Digital Commons Network^™

Readability Formulas And Writing Technique, Eric Andrew Bryant

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Readability formulas are widely used to analyze educational texts; however, the use of these formulas has been widely criticized. Prominent among these criticisms are that classic readability formulas calculate readability using only sentence length and word length, and that writers should not directly consider readability formula factors such as word and sentence length when creating texts. This literature review attempts to identify specific writing and adaptation techniques that educators and educational writers can use to improve the comprehensibility of texts aimed at secondary-level readers. Advantages and limitations of readability formulas are discussed. Word length, sentence length, and reader characteristics are …

Academic Motivation In Children With Adhd, Beth A. Butala

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Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggle academically and appear to have lower levels of academic motivation than their peers. This paper reviews the literature and evidence proving that lower academic motivation is associated with ADHD. The causes of the motivational deficits are both behavioral and explained by neurological differences in the brain. Research shows that children with ADHD lack the ability to inhibit their own reactionary behaviors and allow for executive functions to consider all the information available to make good decisions. In addition, children with ADHD have a strong preference for immediate rewards over waiting for long-term rewards. Behaviorally, …

Enduring Through Challenging Multi-Media Text In Middle School Social Studies: How To Increase Motivation While Improving Literacy And Comprehension, Katelyn Nicole Burns

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Middle school students often find social studies classes boring and unnecessary and are underperforming on national reading and writing assessments. There is a disconnect between what they learn in the classroom, and their own personal experiences. This research explores strategies for teaching comprehension and literacy while fostering student motivation in middle school social studies. Research was conducted through online databases, educational websites, and printed educational books. Multiple strategies can be used to teach literacy of text and visual sources as well as increase student motivation. By using and combining these strategies, student achievement will increase and students will be set …

The Effect Of Trauma On Students And How Schools And Teachers Are Changing To Better Support Student Needs, Ella Elaine Carlson

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Teachers are seeing more and more students who are going through traumatic life events. These events are affecting their developing brain, school behavior and academic success. These events are having a secondary effect on teachers, creating burnout and secondary trauma. Teachers are becoming overwhelmed with their students academic needs and behavioral supports to make them more successful in school. School administrations are trying to find proper supports for all students in the classroom while providing teachers with meaningful professional development strategies. These strategies involve schools transitioning to a trauma-informed environment where students and teachers feel supportive and successful. The following …

Engaging Adolescent Boys In Classroom Learning: What Teachers Need To Know About Adolescents And The First Years Of Teaching An Elective In A Secondary School, Tiffany Patrice Cook

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What are the predominant factors that contribute to adolescent boys’ lack of classroom engagement, and what can teachers do to engage them in the classroom content? This literature review examines motivating and engaging boys in a secondary content area classroom. Itc focus is on several ways in which teachers can make adjustments to increase engagement based on changes that take place in adolescent boys and how these changes affect their classroom engagement. These are broken into six categories: Classroom Management, Students Disposition Toward School, Academic Performance and Expectations, Engagement, Professional Studies, and Motivation.

A Community Outreach Project Addressing Mental Health, Obesity, And Asthma In Underserved Saint Paul Youth, Anna Ehnstrom, Ellie Hoopman, Caitlin Olson

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Due to a lack of resources, awareness, and reinforcement of information, underserved youth are predisposed to unique health concerns. The health disparities prevalent among children living in poverty are many, but the topics of focus for this community outreach project include mental health, obesity, and asthma. Supplemental health education curriculum has the potential to alleviate the health disparities prevalent among such a vulnerable population (Thomas & Aggleton, 2016). To address the health disparities present specifically among underserved youth in St. Paul, MN, the group partnered with the after-school tutoring program at Central Baptist Church to provide education on the topics …

The Impact Of Midwifery Care On Racial Disparities In African American Women And Infants, Madeline Grace Englund, Antionette Renee Estis

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Background/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically examine scholarly writings to understand the history and current manifestations of racism in maternal and perinatal outcomes and reproductive health care and to provide insight on how midwives can be impactful to the health disparities that impact Black women and infants. Theoretical Framework: Dr. David Williams created a framework for understanding the relationship between race and health. Understanding the differential distribution of adverse health consequences within racial groups is essential to developing effective solutions to these problems. Race is constructed of biological factors, social, and economic structures by which groups live …

Identification And Treatment Of Anxiety In Students Receiving Special Education Services: A Review Of The Literature, Analee Therese Francisco

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Anxiety affects school achievement and is common in nearly every disability category treated by Special Education programs. This review of literature summarizes existing research on the prevalence of anxiety disorders in students in varying disability categories, looks at the evidence of anxiety manifestations and its effects on the classroom and reports on treatments used in the school environment. Some conclusions are made about productive interventions for anxiety disorders based on past research. Although not all studies pertain specifically to special education students it is recognized that some of the information regarding anxiety as it applies to the general population is …

The Use Of 1:1 Technology To Motivate And Engage Students, Adam Huppert

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Growth of technology in the past decade has changed the educational system forever. Technology has been integrated into education to incorporate new tools for students to connect with the outside world. Students now have the opportunity to learn content in any way, anywhere, and anyhow they feel comfortable. In recent years, many school districts have rewritten their goals to include 1:1 device implementation and student-centered, personalized learning models. This thesis serves as a practical guide for implementation and pedagogy to maximize 1:1 technology implementation. The 21st century will boast jobs that can’t even be imagined currently. Preparing students with soft …

The Fertile Window, Ashley Joy Jensen

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine various biological indicators and tracking methods to determine which are the most accurate in identifying the fertility window for reproductive-aged women. Results: Whether the woman has regular or irregular cycles is a major determinant of what method can be successfully utilized. Additionally, the woman’s desire to achieve a pregnancy and her preference regarding intensity of the necessary training are significant factors in choosing a method. Use of two biologic indicators is discussed as some research points to this being the most effective. Finally, recommended web and mobile applications are discussed with …

Teaching Resilience To Nurses And Nursing Students, Laura Elizabeth Mckinney

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Background: Nurses are leaving the profession at high rates and many of them cite compassion fatigue and burnout as the cause. Nursing students leave their schooling at even higher rates. Developing resilience in nursing students and practicing nurses will prevent many from changing careers. Purpose: The purpose of this critical review of the literature is to answer the question: How can nurse educators encourage the growth of resilience in nursing students and practicing nurses? Results: Using the Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal Tool (Dearholt & Dang, 2002), eighteen high quality and good quality articles were reviewed for this project. This …

Best Practices For Teaching Social Studies In The Secondary Dual-Language Immersion Setting, Jonathan Mitchell

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Teaching Social Studies in the Dual-Language Immersion setting provides unique challenges and opportunities. This paper’s introduction provides a brief explanation of the classifications, terminology and history of Dual Language Immersion programs in the United States and in Minnesota. The literature review is divided into five sections, each covering a significant challenge for secondary social studies teachers in the Dual Language Immersion program. The first section reviews best practices for teaching historical thinking skills in the immersion setting. Those best practices include implementing a specific framework for analyzing primary sources and content-obligatory and content-compatible vocabulary for each unit. The second section …

Mental Health Intervention Within The Education System And The Importance Of Developing A Quality Model Of Services, Jaclyn Mumaugh

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The purpose of this thesis was to determine what schools are currently doing with the rise of mental health issues in youth. As schools continue to enroll more and more children suffering from possible mental health issues, districts must be equipped to provide appropriate care. Many factors need to be taken into account before support can be provided within the school, such as training, programming, staffing, and much more. Without proper services, adolescents can encounter many issues that will affect them the rest of their lives. This thesis will provide further information on how schools are currently providing care and …

Patient Disclosure Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine And The Patient-Provider Relationship, Kathryn V. Ortmann, Norsha Scheil, Thomas Stearns

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Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States, with notable usage of supplements, deep breathing exercises, and chiropractic care. Despite this influx of CAM, nearly half of patients do not report their CAM use to their medical provider (Jou & Johnson, 2016). Disclosing these practices to a medical provider is pertinent to patient safety, as a number of potential drug interactions and side effects are associated with different CAM practices. Current literature illustrates specific provider attributes help facilitate an open dialogue with patients, or more specifically, a positive patient-provider relationship. This research study examines if …

Utilizing Technology To Leverage The Improvement Of 21st Century Skills, Jon Reker

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As technology integration becomes the norm in society, the field of education must adapt to the usage of technology, to prepare future citizens in the workforce. Educators can use a framework of 21st-century skills, to assess if they are preparing students how to leverage technology capabilities. There are questions related to the effectiveness of technology in developing higher level thinking skills or if the information and communication technologies need to be taught explicitly to digital natives that have grown up immersed in technology. Many researchers are seeking to find ways to integrate 21st-century skills into curriculum and content areas, along …

The Effectiveness Of Non-Pharmacological Touch Therapies In Labor, Heather Rice

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Background/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze literature in order to determine the effectiveness of non-pharmacological touch therapies during labor. The touch therapies included in this literature review are acupuncture, acupressure, massage, and sterile water injections. The specific outcomes studies are labor pain, duration of labor, labor progress, mode of delivery, maternal satisfaction, and neonatal outcomes. Theoretical Framework: The Modeling and Role Modeling Theory can be used as a foundation for the utilization of non-pharmacological touch therapies in labor. This theory is a self-care model based on the clinical perception of the world and adaptations to stressors …

Student Achievement Outcomes, Classroom Engagement, And Perceptions Of The Flipped Classroom, Laura M. Sandberg

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The purpose of this thesis was to review the literature surrounding the flipped classroom in K-12 and post-secondary education levels. The literature review highlighted the effects of the flipped classroom on student achievement outcomes and levels of engagement, and perceptions of the flipped classroom, as noted by both students and instructors. The literature reveals a weak relationship between the flipped classroom and student achievement outcomes but shows a moderate increase in student engagement levels in several empirical studies. Student perceptions of the flipped classroom are positive, with autonomy, flexibility, and active learning being integral to this model’s success. Instructors have …

Factors Impacting Mathematically Literate Students, Erika Schmieg

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The question analyzed within this literature review is: what are common traits of mathematics learners and how can we utilize this information to promote mathematical literacy in the classroom? Mathematical literacy is a large factor in this development because it involves a person’s ability to utilize mathematics in a realistic and practical manner, therefore inhibiting or enhancing the STEM field. The research concluded that mathematical literacy is not affected by a single factor, but is a multifaceted concept that requires support in many areas of academics. It is recommended that students be taught in their primary language and in an …

How Childhood Trauma Directly Affects The Mental Health And Life-Long Learning Of K-12 Students, Tara Jean Schubring

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During the time as a federal setting III EBD teacher in a self-contained elementary-aged program, there have been two critical elements in this field that have provided the passion to tackle this topic of effective classroom management strategies for problem behaviors and the environmental factors that may drive those problem behaviors. The topic was chosen this to provide students hope for a successful future, even if the world outside of school is setting them up for failure. As a federal setting III EBD teacher, this researcher saw students struggling in school because environmental factors, such as lack of sleep or …

Mindfulness Training And Its Effects On Behavior And Achievement, Amber L. Woeltge

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Mindfulness is a concept that has been around for hundreds of years dating back to 3000B.C. However, as of recent it has reached our youth and adolescents in education and elsewhere. Mindfulness–Based Training involving young children and adolescents has been a relatively new topic of research over the past ten years. The context of this research paper was to examine published, empirical, peer-reviewed studies that analyze the impact Mindfulness-Based Training programs have in regard to behavior and academic achievement on youth and adolescents. The focus on behavior is to determine if Mindfulness-Based Training can positively influence behavior concerns with regard …

Current Best Practices, Evidence, Safety, And Efficacy Regarding Hormone Therapy Use For Menopausal And Postmenopausal Women, Kelly Lynn Zschoche

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Background: Every woman will experience menopause, however each woman’s experience is individual and has varying degrees of symptoms. As a woman ages estrogen production declines and eventually ceases. Hormone replacement therapy has been used for menopausal symptom management and for other conditions associated with declining estrogen. Information regarding hormone replacement therapy is conflicting and confusing. Evidence exists regarding safety and efficacy of hormone replacement therapy. Purpose: The purpose of this critical review of the literature is to answer the practice questions of: What are the current best practices around hormone therapy use for menopausal and postmenopausal women? What is the …

Assessing The Use Of Pre-Treatment Medications In The Management Of Infusion-Related Reactions In An Outpatient Infusion Center, Alyssa Boesche, Alyssa Augst, Bill Kuhlman

Pharmacy Posters

Introduction

• Infusion-related reactions (IRRs) are well-known adverse drug reactions of many biological agents and antineoplastic medications
• While typically mild-to-moderate in intensity, IRRs can be severe, with potentially life-threatening consequences requiring urgent interventions
• Appropriate use of pre-treatment medications, such as corticosteroids, antihistamines, intravenous fluids, and antiemetics reduces the incidence and severity of IRRs

Purpose

• Evaluate the use of pre-treatment medications in patients with experienced IRRs at an outpatient infusion center
• Identify opportunities to improve treatment plans and reduce the occurrence of IRRs

Meaning-Making Among Intentionally Childless Women, Christine Brooks

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This paper is a summary of a qualitative research project that focused upon meaningmaking processes as described by intentionally childless women. A grounded theory exploration, it involved semi-structured interviews with 30 cisgendered women aged 27–61 who chose childlessness early in life. Based on principles inherent to social constructivism and feminist theories, the subjective voices of the participants were analyzed as normative expressions of female identity. The main category that accompanied intentional childlessness was a sense of freedom. In addition, two additional thematic categories focused on ways the women view their contributions to their communities and experience belonging and a sense …

Divine Kink: A Consideration Of The Evidence For Bdsm As Spiritual Ritual, Sam E. Greenberg

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This paper reviews the limited empirical research supporting BDSM as a spiritual ritual that enables distinct altered states of consciousness. It expands upon Sagarin, Lee, and Klement’s (2015) preliminary comparison of BDSM to extreme ritual by suggesting that BDSM bears in common with spiritual ritual elements of pain or ordeal, spiritual meaning, and transformative potential. An increasing interest in BDSM in the West is considered in light of the spiritual and ritual roles BDSM fulfills for many practitioners. The relevance of BDSM to transpersonal psychology is discussed and BDSM is considered as an area for further research in transpersonal psychology.

Sexuality, Esoteric Energies, And The Subtleties Of Transmutation Versus Transformation, Barnaby B. Barratt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Transpersonal perspectives on the meaningfulness of being human, and especially the significance of subtle energy teachings, necessitate a rethinking of the notion of sexuality, beyond definitions in terms of sex acts, biological endowments, or perhaps even the complex fantasia of desire. This redefining of the erotic dimension of human life leads both to appreciation of healing as inherently sexual and to understanding how the processes of transmutation by the forces of subtle energies profoundly differ from the transformations that representation of thoughts, feelings, and wishes may undergo. Cognitive access (including that of reflective selfconsciousness) to these forces is inevitably limited …

Toward A New Theory Of Gender Transcendence: Insights From A Qualitative Study Of Gendered Self-Concept And Self-Expression In A Sample Of Individuals Assigned Female At Birth, Seth T. Pardo

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Sex and gender are two concepts that are often conflated in popular culture. However, those who experience dissonance between their assigned sex and gender identity intimately understand the difference between sex, a biologicallybased distinction, and gender, a confluence of social and behavioral factors that contribute to understanding who one is as well as how one is seen by others. The gendered self-understanding and self-expression of 170 North Americans who selfidentified as gender nonconforming and who were assigned female at birth were explored using a transpersonal lens and thematic analysis. Data suggested a range and variety of gendered self-concepts that aligned …

From Romantic Jealousy To Sympathetic Joy: Monogamy, Polyamory, And Beyond, Jorge N. Ferrer

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This paper explores how the extension of contemplative qualities to intimate relationships can transform human sexual/emotional responses and relationship choices. The paper reviews contemporary findings from the field of evolutionary psychology on the twin origins of jealousy and monogamy, argues for the possibility to transform jealousy into sympathetic joy (or compersion), addresses the common objections against polyamory (or nonmonogamy), and challenges the culturally prevalent belief that the only spiritually correct sexual options are either celibacy or (lifelong or serial) monogamy. To conclude, it is suggested that the cultivation of sympathetic joy in intimate bonds can pave the way to overcome …

Intimations Of A Spiritual New Age: Iii. Martin Heidegger’S Phenomenology Of Numinous/Being Experience And The “Other Beginning” Of A Futural Planetary Spirituality, Harry T. Hunt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

The phenomenology of numinous or Being-experience in the later Heidegger is the focus in this third in a series of papers on a group of independent figures— also including Jung, Reich, Toynbee, Teilhard de Chardin, and Simone Weil—who beginning in the crisis years of the 1930s envisioned versions of a futural “New Age” spirituality to address a globalizing materialism and its disenchantments—and so also creating a context for much of contemporary transpersonal and consciousness studies. A preliminary consideration of Heidegger in the contexts of transpersonal psychology, religious studies, the macro-histories of Toynbee and Sorokin, James on “pure experience,” and spirituality …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Core-Shamanism On A Group Of Westerners: A Brief Research Report, Joanic Masson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

A study was conducted on Western adults who participated in a group undergoing initiation into therapeutic shamanism. It investigated how shamanic work could be a factor triggering changes in persons who never had been previously immersed in such a tradition. Five groups, each composed of six people for a total of 30 participants, met eight times over a period of four months. Analyzing questions asked of the 27 who completed the program resulted in the following identified themes: experiences of the group, trust in the shamanic practitioner, raised awareness of their feeling states, experiences of the shamanic journeys, understanding of …

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy For Existential Suffering: Facilitating Self-Transcendence At The End-Of-Life, Kevin O. St. Arnaud

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Although existential suffering is amongst the most devastating forms of distress experienced by many patients nearing the end-of-life, it is often unsatisfactorily addressed due to a paucity of effective interventions. However, both historic and recent studies of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy have reported marked alleviation of this suffering. As such, this article seeks to advance the rationale for the use of psychedelic substances in the provision of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for patients nearing the end-of-life. It begins with an overview of the classic psychedelics and their application in psychotherapy, highlighting recent studies. This is followed with a conceptual overview of existential suffering at …