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Voices of worth- listening to teachers: A phenomenological study of professional development and instructional change. (open access)

Voices of worth- listening to teachers: A phenomenological study of professional development and instructional change.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe and explain teachers' perceptions about effective professional development as well as to identify the environmental factors that affect the teacher participants' ability to engage in and implement various behaviors and beliefs transferred from the professional development experience. Four teachers were studied in depth for one school year, and data collected included in-depth interviews and classroom observations. Findings indicate three main themes related to the research questions, which sought to understand how teachers perceive and describe their experiences of participating in professional development and the factors that support or constrain their instructional decision-making as it relates to new knowledge and skills acquired through professional development. These themes are that: (a) Effective professional development must have a supportive context and meaningful purpose which: meets the physical and cognitive needs of participants; focuses on improving practice, content knowledge, and pedagogy; provides participants with choice, adequate time and ownership of learning experiences; and includes opportunities for sustained learning and accountability; (b) Learning experiences are greatly affected by interpersonal relationships and opportunities for social learning and should be built upon the principles of: taking risks in the learning environment; sharing beliefs in a community of practice …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Roberts, Jennifer A.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Growing in Favor with God: Young Children's Spiritual Development and Implications for Christian Education (open access)

Growing in Favor with God: Young Children's Spiritual Development and Implications for Christian Education

Experts do not agree on the definition of spiritual development although positive spiritual development benefits society in many ways. Without agreement on the definition of spiritual development and a common understanding of spiritual development, parents, teachers, and pastors who are entrusted with the task of fostering positive spiritual development in Christian settings face the challenges of determining what spiritual development is (definition), the desired goals (culmination) of spiritual development, and the most effective ways to meet those goals (context and content). The purpose of this study was to use data, from the social sciences and Christian points of view, to inform Christian education programs and arrive at recommendations for fostering young children's spiritual development. Data sources include textual literature from the social science and Christian points of view. In addition, the researcher gathered interview data from twenty children's pastors. Research results included: 1. It is possible that spirituality is associated with sensory awareness. 2. Examining spirituality as sensory awareness may lead to focusing on innate qualities of spiritual capacity with a more focused inclusion of children with special needs in faith-based programs, a God-given conscience, and consideration that children may be born with spiritual gifts to express their spiritual nature. …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Thomson, Donna R.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The relationship between collegiate band members' preferences of teacher interpersonal behavior and perceived self-efficacy. (open access)

The relationship between collegiate band members' preferences of teacher interpersonal behavior and perceived self-efficacy.

The first purpose of this study was to describe collegiate band members' preferred teacher interpersonal behaviors and perceptions of self-efficacy based on the gender, year in college, instrument, and major. The second purpose of the study was to measure the relationship between preferences of interpersonal teacher behavior and self-efficacy scores. The non-probability purposive sample (N = 1020) was composed of band members representing 12 universities from different regions of the United States. There were 4 large public, 4 small public, and 4 private universities that participated in the study. Participants completed 2 questionnaires, the Teacher Interaction Preference Questionnaire (TIPQ) and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SEQ). Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of the questionnaires. Results for the TIPQ showed that all sub-groups most preferred the dominant-cooperative behaviors, followed by submissive-cooperative behaviors, and least preferred the dominant-oppositional behaviors. Results for the SEQ showed subtle variations for all subgroups. Three Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to measure the relationship between the three teacher interaction styles (dominant-cooperative, submissive-cooperative, dominant-oppositional) and students' perceived self-efficacy. Due to the possible over-use of the data with multiple correlations, a Bonferroni adjustment was made to avoid a Type I error (.05/3 = .016). A significant positive relationship was …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Steele, Natalie Anne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors affecting African American faculty job satisfaction at a historically black university and a predominantly white institution. (open access)

Factors affecting African American faculty job satisfaction at a historically black university and a predominantly white institution.

This study sought to discover job satisfaction factors of African American faculty at a historically black university and a predominantly white institution. Data were gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews of 6 faculty members from a historically black university and 5 faculty from a predominantly white institution. Several themes emerged from the study. The most salient was that African American faculty at the historically black university were satisfied by their work with students, satisfied with the flexibility of their schedules, and dissatisfied with their pay, workload, and the lack of recognition that they receive from their institution. African American faculty at the predominantly white institution were satisfied by the impact the programs and courses they developed had upon students, satisfied with their job's freedom and flexibility, and dissatisfied with the ideas of being micromanaged or working with people who are not open and honest. The findings of this study showed that service is an important factor to job satisfaction of African American faculty and that there is a distinction between factors faculty are dissatisfied with but willing to endure and those that would cause them to leave an institution.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Wright, Quentin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Joseph Holbrooke:  A Study of the Published and Unpublished Solo and Chamber Works for Clarinet with an Annotated Bibliography (open access)

Joseph Holbrooke: A Study of the Published and Unpublished Solo and Chamber Works for Clarinet with an Annotated Bibliography

The name Joseph Holbrooke is, for the most part, unknown today, but that was not the case in the early years of the 20th century. Conductors such as Sir Thomas Beecham and Henry Wood performed his works throughout England, and his opera, The Children of Don, was performed in Vienna and Salzburg. However, his popularity did not last, and the performances of his works began to decline sharply after 1925. By the last quarter of the 20th century, performances of his works were very rare, even in England, and most, if not all, were out of print. As reason for this decline, some have cited the long duration and large instrumentation required by some his works, while others have said the neglect is well deserved, but the critical pendulum now seems to be swinging in the other direction. Many of his pieces have come back into print and new recordings are being released. This is especially good news for clarinetists because of the quality and number of his works for that instrument. His compositions for clarinet include chamber and solo works, and a double concerto for clarinet and bassoon. These melodic and intriguing works for the clarinet deserve more investigation …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Webb, Joseph Dee
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Correlates of the Scales of a Modified Screening Version of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory with Depression and Anxiety on a Chronic Pain Sample (open access)

Correlates of the Scales of a Modified Screening Version of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory with Depression and Anxiety on a Chronic Pain Sample

This correlational study investigated the relationship between changes in the psychosocial scales of the MPI Screener Patient Report Card (Clark, 1996) with changes in depression and anxiety with a sample of chronic pain patients who completed a 4-week outpatient interdisciplinary treatment program located in a large regional medical center. Race, gender, and primary pain diagnosis were additional predictors. Data analyzed came from an existing patient outcome database (N = 203). Five research assumptions were examined using ten separate (five pre and five post-treatment) hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Statistical significance was found in pre and post-treatment analyses with predictors BDI-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) and BAI (Beck & Steer, 1993) on criterions Pain Interference, Emotional Distress, and Life Control, and Total Function.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Walker, Katherine Elise
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Graduate Artist Certificate Recital: 2009-09-19 - Janice Fehlauer, piano

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: September 19, 2009
Creator: Fehlauer, Janice
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
God's Perfect Timing (open access)

God's Perfect Timing

When I was thirty-three years old, I discovered I was an adoptee. In this memoir of secrecy and love, betrayal and redemption, I reflect on my early experiences as a doted-on only child firmly rooted in the abundant love of my adoptive family, my later struggles with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, my marriage to a fellow-adoptee, my discovery of my own adoption and the subsequent reunion with my birth family, my navigation through the thrills and tensions of newly complicated family dynamics, and my witness to God's perfect timing through it all.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Rizzo, Steven
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Evaluation Model for Identifying Lewisville and San Angelo, Texas, as Senior Ready Communities (open access)

An Evaluation Model for Identifying Lewisville and San Angelo, Texas, as Senior Ready Communities

This research portrays a paradigm for the assessment of aging services to support populations aging in place. The dissertation was designed to establish a model to identify and evaluate senior ready communities. Area specific social programs and services are identified. In order to meet the growing needs of aging populations, the dynamic representation of existing services and the need for services that could be developed in certain communities require reevaluation in current planning, restructuring, and/or community development.
Date: December 2009
Creator: Sanders, David N.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation Into the Factors Leading to the Closure of 40 Private Four-Year Colleges between 1965 and 2005 (open access)

An Investigation Into the Factors Leading to the Closure of 40 Private Four-Year Colleges between 1965 and 2005

This study searches for a set of common indicators that contributed to the ultimate closure of 40 colleges and universities between 1965 and 2005. From research on related literature, a set of 31 contributing factors was identified by published experts and observers in higher education. That set of indicators was then used as a list of 31 questions answered by data found in newspaper articles, professional journals, published research work, published institutional records, data taken from the Department of Education, data taken from IPEDS, data published in historical recounts of the colleges of interest, etc. The data was accumulated in the form of yes/no responses to the 31 questions. Although the study involved only 40 colleges and universities this population represents the majority of institutions that pass the restrictions of limitations and delimitations described in the full document. The complete data set was processed using SPSS which produced ANOVA tables and level of statistical significance for each indicator question. The results indicate that out of the 31 original indicator questions there were two groups of statistically significant indicators. The larger group of indicators having statistical significance at the .05 level encompassed the smaller group having statistical significance at the .001 …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Province, Terry Paul
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Status and Access Disparities Among the Uninsured Working-Age Population in a Safety-Net Healthcare Network in Tarrant County, Texas (open access)

Health Status and Access Disparities Among the Uninsured Working-Age Population in a Safety-Net Healthcare Network in Tarrant County, Texas

The objective of this research was to determine if healthcare access disparities exist across race and gender in a publically funded safety-net healthcare system in Texas. Data were examined from a representative random sample of 1468 adults aged 18-64 who were patients in this safety-net system in July and August of 2000 and were analyzed using binary logistic regression and chi-square measures of significance. Major Findings: On measures of health status - overall health rating (p =.051), limited employment (p =.000), energy level (p =.001), and worry (p =.012) - Anglos reported the worst health; Mexican Americans, the best health; with African Americans intermediate. Mexican Americans were more likely to have never had health insurance, and to also have had insurance in the past year; Anglos were least likely to have ever had insurance (p =.015) or to have had insurance in the past year (p =.000). On use of EDs (p =.028), problems getting prescription medicines (p =.029), and foregoing other necessities of life to pay for healthcare, Mexican Americans were least disadvantaged with African Americans reporting greatest use of EDs among both men and women, and Anglos the most problems with prescription medicines and foregoing care, especially among …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Queen, Courtney M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Attendance at a Senior Center on the Quality of Life and Well Being of Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren. (open access)

The Effects of Attendance at a Senior Center on the Quality of Life and Well Being of Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of attendance at a senior center on the well being and quality of life of grandparents that were rearing grandchildren. Using convenience sampling, grandparents (N=130) who were rearing grandchildren were given a self administered demographic data survey along with an attendance at a senior center questionnaire, the Quality of Life Scale, the Well Being Scale by Liang, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Caregiver Burden Scale, and the Role Satisfaction Scale. An initial MANOVA (F 7, 69 = 2.72, p < .01) suggesting that senior center attendance affect the measures as a set was conducted and then a series of one way ANOVAs were carried out to test the hypothesis that attending a senior center has an effect on the dependent variables: well being, quality of life, role satisfaction, caregiver burden, loneliness, current health, and heath one year ago. Subsequently, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to find out whether frequency and quality of attendance of a senior center predicted quality of life, caregiver burden, well being, loneliness, and role satisfaction, controlling for the demographic data. The results of the MANOVA showed that the dependent variables: quality of life, caregiver burden, …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Rhynes, LaTrica Q.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Victimization and expressions of relational and overt aggression among boys and girls with ADHD. (open access)

Victimization and expressions of relational and overt aggression among boys and girls with ADHD.

This study investigated if girls and boys high in ADHD symptomology exhibited and experienced relational and overt aggression differently than boys and girls without ADHD symptoms using peer, parent and teacher ratings. A measurement of social behavior for parent ratings was also validated. Using archival data, 371 3rd- 6th graders from a north Texas school district participated in the study, along with a parent or guardian and teachers. Results supported that ADHD subtype predicted more overt aggression according to parents and teachers but not peers. ADHD subtype did not predict more relational aggression but ADHD symptomology did. Contrary to past research, gender did not moderate relational aggression or internalizing symptoms from relational victimization. Furthermore, a parent version of the Child Social Behavior Scale was found to effectively measure relational, overt and prosocial behavior. Limitations, future directions and implications are discussed.
Date: December 2009
Creator: Rivero, Arlene Jean Abello
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Inferring Social and Internal Context Using a Mobile Phone (open access)

Inferring Social and Internal Context Using a Mobile Phone

This dissertation is composed of research studies that contribute to three research areas including social context-aware computing, internal context-aware computing, and human behavioral data mining. In social context-aware computing, four studies are conducted. First, mobile phone user calling behavioral patterns are characterized in forms of randomness level where relationships among them are then identified. Next, a study is conducted to investigate the relationship between the calling behavior and organizational groups. Third, a method is presented to quantitatively define mobile social closeness and social groups, which are then used to identify social group sizes and scaling ratio. Last, based on the mobile social grouping framework, the significant role of social ties in communication patterns is revealed. In internal context-aware computing, two studies are conducted where the notions of internal context are intention and situation. For intentional context, the goal is to sense the intention of the user in placing calls. A model is thus presented for predicting future calls envisaged as a call predicted list (CPL), which makes use of call history to build a probabilistic model of calling behavior. As an incoming call predictor, CPL is a list of numbers/contacts that are the most likely to be the callers within …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Phithakkitnukoon, Santi
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Does the Knowledge of Unaudited Account Balances Adversely Affect the Performance of Substantive Analytical Procedures? (open access)

Does the Knowledge of Unaudited Account Balances Adversely Affect the Performance of Substantive Analytical Procedures?

Auditors use substantive analytical procedures to make assertions about the adequacy and appropriateness of client balances. The analytical procedure process consists of auditors creating independent account expectations and corroborating unusual fluctuations through obtaining and evaluating additional audit evidence. Prior analytical procedure research has found that knowledge of clients' unaudited account balances biases auditors' expectations towards the current year figures. However, this research has failed to examine the impact of biased expectations on the subsequent stages of analytical procedures. This dissertation assesses the full impact of biased account expectations on auditors' use of analytical procedures. I experimentally test the hypotheses of my dissertation through administering an experiment to senior level auditors. After inducing an account expectation bias that favors the client account balance in half the participants, I examine the auditors' cognitive investigation into an unusual account fluctuation. The results indicate that a biased account expectation negatively affects auditors' judgment quality. In particular, a biased expectation leads auditors to favor hypotheses and additional information that supports the proposition that the client's balance is reasonably stated. Alternatively, auditors with unbiased account expectations are more willing to consider all hypotheses and are able to identify the most pertinent additional information to the decision …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Pike, Byron J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The perception of English language arts teachers about instructional changes following the implementation of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test. (open access)

The perception of English language arts teachers about instructional changes following the implementation of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

Accountability in education has been expanding for the past twenty years. As standards for curricular areas continued to develop, educational shareholders desired a way to measure student achievement contextualized by the established standards. Since 1964, policies expanded federal involvement with education, and with the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, high-stakes testing became a significant part of public education. In Texas, testing transitioned in 2003 to the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skill (TAKS) test, an assessment that determines grade advancement for students, ratings for school districts, and additional compensation for some teachers. Along with the increasing expectations for student achievement, the need for effective instruction also increases. This dissertation studies how English language arts (ELA) teachers in four North Texas suburban high schools perceive instructional change following the implementation of TAKS. One hundred twenty-one teachers (n=121) were surveyed using an instrument broken into seven categories: student-centered instruction, student interest, instructional communication, time, classroom environment, teacher knowledge, and assessment. Participants were separated into two groups, teachers with one to six years of experience with a district or seven or more years with a district. Using a rating scale for each statement on the survey instrument, participants indicated the direction …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Horn, Brian K.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of skill maintenance, performance factors, and external validity in a behavioral parent training program. (open access)

Evaluation of skill maintenance, performance factors, and external validity in a behavioral parent training program.

Child maltreatment affects 900 thousand children in the U.S. every year and impacts all areas of daily functioning. Behavioral parent training (BPT) programs have effectively taught parenting and demonstrated externally valid outcomes (i.e., lower recidivism rates). Skill maintenance assessments for BPTs have mixed results. The Behavior Management and Parenting Services (BMAPS) program has shown effective skill training for court-mandated families. This study assessed skill maintenance and performance factors that may have impaired parents using an ABAB single-case research design in Phase 1 & external validity with a survey in Phase 2. Results for Phase 1 found that most BMAPS parents acquired all parenting tools to criteria, dropped below criteria at the 3 month probe, then fully demonstrated their regained skills after a brief review. Psychological and classroom factors do not appear to have systematically influenced performance at any time, although homework completion was associated with better scores at the end of class. Phase 2 results found a 91% reunification rate and a 0% recidivism rate over 1-3 years. All limitations aside, it appears that the BMAPS program is able to effectively train skills to criteria and these skills can be sustained with a booster session. The vast majority of parents …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Scherbarth, Andrew J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The relationship of student characteristics, help seeking behavior, academic and environmental variables with student course completion in community college online courses: An application of a conceptual model. (open access)

The relationship of student characteristics, help seeking behavior, academic and environmental variables with student course completion in community college online courses: An application of a conceptual model.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences and relationships in student definition and background characteristics, help seeking behaviors, academic and environmental variables between and among community college students at a single institution who successfully completed and those who did not complete online courses during a single term. An adapted version of Bean and Metzner's conceptual model of nontraditional student attrition provided the theoretical framework for the study. The results of data analysis revealed statistically significant differences between completers and noncompleters on the basis of definition, gender, ethnicity, experience and prior GPA. Statistically significant relationships were found between definition, ethnicity, gender, experience, prior GPA, orientation and completion and noncompletion. No statistically significant interactions were found between definition and experience and help seeking behaviors. No statistically significant differences, relationships or predictor variables were found by degree seeking, preassessment, or technical help seeking. Additional analyses by defining characteristics revealed statistically significant differences between completers and noncompleters on the basis of residency, age and enrollment status. Predictor variables found to be significant were definition, gender, experience, prior GPA and orientation. The odds of completion increased with nontraditional definition, female gender, higher prior GPA, and orientation participation. The odds of completion decreased with …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Schumann, Sherry Haskin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Introduction to the AIDS Quilt Songbook and Its Uncollected Works (open access)

An Introduction to the AIDS Quilt Songbook and Its Uncollected Works

The AIDS Quilt Songbook was a musical response to the shame surrounding the outbreak of the HIV virus and was one of the first art song publications to deal with the topic of HIV and AIDS. This DMA thesis documents the significance and history of the AIDS Quilt Songbook, traces the progression of the project up until December 1, 2008, and documents the work, experiences, and words of the composers who have been inspired to contribute to the AIDS Quilt Songbook Project. In 1981, the medical and popular press reported the first cases of a quickly spreading virus among homosexual males. This virus is currently diagnosed as HIV and AIDS. Lack of funding consumed the early years of what grew to become a national pandemic. The artistic community was one of the major catalysts for funding and education. Cleave Jones and other gay rights activists developed the NAMES Project as a memoriam for those lost to the pandemic. The AIDS Quilt Songbook was created to parallel the AIDS Quilt as "a never-ending work whose meaning and spirit is renewed and redefined with every addition." This concept of additions has continued the expansion of the AIDS Quilt Songbook Project from 1993 …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Seesholtz, John Clayton
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Phosphorescent Emissions of Coinage Metal-Phosphine Complexes: Theory and Photophysics (open access)

Phosphorescent Emissions of Coinage Metal-Phosphine Complexes: Theory and Photophysics

The major topics discussed are all relevant to the bright phosphorescent emissions of coinage metal complexes (Cu(I), Ag(I) and Au(I)) with an explanation of the theoretical background, computational results and ongoing work on the application in materials and optoelectronic devices. Density functional computations have been performed on the majority of the discussed complexes and determined that the most significant distortion that occurs in Au(I)-phosphine complexes is a near and beyond a T-shape within the P-Au-P angle when the complexes are photoexcited to the lowest phosphorescent excited state. The large distortion is experimentally qualified with the large Stokes' shift that occurs between the excitation and emission spectra and can be as large as 18 000 cm-1 for the neutral Au(I) complexes. The excited state distortion has been thoroughly investigated and it is determined that not only is it pertinent to the efficient luminescence but also for the tunability in the emission. The factors that affect tunability have been determined to be electronics, sterics, rigidity of solution and temperature. The luminescent shifts determined from varying these parameters have been described systematically and have revealed emission colors that span the entire visible spectrum. These astounding features that have been discovered within studies of …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Sinha, Pankaj
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bidirectional Effects Between Engaged Lifestyle and Cognition in Later Life: Exploring the Moderation Hypothesis for Personality Variables. (open access)

Bidirectional Effects Between Engaged Lifestyle and Cognition in Later Life: Exploring the Moderation Hypothesis for Personality Variables.

Longitudinal data (N = 263) was used to investigate the bidirectional relationship between engagement (engaged lifestyle activities) and cognition (crystallized & fluid intelligence). Extroversion and openness to experience were also tested as moderators of the relationship between engagement and cognition. Results showed that the relationship between engagement at Wave 1 and cognition at Wave 2 did not differ from the relationship between cognition at Wave 1 and engagement at Wave 2. Testing for moderation with regression indicated that neither extroversion nor openness was moderating the relationship between engagement and cognition in either direction. Structural equation models provided further summary evidence that the relationships among engagement at Wave 1, extroversion, openness, and cognition at Wave 2 were not strong. However, a strong limitation to these results was the measurement error associated with a new measure of engagement.
Date: December 2009
Creator: Starkweather, Jonathan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cultural and Technical Perspectives on Winter Landscape (open access)

Cultural and Technical Perspectives on Winter Landscape

Winter Landscape is an interactive composition for erhu (Chinese two-stringed fiddle), flute, piano, and Max/MSP interactive computer music system. The total duration of the piece is approximately 15 minutes. Winter Landscape serves to demonstrate one particular approach to exploring the possibilities afforded in an interactive paradigm within a cross-cultural context. The work is intended to convey my personality and identity as a contemporary Chinese composer through diverse cultural and musical influences drawn to this particular piece while creating a balance between traditional and modern sounds. The influences of Chinese philosophy (especially Chán) and the essence of Chinese traditional music play a prominent role as demonstrated in the formation of structures, expressions, and concept of Yun in the work; these influences also play a great role in determining the instrumentation and basic pitch structures of the work. However, this work is equally influenced by techniques and practices of modern Western classical music. These diverse influences hopefully have resulted in a unique work that truly does represent a cross-synthesis of these varying influences. In Winter Landscape, the interaction that takes place between the computer and the live musician is intended to reveal the responsive human/machine relationships. The computer constantly shifts its roles …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Wang, Jing
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cyberbullying: Responses of Adolescents and Parents toward Digital Aggression (open access)

Cyberbullying: Responses of Adolescents and Parents toward Digital Aggression

Cyberbullying is a category of bullying that occurs in the digital realm which affects our students at astonishing rates. Unlike traditional bullying, where displays of aggression may be evident to bystanders, the ramification of cyberbullying occurs through unconventional ways (e.g., text messaging; online weblogs; video sharing), which results in many cases being camouflaged by the advancement in technology. Nonetheless, the effects of this digital form of peer aggression can be as detrimental as face-to-face bullying. The characteristics of cyberbullying and its influences on adolescents and parents of adolescents were examined. The data accrued is based on an anonymous survey through one of the following methods: (a) paper-pencil survey for adolescent group with 37-question items on the adolescent questionnaire and (b) web-based survey for the parent group with 22-question items on the parent questionnaire. Each survey was systematically coded according to the participating group and assigned code numbers (i.e., 1 represents adolescent group and 2 represents parent group) was provided to ensure confidentiality of the study. Survey examined individual variables among the two target groups: (a) adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age and (b) parents of adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. Specifically, individual variables examined include …
Date: December 2009
Creator: Wong-Lo, Mickie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The relationship between computer-assisted instruction and alternative programs to enhance fifth-grade mathematics success on the annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. (open access)

The relationship between computer-assisted instruction and alternative programs to enhance fifth-grade mathematics success on the annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and success on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) mathematics exam with fifth-grade students in Texas compared to the effect of alternative improvement approaches used by a control group. Research explored the use of SuccessMaker® CAI educational software (Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ, www.pearsoned.com) in public elementary schools in Texas. Successmaker® CAI was not a good predictor of passing percentage on the mathematics TAKS. Multiple regression analysis utilized in this quasi-experimental design study predicted a negative and not statistically significant change in the percentage of students passing the mathematics TAKS exam (B = -.448, p > .05). SuccessMaker® use exhibited a very small effect size (r = -.04) and accounted for less than 1% of the change in passing percentage (r2 = .0016). Multiple regression model predicted a negative and statistically significant effect upon mathematics passing percentage by economic disadvantage percentage (B = -.211, p < .01). The 95% confidence interval for B ranged from -.365 to -.057. The large effect size correlation coefficient (r = -.51) accounted for 26% of the variance in the mathematics TAKS passing percentage (r2 = .26).
Date: December 2009
Creator: Tucker, Tommy Howard
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library