Digital Commons Network^™

Faculty Of Color And Scholarship Redefined: Teaching And Learning For Intercultural Competence, Peng Fu

Dissertations and Theses

Utilizing Boyer's (1990) four scholarship functions of professorial engagement and Wilber's (1998) four frames of organizational context, this inquiry examined faculty of color's experiences at a primarily White urban research university in their pursuit of facilitating students' intercultural competence. Specifically, through narrative inquiry, the study examined institutional factors associated with faculty of color's ability to integrate an intercultural competence focus in their scholarship of discovery, scholarship of integration, scholarship of engagement, and scholarship of teaching. Results indicate that research participants are strongly committed to the teaching, learning, community engagement, and scholarship of intercultural competence. However, institutional emphasis on the scholarship …

Proactive Personality And Big Five Traits In Supervisors And Workgroup Members: Effects On Safety Climate And Safety Motivation, Michael Anthony Buck

Dissertations and Theses

In 2009 there were 3.28 million non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses. Of these injuries and illnesses, 965,000 resulted in lost days from work. In addition there were 4,340 workplace fatalities. Given the number of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, and the associated direct and indirect costs, organizations have sought to improve safety at work. Safety climate and safety motivation are two variables hypothesized to affect safety behaviors and safety outcomes. Safety climate refers to the shared perceptions of workgroup members, of the organizations' commitment to safety as evidenced by heir immediate supervisors' pattern of implementing safety policies and procedures. Therefore, …

Black/White Health Disparities In The U.S. The Effect Of Education Over The Life-Course, Elizabeth Melissa Withers

Dissertations and Theses

In the United States there exists a clear and disconcerting racial disparity in the distribution of good health, which can be seen in differential levels of morbidity and mortality affecting blacks and whites. Previous research has examined the role of SES in shaping racial health disparities and recent studies have looked specifically at the effect of education on health to explain the racial disparity in health. Higher levels of education are robustly associated with good overall health for both blacks and whites and this association has been examined over the life-course. This research explores racial differences in the effect of …

Research Summary: Assessment, Robert Michael Capraro, Mary F. Roe, Micki M. Caskey, David Strahan, Penny A. Bishop, Christopher C. Weiss

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assessment is important for middle level teachers and their students. In fact, the National Middle School Association (NMSA) highlighted curriculum, instruction, and assessment in This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (NMSA, 2010). The intention of this summary is to establish assessment’s rightful position as one priority for middle grade teachers and their students. When used wisely and well, teachers obtain information about their students’ strengths and needs, and their students remain informed about their achievements. To begin, educators need an operational definition of assessment. Based on the work of many scholars (e.g., Delclos, Vye, Burns, Bransford, & Hasselbring, …

Examining News Coverage And Framing In The Context Of Environmental Reporting: Using The Sea Lion And Salmon Controversy At The Bonneville Dam As A Case Study, Tess Mcbride

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines how the construction of news stories reveals relationships among groups of stakeholders and how their views unfold within environmental conflict coverage. This study uses a content analysis of 161 newspaper articles concerning the sea lion and salmon controversy at the Bonneville Dam, focusing on source use and blame and solution frames in environmental conflict coverage. This analysis of articles published between January 2003 and June 2010 in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, and Montana contributes to research concerning journalistic norms (i.e., balance and objectivity) and news production routines, specifically within the field of environmental reporting. The findings indicate …

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletter, Portland State University. Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletters

Newsletter provides information on:

• Latest research results
• Projects and studies underway
• Research awards and distinctions
• Recent research publications

An Investigation On Fast And Frugal Model For New Project Screening, Antonie J. Jetter, Fatima M. Albar

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research in psychology is increasingly interested in decision-makers' use of heuristics or rules of thumb because they have accuracies close to more complex decision rules and seem particularly useful in difficult decision-making contexts when uncertainty is high and speed is of the essence. One particularly difficult decision setting is the fuzzy front-end of new product development because a large number of product ideas need to be screened to identify the few that should be developed further. This process is currently poorly supported through decision tools and mainly occurs on the basis of managerial “gut-feel”. This study explores managerial “gut-feel” by …

Liberté, Égalité, Sororité: How Care Ethics Informs Social Justice, Maurice Hamington

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Virginia Held has claimed that "there can be care without justice" but "there can be no justice without care." Alternatively, bell hooks has suggested that there can be "no love without justice." What is the relationship between justice and care? Does justice need an emotive, particularist, contextual aspect or is it fundamentally a universal and abstract concept?

Care ethics, as contemporary feminists have defined it, is only a quarter of a century old. When theorists were first struggling to distinguish this new ethical approach, some chose to sharply differentiate it from theories of justice. Now that care ethics has matured …

Urban Water Demand Modeling: Review Of Concepts, Methods, And Organizing Principles, Heejun Chang, Lily House-Peters

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

In this paper, we use a theoretical framework of coupled human and natural systems to review the methodological advances in urban water demand modeling over the past 3 decades. The goal of this review is to quantify the capacity of increasingly complex modeling techniques to account for complex human and natural processes, uncertainty, and resilience across spatial and temporal scales. This review begins with coupled human and natural systems theory and situates urban water demand within this framework. The second section reviews urban water demand literature and summarizes methodological advances in relation to four central themes: (1) interactions within and …

Towards A New Ethnicity: Canada’S Western Plains First Nations, John W. Friesen

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Although social scientists have for a long time refrained from employing the term "ethnic" when describing First Nations cultures, recent developments in those communities have necessitated a second look at this practice. If the ethnic designation is applicable to any group of people typically related through common filiation, or blood, and whose members also usually feel a sense of attachment to a particular place, a history, and a culture (including a common language, food, and clothing), then Canada’s First Peoples may also be considered ethnic. The educational implications of this reality are that the needs of Indigenous students are more …

Small Ponds: The Challenges Facing Gifted Students In Rural Communities, Julian Burton

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Gifted students in rural schools often face academic and personal challenges not faced by their urban and suburban counterparts, a result of the unique educational and community environment of rural settings. New technologies and programs have had some success in mitigating the effect of the lack of academic resources and opportunities available to gifted ruralites, but challenges arising from the educational, socioeconomic, and cultural environments of rural communities remain. This paper examines several studies of the educational and affective development of gifted ruralites, with reference to the author's experience as a student and teacher in rural and remote educational settings. …

Travel Behavior, Residential Preference, And Urban Design: A Multi-Disciplinary National Analysis, Jessica Greene, Nico Larco, Yizhao Yang, Marc Schlossberg, Daniel Rodriguez, Noreen Mcdonald, Tabitha Combs

TREC Final Reports

This report summarizes the findings of a national project to examine the travel behavior, social capital, health, and lifestyle preferences of residents of neotraditional developments (NTD) compared to more standard suburban developments. We compare survey results from residents of matched pairs of neighborhoods in seventeen U.S. cities and towns, with each pair comprised of one NTD and one typical suburban neighborhood of similar size, age, and socio-demographic composition. The study addresses salient themes in the transportation, planning and health literatures: a national study, surveying populations of diverse incomes, collecting resident information on preferences for and attitudes towards neighborhood qualities, and …

Personal Knowledge And The Inner Sciences, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper conceptualizes spiritual disciplines as sciences. It uses this conceptualization to probe into the similarities and differences between modern science and religious tradition, and into the cultural significance and possible future impact of the “new religions”. The paper draws upon the ideas of Michael Polanyi as a possible bridge between science and religion, and proposes that these ideas are relevant not only to the major Western religions, but to Eastern and non-mainstream Western religions as well. Imagining science as a spiritual path, or gnosis, would challenge an exclusivist understanding of scientific knowledge, and suggest the relevance of such knowledge …

Threshold Concepts And Information Literacy, Lori Townsend, Korey Brunetti, Amy R. Hofer

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

What do we teach when we teach information literacy in higher education? This paper describes a pedagogical approach to information literacy that helps instructors focus content around transformative learning thresholds. The threshold concept framework holds promise for librarians because it grounds the instructor in the big ideas and underlying concepts that make information literacy exciting and worth learning about. This paper looks at how this new idea relates to existing standards and posits several threshold concepts for information literacy. This article won the 2013 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Instruction Section (IS) Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the …

The Sociology Of Landowner Interest In Restoring Fire-Adapted, Biodiverse Habitats In The Wildland-Urban Interface Of Oregon's Willamette Valley Ecoregion, Max Nielsen-Pincus

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

In many parts of the world, the combined effects of wildfire, climate change, and population growth in the wildland-urban interface pose increasing risks to both people and biodiversity. These risks are exemplified in western Oregon’s Willamette Valley Ecoregion, where population is projected to double by 2050 and climate change is expected to increase wildfire risk. Restoring elements of the region’s historic fire-adapted prairie, savanna, and woodland habitats may help to reduce future wildfire risk and help conserve the region’s threatened biodiversity. We report on a mail survey (n = 939) examining the socio-demographic factors influencing private landowners’ likelihood of restoring …

Changing Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions Of Literacy In Content Classes: The Role Of Expert-Novice Dialogues, Peter Thacker, Sally Hood

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This manuscript details an exploratory study of an assignment in a literacy across the curriculum course that assisted teacher candidates to recognize the distance between expert and novice readers in their content specific teaching. The study explores how teacher candidates discovered strategies necessary to build comprehension of disciplinebased texts, particularly for novice readers. Data collection included multiple entries from thirty teacher candidate journals that were generated during partnered dialogues. Journals were analyzed for clues as to how teachers can better approach helping students to read varied disciplines’ texts with greater comprehension. Findings suggest that by placing teacher candidates in the …

Secondary Education In Washington State: A Historical Look At Teaching Change In A Changing World, John Traynor

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

High schools are under increasing demands to ensure that all students graduate ready for careers and college. This is a difficult task given the ever-changing characteristics of the students, the colleges/universities, and the labor markets that receive them upon graduation. This article provides an analysis of the earliest high schools in the State of Washington at the turn of the 19th century. The analysis illustrates a series of shifts and adaptations undertaken by schools to meet the rapidly changing landscape in the communities in which they were situated. The study was done through extensive archival research on the earliest programs …

The Sicuro File: A Personal Perspective On The Struggle Over Portland State University’S Most Controversial President, David Horowitz

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay offers a personal recounting of Sicuro’s tumultuous tenure and “the great governance issue of Portland State’s history,” as institutional historian Gordon B. Dodds has described it.2 By tracing a curious path from allegations of minor improprieties among favored student government leaders to widespread contention over the management style and behavior of a controversial academic leader, it traces my tangential but deeply engaged role in the dramatic power struggle erupting at Oregon’s largest urban university in the late 1980s. In doing so, it highlights significant issues affecting modern university life, from race relations, the role of competitive sports, student …

Do "Clickers" Improve Student Engagement And Learning In Secondary Schools?, Andrew James Mankowski

Dissertations and Theses

There is a need in classrooms to engage students and maintain their interest in course content. A recent type of interactive technology, known as a "clicker," has shown potential to increase student engagement, performance, and participation in the classroom when used effectively. Peer instruction, a type of student to student interaction in which pairs or small groups of students discuss their answers to questions before responding, is often used in conjunction with clickers, and may account for the perceived effectiveness of these tools. The purpose of this study is to determine the clicker's effectiveness in increasing learning and increasing student …

Using Exploratory Interviews To Re-Frame Planned Research On Classroom Issues, Julia Ellis, Vera Janjic-Watrich, Vicki Macris, Richelle Marynowski

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper we describe and illustrate the use of an exploratory first interview to refine research questions or interviewing ideas prior to finalizing plans for a study about classroom issues or practices. Three researchers give accounts of their exploratory interviews concerning student “aliteracy,” the school experience of immigrant students, and mathematics teachers’ experience of assessment and grading. The researchers endeavored to acquire an holistic understanding of their participants’ experiences by: using open-ended questions about both the topic and the participants’ lives in general; asking participants to complete pre-interview activities such as drawings or diagrams about either the topic or …

Resolving Work-Family Issues Of Parents Raising Children With Disabilities: A Human Resource Training Intervention, Eileen M. Brennan, Julie M. Rosenzweig, Anna M. Malsch, Lisa Maureen Stewart

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

PDF version of a presentation given at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Work and Social Research, Tampa, FL, Jan. 2011.

Community-Based Approaches For Supporting Positive Development In Youth And Young Adults With Serious Mental Health Conditions, Janet S. Walker, L. Kris Gowen

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Our goal in this chapter is to describe empirically- supported and promising community-based programs or approaches that are designed to promote positive development and to achieve better outcomes for young people with SMHC. We begin by providing more detail regarding the nature of the challenges that these young people face, as well as some of the challenges that systems and providers currently face in trying to serve the population. We then go on to describe recent theory and research on positive development, particularly as it applies to older adolescents and young or “emerging” adults. The next sections of the chapter …

Investigating Student Understanding Of The Law Of Conservation Of Matter, Shirley Lynn Tremel

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to gather information about how students learn the foundational concept of conservation of matter during a non-chemistry unit on the rock cycle. The unit covered the rock cycle, rock types, and the law of conservation of matter and took place in a sixth grade classroom of 30 students. A mixed methods, quasi-experimental, pre-post, delayed post design was used to measure student understanding of the concept of conservation of matter as it relates to the rock cycle. Students made significant learning gains from pre-test to post-test and showed mastery in less complex subject areas, but …

Now Accepting Applications Online: An Examination Of Privacy Concerns, Explanations, And Control In Applicant Reactions To Internet-Based Selection Procedures, Clayton Alan Yonce

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation explores applicant reactions to Internet-based selection procedures in order to advance theory and practice related to the use modern employee selection tools. Previous authors have explored this topic area (e.g., Harris et al., 2003). However, this dissertation goes beyond previous research by proposing and testing a model that incorporates the measurement of multiple constructs that are highly relevant to organizations when utilizing Internet-based selection procedures. Such constructs include privacy concerns, explanations, control, fairness perceptions, litigation intentions, organizational intentions, and test-taking motivation. Current organizational justice theory, previous findings from studies on applicant reactions to selection procedures, and research on …

Assessment For Improvement In Higher Education: Faculty Perception Of And Participation In Program Assessment, Serap Emil

Dissertations and Theses

Driven by issues of accountability, the assessment movement in higher education has gained significant momentum in recent years. However, successful implementation of assessment processes varies radically across institutions and organizational units. A key issue is faculty engagement. This qualitative case study explored factors that impact faculty participation in a professional school assessment initiative. Findings indicate that factors related to individual faculty characteristics (e.g., career preparation, knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes) and institutional characteristics (e.g., leadership, resources, reward structures, work environment, and technology) influence faculty members engagement in assessment activities. To support faculty adoption of and participation in assessment efforts, leaders need …

"Outing" Queer Issues In Teacher Preparation Programs: How Pre-Service Teachers Experience Sexual And Gender Diversity In Their Field Placements, Olivia Jo Murray

Dissertations and Theses

Currently in the United States there are more than 4 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in K-12 public schools (Bochenek, Brown, & Human Rights Watch, 2001). Despite the prevalence of LGBT youth and the diversification of family populations, teacher preparation programs rarely acknowledge "queer" aspects of multiculturalism (Letts, 2002). As a result, a majority of K-12 educators enter the field of teaching unwilling and/or unprepared to engage with queer issues as they relate to students and families, curriculum, and instruction. The culture of silence around homosexuality can put queer youth at risk and deter school stakeholders from …

Strengths-Based Practice And Motivational Interviewing, Trevor Jay Manthey, Bryan Knowles, Dianne Asher, Stéphanie Wahab

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

There has been recent concern that many practices and programs erroneously claim to be strengths-based. In reaction some have called for researchers to make systematic comparisons to the tenets of strengths-based practice (SBP) before making the contention that an intervention is strengths-based. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an intervention which has been described as being strengths-based; however, no systematic efforts have yet been made to compare the two. This article takes a methodical approach to comparing SBP and MI to determine level of cohesion and how they might be used together. A case-example is used to illustrate how MI and SBP …

The Influence Of Military Culture And Veteran Worldviews On Mental Health Treatment: Practice Implications For Combat Veteran Help-Seeking And Wellness, Eugenia Weiss, Jose E. Coll

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The influence of military cultural values consisting of unit cohesion (or the subordination of individual needs over the needs of the collective)the devotion to duty and to the mission,stoicism (emotional restraint)and the importance of adhering to the chain of command become guiding belief systems for military personnel.In fact,military culture has been recognized as a distinct sub-culture of American civilian society.

Veterans In Higher Education: What Every Adviser May Want To Know, Jose Coll, Hans Oh, Craig Joyce, Lazara C. Coll

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the current influx of soldiers returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the newly revised Post-9/11 GI Bill affords veterans the opportunity to attend state colleges free of charge, which may result in a dramatic increase in enrollment of veterans in colleges across the country. However, most learning institutions are ill-equipped to accommodate the special needs of those veteran students who may experience adjustment problems when reintegrating into a civilian setting. Veterans return with a newly acquired value system shaped by military service that can create dissonance when interacting with non-military people. Moreover, veterans may suffer from complex physical …

Preliminary Efficacy Of A Computer-Delivered Hiv Prevention Intervention For African American Teenage Females, Charles H. Klein, Josefina J. Card

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study translated SiHLE (Sisters Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering), a 12-hour Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evidence based group-level intervention for African American females 14-18 years of age, into a 2-hour computer-delivered individual-level intervention. A randomized controlled trial (n = 178) was conducted to examine the efficacy of the new Multimedia SiHLE intervention. Average condom-protected sex acts (proportion of vaginal sex acts with condoms, last 90 days) for sexually active participants receiving Multimedia SiHLE rose from M = 51% at baseline to M = 71% at 3-month follow-up (t = 2.06, p = .05); no statistically significant difference …