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Doctoral Recital: 2017-01-26 – Brittney Balkcom, flute

Doctoral recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: January 26, 2017
Creator: Balkcom, Brittney
Object Type: Video
System: The UNT Digital Library
Integrative Technology-Enhanced Physical Education: An Exploratory Study with Elementary School Students (open access)

Integrative Technology-Enhanced Physical Education: An Exploratory Study with Elementary School Students

Wearable technology has made a positive impact in the consumer industry with its focus on adult fitness. Devices and applications are pervasive, inexpensive and are in high demand. Our nation struggles with obesity and health concerns related to poor fitness. However, the research on such technology has been more focused on adults. Therefore, the need to investigate wearable technology for fitness improvement with children is essential. Children lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles through TV watching, technology-use and a reduction in physical activities. Further, our society is exposed to quick food loaded with calories. These factors contribute to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. The need to educate students early, on their ability to monitor their fitness, is the focus of this research. This dissertation investigated the impact of an integrated technology-enhanced physical education model with 127 fifth grade students over an 11-week period. A detailed analysis, looking at theoretical perspectives across multiple data collections was conducted. This study answered the questions, 1. To what extent can students improve their performance with technology-enhanced physical education? 2. To what extent can students learn to self-monitor their performance levels? How do affective components impact teaching and learning with a technology-enhanced physical education model? Results …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Barbee, Stephanie S.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with Latina/o Children Exhibiting School Behavior Problems: Comparative Effects of Delivery by Spanish-Speaking and English-Speaking Counselors (open access)

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with Latina/o Children Exhibiting School Behavior Problems: Comparative Effects of Delivery by Spanish-Speaking and English-Speaking Counselors

The shortage of bilingual counselors is one barrier to young Latina/o children receiving mental health services. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a developmentally responsive intervention based on the premise that play is children's natural means of communication across cultures. This randomized controlled study examined the effects of CCPT with young Spanish-speaking Latina/o children exhibiting clinical levels of school behavior problems. Participants were 57 pre-K to kindergarten Latina/o children (72% male; mean age = 4.0) randomly assigned to three treatment groups: CCPT with Spanish-speaking, bilingual counselors; CCPT with English-speaking, monolingual counselors; or active control (bilingual mentoring). Monolingual counselors participated in cultural competency training and supervision with bilingual counselors and supervisors. According to independent observers and teachers blinded to children's group assignment, both the bilingual CCPT group and the monolingual CCPT group demonstrated moderate treatment effects over bilingual mentoring, yet between-group differences were not statistically significant. Analysis of within-group change over time indicated that children in both CCPT interventions demonstrated statistically significant improvement, while the mentoring group did not. The percentage of children in each treatment group who improved from clinical to normal behavioral functioning suggests the clinical significance of the findings: 80% bilingual CCPT, 70% monolingual CCPT, 15% bilingual mentoring. Overall, …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Barcenas Jaimez, Gustavo
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Practicing Relevance: The Origins, Practices, and Future of Applied Philosophy (open access)

Practicing Relevance: The Origins, Practices, and Future of Applied Philosophy

This dissertation takes up the question of the social function of philosophy. Popular accounts of the nature and value of philosophy reinforce long-standing perceptions that philosophy is useless or irrelevant to pressing societal problems. Yet, the increasingly neoliberal political-economic environment of higher education places a premium on mechanisms that link public funding for research to demonstrations of return on investment in the form of benefitting broader society. This institutional situation presents a philosophical problem warranting professional attention. This project offers a diagnosis of the problem and develops a way forward from it. Drawing from Foucauldian archaeological methods, my analysis focuses on the interplay of institutional structures and intellectual practices. Since the early 20th century, departments of philosophy on college and university campuses have been the center of gravity for professional philosophy in the US. Establishing this institutional ‘home' for philosophers drove the adoption of disciplinary practices, norms, and standards for inquiry. But the metaphilosophical assumptions underpinning disciplinarity have become problematic, I argue: they are poor guides for navigating the situation of higher education in the 21st century. Several movements within the profession of philosophy during the 1960s and 70s sought to reverse philosophers' general retreat from public affairs. Applied philosophy, …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Barr, Kelli Ray
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
How Does It Feel to be Creative? A Phenomenological Investigation of the Creative Experience in Kinetic Places (open access)

How Does It Feel to be Creative? A Phenomenological Investigation of the Creative Experience in Kinetic Places

How does it feel to be creative? Such a question, when approached from a phenomenological perspective, reveals new understandings about the embodied experience of creativity, and how it feels as it is being lived. This investigation begins with a provocative contrast of two environments where creativity is thought to manifest itself: school art classrooms, where creativity is often legislated from an authority figure, and New Orleans Second Line parades, where creativity is organically and kinetically expressed. A thorough review of the literature on creativity focuses on education, arts education, creative economies, psychology, and critical theorists, collectively revealing a cognitive bias and striking lack of consideration for community, freedom, and the lived experience of being creative. Further discussions in the literature also neglect sites of creativity, and the impact that place (such as a school classroom) can have upon creativity. The phenomenological perspectives of Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Bachelard, and Trigg support a methodological lens to grasp embodied knowledge, perceptions of placedness on creativity, and the interdependent frictions between freedom, authenticity, movement and belonging. The research method includes investigations in New Orleans in archives, examination of visual and material culture, participation in cultural practice, and formal and informal interviews. Further, the phenomena of …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Bartholomee, Lucy
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Student-Created Question Process on Learning Biomedical Statistics in a Specialized Master's in Medical Sciences (open access)

Effects of Student-Created Question Process on Learning Biomedical Statistics in a Specialized Master's in Medical Sciences

This study explored the effectiveness of a student question creation process engaging students actively in self, peer, and instructor interaction in development of affective, cognitive, and meta-cognitive skills. Employing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design assigning both treatment and control activities sequentially in an alternating pattern over a six week period, students' performance on exams as well as their perceptions of various aspects of the student question creation process were used to evaluate the effectiveness of student-created questions (SCQs) activities as a cognitive strategy and to identify factors contributing to the effectiveness of question creation activities on students' learning. Subjects of this study were high performing and highly motivated graduate students in an 8-week online biomedical statistics course, part of a specialized master's program designed for medical school preparation. Survey findings and focus groups strongly supported the student question creation process as a facilitator of higher order thinking. However, the relatively short study duration, comparison of student question creation with another competing method for facilitating learning (discussion board) and not a pure control group, and availability of a common study guide course with student-created questions on all course topics may have muted assessment of the full impact of the strategy on …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bashet, AbuZafar (AZ) M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Postmodern Multiplicities in Three Original Works (open access)

Postmodern Multiplicities in Three Original Works

My recent compositions are situated within a postmodern theoretical framework. The heterogeneity of materials and hybridity of musical formation in these works are interpreted and contextualized within a personal reading of postmodern theories. The critical essay traces my aesthetics through a historical investigation into the definition of musical postmodernism. Through extensive citation and analysis of the writings of Julius T. Fraser, Italo Calvino, and Richard Rorty, the essay aims to provide a theoretical context for the interpretation of the musical examples. The creative documentation contains three newly-composed musical works: Piano Trio from Opus 3/c, Opus 6 for Violin, and Opus 7 for Piccolo. The works' postmodern features include creative approaches to the fragmentation of musical time into separate levels, historical allusions, and the exploration of multiplicity.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Bejo, Ermir
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship between the Advanced Placement Calculus AB Exam and Student Achievement in College Level Math 1710-Calculus I (open access)

The Relationship between the Advanced Placement Calculus AB Exam and Student Achievement in College Level Math 1710-Calculus I

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between the Advanced Placement Calculus AB exam and student achievement in college level Math 1710-Calculus I. The review of literature shows that this possible relationship is based on Alexander Astin's longitudinal input-environment-outcome (I-E-O) model. The I-E-O model was used to analyze the relationship between the input and outcome of the two variables. In addition, this quantitative study determined the relationship between a score of 3 or lower on the Advanced Placement Calculus AB exam and student achievement in college level Math 1710-Calculus I. The sample population of this study contained 91 students from various high schools in Texas. Spearman's rank correlation revealed there was a statistically significant relationship between Advanced Placement Calculus AB exam scores and final grades in Math 1710-Calculus I.
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bethley, Troy Y.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Phenomenological Exploration of Counselors' Experiences in Personal Therapy (open access)

A Phenomenological Exploration of Counselors' Experiences in Personal Therapy

Professional counselors may choose to increase self-awareness and/or engage in self-care through the use of personal therapy. In particular, counselors may feel reluctant to pursue personal therapy due to stigma related to their professional identity. To date, researchers have paid limited attention to the unique concerns of counselors in personal therapy. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore counselors' experiences and decision-making in seeking personal therapy. I addressed the following questions: What contributes to counselors' decision to seek personal therapy? How do counselors make meaning of their experiences in utilizing personal therapy? Participants included 13 licensed professional counselors who had attended personal therapy with a licensed mental health professional in the past three years. I identified six emergent themes through adapted classic phenomenological analysis: presenting concerns, therapist attributes, intrapersonal growth, interpersonal growth, therapeutic factors, and challenges. Participants reported positive changes in personality and relationships, as well as several barriers specifically related to their counselor identity. Findings inform mental health professionals and the field of counselor education and supervision about the personal and professional needs of counselors. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bevly, Cynthia M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Doctoral Lecture Recital: 2017-02-27 – Justin Binek, voice transcript

Doctoral Lecture Recital: 2017-02-27 – Justin Binek, voice

Lecture recital presented at the UNT College of Music Kenton Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: February 27, 2017
Creator: Binek, Justin
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52 (open access)

The Evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's Syllabic Choices in Scat Singing: A Critical Analysis of Her Decca Recordings, 1943-52

This study examines the evolution of Ella Fitzgerald's scat syllable vocabulary during a key developmental period in her career when she was recording for Decca Records. Between 1943 and 1952, Fitzgerald established the syllabic vocabulary that would serve as a defining characteristic of her improvisational style for the rest of her career. Fitzgerald is commonly praised as the greatest vocal improviser in jazz history, but while much has been written about Fitzgerald's melodic and harmonic approach to jazz improvisation, little has been written about her syllabic approach. Timbre and articulation are considered to be vital elements of any jazz musician's style; the study examines the changes in Ella Fitzgerald's syllabic approach through transcription and analyses of thirteen scat solos recorded during this time period, using scat syllable choices to discuss timbre and articulation. This analysis provides a model for further research of its kind, as well as informing historically accurate performance practice by both teachers and students of jazz singing.
Date: May 2017
Creator: Binek, Justin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Potential of Misdiagnosis of High IQ Youth by Practicing Mental Health Professionals: A Mixed Methods Study (open access)

The Potential of Misdiagnosis of High IQ Youth by Practicing Mental Health Professionals: A Mixed Methods Study

The difficulty of distinguishing between genuine disorder and characteristics that can be attributed to high IQ increases the likelihood of diagnostic error by mental health practitioners. This mixed methods study explores the possibility of misdiagnosis of high IQ youth by mental health professionals. Participants were private practice mental health professionals who read case study vignettes illustrating high IQ youth exhibiting characteristics associated with their population. Participants then completed a survey and provided an assessment of the hypothetical client. In the study, 59% of participants were unable to recognize behavioral characteristics associated with high IQ youth unless suggested to them, and 95% of participants were unable to recognize emotional characteristics associated with high IQ youth unless suggested. The results of this study provide much-needed empirical exploration of the concern for misdiagnosis of high IQ youth and inform clinical practice and education.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Bishop, James
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Examination of a Bi-Directional Relationship between Urgency and Alcohol Use (open access)

Examination of a Bi-Directional Relationship between Urgency and Alcohol Use

The proposed study examined whether negative urgency and positive urgency are dynamic traits that hold bi-directional relationships with binge and prolonged alcohol use across time. Individuals between the ages of 18-30 were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; n = 179) and university student (n = 66) pools. Participants completed three batteries of self-report assessments approximately 30 days apart, each containing measures assessing negative and positive urgency, as well as drinking frequency and binge behavior during the prior month. Latent variable cross-lagged panel models examined the effects of alcohol use from the previous month on negative and positive urgency while controlling for concurrent and autoregressive effects. Results of the current study indicated that for the full sample, there was not an effect for the influence of binge/prolonged drinking on either negative or positive urgency during the subsequent month. However, when examined separately by sample (Turkers vs. university) and gender (male vs. female), significant effects were found more for individuals who were Turkers, male, and/or heavy drinkers, suggesting that increases in positive and negative urgency at Time 2 could be partially explained by variance in drinking patterns at Time 1 for these individuals. However, these relationships were not replicated again between …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Blackledge, Sabrina M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Instructional Expenditures on College Readiness (open access)

The Effect of Instructional Expenditures on College Readiness

With limited state and local funds as well as a growing student population, how elected decision makers allocate money to impact college readiness needs to be explored. The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of instructional expenditures on educational outcomes. This multivariate multiple regression study specifically explored the impact of instructional expenditure ratios and per pupil instructional expenditures of every public school district in Texas on student performance college readiness indicators measured by state assessments (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness [STAAR] Mathematics and English Language Arts [ELA] test scores) and national assessments (American College Test [ACT] and Scholastic Assessment Test [SAT] scores) over a 5-year period. Fifteen different regression models were established with various significant predictors of expenditures and revenue funds. These models explained up to 46% of the variance for college readiness scores over the 5-year period.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Blair, Cody
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Catastrophe in Permanence: Benjamin's Natural History of Environmental Crisis (open access)

Catastrophe in Permanence: Benjamin's Natural History of Environmental Crisis

Walter Benjamin warned in 1940 of a certain inconspicuous threat to political thinking, not least of all to materialism, that takes progress as an historical norm. Implicit in this conception is what he describes as an empty continuum of time along which the prevailing tradition chronicles its own mythic development and drains everyday life of genuine historical experience. The myth of progressive history advances insidiously today in consumeristic and technocratic attempts at reconciling cultural imagery with organic nature. In this dissertation, I pursue the contradictions of such images as they crystallize around the natural history of twenty-first century commodity society, where promises of ecological remediation, sustainable urban development, and climate change mitigation have yet to introduce a true crisis of historical experience to the ongoing environmental crisis of capitalism. A more radical way of seeing the cultural representation of nature would, I argue, penetrate its mythic determination by market forces and bear witness to the natural-historical ruins and traces that constitute, in Benjamin's terms, a single "catastrophe" where others perceive historical continuity. I argue that Benjamin's critique of progress is instructive to interpreting those utopian dreams, ablaze in consumer life and technological fantasy, that recent decades of growing environmental concern …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bower, Matthew S.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
College Readiness and Dual Credit Participation of Alternative High School Students (open access)

College Readiness and Dual Credit Participation of Alternative High School Students

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which alternative schools add value to the college readiness of their students, as well as to measure the capacity of alternative school students to successfully complete dual credit courses while enrolled at the alternative school. This mixed methods study utilized an exploratory approach with a descriptive research design to explore the extent to which alternative schools produce college-ready students. The Texas Success Initiative Assessment was used to measure participants' academic readiness levels in mathematics, reading, and writing. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to provide their own perspectives on their college readiness levels through a student survey and semi-structured face-to-face interview. The results of this study reveal that the college readiness levels of alternative high school students varied across academic areas. Of the tested participants, 41.1% were college ready in reading, 52.1% in writing, and 16.7% in mathematics. Additionally, the findings reveal that dual credit course participation was not a viable option because of course prerequisites and the amount of time needed to complete dual credit courses. Results of this study expand on the literature to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of alternative school programs, the college readiness …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Bradley, Jeffrey James
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2017-03-26 – Karen Bronson, clarinet

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: March 26, 2017
Creator: Bronson, Karen
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2017-04-09 – Donald Bruce, euphonium

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: April 9, 2017
Creator: Bruce, Donald
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Phenomenological Study of Gay and Lesbian College Students' Spiritual Experiences at Religious Higher Education Institutions (open access)

A Phenomenological Study of Gay and Lesbian College Students' Spiritual Experiences at Religious Higher Education Institutions

Despite recent scholarly interest in college students' spirituality and spiritual development, as well as research indicating that students are interested in spirituality and have a strong desire to integrate spirituality into their lives, few researchers have addressed the spiritual experiences of gay and lesbian college students. Utilizing a phenomenological qualitative approach, I explored the spiritual experiences of nine gay and lesbian college students at two religiously affiliated universities in the southwest region of the United States. The ages of the participants ranged from 19 to 23, with a mean of 21. There were five female, three male, and one gender queer participants. Seven participants identified as white, while the other two participants identified as Hispanic. I identified three major themes related to their lived experience of spirituality: (1) spiritual quest characterized by struggle and pain, (2) finding reconciliation and acceptance, and (3) the importance of support from the university, student groups, friends, and family. Implications for practice included the importance of establishing an official recognized student organization to support gay and lesbian students, creating spaces for personal reflection, meditation, prayer, and solitude as well as safe spaces, the need for educational and outreach programs for faculty, staff, and students, and …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bryan, Vanessa Roberts
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Ensemble: 2017-02-23 – A Cappella Choir

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Choral music concert performed at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall, and Recital presented in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: February 23, 2017
Creator: Burrows, Gideon
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
Validation of an Observation and Evaluation Instrument for the Supervision of Middle and Secondary Pre-Service Teachers (open access)

Validation of an Observation and Evaluation Instrument for the Supervision of Middle and Secondary Pre-Service Teachers

The purpose of the study was to determine the validity and reliability of a revised observation and evaluation instrument of middle and secondary pre-service clinical teaching to be used as part of the clinical supervision cycle and for formative purposes. The North Texas Appraisal of Classroom Teaching (NTACT) serves as a performance assessment tool utilized by a south-central university-based educator preparation program for the evaluation and supervision of pre-service teachers during their last semester of their program. The researcher piloted and field-tested a redesigned observation and evaluation instrument (NTACT-V2) on observer participants with varying educational experiences in the south-central region. To accumulate evidence of validity and reliability, this study employed methods of factor analysis and generalizability study for developing a valid and reliable instrument to guide the refinement process of the NTACT observation and evaluation instrument. Some of the significant conclusions reached in this study were (a) the NTACT-V2 is a practical, user-friendly classroom observation and evaluation instrument; (b) the instrument refined and developed in this study exhibits appropriate content, face, and criterion validity as determined by a panel of experts and an extensive review of the literature; and, (c) a variety of observers can use the evaluation instrument with …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bush, Brandon (Brandon Lee)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nonlinear Light Generation from Optical Cavities and Antennae (open access)

Nonlinear Light Generation from Optical Cavities and Antennae

Semiconductor based micro- and nano-structures grown in a systematic and controlled way using selective area growth are emerging as a promising route toward devices for integrated optical circuitry in optoelectronics and photonics field. This dissertation focuses on the experimental investigation of the nonlinear optical effects in selectively grown gallium nitride micro-pyramids that act as optical cavities, zinc oxide submicron rods and indium gallium nitride multiple quantum well core shell submicron tubes on the apex of GaN micro pyramids that act as optical antennae. Localized spatial excitation of these low dimensional semiconductor structures was optimized for nonlinear optical light (NLO) generation due to second harmonic generation (SHG) and multi-photon luminescence (MPL). The evolution of both processes are mapped along the symmetric axis of the individual structures for multiple fundamental input frequencies of light. Effects such as cavity formation of generated light, electron-hole plasma generation and coherent emission are observed. The efficiency and tunability of the frequency conversion that can be achieved in the individual structures of various geometries are estimated. By controlling the local excitation cross-section within the structures along with modulation of optical excitation intensity, the nonlinear optical process generated in these structures can be manipulated to generate coherent light …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Butler, Sween J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Doctoral Recital: 2017-05-20 – Robert Buxton, piano

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.
Date: May 20, 2017
Creator: Buxton, Robert (Pianist)
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applied Use of Video Modeling in Educational and Clinical Settings: A Survey of Autism Professionals (open access)

Applied Use of Video Modeling in Educational and Clinical Settings: A Survey of Autism Professionals

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display deficits in communication and social interaction that can impact their ability to function in daily environments. To remediate these deficits, it is critical for professionals to use effective interventions. While there are many evidence-based practices (EBPs) identified for ASD (e.g., video modeling), the adoption of these EBPs may not occur automatically. Existing research suggests professionals have a generally favorable impression of video modeling. However, little research has examined opinions and applied use of video modeling, which was the purpose of the present study. Using survey methodology, data were collected from 510 professionals in various disciplines (e.g., special educators, speech-language pathologists [SLPs], and behavior analysts [BCBAs]). Data were analyzed primarily via factor analysis and multiple regression. Factor analysis was used to examine the underlying structure of the instrument, revealing two predominant factors: (1) interest in and (2) perceived accessibility of video modeling. Multiple regression was used to examine which demographic characteristics (e.g., age and years of experience) were associated with each factor. Results indicated that BCBAs and SLPs perceived video modeling as more accessible. In terms of interest, professionals who worked with preschool-aged students, who worked in a suburban location, and who had an …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Caldwell, Nicole K.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library