Within the field of composition, older adults are an understudied population. This qualitative project examined a group of older adults from subsidized senior highrise apartments on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Rather than impose a design and a purpose upon the participants, as is usually done in senior writing group studies, I examined a Participant Design writing group, which had each participant contribute to how the group was conducted and decide the kinds of comments s/he received. I, a...
Krystia Nora.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hurlbert, Claude M. Committee members: Nancy Hayward; Gian Pagnucci.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine guidance counselor perceptions regarding the benefits students receive as a result of participating in a dual enrollment program. These perceptions were limited to guidance counselor influence, the intrinsic benefits students received from participation in dual enrollment and the impact dual enrollment participation has on a student's decision to attend post secondary education. The guidance counselors in this study participated in a region...
Marjorie A Mattis.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Yan, Wenfan Committee members: George Bieger; Sue Rieg.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This ethnographic study describes the academic culture and climate, as it relates to the music program, of a non arts-integrated junior high school as perceived by members of the English, mathematics, music faculty and selected administrators. The study, conducted using a three interview protocol, were guided by four questions: (1) What is the relationship between one's life experience and their belief systems?; (2) What is the perceived value and influence of a teacher education and music ...
Elizabeth Buzzelli-Clarke.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Millward, Robert E.; Pinciotti, Patricia A. Committee members: Sam Hausfather.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

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 wa...
Kirsten L Stiffler.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rafoth, Mary Ann Committee members: William Barker; Victoria Damiani; Joseph Kovaleski.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This descriptive study examines advisors' perceptions of barriers that impede or inhibit the smooth transition of students transferring from a community college to a four-year university. Administering poor, inaccurate or improper advice to potential transfer students can pose serious problems to both community colleges and four-year colleges and universities whose student population is comprised of a growing number of transfer students. Without effective transfer advising programs, transfer ...
Edith M Geleskie.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Bieger, George R. Committee members: Kelli Kerry-Moran; Jennifer Rotigel.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

Education for physical therapists has evolved to the doctorate of physical therapy degree and it is the vision of the American Physical Therapy Association that all physical therapists will be doctoral prepared by the year 2020. Most physical therapists do not have the DPT and prior studies have revealed that interest in the DPT is low for practicing physical therapists. This study examined the motivation of physical therapists to attain the DPT, by examining three areas of interest. What eff...
Craig E Ruby.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Yan, Wenfan Committee members: George Bieger; Robert Millward.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This study investigates the predictors of punitiveness among 519 undergraduate college students at one public university in the Northeast. Specifically, it compared levels of punitiveness among students majoring in criminology with students majoring in other academic disciplines. Due to the fact that criminology students may work as professionals within the criminal justice system after graduation, it is particularly important to assess their views towards the punishment of lawbreakers. The ...
Diana L Falco.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Martin, Jamie S. Committee members: Kathleen Hanrahan; John Lewis; Jennifer Roberts.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

Community policing is one of the most significant transformations in American policing (Eck & Maguire, 2000). Scholars have suggested that community policing might have a general role in the last decade's crime drop (Eck & Maguire, 2000; Marvel & Moody, 1996; Zhao, Schreider, & Thurman, 2002; Zhao & Thurman, 2004). However, previous empirical studies examining community policing and its relationship to crime at the aggregate level yielded inconclusive results (Beckman, 2006; Government Accoun...
Mehmet Alper Sozer.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Merlo, Alida V.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of trust and effective leadership through a trust orientation assessment. Analysis of the assessment provided data used to determine the general trust orientation of nursing home administrators. This mixed-methods study used a 20-question survey tool with Likert scale response choices. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to evaluate responses and three open-ended questions. Results from these three...
David A Holland.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hirt, Mary Jane Kuffner Committee members: John Anderson; Susan Martin.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This study examines the self-reported immigration histories of Haitian adolescents who were separated and reunited from family due to family immigration from Haiti to the U.S. From the literature regarding trauma and resilience, it was the researcher's expectation that the child's construing of the events, rather than any specific events in the history, that was most influential in assisting the child in good adjustment during and after the separation, immigration, and reunion. Twelve H...
Mark R Stewart.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rafoth, Mary Ann Committee members: Margarita Alegria; Victoria Damiani; Mark Staszkiewicz.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

Since it first appeared in the 1970s, the term "information literacy" (IL) has been defined and interpreted in many ways. While much has been written about IL, a significant portion of the literature on this topic is limited to library and information science journals. As a result, if they are familiar with the term at all, faculty outside of these disciplines often have limited or different understandings of the term and its application. This lack of familiarity is a recognized obstacle t...
Monty L McAdoo.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Yan, Wenfan Committee members: Cathy Kaufman; Sue Rieg.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This primary purpose of this study was to examine the roles of women in the American banking industry who have achieved the title of Senior Vice President or above and to determine why these women, in particular have attained senior leadership positions. This study explores the facilitating and inhibiting factors for women in the banking industry, in both an individual and institutional context, to determine whether there are goals in place that focus on the retention and development of the ...
Diane D Galbraith.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Kaufman, Cathy Committee members: George Bieger; Mary Jalongo.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This study examined the language situation in the religious discourse in Egypt. It investigated the switch from Classical Arabic to Egyptian Arabic in the religious domain in one of the most renowned preachers in Egypt, Amr Khaled. In order to investigate the phenomenon, I chose to examine and analyze the instances of codeswitching from Classical Arabic to Egyptian Arabic in ten recordings of religious speeches delivered by Khaled, focusing on the phonological, syntactical, and morphological ...
Abdelmeneim Soliman.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hayward, Nancy Committee members: Mark Hurlbert; Jean Niekamp.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

Recent demands for academic accountability, 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) into sc...
Paula G Purnell.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fennimore, Beatrice S. Committee members: Mary Jalongo; Laurie Nicholson.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

The fundamental purpose of this research project was to determine the interactions among components of self-regulated learning: self-efficacy, goal orientation, learning strategies; and the predictive effect of these, and grade level and sex, on academic achievement in a sample of high school students with learning disabilities. From the perspective of social-cognitive theory, self-regulated learning was defined as an active, constructive process whereby students incorporate feelings of compe...
Madhavi Williams.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rafoth, MaryAnn Committee members: William Barker; Victoria Damiani; Brian Leung.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

Identity has, for some time, been a feature of discussions of social and political issues under the cover of Cultural Studies. In Composition, however, identity has not often been discussed in its psychological or individualistic terms, even as studies have shown that identity is the major influence on what and how people write (Newkirk, 1997; Bracher, 1999; Alcorn, 2002; Tobin, 2004; Tingle, 2004). Resistance to psychological identity in composition is likely due to a lack of understanding o...
Stephen M Swartz.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Pagnucci, Gian S. Committee members: Jean Nienkamp; Michael Williamson.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This study addresses counselor attitudes as they relate to meeting the needs of homosexual students in the secondary school setting. Homosexual students are often abused and/or neglected in the school setting based on their perceived sexual orientation. The lack of attention provided to this population has cost districts significant money in punitive damage awards over the past ten years or so. While most view the school counselor as the likely staff member to provide intervention for homo...
Nancy J Hines.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Yan, Wenfan Committee members: Cathy Kaufman; David Piper.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This study surveyed a national sample of school psychologists (n = 287) about their practices and perceptions of Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) in the school setting. This study investigated how school psychologists across the United States are interpreting legal mandates and whether schools are venturing beyond the nonspecific requirements established by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). School psychologists were surveyed regarding demographic characteristics, f...
Tara Egan Nusz.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Kovaleski, Joseph F. Committee members: William Barker; Becky Knickelbein; Edward Levinson.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This qualitative study explores self development subsequent to childhood victimization. Supported by Integral Theory's (Wilber, 1999) conceptualization of the self-system, 15 licensed clinicians were interviewed via telephone to collect data regarding the developmental processes and characteristic qualities of harmful and nonharmful victims, the two general outcomes addressed by the cycle of violence (COV) hypothesis. Multiple phases of analysis led to the identification of developmental pr...
Patrick J Harvey.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Martin, Randy L. Committee members: Lynda Federoff; Jennifer Gossett; Jamie Martin.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2009.
English

This qualitative study focuses on a community of online English learners at a Korean university. The study seeks to explore how the learners construct their Korean identities and how they feel about the effect of mastering English on their Korean identities. The study involves both online writing on various topics and one-on-one dialogues between the researcher and the learners. The data suggest that among the learners there is a considerable tension along three ideological dilemmas or dic...
Frank W Concilus.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Nienkamp, Jean Committee members: Sharon Deckert; Bennett Rafoth.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

The current study examined the effect of an active learning-based teaching method on nonintellectual learning dispositions in students enrolled in general psychology. Expected outcomes included improvement in student nonintellectual learning factors, as well as improvement in student academic performance. Two graduate student instructors and four courses of general psychology were recruited for participation. SAT scores, course grades, student ratings of teachers, and measures of nonintell...
Danielle R DeLong.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Husenits, Kimberely.
Psy.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This qualitative cross-focus group study investigates how two very different measures of proficiency serve as a bridge to post-graduation success in one small Pennsylvania School District. Attitudes and experiences of parents of students who demonstrated proficiency on the State tests are compared and analyzed with those of parents of students who demonstrated proficiency on a local, holistic proficiency assessment model. The collected data shows that students represented in the differen...
David A Crumrine.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Crop, Cathy Kaufman Committee members: Joseph Marcoline; David Piper.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English

This project examines the effects of supplemental instruction in phonological awareness, home literacy activities, sex, and environmental factors on the emerging literacy skills of kindergarten students. Research indicates that the foundation for good reading begins to develop well before school through interaction between children and their home and community environments. The linguistic richness of a child's early environment as well as their ability to access that environment are factors i...
Sally King Shanahan.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Black, Lynanne Committee members: Becky Knickelbein; Joseph Kovaleski; Mark Staszkiewicz.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2008.
English