Digital Commons Network^™

There Is More To Gesture Than Meets The Eye: Visual Attention To Gesture’S Referents Cannot Account For Its Facilitative Effects During Math Instruction, Miriam A. Novack, Elizabeth M. Wakefield, Eliza L. Congdon, Steven Franconeri, Susan Goldin-Meadow

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Teaching a new concept with gestures – hand movements that accompany speech – facilitates learning above-and-beyond instruction through speech alone (e.g., Singer & GoldinMeadow, 2005). However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still being explored. Here, we use eye tracking to explore one mechanism – gesture’s ability to direct visual attention. We examine how children allocate their visual attention during a mathematical equivalence lesson that either contains gesture or does not. We show that gesture instruction improves posttest performance, and additionally that gesture does change how children visually attend to instruction: children look more to the problem being explained, and …

Special Education Disproportionality Through A Social Lens: A Mixed Methods Approach, Marianne J. Fidishin

Dissertations

The disproportionate nature of special education, notably with African American students, is longstanding and most pronounced in judgmental eligibility categories such as intellectual disability and emotional disturbance. Numerous studies on disproportionality conclude there is not a single causative factor, but point to the multifactorial nature of the issue and the complex interplay among different factors. Research related to the role social factors exhibited in an institution have on special education referral and eligibility determination is more limited. This is important since practices employed during the eligibility process take place within the institution’s social environment and are underpinned by the beliefs …

Keeping Schools Catholic: Discipleship As Paradigm For Administrators, Teachers, Staff And Students, James (Deporres) Charles Durham

Dissertations

Of the many accomplishments of the Catholic Church in the United States, one of the most known is the Catholic School System. In 1965, over 4.4 million children were educated in the 10,667 Catholic elementary schools, and almost 700,000 in the 1,527 Catholic high schools (Center for Applied Research for the Apostolate, 2013). The mission of the school was embodied, literally, in these skilled male and female religious who taught in these schools. But the number of male and female religious was not sustained, leading to the question of how the religious mission of the school will continue. The number …

Understanding Academic Achievement Among Low-Income, Urban, Black Adolescents: The Role Of Father Involvement, Patrick Henry

Master's Theses

Although the Black-White test score gap has improved over time, it still persists. Furthermore, this academic risk for Black youth is compounded by the disproportionate representation of Blacks among low-income families in the U.S. Thus, the present study aims to shed light on factors related to greater academic success among adolescents in low-income, urban, Black families. Overall, this study addresses the following question. How does the presence of a biological father and positive father involvement impact the academic achievement of their adolescent children? Data from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study (TCS) were analyzed in order to address …

Emature: Intergenerational Networks In Digital Media Spaces, Andras Lukacs

Dissertations

While the literature on adolescent usage of the Internet and mobile communication technology is burgeoning, the technological affordance of increased intergenerational contacts and intergenerational friendships received less attention. This project documents how intergenerational virtual networks operate in one particular massively multiplayer online game (World of Warcraft) from the standpoint of adolescent players. Online social worlds are similar to offline settings in a lot of ways. Users must obey certain behavioral standards and follow established rules and moral codes to participate. Despite accounts of online democracy and networked individualism, control and authority is central to the functioning of these environments. Power-relationships …

Expectations And Quality Of Life During The Antepartum And Postpartum Period, Mary Kathryn Adams

Dissertations

During pregnancy, women frequently anticipate birth and motherhood with unrealistic images and expectations which are formed by personal experience and society’s portrayal of motherhood (e.g., books and movies). How these expectations impact the postpartum period for women has not been well studied. However, research has identified a link between maternal expectations, reality, and negative emotional responses. When expectations are met, the experience of motherhood may be a positive one. However, when these expectations are not met, the potential for negative emotional responses may be greater. The postpartum period is a significant period of adjustment, and depression occurs in about 13%–19% …

Performance Of Individuals And Teams On Cryptographic Tasks: Factors That Affect The Consideration Of Alternative Strategies, Joseph Bihary

Dissertations

The two studies presented here examined factors that might affect teams’ and individuals’ tendency to follow outside advice when attempting to solve a complex problem known as letters-to-numbers. Past research on group dynamics suggests that a lack of group consensus or homogeneity reduces group members’ confidence in their group’s abilities, and may lead members both to seek and accept advice from outside the group. Study 1 experimentally manipulated group diversity in task performance strategies in order to investigate whether dyads whose members have divergent perspectives are more likely than homogeneous dyads to consider and use a problem-solving strategy presented from …

Dating Violence Prevention Through A Change In Gender Norms, Katie Doud

Dissertations

Gender norms that promote male dominance and control lead to greater violence against females and deleterious health effects for males (Reed, Raj, Miller & Silverman, 2010). A strict adherence to female gender roles is associated with a greater likelihood to be in an abusive relationship and a greater length of time to leave an abusive relationship (Molidar & Tollman, 1998). Adolescence is a developmental time where boys and girls rigidly follow gender stereotypes (Alfieri, Ruble, & Higgins, 1996). Three-fourths of adolescents have been in a dating relationship by their senior year in high school (Carver et al., 2003). The combination …

Evaluating The Impact Of Integrative Mental Health Treatment In Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bella Etingen

Dissertations

High numbers of US Veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but, many do not subsequently seek mental healthcare. Integrated mental health (IMH) models of treatment bring mental health professionals into the primary care setting, allowing Veterans to receive comprehensive treatment during primary care visits. The IMH treatment model may bridge the gap for Veterans with PTSD who need care and those who actually receive it. This study examined the impact that IMH has on Veterans with PTSD receiving care from VA. Using several methods of data collection (medical chart reviews, VA administrative databases, a mailed survey of patient perception of …

Dreamers And The College Dream: A Case Study Analysis Examining The Influences Of High Schools And High School Agents, Aliza Joy Gilbert

Dissertations

This dissertation study contributes to a nascent field of research on undocumented students and college access. Rooted in a conceptual framework of models of college choice, this study utilizes case study methodology to examine how a high school and its agents influence an undocumented student’s college choice process. The unit of analysis is a suburban public high school located in the Midwest.

Data collection included semi-structured interviews of students, teachers, counselors, and college counselors, observation of college counseling programs, and document review of college related materials. The constant comparative method was the primary system of data analysis. The coding process …

Social Skills In Youth With Spina Bifida: A Longitudinal Multimethod Investigation Of Bio-Neuropsychosocial Predictors, Christina Ehrman Holbein

Dissertations

Objective: Despite research documenting social dysfunction in youth with spina bifida (SB), little is known about the etiology of these social difficulties; most investigations identifying predictors of social deficits have concentrated exclusively on one domain. This longitudinal study examines the relative predictive power of neurocognitive (attention and executive function), family (cohesion and conflict), and health-related (body mass index, condition severity) variables on later social skills in youth with SB.

Methods: 112 youth with SB (T1 mean age = 11.19 years) and their families participated in study visits two years apart. Study variables were assessed by multiple methods (questionnaire, medical chart …

You're Kind Of Just Conditioned: Women And Female College Students' Defiance Of Dominant Social Messages In The Development Of Leader Self-Efficacy, Shannon Darracott Howes

Dissertations

Researchers have consistently found that women have lower leader self-efficacy (LSE) than men, despite being equally capable as leaders. This is problematic because LSE is associated with many benefits that support the development and enactment of leadership. Despite the importance of LSE, there is a dearth of research on the construct, particularly in the higher education context. This grounded theory study utilized semi-structured interviews with 12 undergraduate students who identified as females or women to explore how they developed LSE. Findings were related with four core concepts that were woven throughout the various categories of themes that comprised the grounded …

Moral Distress And The Health Care Organization, Andy Kondrat

Dissertations

A health care professional may experience moral distress when she believes she knows the ethical course of action in a given situation, but is unable to enact that plan, or must do otherwise. This dissertation argues that health care organizations have an ethical obligation to address moral distress in their health care professionals, and that common responses to moral distress are ethically insufficient due to their reliance on hierarchical solutions when hierarchies are, in fact, often a cause of moral distress. Thus, health care organizations, as moral agents, have a responsibility to find a non-hierarchical response to moral distress.

In …

Cognitive And Neural Correlates Of Coping And Resilience In Depression, Catherine Lee

Dissertations

Depression is one of the most prevalent and devastating psychological disorders, often with a chronic or remitting/reoccurring course. The inability to effectively cope with stress and negative life events has been strongly linked to the development and maintenance of depression symptoms; yet, the cognitive and biological processes underlying the complex and multidimensional behavioral construct of coping are not well understood. Using a combination of self-report measures, computerized cognitive tasks, and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) methodologies, the present study investigated associations between specific executive function abilities (i.e., inhibition and set-shifting), underlying neural activity, coping strategy and flexibility, and depression symptoms. Results did …

Collaborative Community Prevention: An Ecological Approach To Mental Health Support For Children In Rural America, Adria Casey Mcpherson

Dissertations

There exists a dearth of research literature devoted to informing mental health practice in rural areas. However, what little research that does exist surrounding children’s mental wellness in rural places describes mental health programs as being smaller, under-served versions of their urban counterparts (National Association for Rural Mental Health, 2001). Mental health collaboration in rural areas is a clear need and an ongoing challenge. This study aims to address these concerns by reviewing relevant theories, analyzing one rural community’s mental health needs, and identifying next steps in mental health service delivery for this community.

Additional research surrounding the mental health …

Community Violence Exposure Among Urban African American Males: Understanding The “Buffering Effect” Of Adaptive Social Support Coping On Psychosocial Outcomes, Cynthia L. Pierre

Dissertations

The current study explored the moderating roles of support coping and support

quality in the predictive relationship between community violence exposure (ECV) and a

variety of psychosocial outcomes. Participants were 119 African American males (9 th –

12 th grade; mean age at baseline = 15.33). Participants completed measures of exposure to

violence, support-seeking coping, quality of support from friends and family, and a range

of psychosocial outcomes, and completed these same measures approximately one year

after baseline. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between

ECV and psychosocial outcomes, as well as the relationships between support coping and …

Symbolic Centers In The Background Or Units At The Forefront Of Change? Race Specific Cultural Centers And Student Support Programs And Their Potential Impact On Students Of Color, William Rodriguez

Dissertations

This study examined the potential impact race specific cultural centers and student support programs (CCSSPs) have on the leadership development of students of color. Data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership was used to answer two primary questions. The two primary questions focused on the potential impact of CCSSPs on leadership outcomes and the rates of participation in high-impact leadership practices. The analytic approach utilized “effect size” methodology while also conducting sample t-tests to compare means between CCSSP users and non-users and chi-square analysis for relationships between dependent categorical variables.

No findings emerged for leadership outcomes for the sample as …

Changing Medical Education: Early Efforts To Integrate Women's Health Into Education And Training, Mary Katherine Rojek

Dissertations

This is an historical study about the development of women’s health curricula in medical education across the U.S. between 1983 and 2004, a period of a great deal of innovation. At that time, some physicians, medical educators, policy makers, and government officials became aware that most U.S. medical school curricula did not address women’s health in a comprehensive manner and did not attend to many problems that were the primary causes of mortality and morbidity in women. In addition, medical research and medical education were based on a normative male model. Studies of medical education indicate that medical schools are …

Exploring The Relationships Between Spiritual Well-Being, Team Regard And Turnover Intention Of Hospice Social Workers: The Mediating Role Of Job Satisfaction, Kimberly Lynn Sangster

Dissertations

According to the US census bureau there are approximately 15,500,000 million Americans over the age of 65 years in 2015. As the population ages and prepares to die, people will need access to quality hospice and end-of-life care. Key to delivery of quality care is experienced hospice social workers. Multiple regression and mediation analysis were applied to explain the path relationships involving the variables of spiritual well-being, an innovative operationalization of the concept of team regard, job satisfaction and turnover intentions of hospice social workers in Medicare-certified hospice programs in the state of Illinois. Other variables in this study included …

Social Learning Of Employee Engagement, Swati Sharma Srivastava

Dissertations

The influence of coworkers on workplace attitudes and behaviors is a well-researched and established occurrence in organizational psychology. Given that many of these relationships may be bi-directional, Social Learning theory is a fitting lens to examine these connections. One construct that consistently surfaces as a prominent topic in organizational research is employee engagement. The aim of this research was to investigate how social learning theory may be applied to the relationship between engagement levels of role models and observing employees. Results revealed some truly validating insights, primarily confirming the influence of coworkers on employee engagement. Model type (i.e., manager vs. …

The Relation Of Exposure To Community Violence To Self- Efficacy Based On Neighborhood, Family, And School Effects In A Community Sample Of Latino-American Youth, Arie Zakaryan

Dissertations

Community violence is considered a “public health epidemic” in the US. Latino youth and families are a burgeoning population in the United States, and many of whom live in neighborhoods exposed to community violence. Multiple contexts should be assessed identifying developmental assets youth use to adjust positively when exposed to violence. This study examines how different environmental contexts, i.e., home, school, neighborhood and acculturation, influence the relationship between exposure to community violence and self-efficacy for Latino youth. The current study uses an archival dataset of a larger longitudinal study (Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods). A confirmatory factor analysis …

Communication Asset Mapping: An Ecological Field Application Toward Building Healthy Communities, George Villanueva, Garrett M. Broad, Carmen Gonzalez, Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Sheila Murphy

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Guided by an integrated theoretical approach combining communication infrastructure theory with methods of assets-oriented community field mapping, this study reports the findings of an engaged scholarship project we term communication asset mapping (CAM). Ecological in orientation and participatory in practice, CAM represents a tool for analyzing urban spaces’ potential as mediums for building healthy communities. This article offers two case studies from different low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the first a researcher-directed CAM application and the second undertaken in collaboration with community health promotion workers. Both offer insights for researchers and practitioners interested in the intersecting roles of communication and …

Developing Prevention-Oriented Discipline Codes Of Conduct, Pamela Fenning, Miranda B. Johnson

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

A detailed analysis of prevention-oriented discipline in education.

Marketing An End To War: Constructive Engagement, Community Wellbeing, And Sustainable Peace, Clifford J. Shultz

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Markets and marketing are integral to human welfare and survival. When used however for the purposes of war and other systemically violent conflict, they can be devastating and pose an existential threat to humanity. Drawing on experience in war-ravaged and recovering economies, the author examines a stream of research on marketing systems disrupted or destroyed by war. Some underlying conditions and predictors of war and its peaceful resolution are introduced, including social traps and their mitigation or elimination. An argument is revisited for marketing as a form of constructive engagement, which must be implemented to affect and to develop equitable …

Lessons Jesuit Business Programs Can Learn From Chinese Mba Programs, Mary Bernice Mcgrath

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

North American Schools of Business have been “going global” by transplanting pedagogy and content to Asia and Africa for several centuries. From a teaching perspective, our western schools look to these regions as contexts to provide richness to our students’ educational experience, to prepare Americans for dealings in the global business marketplace, and often to increase our own enrollments and revenues. To date we have served as “exporters” of our own Western brand of MBA education.

Using an ethnographic approach of participant observation gained through two years of teaching and living in China supplemented with interviews with Chinese students studying …

Exploring Patient-Provider Relationships In Preference-Based Health Care Choices, Linda Tuncay Zayer, Cele C. Otnes, Eileen M. Fischer

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Patient-physician relationship models previously identified in research do not always capture the full range of consumers’ experiences as they engage in difficult, preference-based decisions. Examining the context of individuals seeking infertility treatment, we identify a new Peripheral Model of patient-physician relationship, whereby the physician’s role is perceived as rather inconsequential.

Ecological Factors Promoting Academic Resilience Of Latina Students, Rebecca Testa-Ryan

Dissertations

To enhance the academic success of Latina students, researchers and educators must move away from focusing on deficits and risks and concentrate more on student potential and environmental support, which have been found to successfully open pathways to academic achievement. By shifting the focus, stakeholders can gain an understanding of the educational experiences of Latina students considered on a pathway of educational failure and the processes that can contribute instead to their academic resilience. In this qualitative study, I investigate the ecological factors that influence and impact the academic resiliency of Latina students. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory of Human …

The Impact Of Social Class Connectedness, School Belongingness, And Family Cohesion On Lower Class-Identified College Students, Kristen Eileen Adams

Dissertations

This study is one of the first to examine acculturative and enculturative factors as they relate to social class. Much of the extant literature surrounding acculturation and enculturation looks primarily at cultural factors such as race/ethnicity and/or immigration status. Due to the fact that social class is such a salient cultural identity in most individuals' lives and has a bearing on how one views and evaluates themselves in relation to others of differing social classes (Fouad & Brown, 2000), the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social class connectedness on subjective wellbeing (including positive and negative …

Self-Esteem And Critical Consciousness In The Relation Between Subjective Social Class And Subjective Well-Being Among College Students: Mediation And Moderated Mediation Models, Fatma Aydin

Dissertations

Subjective social class (SSC) and subjective well-being (SWB) are important indicators of mental health, and the scientific literature has indicated significant relationships between these variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the complex mechanisms by which SSC is related to SWB, using a sample of 275 college students. This study first explored whether SSC was indirectly related to SWB through the mediating effect of self-esteem. Three elements of SSC (economic resources, social power, and social prestige) and three elements of SWB (satisfaction with life, negative affect, and positive affect) were investigated. Using process analysis, the results showed that …

Quality Of Math Instruction Matters: Examining Validity And Reliability Of High Impact Strategies In Early Mathematics (His-Em), Bilge Cerezci

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to introduce a measure of early mathematics teaching practices, the High Impact Strategies in Early Mathematics (HIS-EM) and its framework, and to examine its criterion-related, predictive validity of High Impact Strategies in Early Mathematics (HIS-EM) and describe the types of early math teaching the HIS-EM detects among a sample of Pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade teachers working with high need students in an urban public schools system. The findings indicate that the HIS-EM produced reliable scores, and meaningful and predictable associations were found between HIS-EM and CLASS. The results also suggested that high quality mathematics …