This dissertation consists of two essays which examine the relationship between dyslexia and the application and acquisition of financial knowledge. Recent behavioral research has documented that factors such as representativeness, overconfidence, loss aversion, naivete, wealth, age and gender all impact a person's risk perception and asset…

Tribal colleges, which are often community colleges, have been successful in helping American Indian students achieve academic success. The current study was designed to understand what happens to American Indian tribal college students when they transfer to four-year Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The research question that guides the…

Research in the field of math education continues to press teachers guide instruction based on students' needs and contributions, focusing on student learning through facilitation of whole-group discussions. This dissertation presents the findings of a qualitative study of two elementary teachers managing such "ambitious" teaching practices across…

Increased second-language (L2) proficiency is associated with a shift from explicit to implicit processing; however, the neural underpinnings are of this shift are not well understood. Furthermore, it is known that unaccusative verbs cause persistent difficulties in L2 learning. In this study, behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) responses…

This study examined the development of nursing academic faculty at the college and university level as a profession using restricted data-sets from 1993-2004 of the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:93, NSOPF:99 and NSOPF:04). Faculty professionalization is defined within this study through characteristics in academic credentials,…

Building off the scholarship of paper-based portfolio systems, electronic portfolios have been a topic of scholarly conversation across the university, particularly in writing studies, education, and distance education. Much of current portfolio scholarship focuses on one of three areas. First, there is increased attention being paid to how…

The Department Chair position is perhaps the most important position on a college campus. Not only do Department Chairs have a large number of individual tasks to perform, but a Chair's actions have potentially large repercussions, since the bulk of the pedagogical and administrative decisions made at institutions of higher education are made at…

Ample evidence is available citing a positive relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment (Boerner et al., 2007; Bono & Judge, 2003; Bycio, Hackett, & Allen, 1995; Chen, 2004; Emery & Barker, 2007; Walumbwa, Orwa, Wang, & Lawler, 2005). The majority of research on leadership in higher education, however, is based…

Recent research showed developing leadership matters a great deal for organizations seeking a competitive advantage. Unfortunately, despite numerous resources devoted to leadership development, confidence in leaders was plummeting and development programs were failing to meet the goal of more effective leadership. Research suggested these failures…

Bully victimization takes place within a social context of youths' parents, peers, teachers, school administrators, and community. Victims often rely on parents, educators, or peers for support. However, there is a gap in the literature in understanding parents' experiences of what occurs before, during, and after reporting bullying to school…

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine the socialization factors of community college transfer students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); (b) to examine the socialization factors that impact the academic and social adjustment of community college transfer students in STEM majors; and (c) to understand how female…

Scope and method of study: This study investigated training outcomes when paraprofessionals were trained to implement discrete trial communication therapy in schools, supplemental to existing speech-language services the child receives at school. The aim of this study was to address how many hours of training are necessary for paraprofessionals to…

Based on Skinner's "Verbal Behavior" (1957), the picture exchange communication system (PECS) was designed to teach children with autism functional verbal behavior. Much research has demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of PECS in building verbal behavior. However, because PECS training is typically presented in a group format and later…

From 2001-2007, students from India have consistently comprised the largest ethnic group of international students on college campuses across the United States (Open Doors: Report on International Educational Exchange, 2007). Despite a number of studies that have researched the mental health of international students in the U.S., none have done so…

The focus of this dissertation is the highly specialized and stylized liturgical language of Russian Church Slavonic (RCS). Historically, RCS has been strictly controlled by authorities and has conformed to established norms, but innovations have nevertheless arisen in response to various conditions. One major wave of innovations was a long,…