Digital Commons Network^™

Navigating The Change Of Life: The Menopausal Transition Of Thai Immigrant Women, Bulaporn Natipagon-Shah Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Given that women continue to live more than three decades after menopause and their health and well-being in later life are determined by quality of health during the menopausal transition, menopause has become an important issue in the healthcare arena. The growing number of immigrant women in the United States signifies a need for healthcare providers to develop cultural knowledge and sensitivity toward each immigrant group regarding the issue of menopause. The purpose of this qualitative study was to build a substantive grounded theory of the experiences of menopausal transition among Thai immigrant women in the United States. Data collection …

From Presence To “E-Presence” In Online Nursing Education, Lisa M. Kaiser Phd, Msn, Bsn, Rn

Dissertations

Online web-based course offerings are now common in many institutions of higher education In response to the current and severe nursing shortage, estimated to represent a 20% vacancy rate by the year 2015, (Tarkin, 2003) many more universities have created online nursing courses for registered nurses wishing to continue their education in nursing. The National League for Nursing (NLN) set research priorities that urged exploration of the impact that technology has on the content and nature of teaching and learning in nursing education (1999). Using a series of separate synchronous, online focus groups and 1:1 interviews with nurse educator experts …

How Leaders Use The Construct Of Culture To Influence Change Resistance: A Study Of A Planned Change Initiative In A Combined Government And Military Organization, Derek R. Noether Edd

Dissertations

The construct of organizational culture has been used to interpret various aspects of organizational life, including organizational leadership and organizational change. The literature indicates that leaders can influence organizational change by attending to and modifying an organization's cultural dimensions. Much of this literature, however, is theoretical and speculative, and the empirical work that does exist has focused mostly on business. The purpose of this case study was to develop an understanding of how leaders in a combined government and military organization used the notion of culture during a two-and-a-half year planned change initiative. The study explored the strategies and mental …

Cognitive Orthotics For Students With Cognitive Disabilities, James V. Yanna

Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of a hand-held computer to guide an individual with a moderate cognitive impairment as he or she completed a complex daily living task. Performance was compared with that occasioned by a human supervisor. A third condition, assistance first from a human supervisor, and then by the computerized orthotic, was also evaluated. The task selected was a baking task.

Subjects were nine students, ranging in age from 17 to 24 years. All subjects were classified as cognitively impaired according to the Michigan Special Education Rules and Regulations. Assessment information showed most to be performing at a …

The Interactive Roles Of Gender And Ethnicity In African-American Women's Mental Health, Dianna Nadine Moses-Nunley

Dissertations

Abstract For African-American women, female gender and African-American (AA) ethnicity combine to create experiences of discrimination, discrimination related stress, and mental health issues that are not encountered by individuals who occupy only one of these status variables. Gender and ethnicity also influence socioeconomic status, an additional variable affecting the experiences and issues that AA women uniquely encounter. The first goal of this study was to examine the ways in which the combined social statuses of gender and ethnicity influence the discriminatory experiences and mental health of AA women. The second goal was to determine the ways in which AA women¿s …

Think First For Kids (Tffk): A Longitudinal Analysis Of A School-Based Injury Prevention Curriculum, Dorothy L. Zirkle Phd

Dissertations

Despite years of legislative and public health efforts, unintentional injury continues to be a serious public health problem and is identified as a major priority on the national health care agenda. The high incidence of unintentional injury in the middle childhood age group is of particular interest due to immaturity of the cognitive, psychosocial, and neurophysical dimensions of the child. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a school-based curriculum on improving knowledge and self-reported safety behaviors over time among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse elementary school aged children. The social, cultural, cognitive, and behavioral learning theory …

The Three-Contingency Model Of Self-Management, Holly C. Harrison

Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to evaluate people's needs for self-management and the effectiveness of their use of the three-contingency model of self-management. This model prescribes a set of self-management procedures that can be applied to self-manage virtually any behavior. College students used these procedures to manage their own behavior as part of an extended psychology-course assignment.

This evaluation began with the Procrastination Survey, the results of which assessed the frequency of the students' self-management problems. The self-management interventions of up to 168 students were then evaluated using their self-reported performance data and an anonymous survey. The performance data …

Who Voted?: Social Class And Participation In United States Presidential Elections, Uisoon Kwon

Dissertations

Low turnout remains a persistent problem in American politics. The decline in turnout has been studied in various ways. In some cases scholars analyze aggregate turnout data and compare turnout in election districts with high and low concentrations o f particular ,social groups (Neimi and Weisberg, 1993). In other cases, surveys provide an opportunity to examine the causes and correlates o f turnout at the individual level. Various researchers find that socio-economic factors are related to turnout. People with more education vote at much higher rates than those with less education, higher income and middle class people are more likely …

Examining The Keyword Mnemonic Strategy As An Effective Academic Intervention For High School Students Labeled Emotional Or Behavioral Disordered, Karen A. Kleinheksel

Dissertations

This investigation explored whether keyword mnemonic strategies were effective for high school aged students labeled emotional or behavioral disordered(E/BD) in recalling the definitions of scientific vocabulary terms. Ten students labeled E/BD from a suburban public high school in a Midwestern state participated in this investigation. A demographic description of the subjects indicated the following information: (a) all students' ethnicities were Caucasian, (b) sixty percent of the subjects were male, (c) the average subject's age was 17 years 1 month, and (d) all students were in the tenth through twelfth grades.

In a multiple baseline across subjects design using a single …

Factors Affecting Treatment Program Development In A Mental Health Facility Serving Prisoners, Ruby Miranda Meriweather

Dissertations

There is a paucity of literature on how treatment programs for mentally ill prisoners are developed. Federal mandates require that services to mentally ill prisoners be comparable to what is offered in the community. Planners, therefore, must find ways to provide treatment programs that produce that outcome.

This research identified the most important factors that affect treatment program development and implementation to aid planners in designing treatment programs for mentally ill prisoners. This qualitative study, based on grounded theory, used a structured interview with 61 mental health staff (psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and activity therapists) across three categories (Administrative, …

Meaningful Learning: Reconciling The Tensions Between Constructivist And Environmentally Sustainable Pedagogy, Nancy Van Kannel-Ray

Dissertations

Critics of constructivism argue, in many ways correctly, that this approach to education is culturally and environmentally damaging because constructivism may not develop an understanding of the interdependence between the human community and the world in which people live. Advocates for environmentally sustainable pedagogy argue the importance of understanding patterns of thinking that allow communities to live sustainably. The purpose of this study is to resolve the tensions between the two pedagogical frameworks: constructivism and environmental sustainability.

The tensions are resolved in two ways. First, there are forms of constructivism that align in viable ways with the criteria critics argue …

Reconciling Temporalities: A Substantive Explanation Of The Origins Of Difficulty In The Nurse Patient Encounter, Marilyn Theresa Macdonald Phd

Dissertations

Nurses describe patients as difficult on a regular basis. Nursing research to date has assumed the existence of this phenomenon. Most studies have listed descriptors of the difficult patient and offered interventions for nurses to use to alter patient behavior. Locating of difficulty within the individual and failure to consider the context of the nurse patient encounter is problematic. The practice of locating difficulty in the individual absolves organizations and society of responsibility to work to change factors that contribute to the construction of difficulty. The purpose of this research was to move beyond a focus on the patient as …

Impact Of Standards On Physical Education Teacher Education: Curriculum, Collaboration, And Learning Outcomes, Xiangren Yi

Dissertations

Standards are sweeping across the physical education teacher education field. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether national standards had influenced a change of curriculum, and whether curriculum changes were related to standards, individual or institutional variables. The analysis will also identify whether there are any individual and institutional characteristics that are significant predictors for determining curriculum. This study's targeted participants are a random sample of 110 program directors working in institutions that have a Physical Education Teacher Education program.

Differences were found to exist in directors' perceptions regarding curriculum. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA analysis demonstrated the impact …

Hope—Heartbeat Of Adult Education: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Phillip L. Moulden

Dissertations

This phenomenological study of the phenomenon—hope identified two essential meaning structures (“change” and “human agency”) in the experiences communicated by the Adult Educators interviewed. It was also discovered that hope is an energy that interacts with Affective, Relative (Re-lay-tive), and Cognitive energies in the lives of the research participants. Understanding how “change” and “human agency” can be aligned with these A.R.C. energies holds implications for further research and the practice of Adult Education.

Characterizing The Evolution Of Operating Systems, Yi Peng

Dissertations

Examining the development and trends in software engineering technology is a huge undertaking. It is constantly evolving and affected by a large number of factors, which are themselves driven by a wide range of sub-factors. This dissertation is part of a long term project intended to analyze software engineering technology trends and how they evolve. This project is intended to analyze operating system trends and what are the factors that drive how they evolve. Basically, the following questions will be answered: "How to watch, predict, adapt to, and affect operating system's evolution trends?"

In previous research, YF Chen used statistical …

Live, Virtual, And Constructive Environments For Performance Support, John Michael Lacontora

Dissertations

As military systems become more complex, the operation and support of these systems becomes intrinsically more difficult. The U.S. Army's current procurement process relies on industry to provide embedded training and performance support tools for the systems they produce. These tools are relatively new and in the early stages of development. As yet, they have failed to meet the needs of the technicians that are required to support these complex systems. Current efforts to provide enabling technologies that enhance the capabilities of automotive maintenance technicians are concentrated in three professional communities. First is the Performance Improvement community where work is …

Narratives Of Adolescent Students: The Integration Of Health And Learning Through Application Of Nursing Theory, Marjean Huber

Dissertations

Problem. There are few resources to show educators how to help students improve learning by improving health and mental well-being. There is a lack of integration in the literature in terms of how practitioners can reach these students in order to help them learn effectively and develop into successful, productive adults with meaningful lives. This study has three major sections. First, I examine my experiences within education to determine what values, truths, and principles mold my practice. Second, I identify my teaching practice in relationship to nursing theory integrating it with learning theory, thus highlighting the relationship between the health …

Intuitive Decision Making And Leadership Style Among Healthcare Executives In The United States, Cherie Whiting

Dissertations

The purpose of this two-phased, sequential, exploratory, mixed-methods study was to survey a sample of Fellows in the American College of Healthcare Executives in the United States and then interview selected individuals who scored in the highly intuitive category on the intuition survey to explore how they made intuitive decisions. In the first phase, quantitative research questions addressed the relationship between leadership style and the potential to make intuitive decisions, as well as the relationship and interaction between the potential to make intuitive decisions and age, gender, and size of company. In the second phase, qualitative interviews were used to …

Theology Of Judgment In Genesis 6-9, Chun Sik Park

Dissertations

The present dissertation seeks to develop a theology of judgment in Gen 6-9. Following an introductory chapter, the second chapter is devoted to analyzing the three main extrabiblical ANE flood stories (the Eridu Genesis, the Atra-Hasis Epic, and the Gilgamesh Epic) from the four aspects of judgment: date, cause and purpose, extent, and procedure. The analysis of those stories reveals that the ANE flood was a historical and local (global dimension is implied) event without moral cause, and that the judgment of the deities had a procedure of investigation, sentence, execution, and mitigation. The third chapter treats the theology of …

The Effect Of Embedded Metacognitive Prompts And Probes On Students’ Awareness In A Multimedia Lesson For Elementary School Students, Wendy Janine Parcel Edd

Dissertations

In a study he called The Effect of Embedded Metacognitive Cues and Probes on Use of Learner Control Features in an On-line Lesson for Elementary Students, Watson (2001) found that minimal prompting by an online tutorial increased 5th grade students’ comprehension of how much they understood. While Watson’s findings demonstrated a significant difference in the ability of prompted and non-prompted students to accurately predict their own performance on posttests, actual scores were not greater than those of control students until the results were analyzed by gender. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend Watson’s study to determine …

Suicide Attempt And Characteristics Of Religiously Affiliated Puerto Rican Adolescents And Young Adults, Saúl Rivera

Dissertations

Problem. Recent research has identified several risk factors associated with attempted suicide among the general population. Puerto Ricans, in general, and Puerto Rican Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs), in particular, may face unique challenges that are related to their familial, social, and religious environment that may affect the suicidal attempts among this group. Therefore, this study examined family-related factors, history of being abused, religiosity factors, sexuality factors, gender, substance abuse, age, and socioeconomic status factors among a sample of religiously affiliated Puerto Ricans (73.2% SDAs) living on the island.

Methodology. The data for the study came from the Avance PR study. Avance …

Aims Of Education In The Writings Of Ellen White, Erling Bernhard Snorrason

Dissertations

Problem. Ellen White’s educational philosophy and its application to the aims of education have not been systematically or thoroughly addressed within the parameters and demands of a graduate thesis. The present dissertation explores the aims of education, especially the ultimate aims of education, in the writings of Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and could be of value in assessing the present Seventh-day Adventist educational enterprise.

Method. This dissertation is a description and an analysis of Ellen White’s concept of education as revealed by her understanding of the aims of education. It is a …

Youth Ministry And Beliefs And Values Among 10- To 19-Year-Old Students In The Seventh-Day Adventist School System In North America, A. Barry Gane

Dissertations

Problem. A survey of the literature revealed that there was little by way of empirical study on the relationship between youth ministry and attitudes, beliefs, and values held by young people. We empirically tested the anecdotal evidence that youth ministry is effective in the transmission of beliefs and values. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether Seventh-day Adventist youth ministry in North America makes any difference in the lives of youth in the Seventh-day Adventist school system.

Method. The sample for this study was 10,832 10- to 19-year old students enrolled in SDA schools in 2001. …

Wendell Berry's Sociological Imagination: Agrarian Values And Good Leadership In A Postmodern Culture, Paul Alan Kaak

Dissertations

Problem. The question guiding my dissertation research was: In what ways do the writings of Wendell Berry, reflecting his sociological imagination, address and advance leadership theory with specific regard for the issue of agrarian values?

Method. I used the writings of Wendell Berry as a modified case study for my inductive, theoretical, exploratory research in a qualitative vein. As I reviewed his writings, I identified his moral ideology and extracted his value-set. Along the way, I observed Berry's use of a method promoted by C. Wright Mills in his book The Sociological Imagination (1959). Since sociological imagination finds …

Staying In Ministry: A Qualitative Study Of Seventh-Day Adventist Women Pastors, Leslie Helfer Bumgardner

Dissertations

Problem. Women pastors in the Seventh-day Adventist Church function under limitations not imposed upon their male colleagues. This study explored the pastoral experiences of 11 Adventist women clergy serving in the United States and what contributed to their longevity in ministry.

Method. This qualitative study followed a narrative design. Data from the purposive sample were obtained through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. The constant comparative method was utilized to code data into emergent themes. The following methods were utilized to enhance internal validity: triangulation; member checks; clarifying researcher bias; rich/thick description; including negative or discrepant information; and peer debriefing. Two …

Perceptions And Attitudes Of Selected Adventist And Non-Adventist Parents Of School-Age Children Toward Adventist Schools In Canada, Mike Mile Lekic

Dissertations

Purpose of the Study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions and attitudes toward Adventist schools in Canada of Adventist parents with children in Adventist schools, of Adventist parents without children in Adventist schools, and of non-Adventist parents who at the time of this study had children in Adventist schools, and to look for reasons why these parents send or do not send their children to Adventist schools in Canada.

Method. The Adventist Education in Canada Parents' Attitude Survey was developed and used to gather information about spiritual focus, academic excellence, school accessibility, administrators and teachers, …

Spiritual Well-Being And Quality Of Life As Correlates Of Job Stress Among Academic Chairpersons In Selected Seventh-Day Adventist Tertiary Institutions, Russell Mark Aldridge

Dissertations

Problem . Stress, like pain, begins at birth and remains common to the human condition throughout life, and it is a factor in the experience of every human being who ever lived. It is not merely universal but it is also endemic and omnipresent. Chairpersons, due to the bi-directional demands of administration and students are in a stressful environment. This study was undertaken to identify whether quality of life and spiritual well-being play an important role in occupational stress levels in chairpersons of Seventh-day Adventist Tertiary Institutions.

Method. Three questionnaires were used to get responses from 137 chairpersons in …

Job Satisfaction And Its Relationship To Organizational And Religious Commitment Among Workers At Northern Caribbean University, Donna Brown

Dissertations

Problem. Recruiting teachers and motivating them to stay in their jobs present a challenge to educational institutions in Jamaica. Given the importance of workers' satisfaction to the health of an organization and the link between job satisfactionand turnover rate, then an examination of job satisfaction at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) is a priority. Based on this background, the primary focus of this study was to investigate job satisfaction and its relationship to organizational and religious commitment among workers at NCU.

Method. This study utilized a quantitative, descriptive research design. A survey questionnaire was sent to all full-time administrators …

A Descriptive Examination Of Protective Factors: Analysis Of Male Completers Of An Alternative Educational Program, Rona Dominique Roberts

Dissertations

A growing number of students, primarily at the high school level, are being assigned to alternative education programs for behavior management. These students, who engage in risky behaviors, may also come from high-risk environments, suggesting a possible correlation between these two factors that may increase the likelihood of unsuccessful life outcomes. Very little research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of these programs after completion; however, because of the increasing prevalence of alternative education programs across the nation, questions have emerged as to whether or not students assigned to these programs will continue to engage in at-risk behaviors after …

Evaluating Progress In Behavioral Programs For Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Continuous Versus Intermittent Data Collection, Anne Rena Cummings

Dissertations

It is well documented that intensive behavioral treatment of early childhood autism can result in significant improvements in adaptive behavior. The typical teaching format in such programs is based on the restricted operant (i.e., discrete trial) in which the performance of an exemplar skill follows a clear instruction and precedes programmed reinforcement or error correction. Because of the often-intensive nature of behavioral treatment, it is not unusual for thousands of learning opportunities to be presented each week. There currently exists a professional debate regarding the frequency of data collection necessary in autism treatment programs. One side of the argument favors …