Digital Commons Network^™

Is Free Really Cost-Effective? A Case Study Of Open Access E-Textbook Usage In Several Undergraduate Business Courses., Arlene J. Nicholas, John K. Lewis

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

This paper reviews the current trends and costs of e-textbooks and reports on the usage and satisfaction of students using freely available open access e-textbooks in six sections of different business courses. It also examines how students utilize their textbooks, and if the problems associated with using an e-textbook outweigh the main benefit of a free e-textbook.

Volunteer Satisfaction And Intent To Remain: An Analysis Of Contributing Factors Among Professional Golf Event Volunteers, Gina Pauline

Falk College Research Center

Sport events are increasingly reliant on episodic volunteers for the successful delivery of an event. As there continues to exist a surge in the organization of sporting events coupled with the demand for volunteers, event organizers must concern themselves with utilizing the appropriate recruitment and retention strategies. In an effort to do this, one must understand the points of satisfaction for volunteers as well as factors influencing their future intentions to volunteer. While there exists a plethora of research to understand the motivation of volunteers, exploring the antecedents of volunteer satisfaction as well as intent to remain has been limited. …

Alumni

Cal Poly Magazine

No abstract provided.

Cal Poly Magazine, Winter 2011

Cal Poly Magazine

No abstract provided.

Marital Status And Mortality Among Middle Age And Elderly Men And Women In Urban Shanghai, Puthiery Va, Wan-Shui Yang, Sarah Nechuta, Wong-Ho Chow, Hui Cai, Gong Yang, Shan Gao, Yu-Tang Gao, Wei Zheng, Xiao-Ou Shu, Yong-Bing Xiang

Peer Reviewed Articles

Background: Previous studies have suggested that marital status is associated with mortality, but few studies have been conducted in China where increasing aging population and divorce rates may have major impact on health and total mortality.

Methods: We examined the association of marital status with mortality using data from the Shanghai Women’s Health Study (1996–2009) and Shanghai Men’s Health Study (2002–2009), two population-based cohort studies of 74,942 women aged 40–70 years and 61,500 men aged 40–74 years at the study enrollment. Deaths were identified by biennial home visits and record linkage with the vital statistics registry. Marital status was categorized …

Linking Impulsivity And Inhibitory Control Using Manual And Oculomotor Response Inhibition Tasks, Walter Roberts, Mark T. Fillmore, Richard Milich

Psychology Faculty Publications

Separate cognitive processes govern the inhibitory control of manual and oculomotor movements. Despite this fundamental distinction, little is known about how these inhibitory control processes relate to more complex domains of behavioral functioning. This study sought to determine how these inhibitory control mechanisms relate to broadly defined domains of impulsive behavior. Thirty adults with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 28 comparison adults performed behavioral measures of inhibitory control and completed impulsivity inventories. Results suggest that oculomotor inhibitory control, but not manual inhibitory control, is related to specific domains of self-reported impulsivity. This finding was limited to the ADHD group; no …

The Need To Increase The Size Of The Deployable Army, Michael O'Hanlon

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Test Performance And Study Breaks, Lori Mcginley

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

As the culture of American education changes, recess time is declining in favor of instruction time. An important question, however, is whether this shift is truly going to yield the best learning outcomes. The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of taking a break, both mental and physical, on test performance. Seventy college students were tested on their learning of a list of phobias that they had studied in one of three conditions: no break, mental break, and physical break. It was predicted that participants would perform better on a subsequent memory task when a break …

Sustainability Leader Competencies: A Grounded Theory Study, Pamela G. Schwalb

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this critical qualitative study was to develop a theory of the competencies of a sustainability leader, grounded in research. A sustainability leader is generally described as an individual who creates profit for his/her stakeholders, while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those for whom he/she impacts as a result of his/her leadership. Nearly 60 individuals familiar with sustainability were asked to characterize an effective leader of a sustainability initiative or a sustainability organization.

The study revealed there is more than one way to be a sustainability leader—different paths can result in decisions and actions that …

Does Being Rural Matter?: The Roles Of Rurality, Social Support, And Social Self-Efficacy In First-Year College Student Adjustment, Allison L. Bitz

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

One out of every three first-year college students will not return for a second year of college (Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 2010). Due to a variety of factors, minority students are at an even higher risk of dropping out of college. Rural youth, comprising approximately 22% of the nation’s total youth, form a significant minority population; yet the rural student experience in college has not yet been widely considered in research. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore college adjustment and its predictors among first-year students, with an emphasis on the role of rurality in college adjustment. Social self-efficacy, …

Mass Culture As Domination Or Resistance In Latin American Narratives, Tim Robbins

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Since the introduction of radio to Latin America in the 1930’s and later television in the 1950’s, mass culture has become an important and even contentious part of Latin American identity, and as such has also become an important part of Latin American narratives. In looking at the issue of mass culture, two basic approaches emerge: one can see mass culture as a force of domination or one can see it as a force of resistance. It is possible to trace these approaches through different time periods and geopolitical situations. The Mexican Onda writers, for instance, utilize the rock and …

Minimal Structural Requirements Of Alkyl Γ-Lactones Capable Of Antagonizing The Cocaine-Induced Motility Decrease In Planarians, Debra Baker, Sean Deats, Peter Boor, James Pruitt, Oné R. Pagán

Biology Faculty Publications

We recently reported that the natural cyclic lactone, parthenolide, and related analogs prevent the expression of behavioral effects induced by cocaine in planarians and that parthenolide’s γ-lactone ring is required for this effect. In the present work, we tested a series of alkyl γ-lactones with varying chain length (1–8 carbons) to determine their ability to antagonize the planarian motility decrease induced by 200 μM cocaine. Alkyl lactones with up to a 4-carbon alkyl chain did not affect planarian motility or antagonized the cocaine-induced motility decrease; only the compound γ-nonalactone (a γ-lactone with a 5-carbon chain) was able to prevent the …

Factors Related To Psychiatric Readmissions In A Large Community Academic Hospital, William Stern, Edward R. Norris Md, Fapa, Fapm, Karen Burke Rn, Julia R. Correll Ba, Michael Kaufmann Md

Department of Psychiatry

No abstract provided.

Responses Of Swimmers Caught In Rip Currents: Perspectives On Mitigating The Global Rip Current Hazard, Robert W. Brander, Anthony Bradstreet, Shauna Sherker, Jamie Macmahan

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Rip currents are the primary mechanism on many of the world’s beaches associated with rescues and drownings and have long been the focus of beachgoer education and awareness strategies. Traditional approaches to mitigating the rip current hazard typically provide information on escape procedures for beachgoers caught in a rip current. Several of these approaches are now being challenged by new scientific findings leading to uncertainty and debate amongst scientists and beach safety practitioners. This paper suggests that future research efforts on mitigating the rip current hazard should focus on quantifying the physical and behavioral responses of beachgoers who have been …

Dating Violence, Don't Ignore It!, Jeanne L. Surface, David Stader, Thomas Graca, Jerry Lowe

Educational Leadership Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of teen dating violence. Unfortunately, school district failure to take action is far too common, despite the statutory duty to ensure the safety of all students during school hours and at school sponsored events. School districts can be held liable for student dating violence under Title IX, under 42 U.S.C. …

Supporting Native Indian Preschoolers And Their Families Family–School–Community Partnerships, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado-Mancebo, Paula S. Szczepaniak, Jacqueline Jones

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In this urban midwestern public school district, families of Native Indian students, pre-K through grade 12, attend four multigenerational gatherings like this one during the school year—one of a number of events orchestrated by the Native Indian Centered Education (NICE) program. NICE is a program in the school district that partners with families to provide Native-centric educational opportunities for preschool children. Family events such as the storytelling activity in the opening vignette represent trends in early childhood education: building family-school-community partnerships to enhance learning and build family resources. The all- Native-Indian preschool program is unusual and rare in urban areas. …

Sex Differences In Cooperation: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Social Dilemmas, Daniel Balliet, Norman P. Li, Shane J. Macfarlan, Mark Van Vugt

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although it is commonly believed that women are kinder and more cooperative than men, there is conflicting evidence for this assertion. Current theories of sex differences in social behavior suggest that it may be useful to examine in what situations men and women are likely to differ in cooperation. Here, we derive predictions from both sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives on context-specific sex differences in cooperation, and we conduct a unique meta-analytic study of 272 effect sizes—sampled across 50 years of research—on social dilemmas to examine several potential moderators. The overall average effect size is not statistically different from zero (d …

Influence Of Friendship On Motivation And Academic Achievement, Anna Dechant

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Research has shown that friendship, along with motivation, can impact the cognitive development and academic achievement of students in varying ways. As a result of the increase in attention nationwide on student achievement and the positive outcomes that result from academic success, knowing the influences of age, friendship quality, various aspects of friendship, and motivation on academic achievement can only serve to enhance student achievement outcomes, and therefore success in adulthood. The present study examined the variables of age, grade level, and friendship quality, including specific aspects such as conflict and closeness, length of friendship, and time spent with friends, …

Voluntary Career Transition Of Managers In China: A Grounded Theory Study, Judy Yi Sun

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate Chinese managers' voluntary career transitions (VCTs) in the contemporary Chinese organizational and socioeconomic context to offer an understanding and an explanation of the mass VCT phenomenon coupled with the Chinese organizational transformation. The study followed a qualitative research design with the traditional grounded theory approach. Following a theoretical sampling process, twenty-two Chinese managers were selected and interviewed for the study. The findings were reported in relation to three guiding research questions. A contextualized typology of VCTs emerged from data that revealed different patterns of VCTs from behavioral, cognitive and affective aspects. Career …

Parent-Led Activity And Nutrition (Plan) For Healthy Living: Design And Methods, William T. Dalton, Karen E. Schetzina, Nicole Holt, Hazel Fulton-Robinson, Ai-Leng Ho, Fred Tudiver, Mathew T. Mcbee, Tiejian Wu

ETSU Faculty Works

Child obesity has become an important public health concern, especially in rural areas. Primary care providers are well positioned to intervene with children and their parents, but encounter many barriers to addressing child overweight and obesity. This paper describes the design and methods of a cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate a parent-mediated approach utilizing physician's brief motivational interviewing and parent group sessions to treat child (ages 5–11 years) overweight and obesity in the primary care setting in Southern Appalachia. Specific aims of this pilot project will be 1) to establish a primary care based and parent-mediated childhood overweight intervention program …

An Evaluation Of The Christa Mcauliffe Space Education Center Programs, Shelley Diane Ellington

Theses and Dissertations

Recent calls for better education have many teachers trying out new ways to engage their students and teach them required content. In the current educational atmosphere of accountability, many people are beginning to question the effectiveness and utility of their educational programs. The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center (CMSEC) is one such program. Key aspects addressed in this study included better understanding the essence of the CMSEC experience, whether it provides any beneficial impact to visitors, and how the CMSEC programs fit into the educational spectrum. An exploratory mixed-method design (utilizing focus groups, interviews, and surveys) was used to explore …

The Impact Of An Enacted Social Support Training Intervention On Worklife Interaction And Stress In A Sample Of Working Adults, Justin P. Boren, Jess K. Alberts

Communication

The present investigation explores utilizes an enacted social support intervention among a group of working adults. Reductions in psychological and physiological stress were hypothesized to occur following the experimental intervention. Participants (N = 46) were all full time staff members at a large university and were randomly assigned to treatment or wait-list control groups. Treatment group members attended two 90 minute enacted social support meetings over the course of four weeks. Psychological (perceived stress and worklife conflict) and physiological (salivary cortisol) data were collected at both pretest and posttest periods. Results did not support the research hypotheses; however, a research …

The Lincy Institute E-Health Summit: Promoting Coalitions In Technology And Health, Bo Bernhard

Policy Briefs and Reports

A prestigious stakeholder gathering is proposed which will advance technology-based “e-health” (internet, social networking, and smart phone-based) practices of community groups. This assembly - The Lincy Institute Summit - will educate community partners about the potential of e-health interventions for primary prevention of risky behavior, obtain expert stakeholder evaluations of an existing e-health prototype for gambling, and provide a powerful foundation for a community-based coalition focused on risky youth behaviors. The fellowship will provide support for summit-related costs, integration of our community partners’ prevention messages into e-health technologies, and the development of a coalition and grant applications to support the …

Residence Hall Sense Of Community In Physical And Technology-Based Spaces: Implications For Alcohol-Related Attitudes And Behaviors, Benjamin C. Graham

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Social experiences such as sense of community (SOC) and peer norms have the potential to influence attitudes and behaviors around a host of wellness-related issues. Social interaction, facilitated by the rapid growth of communication technology, in addition to the enduring need to interact in physical space, represent important community features. College residence halls are of interest to community psychology and other fields, as they are highly interactive, technologically-rich contexts where communities occur. Peer norms having a strong relationship to students’ perspectives and choices around alcohol. Less understood is the role that SOC plays, and the forms of social interaction that …

Ipulse: November 2011, Lynn University

Student Newspapers

Issues:

• November 1, 2011
• November 2, 2011
• November 3, 2011
• November 8, 2011
• November 10, 2011
• November 16, 2011
• November 28, 2011
• November 29, 2011
• November 30, 2011

Managing Individual And Organizational Performance: The Critical Mediating Role Of Collaboration, Oliver L.G Bouclier

Student Scholarship

Although collaboration has often been suggested as a critical factor for improving performance, its relation to individual and organizational performance has been given little attention in management research. This paper proposes a model of collaboration including affective, cognitive and organizational antecedents, and measures its effects on individual and organizational success. Over 900 front line employees in two firms in the service industry were surveyed. Structural Equation Modeling and bootstrap analysis were used to examine its role as a mediator between three independent variables (i.e. commitment, self-efficacy, and rewards) and three dependent variables (i.e. individual success, organizational efficiency and quality) while …

Sex Offender Assessment Panels: A Failed Attempt To Protect The Public From Louisiana's Most Violent Predators, Brock Skelley

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

Understanding Student Disaffection Through The Lens Of Alternative Education, Gwen C. Marchand

Policy Briefs and Reports

This partnership project between UNLV and Clark County School District’s Student Support Services Division (SSSD) focuses on identifying risk and protective factors leading to student disaffection and placement in alternative education. Alternative education students are primarily male, with an overrepresentation of minority and special education designations, and who face increased odds of school drop-out. This project will use a mixed-methods approach to chart student trajectories toward alternative education and explore student educational experiences through a motivational and emotional lens. The partnership should result in increased potential for data-driven decision making by SSSD staff and scholarship opportunities for UNLV.

Culture, Language, And Gendered Violence In Southern Nevada, Kathleen Ja Sook Bergquist

Policy Briefs and Reports

The U.S. Census estimated approximately 25.1% of Nevadans in 2006 to 2008 to be non-white, 27.3% speak English as a second language, and 24.9% Hispanic. The three most commonly spoken languages in Las Vegas are English, Spanish, and Tagalog, reflecting the growing Spanish-speaking and Asian communities in Southern Nevada. Service providers struggle with providing relevant services for these communities, to include addressing gendered violence. This project seeks to further current knowledge about gendered violence in Spanish-speaking and Asian communities, to examine the capacity of local providers, and identify possible linguistic and cultural barriers that may compound education, outreach, and intervention.

Uwlaw, Fall 2011, Vol. 64

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.