Digital Commons Network^™

Designing Socially-Mediated Reflection In Online Discussions, Martha M. Snyder

FDLA Journal

Reflection helps students understand the value of their learning experience. Reflection can be an individual activity, for example through journals, one-on-one discussions, and papers and it also can be socially-mediated, where students reflect together in social spaces either face-to-face or in online learning environments. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the value of reflection and the literature that supports it and share how socially-mediated reflection was designed and assessed in a Web-enhanced experiential learning course on water and sustainability. First, a review of the literature related to instructional design and learning theories that support reflection, reflection as a …

A Co/Autoethnography Of Peer Support And Phds: Being, Doing, And Sharing In Academia, Karen Mcphail-Bell, Michelle Louise Redman-Maclaren Dr

The Qualitative Report

As doctoral students, we were well aware of the social, cultural, and economic isolation experienced by many students working towards a PhD. In this paper, we provide an account of an informal peer support model that assisted us to successfully complete our PhDs. We used co/autoethnography to write into each other’s story, seeking to improve our research practice through creative reflection. Data included over 215 emails generated through our “weekly check-ins” during our PhDs, for a period of over 18 months. Following the iterative nature of co/autoethnography, we generated further data through collaborative analysis and reflexive, creative writing. Analysis involved …

The Value Of A Qualitative Pilot Study In A Multi-Phase Mixed Methods Research, Clavia T. Williams-Mcbean

The Qualitative Report

There is debate about the need for pilot studies in qualitative research and limited publications on its usefulness as a part of a mixed methods study which includes a qualitative phase. This qualitative pilot study was a part of a multiphase mixed methods research which investigated the nature of assessment in Jamaican secondary schools. The larger study aimed at developing a model for more effective implementation of formative assessment in the teaching of English at the secondary level. This article discusses the value of pilot studies in qualitative research in general and as a part of a multiphase mixed methods …

“Do I Need Exercise?” A Qualitative Study On Factors Affecting Leisure-Time Physical Activity In India, Shalini Garg, V Raman Kutty

The Qualitative Report

Physical activity can reduce the risk of premature mortality from various chronic diseases. Previous research in Kerala, India indicates several barriers which can impact physical activity levels. Perceptions about the importance of health-promoting physical activity were examined among adults in Kerala and various facilitators, motivators and barriers to physical activity were identified using focus group discussions and interviews with key informants. At present, the attitude of people and health professionals is that physical activity has to be taken up when diagnosed with a disease (obesity, diabetes) and advised by a health professional. Men were more likely to start exercising after …

Bringing Research To Life: A Review Of Leavy’S Research Design, Alexandra Ch Nowakowski

The Qualitative Report

In this review, I examine the contents, themes, and possibilities of Patricia Leavy’s Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, Arts-Based, and Community-Based Participatory Approaches. Specifically, I outline the (1) contents of the book in relation to its development of research methodology and potential for use in research methods classes, and (2) the usefulness of this text for bettering and diversifying pedagogical approaches to social research methods. Further, I discuss limitations in the work in terms of possibilities for future additions or expansions teachers may add to the use of this book in courses. In conclusion, I offer overall thoughts …

Commencement Ceremony Of 2019: The College Of Dental Medicine, Dr. Pallavi Patel College Of Health Care Sciences, College Of Medical Sciences, College Of Optometry, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College Of Osteopathic Medicine, College Of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Generalising From Qualitative Research (Gqr): A New Old Approach, John Guenther, Ian Falk

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, the authors debunk a long-held myth that generalisation is primarily the domain of quantitative research. Based on a review of modern and historical approaches to generalisation, they argue that generalisation from qualitative research (GQR) can be achieved, not through a process of self-justification, but through defensible and rigorous research design and methods. The authors go on to consider examples from their own qualitative research work spanning the last 20 years. From these examples they offer mechanisms that qualitative researchers can employ to generalise from their findings. They suggest that generalisation is achieved through a process of generalisation …

In Search Of Themes – Keys To Teaching Qualitative Analysis In Higher Education, Petra K. Boström

The Qualitative Report

Teaching research methods in psychology involves communicating a number of methods stemming from diverse philosophical traditions. The process of searching for themes is a central part of various qualitative methods of analysis and involves the transformation of coded raw data into a thematic structure. This process has often been briefly described which can create a problem for students who encounter qualitative analysis for the first time. The aim of the present paper is to explore how the process of transforming codes into a thematic structure can be described and communicated through higher education teaching. Literature on research methods and related …

Women’S Experiences With Epilepsy Treatment In Southern India: A Focused Ethnography, Jane R. Von Gaudecker 3172782758, Ann Gill Taylor, Janice M. Buelow, Sailas Benjamin, Claire B. Draucker

The Qualitative Report

Women with epilepsy in rural southern India often do not receive anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs) or take these drugs regularly, but little is known about how they experience the epilepsy treatment they do receive. The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth description of the treatment experiences of women in this region who had been diagnosed with epilepsy but who do not consistently take AEDs. Focused ethnography was conducted using participant observation and in-depth interviews with six women with epilepsy, eight of their family members, and two traditional healers. The women’s treatment experiences are best described as living at …

2019 Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony: Abraham S. Fischler College Of Education And School Of Criminal Justice, College Of Arts, Humanities, And Social Sciences, College Of Engineering And Computing, College Of Psychology, Dr. Pallavi Patel College Of Health Care Sciences, Farquhar Honors College, Halmos College Of Natural Sciences And Oceanography, H. Wayne Huizenga College Of Business And Entrepreneurship, Ron And Kathy Assaf College Of Nursing, Shepard Broad College Of Law, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

2019 Shepard Broad College Of Law Commencement Ceremony, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Faculty Expectations For Writing At The Postgraduate Level In A College Of Dental Medicine, Linnette L. Dobbs-Fuller

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Expectations for writing at the graduate level are high, yet research reports that many graduate academic writers find the process difficult and tend to struggle with writing. Institutions of higher education have focused on addressing writing at the undergraduate level but have devoted little effort to addressing the specific writing needs of graduate students, particularly in the health sciences. This research addresses this gap in the Health Sciences. This research includes interviews with twelve faculty members in the College of Dental Medicine at Nova Southeastern University about their expectations for writing at the postgraduate level. The study was not only …

A New Way To Look At Old Bones: Launching A Virtual Reality Service At A Health Sciences Library, Tariq Rahaman, Aaron Sager

HPD Library Presentations, Speeches, Lectures, Posters, Events, etc.

Background : This project's primary objective is to establish a sustainable and scalable virtual reality (VR) library service with a focus on virtual anatomy and medical simulation. A secondary objective is to develop inter-professional collaboration within our institution and support VR projects on medical/health sciences education and research initiatives.

Description : This initiative stemmed from an exploration of digital anatomy resources; VR was favored for its three-dimensional, immersive, and gamified approach to educational content. This presentation describes our process of launching and integrating VR as a new resource, including our decisions on hardware and software, staffing/workflow, policy and safety guidelines, …

An Introduction To Transformative Inquiry: Understanding Compelling And Significant Relationships For Personal And Societal Transformation, Mark L. Mccaslin, Kelly A. Kilrea

The Qualitative Report

Transformative inquiry is a theoretical model designed to facilitate the inquiry of important and meaningful relationships that transform and potentiate us. Creswell (2007) described the essential elements of a research agenda: the axiological, ontological, epistemological, methodological, and rhetorical. Each carries with it assumptions that hold implications for practice and research. Transformative inquiry addresses all of these elements through considerations given to deep ecology, transdisciplinarity, integral meta-theory, heuristic research, and eudaimonistic philosophy, respectively. Transformative inquiry is an approach to understanding and fostering the full range of deep and meaningful relationships from the personal to the political, and beyond. It is a …

Piloting The Emerging Technologies Internship At A Health Sciences Library, Tariq Rahaman

HPD Library Presentations, Speeches, Lectures, Posters, Events, etc.

Background: The Emerging Technologies Internship program aims to provide 12th grade high school students an opportunity to explore, use and develop unique applications of 3D printing/scanning, virtual reality, and digital devices. The interns work closely with library staff on student and faculty projects, but are also challenged to develop individual projects that can positively impact health sciences and medical education.

Description: The internship was developed in collaboration with a local high school and launched in September 2018. The program components include 1) goals and logistics; 2) marketing; 3) a Learning Lunch presentation for interested students; 4) application & …

Autoethnography As A Lighthouse: Illuminating Race, Research, And The Politics Of Schooling: A Book Review, Katja Sonkeng

The Qualitative Report

What do a lighthouse and an autoethnography have in common? Whether symbolically or literally, both elements seek to help to navigate through rough waters by providing warnings and guidance. Using this powerful analogy, the editors Stephen Hancock, Ayana Allen, and Chance W. Lewis (2015) crafted a powerful narrative, titled Autoethnography as a Lighthouse: Illuminating Race, Research, and the Politics of Schooling as a volume in the book series Contemporary Perspectives on Access, Equity, and Achievement, edited by Chance W. Lewis and published by Information Age. As poignantly stated right at the beginning of the introductory chapter, the primary aim …

What Makes A Good Research Consultant?, Justin Harding, Samantha Estrada, Michael Floren

The Qualitative Report

Statistical and research consulting is defined as the collaboration of a statistician or methodologist with another professional for devising solutions to research problems. An in-depth, interview qualitative approach was taken to answer the research question of what makes a good research consultant. The authors interviewed four faculty members in the field of statistics and research methods and two experienced graduate student consultants. In-depth, face-to-face interviews revealed common themes regarding consultancy skills, resourcefulness, communication and interpersonal skills. The participants discussed how to improve consulting sessions and deal with clients with different statistics levels and backgrounds. Participants felt there was no difference …

Outplanted Acropora Cervicornis Enhances The Fish Assemblages Of Southeast Florida, Ellen Dignon Goldenberg

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Acropora cervicornis, commonly known as the staghorn coral has historically been a major contributor to reef structural complexity, providing habitat for many functionally important fish species throughout Florida and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, due to disease, bleaching, and local anthropogenic stressors, A. cervicornis populations have suffered drastic declines that have negatively impacted associated reef fish populations. In order to promote recovery, A. cervicornis fragments can be cultivated in nurseries and outplanted back onto reefs. This practice can effectively increase A. cervicornis abundance, but the long-term effects on local fish assemblages, and specifically functionally important grazing fishes, has not been assessed. …

Nutrient Concentrations And Effects On Mill Run From Residential, Urban, And Industrial Stormwater Contamination, Melissa Carver

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Nutrients are introduced into the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through various methods, mainly through point and non-point sources. Non-point sources would include agricultural means however, there are often other non-point sources that are often overlooked. Water runoff from stormwater is an important contributor to pollution entering various watersheds. Data was collected at 4 locations (the initial point of reference, residential, urban, and industrial) on Mill Run and 2 locations on Woodcock Creek, through surface water collection methods in dry and wet weather. Nitrate, Nitrite, Total Phosphorus, and Total Nitrogen were among the data collected. Total Phosphorus had an …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of A Youth Peace Education Program, Alexia Georgakopoulos, Charles H. Goesel, Patrick Hardigan

CAHSS Faculty Articles

Based on the premise that students can be active learners and change makers, rather than passive recipients of knowledge, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the peace education program, READING PEACE PALS, delivered to six-to-nine-year-olds at a Boys and Girls Club. This program infused art, literacy, and community mentorship to teach conflict resolution skills. This study assessed the program’s effectiveness by utilizing Kirkpatrick’s (2016) model for evaluating training effectiveness and statistically assessed affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning, and the results/impact of peace education to examine perceptions of impacts of youth learning on the community and society. Youth and mentors responded …

Broadly Speaking - May, 2019, Nova Southeastern University

Broadly Speaking

No abstract provided.

Environmental Insecurity: Another Case For Concept Change, Lee-Anne Broadhead

Peace and Conflict Studies

For decades, scholars and policy-makers have disputed whether environmental degradation caused by human-induced climate change needs to be addressed and reversed in order to prevent conflict, or whether the instabilities generated by such degradation (resource scarcity, reduction of arable land, mass migration of so-called environmental refugees, etc.) provides a compelling new rationale for preparing militarily to fight the "climate change conflicts" of the future. Exploring the tension between these perspectives, the paper argues that any effective practical response implies and requires a change in the conceptual climate of the debate sufficient to discredit a literally devastating circular argument: that environmental …

"Home" In Peace And Conflict Studies: A Site Of Resistance And Of Reform, Ali Watson

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article aims to examine one aspect of the "local" that has been little considered in IR: the concept of home and its significance as a place of meaning and as a site of resistance. Existing studies of the concept of home in other disciplines include their study as "profound centers of human existence" in human geography and as the place of "many cultural practices that forge social memory." More recently, the plight of refugees has thrown into sharp relief both the need for an examination of home and its current under-theorization. After a wider examination of the meaning of …

Imagining A Non-Violent World "The Be The Peace, Make A Change Project": A Rural Community Peacebuilding Initiative To End Gender-Based Violence, Nancy M. Ross

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article will profile the innovative community engagement process initiated by the "Be the Peace, Make a Change" project to end gender-based violence in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, and conclude with lessons learned. These lessons were summarized as "headlines" to imagine a future with new narratives for interpersonal relationships. This project was a three-year grassroots initiative of Second Story Women’s Centre, funded by Status of Women Canada. It engaged the rural communities of Lunenburg County to develop a coordinated response to violence against women and girls. It focused on the engagement of all genders, youth, and adults in exploring and …

Transition From Civil War To Peace: The Role Of The United Nations And International Community In Mozambique, Ayokunu Adedokun

Peace and Conflict Studies

With the heavy involvement of the United Nations (UN) and the international community, the Rome General Peace Agreement of 1992 ended more than 16 years of civil war in Mozambique. The peace agreement and post-conflict initiatives by the international community was successful in transforming the Mozambique National Resistance
(Renamo) from a rebel group into a viable political party. Key components of the United Nations and the broader international community success in negotiating peace and creating conditions for political stability and democracy in Mozambique were (a) the provision of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) before democratisation, (b) decentralization of humanitarian and …

Determining How Risk Effects Predator-Prey Interactions Of Marine Communities In The Nearshore Environment Of South Bimini, The Bahamas, Kendall Brancart

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Predators often have strong top-down effects on ecosystems and are considered a priority for conservation and management. Predator activity can influence prey distribution, abundance, and foraging behaviors and are likely to influence habitat by impacting ecological and environmental characteristics as well as presence of competitor species. There are knowledge gaps of the functional diversity of fish assemblages, non-consumptive predator effects, and environmental effects on fish assemblages. With this study, effects of top marine predators, such as sharks and great barracuda, on diversity and abundance of prey communities were examined in putative low (north side of South Bimini = lagoon) and …

Choice Mums And Children’S Education. Does Feminism Matter? A Qualitative Study, Ana Bravo-Moreno

The Qualitative Report

The aim of this article is to analyse and compare the experiences of self-labelled feminist and non-feminist women who have consciously chosen to be single mothers. This article contributes to the literature by providing a Spanish context to the experiences of single mothers by choice. Scant research currently exists on the specific characteristics of this type of family and on the influence of gender composition. Furthermore, no research has been conducted on the comparison between feminist and non-feminist single mothers by choice and how their different perspectives may affect their children’s education. The principal argument of this paper is based …

Investigating The Emotional Theory Of Mind In Iranian Married Women: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study, Abbas Rahmati, Maryam Poormirzaei, Masoud Bagheri

The Qualitative Report

In marital relationships, the type of perception of the spouse’s behavior affects how the social information and behavior of the other couple is processed, leading to psychological consequences. Thus, a higher perception of each other’s mental state is followed by sincerity and more satisfaction with the relations. The present study was performed by using a descriptive phenomenological qualitative approach with the aim of investigating emotional theory of mind in 19 married Iranian women who were selected by purposive sampling in 2017. In order to coding data, MAXQDA 2018 software and the Colaizzi’s method were used for coding and analyzing the …

Tribal Gaming Leader Strategies Toward A Sustainable Future, Janie A. Hall, Patricia I. Fusch, Janet M. Booker

The Qualitative Report

One aspect of leadership strategy is the need to account for the core values of the organization.The purpose of this case study was to explore the tribal gaming leader strategies used toward sustainability, an action that leads to tribal economic development and stability. The conceptual framework of situational leadership theory was used to guide the scope and analysis of this study. Six tribal gaming leaders from Oklahoma participated in a focus group session; 7 additional tribal gaming leaders from the same gaming organization participated in individual interview sessions. Member checking was used to strengthen the credibility and trustworthiness of the …

Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Subsistence-Harvested Alaskan Marine Mammal Body Tissues And Vibrissae, Pilar M. Ferdinando

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The coastal, indigenous communities around Alaska have subsisted on marine animals for generations, often focusing on large apex predators such as seals, sea lions, and whales. Three species of pinnipeds (harbor seal, Steller sea lion, northern fur seal) and the northern sea otter have all undergone significant population declines since the 1970s, some regions more than others. Archived vibrissae (whiskers) and body tissues from these four species were available from the Bering Sea and throughout the Gulf of Alaska from the 1990s and early 2000s. Tissues from these species are exceedingly difficult to obtain; thus, the archived tissues provided a …