Digital Commons Network^™

A Tank Full Of Wishful Thinking: Crystallizing The Rhythms Of The Road, Leanna K. Smithberger

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This presentation is a personal exploration of American car culture — the roads that enable it, the everyday actions that sustain it, and the values that justify it. I use a constellation of mobilities, autoethnography, and rhythmanalysis in order to tap into the political, personal, and aesthetic ways our road-centered culture shapes and constrains our lives in mundane and extraordinary ways. I argue that our road system of mobility is largely taken for granted, and is stubbornly persistent due to deeply held cultural values. I use a variety of artistic, evocative methods, including narrative, poetry, and music, because I argue …

The Incorporation Of Hungarian Folk Song In Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus, Sebastian A. Haboczki

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

My project is an introductory work that lays the foundations for my graduate dissertation. In this work I have taken numerous Hungarian folk songs and mapped what I consider important elements that identify these melodies as "Hungarian folk music". I then took these elements and compared them to Zoltán Kodály's work Psalmus Hungaricus. As he was commissioned to write this piece for the 50th anniversary of the union of Buda and Pest, the composed material is all original. My argument is that although it is all newly composed material, Kodály clearly uses the elements of Hungarian folk tunes. Whether this …

In Search Of Askia Mohammed, Joe Wilson

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This is my MA thesis. I contextualized the Songhay oral history concerning king Askia Mohammed. I placed the folk lore in cultural and historical context to illustrate that the Epic of Askia Mohammed is a complex work of mythology that communicates difficult and complicated information in easily understandable "picture stories." These stories are not at all factual and often distort the historical narrative, but they do so in order that the audience is entertained, cultural norms are reinforced, and the historical account is preserved in a culturally approved framework.

Discourses Of Madness And Me: Critical Examinations Of Western Discourses Of Madness And Psychiatry, Erin E. Casey

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This paper is a critical examination of western medical paradigms alongside histories of psychiatry that argues for a culturally situated approach to mental health advocacy that maintains the importance of the physiological foundations of traditional biomedical approaches to disease. In doing so, I examine the discourses of madness, and society’s attempts to control and “fix” what is deemed “mad” through a historical lens. My position and critique utilizes a reflexive narrative process embracing my identities both as a consumer of mental health services and as an advocate for those with mental illnesses.

The Effect Of Cross-Cultural Differences On Team Performance Within An Educational Setting: A Mixed Methods Study, Sevinj Iskandarova

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

Abstract:

Faculty members’ performance, experience, satisfaction while on a team, and their professional development were investigated to determine the benefits and challenges of cross cultural differences. The sample consisted of full- and part-time faculty members at James Madison University (JMU), located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The purposes of this mixed methods study (online survey and one-to-one interview) were to determine and measure the effect of cross-cultural differences on team performance, highlight advantages and disadvantages of those cross-cultural differences within the team; and, apply the knowledge learned from this study to enhance team performance within an educational setting. The online survey assessed …

Vibrato Rate In Female Opera Singers And Female Sertanejo Singers, Melissa Mccann

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The aim of this study was to compare female vibrato rates in two styles of singing, western classical and sertanejo. This study was conducted in order to determine if different technical approaches yield a different mean vibrato rate in female singers. Examples were taken from well-known, operatic sopranos and popular female sertanejo singers. The program Vocevista was used to gain quantitative data on the singers’ vibrato rates and vibrato extent. A purpose of this study is to determine if the findings of similar mean vibrato rate for tenors singing in operatic and sertanejo genres, also hold true for female vocalists …

Investigating Security Attacks On Wireless Sensor Networks (Wsns) Via An Iot Environmental Monitoring System, Mauricio Tellez Nava, Samy El-Tawab, M. Hossain Heydari

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

To demonstrate our work, we have implemented a secure temperature monitoring system that makes use of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, AES-128 hardware encryption and TelosB sensor nodes. In our design, we consider one of the nodes to be a coordinator node, which plays the role of a central node that establishes network association requests, listens for incoming packets, decrypts the incoming packets and forwards any received packets to the monitoring device. Three other nodes act as end-devices, which play the role of collecting temperature measurements, encrypting the collected data and sending the encrypted packets to the coordinator node. A last …

Facilitating Cultural Competence Among Students In Health Care Fields Of Study, Jordan Remington, Michelle Lynn Bloomfield

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The purpose of this study is to document and statistically analyze a protocol-driven cultural competency training session, combined with hands-on culturally diverse experiences, in order to improve health care students’ cultural competence. This study is focused on undergraduate students at James Madison University who are seniors in the pre occupational therapy major or social work major. There was a total of 27 students involved in this research study, 19 of the students were declared social work majors and 8 were in the pre occupational therapy professional program. 18 of the students were in the experimental group and 9 students were …

Birds Of A Feather Learn Together: Learning Community Outcomes Assessment Using Propensity Score Matching, Elisabeth M. Pyburn, Heather Dawn Harris

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The goal of the study was to provide an example of propensity score matching techniques within the context of higher education assessment. At our institution, a select number of incoming first-year students participate in major-specific learning communities. Because the decision to join the communities is purely voluntary, one might expect that students who elect to join the program may differ from those who do not. Thus, important covariates related to self-selection into the learning community were identified. Two years of Arts learning community data were analyzed to compare the academic performance and civic-mindedness of learning community students to an arts …

The Effects Of Chronic Partial Sleep Deprivation On Alcohol Consumption And Delta Fos B Accumulation, Kristian Ponder

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The present study explores the relation between sleep restriction and alcohol use and the neural substrates that result from chronic behaviors, such as transcription factors. Transcription factor activity is suggested as a possible outcome of chronic behaviors, such as addiction. Sleep is discussed as possible mediating factor in the relationship between specific transcription factors and alcohol. Analysis will focus on brain areas related to both sleep and reward.

Engineering Students’ Motivational Beliefs. Development Of A Scale Utilizing An Expectancy, Value, And Cost Framework, Mariafe Panizo

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

In the current study, researchers developed a 12-item instrument (Engineering Student Motivational Beliefs Scale; ESMBS) to assess engineering students’ perceived expectancies, values, and costs of being an engineering major and pursuing an engineering career. The purpose of the paper is to present the ESMBS development process, including preliminary psychometric information. Researchers used Benson’s model of construct validation, encompassing three phases, to guide the development and preliminary validation of ESMBS. The substantive phase included a thorough review of the literature to theoretically and empirically define the expectancy, value, and cost constructs within the context of undergraduate engineering. The structural phase consisted …

Practices Supporting Breastfeeding In The Nicu: A National Survey, Elizabeth E. Nottingham

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

Babies who are born early are at risk for developing serious life-threatening conditions and developmental delays. Providing babies with breast milk, and helping them breast feed has been shown to reduce the chances of these conditions and delays. However, hospitals across the country have adopted wildly different practices when it comes to feeding these babies. By understanding the current practices in hospitals across the country, we can begin to understand how to affect change.

Benefits Of An Intergenerational Program On The Health And Wellbeing Of Older Adults In A Day Treatment Program, Taylor Henshaw, Alexis Cunningham

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The purpose of this study is to describe how a 5-week shared-site intergenerational program increases wellbeing in older adults. Implementation of the research took place once a week at Generations Crossing in Harrisonburg, VA. Generations Crossing is a combined adult day center and a preschool. For five weeks, participants were presented with an activity that had the main goal of promoting social interactions between the older adults and the children. Data collectors used the Intergenerational Observation Scale (IOS) to record five older adults. The IOS determined how well intergenerational programming supported social interaction and positive affects between the two generations. …

Exploring The Effects Of Dance As A Therapeutic Media To Assess Attunement In Co-Occupation Between Primary Caregiver And Infant, Kelly R. Frye, Natalie A. Perez

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This presentation shares findings from a five-week intervention group designed to explore the effects of therapeutic dance-based activities on the parent-infant bond. Dance was chosen as a therapeutic activity because it promotes simultaneous involvement of both the parent and child in a shared co-occupation. Dance involves non-verbal communication and relies heavily on vision, touch, and trust, all of which are in an infants’ repertoire. In the occupational therapy literature, co-occupations are defined as activities in which two or more persons are simultaneously engaged in related experiences (Pickens, Pizur-Barnekow, 2009). Co-occupations involve shared meaning; they include dimensions of shared physicality, shared …

Health Benefits Of Group-Based Cooking With Fresh Produce In A Skilled Nursing Facility, Kacey Ewing, Jenny Nguyen

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This study explored the health-related benefits of a cooking intervention on participants within a skilled nursing facility.

A Comparison Of Restorable And Unrestorable Defendants, Kristen T. Campbell

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The current study examined differences in demographic, criminal, neuropsychological, and psychiatric variables between defendants restorable and unrestorable to competency. Defendants found to be unrestorable were more likely to have a misdemeanor charge, a cognitive disorder, a longer duration of illness, a lower IQ score, and a lower Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) score. Defendants found to be restorable tended to have a diagnosis of a mood disorder. With an improved understanding of characteristics associated with unrestorability, clinicians can make more accurate predictions about the probability of a defendant being restored to competency.

Nature Connection: Theory, Evidence And Practice, Matt V. Bukowski

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This presentation explores scholarly work at the intersection of mental health and the natural world in a variety of disciplines. My intent is to provide an overview of theoretical perspectives, research-based evidence, and clinical practices that support the idea that experiencing the natural world can improve human mental health outcomes.

Gender Differences In Motivational Practices Among Collegiate Club Athletes, Jenna Thompson

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

Motivation is one of the most pertinent factors in the performance and success of athletes. It is important to make sure that motivational strategies are employed with the athlete in mind, with gender being at the forefront. After examining some of the most vital research in the fields of motivation, gender, and sports, various club sport teams at James Madison University will be interviewed to see the interplay between the aforementioned factors. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the gender differences in motivational practices among collegiate club athletes. This research answers questions about best practices in motivational …

The Impact Of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Mbti) On Team Success In The Workplace, Kelsey M. Tate

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This study was conducted to determine the impact of the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality assessment on team success in the workplace. This was achieved through the collection of qualitative data by way of interviews from individual employees and teams about their perceptions of how their behavior changed since taking the MBTI. The study aimed to give insight into how teams function once they have taken a personality assessment and if they had improved self-awareness, reduced conflict, and prove better at accomplishing a given task. This data were analyzed through a coding process for common themes. All research was conducted …

An Epic Teaching Experience: A Case Study Of Pedagogically Innovative Undergraduate Classrooms, Tiffany T. Runion

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This qualitative study examined seven professors who taught undergraduate classes in Spring 2016 in the EPIC (Enhancing Pedagogy through Innovative Classrooms) spaces housed in the Student Success Center at James Madison University. Each professor who participated in the study was interviewed, observed teaching in the EPIC space two times and then re-interviewed for this study. A collective case study methodology was used to compare the experiences of the seven professors in the EPIC classrooms. This study explored the uses of the amenities of the EPIC classrooms and the pedagogies used in these classrooms.

Academic Support Of Student-Athletes: A Cross-Conference Comparison, Rachel F. Simon

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The project reflects the results of a Qualtrics survey sent to academic support staff members employed at member institutions from the American Athletic Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big South Conference, and the Colonial Athletic Association. This survey aims to better understand the functions of these professionals at their respective institutions as well as the student-athletes they support in their roles.

Efficacy Of Face-To-Face Content Delivery Methods In Orientation Programs, Kathryn V. Lucca

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The purpose of my study is to evaluate the efficacy of face-to-face content delivery methods when orienting new employees into an organization. New employees go through the process of organizational socialization when they join an organization, which teaches them the norms and culture of an organization. When socialized well, employee retention is higher. Orientation programs allow for organizational socialization. Socialization is most effective when done face-to-face. Online content delivery methods have become increasingly popular, and some organizations are moving to an online orientation format. This is study aims to show that orientation programs should remain in a face-to-face content delivery …

A Historical Perspective On The Rise Of Educational Film In 20th Century America, Annette Bruff Liskey

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

Abstract

The pedagogical use of film and video in education advanced alongside the technology that enabled it in the 20^th century. Early adopters of educational film adapted feature films or relied upon a catalog of educational films for content. The medium fit with the reform rhetoric of the Progressive Era: by confirming the educational value of film, civic leaders were able to claim influence over the medium. Nearly a century before Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, the invention of sound in film prompted educators to consider the effect of multiple sensory inputs on learning. Early in the 20 …

How Women Navigate A Career In Stem And Respond To The Challenges Created By The Lack Of Gender Diversity In The Industry., Danielle Blot

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This study is a qualitative research study that investigates how women in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industry navigate a male-dominated workplace. The purpose of this research is to determine how women who are employed in the STEM industry are affected by an environment fueled by an extreme lack of gender diversity. The research, which will be completed by March 23^rd, intends to reveal how women adapt their mindset and behaviors as a result.

The three research questions for the study are as follows:

1. How do women in STEM careers report coping with the overwhelming …

The Engaged Graduate Experience: The First Year Of The Mala Program, Liana Colleen Bayne, Caroline Clare Hamby

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This poster will illustrate the interdisciplinary, engaged learning and creative activities that have taken place during the first year of the new MALA (Madison Academic Library Associates) graduate assistantship program. Liana Bayne and Caroline Hamby are JMU Libraries’ first dedicated graduate assistants, and have spent the 2015-16 school year piloting the program. The two-year program’s curriculum includes library school-inspired learning modules alongside hands-on, project-based activities monitored and mentored by varying divisions of LET (Libraries & Educational Technologies) staff. Bayne and Hamby look forward to completing large-scale capstone project work in the second year of this program. Bayne and Hamby work …

Starbucks "Race Together" Campaign, Katie Mcvicar, Daniel Clark, Craig Manning

SCOM Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Rolling With It: Uva’S Response To Rolling Stone’S “A Rape On Campus”, Sean Johnson, Logan Jordan, Karina Luis, Riley Smith

SCOM Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Kings, Wars, And Duck Eggs: Interpretations Of Poetry In Egil’S Saga, James C. Daughton

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper examines the function and cultural implications of poetry in Egil’s Saga, an Icelandic saga written around the thirteenth century A.D. The title character, Egil Skallagrimson, is a renowned warrior and obstinate maverick, but perhaps his most singular trait is his gift for crafting poetry—a talent reflected in the nearly sixty sets of his verse that appear throughout the prose text. Obviously, these poems allow the reader to tap into Egil’s psyche, but they also fulfill the more profound purpose of illuminating the values and experiences of medieval Icelanders. Egil eternalizes the heritage he shares with his countrymen, explores …

The Regendering Of The White Savior, Brett Seekford

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Filmmakers have long employed white characters that serve to lift African American characters out of destitution or hardship through inherently benevolent qualities; these heroes have been branded the central figures in the “white savior model” that has come to dominate films about race relations. The white savior centers whiteness while relegating blackness to the margins. In an analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Help (2011), however, this paper will argue that gender also plays a significant role in the development of a white savior. Through discussions of characterization, narrative structure and setting, it becomes clear that the …

Holly Martins And The Impartial Spectator: The Economics Of The Third Man, Alexander W. Pickens

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The film The Third Man is often critiqued for its portrayal of post-war Vienna and the abusive nature of totalitarian regimes in a nearly-anarchic state. However, this film does something that few other films do: it tackles the primary dilemmas facing economists using a visual medium and featuring some of the debates that have been plaguing economic thinkers for years (what is a just allocation of resources, competition in free markets, what happens when corrupt governments control resource allocation). Ultimately, the film is a unique analysis tension between the costs and benefits of the philosophies of Keynes and F. A. …