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The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Submissions

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Katherine Dunn’S Geek Love And The Question Of Being Human In Freak Form, Abigail Hess

Master’s Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Featured Bookshelf: 2017 Staff Favorite Reads, Megan M. Haught

Featured Bookshelf

For the month of December, the UCF Libraries Bookshelf celebrates the favorite books of employees of the UCF Libraries. These are the books we have (and will continue to) read many times over the course of our lives. The genre for our 2017 staff favorites is mystery novels. Keep reading to peruse our favorite mysteries and learn where to find them.

International Teachers' Perceptions Of Leadership Practices For Effective Teacher Evaluations: A Qualitative Case Study, Megan E. Geshel

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Many teacher evaluation systems in use today were developed in the early mid-1900s and reflect what educators believed about teaching at the time, which included only a few observable behaviors (Danielson & McGreal, 2000). Furthermore, many teachers find the evaluative process ineffective for professional improvement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the teacher evaluation process, and how international teachers perceive the impact of school leadership practices for effective teacher evaluation. This study’s theoretical framework focused on the attributes found within transformational and transactional leadership practices, and how these affect the evaluation process. The research study provided evidence …

Spiritual Leadership, School Climate, And Teacher Collective Efficacy In Asian International Schools, Tobin E. Holden

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This research explored whether spiritual leadership could predict teacher collective efficacy and school climate in Asian international schools. Fifteen international schools from nine countries elected to participate and 104 teachers completed an online survey. Linear regression and multiple regression were used to discover a prediction equation linking spiritual leadership to the outcomes of teacher collective efficacy and school climate. Findings from this study indicated that spiritual leadership significantly predicted teacher collective efficacy accounting for 28.3% of the variation, a small effect according to Cohen (1988). Further, spiritual leadership significantly predicted school climate accounting for 44.1.3% of the variation, a medium …

Building Effective Parental Involvement In Middle Schools: The Parents' Perceptions, Tracy Oates

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Parental involvement is an integral variable that bears a significant value in the overall academic achievement and learning process of a student’s educational journey. Therefore, all parents should play a major role in their children’s academic success from elementary through middle and high school. The prime focus of this research was to examine the perceptions of middle school parents and find strategies to build effective relationships between the school and home. This two-part case study utilized Epstein’s (1995) School and Family Partnership Surveys of Teachers and Parents in the Elementary and Middle Grades, and semi-structured interviews to gather a firm …

Jenny Lind -- The Swedish Nightingale, Elisabeth Thorsell

Swedish American Genealogist

No abstract provided.

Cardiovascular Mortality And Oral Antidiabetic Drugs: Protocol For A Systematic Review And Network Meta- Analysis, Rashmi Goyat, James Douglas Thornton, Xi Tan, George A. Kelley

Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Introduction Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among individuals with diabetes. Despite the beneficial effects of antidiabetic drugs (ADDs) in terms of lowering haemoglobin A1c, several ADDs have been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular events. Given the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease among individuals with diabetes, it is important to weigh the benefits of ADDs against their cardiovascular safety. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to conduct a systematic review with network meta-analysis to compare the effects of different oral pharmacological classes of ADDs on cardiovascular safety. Methods and analysis Randomised clinical …

A Scoping Review Of Health Outcomes Examined In Randomized Controlled Trials Using Guided Imagery, Peter R. Giacobbi Jr., Jonathan Stewart, Keeley Chaffee, Anna-Marie Jaeschke, Meagan Stabler, George A. Kelley

Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Introduction—Guided imagery involves the controlled visualization of detailed mental images. This integrative health technique is used for healing, health maintenance, or the treatment of specific conditions. Guided imagery is an integral part of mindfulness meditation, hypnosis, and various relaxation exercises. However, evidence to support the widespread use and dissemination of guided imagery interventions has been lacking. The purposes of this scoping review were to document the scope of health outcomes and disease processes examined by guided imagery researchers and the journal outlets where this work has been published. Secondary purposes were to review the efficacy of guided imagery, risk of …

Who Knew Black Was Required?, Katie Kotynski

The Montana English Journal

Please leave the word "dawn" as is. I did put it in italics to indicate that that is the correct spelling intended.

Black Hole For Nona, Katie Kotynski

The Montana English Journal

Fiction writing

Refueling Through Scholarship, Student Authors, And Curricular Connections, Allison Wynhoff Olsen, Aaron Yost, Katie Duncan, Emily Nelson, Hali Kirby-Ertel

The Montana English Journal

This article created space for five writing project colleagues to both reflect on our experiences from a recent conference and fuse our writing together to share our message: We need one another to stay connected as a writing community and to help us engage with our writing selves. In this collaborative reflection, we weave our voices together to offer multifarious experiences and writing moments.

Hold Steady In The Wind: Reclaiming The Writing Workshop, Sheryl A. Lain Ms.

The Montana English Journal

Abstract of Article:

This article, rooted in the knowledge of pioneer researchers and practitioners, urges teachers to hold on to their writing workshop, because this classroom method not only promotes student voice and choice, but also achieves the fundamental aim of the education reform movement: to foster student success. As students become better writers, their test scores improve. The writing workshop offers students the opportunity to explore their own voices, to write all kinds of modes of writing, and to experience some autonomy, so important if they are to persist in the hard work of learning.

Tim Tingle: Choctaw Author, Storyteller, And Cultural Ambassador, Joyce Herbeck 5798005

The Montana English Journal

Tim Tingle is an award-winning author of Native American children's and young adult literature. In this interview, he discusses three of his most popular titles: Crossing Bok Chitto, How I Became a Ghost, and House of Purple Cedar.

Writing Coaches Of Montana: Providing In-Class Support To Middle And High School Writers, Beverly Ann Chin Ph.D, Catherine Filardi Ph.D

The Montana English Journal

Teachers of writing know the importance of giving students feedback throughout the writing process. Teachers of writing also know the value of having students write for authentic audiences. However, classroom teachers often face challenges in these two areas. Writing Coaches of Montana (WCM) is a non-profit, independent, community-based organization that addresses these challenges. WCM’s mission is to help Montana students write competently, think critically and express themselves confidently. WCM supports teachers by recruiting, training and supervising community volunteers who work individually with students in middle and high school classrooms on writing assignments that require critical thinking and revision. The success …

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2015, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agriculture and associated agricultural activities are major contributors to the Arkansas economy. Agriculture is defined as the sum of agricultural production and processing activities, unless otherwise specified, and includes crop and animal production and processing, agricultural support industries, forestry and forest products, and textile goods. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production and value-added processing, and also leads to economic activity in other parts of the economy. This report is the tenth in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution to the Arkansas economy. The total economic contribution of agriculture (direct, indirect, and induced effects) on value …

2017 Bot Motion Index, Central Washington University Central Washington University

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Motion Index of the Board of Trustees at Central Washington University, March 17, 2017.

College-Bound Young Adults With Asd: Self-Reported Factors Promoting And Inhibiting Success, Amy L. Accardo

College of Education Departmental Research

This cross-sectional descriptive study captured the perspectives of 14 college-bound students with ASD at the critical period of transition from high school using an open-ended prompt. The aim was to capture (1) student definitions of success as a college student, (2) the factors they identify as most influential leading to becoming a college student, and (3) the factors they identify as obstacles to becoming a college student. Findings suggest that college-bound young adults with ASD define success in terms of both academic and non-academic factors, identify factors leading to their success that suggest a need for educators to collaborate with …

A Survey Of Security Patterns For Use In Software Development, Catherine Ann Gibbs

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Identifying Problems And Solutions In Changing State Legislation Regarding Licensed Clinical Social Workers Providing Private Independent Mental Health Services, Dianna Cooper-Bolinskey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State regulated social work practice began in the 1960s; by the mid-1990s, all of the states within the United States regulated the profession through licensure. The purpose of licensure was ostensibly to protect the public and the profession; however, legislation defining social work practice varied vastly from state to state. The variation existed not only between states, but also within licensure categories with regard to the scope of practice of the social work profession. Licensed clinical social workers in some states could practice relatively independently, as they had the ability to diagnose, provide psychotherapy, and bill Medicaid, Medicare, and third …

An Exploratory Study Of The Five-Factor Personality Traits Model As Predictors Among Women In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Fields At Indiana State University, Sowmya Challa

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify any trends in personality traits of students at a mid-western university along with the influence of gender, choice of STEM or non-STEM academic major, and level of education on personality traits. The chosen mid-western university is Indiana State University (ISU) located in Terre Haute, Indiana. This study investigated the personality traits of student’s through administering Goldberg’s (1999) International Personality Item Pool of the Big Five Broad Domains of Personality. The personality profiles of students at ISU who have taken the questionnare are summarized. The personality profiles of female students were analyzed further …

Detection Of Outliers In Univariate Circular Data Using Robust Circular Distance, Ehab A. Mahmood, Sohel Rana, Habshah Midi, Abdul Ghapor Hussin

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A robust statistic to detect single and multi-outliers in univariate circular data is proposed. The performance of the proposed statistic was tested by applying it to a simulation study and to three real data sets, and was demonstrated to be robust.

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- December 2017, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Re-Interpreting The "Will Of God" In The Discernment Of Spirits According To Ignatian Tradition For Young Women In Vietnam, Tran Thi Linh Chi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Young Vietnamese women seeking to discern a religious vocation often confuse their own unconscious motivations and desires with what they perceive as the “will of God” for their lives. This study argues that a clearer understanding of the “will of God” will lead young women to a more mature decision-making process when discerning a vocation to religious life. The thesis investigates how the “will of God” has been interpreted and understood in the Christian tradition and uses these insights to develop a systematic structure aiming to assist young Vietnamese women in their life discernment.

It first examines how the will …

Efficacy Of North Haven’S Response To Intervention In Reducing Over-Identification Of Specific Learning Disabilities, Karyn B. Gallagher

EDL Sixth Year Theses

In 2006, a reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act led to changes in how the state of Connecticut determined special education eligibility for a student with a specific learning disability. The Response to Intervention (RTI) approach replaced of the discrepancy model in making this determination. This retrospective case study looked at the perceptions of North Haven Staff on the efficacy of the RTI process in reducing the over-identification of students with specific learning disabilities. A mixed-methods survey was administered to 337 professionals in North Haven, CT. Of the 86 responses received, 73 were determined to be useful …

Teaching Punctuation: Seventh Graders, Mentor Texts, And Commas, Tara Berg, Ann M. Ellsworth

The Montana English Journal

In the middle grades, learning about writing mechanics often occurs through inauthentic language drills, which do not expose students to the practical and contextual implementation of punctuation and syntax. This study, conducted with seventeen seventh-grade students, explored how students can gain knowledge of basic conventions by reviewing the writing of a published author to observe the correct placement of punctuation. In this study, students, provided with excerpts from Tomie dePaola’s rendition of The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, were guided to discover how the author used commas to communicate with his readers. Subsequent to the lesson and to assess how …

From The Boston Stone Jail, 1775, Jean C. O'Connor

The Montana English Journal

Primary sources can open doors to stories we can only imagine. I share the discovery of an actual letter written by American patriot James Lovell in September of 1775, the more startling because in my research for my historical fiction novel The Cause I had already read a clerk-written version of the letter. I encourage teachers to utilize primary sources to entice their students’ development of narrative, and offer links to excellent sources from the Montana Historical Society.

Happiness Is...Poetry!, Ann M. Ellsworth, Julie Papp

The Montana English Journal

This article shares one teacher's story of how her fifth graders were inspired to write poems after she shared aloud a mentor text.

Conquering The Interpreter’S Operational Space: Sign Languageinterpreting Students And Their Acculturation To Deafblind Clients, Gro Hege Saltnes Urdal

International Journal of Interpreter Education

The author reports on how interpreting students developed their evidence-based practice while becoming interpreters for deafblind people. Focus group discussions were conducted with students to explore their thoughts about interacting with deafblind people, and their experiences after such interactions. Data from the focus groups were analyzed using qualitative content analysis (Krippendorff,2013), with the aim of investigating how the mix of classroom instruction, preparatory role-play, and practice placements influenced student's evidence-based practice. The findings show that teachers contributing with their own evidence-based practice prior to the practice placements helped students develop the initial basis for their evidence-based practice. The opportunity to …