Communication Commons^™

Perceptions Of Race, Status, And Instructional Modality As Predictors Of Degree Attainment For African American Male Community College Students, Roderick C. Lewis Sr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given the large number of students who begin their college education yet never graduate, it is essential that, as higher education leaders and policymakers develop student success strategies, they consider the persistence and degree attainment dynamics of all populations. This study focuses on the problem of degree attainment from the perspective of male, second-year, African American, community college students. A qualitative narrative case study approach was used to ascertain their perception of race, status attainment, and instructional learning modalities as predictors of degree attainment. Accordingly, those perceptions were then evaluated to determine their utility as predictors of degree attainment. Six …

The Impact Of Disruptive Physician Behavior On Support Staff And Patients: A Quantitative Secondary Analysis, Michael C. Marino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this quantitative secondary analysis, the purpose was to examine the nature of disruptive physician behavior (DPB) from the support staff and patient perspectives. Healthcare staffing shortages existed prior to the global pandemic and have increased, creating importance for employee retention and recruitment. I wanted to understand the impact of physician behavior on staff turnover rates in a private oncology practice, its effect on patient satisfaction rates, and to compare these rates of physicians that display DPB with physicians that do not display this behavior in a private hematology oncology community outpatient setting in the Southwest United States. To answer …

Theological Practices For Sustaining Community Renewal At Speedway Church Of Christ, Kent A. Ellett

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project assembled a group of potential small-group facilitators for the purpose of drafting a small-group discussion guide to be used at the Speedway (Indiana) Church of Christ. The guide was intended to aid the discernment of missional practices which sustain the renewal of the wider community. Focusing on the Gospel of John, the intervention attempted to recover a temple Christology, construing the incarnation, ministry, death, and the lifting up of Jesus within the larger story of the temple’s ongoing re-creation of the world. In bestowing his glory upon the church, Jesus sends the church into all the world, as …

Virtual Reality For Public Speaking Rehearsals: Student And Faculty Perceptions, Carrie A. Saltsman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Speeches and speech rehearsals are an important part of many basic communication courses. However, instructors are developing new ways for students to rehearse their speeches every day; one way may be for students to use virtual reality. Although virtual reality is somewhat of a new innovation, it is effective in various settings, including higher education, and more specifically, the speech classroom. However, this efficacy may not matter if students and instructors are unwilling to adopt it into the classroom. Diffusion of innovation theory, developed by Rogers (2003), focuses on how an innovation is diffused and adopted. Using two of the …

Exploring Missional Partnership Practices Between The Littleton Church Of Christ And Her Peruvian Missionary Partners Through Dwelling In The Word, Justin L. Thompson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which twelve individuals from two churches on two continents (North and South America) came together via video conference to explore missional partnership practices. These two churches connected through a common missionary and utilized a spiritual discipline called Dwelling in the Word to cultivate relationships, thereby creating a pathway to shared discovery of partnership practices. The problem I identify at the beginning regards transactional partnership, which commonly propels churches toward relationships that treat the other as unequal partners through unilateral, top-down interactions. In response, I present a perichoresis-inspired …

Perceptions Of Rural School Principals’ Experiences, Practices, And Understandings Of Conflict And Conflict Management, Tacy Kay Gamel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rural school principalship provides unique challenges and great opportunities for conflict and conflict management. However, minimal research exists about the rural principalship or about rural principals’ conflict and conflict management. The purpose of this holistic, multiple case study was to examine rural principals’ perceptions and experiences with conflict and conflict management. Cases had to meet the criteria of the formal rural definition, and participants had to be the sole leader of their campuses. Each of the participants completed a questionnaire, an initial interview, and a follow-up interview. Data collection and analysis revealed the discord experienced by these principals based …

Qualitative Study Of Collaboration Between Independent Reading Specialists And Elementary Classroom Teachers, Lindsay Lee Hawbaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The failure of educators to meet the needs of elementary students who require separated, differentiated, and intensive reading interventions (Tier 3) has been attributed to the scarcity of administrative resources and a lack of effective collaboration between reading specialists and classroom teachers. Experts opine that common barriers to effective collegial collaboration between institutional reading specialists, who are employed by the school, and classroom teachers include: an unsupportive school culture, the classroom teachers’ fear of losing pedagogical autonomy, the absence of mutual trust and interdependence between the reading specialists and their students’ classroom teachers, and the inability of reading specialists …

Formulating A Communal Covenant For The Elders And Ministers Of South Fork Church Of Christ, Drew Baker

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project addressed the lack of a communal covenant for the elders and ministers of South Fork Church of Christ. The purpose of the project was to formulate a covenant that would promote the spiritual discernment and leadership of the elders and ministers. For the theological framework, I relied upon Mark’s portrait of Jesus. I looked at Jesus’s lived example as well as his teachings to discern values and practices that defined his leadership and should therefore be normative for Christian leaders. These values and practices were analyzed according to three relational categories—relationship with God, with each other, and with …

Original Free Will Baptist Clergy Role Stress: A Definition And Its Emotional Consequences, Dustin R. Bannister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of a clergyperson is often understood as one that creates a connection between the human and the divine, faith and God. However, such a vast role is typically executed in specific ways, such as leading Bible studies, visiting the sick, leading worship, and the act of preaching. At times, such a role demands even more nuanced behaviors based upon the context, population, and time. As this study posited, the problem is that such a multiplicity of clergy expectations inevitably create role stress, as understood through the constructs of role ambiguity and role conflict. In particular, how one might …

Cultivating Virtue: Developing A Guiding Document For Youth Ministry At Cookeville First United Methodist Church, Adam Daniels

Doctor of Ministry Theses

The purpose of this project was to produce a guiding document of virtues that represented the type of Christ-like character qualities desired in youth at Cookeville First United Methodist Church. The six virtues chosen in the document represent a comprehensive vision for character growth over the course of students’ time in the program. To provide a theological foundation for this project, I examined the idea that virtue has a narrative shape where words find their meaning in a story. For our purposes, this story is generally stated as the story of Jesus at first but is then seen as best …

Adolescent Spiritual Formation: Practical Theology As A Filter For Youth Ministry, Jeremy Smith

Doctor of Ministry Theses

There seems to be a disconnect between the practice and scholars of youth ministry. Historically, the practice of youth ministry has been overly concerned with method, creating multiple approaches, each with its own inherent shortcomings. Responding to this overemphasis on method, scholars of youth ministry have argued for a more theological framework, assuming that the problem lies within a lack of theological education among youth ministry practitioners. In 2001 youth ministry scholarship made a case to place the field of youth ministry under the discipline of practical theology in hopes of grounding the practice of youth ministry in theology. Over …

Extracurricular Involvement And Identification: An Analysis Of The Student Experience, Kelvin Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every year universities and colleges provide millions of students with not only educational experiences but also social experiences. Students’ involvement on campus influences their identification with other students, student groups, and even the university. Understanding the relationship between extracurricular involvement and a student’s sense of belonging is essential for higher education professionals. This research looked at the college student experience through the lens of student involvement theory, relationship motivation theory, and social identity theory. The study examined the level of extracurricular involvement a student has and the relationship to both social identity and organizational identity. Social identity theory and organizational …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Role Of Teacher-Parent Partnerships That Best Benefit Students In A Parochial College Preparatory High School, Sarah H. Gates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Current research on teacher–parent partnerships has increasingly focused on early childhood education. This transcendental phenomenological study expanded and extended the understanding of effective teacher–parent partnerships in secondary education at a parochial college preparatory high school. According to Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory (BST), academic growth and development in late adolescents are impacted by the overlapping systems of influence: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify secondary educators’ perceptions of teacher–parent partnerships that best benefit students. Faculty at a parochial college preparatory high school were asked about their perceptions of parental involvement …

Strategies Exemplary Social Studies Teachers’ Implement When Facilitating Discussions About Race, Candice Nicole Jasmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers experience difficulty in introducing some sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom environment. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to identify strategies that exemplary secondary social studies teachers implement when facilitating classroom discussions about sensitive and controversial issues, specifically, racial issues framed within Singleton and Linton’s 4 agreements of courageous conversations: stay engaged, speak your truth, experience discomfort, and accept and expect nonclosure. This study utilized qualitative data collection. Semi-structured, online one-to-one internet-based interviews were used to document the lived experiences of exemplary secondary social studies teachers and the strategies they use when facilitating discussions about …

A Look At Vision: Perspectives Throughout The Organizational Hierarchy Of The Christian University Context, William Kyle Brantley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research supports vision as a central tenet to leadership. Just as important as the content of vision is how it is communicated. However, once a vision is cast, far less is known about how it is communicated throughout the organization and how it influences members throughout the organizational hierarchy. For faith-based organizations like Christian colleges and universities, vision is particularly important as it serves to steer the institution toward a greater realization of its faith-based identity. This study contributes to the empirical research on vision, its communication, and its effect, as both the nature and impact of vision communication within …

A Power Man’S Theology: Marvel’S Luke Cage And Black Liberation Theology, Diarron B. Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Netflix released Marvel’s Luke Cage in 2016 to critical acclaim. Born from a 1970s comic book, the series features Luke Cage, an African-American superhero. Cage is a big, bald, bulletproof black man. Instead of tights and a cape, Cage wears a hoodie calling the audience to remember Trayvon Martin and other victims of white racism. Theologian James Cone created Black Liberation Theology in the 1970s. As a result of Cone’s work, Black Liberation Theology addresses the issue of white racism from a theological standpoint. In this thesis I present a close reading of Marvel’s Luke Cage using Black Liberation Theology …

Organizational Conditions That Promote And Impede Research Engagement: The Principal’S Perspective, Renee Treat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researcher explored perceptions of the research-practice gap in education, the process through which central actors make decisions related to teacher retention and development, and the organizational conditions that promote and impede research-engagement in this qualitative study. The researcher limited the study to the role of the campus principal and used purposive sampling to select participants from 3 diverse districts in the state of Texas. Because there may be discrepancies between leaders’ perceptions and behaviors, the researcher conducted interview sessions with principals and principal supervisors and conducted observation sessions in principals’ natural work environments. The study results showed that good …

Organizational Change Within Christian Higher Education Institutions And The Reactions Of Faculty, Dena Counts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Christian higher education in the United States is experiencing frequent transformational organizational change that is impacting faculty. Researchers have asserted that frequent, second-order organizational change correlates with interpersonal conflict, and conflict is associated with counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). These associations between change, conflict, and negative work behavior are important to understand as faculty actions could significantly impact change efforts. Because of the context of Christian higher education, this study was designed to determine if faculty organizational identification influenced the correlations of the variables. It specifically utilized a cross-sectional survey design to assess faculty (N = 267) perceptions of organizational change, …

Brand Strength Evaluation Of Goodwill-West Texas, Cailyn Byrd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this evaluation is to identify the ways in which Goodwill-West Texas could improve their marketing efforts in order to increase service delivery and community support. Goodwill’s career center is underperforming in comparison to other Goodwill career centers in similar communities. Two surveys were used to assess the beliefs and attitudes towards Goodwill held by members of the community who are often in contact with Goodwill-West Texas’s target market. Participants were more likely to know about Goodwill’s retail sales rather than their social service efforts. This could be contributing to Goodwill-West Texas’s service delivery, but more research is …

The Impact Organizational Factors Have On Role Ambiguity Amongst School Social Workers, Melissa Kichura

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore what organizational factors increase or decrease role ambiguity amongst school social workers. This study attempted to provide practical information for schools on the influence of specific organizational factors on role ambiguity so that they can provide a supportive work environment for school social workers and students. A cross-sectional survey design was used to provide a snapshot of the current organizational factors impacting the ambiguity of school social work roles from a sample of 73 members of the School Social Work Association of America. Some findings were not congruent with the literature. The …

The Practice Of Children’S Ministry: Developing A Cohesive Vision Of Practice With Church Leaders, Shannon Clarkson Rains

Doctor of Ministry Theses

The purpose of this project was to create a congregational workshop for church leaders that leads to the development of a cohesive vision for the practice of children’s ministry. In order to do this, I began by presenting the evolution of children’s ministry in the Churches of Christ along with the current tensions that exist between ministers and church leadership created by a lack of cohesive vision for the practice of children’s ministry. This foundational understanding of the origins of this tension supports my discussion of a vision for children’s ministry that includes attention to the spiritual formation of children—an …

Film, Dreams, And Mmorpgs: Cultural Leakage And Digital Gaming Literacy In Inception, Taylor Katz, J.D. Wallace

Communication and Sociology

The confluence of art, technology, and texts is unavoidable and yet remains under-addressed in scholarship. Technological artifacts, while prevalent in digital gaming, are seldom examined in terms of their contribution to other artistic artifacts. Specifically, MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) as texts are rarely considered in terms of their relevance to digital and artistic literacy. Residing within are rich cultural discourses that address the entertainment of escapism and their affiliated connection to addiction, loss of identity, and violence resulting from prolonged immersion. Not surprisingly these tensions are reflected in other texts such as film. In the current examination, a …

George Carter Collection, George Carter

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Social Proof Through Social Media On Perceptions Of Responsibility, Taylor Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situational crisis communication theory, also referred to as SCCT, is a central and very well-developed theory in the field of crisis communication. The goal of SCCT is to create a response strategy based on stakeholders’ levels of attributions of responsibility. SCCT states there are two main factors stakeholders take into consideration when attributing responsibility to an organization in crisis: crisis type and performance history. While the previously stated factors are very important, the progressive development of social media is not taken into consideration in this theory, specifically the use of social proof through social media channels. According to the principle …

The Rhetoric Of Missions Reporting, Bailey Cate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Missions, especially short-term trips, are becoming more and more controversial. As short-term missionaries interact in the field, they take pictures depicting the poverty, lack of resources, and overall sense of destitution around them. These photos have helped generate income, as many Christians who see the photos as part of updates on mission work they supported come to see themselves in a position of “savior” because they have resources to give to “those in need.” Evangelism is a critical component of Christianity; however, how people evangelize and how they communicate about that evangelism is equally critical. By analyzing both the church …

A Renaissance Of The Visual Arts In Worship For Churches Of Christ, Heather Heflin Hodges

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which a group of four artists from across the United States met via video conference to create liturgical art activities that can be integrated into the Sunday morning worship for Churches of Christ. The problem identified at the beginning of the project was a lack of integration of the visual arts in worship in Churches of Christ. I understood this lack to be due in part to an iconoclastic heritage in Protestantism as well as a focus on rational intellectualism and desire for simplicity in worship as a …

Evaluating “Discovery Bible Study” In An Evangelism Program At African Christian College, Floyd Vidler

Doctor of Ministry Theses

The problem addressed in this project emerges from my understanding of evangelism. For me evangelism must include proclamation, discipleship, a reliance on the Holy Spirit, and the utilization of small groups. I see DBS as accomplishing these goals, and the problem of this work was to demonstrate whether this is true in the context of African Christian College and the surrounding area.

I used a method called participatory action research. I made it my goal to learn all that I could about DBS and then share this material in a classroom setting with my students at ACC. We then participated …

Spiritual Transformation At Austin Christian Church, David Hooper

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project was designed to meet a need at the Austin Christian Church (ACC) for enhancing the spiritual formation of new converts to Christianity by providing clear direction for mentors seeking to disciple others into the image of Christ. The scope of this project is focused directly on taking the first steps toward a deliberate pathway for spiritual formation by establishing the foundational principles. The apostle Paul’s pastoral theology provides the theological rationale for the project. Theosis, the theologically rich description of the Christian transformative process, also informs the theological foundation for the project. Drawing on the work of Richard …

Texas Children's Hospital: Design As Therapy, Kaitlin Puckett

Conversations: A Graduate Student Journal of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology

Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) is a world-renowned children’s hospital facility “located in Houston, Texas, [and] is a not-for-profit organization committed to creating a community of healthy children through excellence in patient care, education and research. [They] are proud to be consistently ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation.” Texas Children’s Hospital commits to daily caring for their patients with a quality that is unlike any other hospital. While this dedication to quality health care is essential, the hospital makes other efforts to maximize quality and experience that should not be overlooked.

Texas Children’s Hospital works tirelessly to ensure …

Prayers, Sex, Islam, And Electric Guitars: A Rhetorical Criticism Of The Taqwacores, Margaret Moore

Conversations: A Graduate Student Journal of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology

Punk rock Islam may not a common phrase to hear in society, but it is quickly expanding in popularity and in effectiveness. A fiction book entitled "The Taqwacores" tells the story of faithful Muslims practicing punk rock Islam in their own way. The novel utilizes constittive rhetoric, a concept popularized by Maurice Charland, to create a social movement that is sweeping the world. This paper analyzes the novel using the tenets of constitutive rhetoric and uses social movement theory to understand the implications that a simple book is having upon the world. Punk rock Islam may not be such an …