Digital Commons Network^™

Non-Governmental Organization/Non-Profit Organization Impact On Education Policy In Ghana, Sarah Ayikai Okine

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Non-Governmental Organizations/Nonprofit Organizations (NGOs/NPOs) are progressively becoming an essential source for government agencies in education worldwide. Developing countries such as Ghana have opened the way through regulations and policies for NGOs/NPOs to contribute to the educational system. Nevertheless, perceived threats and confrontations hinder their ability to support the Ministry of Education (MoE) and partner leaders to fulfill their duties in assisting the government in realizing comprehensive universal primary education. This qualitative case study responded to stakeholders’ perceptions of NGOs/NPOs influence on Ghana’s educational system to better comprehend the dynamic and power of NGOs/NPOs on education in Ghana’s rural communities. The …

Operationalizing Centerness And Measuring It In Professional Development Teams, George M. Nickles, Bruce Herbert

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Centerness is defined as a quality of multi-agent systems (groups) where agents share a common set of system goals and interact so the system will achieve those goals. A pair of measures is identified to capture the two dimensions of centerness: distance-weighted fragmentation and average goal centerness. As a case study, the measures of centerness are applied to six teacher professional development groups within the Information Technology in Science Center for Teaching and Learning. The calculated measures of centerness of these groups generally conform to the expectations. Insights on using this measure of centerness to evaluate centerness in other professional …

The Lived Social Experience Of Covid-19 Survivors In Southwestern Nigeria, Endurance Uzobo, Ijeoma Nwanwene, Tolulope Funmilola Ojo

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The traditional perceptions of disease causation often reinforce the feelings of stigmatization and discrimination towards individuals who have recovered from an illness. This study investigated the existing social practices with regard to stigmatization and discrimination against COVID-19 survivors in Southwest Nigeria. Using the Psychoanalytic Theory, this phenomenological qualitative study utilized the snowball sampling method and an in-depth interview to sample 25 COVID-19 survivors in Southwest Nigeria. Collected data for this study were analyzed thematically, using content analysis with the aid of the ATLAS.ti software. Findings from the study indicated that COVID-19 survivors generally experience sympathy, hostility, mockery, and social exclusion. …

Experiential Learning Of School Counselors-In-Training To Work With English Learners, Qi Shi, Cielo Cournoyer, Ashlei Randolph, Matthew Scheffenacker, Jasmine Brown

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

While the need for school counselors to support ELs is prominent, school counselors believed they were not well prepared to effectively work with EL students. To inform and strengthen our practice, we engaged in a practitioner inquiry study to understand the lived experiences of school counselors-in-training (SCITs) in an experiential learning activity to work with English Learners. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of classroom observations, SCITs’ reflection journal entries, and transcripts of a focus group: (a) SCITs’ perceived challenges, (b) strategies used to overcome challenges and (c) how this experiential training benefited their future work as a school …

Talent Management And The Impact Of Dark Triad Personalities In The Workplace, Joseph A. Rosendale, Eliot Mastrovich, Leann Wilkie

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

This study examines links between the Dark Triad of personality types (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) and workplace behaviors. The research objective seeks to confirm the relationship between the Dark Triad and several negative behaviors while investigating positive externalities that have not been previously explored. A literature review covers the background of the Dark Triad, instruments that have been used to measure it, and ongoing research streams in the field. The Short Dark Triad (SD3) survey was administered to 142 working professionals and data collected were quantitatively examined using a variety of statistical tools in SPSS. Corresponding results provide additional evidence …

Analyzing Impact Of Aesthetic Visual Design On Usability Of E-Learning: An Emerging Economy Perspective, Akanksha Ghai, Urvashi Tandon

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to examine various dimensions of aesthetic visual design and their role in predicting usability in e-learning in higher education institutions of northern India. Using quantitative means of data collection, this research identified, ways and means to make learning content effectively usable, that is, attractive, interesting, motivating, and engaging for the learners.

Method: A survey questionnaire was developed through focused group discussions with field experts. Data were collected through online as well as offline modes. A Google form was created and its weblink was shared with the students pursuing degree courses in various state …

Emotional Experiences Of Muslim Americans Regarding The Intolerance Displayed By Non-Muslims, Munder Abderrazzaq

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Muslims in the United States report experiencing unequal treatment and racial profiling from non-Muslims. Recent literature (Simon et al., 2018) suggests the need for further research on the intolerance displayed by majority members from the point of view of minority members in the United States. The unwillingness or refusal to respect or tolerate individuals from a different social group or minority groups, who hold beliefs that are contrary to one’s own, is referred to as intolerance. The display of intolerance among members of different cultural and religious backgrounds can hinder the discovery of new information needed to promote positive social …

She’S Just Not That Into Me: Sexual Self-Concept Among Heterosexual Men Who Identify As Involuntary Celibates, Kyle J. Justin, Dustin K. Shepler, Joseph R. Kinel

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Emerging adult men experiencing involuntary celibacy are increasingly self-identifying as “incels.” Popular culture has painted a negative view of incel men. Nonetheless, almost no research has addressed the experiences of incels or systematically compared incels to their peers to identify whether actual differences exist in psychological functioning. In this study, we surveyed a total of 129 emerging adult men (75 incels and 54 non-incels) to determine if and how incels differ from their non-incel peers. MANOVA results indicated that incels disproportionately struggled with low self-esteem, social anxiety, difficulty approaching women, and optimism about partnered sexual experiences compared to their non-incel …

Sociability Moderates The Negative Association Between Covid-Related Disruptions And Life Satisfaction, Amna Khan, Katherine L. Fiori

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Disruptions in individuals’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic have been associated with increased mental health problems and decreases in life satisfaction, although recent research indicates that these effects are not uniform across individuals. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of sociability in moderating the association between COVID-related disruptions and life satisfaction in a sample of adults. Using data from an online survey given to N = 166 adults, COVID-19 disruptions related to conflicts with household members or roommates and disruptions in care during the pandemic were negatively associated with life satisfaction. Sociability was found to …

Tell Me More: Parent–Child Sexual Talk And Young Adult Sexual Communication Satisfaction With Romantic Partners, Kelsi N. Wilson, Jakob Jensen, Sharon Ballard, Alan Taylor

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Young adults (18–30) tend to show insufficient levels of communication about sex with their romantic partners, despite its many benefits to relationships among this age group. Learned sexual shame and guilt can play a role in inhibiting sexual communication with partners, and early messages about sex from parents stemming from narrow cultural boundaries of communication may play a role in fostering sexual shame and guilt from a young age, potentially influencing later sexual communication patterns with partners. We sought to identify whether a significant relationship existed between the sexual communication participants received from parents while growing up and their current …

Sources Of Information About Covid-19 Among Older Adults In Ghana, 2019-2021, Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Emmanuel Akwasi Asante

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a worldwide search for information. Information about COVID-19 is crucial and it could be the first step toward designing practical disease-control strategies. Misinformation amid the widespread information about COVID-19 has undoubtedly caused psychological distress, especially among older adults. We present an empirical and descriptive study of the sources of information among older adults and how they perceived the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 58 participants were recruited and interviewed using an in-depth semi-structured interview and structured questionnaire for our study. The study participants were recruited using purposive and convenience sampling in their respective homes from Mallam, …

Prevention Policing: Two Different Strategic Approaches, Garth Den Heyer

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

A Review Of The Police Response To Riots In France 2005, United Kingdom In 2011, Ferguson 2015, And Baltimore 2015, Garth Den Heyer

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Teacher Perceptions Of Technology-Enhanced, Collaborative, Project-Based Learning On Students In Mixed-Ability Classrooms, Amy Lauren Pierson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The skill of collaboration is fundamental for every student as a future participant of a global society. Students with learning disabilities feel excluded amongst peers in a traditional classroom setting, specifically elementary students with learning disabilities in the area of collaboration. The overall purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary teacher perceptions of how students in mixed-ability classrooms collaborate using technology in a project-based learning (PBL) environment. Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory informed this study by providing a framework for learning in social groups, specifically collaborative learning practices in a PBL environment. The research question in this study …

Strategies For The Reduction Of Cybersecurity Breaches In Hospitals, Donovan M. A. Pottinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractRecent cyberattacks in hospitals show the urgency of the need to enhance secure information technology (IT) infrastructure. Hospitals are statistically more at cyber risk than all the multiple industries against ransomware, malware, hacking and internal threats. Guided by routine activity theory, the purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to explore strategies utilized by hospitals' IT security managers to reduce cybersecurity breaches associated with sensitive data. The participants were nine IT security managers from hospitals in the eastern United States. Data were collected via semistructured interviews and supporting documentation from the consenting participants and hospitals' websites. Through thematic analysis, …

Social Capital And Food Insecurity In Two Counties In Wisconsin, Yvonne Denise Greer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hunger and food insecurity are public health issues with 38 million people in the US struggling with food hardship. This study examined if there was a relationship between four types of social capital (SC) (bonding, bridging, community structural-formal, and community structural-informal), income, and food insecurity risk (FIR), in two counties in Wisconsin. A quantitative descriptive correlational study design involving multiple linear regression analysis and the integral model framework was conducted with cross-sectional secondary data from the 2014-2016 Survey of the Health of Wisconsin. Participants were from Milwaukee (n = 335) and Dane County (n = 235). Results revealed that in …

Exploring Relationship Marketing Strategies For Increasing Student Retention In For-Profit, Online Higher Education, Shirin Khosravian

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For-profit, online, higher education institutions have lower student retention rates than institutions in other categories. Higher education leaders are concerned with low retention as it adversely impacts financial and student outcomes. Grounded in Morgan and Hunt’s relationship marketing theory, the purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, multiple-case study was to explore marketing strategies for-profit, online, higher education marketing leaders use to increase student retention. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with five marketing leaders from three online, for-profit, higher education institutions in the United States and a review of social media posts and the institutions’ websites. Four themes emerged from thematic …

Alzheimer's Disease: Risk And Protective Factors To Improve Detection And Prevention, Darryl Clay Nevels

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a growing epidemic and is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Individuals with AD often have comorbidities due to the aging process. There is a lack of research on comorbidities as associated risk factors for AD. The leading hypothesis indicates that cardiovascular health issues, environmental exposure, social isolation, and amyloid-beta plaques influence cognitive health and are associated with AD. This study, guided by Finch and Kulminski’s AD exposome, is a caveat to explore a patient’s physical history of cardiovascular health, modifiable behavior, social isolation, and an AD diagnosis. Participants provided health information collected …

Analysis Of National Origin Discrimination Suits Filed With The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Arantxa N. Almodovar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace discrimination has been a focus of scholars for several decades. Previous research has uncovered the practice of implicit bias in the form of pre-employment discrimination against minority groups based on factors not reflective of their work ethic or qualifications. The purpose of this study was to analyze national origin discrimination suits filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to understand why pre-employment discrimination continues to be a recurring issue in the workforce. The analysis focused on 46 randomly selected national origin discrimination lawsuits—two suits for each year between 1997 and 2020—of public record, which included the type of organization …

Relationship Between The Employee Incentive System, Employee Development System, And Employee Work-Related Stress, Ali Sattea Ali Al Ajaj

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business owners are concerned with employee work-related stress, as it is the most important predictor of employee incentives and employee development practices. Grounded in Siegrist’s theory of effort/reward imbalance, the purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to examine the relationship between employee incentive, employee development, and employee work-related stress. The participants were 88 employees of a private power sector organization who completed the SurveyMonkey link questionnaires and complied with the survey inclusion criteria. The results of the multiple linear regression were significant, F (2, 85) = 7.167, p < 0.05, R2 = 0.144. In the final model, employee development was significant (t = 3.306, p = .001, β = 0.340) and incentive was nonsignificant. A key recommendation is for business leaders and managers to develop their employees by creating development working practices, acknowledging employees’ achievements, and providing the best employee career programs. The implications for positive social change include the potential to mitigate any employee’s work-related stress and thus support the local community workforce.

Elementary Principals’ Instructional Leadership Challenges Supporting Inclusive Special Education Students’ Ela Achievement, Teresa Bey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As instructional leaders, principals must apply leadership to ensure achievement of all students. There is a gap in practice involving challenges principals face while supporting the ELA achievement of their inclusive special education students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand instructional leadership challenges elementary principals perceived were necessary to overcome in order to support ELA achievement of inclusive special education students. The conceptual frameworks for this study were Weber’s instructional leadership model and Hornby’s theory of inclusive special education. The research question sought to explore the instructional leadership challenges elementary principals perceive as necessary to overcome in …

Lived Experiences Of Support Among Parents Of Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Laxmi Seth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractReceiving a cancer diagnosis for one’s child is a traumatic experience for any parent. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most prevalent form of leukemia in children. Treatment-related issues can negatively affect quality of life and cause long-term emotional, social, and financial stress for the parents. The world faced the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While professional support was available for the parents caring for their children undergoing ALL treatment during the pandemic, how these parents experienced support, including through social media, was unknown. Investigating parents’ lived experiences of support, including social media support, during COVID-19 pandemic, was the focus of …

Evaluation Of A Public School District Nutrition Education Program In Southern California’S San Diego County, Donielle Cohen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents has markedly increased in several developed countries in recent years. Researchers have examined different factors that contribute to overweight and obesity in children and adolescents but have not fully explored the psychological impact of obesity on this population. The effectiveness of nutrition education programs in addressing the effects of obesity is also understudied. The primary purpose of this evaluative case study was to examine the impact of the Harvest of the Month nutritional educational program, which was adopted by San Diego County public schools in 2005, on the nutritional habits and psychosocial …

Disenfranchised Residents’ Perceptions Of The Public Transportation Accessibility-Job Opportunity Mismatch In San Bernardino, California, Maggi Elgeziry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractPeople access employment opportunities at a more affordable rate by using public transportation. In San Bernardino, California, poverty, minority populations, and low-skilled individuals all exceed national rates. This research explored how a cheap and reliable means of transportation would facilitate access to job opportunities that would otherwise be relatively expensive for this disadvantaged population to access. Research has documented the benefit of public transportation in communities where public transportation is pivotal in helping disadvantaged populations access job opportunities. Common good theory (CGT) was used to explain the shared benefit that communities reap when working together for a common socioeconomic purpose. …

Impact Of Internal Control, Cybersecurity Risk, And Competitive Advantage On Retail Cybersecurity Budget, Samuel William Pfanstiel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retail organizations are driven to improve security posture for many reasons, including meeting financial regulation requirements, mitigating threats of data breach, and differentiating themselves within markets affected by customer perception. The problem was that little was known about how these drivers of internal control, cybersecurity risk, and competitive advantage impact retail cybersecurity budgets within the retail sector. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental correlational study was to describe the relationship between cybersecurity budget and drivers of internal control, cybersecurity risk, and competitive advantage among U.S.-based retail merchant organizations. Real options theory provided a foundation for explaining this decision-making process. Data …

Issues Facing Veterans In Higher Education, Charles Amankwaa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The American GI Forum (AGIF) contains several programs and initiatives, with thesignificant focus being on supporting students. There is a need to better understand their needs as students so that the organization can better serve them. This study focused on the issues facing veteran students in higher education and the strategies that AGIF can adopt to better improve veteran students’ experiences while in university. The primary theory that guided this study was the appreciative education framework because it offered the theoretical infrastructure for educational practice by advocating for an adaptable, transformational, and interactive framework and was applicable to guiding organizational …

The Longevity Of A Law Enforcement Career Post Critical Incident, Alyce E. Clark

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Law enforcement officers experience traumatic events that can have an impact on their health and their career. Regardless of the continued research on police and mental health, challenges persist. The stigma is that law enforcement officers are tough and keep their emotions to themselves; however, they are human, like the community they serve. Due to possible consequences related to officers discussing having mental health problems after critical incidents, police officers may be reluctant to seek help due to backlash. Interviews were completed in a two-tier format that led to follow-up questions with surveys specifically related to alcohol and burnout found …

Early Childhood Stakeholders’ Perspectives On Parent Empowerment To Successfully Transition Children To Formal School, Tawanda Randolph

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have suggested that empowered parents may be more helpful successfully transitioning children to formal school. The problem investigated in this basic qualitative study was that educators located in a Southern region of the United States were not empowering parents with the knowledge, skills, and sense of self to become engaged in their children’s educational transitioning needs. This study also addressed a gap in practice consisting of school stakeholders’ perspectives on parent empowerment to build their capacities to successfully transition children to formal school. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and Kim and Bryan's parent empowerment theory framed this study. The research …

A Text Analysis Of Meaning In Research On Gender, Language, And Leadership, Samantha Faith Weissrock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Focusing on gender and leadership research, the purpose of the study was to examine discursive messages used in research text regarding gendered leadership to explore the phenomenon of word usage and language structure. The study employed critical discourse analysis as the framework and methodology, a specific cross discipline approach to discourse analysis primarily concerned with language’s innate ability to change and take on new meaning over time. Leveraging texts available in scholarly, peer-reviewed publications dedicated to the intersection of gender and leadership in juxtaposition to the final issue of the same publication have previously focused on intersection of women in …

Financial Aid Knowledge And Resources Among First-Generation College Students, Carmelitia J. Coleman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractFirst-generation, freshmen students struggle to complete the financial aid process at a 4-year private university in Louisiana, impacting their financial and academic well-being. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore first-generation, freshmen student perceptions of how they construct knowledge about the financial aid process and resources needed to help them complete the process. The conceptual framework of the study was comprised of Piaget’s theory of constructivism, which is grounded in the idea of learners constructing their own knowledge based on experience. The first research question addressed how first-generation, freshmen students constructed knowledge about the financial aid process. …