Digital Commons Network^™

Engaging In Social Justice With Toddlers, Susan M. Nasiombe

Capstone Collection

This study was created as a way to highlight and begin filling a large void in academic information regarding the ways caregivers engage in social justice with the toddlers they care for. Through an online survey, participants were asked to explain their role and experience as caregivers, give their definition of social justice, share the social justice resources they use to help inform their engagement with toddlers, and list the limitations and barriers they face in achieving their goals in this area. Participants were also asked to assess their value of various elements commonly used to engage toddlers in social …

Economic Development In The Massachusetts Life Sciences Cluster: Shared Prosperity Or A Big Tradeoff?, Brandynn Holgate

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Policies aimed at economic development can be judged by two criteria: efficiency and equity. -Policies that result in both greater efficiency and greater equity lead to shared economic prosperity for a region. The innovation economy includes some of the fastest growing industries which generate new wealth in the U.S. Within this context, the life sciences industry has been a prime target for economic development for individual states. This case study examines the economic development agenda in the Massachusetts life sciences industry and whether these efforts result in both sustaining competitive advantage (i.e., continuous innovation that improves productivity and product and …

Cognitive Processes And Moderators Of Willingness In Individuals With Social Anxiety Disorder And Non-Anxious Controls In Response To A Social Performance Task, Lauren P. Wadsworth

Graduate Masters Theses

The present study investigated differences between individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and non-anxious controls (NAC) on measures of thought processes and anxiety responses surrounding an anxiety-provoking situation. Participants gave a spontaneous speech to an audience and reported their anxiety throughout. Measures of trait decentering and anxiety, situational anxiety, negative thoughts and believability, and willingness to repeat the task were administered. Compared to NAC, individuals with SAD reported a higher prevalence of negative thoughts, found the thoughts more believable, reported lower levels of trait decentering, and reported less willingness to repeat an anxiety-provoking task. Collapsing the groups, we found an …

Travails Of The Travestis, Kiratiana Freelon

Capstones

The Brazilian public has long accepted transgender people in the streets and in the media. In the 80s Roberta Close’s high cheekbones, and full cheeks became a standard of beauty for all Brazilian women. But this cultural acceptance of transgender people belies one fact—Brazil is one of the most dangerous places in the world for transgender people. Brazil has the highest number of murders in the world of transgender people every year. This capstone examines the issue in the country.

Mcdonald's Or Mesquite: Struggles On The Salt River Pima Reservation, Stefani Kim

Capstones

The Salt River Pima Indians, prior to colonization, had a strong tradition of harvesting and food sovereignity. As the tribe adapted to a more Westernized diet which consisted mainly of processed food rations, the rate of diabetes began to skyrocket on the reservation and, at one point, the tribe had one of the highest per capita diabetes rates in the world. This year, the tribe's cultural resources department will resurrect a 16-year-old community garden program originally funded by a USDA/Habitat for Humanity grant as a way to help combat health problems related to a poor diet such as diabetes and …

Overcoming Obstacles, Melisa Stumpf

Capstones

the contributing factors that lead to the purported low life expectancy for transgenders (suicide, high risks of HIV, lack of healthcare access, refusal of care, etc.) which some experts, advocates and transgender individuals themselves think it's of about 35 years-old.

Undocumented Transgenders Fear Getting Sent Back Home Where They Were Discriminated, Denisse Moreno

Capstones

Transgenders from countries where they face heavy discrimination come to the U.S. with hopes of living a better life. However, they fear deportations and the possibility of getting sent back to their home countries.

Where Is All The Conservative Comedy?, Oliver Morrison

Capstones

It would be nice if there were a single, simple explanation for why conservatives have failed at political TV satire. But the truth is there are many factors that have all contributed: the tendency of satire to skewer the establishment; the lack of conservatives drawn to comedy; the unique liberal anger when the medium came of age; the first-in training advantage of the Daily Show; the subtle biases of Hollywood executives making the decisions; as well as the different sensibilities of conservative and liberal viewers.

Dead Women And White Men: Why Are Today’S Hit Noir Shows Still Stuck In The Gender/ Race Politics Of The ‘40s And ‘50s?, Zainab Akande

Capstones

Critically acclaimed TV noir programs such as “True Detective,” “House of Cards” and “Hannibal” provide complex narratives with compelling characters, but fail to take full advantage of gender & race diversity.

Raped And Escaped: A Colombian Mother’S Fight To Protect Her Sons, Melanie Bencosme

Capstones

I tell the story of a Colombian woman who fought for her children. She protected them from being recruited by paramilitaries and because of that she was raped and displaced.

The Bitter Pill: How Second-Wave Feminism Failed, And Why It Doesn't Matter, Brianna Mcgurran

Capstones

It's not cool to be a feminist. It’s not anti-establishment to say you don’t identify with that label; now, it’s the status quo. Every time a celebrity like Katy Perry or Salma Hayek distances herself from feminism, blogs like Jezebel and Feministing pounce. But a few months ago I found out that all the back-and-forth doesn’t matter. The final verdict on second-wave feminism's success won’t be found in words spoken on the red carpet or in rejoinders on women’s blogs. The future of gender relations will be decided in an obscure corner of the Internet populated primarily by angry white …

Trauma In Foreign Correspondents, Pearl Macek

Capstones

I have always admired journalists reporting from war zones. They seemed so courageous and utterly infallible. When James Foley and Steven Sotloff were beheaded by ISIS fighters earlier this year, I started to think about how journalists confront the trauma they witness and feel. Surely, the horrors of seeing colleagues die as well as witnessing the pain of civilians would have some effect on these professionals. I began speaking with journalists of all ages and from all walks of life to see how they dealt with their emotions after reporting from conflict zones.

Riot - The End Of Violent Protests In New York, Rikki Reyna

Capstones

In New York City, following the death of Eric Garner, protests and rallies against police brutality were sustained for months. For the most part it was peaceful. But what happened to Eric Garner would have incited a very different response in New York City in a different time. There was a time when New Yorkers wouldn’t just protest. They would riot. Those riots seem incapable of happening in today’s New York. This narrative project explores the reasons why. What social, political and economic changes have come together to make riots in this city seem improbable.

Lady Luck: The Rise Of Women Problem Gamblers, Antonia Massa

Capstones

Gambling addiction, once considered a nearly exclusively male affliction, is becoming more common among women. This story looks at the lives and addictions of two women problem gamblers. The project includes text, audio, images and a web app for smartphones, designed to help women who think they may have a gambling problem.

Rethinking School Discipline, Gwynne Hogan

Capstones

How schools maintain order in the halls can be just as important as what they teach in the classrooms. The way students are disciplined teaches them what consequences their actions will have not just in school, but as they grow into adulthood. This project examines the role of the NYPD in city schools and the impact it has on school discipline. It will also look into one school in Far Rockaway whose principal has managed cut suspensions by shifting attitudes towards discipline.

National Vs. International Schools: Factors Influencing School Choice In Egypt; The Voices Of Parents And Students., Yasmine Alaa Khorshed

Theses and Dissertations

There are many national and international schools in Cairo today, and every year lots of parents make educational choices for their children. Those choices are based on various factors. This research explores the factors that influence parents to select a certain school type and not the other. It is an initial step into school research as an attempt to help educators and administrators understand parents’ and students’ priorities, needs and expectations when choosing a school. The research questions are: (1) What are the most and least important factors that parents consider when choosing a national/ international school for their children? …

Exploring Individual Differences In Workload Assessment, Danielle K. Boeke

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force missions continue to increase in complexity often imposing higher levels of task load from cognitive tasks on the operators. This increased task load manifests itself in increased cognitive workload and potentially derogated performance. While cognitive workload has been studied for decades, recent advances in objective workload models and physiology monitoring have the potential to provide a more robust understanding of workload, potentially allowing systems to adaptively employ automation to maintain operator peak performance. The current research sought to provide insight into the relationship between subjective workload, task performance, objective workload, and select physiology measures. Analysis of an existing …

Using Data Mining To Determine The Impact Continuity Of Care Has On The Air Force’S Healthcare System, David F. Wade

Theses and Dissertations

Department of Defense (DoD) healthcare is one of the largest contributors to the DoD budget. In recent years, the cost of the DoD healthcare system has risen at an exponential rate. Much research has been conducted on the impacts that continuity of care has on both improving the quality of patient care and on reducing healthcare costs in the private sector. The DoD has attempted to take a similar approach with regards to healthcare continuity as a means to reduce healthcare costs. This research investigates whether continuity of care influences costs and a military member's availability to perform duties. Specifically, …

Influence Of Sociocultural Factors On The Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence Among College Students In Costa Rica, Derby Munoz-Rojas

Open Access Dissertations

Although intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide public health issue affecting millions of people, adolescents and young adults are disproportionally affected. IPV is a complex problem primarily because it is influenced by a web of risks and protective factors, which interact and shape the experiences of each person. However, the exact nature of these interactions is not well understood, particularly among adolescents and young adults and in cultures where gender norms are rapidly changing and less IPV research has been conducted, such as in Costa Rica. Specifically, little is known about the effect of sociocultural factors on the experiences …

Capturing The Effects Of Public Opinion Polls On Voter Support In The Ny 25th Congressional Election, Heather Knappen

Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between public opinion polls and voter support and asks whether exposure to a public opinion poll creates an unfair advantage for the candidate winning in that poll. The experimental results from this study were used to test the hypothesis that exposure to an opinion poll, with a wide lead for one of two candidates, would cause voter support to increase for the candidate who was leading in the poll (i.e. a bandwagon effect). In 2012, a random sample of 101 registered voters in the NY 25th Congressional District participated in two telephone surveys. In each …

Tidy Guide – A Beginner’S Guide To An Organized Home, Katie Hollenbeck

Theses

Search for "how to organize" on the web, and you will be inundated with endless resources. Organizing information is everywhere, making the task seem intimidating. For my thesis project, I sought out to create an interactive, instructional, web-based application that would coach users on how to organize objects within a specific space. My goal was to create a unique, visual, creative solution - one that did not already exist on the web, and one that would become an important tool for users who were seeking organizing assistance and advice. Not only did I intend the application to be unique, visual, …

Effects Of Theory Of Mind Training On The False Belief Understanding Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Students In Prekindergarten And Kindergarten, Stacey L. Tucci

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Data from a growing number of research studies indicate that children with hearing loss are delayed in Theory of Mind (ToM) development when compared to their typically developing, hearing peers. While other researchers have studied the developmental trajectories of ToM in school-age students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), a limited number have addressed the need for interventions for this population. The present study extends the current research on ToM interventions to the PreKindergarten and Kindergarten levels. This study used a single-case multiple-baseline multiple-probe across skills design with replications across classrooms to examine the effects of a ToM …

Critical Thinking In Public Health: An Exploration Of Skills Used By Public Health Practitioners And Taught By Instructors, Martha Elizabeth Alexander

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Critical thinking is crucial in public health due to the increasingly complex challenges faced by this field, including disease prevention, illness management, economic forces, and changes in the health system. Although there is a lack of consensus about how practitioners and educators view critical thinking, such skills are essential to the functions of applying theories and scientific research to public health interventions (Rabinowitz, 2012). The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between critical thinking skills used by public health practitioners and critical thinking skills taught to graduate students in schools/programs of public health. Through interviews with public …

Acknowledging The Elephant In The Room: A Multiple-Case Study Exploring The Experiences Of Social Studies Teacher-Coaches, Caroline J. Conner

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Social studies teachers are frequently athletic coaches, yet little educational research attends to the experiences of social studies teacher-coaches (SSTCs). Research in role conflict theory, however, suggests that TCs, those who occupy dual professional roles of academic teacher and athletic coach simultaneously, often face increased levels of stress, which can lead to role strain, burnout and/or role retreatism. Through a multiple-case study of three football SSTCs in a large, metropolitan county in the Southeastern United States, the researcher explored participants’ experiences over the course of the 2013-2014 school year. Conducting a series of interviews with each participant, the researcher investigated …

Aging Out Of Foster Care: The Experiences Of Former Foster Youth Who Successfully Navigated This Transition, Margot A. Hedenstrom Phd, Rn

Nursing Dissertations (PhD)

ABSTRACT

AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE: THE EXPERIENCES OF FORMER FOSTER

YOUTH WHO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATED THIS TRANSITION

by

MARGOT HEDENSTROM

Foster youth face high risks and poor outcomes after aging out of care resulting in great economic and human costs to society. The purpose of the study was to describe life experiences of children aging out of the foster care system from the perspectives of adults who have successfully navigated this transition. Their life experiences during this period provided meaningful information for this study which helped to identify themes.

Phenomenology was used to describe the experiences of nine young adults …

Factors Which Influence Adult African Americans' Asthma Self-Management, James Holland

Nursing Dissertations (PhD)

There are approximately 22.2 million Americans’ who are living with asthma and of those 18.4 million are adults. African Americans’ are more likely to be diagnosed with asthma compared to Caucasians, and experience more asthma attacks. In this study, the Social Cognitive Theory was used to examine the relationships among personal characteristics, environmental factors, asthma self-efficacy, self-management behaviors, and quality of life (QOL) in African American adults with asthma.

A correlational design was used. Data were collected from a non-random sample of adult African Americans’ with asthma (N = 39) using the following self-report questionnaires: the Knowledge, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy …

Ascribing Meaning To Kidney Disease: A Qualitative Study Of African Americans With A First Degree Relative On Hemodialysis, Loretta Brown

Nursing Dissertations (PhD)

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a serious health threat to African Americans (AA). CKD is responsible for the high incidence of end stage renal disease requiring hemodialysis among AA. CKD is a preventable condition associated with modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Having a family history of CKD is an independent non-modifiable risk factor for CKD yet many AA do not perceive CKD as a major health concern. Previous studies on CKD awareness and knowledge have not included the voices of individuals with a relative affected by CKD. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the meaning of …

Alien On A Savage Planet, Shena Mullins

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This paper details the process of creating the UNO Graduate thesis film Alien on a Savage Planet. Each major step in the filmmaking process is covered: screenwriting, producing, directing, cinematography, sound, production design, costumes, hair and makeup, workflow, editing, color correction, music and post- sound. A comprehensive assessment of the filmmaking process and the successes and failures of the project are discussed in length.

Idiom Comprehension Skills Of Adult Struggling Readers, Stephanie Ryan Hall

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Idioms such as break a leg and piece of cake make up a significant portion of spoken and written discourse. Like other linguistic expressions stemming from conceptual metaphor (e.g., metaphors, similes), idioms serve to provide understanding of one concept in relation to a different concept (e.g., love is a journey). The ability to comprehend figurative expressions has an extended developmental period that begins as young as 5 years and continues into adulthood. The Language Experience Hypothesis attributes figurative language competence to meaningful exposure to figurative expressions. The Global Elaboration Hypothesis, however, proposes that figurative language comprehension depends upon skills …

Brazilian And Nigerian International Students’ Conceptions Of Learning, Carol Ashong

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

The growth, benefits, and challenges of international students in higher education provide compelling reasons to closely examine the social, cultural, and introspective aspects of learning for this population. One area of research that provides insight into the learning experiences of international students is investigations on conceptions of learning. Previous research has found that conceptions of learning guide primary beliefs, experiences, interpretations, and outcomes of learning. Conceptions of learning also provide insight into the ways students choose to approach learning and influence how they interact with courses, classroom environment, teachers, and peers (Marshall et al., 1999). However, research on conceptions of …