U.S. International Food Assistance Report (open access)

U.S. International Food Assistance Report

This report summarizes USAID's programs and financial information during the 2014 fiscal year.
Date: May 2010
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Malnutrition And Food Aid Programs: A Case Study From Guatemala (open access)

Malnutrition And Food Aid Programs: A Case Study From Guatemala

This report is on a case study from Guatemala on malnutrition and food aid programs. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of food aid and/or food aid programs on the nutritional status of its recipients in two regions of Guatemala. From this investigation, empirically-based programmatic statements as to the role of food aid and its impact on human society will be presented.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Rodeheaver, Daniel Gilbert, 1954-; Bates, Frederick L. & Murphy, Arthur D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessing the Role of Smaller Format Retailers on the Food Desert Landscape in Dallas, Texas (open access)

Assessing the Role of Smaller Format Retailers on the Food Desert Landscape in Dallas, Texas

Many policy and business decisions regarding food deserts in the U.S. are based on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) definition of a food desert. This definition only includes large/national chain grocery retailers, based on the assumption that these major retailers are the only affordable sources of food contributing to balanced diets. As alternative distribution channels, including smaller stores, start to include groceries in their product offering, the need to consider the role of other businesses in the food retailing environment should be addressed. This thesis assesses the role of smaller format grocery retailers (small local grocers, convenience stores, gas stations, dollar stores, and drug stores) in shaping the food desert landscape in Dallas, Texas. The analysis evaluates the products offered in these stores, and then identifies the difference these stores make when included in the USDA analysis. This was done by collecting in-store data to determine the variety of products offered, the affordability of those products, and the overall healthfulness of the store. In addition, the gaps in supply and demand were identified in the USDA-defined food deserts in order to identify the impact any smaller format retailer may have. The findings suggest that, overall, smaller format retailers …
Date: May 2013
Creator: Regan, Amanda D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Personality Traits of Effective Teachers of Bilingual and English as a Second Language Students with the Personality Traits of Effective Teachers of Traditional Elementary School Students (open access)

A Comparison of the Personality Traits of Effective Teachers of Bilingual and English as a Second Language Students with the Personality Traits of Effective Teachers of Traditional Elementary School Students

The purpose of this study was to identify the personality traits of effective elementary bilingual/ESL teachers, to identify the personality traits of effective traditional elementary teachers, and to compare the two groups.
Date: May 1993
Creator: Allgaier, Sylvia Mahon
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Importance of Authenticity of Atmospheric Theming to Revisit Intention of Food and Beverage Venues in Theme Parks

Atmospheric theming is the use of the sensory experience in connection to a theme. The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of atmospherics with theming and their effects on customer behavior in food and beverage operations of a theme park. The official research questions developed for this study include: Does the impact of the authenticity of atmospheric theming influence an effect on revisit intention? Does the type of theme (land's theme or venue's theme) influence the effect of visitor revisit intention? These questions guided the current research in previously non-evaluated fields of study. This study used the Mehrabian–Russel (M-R) model to create a new research model. In the current study, atmospheric theming was the stimuli, emotional value was the emotional response, and visitor revisit intentions was the behavioral intention. Restaurant image was added to the model to obtain a cognitive reason.The results from the multiple regression indicated that all hypotheses were accepted. Restaurant image had a positive influence on both authenticity variables, and both authenticity variables had a positive influence on emotional value. Finally, emotional value was found to have a positive influence on revisit intention. These results indicated that atmospheric theming influenced revisit intention through emotional …
Date: May 2020
Creator: O'Dell, Billy Ray
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The North Texan, Volume 28, Number 3, May 1978 (open access)

The North Texan, Volume 28, Number 3, May 1978

The North Texan includes articles and notes about North Texas State University students, faculty, and alumni activities.
Date: May 1978
Creator: North Texas State University
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of a Brain Improvement Program on Students' Reading Achievement (open access)

Effects of a Brain Improvement Program on Students' Reading Achievement

How to close the reading achievement gap among K-12 students is an ongoing emphasis for educators in the 21st century. The purpose of the study was to determine if using kinesthetic movements from the Brain Gym® program improved the reading achievement of Grade 3 Hispanic and African American students. Students from four elementary schools participated in the study. The students in the control and experimental groups completed a 2004 release TAKS third grade reading assessment for the pretest and posttest. Students in the experimental group completed five selected kinesthetic movements from the Brain Gym® program five minutes at the beginning of each Monday through Friday school day. The intervention lasted 30 days and a total of 150 minutes. Data were analyzed using a 2 x 2 mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance. Findings revealed that performing the five kinesthetic movements from the Brain Gym® program did not increase students' reading achievement scores. Only the variable of time between pretest and posttest affected students' reading scores. The results from this study did not support the findings of other studies of the effectiveness of kinesthetic movements.
Date: May 2013
Creator: Sánchez, Edelmira
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Assessment of Consumers' Willingness to Patronize Foreign-Based Business Format Franchises: An Investigation in the Fast-Food Sector (open access)

An Assessment of Consumers' Willingness to Patronize Foreign-Based Business Format Franchises: An Investigation in the Fast-Food Sector

This study aimed to address consumers' stereotypical categorizations in the form of essentialist views about foreign cultures and their effect on individual consumers, including their negative or aroused emotions and subsequent retail patronage behaviors. The research mission was to empirically assess the salient dimensions of consumers' states of mind (positive and negative affect, psychological essentialism, epistemic curiosity), states of being (store atmospherics), and states of action (retail patronage behaviors) in a cultural context based on Mehrabian-Russell theory of environmental psychology. Specifically, the retail patronage setting was selected as foreign-based fast-food franchises because it represents both a relevant and timely situational context for consumer behavior. This dissertation makes several contributions to international retail patronage literature. First, it frames curiosity as an aroused emotional state and finds support for the relationship between consumer epistemic curiosity and retail patronage. Second, it provides support for the linkage between consumer affect and retail patronage in an international retail setting. Third, it reveals that affect has a greater impact on retail patronage than epistemic curiosity. The overarching finding of this study is an inability to tie the cultural elements in retail atmospherics, including signs, symbols, and artifacts, to consumer emotions. In addition, we were unable to …
Date: May 2010
Creator: Ertekin, Selcuk
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of Restorative Practices by Male Students of Color in Middle School (open access)

Perceptions of Restorative Practices by Male Students of Color in Middle School

Zero-tolerance discipline policies have been in use in U.S. schools for almost 25 years. Since their enactment in the 1990s, researchers have found that zero tolerance disciplinary policies and practices can cause students to enter the school-to-prison pipeline. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the perceptions of middle-school male students of color regarding the discipline process on a campus that supplemented zero-tolerance discipline with restorative practices (RPs). Additional intents of this study were to discover the challenges students encountered when they returned from a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) and determine whether RPs helped or hindered their transition to the home campus. Six middle-school male students of color who were placed at the district's DAEP and returned to their home campus participated in the study. The conceptual framework was based on Braithwaite's concept of stigmatized shame following an exclusion and Nathanson's human reactions to shame. The study yielded seven major themes: (a) student perceptions of exclusion, (b) behaviors related to exclusion from school, (c) human reactions to shame—attacking others, (d) human reactions to shame—avoidance, (e) the need for reintegration and acceptance, (f) traumatic events, and (g) dissonance in the discipline process.
Date: May 2020
Creator: Millican, Deborah
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Historical Analysis of Rule and Policy Changes in the Texas University Interscholastic League One-Act Play Contest, 1986-2006, and the Results of Those Changes: Administrator and Teacher Perceptions (open access)

An Historical Analysis of Rule and Policy Changes in the Texas University Interscholastic League One-Act Play Contest, 1986-2006, and the Results of Those Changes: Administrator and Teacher Perceptions

The University Interscholastic League (UIL) One-Act Play Contest is a competition where similarly sized Texas schools present an 18-40 minute play usually adjudicated by a single judge. At each level of competition the judge awards individual acting awards as well as selecting two productions to advance to the next level of competition. After the awards are announced the judge gives an oral critique to each of the schools. Because of the wide participation and diversity of plays produced, certain rules and guidelines have been adopted to ensure safety, allow for equity, satisfy legal standards, and make the running of the contest practical. These rules can be modified to achieve positive outcomes and improved educational results. Changes in the rules of a UIL contest are in accordance with stated educational objectives of the UIL. Occasionally, however, modifications in procedures raise questions. The problem of this study was to determine, from the perceptions of administrators and teachers, whether significant modifications in the rules and policies for the UIL One-Act Play Contest over a time span of 20 years have had impacts on the goals and procedures of the contest. The study utilized a qualitative approach through historical analysis and a survey to …
Date: May 2010
Creator: Stevens, David Todd
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of a Teacher Inservice Training Model on Students' Perceptions of Elementary Science (open access)

Effects of a Teacher Inservice Training Model on Students' Perceptions of Elementary Science

The purpose of this study was to test a teacher inservice training model which was designed to increase the number and use of hands-on science activities, increase the number of times teachers teach science, and improve students' perceptions of science.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Haynes, Dawn (Dawn Marie)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Music and Sound Effects on the Listening Comprehension of Fourth Grade Students (open access)

The Effect of Music and Sound Effects on the Listening Comprehension of Fourth Grade Students

The purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of music and sound effects to recorded stories increased the comprehension and retention of information for fourth grade students. The data were analyzed by a two-factor analysis of variance, with repeated measures for both comprehension and retention tests, for the total population. Each reading level group was analyzed separately by an analysis of variance. Of eight hypotheses tested, six showed a significant difference. The conclusions drawn from this study indicated that the addition of music and sound effects 1) Increases the listening comprehension and retention of fourth grade students; 2) Is more effective for retention for students with a high reading level; and 3) Is more effective for initial listening comprehension for students with low reading level but the effect is not significant for retention.
Date: May 1979
Creator: Mann, Raymond E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
College Students' Preference of Computer Input Device: Keyboard versus Mouse (open access)

College Students' Preference of Computer Input Device: Keyboard versus Mouse

In the last several years, there has been an interest in graphical user interfaces as compared with character user interfaces. The "mouse" is the device most closely associated with graphical user interfaces. Key strokes are more closely associated with character user interfaces. Given these associations, is there a preference for the keyboard or for the mouse as an input device? The determination of user preference was reduced to the determination of preference of key strokes or mouse clicks for selection of main menu items. The subjects, university students working with Microsoft Works by Microsoft Corporation, copyright 1987-1989, were learning how to use application software. While Microsoft Works was running, tracking software recorded every user key stroke and mouse click, together with data about these key strokes and mouse clicks. From the analysis of these data, common preference for the means of menu item selection was determined.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Pickard, Stanley R. (Stanley Ray)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
GIS in AP Human Geography: a Means of Developing Students’ Spatial Thinking? (open access)

GIS in AP Human Geography: a Means of Developing Students’ Spatial Thinking?

Geography education is undergoing change in K-12 education due in part to the introduction of geospatial technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS). Although active engagement in GIS mapping would seem to enhance students’ spatial thinking, little is known about the mapping strategies that students employ or about changes in their geographic knowledge that would result. This study, set in a high school Advanced Placement human geography class, sought to contribute to these areas of inquiry. Participants performed a web-based GIS task focused on global population and migration. Attention in the study was on (a) the strategies students employed when investigating geographic phenomena using GIS, (b) changes in their cognitive maps, as assessed through sketch maps, resulting from the activity, (c) the relationship between GIS maps and sketch maps, and (d) the ways in which a subset of students serving as case studies explained the nature of their mapping. The study employed screen-captures, video-recordings, observations, pre- and post-study sketch maps, and interviews. Analyses of the GIS process revealed that, in creating their maps, the students used a number of strategies, which included searching, layering, removing layers of data, adjusting transparency, editing, and noting. Although searching and layering were employed by all …
Date: May 2015
Creator: Webster, Megan L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Selected Factors on Nonpersistence of Nontraditional Students at a Comprehensive Community College (open access)

The Influence of Selected Factors on Nonpersistence of Nontraditional Students at a Comprehensive Community College

The purpose of the study was to determine the direct influences of selected environmental, academic, and background factors as well as academic outcomes and expression of intent to leave on persistence or non-persistence of nontraditional students at a comprehensive community college in the Dallas County Community College District. The study applied a conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Data for this study were collected during the Fall, 1987 semester from 312 first-year nontraditional students using the two-year institution questionnaires from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. In addition, follow-up surveys were administered to the 97 students who did not re—enroll for the Spring, 1988 semester. The data were analyzed using discriminant function, chi square, and product-moment correlation. For these nontraditional students, educational goal commitment, cumulative grade point average (GPA) and expression of intent to leave at the end of the semester had significant direct influence on persistence or non-persistence decisions. In contrast, environmental factors such as finances, employment status, and family responsibilities, and background factors such as high school academic performance, enrollment status and parents' education level did not directly influence dropout decisions. Nontraditional students reported receiving moderate to high levels of encouragement to remain in college …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Laman, Michael A. (Michael Alan)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Vocabulary Banks and Scripts on Native English-speaking Students’ Acquisition of Italian (open access)

A Comparison of Vocabulary Banks and Scripts on Native English-speaking Students’ Acquisition of Italian

The study applied behavior analytic principles to foreign language instruction in a college classroom. Two study methods, vocabulary banks and scripts, were compared by assessing the effects on Italian language acquisition, retention, and generalization. Results indicate that students without prior exposure to Italian engaged in more exchanges and emitted more words in script tests compared to vocabulary bank tests. Participants with at least two classes in Italian prior to the study engaged in more exchanges and emitted more words during vocabulary bank tests. Data suggest that different teaching strategies may work for different learners. More research is needed to determine efficient teaching methods and how to ascertain which approaches work best for learners with different histories.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Dean, Brittany L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Recall by University Bible Students After Discussion and After Self-Study (open access)

A Comparison of Recall by University Bible Students After Discussion and After Self-Study

Recall of expository prose after one of two learning techniques was determined. Pearson correlation did not discover a significant difference between the recall writings of the examinees who studied by discussion and those who studied by underlining. The significance of the difference between two proportions found that the group which underlined recalled significantly better than the group which discussed what they had read. This highly significant difference was almost identical when all synonyms from the Turbo Lightning computer program were considered correct recall and analyzed by the significance of the difference between two proportions.
Date: May 1987
Creator: Stovall, Johnny Harold
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Understanding the Motivation of Vietnamese International Students and Their Higher Education Experiences in the United States (open access)

Understanding the Motivation of Vietnamese International Students and Their Higher Education Experiences in the United States

This research describes what motivates Vietnamese students to come to the U.S. to study for a degree, what outcomes they expect, and what they experience academically and culturally while studying in the U.S. Currently the surge of international students from Vietnam has reached an all time high of 13,112 students to the U.S. This moves the relatively small South East Asian nation to the ranking of ninth among all nations for the number of international students sent to the U.S. in depth interviews were conducted fall semester 2011 with 11 students enrolled in two large public universities in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton Metro area. the participants were students from Vietnam holding J-1 or F-1 visas who were in their sophomore year or beyond. Interviews were conducted with these undergraduate and graduate students on the campus where each was enrolled. Interview transcripts were provided to participants for their review and comments. Ethnograph qualitative research software was used to analyze and code the data. These students reported that the increased number of students coming to study in the U.S. is because of the reputation of higher education in the U.S., relatives living in the U.S. who create a support system, and economic growth …
Date: May 2012
Creator: Miller, Randy Scott
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Vocabulary Instruction with Fourth Grade Students Participating in an Individualized Reading Program (open access)

A Study of Vocabulary Instruction with Fourth Grade Students Participating in an Individualized Reading Program

he purpose of this study was to determine the effects of one approach to vocabulary instruction on the reading and writing vocabulary of fourth grade students in an individualized reading program. The vocabulary instructional approach used student-selected vocabulary words as well as instruction in vocabulary strategies such as context clues, structural analysis, and definition strategies. The twelve week study exposed one fourth grade classroom to vocabulary instruction in a Reading Workshop setting. Major components of the program were mini-lessons, which often involved vocabulary strategies, the silent reading of self-selected books, one-on-one researcher/student interactions, and the self-selection of vocabulary words. The research design is descriptive in nature and used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative data included student interviews, teacher interviews, student writing samples, and field note observations. Quantitative data included vocabulary test scores from two groups of students, Group A and Group B. Group A participated in the self-selected vocabulary approach and received vocabulary instruction from the researcher acting as participant observer. Group B received some vocabulary instruction from their classroom teacher, but did not participate in the same program. The test was constructed weekly from a class (Group A) generated list of ten words. Results from vocabulary tests …
Date: May 2000
Creator: Pilgrim, Jodi L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Novice Special Education Teachers’ Preparation to Teach Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (open access)

A Study of Novice Special Education Teachers’ Preparation to Teach Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The purpose of this study is to identify novice teachers’ perception of their preparedness to teach a class designed for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after graduation from a traditional university-based special education program or from a special education alternative certification program. Teacher preparedness and the need for highly qualified teachers of students with ASD are relevant topics, as the prevalence rate of ASD continues to increase. This phenomenological qualitative study explores novice teachers’ perceptions of preparedness to teach students with ASD and their knowledge about teaching students with ASD. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with six novice special education teachers of students with ASD. Results indicated that novice teachers of students with ASD have knowledge of autism and evidence-based practices (EBP), which they ascertained primarily through experiences such as; working directly with students with ASD, however, preservice education programs provided the participants with cursory information related to knowledge of ASD and EBP.
Date: May 2014
Creator: Callaway, Stacey E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Student Belonging: A Critical Narrative Inquiry of Grenadian Secondary Students' Storied Experiences in Schooling

Including all students through the educative processes is instrumental to their success. Each student's journey through education is therefore impacted by the ways they are included in the classroom. As such, social inclusion, and academic inclusion underpinned by a general sense of belonging are key elements impacting students' successes in schooling. Both globally and nationally school systems face challenges in enacting policies, pedagogies, and practices to meet the needs of increasingly diverse student populations. Student voice which has historically been absent from the literature can be a valuable tool in accounting for the lived experiences of diverse students with or without a formal label of dis/ability. Student voice can (re)present a revelatory tool that can be acted upon in responding to these diverse needs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how secondary students in Grenada with or without a label of learning dis/ability but who are considered as part of responsive inclusive education, experience a sense of belonging through academic and social inclusion. This qualitative study using critical narrative inquiry pursued through semi-structured interviews with students, their teachers and parents revealed resonant threads of strained responsive education, childism and coloniality, the pedagogy of nice and an elusive …
Date: May 2022
Creator: Henry-Packer, Caroline Jacinta
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Leadership Styles that Contribute to African American Male Students' Discretionary Disciplinary Incidence Rates (open access)

Leadership Styles that Contribute to African American Male Students' Discretionary Disciplinary Incidence Rates

Factors that influence a school leader's disciplinary determination for student discretionary decisions are many times difficult to measure. The purpose of this study was to investigate leadership style factors that may be linked to contributable factors for African American male disciplinary incidents. The following leadership factors were examined: (a)self -awareness, (b) collaborative dialogue, (c) drive to achieve, (d) internalization of campus disciplinary vision, (e) building relationships, and (f) proactive decision making. This study focused on identifying various leadership styles of administrators that impact the disciplinary rates of African American males at each campus studied. Data for this explanatory sequential mixed methods research study included a survey, a focus group, and one-on-one semi structured interviews. Participants were campus administrators having more than one year of experience as a campus administrator and were completing at least one full year at their current campus site. The analysis of quantitative data collected from the survey of campus administrators' leadership emotional intelligence provided insight into the research questions. The qualitative findings revealed that for campus administrators in the selected urban north Texas school, their leadership style does not significantly contribute to African American male's discretionary disciplinary incident rates. However qualitative data revealed discrepancies in administrators' …
Date: May 2022
Creator: White, Samantha L
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects on the Use of Technology-Based Self-Monitoring for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis (open access)

Effects on the Use of Technology-Based Self-Monitoring for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Self-monitoring involves teaching students to be aware of their own behavior, and be able to record whether the behavior happened or not. The present study uses meta-analysis of single case design (SCD) studies to evaluate the effectiveness of self-monitoring interventions that use electronic devices during implementation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Eligible studies were accessed to determine design quality, and examine the use of self-monitoring for individuals diagnosed with ASD. Studies were evaluated against inclusion-exclusion criteria. The studies that met inclusion criteria (n = 15) were assessed with the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards for methodological rigor. The WWC standards were applied to baseline and intervention phases. There were a total of 12 studies with 32 students diagnosed with ASD that met SCD standards without, and with reservations. The 12 studies were evaluated using the Tau-U effect size metric to quantify the percentage of change that was attributed to the self-monitoring intervention. Overall, omnibus Tau-U was 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.89, 1.0]). Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Date: May 2019
Creator: Robertson, Ryan S
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Two Semester Life Science Syllabus for Use in Texas Public Schools with Seventh Grade Students (open access)

A Two Semester Life Science Syllabus for Use in Texas Public Schools with Seventh Grade Students

The problem of using a state adopted textbook written to apply to a large body of students with varying interests and needs was overcome by using a detailed syllabus that arranged course content in a meaningful sequence that appealed to student interest. The outlined syllabus prepared a two semester life science curriculum to be used by the teacher to guide lesson planning. Both semesters were divided into three units each. Materials included in the syllabus were given to actual student groups in real classroom settings. Since hands on learning was an important part of classroom instruction, two laboratory sections were included in the appendices to be used with the syllabus.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Edwards, Gail G. (Gail Graham)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library