The LAIR at East Texas A&M
Not a member yet
7179 research outputs found
Sort by
Personality Linked to TV Genres
No full textThe goal of this study was to consider the relationship between people’s personalities and their television preferences. One model for this study was the work of Samuel Gosling from UT- Austin. Gosling has explored connections to personality from the mundane, such as music. To do this research in relation to television, students at Texas A&M University-Commerce completed the Big Five personality inventory as well as rating their interest in different genres of television, reporting on their favorite shows, and providing basic demographic variables. From this, correlations were found between certain personality traits and what television shows they are associated with. For example, the Openness trait was correlated with documentaries, horror, and game shows among other variables. This sort of research is increasingly commercially relevant due to the shift from scheduled programming to personalized algorithms based on previously watched data
Investigating the Effects of Emotion Regulation Strategies on Tilt and Decision-Making in the Game of Poker
No full textThe study of decision-making under risk and uncertainty, as well as emotional factors that influence decision-making, has a long tradition. Poker is a form of risky decision-making with incomplete information, where skill and emotional control can affect the outcome. “Tilt” in poker refers to a state of cognitive distortion and emotional dysregulation in which a player loses the ability to make rational decisions. This study investigated the effects of an emotion regulation strategy designed to preemptively reduce the impact of tilt caused by an unexpected monetary loss, known as a “bad beat” in poker. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions and then played a simulated variant of the game of poker. Additionally, this study provided participants with real-time assistance (odds of winning) on each hand in hopes of making the bad beat more apparent. In contrast to our predictions, participants in all conditions showed improvements in decision-making optimality and bias from the first phase to the second phase of the experiment, indicating that the bad beat hand did not trigger tilt nor hinder decision-making. Surprisingly, the emotion regulation intervention negatively affected optimal decision-making in the first phase for those in the intervention groups. Providing participants with their mathematical probability of winning may have influenced our study’s outcomes
Effects of Adjunct Questions on L2 Reading Comprehension with Texts of Different Types
No full textAnswering text-related questions while reading is a questioning strategy which is called adjunct questions or embedded questions, the benefits of which have been established in first language reading as to enhance comprehension. The present study aims to study the effects different adjunct questions exert on second-language (L2) readers’ comprehension of texts of various types. One hundred and forty-four intermediate-level Chinese EFL learners participated in this study and were divided randomly into six groups. Each group was given either a narrative or an expository text with ‘what or why’ questions or no questions. A brief topic familiarity questionnaire was attached to the end of each text paper. The results showed that inserted adjunct questions improved the readers’ reading comprehension both in expository and narrative texts, but only narrative texts inserted with why questions had significant effects on the L2 reading comprehension. The findings suggested that text types and question types modulate the effects of inserted adjunct questions on the English reading of intermediate learners. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are provided
The Mental Health Challenges Associated with Educated Middle Class African American Males’ Perceptions of Potential Police Brutality: A Qualitative Inquiry
No full textBor et al. (2018) stated that African Americans are almost three times more likely to be murdered by police officers than White Americans. Due to the increased number of deaths caused by police officers in poor African American communities, African Americans began to navigate on legal cynicism—the belief that the criminal justice system is incompetent and unresponsive to crimes (Kirk & Papachristos, 2011), which led citizens to stop reporting crimes to police (Desmond et al., 2016). A multitude of research exists on African American’s mental health related to the exposure of police brutality in poor communities but limited research on educated, middle-class African American males. The objective of this dissertation is for the researcher to explore the effect of potential exposure to police brutality on educated, middle-class African American males to gain an understanding of their current state of mental health through their personal perceptions
Crisis Leadership and The Role of The Superintendent in The Covid-19 Pandemic: An Interpretive Qualitative Study
No full textThe devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools world-wide required school leaders to provide effective, decisive leadership for their students, staff, and communities. The purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to discover the systems and processes that framed leaders’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study focuses on the superintendent’s role on student achievement, ensuring access to technology, the financial wellbeing of operations, as well as maintaining relationships and displaying a human connection to all stakeholders. An interpretive qualitative study approach was used to answer this question: How did school superintendents respond to the crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic? The framework for assessing leadership performance by Boin et al. (2013) serves as the conceptual framework for this study. With this paper, I explored the nature of a prolonged crisis, and then considered the response of leadership to successfully deal with and learn from it to prepare for other crises they inevitably will encounter
Producing Activists: A Punk Rock Counterstory
No full textMy dissertation is a rhetorical historiography of a compilation of hardcore and punk music that was produced in two volumes entitled Rock Against Bush—an example of protest music that emerged as a direct response to the pro-war, anti-Muslim rhetoric that emerged in first decade following 9/11. In doing so, I approach the protest music included in this compilation, as well as the associated performances and embodied rhetorical spaces, as counterstories designed to disrupt the dominant narrative of almost McCarthy-Era patriotism in of the period. This dissertation will also take up the compilation album’s companion website punkvoter.com. My purpose is to produce a historiography of the 2004 punk and hardcore political movement against George W. Bush (W.), and the dominant narrative he was weaving that War in Iraq was justified. The compilations and tour were organized by Fat Mike (from the band NOFX) and his label Fat Wreck Chords, which created a tangible political literacy campaign, one that endeavored to register a political opposition to vote out W. This opposition was focused on anti-war and social justice platforms, which are espoused in the lyrics. The liner notes provide facts of the administration, links to alternate news platforms, as well as explain what a fan of the music can do. The web site contains information and links required to register to vote, and this site is maintained by a fan to this day. This shift from a music seen as anti-establishment to one that worked within the system it wanted to change shows the lengths this movement went to produce a fan base of active voters. By examining these artifacts through the Counterstory lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), the movement against George W. Bush by punk and hardcore bands and fans will present an alternative story to the dominant narrative of the time: namely that the pro-war, anti-dissent, freedom-fry America of the early 2000s was not supported by everyone. This literacy campaign produced the author of this dissertation, and connections to this music is made through anecdotes from the author
Soft Landings: Does How You Take a Smartphone Away at The Beginning of Class Impact Learning?
No full textSmartphones are a constant companion. They provide a connection to the world and benefit us in many ways from providing directions to quick access to our favorite recipe. Much of our smartphone activity involves social aspects such as texting or use of social media applications. Phones used in the classroom can impact learning for both the individual using the smartphone or those around them. Cognitive processes can also be impacted by the mere presence of a smartphone. Fear of missing out, also known as FOMO, has been connected to problematic smartphone use. This study explored the relationship between learning, FOMO, and smartphone dependence within a controlled simulated classroom setting. The study’s analysis consisted of 227 participants aged 18 to 50 years. At the start of the session, participants were directed to either silence their phones and place them out of sight, given the option to use them freely, or were physically separated from their phones. Following this they then watched a video about contiguity theory, after which their learning was accessed via a 17-question quiz. They then completed a smartphone dependency survey and a FOMO survey. Contrary to my initial hypothesis, I found no statistical difference in quiz scores across the three conditions—control, (no phone use), phone use, and phone separation. In addition, the anticipated interaction between condition and FOMO and condition and smartphone dependence was not supported by the data. Furthermore, there was no statistical significance found in the interaction between learning, FOMO, and smartphone dependence. These results suggest that a “soft landing” approach to smartphone use at the start of class does not influence learning outcomes in a simulated classroom setting
Queering Currere: Unveiling the Public Educational Experiences of Three Sexual Minority Latinx Educators
No full textThis paper comprises a qualitative study of the current struggles that Latinx sexual minority individuals experience when coming out and embracing their true identities. Specifically, this research addresses the contribution of familial values, religiosity, schooling/curriculum, and society with coming out. The narrative inquiry through currere allows the stories of three Latinx sexual minority educators’ experiences in public education. The in-depth stories captured in this research explore the lives of three Latinx sexual minority individuals who are educators and how embracing their stories helped them to navigate their positions as educators in an urban district and reflect on their education with the use of currere. This research could bring a better understanding of the unique experiences of multiple minorities that are cross-generational coming out experiences of three Latinx sexual minority educators and how they rise above the oppressions, social constructions, religion, and familial pressures by telling their story of their experience of the curriculum through currere
How Educational Leaders Make Instructional Decisions for Reading Instruction
No full textPrincipals are responsible for academic achievement within their schools and, as such, drive the decisions in reading instruction for their campus. There is much research on instructional decision-making and reading instruction, but little exists on the connection between the two. This study focuses on the reading instructional decisions of elementary principals in Texas, as detailed in their responses to open-ended, semi-structured interview questions. This study attempts to identify the trends, experiences, and common practices amongst elementary principals that drive their reading instructional decisions. The interviews followed a researcher-developed protocol to explore how campus leaders make decisions about literacy programs as instructional leaders. The qualitative research involved eight principals from elementary schools in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex of Texas. Specifically, the participants serve high-achieving students in reading as measured by the Texas Education Agency’s STAAR scores. Interview transcripts and notes served as the data coded and analyzed using MAXQDA 2022. The themes that emerged from the data showed that the principals considered reading content knowledge in their decision-making process, communicated effectively with staff members and parents, and prioritized specific aspects of reading instruction. The findings suggest that principals strategically set collaborative goals, communicate effectively, and emphasize particular aspects of reading instruction, which contribute to the broader goal of enhancing reading education within their schools
Organizational Commitment: Describing Meaning Via the Lived Workplace Experiences of Adjunct Faculty at a North Texas Community College District
No full textThis phenomenological qualitative study has been designed to explore and describe the lived workplace experiences of adjunct faculty who have been employed for at least one academic year at a single district, multi-campus community college, and who are not seeking full-time employment. The focus of their lived workplace experiences is on their organizational commitment (defined as their psychological bond and attachment) to their institution (Allen & Meyer, 1990). According to Li et al. (2012), the primary concerns of community colleges are student success, degree completion rates, tracking student success, and a campus-wide focus on student success. A key factor that impacts student success is faculty (Fowler & Boylan, 2010). Yet, due to flexibility and financial challenges, adjunct faculty have grown to represent a significant percentage of faculty, particularly among community colleges (Ott & Dippold, 2018), despite the fact that just over a third of adjunct faculty (37%) have less than 5 years’ experience (Fain, 2016). Nonetheless, the literature informs us that adjuncts who have continuous employment at an institution have more positive student outcomes than those who have been recently hired (Ran & Xu, 2017). This study will use a descriptive phenomenological approach to collect and evaluate information relative to the workplace experiences of adjunct faculty. Inclusion criteria include sole classification of adjunct faculty, currently teaching, have been employed for at least 1 year at a single district, multi-campus community college, and who are not seeking full-time employment. Purposeful sampling will be used to select participants who are most beneficial to the study (Creswell & Poth, 2018). A sample of 10–15 participants is expected to reach saturation (Saunders et al., 2018). A demographic questionnaire will be sent to each participant. A semi-structured protocol will be used to guide individual face-to-face interviews which are anticipated to last approximately 1-hour. A follow-up interview via Zoom will be conducted after the initial interview, allowing participants time to reflect on their initial responses and add any additional they believe useful. Member checking will occur after both interviews. Following the interviews, ATLAS.ti will be used to identify salient themes pertinent to the research questions. The themes will be used to answer the research questions for this study and to yield information leading to the conclusion, findings, and recommendations for future research