Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Southern Maine

Theses/Dissertations

2015

Discipline
Keyword
Publication

Articles 1 - 22 of 22

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Towards A Framework For Reproductive Violence”, Caitlyn Kelty-Huber Dec 2015

Towards A Framework For Reproductive Violence”, Caitlyn Kelty-Huber

All Student Scholarship

Since the inception of ecofeminist discourse in the 1970’s, ecofeminists and feminists alike have been divided on their stances toward the ethics of consuming the bodies and by-products of other animals. A powerful cohort of ecofeminists, in part comprised by such scholars as Marti Kheel, Lori Gruen, Greta Gaard, and Carol J. Adams, have done a tremendous amount of work to situate a concern for more-than-human animals within ecofeminism and beyond. Unfortunately, as Cusack highlights, feminism’s failure to both recognize the parallel oppression of “dairy” cows and female farmed animals, and to thoughtfully incorporate that knowledge into feminist praxis has …

Go to article

Expanding Access To Naloxone In Maine: Opportunities And Barriers, Kate E. Richardson Oct 2015

Expanding Access To Naloxone In Maine: Opportunities And Barriers, Kate E. Richardson

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared prescription drug abuse a national epidemic (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2014). In addition to strategies designed to prevent opioid abuse and misuse, many public health officials, policy makers, healthcare providers and harm reduction task forces seek to increase access to naloxone, a prescription drug known to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. This report provides an overview of the barriers and opportunities for the state of Maine to expand access to the opioid antagonist, naloxone, in an effort to reduce fatal opioid drug overdose rates.

Go to article

Policy Options For Recruiting And Retaining Rural Primary Care Physicians In Maine, Casey Lancaster Oct 2015

Policy Options For Recruiting And Retaining Rural Primary Care Physicians In Maine, Casey Lancaster

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Maine faces a challenge providing primary care services to over half of its residents, as they live in rural areas – even though Maine has enough primary care physicians practicing in the state to service the needs of the population. Maine has a primary care physician distribution problem. Androscoggin, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, Washington, and York Counties, all fall well below the national average of primary care physicians per 100,000 residents. Maine has no true financial incentive program to help rural area’s recruit and retain primary care physicians, though Maine does have two programs that attempt to get primary care …

Go to article

Breaking Barriers To Achieve The Superintendency, Becky J. Foley Phd Oct 2015

Breaking Barriers To Achieve The Superintendency, Becky J. Foley Phd

All Student Scholarship

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the phenomenon of the external and internal barriers that exist for women administrators in Maine seeking to reach the school superintendency. During the 2014-2015 school year in Maine, females comprised only 21 percent of all superintendents. While there is research about the shortage of superintendents nationwide, there is scant research from the female perspective. This research provided insights from women’s perspectives about why gender inequality exists at the superintendent level in education in the state of Maine. Through the use of phenomenological interviews, this qualitative research study focused on the views of …

Go to article

Where Did All The Young People Go? Can The Organizations Of The State Of Maine Re-Enlist Its Native Youth?, Tyler Norman Mcpherson Ma Jun 2015

Where Did All The Young People Go? Can The Organizations Of The State Of Maine Re-Enlist Its Native Youth?, Tyler Norman Mcpherson Ma

All Student Scholarship

As Maine and other New England states continue to be amongst the oldest in the United States, organizations in these states continue to struggle to find and retain suitable younger replacements for their retiring leadership. As the millennia! generation continues to become a significant portion of the American workforce, learning how to connect with, recruit, and retain this generation will prove useful when leadership succession is required. By exploring how this generation was nurtured and educated, we can begin to understand ways, such as non-traditional or reverse mentoring relationships, that New England's organizations can begin to recruit and retain their …

Go to article

Foodborne Illness Risk Factor Study, Kathi-Anne M. Fortin May 2015

Foodborne Illness Risk Factor Study, Kathi-Anne M. Fortin

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The initial purpose of this capstone was to establish a baseline for the occurrence of the top five foodbome illness risk factors, to write a report on the baseline findings and to develop a plan to repeat this study at least once every 60 months for the Portland Environmental Health & Safety Program. It soon became clear, however, that the scope was too broad. An extensive effort was required to integrate national methodology and comparability principles with the State and local restaurant inspection structure. Subsequently, the focus of the capstone shifted to the development of a comprehensive data collection manual. …

Go to article

Why Waste Waste? A Strategic Plan To Achieve Zero Waste In Portland, Maine, Nathan J. Broaddus May 2015

Why Waste Waste? A Strategic Plan To Achieve Zero Waste In Portland, Maine, Nathan J. Broaddus

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

n/a

Go to article

Motivating The Generations: Implications For The Higher Education Workplace, Jennifer Smith Ma May 2015

Motivating The Generations: Implications For The Higher Education Workplace, Jennifer Smith Ma

All Student Scholarship

Motivated employees are an organization’s most valuable asset. Motivation boosts better performance and productivity on the part of workers, so determining the best ways to encourage employee motivation is significant. This thesis examines the ranked importance of motivational factors of salaried/professional and hourly/classified, full-time employees at the University of Southern Maine.

Go to article

4-H Leadership Development In Southern Maine: Community Clubs Vs. School/Afterschool Clubs, Laura Personette Ma May 2015

4-H Leadership Development In Southern Maine: Community Clubs Vs. School/Afterschool Clubs, Laura Personette Ma

All Student Scholarship

In Maine and across the United States, the 4-H Youth Development Program places great importance on youth’s self-discovery, experiential learning, and development of leadership skills. Founded in 1902, the 4-H program was created through A.B. Graham’s starting of rural “out-of-school” clubs.

Go to article

An Assessment Of The Built Environment And Inclusivity Of Older Adults In Community Planning In Portland, Maine, Elizabeth A. Bissonnette May 2015

An Assessment Of The Built Environment And Inclusivity Of Older Adults In Community Planning In Portland, Maine, Elizabeth A. Bissonnette

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This paper focuses on this assessment specific to four: civic participation, housing, transportation, and outdoor spaces and buildings. Four others targeted for study by others include respect and social inclusion, communication and information, community and health services, and social participation. Each domain is reviewed from the perspective of older adults and older although this assessment also benefits people of all ages and abilities. Some data and references were only available with population breakouts of those aged 65 years and older and are noted appropriately.

Go to article

Visualizing Road Network Congestion To Inform Regional Planning In Southern Maine, G Andrew Smith-Petersen May 2015

Visualizing Road Network Congestion To Inform Regional Planning In Southern Maine, G Andrew Smith-Petersen

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

In this analysis, road traffic volumes and capacity estimates are used in conjunction with population data and population change forecasts to visualize the potential for congestion at present, and to project the potential for congestion in 2030. The areas most and least at risk of congestion are identified, so as to inform thought and effort around planning on a regional scale in southern Maine. The area of study includes large portions of York and Cumberland Counties, as well as a small portion of Androscoggin County, in the Greater Portland region.

Go to article

Virtual Team Interactions: Do They Help Or Hinder Interpersonal Communication?, Lorna Puiia Ma Apr 2015

Virtual Team Interactions: Do They Help Or Hinder Interpersonal Communication?, Lorna Puiia Ma

All Student Scholarship

A lack of trust, communication breakdowns, or badly integrated team members are a few of the reasons why a team can fail. To address whether leader and team member perceptions of communication within the team are similar, this study explores interpersonal communications among leadership and team members and considers whether today’s technology helps or hinders successful knowledge sharing and relationship building within virtual teams.

Go to article

Habitat Fragmenta-On In The Sebago Lake Watershed, Jared Lank Apr 2015

Habitat Fragmenta-On In The Sebago Lake Watershed, Jared Lank

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

The goal of this research was to evaluate the extent of land use change occurring in the Sebago lake watershed of southern Maine. The primary data set used was Landsat 7 Near Infrared satellite imagery of the region which was analyzed with ESRI’s ArcGIS soQware. Data was clipped to the Portland Water District’s sub watershed shape file and analyzed with the soQware’s image analysis ‘difference’ tool which calculates the differences in pixel values between to raster datasets. The 2013 Landsat reclassifica-on was compared to 1987, 1995 and 2009 reclassifica-ons. NOAA’s Habitat Priority Planner plugin tool was also u-lized in order …

Go to article

Exploring The Nature Of Perfectionism And Middle School Student Achievement, Jean M. Beaulieu Phd Jan 2015

Exploring The Nature Of Perfectionism And Middle School Student Achievement, Jean M. Beaulieu Phd

All Student Scholarship

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe a doctoral research study designed to explore the nature of perfectionism and middle school student achievement. Perfectionism is currently perceived as a multi-dimensional construct with both adaptive and maladaptive features. This qualitative research study focuses on the views of nine seventh grade participants who were identified as adaptive or maladaptive perfectionists in a survey of students in one seventh grade cohort using the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (Slaney, Mobley, Trippi, Ashby, & Johnson, 1996). Each of the participants met with the researcher and completed three individual interviews and two focus group sessions. Data …

Go to article

Exploring Principal Leadership In Improving Elementary Schools, Brian A. Porter Phd Jan 2015

Exploring Principal Leadership In Improving Elementary Schools, Brian A. Porter Phd

All Student Scholarship

As schools in Maine, and across the nation, are increasingly held to greater standards of accountability in terms of insuring higher levels of student academic growth and achievement, some schools are improving and some are not. Even beyond the constraints of tightening financial impositions and increasing accountability mandates, some are "defying the odds" and producing positive results. This research study sought to explore and understand the characteristics of principal leadership in improving elementary schools in Maine.

Go to article

The Intersection Between Conspiracy Theories And Paranoia In American Culture, Melania Jankowski Jan 2015

The Intersection Between Conspiracy Theories And Paranoia In American Culture, Melania Jankowski

All Student Scholarship

This thesis traces the prominence of conspiracy theorizing and paranoia in American culture by examining the issues from a variety of angles and then focusing on the terrorist attacks of 9/11 as the primary case study. Through a critical analysis of the development of conspiratorination's al inclinations in the United States, the thesis argues that our nation's complacency with such behavior has made paranoia a defining aspect of American political culture. The thesis addresses how this came to be, as well as the general concepts of conspiracy and paranoia in three major ways.

Go to article

Grit And Self-Control As Predictors Of First-Year Student Success, Stacyann B. Stewart Phd Jan 2015

Grit And Self-Control As Predictors Of First-Year Student Success, Stacyann B. Stewart Phd

All Student Scholarship

The objective of this exploratory quantitative study was to investigate the relationships between grit, self-control, and the first academic semester of college students, and determine if the relationships differed by gender. Two research questions were examined; (1) What are the relationships between the individual factors of grit, self-control, and first-semester college GPA? And do they differ by gender? and(2) What combinations of factors (grit, self-control, high school GPA, and SAT scores) best predicts first-semester college GPA? And do they differ by gender? The study investigated 88 first-time, first-year college students and their academic success during their first college semester using …

Go to article

Resource Allocation In Maine's More Efficient Public High Schools, Andrew R. Dolloff Phd Jan 2015

Resource Allocation In Maine's More Efficient Public High Schools, Andrew R. Dolloff Phd

All Student Scholarship

This mixed-methods study compared three-year average operating expenditures and resource allocation practices and policies of nine Maine high schools that had been identified in a previous study as being "more efficient" with those of nine "typical" Maine high schools. The study attempted to determine if more efficient schools allocate resources differently than typical schools.The quantitative portion of the study considered expenditures of 18 Maine high schools over a three-year period using three resource models: The Maine Department of Education(MDOE) warrant article model: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) account code model: and ( the Roza and Swartz (RS) School …

Go to article

The Influence Of Engagement Upon Success And Persistence Of Online Undergraduates, Paul D. Dexter Phd Jan 2015

The Influence Of Engagement Upon Success And Persistence Of Online Undergraduates, Paul D. Dexter Phd

All Student Scholarship

Institutions of higher education, states, and government agencies are seeking avenues for increasing access, improving learning outcomes, and increasing student retention. The majority of chief academic officers polled indicate that online learning is key to the growth of their institutions, while simultaneously indicating concern that online learners are less likely to succeed and persist. A common construct for how institutions can facilitate student success and persistence is the notion of engagement . Since 2000, campuses have relied upon the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to guide institutional policies and practices supporting student success.

Go to article

Uncovering The Characterisitics Of Elementary-Aged Student Engagement, Mark F. Schrader Phd Jan 2015

Uncovering The Characterisitics Of Elementary-Aged Student Engagement, Mark F. Schrader Phd

All Student Scholarship

Researchers agree that students who are actively engaged in their own educations have more successful educational experiences. Studies show a connection between engagement and success in all stages of academic growth. However, researchers have made assumptions about the definition of student engagement by defining it through the adult lens. Some research suggests that engagement measured by visible behavior may be measuring only the appearance of engagement, not necessarily active engagement. (Lankshear & Knobel, 2005; Pope, 2001) The purpose of this research was to uncover the characteristics of student engagement from the source: the child. Research has shown that lack of …

Go to article

A View From The Bottom: The Self-Perception Of Highly Regarded Teachers' Experiences In A Time Of Multiple Policy Implementation, Jane Heselton Crowley Phd Jan 2015

A View From The Bottom: The Self-Perception Of Highly Regarded Teachers' Experiences In A Time Of Multiple Policy Implementation, Jane Heselton Crowley Phd

All Student Scholarship

The goal of educational policy is to improve the teaching and learning process within public schools. The qualitative study was designed to add depth of understanding to the process of educational policy implementation . The study focused on the classroom implementation of three policy initiatives impacting public schools in Maine: Teacher Evaluation System (TES), Response to Intervention (RtI), and Proficiency Based Education (PBE).

Go to article

An Examination Of Standards-Based Education Relative To Research-Based Practices In Instruction And Assessment, Kathryn M. Hawes Phd Jan 2015

An Examination Of Standards-Based Education Relative To Research-Based Practices In Instruction And Assessment, Kathryn M. Hawes Phd

All Student Scholarship

Public schools in the United States face constant political efforts to reform our educational system. One of the major reforms, standards-based education, links all aspects of classroom instruction and assessment with identified , measureable , learning targets. Currently, there is a lack of empirical evidence that standards-based education results in improved student achievement. Explanations for that are: a wide variation in implementation across states, regions, districts, schools, and classrooms; the lack of a clear and consistent purpose and understanding of standards-based instruction; and the fact that reporting practices do not always translate into adjustments to classroom instruction.

Go to article