Digital Commons Network^™

Manipulation Of Meaning In Political Discourse, Asst. Ins. Shawqi K. Ismail (M. A.)

Midad AL-Adab Refereed Quarterly Journal

No abstract provided.

Secondary Educators' Experiences Implementing Formative Assessment In Rural Southern Maryland: A Transcendental Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Bonnie J. Skinner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to describe secondary educators’ experiences in planning and implementing formative assessment in rural southern Maryland to gain an understanding of their definition and use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) in diverse classrooms. The theory guiding this study, the sociocultural learning theory, grew from the work of the psychologist Vygotsky. The sociocultural learning theory is the best worldview for this study as Vygotsky’s beliefs of parents, caregivers, peers, other mentors (teachers), and culture are responsible for the development of cognition and higher-order functions with learning occurring by interacting with other people. Four essential …

Leveraging Large Language Models Trained On Code For Symbol Binding, Joshua Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

While large language models like GPT-3 have achieved impressive results in the zero-, one-, and few-shot settings, they still significantly underperform on some tasks relative to the state of the art (SOTA). For many tasks it would be useful to have answer options explicitly listed out in a multiple choice format, decreasing computational cost and allowing the model to reason about the relative merits of possible answers. We argue that the reason this hasn't helped models like GPT-3 close the gap with the SOTA is that these models struggle with symbol binding - associating each answer option with a symbol …

Let’S Talk: The Dual Process Model Of Supportive Communication In Peers, Erica Marie Szkody

Theses and Dissertations

Supportive messages occur within most relationships. Researchers have found strong relationships between social support and various physical and psychological health outcomes, but the specific mechanisms at work have yet to be fully explored. Many factors contribute to whether a supportive interaction is processed as helpful or supportive by the recipient including relational factors, message content, past experiences, etc. For peer dyads, the context and supportive messages individuals provide their peer may inhibit or contribute to their perception of their peer’s supportive behavior. The current study examined the impact of contextual factors (such as family communication patterns and relationship quality) on …

A Christian Perspective On Islam's Origins: Its Religion, Founder, And Practices, German Matos

Masters Theses

The many years of exposure to Islamic believers in the five boroughs of New York State, but more specifically, the Bronx, set a precedent for this thesis to comprehensively analyze the religion of Islam by investigating the Abrahamic monotheistic connection to its historical origins and religious practices. The methods used in this thesis to prove Islam’s legitimacy as an Abrahamic monotheistic heir consisted of sources like the Qur’an, hadith, and tafsir texts translated from Arabic into English. The simultaneous usage of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and authoritative secular sources was used to scrutinize Islam’s theological and historical claims to formulate a …

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Of Culturally-Adapted, Telehealth Group Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Iranian Adolescent Females Reporting Symptoms Of Anxiety, Mehdi Zemestani, Mojgan Hosseini, Julie M. Petersen, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

While the efficacy of internet-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has been examined for different mental health concerns in high-income countries, evidence for the potential efficacy of culturally-adapted ACT in non-Western, low- and middle-income countries is scarce. The present study is a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial of culturally-adapted, online, manualized group ACT for anxiety in Iranian adolescent females. To participate, adolescents had to identify as female, report interfering anxiety symptoms, be currently attending high school, and be within the age range of 15–18 years old. Individuals in the active condition (n = 24) participated in eight group sessions delivered over the …

Assessing The Usefulness Of The Livingroom Learning Gardens At Galloway Elementary School, Partnership Middle School, And Leland Park Middle School For Teaching, Benjamin Little Gunter

Theses and Dissertations

As more schools incorporate learning gardens into their campuses to help educate school children on nutrition (Parmer and Stuempler, 2009), connect students to nature (Bucher, 2017), and grow healthy food; there is a need to better understand how the physical design and components of the garden facilitate the use and programming of the gardens for teaching. There is little research on how the physical characteristics of a garden influence those benefits and challenges. This study seeks to assess the usefulness of an intentionally designed garden typology that has been implemented at three different school sites. By documenting the differences between …

Examining The Barriers To Building Multicultural Competence Of School Psychology Graduate Students, Jasmine C. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, school aged students from diverse backgrounds have experienced detrimental effects as a result of school psychologists who fail to consider cultural differences when providing services. The demographics of students in K- 12 schools have increasingly become more diverse which only exacerbates the need for multiculturally competent school psychologists. Research has identified graduate programs as an area to intervene and ensure future school psychologists are receiving training necessary for developing multicultural competence. Within the literature, graduate student attitude towards multiculturalism and program climate have been identified as barriers to developing multicultural competence in graduate students. Therefore, the purpose of the …

Investigating The Experience Of Ruralness And Rural Education: A Phenomenological Study Of Perceived Impacts On Achievements And Future Prospects In Rural Ghana, Robert Tsitey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to describe the rural school experiences and post-school outcomes of students from rural Ghana. This study examined rural Ghanaian students in the lenses of in-school and post-school lives in terms of their academic achievements, educational continuity, careers, and ability to cope with life through knowledge gained from their education. Qualitative, first-person research method and hermeneutic phenomenology was used to interpret lived experiences of participants and the texts of life of the concept of the phenomenon. The theories that guided this study were Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory which examines how a child's early development …

Character Education For Elementary School Students And Parental Commitment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Joshua J. Barela

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the parents’ experiences with their children's character education. The central research question for this study was the following: What are the parents’ experiences with their child’s character education? The two subsequent research questions were: (a) What are the perceived critical factors experienced by the parents influencing their child’s character education process? (b) What are the perceived obstacles experienced by the parents hindering their child’s character education and development? The central phenomenon of the study included 12 parental participants at a private elementary school in South Asia. The central phenomenon was …

Exploring Elementary School Teachers' Instructional Decisions On English Language Arts Strategies For English Language Learners: A Case Study, Tameika Marie Hairston-Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to determine the instructional strategies and decisions that educators chose, implemented, and evaluated while teaching English Language Learners (ELL) during English Language Arts (ELA). The central research question for this study was: How do elementary teachers at Fisherton Elementary School choose, implement, and evaluate instructional strategies during English Language Arts with English Language Learners? This case study consisted of 10 educator participants at Fisherton Elementary School, a predominantly ELL school. The theory guiding this study was Bruner's (1986) constructionist theory. Data were collected for this research through a series of classroom …

Evaluating The Use Of Poetry To Reduce The Signs Of Depression, Anxiety, And Stress In Veterans, Misty Pearl Ely

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A veteran is anyone who has served on active duty in one of the five branches of the military, regardless of peacetime or combat exposure. Currently, veterans make up 2.2 million of our nation’s population and the rates of mental health concerns are continually on the rise due to the prolonged nature of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. With the drawdown of forces, the military is smaller than usual and yet must maintain the safety and security of the world at the same standard. Therefore, these service members are recycled over and over to deployments abroad and …

Food Sovereignty And Coffee Cultivation In El Salvador: Current Pitfalls And Opportunities In The Intersections Of Coffee, Gender, And Climate Change, Danielle Akins

Capstone Collection

Abstract

Climate change threatens agriculture worldwide, and coffee farming is especially vulnerable. This is apparent in El Salvador, a Central American coffee producing country, previously a prominent player in the field. Due to climate change impacts, as well as social, economic, political, cultural, and institutional issues, the country has been struggling during the last three decades to remain in the coffee industry in a way that is sustainable for the environment and for people. This study aimed to identify the ways in which coffee cultivation in El Salvador has contributed to or detracted from the ability of farmers to achieve …

Transcending The Impasse: Towards An Indigenous Vision Of Legality In Palestine, Juman Abujbara

LLM Theses

This thesis attempts to demonstrate that the international legal impasse surrounding Palestine is animated by incommensurable visions of legality. It argues that in portraying the Palestinian struggle for liberation as a struggle for state sovereignty, international law subjects the indigenous worldview to a violent and perpetual erasure. The thesis employs Aaron Mills' theoretical framework to argue for an incommensurability between Palestine's indigenous conception of legality and the dominant conception of legality underlying international law. Further, the thesis offers a reading of Ghassan Kanafani's novel The Other Thing to explore the consequences and normative implications of an impasse characterized by incommensurability. …

The Byu Advocate, J. Reuben Clark Law School

The BYU Advocate (& Annual Reports)

"… I am inspired with a sense of hope and gratitude. We will continue to experience adversity and to face obstacles—socially, personally, and politically—that may at times seem intractable. But judging by the successes of our past and seeing in our students a glimpse of our future, I am confident that BYU Law and the BYU Law community will continue to flourish in adversity." – D. Gordon Smith

A Snapshot Of Japanese Family Conversation And Language Maintenance Effort, Yuya Sano

Dissertations and Theses

This research examined what dominant speech style Japanese family members utilize by analyzing their conversations at home. In addition, the research conducted the Parent Interviews to find out what efforts the parents consistently make to develop and maintain their children's Japanese ability in terms of Japanese formal speech style.

The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to examine the dominant speech style of Japanese during at-home conversations among Japanese family members and (2) to learn about the parents' effort to develop their children's Japanese ability. In order to conduct this research, two kinds of data were collected: Family Conversation …

Passings: John C. Rouman, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Critical Conversations In A Second-Grade Classroom Using Diverse Literature, Joanne Susan Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the effects of reading diverse texts during SEL morning meeting time and observe how 2nd grade students engage in conversations. Diverse texts were selected related to themes of identity, race, poverty, gender, sexual identity, and gender identity. Data collected included student conversations and journals. After analyzing the data collected, it was found that the inclusion of diverse texts during SEL morning meetings yielded positive results. Students engaged in more personal conversations when they could connect to the text and speak freely, students spoke more when they had control of the conversations, …

Spa203. ¿Qué Hacemos Con La Lengua? Lenguaje, Diversidad Y Derechos Humanos, Juan Jesús Payán

Open Educational Resources

Descripción del curso

SPA203 - (For native or near-native speakers.) The grammatical structure of today's standard Spanish. Intensive practice in reading, speaking, and elementary composition.

En SPA203 vamos a explorar la relación entre el lenguaje y la diversidad en el marco de los derechos humanos fundamentales. El título del curso, “¿qué hacemos con la lengua?”, nos pregunta dos cosas: qué tipo de prejuicios perpetuamos por medio del lenguaje y cómo hacer para que la lengua albergue de manera efectiva la diversidad de nuestra sociedad. En un contexto actual, sorprendente estancado en la indiferencia, la ignorancia, el prejuicio y estigmatización de …

Implementation And Outcomes Of A Remote Hepatitis B Screening Program Designed To Overcome Covid-19 Pandemic-Related Disruptions To Community-Based Screenings For Asians In Greater Philadelphia: A Descriptive Study, Yoonhee P Ha, Yusha Sun, Jack Wilkinson, Sonia Wang, Lillian Chien, Marisa Wu, Evangeline Wang, Catherine Freeland

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Democracy Or Capitalism? The United States And Latin America, Grace Burgener

Theses and Dissertations

The democratic peace theory holds that democracies rarely, if ever, go to war with one another based on the institutional and normative features of democratic governments. Alternatively, the capitalist peace theory insists that, rather than the democratic nature of a government, states opt out of warfare when their economic interests are at play – whether that be trade interdependence or general market features. Traditionally, scholars have focused on explaining the causes of Militarized Interstate Disputes (MIDs) among advanced industrialized democracies. Based on the tenets of capitalism and a new outcome variable of intervention (e.g., coups), this thesis uses two instances …

Emancipatory Nursing Praxis: Applying The Social Justice Theory To Implement Harm Reduction In Prison Substance Use Disorder, Veronica A. Holmes

Theoretical Foundation in Advanced Practice Nursing

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Inmates suffer from chronic health conditions and substance use disorder (SUD) at a higher rate than the rest of the population yet, often do not receive sufficient medical care during incarceration. The theory of Emancipatory Nursing Praxis (ENP) calls for the integration of social justice within the profession of nursing. This theory provides a framework in which nurses can awaken and serve as agents of change, working to ameliorate issues of systemic oppression. Harm reduction refers to policies, programs, and strategies aimed at reducing the negative health, economic, …

A Framework For Interdisciplinary Read Aloud Lessons, Lyndsey M. Bensel

Masters Projects

Science and social studies instruction at the elementary level has diminished in quantity and quality as a result of increasing pressure to maximize English language arts achievement. This approach exchanges short term gains in reading proficiency for long term deficits across many disciplines. Research establishes a strong connection between background knowledge gained through content area learning and the ability to comprehend expository texts. Moreover, deprioritizing science and social studies instruction limits opportunities to explore disciplinary literacy practices which serve as the foundation for acquiring knowledge in different disciplines. The framework for interdisciplinary read aloud lessons developed through this project, will …

A Transcendental Phenomenology Into How Teacher Educators Address Social And Psychological Elements Of Teachers' Professional Identity, Hussein Meihami, Naser Rashidi

The Qualitative Report

Addressing social and psychological elements of teachers' professional identities is crucially important to develop teachers’ knowledge and practice concerning social and psychological issues in their classes. Thus, this study was an attempt to investigate how Iranian EFL teacher educators addressed social and psychological elements in teacher education programs to develop teachers’ professional identities. To that end, a series of phenomenological interviews were conducted with four EFL teacher educators to delve into their past, current, and future practices. Moreover, the syllabi covered by the EFL teacher educators were analyzed as a verification of the data obtained through phenomenological interviews. Explicitation of …

Multivocality As Practice Of Critical Inquiry For Social Justice, Cesar Cisneros

The Qualitative Report

Multivocality has been clearly and in detail present in social science reflection since the impact of the so-called linguistic turn and nowadays it has also presence in the qualitative inquiry current discussion. To explore how multivocality can be a practice of qualitative inquiry for social justice is the goal of this contribution. It is a global picture of epistemic violence that has subjugated knowledge and practices along with executing genocides and exterminations of otherness to build societies without social, epistemic, and cognitive justice that my goal is to unveil the horizon of modern social sciences to get a better understanding …

A Conceptualisation Of Resilience Among Cancer Surviving Employed Women In Malaysia, Melati Sumari, Nordinah Mohd Kassim, Nor Safatul Aznin A.Razak

The Qualitative Report

This study examines the experiences faced by employed female cancer survivors when developing resilience. We used a phenomenological approach to understand these experiences and challenges. A total of ten participants with different types of cancer participated in this research, which was carried out using semi-structured interviews. Social media was used for triangulating the data collected. The meanings of resilience were monitored through the particpants’ social media accounts (namely, Facebook and Instagram) from the time of diagnosis until they returned to work. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Five themes emerged from the data collected: (a) resilience through painful experience, (b) …

Widespread Cortical Thinning, Excessive Glutamate And Impaired Linguistic Functioning In Schizophrenia: A Cluster Analytic Approach, Liangbing Liang, Angélica M. Silva, Peter Jeon, Sabrina D. Ford, Michael Mackinley, Jean Théberge, Lena Palaniyappan

Neuroscience Institute Publications

Introduction: Symptoms of schizophrenia are closely related to aberrant language comprehension and production. Macroscopic brain changes seen in some patients with schizophrenia are suspected to relate to impaired language production, but this is yet to be reliably characterized. Since heterogeneity in language dysfunctions, as well as brain structure, is suspected in schizophrenia, we aimed to first seek patient subgroups with different neurobiological signatures and then quantify linguistic indices that capture the symptoms of “negative formal thought disorder” (i.e., fluency, cohesion, and complexity of language production). Methods: Atlas-based cortical thickness values (obtained with a 7T MRI scanner) of 66 patients with …

Summer Commencement: August 5, 2022, University Of North Dakota

UND Commencement Programs

UND Summer Commencement program from August 5, 2022.

Expanding Cu²Re Summer Program Supports Uab Medical Students, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Ndwae Ngone Mwaitu: A Postmodern Cultural Phenomenon Of Dowry Among The Akamba And Its Influence On Spousal Violence, Telesia Kathini Musili

Journal of International Women's Studies

Dowry, also referred to as bride wealth or bride price, is a consultative, amicable, and quantifiable summation of goods exchanged between the groom’s and bride’s families. Traditionally, dowry (ngasya) payment among the Akamba was an obligation for the parents-in-law (husband’s parents), but that has in the recent past transitioned to the husband paying the dowry himself. An emerging trend is, however, catching up with married women budding together and opting to pay the dowry for themselves, which is not only a cultural shock and an empowering paradigm shift but also a ceremony that could be riddled and clouded …