Education Commons^™

The Role Of Inspiration In Scientific Scholarship And Discovery: Views Of Theistic Scientists, Kari Ann O'Grady

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study examined the ways those who identify themselves as theistic scientists and scholars experience inspiration, as defined as divine guidance or influence, in their scientific scholarship and discovery. It also explored participants' beliefs about how scientists and scholars can seek and prepare to receive inspiration in their work. Open-ended surveys of 450 participants from the behavioral and natural sciences and from a variety of religious backgrounds were analyzed for content themes in the areas of experiences with inspiration, preparing to receive inspiration, and further thoughts on inspiration in science. The themes extracted indicated that these scientists and …

Women's Perceptions Of Parents, Peers, Romantic Partner And God As Predictive Of Symptoms Severity Among Women In Treatment For Eating Disorders At An Inpatient Facility, Samuel B. Tobler

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined whether perceptions of parents, peers, romantic partners and God were predictive of eating disorder symptom severity among women in treatment for eating disorders. The sample included 417 women (ages 12 to 56 years) at an inpatient treatment facility for eating disorders. Participants completed a battery of assessment measures at intake and discharge. Change scores were also computed on all measures. Measures included indices of eating disorder symptomology, parental relationships, peer relationships, romantic partner relationships, and religious well-being. Multiple regression analysis showed perceptions of peers and romantic partner to be significant predictors in all analyses; however perceptions …

Existing Practice And Proposed Changes In Cognitive Assessment Of Utah Students Identified As Deaf And Hard Hearing, Leah Voorhies

Theses and Dissertations

This study presented the past, current, and proposed practice of intelligence testing with a unique population, students identified as deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH). As a basis for describing the cognitive ability of Utah's D/HH students and to improve practice guidelines, 61 D/HH students served by Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) were administered the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) standard battery and the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Based on these data, composite score distributions were described and compared with national standardization samples. Participants' WISC-IV PRI …

Description Of The Trio/Upward Bound Students' Construction Of Vocations Using George Kelly's Rep Test Method, Maraia Sokia Weingarten

Theses and Dissertations

The Information Age is revolutionizing the way we communicate, acquire knowledge, and perform work. Society is shifting from occupations rooted in industrial production to those associated with knowledge and information, requiring the development of new skills for changing occupations and updating old educational methods. Educators need to be aware of economic and social changes and have a vision for how to design career education to respond to those changes. Individuals must also be prepared to learn on their own as careers evolve and change. The training necessary to adapt to the changing career culture needs to be made available to …

Affective Responses Of Overseas Student Teachers, Michael W. Firmin, Ruth L. Firmin, Brenda B. Mackay

Education Faculty Publications

Universities offering teacher education degrees are finding the world to be significantly smaller than did previous generations. Increasingly, American students are completing their required student teaching in foreign contexts. The present research study used rigorous qualitative methods in order to appraise the affective experiences from a sample of 13 students who completed their student teaching overseas. Results showed, affectively, students experienced a bell-shaped curve phenomenon. Particularly, they underwent stages of excitement when entering the teaching experience, followed by significant dysphoria, and then completed their student teaching with a positive emotional set.

Becoming Psychotherapists: Experiences Of Novice Trainees In A Beginning Graduate Class, Clara E. Hill, Catherine Sullivan, Sarah Knox, Lewis Z. Schlosser

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The authors investigated the experiences related to becoming psychotherapists for 5 counseling psychology doctoral trainees in their first prepracticum course. Qualitative analyses of weekly journals indicated that trainees discussed challenges related to becoming psychotherapists (e.g., being self-critical, having troubling reactions to clients, learning to use helping skills), gains made during the semester related to becoming psychotherapists (e.g., using helping skills more effectively, becoming less self-critical, being able to connect with clients), as well as experiences in supervision and activities that helped them cope with their anxieties. Results are discussed in 5 broad areas: feelings about self in role of psychotherapist, …

Evaluation And Needs-Based Assessment Of Special Education Teachers' Knowledge Of Austism Interventions, Dawn Richardson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is being increasingly identified in children, yet there are only a minimal number of studies examining the use of research-based intervention strategies in a classroom educational setting. This present study examined the use of Discrete Trial Training, Picture Exchange Communication System, Social Stories, Structured Teaching, and Video Self-Modeling by special education teachers with students with ASD. A questionnaire was completed by 91 special education teachers from the Green River Region Educational Cooperative, which encompasses 17 different school districts in the area of western and south central Kentucky. They answered questions about their level of training, knowledge …

The Moral Dimension Of Children’S And Adolescents’ Conceptualisation Of Tolerance To Human Diversity, Rivka Witenberg

Rivka T Witenberg Dr

This study examined the kinds of justifications children and adolescents used to support tolerant and intolerant judgements about human diversity. For the tolerant responses, three main belief categories emerged, based on the beliefs that others should be treated fairly (fairness), empathetically (empathy) and that reason/logic ought to govern judgements (reasonableness). Fairness emerged as the most used belief to support tolerant judgements and the most commonly used combination of beliefs was found to be fairness/empathy, linking tolerance to moral reasoning, rules, and values. Specifically noticeable was that 6 to 7 year olds appealed to fairness more often in comparison to the …

Dreamwork With Children: Perceptions And Practice Of School-Based Mental Health Professionals, Rosalia Rodriguez Huermann

Theses and Dissertations

Forty nine public school mental health practitioners (i.e., school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers) completed a survey about working with dreams when counseling students. Most practitioners in this sample reported having at least one student bring up dreams during counseling and spent some time in counseling working with students' dreams. Practitioners addressed dreams more frequently in situations where the student was having troubling dreams or nightmares, and/or was dealing with death and grief. They also acknowledged working with dreams with students who were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, were emotionally disturbed, suffered from recurrent dreams, were depressed, …

Ciis Today, Fall 2007 Issue, Ciis

CIIS Today

This volume is the Fall 2007 issue of CIIS Today, the Magazine of the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Asg Student Social And Emotional Health Report, Michael. E. Bernard, Andrew Stephanou, Daniel Urbach

Wellbeing

This report presents the results of sophisticated Rasch measurement analysis and multi-level modelling to validate and support the use of the ACER Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) student and teacher surveys for reporting on the social and emotional well-being of students from the early years of schooling through to senior secondary school levels. It describes the social and emotional well-being of over 10,000 students attending 81 schools across Australia. Among the more important findings of this research are the characteristics of students with low levels of social and emotional well-being compared with students with higher levels of social and emotional …

A 17-Year Longitudinal Study Of Spiritual Development And Psychological Correlates In A Sample Of College Students, Jeremy Daniel Bartz

Theses and Dissertations

In 1984, 1987 and 2001 data were collected on a religiously devout group of college students in an effort to better understand the process of religious development and the relationship between religiosity and mental health. This study analyzes that data by examining the stability of two different religious development styles that were identified in 1984, the stability of religious motivations over the course of adulthood, and the relationship between devoutness and psychopathology. This study found that (a) the religious developmental styles did not remain consistent from 1984 to 2001, (b) the participants' religious motivations remained stable over the course of …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 4, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Students' Perception Of Value Of Interactive Oral Communication As Part Of Writing Course Papers, Meredyth Krych Appelbaum, Joanna Musial

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Every day students are able to discuss complex ideas relatively easily in spontaneous conversation, yet when they attempt to express complex ideas in a written paper, students often experience great difficulty. The features of face-to-face conversation and of written communication differ in a number of respects. This study examines student's perceptions of peer evaluation through interactive conversation as compared to non-interactive written peer feedback. This study provides evidence that students perceive value in actively talking with others about their paper. In particular, students often prefer to talk to someone who has investment in their success and who can give them …

Diverse Students' Perceptions Of Cultural Congruity And Environment At A University, Effie J. Thacker

Theses and Dissertations

The Culturally Responsive Special Education/English as a Second Language (ESL) program was designed to assist students from diverse backgrounds in being academically successful in a large western private university. Utilizing the Cultural Congruity Scale (CCS) and University Environment Scale (UES), this study analyzed the perceptions of 28 students who are ethnically diverse and enrolled in the Culturally Responsive Special Education/ESL Program. The data will be used to evaluate the program's success in addressing the barriers that have historically kept students who are ethnically diverse from succeeding in higher education. Participating students completed CCS and UES surveys questioning their perceptions regarding …

The Cultural Approaches To Multiculturalism: Education Policy And Its Implications In Culture, Linda Margaret Broughton

Linda Margaret Broughton

The purpose of this discussion is to analyse three different European states in their approaches to education policy and culture. Each example of a national policy approach is considered separately, as an individual container (or thimble) with a distinct approach to policymaking and culture that is reflected through structure and content. At the same time, the discussion will analyse the comparative advantages of the separate systems in order to illustrate how one approach may address an issue that is problematic in another approach. The purpose of this discourse is to illustrate how a more comprehensive approach to culture in education …

Cognitive Vs. Supportive Therapy For Distressed Collegians, Jean Clore

Dissertations

Rates of depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and low self-esteem appear to be growing on college campuses. Determining how best to help distressed collegians is an important public health concern, as these individuals appear to be at significant risk for further deterioration, disrupted quality of life, and impaired ability to succeed in college. This study compared the effects of (a) six sessions of cognitive therapy (CT; training in two cognitive modification strategies—building positive self-thoughts and disputing negative self-thoughts) to (b) six sessions of non-directive, supportive therapy (ST). Fifty-three students from a large mid-western university reporting low self-esteem and significant levels of …

Validity Of The Clinical Assessment Of Depression With The Brief Symptom Inventory, Carlie West

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Depression is a disorder frequently noted in college students that can affect multiple aspects of one's life, ranging from physical health issues to interpersonal relationship difficulties. Therefore, it is imperative that the depressive symptoms of college students be identified, evaluated, and treated. This investigation explored the validity of a newly published self-report narrow-band measure of depression, the Clinical Assessment of Depression (CAD; Bracken & Howell, 2004) with an existing broad-band measure, the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1993). College students 18 to 52 years of age (n = 280) enrolled in undergraduate courses in psychology at a south central Kentucky university …

Validity Of The Developmental Checklist Of The Developmental Observation Checklist System, Monte Gannon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study investigates the use of the Developmental Checklist (DC) of the Developmental Observation Checklist System (DOCS; Hresko, Miguel, Sherbenou, & Burton, 1994) as a screening measure for children birth to three years of age. Kentucky regulations require the use of the DC for screening in the KEIS-First Steps program, yet there is little information regarding the effectiveness of the measure as a screening tool. Evaluation data are presented for 51 children between the ages of 2 and 35 months on the DC and the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition (BDI-2; Newborg, 2005). The DC and BDI-2 domains evidence no …

Self-Injury In The Schools: A Survey Of School Psychologists, Amy Beld

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This investigation explores knowledge, training, and practice issues for school psychologists in working with youth who self-injure. Self-injury (SI) is the socially unaccepted, deliberate, self-inflicted harm of an individual's body to reduce psychological distress, without the intention to die as a consequence. As SI is viewed as the "the next teen disorder" (Welsh, 2004), school psychologists are increasingly encountering students who self-injure. Thus, it is necessary to determine school psychologists' ability to respond to youth who self-injure. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a survey of practicing school psychologists to provide information about their knowledge and skills, …

Longitudinal Course Of Body Dissatisfaction In Undergraduate Females At Brigham Young University, Joy Wiechmann

Theses and Dissertations

This research project examined the longitudinal course of body dissatisfaction among undergraduate females at Brigham Young University (BYU) using the Body Satisfaction Questionnaire (BSQ).The research also examined what percentage of undergraduate females have BSQ ratings in the clinically significant range and whether body dissatisfaction ratings varied based on the environment in which the student lived. Results indicate that no significant change in body dissatisfaction occurred over time, nor did living environment appear to play a role in BSQ scores. Results also showed that at any given time over 34% of women on BYU campus have BSQ scores in the clinically …

The Relationship Between Family Composition And Social Behavior For Students With Mild Disabilities In Schools, Amanda Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research identifies significant differences in children's problem behavior across various family structures, particularly noting more challenging behaviors in children from single parent families. Utilizing a pre-existing data set of Behavioral Objective Sequence (BOS) scores, this study investigated teacher ratings of social behavioral skills in students with mild disabilities, focusing on differences between groups of students from a variety of family compositions. Results indicated no significant difference in social behavioral skills among children from different family groups, taking into account the student's age. The covariate of age was significant on each of six BOS subscales, suggesting that children develop and …

Teacher Perceptions Of The Social Validity Of The Peaceable Schools Model, Rachelle Marie Pieper

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the social validity of the Peaceable Schools model, which includes positive behavior support and social skills training. Data were collected through subjective evaluation using an open-ended survey given to teachers at two secondary schools. Results show that teachers perceived evidence of social validity in the areas of social significance, comprehensiveness, relevance, treatment integrity, and social acceptability. While weaknesses were also expressed in the areas of social acceptability, feasibility, and practicality, teachers perceived overall improvement in students' social skills and saw more strengths than weaknesses. Outcomes suggest that the Peaceable Schools model has …

Factors Contributing To The Shortage Of Speech-Language Pathologists In Utah Schools, Stephanie Harris

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined factors contributing to Utah's critical shortage of school-based speech-language pathologists. Specifically, this study focused on the following three constructs: (a) stress levels among professionals currently in the field, (b) attrition and the reasons professionals leave their positions, and (c) factors at the university level. Stress among Utah's speech-language pathologists was assessed using the Speech-Language Pathologist Stress Inventory (Fimian, Lieberman, & Fasteneau, 1991). Of the 230 potential participants, 97 completed and returned questionnaires. Results indicated that Utah's school-based speech-language pathologists experience less overall stress than a normative sample of speech-language pathologists throughout the United States; however, Utah's professionals …

The Effect Of Video Self-Modeling On The Compliance Rates Of High School Students With Developmental Disabilities, Jacob Ammon Aukai Figueira

Theses and Dissertations

People with developmental disabilities must develop the ability to maintain socially acceptable behavior in order to become contributing, accepted members of society at large. Research indicates that compliance, or following directions, is a keystone behavior, which, if learned, may significantly decrease the occurrence of behavior difficulties in students. Many studies of individuals with disabilities have shown a dramatic increase across a wide range of academic and social skills using video self-modeling (VSM), a technique in which students watch edited videos of themselves performing skills correctly or at high rates. Despite the importance of compliance for individuals with disabilities and the …

The Impact Of Video Self-Modeling On Conversational Skills With Adolescent Students With Severe Disabilities, Megan Elizabeth Sangster

Theses and Dissertations

Video self-modeling has been found to be effective in increasing appropriate behaviors, increasing task fluency, and decreasing inappropriate behaviors. During video self-modeling, a student is filmed completing a task and then mistakes, prompts, and negative behaviors are edited from the video. When the edited video is viewed by the subject student, the student views a perfect model of him or herself successfully completing the given task. Video self-modeling has been used predominately with participants with autism spectrum disorder. This study is a replication of a previous study in which the effectiveness of video self-modeling and video peer modeling was compared …

Motivation And Performance In Computer Science: Test Of An Integrative Theory, Katherine A. Selgrade

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to design and empirically test a parsimonious integrative motivation theory. The theory integrates aspects of expectancy theory, social cognitive theory, goal-setting theory, and commitment theory. The theory was tested with 170 undergraduate, students in an introductory computer science (CS) course.

The study tested relationships among the following variables: CS self-efficacy, mathematics ability, affective commitment to the CS class, goal orientation, effort, and performance. The study also tested the interactive effects of effort and ability on performance. Structural equation modeling was used to test the measurement model and a series of nested structural models. Findings …

Self-Esteem As A Predictor Of Treatment Outcome Among Women With Eating Disorders, Suzanne F. Plowman

Theses and Dissertations

Current empirical evidence suggests that true recovery from eating disorders is not possible without a corresponding improvement in body image and self-esteem. Ten studies in current literature evaluate this relationship between self-esteem and clinical eating disorders during inpatient treatment or during follow-up studies but do not provide both pre- (baseline) and post-treatment self-esteem scores. As a result, many questions about the nature of the relationship between eating disorders and self-esteem remain unanswered. The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate whether a comprehensive measure of self-esteem, given to women at the beginning of inpatient treatment for eating disorders, reliably …

Utah School Psychologists: Self-Reported Reasons For Retention And Job Satisfaction, Lisa A. Dickison

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the level of job satisfaction reported by Utah school psychologists and their reasons for staying in their profession. An existing survey was modified and distributed to 119 of the 238 licensed school psychologists in Utah to obtain information on this topic. Sixty-nine school psychologists completed and returned the questionnaire (58% return rate). Based on their feedback, the top five reasons Utah school psychologists stay in their profession were (a) feeling the success and joy of helping students, (b) counseling with students, (c) working one-on-one with students, (d) taking vacation time during summers and holidays, and (e) …

The Correlation Between The Eating Attitudes Test And Body Shape Questionnaire, Maren L. Kanekoa

Theses and Dissertations

This research examined the relationship between eating attitudes and body image dissatisfaction using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). Three cohorts of almost 2,000 undergraduate females from Brigham Young University were given the EAT and BSQ twice a year for two to four years, depending upon their year of entrance to BYU. The data collected were analyzed using correlational statistics. Results indicated that a high positive correlation between the EAT and BSQ existed across semesters and cohorts.