Digital Commons Network^™

An Investigation Of Efl Learners Attitudes Toward Computer-Assisted Writing (Caw), Ahmed Almenei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation studies attitudes of the Saudi university learners studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) toward using the Computer-assisted Writing (CAW) applications, e.g., up-to-date versions of word processing programs, for doing English writing assignments. Research has confirmed that CAW applications, e.g., up-to-date versions of word processing program, have been utilized in and out of the class to supplement, but not to replace, the methods of learning and teaching writing. Previous studies have revealed that students attitude towards writing improves when they use the word processor. The current study aims at examining the hypotheses that the EFL learners have effective …

Exploring Teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence Among Saudi University Efl Teachers, Abdulrahman Alqefari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is an essential part of instruction in the diverse English as a Foreign or Second Language classroom (EFL, ESL), but instructors may not have sufficient knowledge, skills, or tools to be able to promote ICC in their classes. The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education's (MoE) policies on teaching English encourage students to be cross-culturally competent, yet various people, including students and parents, have demonstrated concerns regarding the inclusion of Western values, beliefs, and cultures into the EFL curriculum. Consequently, these differences lead to teachers facing various content and process barriers in the EFL classroom.Using Byrams Intercultural …

From My Side Of The Screen: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Older Teachers, Administrators, Technology Coordinators, And Their Experiences With The Implementation Of Technology In Rural West Tennessee Schools, Donnie Lee Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This hermeneutic phenomenological study centered on the lived experiences of older teachers, administrators, and technology coordinators as they navigate the acquiring, teaching, learning, using, and evaluating of technological resources in the classroom. In particular, this study sought to understand this phenomenon through the eyes of the participants as they interact with teachers with 20 or more years of teaching experience in two rural West Tennessee school districts. Using social learning theory as the backbone of analysis, I had nine participants engage in three in-depth interviews each. The first interview acquired background and foundational knowledge in relation to the use of …

A Simulation-Enhanced Intraoperative Planning Tool For Robotic-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty, Daniel Farley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of the present study was to investigate current methods of surgical planning used in conjunction with robotics-assisted total knee arthroplasty (raTKA) to determine if improvements could be made using advanced computational techniques. Thus, through the use of musculoskeletal multi-body dynamic simulations, an enhanced surgical planning tool was developed, which provides insight on active postoperative joint mechanics. Development of the tool relied on patient-specific simulations using single-leg and full-body models. These simulations were constructed using two publicly-available datasets (Orthoload and SimTK); in particular, joint loading data obtained from subjects during various activities. Simulation parameters were optimized using a design-of …

Towards Building Intelligent Collaborative Problem Solving Systems, Dipesh Gautam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Historically, Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) systems were more focused on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) issues, such as providing good experience of communication among the participants. Whereas, Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) focus both on HCI issues as well as leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in their intelligent agents. This dissertation seeks to minimize the gap between CPS systems and ITS by adopting the methods used in ITS researches. To move towards this goal, we focus on analyzing interactions with textual inputs in online learning systems such as DeepTutor and Virtual Internships (VI) to understand their semantics and underlying intents. In order …

Active Perception By Interaction With Other Agents In A Predictive Coding Framework: Application To Internet Of Things Environment, Masoumeh Heidari Kapourchali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Predicting the state of an agent's partially-observable environment is a problem of interest in many domains. Typically in the real world, the environment consists of multiple agents, not necessarily working towards a common goal. Though the goal and sensory observation for each agent is unique, one agent might have acquired some knowledge that may benefit the other. In essence, the knowledge base regarding the environment is distributed among the agents. An agent can sample this distributed knowledge base by communicating with other agents. Since an agent is not storing the entire knowledge base, its model can be small and its …

Invisible In Plain Sight: The Lived Experiences Of Black Female Graduates Of Private Schools, Teresa Leary Jenkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This qualitative study was an examination of the lived experiences of 12 Black female graduates of P-12 private schools in the United States to understand the nature and essence of their schooling experiences. The objective of this research was to understand what happens to Black female students in private schools and what that experience means to them, either positively or negatively. The phenomenological research and composite narrative design entailed conducting semistructured interviews. The criterion-based sample gathered using the snowball method included 12 participants who identified as Black female graduates of P-12 private schools in the United States.The study supported the …

The Effects Of A Mobile App-Based Sky Map In Teaching College Students About Constellations, Aklilu Maasho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using a mobile app-based sky map to teach college students about constellations, stars, nebulae, and star clusters. The name of the app was Star Chart. The setting for the study was a community college in West Tennessee. Twenty out of 60 participants were males, with 83% of all being less than 25 years old. The first effect studied was concerning students level of attitude toward astronomy after they used the mobile app to learn about sky constellations, stars, nebulae, and star clusters. The second effect investigated in the study …

Deeper Understanding Of Tutorial Dialogues And Student Assessment, Nabin Nabin Maharjan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Bloom (1984) reported two standard deviation improvement with human tutoring which inspired many researchers to develop Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) that are as effective as human tutoring. However, recent studies suggest that the 2-sigma result was misleading and that current ITSs are as good as human tutors. Nevertheless, we can think of 2 standard deviations as the benchmark for tutoring effectiveness of ideal expert tutors. In the case of ITSs, there is still the possibility that ITSs could be better than humans.One way to improve the ITSs would be identifying, understanding, and then successfully implementing effective tutorial strategies that lead …

Essays On Health, Labor And Public Economics, Ahmad Reshad Osmani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This Dissertation consists of three essays on health, labor, and public economics. The first essay investigates how gender-specific cancers affect the labor market outcomes of cancer survivors. Using a theoretical construct of labor supply and health capital, this essay exploits a nationally representative dataset, the 20082015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), for estimating the correlated random effects (CRE) and over-dispersion empirical models to capture the job market effects for cancer survivors. After addressing the potential endogeneity of cancer and controlling for the number of years after cancer diagnoses, the estimated CRE model detect substantial male-female differences in the labor market …

Investigating The Impacts Of The Fungal Pathogen, Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis, On Growth, Behavior, And Reproductive Investment In Salamanders, Bailey Patillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Amphibians are declining globally, with the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) implicated as a contributing factor. Bd infects keratinized tissue of amphibians, including the skin of post-metamorphic individuals. Susceptibility to Bd varies among species, with many carrying sublethal infections, which can alter growth, behavior, and reproduction. The goals of these experiments were to determine the impact that Bd has on growth and body condition, feeding behavior, performance, and reproductive investment in salamanders with sublethal infections. The impacts of Bd infection on growth were assessed in post-metamorphic spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). They were monitored for 12 weeks, and the amount of …

Targeting Self-Critical Thoughts In The Treatment Of Non-Sucidal Self-Injury In Adolescents: Accentuate The Positive, Eliminate The Negative, William Ramsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the added benefit of directly targeting self-critical thoughts in the treatment of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in youth undergoing Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A). This was a randomized study of 40 adolescents with recent engagement in NSSI at a partial hospitalization program using DBT-A. This study utilized an additive component treatment design with randomization to either DBT-A or DBT-A Plus. All study participants received the full DBT-A protocol, and those randomized to the DBT-A Plus condition received a brief cognitive intervention developed to decrease self-critical thoughts in adolescents. Of the 40 …

The Relation Among Phonological Processing, Oral And Silent Reading Fluency, And Reading Comprehension For Students With Dyslexia: A Longitudinal Investigation, Melissa Fetterer Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations among phonological skills, oral and silent reading fluency, and reading comprehension for a longitudinal sample of students who have been diagnosed with dyslexia. Only two studies to date have modeled the relation between oral and silent reading fluency and comprehension, of which only one addressed phonological processing. No studies to date have modeled these relations in students with dyslexia. Participants in this study were 104 students in grades 2-5 with dyslexia, who were administered oral and silent reading fluency and comprehension assessments and selected phonological processing measures at the beginning …

Sleep Matters For Adolescents To Rise And Thrive: A Brief Motivational Intervention For Short Sleep Among Adolescents With Large Bodies, Kristina Decker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Sleep plays an essential role in health and well-being throughout the lifespan. Short sleep duration (< 8 hours/night) is highly prevalent among adolescents and is associated with a myriad of problematic psychosocial and physical health outcomes including obesity. There are a number of mutable, behavioral predictors known to be associated with short sleep; however, interventions targeting these behaviors to increase sleep duration are either limited or yield inconsistent findings. Researchers suggest that Motivational Interviewing (MI) interventions may be a feasible and acceptable means to improve sleep duration, yet no known research has examined MI to improve sleep duration among adolescents with large bodies. The purpose of the current study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a brief, individually-delivered, MI intervention that utilized tailored feedback and values-based strategies to improve sleep among adolescents with large bodies. Thirteen adolescents (aged 13-18; 62% female; 77% Black; Mage=15.2) with large bodies and self-reported short sleep participated in an MI intervention incorporating personalized sleep feedback generated from weeklong monitoring via sleep diary and Fitbit. The present study employed a one-group design with pre-test/post-test assessment to examine the feasibility and acceptability of this brief MI intervention. Session attendance was feasible given high retention from baseline to post-intervention (100%) and follow-up (92%, N=12). Monitoring sleep via Fitbit was acceptable and moderately feasible, while sleep diary completion was neither. Regarding intervention content, teens found personalized sleep feedback helpful and activities easy to understand. From baseline to six-week follow-up, teens reported improvements on perceived importance of sleeping more as well as increased confidence in their ability to get more sleep and readiness to sleep more. Findings support the feasibility and acceptability of an MI intervention for short sleep among teens with large bodies and will be used to inform future intervention development and adaptation for use in a randomized controlled trial. The brevity and practicality of this intervention also enhances long-term sustainability and ease of integration into busy multidisciplinary clinics.

Crisis Intervention Team Training For Law Enforcement: Analyzing The Factors That Influence Verbal De-Escalation Skills Knowledge Attainment In The Memphis Model, Paul M. Dunaway

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Crisis intervention team (CIT) training has been proven to be effective at increasing officers knowledge of mental health, improving attitudes toward those with a mental illness, and reducing use of force rates and arrest leading to incarceration of mental health consumers. Prior research has been primarily limited to outcome evaluations of CIT programs. The current study had 105 participants and examined officer-level variables identified in the literature that may affect verbal de-escalation skills knowledge attainment in the Memphis Model of CIT training. This was accomplished through the use of a hierarchal regression analysis. Results of the study found that officers …

Computational Thinking Self-Efficacy In High School Latin Language Learning, Dennis Clark Dickerson, Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Research suggests that computational thinking is a necessary skill exercised in STEM courses, non-STEM fields, and in everyday life. However, very little research has investigated the potential transfer of computational thinking self-efficacy available through classical Latin courses. This causal comparative study contrasted the computational thinking self-efficacy of computer science students with no exposure to Latin to computer science students with exposure to Latin at a Memphis all-boy high school. The independent variables were Latin language learning experience, i.e., up to 6 years total of Latin language learning (n = 33), versus 0 years of Latin language learning experience (n = …

Atomistic Models To Study Thermodynamics And Kinetics Of Solid-Liquid And Solid-Solid Transitions In Binary Metals, Seyed Alireza Alireza Etesami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Design of novel materials and novel manufacturing process requires understandingthermophysical properties of materials during their process and working conditions.Microstructure of materials, which is usually, consists of grains, phases, and defectsdetermines the overall physical and mechanical properties of materials. Specifically inmetals, the formation of solid crystal from liquid is considered as one of the most importantfactors during the solidification, which can elucidate the final formation of microstructureof materials. The experimental study of the phenomena related to the coexistence of solidliquid phases is generally arduous, because the experiments are needed to be carried out atthe melting points of the materials. Thanks to …

The Impact Of Task Difficulty On Reading Comprehension Intervention With Computer Agents, Ying Fang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

According to Vygotskys zone of proximal development (ZPD), students benefit from tasks that are difficult but can be achieved with the guidance of a skilled partner. This concept has often been implemented during the development of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), but there remains a need to empirically investigate the validity of this concept in reading comprehension interventions. Individual differences need to be considered in order to assign tasks to individual students with the right level of difficulty. Mixed results have emerged from previous research that specifically investigated the potential interaction between student attributes and ITSs on learning in the domain …

Implications Of Functional Limitations In Older Cancer Survivors A Medicare Beneficiary Survey, Prachi Chavan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the impact of physical and functional limitations among older cancer survivors and its effect on healthcare utilization and mortality among them. The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) is nationally representative longitudinal study of older Medicare beneficiaries. Physical Limitations (PL), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) were measured on a five-point scale. MCBS data from 2005 to 2013 were used in this study. Propensity score weighting was developed using logistic regressions. Design-based descriptive analysis and logistic models with adjusted survey weights were performed. Logistic and Poisson regression …

Novel Perspectives Of The Iraq War, Olivia R. Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

My dissertation, "Novel Perspectives of the Iraq War," explores literary representations of the American occupation of Iraq. Responding to Roy Scrantons argument that the prevailing narrative of the traumatized veteran returning home from war with experiential knowledge (what David Buchanan calls combat gnosticism) has overshadowed other important perspectives, this project interrogates the manner in which cultural representations can both sustain and challenge national mythologies. Each of my chapters responds to a specific problem in our cultures popular narratives of war and argues that solutions to extant misperceptions are available via counternarratives. What connects these problems are their prevalence in the …

Examining How Parent Child Interaction Therapy (Pcit) Skills Influence Childrens Eating During A Structured Eating Task, Tiffany Mary Rybak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Early childhood is a critical period for the development of healthy eating behavior. This study aimed to examine how mothers behaviors during an eating scenario align with evidence-based parenting skills (e.g., Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) skills) and to determine how these skills influence childrens eating. This study observationally coded videos of dyadic parent-child interactions for 50 mothers and 50 children (ages 4 to 7 years old) from a primarily low-income population using Noldus Observer XT software. It examined interactions during a structured eating task (e.g., taste testing of foods) by first, applying and modifying the PCIT coding scheme to determine …

Making In The Moment: The Dynamic Cognition Of Musicians-In-Action, Kevin J. Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Watching highly-skilled experts in the midst of improvised performance can be a source of mystification and wonder. Understanding this mystery in more detail, especially for music, is a major motivation for my dissertation. Moreover, while there are multiple avenues through which one could explore improvisation, I will primarily utilize the tools of embodied cognitive science to help better understand it in general and bebop jazz improvisation in particular. I furthermore consider possible ways to define improvisation as an essential precondition of my project.In what follows, I will not defend one type of embodied approach over all alternatives. Instead, I will …

Building Self-Efficacy And Persistence Through Stem E-Mentor Training: A Multi-Site Case Study, Kathryn Marie Sharpe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The limited number of women persisting in STEM degree programs and pursuing STEM careers is concerning, particularly when one considers the absence of minority women in this field. One way of addressing this issue is to explore avenues that build womens STEM self-efficacy. Providing connections with other more experienced women involved in STEM through e-mentoring is one approach that could give women the support and experience they need to feel confident in their ability to succeed in STEM fields. Highly qualified mentors are a key component in the mentoring process and, therefore, need focused training that prepares them to support …

Reading Strategies Implemented By Teachers Whose Students Successfully Passed The Third Grade Reading Summative Assessment In The State Of Mississippi, Sebrina Shantell Perkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The low income and poverty-stricken areas of Mississippi have historically suffered from low-test scores, low graduation rates, and a high concentration of special education students Additionally, poor, Black Mississippians have performed lower, have lower graduation rates, and score lower in college readiness than do students in the rest of the nation. Similar, Mississippi continues to rank last or near the bottom on national measures of reading achievement. To reverse this trend, in 2013 the Mississippi State Legislature passed the Literacy- Based Promotion Act to improve the literacy skills of students beginning in kindergarten and extending through third grade. The law …

More Is Better: A Meta-Analysis Of Dose And Efficacy In Face-To-Face Psychological Treatments For Gambling Disorder, Rory A. Pfund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The dose-response relation is a well-established finding in the general psychotherapy literature. Investigators from this literature define the dose-response relation as how much face-to-face treatment is needed to realize a statistically reliable improvement in psychological symptoms. However, there is presently mixed evidence on the presence of a dose-response relation in the literature on face-to-face psychological treatment for gambling disorder. In the present study, meta-regression was employed to synthesize results from past studies on the efficacy of psychological treatment for gambling disorder to determine the possible presence of a dose-response relation in those treatments. The hypothesis was that there was no …

Supervision Satisfaction: What Impacts Masters Level Supervision When Reviewing Supervisor Category And Student Concentration?, Leigh Pitre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this study is to examine the satisfaction ratings of masters counseling students with their group, doctoral, and off-site supervisors. The researcher hypothesized that doctoral students supervisors and clinical mental health would demonstrate higher levels of overall student satisfaction. Two-hundred and ninety-eight supervisor evaluations were utilized for this study. A regression was initially run to test for satisfaction ratings, but no power or significance was found after running the statistical analysis. Therefore, the researcher ran a one-way ANOVA (after categorizing the type of supervision into two subgroups: faculty and nonfaculty). The results were as follows: the faculty yielded …

Considering Cytonuclear Interactions In The Face Of Heteroplasmy: Evidence From Daucus Carota (Apiaceae), A Gynodioecious Plant Species, Adam Joseph Ramsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Cytonuclear interactions in plants are the complex result of coevolution between the nuclear, mitochondrial, and plastid genomes. After several billion years of coevolution, metabolic activities are now tightly coordinated. Organellar genomes were believed to be under regulation by the nuclear genome, resulting in uniparental inheritance of small, non-recombining, and haploid organellar genomes. Apparent deviations from this coordination have often been perceived as deleterious to organismal fitness and not tolerated by natural selection. Recently, this assumption has been challenged. Although cytonuclear interactions are indeed highly coordinated, deviations are common. Across species, organellar genomes are cytoploid. They vary in size, recombine, and …

Politics, Governance, And Leadership: What Can We Learn From The Academy Of Management’S Response To Eo13769?, Gerald Davis, Michel Anteby, Forrest Briscoe, P. Devereux Jennings, Samina Karim, Aseem Kaul, Sergio Lazzarini, Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, Paul Donnelly, Andreas Rasche, Anne S. Tsui, Thomas A. Wright, Todd R. Zenger

Articles

Organization design seeks to balance potentially conflicting objectives while achieving a broader mission. EO13769 created a challenge for the president of the Academy of Management in leading through these conflicts, as President Anita McGahan describes: how to be true to her own moral values while leading an organization with well-established design constraints, and members with diverse opinions. This article shares the perspectives of 12 scholars on the lessons we can learn from Professor McGahan’s leadership of a constraining organization through a challenging time.

Emotional Intelligence And Conflict Management Styles, Helen Chen, Xuemei Xu, Patrick Phillips

Articles

Purpose – This paper aims to use a multi-level approach to examine the effects of emotional intelligence (EI) components on conflict management styles of Chinese managers when the respondents were in conflicts with their subordinates, peers or superiors.

Design/methodology/approach – The primary research was conducted in Dalian, China, via a personal survey resulting in 885 usable observations for analysis. EI was measured using the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong and Law, 2002), which is made up of 16 questions measuring four dimensions. The conflict management component was measured via Rahim’s (1983) five conflict management styles, which are …

Investigate The Rheological Behavior Of High Viscosity Friction Reducer Fracture Fluid And Its Impact On Proppant Static Settling Velocity, Mohammed Ba Geri, Abdulmohsin Imqam, Andrey Bogdan, Lingjuan Shen

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The recent and rapid success of using high viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs) in hydraulic fracturing treatments is due to several advantages over other fracture fluids (e.g. linear gel), which include better proppant carrying capability, induce more complex fracture system network with higher fracture length, and overall lower costs due to fewer chemicals and less equipment on location. However, some concerns remain, like how HVFRs rheological properties can have impact on proppant transport into fractures. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the influence the rheological characterization of HVFRs have on proppant static settling velocity within …