Digital Commons Network^™

Conditional Cash Transfer Program Design: A Case Study Of Parent Educational Attitudes And Experiences In One Honduran Village, Karsen Ward

Senior Theses

In Honduras and other countries globally, there is a large gap to fill in school enrolment and attendance before the Sustainable Development Goal of universal quality education can be achieved. One method that has grown in popularity over the past couple of decades is the use of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, which serve to incentivize families in the relevant educational area of need. In Honduras, students still need to be encouraged to enroll in and regularly attend school, so this is what is primarily incentivized. The literature review of this paper compiles the takeaways of a variety of existing …

Implementation Of Teen Dating Violence Education Programs In South Carolina High Schools, Leila Nguyen

Senior Theses

Teen dating violence is a national issue that effects approximately 25 percent of American teens annually¹. The need for teen dating violence education programs within South Carolina high schools was examined on this premise as well as the importance of mitigating the statistics of those adults affected by interpersonal relationship violence and psychological aftermath on survivors. A presentation for students that taught awareness of dating violence, aspects of healthy and unhealthy relationship aspects, and gave resources to aid those in abusive relationships was presented at Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, SC. A survey after the presentation indicated …

A Case Study Of Private School Choice And Education Litigation In South Carolina: Safe Grants And Adams V. Mcmaster (S.C. 2020), Lyndsey Katherine Ebener

Senior Theses

The ideology behind private school choice endures in South Carolina. Arguments for parental choice have resurfaced periodically throughout the state’s history, particularly in moments of “crisis.” The current “crisis” moment is the COVID-19 pandemic, which created a perfect storm for the private school choice movement to gain momentum. When Governor McMaster received South Carolina’s emergency education relief funds, he capitalized on this movement with his proposed SAFE Grants program. His intention was for the SAFE Grants program to provide support through one-time tuition grants to low-income families who have children in private schools. Governor McMaster’s announcement incited an overwhelming media …

How Can I Help? Investigating The Role Of Social Supports In Academic Resilience For Undergraduate Students, Grace M. Lady

Senior Theses

Academic resilience refers to a student’s ability to emotionally and cognitively adapt to academic adversity, including transitions to new experiences like college. This ability to bounce back is an important characteristic for academic success (Robbins et al., 2018; Hodge et al., 2017). Within the literature, there is a need to understand more interpersonal influences, such as social support, on resilience. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate what social support students rely on and how students use social support through times of academic difficulty, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to college. Undergraduate students (N = 189) completed a …

Carolina Consulting Scholars Cohort: Enabling Students To Be Stronger Analytical Thinkers And Problem Solvers, Alexis Mcconomy, Justin Farley

Senior Theses

Undergraduate students at the Moore School currently have limited avenues to pursue management consulting upon graduating from the University of South Carolina. The Darla Moore School of Business has academic excellence initiatives that have led to great success from certain programs and centers; however, there lacks a formalized support system to help students looking for internships or full-time roles in consulting. Our proposed Consulting Scholars cohort seeks to gather top students from all majors and offer them a cohort that will educate and prepare them for success as future consultants. By leveraging existing classes within the Management department and the …

Elements Of Effective, Engaging, And Enjoyable Education Environments, Ivan Harjehausen

Senior Theses

I explore three elements of effective education that promote student development. First, a classroom culture that encourages students to be responsible for managing their own learning rather than relying on the teacher can boost student learning. Two ways of accomplishing this are teachers communicating high expectations for students and teachers normalizing the concept of failure by acknowledging that making mistakes is an essential part of learning.

Second, teachers can model the skills and attitudes they hope to cultivate in students. Children learn by observing behavior of parents then imitating; these same learning mechanisms do not stop in childhood but rather …

Legal Research & Writing: An Undergraduate Pre-Law Course Design, Rachel Kathleen Strieber

Senior Theses

The purpose of this project-based thesis is to develop an undergraduate pre-law course that teaches legal research and writing (LRW) and to design its respective description, topics, reading materials, sample syllabus document, and a sample lesson plan. The research portion of this thesis will study the pedagogy of LRW and the connection between LRW skills and the students’ success in law school and careers in law. Preparing students to excel in LRW skills prior to law school through the proposed undergraduate pre-law LRW course will yield a stronger performance in a first-year law LRW course to follow and amplify students’ …

The Pósa Method: Students' Perceptions Of Hungarian Mathematics Pedagogy, Lauren Seidl

Senior Theses

This study examines the reactions and experiences of students who are educated under the Pósa method, a Hungarian mathematics pedagogy previously employed in mathematics camps designed for gifted students. The focus of this research was to analyze the experiences of students in a Pósa method class in Budapest, Hungary. The holistic approach of gathering historical, qualitative, and analytical data pursued answers to the subsequent three research questions that guided the study: What do the students at Petrik School think about the Pósa method? What do the students in the Pósa method class think about math? What do the students’ and …

Sculpting Organs: An Arts-Based Educational Activity For Anatomy Learning, Annika Gupta

Senior Theses

As an integral component of healthcare, a comprehensive understanding of anatomy is necessary for accurate clinical diagnoses and medical procedures. Beginning in undergraduate classrooms (premedical), there is a need to explore new ways of teaching and learning anatomy to train healthcare professionals. Traditional methods of attending a lecture and reading a textbook may not be the most effective method to learn about anatomical structures—or to engage learners. However, recent studies have reported promising results in the use of arts-based approaches to enhance anatomy learning. Of these, clay sculpting can provide an opportunity for students to participate in an active and …

The Corridor Of Shame: An Immersed Analysis Of South Carolina Schools, Darren R. Burton

Senior Theses

This research project discusses school funding instruments of rural and urban schools in South Carolina and uncovers its effect on student academic achievement. Educational achievement is assessed based on report card datasets between 2018 and 2019, containing South Carolina Assessment of State Standards (SCPASS) score data and South Carolina College and Career Ready Assessment (SCREADY) score data. This research project uses a comparative analysis to evaluate each group’s performance in the subjects of English Language Arts and science. The statistical analysis tools that this research project uses include analysis of variance (ANOVA), linear regression analysis, and Microsoft Power BI. The …