Digital Commons Network^™

Strategies To Influence A Quality And Compliance Culture, Betsy Jean Macht

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In drug, medical, and consumer products businesses, leaders should establish strategies that ensure production of quality products and drive profitability. Sales of defective or substandard products carry a potential risk of unintended effects on the consumer. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies used by leaders to influence a culture of quality and compliance, leading to production of saleable products, and business profitability. The conceptual framework of the theory of constraints served to guide the scope and data analysis for this study. Participants included ten individuals with a minimum of 5 years of experience at …

Multimedia Technologies' Influence On Language Acquisition In English Language Learners, Larissa Karina Parrilla

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English as a Second Language (ESL) learners at the upper elementary level have struggled to demonstrate the vocabulary required to read in English at grade-level. Although multimedia technologies have demonstrated positive effects as language acquisition educational tools at the university level, it remains unclear how useful they are for language acquisition at the elementary level. This quasi-experimental study used dual coding theory as a framework to examine the relationship between the level of reading comprehension upper elementary students developed and their construction of word meanings through use of multimedia technologies. The study utilized convenience sampling of 85 students divided into …

Electronic Learning Management System Integration Impact On Tertiary Care Hospital Learners' Educational Performance, Ahmad Tassi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technological innovations have been shown to improve the quality of health information and improve safety in health care systems. The purpose of this project was to offer hospital nurses a more flexible and practical alternative to education and training than the traditional face-to-face method, supporting nurse educators in overcoming many of the obstacles in responding to nurses' needs in the clinical areas. This project used a randomized, 2-group posttest-only experimental design to measure the effect of treatment at a targeted hospital. The experimental group received a new instructional approach using an Electronic Learning Management System (ELMS) and the control group …

Beliefs Among Mothers Of Adolescent Females On Cervical Cancer Vaccination, Aja Rochelle Gardner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hispanic and African American women are infected with sexually transmitted diseases more often than are Caucasian women. This racial disparity is also seen in the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. The medical connection between HPV and cervical cancer is often unknown or misunderstood among women. This study addressed the beliefs and subsequent health decisions of minority parents regarding whether to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV. The theoretical framework for this study was Rosenstock's health belief model (HBM). The specific study design used was Husserl and Heidegher's theory on Phenomenology. This qualitative study utilized focus groups containing …

The Aesthetic Experience, Flow, And Smart Technology: Viewing Art In A Virtual Environment, Carol Ikard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Smart technology can support art educators and museum professionals in mediating the aesthetic experience. It can also increase museum attendance, enrich the viewer's delight and engagement with artworks and art collections, and provide an avenue for extending art on a global level. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a mobile art app with text-based narrative influences scores on an aesthetic experience questionnaire. This quantitative research measured the difference in pretest and posttest human-computer interaction scores on the Aesthetic Experience Questionnaire Form after participants used two versions of a mobile art app. Csikszentmihalyi's flow was …

Telehealth: Improving Quality Of Life In Veterans With Congestive Heart Failure, Marcia Callender Callender

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Congestive heart failure (CHF) affects an estimated 5.1 million Americans over the age of 20. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether there is a difference in the Quality of Life (QOL) for Congestive heart failure patients receiving care through telehealth compared to patients receiving face-to-face care (usual care). Guiding this project was the Self-Care Model of Chronic Illness because the primary outcome of the self-care model is illness stability, well-being, and quality of life. Seventy-seven veterans with Heart Failure (HF) from the Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) participated in the project. Forty reported they …

The Credibility Of Government Budget: The Case Of Sierra Leone, Patrick Saidu Conteh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fiscal reports have, since 2010, documented weak budget credibility in Sierra Leone public financial management noting that the government budget does not constitute a dependable framework for the planning, allocation and efficient use of the nation's resources. The purpose of this study was to develop a budgetary reform agenda and the research question that guided the study related to the reasons for the high monetary variances between the approved budget and the year-end financial reports. Government budgets and financial reports were reviewed for 2010-2014 and senior government officials were interviewed regarding the main stages of the annual budgetary process. The …

Effect Of An Interactive Component On Students' Conceptual Understanding Of Hypothesis Testing, Sarah Anne Inkpen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Premier Technical College of Qatar (PTC-Q) has seen high failure rates among students taking a college statistics course. The students are English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in business studies and health sciences. Course delivery has involved conventional content/curriculum-centered instruction with minimal to no interactive components. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to assess the effectiveness of an interactive approach to teaching and learning statistics used in North America and the United Kingdom when used with EFL students in the Middle East. Guided by von Glasersfeld's constructivist framework, this study compared conceptual understanding between a convenience sample …

Exploring Skills That Liberian Small-Business Entrepreneurs Use To Succeed In Business, Mars Mellish

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over 35 years of gross economic mismanagement and business failures led Liberia's gross domestic product to collapse by 90% in less than two decades. As a result of a general lack of business skills, up to 80% of Liberian small-business entrepreneurs fail in business beyond the first year. Based on the theory of constraints, the purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to explore the business skills that Liberian small-business entrepreneurs used to succeed in business beyond the first year. Data came from semistructured face-to-face interviews with 5 central regional Liberian small-business entrepreneurs who had succeeded in business beyond …

Branding Strategies Of Private International Schools In India, Balasubramanian Varadarajan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Private international schools in India are considered by many to be a quality brand. They have grown rapidly leading to competition among schools for student enrollments. The purpose of this case study was to explore the branding strategies used by leaders of Indian private international schools. The study population consisted of private international school leaders in India as well as the faculty and parents from the study site. The double vortex brand model served as the conceptual framework for the study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 school leaders, 5 faculty, and 5 parents from an international school in Chennai. …

Phenomenological Study Of The Educational Component Of The Formal Disarmament, Demobilization, And Reintegration Program Of Ex-Militants In Liberia, John Tamba Wollie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A significant number of Liberian ex-militants are unemployed and underemployed despite the job skills, formal education, and entrepreneurial training they received as participants in the Formal Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) program that was established to reintegrate combatants into civilian society at the end of the two civil wars in Liberia in 2003. The purpose of this study was to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the vocational training offered by the DDR program. Informed by the theories of Human Capital, Peace Building, and Bronfrenbrenner, the research questions for this study assessed the benefits of the educational component of DDR. …

Understanding The Influence Of Human Emotions In Organizations: The Emotional Extent Effects, Lambert Ikechi Ofoegbu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emotional disengagement of employees may cause poor organizational performance, while emotional commitment of employees may enhance organizational performance. Informed by the theory of psychological ownership in organizations, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore how employee emotional interactions in the workplace related to organizational performance within 3 multinational companies in Nigeria. The 3 selected companies represented the 3 industrial sectors in Nigeria were financial, construction, and oil and gas. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 24 participants with a minimum of 5 years' experience in their respective organizations. Data analysis included transcription, coding, and querying, which produced …

Parental Involvement Of Ghanaian And Nigerian Immigrant Parents In Urban Public Schools, Joseph O. Quaye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Immigrant parents face unique challenges in getting involved in their children's education. Research is limited about how immigrant parents cope with these challenges in supporting their children's education. The purpose of this qualitative study, as reflected in the central research question, was to describe the lived experiences of Ghanaian and Nigerian immigrant parents in relation to their involvement in their children's education. The conceptual framework was based on Epstein's theory of parental involvement concerning how the school, family, and community relate to each other. A phenomenological design was used, and participants included 11 Ghanaian and Nigerian immigrant parents living …

The Effect Of Acculturative In The Psychological Adjustment Of Immigrant Hispanic Parents, Estela Garcia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hispanic immigrant parents are a growing yet understudied population. Few studies have addressed the relationship between Hispanic immigrant parents and the acculturation process. The purpose of this study was to determine how acculturative stress, racism, language proficiency, poor coping style, and low levels of social support affect the psychological adjustment of Hispanic immigrant parents. Using the framework of acculturation theory, this quantitative study examined 92 immigrant Hispanic parents from an urban northeast school in the United States. Several established instruments that measured racism, coping style, language proficiency, social support, and psychological distress were used. The results of the multiple regression …

“Big Data” And The Risk Of Employment Discrimination, Allan G. King, Marko Mrkonich

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Live And Let Die: The Consequences Of Oklahoma’S Nondiscrimination In Treatment Act, Kendra Norman

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cultural Influences On The Weight, Diet, And Physical Activity Of Pregnant Immigrant Latinas, Martha Eugenia Dominguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this phenomenological study is how culture and acculturation can potentially influence gestational weight during pregnancy, leading to overweight and obesity among immigrant Latinas. To understand the possible influence of culture and acculturation on the diet, exercise, and weight of pregnant immigrant Latinas, the experiences of immigrant Latinas who had undergone a pregnancy in Mexico and were pregnant in California were examined. The ecological model theory was applied as a framework for exploring the participants' experiences regarding nutrition, physical activity, and weight gain. Semistructured interviews with 10 qualified participants were conducted. Data analysis entailed an inductive approach …

Persuasive Strategies In A Chauvinistic Religious Discourse: The Case Of Women's Ordination, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Faculty Publications

Currently one of the most divisive issues in some Christian communities centers on women’s ordination. This study critically analyzes a religious discourse which defends and justifies the Southern Baptist Convention’s opposition to women’s ordination by using a sociocognitive approach as an underlying theoretical framework. The analysis aims to illustrate how a religious text both assumes and tries to formulate unified mental models to control the beliefs of the audience and promulgate dominance by assigning sovereign values to certain interpretations so that readers will understand certain texts as they see them. In doing so, the current study also hopes to demonstrate …

Empowering English Language Teachers Through History, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Faculty Publications

TESOL training programs typically offer courses in methods and pedagogy, along with other classes to equip future English language teaching (ELT) professionals with essential teaching skills and knowledge. Not as frequently offered or required, however, is a course focusing on critically examining political and philosophical aspects of ELT. This article discusses why I believe it is important for TESOL curriculums to include topics on the diachronic development and synchronic variations of the English language and to engage students in topics that would allow them to critically examine embedded power relations in ELT. By reflecting on my own classroom experience as …

A Christian Perspective On Watching Secular Tv Programming, S. Joseph Kidder, David K. Penno

Faculty Publications

This article is designed to help parents educate their children how to manage the viewing of television (TV) programming from a Christian perspective. We will address the viewing of TV programming through the various media available today. Although people use the traditional TV set less, research indicates that they watch more programming via a variety of sources (TV sets, iPads, internet, etc.). The principles addressed in this article also apply to movies in the theater, videos on YouTube, and other visual media.

Sex, Drugs And Alcohol: What Adventist College Students Say About The Role Of Parents And Religion, Alina M. Baltazar, Duane C. Mcbride, Curtis J. Vanderwaal, Kathryn Conopio

Faculty Publications

Relationships with peers, parents, and God make a difference in the behavior choices of youth. If a young person spends time with peers who don’t use substances and are planning to wait until they get married to have sex, they are less likely to engage in these behaviors. In addition, if the youth has a close relationship with parents who clearly state their standards regarding substance use and premarital sex, they are less likely to practice these behaviors. Finally, when the young person has a close relationship with God, they are more likely to care about the religious standards such …

Sola Scriptura And Hermeneutics: Are Adventist And Evangelical Theologies Compatible?, Fernando Canale

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Does Isaiah 65:17–25 Describe The Eschatological New Heavens And The New Earth?, Jiří Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Shakespeare And The Cultural Olympiad: Contesting Gender And The British Nation In The Bbc’S Hollow Crown, L Monique Pittman

Faculty Publications

As part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad celebrating both the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics, the BBC launched a season of programs, entitled Shakespeare Unlocked, most notably presenting the plays of the second tetralogy in four feature-length adaptations released under the unifying title The Hollow Crown. These plays so obviously engaged with the question of English nationalism suited a year in which the United Kingdom wrestled with British identity in a post-colonial and post-Great Recession world. Through its adaptative and filmic vocabularies, however, The Hollow Crown advances a British nationalism unresponsive to the casualties — often women and …

Growth Conditions For Uniqueness Of Smooth Positive Solutions To An Elliptic Model, Joon Hyuk Kang

Faculty Publications

The uniqueness of positive solution to the elliptic model

∆u + u[a + g(u, v)] = 0 in Ω, ∆v + v[a + h(u, v)] = 0 in Ω, u = v = 0 on ∂Ω,

were investigated.

The Relationship Between Successful Completion And Sequential Movement In Self-Paced Distance Courses, Janine M. Lim

Faculty Publications

A course design question for self-paced courses includes whether or not technological measures should be used in course design to force students to follow the sequence intended by the course author. This study examined learner behavior to understand whether the sequence of student assignment submissions in a self-paced distance course is related to successful completion of the course. The study included 543 students in 89 different general education courses at a private university in the United States during a two year period. Results indicate that students who completed at least one assignment or exam out of the intended sequence of …

The Added Value Of Conducting Learning Design Meeting To The Online Course Development Process, Denise Shaver

Faculty Publications

Do you find it challenging to have discussions with instructors about designing online courses and best practices in teaching? This article will highlight key components to conducting effective Learning Design Meetings. It outlines techniques used by our institution in engaging faculty in a discussion regarding better use of Learning Management Systems (LMS), storyboard layout, learning outcomes, student engagement, learning activities, formal assessments, and content delivery. Learning Design meetings have proven to be a compelling manner of decreasing faculty resistance while exposing instructors to best practices in pedagogy, andragogy, and online learning. Instructional Designers (IDs), Instructional Facilitators (IFs), and Course Authors …

When Not To "Tie The Knot”: A Study Of Exogamous Marriage In Ezra-Nehemiah Against The Backdrop Of Biblical Legal Tradition, Gerald A. Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Él Dijo Y Fue Así”: Lenguaje Humano, Creación Divina, E Imago Dei, Gerald A. Klingbeil

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

When We Grade Students’ Proofs, Do They Understand Our Feedback?, Robert C. Moore, Martha Byrne, Sarah Hanusch, Timothy Fukawa-Connelly

Faculty Publications

Instructors often write feedback on students’ proofs even if there is no expectation for the students to revise and resubmit the work. It is not known, however, what students do with that feedback or if they understand the professor’s intentions. To this end, we asked eight advanced mathematics undergraduates to respond to professor comments on four written proofs by interpreting and implementing the comments. We analyzed the student’s responses using the categories of corrective feedback for language acquisition, viewing the language of mathematical proof as a register of academic English.