Digital Commons Network^™

The Differences In Stress Levels For African-Americans Working In Technical Based Occupations And Non-Technical Based Occupations In Mississippi, Michelene Piege Brock

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any differences in stress levels for African-Americans working in technical and non-technical based occupations. In order to adequately address the differences in stress levels for African-Americans, this study examined the data from an existing study called the Jackson Heart Study. Based on the weekly stress of individuals when performing their occupations, information and data were collected from 3 questionnaires that were correlated with stress and occupations of African-Americans in Mississippi. These questionnaires were the Household Enumeration Form, Personal Data and Socioeconomic Form, and the Stress Form. The research design …

The Effect Of Digital Storytelling On Academic Performance, Interest And Motivation Of Police Cadets In A Law Enforcement Academy, Damon Ing

Theses and Dissertations

The Effect of Digital Storytelling on Academic Performance, Interest and Motivation of Police Cadets in a Law Enforcement Academy. Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), December 2018, 93pp., 6 tables, 83 references, 5 appendices. With increasing criticism concerning police interactions with the public and the use-of-force decisions, the importance of preservice law enforcement instruction is an ongoing concern for both police practitioners and the public. Law enforcement education can benefit from the integration of new instructional strategies that can increase comprehension and long-term knowledge retention transferable into the field. Digital storytelling has been proffered as an effective cross-cultural communication tool and has …

Outcomes Teacher Mentoring Has On Professional Learning And Delivery Of Instruction, Susana A. Zapata-Burguete

Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative study using grounded theory was conducted to discover how educational mentoring was transferred to subsequently transform instructional delivery in the second year of teaching for novice secondary school teachers. The study was conducted in a Deep South Texas public school district during the 2017–2018 academic year. After concluding a year of mentoring, interviews were conducted to reveal how the mentoring phenomena helped transform their present day delivery of instruction. Data was gathered through face-to-face interviews with seven participants. During this second year, the novice teachers primarily relied on both what was learned through their mentoring experiences and networking …

A Quantitative Study Of The Deployment Of The Sender Policy Framework, Eunice Zsu Tan

Theses and Dissertations

Email has become a standard form of communication between businesses. With the prevalent use of email as a form of communication between businesses and customers, phishing emails have emerged as a popular social engineering approach. With phishing, attackers trick users into divulging their personal information through email spoofing. Thus, it is imperative to verify the sender of an email. Anti-spoofing mechanisms such as the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) have been developed as the first line of defense against spoofing by validating the source of an email as well as the presenting options of how to handle emails that fail to …

The Relationship Between Social Anxiety And Leadership Emergence: A Resource Perspective, Katherine Naomi Rau

Theses and Dissertations

Despite its certain prevalence, mental illness has remained largely unstudied in the field of Industrial-Organizational Psychology. The research at hand addresses a widening gap in the literature: what does mental illness mean for leadership, particularly leadership emergence? In attempting to answer this question, I examined the experience of social anxiety as it is the most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorder and has particular relevance to the workplace. By utilizing a resource perspective, I found that controlling for personality, social anxiety did significantly predict emotional exhaustion in terms of both frequency and intensity. Emotional exhaustion and professional self-efficacy significantly predicted leadership emergence …

Teacher Perceptions Of Mandated Collaboration Through Professional Learning Communities, Carmen Cranford Horton

Theses and Dissertations

Georgia Rule 505-2-.36, implemented in July of 2017, revised teacher recertification policy to include administrative evaluations of professional growth resulting from teachers’ engagement in professional learning communities (PLCs). The rule represented the convergence of two possibly conflicting ideals: mandated change and PLCs. Districts were permitted autonomy over how to implement and develop rubrics for the evaluation of professional growth resulting from PLCs. The purpose of this bounded case study was to capture the perceptions of teachers concerning the structure, purpose and dynamics of required PLC meetings during the initial year of implementation. The goal was to give voice to the …

Execution: A Catalytic Capability In Firm Performance, Robert Frank Keimer

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the nature of business execution. Specifically, it seeks to understand the nature of a firm’s capability to execute, how and why some firms execute better than others, and the impact that this capability may have on firm performance and outcomes. A review of the organizational routine, organizational capability, and dynamic capabilities literature reveals a gap where no theory, model, or framework of analysis can be found for the concept of execution. The author proposes a novel definition of execution as a “catalytic capability”; that is, a stored behavioral capability comprised of repetitive, recurrent actions, shaping principles, …

Identifying As Lesbian, Gay, Or Bisexual At Work: Implications Of Disclosure Within Work Teams, Jesse R. Caylor

Theses and Dissertations

As is the case for members of any stigmatized minority group, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals face heightened adversity within the workplace (Herek, 2009). However, unlike employees with stigmatized identities that are readily apparent (e.g., race, gender), employees who identify as LGB are afforded a unique opportunity to avoid the adversity associated with their stigma altogether by choosing not to identify themselves (e.g., maintain the appearance of being heterosexual). However, despite the potential negative consequences, many LGB employees choose to disclose their sexual orientation to their coworkers and supervisors. Research on the impact of disclosure behaviors on subsequent job …

Examining Messenger And Mode: Strategic Communication In Higher Education Recruitment, Valerie Breashears

Theses and Dissertations

The marketing mantra “know your audience” can be applied when examining higher education student recruitment. With endless avenues for communication and a rise in national data on this topic, exploring what works best for individual institutions is crucial. Disparaging data exists concerning how admissions administrators believe students prefer to hear from institutions and the realities of student preferences. When new recruitment communication strategies were implemented at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in fall 2015 it required an assessment of effectiveness. The posttest-only two-group randomized experimental design will be employed for this proposed quantitative study analyzing recruitment cycle progression …

Development And Evaluation Of The Havuc (Hostility, Ambiguity, Volatility, Uncertainty, & Complexity) Environment Fitness Scale (Hefs), Phillip Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the psychometric properties of a newly developed scale to measure individuals’ attitudes toward hostile, ambiguous, volatile, uncertain, and complex (HAVUC) environments—the HAVUC Environment Fitness Scale (HEFS). The 30-item summated scale consists of five 6-item subscales representing each element of HAVUC, utilizing a 7-point Likert scale ranging from one (1-strongly disagree) to seven (7-strongly agree). This study serves a need to better understand antecedents of individuals’ intentions and behavior (e.g., attitudes toward the environment) when operating in turbulent environments, aside from individual traits and the general notion of personenvironment (PE) fit. The study follows Spector’s (1992) recommendations for …

The Role Of Online And Social Media In Combating Sexual Harassment In Egypt, Mariam Saleh

Theses and Dissertations

Violence against women - particularly sexual harassment is a widespread problem faced by women around the world. In Egypt, research shows that a large number of women have been harassed at least once in their lifetime. The Egyptian Government, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have been working for several years on interventions and activities to combat sexual harassment. With the widespread use of online and social media in Egypt, this new media became a better and easily accessible form of conveying combating sexual harassment messages. This study, thus, aims to identify ways through which online and social media could be …

A Feel For The Whole: Considering State-Specific Quality Measures For Medicare's Value-Based Programs In The Context Of Social Risk Factors And Population Health, Kimberly K. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are used as a measure for federal value-based payment programs. Using data for 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed newer risk adjustment models to calculate the standardized infection ratio (SIR) for various infections occurring in hospitals. New national baselines were set to compare performance among medical facilities and states. Despite adjustments for various facility-level factors that contribute to HAI risk, there are ongoing concerns that SIR calculations do not adequately account for non-hospital risk factors that have been linked to clinical outcomes. This explanatory study evaluates state-level data using simple linear regression to …

Superintendents Reclaiming Instructional Leadership: Shared Patterns And Practices, Valerie James-Kemp

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and investigate the shared patterns among current superintendents who wish to reclaim their role as instructional leaders. The role of the superintendent has evolved since its inception two centuries ago. Originally intended to be a teacher of teachers, the role of the superintendent has developed and changed over time due to school reform movements and varying political climates. Using the Delphi method, a consensus was reached and shared patterns and practices were found. In summary, superintendents in this study shared their opinions about their role as chief administrators of a school …

Fiscal Inequity: A Case Study Of Superintendents And Business Managers In Pennsylvania High Poverty School Districts, Vanessa Renee Scott

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this embedded, single case qualitative case study was to explore how business managers and superintendents in Pennsylvania school districts work together to develop adequate and equitable school district budgets in a time of funding inequity and uncertainty. This case study focused on business managers and superintendents in school districts that are identified by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as high poverty districts based on the district's aid ratio. Eight business managers and five superintendents from Pennsylvania school districts participated in a semi-structured interview that explored the experiences that they encountered in the budget development process. School board …

Managing Supply Discrepancies: The Effect Of Performance Measurement And Feedback On Order Fulfillment Quality, Michael J. Weber

Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research on the impact of shipping and packaging errors in the private sector finds numerous negative outcomes, including reduced customer satisfaction, reduced customer loyalty, and lower profitability. However, little research has been done examining the impact of order fulfillment errors on military operations. The purpose of this research is to quantify the impact of supply discrepancy reports (SDRs) on military aircraft readiness metrics, including cannibalizations, not mission capable supply (NMCS) hours, aircraft availability and MICAP hours. Results show SDRs significantly impact aircraft readiness metrics in seven of the fifteen analyses conducted. Additionally, a quasi-experimental study is implemented at DLA …

Investigating Capability Development Management For The Air Force Strategic Development Planning And Experimentation (Spde) Office, Sarah M. Pak

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force provides unique capabilities for the defense of our nation. Capabilities do not come to fruition instantly; they must go through a development process. Managing the development of a capability is a difficult but necessary task. In 2016, a report from the Air Force Studies Board prompted the Air Force to focus on the Capability Development Process and its improvement. In response to the report, the Strategic Development Planning & Experimentation (SDPE) Office was formed. The SDPE Office is tasked to support Enterprise Capability Collaboration Teams (ECCTs), which are, in turn, tasked to research and solve prominent issues …

Cultivating Agile Organizational Culture: Addressing Resistance To Change In Bureaucratic Government Organizations, Michael P. Mclane

Theses and Dissertations

Resistance to change is a phenomenon that affects organizations almost universally. All organizations large and small are continuously challenged to adjust, evolve and innovate to gain or maintain competitive advantage and mission effectiveness. Alarmingly high failure rates are reported: 30-70% of change initiatives falling short of their prescribed intent or never attain the desired results. This research investigates how bureaucratic governmental organizations can address this truth, and how leadership can cultivate a flexible, agile culture that is more adaptable to the demands of constant change. This study uses case study methodology and qualitative research methods aid in the understanding of …

Examining Steam Implementation Through The Lens Of Organizational Learning, William Louis Grillo

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined STEAM implementation from the qualitative perspective of New Jersey K-12 school leaders and through the quantitative lens of organizational learning. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, sixteen school leaders were interviewed regarding their process of implementing the integrated learning framework known as STEAM. Simultaneously, an Organizational Learning Mechanism Questionnaire was distributed to the teaching faculty of participating districts. This study found that current K-12 school leaders were implementing STEAM with top down administrative support, emergent processes, standards focused curricula, and innovative means of marketing their programs. Significant differences were also found between K-8 and high school …

Out With The Old: Reinventing Space In The Classroom, Amandine Annie Loveland

Theses and Dissertations

This research study explored the impact of space and classroom environments on student engagement and learning. The traditional classroom design is determined mostly by the personality of the teacher, or the theme that they choose to integrate. Traditionally, tables and desks are placed in groups or rows, based on teacher preference, and students are confined to small 2 feet by 3 feet spaces. While teachers thus make their classrooms private to themselves and seldom involve students in crucial decisions about their layout, schools are inherently public places. In this thesis, targeted at elementary school teachers, the teacher/researcher considers the benefits …

Language Translation For Mental Health Materials: A Comparison Of Current Back-Translation And Skopostheorie-Based Methods, Amelia Kathleen Black

Theses and Dissertations

As mental health professionals seek to disseminate information in many languages in order to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population, it is important to consider the methods of written translation that the field is choosing to employ. The method chosen for translation can affect the accuracy and usability of the translated text. This study begins with a survey of current literature, the results of which suggest that the most popular translation method in the mental health field is back-translation, a translation method based in the premise that translating a text back into its original English after it has …

Developing A Tool To Assess The Integration Of Sustainability Into Banks: A Case Study On A Bank In Egypt, Arwa Sayyadi

Theses and Dissertations

Banks have an important role to play in the global transition to a more sustainable planet. Not only are they a powerful agent through their control of the money supply, the projects they finance, and clients they lend, but they also have financial, reputational, and legal motivations to adopt more sustainable practices. Based on the importance of banks as sustainability agents and their motivation to become more sustainable, this study focuses on the sustainability integration process in the banking sector and proposes a measurement for this integration. More specifically, this study has three objectives: To create a diagnostic tool or …

Perceptions Of Teachers Who Engage In Social Media Networking: A Multiple Case Study, Celese Nolan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how and why teachers engage in social media networks. Using a case study approach, data was gathered through semi-structured interviews, online observations, direct observations, artifacts, and documents to gain understanding to how and why teachers are using online networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter for professional learning. The underpinnings of constructivism and social constructivism theories served to provide a framework for understanding how teachers perceive their professional use of social media. Moreover, this study sought to gain insight into how this practice may or may not influence teacher practice at …

The Impact Of A Values Clarification Process On The Factors Associated With Retention Of Historically Underrepresented Students At A Public University, Jose Antonio Aviles

Theses and Dissertations

The literature examining the retention of students of color is very much like a puzzle. Many scholars have contributed to the puzzle attempting to make a complete body of knowledge regarding student departure. However, a void in the literature seems to be the role of students' values in the retention puzzle, specifically, whether the process of clarifying personal values would affect the retention of students of color in higher education.

A transitional summer bridge program was modified using a conceptual framework anchored in the examination of espoused values versus values in use. The model was developed using Argyris and Schon's …

The Achieve Model In Professional Experiences Of Information Technology Workers In Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study, Michelle Fahey Rakoczy

Theses and Dissertations

The information technology field changes at a fast rate and, combined with the fast pace of change in the higher education environment, it is more important than ever that Information Technology professionals be productive and that retention rate increase in this field. This phenomenological study is an exploration of the professional experiences of IT workers in higher education, including the organizational, leadership, and individual level qualities that shape that experience. The ACHIEVE model is utilized for the theoretical framework for this study as it relates to an impact of leadership practices on followers’ performance. The results of this study provide …

The Future Of Chief Learning Officers In The Corporate Organization, Grace E. Amos

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions about the future of the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) role in the corporate organization from the perspective of current and former CLOs. For this study, Chief Learning Officer is defined as the top leadership role held in a corporate organization that oversees the functions of learning and development, talent development, and/or training. This study summarizes data collected through semi-structured interviews with ten CLOs from a variety of countries, industries, and company sizes. Overall, four key themes emerged from the study: 1) a perceived trajectory of the CLO role, 2) opinions about …

Development Of A Preliminary Scale Of Counterproductive Experiences In Supervision: Attitudes Of Interns, Carey Sherilyn Incledon

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical supervision is now recognized as a distinct professional competency in the field of psychology (APA, 2015). It is a primary method for training new clinicians, providing quality assurance, and ensuring client welfare (Falender & Shafranske, 2004). However, even within the most well-intentioned supervision, counterproductive experiences (CEs) are known to sometimes occur. These can significantly interfere with the supervisory process and often result in a strained supervisory alliance, interfere with clinical training, contribute to a negative training experience, and decrease a supervisor’s ability to monitor client welfare and supervisee’s ethical behavior. The purpose of this study was to contribute to …

The Use Of Outside Agents To Improve Special Education Service Delivery: A Mixed-Methods Analysis, Christine E. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, states created statewide systems of support, in collaboration with existing agencies, to deliver targeted assistance to districts and schools identified as in need of support. With limited personnel and resources, state education agencies partnered with outside agents to address the needs of a growing number of low-performing schools. Support and services for low-performing schools were designed to increase opportunities for schools to meet academic content and achievement standards for all students. Strong outside agents (skilled in systems change, knowledge of interventions and capacity for relationship-building) have been shown to produce changes …

Cross-Generational Effects Of Workplace Spirituality On Job And Life Satisfaction, Bobbie Bannerman

Theses and Dissertations

The nature of work in the twenty-first century has changed substantially from that of the twentieth century. Distant and online work makes today’s workforce feel more isolated and disconnected from coworkers, while constant access to work technologies such as email, text messaging, and file sharing platforms may also lead workers to feel less connected at home as well. Workplace spirituality -including work-related opportunities to develop one’s inner life, higher senses of meaning and purpose, and interconnectedness -can serve to ameliorate the isolation and disconnection often experienced in today’s workplace. The literature reveals that workplace spirituality leads to greater job satisfaction …

The Co-Creation Of Value To Address Stakeholder Contradictions In Teacher Adoption Of Technology Enhanced Learning In California Public Schools, Steven B. Hickman

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examines the experiences of six successful educational technology leaders in co-creating value among various district stakeholders to reduce the contradictions encountered in teacher adoption of technology enhanced learning. The primary data collection method was through semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using a hybrid approach, first examining the interview data for emergent themes, and then an a priori analysis was conducted based upon a value framework, motivational values, and relative advantage. Contradictions were identified and mapped on activity system diagrams for each participant. The value propositions were also identified that addressed contradictions. The primary stakeholders and …

Self-Care For Leaders: Cultivating Extraordinary Functioning & Psychological Well-Being; A Quantitative Study Examining Burnout And Self-Care Practices Of Small-Business Owners, Sundra Ryce

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative research study was developed in response to challenges small-business owners face with high stress, corporate devastation, and burnout. The research examines burnout and self-care practices among small-business owners to foster psychological well-being. Many studies exist on professional burnout; however, to date, the researcher has not been able to uncover published research related to small business owners’ exhaustion and burn out. Theories in academic literature on self-care, managing transitions, and psychological well-being can be applied to small-business owners experiencing burnout, while leading through corporate life cycles. This research study utilizes a quantitative, correlational, design approach to examine the levels …