Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Injury Severity On Behavioral Tasks Used For The Assessment Of Cognitive Functioning Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Kris M. Martens

Dissertations

Cognitive impairment is the most frequent cause of disability in humans following traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet the behavioral tasks used to assess cognitive behavior in rodent models of brain injury are underrepresented in the field. Additionally, few of these tasks have been used to assess behavior across degrees of injury severity. The goal of the present study was to compare four behavioral tasks commonly used in the field in frontally-injured rats with both mild and moderate-to-severe brain injuries. At the start of the study, rats were assigned to two of the following behavioral tasks: Dig scent discrimination (Dig) task, …

Shifting Legitimating Accounts In A Changing Institutional Field: An Analysis Of The Organic Food Industry, 1990-2011, Michael J. Sheridan

Dissertations

In this study, we argue the organic industry's move towards a more legal definition of organic production indicated a shift in the legitimating criteria in the organic agriculture institutional field, which can be observed through the analysis of the legitimating accounts of various actors. Prior to USDA certification, institutional actors in the organic food field largely relied upon the norms and values of its participants to maintain order. Legitimacy was based on the perception that a firm embodied a certain value set, which typically included opposition to large-scale commercial operations (DeLind, 2000; Drinkwater, 2009). To some, the introduction of federal …

Influences On The Ethical Orientations Of Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, Matthew E. Markve

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Service-Learning On College Students' Environmental Literacy: Content Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behaviors, Joanna Lynn Bush Singletary

Dissertations

This study evaluated the relationship of environmental service-learning on environmental literacy in undergraduates. The subjects were 36 undergraduates at a small liberal arts university enrolled in an environmental biology course.To determine the role of environmental service-learning on college students’ environmental knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and environmental literacy, this study utilized concurrent mixed methods approach for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A quasi-experimental repeated measures approach was the design of the quantitative component of the study.Data were collected on attitude, behavior, and content knowledge aspects of environmental literacy as measured by the Environmental Literacy Survey (Kibert, 2000). Hypotheses were tested by independent samples …

Teacher Perception Of School Culture And School Climate In The Leader In Me Schools And Non Leader In Me Schools, Brian Patrick Barkley

Dissertations

In 1989 Dr. Stephen Covey wrote The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People which revealed seven habits that people should integrate into their lives that would help them on the two levels of relationships. First, it would help people to establish a better relationship personally. Secondly, it would help people to improve their relationships with other people. The book was originally written for adults; later Sean Covey, son of Dr. Covey, wrote a version of The Seven Habits that was geared toward teenagers. But the question of whether these adult lessons can be taught to five year olds was taken …

Accessing Learning In The Adult Zebrafish With A Novel Associative Learning Task, David Joseph Jouandot Ii

Dissertations

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is accepted in the developmental and genomic communities as a model organism. However, the capacity for the zebrafish as a behavioral model has yet to be fully acknowledged. The research presented provides evidence validating the novel task, aids in gaining a better understanding of the learning processes, and identifies individual differences. The novel associative learning task differs from any present well established behavioral model and lends itself to future development. The task provides the zebrafish community with a high output behavioral task which is readily replicated and allows one researcher to test between eight …

Dynamic Bioactive Stimuli-Responsive Polymeric Surfaces, Heather Marie Pearson

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the design, synthesis, and development of antimicrobial and anticoagulant surfaces of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) polymers. Aliphatic polymeric surfaces of PE and PP polymers functionalized using click chemistry reactions by the attachment of –COOH groups via microwave plasma reactions followed by functionalization with alkyne moieties. Azide containing ampicillin (AMP) was synthesized and subsequently clicked into the alkyne prepared PE and PP surfaces. Compared to non-functionalized PP and PE surfaces, the AMP clicked surfaces exhibited substantially enhanced antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. To expand the biocompatibility of polymeric surface …

Examining The Impact Of Motivation, Service Quality, And Value On Satisfaction And Loyalty Among Golf Tourists To Rural Areas, Chad William Maas

Dissertations

Economic development in rural areas has undergone a fundamental change over the past several years as the dependence on agriculture continues to decline in rural economies and rural areas experience depopulation along with an increase of outmigration of educated youth. As a result, tourism has emerged as an alternative economic revitalization strategy in many rural areas. One strategy rural areas have begun to implement to attract visitors to a region is attempting to entice individuals interested in participating in sport and recreation. Sport tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry as more and more destinations …

Educating Students To Become Culturally Competent Physical Therapists: Issues Of Teaching And Assessment, Lisa Jayroe Barnes

Dissertations

With the growing multicultural population within the United States, healthcare providers need to be prepared to care for and educate adult clients from various cultural backgrounds. The purpose of the study was to examine the teaching and assessment methods being used by faculty in the education of future physical therapists in teaching the construct of cultural competence, how these methods may vary according to the educational background of faculty in relation to the use of concepts specific to adult education that may lead to transformational learning, and faculty opinions about teaching and assessing this abstract construct.

Survey methodology was used …

The Effectiveness Of Internet And Instant Messaging Approaches In Promoting Intention To Breastfeed, Brigett Landry Scott

Dissertations

Breastfeeding rates for the southern portion of the United States are low compared to the rest of the country. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of electronic delivery of breastfeeding education compared to written education in regards to intention to breastfeed in a convenience sample of pregnant women in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi. The final sample included 147 women randomized into one of three groups to complete the six week education intervention study. Questionnaires measuring demographics, Need for Cognition Scale (NFC), the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS), and the IFI Feeding Intentions Assessment were utilized. MANCOVA was used …

Workplace Health Promotion Programs: An Assessment Of Factors Influencing Participation, Tomeka Lashell Harbin

Dissertations

Increasing health care costs are indicators of a major threat to short and long term viability of American businesses. As leaders in American businesses and industries face rising health insurance and medical care costs, interest in disease prevention and health promotion increases. Decreasing health care costs coupled with a greater public interest for addressing health issues has led to the workplace health promotion movement. This study utilized quantitative research methods to examine employee perceptions of workplace health promotion in the Mississippi Delta, a rural area identified as one of the three unhealthiest places to live in the United States.

Electronic …

The Impact Of The Addition Of Community Based Truancy Intervention Panels On The Reduction Of Student Absences, Lenora Jane Nyeste

Dissertations

In 2008, a large southeastern school district was awarded an $8.5 million Safe School/Healthy Students (1999) federal grant. The grant, titled Success for All Students (SFAS) (2008) was a collaborative effort between the school district and county commissioners with the shared goal of increasing student achievement and healthy development by providing and sustaining family, school and community prevention and intervention programs. One of the services provided by the SFAS program was the addition of a truancy intervention panel (TIP) in the 35 district schools receiving services.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a TIP on …

Teacher Perceptions Of Working With Children With Specific Special Education Exceptionalities In The General Education Classroom, Kimberly Geneva Fisher

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which general education teachers in elementary schools believe they are prepared to teach children/students with specific special education exceptionalities in the general education classroom. The study addresses the exceptionalities of: autism, speech/language disorder, specific learning disability, and emotional disability and using a multiple method quasi-experimental design that yielded quantitative and qualitative data. The study used an original instrument entitled the General Educators Preparedness for Inclusive Education (GEPIE). The instrument used a vignette/scenario design to assess levels of perceived preparedness. Third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers in South Mississippi were …

The Effects Of Race And Gender On The Satisfaction Levels Of Entering And Advanced Level Doctoral Students, Tiffany Nicole Labon

Dissertations

Doctoral education is an aspect of higher education that can be both rewarding and challenging for anyone who attempts the journey. Thelin (2004) stated many graduate students obtain the necessary skills that their individual fields of study require in their master’s and doctoral programs of study. Levine (2005), however, has found that the levels of satisfaction between what students expect and what they receive are at odds at many colleges and universities around the country. Thus, the need to assess graduate programs and services regarding satisfaction is warranted.

The purpose of this study was to compare the relationship of overall …

Age, Gender, Race, And Culture In The Er: A Content Analysis Of End-Of-Life Issues In The Television Drama, Katrina Wilson Burtt

Dissertations

Within one of the most popular television dramas on American television, hundreds of depictions of end-of-life (EOL) care and decision-making conveyed impressions of how death and dying occurred in a hospital. This content analysis of EOL incidents that appeared in every episode of the television drama ER indicated that viewers got powerful messages about EOL. The long-playing, popular television drama exaggerated the role of physician within the EOL scenes and minimized the roles of women, racial minorities and ethnic groups. Notably lacking from the EOL content were accurate or positive representations of racial, ethnic or cultural differences in death and …

An Examination Of Civic Engagement Behaviors Among Members Of Social And Cultural Fraternities And Sororities, Gary Gribble Wiser Jr.

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Exploring Restraint And Seclusion Use In School-Age Children On An Inpatient Psychiatric Unit, Michelle Buckman Phd

Dissertations

Perceptions of children restrained and secluded (R&S) were explored using Yin's methodology and critical theory. The literature presented reviewed proponent's and opponent's views of the R&S intervention used on inpatient psychiatric units for the containment of violent patients. Despite reports of physical and emotional injury to staff and patient during restraining and secluding children, the intervention is still in use. Using Machover's framework, a semi-structured interview and drawings were used to illicit information from a 12 year old boy about his perceptions of R&S. Then, a presentation of barriers to conducting research is made. Results of the child's perceptions included …

Cognitive Conceptualizations And Schemata As Predictors Of Distress In Female Rape Victims, Tiffany Maria Artime

Dissertations

Rape is strikingly prevalent among undergraduate women, and victims show significant variability in their reactions to sexual victimization. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine two cognitive processing factors that have been theorized to impact a woman’s levels of distress after being raped. One cognitive factor, rape conceptualization, broadly refers to the way a woman comes to understand and interpret the event as identified by her attributions of blame and perceptions of severity, wantedness, and consent. Schemata—or global, enduring beliefs about the self and world—represent the other cognitive factor examined in this study. Participants included 189 undergraduate women …

Determinants Of Health-Related Quality Of Life In Arab American Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, Yousef Zakarni Phd

Dissertations

HRQL is an important aspect of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and needs to be considered by healthcare providers. It is one of the most important outcomes of healthcare interventions, representing an integral public health goal in Healthy People 2000, 2010, and 2020. Arab Americans (AAs), one of the most rapidly growing minorities in United States, tend to have a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to describe determinants of HRQL, including social support attitude, religiosity, and select demographics for AA patients with type 2 diabetes. A descriptive correlational study using a cross sectional …

Artificial Immune Systems And Particle Swarm Optimization For Solutions To The General Adversarial Agents Problem, Jeremy Mange

Dissertations

The general adversarial agents problem is an abstract problem description touching on the fields of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, decision theory, and game theory. The goal of the problem is, given one or more mobile agents, each identified as either “friendly" or “enemy", along with a specified environment state, to choose an action or series of actions from all possible valid choices for the next “timestep" or series thereof, in order to lead toward a specified outcome or set of outcomes. This dissertation explores approaches to this problem utilizing Artificial Immune Systems, Particle Swarm Optimization, and hybrid approaches, along with …

Counselor Educator Knowledge, Experience, Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Jennifer Mills Langeland

Dissertations

Following growing public interest and widespread use, many health professions have begun to explore the attitudes toward, knowledge of and experience with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) of the various stakeholders within their professions. This foundational information has enabled disciplines such as medicine, nursing, psychology, and marriage and family therapy to take a closer look at how students, patients, clients, and faculty think about and utilize CAM and its relevance to their professions. Surveying the practices and attitudes of stakeholders has been an important starting point for professions undertaking the task of integrating these practices into training programs.

This study …

How Schools Are Meeting State Legal Mandates To Provide Online Education, Mark Edward Deschaine

Dissertations

This study explores how public schools in Michigan are meeting the mandate to provide online learning opportunities as a condition of graduation. Michigan became the first state in the nation to mandate online learning opportunities as a condition for graduation with the passage of the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Although the mandate for compliance has been in effect since the 2010-2011 school year, there has been no systemic exploration as to how the mandate is affecting students, teachers, schools and systems.

This quantitative study surveyed administrators from all public traditional and charter high school programs across the state of Michigan. Using …

"This Is Not Just My Story; It's Part Of Who I Am": A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Of Battered Women's Identity Negotiations, Jessica Edel Harrelson

Dissertations

Over the past several decades, domestic violence has increasingly received more attention from both academic and local communities. Despite this attention, it persists as a significant social problem, suggesting that a full understanding of battering is still lacking. This dissertation examines women’s lived experiences with battering, what effect abuse has on how they come to define and interact with themselves, and subsequent negotiations of identity that occur within their relationships. To accomplish this, I conducted multiple in-depth qualitative interviews with fourteen women that were being served by a domestic violence agency in a rural part of the Midwest.

Within a …

Student Thoughts And Perceptions On Curriculum Reform, Douglas D. Vanderjagt

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how students experience and respond to Michigan’s increased graduation requirements. The study was conducted in a large, suburban high school that instituted a change to a trimester system in response to the state mandate. A criterion-based sample of 16 students, both college bound and non-college bound, participated in one-on-one interviews regarding their knowledge about, their understanding of, and their experience with the new Michigan Merit Curriculum, and how this increase impacted the student participants’ high school academic choices and/or postsecondary plans. Additionally, this study engaged focus groups of one or …

Exploring The Experiences Of Counselor Educators Recognized For Their Excellence In Teaching, Allison E. Buller

Dissertations

Teaching is a deeply held value for counselor educators. Nonetheless, counselor education programs have historically provided only minimal attention to preparing doctoral students to actually teach. Furthermore, little of the research in the field of counselor education addresses the way counselor educators are prepared to teach. Using qualitative methods, this author engaged counselor educators identified as excellent teachers in an examination of meaningful experiences that contributed to their development as faculty in counselor education. By exploring experiences that prepared them to teach, excellent teachers provided the next generation of faculty members with rich descriptive strategies for teacher preparation in counselor …

African American Women In Higher Education: Challenges Endured And Strategies Employed To Secure A Community College Presidency, Lois M. Britton

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore challenges experienced and successful strategies employed by African American women currently serving as community college presidents. Studies show 35% of community college presidents are expected to retire by the year 2015 (Schultz, 2001), thus opening opportunities for aspiring African American women to secure a community college presidency. However, some of the literature reviewed for this study suggests that if efforts are not made to support the upward mobility of these women, there is a possibility that the number of African American women who are able to secure a future presidency …

Factors Influencing Student Motivation Within Two University-Offered Physical Activity Classes, Chad A. Grabau

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Trauma And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Therapeutic Day School Students: Prevalence In This Population And Effective Treatment Programs, Monica Roberts

Dissertations

This survey-based, comparative study investigated the percentage of students at a suburban Chicago therapeutic day school who meet criteria for clinically significant levels of PTSD as compared to students in a general education setting. The directional hypothesis was that students placed at therapeutic day schools have a higher prevalence of PTSD than a general population of students. The method used was a survey assessment called the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) given to 16 students at a suburban Chicago therapeutic day school. These CPSS scores were analyzed and statistically compared to CPSS scores of an already published study with students …

Breaking The Boundaries: Decision Factors That Lead Male Students To Enroll In Associate Degree Nursing Programs In Illinois Community Colleges, Leandro Alcovendaz Resurreccion

Dissertations

Male nurses are but a small percentage of the total nurse population in the United States, and most certainly have potential to increase in numbers if the profession appeared more attractive as a career option for men. The purpose of this research was to discover the decision factors used by males that led them to enroll in Associate Degree nursing programs in Illinois community colleges. To set the background and context, the study explored the history of community colleges and that of nursing. Included was nursing as a profession, nursing in the United States, the country’s impending nursing shortage and …

Evaluation Of A Successful High Risk Nursing Student Assistance Program: One Adn Program's Journey, Ciaran O'Sullivan

Dissertations

A college education is, for many in America, part and parcel of the American Dream, and is certainly achievable. For countless reasons, students may enroll at community colleges underprepared, unprepared, anxious, and destined for a high risk of failure. Although community colleges are higher education institutions open and accessible to all who want to pursue an education, some degree programs are selective enrollment programs, such as nursing. Considering the stringent admission criteria and rigors of an associate degree in nursing (ADN) program, few are admitted. However, due to the pending shortage of registered nurses, assistance programs to help high risk …