Inspired by the scarcity of data to support improvement efforts in adult basic literacy programs in the Kaduna State in Nigeria, this study investigated the perceptions of 147 adult basic literacy teachers in service in the state. The study was framed by insights from a four-knowledge-domain framework proposed by the American Institute for Research (AIR) (Fedele-McLeod, et al., 2013), an eight-domain framework proposed for ESL/EFL settings (TESOL, 2008), and a four-domain model proposed by Da...
Yusuf Suleiman Aliyu.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Dean, Gary J. Committee members: Beatrice Fennimore; Sue Rieg.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

Issues in binge drinking and associated negative behavioral characteristics are elevated within the traditional college population compared to the non-college population of the same age range. Regardless of campus initiatives, binge drinking rates have remained high across national college populations. There is a need to move towards evidence based practices, providing an adequate baseline for campuses to develop sanctions and prevention efforts. The current study takes a multi level approach...
Shavonne Arthurs.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Lewis, John A. Committee members: Jonathon Cooper; Erika Frenzel; Kathleen Hanrahan.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

This study examines the problem of evil during the eighteenth-century, beginning with the philosophical optimism of Leibniz, Pope, and Kant and extending to the skeptical deism of Swift, Hume, Diderot, and Voltaire. In each case, literary genre plays a central role in shaping the argument of these writers, as form matches the style of argument. The study evaluates the apocalyptic prophecies of Richard Brothers, Joanna Southcott, and Dorothy Gott as an extenuation of philosophical optimism fue...
Henry Quentin Yukevich.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Holm, Melanie Committee members: Christopher Orchard; Michael Williamson.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

This study is quantitative and descriptive, meaning participants have been asked to respond to questions based upon how they feel in the present time, without any kind of intervention or stimuli (CIRT, 2017). Two-thousand, five hundred, sixty-nine applicants to two community colleges who graduated high school in 2017, were invited to respond to a Likert scale survey regarding their perceptions of the enrollment and admissions materials they received subsequent to completing the admissions app...
Tara L Zirkel.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Wissinger, Daniel Committee members: DeAnna Laverick; Kelli Paquette.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

With the current education benefits offered to military personnel, student veterans entering higher education is projected to increase. This student population has unique needs because of combat exposure associated with military experiences. Therefore, to enhance the success of this growing population, educators need to understand factors that impact student veterans in higher education. To meet the needs of this group, government entities such as the Health Resources and Services (HRSA) admi...
Heather L Zonts.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Shellenbarger, Teresa C. Committee members: Theresa Gropelli; Pamela O'Harra; Cory Shay.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

While secondary education districts are beginning to implement hybrid and blended learning programs, little research exists that provides insights and guidance into the challenges and organizational change associated with that implementation. One of the first secondary schools to implement blended learning, Cumberland Valley School District provided the site for this mixed methods case study. The research examined the process of implementing hybrid education in a secondary educational environ...
Gabrielle Rhea Hoffman.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Boser, Susan Committee members: Alex Heckert; Melissa Swauger.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions, roles, practices, and characteristics of a high-performing suburban school district's implementation of a kindergarten through grade 12 visual arts program. Additionally, this study intended to understand how the school district implemented a kindergarten through grade 12 visual arts program in an era of summative assessments and accountability. The research questions aimed to identify the perceptions of the school district's edu...
Brendan Christopher Smith.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Laverick, DeAnna M. Committee members: Susan Sibert; Meghan Twiest.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The purpose of this case study was to examine the leadership team of one successful school district to identify the characteristics, vision, and practice of the team. The study examined specific situations that the members of the administrative team identified as significant in their growth. Specifically, the study identified the perceptions and beliefs about the district that were held by individuals within the administrative team itself as well as various teacher leaders. The research focus...
Justine Federico.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Ankrum, Julie W. Committee members: DeAnna Laverick; Daniel Wissinger.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The purpose of this non-experimental casual comparative study was to examine the relationship between the educational environment (i.e., co-taught, or resource room), and academic growth with oral reading fluency (ORF) measures for second and third grade students with disabilities. The study also explored possible unique predictors of increased ORF for second and third grade students with disabilities. The data indicate that the educational environment or service delivery model had the most s...
Paula Jean Berry.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Wissinger, Daniel Committee members: DeAnna Laverick; Sue Rieg.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

Alcohol use is a major problem in college populations. Executive functioning (EF) problems are predictive of and predicted by alcohol-related problems; however, traditional performance-based measures of executive function (EF) may not accurately reflect individuals' every day functioning. The purpose of this study was to develop an ecologically valid EF task specifically for college students, The College Registration Executive Function Task (CREFT), and to assess its relationship to existing ...
Matthew A Taylor.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Meil, William Committee members: David LaPorte; Margaret Reardon.
Psy.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between aspects of spirituality and their relationship to factors of persistence, specifically academic and social integration, among varsity-level student-athletes competing in the Northeast Conference of the NCAA's Division I tier. For the purposes of this study, the traits of spirituality were obtained from the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS) developed by Hatch et al. (1998) and later revised (SIBS-R) in 2001. Additio...
Bobby L Anderson.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Piper, David Committee members: Kelli Paquette; Susan Sibert.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The purpose of this study was to understand how the cultural immersion program structure impacts the learning processes in which students develop transformational outcomes (e.g., global awareness, cultural tolerance, and social justice consciousness) and how these transformational outcomes influence students' attitudes and behaviors towards others who are physically and culturally different from them. Using a qualitative method research framework, I employed both individual in-depth, semi-str...
Oghenebruphiyo Gloria Onosu.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hildebrandt, Melanie Committee members: Melissa Swauger; Christian Vaccaro.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The researcher surveyed 126 members of the Nutrition and Dietetic Educators and Preceptors (NDEP) group from all six NDEP regions across the country to examine the relationship between their ideologies, commonly utilized pedagogical techniques, and collaborative experiences with colleagues from different professions. The study also examined the influence of factors such as administrative duties; age; faculty ranking; primary type of instruction provided; teaching experience; course level; uni...
Cassondra L Strawser.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Machado, Crystal Committee members: Stephanie Taylor-Davis; Meghan Twiest.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

This study examined the extent of cyber-bullying among college students and how well Ronald Akers' Social Learning Theory predicted cyber-bullying perpetration. In addition, this study explored students' use of media and the characteristics associated with involvement in cyber-bullying behaviors as victims, perpetrators, and observers. Approximately 10%, 37%, and 53% of the study sample (n = 296) experienced cyber-bullying perpetration, victimization, and observation respectively. Negative bi...
Kweilin T Lucas.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Phaneuf, Shannon Committee members: Daniel Lee; Alida Merlo; Sadie Mummert.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

This dissertation examines three primary texts related to Hurricane Katrina: the 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild; Jesmyn Ward's 2011 novel Salvage the Bones; and the HBO television series Treme, which ran from 2010-2013. In addition, the dissertation looks at the role that testimonial narratives of survivors play in the formation of these Post-Katrina texts, by examining those testimonies on their own and in relationship to the literature. The critical approaches utilized throughout inc...
Brandon Galm.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Sell, Mike Committee members: Susan Comfort; Veronica Watson.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

As institutions of higher education in America have grown and changed, so too have the role expectations of institutional presidents. In recent years, fewer Chief Academic Officers/provosts aspire to be presidents and more presidents have non-traditional (non-academic) career paths. This study investigates whether faculty and trustee constituents' perceptions of the leadership effectiveness of presidents differ depending on the presidents' career path. It also examines whether the self/other ...
Shawn M Hoke.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Mabry, J. Beth Committee members: John Anderson; Alex Heckert; Michael Schwartz.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

This dissertation is devoted to the evolution of the inclusion of women's writing in the present-day literary canon of the English Renaissance and the influence of concerns about gender equity on the formation of contemporary anthologies of Renaissance literature. As a social principle, equity means equal access to a society's opportunities and resources, such as in schooling (Ferguson). The exclusion of women from writing, publishing, and otherwise participating in the literary tradition and...
Mais Nayel Al-Shara'h.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Kuipers, Christopher M. Committee members: David Downing; Veronica Watson; Stephen Zimmerly.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

Through books written by Navy SEALs, movies about Navy SEAL missions, and the media, the public has a view of what it is like to be a Navy SEAL. Former Navy SEALs who have become entrepreneurs write about how they use their training and experiences as a Navy SEAL to help others to become successful leaders, to become goal-oriented individuals, and to become problem solvers. While these stories highlight a select few, the civilian life of Navy SEALs after leaving the military is still obscure....
Jason M Hicks.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rieg, Sue Committee members: DeAnna Laverick; Daniel Wissinger.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a school's poverty level on oral reading fluency (ORF) reported for students identified as having a specific learning disability (SLD) versus those who have been referred for SLD assessment but were not identified as having an SLD during the special education eligibility process. The ORF scores and demographic data from 171 students were collected from six school districts located in a Midwestern state. The data were analyzed to determin...
Sandra Hoffman.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Kovaleski, Joseph F. Committee members: Lynanne Black; Timothy Runge.
D.Ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

The current study used a simulated design to evaluate the performance of the ECST-R ATP Scales with undergraduate participants who were coached using information readily found on the internet to feign incompetency, schizophrenia or both. This study was largely exploratory in nature, but sought to determine if the ATP Scales would be effective when identifying participants with different feigning motivations. The present study also compared the performance of the ATP Scales to the M-FAST in te...
Alynda M Randolph.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Reardon, Margaret Committee members: Laura Knight; David LaPorte.
Psy.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

This dissertation explored the academic and disciplinary literacy socialization of seven international undergraduate business students. It used a qualitative multi-case design to answer the question: How do international undergraduate students in business and management experience academic literacy and disciplinary socialization in their majors? The data collected to answer this question utilized face-to-face interviews and writing samples. The respective participants were seven international...
Abdullah S Darwish.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Driscoll, Dana Lynn Committee members: Gian Pagnucci; Bennett Rafoth.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

To suggest how U.S. colleges and departmental programs can further engage and retain undergraduates and how writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) programs can support student engagement and retention, this study explored how chemistry and English majors at one northeastern U.S. state public university understood and performed identities in relation to their life, departmental, and disciplinary writing experiences. Data gathered to answer the study's research questions came from co-written acade...
Justin Nicholes.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Hanauer, David I. Committee members: Sharon Deckert; Dana Driscoll.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English

Combining methods from speech-act theory, conversation analysis, and second-language writing (applied linguistics), this dissertation study examined the ways students and teachers make, perceive, and respond to requests during writing conferences. Aiming to discover why miscommunication occurs, this study examined how composition instructors adapt their requests to account for their own and their students' communicative backgrounds defined as language background, experience with writing confe...
Angie McKinnon Carter.
Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Rafoth, Bennett A. Committee members: Laurel Black; Sharon Deckert.
Ph.D. Indiana University of Pennsylvania 2018.
English