Thesis (M.S.)--Northern Michigan University, 2009. / Bibliography: leaves 38-42.

This study explored how student responses systems are being used in middle school classrooms. The study sought to find out (1) for what purposes middle school teachers used student response systems (SRS); (2) in what subject areas middle school teachers use SRS; (3) if teachers profile of use of the systems were associated with particular characteristics of teachers (i.e., years taught, semesters using SRS technology, professional development experiences); (4) if teachers profile of use of the systems were related to their perceptions regarding the effect of SRS on instruction; and (5) if teachers profile of use of the systems were related to their perceptions regarding the effect of SRS on student learning. A total of 658 middle school teachers using student response systems were contacted to participate in the electronic survey. A total of 121 responded, yielding a response rate of 18.38%. A pre-existing survey, the Student Response System Questionnaire, was used to gather quantitative data for this study. Descriptive statistics were used to report data for purposes teachers used the systems and in what subject areas teachers used the systems. The results from the study show that grades 6-8 teachers are using student response systems across the curriculum and the main purpose is for formative assessment. Analysis of variance tests (ANOVAs) were used to analyze the relationship between profiles of use and continuous data (i.e., how many years the teachers have taught and how many semesters they have used student response technology). There was a significant relationship (F = 3.56, p < .05) between the number of years teachers had taught and their profiles of use. After an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was conducted for the number of semesters teachers had used the SRS as compared to their profile of use, no significance was found. A chi-square test (85.41, p <.01) revealed there was a significant relationship between teachers' profile of use and the amount of technical professional development they have received. A chi-square test (21.83, p <.01) revealed there was a significant relationship between teachers' profile of use and the amount of instructional professional development they had received. An analysis of variance test (ANOVA) was conducted between the teachers' profile of use and their perceptions regarding the effect of student response systems on instruction. This correlation was significant at the .000 level and was therefore significant to this study implying a relationship between the teachers' perceptions regarding the effect of student response systems on instruction and their profiles of use. An analysis of variance test (ANOVA) was also conducted between the teachers' profile of use and their perceptions regarding the effect of student response systems on student learning. This correlation was significant at the .002 level and was therefore significant to this study implying a relationship between the teachers' perceptions regarding the effect of student response systems on student learning and their profiles of use. Ten open response questions were sent out to participating teachers soliciting qualitative data to support the quantitative data from the electronic survey. Eleven teachers responded and themes from their responses are included in the results of this study.

No description available.

Whilst the metabolic responses to submaximal exercise have been relatively well documented little information is available relating to maximal exercise. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the physiological and metabolic responses to sprint running exercise, with the objective being to contribute to both the understanding of those factors which underlie or determine performance and also to the current understanding of intermediate metabolism in man during exercise. A laboratory-based running test was developed using a non-motorised treadmill, which allowed the simultaneous examination of performance and the associated changes in muscle metabolism during sprint exercise. This test was sensitive enough to monitor the differences in performance between individuals with varying training backgrounds and to monitor the changes in performance within the same group of individuals resulting from a short period of training.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Nicole K. Jensen, for the Masters of Science degree in Forestry, presented on April 3, 2012, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: TREE-RING CHEMISTRY AND GROWTH RESPONSE TO EXPERIMENTAL WATERSHED ACIDIFICATION MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Eric Holzmueller Forest ecosystems in the eastern United States are threatened by acid deposition rates that have increased dramatically since industrialization. We utilized two watersheds at the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia to examine long-term effects of acidification on ecological processes. One watershed has been treated with ammonium sulfate (approximately twice the ambient deposition rate) since 1989 to simulate acid deposition while the other served as a control. Prior to treatment both watersheds were similar in age and species composition. Ten dominant overstory Prunus serotina and Liriodendron tulipifiera trees were selected and cored from each watershed to measure bolewood concentrations of elements essential for growth over time. In addition, changes in tree species basal area were analyzed utilizing 50 long-term growth plots established in 1990. Results of this experiment show lower calcium and magnesium concentration and increased acidic cation concentration in the treated watershed for both species indicating a negative treatment effect. These results were similar to that of a previous study conducted at the Fernow with periods of significant differences in cation concentrations between the treated and control watershed. Growth response, measured through relative growth rates of cored trees and changes in basal area from growth plots, was not as conclusive, but it did appear that treatment may be having a negative affect for both species during the last measurement of the growth plots. These results indicate a need for further research to understand the impact of long-term acidification so that sustainable forest management practices in areas affected by acid deposition may be developed.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the essential elements of Response to Intervention programs among 150 high performing Title I schools with high rates of poverty as measured by free/reduced lunch participation rates. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a nationally-known instructional model used to assist students who are struggling to obtain or maintain grade-level equivalency in reading and math. This study focused on reading, as this subject is the one most targeted in schools for full intervention supports. This study utilized a quantitative research approach, which included examining and rank ordering data supplied by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The study used a survey instrument to determine how frequently instructional coaches in fifty selected districts used program elements. The research revealed that the most effective RTI model is a fully implemented one. The goal of this study is to inform districts of the most powerful elements of the RTI model in order to meet the learning needs of struggling students in reading.

Randomized trials provide support for the Body Project, an eating disorder prevention program wherein young women with body image concerns critique the thin ideal, which putatively reduces pursuit of this unrealistic ideal as a result of dissonance-induction. Despite medium to large effects, some Body Project participants subsequently develop an eating disorder during 3-year study follow-up, suggesting intervention or recruitment procedures could be improved. This study was the first to delineate the heterogeneous pathways of eating disorder symptom trajectories among Body Project versus control group participants during 3-year study follow-up. This study also investigated the predictive role of baseline risk factors on qualitatively distinct developmental pathways of eating disorder symptomology, helping to explain contributing factors to suboptimal Body Project response. Existing data from three randomized controlled trials were combined to examine response trajectories of prevention intervention versus control participants through 3-year follow-up. Group-Based Trajectory Modeling distinguished distinct response trajectories and the impact of prevention on mitigating the developmental course of eating disorder symptoms. The three-group solution for control participants produced the strongest model fit. The resulting trajectories were those of low-stable, moderate-stable, or high-variable levels of eating disorder symptom courses. Dietary restraint and negative affect predicted increased likelihood of membership in the high-risk trajectory. The optimal solution for Body Project participants was a two-group trajectory model with low-decreasing or high-decreasing trajectories, with the moderate-level risk group observed in the control group seemingly deflected by prevention effects. This study also determined the predictive role of risk factors on qualitatively distinct developmental pathways of eating disorder symptomology, confirming the hypothesized impact of thin-ideal internalization, negative affect, and dietary restraint on sub-optimal prevention response. The results of this novel study supplement developmental research regarding eating disorder symptom predictors and course, ultimately informing future design and adaptation of evidence-based eating disorder prevention programs.

This thesis attempted to further understanding of various aspects of the competitive state anxiety response. The specific questions that were addressed in the five studies reponed involve investigations into antecedents of competitive anxiety, temporal patterning, additional dimensions to the anxiety response and relationships with performance. Competitive anxiety was assessed in all of the studies by the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) which measures cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence. The first two studies employed a purely quantitative approach whilst the final three studies incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The first study investigated situational factors which predict the CSAI-2 components in the specific / population of middle-distance runners. Cognitive anxiety· was predicted by three factors, 'Perceived Readiness', 'Attitude Towards Previous Performance' and 'Position Goal', whilst self-confidence was predicted by 'Perceived Readiness' and 'External Environment'. None of the factors predicted somatic anxiety. These results suggested that cognitive anxiety and self-confidence share some common antecedents but that there are also factors unique to each. The second study examined the temporal patteming of the CSAI-2 components in the period leading up to competition as a function of gender. Gender has previously been shown to mediate patteming of responses so that antecedents were also examined in an attempt to explain such findings. Results showed that males and females reported differential temporal patteming for cognitive anxiety and self-confidence and that different antecedents predicted these variables. Significant predictors of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence were associated with personal goals and standards in females and interpersonal comparison and winning in males. The third and fourth studies investigated the importance of additional dimensions to the competitive state anxiety response in furthering understanding of the construct. These studies examined the frequency and direction dimensions of anxiety and findings suggested that the intensity alone approach currently employed is restrictive and that important information can be gained from considering these other dimensions. The fifth study focused on the dimensions of intensity and direction of anxiety and their specific relationship with sports performance. Findings revealed that a direction dimension was a better predictor of basketball performance than any of the intensity variables, further suggesting that future anxiety research should measure this dimension.

The present study directly contrasted the efficacy of biofeedback-assisted cue-controlled relaxation, biofeedback-assisted metronome -conditioned relaxation, and both procedures combined via one physiological and one subjective measure of relaxation under no-stress and stress conditions.

The present investigation sough to explore the psychological responses of rape victims. A review of pertinent literature suggested a primary reaction of women to rape was fear, but the absence of controlled research and standardized observations limited the generalizability of these findings. A triparate interpretation of fear -- with autonomic, self-report, and avoidance behavior components -- was proposed. In addition, the research attempted to document negative changes in self-concept and feelings of powerlessness resultant from the rape experience.