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A Mixed Method Study: Assessing Critical Thinking, Metacognition, And Motivation In A Flipped Classroom Instructional Model, Phyllis Brown

Dissertations

Technology has changed pedagogical methods in higher education. Educators are using technology more and integrating more active learning techniques. One pedagogical method, the flipped classroom, is suitable for integrating technology and active learning techniques. The pedagogical efficacy of the flipped classroom has not been determined despite being a potential solution for technology savvy millennial students. This mixed method study assessed critical thinking, metacognition, and motivation in higher education flipped classrooms in the United States. Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) members teaching traditional and flipped format science courses were purposefully selected to participate in the study. A sample of 14 …

Life Without Choice: How Do Mothers With Children Living In Direct Provision In Ireland Feel About Their Limited Role As Family Food Providers?, Michele Moran

Dissertations

Direct Provision was introduced in Ireland during the year 2000. Latest figures show 5,848 asylum seekers are in Direct Provision (RIA, 2018). Physical and mental health research studies have highlighted the challenges within this system (Manandhar et al., 2008). Food provision is one of these challenges. Food, culture, religion, income, and isolation are highlighted in this research study. The key objectives of this research were (1) to review the literature on aspects of food and identity, culture, tribalism, and ethnicity concerning asylum seekers living in Direct Provision in Ireland. (2) To conduct qualitative semi-structured interviews with mothers living in different …

Differences In Treatment Utilization Between Fee Paying And Non-Fee Paying Clients In A Counseling Training Clinic, Katherine E. Sammons

Dissertations

Freud’s writings and cognitive dissonance theories assume that paying a fee for mental health services is necessary for client motivation to progress through treatment; however, empirical study has failed to support this assertion. Regular client utilization (as measured by total number of sessions, number of cancellations, and persistence through a planned termination session) is correlated with improved client treatment outcome and is essential for providing counselors-in-training with the opportunity to practice and demonstrate counseling skills. Prior literature illustrates that counseling training clinics may experience premature termination at a greater rate than other outpatient settings due to two primary issues: (a) …

The Lived Experience Of Underrepresented Pre-Nursing Students: An Exploration To Diversify The Nursing Workforce, Katie Bagley

Dissertations

Understanding about the experience of underrepresented students making the decision to choose nursing as a career would improve the ability of nursing programs to recruit applicants from a more diverse background. The purpose of this research was to explore the experience of underrepresented students who are considering nursing as a career but have not yet applied to a nursing program. This research was conducted using a descriptive phenomenological research method. Thirteen participants participated in the study. The participant interviews were interpreted as an expression of pre-nursing students from racially or ethnically underrepresented backgrounds who are feeling they are in a …

The Resilience Within: Perspectives From Adults Supporting Foster Children, Andrea Ellen Alvarado

Dissertations

The goal of this qualitative multicase study was to obtain a better understanding of resiliency in placement stable foster children through interviews with significant supportive adults. Case studies were centered on six foster children associated with a child welfare agency in a Rocky Mountain region. Children ranged in age from 5 to 15 years old and lived in foster-to-adopt placements. Information was gathered from the foster parent(s) and the social worker of each child, with a total of 7 foster parents and 4 social workers interviewed. Both within-case and cross-case analyses were conducted using a phenomenological approach to identify common …

Loss Of A Sibling: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Experiences Of School-Aged Children, Barbara Dixon

Dissertations

More than 50,000 child mortalities are recorded in the U.S. each year. As a result, almost 8% of the population experience the loss of a brother or sister before age 25 (Jacobs & Bovasso, 2000). This study was an open conversational exchange with ten Grief Counselors who worked with school-aged children, who had experienced the loss of a sibling, to identify the behaviors and expressions of this group of Disenfranchised Grievers. Three patterns were identified: 1) Grief in children takes different forms, 2) Sibling loss in childhood is a life-changing event and 3) Childhood grief has its own time. Each …

The Experience Of Families When A Child Is Diagnosed With Cancer With A Favorable Diagnosis, Laura Clarke-Steffen

Dissertations

The major objective of this longitudinal, descriptive study was to describe the family transition to living with childhood cancer, from the family's point of view, when a child is diagnosed with cancer with a favorable prognosis. The major research question was: What is the experience of families when a child is diagnosed with cancer with a favorable prognosis? A convenience sample consisted of 40 members of 7 families with a child recently diagnosed with cancer with a favorable prognosis at a northwestern health sciences university hospital. Cancer with a favorable prognosis was defined to be any subtype of cancer with …

An Investigation Into The Conceptualisations Of Leadership Among Early Childhood Teachers In Ireland., Edel Fenlon

Dissertations

Leadership in an Irish Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) context is a new and emerging ideology at a policy and practice level. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the conceptualisations of leadership held by early childhood teachers who work directly with children in Ireland. This study explored the associations of leadership held by participants, recognition of leadership potential and attributes of effective leadership; through an interpretivist paradigm. Within this paradigm, a qualitative research design was selected to capture the lived experiences of leadership of participants. Six semi-structured interviews we completed with early childhood teachers from rural Ireland. …

Identifying Potential Predictors Of Health Literacy And Steps Taken To Pursue Kidney Transplant Among African-Americans On Dialysis, Stacy Skelton

Dissertations

The dissertation attempts to address the disparity seen in all transplant centers today, the low number of African-American end-stage renal disease(ESRD) patients pursing kidney transplant as renal replacement therapy. Currently, there are two renal replacement options, dialysis or a kidney transplant. Research has shown that kidney transplant provides the best health care outcomes in terms of quality of life and decrease mortality. While African-Americans carry the burden of the disease by being four times more likely to have ESRD they only represent 1/3 of the kidney transplants done in the United States. There have been three attempts to increase access …

A Case Study Of A Jail Participating In An Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Program, Erica Schlau

Dissertations

A crisis state is often the result of being admitted to jail, due to the catastrophic impact incarceration can have on personal and professional lives. Unlike other studies, the present study focuses on inmates in jail rather than in prison. To address jail inmates in a crisis state, the current best practice is suicide prevention, which does not effectively consider the needs of jail inmates. Recently emerging in the literature is the use of animal-assisted crisis response (AACR) to serve individuals experiencing a crisis. There is a lack of research on the use of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) with the population …

The Impact Of Male Gender Dissonance On Women’S Potential Eligibility For Advancement To K-12 Public School Superintendent, Mona Lee Montgomery

Dissertations

Purpose:The purpose of this phenomenological replication study was to discover what behaviors female administrators exhibit that may prompt male administrators with whom they work with in California public educationto demonstrate behaviors associated with gender dissonanceand to discover any impact these dissonant behaviors may have on women’s potential eligibility for advancement to the position of K-12 school superintendent.

Methodology:This qualitative phenomenological replication study explored the experiences of seven female and seven male K-12 public school superintendents in Orange, San Diego, and Riverside Counties in California. Respondents were selected based on delimiting criteria and a purposive criterion sampling method. …

An Exploration Of Nurses' Knowledge Of Right Hemisphere Stroke Associated Communication Impairments, Susan K. Brooks

Dissertations

In the U. S. approximately 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke yearly. Stroke survival has increased with advances in medical technology. The impact of stroke on a patient's neurological status poses critical challenges for nurses. Communication is one area impacted by stroke. Strokes affecting the brain's right hemisphere (RHS) have been described in the literature as negatively impacting communication behaviors of patients, often in a subtle manner. The purpose of this exploratory descriptive study was to examine the knowledge that RNs in North Carolina possess about communication impairments associated with RHS and how these nurses anticipate using knowledge …

Building A Social Identity: Peer-To-Peer Sexual Harassment In Adolescents, Denise Giannascoli Link

Dissertations

Peer-to-peer sexual harassment is pervasive in secondary schools and is responsible for a number of health effects such as sleeplessness, loss of self-esteem and depression, as well as other negative educational and social effects (AAUW, 1993; Morrisey, 1995; PCSW, 1995; vanRoosmalen & McDaniel, 1998). As a behavior that is learned, the incidence of peer-to-peer sexual harassment may be reduced through interventions aimed at changing inappropriate and harmful behavior. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the basic social psychological process that induces and perpetuates peer-to-peer sexual harassment in adolescents. In order to achieve this goal, it was …

The Concept Of Interprofessional Collaboration In Baccalaureate Nursing Education Programs: A Descriptive Survey, Sylvia Kleiman Fields

Dissertations

In response to multiple social and political forces towards interprofessional collaboration in health care delivery, professional educators and others have espoused the need for educational programs which prepare future health practitioners for team practice. A descriptive survey was conducted of National League for Nursing accredited baccalaureate programs during 1975 and 1976 to identify the current status of interprofessional learning for baccalaureate nursing students, to describe specific characteristics of these programs, and to identify the factors perceived as promoting and/or inhibiting interprofessional learning opportunities by nurse educators in programs providing such experiences and in programs not currently offering such opportunities. The …

Testing The Efficacy Of A Nurse-Led, Patient Self-Management Intervention To Decrease Rehospitalization In Older Adults, Merrily W. Evdokimoff

Dissertations

Rehospitalization rates of 20% within 30 days of hospital discharge and 27% within 60 days are one of the highest strains on the federal Medicare budget. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has responded by imposing financial disincentives in reimbursement regulations directed to those providers deemed responsible for preventable rehospitalizations. Identifying cost-effective interventions that are appropriate for individuals with chronic illnesses that may be provided within the current home health care system of reimbursement is critical. The purpose of this quasi-scientific intervention study was to test the efficacy of a cost-effective, nurse-led intervention to decrease rehospitalizations of community …

Women With Correctable Fetal Anomaly Participating In Perinatal Team Counseling: An Exploratory Study, Maria R. Reyes

Dissertations

Fetal anomalies are the second leading cause of infant death, and a major cause of long-term infant disability. Approximately 3% of U.S. births are complicated by major fetal anomalies. Advances in prenatal technologies, changes to universal screening standards, and changes in maternal characteristics have increased the likelihood of fetal anomaly detection. However, currently, we lack the research necessary to evaluate current intervention strategies used to assess what women need to effectively cope with the emotional turmoil that accompanies a prenatal diagnosis. Likened to a significantly traumatic life-event, women diagnosed with a fetal anomaly describe negative emotional responses such as anxiety, …

Factors Associated With Health Care Personnel Intentions To Respond To A Public Health Event, Susan B. Connor

Dissertations

Health care personnel (HCP) are an important link in emergency response. Yet, researchers have reported that not all HCP intend to respond when a public health event (PHE) occurs. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) was the theoretical framework for this study.

The objective of this study was to explore factors associated with HCP intentions to respond to a future PHE.

Effectiveness Of Alternative School Interventions In Reducing Incidences Of Violence In Schools And Improving Attendance And Graduation Rates, Norman Robinson

Dissertations

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine whether alternative school interventions were effective in reducing the incidences of violence in schools and improving attendance and graduation rates, whether positive behavior intervention supports were effective intervention strategies in school violence prevention initiatives, and whether parental and community involvements were necessary for intervention strategies and supports to be effective in school violence prevention initiatives. I was concerned about the negative impact violence had on academics, health, the school environment, and within the community. I expected to identify as many problem types as possible and research similar problems in other areas to …

Leadership Trust: A Phenomenological Study Of How Major Superiors Of Catholic Women Religious Institutes Build Trust With Professed Members, Mary Amanda Nwagbo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore how major superiors of Catholic women religious institutes build trust with professed members, using the 5 domains of competence, consistency, candor, concern, and connection.

Methodology: The study used a qualitative phenomenological research design to explore the lived experiences and behaviors of leaders with reputations of trusting relationships with their members. The study sample included 10 major superiors of Catholic women religious institutes in Southern California who exhibit trusting relationships with their members. Data were collected using interviews, observations, and artifacts and analyzed with the assistance of NVivo software, revealing …

How Do Social Care Managers In Disability Services Experience Regulation And Inspection?, Deirdre Connolly

Dissertations

Regulation is one of the ways in which the State seeks to ensure that health and social care services are safe for those that are using them. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is the regulatory body in Ireland charged by the State to assure the public that these services are safe. This study set out to understand how social care managers, in the role of person in charge (PIC) of residential services for adults with disabilities, experience HIQA’s regulatory process and to explore how these experiences impact on social care managers, and on service improvement more generally.

Retrieving And Reimagining Sanctuary And Solidarity: Racial Disparities In Infant Mortality, Alyson Capp

Dissertations

In Milwaukee, Black babies die before their first birthday nearly three times as often as White and Hispanic babies. Prematurity is the major cause of infant mortality, and social determinants of health play a large role. Commitments from within Christian bioethical traditions can critique ethical frameworks commonly in use in US bioethics by calling for the incorporation of analysis of social power dynamics that is necessary for addressing this issue. Original ethnographic fieldwork that listens closely to Black mothers and health professionals uncovers key themes related to women's and infant health at the intersection of race, class, and gender. By …

An Action Research Project Addressing The Perception Of Strengths And Barriers To Communication At The Onset Of The Mtss Initiative Within The High School Setting, Taliah Ziyad-Nau

Dissertations

The issue that this study addresses is the communication of the MTSS initiative within the high school setting. The MTSS process will allow access to evidence based intervention programs for student social, emotional support. The study consists of parallel interview protocols to understand the perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses in the communication of how to access the student support services. The results of interviewing a sample of staff and parents to understand how to improve access to student social, emotional supports within the high school setting indicated that the strength of the MTSS initiative related to the availability of …

An Exploration Of Managers’ Perspectives On Their Role In Managing Community Early Years Services : Influences And Insights, Jessica Lee

Dissertations

This exploration into theperspectives of managers of community Early Years services stems from the absence of a requirement of a qualification for supernumerary managers in Early Years services in Ireland and the resulting ambiguity of definedfunctions of such managers and contextually specific requirements. The aim of the study is to gain a deep insight into the perspectives ofthe participants on their roles in leading and managing their services. The objectives are to understand what internal and external factors have shaped their roles, to locate the dichotomies and harmonies between what iscontextuallyrequired of managersand what the true reality of a manager’s …

Male Nurse Practitioners' Views On Nursing Education As A Career Option: An Inductive Qualitative Content Analysis, James Mcdavid

Dissertations

As the nursing shortage continues, the demand for new nurses will increase. In 2015, nursing schools in the United States turned away 62,361 qualified applicants in the baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs (Fang, Li, Arietti, & Trautman, 2016). The number of funded, vacant nursing faculty positions increased from 6.9% in 2014 to 7.1% in 2015 (Fang et al., 2016). One idea to help with the nursing faculty shortage is to recruit male RNs into nurse faculty positions. Males count for 10.6% of nurses in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). However, men only count for 5.5% of …

The Evaluation Of Attitudes Towards Individuals With Mental Illness Among Counselors In Training, Randall Boen

Dissertations

Negative attitudes and stigma associated with mental illness have a profound impact on individuals who experience them. Researchers have defined stigma as the attribution of a deviant characteristic to members of a particular group. Persons with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) face many difficulties that impact their full participation in social life. Although attitudinal reactions to individuals with SPMI have improved considerably over the last few decades, there are still areas for improvement. Limited research has been conducted to evaluate attitudes and stigma associated with individuals with SPMI among human service professionals-in-training (HSPs). For this study HSPs were defined …

Provider Perspectives: Examining The Transition From Ei To Ecse, Katherine Ancell

Dissertations

Children with disabilities might experience multiple transitions during their early years. One important transition that occurs for many children with disabilities or developmental delays and their families is the transition from Early Intervention (EI) to Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services at three years of age. The stress of this transition may be exacerbated for families of young children with disabilities as the shifts between services involve many choices and decisions depending on the child’s level of need. Effective transition procedures for children with disabilities sets the stage for future positive or negative transition experiences and optimal learning experiences in …

The Impact Of Learning Contracts On Eating Habits Groups, Jose Jones

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was for the researcher to explore adult education techniques and tools that could be used to explore eating habits within research study groups. The participants enrolled in the research study groups brought their own way of thinking on eating habit discussions based on their unique experience in life. The researcher explored different techniques that could help improve the participants’ quality of life and other positive solutions to benefit the participants. This research study explored the impact of learning contracts on participants with eating habit research-based study groups. The study explored the degree to which learning …

Parent Perception Of The Working Alliance, Parent Self-Efficacy, And Parent Locus Of Control As Predictors Of Child Therapy Outcome, Christopher Glenn Chandler

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that parent-therapist working alliance, parent self-efficacy, and parent locus of control have on child therapy outcomes. Bordin’s model of the working alliance provides a framework for measuring the collaboration between the parents and therapists while Social Cognitive Theory informs the decision to assess parent self-efficacy and parent locus of control.

The research questions were as follows: 1) Does a strong parent and therapist working alliance, as perceived by the parent, predict improved outcomes in child counseling? 2) Does parent self-efficacy predict outcomes in child counseling? 3) Does parent locus of …

Experiences Of African American Women And Their Ascension To Senior Academic Leadership Positions In Higher Education Institutions, Jennifer Simms

Dissertations

Previous research has noted that African American women are absent in senior administrative positions in institutions of higher education. Few studies have provided detailed insight into the experiences of African American women during their transition to senior-level leadership roles in the academy. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to document the experiences of African American women during their ascension to senior academic leadership positions in higher education institutions. This research employed purposeful sampling and snowball sampling to recruit five African American women in Midwestern U.S. who ascended to a leadership role within the Office of Academic Affairs. This …

Shame, Aggression, And Self-Compassion In At-Risk Adolescents, Sara Ashline Hofmann

Dissertations

Prior research has identified a strong link between experiences of shame and aggressive behavior in at-risk and offender populations but the mechanisms of this relationship are unclear. One potential interrupter of this relationship is self-compassion, a teachable emotional regulation skill. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether nonoffender at-risk youth differed significantly in levels of self-compassion, shame, and aggression from nonviolent offender and violent offender youth with the goal of evaluating these relationships to aid in the future development of more tailored and effective interventions for court-involved youth. One hundred and six at-risk adolescents in the Rocky Mountain …