Search Results

open access

Latent Transition Analysis of Pre-service Teachers' Efficacy in Mathematics and Science

Description: This study modeled changes in pre-service teacher efficacy in mathematics and science over the course of the final year of teacher preparation using latent transition analysis (LTA), a longitudinal form of analysis that builds on two modeling traditions (latent class analysis (LCA) and auto-regressive modeling). Data were collected using the STEBI-B, MTEBI-r, and the ABNTMS instruments. The findings suggest that LTA is a viable technique for use in teacher efficacy research. Teacher efficacy is… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Ward, Elizabeth Kennedy
open access

Slaves and Slaveholders in the Choctaw Nation: 1830-1866

Description: Racial slavery was a critical element in the cultural development of the Choctaws and was a derivative of the peculiar institution in southern states. The idea of genial and hospitable slave owners can no more be conclusively demonstrated for the Choctaws than for the antebellum South. The participation of Choctaws in the Civil War and formal alliance with the Confederacy was dominantly influenced by the slaveholding and a connection with southern identity, but was also influenced by financial … more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Fortney, Jeffrey L., Jr.
open access

Predicting Chemical and Biochemical Properties Using the Abraham General Solvation Model

Description: Several studies were done to illustrate the versatillity of the Abraham model in mathematically describing the various solute-solvent interactions found in a wide range of different chemical and biological systems. The first study focused on using the solvation model to construct mathematical correlations describing the minimum inhibitory concentration of organic compounds for growth inhibition towards the three bacterial strains Porphyromonas gingivalis, Selenomonas artemidis, and Streptococc… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Mintz, Christina
open access

Grounds-Based and Grounds-Free Voluntarily Child Free Couples: Privacy Management and Reactions of Social Network Members

Description: Voluntarily child free (VCF) individuals face stigmatization in a pronatalist society that labels those who do not want children as deviant. Because of this stigmatization, VCF couples face privacy issues as they choose to reveal or conceal their family planning decision and face a variety of reactions from social network members. Therefore, communication privacy management and communication accommodation theory was use to examine this phenomenon. Prior research found two different types of VCF… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Regehr, Kelly A.
open access

Primary Stylistic Characteristics of Cindy McTee's Music as found in Timepiece, Ballet for Band and Finish Line

Description: Cindy McTee, Regents Professor of Composition in the College of Music at the University of North Texas, is one of America's leading composers. Her music is an eclectic blend of the "American" sound that is created by the use of a multiplicity of techniques. This document uses three of McTee's most recent (to date) works for wind band: Timepiece, Ballet for Band and Finish Line, to identify the primary stylistic characteristic's of the composer's music, which include: jazz influence; use of osti… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Williams, Nicholas, 1974-
open access

Level Curves of the Angle Function of a Positive Definite Symmetric Matrix

Description: Given a real N by N matrix A, write p(A) for the maximum angle by which A rotates any unit vector. Suppose that A and B are positive definite symmetric (PDS) N by N matrices. Then their Jordan product {A, B} := AB + BA is also symmetric, but not necessarily positive definite. If p(A) + p(B) is obtuse, then there exists a special orthogonal matrix S such that {A, SBS^(-1)} is indefinite. Of course, if A and B commute, then {A, B} is positive definite. Our work grows from the following quest… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Bajracharya, Neeraj
open access

An Evaluation of the Effects of Two Different Role Play Formats on the Outcomes of a Parent Training Curriculum

Description: The current study was designed to replicate and extend previous research on the effectiveness of behavioral parent training. Specifically, the effectiveness of the Behavior Management and Parenting Services (BMAPS) curriculum in teaching parents to exhibit a set of parenting skills and respond accurately to a multiple choice examination about positive parenting techniques was evaluated. In addition, the curriculum was revised so that the relative effectiveness and acceptability of two role pla… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Carlson Litscher, Barbara J.
open access

Learner-to-Learner: Refocusing the Lens of Educational Immediacy

Description: As the current body of instructional communication research focuses primarily on the relationship between teacher and learner, three studies investigating the relationship between learners were completed in order to better understand how student motivation and learning are influenced by learner-to-learner immediacy behaviors within the college classroom environment. Study I resulted in an extensive list of both positive and negative verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors commonly used by lear… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Keller, Christine Ida
open access

A New Wireless Sensor Node Design for Program Isolation and Power Flexibility

Description: Over-the-air programming systems for wireless sensor networks have drawbacks that stem from fundamental limitations in the hardware used in current sensor nodes. Also, advances in technology make it feasible to use capacitors as the sole energy storage mechanism for sensor nodes using energy harvesting, but most current designs require additional electronics. These two considerations led to the design of a new sensor node. A microcontroller was chosen that meets the Popek and Goldberg virtualiz… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Skelton, Adam W.
open access

Racial Stereotypes and Racial Assimilation in a Multiracial Society

Description: Interest in a multiracial society has increased in recent years and including on racism and prejudice and in the propensity to stereotype out-groups. Theories on racism help explain the dominant group's prejudice toward subordinate groups. Yet they only explain why dominant group members stereotype subordinates or if the dominant group's propensity to stereotype is different from that of subordinate groups. Recent assimilation theories suggest that some minorities are assimilating with Whites b… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Youngblood, Thomas
open access

Survey of Approximation Algorithms for Set Cover Problem

Description: In this thesis, I survey 11 approximation algorithms for unweighted set cover problem. I have also implemented the three algorithms and created a software library that stores the code I have written. The algorithms I survey are: 1. Johnson's standard greedy; 2. f-frequency greedy; 3. Goldsmidt, Hochbaum and Yu's modified greedy; 4. Halldorsson's local optimization; 5. Dur and Furer semi local optimization; 6. Asaf Levin's improvement to Dur and Furer; 7. Simple rounding; 8. Randomized rounding;… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Dutta, Himanshu Shekhar
open access

God's Perfect Timing

Description: 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 fam… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Rizzo, Steven
open access

The Other Side of Yesterday

Description: The four stories in this collection follow different, yet strikingly similar, protagonists who are facing crossroads in life. These stories include memories and specific scenes from the past that combine with scenes from the present to trace the development of the characters.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Rose, John
open access

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

Description: 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, restruct… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Sanders, David N.
open access

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

Description: 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 D… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Province, Terry Paul
open access

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

Description: 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), lim… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Queen, Courtney M.
open access

High Resolution Satellite Images and LiDAR Data for Small-Area Building Extraction and Population Estimation

Description: Population estimation in inter-censual years has many important applications. In this research, high-resolution pan-sharpened IKONOS image, LiDAR data, and parcel data are used to estimate small-area population in the eastern part of the city of Denton, Texas. Residential buildings are extracted through object-based classification techniques supported by shape indices and spectral signatures. Three population indicators -building count, building volume and building area at block level are deriv… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Ramesh, Sathya
open access

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

Description: 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 Sa… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Rhynes, LaTrica Q.
open access

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

Description: 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… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Rivero, Arlene Jean Abello
open access

Inferring Social and Internal Context Using a Mobile Phone

Description: 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 behav… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Phithakkitnukoon, Santi
open access

Design and Validation of an Automated Multiunit Composting System.

Description: This thesis covers the design of an automated multiunit composting system (AMUCS) that was constructed to meet the experimental apparatus requirements of the ASTM D5338 standard. The design of the AMUCS is discussed in full detail and validated with two experiments. The first experiment was used to validate the operation of the AMUCS with a 15 day experiment. During this experiment visual observations were made to visually observe degradation. Thermal properties and stability tests were perform… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Pickens, Mark Everett
open access

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

Description: 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, thi… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Pike, Byron J.
open access

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

Description: 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 Knowledg… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Horn, Brian K.
open access

Synthesis and Characterization of Platinum(II)(2-(9-anthracenylylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione)(dichloride), Platinum(II)(2-(9-anthracenylylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione(maleonitriledithiolate), and Platinum(II)(4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione)(4-Methyl-1,2-benzene dithiol)

Description: Substitution of the 1,5-cyclooctadiene (cod) ligand in PtCl2(cod) (1) by the diphosphine ligand 4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione (bpcd) yields PtCl2(bpcd) (2). Knoevenagel condensation of 2 with 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde leads to the functionalization of the bpcd ligand and formation of the corresponding 2-(9-anthracenylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione (abpcd) substituted compound PtCl2(abpcd) (3), which is also obtained from the direct reaction of 1… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Hunt, Sean W.
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