Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Setting Goals On Accelerated Reader, Austin King

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if sixth grade English and language arts (ELA) and reading students’ reading habits are due solely to Accelerated Reader (AR) point mandates by their classroom teachers and if by allowing them to set their own reading goals, whether or not they will be able to attain an equal or greater amount of AR points. Rather than be given a minimum number of AR points for a quarter which would then be input to the grade book, students were asked to create self-set goals based on their final fifth grade quarter …

Cooperative Learning In Math Education, Leah Kane

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine whether cooperative learning benefits students in the content area of math. Data was collected for this project over a two-week period of time. Qualitative data in the form of observation was taken while students worked in their cooperative learning groups. Quantitative data was incorporated by looking at the progress of students towards their math-learning goal. The math-learning goal being assessed throughout the following research is on subitizing. More specifically, students will be able to subitize the number of dots seen on a ten frame after having looked at the ten …

Relationship Between Movement And Student Behaviors, Amy L. Ackerman

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine the relationship between movement opportunities and student behaviors, specifically off-task behaviors. Participants were twenty-five, four and five-year-olds in a public, inclusive, half-day preschool setting. Data was collected through observation during a ten-minute end of the day large group meeting for six weeks. Various movement opportunities were provided ranging from no breaks, ten-minute in-classroom brain breaks, and fifteen-minute gross-motor recess breaks. Any reminders given to attend to the large group meeting were recorded and later analyzed to suggest that movement opportunities affect student behaviors in a positive manner.

Sight Words And Phonics: The Connection That Helps Early Elementary Students Read Fluently, Stephanie Mulder

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if combining phonics and memorized vocabulary words into the reading instruction for Tier 2 students would increase fluency speed. For six weeks the researcher introduced Dolch sight words according to grade level to Tier 2 students. This was done in addition to the typical phonics instruction done in the general education classroom and Tier 2 resource room. At the beginning of each week students were given a list of 20 new vocabulary words. Throughout the week, students were asked to use these words in sentences, find them in books, and …

Opportunities To Respond In An Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom, Courtney Schauf

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if providing students with opportunities to respond resulted in positive student behavior. The researcher conducted the study in an inclusive preschool classroom including students on Individualized Education Plan’s (IEP) and English Language Learners (ELL). The intent of the study was to reduce the amount of negative behaviors in order to provide students with more instructional time and less time addressing unwanted behaviors.

Play In Early Childhood, Keri Griswold

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review looks at play in early childhood education and why play is important for early learners. The review looks at the history of play and the benefits that play has on brain development, as well as defining play. Adults play an important role in play, as does the early childhood learning environment. Early learners develop their critical thinking skills and their social and emotional skills through play. The curriculum that is offered to early learners should revolve around play but should ensure that they are being provided the opportunity to learn about the outdoors, math, reading, and all …

Efl Teachers’ Preparation And Beliefs In Niger, Peter Wiens, Bong Gee Jang, Katrina Liu, Billa Anassour, April Smith

Journal of Global Education and Research

Niger is a French-speaking country with a history of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in its middle and high schools. The teachers providing instruction in these programs have been trained in different ways including university-based programs, out of country programs, or no training at all. This study sought to examine the beliefs of Nigerien EFL teachers and analyze the relationship between their beliefs and their training. All EFL teachers in Niger were surveyed to understand their beliefs related to teaching. We found that training was related to teacher beliefs. As Niger determines how best to allocate its limited …

Field Swcc Modeling And Soil Water Storage Evaluation Through Geophysical Testing, Linkan Sarker

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Evapotranspiration (ET) landfill cover is an emerging final cover system and offers several benefits over conventional landfill closure system. It is a cost-effective green solution for the sustainability of a landfill as its performance enhances with time compared to the conventional solution where low hydraulic conductivity soil barrier deteriorates with time. ET cover system relies on the water store-release principle and its performance depends on the site-specific factors such as on-site climatological conditions, soil hydraulic properties and native vegetation. To effectively monitor the performance of this type of cover system, its unsaturated behavior, field capacity, available moisture for plant growth, …

Study Of Conduction Behavior In Dielectrics In Chip Level Interconnects: Detection Of Defects In Al/Sio2 Interconnects, Po-Cheng Lu

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation presents four different electrical measurement techniques to detect structural defects in Al/SiO2 interconnects. These techniques, namely 1) polarity dependence measurement, 2) current voltage measurement, 3) two-point measurement and 4) discharge transient current measurement, can provide simple electrical parameters having direct relationship to defects state (type and quantity) in interconnect structure. All these measurement techniques use the MIM (metal-insulator-metal) structure such as the comb-serpentine structure commonly existing in integrated (IC) devices. This study also presents a newly discovered dielectric failure mechanism, that is the failure by a process of partial discharge dielectric breakdown phenomenon. The goal of the charging …

Early Identification Of Depression In Patients With Pediatric Epilepsy, Erin Fecske, Paul Glasier, Lines Vargas Collado, Elizabeth Rende

Posters

Describes the use of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory-Epilepsy-Youth (NDDI-E-Y) in adolescent patients in a comprehensive epilepsy center to identify patients who need referral for mental health care.

Amplifying The Prediction Of Team Performance Through Swarm Intelligence And Machine Learning, Erick Michael Harris

Master's Theses

Modern companies are increasingly relying on groups of individuals to reach organizational goals and objectives, however many organizations struggle to cultivate optimal teams that can maximize performance. Fortunately, existing research has established that group personality composition (GPC), across five dimensions of personality, is a promising indicator of team effectiveness. Additionally, recent advances in technology have enabled groups of humans to form real-time, closed-loop systems that are modeled after natural swarms, like flocks of birds and colonies of bees. These Artificial Swarm Intelligences (ASI) have been shown to amplify performance in a wide range of tasks, from forecasting financial markets to …

Removing Barriers For Contemporary Student Success, Amy Beth Rell, Elisa Robyn

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This paper examines the contemporary student in higher education and how to position this student for success. Through analysis of Leviticus chapter nineteen verse fourteen (19:14), which states “You shall not curse the deaf, and you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind”, the authors examine how to remove barriers often placed in front of the contemporary post-secondary student. Utilizing the analogy of the contemporary student and the institution of higher education being “blind” and/or “deaf” as in the Biblical verse, the authors propose institutional responses and institutional repercussions that can remove barriers and thereby allow the contemporary …

How To Manage Senior Employees? Theories And Current Fields Of Research In An Organizational Context, Tanja Kosowski

Studia i Materiały Wydział Zarządzania Uniwersytet Warszawski

Purpose: The greying of the workforce is a globally discussed phenomenon. It gained importance for organizations, policy-makers and scholars alike. This article offers an overview of applied theories and fields of research pertaining to the discussion on senior employees in the workforce. It presents current managerial practices for senior employees and assesses factors for the employability of senior employees in an organization. Design/methodology: The paper is based on a review of recent academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Keywords and elimination criteria are explained in the corresponding section. Findings: The article incorporates studies on senior employees from various disciplines in …

Creative Corporate Communication In Social Media – How To Effectively Build Relations And Receive High Quality Resumes From Younger Generations, Barbara Drapała

Studia i Materiały Wydział Zarządzania Uniwersytet Warszawski

Nowadays, companies increasingly often face the dilemma of how to reach and recruit younger people. The goal of this paper is to present different values, important for every generation still active on the labour market, and to present the content attributes influencing the response to recruitment posts and the number of obtained resumes. The paper uses quality analyses in the form of a case study in order to analyse social media recruitment campaigns of the chosen marketing agency. The discussion is divided into three parts. The first part covers the analysis of the form, type of content and message, used …

Utility Of Facebow In The Fabrication Of Complete Dentures, Occlusal Splints And Full Arch Fixed Dental Prostheses: A Systematic Review, Farhan Raza Khan, Rabia Ali, Aiman Sheikh

Section of Dental-Oral Maxillofacial Surgery

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this study is to assess the utility of facebow transfer in the fabrication of occlusal splints, complete dentures and full arch fixed dental prosthesis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A systematic review protocol was registered at PROSPERO registry, University of York, UK (CRD42016041919). Following databases were explored: PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Web of knowledge. The PICO model included participants who received occlusal splint or complete denture or full arch fixed dental prosthesis at the centric relation position. The intervention was the use of facebow transfer. Comparators were prosthesis made without using a facebow. Outcomes were the patient satisfaction …

Men’S Cosmetics: Challenging Conventional Marketing Wisdom, Dae Ryun Chang

Asian Management Insights

The marketing of men’s cosmetics is challenging conventional wisdom in Asia.

Men and beauty seem to be two contradictory domains because we often rely on an outdated assumption that men only want to appear manly and nothing more. The reality for modern men, however, is significantly different from that perception.

Lighting The Spark In The Philippines, Rosemarie Andres

Asian Management Insights

An interview with Rosemarie 'Bubu' Andres

In this edition, we are introducing a new section called ‘The Entrepreneur’s Corner’, in which we will present Asia’s entrepreneurs and their journeys, complete with the ups and downs, and twists and turns.

Doing Business In Myanmar: Dressing Up The Bride, Ma Cherry Trivedi

Asian Management Insights

Dressing up the bride.

As one of the untapped frontiers of newly emerging markets, Myanmar is rich in natural resources, underpopulated but with growing purchasing power, and an easy place to do business. From the outside, the country is very inviting, and there is considerable interest in doing business in Myanmar today. But internally, we have several pockets of obstacles.

Incentives: Achieving Business Results With The Right Pay Scheme, Fermin Diez

Asian Management Insights

Achieving business results with the right pay scheme.

Much has been said both for and against using incentives to drive business results—be it revenue and profit, or market share. Despite this, there is surprisingly little research, particularly in Asia, to guide practitioners on how different pay models affect decisions that lead to better company performance.

Surgical Practice Among Pediatric Surgeons And Pediatric Urologists In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia For The Management Of Suspected Testicular Torsion, Hamdi H. Almaramhy

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To review and compare clinical practice and experience among pediatric surgeons (PS) and pediatric urologists (PU) for the management of testicular torsion (TT) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between August 2016 and November 2017, among all PU and PS involved in the management of suspected TT in KSA. A questionnaire was distributed to participants through the Survs.com platform, and direct email when requested by participant. Results: Most PU (12/20, 60%) utilized ultrasound with Doppler before exploration, while 29 (74.4%) PS performed immediate exploration without imaging, representing a statistically significant difference …

Knowledge And Awareness Of Std Risk Perception Of Msm In Philadelphia, Timothy Chou, Nancy Brisbon, Md

Phase 1

There has been a rise in incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), in particularly in men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM were 106x as likely to have primary or secondary syphilis as compared to men who exclusively had sex with women (MSW). MSM account for large portion of antimicrobial resistant gonorrhea diagnoses and saw a 151% increase in incidence while compared to a 31.7% increase in MSW. This study examines what MSM in Philadelphia know about transmission methods and outcomes of syphilis and gonorrhea to better understand MSM risk perception of these diseases. A multiple-choice test was distributed …

Clinician Perspectives On Factors Affecting Shared Decision Making About Lung Cancer Screening, Mohammad Abubaker-Sharif, Melissa Dicarlo, Mph, Ms, Ronald E. Myers, Phd, Dsw

Phase 1

Background/Objective. In 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced coverage for annual lung cancer screening (LCS) with low dose computed tomography (LDCT) for individuals who are 55 to 77 years of age, have > 30 pack years of smoking history, and undergo shared decision making (SDM) prior to screening. Most referrals for LCS are initiated in primary care. Currently, little is known about how primary care physicians view SDM and barriers in practice to SDM about LCS. This study aimed to gather information to help fill these knowledge gaps.

Methods. I worked with senior leadership in …

Knowledge, Attitudes, And Beliefs About Sexual Health And Behavior In Huye, Rwanda, Sara Charles, Lianna Drobatz, Ryan Dorey

Phase 1

Introduction: Pregnancy and its associated complication is the leading cause of death for women aged 15-19 worldwide. Teenage pregnancy is correlated with increased health complications, death, poverty, and societal stigma. Pregnancy in Rwanda has been documented at rates of 7% among teen women.

Objective: The objectives of this research study include assessing the attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs of adolescents in the Huye District of Rwanda regarding sexual health and behavior. We hypothesize that gaps in sexual health knowledge may exist and that differing beliefs among male and female adolescents affect adolescent sexual decision making, and, therefore, teenage pregnancy prevalence.

Methods: …

Impact Of Physical Activity On Stress Levels And Methadone Maintenance Treatment Outcomes, Praneeja Matta, Robert Sterling, Phd

Phase 1

Introduction: While the opioid epidemic has continued to intensify over the last decade, unfortunately the likelihood of achieving stable long-term abstinence using methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) remains as low as 60 percent. Perceived stress has been identified as a factor predictive of premature termination and relapse, making stress reduction an important area of study in MMT. However, little research is available on the effects of active stress-coping mechanisms on MMT outcomes.

Objective: To address this gap, the current study was conducted to examine the impact of physical activity on stress reduction and treatment outcomes.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort …

Peer Assessments May Predict Objective Long-Term Academic Performance, Noah Christian, Yousif Hanna, John Spandorfer, Md

Phase 1

Introduction: A common challenge in medical education is to create a curriculum that both teaches the required material but still delivers a personable physician. In this data study, 673 Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) students were given a required survey to judge their group members on personal attributes ranging from preparedness to affability. These scores were used to aid students and hopefully prevent unfortunate habits from settling. We hypothesize that peer assessments will predict academic performance.

Methods: A five-question, Likert scale, peer assessment was given to each first-year medical student at SKMC. The electronic survey was given twice during the …

Medication Assisted Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder In The Primary Care Setting In Philadelphia: A Retrospective Review, Denis Ostick, Lara Weinstein, Md, Mph

Phase 1

Introduction:

The opioid crisis continues to be a growing public health concern across the United States. Americans struggling with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) can seek different resources to help curtail their addiction. These include abstinence -based programs such as Narcotics Anonymous and Specialty treatment facilities including methadone and suboxone clinics. It has been shown that increased availability of drugs to treat opioid use addiction, such as methadone and buprenorphine, is linked to a lower likelihood of relapse and fatal overdoses. Therefore, medication assisted treatment (MAT) is a valuable asset because it combines behavioral therapy and medications to treat opioid use …

Screening, Brief Intervention, And Referral To Treatment (Sbirt) For Substance Use Disorders In Title X Facilities: Assessing Barriers, Change Of Provider Behavior, And Patient Outcomes, Christian Iversen, Ms, Holly Ireland, Lcsw-C, Dickie Lynn Gronseth, Mph

Phase 1

Introduction: Substance use disorders, specifically opioids, are an increasing problem in the US. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a method to identify and treat patients at risk, or currently using illicit substances. Integrating SBIRT into Title X facilities, which provide reproductive healthcare to lower income populations, may allow identification and treatment of individuals that do not seek healthcare elsewhere. Objective: We aim to assess the efficacy of a longitudinal training program in Title X facilities. The program provides a structured approach to implementing new protocols, including an educational session on SBIRT and motivational interviewing (MI).

Methods: …

Advocating For Support For Families Of Pregnant And Parenting Women Impacted By The Opioid Crisis In Pennsylvania, Caitlin Weiss, Rosemarie Halt, Rph, Mph

Phase 1

Introduction:

The perinatal period is a key opportunity for intervention for families impacted by opioid use disorder (OUD). However, in 2016 only 7.6% of treatment facilities in PA offered childcare for parents receiving treatment and only 2.8% of residential facilities offered beds for clients’ children.

Objective:

The purpose of this project was to understand the magnitude of the opioid crisis as it affects pregnant women and their children in PA as well as what avenues exist to advocate for policy changes to better support their recovery.

Methods:

1. A policy brief was prepared for the Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) using …

Quality Improvement For The Jeffmd Clinical Experience Program, Chloe Virgil, Emily Romano, Sara Goldstein, Msw, Lsw, Rhea E. Powell, Md, Mph

Phase 1

Introduction: The JeffMD curriculum at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, which completed its inaugural year in the spring of 2018, aims to prepare future physicians to “thrive in the landscape of modern healthcare.” The curriculum is based upon the knowledge that human health exists interdependently with all aspects of life, including but not limited to social, health care system, behavioral, and biological factors. The JeffMD Clinical Experience Program (CE) is a mandatory, experiential, value-added component of the curriculum. Through the CE course, which spans the 21-month preclinical period, students work with a Community Health Worker to screen patients for social …

A Longitudinal Assessment Of Change In Blood Pressure Among Participants In The Heart Smarts Program, Kathryn Haskins, Susana Suzrez, Rickie Brawer, Phd, Mph, Sandra Sherman, Edd, Michelle Abel, Msph, James Plumb, Md, Mph

Phase 1

Many low-income areas of the United States are considered food deserts because people living in those communities have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV); lack of FFV is tied to numerous health issues, including cardiovascular disease and obesity. The Heart Smarts Program (HSP) provides increased access to FFV in food deserts, as well as providing participants with nutrition education courses and health screenings, including blood pressure. The purpose of this study is to examine HSP participants who have been with the program for differing lengths of time in order to determine if length of participation has an impact …