In this dissertation, I investigated postmodern alterity, constructivism, and agency through addressing their translatability and implications. In Chapter One, I critiqued postmodern main concepts of alterity and constructivism, showing that these terms can be vague and counterproductive unless they are attenuated with political socio-cultural realities. In Chapter Two, through analyzing modern texts, I explored claims that Western epistemology/ontology reduces the other to the Same. Although...
Ziad Al-Mwajeh.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Vella, Michael.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

This study describes ESL college students' beliefs, attitudes, and experiences, about the issue of reading-to-write during an introductory college writing course. Particularly, the study aims at exploring and hearing their beliefs and attitudes regarding the effects of the reading activities on their writing in the light of connections covered in the scholarly literature. The significance of this study rests on the opportunity it gives to the participants to have their voices heard regarding ...
Ali S Al-Ghonaim.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fontaine, Jeannine M.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

One purpose of this study was to explore Saudi EFL females' self-image, their developing perception of their environment, and their changing social attitudes as a result of using the Internet, mainly the effect of the online interaction; a second, related goal was to determine whether, and in what ways, the Internet facilitates perceptive transformation. The participants were nine female Saudi Arabian college students majoring in English, all of whom were members of the Online Writing Coll...
Salem Ali Al-Salem.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fontaine, Jeannine M.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

Countless students enter college suffering from traumatic losses such as the death of a parent, and many choose to write about their grief in composition classes. Many orphaned students compose their sorrow in order to find hope, without which their chances of thriving are limited. Some feel ill-equipped to meet academic and other challenges as they are preoccupied with feelings of homelessness and abandonment. Because the loss of a parent irrevocably alters one's home-and the yearning for ho...
Laura Alicia Milner.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hurlbert, Claude Mark.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

The purpose of this research study was to describe the characteristics and instructional practices of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in the Early Childhood/Generalist category. The problem of the study is to examine if there are common characteristics that exemplary teachers use. The study rests upon the following considerations: (1) literacy learning is important and the early childhood period is prime time for language learning; (2) youn...
DeAnna M Laverick.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Jalongo, Mary Renck.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

The purpose of this study was to investigate the size effect of school districts in rural Pennsylvania on fiscal management, administrative leadership, and student academic achievement. The data analyzed in this study is Pennsylvania System of School Assessment by Pennsylvania Department of Education and Common Core of Data by National Center for Educational Statistics. This study compared several indicators in each of those three areas between big and small rural school districts. Fiscal ...
Yi Gong.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Yan, Wenfan.
Ed.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

Studies have shown that teachers are a direct link to student achievement. Teachers with a strong sense of self-efficacy nurture students toward academic accomplishments. Teachers with a weak sense of self-efficacy tend to surrender in the presence of difficulty. How then, do schools promote teachers' self-efficacy through leadership and professional development experiences provided to teachers? This mixed-method study examined teachers' perception of their self-efficacy and the impact of ...
Karen (Heidi) L Lewandowski.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Bieger, George R.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English

The current study sought to examine the under-researched area of juvenile decertification and assess the overall effectiveness of Pennsylvania's Act 33 legislative waiver statute. The study focused specifically on factors that predict decertification and provided a comparative analysis of decertified and non-decertified offenders in terms of case outcomes and recidivism, along with a general consideration of whether the statute achieves the goals of increased offender accountability and publi...
Kareem L Jordan.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Myers, David L.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2005.
English