The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an eight-month health and fitness-based intervention program. Preschool children's preference for healthy foods, reported enjoyment in physical activity, and Body Mass Indexes (BMI) were examined to determine whether a highly structured health and activity curriculum would impact children's overall health. Social cognitive theory served as the framework for developing the program parameters as social learning plays a significant r...
Hannah J Brewer.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rieg, Sue A. Committee members: Keri Kulik; Kelli Paquette.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a developmental disability of neurobiological origin which affects approximately 1 in 110 to 1 in 160 individuals. Despite the fact that an ASD can be identified in children as young as 18 months of age, a great majority of these children are not identified until they are of school age. School psychologists often rely on the use of behavioral rating scales during a school-based evaluation. However, many of the behavior rating scales that have been developed...
Richard Glosser.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rattan, Gurmal Committee members: William Barker; Carla Mazefsky; Timothy Runge.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

The aim of this study is to examine the use of formative evaluation using a process-based model as a way of conceptualizing the parameters of an evaluation study. In particular, it examines the question of "Does formative program evaluation provide useful data for an ESP program? The Arabian Industrial College (AIC) English for specific purposes program was used as an example to conduct the current study. More specifically, a selective group of stakeholders' perspectives--ESP teachers, studen...
Osman Z Barnawi.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Williamson, Michael M. Committee members: Patrick Bizzaro; Gary Dean.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

This qualitative study investigated the use of student feedback as support in a validation study of university writing placement practices. Using interviews with seventeen incoming first year students, this study examined student experiences constructing and submitting writing portfolios as opposed to taking a timed essay test. Also, this study was interested in determining the viability of using student data as validation evidence. The results showed that students make important consid...
Kristen M Getchell.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Williamson, MIchael M. Committee members: Nancy Hayward; Brian Huot.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

In recent years, composition teachers and scholars have noted that multimodal technologies have changed the landscape of the first-year college writing classroom, causing many to consider the relevance of integrating these tools into the writing curriculum. While some suggest that it is important to teach students to write with a variety of technologies, others argue that a writing instructor's primary objective is limited to teaching students to use the language effectively, emphasizing gram...
Daniel Lee Ruefman.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Bizzaro, Patrick Committee members: Resa Bizzaro; Nancy Hayward.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2010.
English

In recent years there has been increasing pressure on PK-12 building level administrators to become more directly involved in classroom instructional practices. The purpose of this study was to examine elements that impacted the teaching building level PK-12 administrator. The study explored potential impediments that prevented a building level administrator from teaching. The study considered the elements that helped an administrator find time to enter a classroom to teach. It also examined ...
Gregory E Shoemaker.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Lare, Douglas; Moran, Kelli Jo Kerry Committee members: Angelo Senese.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

Every day, school professionals encounter the need for research-based assessment and intervention practices which target executive function profiles in preschool children with developmental delays. While current research focuses on describing characteristics of autistic tendencies during early childhood years, very few studies exist that compare preschool children's executive function profiles based on rating scales with performance-based assessment. The purpose of this study was to compa...
Maria Colon-Torres.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Black, Lynanne Committee members: William Barker; Joseph Kovaleski; Gurmal Rattan.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

This study aims to discover how Korean English language teachers navigate and negotiate their professional identities as they were immersed in the U.S. TESOL program. They would ultimately end up teaching English in Korea upon completing the U.S. TESOL program. For this purpose, this study examines the following research questions: (1) How did their experiences influence their teaching identities? (2) How do they come to reconstruct their teachers' identities as a result of being matriculated...
Jyun Bang.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Park, Gloria Committee members: Jeannine Fontaine; Lisya Seloni.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

This study examines what characterizes the experiences of being an Asian graduate student mother in the United States pertaining to their race, gender, class, and culture, in particular, (a) the common identities and experiences of the women; (b) the way they juggle different roles and identities in everyday life; and (c) the marginalization and privilege associated with the women's experiences. The researcher collected data from a range of postmodern methodologies including postmodern inte...
Qisi Zhang.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hanauer, David I. Committee members: Gloria Park; Lingyan Yang.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2010.
English

The present study explored whether there was (1) a demographic profile that would predict which adolescents would not receive services, either at school or in the community, after the death of a peer, and if there was (2) a demographic profile that would predict which peers would find their services satisfactory versus unsatisfactory. Related to this second profile, satisfaction ratings for specific services as well as reasons for receiving and not receiving services were examined. A tot...
Cody Raine Duckworth.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Berman, Pearl S. Committee members: Kimberely Husenits; Dasen Luo.
Psy.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

Working mothers are stressed, juggling various roles and responsibilities both at home and at work, which can result in life imbalance. Writing has the potential to help working mothers to more effectively manage the challenges that cause this imbalance. Previous research and studies have shown that engaging in personal narrative writing can have physical and psychological healing effects, enhance problem-solving, lead to self-discovery, and build social connections, all factors that could po...
Sandra Hansotte Stanko.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fontaine, Jeannine M. Committee members: Lynne Alvine; Bennett Rafoth.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

During the Reformation, grace occupied a new spotlight in the people's religion, and their understanding of it took on new dimensions in several areas. Grace offered salvation as a gift, out of which good works would proceed as a natural outcropping. Grace, in other words, became the means by which man linked up with God and, as a powerful team, moved forward. Overtly religious writers tackled grace head-on, but all of them encounter grace differently. John Bunyan, for example, relies on h...
Coral Allyn Norwood.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Shafer, Ronald G. Committee members: Christopher Kuipers; Allyn Ricketts.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

Nursing educators face the challenge of meeting the needs of a multi-generational classroom. The reality of having members from the Veteran and Baby Boomer generations in a classroom with Generation X and Y students provides an immediate need for faculty to examine students' teaching method preferences as well as their own use of teaching methods. Most importantly, faculty must facilitate an effective multi-generational learning environment. Research has shown that the generation to which a ...
Jennifer V Kitko.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Tidwell, Monte Committee members: George Bieger; Anne Creany.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

This qualitative study explores genre awareness of a specific group of Thai EFL learners in a Thai university context. It aims to examine the impact of explicit writing instruction on the target genre on the learners' awareness of genre, as well as the relationship between the learners' previous reading-writing experiences and their writing of the target genre. Multiple qualitative data collection methods were employed in the study: class observation, semi-structured interviews of teache...
Korakote Natiladdanon.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fontaine, Jeannine M. Committee members: Nancy Hayward; Mary Jalongo.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

The purpose of this study was to examine if professionalism and instructional practice of in-service teachers have been influenced due to the collaboration created by a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership. Within 15 elementary schools in Northeastern Pennsylvania, this researcher explored the perceptions of all teacher groups and building level administrators who have worked at a PDS site. Data were gathered using a survey distributed to 601 staff followed by a one-time intervie...
John Taylor Burrus.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Tidwell, Monte; Rutter, Alison Committee members: Marilyn Narey.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

The present study examined gender differences in interest in gossip transmitted among friends, or transmitted publicly. Women are stereotyped as gossips, yet empirical research on gossip is limited. Recent research on gossip emphasizes the functions of gossip, arguing that gossip is not trivial and is not necessarily negative. Both women and men were hypothesized to be interested in gossip, but women were hypothesized to be more interested in gossip than men, especially for private forms of g...
Jennifer Lee Hambaugh.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: McHugh, Maureen C. Committee members: Beverly Goodwin; Tara Johnson.
Psy.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

On a daily basis, women in public places are the targets of cat calls, crude comments, and all other manner of behaviors which have been labeled street harassment. The current study seeks to add to the sparse data regarding women's experiences of street harassment by using an experimental between-groups design to measure the emotional and cognitive effects of witnessing street harassment in a short film clip. While participants in the experimental group watched a film clip of a woman being ha...
Harmony B Sullivan.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: McHugh, Maureen C. Committee members: Anson Long; Margaret Reardon.
Psy.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

It has been claimed that language testing is not only a method to assess test-takers' language ability; it can also become a medium to promote ideological positions via the contents of the test, which may compel test-takers to adjust their learning as they prepare for the tests. In particular, the contents of a given test may reinforce or promote knowledge of a specific culture. This research examines the contents of the Chinese and English tests in the Joint College Entrance Exam (JCEE),...
Shu-Fen Cheng.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fontaine, Jeannine M. Committee members: Gloria Park; Xi Wang.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

This dissertation employs a qualitative research design by exploring the narratives of female drug offenders involved in a drug-crime lifestyle. In-depth interviews were conducted to examine the subjective experiences of 26 women and their overall perception of the drug-crime lifestyle. The sample was drawn from a population of recovering addicts who frequented a rehabilitative agency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The findings provide a subjective view of female drug addicts and through an ...
Ebony M English.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Austin, W. Timothy Committee members: Rosemary Gido; Kathleen Hanrahan; Jamie Martin.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

This benchmark study uses five research questions to examine the institutional factors that impact professors' adoption of webinars to deliver courses. A 62-item questionnaire was used to structure telephone interviews with senior instructional technology administrators from 54 participating colleges and universities located in the Middle Eastern States Region. The 20-minute interviews focused on four areas: institutional organization, faculty characteristics, technical infrastructure, and th...
Karl F Roeper.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Dudt, Kurt P. Committee members: Luis Almeida; Richard Lamberski.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English

The need for superintendents to respond correctly to the myriad of legally charged situations is vital to the success of a school district. In small rural school districts, without the benefit of extensive financial resources or large administrative bureaucracies, many of the day-to-day legal challenges are handled solely by the superintendent of schools. The study presents the perception and knowledge of at least fourteen public school superintendents, their views of the numerous legal chall...
Henry D Sinopoli.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Bieger, George R. Committee members: Cathy Kaufman; Joseph Marcoline.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2010.
English

The role of public education in the United States is to provide all children with equal access to quality education. However, the United States is experiencing a massive achievement gap. Large populations of students from diverse backgrounds, such as those found in urban districts, continue to suffer from achievement gaps perpetuated by the fact that urban districts are often forced to hire under-prepared educators that lack commitment to urban education. Teacher preparation programs have ...
Stacie M Wolbert.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Tidwell, Monte Committee members: George Bieger; Kelli Kerry-Moran.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2010.
English

The purpose of this study was to gather information about how individuals from two different cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 2001) score on three differently designed e-learning modules. Specifically, this investigation sought to understand whether individualist undergraduate and graduate students learn differently from instructional content designed according to the coherence principle than collectivist undergraduate and graduate students. Each of the three e-learning modules shared the same ...
Bradley E Wiggins.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Partridge, Allen Committee members: Mark Piwinsky; Jay Start.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2011.
English