Digital Commons Network^™

Life-Long Learning: Inspiring 87-Year-Old Graduates Through Distance Learning Program, Liberty University

March/April 2008

No abstract provided.

Reports Relating To The Fifty-Ninth Annual Meeting Of The Society, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Measuring The Effectiveness Of After-School Programs Via Participants’ Pre And Posttest Performance Levels On The Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test, Cheri Lynn Ogden

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Schools failing to demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress on annual state assessments are given federal and state funds to support supplemental educational services. This study was designed to measure the effectiveness of two after-school programs in one middle school in a medium-sized county in Georgia. The school has failed to demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress for eight years and has been offering supplemental services for six years. The after-school programs are funded and students are offered opportunities to participate based on low performance on the annual assessment, the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test. The effectiveness of the after-school programs was assessed based …

Role Of Spirituality In Persons Choosing A Career In Education: Calling As A Motivating Factor, Jared Bigham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The job of a teacher undergoes more scrutiny and accountability with each passing year. The esteem for the profession and extrinsic rewards do not increase commensurately to the ever growing challenges that teachers encounter. It therefore raises the question what motivates a teacher to enter such a profession? Many teachers in the profession say they answered a calling to teach. This phenomenological study examined the role that spirituality plays in persons choosing a career in education. Participants were chosen from college students who were in their methods semester of training. The participants were interviewed, and the dialogue was analyzed for …

The Relationships Between Cognitive Deficits And Spiritual Development, Charles Nolan Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

An individual’s spirituality is shaped and supported by his or her cognitive capacities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between various cognitive deficits and the spiritual development in individuals who qualified for special education under the category of Specific Learning Disability. Participants were randomly selected through systematic sampling of students and former students of Kellyville Public School who met the criteria. The cognitive deficits were measured by the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (2001) or the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery- R (1989), and spiritual development was measured by the Spiritual Assessment Inventory (2002). The results of …

The Cell Keys Are Turning: Spiritual Integration In The Treatment Of Christian Women With Anorexia Nervosa, Lisa Sosin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This case study explored Christian spirituality, counseling practice, and recovery from anorexia nervosa. A spiritual integration model based on a comprehensive review of the literature was proposed. This model reflects a step care treatment approach, including the current standard of practice, spiritual integration, and Christian spiritual integration.

Next, a phenomenological analysis of document, interview, and observation data revealed several themes pertinent to counseling practice with Christian women suffering with anoexia nervosa. These themes were classified as (a) prior to treatment: spiritual disconnection, including suffering and brokenness, taking control of brokenness through anorexia nervosa, and her broken faith; (b) during treatment: …

Crisis 911: Toward A Comprehensive Intervention Model, John C. Thomas

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Suffering softens calloused hearts; but it can also embitter them. The prudent helper seeks to seize critical moments for Kingdom purposes through service to those affected. Being armed with a multi-functional crisis intervention model provides guidance and allows versatility so this end may be achieved. To even approximate the ambitious goal of creating a comprehensive model requires an understanding of crises and crisis intervention.

Under The Yellow Tape: Working Within The Medical, Legal, And Judicial Systems, John C. Thomas

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The types of problems addressed in an office differ dramatically from those that happen in the context of violent crimes, horrific accidents, and hostage scenes. The first contact with victims might be in homes, streets, emergency rooms, shelters, jails, and law enforcement offices. Arriving at a scene that is marked by yellow tape is daunting. Counselors must develop a frame of mind that allows them to get into the trenches. Additionally, they must work collaboratively with other crisis response systems to ensure that victims receive timely holistic care. Following are some principles to guide counselors in working with multiple systems.

02-26-08 (The Liberty Champion, Volume 25, Issue 16)

2007 -- 2008

No abstract provided.

Character Traits In Newbery Award Literature 1997-2007, Julie Beth Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the character example elements in the Newbery Award winning books from 1997-2007. Content analysis was used to identify the pertinent character traits identified by the researcher using the acronym C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R. These example elements include: (a) caring/compassionate, (b) helpfulness, (c) acceptance, (d) respect, (e) ambition, (f) citizenship, (g) trustworthiness, (h) encouragement, and (i) responsibility. Using a coding system developed for this study, four readers read and discussed the books to attempt consensus as to the character traits identified. The researcher sought answers to the following questions: (a) Do the Newbery Award winning books …

01-29-08 (The Liberty Champion, Volume 25, Issue 13)

2007 -- 2008

No abstract provided.

Is Response-To-Intervention Good Policy For Specific Learning Disability?, Kenneth A. Kavale, Lucinda S. Spaulding

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) established new provisions for specific learning disability (SLD) identification, including: (a) no longer requiring consideration of IQ-achievement discrepancy, and (b) permitting response-to-intervention (RTI) as part of SLD evaluation procedures. We discuss several policy implications of these new regulations by considering the original construct of SLD, the still “experimental” status and implementation of RTI, the closer alignment of RTI objectives with No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) than former IDEA regulations, and the shift in focus from serving as a special education identification procedure to a general education instructional procedure. We …

Sacrificing Motherhood On The Altar Of Political Correctness: Declaring A Legal Stranger To Be A Parent Over The Objections Of The Child's Biological Parent, Rena M. Lindevaldsen

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This Article examines the legal and policy implications that arise when two women involved in a same-sex relationship both claim motherhood status to a child who is biologically related to only one of them. These cases involve a biological mother who is artificially inseminated with donor sperm and gives birth while she is involved in a same-sex relationship. When the relationship ends, courts are asked to decide whether the former same-sex partner, who has no legal or biological relationship to the child, should be treated as a parent to the child for custody and visitation purposes. Since the United States …

Chinese And Western Worldviews: Implications For Law, Policy,, Jeffrey C. Tuomala

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Dale Allison’S Resurrection Skepticism: A Critique, Gary R. Habermas

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

Part 6 of Dale Allison's volume, Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition and its Interpreters, is a rare, balanced mixture of mature skepticism with a healthy respect for the relevant historical and theological data. Perhaps not since Peter Carnley's The Structure a/Resurrection Belief has there been another work on the resurrection that weaves together these contrasting elements. Yet, not only do these two texts present very different perspectives, but Allison's exhibits a far greater command of the germane historical issues, both skeptical alternative responses as well as what can be concluded from the relevant New Testament texts. Along the way, …

Ahmed Rashid: Taliban Study Guide, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Glenn R. Martin: Prevailing Worldviews Study Guide, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Walter Russell Mead: Power, Terror, Peace, And War For No. 149, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Walter Russell Mead places this volume (which builds on Special Providence) into the context of the ideological and theological debates that have shaped American history. Like Michael Oakeshott and various conservatives, Mead depicts the contemporary world as the outworking of a “modern temper” or an “Enlightenment project,” two phases of which he focuses on: Fordism (resembling Lewis Mumford’s modern megamachine) and millennial capitalism. Mead’s identification of several competing schools of thought or dispositions in chapter six is somewhat comparable to earlier “models of historical interpretation,” such as Daniel Elazar’s three American “political cultures” and David Hackett Fischer’s four “British folkways” …

Brian C. Anderson: Democratic Capitalism And Its Discontents: Study Guide, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Resurrection Of Jesus And The Talpiot Tomb, Gary R. Habermas

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

The authors in this volume argue that severe problems beset the Talpiot tomb hypothesis. Rarely is this more apparent than when this proposal purports to address the known data regarding the early church's claims that Jesus' burial tomb was empty and that He later appeared to His disciples in a resurrected body. In this chapter, we will compare the Talpiot hypothesis to the accredited information that contemporary research has confirmed on these topics.

The Teaching And Learning Cycle: Integrating Curriculum, Instruction, And Assessment, Donna L. Jones

Christian Perspectives in Education

The philosophies of educators and government entities guide the teaching and learning cycle of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The educator’s worldview plays an important part in developing these concepts which is demonstrated throughout history. Studying the history of the educational philosophers reveals their beliefs about curriculum, instruction, and assessments and the effects on education today. It shows the importance of integrating all three concepts in the educational process creating the teaching and learning cycle.

God's Design And Phonemic Awareness, Jill A. Jones, Connie Mcdonald

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Phonemic awareness is the foundation for a child's literacy development. God's initial interation with man after creation, through the spoken word, bestows authority on oral language. Manipulation of language begins in infancy and continues throughout one's life. Teachers need to understand what phonemic awareness entails in order to develop and assess a child's development in this area.

The Effect Of Race On Retention Rates Of Elementary Education Students At Liberty University, Shante' Moore-Austin

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if race is a factor in determining the retention rates of elementary Education students at Liberty University. The data for this study was retrieved from the Teacher Licensure Office at Liberty University. Fifty students were randomly selected from and a descriptive research methodology was used. The data analysis was obtained from a cross tabulation of the key variables for this study: race/ethnicity, gender, grades, and completion in the Teacher Licensure Program. A chi-square test was used in the analysis, and based on the results of this test there was a positive relationship …

God's Design And Phonemic Awareness: What Is Phonemic Awareness, What Is Phonics, And What Does God Have To Do With It?, Jill A. Jones, Connie Mcdonald

Christian Perspectives in Education

Phonemic awareness is the foundation for a child’s literacy development. God’s initial interaction with man after creation, through the spoken word, bestows authority on oral language. Manipulation of language begins in infancy and continues throughout one’s life. Teachers need to understand what phonemic awareness entails in order to develop and assess a child’s development in this area.

Enhancing Christian School Experiences For Pre-Service Teachers Through Service-Learning Partnerships, Karen L. Parker, Beth E. Ackerman, Leonard W. Parker

Christian Perspectives in Education

The mission of the Teacher Licensure Program at Liberty University is to develop competent professionals with a Christian worldview for Christian, public, and private schools. To be consistent with the mission, classroom experience in both Christian and public schools should be required for each teacher candidate who successfully completes Liberty’s program. One of the challenges in the implementation of the mission has been an inadequate number of field experience placements available in Christian school settings.

Preparing Tomorrow's Classroom Leaders: Challenges For Christian Higher Education, James E. Watson, Ph.D., Joel T. Uecker, M.A.

Christian Perspectives in Education

Christian college teacher education program faculties face the challenge of employing a Christian epistemology that includes a pedagogy that embraces today’s learners. The authors seek to communicate the foundations of modernism and postmodernism and their impact on the epistemology and pedagogies employed in university classrooms. How the postmodern thinking claims have influenced the lives of Christian students will also be examined. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges for Christian teacher education faculties.

A Case Study Of The Impact Of Musical Pattern Rehearsal On The Acquisition Of Oral And Written Language Skills In A Young Child With Learning Differences, Rebecca F. Carwile

Christian Perspectives in Education

The study explores the relationship between learning musical patterns and learning language patterns. A case study of a male diagnosed with learning differences in generative writing and graphic processing indicates a positive relationship between the neurological patterning of rehearsed musical patterns and the acquisition of oral and written language skills. The anecdotal study tracks the development of literacy from the initial identification of dysfunctional patterns of performance at age three through the acquisition of oral language and the mastery of basic reading skills in the primary years. Analysis of the case study supports the need for musical training in the …

An Analysis Of The Obstacles Of Culture, Government, And Lack Of Support For International Accounting Standards, Bethany Theodore

Senior Honors Theses

With the prevalence of international markets comes the need for universal accounting standards. The International Accounting Standards Board has created a set of these standards, but unfortunately some skeptics have found that the obstacles of culture, government, and lack of support would make these standards impossible to implement. Since the globalization of international standards is inevitable, there must be a way to get past the present obstacles. Through an analysis of the countries of China, India, and Australia, it has been found that it is possible to have the same accounting standards among diverse countries. International accounting standards will become …

To Read Or Not To Read: A Comprehensive Study Of Effective Reading And Methods Of Teaching Reading, Morgan Decker

Senior Honors Theses

The ability to read written language proficiently is an important skill in modern society; however, reading seems to be a lost art in many ways. In order to correct this problem, educators must determine the most effective method for teaching reading to elementary students. The most prominent methods include the whole language method, the phonetic method, and the balanced method. Research on the techniques, advantages, disadvantages, and case studies associated with each method indicates that the most effective method for teaching reading to elementary students is the balanced method.

The Effects Of Deep Breathing And Positive Imagery On Stress And Coherence Levels Among College-Age Women, Sheerah R. Tice

Senior Honors Theses

Stress is steadily becoming a problem of epidemic proportions in American society. Diseases and other health problems that are a direct result of high, chronic stress levels are on the rise. As bad as they are, the physical effects of stress are not the only concern. There are also mental and emotional concerns to increased and continuous stress levels. It is therefore vitally important for people to learn effective methods for reducing stress. This study investigates two techniques done together, deep breathing and positive imagery, for their effectiveness in reducing stress and increasing coherence. The sample consisted of thirty 18-26 …