Education Commons^™

Development And Evaluation Of A Personalized Normative Feedback Intervention For Hispanic Youth At High Risk Of Smoking, Holly Mata

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite reductions in overall smoking rates, data show that adolescents continue to smoke at higher rates than adults and that adolescents living in the Texas-Mexico border area are more likely than their counterparts living elsewhere in Texas to smoke. While adult smoking in the Paso del Norte Region has decreased significantly over the past decade, area youth smoking rates exceed both state and national averages. Recent estimates report cigarette smoking among El Paso youth in the past month to be slightly more than 28% as compared with 21% among Texas youth participating in the 2009 statewide Youth Risk Behavior Survey …

Dual Language Programs And Reforming Education In The El Paso Independent School District, Richard Varela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My thesis is a work dealing with dual language education and the current bilingual programs that are ineffectively currently implemented throughout the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD). My work calls for the reforming of bilingual education and equity in curriculum, effective programs and equity in usage of primary language.

Metaphors, Metonymies, Modes And Linear Algebra, Persis Samanta Beaven

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The analysis focused on the presence of different thinking modes, metonymies, and metaphors found on the interview responses to questions related to linear independence, span, and spanning sets of four students taking their first linear algebra course at the college level. The findings provide insight of how first year linear algebra students move from one thinking mode to another and what kind of metonymies and metaphors are used to construct new knowledge. The main purpose of this research was to document and determine the main characteristics that categorize the four students' reasoning.

The Transition From High School To College In Texas: Hispanic Students On The U.S.-Mexico Border Redefining College Readiness, Hector Hernandez Jr.

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study addresses the barriers and challenges that could potentially impede successful high school-to-college transitions for Hispanic high school students on the U.S.-México border from the perspective of Hispanic youth. U.S. demographical data indicates that the Hispanic population continues to grow at a rapid pace and accounts for the majority of the U.S. population growth in the last decade (Fry & Gonzales, 2008). Hispanics have been identified not only as the fastest growing ethnic group, but also as highly underrepresented in institutions of higher learning. While numerous perspectives and descriptions of this phenomenon have been advanced by scholars, practitioners, and …

Mexican American High School Dropouts: A Look At Nine Personal Attributes That Place Students At Risk, Oscar A. Rico

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This project examines nine attributes pertinent to Mexican Americans and the decision that many of them take to drop out of school prematurely. Millions of Mexican American students drop out of school every year in this country. For many of these students dropping out of school usually represents entering a workforce an a society that they will be unprepared to encounter. Dropouts will face increased levels of poverty, incarceration, unemployment along with many other ailments.

This project presents dropping out not as a single event in which a student decides to endure such conditions inexplicably from one day to the …

Faculty Inside A Changing University: Constructing Roles, Making Spaces, Leslie D. Gonzales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The notion of a multiversity was stamped into the higher education literature by Clark Kerr in 1963 when he spoke about the numerous purposes tied to U.S. higher education. Kerr highlighted how the University is often pulled in many directions at once, asked to fulfill promises of the cultural, educational, national, societal, and now, of the global kind. Yet it is imperative to remember that these multiversities are not empty spaces. They are occupied and brought to life by the people who work inside them, especially the faculty, who Gregorian (2005) names as the "heart and soul, the bone marrow …

Use Of Cognitive Constructs In Linear Algebra, Azucena Zamora

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Thesis analyzed the presence of two cognitive entities-- modes of thinking and metonymies and metaphors- in the reasoning of three students enrolled in a first year matrix algebra course at a southwest university via the responses given to a set of eight questions asked during one-on-one interviews. The findings of our analysis shed light on the cognitive constructs that students employ to form their understanding of linear algebra concepts. Furthermore, our findings provide clues about the ways in which students move from one mode of thinking to another in the context of varying levels of exposure to graphical, algebraic, and …

A Comparison Of Career Technical Education - 16 Career Pathway High School Participants With Non-Participants On Academic Achievement, School Engagement, And Development Of Technical Skills, Edith Aimee Orozco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this research was to compare Career Technical Education- 16 Career Pathway high school participants with non-participants on academic achievement, development of technical skills and school engagement. Academic achievement was measured by Exit Level Math and English Language Arts Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) 2008-2009 scale scores. Development of technical skills and school engagement was examined through a developed survey using the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) as a reference. TAKS scale scores employed to measure academic achievement was obtained from secondary data and perceptions regarding development of skills and school engagement were obtained …

Safe Medication Use Among Hispanic College Students: Knowledge, Attitudes And Behaviors, Tania Guadalupe Quiroz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

College students are at increased risk of medication errors. Research suggests that young adults are active users of over-the- counter (OTC) medications and other products that may increase the risk for negative health outcomes. Therefore, it is very important to analyze young adults' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors about medication use among college students in order to provide them with the necessary information. Due to language and cultural factors, the issue is particularly relevant in U.S.-Mexico border communities. This casual-comparative study examined knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding medication use among Hispanic college students. Data was collected through a survey developed by …

Closing The Achievement Gap: Impact Of Inclusion Upon Achievement Rates Of Students With Special Needs, Kathleen Black

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to examine the relationship between the amount of time a student with special needs spends in the inclusive classroom and their achievement passing rates in mathematics and reading. TAKS passing rates for mathematics and reading for third graders in 2007-2008, and the same cohort of fourth graders in 2008-2009 were analyzed to determine the strength of relationship between the predictor variable of TAKS achievement passing rates, and the independent variables of amount of time included (PEIMS Instructional Setting) and socioeconomic status.

Logistic regression was utilized to analyze the relationship between amount of time …

The Effectiveness Of The University Interscholastic League One-Act Play Competition As An Extracurricular Activity, David Christopher Rout

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In Texas the University Interscholastic League has had a significant impact in Theatre Education through their annual competitive One-Act Play Competition. In educational climates dominated by No Pass-No Play and TAKS Testing some schools may question the effectiveness of the UIL competition as an effective activity. This paper addresses this concern, a measurement of how effective UIL One Act Play is how FERPA is impacting research into UIL events.

E-Quality: Using Dimensional Index Values Towards Improving Classification Accuracy, Prashanth Devaram

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

E-quality is a process through which inspection of the process and quality of the part produced is done online resulting in the improvement of the process and reduction in the amount of time consumed for the overall process. Automated quality control involves using a methodology to classify the parts based on the dimensions of the features on a part. However, achieving 100% classification accuracy is not an easy task, especially in area of quality control where small differences in dimensions result in part fall into a different category. In this study, a novel approach for modifying the data before being …

School And Campus Characteristics Of Non-Graduating Seniors Due To Failure Of Taks Tests In The Western Independent School District, Patricia Silva

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined TAKS test scores of seniors that did not graduate with their cohort group due to failure of TAKS test. The data was for the 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years and included students from ten traditional high schools. This researched focused on the relation between this senior cohort group and student and campus factors. The student characteristics included gender, ethnicity, at-risk status and students identified as economically disadvantaged and Limited English Proficient. The school characteristics included campus size, longevity of campus principal, teachers' classroom years of experience, and state and federal accountability factors. Through an observational and …

Using Prediction And Classroom Voting Via Clickers To Address Secondary School Students' Overreliance On The Representativeness Heuristic, Tami Kay Dashley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Students often have misconceptions in their probabilistic reasoning--one such misconception is the overuse of the representativeness heuristic, in which one determines that one event is more likely than another event based on how representative the event is of some aspect of its parent population. A research study was conducted to address high school students' overuse of the representativeness heuristic using three groups: (i) a prediction-and-voting group in which students were taught a lesson on probability with the use of prediction and classroom voting teaching methods, (ii) a prediction-only group where students were taught the lesson using only prediction, and (iii) …

Engineering Design Educational Model: From Skills To Objectives, Jose Gabriel Davila Rangel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to develop an engineering design educational pedagogy on how to improve the engineering design learning experience. The design engineering activity is a complex mix of skills and knowledge that has been taught over decades by directly delivering to the students the design methodologies developed by design researchers and by exposing the students to open ended projects that could develop their design skills. Understanding this we can conclude that the three main pedagogical components of a successful educational design experience are: the design skills, the design methods and the design projects. On one hand, the …

What Motivates Young Latina Females Along The U.S. Mexico Border Region To Participate In Team Sports?, Dora A. Pichardo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Physical activity gives women and girls an overall better quantity of life and positive health benefits. Statistics indicate lack of participation in physical activity and exercise by the U.S. general population and among the Latino population in particular. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the variables that motivate young Latinas to play and eventually continue to stay involved in team sports. This is a survey correlational study including young Latina females a U.S.-Mexico border community. Statistical analysis included frequencies, means, and Pearson Product Momentum Correlations. Sixty-nine participants (12 to 15 years old) completed the survey. The response …

Evaluation Of Academic Policy Formulation And Implementation, Transmountain Early College High School, El Paso, Texas, Virginia Margaret Heidemann

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transmountain Early College High School (TMECHS) opened in August 2008, created by a partnership between the El Paso Community College (EPCC) and the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), and supported in its conceptualization, start-up, and first few years operation by grant funding and guidance from the Texas High School Project (THSP) and its major foundation funding partners, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Communities Foundation of Texas. TMECHS is a T-STEM early college high school located in a large city on the U.S.-Mexico border.

As educational institutions begin implementation of ambitious reform …

Bilingual Education - A Historic And Programmatic Overview, Jens Tillmanns

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study is an archival research for historical understanding documenting historical trends in bilingual education in the United States. Relevant documents and literature were reviewed, analyzed, and coded to form the themes that examine the historical and programmatic development of bilingual education in the United States since its formation. It is particularly important to examine these roots of bilingual education in light of the ongoing political tensions around immigration issues. What historical events have impacted the emergence and shaping of and the resistance to bilingual education in the United States? What political and social forces have impacted the emergence and …

A Case Study On The Integration Of Internet Technology With Mathematics And Science Content For Teachers, Pilar Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study analyzed electronic discourse in an online mathematics/science education graduate course. The intention was: a) to identify the teacher's attitudes towards using internet resources, b) to motivate teachers to integrate the use of technology and c) to study how in-service and pre-service teachers find, access, and use technology resources.

The main activities in the class were for teachers to read chapters from textbooks, post personal reflections on the chapter, search and critically assess the companion websites and read classmates' reflections. Teachers also completed Thematic Units consisting of several technology-enhanced mathematical and science integrated lesson plans.

The teachers' success was …

Housing Attribute Preferences In El Paso, Emmanuel Villalobos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study uses twenty-two explanatory variables and a stratified random sample of 562 housing units to estimate a hedonic pricing model for the El Paso housing market. Previous studies report that structural characteristics are more influential than locational factors in home valuation. Results obtained indicate that list price reacts more elastically to a home's structural characteristics than to its locational factors. In this study indirect evidence of the importance of international commerce in El Paso is documented. Whether the results reported are unique to a large border economy like El Paso is unknown.

Dominant Discourses Embedded In Popular Culture: An Analysis Of Brazilian Teachers` Consciousness, Luciene Soares Wandermurem

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many scholars believe that popular culture is part of students` identity and a symbol of subordinated groups` resistance to cultural domination, therefore they support the use of popular culture in the classroom as a way to value students` identity. However, scholars also recognize that often times popular culture is manipulated by elites so as to convey discourses that oppress people of color as an strategy to maintain the status quo. In Brazil, country where this research was conducted, white male individuals are the ones who have historically held power and money, utilizing the media as an instrument of social control. …

An Investigation Of Cognitive And Non-Cognitive Variables That Affect Student-Athlete Graduation And Retention, Lisa Diana Campos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Colleges and universities continue to be held to accountability measures typically related to student graduation rates. Intercollegiate athletic programs are not immune to such accountability measures. For instance, in recent years the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted the Academic Progress Rate, which holds institutions accountable for the graduation, retention, and eligibility status of its student-athletes. It is the moral obligation of intercollegiate administrators to ensure student-athletes are receiving a quality education culminating in graduation. The recent climate of higher education makes it critical to examine the variables which influence graduation and retention of student-athletes.

This study examined student-athletes who entered …

Perceptions Of Leadership Capacity And Student Achievement, Joe Allen Keith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine leadership capacity perceptions in high schools and their relationship to student achievement. The study explored perceptions of leadership capacity of principals, assistant principals and teachers on high school campuses in a border county. Correlation statistics were employed to investigate the existence of relational patterns between Lambert's (2003) Leadership Capacity Survey and student academic achievement. Results from the math, English-language arts and "all tests taken" portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests were analyzed and compared with survey results using Pearson r correlations.

Extant literature related to the purpose …

Evaluation Of A Community-Based Cervical Cancer Education Program On Perceptions And Knowledge Of Screening Among Low-Income Hispanic Women, Claudia S. Lozano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cervical cancer affects Hispanic women disproportionately in comparison to their non-Hispanic white counterparts. In 2004, the incidence rate was 12.2 per 100,000 persons among Hispanic women compared to 7.5 per 100,000 among non-Hispanic white women (U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group, 2007). Although this form of cancer is easily diagnosed through recommended screening tests, Hispanic women are often less likely to get screened (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Research based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) examining attitudes and beliefs about cervical cancer and screening among Hispanic women has demonstrated that non-compliance with Pap smear screening was attributed …

Latina Sorority Involvement And The College Experience: Social And Academic Impact, Darilis Garcia-Mcmillian

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Membership in a Latina-based sorority communicates messages to sisters as well as the university community. These messages usually reflected the goals and principles of the organization which is often what attracts women to join. Once they are part of the sorority their affiliation impacts their college experience. This study looks at the effect Greek membership has on participants' social and academic lives. Through narrative analysis the women's responses were examined to understand their perceptions of how joining Delta Tau Lambda Sorority impacted their college experience. The human and rhetorical agency of members was examined through their survey responses. Their experiences …

Exploring Antarctica: Analyzing The Outcomes Of A Minority Focused Field Research Program, Claudia Vanessa Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With the need to increase minority representation in science, specifically in polar research, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) developed an innovative field research experience entitled International Polar Year- Research and Educational Opportunities in Antarctica for Minorities (IPY-ROAM). Supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, twenty-eight participants including undergraduate students, graduate students and teachers completed a semester long online course and performed field research in Antarctica within the areas of ecology, physical science, policy or education. The purpose of this Thesis consists in determining the outcomes that individuals experienced through their participation in IPY-ROAM. Four outcome areas …

The Effect Of Student Engagement On Student Success At A Binational Hispanic Serving Institution, Charles Edwin Gibbens

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This purpose of this study was to examine student engagement practices at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). This institution was chosen due to the unique location - in the city of El Paso on the U.S. Mexico border. It was also chosen due to the unique population served - majority of students are first generation and Hispanic.

The instrument used to gather student engagement practices was the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) survey for 2006, 2007, & 2008. One section of the survey asks respondents to self identify their levels of engagement in 19 educationally purposeful …

The Constant Jugglers- Single Mothers Amidst Patriarchy And University, Christopher Bordon Goldsmith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This case study juxtaposes feminist literature with an examination of single mothers pursuing an undergraduate degree in teacher education. The Patriarchy and the English language emerged as definers of cultural norms that are oppressive to outsiders. Three single mothers living on the U.S.-Mexico border were interviewed. Their stories were compared to the literature of the Patriarchy. The status quo was examined in its roles as lawmaker and as rights taker. Patriarchy and the English language emerged as definers of cultural norms that are impacting and controlling the choices of these women. Themes that emerged from the data are dependence vs. …

Bridging The Digital Divide: Infusing Digital Storytelling To Improve Literacy Instruction Among Students In Rural Bhutan, Khendum Gyabak

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the digital divide among public school students in rural Bhutan. The study presents several broad themes relevant to technological innovation, integration of technology initiatives into educational practices and social structures in underdeveloped and developing countries. The aim of this study is to address the possibility of integrating digital storytelling and through the use of these new literacy practices, understand whether technology education could be a sustainable process for empowerment among public school students in rural Bhutan. This study should be of interest to educators and administrators concerned about the future development …

In Defense Of The Value Of Visual Arts In Public Education:An Examination Of Scholarly Arguments For Functionary Pedagogy And Intrinsic Fulfillment, Monica Lynn Seymore

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A descriptive study sought to find answers to an ongoing dichotomous argument about Visual Arts education in public schools: should Visual Arts function in support of core academic courses or should Visual Arts be taught primarily for their intrinsic value? Multiple sources as well as personal experience teaching art have influenced and contributed to resultant opinion in this study . Two main arguments clarified in detail and delineated in points of their disparate issues, function to defend visual arts in public schools. Conclusion maintain that arguments and support of the intrinsic values students experience through visual arts.