Digital Commons Network^™

Public Opinion Of Violence In The Mississippi Gulf Coast Region, Michael R. Smith

Honors Theses

Currently, there is an outcry to Mississippi legislators from law enforcement professionals and citizens to address the spike in violent crime levels observed since 2015. The Great Recession of 2008 reduced community policing programs in the United States, resulting in fewer police officers patrolling the residential communities and minor criminal offenses going unreported. This effect has been especially prevalent in the “South Region” of the United States. In 2014, this region reported the largest increase of all regions at 1.9%. Because the public act on their perceptions and legislators react to strong public opinion by creating or changing policies, one …

Understanding The English Bible: A Comparative Analysis Of Four Bible Versions, Michael R. Coats

Honors Theses

Scholarship pertaining to the Bible accounts for a great deal of research. A search for “the Bible” on just the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries website archive results in 549,075 hits, and specifying “English Bible versions” only reduces those results to 70,000. My largest difficulty in discussing the Bible lies not in finding a conversation but in finding which part of the conversation to enter. In the past fifty years, one of the largest emphases has been on using the best translation style for the Bible, a topic that has dominated the field of biblical scholarship (Ryken, Understanding 15). I …

Query Expansion Techniques For Enterprise Search, Eric M. Domke

Masters Theses

Although web search remains an active research area, interest in enterprise search has waned. This is despite the fact that the market for enterprise search applications is expected to triple within the next six years, and that knowledge workers spend an average of 1.6 to 2.5 hours each day searching for information. To improve search relevancy, and hence reduce this time, an enterprise- focused application must be able to handle the unique queries and constraints of the enterprise environment. The goal of this thesis research was to develop, implement, and study query expansion techniques that are most effective at improving …

Assessing The Long-Term Effects Of Brief Behavioral Health Treatment In Primary Care Patients, Debbie Gomez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although increasingly studies show brief behavioral health services are effective for primary care patients (Bridges et al., 2013; Bryan, Morrow, & Appolonio, 2009; Corso et al., 2012; Gomez et al., 2014), there is a paucity of research exploring the long-term effects of these interventions (e.g., Ray-Sannerud, 2012). The primary aim of the current study was to explore long-term effectiveness. Specifically, the current study 1) examined whether reductions in patient global distress following brief behavioral health care services were maintained long-term, 2) evaluated whether improvements were reliable and not due to regression to the mean effects, and 3) explored medical cost …

The Many Masks Of A Writer: A Dramaturgical Approach To Composition Pedagogy And Literature Analysis, Kathryn Quesenbury

English Dissertations - Archive

Audience theories discuss many aspects of the entity of audience, from specific, concrete individuals to general, abstract readers. Composition pedagogical approaches to audience, however, seem limited. Writers, at times, are directed to have a concrete reader in mind, and other times, writers hold certain expectations for those readers and provide textual clues for them to follow. Which approach to take varies on the situation, but teaching writers this type of discernment can be challenging. Erving Goffman provides a possible solution in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.Goffman analyzes how individuals portray themselves differently depending on the social situation, and …

Exploring Teachers Practices In The Teaching Of Composition Writing Skills, Watsulu M. Jacquline

Master of Education

The teaching and learning of composition writing in the rural context is a laborious task both to the learners and the teachers. This is as a result of language incompetence in English as a second language. The study aims at identifying the teaching strategies teachers in primary schools used in the teaching of composition writing and the impact of the strategies in the learners’ development of composition writing skills. The study was guided by research questions and was based on the process based genre approach of Badger and White that champions an integrated teaching approach by blending the process, product …

Exploring The Application And Importance Of Multimodality In Language And Literacy Classrooms: A Case Of A Primary School In Monduli District, Abdallah Shaban Hoza

Master of Education

Modern language and literacy teaching and learning in pre- primary and lower primary classrooms becomes meaningful and successful if teachers apply multimodality to facilitate representation and communication to young learners. In this study I explored the application and importance of multimodality in language and literacy classrooms for the young children in early grades in Tanzania. The study has mainly focused on the Pre- primary class, Standard One, Two and Three as elementary levels of language and literacy learning. I made a review of literature on the application and importance of multimodality in language and literacy teaching and learning in Tanzania, …

Effects Of Lep Status, Gender, Instructional Type On Positive Student Engagement And Motivation Of Middle School Students, Holly Harris Cothren

College of Education Dissertations

The researcher used a causal-comparative, 2 x 2 factorial between-groups research strategy for all four hypotheses. The two independent variables for the Hypotheses 1 and 2 were gender and LEP status (students designated as LEP versus students not designated as LEP). The dependent variable for the first hypothesis was positive student engagement, and the dependent variable for the second hypothesis was positive student motivation. The two independent variables for Hypotheses 3 and 4 were gender and instructional type (traditional instruction and small group pull-out with hybrid computer-based instruction). The dependent variable for the third hypothesis was positive student engagement, and …

Educating Critically : Challenging The Familiar Contours Of Literacy Teacher Education., Bianca Nightengale-Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The shifting cultural ecologies of U.S. classrooms emphasize acknowledging difference, accepting diversity, and sustaining both cultural and linguistic plurality (Banks & Banks, 2009; hooks, 1994; Paris 2014). Teacher education programs play an integral role in preparing Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) with skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessitated by a growing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) student population (Cruz, Ellerbrock, Vasquez & Howes, 2014). To enact equitable teaching practices reflective of 21st century students, PSTs need to demonstrate a level of cultural awareness that acknowledges the racially, socially, and politically charged societal structures that shape education for CLD students (Hall & Carlson, 2016). …

A Framework For Clustering And Adaptive Topic Tracking On Evolving Text And Social Media Data Streams., Gopi Chand Nutakki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances and widespread usage of online web services and social media platforms, coupled with ubiquitous low cost devices, mobile technologies, and increasing capacity of lower cost storage, has led to a proliferation of Big data, ranging from, news, e-commerce clickstreams, and online business transactions to continuous event logs and social media expressions. These large amounts of online data, often referred to as data streams, because they get generated at extremely high throughputs or velocity, can make conventional and classical data analytics methodologies obsolete. For these reasons, the issues of management and analysis of data streams have been researched extensively …

Highly Student-Rated Teachers Of Multicultural Classrooms : A Qualitative Study Of Teacher Practices., Rose M. Glasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I selected three mathematics teachers teaching in multicultural classes who were highly rated by their students. I examined these teachers’ practices in relation to multicultural instructional practices, language and critical knowledge. The participants were two secondary mathematics teachers, and one middle mathematics teacher who exclusively taught English learners who had lived in the United States for less than two years. Some of their students were considered Significantly Interrupted or limited Formal Education. The teachers, Marlon, Yasin and Abigail were from Cuba, Turkey and the United States, respectively. Using recommendations from Yin (2014), I employed multiple-case, qualitative methodology …

The Feelings We Harbor - The Role Of Collage In Arousing Powerful Emotions In An Esl Classroom., Irina V. Mcgrath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional literacy education in the U.S. relies exclusively on language-based models. This can be particularly challenging for English language learners, who often find themselves bound by the constraints of the English language and limited in their expressions of thought and emotion. Current research on English language teaching, largely targeted towards native English-speaking students, suggests that incorporating various alternate modes of communication and representation improves literacy learning. Studies that address English language learning for non-native speakers are sparse. The purpose of this arts-based, qualitative, descriptive study is to fill this gap in the literature. Using collage making as a communicative mode, …

Russian Foreign Policy And National Identity, Monica Hanson-Green

Senior Honors Theses

National identity provides the interpretive framework through which foreign policy makers understand their role in the world and the actions of other states, and can also be utilized as a tool to mobilize public support behind foreign policy maneuvers. Foreign policy in turn is both shaped by constructions of national identity, and often used to forge and substantiate the narratives of national identity which best serve the regime’s domestic interests. This thesis will seek to establish the mutually constitutive relationship between national identity and foreign policy through an analysis of the interaction of these elements in the Russian Federation under …

Advantages & Challenges: An Assessment Of Suny Oneonta's Current Approach To International Student Services, Sarah Busche

Capstone Collection

The decision to become an international student is a choice that is as challenging as it is rewarding, and is one that I am familiar with from both a professional and personal standpoint. Per a recent Open Doors’ account, 1,043,839 students from around the world have made the decision to study in the United States in 2016. These individuals make up 9% of New York State’s student population, and 10.1% of the State University of New York system (SUNY, 2016). Currently SUNY Oneonta is host to 56 of these international students, whom I was excited to work with through my …

The Problem Of Illusion In The Phenomenology Of Claude Romano, Joseph Cutolo

Student Theses and Dissertations

The phenomenology of Claude Romano constructs a strict distinction between perceptions and illusions. This distinction is so strict that the former excludes the latter completely. Putting this distinction into play is not a local decision about our experiences and the structures of our experiences. This decision brings with it metaphysical, ontological, and phenomenological frameworks to ground it. In what follows I attempt to draw out the consequences of Romano’s decisions about our experience, and to study the philosophical frameworks that underlie his decisions. In doing so, I reconnect his phenomenology with a wider terminology of phenomenology, in order to study …

Improving Reading Through Fine Motor Skill Development In First Grade, Tyler West-Higgins

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Children who struggle with learning to read in first grade, fall behind, and have difficulty catching up with their peers. Research has shown students who struggle to read in first grade, also struggle to read in later years. The purpose of this study was to determine if an intervention to enhance fine motor skills to a select group of students in one class room increased their reading abilities. This was a mixed methods research study which assessed the quantitative data from the running record assessments, and the qualitative data taken by teacher-aide during assessment process post fine motor intervention. This …

Effects Of Dialogic Reading In A Special Day Class, Donna Senn

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Early Childhood Special Education provides services to children aged three to five years. A predominant identifier is very low communication skills (Shevell, et al, 2003; Kaiser & Roberts, 2011; Robertson & Ohi, 2016). Dialogic Reading techniques have demonstrated successes in various settings (Hargrave & Senechal, 2000; Whitehurst et al., 1988; Trivette & Dunst, 2009). The rationale for this study was grounded in Rogoff’s, “apprenticeship in thinking” (1990, p. 7) theory. The research literature reviewed centered on three primary lines of inquiry namely, 1) The social aspect of language learning; 2) Speech and language interventions; and 3) Dialogic reading strategies. This …

Black And Brown Pauls: A Pauline Case Of Racial Profiling; A Hermeneutical Reading Of Acts 21:27‐40a And 22:23‐29 And The Reality Of The African American And Hispanic Communities In The United States, Dempsey Rosales Acosta

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The present study analyzes the socio-historical context and setting narrated in the canonical episode of Paul’s arrest and his treatment in Jerusalem according to the narrative of Acts 21:27-40a and 22:23-29. The pericopes become the fundamental platform through which it is possible to present both a hermeneutical and theological interpretation of the liabilities and ultimate consequences of racial profiling, especially when it is exercised by the civil authorities, an institutionalized power, or a general culture. The diachronic and synchronic exegetical analysis of the pericopes are combined with the methodological approaches of cognitive semantics and the practical theology that lead to …

Assessment Of Reliability And Stability Of Various Visual Search Parameters, Michael Don Mizer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Research in social science has been on a continuous self-correcting path as scientists find new ways to look at old problems. Recent technology has given us the ability to perform compounded calculations in a fraction of previous times while recording complex measurements with greater degrees of precision. While this is helpful regarding corporeal measures, quantifying cognition is still a difficult task. Recently, many computer-aided eye tracking devices have been developed and used to validate visual search theories. However, few inquiries have been made assessing the reliability and stability of these methods. This study assessed the reliability and stability of visual …

Cultural Considerations Of Reform And Evolution Of Medical Education, Shih-Li Tsai, Fen-Yu Tseng, Tzong-Shinn Chu, Ming-Been Lee, Bor-Shen Hsieh, Shan-Chwen Chang

Journal of Medical Education

Background: The most important task in education is reshaping the neural circuits in the brain. Through the process of deep emotional internalization, profound experience, repeated research to reshape our brains would break through existed frameworks and establish an education model that fits our own culture. Purpose: To find out practical ways to develop teaching and learning methods with regard to international recommendations and to local cultural context. Methods: By applying the CIPP model (Context, Input, Process and Product approach), a series of reforms in Taiwan medical education were reviewed in different aspects. Results: In Context session, Taiwan medical education history …

Informal Constitutional Change, Oran Doyle

Buffalo Law Review

In response to Richard Albert’s Quasi-Constitutional Amendments, 65 BUFF. L. REV. 739 (2017).

Monarchical Stability In The Gulf Coast States, Sean Miner

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council are thriving today, despite the decline of monarchies everywhere else in the world. I explore the significant factors that allow these countries to maintain monarchy as a viable governing system. I find that Gulf Cooperation Council states employ a diverse set of tools to control the populace and provide stability. These tools include generous social welfare programs, a repressive state security apparatus, a large guest worker population, and strong ties and cooperation with other gulf monarchies. Using these tools allows these states to overcome the political challenges that threaten monarchical stability in our …

The Mountains Are Calling, Alexis Brianne Collins

Honors College Theses

Mark Knapp’s Relationship Model in Communication Studies attempts to limit human relationships to a specific, linear array of stages and categories. This research project attempts to critique the rigidity of Knapp’s model, while simultaneously attempting to posit film as an incredibly influential tool (if not an alternative model entirely) for communication both diegetically – within the realm of the film – and in conversation with an audience. The silent nature of the creative filmed portion of this project is in direct opposition to Knapp’s model, which inadvertently roots human relationships in language.

A Pilot Study Of Computerized, Tailored Intervention To Promote Hpv Vaccination In Mexican-Heritage Adolescents, Angela Chia-Chen Chen, Michael Todd, Ashish Amresh, Usha Menon, Laura Szalacha

Publications

This study examined feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a computer-tailored intervention aimed at promoting HPV vaccination in Mexican-heritage adolescents aged 11-17. Among 46 Mexican-heritage parents who had one or more eligible children who had not received HPV vaccines, 91% (n = 42) completed the intervention and assessments via touchscreen tablet computers in a vaccine clinic. Mean knowledge scores increased significantly from pre- to post-intervention. After the intervention, 95% (n = 40) of parents intended to get their children vaccinated; 50% (n=21) of them consented to vaccination immediately, resulting in 24 adolescents being vaccinated at that time. All parents reported …

Reverse Migration: Documenting How The Educational Experiences Of Transnational Youth In Mexican Schools Are Shaped By Parental Deportation, Sandra Lourdes Candel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research Problem

Over 500,000 U.S.-born children are living in Mexico –some due to parental deportation– experiencing a decrease in their quality of life, the stress of an unfamiliar language and culture, and difficulty accessing education. In order to support them in their transition to Mexico, and to reincorporate them into U.S. society as adults, their struggles and educational trajectories should be of great concern to the Mexican and U.S. governments, as well as higher education institutions.

Purpose

The purpose of this qualitative study was to document the educational experiences of transnational students attending schools in a border city in northern …

Student Expectations And Motivation In Spanish For Heritage Speakers Programs, Sergio A. Guzman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The changing demographics in the United States and the growing need for multilingual individuals originated by globalization, among other reasons, have contributed to the emergence of a new field within the area of Applied Linguistics: The Teaching and Learning of Heritage Languages. Due to historical and geographic causes, Spanish for Heritage Speakers (SHS) is currently the largest and most established of these programs. However, the curricula, like those of most college courses, has been developed from professors’ perspectives, largely ignoring what students want to learn and/or their motives for enrolling in these classes. The lack of student input is especially …

Studies In Words: Laborious Ben Jonson's Lexicon, Steven Hrdlicka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines significant words in Ben Jonson’s poetic lexicon that the poet inherited, borrowed, and shaped from antiquity and through the Middle Ages. Jonson used etymology as a means to rhetorical inventio, a common practice in the Renaissance. Etymology comprehended more than mere word derivation in the Renaissance but also notably included philological study. Ben Jonson’s extensive knowledge of language, history, architecture, the plastic arts, and philosophy is well known, but the extent to which Jonson’s knowledge of these subjects contributed to his understanding and use of poetic language is not. Thus this dissertation seeks to explore the intellectual …

Case Studies Of Teach For America Teachers’ Teacher Identity Development In Relation To English Language Learners, Refika Turgut

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to examine the teacher identity development of Teach for America (TFA) teachers in relation to English language learners (ELLs) in the context of a semester-long teaching English as a second language (TESL) course. In addition, this study aims to explore primary considerations come into play in TFA teachers’ teacher identity development as novice teachers of ELLs. The theoretical lenses guiding this study are Wenger’s Community of Practice perspective and Positioning theory (Davies & Harré, 1990). A multiple-case design is employed to examine TFA teachers’ teacher identity in relation to ELLs. Data collection took place …

Development And Validation Of A Brief Assessment Of Social Cognitive Abilities, Ryanna Zenisek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It has been consistently found that individuals with schizophrenia exhibit impairments across various social cognitive domains, including emotion processing, social perception, and theory of mind. These deficits have been found across illness stages and cannot be accounted for by clinical symptomatology or neurocognitive skills. Further, while it has been well established that there is a link between cognition and functional outcome, social cognition has been found to be uniquely related to functional impairment in the disorder. Despite this evidence, the field is currently lacking efficient ways to identify and characterize these deficits in clinical settings. The Brief Test of Social …

Form, Function, And Relevance Of Contemporary Language Resource Centers, Paul L. Sebastian

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was conducted in order to better understand the interplay between form, function, and relevance regarding contemporary language resource centers (LRCs). Five language centers housed by four different institutions of higher education in the western region of the United States were examined. Two representatives from each of the five centers were interviewed either in-person or over the phone (N = 10). Data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews, on-site visits, and research journal entries. The data were analyzed using a flexible combination of multi-level qualitative coding, descriptive statistics, and narrative analysis. This study confirms recent findings …