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Pittsburg State University Annual Commencement, Dec 2018, Pittsburg State University

Commencement, 1903-Present

Program of undergraduate and graduate commencement exercises at Pittsburg State University on December of 2018

The Red Wilderness: Mark And Modern Western Storytelling, Nathan Kent Jowers

Honors College

Many adaptations of “the Gospel” have been made in recent years, but few of these are sustained engagements with one of the four gospels in particular. Modern biblical scholarship is increasingly realizing, however, the narrative integrity of each gospel taken on its own terms. Though four-gospel canonical adaptations are legitimate, this thesis hopes to lay some groundwork for the adaptation of one gospel in particular, the Gospel of Mark, showing that such a project is both feasible and desirable. It will do so by 1) briefly exploring adaptation theory to clarify the goals and challenges such an adaptation would face, …

Preparation Matters: A Quantitative Examination Of Faculty Active Shooter Preparedness, Latisha Pitts

Dissertations

In recent years, the occurrence of active shooter incidents has become more prevalent within the United States. Since the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, there has been an increase in active shooter incidents at institutions of higher learning (IHLs). Educational settings have been identified by the FBI as the second most common place for active shooter incidents to occur. As a result, there has become an increased need for administrators at IHLs to create and maintain cultures of preparedness that include effective active shooter training. In this research study, Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory was used as a framework to …

A New Generation Of Functional Polyisobutylenes For Advanced Applications, Corey M. Parada

Dissertations

Polyisobutylene (PIB) is a fully saturated, aliphatic polymer of high commercial importance due to its superior gas barrier properties and high chemical/oxidative stability. One commercial end-use for PIB is in insulated glass windows (IGU), where it acts as a gas/moisture barrier and sealant. Under certain adverse conditions, catastrophic failure of the PIB sealant may result in aesthetic and functional failure of the IGU, which necessitates replacement of the unit. Thus, there exists a need to improve current generations of thermoplastic PIB sealants to be able to withstand the harsh environments found in current real-world applications.

In the first project, we …

Diffusion, Adoption, And Network Constraint: Can Understanding Personal Networks Of Afghan Women Improve The Adoption 0f Agricultural Innovations, Clair Wilcox

Dissertations

A plethora of case studies conducted in myriad locations find that factors influencing the adoption of agricultural innovation are different, emphasizing the need for locality specific understanding (Waddingon 2014). The diffusion of agricultural innovations may be influenced by the structure of the social system in which that diffusion is taking place. This study investigates the social structure of rural Afghan women, in an effort to determine how they interact and exchange information, and how the personal network structure, and the nature of the women’s interaction influences adoption of innovations. With the objective of framing rural development programs targeting women in …

Identifying Barriers To Teacher Implementation Of Evidence-Based Practices In Middle-School Reading, Brenda Fortson

Dissertations

This study explores factors that may be related to Mississippi’s 2015 eighth-grade reading scores, which rank the state in 50^th place (Nation’s Report Card, 2016). Whereas there are likely several factors that contribute to middle-school students’ poor performance on the high-stakes tests, this study examines teachers’ reported knowledge and use of evidence-based teaching practices, sense of self-efficacy in implementing the practices, and concerns regarding high-stakes testing and possible relationship with their implementation of the practices.

All public schools in Mississippi were invited to participate in an online survey of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade teachers. After data were screened, 187 …

Refugee Resettlement And Perceptions Of Insecurity: A Comparative Study Of The United States And Canada, Erik Amundson

Dissertations

In the United States and Canada, refugee resettlement has been the subject of extensive scrutiny and political debate, particularly since the November 2015 terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against targets in Paris. While public opinion polls have shown increasingly negative attitudes toward refugees, existing survey questionnaires only provide a limited understanding of what shapes these views. As such, this study focuses on two important factors that influence attitude formation toward refugees, pre-existing levels of knowledge and contact with minority groups. Using a comparative case study approach, this research examines how refugee resettlement …

Nurse Expectations As Compared To Perceived Reality, Kathryn Mckelvy

Dissertations

Burnout and turnover in nursing have been well documented in nursing literature, but little is known about a nurse’s expectations of the profession compared to their perceived reality of the profession. Do these expectations meet the reality of the workplace, and does this cause the nurse to make a career change? What factors influence a nurse to leave the profession, job-hop, or return to school to further their education? The rate of nurse turnover is an ongoing issue with a lack of research regarding the foundation of nurse expectations compared to the realities of the profession.

The purpose of this …

Self-Care Vs. Self-Sacrifice In Medical-Surgical Nursing Culture: A Critical Ethnography, Elise Jordan Juergens

Dissertations

The critical ethnography research examines need prioritization culture among medical-surgical nurses. Grove, Burns, and Gray (2013) define the problem statement as an explicit identification of the research need. Literature search yields scarce ethnographic research on the nursing population as a culture-sharing group, and no qualitative research exists regarding medical-surgical nurses’ self-need prioritization. The purpose of this critical ethnography is to observe medical-surgical nursing culture, related to personal need prioritization, as reflected by behavior and dialogue.

Qualitative research methodology is appropriate where statistical data is not. Research motivation involves seeking insight and sociocultural understanding. Critical ethnography is the chosen qualitative research …

Male Nurse Practitioners' Views On Nursing Education As A Career Option: An Inductive Qualitative Content Analysis, James Mcdavid

Dissertations

As the nursing shortage continues, the demand for new nurses will increase. In 2015, nursing schools in the United States turned away 62,361 qualified applicants in the baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs (Fang, Li, Arietti, & Trautman, 2016). The number of funded, vacant nursing faculty positions increased from 6.9% in 2014 to 7.1% in 2015 (Fang et al., 2016). One idea to help with the nursing faculty shortage is to recruit male RNs into nurse faculty positions. Males count for 10.6% of nurses in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). However, men only count for 5.5% of …

Cultural Branding: An Examination Of Website Marketing Practices At Historically Black College And Universities And Non-Hbcu Black Serving Institutions, James Hudson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between the way that higher education marketing professionals at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and non-HBCU Black Serving Institutions (BSIs) use website marketing techniques for institutional branding. This examination was prompted by Gasman (2007) who suggested that the inability of some HBCUs to garner and/or maintain sufficient enrollment numbers stems from poor image management. Further, Gibbs (2015) suggested that a comparison between HBCU websites and Traditionally White Institution (TWI) websites might be beneficial. Thus, this study sought to answer the following research questions:

RQ1. Is there …

Effect Of Network Structure On Free Volume And Gas Transport Properties Of Thiol-Ene And Epoxy-Amine Networks, Ramesh Krishnan Ramakrishnan

Dissertations

Network parameters such as cross-link density or intermolecular interactions were used as effective parameters to control polymer chain packing or free volume and thereby control the mass transport properties of networks.

A series of polyethylene glycol (PEG) based thiol-ene elastomeric networks having a broad range of molecular weight between cross-links, M_c, (inverse of cross-link density) was prepared. The specific volume of the networks was studied as a function of temperature and pressure using high pressure dilatometry, and the obtained PVT data was fit using Simha-Somcynsky equation of state (S-S eos) analysis. Fractional free volume, quantified through S-S eos …

Stress Response Mechanisms Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Oindrila Paul

Dissertations

Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive, facultative intracellular food-borne pathogen that causes the disease listeriosis. In order to establish an infection, L. monocytogenes must survive multiple stressors encountered within the gastrointestinal tract, including alterations in pH, bile, salt, and oxygen availability. This dissertation focused on understanding the stress response of L. monocytogenes to bile. Bile acts as a bactericidal agent by disrupting the membrane integrity and causing instability to macromolecules like DNA. Thus, a bacterium must be able to maintain its membrane architecture, composition and integrity.

Often times, bacteria will modulate their fatty acid composition in the membrane to cope with …

Voluntary Professional Development In Thailand: Teachers’ Motivation, Professional Life Phase, And Contingencies Of Self-Worth, Pongwat Fongkanta

Dissertations

To address the increasing focus on teacher proficiency, professional development opportunities for teachers are routinely provided in Thailand. The focus of this work is on professional development at the individual level and addresses teachers’ motivation for self-improvement and their own worth. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to first validate the relative importance of teachers’ motivation for participating in voluntary professional development and contingencies of self-worth. Secondly, the study sought to determine the relationship of the indicators that contribute to teacher participation with contingencies of self-worth. Lastly, this study examined in what way professional life phase may be related …

Assessing Readmission Risks In Adolescent Psychiatric Patients, Keyamo Omokuru

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Purpose: Assess risk of readmission of adolescent patients to an inpatient psychiatric unit within 30-days post-discharge by using a clinician-rated behavioral health outcome assessment measure to rate psychiatric patient. Background: In the United States, approximately four million adolescents suffer from mental disorders. When admitted for inpatient psychiatric care, approximately 13% of adolescent mental health patients are readmitted within 30-days, 25% within one year, and 81% within 90-days, of inpatient psychiatric admission. Methods: An evidence-based quality improvement project that utilized the clinician-rated behavioral health outcome assessment tool called the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale for Children and Adolescent (HoNOSCA). The …

Asymmetric Information Sharing In Dialysis Paratransit Using An Agency Approach, Mary Lind, Rhonda Hensley

Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility

Dialysis patient transit services presents an agency problem (Eisenhardt, 1989) where the county paratransit operator is the agent that provides the principal, the dialysis center, transport of dialysis patients to their centers under conditions of incomplete and asymmetric information. The agent (paratransit) collects riders in need of paratransit services for doctor appointments (Social Service and Elder Services), dialysis appointments (principal), and other transit needs under conditions of incomplete and asymmetric information where the pickups are scheduled with a limited number of vehicles. Asymmetric scheduling information between the dialysis centers (principal) in a county, the para-transit authority (agent), and the patient’s …

Huddleston, Vicki. Our Woman In Havana. New York: The Overlook Press, 2018, ỌLáyọKù Philip AdémóḷÁ Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Mira Lee Manickam. Just Enough: A Journey Into Thailand’S Troubled South. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2013., Amporn Marddent Ph.D., Thassanee Thasrabiab Ma

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Beetz, Simone. External Democracy Promotion And Diversity Among International Agencies: Evaluating Variances In The Impact Of The Undp And Ec In Rwanda. Opladen, Berlin And Toronto: Budrich Unipress Ltd., 2017., Alfonso P. Castro Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Teaching Magis At College: Meaning, Mission, And Moral Responsibility, Marcus Mescher

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Jesuit colleges and universities highlight terms like magis to accentuate the specific charism of Jesuit education. But when these words and phrases are separated from their context in Ignatian spirituality and the mission of the Society of Jesus, they risk becoming banal jargon. When magis is properly understood and effectively taught, it provides a fundamental horizon of meaning, calls everyone to partner in the mission of Jesuit education, and empowers faculty, staff, and students to embrace moral responsibility in a world marked by sin and suffering. In the praxis of teaching magis, contemplation, imagination, and vocation discernment are three …

Uni Grad Student News, V17n2, December 2018, University Of Northern Iowa. Graduate College.

UNI Grad Student News

Inside this Issue:

--Graduate College Events
--Alumni Profile
--Student Profile
--Faculty Profile
--Conferences
--Spring Challenge
--Thesis and Dissertation Reviewer and Digital Publications Coordinator Announced
--Graduate Council Student Representatives
--Alumni Association Benefits
--Student Accolades

Evidence For Terahertz Acoustic Phonon Parametric Oscillator Based On Acousto-Optic Degenerate Four-Wave Mixing In A Silicon Doping Superlattice, Thomas E. Wilson

Physics Faculty Research

We report evidence for a 1.0-THz self-starting mirrorless acoustic phonon parametric oscillator (MAPPO) produced from acousto-optic phase-conjugate degenerate four-wave (D4WM) mixing in a THz laser-pumped silicon doping superlattice (DSL). The DSL was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a (100) boron-doped silicon substrate. A superconducting NbTiN subwavelength grating was used to couple the THz laser radiation into the DSL. Superconducting granular aluminum bolometric detection, coupled with Si:B piezophonon spectroscopy, revealed excitation of THz coherent compressional and shear waves, along the ⟨111⟩ direction only. The Bragg scattering condition for distributed feedback, and the energy conservation requirement for the D4WM process, were …

Lord Of The Flies Media Release, Talia Triangolo

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Lord of the Flies media release

December 2018

Connections 12/2018, College Of Health And Human Services

College of Health and Human Services Newsletter

• A Holiday Message from Dean Cisler
• PA students participated at fall conference
• Alumnus named Social Worker of the Year
• SIHP faculty present research at conference
• Make your nomination for 2018-19 faculty and staff awards
• HHS on Social Media
• In other news

Continuing The Dialogue: Curriculum, Didaktik And Theories Of Knowledge, Norm Friesen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Joseph Schwab’s famous remark, that the field of curriculum is ‘moribund’—no longer able ‘to …contribute significantly to the advancement of education’—has long echoed in curriculumstudies. Although its specific meaning has certainly changed, it still rings in our ears today. It now applies as much to discussions in the US and UK as it does to those in Northern Europe—where the cognate field of General Didaktik has been described as ‘quiet’ (Terhart, 2003, p. 25), or more recently, ‘dead’ (Zierer & Seel 2012, p. 16). This ‘virtual issue’ of the Journal of Curriculum Studies brings together five articles of direct relevance …

The Genealogy Of The Textbook As An Educational Form: Orality And Literacy In Education, Norm Friesen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, I provide a short but broad history of the textbook as a multimedia pedagogical and cultural form. In doing so, I pay particular attention to the interrelationship of oral and textual media and cultures, highlighting the ways that these two communicative modes are reconfigured over the history of this pedagogical form. I also situate the textbook in the context of changing instructional methods and practices, and demonstrate that instructional forms and practices have neither progressed along with new technologies nor gradually evolved from a primitive orality to sophisticated literacy. Instead, I show that these practices as well …

Amjambo Africa! (December 2018), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In This Issue...

Listings ...............................Page 3

Empower the Immigrant Woman..... .........................................Pages 8 & 9

McAuley Residence..............Page 12

Okay So I Lost an Election...Page 12

Treating Mental Health .......Page 13

Public Charge .......................Page 15

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Écrire Pour Qui? Enquête Sur La Figure Du Lecteur Dans L'Œuvre De Moussa Konaté, Christiane Ndiaye

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The question of the readership is a recurring one in francophone literature. However, the aim here is not to attempt a sociological study of actual readers of the works of Moussa Konaté but rather to retrace, from a few of his novels, the profile of the reader constructed by the text. The analysis focuses particularly on the knowledge of detective fiction and of the cultures and history of Africa attributed to the fictitious reader, and on sketching his axiological portrait. This investigation leads us to the conclusion that these novels construct the figure of a "transcultural" reader who is, above …

Is India Becoming More Liberal? Globalization, Economic Liberalization, And Social Values, Tinaz Pavri

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

India has undergone tremendous change in its economy and polity since its economic liberalization starting in the early 1990s. Globalization and liberalization have, in addition to coinciding with a dramatically increased GDP, increased the presence of global entities and the number of foreign nationals in India, and accelerated the spread of social media. The period has also been marked by a significant increase in xenophobic violence against women, religious minorities and LGBTQ individuals. In light of this sea-change in the country, I examine available survey data on social values of Indians (including young Indians) over the last decade, to see …

Jgi Volume 13, Number 1 - Full Issue

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This is the full issue of Volume 13, Number 1 (132 pages).

Contains:

• Introduction to the Special Issue by Dan Paracka
• Vasco da Gama's Voyages to India: Messianism, Mercantilism and Sacred Exploits by S. M. Ghazanfar
• The World Parliament of Religions, the Swami, and the Evangelist: Contextualizing Late 19th-Century American Responses to Hinduism by Anne R. Richards
• Connections and Disconnections: The Making of Bombay/Mumbai as India's "Global City" by Ravi Ghadge
• India's Unbalanced Urban Growth: An Appraisal of Trends and Policies by Purva Sharma
• Housing for All in India and Its Future Sustainable Development by Nadia Shah
• Is India Becoming …