Digital Commons Network^™

Does Socioeconomic Status Influence Students’ Postsecondary Plans?, Brian A. Young

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not socioeconomic status (SES) influenced high school students’ plans for continuing their learning after high school. This study collected data via an online survey and a sample size of 343 participants from three comprehensive public high schools. A hierarchical logistic regression was conducted and found to be statistically significant. The variables of gender, race, and SES were found not to be significant predictors of having a postsecondary plan, but grade point average (GPA) was a significant predictor. The results failed to reject the null hypothesis, meaning household SES was not …

Perceived Servant Leadership Behaviors And Employee Outcomes In National Collegiate Athletic Association Division Iii, Athletics Departments The Moderating Role Of Trust-In-Leader And Organizational Tenure, Sean Fletcher Daly

Dissertations

ESPN reported that in the 2016–2017 academic year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) surpassed $1 billion in revenue (Rovell, 2018). Trends in revenue and business models have caused scholars, educators, and professionals to call for a reform of how collegiate sport organizations are led (Lapchick et al., 2013; Lopiano & Gurney, 2014). Some believe servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977) is the answer (Burton & Peachey, 2013; Dodd et al., 2018). Research studies on servant leadership in the sporting context have found it has a positive impact on the development of an ethical climate (Achen et al., 2019; Burton et al., …

Educational Leaders’ Role In Sustaining Achievement In Successful, High- Poverty Title I Elementary Schools: A Case Study On Practices And Actions Leaders Take, Jennifer Ann Fodness

Dissertations

An education system where every student is successful has been a primary goal for the United States. Increasing student achievement for student populations identified as at risk for not meeting educational goals is imperative for students, school leaders and educators, policymakers, businesses, and taxpayers across the nation. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to explore and describe practices and actions used by educational leaders in two successful high-poverty Title I schools who influenced sustained achievement. Three themes were identified in each school through thematic analysis of interviews, observations, and documents. For one school, the three themes were (a) …

Finding Messiaen’S Blackbird: An Investigative Analysis Of Birdsong And Other Techniques Used In Le Merle Noir, Alexandra L. Aguirre-Berman

Dissertations

Aguirre-Berman, Alexandra L, Finding Messiaen’s Blackbird: an investigative analysis of birdsong and other techniques used in Le merle noir. Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2020. This document explores Olivier Messiaen’s use of serialism, Greek rhythms, Hindu deçi-tâlas, ‘style oiseau’ and other ornithological information as they relate to his composition for flute and piano, Le merle noir. As a result of this exploration, an investigative analysis of several compositional elements is provided, including ancient Greek rhythms, Hindu deçi-tâlas, serialism, and birdsong in order to process their connection with Messiaen’s blackbird. Messiaen’s blackbird is identified as the Eurasian …

Exploring How Andragogical Principles May Enhance Doctoral Students’ Persistence To Dissertation Completion, Bernice Bush

Dissertations

The Doctorate is a terminal degree, in that, a student has accomplished the ultimate academic achievement within an educational field of domain. Although industries worldwide continually demand ever-advancing scholarly workforces and the innovation developments of higher thinkers, this degree has been impeded by a staggering 50% attrition rate among colleges and universities for decades. Also obstructive to degree attainment has been the phenomenological trend of the All-But-Dissertation (ABD) phase experienced by multitudes of candidates within their courses’ timelines. Researchers have studied these issues over the last century, specifically seeking relevant sources of influence among dozens of student attributes and pursuing …

Novice Second-Career Teachers: Experiences And Meaning-Making Of The Transition Process, Paula Dennisse Núñez Del Rosario

Dissertations

The world we live in is in constant change. During change, people focus on the observable part of what is not there anymore and what has come in its place, not being conscious of the adaptation process that underlies the change: the transition. The transition is a process that has different phases and the development of the process is differentiated depending on the individual. Transition is also directly related to the type of experience. Although circumstances differ among individuals, it is possible to say that there are some common aspects in terms of challenges faced by all novice teachers, both …

Providing Head Start Services Amid A Global Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Explanatory Study Of Capacity, Resources, And Support, Kelly L. Vigants

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic altered education in dramatic ways including immediate building closures and the implementation of virtual instruction. In March of 2020, Michigan faced a statewide shutdown on all non-essential travel as Michiganders were ordered to “Stay Home. Stay Safe.” Head Start began to provide remote services to families and students. Head Start lead teachers were charged with using virtual methods to teach their students. With little direction in the beginning and many unknowns, Head Start lead teachers used innovative methods to promote family engagement.

This study used a mixed method, explanatory sequential design to evaluate the most effective methods …

Employees Support As A Determinant Of Merger Success: Exploring The Organizational Context And Its Interventions During Post-Merger Integration, Abdulla Humaid Saif Aljarwan Alshamsi

Dissertations

Mergers is an extreme form of organizational change, which usually has an adverse impact on the merging organizations employees’ wellbeing. In literature it was argued that organizational integration after merger, which is referred to as Post-Merger Integration (PMI) is usually resisted by employees, which is considered as a major contributor to the high failure rates of mergers. It was further argued that employees’ resistance toward integration is attributed to stress, uncertainty, ambiguity and lack of clarity on the changes that merger and integration initiate. Therefore, PMI activities were assumed to psychologically traumatize employees and jeopardize their sense of belonging, attachment, …

Dispositions Of Emotional Intelligence In School Principals, Efrain Martinez

Dissertations

School principals address problems that extend way beyond the classroom. This qualitative study is about dispositions of emotional intelligence in school principals. The participants interviewed were novice school principals or principal coaches. The results showed that principals tend to address the needs of others more than their own. Strategies are shared on how to improve emotional intelligence. Additionally, the study provides recommendations that school districts can implement to ensure the success of school principals.

Disordered Eating Among Nonbinary Individuals, Marilyn Chung

Dissertations

Research on influences of eating disorders have informed diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders, particularly for White cisgender women. A Perfect Biopsychosocial Storm is a theory of influences of disordered eating development: sociocultural influences of rigid body shape and size ideals, high rates of trauma and violence, experiences of objectification and sexualization, and biological changes (Maine & Bunnell, 2010). For transgender individuals, recent findings suggest disparities and negative mental health outcomes such as elevated prevalence of disordered eating, body image concerns, and self-reported disordered eating. For transgender men and women, researchers found that disordered eating may be related to attempts …

Frames Of Error: Three Behavioral Approaches To Reducing Stigma Towards People With Disabilities, Rocco Giovanni Catrone

Dissertations

What makes a person disabled is a much-debated topic with some focusing on the individuals impairments (putting the onus of disability on the individual) while others focus on how the environment (both architectural and social) exacerbates an individual’s impairments and creates the conceptualization of disability (putting the onus of disability on society). No matter how a person with a disability (PWD) is categorized, they are met with healthcare, education, and work disparities that are perpetuated both unintentionally and intentionally. This paper examines the various ways disability and subsequently stigma arises from a variety of viewpoints both within and outside the …

Preliminary Examination Of Methods For Identifying The Function Of Stealing, Brandon Ellis Mccord

Dissertations

Because low rate, covert responses are hard to observe and measure (e.g., Azrin & Wesolowski, 1974; Henderson, 1981; Jeffery, 1969; Reid & Patterson, 1976; Seymour & Epston, 1989), well-controlled behavior analytic investigations of stealing have been rare. In fact, systematic investigations to experimentally determine stealing functions have been limited to two studies targeting food (Lambert et al., 2019; Simmons, Akers, & Fisher, 2019). The dearth of studies examining stealing functions, partly attributable to low rate and covertness, may be forestalling additional intervention studies. Given the likely futility of unsystematic attempts to observe naturally occurring instances of an infrequent, clandestine response, …

Demystifying First-Time Mothers’ Postpartum Mental Health: A Phenomenological Study Of The Transition To Becoming A Mother, Megan Dooley Hussmann

Dissertations

Becoming a mother is a significant life event that can greatly impact maternal mental health. Understanding maternal mental health is an important interdisciplinary goal because it could lead to mother’s receiving better care and support from both mental health and medical professionals. Seven first-time mothers with a baby under the age of one were interviewed for a phenomenological qualitative study, which investigated first-time mothers’ postpartum mental health experiences. This study was guided by two research questions: How do new mothers experience their postpartum mental health in comparison to how they experienced their mental health before having their baby, and how …

Dual Disadvantage: An Examination Of Racial Disparities In Victim And Suspect Criminal Justice Treatment, Paige Vaughn

Dissertations

During the past several decades, American criminal justice legal systems appear to have been over-punishing Black individuals as perpetrators of crime, and neglecting them as violent crime victims, perpetuating disparities that simultaneously repress and alienate Black citizens. Such complex processes of racial inequality are difficult to capture in studies that focus on single criminal justice stages and limited sets of variables. After presenting a working conceptualization of case processing that can be used across criminal justice systems, the current study uses data from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Census to assess racial …

Community Health Nurse Educators And Disaster Nursing Education, Jody Spiess

Dissertations

Abstract

The world is struggling with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and the need for disaster nursing education has never been more clear. Recently, the American Nurses Association reported that of the over 32,000 nurses surveyed; only 11% felt well prepared to care for a COVID-19 patient (ANA, 2020). Community health nurse educators are tasked with educating future nurses on disasters, yet, little is known about this population’s perceived competence in disaster preparedness. The purpose of this study is to describe community health nurse educators' perceived competence in disaster preparedness.

The study is a descriptive, correlational …

Phenomenological Study On The Impact Of Servant Leadership For Establishing A Culture Of High Performance As Perceived By Human Resource Administrators, Rebecca Toto

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe public school district human resource administrators’ perceived impact of servant leadership constructs developed by Patterson (2003) on establishing a culture of high performance.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study explored and described human resource administrators’ perceived impact of Patterson’s (2003) servant leadership constructs on establishing a culture of high performance in public school districts in Northern California. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an Interview Protocol developed by the thematic team. Responses from participants were organized coded, and emergent themes were identified.

Findings: The findings from this study show that …

Tailoring Violence Prevention Programming To A Critical Care Area, Jaime Campbell

Dissertations

Abstract

Problem: Rising rates of violence in health care environments signal a need for health care workers, specifically frontline nurses, to be trained in effective de-escalation management skills. Since January 2017, there has been an increase in the number of patients categorized as aggressive with more violent patient events taking place at a selected midwestern hospital facility in the critical care department, particularly the intensive care and transitional care units.

Methods: Using a pre-post design, this project compared nurses’ verbal de-escalation skills using the English Modified De-escalating Aggressive Behaviour Scale (EMDABS) to determine effectiveness of de-escalation strategies in simulated scenarios …

Effect Of Standardized Nurse Teaching On Patient Experience Using Cahps®, Julie Hake

Dissertations

Abstract

Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to determine if a standardized nurse teaching approach improved patient understanding of diagnosis and treatment as it relates to women diagnosed with a pelvic floor disorder (PFD) after receiving a standardized nurse education (SNE) session in an urban tertiary care Urogynecology practice.

Methods: Females aged 18 and older with a newly diagnosed PFD and prescribed PFPT for the first time who agreed to receive the SNE and complete the CAHPS® survey were included in the project. Patient perception of PFPT was assessed via phone interview utilizing the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare …

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Recidivism Among Ex-Offenders In Missouri, Norman James Vick

Dissertations

Ex-offenders return home to family and friends every day in the United States of America; seeking to reintegrate with family and society. Ex-offenders recidivate as well due to numerous reasons and fail at reintegration with family and society. The purpose of the investigation was to learn if substance abuse treatment and obtaining an education in the form of a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) would help the ex-offender avoid further recidivating The investigator was also interested in learning if trust played a vital role in gaining a GED and completion of substance abuse treatment with reintegration of the family for the …

Social Support Following Pregnancy Loss And Its Implications For Women’S Experiences Of Posttraumatic Growth, Agata Freedle

Dissertations

The available literature suggests that social support can contribute to individuals’ positive psychological changes following a traumatic event. However, the effects of the social milieu following pregnancy loss on women’s post-loss adjustment continues to be vastly unexplored. This dissertation explores a gap in the literature surrounding the relationship of interpersonal and intrapersonal social factors on women’s posttraumatic growth (PTG) after miscarriage or stillbirth via three studies. Specifically, the following factors were investigated in relation to PTG: 1) Adult attachment and women’s experiences of dyadic coping; 2) self-disclosure, positive social reactions and deliberate rumination; 3) empathy and prosocial behaviors. Women who …

Peace At Last Or Just A Piece Of Paper? Assessing The Utilization Of Civil Protection Orders And Reported Violations, Jennifer Medel

Dissertations

Over the past 50 years, attention to domestic violence as a social problem has grown substantially. With this heightened interest, remedies available to survivors have evolved in both scope and access. One popular avenue of help-seeking concerns civil protection orders (POs), which attempt to prevent subsequent abuse by setting conditions that regulate future interaction between abusers and survivors. Abusers, unfortunately, often violate POs with estimates of cases with violations ranging from 40 to 60%. Relatively little research, however, has examined the nature and determinants of PO violations using court records.

This dissertation addresses these little-studied issues by exploring variations in …

Uncertainty In The Context Of End-Of-Life Communication In Heart Failure, Caleb Pardue

Dissertations

End-of-life communication between patients, their family members, and healthcare providers is essential to quality care at the end-of-life. Advance care planning is increasingly utilized to facilitate end-of-life communication, but heart failure patients in particular face numerous challenges to achieving adequate end-of-life communication. Extant literature has highlighted the inherent uncertainty in heart failure as a barrier to end-of-life communication as well as the role of time perspective on the experience of heart failure patients, but little empirical research has been conducted to examine the impact of these constructs. The sample included 168 participants with heart failure who were recruited online through …

Hope, Acculturation, And English Language Proficiency In The Career Decision Self-Efficacy Of East Asian International Students, Yang Ai

Dissertations

The present study explored the predictive abilities of hope, acculturation to American culture, acculturation to the home culture, and English language proficiency to career decision self-efficacy for East Asian international students in the United States who are originally from China, South Korea, and Japan. A total of 167 international students from China, South Korea, or Japan participated in this study. This study used a correlational design to measure the relationship between four predictor variables, including hope, acculturation to American culture, acculturation to the home culture, and English language proficiency and an outcome variable, career decision self-efficacy, among East Asian international …

Guided Pathway Elements From The California Community College Counselor Perspective, Tiffany Welter

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to describe what California community college counselors consider important elements of guided pathways that increase student success. Additionally, this study will explore how counselors describe the challenges of guided pathways. Lastly, this study identified counselor recommendations for improving guided pathways to increase student success.

Methodology: This qualitative study used a multiple-case study to explore what important guided pathway features California community colleges offer students from the counselor’s perspective. Semi-structured interviews were held with 12 counselors from six California community colleges that have implemented guided pathways on their campuses to capture rich …

An Outcome Evaluation Of An Evidenced-Based Leadership Framework On Nursing Retention In A Tertiary Medical Center, Robbie G. Rabe

Dissertations

An evidence-based leadership (EBL) framework is an intervention designed to facilitate organizational changes such as the reduction of nursing turnover and the improvement of nursing job enjoyment. This project provides an overview of the effect of nursing turnover on an organization, presents the components of the EBL framework, and provides an evaluation of the influence of EBL on nursing turnover and job enjoyment. The EBL framework provided a method for reducing variance in leadership skill and behavior by outlining specific methods necessary to reduce inconsistency. The project objective was to determine if the implementation of an EBL framework for 820 …

Fatigue And Co-Occurring Symptoms In Women With Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Claire Jungyoun Han

Dissertations

The aims of this dissertation study were: [First part of the dissertation study] 1. To explore the relationships among fatigue and co-occurring symptoms (i.e., abdominal pain, depression and anxiety). (1-a) the relationships between abdominal pain and fatigue; and (1-b) whether psychological distress (i.e., depression and anxiety) mediates the effect of abdominal pain on fatigue, across-women and within-woman; and [Second part of the dissertation study] 2. To determine (2-a) if latent classes (i.e. subgroups) of women with IBS could be identified based on the symptom cluster severity of fatigue, abdominal pain, depression and anxiety, (2-b) if these latent classes differed on …

Minorities In Nursing: The Experience Of Incivility In Nursing Education, Tammy Williams

Dissertations

The aim of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of minority nursing students with nursing faculty's incivility. Six students of varied ethnicity participated in the study. The guiding theoretical framework for the study included Roy's adaptation model and Clark's conceptual model for fostering civility in nursing education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological method for qualitative research was used to guide the data analysis of the student's experiences with faculty incivility. Seven themes emerged related to nursing faculty uncivil behaviors including: learning environment, unfair treatment, student faculty relationships, demeaning/belittling, emotional impact, adaptive behaviors, and …

Help Seeking For Mental Health Problems In Mental Health Counselors: Prevalence, Barriers, And Predictors, Carol A. Miller

Dissertations

This study surveyed a sample of 255 mental health counselors in the United States and used descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, and logistic regression analysis to investigate the prevalence of mental health problems and help seeking, the perceived barriers to, and predictors of help seeking for mental health problems among mental health counselors. In this sample, 62.6% (n = 159) reported they had experienced a mental health problem during the time since licensure. Of those, 13.2% (n = 21) reported they had not received treatment. “Handling the problem on my own” was the most cited barrier to help seeking, …

Examination Of Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (Ces) On Depressive And Anxiety Symptoms Of Caregivers: A Double Blind Experimental Study, Reginald Gerard Jefferson

Dissertations

The caregiver population has recently been recognized in society as a population highly susceptible to problems related to increased anxiety, burden, and abnormal psychological well-being. This experimental pretest post-test 2-group double-blind study was designed to measure the efficacy of cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) on anxiety and depressive symptoms of caregivers. Changes in anxiety and depressive symptoms were identified using pre- and posttest measures of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. Caregivers were assigned a pre-coded CES device. Neither the researcher nor the caregiver knew whether a device was active or sham until the completion of the entire study. This …

Noncognitive Factors: Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Graduates’ Perceived Influence On College Readiness, Cindi Swenson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe how deaf and hard of hearing college graduates perceive the extent to which Farrington’s (2012) five noncognitive factors influenced their ability to successfully complete a four-year college degree.

Methodology: This phenomenological study identified and described the extent to which noncognitive factors influenced deaf and hard of hearing college graduates’ ability to successfully attain their college degree. Eight participants were selected through purposeful sampling based on criteria including being a resident in California and graduating with a four-year college degree between 2017 and 2020. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews …