Digital Commons Network^™

The Current Volume Summer 2017, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Facebook And Value Congruence, Andrew James Eyberg

Masters Theses

"The current discussion on the use of social networking sites (SNS) in personnel selection is mixed at best. The present research utilized participant's Facebook profiles to determine if raters can correctly - and accurately evaluate work value dimensions as a measure of person-organization fit. Similar research was successful in capturing personality dimensions via SNS (Buffardi & Campbell, 2009). Additionally, the value dimensions of the current measure used -- the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) (O'Reilly et al., 1991) has been correlated with aspects of personality. Rater participants (N=105). Every five raters were randomly assigned five profiles to rate, for a total …

The Work Of Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedics: Understanding The Risks In Order To Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders, Philippe Corbeil

Guides

No abstract provided.

To Thine Own Ceo Be True: Tailoring Ceo Compensation To Individual Personality And Circumstances, William O. Fisher

Law Faculty Publications

Eight-figure compensation. Cash. Restricted stock. Options. Performance shares. And more. Companies shower their CEOs with pay in large amounts, delivered in multiple ways, and dependent on complex and intricate formulae. It is all intended to motivate the top officers to make decisions that will best benefit their companies. Common sense tells us that the value of a complicated, multifaceted pay package- and hence its ability to motivate- will depend on the psychological characteristics and financial circumstances of the particular executive being paid. Economic theory and empirical studies confirm this intuition. Yet, companies generally ignore these vital factors. Substantive and disclosure …

Judicial Review And The Enumeration Of Rights, Jud Campbell

Law Faculty Publications

When introducing the Bill of Rights in Congress, James Madison explained that judges would "consider themselves in a peculiar manner the guardians" of those enumerated rights. This famous passage, often treated as authoritative, is conventionally understood to endorse the judicial enforceability of enumerated rights and deny the judicial enforceability of unenumerated rights. Enumeration, in other words, is considered as both a necessary and a sufficient condition for the judicial enforcement of rights against contrary legislation. This Essay disputes each of these orthodox views. Instead, it argues, Madison was commenting on judicial psychology and judicial politics, not judicial duty. Enumeration, in …

Improper Delegation Of Judicial Authority In Child Custody Cases: Finally Overturned, Dale Margolin Cecka

Law Faculty Publications

"The appellate courts of this Commonwealth are not unlit rooms where attorneys may wander blindly about, hoping to stumble upon a reversible error."

These words of Judge Humphreys, denying a 2016 child custody appeal, are cogent. Yet four months later, in another appeal, Judge Humphreys joined a unanimous decision overturning a common provision in a custody order. In Bonhotel v. Watts, the Court of Appeals of Virginia held that judges cannot delegate judicial decision making power in child custody cases to outside professionals. This sounds obvious, but such delegation is actually ordered all the time. In final orders, Virginia's trial …

Why Legal Writers Should Think Like Teachers, Laura A. Webb

Law Faculty Publications

This article proposes that new legal writers can improve their work by “thinking like teachers.” I assert that legal writing is fundamentally educative. Good writing thus requires good teaching. The article discusses the “curse of knowledge,” which makes it difficult for a writer who fully understands her topic to remember how a reader who is less knowledgeable about the topic will approach the material. It then explores three concepts from the science of learning — context, chunking, and connections — and discusses how a writer can use these concepts to effectively teach her readers.

Lawyer Resilience Alabama Lawyer Assistance Program, Pamela Bucy Pierson

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Choice To Reduce Negative Reactions To Online Interstitial Advertising, Paul Vogt

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis investigates choice as a way of reducing the negative reactions people have toward advertising. Specifically, online interstitial advertisements are examined when participants have a choice of commercials. Results indicate that choice, sex, and the advertisement itself interact to reduce measures of reactance (i.e., anger and negative cognitions). Intrusiveness is shown to be negatively associated with attitudes toward the brand and attitudes toward the advertisement when participants had a choice of advertisements. Cognitive responses were shown to be positively related to attitudes toward the advertisement and anger was shown to be negatively associated with attitude toward the brand.

The Relationships Among Collective Efficacy Factors And Achievement In Illinois High Schools, Matthew E. Haug

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among collective efficacy factors, as measured by the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, and college readiness scores, as reported by ACT, for high schools in the State of Illinois. From the student achievement mandates that all students meet academic standards, to the reports of less than half of Illinois' students meeting the ACT college readiness benchmarks, the challenge for high school leadership teams to improve upon the collective efficacy of their schools (and therefore, the structures leading to improvement in student achievement) are critical. This study used 2015 Illinois 5Essentials Survey data …

Testing The Equality Of Mean Functional Kinetic Energy Profiles Of Males And Females Using The Bootstrap, Todd Buretz

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Functional data analysis (FDA) is an important technique that allows discrete data to be treated as continuous. Using FDA, data can be smoothed in order capture specific patterns as well as leaving out unwanted noise which aids in analysis. In order to smooth physical activity data, leave-one-out cross-validation can be used to calculate the smoothing parameter for each individual subject. Pseudo-data is then generated using the bootstrap resampling technique. The mean functions from the pseudo-data as well as the observed data are then compared against each other to calculate the significance of the mean functional profiles for males and females.

Stereotype Threat : A Qualitative Study Of The Challenges Facing Female Undergraduate Engineering Students, J. R. Entsminger Ii

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

From a sociocultural point of view, this qualitative case study explored how upper-level, female undergraduate engineering students perceived the possibility of or experience with stereotype threat as shaping their experiences. The study also investigated how these students explained their reasons for choosing their engineering major, the challenges they encountered in the major, and their reasons for persevering in spite of those challenges. Using Steele and Aronson's (1995) stereotype threat theory as a framework, and considering the documented underrepresentation of females in engineering, the study sought to examine how stereotype threat shaped the experiences of these students and if stereotype threat …

Coparenting Among Intact Families With Young Adolescents : Associations With Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms, Andrew Joseph Flannery

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is growing evidence that the coparenting relationship maintains a strong influence on child psychological wellbeing, however this influence has not been as widely studied in relation to adolescent outcomes. Additionally, adolescent perspectives of their coparents' relationship have not been examined using a U.S. sample from intact families. Adolescence is a period rife with novel stressors and an increased risk for poor mental health outcomes. Thus, it is important to examine contextual family factors, such as the coparenting relationship, that have demonstrated an influence on psychosocial outcomes during other early stages of development. Extant evidence suggests that the coparenting relationship …

Cultural Model(S) Of Society In Western Ukraine, Nadiia Biletska

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines people's implicit assumptions about society in Western Ukraine manifested in discourses on the subject. The discourse data were elicited via in-depth interviews with people from diverse backgrounds in Lviv region. The thesis uses cultural models theory and methods in cognitive anthropology as the primary analytical framework. Specifically, it examines the hypothesis that historically different socially-mediated experiences that resulted from the disintegration of the USSR and subsequent societal developments in independent Ukraine were conducive to differences in mental representations of society among different generational cohorts. Evidence of three distinct conceptualizations---cultural models---of society were found. These models were variously …

Relationships Among Principal Leadership Behaviors, Teachers' Motivation, And Teacher Job Satisfaction, Thomas C. Lind

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Certain transformational and transactional leadership behaviors exhibited by principals are effective in creating a work environment that supports teacher autonomy and higher levels of teacher job satisfaction. In an age of school reform and increased pressures on teachers to improve student performance, few studies have examined the relationships between principal leadership behaviors, teacher motivation, and teacher job satisfaction. The current study used data gathered from principals to examine the relationships between a principal's transformational and transactional leadership practices and a teacher's autonomous and controlled motivations. In addition, the relationship between a principal's leadership practices and a teacher's level of job …

Principal Motivation In The Era Of Accountability, Matthew Vosberg

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The state of Illinois has raised the expectations for principal performance with the 2010 passage of the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), which requires 30% of a principal's evaluation to be linked to student achievement data. This reform effort is the latest iteration of school accountability measures that have been implemented in schools across the country. There have been increased efforts at the state and federal level to increase accountability for school performance as measured by standardized test results. The linkage of standardized test scores to individual evaluations marks the strongest efforts to bring accountability to principals for the academic …

Principals' Perceptions Of Working With Suburban Elementary Students From Poverty, Kathryn M. Schafermeyer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The increase of poverty in suburban communities since the year 2000 has fundamentally changed the work of elementary school principals in suburban schools. Using a qualitative method, 10 suburban elementary school principals from the Chicago metropolitan area were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of their perceptions of working with suburban elementary school students from poverty. Principals revealed that they see poverty as having a deficit influence on suburban elementary students. They defined that they see the role of principal as helping students gain from the school experience by reducing the obstacles to learning that poverty presents and, therefore, providing …

Social Presence In An Online Cohort, Marlo Barnett-Allen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Social presence in online learning has become significant in discussion in higher education. The current study was designed to reveal more fully the student perception of social presence within an online cohort. The research described in the current paper was a phenomenological study designed to examine the experiences of seven students who had graduated with master's degrees from an online cohort program. Specifically, the research examined students' perception of social presence through the lens of the Community Inquiry model, along with social cognitive theory, to determine the factors that might influence the levels of social presence in an online cohort. …

Metaphorical, Punitive, And Pedagogical Blindness In Hell, Meghan Henning

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

What is the role of the blind body in hell? Does it gesture to broader cultural conceptions of physical impairment? Can the blind be healed in places of eternal punishment? Does this ‘healing’ function similarly to the understandings of blindness available in contemporaneous medical texts? This article will examine the depictions of the blind in the extra-canonical apocalypses that describe hell. We will begin with a discussion of the apocalyptic tours of hell that describe blindness, paying special attention to the different roles (metaphorical, punitive, and pedagogical) that blindness plays in each text. We will also consider the impact that …

A Trauma Analogue Study Investigating The Role Of Attentional Shifting In Emotion Regulation, Melissa J. London

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Trauma-focused research has shown that high attentional control serves as a buffer against posttraumatic stress symptoms and other pathology. However, less is known in regard to the influence of attentional processes on the effectiveness of treatment strategies used to reduce symptoms. The current project used an analogue design to examine the impact of participants' ability to flexibly shift attention on the effectiveness of two prominent emotion regulation strategies in managing distress and trauma-related symptoms (i.e. negative affect, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance). Undergraduate students ( N = 153) completed a dot-probe task incorporating stimuli that elicit negative emotions and trauma-related stimuli …

A Utility-Value Intervention : Will It Help Hispanic Parents To Motivate Their Adolescents In Mathematics?, Margaret Molenda-Lesniak

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Academic motivation declines during middle- and high-school years and its diminishing effects are especially evident in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. The goal of this study was to examine a possible cause-effect relationship between a utility-value intervention and mathematics motivation of middle-school Hispanic students. Through experimental manipulation, the researcher assisted parents in conveying the importance of mathematics to their adolescents to influence students' mathematics motivation. The four-month long intervention consisted of a brochure that was mailed to parents, a website, and biweekly Facebook posts, all emphasizing the usefulness and importance of mathematics courses. Data were collected using pre- …

Acceptance Of Integration Of Mobile Technology In The Higher Education Environment : Instructors' Perception, Shawnice L. Avilez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this survey research was to determine factors that influenced college instructors' behavioral intentions to use mobile technology. The study extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework, with subjective norm and facilitating conditions acting as potential predictors of instructors' behavioral intention and self-reported intention to use mobile technology (iPads/laptops). A survey instrument was adapted by the author from published guidelines and prior research surveys. The survey was delivered using Qualtrics, a web-based survey tool. The survey instrument included items based on the constructs of the TAM model. The researcher analyzed the data using multiple regression analyses. Utilization of …

Validating The Outcome Of An Action : The Impacts Of Goal And Semantic Information, Greta Ching Chan

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Narratives are comprised of characters performing goal-direct actions that are executed to achieve some outcome(s). Understanding why an action is performed by a character in a story involves an assessment of the alignment of that action with a goal, but in addition may involve an assessment of whether the action can lead to the obtainment of the object of that goal. How do readers determine whether an action will or will not lead to a desired outcome? This dissertation was designed to explore a potential answer to this question. Validation is a process in which the reader evaluates the plausibility …

Violence And Heteronormativity In Gay-Themed Films, Anna-Marie Malley

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Drawing from a sample of 15 "gay/lesbian"-themed films shown in theaters in the U.S. between 1980 to 2016, a qualitative analysis was conducted of the film narratives, looking at the co-constructions of queer (LGBTQ) identity and violence. Films were selected based on widest theatrical release within the genre list "Gay/Lesbian." Both the categories of queer identity and violence were drawn broadly to incorporate both easily identifiable and "ambiguously" queer characters, as well as to account for both physical and nonphysical forms of violence. Analysis identifies plot developments of exclusion, threat, and physical forms of harm as expressions of violence and …

Voices Of Latina/O Parents : Sending A Child To College, Karla Neal

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Latinas/os are one of the immigrant and ethnic groups with the lowest percentages of educational attainment (Lopez & Fry, 2013) and financial mobility (Erisman & Looney, 2007) in the United States. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to develop a better understanding of the perceptions and experiences of Latina/o parents who have college-age children who have moved away from home to college to pursue a higher education degree. While parents have been identified as an important influence for Latina/o student academic success in college; there is little knowledge about their experiences and perceptions related to education and the …

Women Lie And Other Myths : How Rape Myths Impact Attributions Of Blame In A Rape Case, Kathryn R. Klement

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Previous research has indicated a consistent link between rape myth acceptance and sexual assault victim blaming, where individuals reporting higher levels of rape myth acceptance also report higher levels of victim blaming. To this point, however, this relationship has only been explored correlationally. The current studies were designed to test whether participants, if presented with rape myth information or with accurate information about rape, would report higher levels of victim blaming or lower levels of victim blaming, respectively. In six studies, I manipulated victim and assailant gender (Studies 1a, 1b, and 2: female victim, male assailant; Studies 3a, 3b, and …

Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow : A Study Of Aurelio Tolentino's Articulation Of Nationalism And Identity Through Theatre In The Philippines During The American Colonial Period, Lily Ann Bolo Villaraza

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation centers the importance of cultural production to the process of creating a coherent national identity and a unified political state in the Philippines. More specifically, I will examine role of theatre in relation to the general development of the nation and the state through Aurelio Tolentino's plays Luhang Tagalog and Kahapon, Ngayon, at Bukas. The Philippines and Filipino people pose a unique case study in the formation of both a specific and coherent national identity and an independent political state space because of geography, varied cultural influences, linguistic diversity, and colonial past. Because of these factors, it is …

Nutritious Meals For The Homeless Population: Challenges And Opportunities, Kayla A. Albrecht

Masters Theses

Objective: Consuming a nutritionally adequate diet is extremely challenging for the homeless population. Though meals are available to the homeless population through soup kitchens and homeless shelters, these settings often do not serve meals that provide essential nutrients. The consumption of energy-dense, low-nutrient foods has led in part to high prevalence of obesity, heart disease, and chronic illnesses among the homeless. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the challenges that homeless shelters face in providing nutritious meals to guests and (b) investigate the need and interest of nutrition education at homeless shelters.

Methods: Nine homeless shelter directors …

The Power Of The Periphery: Aid, Mutuality And Cold War U.S-Ghana Relations, 1957-1966, Moses Allor Awinsong

Masters Theses

This project interrogates how economic self interest motivated periphery states such as Ghana to use foreign policy as a vehicle to attract improved development assistance from superpowers, in this case the United States. While the United States viewed its aid program in Ghana in stringently Cold War terms, Kwame Nkrumah and his advisors were less inclined to get deeply concerned about Cold War ideology. This project shows that Ghanaian agency was manifested in the Cold War through the new state's construction of a foreign policy image that made it a prominent African voice globally. It then examines how that image …

A Multiple Case Study : Gauging The Effects Of Poverty On School Readiness Amongst Preschoolers, Melissa J. Onesto

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The home environment, which includes the level of organization and stability in the home, plays a crucial role in the development of executive function and oral language skills. For children who live in a low-SES environment, executive function and oral language acquisition are inferior compared to that of students living at other economic levels. Executive function, which assists with attentional and inhibitory control, is underdeveloped in children who live in poverty. Stressors in the home environment influence joint attention during infancy, and receptive and expressive language skills are further thwarted during early childhood. Working memory, another component of executive function, …