Digital Commons Network^™

Physical Activity Among Youth In A Weekend Respite Camp Program, Kathleen Felton

All Theses

The engagement in physical activity among 24 youths with disabilities was studied. Researchers examined the effects of age and gender of the youth, the parent's knowledge of physical activity recommendations, and parent's physical activity practices on physical activity engagement. Levels of physical activity participation through leisure time, work or chores, and sports were assessed. Analysis was performed to determine relationships between each of the variables and the youths' level of physical activity respectively. Results of chi-square analysis indicated that parental influence using current physical activity recommendations was correlated with the youth's level of physical activity participation through leisure. Results suggested …

Autonomy As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Situational Constraints And Task Performance, Kalifa Oliver

All Theses

This study examined the effects of budget constraints on task performance, and the moderating effect of autonomous motivation on the constraint-performance relationship in a simulated work situation. Level of budget constraints (none, low, high) and motivation (external versus identified) were manipulated to examine their effects on performance, frustration, and self efficacy. Study participants were randomly assigned to either one of six experimental groups (no constraint X identified motivation, low constraint X identified motivation, high constraint X identified motivation, no constraint X external motivation, low constraint X external motivation, high constraint X external motivation) and instructed to complete an assigned budgeting …

An Examination Of The Night Hiking Experience In Parks And Protected Areas, John Beeco

All Theses

Many protected areas offer night programs for visitors; however, night hours have not been fully recognized as a potential resource in these areas. Night hours in protected areas could provide visitors with experiences unique to these times of the day. Also, typically low levels of visitation during night hours could provide visitors with additional or better suited opportunities to fulfill motivations and benefits sought during daytime activities. Furthermore, night hours could be used by managers to increase or temporally disperse use. The National Park Service's Natural Sounds and Natural Lightscapes programs provide a direction for the protection of this resource; …

Improved Automotive Safety Through Instructional Modules And Automotive Driving Simulator Based Skills Training With Assessment, Dionne Norfleet

All Theses

Motor vehicle crashes involving novice drivers are significantly higher than matured drivers' incidents as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System (NHTSA-FARS). There is ongoing research on how to decrease the number of crashes for this driver demographic group in the Unites States and Europe. Novice drivers usually complete driver education classes as a pre-requisite for full licensure to improve overall knowledge and safety. However, compiled statistics still indicate a need for more in-depth training after full licensure.
This thesis introduces classroom and virtual training modules to improve the driving skills, attitudes, knowledge, and behavior …

The 'I' In Team: Effects Of Performance Appraisal Type On Teamwork Variables, Brandy Brown

All Theses

The following research examined the effects of performance appraisal condition on teamwork variables. As more reliable models of teamwork emerge, there remains a noticeable lack of information regarding team motivation and feedback in an organizational context. This paper first reviews the current findings on team motivation, feedback, and performance appraisals and then applies that topic to teamwork processes. The researcher proposed that individual, team, and dual (individual and team feedback) performance appraisals would have different effects on teamwork processes and performance. Positive effects on team orientation, mutual trust, and team performance in the team and dual performance appraisal conditions were …

Digital Social Imagery In Silhouette, Ashley Triplett

All Theses

Society places an extreme emphasis on outward appearance and beauty that is often unattainable. The short film, Silhouette, reminds audiences of the dangers that can result from society's infatuation with physical perfection, and the film's production is the focus of this thesis. The goal of the film is to effectively communicate the impact of society on an individual's self-worth and self-image and to illustrate the consequences that result when trying to attain physical perfection. An integral part of this project is an examination of how women have been portrayed in art historically as compared to present day. To visualize …

Deviant, Courtney Richards

All Theses

ABSTRACT
I create portraits and self-portraits that explore the dualities of the western human condition, namely the deviant and the ideal, the refined and the unrefined, and the perfect and the flawed. Drawing on personal experiences with people considered outsiders or social deviants, I construct figures that embody the conflicting ideas inherent in these dualities. I explore these conflicts in drawings that are constructed with marks and shapes that are both basic and refined, and in photographs that use analytic documentation to describe social turmoil. I reference artists both contemporary and historical, such as Egon Schiele, Robert Longo, Kathe Kollwitz, …

Physically And Viscerally Made, Jenny Hutchinson

All Theses

Through the mediums of painting and drawing, I seek to create a figure that communicates particular states of being relative to contemporary conditions in society. Today we are individuals consumed by visual media and interconnectivity. I question -in wake of those conditions- how often we are self-aware. By living our lives through these two devices, we increasingly satisfy external needs, but may neglect internal needs. This situation, I believe, causes a dislocation of mind from body, and allows us to behave body-less. The distortion that we feel viscerally and live physically is actualized through the paint and drawing mediums. An …

Showcase (Concerns Of The Southern Man: From Gatlinburg To Kaohsiung City), Samuel Davis

All Theses

ABSTRACT
One's daily life consists of collecting objects, images, ideas, fears and dreams. These items and concepts do not conjure themselves, but are selected like so many berries in a basket. I question what objects people choose to showcase in their homes, their trophies and shrines. These types of objects serve to validate their owner's beliefs and through their collection, elevate that person's status. In what items does one subconsciously invest their identity?
My work speaks to the value of the collected once transformed. In my practice I juxtapose ideals held separately and simultaneously about the value and import of …

Structures Serving The Visibly Homeless: An Emergency Shelter Response In Charleston, South Carolina, Ellen Martin

All Theses

This thesis is an architectural exploration into how to partially address the housing crisis affecting the visibly homeless population of Charleston, South Carolina. Thousands of men, women, and children in the United States are homeless in Charleston there is a significant and increasing number of visibly homeless. Those who sleep outside shelters are generally known as the 'visibly homeless' or street homeless. The visibly homeless is the most underserved group within the entire homeless population and is composed of those who sleep in places not intended for human habitation, such as bus stations, subway trains, automobiles, doorways, and abandoned buildings. …

Effectiveness Of Team-Building And Teamwork In Real And Virtual Worlds, Rachana Ranade

All Theses

Given the increasing importance of globalization and collaboration, this research investigates the possibility of performing team-building training for globally dispersed teams using the capabilities of the virtual world Second Life. Three meeting conditions, the 3D virtual world Second Life, a combination of face-to-face and Second Life and face-to-face were evaluated. Thirty randomly assigned 3 person teams performed an ice-breaker session and then a team-building activity in each meeting condition. Four dependent variables were measured: task completion time; quality of task performance; the subjective satisfaction with the process based on group cohesiveness, perception of the process and satisfaction with the outcome; …

Views Of Student Nurses On Caring And Technology In Nursing, Elizabeth Gail Brodell

Theses and Dissertations

Nurses entering the workforce are faced with many challenges, but today the multiple demands of patient care are complicated by a nurse's need to keep abreast of fast-changing technology. This research is universally relevant to nursing practice in educational settings and practice areas because nursing education needs to develop strategies to teach students the skills to manage technology, while keeping the elements of caring in learning and clinical practices.

This quantitative study examined the perceptions of nursing students on caring, technology as caring, the technological influences on caring practice, and their confidence level of PDA use. Participants were students accepted …

A Pilot Study Of Organizational Performance, Performance Barriers And Faculty Engagement In The Nursing Education Unit, Yolanda Chapman Turner

Dissertations

This pilot study was driven by the problem of market disequilibrium and the subsequent overarching desire to identify and describe principles and processes taken by nursing education units to optimize market equilibrium for nursing service in response to cyclical market demands. Given the complexities of market responsiveness in conjunction with changes in healthcare delivery, health economics, population demographics, higher education and other contextual factors, it is essential for nursing education as a whole to be in a position to respond to demand. The purpose of this study was to investigate organizational performance, performance barriers and faculty engagement in the nursing …

The Advanced Placement And International Baccalaureate Programs: The Graduates' Perspective, Shannon Saxby Smith

Dissertations

This study was designed to solicit the perspectives of AP and IB graduates who have completed at least one semester of postsecondary education about their experiences while in their respective programs. This study was also conducted to determine whether these IB graduates report that they were better prepared for postsecondary studies than students who participated in the AP program. The researcher was also able to determine whether AP and IB graduates believed they experienced any long-term benefits or detriments by having been in their programs and whether they believed their experiences were worthwhile. Lastly, the researcher was able to determine …

High School Sophomores' Perceptions Of The Role Of Extra-Curricular Activities As Preparation For College Admission, John Earl Wyble

Dissertations

While there is significant interest and emphasis on student participation in extra-curricular activities, limited research on such participation and the benefits it may possess toward preparing students for college admissions exists. A survey of 312 high school sophomores in a rural, southeastern Louisiana school district was conducted. Data were collected through the survey on the students' participation in extra-curricular activities and their perceived value of such participation toward gaining admission to a postsecondary institution. The purpose of the study was to analyze the relationship between participation in extra-curricular activity and the perceived value of such participation toward gaining admission to …

The Impact Of Multicultural Trade Books And An Intervention On Fourth Graders' Cultural Attitudes, Susan Herberger Whitcomb

Dissertations

As the United States population has become more diverse and the civil rights movement of the 1960s increased attentiveness to the change in population, the need for multicultural awareness has grown (Perry & Fraser, 1993). This study examined if teacher read alouds of multicultural trade books and a scripted instructional intervention could impact 187 fourth graders' cultural attitudes. The 10-session, 5-week study involved six reading teacher volunteers participating in one of the three group levels (treatment one: multicultural trade book read alouds, treatment two: multicultural trade books and a scripted instructional intervention, and treatment three: a control group). The mixed …

Hand In Hand, Winter 2009

Hand in Hand

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Milwaukee, WI

Hand in Hand Finding Aid

In Re Marriage Of Matchen, 866 N.E.2d 683 (Ill. App. Ct. 2007): Illinois Removal Standards Do Not Match Up With The Current National Trend, Misty Edwards

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides that a parent who wishes to move out of the state of Illinois with a child must first petition the court for permission.  The court then bases its decision whether the child may be removed on the "best interests of the child" standard.  This Casenote examines the difficulty of applying the "best interests of the child" standard and advocates that Illinois adopt a standard favoring the present national trend: the ability of a custodial parent to move out of state unless motivated by bad faith.

Principals Perceptions Of Factors Affecting Teacher Collaboration In Secondary Schools, Lonnie E. Myers

College of Education Dissertations

This qualitative multi-case study examined how various practicing secondary principals in the Northwest Region of Arkansas perceive teacher collaboration within secondary schools. Job-embedded opportunities for teacher collaboration have been cited as successful ways for promoting teacher learning, which in turn will promote increased student learning (Little, 1990). Researchers and theorists cite properly supported collaboration as key to lasting school improvement (DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Fullan, 1997; Little, 1990). In order for the practice of collaboration to be embedded in secondary schools, a culture must be created within a supportive environment to support the collaborative efforts. DuFour and Eaker (1998) credit …

Effect Of Donor Ethnicity On Kidney Survival In Different Recipient Pairs: An Analysis Of The Optn/Unos Database., C O. Callender, W S. Cherikh, P Traverso, A Hernandez, Tolulope A. Oyetunji, D Chang

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Previous multivariate analysis performed between April 1, 1994, and December 31, 2000 from the Organ Procurement Transplant Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) database has shown that kidneys from black donors were associated with lower graft survival. We compared graft and patient survival of different kidney donor-to-recipient ethnic combinations to see if this result still holds on a recent cohort of US kidney transplants.

METHODS: We included 72,495 recipients of deceased and living donor kidney alone transplants from 2001 to 2005. A multivariate Cox regression method was used to analyze the effect of donor-recipient ethnicity on graft and patient …

Community Voices—A Leadership Program Making A Difference In Rural Underserved Counties In North Carolina, Jane T. Walker, Benjamin Gray

Journal of Extension

Leadership is critically important to rural communities. The study reported here compared the leadership practices of leaders who are graduates of Community Voices Leadership Development for Community Decision Making (CV), a leadership program, to leaders who did not participate in the program. A telephone survey, which included questions from a modified version of the Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes & Posner, 1993), was used to collect the data. The study provides evidence that the CV program implemented in rural underserved counties in North Carolina is making a difference in the practices of rural leaders who have undergone the training.

Survey Of Former Ida Program Participants: How Do They Fare?, Cäzilla Loibl, Beth Red Bird

Journal of Extension

While a number of studies have examined the savings performance of participants in the Individual Development Account (IDA) program, research about long-term program outcomes is limited. To fill this void, we present findings of a survey of IDA participants' asset holdings after they left the IDA program. Results document that those who successfully complete the IDA program report higher levels of asset ownership after completing the program, compared to those dropping out of the program prematurely. This supports the view that IDA programs affect the dispositions and behaviors necessary to successfully maintain a home, complete post-secondary education, and establish a …

An Economic Development Paradox: The Impact Of Linkages And Synergies Among Local Agents In The Development Of An Emergent Bioscience Cluster And Associated Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Francisco Montalvo

Student Scholarship

Although bioscience industrial clusters have been widely researched in the last decade, the role of knowledge creation, management, and transfer as driving forces for industrial cluster competitiveness remains unclear. A better appreciation of knowledge creation and retention as determinants of industrial cluster success, and the role of foreign direct investment may be of value to industry decision makers, policy makers, and researchers worldwide. Our research revealed a paradox regarding the intensity of foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational companies (MNCs) and the limited development of a local entrepreneurial ecosystem in an emergent bioscience cluster. While cluster development seems a logical …

Fly With Me: Developing The Skill Of Flying Tying, Suzanne M. Ciesla

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Manifesting Love: Developing A Bible Camp Week For Gay Young Adults, Scott A. Luikart

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project serves to create an inclusive camp community to teach young gay adults about love and give them a sense of belonging in a religious setting. This sense will be manifested as the participants discuss four forms of love and create a personal manifesto. This project is grounded in Biblical scripture, and Lutheran tradition, but is not exclusive to the Lutheran tradition. Scripture, and literature sources were evaluated and considered in creating a structure for future implementation of a spiritually based camp. ___________________________________

An Examination Of The Organizational, Social And Psychological Climate For Individuals Infected With Or Affected By Hiv/Aids, Rashone Scott-Williams

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

An examination of the organizational, social and psychological climate for individuals infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Enclosed is an identification of the organizational (household), social (family, spouse, friends, church, etc.) and psychological (mental health, thoughts, feelings etc.) press/environment effecting individuals diagnosed with the virus or disease. This project examines and applies the elements of Ekvall’s 10 dimensions of a creative environment for women who are infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS; the results are reflected in a Creative Climate Survey. The participants of the survey were anonymous and voluntary. The survey was distributed throughout an entire month to a …

Dreams Deferred: Disability Definitions, Data, Models, And Perspectives, Barbara Barton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

When Ed Roberts, who had polio, forged new ground for people with disabilities by developing the first Center for Independent Living in 1972, the stage was set for people with disabilities and advocates to join together in a new civil rights movement. 'Invisible' no more, the disability community started what was expected to be a stratospheric leap into community inclusion. There was substantial hope held in the anticipated impact of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 (P.L. 101-336, 104 statute 327). For millions of Americans, it appeared that the ADA would provide avenues for increased …

Influences On Job Retention Among Homeless Persons With Substance Abuse Or Psychiatric Disabilities, Russell K. Schutt, Norman C. Hursh

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Job retention is an important psychosocial rehabilitation goal, but one that is not often achieved. We investigate facilitators of and barriers to employment retention among homeless individuals with psychiatric and substance abuse diagnoses who were re-interviewed eight or more years after participating in a traditional vocational rehabilitation program. Most program graduates who maintained employment had secured social support from a variety of sources; personal motivation was also a critical element in job retention and compensated in some cases for an absence of social support. Both the availability of social support contacts and personal motivation influenced likelihood of maintaining sobriety. Physical …

Connecting Youth And Communities: Customized Career Planning For Youth With Psychiatric Disabilities, Kim Brown

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Young people with psychiatric disabilities are significantly overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, tend to be employed sporadically if at all, and frequently have negative connections within and to their communities. Recent research conducted in Montana with youth who have developmental and/or physical disabilities demonstrates the effectiveness of using a customized career planning model to increase linkages to resources and access to community- based employment. Side benefits include improved self-esteem and positive community connections. The customization model holds promise as a way to reduce the risk factors young people with psychiatric disabilitiesf ace and increase the resiliency factors that can …

Analysis Of Higher Education Employee Exercise Behaviors, Michele Linder

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With the introduction of technology into our daily lives, the need for physical exertion has decreased, which has led to an increase in sedentary lifestyles. Sedentary lifestyles lead to the state of obesity, and nearly two-thirds of the Unites States’ adult population is considered overweight or obese. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life, adverse health effects that strain the health care system, and tension on the financial condition of American companies. Current literature indicates that organizations that had implemented exercise or wellness programs reported healthier and more productive employees, an improved morale within the company, and significant …