Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Depth Judgments On Mental Workload In Laparoscopy Measured By A Visual-Spatial Secondary Task, Rebecca A. Kennedy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Performing laparoscopic surgery is more attentionally demanding than traditional surgery. One challenge results from the surgeon operating in 3D space while referencing a 2D display that has limited and distorted depth cues. The goal of the present study was to compare two versions of a secondary task for measuring the mental workload associated with laparoscopic depth and nondepth movements. Twenty six undergraduate students at Old Dominion University performed a laparoscopic threading task in three separate orientations: X plane, Y plane, and Z plane. The threading task was performed in single-task conditions and dual-task conditions where it was paired with a …

Spatial Analysis Of Travel Behavior And Response To Traveler Information, Xin Wang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Transportation planners have long recognized that it is urgent to integrate emerging spatial analysis with travel behavior studies. A clearer understanding of the spatial interactions among travelers and the complex environment they face has the potential to reap benefits of the ongoing technologies of travel behavior, spatial analysis and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS).

Considering that spatial patterns have been overlooked in the literature of travel behavior and ATIS, the main objective of this research is to use robust methods of spatial analysis to enhance the understanding of how the associations between traveler decisions, built environment and socio-demographic characteristics are …

An Analysis Of Factors Affecting The Effective Use Of Knowledge Management In Counter Improvised Explosive Device (C-Ied) Operations, Umit Gencer

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigates factors that influence effective use of Knowledge Management (KM) in Counter Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) operations in the military.

The study suggests that effective KM program is determined by the interaction of three organizational capabilities: knowledge infrastructure, knowledge process, and leadership orientation.

A self-administrated survey was conducted on 300 NATO staff officers who have served in C-IED environments. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test a set of hypotheses using 118 completed responses collected from the survey.

The results suggest that out of the 11 constructs within the model; two are rated as 'attribute needs …

The Perceptions Of Standardized Tests, Academic Self-Efficacy, And Academic Performance Of African American Graduate Students: A Correlational And Comparative Analysis, Arleezah K. Marrah

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The academic performance of African American students continues to be a concern for educators, researchers, and most importantly their community. This issue is particularly prevalent in the standardized test scores of African American students where they score on average one or more standard deviations below their Caucasian and Asian American counterparts, which may hinder their college enrollment, academic achievement, and educational attainment (Diaz, 1999; Walpole et al., 2005). This issue has been examined by numerous studies and many researchers have attributed their underachievement to factors such as lower academic self-efficacy, stereotype threat, cultural test bias, and institutionalized racism (Kellow & …

The Relationship Between State Fiscal Effort And State Graduation Rates: A Longitudinal Study, Melissa Christine Morris

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

In recent decades, the United States has been criticized for failing to produce citizens who can compete in a global society. Legislation, such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, has been implemented with the intention of improving the U.S. education system. Under the guidelines of NCLB, states are tasked with meeting Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) objectives in order to receive federal monies. In addition to testing requirements, one AYP indicator used to measure academic proficiency for high school students is graduation rates. The fiscal and societal impact of students not graduating from high school can be …

The Effects Of Digital Technology On Basic Writing, Leslie Denise Norris

English Theses & Dissertations

At this study's research site—a small, Virginia community college—faculty, staff and students use digital technology to share information daily, which could cause a problem for some students: students may need digital literacy instruction before the college requires those courses. Another potential problem is that scholars (Stephens, Houser, and Cowan) indicate that some instructors across the academy treat students negatively if students do not demonstrate digital, rhetorical dexterity when communicating—particular digital skills that some students lack.

For this study, I surveyed basic writing (BW) instructors and students at the research site to learn more about their digital experiences. The surveys yielded …

Evaluating Network Analysis And Agent Based Modeling For Investigating The Stability Of Commercial Air Carrier Schedules, Sheila Ruth Conway

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

For a number of years, the United States Federal Government has been formulating the Next Generation Air Transportation System plans for National Airspace System improvement. These improvements attempt to address air transportation holistically, but often address individual improvements in one arena such as ground or in-flight equipment.

In fact, air transportation system designers have had only limited success using traditional Operations Research and parametric modeling approaches in their analyses of innovative operations. They need a systemic methodology for modeling of safety-critical infrastructure that is comprehensive, objective, and sufficiently concrete, yet simple enough to be deployed with reasonable investment. The methodology …

Risk Quadruplet: Integrating Assessments Of Threat, Vulnerability, Consequence, And Perception For Homeland Security And Homeland Defense, Kara Norman Hill

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Risk for homeland security and homeland defense is often considered to be a function of threat, vulnerability, and consequence. But what is that function? And are we defining and measuring these terms consistently? Threat, vulnerability, and consequence assessments are conducted, often separately, and data from one assessment could be drastically different from that of another due to inconsistent definitions of terms and measurements, differing data collection methods, or varying data sources. It has also long been a challenge to integrate these three disparate assessments to establish an overall picture of risk to a given asset. Further, many agencies conduct these …

Agile Knowledge Management; A Review, Reconceptualization, And Extension To Military Applications, Dogan Ozturk

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to explore the conceptual background of agility in knowledge management, re-conceptualize it and extend it to military applications with a special focus on Counterinsurgency (COIN).

An initial qualitative exploration of agility in knowledge management was performed. Three different concepts and their interrelationships were analyzed: (1) knowledge management, (2) agility in operations, and (3) military organizations in the COIN environment. Findings from this initial qualitative analysis were used to inductively redefine, re-conceptualize and extend the concept of Agile Knowledge Management (AKM), as well as, to compare and adapt the AKM concept to the military environment …

The Impact Of Sleepiness And Sleep Constructs On Driving Performance, Jennifer Freeman May

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sleepiness causes performance decrements that lead to thousands of crashes and fatalities annually. Research supports the conclusions that sleep duration and circadian rhythms impact sleepiness and affect driving performance. Conflicting in the literature is whether severity of sleep disorders, sleep quality and subjective sleepiness affect driving performance. The correlation between a driver's perception of their sleepiness and their driving performance is also unclear. The primary goal of this study was to create an in-depth model demonstrating which measures of sleepiness influence driving performance. It was hypothesized that sleep quality, sleep apnea severity and subjective sleepiness add to a model of …

Analysis Of Primary-Secondary Incident Events On Urban Freeways, Hongbing Zhang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study is to understand the nature of primary and secondary traffic incidents, assess their impacts and explore the implications in traffic operations, safety, and planning. To achieve the objective, a queue-based secondary incident identification method was developed and applied based on detailed incident, traffic and geometric data sets from Hampton Roads, Virginia. This identification method can overcome the limitations in earlier studies and identify secondary incidents in both road directions. An innovative event categorization defines the term "primary-secondary incident event", as one characterized by a primary incident and one or more associated secondary incidents in both …

Counselor Beliefs And Perceived Knowledge Regarding Clients With Learning Disabilities, Tamekia R. Bell

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Clients with learning disabilities constitute a cultural group that has not been extensively studied. The professional literature has found that counselors have reported the need for additional training in working with clients with disabilities. This study explored counselors' beliefs and perceived knowledge regarding counseling clients with learning disabilities. Participants in this study were college counselors, mental health counselors, and school counselors who were members of the following professional counseling associations: the American College Counseling Association (ACCA), the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMCHA), and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). These counselors were assessed to determine their perceived competency regarding …

The Development And Validation Of The Preference For Adherence To Theoretical Orientation Scale, Tiffinee S. Hamilton

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

One of the most common criticisms of undergraduate and master's level graduate programs is that students lack the ability to define their view of human nature. One effective means of assisting students in their desire to identify their preference in orientation is the use of a validated psychometric instrument developed for mental health trainees. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop and initially validate a new assessment tool, the Preference for Adherence to Theoretical Orientation Scale (PATOS). PATOS provides a theoretically grounded method for assessing a counselor's preference for a particular orientation(s) as well as adherence to a …

An Examination Of Alcohol Expectations And Social Desirability In Fraternity Members On American College Campuses, Pietro A. Sasso

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Males who are members of American college fraternal organizations remain one of the heaviest drinking populations among college students (Wall, 2006). Within fraternities, alcohol use is ceded to social status (Larimer et al., 1997). This culturally ingrained alcohol misuse has confounded interventions and programming to address this phenomenon and response to these attempts have been low or nonexistent by fraternity members. This study investigated alcohol expectations and social desirability among fraternity members. It was hypothesized that as members enter and remain in the fraternity culture, distorted expectations and socially desirable behaviors may occur as demonstrated by differences between pledges and …

Employment Of Command And Control Systems Within The U.S. Marine Corps, Aaron B. Lang

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify potential barriers to the effective employment of command and control (C2) systems to enhance warfighter readiness. Five research hypotheses guided this study, which addressed the perception of the effective employment of Marine Corps C2 systems based on demographic characteristics, which included: organization, occupational field, experience, rank, and recent deployment experience.

The population of the study included Active and Reserve Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCOs) and Officers that now serve, or have recently served in an infantry unit within the Operating Forces, and the Marines and civilian employees involved in the capability development, acquisition, …

Integrating Probe Vehicles And Stationary Detector Data To Construct Accurate Cumulative Curves To Study Bottlenecks, Khairul Azfi Anuar

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Advancements in sensors technologies have given researchers and practitioners access to an immense amount of traffic data from multiple types of sensors. However, because of the diversity of the data types, developing a relationship between the different data sources can be challenging. To further complicate the issue, the presence of error or noise makes it difficult to infer any reliable conclusions from the data. To develop a relationship between different data sources, a new methodology is proposed in this thesis for fusing stationary detector data and probe vehicle data to construct an accurate cumulative curve. To remove or to reduce …

Digital Poetry From A Cyborg Perspective, Daniel James Hosmer

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This study analyzes digital poetry from a cyborg perspective, showing how its multiple material aspects are foregrounded to facilitate the reader's performance of poems. It explores the poetic functions, possibilities, and constraints of the medium of digital poetry through the application of Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, comparisons with print methods of conveying meaning, and close readings of digital poems. The application of Theatre of the Oppressed as a framework also allows for the study of the power relationships involved in performing digital poetry and in using digital technology as a whole, while showing digital poetry to be …

Effect Of Parallel Talk On The Language And Interactional Skills Of Preschoolers With Cochlear Implants And Hearing Aids, Sharon A. Raver, Jonna Bobzien, Corrin Richels, Peggy Hester, Anne Michalek, Nicole Anthony

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Children with profound congenital hearing loss often do not have the same prelinguistic opportunities for social and verbal interaction as their peers with typical hearing [14]. Consequently, language and social skills may be challenging for this group, even after they are provided with amplification or a cochlear implant. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of using a parallel talk intervention to increase the language and interactional skills of three preschoolers with deafnesss. Results revealed that all participants increased verbal turn-taking and that two of the three increased initiated and responded vocal/verbal comments, and initiated and responded nonverbal responses during a …

The Vital Non-Action Of Occupation, Offline And Online, Dylan E. Wittkower

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Using an Arendtian framework, I argue that we can understand distinctive and effective elements of the #OWS movements as forms of non-action related to prior strategies of non-violence, the propaganda of the deed, and coalitions of affinity rather than identity. This understanding allows us to see that, while the use of social media in the movement does not provide the same affordances for building and maintaining power as physical occupation, and while online community clearly cannot substitute for physical community in many relevant and consequential ways, Facebook does nonetheless provide a platform well suited to maintaining power through these distinctive …

Why Care About The Past?, Michael L. Nelson, Michele C. Weigle

Computer Science Presentations

A set of slides used in various presentations by the authors to show that replaying an experience via archived web pages is more compelling than reading a summary of the event. Also available on Slideshare.

Quality Of Life Of Families With Children Who Have Severe Developmental Disabilities: A Comparison Based On Child Residence, Joni Taylor Mcfelea, Sharon Raver

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

This study measured the quality of life of two groups of families with children who had severe developmental disabilities-families whose child lived at home and families whose child lived in a residential facility. Participants were 54 primary caregivers of children who had severe intellectual disabilities and who lacked the ability to both ambulate without assistance and communicate conversationally. Participants completed the "Family Quality of Life Scale" (Hoffman, Marquis, Poston, Summers, & Turnbull, 2006). Analyses revealed that both groups rated their family quality of life (FQOL) as exemplary. FQOL was higher in the family home group than in the residential facility …

Victimization From Bullying Among School-Attending Adolescents In Grades 7 To 10 In Zambia, Seter Siziya, Emmanuel Rudatsikira, Adamson S. Muula

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background:

Among school- attending adolescents, victimization from bullying is associated with anxiety, depression and poor academic performance. There are limited reports on victimization from bullying in Zambia; we therefore conducted this study to determine the prevalence and correlates for victimization from bullying among adolescents in grades 7 to 10 in the country in order to add information on the body of knowledge on victimization from bullying.

Methods:

The 2004 Zambia Global School-based Health Survey (GSHS) data among adolescents in grades 7 to 10 were obtained from the World Health Organization. We estimated the prevalence of victimization from bullying. We also …

Cross-Year Comparison Of Life In Hampton Roads Survey Results, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Old Dominion University recently completed data collection for the third annual Life in Hampton Roads telephone survey. The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Hampton Roads. The survey also attempted to determine the attitudes and perceptions of citizens regarding topics of local interest such as transportation and traffic, local and state government, crime, and other issues. Funding for the 2012 survey was provided by the ODU Office of Research and the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Questions were generated …

Life In Hampton Roads Report: 2012 Tables, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

No abstract provided.

Front Matter: The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2012, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Cover, front matter, table of contents, and other materials for the 2012 The State of the Region report authored by the Regional Studies Institute at Old Dominion University

Part 1: Gathering Steam: The Regional Economy Recovers (Slowly), Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We continue to do better than the nation, but our regional economic recovery has been slow. The port, regional tourism and residential housing have yet to regain the ground they lost during the recession and the outlook for defense spending is hazardous.

Part 2: How Much Is Too Much? Comparing Income Inequality And The Cost Of Living In Hampton Roads To New York City, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Incomes are distributed more equally in Hampton Roads than nationally and certainly more so than in New York City. At least 80 percent of households in Hampton Roads are better off in economic terms than the comparable 80 percent in New York City.

Part 3: Attorneys And Law Firms In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The national market for attorneys is glutted and this has resulted in stagnant salaries, unemployed attorneys, falling law school enrollments, and rising dissatisfaction of attorneys with their lot in life. The situation in Hampton Roads does not differ substantially.

Part 4: Do We Have Enough Physicians In Hampton Roads?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads will require approximately 1,000 additional physicians in 2025. If one-quarter of Eastern Virginia Medical School graduates remain in the region, then by 2025, EVMS will supply 504 of the needed physicians. The resulting shortage will affect physician availability, quality and pricing.

Part 5: Does The Commonwealth Balance It's Budget On The Backs Of Local Governments?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We examine the Commonwealth’s fiscal practices and conclude that the answer to this question often is yes.