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Measures Of Student Engagement As Predictors Of Grade Point Average (Gpa) And Degree Completion At Andrews University, Michael D. Milmine

Dissertations

Purpose of the Study

In a time of rising costs, social discourse questioning value of an undergraduate degree, and declining enrollment, institutions of higher education are under increasing pressure to provide stakeholders and potential students with measures of accountability and student success. These pressures renew the need to leverage student engagement data to understand what makes undergraduates successful in their academic programs. An understanding of student engagement factors is key to helping all students succeed, but especially to identifying areas that colleges and universities can devote their attention in order to improve their students’ likelihood of success. The purpose of …

Marketing Adventist Higher Education In North America : College Choice - Motivators And Barriers, George Charles Dart Jr.

Dissertations

Purpose/Problem

It is estimated more than 75% of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) college-bound students (rising freshmen) who live in the North American Division (NAD) do not attend an SDA college/university. This is a major challenge for the NAD colleges/universities. Discovering motivators and barriers for SDA college-bound students is vital in understanding what influences this population in their college choice selection.

Method

This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative study. An electronic survey using Qualtrics was sent to over 14,000 students with 461 respondents as the sample size. Respondents were sorted into four study groups, using the type of high school attended and …

An Exploratory Study Of Mathematics Anxiety In Caribbean Preservice Teachers, Franka Atwell-Chin Hong

Dissertations

The Problem

Correlational studies suggest that gender, attitudes to mathematics, mathematics performance, the number of college mathematics courses taken, and mathematics teacher efficacy beliefs may be related to mathematics anxiety among preservice teachers (Boyd et al., 2014; Gresham, 2018; Jaggernauth & Jameson-Charles, 2015). Exploratory studies of mathematics anxiety and teacher self-efficacy among elementary teachers exist in Trinidad and Tobago (Jaggernauth 2012; Jaggernauth & Jameson-Charles, 2015). However, the differences in samples, and weakness in methodology, may make it challenging to generalize the results to the preservice teacher population. In addition, no studies have found which variable or combination of variables is …

Servqual Measurement In A Healthcare Setting: Before And After Corrective Strategy Implementation, Jerome Christia, Aaron Ard, Lorraine Runion

Atlantic Marketing Journal

In the United States, the most dominant industry is services, yielding the highest volume of total employment and gross domestic product. Due to this insight, academics and business professionals continue to research and apply strategies to achieve distinctive competitive advantages in the services arena. The steady growth and increasing significance of the service sector in the United States and other developed markets has resulted in a sizeable body of related research addressing a variety of issues such as service quality and its characteristics. Healthcare is an impactful service industry that has received a considerable amount of attention. In the healthcare …

Importance-Performance Gap Analysis Of The University Brand Equity Dimensions, Tulay Girard, Musa Pinar

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study examines the gaps between the importance students place on brand equity dimensions and their perceptions of how well their university performs on each dimension. It also assesses if the brand equity dimensions differ based on student demographics including gender, class level, and their living arrangement. Data were collected from a university in the Midwestern U.S. from undergraduate students. The findings reveal significant gaps between the importance and performance perceptions of students, and that females, students living on campus, and freshman require special

Hello, Are You There? Creating And Measuring Online Student Engagement, Kirsten Passyn

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Engaging students in an online environment is frustrating for faculty and a concern of administration. Faculty and students report lower levels of satisfaction and lower engagement in online versus face to face learning. Dropout rates in fully online courses are often two times higher than face to face courses. This research attempted to engage online students by embedding a gamification-based scavenger hunt in an online course. Engagement was measured using a combination of quantitative and qualitative measurements. Although the scavenger hunt didn't significantly engage low performing students, it did motivate and deepen top-performing students' engagement. Interestingly, qualitative-based engagement measures proved …

Modeling Austrian Consumer Responses To A Vignette Television Commercial Drama For A Vacation Resort Destination, Ozcan Kilic, Michael Stoica, Andreas Nachbagauer, Darryl Miller

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract- This project involved the formulation and test of a model of Austrian consumers' cognitive and affective responses to a vignette television commercial drama for a vacation resort area, the Halkidiki region of Greece. Results indicate that response to the commercial was both cognitive and affective with sympathy and empathy, mediating the influence of verisimilitude on attitudes toward the ad and brand. These results were consistent with what was expected from a sample of consumers from a low power distance and moderate individualistic culture such as Austria. Results suggest that to promote tourism services effectively, a commercial's production value and …

Resilience In Nicaragua: Preliminary Factor Analysis And Validation Of The Cyrm-28, Kelly B.T. Chang, B. Cameron Stumpf

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

Objectives: The current study used factor analytic techniques to examine the performance of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28) in Nicaragua.

Methods: Nicaraguan youth from Managua, León, Chinandega, and Granada (n = 2,764) completed the CYRM-28 and the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI-A). The CYRM-28 and PWI-A are self-report measures that were translated into Spanish in previous studies.

Results: A confirmatory factor analysis on the CYRM-28 did not support the eight-factor model from previous research. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a six-factor model: Social Belonging, Cultural Context, Caregiver Context, Social Skills, Spiritual Context, and Responsibility. Seven items …

Debt’S Emotional Encumbrances, Pamela Foohey

Scholarly Works

This chapter focuses on the role of emotions in the theory and practice of commercial and consumer credit laws, including bankruptcy, in the United States. It assesses knowledge about people’s emotions regarding personal and business financial problems, and evaluates how “money law” systems account for these emotions. This assessment finds that emotions surrounding taking on and being able to pay back debt differ between business leaders and people who shoulder household debt. These differences are traceable in large part to historical understandings of the respectability of incurring debt. This history has shaped the development of bankruptcy, commercial, and consumer credit …

Fintech's Role In Exacerbating Or Reducing The Wealth Gap, Pamela Foohey, Nathalie Martin

Scholarly Works

Research shows that Black, Latinx, and other minorities pay more for credit and banking services, and that wealth accumulation differs starkly between their households and white households. The link between debt inequality and the wealth gap, however, remains less thoroughly explored, particularly in light of new credit products and debt-like banking services, such as early wage access and other fintech innovations. These innovations both hold the promise of reducing racial and ethnic disparities in lending and bring concerns that they may be exploited in ways that perpetuate inequality. They also come at a time when policy makers are considering how …

Bursting The Auto Loan Bubble In The Wake Of Covid-19, Pamela Foohey

Scholarly Works

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, auto loans outstanding in the United States had soared to record highs. The boom in lending spanned new and used cars and traditional and subprime loans. With loan delinquencies also hitting new highs almost every quarter, predictions that the auto lending market could burst soon abounded. When the economy came to a grinding halt and unemployment skyrocketed in the wake of the pandemic, auto lenders knew they were facing a crisis. Throughout 2020, auto lenders granted more payment forbearances to consumers, while slashing interest rates on new loans. Auto manufacturers similarly made promises to buyers, such …

Coping Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Attachment, And Resilience On Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Private Sector Emergency Medical Technicians, Brenda-Joyce Gonzales Orozco Markert-Green

Dissertations

Problem

Private sector Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are first responders who respond to traumatic incident scenes along with firefighters and police officers. However, news agencies and the public do not acknowledge private sector EMTs with the same vigor or accolade as public sector EMTs, nor are the risks to life, health, and mental well-being recognized among this population. Thus, the research literature has been sparse regarding how private sector EMTs experience PTSD, and what unique risk factors and needs may be present.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between PTSD symptoms and coping skills, …

Aerosol Spacers With Asthma Inhalers: Best Practice For School Health Nurses, Casey Page

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Healthcare providers do not have adequate knowledge regarding the use of aerosol spacers and asthma inhalers. Inappropriate use of asthma inhalers may lead to poor medication distribution in the lungs and poor asthma control. The utilization of aerosol spacers with asthma inhalers is shown to increase medication distribution to the lungs. Asthma is the number one chronic condition seen by school health nurses. An online learning module was created for school health nurses to reiterate the best practice use of aerosol spacers with asthma inhalers. After completion of the online learning module, school health nurses answered nine questions on an …

Evaluating An Overall Experience Of Virtual Learning In Meeting The Continuing Education Needs Of Rural Nurses In North Carolina, Yuen Li (May) Cheung

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background. Rural nurses in North Carolina (NC) face several barriers to accessing face-to-face continuing education (CE) opportunities.

Objective. The purpose of the project is to connect to rural nurses in NC by designing accessible and flexible CE programming that includes virtual learning activities.

Methods. System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Usability Metric for User Experience short version (UMUX-Lite) tools were used. to predict whether participants will use or adopt a new technology following a North Carolina Area Heath Education Center (NC AHEC) hosted virtual conference.

Findings. Of the 103 participants who attended the CE conference, 93 …

Human Centeredness: The Foundation For Leadership-As-Practice In Complex Local/Regional Food Networks, Maryann Martinez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Our local and regional food systems are predominately modeled on a failed capitalist market-based economy. In the absence of corporate accountability, and/or support on the federal policy level, local and regional leadership and self-organized networks are critical to the scaling across and evolution of a moral and equitable food system. Networked food systems leaders are developing the capacity to solve wicked problems, and spark change. Understanding the values and practices of local food systems leadership that initiate, influence, and support activities is essential to understanding how to foster conditions for local and regional food network growth. My dissertation research is …

Building Urban Resilience In New York City, Eliseo Magsambol Cubol

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Existing research shows that cities around the world are now turning to urban resilience as a new approach to governing the urban climate challenges because of the increasing exposure of vulnerable populations and critical infrastructures in coastal cities and communities to extreme weather events. However, there is limited scholarly understanding about how cities and urban regions overcome challenges to the implementation of urban resilience. In particular, little research has focused on local stakeholder perspectives on urban resilience, which can offer valuable insights to help cities and urban regions address these challenges. To better understand stakeholder perspectives, this dissertation shares the …

Surviving Heatwaves: Thermal Experience Predicts Life And Death In A Southern Ocean Diatom, Toby Samuels, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Sinéad Collins

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Extreme environmental fluctuations such as marine heatwaves (MHWs) can have devastating effects on ecosystem health and functioning through rapid population declines and destabilization of trophic interactions. However, recent studies have highlighted that population tolerance to MHWs is variable, with some populations even benefitting from MHWs. A number of factors can explain variation in responses between populations including their genetic variation, previous thermal experience and the cumulative heatwave intensity (°C d) of the heatwave itself. We disentangle the contributions of these factors on population mortality and post-heatwave growth rates by experimentally simulating heatwaves (7.5 or 9.2°C, for up to 9 days) …

Effects Of Advance Refunding Municipal Bonds After The U.S. Tax Cuts And Jobs Act, Sarah Curry

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

The process when U.S. municipalities retire callable bonds early and refinance them with bonds of a lower coupon rate is called advance refunding. The advance refunding of debt is a widespread practice in municipal finance; however, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 removed the option to keep this debt tax-exempt and now requires municipalities to convert from tax-exempt to taxable. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact eliminating advance refunding of municipal debt into tax-exempt status has on the municipality’s advance refunding decision making process, specifically at the state level. Municipal governments are still …

Restoring Student Press Freedoms: Why Every State Needs A 'New Voices' Law, Clare R. Norins, Taran Harmon-Walker, Navroz Tharani

Scholarly Works

Scholastic journalists across America have long provided vital reporting, commentary, and fresh perspective on issues of public concern to their readers. Never has this been more true than in the current age of dwindling print media, where scholastic journalists at both the high school and post-secondary levels are stepping in to populate what would otherwise be news deserts. Yet the Supreme Court’s decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988), allows school officials to censor both the content and style of school-sponsored media without offending the First Amendment. This essay traces the history of student speech rights …

Mdl Revolution, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Abbe Gluck

Scholarly Works

Over the past 50 years, multidistrict litigation (MDL) has quietly revolutionized civil procedure. MDLs include the largest tort cases in U.S. history, but without the authority of the class-action rule, MDL judges—who formally have only pretrial jurisdiction over individual cases—have resorted to extraordinary procedural exceptionalism to settle cases on a national scale. Substantive state laws, personal jurisdiction, transparency, impartiality, reviewability, federalism, and adequate representation must all yield if doing so fulfills that one goal.

Somehow, until now, this has remained below the surface to everyone but MDL insiders. Thanks to the sprawling MDL over the opioid crisis—and unprecedented opposition to …

Information For The Common Good In Mass Torts, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Alexandra D. Lahav

Scholarly Works

In recent years, judges have privileged confidentiality over transparency in discovery, especially in large scale multidistrict litigation such as the Opiate litigation. By uncovering the assumptions underlying our current regime, this Article sheds light on the process that got us here as a first step towards re-envisioning the rules governing information in litigation. We investigate an untold history of discovery’s publicity to show that many of our assumptions about what is public and what is private is historically contingent, even accidental. So too are our assumptions about the best way to arrive at truth.

Accordingly, we suggest that courts ought …

Introduction: The Future Of Global Health Governance, Elizabeth Weeks, Anish Patel

Scholarly Works

CONFERENCE: The Future of Global Health Governance

Hosted by the Dean Rusk International Law Center and the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law on January 25, 2021 in Athens, Georgia

When we began developing this topic last winter and early spring, the global pandemic in which we still find ourselves deeply entrenched, a year later, was just emerging. For many in the United States, including our former President, the threat seemed distant, even hypothetical.' Few imagined the devastating loss of life, health, economic security, home, family, companionship, and "normal" ways of life that we would come to experience over …

How Journalists Think About The First Amendment Vis-À-Vis Their Coverage Of Hate Groups, Gregory Perreault, Jonathan Peters, Brett Johnson, Leslie Klein

Scholarly Works

This study, based on in-depth interviews with U.S.-based journalists (n = 18), explores the increasingly fraught circumstances of reporting on hate groups. We examine how journalists think about the First Amendment vis-à-vis their coverage of such groups. Through the lens of media ecology and First Amendment principles and theories, we argue ultimately that journalists who cover hate groups use the First Amendment to identify their place in the journalistic environment.

Tax Policy And Covid-19: An Argument For Targeted Crisis Relief, Assaf Harpaz

Scholarly Works

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp global economic decline. By the end of 2021, the U.S. government responded to the downturn with record fiscal legislation totaling over $5 trillion, which includes considerable tax relief. Most notably, the U.S. government distributed over $800 billion in three rounds of advanced refundable tax credits (known as recovery rebates, or stimulus checks) to most households. Tax relief has been unprecedented in scale but has often been the product of political circumstances rather than principled policy design. Tax relief thus remains largely undertheorized and politically motivated.

This Article examines the U.S. tax policy response to …

Taxation Of The Digital Economy: Adapting A Twentieth-Century Tax System To A Twenty-First-Century Economy, Assaf Harpaz

Scholarly Works

This Article analyzes the tax challenges of digitalization and the potential solutions to address them. This Article argues in favor of a multilateral approach and proposes applying a new tax nexus based on market thresholds subject to a global de minimis amount. As more companies conduct business online, current international tax law and its principles have failed to adapt to global commercial practices. Digital-tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon have been able to exploit the international tax framework by avoiding a physical presence in the jurisdiction of their consumers. As a result, profits of highly digitalized enterprises can …

A Micromorphometric Study On The Common Bile Duct And Major Duodenal Papilla Of Thedomestic Swine, Ivaylo Stefanov Stefanov

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of the current study was to perform a comparative micromorphometric study on the thickness of mucosa, fibromuscular layer, glandular zone, serosa, and subserous layer, as well as of the entire wall of extra- and intramural parts of the porcine common bile duct in immature and mature animals. This micromorphometric study also evaluated the height and width of the lining epithelium, glandular epithelium, and goblet cells in 2-month, 6-month, and 3-year old male pigs. It was found that significant age-dependent differences in the studied parameters exist. Some differences in the studied parameters were also detected between different parts of …

Denial Of Family Violence In Court: An Empirical Analysis And Path Forward For Family Law, Joan S. Meier

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Scores of women and children have suffered grave harm from courts’ punitive responses to mothers’ requests to protect their children from paternal abuse in the context of custody litigation. Rather than responding protectively, family courts frequently turn on the protective parent, ordering the children removed from the protective parent and sending them to live with or spend unprotected time with their allegedly abusive parent. In the worst of these cases, the abusive parent has used this court-ordered access to murder the child(ren), in the ultimate act of revenge against his adult victim. While courts’ resistance to mothers’ and children’s abuse …

Towards The Point Of Care And Noninvasive Classification Of Bladder Cancer From Urine Sediment Infrared Spectroscopy. Spectral Differentiation Of Normal, Abnormal And Cancer Patients, Monika Kujdowicz, David Perezguaita, Piotr Chłosta, Krzysztof Okon, Kamilla Malek

Articles

Bladder cancer (BC) is the 9th cancer cause of death and one of most cost-intensive in the world. The diagnostic tools are still not at all satisfactory. Herein we evaluated the potential of infrared spectroscopy to detect molecular changes that precede and accompany the carcinogenesis in voided urine sediment. We collected 165 samples from patients being diagnosed for BC and measured them with attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (ATR FTIR). Samples were primarily divided into three groups according to cytology that indicated the presence of normal, abnormal and cancer cells. ATR FTIR spectra of sediments were analyzed with …

Book Review - The Vietnam War In American Childhood, Austina M. Jordan

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

How I Can Be Me: Associations Between Presentation Discrepancy And Mental Health Outcomes Among Lgbtq Adults, Samuel Bruun

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

One’s perception of their own personal appearance, and how one is viewed by others has been previously shown to have an impact on one’s mental health. Whether it be dealing with unrealistic body expectations depicted in the media, or attempting to appear sufficiently masculine, there are a multitude of ways in which one’s appearance can cause distress. Some appearance challenges are more identity specific, such as the struggles that some transgender people experience when attempting to achieve affirming gender presentation. Although these different concerns have been addressed individually in past research, there has not been an attempt to determine how …