Digital Commons Network^™

Internationalization: Utilizing The University Museum, Adrienne Turnbull-Reilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A review of the literature on the nature of international education in the United States reveals that although most international students want to engage socially and academically with their peers, many encounter cultural, linguistic, and institutional obstacles. Using this information to guide interview questions and format workshops, the author explored the question of how university museums can contribute to a more holistic and enriching educational experience for international students on American campuses, using the University of Denver as a case study. Findings from workshops and interviews conducted by the author reveal similar obstacles (cultural, linguistic, and institutional) when engaging students …

Friday Is A Planet: Stories, Allison Pinkerton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Friday is a Planet: Stories is a collection of short fiction that explores the ways loss can alter family bonds. Characters in these stories have lost daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends. Some characters go to extreme lengths to return to their loved ones—one woman hallucinates, another time travels. Others deal with the loss in more conventional ways, through support groups and the emotional outlet of community theatre. What ties these stories together is a sense of post-loss confusion and mystery. The characters are unsure how to move forward, or if they should try. The men and women in these stories …

Early Career Teachers' Efficacy In Working With Families, Kirsten Denisemarie Hermanutz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Partnering effectively with families is an important skill for teachers to have to support student achievement, and one that is especially important for early career teachers in order to protect them from burnout and attrition. However, research has demonstrated that teachers do not feel prepared to work with families, and further research is needed to see what difficulties are specific to early career teachers. The following research questions were addressed in the study: 1) What current situation and prior training factors affect early career teachers’ perceptions of efficacy in working with families? 2) Which family-school partnering topics do teachers report …

Quality Of Life And Mental Health Outcomes In Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator Treatment: Potential Effects Of Informational Media History And Treatment Knowledge, Christopher E. Knoepke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social workers in all care venues are increasingly responsible for clinical and case management services for people being treated with sophisticated medical interventions. Unfortunately, opportunities to aid in the promotion of quality of life (QOL), mental health, and informed consent are often not understood by social workers, other care providers, or patients. These missed opportunities may lead to attenuated effectiveness of medical interventions and negative impact on patients' QOL. One such technological treatment is the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a lifesaving therapy which carries risk to patients' QOL. Moreover, patients frequently do not accurately understand the benefits, limitations, and possible …

Influence Of Personal And State Level Variables On Perception Of State Emergency Management Network Resilience In 47 States, Victoria Jennison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emergency management coordination in the United States has fallen victim to over a century of strategies to organize, reorganize, consolidate, or decentralize disaster preparedness, planning and response. Regardless of the agency in charge at the federal level, individual citizens have been responsible for their own well-being immediately after any disaster or emergency event for more than 100 years because it takes time to mobilize and deliver aid. The system most often charged with managing that mobilization during an emergency event that exceeds the response capacity of local public safety agencies is the state emergency management network. Many entities in a …

Composing A Literary Adoption Memoir And Self Through Creative Nonfiction Memoir Writing, Jamie K. Nagy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adoption writings span across various forms, such as fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, theatre, and scholarly fields of study. While many of these adoption writings speak to the complexities of adoption, the general public still tends to see adoption “such a beautiful thing” to do—as the best plan for the child, a noble act, a selfless decision, and a solution to a long-standing social issue. This thesis explores the “literary adoption memoir”—artful writings about real life happenings; my contribution to this genre addresses the complexities of the closed adoption era, transnational/transracial adoption, and parenting an adoptee as an adult adoptee. For …

Go Wish- Pediatrics : Pilot Study Of A Conversation Tool In Pediatric Palliative Care, Meghan Ryan Potthoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem: Difficult conversations and decisions are an unfortunate reality for parents caring for children facing life threatening conditions. Confusing, inadequate, and inconsistent communication by health care providers makes advance care planning difficult in pediatrics.
Design: A mixed methods design was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of an advance care planning conversation tool, Go Wish- Pediatrics, on the emotional resources and distress experienced by parents caring for children in palliative care.
Methods: For this pilot study, a mailed invitation to participate was sent to 134 parents of children currently enrolled in palliative care which yielded a total of ten participants. …

An Exploratory Comparison Of A Traditional And An Adaptive Instructional Approach For College Algebra, Ryan Kasha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research effort compared student learning gains and attitudinal changes through the implementation of two varying instructional approaches on the topic of functions in College Algebra. Attitudinal changes were measured based on the Attitude Towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI). The ATMI also provided four sub-scales scores for self-confidence, value of learning, enjoyment, and motivation. Furthermore, this research explored and compared relationships between students' level of mastery and their actual level of learning. This study implemented a quasi-experimental research design using a sample that consisted of 56 College Algebra students in a public, state college in Florida. The sample was enrolled in …

"A Memorial And A Name": Construction Of Public Memory Through Chronotopic Arrangement Of Antecedent Genre At Yad Vashem, Emily Brennan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This spring marked the 70th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis and the end of the Holocaust in Europe. Memory of this genocide has occupied a central place in Israeli identity since the establishment of the state. This thesis explores the history of Holocaust memory in Israel and examines how public memory is constructed in the present, as the era of the survivor draws to a close and commemorative efforts linked to survivors take on a sense of urgency. The contemporary memorial places examined in this study are part of Yad Vashem, Israel*s premier institution for Holocaust commemoration. The …

Perceptions Of Race And Privilege: An Examination Of Intercultural Competence And Service-Learning In The Mississippi Delta, Laura Antonow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods constructivist case study was to examine how college students process issues of race and privilege when participating in service-learning in a predominantly minority, underserved region, and if that experience impacts their intercultural competence. The participants were University of Mississippi students (N=20) conducting service in the Mississippi Delta. The qualitative research included pre-service focus groups and post-service in-depth interviews, and syllabi and class written reflections were analyzed. The quantitative research included pre- and post-tests using the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS) that assessed participants’ awareness of and attitudes about racial inequities and privilege before and …

Seeing A Whole Life: Genre And Identity In Occupational Therapy, Stefanie Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A significant body of writing and rhetoric research focuses on the literate practices that reflect or construct the professional self, particularly in disciplines that rely heavily on the use of forms to categorize or identify customers, clients, or patients. Many of these studies examine the influence of discipline-specific genres on the creation of a professional self for healthcare practitioners. Occupational therapy, a nearly 100-year-old yet little understood profession, is significantly different from many other healthcare disciplines, in part, because the genres used by occupational therapists reflect the profession's careful attention to the whole life of a patient. These genres are …

The Interaction Effects Of Subjective And Structural Factors On Crime Among Formerly Incarcerated Males, Christopher Alvin Veeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The high rate of recidivism in the over 600,000 individuals who return from incarceration each year is an important social problem facing U.S. society and the criminal justice system. Efforts undertaken so far early in the 21st century to address the problem of recidivism in the formerly incarcerated, particularly prison reentry programs, have produced disappointing results at reducing the rate of recidivism. Therefore, there is a need to identify new ways for prison reentry programs to reduce recidivism among individuals recently returned from prison, and social work with its person-in-environment perspective can make an important contribution through conducting research to …

The Effect Of Virtual Simulation On The Development Of Basic Counseling Skills, Self-Reported Immersion Experience, Self-Reported Counselor Self-Efficacy, And Self-Reported Anxiety Of Counselors-In-Training, Olivia Uwamahoro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a high need for competent professional counselors because of the increasing number of children and adults presenting mental health concerns each year in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health, 2012). Counselor educators are tasked with the duty of preparing counselors-in-training (CITs) to be competent clinicians. In order for counseling professionals to be considered competent clinicians, they must demonstrate competence in three domains: (a) knowledge, (b) skills, and (c) behavior (ACA, 2014; CACREP, 2009). The goal of this study was to contribute to further understanding the most effective instructional approach to facilitating role play while instructing pre-practicum …

Family Care Giver Knowledge, Patient Illness Characteristics, And Unplanned Hospital Admissions In Older Adults With Cancer, Patricia Geddie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unplanned hospital admissions (UHA) in older adult populations are a recurring problem in older adults with cancer. Older adults comprise approximately 60% of cancer diagnoses and receive the majority of cancer treatment. However, little is known about why older adults under treatment for cancer experience a high number of unplanned hospital admissions. A review of the literature provided few study findings and a gap in the current knowledge was identified regarding the factors associated with unplanned hospital admissions in older adults under treatment for cancer. A conceptual framework based on the literature and this researcher's clinical experienced guided this study. …

The Helping Professional Wellness Discrepancy Scale (Hpwds): Development And Validation, Ashley Blount

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wellness is an integral component of the helping professions (Myers & Sweeney, 2005; Witmer, 1985). Specifically, wellness is included in ethical codes, suggestions for practice, and codes of conduct throughout counseling, psychology, and social work fields (see American Counseling Association Code of Ethics, 2014; American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, 2010; National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, 1996). Even so, wellness in helping professionals is a difficult construct to measure. Thus, the purpose of the research investigation was to develop the Helping Professional Wellness Discrepancy Scale (HPWDS) and examine the psychometric features of …

Surviving The Death Of A Sibling : A Phenomenological Study Of Childhood Bereavement., Edith Crumb Gunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The loss of a sibling can be devastating to children, especially for children ages 7-12, who are at a critical juncture in their development. The loss can impede their development if their bereavement is not effectively addressed. For this reason, this dissertation evaluated four theoretical frameworks to provide a foundation for bereavement support for children: Assumptive World Theory, Dual Process Model, Meaning Reconstruction Theory, and Tasks of Mourning. Developmental theories and considerations were explored to gain knowledge of children’s levels of understanding, processing, and coping. Method: This study utilized a sample of five children ages 7-12 who had survived the …

Nicu Culture Of Care For Infants With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Focused Ethnography, Monica M. Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this ethnographic study was to describe the culture of care and nonpharmacological nursing interventions performed by NICU nurses for infants with NAS. Background: Infants with NAS are increasingly being cared for in the inpatient hospital setting by NICU nurses. Interventions used for the care of premature and sick infants in the NICU may or may not be the exact interventions that should be used for the care of the fragile infant with NAS. Research studies on the nonpharmacological nursing care of infants with NAS encompass 5 main areas of practice: environment, adequate rest and sleep, feeding, …

Gender Similarities And Differences In Experiences Of Public School Administrators, Marcia D. Fawver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of study was to examine similarities and differences in experiences between male and female high school principals and district administrators in addition to similarities and differences in leadership style and skills. This was an in-depth study with participants working in the same district and matched with descriptors such as age, similar position, and time served. Therefore the statement of the problem for the present study is what similarities and differences in experiences exist between male and female high school principals and district administrators in addition to similarities and differences in leadership style and skills.

Two male high school …

The Problem Of The Twenty-First Century In The Cherokee Nation Is The Problem Of The Color-Line : How The Cherokee Freedmen Have Articulated A Sense Of Cultural Identity And Citizenship Claims Over Time., Shannon Spears

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the Cherokee Freedmen, who are people of African-American descent and peoples of mixed African-American and Native American descent, who were once enslaved by Cherokees in the Cherokee Nation, and who have articulated their identity and tribal citizenship status as Cherokee Natives in the Cherokee Nation. Upon emancipation, the Cherokee Nation adopted the Cherokee Freedmen as equal citizens in the Cherokee Nation under article nine from the Treaty of 1866, but this changed after citizens were recorded on the Dawes Rolls based upon blood quantum. The theoretical framework of this research is Antonio Gramsci’s theoretical perspective of cultural …

Help-Seeking Behaviors Of South African Women After Sexual Offence Victimization : The Lived Experience., Sheila Young Steinbrenner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is little known about South African women’s help-seeking behavior after sexual offence victimization. South Africa is estimated to have the highest rate of rape and sexual assault globally. However, only one in six women seek health services post victimization. The importance of medical and mental health care following victimization has been clearly established. Therefore understanding more about South African women’s help-seeking after victimization is profoundly important. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of help-seeking behaviors of South African women after sexual offence victimization. Hermeneutic phenomenology as applied by van Manen provided the philosophical underpinnings, …

A Meta-Analytic Review Of The Relationships Between The Therapeutic Alliance, Empathy, And Genuineness In Individual Adult Psychotherapy., Jacob B. Nienhuis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the relationship between the therapeutic alliance and perceptions of therapist empathy and genuineness through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Alliance, empathy, and genuineness are each integral parts of the therapeutic relationship. Prior meta-analyses demonstrated that alliance, empathy, and genuineness each had a moderate relationship to therapy outcome. No previous analysis has explored how therapist empathy and genuineness contribute to the therapeutic alliance. Studies for this analysis were obtained through a multi-part search strategy. Out of 2,141 obtained abstracts, 46 studies contained enough data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Thirty-six studies reported alliance/empathy relationships, six studies reported alliance/genuineness …

Tertiary First Step To Success : A Process Evaluation Of The Home Component., Charlos Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children with severe behaviors have prompted the response of educators and family interventionists to develop innovative behavioral solutions to address this growing concern. Within the last few years, collaborative behavioral interventions have emerged demonstrating promising solutions for classroom teachers and concerned families. As part of a 3-year study, a U.S. Department of Education (Institute for Education Sciences) development grant was awarded to the Kent School of Social Work. Researchers from the University of Louisville and Oregon Research Institute developed a version of the First Step to Success program for children requiring tertiary-level support. This dissertation examines fidelity levels, social validity, …

A Case Study Of The Early Institutionalization Process Of A Restorative Justice Social Movement Organization., Brittany Buttry-Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the early development process of a restorative justice social movement organization in Louisville, KY. Utilizing social movement and organizational frameworks, this case study seeks to expand knowledge on the early developmental period for small, locally founded social movement organizations. Results from this study confirm claims in the literature about the critical nature of an organization’s structure, networks, and strategy. The analysis also discovers an unexplored strategy for organizational development, i.e. preemptive co-optation. Restorative Justice Louisville deliberatively sought co-optation by the institution they were attempting to change, the juvenile justice system, from early in their development. Due to …

Radical Sister : Lucy Freibert As Feminist Nun, Activist, And Educator., Jessica Whitish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sister Lucy Freibert is a Sister of Charity of Nazareth, women’s studies scholar, and a feminist activist. Most importantly to Lucy, she is an educator; she taught the first women’s studies course, “Women in Literature,” at UofL in 1973, leading the charge to bring feminist scholarship and the fight for women’s equality to the university campus. In an oral history with Lucy, I have explored how she has combined her commitments to her faith and her Church with her commitment to feminism, particularly as she navigated the two transitional storms of Vatican II and the women’s liberation movement.

Completing The Journey : An Exploratory Study Of Factors Predicting Emotional Distress In Recently Resettled Adult Refugees., Susan Heffner Rhema

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the fiscal year 2010 a total of 73,311 refugees arrived to the United States from over 70 countries. Along with their rich cultural practices, refugees bring loss, significant trauma and challenges related to migration. Their hope for the future is often overshadowed by the stresses inherent in adapting to new social expectations. Yet, after enduring a period of transition, most refugees become productive members of their community. This study analyzes prearrival characteristics, (demographic traits, self-efficacy, prearrival trauma, and living location), and post arrival perceptions, (conservation of resources and number of postarrival problems), in predicting emotional distress, (anxiety, depression), in …

Metaevaluation Of A University Teacher Education Assessment System., Katherine Amelia Shanahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metaevaluation is the evaluation of an evaluation or evaluation system (Scriven, 1969). It serves as a mechanism to ensure quality in evaluation approaches and implementation. Operationally metaevaluation is defined as “the process of delineating, obtaining, and applying descriptive information and judgmental information – about the utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy of an evaluation and its systematic nature, competent conduct, integrity/honesty, respectfulness, and social responsibility to guide the evaluation and/or report its strengths and weaknesses” (Stufflebeam, 2001, p.185). This study was a metaevaluation of an assessment system designed for accreditation requirements to support continuous improvement in teacher education programs at the …

Year Of The Adopted Family: Selected Folktales For The Seasons Of Adoptee Personal And Cultural Identity, Rachel R. Hedman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a study of the application of storytelling to adoptive family bonding, sensemaking, and cultural adjustment, I selected 12 world folktales for adoptive families to use as oral storytelling activities. I designed and facilitated a workshop for 7 adoptive families focusing on how to select, to learn, and to tell stories as well as how to play story-based games with their children. Each adult told 1 of the 12 folktales, played 1 or 2 of 37 games (12 traditional games, 25 storybased games), and shared reactions and interactions of family members. Using the term “story talk” to describe conversational byplay …

An Investigation Into The Shift In Lie Acceptability In Children From Grades 3-12, Marc S. Goosie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study the goal was to determine if there was a shift in the extent to which children’s attitudes toward deception change as they age. Participants (N=278) enrolled in grades 3-12 completed a survey assessing their lie acceptability and other factors as potential variables associated with a prodeception attitude. Results indicated that greater lie acceptability was correlated with male children who had self-reported acts of bad behavior. Results also suggest that nontraditional family environments may increase one’s perception of the acceptability of lying. These findings provide potential predictors of the acceptability of lying in children and adolescents that offer …

In Double Exile: A Memoir, Deborah Beckwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Double Exile: A Memoir examines the life of a family of Ghanaian immigrants and their journeys of acculturation, and the impact of the father's spiraling mental health issues on his family. Through the eyes of their daughter, this thesis briefly explores their lives on the right side of the Atlantic, as medical professionals, and then focuses on the life of their daughter born in America on the left side of the Atlantic. As novelist Georges Simenon has said, "I am at home everywhere, and nowhere. I am never a stranger and I never quite belong." This memoir explores this …

Frequency Of Communication On Facebook As A Factor In Four Dimensions Of Perceived Social Support, Granger E. Petersen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored relationships between the frequency of public communication on the social networking website Facebook and the level of social support an individual perceives. Students in the Graduate School of Social Work and the Emergent Digital Practices program were surveyed. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between the variables. Findings from the analysis indicated that the frequency of posting statuses on Facebook and the frequency of responding to other's status updates on Facebook was significantly and negatively associated with a perception of tangible social support. The frequency of these types of communication were not significantly …