Implications of resource management in La Parguera, Puerto Rico (The)
A recent rezoning of La Parguera, southwest Puerto Rico, as a tourist zone has resulted in an imbalance between development and appropriate resource management. Development associated with tourism is destroying the sub-tropical dry forest and adding pressure on the marine resources through increased boat traffic and marine structures. Declining water quality and benthic community health are two of the impacts seen in La Parguera associated with these land use changes. This study is three-fold. F
Product Differentiation, Celebrity Endorsements and the Consumers Perception of Quality
In any market-driven Capitalistic economy it is the consumer that accounts for the vast majority of the output. Economists and Marketing scholars have long studied what motivates the consumer to demand, and eventually purchase, specific products.Depending on the type of product, the rational consumer will seek information about the quality and performance prior to purchase. Much of this information comes from advertising.Often times, seemingly similar products sell for different prices meaning t
Adolescents and Anger: An Investigation of Variables that Influence the Expression of Anger
This descriptive design study investigated anger demonstrated by
an adolescent population and added to the limited body of research that
investigates anger in adolescents. Specifically, the research explored
the effects of variables including sex, grade level, number of friends,
academic achievement, school behavior, friends’ behavior, and number of
household members on levels of Reactive Anger (RA), Instrumental Anger
(IA), Anger Control (AC), and Total Anger.
The sample for this study was co
Mother and Teacher Interaction in Preschools during Parent-Teacher Conferences
The education of children has been a long-standing issue for stakeholders over numerous years. Various literatures recommend that formal learning should begin during the preschool years of a child’s life, and must include home-school partnerships. Empirical data has shown that parents and teachers who work together can positively impact a child’s success in school. This study sought to gain insight into the phenomenon of parent-teacher interactions in preschools, via the lens of symbolic int
Trinity of Consciousness: Body, Mind, Soul and Female Identity in the Novels of Gail Godwin
Gail Godwin‘s novels emphasize the forging of the female self/identity. Even Godwin‘s earliest critics stress the ways Godwin consistently chooses to portray female protagonists as complex female characters; as Godwin‘s critics point out, the crafting of female identity becomes central to the analysis and understanding of Godwin‘s ―vision‖ of/for female identity.
My analysis of Godwin‘s work extends from and beyond the groundwork laid by earlier critics. I contend that, even as God
Intimate Partner Violence on Campus: A Test of Social Learning Theory
The current study sought to examine the theoretical field of intimate partner and domestic violence research. The research focused on integrated social learning, power-control, and fundamental components of intergenerational transmission and male-support theories. The use of the Conflict Tactic Scale (CTS 2), Seller’s (2003) social learning subscale, and a combination of measures of power-control theory were used to determine the relative strength of learning, power, and male social networks i
A Study of the Response to Accountability and Standardized Testing in a State University System: Pre
This study was an investigation of the perceptions of university certification officers in teacher education in a state university system regarding university responses to accountability, standardized testing, predictive models, gatekeeping, and intervention strategies, and incorporates the issues of social justice and ethics. This study also includes the development of a predictive model to predict results on the Praxis II Elementary Education: Curriculum Instruction and Assessment (ELED:CIA) t
Film in Composition: Developing Critical Thinking Skills Through the Study of Film in First-Year Com
Film in composition: Developing critical thinking skills through the study of
film in first-year composition presents an investigation of the application of film study in
college writing instruction. The first two chapters argue for the inclusion of film in the
teaching of writing; explore the cultural, social, and political relevance of film for the
field of composition; and present a review of the theoretical and pedagogical applications
of film study in secondary English and first-year writin
Teacher Behavior Ratings of Adolescents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Interr
This study examined interrater reliability and potential sources of rater bias among teacher behavior ratings for adolescents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The intent of the study was two-fold: 1) to assess the consistency between teacher behavior ratings for adolescents with ADHD, and 2) to explore potential sources of bias among teacher raters.
In schools, intervention decisions for children and adolescents with ADHD are often based on rating scale data collected from
The Collaboration of Teacher/Artist Teams: A Qualitative Analysis of Selected Interpersonal Compone
Recent demands for academic accountability, as evidenced through standardized test scores, have left many school arts programs understaffed and vulnerable to budgetary constraints, particularly arts programs within poor urban and rural regions. For decades arts organizations have offered artist-in-residence programs as a way to supplement existing arts education programs. Currently, every state in the nation provides funding for outreach programs designed to bring “teaching artists” (TA) i
The Effects of Two-way Mirrors, Video Cameras, and Observation Teams on Clients’ Judgments of the
Mirrors, video cameras, and live supervision are used throughout the country to train psychologists. Although this training equipment has been shown to increase self-focused attention, little is known about how this might affect the client’s perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. In order to do so, subjects were divided into two different setting groups: Full Training group in which the participant is exposed to all equipment (i.e., two-way mirror, video-recording equipment, and observat
The Relationship of Physical Discipline and Psychological Maltreatment in Childhood to the Use of Dy
The current study examined the utility of Self-Trauma Theory for explaining the long-term impact of the experience of childhood physical discipline and/or psychological maltreatment. Specifically, the self-capacities of interpersonal relatedness, identity, and affect regulation were tested as mediators of the impact of child maltreatment on different tension-reducing behaviors in adulthood: substance use, aggression, and suicidality. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine data col
University Faculty Expressions of Computer Self-Efficacy and Personal Attitudes Regarding the Viabil
Studies have shown that there is a direct link between a teacher’s attitude towards self-efficacy and effectiveness. Further studies have refined this idea of how expressions of computer self-efficacy impacts upon attitudes regarding the use of technology in the classroom and by inference, the effectiveness of such technology. The purpose of this mixed method design study was to examine the impact that such attitudes can have upon faculty teaching at institutions of higher education as they re
Anticipating the Audience: An Ethnographic Study of a French-as-a-Foreign-Language Class Creative Wr
This study compared the creative-writing processes of native English speakers
(NES) composing for a real audience in two conditions: one group composing in their
native language (NL) and the other group composing in French as a foreign language
(FFL). Both groups wrote children’s fiction and were aware that children in the
community would read their stories.
Participants were observed while composing and interviewed about their writing
background, composing behaviors, and the texts produced
Journalism, Letters, and Nation: The Newspaper Letters of Samuel Bowles’s Across the Continent (18
Newspaper publisher Samuel Bowles set out on a trip in the early summer of 1865 to see and write about the United States of America. A leading figure in journalism and in political discourses before and after the Civil War, Bowles shared his experiences in a series of thirty-two letters, addressed to the readers of his influential Massachusetts newspaper, the Springfield Republican. The letters were subsequently compiled into a book, Across the Continent: A Summer’s Journey to the Rocky Mounta
Peer Response Practices Among Writers in a First-Year Residence Hall: An Ethnographic Study
This ethnographic study examines peer response sessions among writers in a first-year residence hall. It explores how students practice extracurricular peer response and investigates the ways in which extracurricular peer response differs from traditional classroom peer response.
Because capturing peer response sessions occurring in a residence hall presents unique problems of access, the study’s research design includes the use of trained student recorders — first-year students residing
Randy Wayne White: An American Social Philosopher and Practitioner of Ecological Noir
This dissertation examines the Doc Ford series of mystery novels written by Randy Wayne White (1950-) along with his four volumes of essays. White’s literary output is largely unexplored; he is the subject of only one significant critical study, Maurice O’Sullivan’s “Ecological Noir,” a chapter in Crime Fiction and the Sunshine State (1997), a collection of essays about mystery writers who set their fiction in the state of Florida. With his graceful prose, intricate plots, skillful int
Sexual Politics in the Works of Chinese American Women Writers: Sui Sin Far, Maxine Hong Kingston, a
In my dissertation, I explore the issues of sexual politics in the works of three Chinese American women writers, Sui Sin Far, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Amy Tan. I demonstrate how these writers reconstruct Chinese American women’s self-consciousness through their demand for freedom from the sexual oppressions of patriarchy of both American and Chinese cultures and their resistance against racial domination and their demand for power both as females and as Asian American women. I also explore h
Parenting Education for Low-Income Parents of Preschoolers: What is the Most Effective Approach?
Parent education programs have been found to be effective interventions for lower-socioeconomic families. (Baydar, Reid, & Webster-Stratton, 2002). Although research has reliably reported that any parent training is better than no parent training (Helm & Kozloff, 1986), the effectiveness of group parent education programs which emphasize relational improvement is largely unknown. The present study attempted to address this question by comparing archival data collected between the years 1999 and
Effect of Parent Involvement on Math and Reading Achievement of Young Children: Evidence from the Ea
Parental involvement and home cognitive stimulation have been advocated as strong indictors to the academic achievement of a child. A growing body of literature indicates that parental education, parenting pattern and socio-economic status of the family have an influence on the academic achievement of a child.
The purpose of this study was to examine the parenting practices in families of different income and ethnicities, and their impact on the math and reading achievement of young children acr
