Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis study seeks further understanding of American Indian and Alaska Native child and family well-being. Through a systematic review of national research on American Indian and Alaska Native children and their caregivers, it becomes possible to more clearly understand the quantity, quality, and content of this body of work. This dissertation begins by describing the literature base and theoretical framework for the research in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 involves a description of the search protocol including search terms, databases, and inclusion criteria. This chapter also includes a description of the coding strategies and data points identified for each study. The search yielded 33 included studies, which are described in detail in Chapter 4. This chapter presents results in a variety of ways, including number of articles focused on each well-being domain and indicator, author discipline, publication date of study, analysis strategy, and findings by subpopulation. Each article is assessed for quality and potential for bias. Gaps in the knowledge base in this area are also identified. This dissertation concludes by summarizing findings from the research; identifying limitations at both the study and reviewer levels; providing conclusions; and addressing implications for future research, policymaking, and social work practice. While this study did find notable gaps in the literature, it is without question that the 33 included studies represent a rich body of research for examining well-being across a number of domains and ages. This high quality body of work was created by a diverse collection of researchers both within academic and policymaking circles. This dissertation represents the first time that research on the well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native children and families has been systematically searched and reviewed

Application of data envelopment analysis to measure technical efficiency on a sample of Irish dairy farms

peer-reviewedThe aim of this study was to determine the levels of technical efficiency on a sample of Irish dairy farms utilizing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and to identify key management and production factors that differ between producers indentified as efficient and inefficient. DEA was used in this study to generate technical efficiency scores under assumptions of both constant returns to scale (CRS) and variable returns to scale (VRS). The average technical efficiency score was 0.785 under CRS and 0.833 under VRS. Key production characteristics of efficient and inefficient producers were compared using an analysis of variance. More technically efficient producers used less input per unit of output, had higher production per cow and per hectare and had a longer grazing season, a higher milk quality standard, were more likely to have participated in milk recording and had greater land quality compared to the inefficient producers

Constructing conceptualizations of English academic writing within an EFL context: streams of influence at a Taiwan university

The thesis draws upon in-depth research into the question of how English Academic Writing (EAW) is conceptualized at a Department of Applied English in a Taiwanese university. A qualitative research approach was taken within a social constructionism framework. Administrators, teachers, and students, were interviewed to explore the impact each of these three streams of influence has on the construction of the idea of EAW within this particular EFL context. These influences add to the mixture forming the conceptualization of EAW with a knock on effect to curriculum planning, teaching pedagogy, and the academic texts students produce. Administrators' design of a writing program and teachers' conceptualizations of EAW have implications for students' experience in learning to write and their own conceptualizations of what EAW is. Excerpts from interviews with teachers across the writing programme reveal how teachers do not share a coherent approach to teaching writing and yet have the understanding that they are conforming to a standardized conception of EAW. This research has important implications for curriculum design and lesson planning in EAW and EFL teacher training. Administrators need to implement a writing program with clear mutual goals as conceptualizations of EAW in an EFL context may be particularly fragile and lack consistency. Further implications of this research touch upon the training EFL teachers receive in graduate programs abroad which contribute to molding their conceptualizations of EAW. This research also points to the importance for administrators, teachers, and students to share a common language with which to discuss EAW issues

Promoting the Autonomy of Taiwanese EFL Learners in Higher Education by Using Self-Assessment Learning Logs

This study revealed how the classroom teaching practice of self-assessment learning logs helps to promote the autonomy of L2 learners in the context of higher education in Taiwan. L2 learners completed a self-assessment learning log entry on a biweekly basis, reflecting on what they had done outside of the classroom to improve their English. These learners then shared their learning log entries in class approximately once a month. Data from 30 participants were collected using a questionnaire containing both closed and open-ended questions. The results indicated that most participants believed that learning logs facilitated language learning; in particular, sharing what they had done with their classmates was a strong motivation to continue out-of-class learning activities. This paper offers specific suggestions for teachers regarding effective techniques for promoting learner autonomy

Brief of Amici Curiae 65 Professors of Law, Business, Economics, and Sports Management in Support of Respondents

The Alston plaintiffs are college athletes who successfully challenged the NCAA\u27s amateurism rules, convincing the lower courts that the rules should be modestly relaxed to limit their effect on competition for athletic talent. Nearly 60 professors of law, business, and economics from around the country joined the brief

The third enlargement: Spain's and Portugal's access to the EEC report on the Council of Ministers archival material

Relación de documentos que fueron la base de las negociaciones de Adhesión de España y Portugal y que están en el Archivo del Consejo de la Unión Europe

Electracy in Praxis: Pedagogical Relays for an Undergraduate Writing Curriculum

The paradigm shift from traditional print literacy to the postmodern fragmentation, nonlinearity, and multimodality of writing for the Internet is realized in Gregory L. Ulmer’s electracy theory. Ulmer’s open invitation to continually invent the theory has resulted in the proliferation of relays, or weak models, by electracy advocates for understanding and applying the theory. Most relays, however, remain theoretical rather than practical for the writing classroom, and electracy instruction remains rare, potentially hindering the theory’s development. In this dissertation, I address the gap in electracy praxis by adapting, developing, and remixing relays for a functional electracy curriculum with first-year writing students in the Virginia Community College System as the target audience. I review existing electracy relays, pedagogical applications, and assessment practices – Ulmer’s and those of electracy advocates – before introducing my own relays, which take the form of modules. My proposed relay modules are designed for adaptability with the goals of introducing digital natives to the logic of new media and guiding instructors to possible implementations of electracy. Each module contains a justification, core competencies and learning outcomes, optional readings, an assignment with supplemental exercises, and assessment criteria. My Playlist, Transduction, and (Sim)ulation relays follow sound backward curricular design principles and emphasize core hallmarks of electracy as juxtaposed alongside literacy. This dissertation encourages the instruction of new media in Ulmer’s postmodern apparatus in which student invention via the articulation of fragments from various semiotic modes stems from and results in new methodologies for and understandings of digital communication

A Study to Develop a Curriculum in Industrial Destructive Testing Procedures for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals at the University Level

The problem of this study was to develop a curriculum based on present destructive testing procedures used in industry dealing with the mechanical properties of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and to organize the curriculum at the university level

UB Knightlines Fall/Winter 2016

The UB Knightlines newsletter for fall and winter of 2016. This issue contains articles discussing winners of the UB Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award, Alumni Association Scholarship winner Mendel Murray, professor Jeongkyu Lee’s Young Data Science program, president emeritus Richard Rubenstein and this book After Auschwitz, UB receiving a National Institutes of Health grant to expand research, SASD students winning third place in the Sherwin-Williams STIR Student Design Challenge, the opening of the new dorm University Hall, student Michael Asmerom a National Association of Black Accountants, professor Marsha Matto and SASD students work with couple to design beach home, faculty news, alumni news, books published by alums and faculty, and other campus and sports news