Digital Commons Network^™

A Phenomenological Study Of Mal De Debarquement Syndrome, Divina T. Johnston

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The objective of this study was to understand the life experiences of individuals who have been diagnosed and live with the symptoms of Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. This is a rare and incurable neurological disorder that creates a feeling of imbalance and that can lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study involved a phenomenological investigation of the study participants in order to obtain data and increase awareness of this rare disorder. Eight women participated and shared their experiences with onset, diagnosis, and living with MdDS. The electronic version of this dissertation is available free at Ohiolink ETD Center, …

Russell Lord And The Permanent Agriculture Movement: An Environmental Biography, Margaret L. Eppig

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This work is an environmental biography of agricultural journalist Russell Lord and a history of the agricultural conservation organization he co-founded. Today the work of the Society for the Friends of the Land (1940 – 1960) is little known to contemporary agricultural and environmental history, yet its influence continues through the fields of sustainable agriculture and landscape restoration. This work chronicles how modern revolutions in scientific and ecological thought transformed the future of American agriculture. It formed the cornerstone of an emerging environmental movement. I argue that this movement, with Lord as its literary vanguard, was the lynchpin that bound …

Leading Change In Complex Systems: A Paradigm Shift, Cheryl Lemaster

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study is an in-depth exploration of the experiences of 20 executive-level leaders from American corporations, government agencies, hospitals, and universities.At the heart of this investigation are stories that reveal the challenge of leading change in complex systems from the leader perspective, creating an opportunity to explore sense-making and sense-giving as guided by individual values and organizational contexts.Complexity Science, the framework for this research, is the study of relationships within and among systems.The aim of approaching this research from a complexity perspective is to gain a more realistic view of the issues and challenges that leaders face during change, …

Exploring The Lives Of Women Who Lead, Susan Cloninger

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Scholars have identified various reasons for the underrepresentation of women in the upper echelons of organizations.This study used grounded theory methodology enhanced by situational analysis to explore how American women at senior levels in large organizational contexts engage and negotiate the totality of their situation.Utilizing a predominately White, married, middle to upper class, heterosexual sample, this study sought to understand how women create and consign meaning around their experiences; how they experience the fluidity and boundaries of multiple identities; and how they experience the entanglement of macro, meso, and micro societal forces.It explores relationships among factors participants named as influential …

Elements Of Effective Interorganizational Collaboration: A Mixed Methods Study, Patricia A. Greer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Interorganizational collaboration is a process used by committed stakeholders within a problem domain to solve 'messy’ or complex issues. Joint identification and resolution of complex problems is achieved through an iterative process, using elements for success: committed members, resources, time, communication, trust, shared goal, defined process, and collective identity. This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed methods process as a practical approach, resulting in richer data and increased understanding of the phenomenon of collaboration. The guiding research problem explored which elements influence successful collaborations and, specifically, how collective identity is developed, sustained, and related to the perception of success. The …

Revealing Grace: The Lived Experiences Of America's Post-9/11 Military Caregivers, Jennifer J. Hunter

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research focused on the lived experiences of fourteen military caregiving wives whose husbands were wounded, ill, or injured in a post-9/11 combat theater of war. All wives in this study had been vetted by and appointed to the Elizabeth Dole Military Caregiving Fellows Program and were either actively involved in the Fellowship or had become recent alumni of the two-year commitment at the time of this study. The purpose of this study was to provide a platform for their voices, understand their hopes, struggles, successes, and failures, and to give honor to their stories of military caregiving through the …

Sponsorship In Al-Anon Family Groups: A Narrative Study, Heidi S. Hiatt

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about the relationship between sponsor and sponsee in Al-Anon Family Groups from the perspective of sponsors and sponsees in Al-Anon. The main question guiding my research is: What is the nature and quality of the sponsorship relationship as perceived by sponsors and sponsees? Nineteen men and women were interviewed and shared stories of their experience of being a sponsor and a sponsee in the Al-Anon program. I utilized a holistic-content approach to analyze the date from the interviews. To help situate the findings in current literature a discussion of sponsorship in …

The Effects Of Session And Outcome Rating Scales Used In A Wraparound Setting, Alexandra Giatrelis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study investigated the usefulness of session and outcome rating scales within a wraparound program in New England. The extensive needs of youth with serious emotional disturbance (SED) categorizations and their families require highly coordinated systems of care that not only deliver adequate services, but contend with the momentum of often contentious and unsuccessful relationships these families have typically experienced with social service systems. Outcome and session rating scales, along with measures of fidelity, hold the potential to provide rapid feedback on both outcome (outside of sessions) and working alliance (within sessions), as well as the consumers’ perspective on the …

Rhizomatic Learning And Adapting: A Case Study Exploring An Interprofessional Team's Lived Experiences, Renee Charney

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this theoretical case study was to explore the lived experiences of members within an inter-professional team about how they learn and adapt while dedicating their lives toward the well-being of students residing in and attending a rehabilitation home school. Although there is broad literature that addresses legacy learning theories and frameworks, as well as complex-adaptive organizations, very little shows how the application of rhizome philosophy principles address learning and adapting within an organizational context. This study is a step toward addressing that gap. Using interviews, thematic analysis, and storyline networking, the study explored in depth the lived …

Transracial Adoptees’ Thoughts On Culturally Competent Parenting, Molly Conley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Transracial adoption, the adoption of a child of a different race than those of the adoptive parents, occurs in approximately 40% of all adoptions. While transracial adoption alone is not sufficient to cause mental health concerns, it does pose a series of unique challenges that can impact self-esteem, racial identity, and sense of belonging in adoptees. Much of the research on adoption focuses on adoptive parents, collecting quantitative data from adoptees, and mental health professionals’ views of adoptees’ experiences. This study elicited feedback from adult transracial adoptees on Vonk’s 2001 model of culturally competent parenting. Data were interpreted using Interpretive …

Experiential Journey Of Females Who Enter Or Re-Enter College Later In Life To Degree Completion, Rita Audy Johnston

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Given the scope and paucity of knowledge about the lived experiences of the female adult student entering or re-entering college later in life to degree completion, this research study identified significant themes in their lived experiences. With an appreciative eye, this study captured the female adult students’ lived experiences conveyed in a rich, inter-connected, and inspiring picture of who they are embedded into the larger context of society; such as role identity theory, social identity theory and the applicability and interpretations of these two theories on their journey to degree completion. This study also portrayed selected aspects of the feminist …

Design Thinker Profile: Creating And Validating A Scale For Measuring Design Thinking Capabilities, Dani Chesson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study developed a scale for assessing design thinking capabilities in individuals. Many organizations today are turning to design thinking to tackle the complex challenges they face. As organizations move toward adopting this way of working the need to develop design thinking capabilities in individuals becomes imperative. The capabilities needed for engaging in design thinking are skills that we all have to some varying degree, but we do not all use them to their full potential when solving problems. The scale developed in this study measures the degree to which an individual uses design thinking capabilities when engaged in problem …

Inclusive Leadership's Evolving Context: Organizational Climate And Culture Connect, Maria E. Dezenberg

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Conventional forms of leadership that are prominent in organizational life today are seemingly antithetical to the landscape of our dynamic, global society. The continued focus on traditional hierarchies with leadership that functions in a “chain of command” manner begs the question of how organizations can reshape routines and relationships to reflect processes of inclusion and collaboration that have the capability of provoking progressive change in organizations. Diversity and Inclusion scholars have identified the newer construct of inclusive leadership as apt to advance climates and cultures of inclusion through social processes that encourage inclusive practices and behaviors. These fluid aspects of …

The Enigmatic "Cross-Over" Leadership Life Of Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune (1875-1955), Greer Charlotte Stanford-Randle

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The dissertation is a deep study of an iconic 20^th century female, African American leader whose acclaim developed not only from her remarkable first generation post-Reconstruction Era beginnings, but also from her mid-century visibility among Negroes and some Whites as a principal spokesperson for her people. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune arose from the Nadir- the darkest period for Negroes after the Civil War and three subsequent US Constitutional Amendments. She led thousands of Negro women, despite social adversity, to organize around their own aspirations for improved social and material lives among America’s diverse citizens., i.e. “the melting pot.” The …

A Day In The Life Of A Sim: Making Meaning Of Video Game Avatars And Behaviors, Jessica Stark

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

With video game usage--and criticism on its activity--on the rise, it may be helpful for the psychological community to understand what it actually means to play video games, and what the lived experience entails. This qualitative, phenomenological study specifically explores user behaviors and decisions in the simulated life video game, The Sims. Ten participants completed one- to two-hour long semi-structured interviews, and the data was transcribed, organized into 1,988 codes, which were clustered into 30 categories, and from which six themes ultimately emerged. These resulting themes are: self-representation; past, present, and future; purpose for play; self-reflection; co-creation; and familiarity. The …

Optimal Combined Long-Term Facility Design And Short-Term Operational Strategy For Chp Capacity Investments, Jose Mojica, Damon Petersen, Brigham Hansen, Kody Powell, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

This work presents a detailed case study for the optimization of the expansion of a district energy system evaluating the investment decision timing, type of capacity expansion, and fine-scale operational modes. The study develops an optimization framework to find the investment schedule over 30 years with options of investing in traditional heating sources (boilers) or a next-generation combined heat and power (CHP) plant that provides heat and electricity. In district energy systems, the selected capacity and type of system is dependent on demand-side requirements, energy prices, and environmental costs. This work formulates capacity planning over a time horizon as a …

Equine Infectious Anemia, Karl H. Hoopes

All Current Publications

This fact sheet gives information on equine infectious anemia, a blood-borne infectious viral disease of horses, donkeys, and mules. It describes transmission, clinical disease, diagnosis and control.

Caseous Lymphadenitis Management In Goats, C. Kim Chapman, Matthew J. Kennedy

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes Caseous Lymphadenitis, an infectious disease of sheep and goats and gives information on managing the disease.

Student Voices For Why College Students Take Physical Activity Classes When It Is Not Required For Graduation, David C. Barney, Kelsey Higginson

Faculty Publications

The time in college is a time to prepare to go out into the world and be a contributing member of society. Typically, a college education should take four years to complete. Many colleges are eliminating the physical activity requirement for graduation, hoping that it will aid the student in graduating in a timely manner. Yet, students still take physical activity classes while working towards graduation. For this study, 420 college students (235 males & 185 females) participated in this study. Students in physical activity classes at a private university of the western United States completed a survey in regards …

Southeastern Utah Small-Scale Mixed Vegetable Production Costs And Returns - 2 Acres, 2016, Kynda Curtis, Jacob Rudd

All Current Publications

Sample costs and returns to produce mixed vegetables under drip irrigation and sold through direct markets in Southeastern Utah are presented. This publication is intended to be a guide used to make production decisions, determine potential returns and prepare business and marketing plans.

Spring/Summer 2017

University of Richmond Magazine

No abstract provided.

"Through A Glass, Darkly" Technical, Policy, And Financial Actions To Avert The Coming Digital Dark Ages, Richard S. Whitt

Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal

"Through A Glass, Darkly" Technical, Policy, and Financial Actions to Avert the Coming Digital Dark Ages

An Experimental Investigation Of The Individual And Joint Effects Of Financial And Non-Financial Incentives On Knowledge Sharing Using Enterprise Social Media, Degan Kettles, Robert D. St. Louis, Paul John Steinbart

Faculty Publications

Many organizations implement enterprise social media (ESM) in an effort to capture and store valuable knowledge that employees possess. Unfortunately, more often than not, employees do not make a large number of knowledge contributions. Using agency theory and contingency theory as foundations, we examine managerial interventions that can improve knowledge contribution rates in ESM. Specifically, we investigate the individual and joint effects of paying people to share knowledge, providing social cues, and having supporting and policing moderators on knowledge sharing. We further examine how two contingency factors—the nature of an employee’s compensation scheme (variable or fixed) for their primary work …

Embodied Conversational Agent-Based Deception Detection, Aaron C. Elkins, Jeffrey G. Proudfoot, Nathan Twyman, Judee K. Burgoon, Jay F. Nunamaker Jr.

Faculty Publications

An Embodied Conversational Agent-based human deception detection system was tested in a laboratory experiment during which some subjects had committed a mock crime and had guilty knowledge of that crime. Sensor signals were analyzed for their ability to discriminate between guilty/deceptive and innocent/truthful examinees and suitability for conducting automated agent-based deception interviews. Electrodermal activity confirmed the presence of arousal during the agent-based interviews.

The Frontier In Paris: Artists From The American West In The French Capital, 1890–1900, James R. Swensen

Faculty Publications

From 1890 to 1900 several artists traveled from the American West to Paris to advance their studies. Coming from the “wild West,” the French capital represented for them the most sophisticated city on earth. Interestingly, they found Paris to be a place of danger and adventure, a frontier of its own right. They also discovered that their European peers longed for images of a frontier West that included Native Americans, cowboys, and wild animals. Through their experiences in this new and exotic land, artists from Robert Henri to Cyrus Dallin learned that the frontier was more of a state of …

The Edtech Blog: Learning Beyond The Classroom Through Social Spaces For Informal Learning, Joseph Rene Corbeil, Maria Elena Corbeil

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Thirteen years ago, the EdTech Blog was created as an informal learning space to promote a professional community of learners enrolled in a fully online graduate program. The blog was created to enable current and former EdTech students to discuss contemporary topics and issues related to the profession. This paper will provide: an overview of the literature on social spaces for informal learning; a brief history and description of the EdTech blog, its purpose and goals, and how it was implemented; and the results of phase one of a formative evaluation where students weighed in on the blog's goals and …

The Impacts Of Lake-Effect Snow On Traffic Volume In Ohio And Indiana, 2011-2015, Daniel Allen Burow

Theses and Dissertations

Snowfall presents a hazard to drivers by reducing visibility and increasing safe stopping distances. As a result, some drivers cancel trips if snowfall is occurring or forecasted, and traffic volumes often decrease on snowy days. Lake-effect snow is very localized and is thus hypothesized to have a lesser influence on traffic volume than synoptic-scale snow, which usually covers a broader areal extent. Traffic volume in northeast Ohio and northern Indiana is studied using a matched-pair analysis to determine if volumes differ between lake-effect and synoptic-scale snowfall in these regions. While little statistical evidence is found to support this hypothesis, other …

Trailer Park Residents: Are They Worthy Of Society's Respect, Steve Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Existing research is limited in explaining the existence of and reasons for stereotypes held against trailer park residents. This study uses an experimental design to measure attitudes towards trailer park residents, specifically in terms of being considered worthy of society’s respect. An Internet questionnaire was designed and administered to a sample of 559 introductory sociology students at a Midwestern university using semantic differentials to measure attitudes towards a fictitious couple. Participants were divided into a control and an experimental group. The groups were presented with two different vignettes, which were the same except for the experimental group where the vignette …

A Midwest School District’S Implementation Process Of A New Teacher Evaluation Model, Kristopher G. Arason G. Arason

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the implementation of the Marzano Teacher Evaluation Framework (MTEF) in a Midwest school district. The study used quantitative methods to examine the process used to bring about change in the school district’s teacher evaluation model. The researcher examined teacher and administrator perceptions regarding change, professional development, instructional improvement, reliability, and overall satisfaction with ease of use of the MTEF model.

The researcher used data collected from one Midwest school district. The school district consisted of twelve elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools. A total of 682 …

Attitudes And Beliefs Of North Dakota Early Childhood Educators Toward Gender Constructs, Janelle Jean Ferderer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the attitudes and beliefs about gender and gender diversity held by certified practicing early childhood teachers in North Dakota Department of Public Instruction approved preschool programs. Selected children’s books were used to elicit qualitative responses that provided insight into teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding gender.

The theoretical framework for the study was based on Vygotsky’s theories on the Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), which focus on the importance of the role of educators’ influence in the social development of young children. The methodology for …