Education Commons^™

Undergraduate Research In Mathematical Biology Needs A Cure, Olcay Akman

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Adolescent Thc Usage In Virginia: Post-Legalization Challenges And Strategies For Schools, David Naff, Meg Sheriff, Jill Flynn, Marzia Farhana, Kris Herakovich-Curtis, Gerron Scott, Fred Gatty, Priyadarshini Pattath, Diane Williams, Kiana Bradford, Reena Desai, Lauren Powell, Lisa Gwyn

MERC Publications

Recreational marijuana was legalized for anyone over the age of 21 in Virginia in 2021. This research and policy brief explores evidence of the impact of such legalization on Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) usage in PK-12 aged youth, including smoking, vaping, edibles, and dabbing. It addresses the following questions: 1) What are the recent trends in marijuana usage among PK-12 aged youth? 2) What are the impacts of THC usage in schools, particularly after legalization? 3) How can schools and school systems effectively respond to THC usage? 4) What are relevant federal, state, and school division policies that guide responses to youth …

School Division Policies Related To Suicide Prevention And Response, David Naff, Fatemah A. Khawaji, Morgan Meadowes, Jill Flynn, Meg Sheriff, Lauren Powell, Lisa Gwyn, Tameka Burroughs, Jean Samuel

MERC Publications

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among youth age 10-19, and is an increasing concern in the wake of COVID-19. K-12 schools are crucial spaces for offering mental health support to students, and can implement policies to help prevent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This MERC research and policy brief focuses on education policy related to suicide prevention and response. It is structured to answer five questions: 1) What are recent trends in youth suicide? 2) What does research show about school division policies that are effective in suicide prevention and response? 3) What policies in Virginia and …

Using An Interdisciplinary Case Study To Incorporate Quantitative Reasoning In Social Work, Nursing, And Mathematics, Elizabeth Post, Mischelle Stone, Lauren Cavner Williams, Mary Beaudry

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Through the national consortium, SUMMIT-P, Ferris State University faculty collaborated to develop and scaffold mathematics and quantitative reasoning across disciplines to reduce math anxiety. Participants in this collaborative group included faculty from social work, nursing, and mathematics who developed a case study on a Hurricane Katrina scenario that necessitated calculating the need for emergency shelter, water, food, and medicine, and as a response to the potential for a Malaria outbreak. This particular case study allowed faculty to use the lens of social justice to teach mathematical concepts and provided an avenue for nursing and social work students to engage in …

Family Relationships And Academic Performance Via Belongingness Among Cuban Medical Students: Examining Family Legacy And Sex As Moderators, Maria J. Cisneros-Elias

Theses and Dissertations

Medical diplomacy is a foundational part of Cuban domestic and foreign policy (Feinsilver, 2010). Cuba has an abundance of doctors, encouraged by the country’s free medical education program (Hand et al., 2020), and has made a significant impact with its well-established healthcare system, provision of healthcare for all of its citizens, and healthcare support internationally. The current study aims to focus on processes underlying Cuban medical students’ academic performance, as they are a critical component of this successful system, and a population that has received limited empirical attention. Thus, the current study used path analyses to examine the relations between …

A Critical Interpretive Synthesis Of Research Linking Hip Hop And Wellbeing In Schools, Alexander Crooke, Cristina Almeida, Rachael Comte

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Hip Hop is recognized as an agent for youth development in both educational and well-being spaces, yet literature exploring the intersection of the two areas is comparatively underdeveloped. This article presents a critical interpretive synthesis of twenty-two articles investigating school-based well-being interventions which used Hip Hop. The critical stance taken aimed to identify or expose assumptions underpinning this area of scholarship and practice. Our analysis suggested several assumptions operate in this space, including the idea rap represents a default for Hip Hop culture, and the default beneficiaries of Hip Hop-informed interventions are students of color living in underprivileged, inner-city US …

Intergenerational And Intragenerational Connections Within A University Art Museum Program For People With Dementia, Sujal Manohar, Jessica Kay Ruhle

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

This visual essay highlights the impacts of the Nasher Museum of Art’s Reflections program, which engages people with dementia (PWD) and their care partners through interactive art museum tours. This program’s conversation-based tours with built-in time to socialize are designed to foster intergenerational and intragenerational connections between PWD and museum gallery guides, PWD and care partners, and between PWD. Discussions about artwork are visitor-driven and encourage lifelong learning among participants. Anecdotal feedback from Reflections participants and gallery guides confirms the value of relationship building, improving quality of life for PWD.

By fostering community and strong connections, Reflections programs help reduce …

Covid-10, Healthcare Interior Design + Provider Experience - How Does Your Space Work For You?, Ruth E.P. Deibler

Graduate Research Posters

The lack of research on healthcare staff experience and interior design of the spaces they work in is evident. A focus on staff perspective is needed, particularly staff who navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. This research seeks to capture those stories to develop further research in order to improve staff experience. The initial phase of this mixed-methods approach is a survey. Hypothetically, by placing providers at the center of qualitative research related to healthcare interior design, we can better understand existing healthcare spaces. Ideally, we can develop additional evidence-based, human-centered solutions to transform interior environments in healthcare.

The 20-year Women’s Health …

Opening Doorways: Connecting Petersburg Students To The World Of Health Science Professions, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Carol Caudill, Brent Fagg, Victor Gonzalez Montoya, Amy Ladd, Kim Mcknight, Peyton Rowe, Paula Song

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

This project creates a strategy to build a pipeline that begins in elementary school and is reinforced through middle and high school. This early exposure and understanding of health career opportunities is needed. Too many communities in Virginia experience critical health care inequities in services and information. To address those inequities, we need to open doorways to investigate health careers. By inspiring students from these communities to enter medical and health sciences professions, there is better representation and services to these underrepresented communities. VCU not only can provide exposure to various health careers, experiential learning and mentoring on how to …

Identifying Needs Of Potential Transfer Students Of Color To Enhance Equity And Inclusion In The College Of Health Professions, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Hem Bhardwaj, Ashley Brewer, Christopher Garland, Rebecca Heise, Courtney Holmes, Hillary O'Boyle

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV)1 data indicate disparities in recruitment and retention outcomes for transfer students of color and those of Hispanic ethnicity compared to non-Hispanic White peers. With the goal of enhancing equity and inclusion while diversifying the health professions, this project characterizes the needs of this population to inform the development of a new bachelor’s program within the College of Health Professions. The project provides recommendations based on data collected from both prospective and current VCU transfer students.

Examining The Effect Of Item-Writing Flaws On The Psychometric Parameters Of Pharmacy Therapeutics Examinations, Veronica P. Shuford

Theses and Dissertations

Colleges and schools of pharmacy (C/SOP) use direct measures of assessment to provide evidence of student learning, with multiple-choice questions (MCQs) being one the most common formats used in health sciences education to assess students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities (Pate & Caldwell, 2014). This study examined the occurrence of item-writing flaws (IWFs) in the Clinical Therapeutics Module (CTM) sequence of courses at a college of pharmacy at an academic health center in the southeastern United States. The goals of the study were to: (1) identify the most common item-writing flaws on examinations in the CTM sequence of courses, (2) determine …

Achieving Dentin Conservation Using Dynamic Navigation Technology For Locating Calcified Canals, Madison W. Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Pulp canal obliteration (PCO) is a common sequela of dental trauma, caries, restorations and vital pulp therapy procedures. Despite the application of high magnification and CBCT imaging, access cavity preparation for such cases is prone to procedural errors that may lead to substantial loss of dentin structure thereby reducing the long-term prognosis. This study aimed to achieve dentin conservation using a novel computer assisted dynamic navigation system (Navident) in comparison to freehand access preparation for locating calcified canals.

Methods: Forty maxillary and mandibular central incisors (tooth #9 and tooth #25) were 3-D printed to simulate PCO. They were randomly …

Can School Be A Source Of Trauma? Assessing Academic Traumatic Stress As A Mechanism Underlying The Health Outcomes Of Black Undergraduate Students, Ebony A. Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Research examining Black students’ school experiences demonstrates that exposure to oppressive power dynamics in schools may lead to adverse physiological and psychological consequences. Recent conceptualizations in public discourse further posit that traumatic educational experiences, operationalized here as academic trauma or the cumulative toll of adverse and oppressive experiences in academic settings, may influence Black students’ wellbeing even after they have graduated. However, academic trauma has yet to be investigated empirically, and the health contributions of such educational harm remain unstudied. Moreover, little is known about how culturally-relevant personal characteristics (e.g., emotion regulation strategies) influence Black students’ reactivity to academic trauma. …

“It’S Supposed To Be Super Easy And It’S Not”: Black And Latinx Student Experiences In The Doctor Of Physical Therapy Admissions Process, Melissa Yeung

Theses and Dissertations

Data provided by the Physical Therapy Central Application System (PTCAS) suggests that despite the large numbers of applicants to Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs on an annual basis, a gap remains between the number of White and Black and Latinx applicants who are offered admission to DPT programs. Efforts made by DPT programs to increase the diversity of their incoming cohorts include the use of holistic review processes and enrichment programs to recruit more diverse classes. However, research suggests that the undergraduate experiences of students of color have an impact on their aspirations to graduate and professional schools, and …

Collaborative Instruction For Information Retrieval And Appraisal Skills In Evidence-Based Practice Models For Dental Hygiene Students., Irene M. Lubker, Joan M. Pellegrini

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Objectives:

1. Collaborate with VCU Dental Hygiene Program faculty to develop and evaluate a model of evidence-based practice (EBP) for students in didactic and clinical settings.

2. Describe how a course was modified to emphasize evidence-based practice.

3. Analyze course evaluations and student scholarly output.

Methods/Materials:

Dental educators strive to develop graduates who practice evidence-based practice and whose clinical decisions are based on current scientific research. A medical librarian was invited to assist in integrating EBP into the dentistry curriculum in 2012. To gain a better understanding of EBP in dental settings, the librarian and dental hygiene faculty attended the …

Internet-Based Behavior Of It Professionals: Implications For Online Ergonomic Education To Prevent Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Priyadarshini Pattath

Theses and Dissertations

INTERNET-BASED BEHAVIOR OF IT PROFESSIONALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ONLINE ERGONOMIC EDUCATION TO PREVENT WORK-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS

By Priyadarshini Pattath, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017 Director: Dr. Robin Hurst, Assistant Professor of Adult Learning, Teaching and Learning,

School of Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the preferences of medium of ergonomic education and views about self-directed online training modules to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in computer professionals and understand their perspectives and experiences about online health information seeking using a …

An Evaluation Of Critical Resources In Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, Lois E. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Advanced practice nurses fill a vital need in the U.S. by increasing access to needed healthcare. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are one type of advanced practice nurse with a long history of safe and effective peri-anesthetic care. Nurse anesthetists have a rich tradition of providing anesthetic care for rural and underserved communities, and are a primary provider of anesthesia for active and retired military personnel. CRNAs comprise over one-half of the actively practicing U.S. anesthesia workforce currently, and are able to function in any anesthetic care model. Nurse anesthesia educational programs (NAEPs) are the single source for new graduate …

Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.

The Lived Experiences Of Academic Advisors With Counseling Degrees In Addressing Wellness With College Student-Athletes, Jennifer M. Gerlach

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of academic advisors who have master’s degrees in counseling in addressing wellness with college student-athletes. Of particular note was to explore if they addressed wellness and, if so, how they addressed wellness. Extant literature is replete with evidence documenting the numerous challenges and stressors student-athletes experience due to their athlete status. Prior to this study, the role of the academic advisor in addressing wellness has not been represented in the literature. This study examined the lived experiences of 10 academic advisors with counseling degrees, or currently enrolled …

Depression In Low-Income Adolescents: Guidelines For School-Based Depression Intervention Programs, Gopika Hari

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Adolescent depression is growing in interest to clinicians. In addition to the estimated 2 million cases of adolescent major depressive episodes each year, depressive symptoms in youth have become indicators of mental health complications later in life. Studies indicate that being low-income is a risk factor for depression and that socioeconomically disadvantaged teenagers are more than twice as likely to develop mental illnesses. Only an estimated 1 in 4 children with mental illnesses receive adequate help and 80% of these resources come through schools. Thus, this study focuses on establishing the importance of depression intervention programs in low-income high schools …

“I Just Need To Get Myself Supervised:” Exploring Transformative Learning In The Development Of Professionalism Among Physicians In The First Year Of Graduate Medical Education, Elizabeth P. Marlowe

Theses and Dissertations

The study explored the learning experiences of first-year resident physicians during the first year of graduate medical education. The experiences of four intern physicians in the first year of residency training at an urban academic health system provided the site for the research. An exploratory case study research design was employed to examine the learning experiences of these new physicians. A qualitative approach was used to analyze data from interviews and ethnographic observations. The findings of this research study provide evidence surrounding how and what these physician trainees learned regarding professionalism during the first year of residency training.

The findings …

Incorporation Of Molecular Diagnostics Into Medical Laboratory Science Curriculum: Clinical Facilities Expectations. An Asynchronous, Iterative, Online Delphi Study., Barbara Kraj

Theses and Dissertations

The medical laboratory science (MLS) profession is in need for published molecular diagnostics competency-based standards and curriculum. To assess their expectations of new MLS graduates, professionals performing and supervising performance of clinical molecular assays were surveyed to rate the importance of relevant cognitive and psychomotor learning objectives. A modified, asynchronous, iterative online Delphi process was utilized for assessment of consensus on the importance of the objectives. The survey was delivered through online REDCap application. Program directors of 221 MLS programs accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science (NAACLS) were asked to forward the first Delphi survey to …

High School Teacher And Administrator Perceptions Of Student Health Promotion: An Exploratory Study, Sarah B. Conklin

Theses and Dissertations

The current study explored the high school health promotion environment with regards to physical activity, nutrition, and sedentary behaviors from the perspective of high school health and physical education teachers and administrators. Specifically, potential strategies for a prevention program to promote student physical activity participation and healthy eating, and decrease student sedentary time were explored.

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with physical education teachers to explore potential strategies to promote student health behaviors. Next, interviews were conducted with high school administrators to determine the feasibility of recommended strategies. Teachers and administrators in the current study expressed a need for strategies …

The Status Of The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In Dental Education, Sharon K. Lanning, Michelle Mcgregor, Geralyn Crain, Christopher J. Van Ness, Nancy T. Keselyak, John W. Killip

Periodontics Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine the current status of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) within academic dentistry. A twenty-two-item survey was distributed to faculty members of American Dental Education Association (ADEA) member schools asking about their awareness of SoTL practices, perceived barriers to SoTL application, and ways to enhance SoTL activity. Four hundred thirty surveys with equal distribution of assistant, associate, and full professors were received (this may be considered a response rate of 5.4 percent out of roughly 8,000 ADEA faculty members). Almost 70 percent of the respondents indicated that they highly valued SoTL; …

Enhancing Critical Thinking In Clinical Laboratory Students: A Multimodal Model, Denise Marie Juroske Short

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to improve critical thinking skills in clinical laboratory technologists through the development, implementation, and assessment of a multimodal model targeting critical thinking skills. Clinical laboratory technologists influence patient care through the testing of laboratory samples. Employers of these entry level professionals identified a need for improved critical thinking skills. This quasi-experimental study aimed to design a multimodal critical thinking model, implement the model into the clinical laboratory educational curriculum, and assesses this skill set for students in a pre-test / post-test format. The model was delivered and assessed for 47 clinical laboratory students at …

The Living Textbook Project For Affordable Higher Education, Dayanjan S. Wijesinghe

Surgery Presentations

A blue print for ensuring that community college education remains affordable to the future generations via elimination of the cost of textbooks.

Evolution Of Physical Therapy At The Medical College Of Virginia And Virginia Commonwealth University, Mary Snyder Shall

VCU University History Books

The Physical Therapy Department at Virginia Commonwealth University was founded in 1931 as part of the College of William and Mary’s Richmond division, becoming Virginia’s first program in the field of physical therapy. Through archived files, yearbooks and interviews with faculty and alumni, this book describes important events of the department’s first 80 years and highlights the faculty members and alumni who influenced the local and national development of the profession.

Enhanced Care Assistant Training To Address The Workforce Crisis In Home Care: Changes Related To Job Satisfaction And Career Commitment, Constance L. Coogle, Iris A. Parham, Rita Jablonski, Jason A. Rachel

Virginia Center on Aging Publications

Changes in job satisfaction and career commitment were observed as a consequence of a geriatric case management training program focusing on skills development among personal care attendants in home care. A comparison of pretraining and posttraining scores uncovered a statistically signifi cant increase in Intrinsic Job Satisfaction scores for participants 18–39 years of age, whereas levels declined among the group of middle aged participants and no change was observed among participants age 52 and older. On the other hand, a statistically signifi cant decline in Extrinsic Job Satisfaction was documented over all participants, but this was found to be primarily …

A Golden Foundation For Building The Future

VCU University History Books

Founded in 1949, the Department of Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University has been recognized as one of the first programs of its kind and as one of America’s first distance-learning programs. This book explores how the department evolved with healthcare during its first 50 years and describes the department's growth, including PhD research, the Grant House, and international studies.

A Proud Heritage : 100 Years Of Nursing Education, Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU University History Books

In the late 1980s, nursing alumni, faculty, and students began planning for the one hundredth anniversary observance of the founding of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing. The school traces its rich heritage back to the organization of the Virginia Hospital Training School for Nurses which opened in 1893. Betsy A. Bampton (MCV Class of 1960) undertook the writing of a school history published as the centennial celebration was set to begin. In this abundantly illustrated work, Bampton and her collaborators chronicle the development and growth of the eight diverse schools and programs that formed the foundation of the …