This study examines the depictions of the Flemish in Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", Langland's "Piers Plowman", several historical chronicles including The Brut continuations, poetic works such as "The Libelle of Englysh Polycye", additional short poems dealing directly with events of the Hundred Years' War, and excerpts from the Paston family…

Self-efficacy is a person's own perception about performing a task with a certain level of proficiency (Bandura, 1986). An important affective aspect of learning chemistry is chemistry self-efficacy (CSE). Several researchers have found chemistry self-efficacy to be a fair predictor of achievement in chemistry. This study was done in a college…

More than 60% of children labeled English language learners in U.S. schools today are simultaneous bilinguals, and little is understood about their bilingual and biliterate potential, because theories of sequential bilingualism dominate the field. Most studies exploring bilingual children's writing development have focused almost exclusively on…

This research provides an analysis of the relationship between a student's beliefs and mathematical behaviors over a seventeen-year period. Romina, the student of focus in this case study, was among the original participants in a longitudinal study which explored how students build mathematical ideas when working collaboratively on problem-solving…

During my experiences as a student, teacher, and math/science professional staff developer, I noticed that there was a lot of sadness, sorrow, frustration, and anger in the institutions where I worked. I wanted to understand what makes people happy in education. This qualitative research study utilized narrative inquiry and narrative analysis to…

This dissertation develops a deeper understanding of the epistemic values of scientists, specifically exploring the proposed values of community, collaboration, connectivity and credit as part of the scholarly communication system. These values are the essence of scientists actively engaged in conducting science and in communicating their work to…

The purpose of this study was to develop a set of procedures to establish readability, including an equation, that accommodates the multiple-choice item format and occupational-specific language related to credentialing examinations. The procedures and equation should be appropriate for learning materials, examination materials, and occupational…

Video and computer games have become an important area of study in the field of education. Games have been designed to teach mathematics, physics, raise social awareness, teach history and geography, and train soldiers in the military. Recent work has created computer games for teaching computer programming and understanding basic algorithms. …

Research into Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) tends to be repetitive, anecdotal, and derivative. A need exists for new lines of research into these institutions. One way to facilitate this is by using social scientific mechanisms to develop HBCU-specific theoretical models to describe, explain, and predict the full range of…

The purpose of this multi-case study was to examine in depth the personal and learning experiences of helping professionals and volunteer helpers when challenged to assist adult Hurricane Katrina evacuees and victims in the aftermath of the disaster. The study contributes theoretically, practically and substantively to the adult education field.…

This dissertation investigates several topics in the morphology, syntax and semantics of the Nez Perce verb and verbal clause. The first part of the dissertation focuses on the morphological segmentation of the Nez Perce verb and on the semantic description of the verb and clause. Chapter 1 provides a grammar sketch. Chapter 2 discusses the…

The researcher concluded that teacher training was of ultimate importance for a successful outcome of differentiated instruction in sixth-grade inclusion classes. Students with special learning needs whose learning depends largely on student-centered teaching are more likely to show academic advancement when instruction is differentiated to their…

This study examines the contemporary user patterns that emerged when a new medium--the personal computer and the Internet--was introduced into the user's media ecology. The study focuses on the introductory period and current usage. Data analysis conformed to practices accepted by oral historians (Richie, 2003, and Brundage, 2008), and grounded…

This dissertation explores the nature, applicability and usefulness of social contract theory, and the resulting compact between higher education and society as a way to understand the growth and development of higher education in the United States. The goal is accomplished with an in-depth look at two different universities in the state of…

The number of students who become completers of an honors program on college campuses is low. A mixed methods approach was utilized to determine the perceptions of gifted students regarding an honors program at a private, Southeastern university. Students who were honors program participants, honors program drop-outs, and qualified…