Digital Commons Network^™

Teacher Professionalism In Light Of Biometric Controls On Teacher Mobility And Autonomy, David L. Knott

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, I investigate the introduction of biometric technology, specifically fingerprint scanners, for the purposes of managing faculty members’ working hours at a higher education institution (HEI) located in the Middle Eastern Gulf States. Utilizing semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data, three expatriate teachers of English discussed their experiences before and after management installed the fingerprint scanners, discussing the influence such a change has on their professional identities and the additional impacts on their teaching, their identification with the institution, and the overall culture of the HEI. The results show that the existence of the fingerprint scanners adversely affects …

Merging Motherhood And Doctoral Studies: An Autoethnography Of Imperfectly Weaving Identities, Vicki L. Schriever Dr

The Qualitative Report

In this autoethnography I share my lived experiences of merging motherhood and doctoral studies and reveal the journey of imperfectly weaving the identities of mother, wife, doctoral student, and academic. I present seven vignettes to provide glimpses of experience and a window into not only the challenges and tensions of intersecting motherhood and doctoral studies, but to also share the joys, strengths, and benefits of embracing these multiple identities. The literature and autoethnographic accounts offer insights into the contradiction that is mothering during doctoral studies, as academic mothers simultaneously carry guilt and gratitude, and acknowledge the sacrifice and privilege that …

Puhi In The Tree And Other Stories: Unlocking The Metaphor In Native And Indigenous Hawaiian Storytelling, Renuka M. De Silva, Joshua E. Hunter

The Qualitative Report

Human beings live and tell stories for many reasons, and it is a way to not only understand one another but to give a time and place to events and experiences. Therefore, a narrational approach within the context of this research offers a frame of reference and a way to reflect during the entire process of gathering data and writing. This study examines the importance of storytelling among Native (Kānaka ‘Ōiwi) and Indigenous (Kānaka Maoli) women of Hawai ̒ i and their interconnectedness to land and spirituality through accessing [k]new knowledge. The main focus of this article is to illustrate …

Discursive Psychology For Applied Qualitative Research, Jessica N. Lester, Michelle O'Reilly

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we offer discursive psychology (DP) as a particularly useful analytic approach for engaging in applied research. We begin by overviewing the broad area of discourse analysis and then more specifically describe the contours of discursive psychology. Drawing upon a secondary, shared dataset, we provide a general discussion of the analytic process for conducting a DP informed analysis and offer some example findings. Notably, we highlight the limitations of doing DP work when working with a secondary data set and point also toward the possibilities and opportunities.

Efl Learners’ Multiple Identities Constructions In Relation To Global Positions Of English, Farah Anjanillah, Ribut Wahyudi, Syafiyah Syafiyah

The Qualitative Report

In English as Foreign Language (EFL) learning, the learners’ identities have been intriguing to be explored by the linguists. Norton (2010) argues English learning does not deal with knowledge and skill acquisition alone, instead it also comprises a complex process of the learners’ identities, constructions, and reconstructions. Hence, English learning enables the shaping of English learners’ multiple identities. This study was conducted in one of the Islamic universities (IU) in Malang, Indonesia. The multilingual and multicultural contexts of Indonesia is a crucial factor to conduct this study. These social conditions do also underpin the constructions of English learners’ multiple identities …

The Embodiment Of Discovery: An Adapted Framework For Qualitative Analysis Of Lived Experiences, Helen B. Hernandez, Laurie P. Dringus

The Qualitative Report

We reflect on our process of working with an adapted framework as an effective strategy for analyzing and interpreting the results of our qualitative study on the lived experiences of insulin pump trainers. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was applied as the overarching research methodology and was encapsulated into a framework adapted from Bonello and Meehan (2019) and from Chong (2019). We describe this framework as the “embodiment of discovery” to posit the researcher’s tangible experience of discovering the meaning of data that also brought transparency to the researcher’s process for data analysis and interpretation. We present challenges the doctoral student …

Questioning Standards Of Evaluation In Educational Research: Do Educational Researchers Ventriloquize Learners’ Voices In L2 Education?, Anastasia A. Boldireff

The Qualitative Report

Learners are not stakeholders in their own education. Adhering to the quantitative gold standard in English as a Second Language (ESL) deprives the learner from having a voice in their learning process. This paper addresses voicelessness and ventriloquism in ESL, ventriloquism referring to the act of voicing the thoughts of another person, in this case the system overriding the learners’ experiences. This article addresses this problem, aligning itself with the Platinum standard while challenging the quantitative gold standard in ESL research. This paper offers resonance and semantic reliability as evaluative measures in educational research taken from literary criticism. The notion …

A Training Intervention For Middle School Teachers On Culturally Relevant Instruction And Culturally Relevant Classroom Management Strategies, Vivian Yakpo Newton

Theses and Dissertations

A Training Intervention for Middle School Teachers on Culturally Relevant Instruction and Culturally Relevant Classroom Management Strategies.

Vivian Yakpo Newton, 2020: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

Keywords: Culturally Relevant Education, Cultural Diversity, Classroom Environment, Middle School Teachers, Cultural Awareness This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effectiveness of the Middle School Teacher Training Intervention on the application of culturally relevant instruction and classroom management instructions by teachers in a Title I middle school in the southeastern United States.

This school lacked culturally relevant instruction and behavior management, despite …

The Chimera: Multiple Selves, Conflicting Desires, And Fluctuating Power Relations In Qualitative Research, Su Jung Um

The Qualitative Report

In this article, I (re)constructed and (re)presented a dialogic inquiry among my chimeric selves engaged in a study which I conducted from 2013 to 2017 to examine teaching experiences of graduates from a social justice-oriented preservice program. I interrogated the roles of my different, disparate, and discontinuous selves in the research process – as a former teacher, a former instructor of my research participants, a researcher with particular academic and political opinions, and as a foreigner working toward a doctoral degree from/in a U.S. higher education institution. In this article, I demonstrated how my chimeric selves with conflicting desires and …

Rethinking The Policies For Nurturing Teacher Identity Development In Indonesia, Jarjani Usman, Teuku Zulfikar, Dorine Lugendo

The Qualitative Report

This study explored supports given by in-service teachers to student-teachers for professional identity development in Indonesia. In this qualitative study, sixteen student teachers taking the course of Curriculum Development at an Islamic higher education institution in Aceh were grouped into six and assigned to six schools (primary to senior high) in two districts in Aceh, Indonesia, to communicate with classroom teachers regarding lesson plan and teaching materials. We also expected them to observe classroom practices if possible. In this way, student teachers gain real experiences on how the teachers develop their lesson plans and implement them in actual lessons, as …

Proceedings From The Second Annual Society For Neurosports Conference, William R. Kochen

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

Proceedings from the Second Annual Society for NeuroSports Conference

Malaysian Esl Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices Regarding The Use Of Music And Songs In Second Language Teaching, Daler Bokiev, Lilliati Ismail

The Qualitative Report

Regardless of numerous studies supporting the effectiveness of utilizing music and songs in second language teaching, there is a remarkably limited amount of research investigating how music and songs are actually used by language teachers and the beliefs underpinning their practices, particularly in the Malaysian educational context. This qualitative study explored Malaysian ESL teachers’ beliefs and practices with regard to the use of music and songs in language instruction at different levels of education as well as factors influencing their instructional practices. The research participants consisted of five primary-level, five secondary-level and five tertiary-level ESL teachers working at public and …

“I Was Like An Autumn Leaf That Looks Pretty From The Outside, But Would Break Once You Touched It”: A Case Study Of The Lived Experience Of Breast Cancer Survival, Wafa Hamad Almegewly, Dinah Gould, Sally Anstey

The Qualitative Report

In this hermeneutic phenomenological case study, we explored the lived experiences of one Saudi Arabian woman, Sahara, living with breast cancer and after, identifying her culture’s impact on the “meaning-making” process. We derived the data from a semi-structured interview and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). The themes were: (1) “discourse”: being a breast cancer patient; (2) “sociality”: the complex sense of living with visibility and invisibility; and (3) “selfhood”: regaining the sense of being normal. The study benefits healthcare providers, who need to understand women’s life-world, the impact of culture when designing a program of survival care, and the …

An Analysis Of Reflections On Researcher Positionality, Oluwatoyin Olukotun, Elizabeth Mkandawire, Jeri Antilla, Faten Alfaifa, Jennifer Weitzel, Victoria Scheer, Mary Olukotun, Dr. Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu

The Qualitative Report

Reflexivity is a central tenet of qualitative research. Engaging in self-reflexive praxis allows researchers to identify areas of tension in the research process that need to be further deconstructed. In this paper, we draw on our collective self-reflective experiences as qualitative health researchers whose scholarship is informed by critical and postcolonial feminist epistemologies to offer some guidance on how to approach the concept of insider versus outsider in the research process. Specifically, we analyze recurring methodological tensions related to positionality and outline how they were addressed. The lessons learned from our studies can be instructive to other qualitative researchers.

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Tefl Graduate Students’ Perspectives Of Qualitative Research: Challenges And Solutions In The Spotlight, Hassan Soodmand Afshar, Fatemeh Hafez

The Qualitative Report

This study explored the challenges of conducting qualitative research encountered by Iranian Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) graduate students and their solutions for them. To delve into the issue, 20 TEFL graduate students who had passed a research methodology course were selected based on their availability from among the participants of the study who were selected based on purposive sampling from various universities. The participants thus selected sat a semi-structured interview based on the results of which, a researcher-made five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was developed and validated. Next, one hundred TEFL graduate students who had passed the research methodology …

Predictors Of Poststroke Aphasia Recovery: A Systematic Review-Informed Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis, Marian C. Brady, Release Collaborators, Jackie Hinckley

HPD Articles

Background and Purpose:

The factors associated with recovery of language domains after stroke remain uncertain. We described recovery of overall-language-ability, auditory comprehension, naming, and functional-communication across participants’ age, sex, and aphasia chronicity in a large, multilingual, international aphasia dataset.

Methods:

Individual participant data meta-analysis of systematically sourced aphasia datasets described overall-language ability using the Western Aphasia Battery Aphasia-Quotient; auditory comprehension by Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT) Token Test; naming by Boston Naming Test and functional-communication by AAT Spontaneous-Speech Communication subscale. Multivariable analyses regressed absolute score-changes from baseline across language domains onto covariates identified a priori in randomized controlled trials and all …

“Adulting” The Life Transition Program For The Typically Developed Highschool Population, Gabriella Bologna

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenological Study Of The Language Ideology, Language Management, And Language Practice In English-Medium Universities In Bangladesh: Lecturers’ And Students’ Voices, John Paul Shimanto Sarkar, Abdul Karim, Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan, Shahin Sultana

The Qualitative Report

English Medium Instruction (EMI) is a commonly observed phenomenon in higher education (HE) in the countries where English is mandated as a second or foreign language. The globally conducted studies reported the prospect, practice, problems, and eventualities of EMI in HE. Numbering around 105, private universities in Bangladesh also adopted EMI. Being guided by Cooper (1989) and Spolsky (2009), this phenomenological study explored the language ideology of lecturers and students regarding the benefits of EMI, their remarks about the language management to achieve compatibility for adopting EMI, and their opinion concerning the implementation (language practice) of EMI in the classrooms …

Systematic Visuo-Textual Analysis: A Framework For Analysing Visual And Textual Data, Nicole Brown, Jo Collins

The Qualitative Report

As qualitative research has evolved, researchers now often combine interviews with the production of photographs, artefacts, collages, maps or drawings and the like. However, in practice, the artefacts produced are used to eliciting experiences and stimulating conversations rather than as data, per se, which is often due to the lack of guidelines for how to deal with the artefacts as data in a systematic analytical process. In this article, we present the Systematic Visuo-Textual Analysis, a framework developed to provide much-needed support for qualitative researchers in analysing artefacts in combination with interviews. Drawing on existing frameworks for visual and textual …

A New Observation Of Microatolls In The Galapagos Isalnds, Ecuador, Amber Orr

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Microatolls are shallow water coral colonies that develop their signature ring-like atoll shape from water depth limitations that prevent living tissue from growing any higher, encouraging outward growth instead. A secondary contributor to formation is the accumulation of sediment on the top of growing colonies, smothering upper surface polyps. Microatolls are described from numerous locations and form from several species in the Indo-West Pacific. However, microatolls occur at only three known regions in the tropical eastern Pacific and form from one species, Porites lobata. In the Galápagos Islands early researchers (1970s-1980s) observed microatolls at 2 sites, however they are …

Advocating For Period Dignity: A Survey Of Menstruation's Impact On Class Attendance Among Women At Nova Southeastern University, Lauren Guedj, Tanha Rahman, Sofia Garcia Austt, Jessie Mandy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Feminine hygiene products are essential in the life of every woman during their menstruation years. However, 86% of women in the US have experienced starting menstruation in public without having access to supplies. Lack of proper hygiene products on campus subjects an enormous burden on women, creating significant stress. In this study, a survey of NSU students and faculty indicated 90% of the respondents had been caught on campus with no access to feminine hygiene products. 24% of those individuals choose to leave campus during this menstrual period emergency causing them to miss class time and 58% of them choose …

Analysis Of The Effects Of Saha On Cancer Stem Cell Markers In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells, David Babos, Jay-Quan Dill

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the United States, lung cancer is the third most common form of cancer and shows the highest mortality rate. The most prevalent form is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), accounting for 84% of cases. Similar to other solid tumors, several putative surface markers for lung cancer stem cells have been identified, including CD44 and CD133. Cancer stem cells (CSC), with their self-renewal ability and multilineage differentiation potential, are a critical subpopulation of tumor cells that can drive cancer initiation, growth, and resistance to therapy. Reports showed that Hedgehog (HH), Notch, JAK/STAT, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, and Wnt/β-catenin pathways are regulating the transformation …

Assessment Of Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) Activity And Faunal Diversity Associated With Tortoise Burrows Using Trail Cameras At Two South Florida Natural Areas, Katarina Lee, Adrianna Coican

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is an ecologically important organism distributed throughout the southeastern United States. Gopher tortoises are a keystone species due to the burrows they create. These excavated habitats provide shelter for hundreds of commensal species that escape from wildfires and extreme heat during summer months. Six trail cameras (three at each site) were deployed at the entrance of gopher tortoise burrows in two natural areas (Fern Forest and Military Trail) in Broward County. Motion-activated cameras took pictures of animals at the burrow entrance over a 21-month period. Cameras were left in the field between 5-14 …

Association Between Nutritional Status And Hypertension In A Rural Communty In Dang District, Gujarat, India, Sneh Shah

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The relationship between overweight-obesity status and hypertension is well-known throughout the world, especially in low socioeconomic communities and developing countries. Both high blood pressure and obesity are preventable risk factors for noncommunicable disease, death, and disability. The prevalence of obesity-overweight status in India is increasing faster than the global average and diabetes in Southeast Asia has surged over the past few decades. There have been few systematic studies focusing on the public health development in rural communities of India like the Dang District. The objectives of this cross-sectional study are to examine the prevalence of hypertension and nutritional status among …

Bacteria Unearthed, Vijay Patel, Aysha Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

With the era of antibiotics coming to a close, new sources of antibiotics need to be found to combat antibiotic resistance. The rise of infectious bacteria resistant to our drugs is creating an uphill battle in the fight against disease. In the search for new antibiotics, bacteria remain an effective and viable source. Programs, like Tiny Earth, aid researchers in looking for new strains of bacteria to determine if they can be harnessed for antibiotic discovery. A global community of researchers collaborate to collect and study bacteria from local soil samples. Our collegiate group obtained a soil sample from local …

Bilingualism Enhances Inhibitory Control, But Not Other Components Of Executive Functioning, Erika Cabrera Ranaldi, Maria Alejandra Chavez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Humans effortlessly modify their behaviors to meet the ongoing demands of the environment. For instance, you are in the library reading a textbook and you receive an alert on your phone. You stop reading your textbook and shift your attention to your phone to read the alert. You then shift your attention back to the textbook and pick up where you left off. You don’t forget what you were doing or confuse the content of the alert with the content of the textbook. Similarly, people who speak more than one language switch between languages effortlessly and flawlessly to meet environmental …

Demystifying Hospital Charges For Hospital Readmissions In 2017 In The United States For Psychoses (Drg = 885), Japjot Singh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Existing research on hospital charges is focused on hospital admissions, but not on hospital readmissions. Literature review on hospital charges identifies several patient-specific, disease-specific, and hospital-specific variables as determinants of hospital charges. Given that there is a relative dearth of similar research focused on hospital readmissions, a federal agency – The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has recognized this gap and developed the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) in 2015 which contains information on hospital readmissions data. “This database addresses a large gap in healthcare data - the lack of nationally representative information on hospital readmissions.” We …

Dreaming In Reverse, Arleene Perez-Sifontes, Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre, Jacob Meshel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Dreaming in Reverse” is a short film about a young woman who is dealing with a recurring dream. In this dream, she sees a man whom she believes is in danger. Despite many efforts to forget the dream, she convinces herself that she must be the one to save him. Upon finding the man, she realizes that the dream wasn’t quite how she envisioned it. The film is directed and written by Arleene Perez-Sifontes, Graciel Quezada, Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre, and Jacob Meshel. The film is edited by Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre.

Drunken Parasites: Morphological Distortions Associated With Chemical Fixatives In Two Monogenetic Flatworms, Wamika Shoukat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Fixation is the first step in the identification of animal parasites: its primary purpose is to kill the parasite and prevent or delay decomposition via autolytic enzymes. In the lab, parasitologists typically use ethanol (primarily 70%), formalin, or combinations of the two (e.g. AFA: glacial acetic acid, formalin, and ethanol), but there is little consensus on which best preserves the morphological characters used for parasite identification. Furthermore, parasitologists working in the field and/or internationally are often constrained in their choice of fixative: for example, ethanol can be difficult to obtain in countries that prohibit the sale of alcohol. Instead, various …

Ecological Analyses Of Socio-Economic Food Deserts In Broward County, Annie Goyanes

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Food desert” refers to an area where citizens lack access to fresh, affordable, nutritious food. Food deserts are generally in low-income urban neighborhoods or rural towns and can be considered environmental or economic injustice. South Florida and Broward County have been documented as having a high food insecurity rate, indicative of households having difficulty putting food on the table. Given the high rate of food insecurity, it was hypothesized that a lack of access to food and the presence of socio-economic food deserts was at least partially responsible. Data was collected by visiting three supermarkets in each of the 13 …