Digital Commons Network^™

Cold War America In The Fifth Dimension, Madelynn Hobson, David Lindsey Snead

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

The Human Touch Of Relief Printing Aesthetics Using Digital Tools, Julie Elms, Rachel A. Dugan

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Creative and Artistic

Analyzing The Past & Predicting The Future: 120 Years Of Counseling Theories, Holly Lawson, David Jenkins

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

Identity Construction In The Work Of Mario Benedetti, Grace Jennings, Andrew F. Milacci

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Immunization Verification At Christian Camps, Katherine Stacey

Senior Honors Theses

No standard exists among Christian camps regarding immunization verification for program participants. The best practice for Christian camps regarding immunization verification is debated because of religious reasons, camper and staff safety, and state mandates. This research examines the current practice of Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA) affiliated camps regarding immunization verification. It was conducted by emailing a seven-question survey to over 700 CCCA camps. Just over 100 camps responded. The study found that roughly two-thirds of CCCA camps practice no method of immunization verification. In response to this result, the researchers propose a best practice for Christian camps regarding …

A Culture Of Contribution-The Hiring, Training, And Retaining Of Passionate Employees: A Disney Perspective, Kimberly Graham

Senior Honors Theses

The company culture of Walt Disney World is renown and worthy of emulation. The underlying culture incorporates servant leadership attributes and encourages the employees to demonstrate these attributes through a commitment to excellence and a desire to serve. It is through hiring, training, and retention techniques that a competitive advantage is garnered, and those in who work for Disney serve as a role model for other companies to follow. Training the Disney way is unique. It is considered a true culture of contribution. By using Disney’s training techniques and commitment to excellence, other companies can see a drastic improvement in …

The Perceived Differences In Employee Engagement Through Multiple Generations In The Workplace: An Hr Perspective, Ashley Dawson

Senior Honors Theses

Generational differences in the workplace are a perceived challenge that can present hidden opportunities. The workplace currently consists of four generations shaped by the political, social, and economic environments that marked their formative years. These generational differences have resulted in differing workplace values. Employee engagement balances productivity in one’s job with enjoyment in one’s work, optimizing both employee satisfaction and organizational outcomes. The key to engaging employees lies in the meaning each employee finds in the work environment and job functions. This paper aims to address whether or not engagement is affected by generational differences in the workplace and how …

Effect Of Mood On Humor, Virginia Randall

Senior Honors Theses

Humor is a social tool that has been documented for hundreds of years with a plethora of studies being produced to attempt to piece together a comprehensive definition of the concept. Among these studies, there have been several analyses regarding the psychological, cognitive, psychobiological, and neural effects of humor, and how they are outwardly manifested. Additionally, several social contexts have been considered. In analyses of humor, several theories have been produced, many based off of figurehead concepts within the field of psychology.

Primary interest of this research study was in whether these studies and theories can support whether there is …

The Effect Of Nutrition And Exercise On Mental Health, Rebekah Owen

Senior Honors Theses

Research has shown nutrition and exercise are especially effective in helping relieve mental illness. Mental health can be aided through dietary alterations such as increasing intake of omega-3 fatty acids, fermented foods, certain vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Proper nutritional patterns help regulate neurotransmitters and assist in the betterment of brain functioning, offering protection from and maintenance of mental illness. Furthermore, the Mediterranean diet provides to be most beneficial for mental health compared to the standard American diet which contains additives harmful to the human brain. Physical exercise also provides to be a possible therapy for those suffering from mental …

The Applicability Of Understanding Hypervigilance In Law Enforcement, Garrett Ingram

Senior Honors Theses

Hypervigilance is a condition characterized by a state of heightened awareness in the absence of a threat. Hypervigilance can occur for many reasons, ranging from stressful events or scenarios, to training, to personality. Because of the nature of law enforcement, hypervigilance is an issue that affects law enforcement officers as well as the people with whom they interact on a regular basis. It is important to gain a full understanding of hypervigilance and how it affects decision making, interactions, and quality of life, which has its own effects. By understanding these issues, law enforcement officers can overcome the issues associated …

The Importance Of Psychosocial Considerations In The Injury Rehabilitation Of Elite Athletes, Sydney Pierce

Senior Honors Theses

The psychological and emotional impact of sustaining a long-term injury to elite athletes demonstrates the need for an improved rehabilitative approach in sports medicine. Sports medicine is a healthcare profession that requires regular interaction with other people, specifically athletes, medical training as well as knowledge of human and sport psychology. Within the current model of sports rehabilitation practices, decisions pertaining to the timeline and progression of elite athletes’ recovery are based primarily on the physical damage from injury. Unfortunately, the focus often remains solely on the physical injury, disregarding an athlete’s psychosocial responses, which limits sports medicine professionals’ ability to …

Investigating The Prevailing Worldviews Of American Public Education: A Brief Analysis And History, Chester Walker

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis investigates whether the philosophies and worldviews underlying U.S. public education contradict or purposefully undermine Biblical Christianity. It provides readers with an understanding of the Biblical Christian worldview to enable them to analyze and contrast prominent worldviews of public education. Pragmatism and Marxism run rampant in public education today. Both strongly oppose fundamental tenets of the Biblical Christian worldview. To determine any purposeful anti-Christian agenda, the author examines the men behind the worldviews. Christianity maintains that ideas and practices in education originate from deeply-held, personal beliefs, which are passed on to students. Education is a means of discipleship to …

Criminal Mental Health, Tabitha Oliver

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess and address the prevalence of mental health issues among incarcerated individuals in America. There are multiple internal and external contributing factors to the disproportionately high numbers of mentally ill inmates. Comparing the United States prison system with other countries such as Norway allows for possible paths to improving the mental health crisis that we are currently experiencing. This thesis looks at the principles and practices used in Norway's prisons as well as how they affect inmate's mental health. By comparing Norway's prison policies and design, this thesis will suggest changes in staff …

The Effects Of Patient-Physician Interaction Time On Overall Visit Satisfaction And Prevention Of Physician Burnout, Miranda Sheridan

Senior Honors Theses

With an increasingly commercialized healthcare setting, today’s physicians are often forced to reduce their patient examination times drastically. There has also been a greater shift in the administration of primary care to allied health professionals such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners. However, these changes may not be sustainable in the long-term. This study investigates the relationship between time spent with a physician (M.D. or D.O.) during an examination and overall patient satisfaction. Moreover, mental health concerns, namely burnout, have become more prevalent among physicians. Studying this under the lens of accelerated modern medicine could help shed light on strategies …

Teaching Lexical Stress: Effective Practice In A Mandarin Ell Context, Ethan Oliver

Senior Honors Theses

Current trends in teaching pronunciation to ELLs (English Language Learners) point towards a "top-down" approach. This refers to putting emphasis on the overarching prosodic features of English rather than the proper pronunciation of consonants and vowels. One of the most integral prosodic features in English is stress. Both lexical stress (stressed syllables within a word) and sentence stress (stressed words within a sentence) play an important role in the prosodic pronunciation of English. However, some languages, such as Mandarin, lack stress in their prosodic systems, instead employing features such as tonality. These languages both have overlap in their fundamental prosodic …

The Impact Of Uas On The Passenger Airline Industry, Matthew Whitten

Senior Honors Theses

This study seeks to cover the state of modern autonomous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) integration into commercial aviation, the future applications of the technology in the airline industry, and the roadblocks currently hindering its integration into passenger operations. Although great advancements are being made in the field, technological developments, economic impact, legal restrictions, airline cost, and public perception stand in the way of the full adaptation of autonomous technology into everyday passenger operations. However, technology is rapidly developing, perhaps allowing for the possibility of autonomous air travel even today, but there are likely years of refinement before regulators, executives, and …

Students' Evangelical Worldview In Public High School Content Areas: A Phenomenological Analysis, Russell Allen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although much research has been conducted regarding Christian worldview in private high schools and Christian colleges, very little information exists regarding Christian worldview at public high schools. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe how 10 evangelical students in public high schools interpret content areas through their worldview. The study answered the following critical question: How do evangelical students in public high schools interpret content areas through their worldviews? Participants were found using criterion sampling in central Pennsylvania and document analysis, interviews, and focus groups were used to collect data. Moustakas’s (1994) approach was used for data …

Differences In Integration And Persistence Between Black Males And Their Peers At Predominately White Christian Institutions, Dion Edward Leonard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the last several decades there has been much conversation, dialogue, and research around the topic of African American persistence, and more specifically African American male persistence within the higher education sector. Studies have shown that there is a major achievement gap among African American and white males. Studies also show that this persistence gap has been sustained over the course of several years. While there has been much research done on the topic, the researcher specifically addressed the persistence gap of African American men within the predominantly white private Christian higher education community. This particular study addresses how faith-based …

The Effect Of Training Upon Faculty Stages Of Concern About Making Color Vision Deficiency Adaptations, Marlena H. Pinner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although color vision deficiency affects an appreciable portion of the human race, those with the condition do not enjoy mandatory educational accommodations. The purpose of this quasi-experimental investigation was to quantify the effect of professional development training on university faculty concerns about adapting their instruction for color vision deficiency. This investigation used a static-group comparison design with a professional development intervention for the experimental group at a liberal arts university (N = 98) in the Southeast of the United States, collecting data through an online fielding of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire. Independent Samples t Tests between the two groups …

Training Lay Preachers To Preach Expository Sermons In The Wesleyan Church In The Amazon District Of Brazil, Grace Ury Ensz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is an urgent need for lay preachers to know how to divide the Word of God and preach biblical sermons. This project addresses lay preachers’ needs in the Wesleyan Church in the Amazon district who carry out their significant ministry without any training. The purpose of this project is to supply practical training and to offer a viable preaching model to continue to preach expositional sermons. Action research methods will be used. There will be surveys, interviews, and evaluations done to help and understand the lay preacher. Triangulation will be used by comparing information from the researcher, the research …

Connecting Healthcare – Leveraging Technology To Promote Value-Based Care In The Emergency Department, Ahnna Michelle Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The emergency department is a fast-paced and complex environment that serves hundreds of thousands of people a day across the state of Georgia. The establishment of a culture of value-based care in the emergency department is attainable but often falls short when the staff cannot properly leverage the technology available to them. Framed by the Complex Adaptive Theory and The Input/Throughput/Output Model of ED Patient Flow, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how emergency department leaders and staff could better leverage technology to develop and sustain a culture of value-based care. The 30 participants in this …

A Collective Case Study Of Middle School Teachers' Experiences Using Chromebooks Instead Of Textbooks In The Classroom, Holly Diane Eimer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand the classroom experiences using Chromebooks in place of textbooks among middle school teachers in the Central County School System (pseudonym). The central research question that guided the study asked, How do middle school teachers in Central County experience using Chromebooks instead of traditional textbooks for instructional purposes in the classroom? For this research, the use of Chromebooks was generally defined as reading for learning purposes. The theory that guided this study was the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. The participants were 15 sixth through eighth grade public-school core content teachers. …

Black Effect: Black Students' Experiences In Cacrep Master's Programs At Hbcus, Angelia M. Lomax

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

African American students’ experiences in graduate programs at predominately White institutions (PWIs) have been explored in previous research. Said experiences were described using the following constructs: underrepresentation, invisibility, isolation, lack of support, and silence. There is minimal research that focuses on Black students’ experiences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), where the environment was reported to be welcoming, nurturing, and supportive. This study adds to the literature by exploring the lived experiences of African American students in CACREP-accredited master’s counseling programs at HBCUs, with critical race theory (CRT) as the theoretical framework. After being identified as eligible based on …

Discipleship: A Parental Responsibility, Ranny George Lewis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The primary disciple-makers of children are the parents, which is mandated by God. Throughout the Scriptures, God empowered the family to lead their children into spiritual growth. God charged the family in maintaining a spiritual atmosphere where their children can learn and become His disciples. God makes it clear to parents that their responsibility toward their children while at home is a continuous process of teaching His Word to them. Even though the family unit is one, the primary spiritual responsibility resides with the father in maintaining the integrity of the family discipleship endeavors in Christ. The purpose of this …

A Predictive Correlation Study Examining Attrition Among Ncaa Diii Student-Athletes Based On Roster Gender, Sport-Type, And Sport-Attrition, Rebecca Jean Kayda

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative, correlational study examined whether gender, sport-type, and sport attrition can predict university attrition of student-athletes from a small, private, NCAA DIII institution. Student-athletes attending DIII institutions are considered a vulnerable population and are largely under-studied. Participation in extra-curricular activities, such as belonging to an athletics team, has been linked to higher rates of social integration on campus and smoother transitions into college life overall. This participation has not been shown to decrease academic performance; however, university attrition of student-athletes remains a problem. This problem is especially relevant in smaller schools, where a small percentage of student attrition can …

Educators' Perspectives Of The Benefits And Barriers Of Cross-Level Teaching: A Collective Case Study, Lela Kristina Andrews

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to understand the benefits and barriers of cross-level classrooms from the perspective of educators at a rural secondary school. For this study, cross-level learning is defined as a classroom that includes multiple grade bands who are working together in a classroom setting to learn a specific set of standards or objectives (Peñafiela & Tomàs, 2014; Scamati, Kent, & Mackenzie, 1993). This research study operated within the collaboration theory identified by Lev Vygotsky that highlights the value of collaborating with others to gain a greater understanding of a particular task or process that the …

Faith Development Study On Parents As Primary Faith Influencers, Caarne L. White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research study intends to address a problem parents face as the assumptive primary faith influencers in their children's discipleship and spiritual development. The goal is to discover the support parents receive as World Changers Church International members while growing in the Christian faith as a family. The problem manifests when youth pastors and workers struggle to help student ministries make real-life connections through discipleship and mission. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical church closure is considered in exploring the study and further augment parents' struggles. In the discovery process, the study will assess how guidance through the Christian …

A Description Of The Factors Contributing To Parents Choosing Christian Elementary School For Children With Special Needs: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Andrea L. Cook

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Education professionals have expressed concern that parents’ decisions to enroll students with special needs in Christian schools are ill-informed due to lack of data surrounding student outcomes in such environments and lack of teacher qualifications (Cheng et al., 2016; Lane, 2017). There has been very little research on why parents choose Christian elementary school for their students with special needs. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the factors contributing to parents choosing a Christian elementary school for children with special needs. Lev Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory framed this study, as it states that one’s knowledge …

An Analysis Of Opinions About Special Education Inclusion Among Virginia Elementary And Middle School Administrators, Pattye Keeling Leslie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Past research has shown a relationship between individuals’ attitudes and their intentions to act. The attitudes of principals and assistant principals can impact the implementation of inclusion in the public school setting. This predictive correlational study used multiple regression to analyze the linear relationship between the opinions about inclusion and the factors of administrative assignment, school level, administrative experience, special education endorsement, gender, percentage of minority students served, percentage of students served identified as economically disadvantaged, and percentage of students served identified with a disability. The sample included 104 elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals representing 26 Virginia …

A Phenomenological Study Of Teacher Efficacy In Career And Technical Education Coaching And Mentoring Programs, Sharon Louise Largent-Necessary

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

School districts are tasked with improving teacher performance in response to an overwhelming need for students who are both college and career-ready (Brand, Valent, & Browning, 2013). A lack of quality professional development programs specifically designed for Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers that promote the development of teacher efficacy and instructional skills is a significant concern. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe the lived experiences with self-efficacy of CTE teachers who have participated in the Vision of Excellent Instruction in Career and Technical Education Coaching and Mentoring Program in Northeast Tennessee. This research study utilized …