Digital Commons Network^™

Navigating A New Culture: Analyzing Variables That Influence Intensive English Program Students' Cultural Adjustment Process, Sherie Lyn Kwok

Theses and Dissertations

Research has documented cultural adjustment as an important issue influencing international students and other sojourners in their success abroad (Foster, 1962; Lysgaard, 1955; Oberg, 1960; Smalley, 1963). Few studies, however, have investigated particular variables influencing the cultural adjustment process of ESL learners enrolled in intensive English programs (IEPs). This mixed method study was designed to better understand the individual complexity of IEP learners' cultural adjustment by looking for patterns of variables that aid or hinder these students' experiences. Using the Culture Shock Questionnaire (CSQ), Index of Social Sojourners Support Survey (ISSS), and language-specific focus groups, this study investigated the individual …

Effects Of Exercise On Clinical Couple Interactions, Samantha Karma-Jean Simpson

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that exercise has the potential to improve couple relationships. This study contributes to current literature by examining the associations between exercise, its duration, and its intensity and daily clinical couple interactions. Participants were 22 married couples in a treatment-as-usual setting who completed daily diaries about daily behaviors and marital interactions. Multilevel models were run, and results showed that wives who exercised were more likely to report a negative interaction with their husband that day. When wives exercised longer, both they and their husbands were more likely to report positive interactions that day. Interestingly, if husbands exercised longer …

Cultural Connections In The Classroom And Pacific Islander Students<'> Value Of Reading, Lyndsai K. Sylva

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on how cultural connections in classroom influences students value of learning, specifically, their value of reading. Several researchers and theorists have emphasized the importance of balancing cognitive and conative aspects of childrens reading development. However, what is lacking in these studies is a focus on Pacific Islander (PI) children. The purpose of this study was to examine value of reading for diverse students who may be struggling in classrooms designed for White, middle-class students. Findings provide educators and those working with diverse students a chance to consider how connecting cultural backgrounds for all students can help in …

Exploring Video Analytics As A Course Assessment Tool For Online Writing Instruction Stakeholders, Jason Michael Godfrey

Theses and Dissertations

Online Writing Instruction (OWI) programs, like online learning classes in general, are becoming more popular in post-secondary education. Yet few articles discuss how to tailor course assessment methods to an exclusively online environment. This thesis explores video analytics as a possible course assessment tool for online writing classrooms. Video analytics allow instructors, course designers, and writing program administrators to view how many students are engaging in video-based course materials. Additionally, video analytics can provide information about how active students are in their data-finding methods while they watch. By means of example, this thesis examines video analytics from one semester of …

Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

A Partnered Approach To School Change In A Rural Community: Reflections And Recommendations, Sara Rimm-Kaufman, Mary Fant Donnan, Dianne Garcia, Melinda Snead-Johnson, Eugene Kotulka, Lia Sandilos

The Foundation Review

With so many education policies and practices made at the local level, community-based foundations are in a unique position to support their local school districts in taking a comprehensive, systematic approach to improving the lives of young people. This article describes a research–practice partnership designed to produce school improvement in a rural community in western Virginia and reflects on a three-year collaboration among The Alleghany Foundation, two school districts, and the University of Virginia.

The partners identified challenges and strengths within the school districts and the community; gathered and analyzed existing district data and new findings from interviews and surveys …

Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

By Us And For Us: A Story Of Early Childhood Development Systems Change And Results In A Rural Context, Lisa Payne Simon, Kirsten Scobie, Phoebe Backler, Catherine Mcdowell, Charles Cotton, Susan Cloutier, Clare Nolan

The Foundation Review

Since 2007, the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund — a donor-advised fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation — has invested in early childhood development in Coös County — New Hampshire’s largest and most rural and economically disadvantaged county. Community providers from a range of disciplines formed strong professional relationships and agreed on common goals and evidence-based strategies to improve services for children and families.

This article describes how local community members joined forces with the fund to create an integrated early childhood development system for Coös’ children and families. It provides background on the investment and initiative strategy, summarizes …

Evaluation Of The Predictive Ability Of A Screening Instrument Used To Diagnose Co-Occurrence Of Anxiety In Children With High-Functioning Autism., Austin Zachary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety has shown to have a high co-occurrence in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but has been difficult to co-diagnose. This study analyzed the ability of the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) to predict positive ASD screenings of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Parents and children ages 8 to 18 years (N = 100) were screened for anxiety using the SCARED and autism using the SRS. Moderate correlation was found between parent-reported SCARED and positive screening of the SRS (r = .579), with weak correlation found in the child-reported SCARED (r = .105). LASSO regression was conducted …

Arab-Islamic And Folk Health Models: New Perspectives On Syrian Refugee Resettlement In The Us., Ghina Kheir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research builds upon the framework of the Health Traditions Model (HTM) as described in 1994 by Rachel Spector, a scholar and practitioner of a cultural care model of health among multicultural populations. I integrate this model into a study of Syrian refugees’ resettlement experience in Louisville, Kentucky. Syrian refugees’ voices and narratives of their corresponding Arab-Islamic and folk approaches to health, illness, and healing are the launch site for this project. I argue that approaching the resettlement experience from the refugees’ own cultural and Arab-Islamic perspectives toward health, illness, and healing aids in achieving a pluralistic health care system …

Student Perception Of The Effects Of Out Of School Suspension On Academic Motivation., Dawn Boone Roseberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the response to rule violations and misbehavior in schools was to punish students by using methods such as exclusionary discipline. Exclusionary discipline may lead to poor academic outcomes for the student, increased likelihood of dropping out of school, and an introduction to the criminal justice system (Cueller and Markowitz, 2015). Being suspended from school also increases the chances a student will feel disconnected, intensify conflict with adults, and impact a youth’s choice to engage in criminal activities (Skiba et al., 2006). Researchers have concluded that suspension is also a predictor of future suspensions, not a deterrent (Rafaele & Mendez, …

Three Empirical Studies On Digital Innovation Management: New Organizing Logic Of Antecedents And Consequences Of Innovation, Kailing Deng

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last decade, innovation has undergone considerable changes in most industries. Digital innovation may represent the use of digital technology in the innovation process or to the end outcome of innovation. Over the years, innovation has become open, global, and collaborative in nature and involves diverse stakeholders and distributed innovation processes (Nambisan 2013; Nambisan et al. 2017). The importance of innovation will continue to grow in the future, as the business environment becomes increasingly uncertain and competitive. With the rapid development of digitized technologies, in addition to innovation outcomes such as new products, platforms, and services, IS researchers have …

Visual Search Array Structure And Satisfaction Of Search Errors: Evidence From Eye Movements, Leah Gloskey

Psychology

Multiple-target visual searches are susceptible to errors when the recognition of one target hinders the detection of another. This phenomenon is known as "satisfaction of search" (SOS; Tuddenham, 1962) or more recently "subsequent search misses" (SSM; Cain, et al. 2013). Although this phenomenon was first identified in radiology, SSM errors extend beyond the medical domain. Exploring SSM errors in proofreading, this study examines whether the discovery of one misspelled word interferes with the detection of a second misspelled word amongst other correctly spelled words. Manipulating the display structure of task, it is hypothesized that the pattern of SSM errors may …

A Larger Table: Fostering Inclusion In Museums Through Hiring Directors Of Community Engagement, Hannah M. Page

Museum Studies Theses

Museums have undergone a transformation over the course of their existence, shifting from inwardly-focused private collections to organizations working to represent and advocate for the diversity of human existence. While professionals in the field have become increasingly aware of the importance of expanding beyond traditional audiences, there is little consensus about the best methods of achieving this goal. This thesis proposes one potential solution, the creation of a staff position dedicated to engaging members of the museum’s surrounding community through relationship-building. After a brief exploration of the history of the museum field, this paper delves into the benefits of developing …

Making The Grade: Do Art Museums Have An Impact On Student Achievement Within Low Socio-Economic Communities?, Alison M. Rebmann

Museum Studies Theses

This thesis evaluates the connections between art museums across the country with their communities. With many of the country’s museums located in city centers, there is a large population of children who live within the vicinity of art museums. Many of these children also come from low socio-economic backgrounds. They may not have access to the resources needed to gain access to art museums. This thesis examines what art museums are doing to ensure all community members can experience what they have to offer. Four main categories are examined in this research: (1) the price of entry to the museum, …

Portraits With A Posthumous Voice: Reinforcing And Contesting Social Norms In The Heterotopic Museum And Cemetery, Matthew J. Crissey

Museum Studies Theses

Abstract

The following paper qualitatively analyzes and documents over 500 memorial-photographs/etched portraits on tombstones in ten Western New York cemeteries. This paper covers fourteen topics, ranging from religion to gang-violence. A juxtaposition of portraits exhibited within the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery with memorial-portraits on tombstones revealed heterotopic environments creating a public forum enabling the reinforcing or contestation of social ideologies. In other words, the author observed the similarities of identities and social norms publicly expressed on tombstones and gallery portraits.

A Social Constructionist approach enabled the study to examine how one social phenomenon contributes to the shaping of a culture. …

Analysis Of The Police Response To Mass Shootings In The United States Between 1966 And 2016, Keily Linger

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity

This study examines 186 mass shooting events for the protocol police followed upon arrival atthe scene. In 124 of these cases, the police arrived on scene after the shooter had stoppedshooting, either because the shooter committed suicide, fled the scene or was detained by peoplein the area who were not currently police officers. Of the 186, only 62 cases included policearriving on scene and following a response protocol, either engagement or perimeter. Thenumber of casualties varied for each incident and type of police response. These cases wereanalyzed to determine if one type of response protocol was more effective in decreasing …

Community Navigation As A Field Of Practice: Reframing Service Delivery To Meet The Needs Of Communities’ Marginalized Populations, Joby Schaffer, M. Julie Patiño, P. Barclay Jones, Ladawn Sullivan

The Foundation Review

Community navigators help individuals and families access local services and assistance through a combination of referrals and interpersonal support. The Denver Foundation launched the Basic Human Needs Navigator Learning Community in February 2014 to help navigators working with local organizations and community members practicing navigation independently improve their practice and identify similarities and differences in their approaches.

This article discusses the multiyear, peer-learning project, including the general lessons the foundation learned about both navigation and the use of a learning-community approach to reach its field-building goals.

Reports from participating organizations and community members over four years suggest the efficacy of …

The Degree Of Management Practice Of Roaming And Its Role In Achieving Organizational Justice (An Analytical Study Of The Opinions Of Directors In Anbar Education Directorate)), Wesam Ali Hussein, Saba Noori Alhamdany, Iftikhar Abdhussein Kataa

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

This Study aimed to investigate the reality of the application of the degree of management practice by Walking Around, namely (discovery of facts, improvement of communication, motivation, development, creativity and feedback) and Its role in achieving organizational justice (procedural justice, distributive justice, Interactional Justice),The availability of the core principles of this system from the point of view of the senior management personnel in the Directorate of Anbar Education, and the importance of research in the philosophical rooting of the nature of the variables as a modern administrative terminology, the research dealt with a problem expressed by a number of intellectual …

Employee Soft Skills And Organizational Culture: An Exploratory Case Study, Eliyahu Lotzar

Education Doctoral

Students seek higher education to obtain better employment. While employers value soft skills at least as much as academic knowledge, the soft skills literature is without consensus as to which of the many soft skills or employability skills employers value most, making it challenging for colleges to provide effective soft skills education. To organize employers’ many different soft skill preferences, this study explores organizational culture as a conceptual framework. Specifically, the case study explores values and characteristics common to one organization’s culture, to the soft skills that its executives and managers prefer their employees to possess, to employee beliefs regarding …

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Factors That Led Hispanic/Latina Middle School Students To Select A Stem High School Education In New York City, Maria Lopez

Education Doctoral

There is a significant gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers as well as in the STEM workforce that continues to expand, ultimately impacting the global economy. In response to this crisis, this qualitative study sought to identify the factors that led Hispanic/Latina middle school students to select a STEM high school education. For this study, a purposeful sample of twenty-five ninth-grade Hispanic/Latina students participated from two designated STEM private high schools located in a densely populated Hispanic/Latino area in the Bronx. Participants anonymously responded to The Middle to High School STEM Experience questionnaire (see Appendix A …

After Skilled Therapy: A Curriculum For Functional Social Interactions, Camille Benning, Kylie Crews

Graduate Independent Studies - Communication Sciences and Disorders

A curriculum was created for individuals with developmental disabilities who no longer qualify for skilled speech-language services at the Ecklemann-Taylor Speech & Hearing Clinic. The first portion of the paper includes the terms of eligibility within the clinic, reasons for dismissal, and the population that can potentially benefit from this curriculum. The second part of the paper includes an extensive literature review and the empirical base of the components for the curriculum which provide extra support. Finally, the guide to the curriculum itself is attached.

A Review Of Attention, Memory, Word Finding, And Executive Function To Support Client Rehabilitation In A Group Therapy Setting, Anna Uftring, Michelle Estand, Annie Heineman, Samantha Marusiak

Graduate Independent Studies - Communication Sciences and Disorders

This paper is a review of attention, memory, word finding, and executive function to support individuals with deficits in these areas seen in a rehabilitative speech-language therapy setting. Each chapter contains a definition of the domain and describes the subdomains included. The chapters also include the neurology associated with the domain and common disorders that include deficits in the areas of attention, memory, word finding, and executive functioning. At the end of each chapter, recommended treatment principles are provided to guide therapy with each domain. This paper was created to accompany a therapy manual titled “Providing Connections Through Group Therapy” …

Paraprofessional Counselors' Perceptions Of Storybooks To Facilitate Children's Communication Following Parental Suicide, Lindsay Jacalyn Regehr

Theses and Dissertations

A parent's death it is one of the most stressful and traumatic events in a child's life (Guldin et al., 2015; Worden, 1996, 2008). In particular, when bereavement is linked to a parent's suicide, children face unique challenges and are more vulnerable to potentially negative outcomes (Brent, Melhem, Donohoe, & Walker, 2009; Haine, Ayers, Sandler, & Wolchik, 2008; Pitman, Osborn, King, & Erlangsen, 2014; Young et al., 2012). Although many factors influence children's recovery following a parent's suicide, the surviving parent's emotional stability and emotional availability to support their children are of critical importance. Additionally, negative outcomes are often linked …

Building A Model Of Black Women's Confidence In Campus Sexual Assault Resources: A Critical Race Feminist Quantitative Study, Jimmy Lee Howard, Jr.

All Dissertations

The United States’ evolving federal regulations and laws are doing little to disrupt systemic sexual violence, and more narrowly, are doing very little to protect Black women (Dunn, 2014; Harris, 2017; Harris & Linder, 2017; Konradi, 2016; O’Toole et al., 2015; Yung, 2015). Further, Black women are underrepresented in college sexual assault literature and little is known about how Black women perceive campus sexual violence resources and policy (Crosby, 2015; Tillman et al., 2010). The purpose of this study is to create a model to explore Black women’s confidence in sexual assault resources. In order for institutions of higher education …

The Impact Of Goal Persistence And Willing To Compete On Community College Student Success In Developmental Math Coursework, Kerri Mcguire

All Dissertations

Community college practitioners are seeking innovative approaches to improve student retention and completion rates while also demonstrating the value of a community college education for students, families, and communities. Developmental education for underprepared students is a focal point for institutional reform efforts to impact student success because developmental education programs receive criticism for being a hindrance to college completion. One such criticism is that colleges use ineffective course placement practices to place students into developmental course pathways that they are unlikely to complete. In response to this criticism, institutions have adopted course placement practices that utilize multiple measures to determine …

Improving Deep Reinforcement Learning Using Graph Convolution And Visual Domain Transfer, Sufeng Niu

All Dissertations

Recent developments in Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) have shown tremendous progress in robotics control, Atari games, board games such as Go, etc. However, model free DRL still has limited use cases due to its poor sampling efficiency and generalization on a variety of tasks. In this thesis, two particular drawbacks of DRL are investigated: 1) the poor generalization abilities of model free DRL. More specifically, how to generalize an agent's policy to unseen environments and generalize to task performance on different data representations (e.g. image based or graph based) 2) The reality gap issue in DRL. That is, how to …

Blended With The Savior: Gregory Of Nyssa's Eucharistic Pharmacology In The Catechetical Oration, John David Penniman

Faculty Journal Articles

Humankind, for Gregory of Nyssa, was poisoned through a primordial act of eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. As a result, the toxin of sin and death has been blended into the body and soul of each person, dispersing itself throughout the component parts of their nature. If eating and drinking initiated the spiritual and physical degradation of humanity, Gregory argues, then it must also be through eating and drinking—namely, through the Eucharist—that humanity will be healed. This article proposes that Gregory's instruction on the Eucharist in his Catechetical Oration should be understood as more than merely …

An Examination Of Staff Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of The Professional Learning Community Model: A Multiple Case Study Design, Renee Martin

Education Doctoral

This qualitative multiple case study sought to understand staff members’ perceptions of the components of an effective and sustainable professional learning community. The Professional Learning Community Assessment questionnaire and interviews were the instruments utilized to attain data. The study’s results allowed the researcher to identify areas of strength and areas of weakness that were integral aspects of each learning community’s operation. Specifically, the study included 22 participants across three middle school study sites. There were 12 key findings that emerged from the data across the three study locations. The findings revealed the need for regular collaboration, supportive leadership practices, a …