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The Implications Of Dual Enrollment Participation On Black/African American Students’ Success, Yousef Abraham

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents a thorough investigation into the impact of dual enrollment programs on postsecondary achievement among students who identify as Black/African American. Dual enrollment initiatives have gained significant attention in recent years as a promising approach to enhance students' readiness for higher education and facilitate smoother transitions to college. This research seeks to provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and implications of such programs, shedding light on their potential to improve postsecondary outcomes for Black/African American students. This study also acknowledges inherent limitations and delves into potential practical applications of the research outcomes, exploring how educators and policymakers can …

A Mindful Search For Basic Writing Identities: Constellating Contemplative Classroom Pedagogies, Classroom Community Circles, And Critical Discourse Analysis In A Cultural Rhetorics Ecology, Elizabeth Edwards Weems

English Theses & Dissertations

Many Basic Writing students have stories which are informed by traumas, othering, and marginalization. Finding pedagogies which address students’ stories, in addition to meeting academic goals, is crucial. Sometimes, students question how improving their reading and writing skills can help them navigate other areas of their education and experiences, especially their lives outside of academia. I have worked to create a kairotic pedagogy which invites students to read and write ‘the word and the world’ (Freire, 1970; 1988). Using Contemplative Classroom Pedagogies, I attempted to follow Freire’s (1992) call to make “teaching a creative act, a critical act, and not …

A New Method To Determine The Posterior Distribution Of Coefficient Alpha, John Mart V. Delosreyes

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

There is a focus within the behavioral/social sciences on non-physical, psychological constructs (i.e., constructs). These constructs are indirectly measured using measurement instruments that consist of questions that capture the manifestations of these constructs. The indirect nature of measuring constructs results in a need of ensuring that measurement instruments are reliable. The most popular statistic used to estimate reliability is coefficient alpha as it is easy to compute and has properties that make it desirable to use. Coefficient alpha’s popularity has resulted in a wide breadth of research into its qualities. Notably, research about coefficient alpha’s distribution has led to developments …

Third-Party Reactions To Performance Feedback, Daroon Mohammed Jalil

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although the provision of feedback has traditionally been treated as a dyadic event, I argue for the existence of a neglected third-party - the witness. Drawing from the dual process model of vicarious mistreatment and feedback intervention theory, I hypothesize that 1) third parties experience negative [positive] affect when witnessing an unjust [just] feedback event, 2) negative [positive] affect is stronger when feedback cues are self-referenced [task-referenced], and 3) negative [positive] affect is related to a subsequent decrease [increase] in feedback seeking intentions. Results from a 2x2 between-subjects experiment with 470 participants provide partial support for the hypotheses. Third-parties experienced …

Emotional Intelligence In Difficult Decision-Making: A Multiple-Case Study Of Community College Academic Deans, Ekaterina Kalinina Brooks

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The decisions made by leaders noticeably impact employee morale and influence the fulfillment of the organizational mission. However, making decisions can be challenging when options are complex and involve multiple risks and benefits. Navigating such decisions in an era of technology when decisions are more transparent than ever before can be particularly difficult for academic deans in community colleges. These mid-level administrators often face internal conflicts stemming from the nature of their positions, campus politics, and the challenge of working between the competing interests of faculty and senior leaders.

Over the last three decades, research has pointed out that strong …

Factors Moderating The Association Between Social Network “Drinking Buddies” And Personal Drinking, Karolina Kazlauskaite

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Peer relationships have been implicated as a salient factor on individual drinking outcomes. One specific subset of peers in one’s social network, identified as drinking buddies, have been associated with an elevated risk for harmful drinking in college students—beyond drinking peers in one’s network alone. Despite their salience on individual alcohol outcomes, little is known regarding what makes drinking buddies more or less influential. While moderators of peer influence have been examined, prior research on peer influence predominantly focuses on adolescent populations, presenting gaps in the literature regarding moderators of college student drinking buddies specifically. As such, the current study …

Incremental Validity Of The Mmpi-A-Rf And Maci In A Clinical Outpatient Setting, Madison Smart-Mccarthy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

With the persistent rise of depression and suicide in adolescents, it is imperative that clinicians select empirically supported measures that accurately assess these conditions (Van Orman, 2022; Sellbom & Suhr, 2020). One empirical method used to evaluate measures is incremental validity. Incremental validity examines the level of improvement in predicting a phenomenon when adding a test or procedure to a combination of other instruments (APA, 2020). Experts regard the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent Version—Restructured Form (MMPI-A-RF; Archer et al., 2016) and the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI; Millon et al., 1993) as psychometrically sound measures often used in clinical practice. …

Public School Superintendents In Virginia: Innovating In The Educational Context, Daniel Firing Keever

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This research study, using institutional theory as a framework, examines the role of superintendents in promoting and impacting innovation in Virginia's public schools. The study engaged fourteen current Virginia superintendents in semi-structured interviews, exploring their perspectives on fostering an innovative culture within their school districts. Three primary themes emerged from the research: defining innovation, the role of superintendents in leading innovation, and the challenges and barriers to innovation. Generally, the findings highlight that innovation fundamentally involves thinking differently, finding creative solutions, and bringing about meaningful organizational improvements. The study emphasizes that innovation is essential for adapting to the evolving needs …

Relationship Between Learning Communities And Campus Residency On Sense Of Belonging Among First Year Undergraduates, Lanah Kathryn Stafford

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

In higher education, sense of belonging has been linked to improved outcomes such as retention and academic achievement (e,g., Pittman & Richmond, 2007). Previous research has also identified participation in learning communities and campus residency as interventions which improve sense of belonging for students in this context (e.g., Solanki et al., 2019; Soria & Roberts, 2021). However, little research has been conducted to empirically study sense of belonging as a multidimensional construct, and no research has investigated interactions between on-campus residency and learning community participation on its development.

Data were collected from 1,072 first-year students on the Sense of Belonging …

Using Reciprocal Teaching Strategies To Improve Reading Comprehension For English As A Second Language Students With Learning Disabilities, Hana M. Almohamadi

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

Students who have problems comprehending textual material tend to experience failing grades, peer rejection, and even social isolation. Furthermore, students with poor reading comprehension demonstrate poor academic performance in all subjects, not due to difficulty in learning specific subject content (i.e., math, history, etc.), but rather their inability to comprehend reading passages related to that subject knowledge. Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an effective tool for teaching children with Learning Disabilities (LD) to improve their reading comprehension abilities. These multiple cognitive strategies can meet the needs of many students in terms of more deliberate, directed, and self-regulated learning through students’ interaction …

The Risk Perceptions And Evacuation Behaviors Of College Students In Coastal Communities: Exploring The Functionality Of The False Alarm And Desensitization Model, Saige Marisza Hill

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This research explores the complexity of individual response during hazards and disasters and the psychological factors that influence risk perception and response. Borrowing concepts from the false alarm theory of neurology and desensitization theory as applied to media, the false alarm and desensitization model explains the perpetuation of insufficient preparation and hazard response by individuals. The model features two primary components – hazard and disaster events resulting in false alarms and those resulting in desensitization – both of which decrease the likelihood of adequate response during subsequent events. Together, each model component leads to underestimating the potential for and severity …

The Effects Of Self-Regulated Learning On Community College Students Metacognition, Motivation And Achievement In Geoscience Courses, Melani A. Loney

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of training in self-regulated learning on community college, geoscience students’ achievement, metacognition, time management, and science motivation scales. The study also investigated the impact of SRL training on these outcomes as a function of gender and ethnicity. During the Fall of 2022, 70 community college geoscience students from 9 different classes participated in the study. The classes were bifurcated with one half of the students in each class randomly assigned to the SRL treatment and the other half to the control condition. Each week, for 10 weeks during the semester, students in the treatment group …

Multisensory Virtual Reality Artists And Media Dimensions Toward Immersion: A Framework Of Mediology For Understanding Professional Communication Rhetorics, D’An Knowles Ball

English Theses & Dissertations

Multisensory elements are increasingly being added to virtual reality (VR) environments, allowing for higher levels of immersion for users as well as expanded creative media opportunities for multisensory VR artists. Recognizing multisensory VR as a networked ecology between the designer, the system, and the user, this dissertation addresses a distinct absence of resources on design principles and artistic professional practices specifically for composing multisensory VR environments. In investigating processes of invention, choices, tools, and methods on the parts of the artists, this dissertation fills scholarly gaps across disciplines that tend to focus on systems and tools or the user’s experiences …

Offering Social Connections For Students During An Epidemic Of Loneliness And Isolation, Jennifer Leigh Hoyt

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Faculty strategically design their course plans to generate discussion and exploration among students, placing growth and evaluation as priorities throughout any given semester. Yet, when loneliness and isolation creep into classrooms, final outcomes may fall short of a well-developed syllabus. Notably, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy announced this spring that the country currently deals with loneliness and isolation at an epidemic level, leaving educators searching for more opportunities to offer social connectivity as they guide students toward academic success.

Identifying Associations Between The Family Environment And Anxiety And Depression Among Children Ages 0-17 In The United States, Reagan A. Richardson, Nicole M. Holt

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This study analyzes whether physical, emotional & neurological, family environment, or community-related factors display the strongest association with anxiety and depression among children ages 0-17 in the United States.

Using IBM SPSS v. 27, we conducted a univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis on data from the 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) with a sample size of 21,599. Our independent variables included 30 questions from the NSCH which were compared to a mental health index score.

Our study shows that about 10.6% of children suffer from either anxiety, depression, or both, and the univariate model found that 19 …

The Mediation Effects Of Adaptive Blindness Strategies On The Relation Between Institutional Betrayal From Military Sexual Assault And Mental Health Symptoms, Rachel L. Davies

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Military sexual assault is a serious and prevalent issue. The frequency with which military sexual assault occurs and the nature of the response to these events within the military system may contribute to institutional betrayal. Institutional betrayal is the failure of an institution, such as the military, to prevent sexual assault from occurring and/or the failure to support a survivor after sexual assault. Adaptive blindness strategies are forms of coping strategies that help individuals navigate a relationship they depend on when there is a betrayal. Two adaptive blindness strategies are self-blame and minimization. Although the adaptive blindness strategies may allow …

The Impact Of Covid-19 Stressors, Racial Discrimination, And Racial Socialization On Family Functioning In Black Families, Regina L. Alexander

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Marginalized communities, specifically Black Americans, have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in more hospitalizations and deaths within this particular community. However, this disproportionate impact of COVID-19 is likely the result of ongoing health disparities related to a lack of access to adequate healthcare. In addition to health disparities specifically related to COVID-19, Black Americans have also experienced public displays of racial discrimination resulting from the systemic racism that has occurred for many years. It has been determined that stress spillover can impact relationship factors and this same spillover may be an important factor by which …

Dismantling Anti-Blackness In Teacher Education: Centering Black Epistemologies To (Re)Construct Elementary Language Arts Education For Linguistic And Racial Justice, Jasmyn Kymberly Jones

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Black students and their linguistic resources are undervalued, disdained, disrespected, and disregarded in language arts classrooms. Not only is Black Language often ignored in English language arts instruction, but language more generally remains largely hidden within elementary ELA. Elementary ELA educators are tasked with teaching a vast array of skills, content, and concepts. So, teacher education programs are responsible for ensuring that preservice teachers leave prepared to take on the task of cultivating language arts classrooms that foster students’ literacy development. However, traditionally, literacy teacher education and the ELA curriculum has maintained white mainstream English as the standard for which …

Examining The Relationship Between Spelling Achievement And Academic Achievement In Community College Students, Tambra Lee Riggs-Gutiérrez

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The relationship between spelling achievement and academic achievement in community college students was investigated in this quantitative study. The research questions focused on whether a brief (under 15 minutes) spelling screening assessment may or may not predict student academic achievement of course grade points earned in an entry-level English class or cumulative grade point average. Demographic and descriptive data were also analyzed. A linear regression analysis design was used in this study. Participants for the study were 55 students from two geographically distant campuses of one community college in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United …

Examining The Experience And Impact Of Teen-To-Teen Crisis Line Work For Youth Volunteers: A Pilot Study, Taylor Kalgren

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

For young people, suicide is a leading cause of death. In addition, suicidal thoughts and behaviors begin during adolescence, and rates are high during this developmental period. Crisis lines are one of the oldest suicide prevention strategies used today. Crisis line work is challenging, and therefore, examining the health and safety of these operators is critical. Teen-to-teen (t2t) crisis lines are a unique resource where adolescent volunteers help their similarity aged peers. The goal of this pilot study was to begin to evaluate the impact of t2t crisis lines for youth volunteers. Twenty youth crisis line volunteers (ages 15-20) were …

Silently Correcting Your Grammar: Responses To Feedback And Adult Learners' Rural Writing Ecosystems, Jessica Marie Kubiak

English Theses & Dissertations

Over a century ago, rhetoricians called on writing instructors in the U.S. to accept and even encourage language diversity among learners. Yet scholars of composition, rhetoric, and writing studies are still advocating for this via arguments for linguistic justice and translingualism, even referring to strict adherence to a single, mainstream standard for language use as a kind of violence. This disconnect between scholarship and practice is evident in the silences surrounding first-year composition language instruction. This dissertation charts that disciplinary disconnect and then describes how adult students at a rural, open-access community college experience first-year composition feedback, with special attention …

The Influence Of Minority Stress, Coping, And A Pandemic On The Relationship Between Sexual Orientation And Mental Health: A Mixed Methods Study, James Michael Macchia

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

For decades, scientific literature has shown that sexual minority individuals across populations are disproportionately affected by negative mental health outcomes when compared to their heterosexual counterparts. These disparities are largely attributable to minority stress. Coping is a significant factor that can impact the content and severity of mental health outcomes and coping behaviors have been shown to vary based on sexual orientation. Mental health outcomes may also differ between sexual minority subgroups due to additional factors such as double discrimination and bisexual invisibility/erasure. Moreover, factors such as internalized homophobia and community connectedness have demonstrated strong associations with sexual minority mental …

Affect, Mind-Body Factors, And Disordered And Intuitive Eating Behaviors: Examining Naturalistic Associations Among Young Women With Elevated Eating Disorder Symptoms, Kelly A. Romano

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Objective: The present study examined whether three mind-body factors—emotion dysregulation, interoceptive sensibility, and mindfulness—that are theorized to be implicated in the onset and maintenance of eating disorder (ED) pathology mediated (Aim 1) and moderated (Aim 2) within-person associations between affect and women with elevated ED symptoms’ disordered and intuitive eating behavior use. Method: Participants included 150 young women with elevated ED symptoms who completed a 10-day ecological momentary assessment protocol. To address Aim 1, multilevel structural equation models examined whether the mindbody factors (separately) mediated momentary associations between negative and positive affect, and women’s disordered (dietary restriction, loss of control …

Educator Professional Development As Rhetorical Situation, Bethany Leigh Creswell Wilson

English Theses & Dissertations

Teacher effectiveness is recognized as the most prominent in-school influencer of student learning, and professional development (PD) of in-service educators is seen as vital to improving teachers’ effectiveness throughout their careers. Professional development is often studied atheoretically and with a linear view in which PD providers deliver instruction and teachers receive and apply that instruction as it was delivered to them. By casting them as passive, blank-slate receivers and automatic appliers of the PD, this view obscures the complexities of teachers’ role in PD. Examining educator PD through the lens of rhetoric, and viewing the PD experience as a rhetorical …

The Lived Experiences Of 911 Dispatchers With Compassion Fatigue: An Interpretive Phenomenology, Angela Johnson

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

911 dispatchers are the “first” first responders in an emergency and play an intrinsic role in the public safety continuum. 911 dispatchers are exposed to daily and cumulative stress from the repeated empathic engagement of those they serve, and from shift work, staffing shortages, and inability to make mistakes. However, there is a dearth of peer reviewed literature on 911 dispatchers and compassion fatigue (CF). CF is described as the emotional and physical exhaustion experienced due to the constant exposure to the trauma of others. CF symptomology in 911 dispatchers has far reaching implications for not only the citizens …

The Effect Of Viewing Different Modalities Of Alcohol-Related Social Media Content Shared By Friends On Alcohol Outcomes: A Longitudinal Examination, Megan E. Strowger

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Social influences have robust associations with problematic alcohol use among emerging adult college students. Examinations of social influences increasingly focus on social media influences via alcohol-related content (ARC) sharing and viewing. Limited longitudinal research suggests that increased exposure to ARC is associated with increased alcohol consumption among college students over time. Most research examining exposure has not focused on who (e.g., specific friends) is sharing this content, the modality (e.g., photos) or the qualities of those sharing content and their relationship (e.g., closeness) to the viewer. The current study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between alcohol consumption/consequences and: 1) sharing …

Chinese International Graduate Student Agency In A Neo-Racism Context: A Narrative Analysis, Minghui Hou

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The United States is the top destination for Chinese international students, receiving around 372,532 students from China from the academic year 2019 to 2020. The host institutions and countries have benefited from economic gains, diverse cultures, global competence, and human capital. The motivation of recruiting international students is framed in a global imaginary that is embedded in colonialism and neoliberalism. International students are often framed as cash cows and objects. Meanwhile, international students, particularly Chinese international students have been experiencing discrimination, prejudice, and exclusion due to their nationality and culture. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to examine …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Recent Educational Foundations Requirements By The Commission On Accreditation In Physical Therapy Education For Program Directors Of Physical Therapist Assistant Programs, Sharan Dawn Zirges

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

On November 2015, the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) published position papers for the 2016 changes to the CAPTE standards. One of these position papers discussed the changes in the 2016 standards related to the qualifications for the position of a program director (PD) for a physical therapist assistant. A specific qualification requirement was added stating “experience in educational theory and methodology, instructional design, student evaluation and outcome assessment, including the equivalent of nine academic (semester) credits of coursework in educational foundations.” The effectiveness of this additional requirement has to date not been assessed. The purpose of …

Dental Care Utilization Among U.S. Children Participating In Early Head Start Programs, Ahlam Ibraheem Joufi

Health Services Research Dissertations

Early childhood caries (ECC) remains one of the most common preventable diseases among children under the age of 6 years. Several national stakeholders recommend establishing a continuous collaboration of individuals involved with receiving oral health services (dental home) and routine dental care for the child by 12 months. Despite this recommendation, disparities exist among young, low-income children in preventive dental service utilization. The Early Head Start (EHS) program serves low-income children aged 0-3 years and their families and promotes oral health practices and service utilization within the program. This study aims to examine predictors of dental care utilization among children …

Assessing Sexual Minority Women’S Barriers And Facilitators To Seeking And Accessing Mental And Physical Healthcare: A Mixed Methods Study, Charlotte A. Dawson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) experience greater mental and physical health concerns when compared to heterosexual women. Three key areas of health SMW report these disparities are: mental health, binge eating/body size, and sexual and reproductive health. SMW also report difficulties accessing healthcare in these three areas. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was utilized to assess barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for young SMW. Study 1 included 20 semi-structured interviews with SMW, resulting in themes of barriers and facilitators identified by participants. These themes were converted into scale items. In Study 2, an expert panel of mental and physical …