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Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

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Sustainable African American Marriages: Evaluating The Impact Of Closeness To God And Religiosity On Marital Satisfaction And Longevity, Kimberly Anissa Gregory Dec 2019

Sustainable African American Marriages: Evaluating The Impact Of Closeness To God And Religiosity On Marital Satisfaction And Longevity, Kimberly Anissa Gregory

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Religion and religious involvement extend beyond individual satisfaction to also include influencing marital and family relationships. In spite of the research supporting the perceived benefits of marriage, including overall emotional and physical health, decrease in stress, alcohol and drug use, and increase in lifespan, African Americans marriage rates are lower compared to White Americans. Consequently, African Americans have the highest divorce rate and the highest incidences of single-parent homes. Religiosity is often overlooked as an important component that contributes to satisfaction and enduring relationships. There is also a perceived relationship between closeness to God and romantic attachment that leads to …


The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Surrender, And God Attachment And Its Impact On Depression And Anxiety, Shalana Marlene Palermo Dec 2019

The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Surrender, And God Attachment And Its Impact On Depression And Anxiety, Shalana Marlene Palermo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore how God attachment may impact surrender to God and how mindfulness relates to the relationship between surrender and God attachment. Additionally, this study explores how surrender, God attachment and mindfulness might work together to impact symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study comprised 82 participants from a large Christian university that was enrolled in the university’s online doctoral counseling program. Using a quantitative survey research design, participants completed the following self-report measures online: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Surrender Scale, Attachment to God Inventory, and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. Bivariate and multiple …


Teacher Retention, Teacher Attrition, And Teacher Personalities, Kathryn Nabors Metherell Dec 2019

Teacher Retention, Teacher Attrition, And Teacher Personalities, Kathryn Nabors Metherell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The teaching profession is currently suffering from the number of teachers who leave the classroom before retirement. Many corporations use personality testing to determine if an individual is suitable for a position and if they are likely to remain in that position for the duration of their career. A causal-comparative research design was used to determine if there was a difference in teachers who left the classroom before retirement, teachers who officially retired under normal circumstances, biological sex, and personality type. The Big Five Inventory-2 was used to determine the personality types of the participants. The participants were categorized into …


Challenges Of Underserved Students In Disadvantaged Schools: Influence Of Training On School Counselors’ Self-Efficacy, Latonya Lovet Bunch Dec 2019

Challenges Of Underserved Students In Disadvantaged Schools: Influence Of Training On School Counselors’ Self-Efficacy, Latonya Lovet Bunch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A child’s social, mental, and emotional well-being is significant to his/her daily functioning and academic achievement. Socioeconomic impoverished students are often burdened by traumatic experiences and stressors from their homes, communities, and school environment that can exacerbate academic difficulties. Schools in low socio-economic status (SES) communities are frequently coupled with educational disadvantages. Consequently, the lack of expectations, resources, training, and qualified staff often characterizes schools in these communities. For these reasons, these challenges require additional development of school counselors’ capabilities. To serve all students, it is important for practicing school counselors to increase their awareness of the specific needs to …


Perceptual Differences In School Climate Between Administrators And Teachers Within Christian Schools, Cheryl Turner Cavanaugh Dec 2019

Perceptual Differences In School Climate Between Administrators And Teachers Within Christian Schools, Cheryl Turner Cavanaugh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

School climate has been researched for the past 100 years. However, there is a lack of school climate research focused on perceptual differences between school leaders and teachers. It is important to evaluate stakeholder differences, as principals are tasked with forming the climate of the school and teachers are responsible for relaying that climate to students. Furthermore, there is a lack of school climate studies conducted in private Christian schools. Christian school leaders need school climate data to help sustain and improve Christian education. The purpose of this causal comparative study is to evaluate perceptual differences between administrators and teachers …


A Christ-Centered, Attachment Based, Church Program For The Healing Of Father Wounds, Stephen J. Madosky I Dec 2019

A Christ-Centered, Attachment Based, Church Program For The Healing Of Father Wounds, Stephen J. Madosky I

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Father wounds have devastated the hearts of men as to make impotent their effectiveness as fathers, leaders, and ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This dissertation used Christ- centered attachment-based theories to develop a church-driven program that includes discipleship disciplines along with counseling techniques to help develop a more secure relational attachment to God and therefore producing psychospiritual benefits, such as a greater love of self, others, and God. This research evaluated the efficacy of the development of this Christ-centered, attachment-based church program for the Healing of Father wounds. This program development looks to secure the participants’ attachment to …


Eradicating Recidivism: Evangelism For African American Men Impacted By Mass Incarceration, Anthony Mark Berry Dec 2019

Eradicating Recidivism: Evangelism For African American Men Impacted By Mass Incarceration, Anthony Mark Berry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Prison Industrial Complex impacts 2.3 million people, affects the poor, and the nation's minority family's ability to retain a sense of unity. These data impact community health with the absence of the father figures, lack of power to gain viable income, and in some cases, the right to vote. The issue decimates African American young men. This topic is needed because the research suggests a cyclic nature of excavation of human capital by incarceration and is depleting communities of capital by jailing wage earners from the Black community. Voting capital is dwindling in some states where felony crimes remove …


The American Unreformation: The Undoing Of American Evangelical Prominence And The Rise Of The Religiously Unaffiliated Nones, H G. Walker Dec 2019

The American Unreformation: The Undoing Of American Evangelical Prominence And The Rise Of The Religiously Unaffiliated Nones, H G. Walker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With over sixty percent of Protestant churches in America experiencing either plateaued or declining numbers, the ineffectiveness or outright inattention to evangelistic efforts is magnified by the aggressive growth of the Nones population; therefore, this dissertation project seeks to answer one central question related to the current increase in the number of Americans identifying as religiously unaffiliated: Are there identifiable religious resurgence mechanisms in American religious history that address the current rise of the Nones and if initiated would facilitate future religious resurgence? Lower levels of religious affiliation reveal a weakening of the heart of the Evangelical position on evangelization …


Fostering Whole Person Development Through High School Football: A Case Study, Joshua Daniel Cassidy Nov 2019

Fostering Whole Person Development Through High School Football: A Case Study, Joshua Daniel Cassidy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to describe how Coach Clark (pseudonym) addressed the development of the whole person during adolescence through high school football at County High School (pseudonym). Whole person development (WPD) during adolescence was generally defined as human development that was meant to involve all the parts (i.e., cognitive, social, spiritual, emotional, and physical) of a person. This study answered the following central research question: How does Coach Clark address the development of the whole person during adolescence through high school football at County High School? The results of this study showed that Coach Clark addressed the …


Noninvasive Ventilation Protocol Development, Janise Pierce Tinsman Nov 2019

Noninvasive Ventilation Protocol Development, Janise Pierce Tinsman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Endotracheal intubation results in many serious complications including regurgitation, vocal cord paralysis, and death. Noninvasive ventilation using bi-level positive airway pressure has been shown to provide the necessary support without intubation and is also associated with better outcomes if trialed prior to endotracheal intubation. A noninvasive ventilation protocol was applied in a rural acute care facility. Results: The average length of stay for acute respiratory failure decreased from 5.32 to 4.44 days, while intubations fell from 41.9% to zero, and mortality fell from 9.7% to zero during the pilot period. Five cases met criteria for noninvasive ventilation, and three received …


Perseverance Of Gifted And Talented Graduates From International Baccalaureate Diploma Programmes: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Jeannie Marie Steelreed Nov 2019

Perseverance Of Gifted And Talented Graduates From International Baccalaureate Diploma Programmes: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Jeannie Marie Steelreed

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the perseverance of gifted and talented graduates of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programmes. At this stage of the research, persevering factors are generally defined as characteristics such as academic rigor, family support, and community service, which lead to successful completion of the IBDP upon high school graduation (Atkas & Guven, 2015; Fitzgerald, 2015; Monreal, 2016; Ryan et al., 2014; Saavedra, 2016; Wright & Lee, 2014). Guiding this study was the social cognitive theory, by Albert Bandura, and the social development theory by Lev Vygotsky, as they relate the learning atmosphere to …


The Relationship Between Teachers’ Understanding And Implementation Of Differentiated Reading Instruction And Third-Graders’ Reading Achievement Scores, Diedre L. Capers Nov 2019

The Relationship Between Teachers’ Understanding And Implementation Of Differentiated Reading Instruction And Third-Graders’ Reading Achievement Scores, Diedre L. Capers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether the predictor variables, teachers’ perceived understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction, as measured by the Understanding and Implementation of Differentiated Instruction survey, had a relationship to the criterion variable, third-grade students’ reading achievement, as measured by the mClass: Reading 3D Text Reading and Comprehension Test. Using convenience sampling, third grade teachers from six rural North Carolina counties were invited to participate in the study. Data from 54 third grade teachers who consented to participate were analyzed using a Pearson product moment correlation. The results of this study indicated that a …


Mathematical Dispositions Of Novice Upper-Elementary Teachers: A Phenomenological Study, Leslie Anne Soltis Nov 2019

Mathematical Dispositions Of Novice Upper-Elementary Teachers: A Phenomenological Study, Leslie Anne Soltis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the mathematical dispositions of novice upper-elementary teachers by exploring their experiences as teachers of mathematics in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Ball’s theory of mathematical knowledge for teaching and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory guided this study. The research project sought to answer the central research question: How do novice upper-elementary teachers perceive and describe their experiences teaching mathematics? Data, in the forms of audio diaries, individual interviews, and online focus groups were collected from a purposeful sample of 10 novice upper-elementary teachers. Data analysis followed a systematic procedure …


Believers But Not Followers: The Unstoppable Misconduct And Neglect Of Christians Outside Ministries Duties, Fabio Delgado Nov 2019

Believers But Not Followers: The Unstoppable Misconduct And Neglect Of Christians Outside Ministries Duties, Fabio Delgado

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christianity is embedded in moral conduct, values, and norms which require believers to project a Christ-like nature. While the whole concept of Christianity is embodied in faith and righteousness, the current generation of believers has exhibited an increased state of secularism which contradicts biblical morals and drifts them further from the religious faith. This research stems from the increasingly common notion of “believers but not followers,” where Christians wittingly abandon their ministerial duties and engage in misconduct. The selection of this topic emanates from the deep concern regarding the rising trend of hypocrisy among believers and mainly propagated by events …


A Phenomenological Investigation Of Elementary School Counselors' Training Applicability With Students' Social-Emotional Wellbeing, Vanessa Camiel Costello Nov 2019

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Elementary School Counselors' Training Applicability With Students' Social-Emotional Wellbeing, Vanessa Camiel Costello

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to investigate the self-perceived preparedness of elementary school counselors’ to foster and promote students’ social-emotional wellbeing. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2016) stipulates in its National Model that school counselors are to assist students in their social-emotional wellbeing through their school counselors’ competencies. This study sought to fill the gap in the literature regarding elementary school counselors’ experiences in utilizing their training to foster and promote students’social-emotional wellbeing. The central question guiding this study is, “how do elementary school counselors describe their training applicability to foster and promote students’ social-emotional wellbeing?” …


Missional Metamorphosis: How Identity, Presence, And Praxis Are Reshaping Disciple Making Within Post-Christian Contexts, Justin Thomas Wester Nov 2019

Missional Metamorphosis: How Identity, Presence, And Praxis Are Reshaping Disciple Making Within Post-Christian Contexts, Justin Thomas Wester

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The American Church’s current disciple-making paradigm is struggling to engage post-Christian contexts with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite American society’s steady trending away from a biblical worldview, dwindling church attendance, and declining religious affiliation, the American Church is still operating under a disciple-making paradigm conducive for the Christendom era. What changes must occur to help churches break away from an antiquated paradigm and embrace a more contextually appropriate expression? This project helps to answer that question by capturing and expressing how changes in ecclesial identity, contextual presence, and corporate praxis are altering disciple-making paradigms within post-Christian contexts. Utilizing quantitative …


A Strategy For Building Healthy Local Churches In Jordan, Kwang Hu Hwang Nov 2019

A Strategy For Building Healthy Local Churches In Jordan, Kwang Hu Hwang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Evangelical churches in Jordan have faced many challenges in maintaining healthy churches under the Islamic government. The churches in Jordan are not only important for local people, but also for people in the Middle East in fulfilling the Great Commission. This is because many Jordanians visit various Arab countries to have a job and a numerous number of Gulf countries’ people travel to Jordan. The purpose of this thesis is to create a strategy with this context to build healthy local churches in Jordan that can then be involved in fulfilling the Great Commission actively for the local and Arab …


The Relationship Between Academic And Social Satisfaction Among Post-9/11 Veterans In Higher Education, William Alton Hammac Nov 2019

The Relationship Between Academic And Social Satisfaction Among Post-9/11 Veterans In Higher Education, William Alton Hammac

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined reintegration of Post-9/11 military veterans into higher education as measured by their satisfaction with a private southeastern university. This research was accomplished through the study of the potential relationship between the academic satisfaction and social satisfaction of Post-9/11 military veterans attending a private southeastern university and how they felt about their overall educational experience. The research questions were derived from the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory which was administered by the university, surveying the quality of student life, and serving as a national benchmark comparison for educational institutions nationwide. This research was a non-experimental, ex post …


Comparing Perceived College Persistence Between Students Taking Online Or Residential Dual Enrollment In High School, Dustin Joseph Miller Nov 2019

Comparing Perceived College Persistence Between Students Taking Online Or Residential Dual Enrollment In High School, Dustin Joseph Miller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Dual enrollment and online education are two factors of education that have become prevalent over the past decade. This rapid growth has resulted in higher attendance rates, but also higher dropout rates. It is the students’ persistence to graduation that demands the attention of all stakeholders. There is an abundance of research showing the value of dual enrollment leading to student success at the collegiate level, but the purpose of this study is to differentiate between online and residential dual enrollment. This study used a causal comparative design to compare the two group means of first-year residential college students taking …


Pastoral Counseling And The African American Churches Of Metro Atlanta: Breaking The Stigma Associated With Asking For Help, Lasonja Chanta Richardson Oct 2019

Pastoral Counseling And The African American Churches Of Metro Atlanta: Breaking The Stigma Associated With Asking For Help, Lasonja Chanta Richardson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A stigma exists in the African American Christian community that seeking counseling services displays a lack of faith and therefore is unspiritual; however, as a new generation emerges with more liberal views on counseling and the role of the church, an opportunity to define pastoral counseling as an acceptable practice is emerging. The current lack of pastoral counseling in the African American church is negatively affecting the spiritual health of the church but offering counseling services will increase spiritual maturity. African American churches must re-evaluate their stance on pastoral counseling and begin to emphasize pastoral counseling as not only acceptable, …


Impact Of Combat Experience On Adult Learning For Students Enrolled At Liberty University In Spring 2019, Stephany Dawn Pracht Oct 2019

Impact Of Combat Experience On Adult Learning For Students Enrolled At Liberty University In Spring 2019, Stephany Dawn Pracht

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation joins an active conversation in the behavioral sciences regarding the challenges of assimilating the adult experienced trauma into the adult education setting. This quantitative study employed a nonexperimental, causal-comparative research design to explore the perceptions of current and former combat-experienced military students about their academic experiences. By exploring the needs in higher education that are concerning and prevalent among those who have experienced active combat, this paper discusses the effects of the combat experience on current and former military members as they seek to acclimate to the academic world. This study was guided by Malcolm Knowles’s idea that …


Differences In Engagement Of Online Doctoral Students Based On Gender And Race, James E. Kuczero Oct 2019

Differences In Engagement Of Online Doctoral Students Based On Gender And Race, James E. Kuczero

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Student engagement is considered to be one of the most important indicators for success at all levels of education. Engagement in doctoral students is poorly understood, and the least researched area of engagement. As online programs become increasingly available, it is important to have insight into doctoral engagement and interventions which improve academic success while decreasing attrition. The purpose of the present study was to understand differences in engagement based on gender and race/ethnicity. Students in the dissertation phase of their doctoral candidacy in an online program based at a private, mid-Atlantic, Christian university were invited to participate anonymously. Self-reported …


Psychometric Analysis Of The Medical Terminology 350 Final Test Using Item Analysis And Kr20, Kristen Nicole Bowers Oct 2019

Psychometric Analysis Of The Medical Terminology 350 Final Test Using Item Analysis And Kr20, Kristen Nicole Bowers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Meaningful quantitative research studies require the use of instruments that have acceptable validity and reliability. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the Medical Terminology 350 Final Test (MT350) in a population of secondary health science students. The MT350 is an assessment instrument that measures participants’ recall of medical terminology meanings and is currently being used to assess learning in health science education. A review of literature has revealed a lack of psychometric analysis of the commonly used MT350. Past practice has suggested instruction that uses mnemonics can favorably influence medical vocabulary retention, but …


An Investigation Of Veterinary Sales Professionals' Perceptions Of Self-Directed Learning: A Multiple Case Study, Agostino Salvatore Scicchitano Oct 2019

An Investigation Of Veterinary Sales Professionals' Perceptions Of Self-Directed Learning: A Multiple Case Study, Agostino Salvatore Scicchitano

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate sales professionals’ perceptions of self-directed learning within their current positions. The veterinary industry is a highly knowledge-intensive entity that values professional identity, sense of self, compassion, competence, and the human-animal bond; the veterinary sales professional plays an important role in this industry. However, with sales training waning after the first three years of a sales professional’s employment, self-directed learning becomes an important tool for the veterinary sales professional. Yet, there are no studies that provide an in-depth understanding of the role of self-directed learning in veterinary sales. The following central …


Improving Patient Satisfaction With Quietness At Night: An Integrative Review, Victoria Rondez Squier Oct 2019

Improving Patient Satisfaction With Quietness At Night: An Integrative Review, Victoria Rondez Squier

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the efforts to improve the environment of care in hospital settings by noise reducing interventions, building redesigns, and quiet hours, research maintains patients continue to report noise is problematic across all specialties in acute care settings. Patient satisfaction correlates to their perception of quality care and hospitals are economically impacted by their feedback on hospital rating surveys. Stagnant Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey results across the country indicate “Quiet at Night” is in need of attention to be prioritized, as it continues to be the lowest scoring line item on hospital rating surveys since …


Body Appreciation, Self-Esteem, And Social Media Engagement, Stephanie A. Belton Oct 2019

Body Appreciation, Self-Esteem, And Social Media Engagement, Stephanie A. Belton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Dissatisfaction with one’s body and low self-esteem are significant issues that many women experience throughout their lives. Researchers have substantiated the relationship between self-esteem and body appreciation, with limited and conflicting correlations reported between body appreciation and engagement with social media. Accordingly, further research was needed to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the ways that self-esteem and engagement with social media may affect body appreciation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between women’s self-reported social media engagement, body appreciation, and self-esteem. This study was guided by three research questions and results were interpreted through the …


The Benefits Of Early Referral To Palliative Care For End Stage Renal Disease (Esrd) On Dialysis, Omolola Akinmadelo Oct 2019

The Benefits Of Early Referral To Palliative Care For End Stage Renal Disease (Esrd) On Dialysis, Omolola Akinmadelo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Palliative care provides outstanding holistic nursing for the management of undesirable symptoms and suffering related to chronic illness disease processes such as end stage renal disease. When palliative care services are initiated early in course of a chronic illness, they improve the quality of care and life and reduce stress for patients and their families. While palliative care is slowly being recognized as the most effective means of improving quality of life and care in the management of chronic illness, most health care staff and providers are not aware of the full benefits of palliative care in the management of …


An Examination Of The Relationship Between Academic Entitlement And Education Financing Among Undergraduate Students, Nicola Ifill-Fraser Oct 2019

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Academic Entitlement And Education Financing Among Undergraduate Students, Nicola Ifill-Fraser

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Academic entitlement among students is a growing problem and concern for universities. Students with a sense of entitlement towards their education believe that positive academic outcomes are owed to them and should be awarded, not based on mastery of educational content, but on non-academic aspects of education, such as attending class, participating in class, or paying tuition fees. Additionally, academically entitled students have unrealistic expectations about the role of instructors and demanding attitudes and behaviors toward faculty. The factors precipitating these actions and behaviors appear to be multi-facted and remain unclear. To add to the growing body of literature on …


Aristotle And Habituation: Is Virtue Really Attainable Without God's Help, Roy Michael Mattson Oct 2019

Aristotle And Habituation: Is Virtue Really Attainable Without God's Help, Roy Michael Mattson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

We are by nature moral beings who desire virtue. This fact is borne out by innumerable studies. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics remain among the most influential works on ethics and human moral psychology. Aristotle claims that human beings can develop good character traits and achieve virtue with the appropriate upbringing (what Aristotle called habituation). Much of what Aristotle says about character traits, virtue, and habituation is accepted today and inspires character education. Yet recent results in experimental psychology challenge the notion of character traits and virtue as understood by Aristotle. The challenge is the abundance of evidence showing …


Undergraduate Education Students' Experiences In Online Cooperative Learning Activities: An Embedded Single-Case Study, Jennifer Lynette Ervin Oct 2019

Undergraduate Education Students' Experiences In Online Cooperative Learning Activities: An Embedded Single-Case Study, Jennifer Lynette Ervin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this intrinsic case study, which followed a single-case, embedded research design, was to understand undergraduate education students’ experiences in online cooperative learning environments. Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s community of inquiry model, rooted in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning and Tinto’s student integration theory, were used to guide this study and describe the significance of fostering strong social, cognitive, and teaching presence within online learning environments. To further understand online educational environments the following central research question was posed: How do undergraduate education students describe their experiences with cooperative learning activities within an online education course in terms …