Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Virginia Standards Of Accreditation: A Case Study Of Sensemaking And Policy Implementation In A School District, Shana Nicole Remian

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between how school leaders at both the district and school level make sense of a policy change and how that understanding affects implementation. Specifically, this study explores how different factors affect individual sensemaking and the effect that has on policy implementation. Using an embedded case study methodology, data were collected through sixteen, semi-structured interviews. Additionally, field observations and document analysis were conducted to triangulate the data. Data were coded and analyzed to determine three major categories--policy ambiguity, internal and external factors, and communication. These three categories were integrated to form …

Effects Of Transparency And Haze On Trust And Performance During A Full Motion Video Analysis Task, Sarah C. Leibner

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Automation is pervasive across all task domains, but its adoption poses unique challenges within the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) domain. When users are unable to establish optimal levels of trust in the automation, task accuracy, speed, and automation usage suffer (Chung & Wark, 2016). Degraded visual environments (DVEs) are a particular problem in ISR; however, their specific effects on trust and task performance are still open to investigation (Narayanaswami, Gandhe, & Mehra, 2010). Research suggests that transparency of automation is necessary for users to accurately calibrate trust levels (Lyons et al., 2017). Chen et al. (2014) proposed three levels …

Peaceful Collaboration: The Truman Administration's Response To The Costa Rican Revolution Of 1948 And The Costa Rica-Nicaragua Crisis Of 1948-1949, James Wilkerson

History Theses & Dissertations

Before, during, and after the Costa Rican Revolution of 1948 and the Costa Rica-Nicaragua Crisis of 1948-1949, the Truman Administration maintained a posture of strict neutrality and helped to isolate, and bring a quick end to, both conflicts. This thesis attempts to revise the historiography of the Costa Rican Revolution by challenging the common view that the United States inaugurated the Cold War in Latin America by facilitating the overthrow of the communist-supported government in Costa Rica. The Truman Administration did not care who won and only wanted the Revolution and Crisis to come to a quick end. The United …

Service Learning And The Experiential Learning Cycle In Elementary School, Brittney D. Rose

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

There has been an increase in interest in service learning in the past decade (Kuh et al., 2017). However, there has been less attention given to service learning in elementary school, particularly to service learning that does not focus on academic outcomes for the students (Scott & Graham, 2015). This qualitative instrumental case study utilized focus groups with fifth grade students, interviews with educators, education specialists and a nonprofit representative, and observational notes to explore students’ and educators’ experiences as they participated in a service learning project in conjunction with a nonprofit organization. Findings indicate that specific collaborative practices, such …

Truck Trailer Classification Using Side-Fire Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) Data, Olcay Sahin

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Classification of vehicles into distinct groups is critical for many applications, including freight and commodity flow modeling, pavement management and design, tolling, air quality monitoring, and intelligent transportation systems. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed a standardized 13-category vehicle classification ruleset, which meets the needs of many traffic data user applications. However, some applications need high-resolution data for modeling and analysis. For example, the type of commodity being carried must be known in the freight modeling framework. Unfortunately, this information is not available at the state or metropolitan level, or it is expensive to obtain from current resources.

Nevertheless, using …

A Rule Based Control Algorithm For On-Ramp Merge With Connected And Automated Vehicles, Ehsan Beheshtitabar

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

One of the designs for future highways with the flow of Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) cars will be a dedicated lane for the CAVs to form platoons and travel with higher speeds and lower headways. The connectivity will enable the formation of platoons of CAVs traveling beside non-platoon lanes. The advent of connectivity between vehicles and the infrastructure will enable advanced control strategies ̶ improving the performance of the traffic ̶ to be incorporated in the traffic system. The merge area in a multilane highway with CAVs is one of the sections which can be enhanced by the operation of …

Physical Education Teachers' Attitudes Towards Teaching Zumba To Children With Disabilities, Evelina C. Brandon

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of physical education teachers toward teaching Zumba to children with disabilities during physical education classes. Sixty-two physical education (PE) teachers (Mean Age = 42.13, 15 males, 47 females) participated in this cross-sectional survey design study. The survey data was analyzed using Pearson correlation methods, independent t tests, and the Cronbach’s coefficient technique to measure correlation, variance between participants, and the reliability and validity of the survey. Findings indicated that physical education teachers believed that teaching students Zumba in PE class would be beneficial and effective for students with disabilities. This …

Impact Of School Librarians On Elementary Student Achievement, Lois D. Wine

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is evidence that a full-time certified school librarian, trained and licensed based on state requirements, impacts fourth grade and fifth grade student scores on reading and/or mathematics end-of-year state achievement tests. Following over 30 years of school library impact studies, primarily correlational and qualitative studies, the school library field continues to have a lack of strong evidence of school librarian impact. This quasi-experimental matching design was conducted to determine if students who had full-time certified school librarians attained higher achievement scores than students who did not have full-time certified school …

Effects Of Religion On Crime In Hampton Roads, Alaina Yvonne Bierdz

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The influence of religion in society has been debated for hundreds of years. Renowned scholars like Max Weber and Émile Durkheim formed frameworks in which to study the relationship between religion and crime. The frameworks are based on the idea that religion promotes desirable behavior in society, while also controlling undesirable behavior. Although religion can be studied across many disciplines, this report examines the relationship between religion and crime. More specifically, the impact of religion on crime in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia. It has been thought that religiosity decreases crime. Using social bond theory as the theoretical perspective, …

Fighting For Power: Class Conflicts In Political Participation, David Foley

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect that socioeconomic status has on political participation in the United States. The elite of the United States have been able to amass incomprehensible amounts of power and wealth. From a C. Wright Mill’s conflict theory perspective, those who are in power seek a continuation, and those not in power seek to flip the scales—or at least get even. Using socioeconomic status as focal point of conflict, this study completed varying models of binary logistic regression to unfold the relationship present between socioeconomic status—educational attainment, student status, and household income—with political …

A Rhetorical Frame Analysis Of Palestinian-Led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (Bds) Movement Discourse, Jennifer Megan Hitchcock

English Theses & Dissertations

This rhetorical frame analysis uses a combination of rhetorical theory and frame analysis to examine the rhetorical framing strategies of the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. This project investigates how both official and vernacular BDS activist-rhetors frame the movement and their goals, how they frame their responses to evolving rhetorical situations and challenges, how they tailor these frames for different audiences, and how resonant these frames are likely to be for targeted audiences. The results of this study suggest that BDS activist-rhetors typically frame the BDS movement as a nonviolent movement to achieve Palestinian rights and hold Israel …

Measuring The Additive Effects Of Multimedia Social Cue Principles On Learners’ Cognitive Load, Emotions, Attitude, And Learning Outcomes, Smruti J. Shah

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Multimedia principles are developed and employed to design effective multimedia instructions that foster learning. Specifically, multimedia principles such as personalization, voice, and embodiment principles are developed based on social cues to promote deep learning. Most researchers in the past have investigated the individual effects of these principles on learning. The goal of the present study was to investigate the additive effects of these abovementioned principles on learners’ perceived cognitive load, emotions, attitude, and learning outcomes (i.e. retention and transfer of knowledge). Sixty college students participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete two short instructional modules and a short …

Using The Question-Answer Relationship Strategy To Improve Listening Comprehension In Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lisa A. Phalen

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

A well-established research base indicates that many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience deficits in reading comprehension skills. There is currently limited research which examines the relation between the communication and language impairments in ASD and emergent literacy skills in early childhood. Listening comprehension has been identified as one emergent literacy skill closely linked to reading comprehension development. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of the question-answer relationship strategy (QAR) and QAR cue cards as a shared book reading intervention package on the listening comprehension skills of children with ASD. A single-subject concurrent multiple-baseline …

Using Captions And Controlled Vocabulary To Describe Visual Materials As An Alternative To Digitization, Eric Willey

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This article describes an Illinois State University Research Grant funded project which created newspaper style captions and controlled vocabulary terms for visual materials. These materials were not intended to be digitized, and a guide separate from the finding was created including that metadata to improve access. The collection described consisted of materials donated by Lois Lenski, who donated her collection to institutions across the United States. Student workers were hired with grant funds to provide the metadata, and difficulties, successes, and outcomes encountered during the project are described.

International Conflict, Political Leaders, And Accountability, William Thomas Christiansen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role that an individual leader’s background (e.g. what they did before gaining power) plays in public evaluations of their performance managing international conflicts. I propose a novel theory arguing domestic audience members (e.g. the citizens of a leader’s state paying attention to international conflicts) heuristically analyze the competence of a leader by examining their professional and educational background. Once audience members determine whether a leader is competent, they use these judgments to inform whether a given leader deserves blame or credit for the outcome of a given conflict. I find support for this theory by fielding …

Shaftesbury's Atlantis, Andrew Agha

Theses and Dissertations

This research posits that seventeenth century natural philosophy as purported by the Royal Society of London had a major impact on the way the First Earl of Shaftesbury directed the settlement of the English colony Carolina. When Carolina was first settled in 1670, the colonists were ordered by Shaftesbury and his Lords Proprietors of Carolina cohort to test experimental exotic crops like cotton, sugarcane, grapes, olive trees, and indigo, but since those crops did not produce exportable surpluses, they have been labeled as failures. Instead, this study recognizes those failures as integral components to the scientific process of experimentation. That …

Turbulent Times In Content Development: Remaining Efficacious Among Reorganizations, Fires, And The Serials Crisis, Casey D. Hoeve

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

All too often, the internal organization of collection development departments are ignored. Perhaps inadvertently, more pressing issues of budgets, resource renewals, and vendor negotiations divert our attention; yet at the same time, the completion of these initiatives require capable and efficient faculty and staff. Burnout, now classified by the World Health Organization as a “syndrome conceptualized resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” (WHO, 2019) is appropriate to juxtapose against the organization of collection development departments. As self-care is vital to our health, the same question of vitality should be applied in collection development departments — …

Development And Evaluation Of The Nebraska Assessment Of Computing Knowledge, Markeya S. Peteranetz, Anthony D. Albano

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

One way to increase the quality of computing education research is to increase the quality of the measurement tools that are available to researchers, especially measures of students’ knowledge and skills. This paper represents a step toward increasing the number of available thoroughly-evaluated tests that can be used in computing education research by evaluating the psychometric properties of a multiple-choice test designed to differentiate undergraduate students in terms of their mastery of foundational computing concepts. Classical test theory and item response theory analyses are reported and indicate that the test is a reliable, psychometrically-sound instrument suitable for research with undergraduate …

Public Opinions Of Unmanned Aerial Technologies In 2014 To 2019: A Technical And Descriptive Report, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Janell C. Walther, Carrick Detweiler, Sebastian Elbaum, Adam Houston

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

The primary purpose of this report is to provide a descriptive and technical summary of the results from similar surveys administered in fall 2014 (n = 576), 2015 (n = 301), 2016 (ns = 1946 and 2089), and 2018 (n = 1050) and summer 2019 (n = 1300). In order to explore a variety of factors that may impact public perceptions of unmanned aerial technologies (UATs), we conducted survey experiments over time. These experiments randomly varied the terminology (drone, aerial robot, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned aerial system (UAS)) used to describe the technology, the purposes of the technology (for …

Borderplex Business Barometer, Volume 4, Number 4, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton, Ana Gutierrez Zubiate, Ignacio Santana

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 23, Number 2, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton, Ana Gutierrez Zubiate

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Module To Address Interest And Anxiety In Learning Science For Female Secondary Pupils In Nigeria, Muhammad Tukur

Student Works (2020-2029)

The purpose of this study was to develop a Module for female secondary pupils to help increase interest and anxiety (FSSMIA) in learning science at a selected public day senior secondary school in Zamfara, Nigeria. The study further intended to create awareness for parents to perceive the importance of their daughters learning science. A Type 1 Developmental Research Design was used in the study based on the ADDIE Model. First, a needs analysis with selected female pupils was conducted through a focus group interview. Analysis of related curriculum documents and textbooks was also done to establish the need for this …

Boosting Creative Ideation Through Improving Self-Regulation, Sean Teck Hao Lee

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Although creative ideation requires deviating sufficiently from conventional thoughts, people tend to fixate on highly salient and accessible concepts when responding to idea generation tasks. Surmounting such a default tendency then, is crucial to generating creative ideas. Bridging creative cognition with self-regulation research, I hypothesized that inhibitory control over such a default response may require self-regulatory resources. This would suggest that interventions that increase people’s self-regulatory resources may also boost their creativity. However, results from Study 1 did not support this hypothesis. Specifically, there was no significant difference between ego-depleted versus non-depleted participants in terms of inhibitory control over salient …

The Benefits Of Exhibiting Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors: An Investigation Of The Effects Of Reducing Supervisors’ Work-Family Conflict, Jacky Jiang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The benefits of family-supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB) for subordinates’ work and family outcomes have been the focus of previous studies, but little research has examined the positive impact of FSSB on supervisors’ family outcomes. To address this research gap and contribute to the leader and family literature, the negative relationship between FSSB and work-to-family conflict (WFC) is examined in this study, focusing on the mediating role of personal skill development. In addition, I propose that emotional exhaustion moderates the main effect of FSSB on personal skill development and the indirect effect of FSSB on WFC via personal skill development. A …

Policy Impact Evaluations On Labour And Health, Junxing Chay

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation consists of three chapters that evaluate the impacts of public policies on labour and health.

The first chapter studies a wage supplement scheme in Singapore, called the Workfare Income Supplement, which targets older low-income workers. I exploit differences in maximum benefits across age and over time to find that increasing benefits generosity encourages labour market participation and selfemployment. I also find improved life satisfaction and happiness among those with low education, who are likely to be eligible for the scheme. These results suggest that wage supplements can ease some burdens of an ageing population.

The second chapter investigates …

Essays On Nonstationary Econometrics, Yanbo Liu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

My dissertation consists of three essays that contribute new theoretical results to robust inference procedures and machine learning algorithms in nonstationary models.

Chapter 2 compares OLS and GLS in autoregressions with integrated noise terms. Grenander and Rosenblatt (2008) gave sufficient conditions for the asymptotic equivalence of GLS and OLS in deterministic trend extraction. However when extending to univariate autoregression model yt = ρnyt−1 + ut , ρn = 1 + c nα , ut = ut−1 + t , and t is one iid disturbance term with zero expectation and σ 2 variance, the asymptotic equivalence no longer holds. Under …

Essays On A Mechanism Design Approach To The Problem Of Bilateral Trade And Public Good Provision, Cuiling Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The dissertation consists of three chapters which studies a mechanism design approach to the problem of bilateral trade and public good provision.

Chapter 1 characterizes mechanisms satisfying Bayesian incentive compatibility (BIC) and interim individual rationality (IIR) in the classical public good provision problem. We propose a stress test for the results in the standard continuum type space by subject- ing them to a finite type space. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a set of techniques that allow us to characterize the efficient and optimal mechanisms in a discrete setup. Using these techniques, we conclude that many …

Three Essays On Nonstationary Time Series Econometrics, Yiu Lim Lui

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation comprises three papers that separately study different nonstationary time series models.

The first paper, titled as "The Grid Bootstrap for Continuous Time Models", is a joint work with Professor Jun Yu and Professor Weilin Xiao. It considers the grid bootstrap for constructing confidence intervals for the persistence parameter in a class of continuous-time models driven by a Lévy process. Its asymptotic validity is discussed under the assumption that the sampling interval (h) shrinks to zero, the time span (N) goes to infinity or both. Its improvement over the in-fill asymptotic theory is achieved by expanding the coefficient-based statistic …

Essays On Empirical Asset Pricing, Liyao Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The dissertation consists of four chapters on empirical asset pricing. The first chapter reexamines the existence of time-series momentum. Time-series momentum (TSM) refers to the predictability of the past 12-month return on the next one month return. Using the same data set as Moskowitz, Ooi, and Pedersen (2012) (MOP, henceforth), we show that asset-by-asset time-series regressions reveal little evidence of TSM, both in- and out-of-sample. While the t -statistic in a pooled regression appears large, it is not statistically reliable as it is less than the critical values of parametric and nonparametric bootstraps. From an investment perspective, the performance of …

Fort Ancient And Woodland Pottery From The Hahn Site, Hamilton County, Ohio: A Petrographic Analysis Of Chronological Changes In Ceramic Temper, Shelby C. Lutz 20

Honor Scholar Theses

Thousands of pottery sherds have been excavated by the Cincinnati Museum Center from the Hahn Site (Ohio Archaeological Site #33HA10), located near Newtown, Ohio. These potsherds, created by Native Americans, show a variety of temper materials, including fragments of limestone, shell, grog, and rock debris from glacial outwash. To better understand changes in the pottery-making technique, transitions and advancements in temper material, and possible economic and trade indicators, ceramic petrography and geochemical analyses were used to determine temper variability. A single archaeological feature from the site was chosen as a case study, Feature 146. This feature is a depression that …