-taking procedure during the 2005-06 school year were treated as pre- and posttests. There were no significant pretest differences between ethnic groups (Hispanic, White, Other). There were significant pretest differences among classes taught by different classroom teachers, as well as the female students scoring significantly higher than males. Covariance analysis (pretest …