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Integrating Quality Improvement Concepts Into Nursing Curriculum: Perspectives Of Associate Degree Nurse Faculty, Debbie Krachtus

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Since the groundbreaking report To Err is Human, there has been an increased focus on outcomes and quality improvement (QI) in healthcare. This focus has resulted in a change in nursing education. Nursing programs and nurse educators have been directed to integrate QI into nursing curriculum using innovative teaching methods. However, the voices of Associate Degree Nurse (ADN) educators are absent from the literature. This qualitative research study used a phenomenological approach to ascertain ADN educators’ perspectives about integrating QI into their curriculum. The central questions of this research were: what are ADN faculty views on the integration of QI …

Untwining Threads: Second Wave Hmong Parents’ Conceptualizations Of Ways To Support Their Adolescent Children’S Education, Mao Sea Lee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This research identifies the support systems for adolescents’ education within the second wave Hmong refugee family setting. The study examines the parents’ perspectives on their own support systems for their adolescents’ education. The work focuses on studying both the instrumental support and psychological care these parents provide their teenage children and interprets why these parents choose to provide these resources. Studying these parents’ ways of supporting their adolescents provided a more in-depth understanding of why these recent refugee parents choose to invest of their resources to their adolescents’ education and, subsequently, what education means to them. The research also brought …

Effectiveness Of Online Credit Recovery Programs, Diana Barbara Schill

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This case study evaluating three high schools’ blended online credit recovery programs spanned the course of three years. The first part of the study examined the student demographics and outlined the basic structure of the programs. The demographics showed a disproportionate number of students of color and students receiving Free/Reduced Lunch in the online credit recovery programs at each school when compared to the school population. Each program shared the blended structure – online instruction with teacher facilitation. While there were over 24 online courses offered in the program, this study focused on the core courses that all ninth graders …

Becoming Gatekeepers: A Constructivist Model Of Gatekeeper Development In Counselor Education, Natasha Joy Salier Schnell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The need for diligent gatekeeping practices in counselor education is well documented in professional literature, ethical guidelines, and standards of practice; although much has been written about gatekeeping, an extensive examination of the literature did not reveal any studies on how and where counselor educators are learning to be gatekeepers. Therefore, this study sought to ascertain what counselor educators identify as meaningful learning experiences and critical incidents that facilitated their sense of efficacy and preparedness as gatekeepers and to examine how counselor educators acquire and develop the competence to become proficient gatekeepers in the counseling profession. Phenomenological interviewing and analysis …

The Effect Of Self-Reflection On Relative Student Success In Undergraduate Calculus 1, Kevin Shryock

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the effect of completion and self-reflection credit on multiple aspects of undergraduate student success in Calculus 1. Specifically, this study assessed the validity of a plug-and-play classroom framework utilizing a combination of a holistic rubric and corresponding worksheets to direct students’ attention towards their conceptual understanding of material and written work, all while removing the pressure of performance grades on all but four summative assessments. By comparing students’ relative performance on these summative assessments, as well as students’ responses on regular surveys, this study found that students who chose to forego performance grades in favor of completion …

In-Situ Optoelectronic Powder Flow Measurement Analysis For Directed Energy Deposition Applications, Mark Sliwka

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Directed energy deposition (DED) is a metal additive manufacturing method of creating parts by using a high-power laser to fuse powdered metals into fully dense three-dimensional structures. To ensure the geometric and mechanical integrity of the completed part, the powder flow rate of the DED system must be accurate and repeatable for manufacturability. Due to its opacity and reflectivity, one method of measuring powder flow is by utilizing an optoelectronic sensor. The sensor consists of a diode laser with a line generator that emits a thin defocused light sheet, a photodiode, and a set of lenses. The corresponding lens collimates …

Thermal / Structural Analysis Of The Hb 650 Thermal Shield, Gerald J. Smith

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Fermilab’s PIP-II project’s superconducting linear accelerator (Linac) will drive the next generation of particle accelerators through a revolution in beam intensity. Key to beam intensification are the high efficiencies of niobium-tin superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities operating at cryogenic temperatures near 5 Kelvin. A multifaceted approach is employed to achieve and maintain the extreme temperature. Vacuum provides the first barrier to thermal convection. Physical thermal intercept zones further isolate the exterior shell vacuum vessel at 300 Kelvin from the supercooled beamline. The first thermal intercept lies just inside the exterior vacuum vessel forming the 40 Kelvin zone. This 40K thermal shield …

Exploring Hip Hop Pedagogy In The Lives Of Four African American Adolescents, Roland Steele

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how participation in an after-school hip hop pedagogy program influenced the social and academic lives of four African American male adolescents. The researcher viewed this study through the conceptual framework of culturally relevant teaching that incorporated hip hop pedagogy. Hip-hop is currently one of the most popular forms of music and represents the dominant culture of today’s inner-city youth. This study centered on how hip hop pedagogy is being used to educate African American male students.

The study participants consisted of four African American male adolescents who attended an after-school hip …

A Phenomenological Study Of First-Generation Latin@ Community College Students As They Successfully Persist In College, Michelé Elaine Smith

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that community colleges are essential to the economic development of the communities they serve; therefore, it is imperative attention be given to ensuring the academic success of today’s fastest growing college population: first-generation Latin@ students. This study was founded on the principle that understanding the supports (experiences that decrease individual stress levels), challenges (experiences that increase individual stress levels), and coping strategies (behaviors used by the individual to relieve stress) described by first-generation Latin@ community college students who successfully persist in college will provide valuable information for reform efforts in higher education for all students.

Utilizing the …

Nonlinear Integrable Optics Beam Dynamics Experimentand Diagnostics, Sebastian Szustkowski

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

All present circular particle accelerators are built around linear focusing optics. Unavoidable nonlinear elements appear in accelerators, such as magnetic aberrations and space-charge effects, which are typically corrected using nonlinear magnets. However, these added nonlinearities degrade particle beam stability, and in most cases, the system becomes non-integrable. The Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA), at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), is a test bed to study beam dynamics in integrable lattices for both electron and proton beams, independently.This work presents experimental results of the nonlinear electron beam dynamics behavior in IOTA using an elliptical nonlinear magnet. The elliptical nonlinear magnet allows …

On The Self-Force Problem Of Point-Like Charged Particles In Classical Electrodynamics, Kevin J. Hamilton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The problem of a point-like charged particle's self-interaction force has been a long-standing problem in the field of classical electrodynamics. For over a century, physicists have unsuccessfully developed a satisfactory solution until recently. We expand on the work done by Gralla et. al. in order to establish a smooth and relativistically correct formulation of point-like charged particles in motion and shed light on related problems and applications, particularly the motion of elementary particles with magnetic dipoles through non-uniform static magnetic fields. We conduct numerical simulations in order to quantify the magnitude of the perturbations from this self-force due to the …

Threshold Ionization Spectroscopy And Spin-Orbit Coupling Of Lanthanide Complexes, Yuchen Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

The C-C and C-H bonds have high bond strength and low polarization, which make many small hydrocarbons too inert to react with other molecules under ambient pressure and temperature conditions. Therefore, activation of these bonds is required to convert such small molecules into other value-added chemicals. Among various bond activation methods, metal activation is widely used and reported in the literature, because of its relatively mild reaction conditions and high selectivity.

In this work, Ce atom reactions with several small hydrocarbons are carried out in a pulsed laser vaporization supersonic molecular beam source, and Ce -hydrocarbon species are observed with …

Towards The Rational Design Of Organic Semiconductors Through Computational Approaches, Qianxiang Ai

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Though organic semiconductors have illustrated potential as industry-relevant materials for electronics applications, there are few guidelines that can take one from molecular design to functional materials. This limitation is, in part, due to incomplete understanding as to how the atomic-scale construction of the π-conjugated molecules that comprise the organic semiconductors determines the nature and strength of both the noncovalent intramolecular interactions that govern molecular conformation and noncovalent intermolecular interactions that regulate the energetic preference for solid-state packing. Hence, there remain several fundamental questions that need to be resolved in order to design organic semiconductors from a priori knowledge, including: What …

Developing And Testing Redox Active Organic Molecules For Nonaqueous Redox Flow Battery Applications, Nuwan Harsha Attanayake

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Non-emissive, sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal power have continued to provide an increasing amount of electricity to support electrical grids. Due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, grid energy storage systems must adjust for variations in and mismatches between electricity production and consumption. Among the available energy storage technologies, redox flow batteries (RFBs) are expected to play a critical role in the grid energy storage due to their decoupled energy and power, long service life, and simple manufacturing. However, the worldwide market penetration of RFB systems is still limited due …

Guidelines For Submissions And Author Instructions

The Southeastern Librarian

No abstract provided.

Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio For Hort 306: Greenhouse Operations & Management, Stacy Adams

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

A Greenhouse Operations and Management course designed specifically to serve the needs of horticulture students at an institution of higher learning has transitioned teaching philospophy to additionally serve any student with a potential use of a greenhouse in instruction, community outreach, research, extension, early childhood development, and thearapy. Through the Peer Review of Teaching Project, the course is explored, analyzed and redeveloped with intentional purpose.

Fdst 880p: Food Proteins - A Peer Review Of Teaching Project, Benchmark Portfolio, Kaustav Majumder

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

FDST 880P: Food Proteins, is a course designed only for the graduate students for the department of food science and technology. The course work provides the opportunity to dwell deep into the fundamental chemistry, protein structures and functions to understand the physiochemical and biochemicals factors that govern the functionality and biological activity of the food proteins and proteins-derived peptides. For each of the course objectives, I describe how and why I organize the course, as well as how my pedagogical choices encourage the student learning and engagement. Collect and analyze the data on students' performance and progress during the semester …

Online Engagement And Overall Performance: Tmfd 123: Clothing & Society Benchmark Portfolio – A Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio, Claire Nicholas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark course portfolio examines TMFD 123: Clothing & Society, a large enrollment, online delivery course offered in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to detailed discussion of existing course materials, activities, and assessment tools, the portfolio focuses on the issue of student engagement and peer-to-peer interaction. It also tracks the impact of the introduction of a Yellowdig discussion forum assignment in an effort to boost engagement, create a sense of community, and foster connections between course materials and concepts and students’ everyday lives. The latter objective intersects with several of …

Peer Review Of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio - Nres/Wats/Bio 459/859: Limnology, Jessica Corman

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Limnology (NRES/BIO/WATS 459/859) is an upper-division course taken primarily by Fisheries and Wildlife and Water Science majors in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Although the course enrollment is open to graduate students, none were enrolled in the year in which this portfolio was written. Learning outcomes focus on understanding the interdisciplinarity of limnological sciences, assessing anthropogenic impacts on lake ecosystems, learning basic limnological field techniques, and investigating and critically evaluating relevant, publicly available datasets. The course satisfies the “ACE 10” requirement for undergraduate students; students meet this requirement by completing a …

Course Portfolio For Mech 416/816: Engineering Acoustics, Spring 2019 And 2020 - A Peer Review Of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Keegan J. Moore

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The aim of this portfolio is twofold: first, the portfolio serves to document the author’s approach to teaching while also providing the means for the author to reflect on and improve his approach; second, this portfolio evaluates the effect of a discussion-based approach and a solution-based approach to delivering practice exams on student performance on formal examinations. The discussion-based approach focuses on team-based discussions of one problem from a practice exam for 10-15 minutes before receiving feedback from the instructor on that specific problem or topic. After receiving feedback from the instructor, the students move onto another problem in the …

A Covid-19 Informed Benchmark Portfolio Of Teaching For Slpa 988: Dementia, Kristy Weissling

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The focus of this peer review of teaching portfolio was SLPA 988: Dementia. The course is offered in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders within the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This is an elective course at the graduate level which has a primary target of students in the master’s degree program in speech-language pathology. It is an advanced 900 level course and comes after students have completed at least one semester of clinical work with patients. My goal was to better understand how to improve the course as it transitions from …

Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio: Sped 852 - Instructional Methods For Teachers Of Students With Visual Impairments, Mackenzie E. Savaiano

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

No abstract provided.

Reflections On Teaching Cyaf 374, Curriculum Planning In Early Childhood Education: A Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio, Christine Kiewra

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In this course portfolio, I reflect on teaching methods and materials as they relate to course goals and learning outcomes for an undergraduate early childhood education course, CYAF 374. This course offers students a developmental, child-centered approach to designing, implementing, and evaluating learning experiences for children from birth to grade 3. The course is for students who are preparing to teach in Early Childhood, Inclusive Early Childhood, or Primary classrooms. The focus of my reflection and evaluation is on principles of effective teaching practice, experiential learning, reflective practice, and collaboration implemented throughout the course. Finally, I reflect upon successes and …

Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio For Jour 304: Multimedia Journalism, Olga Pierce

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The term multimedia journalism, as used in the field, is vague and can describe a wide-ranging set of skills, including writing, audio/video production, graphic design, data analysis, and even front-end web development. For this reason, past multimedia offerings in our college have been described as ‘kitchen sink courses’ with many disparate elements thrown in. Through the Peer Review of Teaching Project, the course is analyzed and focused to include a coherent progression of skills.

Critical Thinking, Perspective-Taking, And Cultural Humility In Global Refugee Health Studies: A Peer Review Of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Julie A. Tippens

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio examines the third iteration of a course I developed for the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies: CYAF 493 – Global Case Studies in Refugee Health and Wellbeing. The primary goal of this course is for students to think critically about the social and structural determinants of refugee health and wellbeing. I have also integrated three core course values to guide instruction: critical thinking, perspective-taking, and cultural humility. Student learning and engagement was analyzed through four areas: (1) a baseline assessment of students’ perceptions of refugees, (2) weekly homework reflections, (3) a book review assignment, and (4) …

Course Portfolio For Math 309: Introduction To Mathematical Proofs - A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Josh Brummer

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In this course portfolio, I examine dimensions of an active learning curriculum developed for a sophomore-level undergraduate course serving as an introduction to mathematical proofs. Prominent course goals include developing effective practices for communicating mathematics using formal language, learning to read, comprehend, and evaluate the validity of mathematical proofs, and practicing to write rigorous and concise mathematical proofs. I explore a new piece of collaborative annotation software called Perusall to help students read and understand mathematics together, and I analyze mastery level grading scales across exams throughout the semester. The portfolio also contains information about the structure and syllabus for …

Glst 201: Introduction To Global Studies - A Peer Review Of Teaching Program Benchmark Portfolio, Emira Ibrahimpašić

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark portfolio is an outcome of the work completed to assess a core major course I teach every semester, GLST 201: Introduction to Global Studies. The following portfolio utilizes backwards design which asks us to structure student learning based on intentionally designed assessments in order to provide evidence that students have achieve the course learning objectives or goals. The following is a detailed summary and critical analysis of course design, learning objectives, teaching methods and pedagogy, student assessment, and various course materials. Although the course syllabus lists 6 learning objectives, for the purposes of this portfolio I decided to …

A Benchmark Teaching Portfolio During Covid-19 Transition For Mngt 360: Managing Behavior In Organizations, Jia Yu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark portfolio describes the revisions and assessments made to MNGT 360: Managing Behavior in Organizations in the midst of COVID-19. This course is offered in the Department of Management within the College of Business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. My goal was to improve the course design by evaluating the more effective teaching methods and assessment tools for this course. I experimented with several new teaching methods and assessment tools such as Kahoot!, online exams and offered some empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of the tools. I found that participation based assignments are an important predictor of overall class …

Brain Development: Why The Young Sleep Longer, Budhaditya Chowdhury, Orie T. Shafer

Advanced Science Research Center

From absorbing new languages to mastering musical instruments, young children are wired to learn in ways that adults are not (Johnson and Newport, 1989). This ability coincides with periods of intense brain plasticity during which neurons can easily remodel their connections (Hubel and Wiesel, 1970). Many children are also scandalously good sleepers, typically getting several more hours of sleep per night than their parents (Jenni and Carskadon, 2007). As sleep deprivation has negative effects on learning and memory, learning like a child likely requires sleeping like one (Diekelmann and Born, 2010). Yet, how the ability to sleep for longer is …

Winner, Best Appellate Brief In The 2020 Native American Law Student Association Moot Court Competition, Emily Dennan, Emily Mcevoy

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.