This validation study examined the Triple E Rubric for Lesson Design as a measurement tool to test the effectiveness of a lesson when using technology to support learning goals. This study also measured the content and concurrent validity as well as reliability of the Triple E Rubric developed by Liz Kolb.

This study explores where African American college students find mental health support and why those supports are chosen. Greater knowledge of the sources of mental health support sought by African American college students can assist higher education institutions in adapting current services to meet the needs of this specific student population. A qualitative phenomenological approach was utilized, and the study's sample included twelve participants, 6 female and 6 male, from a large public four-year university in Texas. These participants, undergraduate students with ages ranging from 18 to 24, were given a survey and completed two semi-structured interviews throughout one semester. Results indicated that study participants were more likely to utilize informal than formal support for their mental health and many had no source of support. Family stigma, peer attitudes, as well as internal and external pressures all influenced participant's choices to seek support. Based on findings from the study, recommendations for two distinct groups, counseling center directors and higher education administrators, are also discussed.

There is a growing expectation that school librarians function within their job descriptions beyond the role of reading promoter and resource manager. With college and career readiness standards, technology use and digital learning standards and information literacy standards now in place for student learning expectations, it is vital that students have opportunities to acquire, develop and practice such skills for future success in the global market economy. For students to receive such opportunities, there should be designed instruction delivered to students that allows for them to learn and practice information gathering techniques to access, use and apply information effectively, efficiently and ethically while developing technology skills within context of their content learning and real-world connections authentically. This study examined how school librarians conveyed information gathering techniques to students through a qualitative, constant comparative approach. Five middle school librarians in an urban school district participated in an observation and interview. Findings suggest that school librarians do claim an instructional role regarding information gathering and technology usage, although it manifests in diverse ways. Implications for future studies and practice suggest that the position become more defined such that the expectation to function in these roles is widely accepted by all stakeholders, and …

This qualitative case study explored how school district and campus-level administrators coordinate resources and services for currently enrolled homeless students. Participants in this study included three district-level administrators designated as the homeless liaison and three campus principals. Data collected and analyzed included audio recordings of semi-structured interviews of each participant, documents at the district and campus-levels, school board meeting notes, and research field notes. The findings suggested that district and campus stakeholders embraced a shared vision of collaborative policy implementation to support the needs of students living in homelessness conditions. Findings also suggested that moral purpose is reflected through the intentional, collaborative efforts of district and campus administrators. Additionally, the findings suggested that social capital develops in the collaborative processes between district and campus leaders while they broker resources to foster developing social capital of this student population. Mobilization of resources through collaborative policy implementation can foster cohesion while supporting students and can counter the impact of living in homelessness conditions.

Previous studies highlighted the importance of parental support for development of mastery of control and depressive symptoms. These studies tended to examine one time wave and outcomes related to that period, forwarding an assumption parenting behaviours do not change as children age. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-Children and Young Adults, this study filled the gap by examining children's supportive environment at three time points and determining how levels of support across these points impacted children's depression and mastery at 18 years of age. Relative stability of mothers' supportive parenting (i.e., encouragement of social maturity, warmth and affection, and physical punishment) at early childhood, middle childhood, and early adolescence was examined by Kendall's tau correlations. Encouragement of social maturity showed relative stability between early and middle childhood and middle childhood and early adolescence; warmth and affection showed relative stability between early and middle childhood, and physical punishment showed relative stability across all time points. Absolute stability was examined using hierarchical linear modelling and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. No instances were found. Latent class growth analysis identified different trajectories of supportive environment among participants and three groups were identified. Multiple regressions conducted to examine how different trajectories affect late adolescents' …

A primary task of adolescence and young adulthood is to form and develop healthy romantic relationships. While the importance of sibling and romantic relationships have been examined separately, only recently have researchers begun to explore links between the two. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the connection between romantic competence and sibling relationships, especially sibling warmth and sibling conflict, as well as the role of sibling gender constellation in college-aged young adults. This study aimed to examine (a) whether there is an association between sibling relationship quality, such as sibling warmth and sibling conflict, and perceived romantic competence, and (b) the role of sibling gender constellation on the relationship between sibling relationship quality (sibling warmth and sibling conflict) and perceived romantic competence among undergraduate students. Correlation analyses indicated there was no statistically significant correlation between sibling warmth and perceived romantic competence (p > .05), whereas sibling conflict was statistically negative correlated with perceived romantic competence (p < .01). While sibling gender constellation did not have an interaction effect with sibling conflict on perceived romantic competence, which means sibling gender constellation did not have a moderating effect on the relationship between sibling conflict and perceived romantic competence. Limitations …

Modern cities are undergoing rapid expansion. The number of connected devices in the networks in and around these cities is increasing every day and will exponentially increase in the next few years. At home, the number of connected devices is also increasing with the introduction of home automation appliances and applications. Many of these appliances are becoming smart devices which can track our daily routines. It is imperative that all these devices should be secure. When cryptographic keys used for encryption and decryption are stored on memory present on these devices, they can be retrieved by attackers or adversaries to gain control of the system. For this purpose, Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) were proposed to generate the keys required for encryption and decryption of the data or the communication channel, as required by the application. PUF modules take advantage of the manufacturing variations that are introduced in the Integrated Circuits (ICs) during the fabrication process. These are used to generate the cryptographic keys which reduces the use of a separate memory module to store the encryption and decryption keys. A PUF module can also be recon gurable such that the number of input output pairs or Challenge Response Pairs (CRPs) …

Although trans* students often face greater levels of discrimination, harassment, and hostility on college campuses than their cisgender peers, research indicated that they can succeed by developing and honing survival strategies, such as resilience and being part of a trans* kinship network that resists trans* oppression. Having the support of family, and by taking the risk to cultivate relationships while in college also improves the likelihood of persistence through college. The term trans* is used in this study as an inclusionary term for transgender persons and other gender nonbinary identities. The purpose of this research study was to explore the experiences that trans* students have while being in college. Utilizing a phenomenological approach and the theoretical lens of feminist and queer theories, semi-structured interviews were conducted to better understand the lived experiences of trans* college students. Four Caucasian trans* undergraduate students, ranging in age from 19 to 25 were each interviewed five times. Twenty total interviews over a period of three months provided in-depth data. Five primary themes emerged that were common among the participants: exploration, experimentation, and self-discovery; living as a trans* person in college: developing survival strategies; cultivating relationships and seeking acceptance; race and gender privilege/power; and generational …

In this dissertation, we present a number of studies that primarily focus on data movement challenges among different types of memories (viz., 3D-DRAM, DDRx DRAM and NVM) employed together as a flat-address heterogeneous memory system. We introduce two different hardware-based techniques for prefetching data from slow off-chip phase change memory (PCM) to fast on-chip memories. The prefetching techniques efficiently fetch data from PCM and place that data into processor-resident or 3D-DRAM-resident buffers without putting high demand on bandwidth and provide significant performance improvements. Next, we explore different page migration techniques for flat-address memory systems which differ in when to migrate pages (i.e., periodically or instantaneously) and how to manage the migrations (i.e., OS-based or hardware-based approach). In the first page migration study, we present several epoch-based page migration policies for different organizations of flat-address memories consisting of two (2-level) and three (3-level) types of memory modules. These policies have resulted in significant energy savings. In the next page migration study, we devise an efficient "on-the-fly'" page migration technique which migrates a page from slow PCM to fast 3D-DRAM whenever it receives a certain number of memory accesses without waiting for any specific time interval. Furthermore, we present a light-weight hardware-assisted …

Styrene production by a (FlDAB)PdII(TFA)(η2-C2H4) complex was modeled using density functional theory (DFT). Benzene C-H activation by this complex was studied via five mechanisms: oxidative addition/reductive elimination, sigma-bond metathesis, concerted metalation deprotonation (CMD), CMD activation of ethylene, and benzene substitution of ethylene followed by CMD of the ligated benzene. Calculations provided evidence that conversion of benzene and ethylene to styrene was initiated by the fifth pathway, arylation via CMD of coordinated benzene, followed by ethylene insertion into the Ru-Ph bond, and then β-hydrogen elimination. Also, monomer (active species)/dimer equilibrium concentrations were analyzed. The results obtained from present study were compared with that of a recently reported RhI complex to help identify more suitable catalysts for the direct production of styrene from ethylene and benzene. Second, theoretical studies of heterobimetallic {Ag–Fe(CO)5}+ fragments were performed in conjunction with experiments. The computational models suggested that for this first example of a heterodinuclear, metal-only FeAg Lewis pair (MOLP) that Fe(CO)5 acts as a Lewis base and AgI as a Lewis acid. The ῡCO bands of the studied molecules showed a blue shift relative to those measured for free Fe(CO)5, which indicated a reduction in Fe→CO backbonding upon coordination to silver(I). Electrostatic interaction is predicted …

The role of the principal has become increasingly complex and challenging. Recent emphasis has been placed on the role of principals as leaders who can build a culture of learning in schools to close the student achievement gap. Outside factors such as fast-growth in Texas have caused schools to change and grow quickly, which increases the learning demands placed on principals as they seek to develop the knowledge and skills needed for effective leadership. Developing and sustaining a professional learning community is a powerful strategy that has been found to improve teaching and learning, however developing professional learning communities requires skilled leadership. Limited research exists regarding how principals learn to implement and sustain professional learning communities within fast-growth districts, therefore, with this phenomenological qualitative research, I explored the lived experiences of seven principals within one fast-growth district in Texas to explore how they learned to develop and sustain a professional learning community.

In rural, low socioeconomic public schools, the diversity of the student population challenges teachers beyond their means to meet the wide-ranging needs of students, and therefore creating opportunity gaps. The purpose of this study was to explore one district's leadership support of teachers to create an equitable learning environment for all students. The present study built on existing literature by discovering leadership practices and perceived necessary supports for closing achievement gaps in K-12 classrooms. Through interviews with district and school administrators, classroom teachers, and observations of leadership meetings, the research for this case study included data collection and analysis. From the interview questions and observations, six themes emerged. The themes revealed from the data collected and analysis for this qualitative study aligned with the components of the conceptual framework, a sequence of initiative requirements for equitable learning environments. Developing a sequence of initiatives among all levels of educators could benefit sustainment of an equitable learning environment in Rural ISD. Recommended for further research is professional development to both leadership and teachers about professional learning communities (PLCs). In addition, study of parent education programs and how relationships achieve more parental involvement requires further research. A final recommendation for collegiate education preparation …

Pierre-Philippe Bauzin (1933-2005) was a skilled keyboard performer, improviser, and composer. By way of his close personal friendship with renowned saxophonist Jean-Marie Londeix, Bauzin began dedicating, composing, and often times performing music for saxophone with Londeix, beginning in 1959. The results of this friendship produced eleven original works for saxophone with diverse instrumentation, ranging from solo compositions to large ensembles. Due to Bauzin's preference for improvising the piano accompaniments of his music on each performance, however, a majority of his compositions were thought to be incomplete or lost. This study surveys Bauzin's complete opus for saxophone by way of both his published works, and the author's rediscovery of the manuscripts to these previously assumed lost compositions for saxophone. The pieces studied are Sonata no. 1 (1959), Poème (1960), Cinq Pièces Breves en Forme de Musique (1960), Esquisses (1967), Divertimento (1968), and Quatuor no. 1 (1962). In addition, chapter 8 provides information regarding other compositions for saxophone by Bauzin that did not survive in their completed form. The survey of each work contains information pertaining to creation, performances of significance in saxophone history, and compositional techniques present within each work that can be used to identify the components of Bauzin's unique …

Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920) is considered to be the father of the Brazilian art song. With a total of seventy songs, Nepomuceno revolutionized and established a new path to the Brazilian art song. His songs were innovative because they: (1) incorporated folk elements in his songs, (2) introduced Portuguese as a language acceptable in bel canto style and (3) established Brazilian songs in the tradition of the European vanguard. His approach influenced several composers including his young student Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), one of the most significant Latin American composers. The purpose of this research is to inform singers and teachers about one of Brazil's most significant art song composers, and to provide the necessary tools--Brazilian Portuguese diction guide, IPA and poem translations of the selected songs--for effective and accurate performances and interpretations.

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977) was a Russian-born American composer, his musical style represents the modern and diverse features of much twentieth-century piano music. The purpose of this research is to conduct a comprehensive pedagogical analysis of Alexander Tcherepnin's Bagatelles, Op. 5 with the goal of introducing contemporary characteristics in twentieth-century piano music for the late-intermediate student. Chapter 2 contains overall biographical information regarding Alexander Tcherepnin and a discussion of the general compositional style of his piano works. Chapter 3 analyzes the Bagatelles, Op. 5 from the perspective of musical challenges concerning the contemporary characteristics, including contemporary harmony: interval of seconds, non-tertian chords, special use of the seventh chords, and ninth chords; contemporary rhythm and meter: shifted accents, asymmetric meter, meter change, and ostinato; modal melodic resources and tonalities; and other special tonalities. Chapter 4 has suggestions on fingering, pedaling, articulation, tone, dynamics and phrasing, and practicing procedures for individual technical difficulties. Studying the Bagatelles, Op. 5 provides a transition for the student from learning standard repertoire of the eighteenth and the nineteenth century, to contemporary repertoire through the combination of Russian compositional traditions with twentieth century repertory.

Franz Liszt's Faust Symphony has suffered neglect since its premiere in 1857. The analysis in this study aims to clarify some of the misunderstandings which have led to this neglect, particularly concerning Liszt's formal structure and character portrayal. In the Faust movement, the flat 6th scale degree (♭6) plays a prominent role in harmonic organization. Nineteenth-century composers sometimes used the distinct sonic color of chromatic-third progressions, as Liszt does here between C and E rather than diatonic movement by fifth to evoke a distant dream-world state. Liszt's conspicuous and form-defining use of ♭6 in the Faust movement suggests fantasy and mysterious elements ripe for programmatic interpretation. In this dissertation, I will attempt to clarify how Liszt portrayed the character of Faust by using the flat 6th scale degree as a crucial harmonic organizing principle in the Faust movement.

This dissertation examines the work of German composer and vocal pedagogue Nina d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner through her collection of songs entitled "Deutsche, Italienische und Französische Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte," published in 1797. A brief overview of the life and works of Ms. d'Aubigny is provided, followed by a discussion about the "woman question" as it relates to Ms. d'Aubigny's works. The second part of this project includes a new, modern performance edition of the collection of songs, complete with general editorial guidelines, notes and translations, and a critical report detailing all deviations from the original 1797 edition.

María Grever (1885-1951) overcame racism and gender bias during a pivotal era in American music history to become the first commercially successful Mexican female composer and more specifically, a pioneer of popular music during the first half of the 20th century. Though named the "Madonna of song," her legacy is largely overshadowed by other compositional giants of the era, such as the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Grever's music is sophisticated, heartfelt, and worthy of attention. Her colorful, genuine music adds distinctiveness and variety to recital programs. Grever's songs offer a high level of musical integrity and socio-cultural value. Incorporating her compositions into a singer's vocal repertoire is an excellent way to broaden the scope of styles and languages while maintaining the highest standards of musical study. The following document considers the importance of performing and studying Grever's music by analyzing nine songs representing three compositional periods. I evaluated the songs considering pedagogical benefit, performance value, and significance to her overall oeuvre.

Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony seems to belie traditional notions of symphonic unity in that it progresses from E minor in the first movement to C major in the Finale. The repertoire of eighteenth and nineteenth century composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms indicates that tonal holism is a significant factor for the symphonic genre. In order to reconcile Mahler's adventurous key scheme, this dissertation explores a multidimensional harmonic model that expands upon other concepts like Robert Bailey's double-tonic complex and transformation theory. A multidimensional musical object is a nexus of several interconnected chords that occupy the same functional space (tonic, dominant, or subdominant) and can be integrated into a Schenkerian reading. Mahler's Seventh is governed by a three-dimensional tonic object that encompasses the major and minor versions of C, E, and A-flat and the augmented triad that is formed between them. The nature of this multidimensional harmony allows unusual formal procedures to unfold, most notably in the first movement's sonata form. To navigate this particular sonata design, I have incorporated my own analytical terminology, the identity narrative, to track the background harmonic events. The location of these events (identity schism, identity crisis, and identity reclamation) is critical to the …

This research of distance learning in singing study provides some historical framework of long-distance singing study, including research on three former distance singing courses, which exemplify the "best practices" of their time: Siegel-Myers Correspondence School of Music, the Perfect Voice Institute, and the Hermann Klein Phono-Vocal Method: Based Upon the Famous School of Manuel Garcia. I also discuss current trends in long-distance singing study, including interviews and insights from current long-distance singing teachers using cutting edge technology in their virtual studios. Lastly, I make predictions and projections, based on analyses of past "best practices," where this information may have impact upon future methods of distance singing lessons, including conceivable distance singing course components of online degree programs offered at universities.

Eak Tai Ahn is not only the first generation of Korean musicians, composers and conductors to have studied Western music and given successful musical performances in Western countries, but also is among the first to introduce the music of Korea to the West utilizing the Western music system. Korea Fantasy is an important work that helped Ahn win international acclaim. Korea Fantasy is an orchestral piece that evolved along with Ahn's unique life experiences shaped by the state of his native country. The piece is programmatic, depicting the history of Korea, which utilizes musical devices, such as rhythms and quotation that are distinctive musical elements of Korea. This document discusses the political and social history of Korea during Ahn's life time, offers an overview of Ahn's education and musical footsteps, and describes the premiere and reception of Korea Fantasy. Moreover, a discussion of his compositional traits and a musical analysis of Korea Fantasy are presented.

Johannes Möller's 2014 composition Shenandoah Fantasy for Two Guitars, is a theme and variations on the American folksong Oh Shenandoah and is the composer's only work dedicated to American music. An informed performance of this work requires biographical information. Since no scholarly work on this composer is currently available, this paper includes Möller's biographical information, compositional background and performance suggestions. This information was acquired through a recorded video interview with the composer that covered his early education as a guitarist and composer, his formal conservatory training, career accomplishments, influences that informed the piece, and suggestions for performance practice. The insight gained through this interview reveals its main influences as the Romantic Fantasy, American Minimalism, Keith Jarret's harmonization of Oh Shenandoah, American country and bluegrass music, and the sounds of American folk instruments. These are the subjects of the body of this paper. In addition to an overview of some scholarly writing on the styles which influence the piece, some solutions are offered at the end of the paper to aid in the performance of difficult passages. The intent of these solutions is to make the piece easier for the left and right hand, without sacrificing those musical elements that represent …

The purpose of this document is to examine the effects of learning music similarly to the way humans learn language to answer the following questions: (1) what are the correlations between language learning and music learning? and (2) how can the ideals of language learning be used to maximize the effectiveness of the music learning process? To achieve this, the stages of language acquisition is examined alongside Edwin Gordon's skill learning sequence to draw comparisons between the music and language learning processes. Examined materials include common beginning band method books and trumpet-specific materials. Common problems public school educators face, as well as solutions to those difficulties are addressed. The solutions are concepts inspired by the language learning process that can be utilized to maximize the learning at both the beginning and advanced stages of learning. A beginner level piece ("Lyra" from Trumpet Stars by H.A. Vandercook) and an advanced level piece ("Danse" from Incantation, Threne, and Danse by Alfred Desenclos) are examined thouroughly with these ideals in mind. In order to maximize results of the music learning process, incorporation of language acquisition ideals is necessary not only at the beginning of one's musical journey, but also into the later years …

The purpose of this study is to provide a historiographical and musical analysis examining the jazz ride cymbal pattern, from its inception on woodblock, small accessory cymbals, hand cymbal mechanisms and brushes through what becomes known as the modern-day ride cymbal pattern. This research examines a wide array of drummers and bandleaders, with the objective of identifying the earliest recordings of this important addition to jazz drumming, and popular music history while analyzing the ride cymbal pattern's evolution through definitive recordings. The study begins with the earliest known recordings that clearly display the pattern as it is played on any of the instruments mentioned above. The research concludes with the jam sessions of the early 1940s at Minton's Playhouse, where the pioneer of bebop drumming, Kenny Clarke, experimented with altering the pattern. At this point, the pattern reach its final level of maturity and has since experienced no subsequent major modification. The historical and geographical analysis uses relevant literature from the field of jazz history in order to interpret and evaluate the impact of the the overall trajectory of the music and players. By surveying newspaper and magazine articles, archival interviews, and photographic sources, combined with audio and film analysis, …