Digital Commons Network^™

Growing Pains: Self-Efficacy Development In Resident Assistants, Zachary King

Masters Theses

This qualitative study examined the perspectives of Resident Assistants’ (RAs) in terms of job responsibilities, the interplay between job tasks and self-efficacy, and mitigating factors that impact the RAs self-efficacy. Mastery experiences, verbal persuasions, and staff dynamic were perceived as the primary mitigating factors that positively and negatively impact a Resident Assistant’s self-efficacy. Although not shared by all the participants, other migrating factors included vicarious experiences and physiological/affective states. Student affairs professionals should focus on the impact of staff dynamic, the why and how tasks are completed, and placing a greater emphasis on recognizing the work of resident assistants. It …

Transitional Experiences Of Post-Secondary Students With Non-Disclosed Disabilities, Sierra E. Headrick

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the transitional experiences of undergraduate students with non-disclosed disabilities and gain insight on the intentions of students choosing the route of non-disclosure in higher education. It was found that students with non-disclosed disabilities have significant challenges with managing their workloads and stress in their transition into college. Additionally, changes in support from high school to college have a significant influence on self-disclosure of disabilities. With parental guidance lacking from the participants’ support systems in post-secondary education, it was found that changes in support among the group’s transition into college may be a …

Single Sport Specialization: Ncaa Di Collegiate Student Athlete Perceptions, Jordyn Blood

Masters Theses

This study seeks to understand the experience and perception of current, NCAA DI athletes with regard to sport specialization. By learning more about their level of specialization prior to their life as an NCAA DI athlete, as well as their perception on the importance of specialization, this study seeks to contribute to the growing body of literature in sport specialization. Specifically, this study will help inform aspiring athletes, coaches and parents about the role and perceptions of sport specialization in today's elite level athlete. Using paper surveys, the perceptions of 138 current 2019-2020 season NCAA DI athletes at a mid-major …

Shaking The Ceiling: First Leadership Role Attainment For Collegiate Women, Elizabeth J. Siecinski

Masters Theses

Using qualitative research methodology, factors and barriers influence leadership role attainment for collegiate women were explored and examined. The study used semi-structured interviews with four participants to look at factors influencing leadership attainment and why women decide to lead. The researcher identified factor before and after college that impacted a women’s decisions to lead, and her ability to attain a role. Challenges and barriers that women face in their leadership role attainment were also found. Overall, the research found that due to barriers and challenges women struggle to lead authentically, and that they see leadership as way to contribute to …

Making The Dream Become A Reality: How Student Affairs Professionals Support Undocumented Students, Jacqueline R. Garcia

Masters Theses

There are complex challenges undocumented students in higher education face including the legal system, psychological stressors, campus climate, and financial assistance. This qualitative study was designed to look at how student affairs professionals support undocumented students and their critical role in supporting these students in navigating higher education. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants whose professional position was specifically focused on working with undocumented students. From this study, the researcher identified the challenges undocumented students faced, beneficial resources that supported them, and additional needs that were not being met on these campuses. Recommendations for programs and services for student …

Creative Thesis Project: Handbook For Developing Trust With Gender And Sexual Minority Students In A Campus Health Care Clinic, Anne E. Pettit

Masters Theses

Trust is an important element in patient-provider relationships in the health care field. Patient trust in the provider is linked to higher satisfaction of care, better adherence to treatment plans, overall higher success in health care visits, and better likelihood of seeking out medical care in the future. Trust can be difficult for health care providers to establish with gender and sexual minority (GSM) patients due to health care’s well known history of harassment and discrimination against the GSM community. The Handbook for Developing Trust with Gender and Sexual Minority Students in a Campus Health Care Clinic addresses health care …

Effect Of Religious Support And Perception Of Available Social Support On Seeking Formal Psychotherapy, Adaeze W. Akubueze

Masters Theses

This study sought to investigate the relationship between perceived availability of social support and religious support on willingness to seek professional mental health counseling. Sixty-five (41 females and 18 males, 6 gender unspecified) students at Eastern Illinois University completed measures of religiosity (the Duke University Religion Index; DUREL), perceived availability of social support (the Late Adolescent Social Support Inventory; LASSI), religious support (from God, from religious leaders, from fellow religious participants; the Multi-Faith Religious Support Scale; MFRSS) and willingness to seek counseling (Willingness to See a Counselor scale; WSC). Religiosity did not play a significant role in influencing the willingness …

Using Sport Identification & Rhetorical Strategy: Evaluating An Ncaa D1 Collegiate Football Team’S Social Media Presence, Maria Baldwin

Masters Theses

Using social media platforms to build identification amongst stakeholders is of increasing importance for a growing range of organizations. Social media represents a powerful tool for marketing and developing business. In sports organizations, the use of social media can build identification amongst a fanbase by using George Cheney’s (1983) rhetorical strategies. The purpose of this study was to explore the content of a regional D1 university football team’s twitter and Instagram platforms, using a content analysis to clarify the organization’s use of rhetorical strategies and design elements to foster sport identification amongst their social media fanbase. Many sports organizations use …

Reinstated Students: The Experiences And Perceptions Of Academic Dismissal And Reinstatement, Kiona Webber

Masters Theses

The researcher used a qualitative method to study reinstated students who were previously on academic dismissal from the institution of research. Through the use of semi-structured, individual video calls, the researcher explored what academic and non-academic factors contributed to the participants being placed on academic dismissal, and their decisions to reinstate into the institution. The factors identified as contributing to their academic dismissal includes, challenging family cohesions; participants having to balancing work, school, and parenting; and lacking a supportive network. This study identified the participants biggest contributions to the persistence and motivation to reinstate were their family and support networks.

Assessment Of The Immune Response To Posthodiplostomum Minimum Infection In Bluegills, Olamide S. Olayinka

Masters Theses

Bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) are common intermediate hosts for white grub (Posthodiplostomum minimum). They tolerate heavy infections with minimal effect on condition and continue to accumulate metacercariae as they age. This suggests that any immune response to this parasite might not be effective. This study was conducted to better understand the immune mechanisms underlying P. minimum infection in bluegills.

Infected organs (liver, kidney, and heart) were examined histologically, and serum from infected fish was tested for antibodies to white grub. Juvenile flukes were recovered from isolated metacercarial cysts. Polyclonal antibodies were produced in mice against white grub …

A Pilot Study On The Effects Of Comparative Feedback And Performance On Students’ Self-Efficacy And Self-Esteem, Claire Schneider

Masters Theses

This study compared the effects that academic performance and comparative feedback have on student self-efficacy and self-esteem. Through mobile device polling, participants were able to complete in-class multiple-choice conceptual questions. Participants included 35 college students in two psychology classes assigned to a control and experimental group. For the control group, the class was shown a graph of student responses following each question and the experimental group was not shown how their peers performed. This allowed individuals in the control group to compare their own scores to peer scores while the experimental condition was not provided the comparative feedback. Data were …

Investigating The Economic Impacts Of Globalization On Employment Generation In Africa: Case Study Of The Ecowas, William Dickson Amenyo

Masters Theses

A review of the ongoing debate on the economic impacts of globalization on employment in developing economies shows that the predictions of most trade theories that, an increase in globalization would result in more employment in labor abundant countries has not always proven to be true. This study actually examines the employment impact of economic globalization to recipient economies – ECOWAS member states. The analysis has employed a balanced panel dataset of 13 ECOWAS member nations over the period 1990 – 2017. Based on the Fixed Effects estimation approach, the empirical analysis reveals that over the full sample, economic globalization …

"There Is Nothing Else Like It": The Innovative Personality Of Lowney Turner Handy, Nathan Crews

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

How Thick Is The Stained-Glass Ceiling?: An Exploration Of Heteronormativity In Religious Circles, Hannah Rae Smothers

Masters Theses

The 2012 National Congregations Study found that only 11.4% of the total clergy in the United States were women (ARDA 2012). As the congregation size grows, that number declines further, with data indicating only 3.4% of congregations with 1,000 or more members have a female leader. The number of women religious leaders increased by less than one percent between 1998 and 2012. These statistics work well to outline a phenomenon for female religious leaders, their inability to break the stained-glass ceiling. Many religious groups in the United States allow women to become ordained leaders. However, some of the largest religious …

An Assessment Of Schools' Wellness Policies And Teachers’ Perspectives And Confidence In Teaching Nutrition In Elementary Schools In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Asma Yahya

Masters Theses

Nutrition education in school can provide students with the knowledge and skills to improve their eating behavior and overall health. This study aimed to evaluate the content of school wellness policies and understand teacher perspectives about teaching nutrition education at their schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 2020, electronic surveys were used to evaluate the wellness policies in 11 elementary all-female government schools and teachers’ perspectives about the nutrition education offered in three elementary all-female government schools. Sixty-one teachers and eleven principals participated in this study. Fisher’s exact tests were used to test the differences between teachers’ perspectives and their …

Relationship Between One’S Motive For Curiosity And Meaning In Life, Charles Reither

Masters Theses

Meaning in life as a psychological construct has many demonstrated benefits for psychological well-being and optimal functioning (Steger, 2013), and the treatment of clinical populations (Thir & Batthyány, 2016). This study investigated in greater detail than is currently available in the psychological literature how meaning in life is related to curiosity. Meaning in life was explored using top-down (the presence of and the search for meaning) and bottom-up (the specific sources of meaning) approaches. Curiosity was examined in its two motivation-based forms: curiosity motivated by the anticipation and enjoyment of discovery (an appetitive interest-type of curiosity) and curiosity motivated by …

The Living Mission: Mission Statements Evidenced In The Student Experience, Darek D. Hollis

Masters Theses

Mission statements are thought to be documents that hold the core purposes of an organization. While several studies have examined the various aspects of higher education mission statements, few have explored how the themes within mission statements are transferred to those the institutions is serves, it’s students. This qualitative studied used semi-structured interviews with graduating senior students at a mid-sized, Midwest institution to examine whether or not the missional themes were evident in and valuable to the students’ experience. The result of the study found that the missional themes were in general present and valuable in the students’ experience. The …

A Cloning Strategy For Expression Of Fungal Hemicellulases In Plant Systems, Amer Alrudayan

Masters Theses

Lignocellulosic biomass is notoriously difficult to deconstruct into lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose fractions without the use of biochemical, chemical, and/or mechanical pretreatments. These pretreatment strategies add operational cost and in some cases produce hazardous waste that poses health and safety risks. Direct biological pretreatment from biomass-degrading bacteria and fungi may significantly reduce the costs and risks associated with these traditional strategies due to the innate ability of these organisms to modify plant cell walls. An additional measure that could further reduce the expenses associated with lignocellulosic biomass fractionation is genetic modification of the lignocellulosic feedstocks, which can be accomplished by …

The Transcriptome Response Of The White-Rot Fungus Trametes Versicolor To Wild-Type And Lignin-Modified Hybrid Poplar, Anbarah Alzabaidi

Masters Theses

Plant biomass is a renewable and sustainable feedstock for biofuel production that can reduce societal dependence on fossil fuels. However, the production of liquid biofuels from the non-starch (i.e. lignocellulosic) material through fermentation technology is limited due to the complexity of the cell wall structure. This necessitates the use of chemical, thermal, and/or mechanical pretreatment technologies, which adds significant capital, operational, and environmental costs. Biological pretreatment strategies have the potential to mitigate these expenses by harnessing the innate ability of specialized bacteria and fungi to deconstruct lignocellulose. White-rot fungi (e.g. Trametes versicolor) have been shown to be …

Construct Validity Of The Teate Depression Inventory: Convergent And Discriminant Validity And Equivalence For Black/African American And White/Caucasian Samples, Dylin Coons

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to replicate the construct validity of a new measure of depression, the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI; Balsamo & Saggino, 2013), with the primary focus on Black/African American participants. Research has purported that Black/African Americans experience inequality in obtaining mental health care for internalizing disorders. This may partially be caused by errors in diagnosing these individuals with symptoms. Correctly diagnosing internalizing disorders is a critical step in obtaining appropriate treatment. More research on depression and anxiety is needed to enhance mental health practices by addressing the need for professionals to be culturally competent and conscious …

Teachers’ Use Of Diverse Praise: A Middle And High School Sample, Aubrey Toosley

Masters Theses

The current study examined teachers’ use of diverse praise or the use of verbal statements or gestures of approval that are delivered in a variety of distinguishable ways in response to desired student behavior. Verbatim general praise and behavior-specific praise data collected during the 2017-18 academic year were analyzed from a larger study where a total of 1,320 observed minutes were collected across 66 middle and high school classrooms. Teachers used an average of 1.7 total diverse praise categories per observation. Both middle and high school teachers used more general diverse praise categories compared to behavior-specific diverse praise categories. The …

December 9, 2019, Caa

Minutes

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: December 05, 2019, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: December 04, 2019, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

December 3, 2019, Faculty Senate

Minutes

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: December 03, 2019, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

Obit - Kenneth Eugene Hadwiger, Journal-Gazette Times-Courier

EIU in the News

No abstract provided.

Obit - Kenneth Eugene Hesler, Journal-Gazette Times-Courier

EIU in the News

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: November 22, 2019, Eastern Illinois University

November

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: November 21, 2019, Eastern Illinois University

November

No abstract provided.