This document presents a dissertation research project that involved studying: (1) faculty perceptions and student media creation competencies, (2) faculty and student perceptions of the extent to which media creation competencies are addressed within higher education, and (3) faculty and student perceptions of the importance of addressing media…

The intent of this research is to understand the types of mental health problems individuals encounter during periods of unemployment, and the severity of those problems from an individual, family and community-based perspective. Of primary importance is determining whether or not treatment services are utilized, and if so, the sensitivity…

In a world of complex problems, where public funding is decreasing and demand for public services is increasing, public entities are turning to collaborative networks to find solutions. This dissertation explores the development of one such network in Collin County, Texas. The researcher presents a case study describing and analyzing the…

This study examined idiom understanding in 120 neurologically healthy adults, ages 20-29 (20s Group), 40-49 (40s Group), 60-69 (60s Group), and 80-89 (80s Group) years old. Each participant was administered a familiarity task, definition explanation task, mental imagery task, and forced-choice comprehension task. Twenty idioms, 10 transparent and…

The number of women superintendents of public school systems in Washington State exceeds that of the national average. Of the 285 school districts in Washington State, that have superintendents, 68, or 24%, are run by women superintendents, while the national average is 21.7%. Women lead one third of the districts in the Puget Sound and women run…

This study collected relevant information from first-year teacher proteges about mentorship effectiveness and anticipated turnover. The primary goal of this study was to examine a first-year-teacher mentoring program to determine its perceived effectiveness for first-year-teacher proteges and to examine their perceptions of the essential…

Coordination of distributed activities is central to organizational work. The effective functioning of organizations hinges on their ability to manage interdependencies both within (intra-) and between (inter-) various departments. However, more than just the management of these individual dependencies is required for smooth coordination in…

Current quantitative research on the effectiveness of the National Board certification has resulted in contradictory findings. Consequently, this meta-analysis synthesized the results of 12 studies on National Board Certification and student achievement. Of those, 9 studies were used to calculate effect sizes for reading, and all 12 were used to…

This case study examines the micropolitical strategies that a coach and seven teachers utilized to negotiate ideological and epistemological beliefs during required common planning time meetings for the period of one semester in an urban middle school. Theories of micropolitics and critical discourse analysis guided the development of the research…

Dropping out of school is associated with a wide array of negative outcomes and the extraordinarily high United States dropout rate has brought the issue to the forefront of American education. This study investigated normally collected middle school data from a suburban Colorado school district to determine the predictive value toward students…

In this study, the author examined the relationship of probability misconceptions to algebra, geometry, and rational number misconceptions and investigated the potential of probability instruction as an intervention to address misconceptions in all 4 content areas. Through a review of literature, 5 fundamental concepts were identified that, if…

This dissertation introduces Minimal Reduplication, a new theory and framework within generative grammar for analyzing reduplication in human language. I argue that reduplication is an emergent property in multiple components of the grammar. In particular, reduplication occurs independently in the phonology and syntax components, and in both cases…

The constructive learning team model for secondary mathematics teachers (CLTM) was created to provide students with learning opportunities and experiences that address deficiencies in oral and written communication, logical processes and analysis, mathematical operations, independent learning, teamwork, and technology utilization. This study…

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been championed by the United Nations and others as one of the key media to open up socio-economic opportunities for disadvantaged populations. Studies lead us to believe that after being introduced to ICTs, users' information behavior changes, enabling them to benefit from socio-economic…

For the past several decades, factors leading to success in postsecondary education have been a target of investigation by psychologists and psychological and educational researchers. Tinto's integration theory (1975, 1987, 1993) is a dominant sociological perspective in studying college student success, especially student persistence. Academic…