Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Yoga And Mindfulness On Emotional Regulation, Behavior, And Teacher Burnout, Sara E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This dissertation comprises three studies that examine the effects of physical activity, yoga, and mindfulness interventions on students' emotional regulation, behavior, and academic outcomes in rural Kentucky schools. These studies as a whole contribute to understanding how movement-based and mindfulness practices can enhance social-emotional and academic well-being in schools.

The first study describes the effects of classroom-based physical activity on student achievement and social-emotional well-being. Forty-five elementary students participated in a 6-week intervention with two 7-minute movement breaks per day. Results indicated statistically significant improvements in Reading (t(44) = 2.55, p < .001, d = .38), Math (t(44) = 4.63, p < .001, d = .69), and social-emotional competence (t(44) = 3.67, p < .001, d = .55). These findings demonstrate that brief, structured physical activity can meaningfully enhance academic and emotional outcomes when implemented by classroom teachers.

The second study shows the effects of a five-week …

Leadership Perceptions In Mid-Major Ncaa Athletics: Exploring Women's Teams Head Coaches' Experiences With Athletic Department Senior Staff, Sydnie A. Steele

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Leadership practices within NCAA Division I athletic departments can shape the professional climate, well-being, and stability of the coaching staff. Yet, limited research has explored how senior administrators influence the experiences of coaches who lead women’s teams at mid-major institutions. This phenomenological inquiry study explored how head coaches interpret their interactions with senior athletic department staff and how these relational dynamics inform perceptions of support.

Twelve Division I head coaches participated in semi-structured Zoom interviews about their experiences at former institutions. The interview protocol integrated the LMX-7 framework with open-ended questions to capture the significance of the head coaches’ lived …

From Mandate To Meaning: Designing Implementation Supports For Organizational Readiness In Behavioral Health Service Planning, Lauren K. Mergen

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Behavioral health agencies often struggle to translate the Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) framework into practice when implementation is externally mandated. This study examined how educational leaders can support meaningful use of TCOM tools under a Midwestern state’s October 2024 requirement that behavioral health providers use the state Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths assessment in service planning.

Using a Mixed Methods Action Research design, the study progressed through six phases: Diagnosis, Reconnaissance, Planning, Acting, Evaluation, and Monitoring. The Diagnosis Phase identified a knowledge-to-practice gap and weaknesses in implementation support infrastructure. Practitioner surveys administered immediately after training and six months …

Bridging The Intention–Behavior Gap In Mental Health Help-Seeking, Wenqi Weng

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Objective: To examine whether modifiable factors shape the extent to which help-seeking intention is translated into formal mental health service initiation among distressed adults. Method: Participants were U.S. adults (N = 777; M age = 47.21 years, SD = 16.70; 73.23% women; 77.74% White) who reported at least moderate psychological distress and were not currently receiving formal mental health treatment. At baseline, participants completed measures of help-seeking intention, focal moderators (action planning, psychological distress, and mental health steward self-identity), coping planning, cues to action, and emotion regulation as exploratory candidate moderators. At three-month follow-up, participants reported whether …

Academic Departments As Microfoundations Of Institutional Governance, Karley A. Riffe, Meghan J. Pifer

Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Faculty Publications

Considerations of governance in US higher education do not typically include the academic department. This results in a knowledge gap about the role of these central organizing units of academic work in the governance of colleges and universities. Through the concept of microfoundations, we explore concrete ways in which departmental governance matters, how it may be challenging, and strategies for fostering effective governance within academic departments.

The Operationalization Of Student Success: How Institutions And Divisions Of Student Affairs Define And Align Non-Academic Student Success With External Accountability Expectations, Madeline N. Trudeau

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This qualitative multi-case study investigates how higher education institutions and their divisions of student affairs publicly discuss and define non-academic student success through their strategic planning, within the context of external pressures from state legislatures and accrediting bodies. Grounded in Organizational Learning Theory, Transition Theory, and Theory of Student Involvement and Engagement, this study analyzes the alignment and divergence between external policy expectations and internal institutional and divisional strategic plans.

The findings reveal a fundamental tension; while external stakeholders increasingly demand quantifiable outcomes tied to economic productivity - like post-graduate wages and employability metrics - divisions of student affairs continue …

Contractual Democracy From Statehouse To School Board: Shifts In Legislation And School Board Authority In Kentucky, Hannah M. Edelen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

School boards have long been regarded as a cornerstone of American democracy, providing local governance over public education. While considerable scholarship highlights the increasing involvement of state and federal governments in education, relatively few studies examine with specificity how legislatures shape the local authority of these governance structures. This study investigates how the Kentucky State Legislature has influenced the authority of local school boards over three legislative sessions (2020–2022) and how board members perceive their evolving role. Using a multi-method approach and conceptualized in principal-agent theory, this research contributes to understanding how legislatures shape the governing responsibilities of school boards …

Beyond Teaching: Black And Hispanic Calculus Students Describe Interactions With Faculty, Kevin A. Palencia Infante, Ricela Feliciano-Semidei, Alcibiades Bustillo-Zarate, Ke Wu

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

The experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs provide valuable insights into improving their retention and academic achievement. This study investigates how Black and Hispanic calculus students describe faculty-student interactions. Four students participated in a demographic survey and follow-up interviews, sharing their experiences with calculus learning. Using thematic coding guided by validation theory, the data revealed instructors’ academic practices that either validated or invalidated students’ participation in calculus classes. These practices include cultivating in-class conceptual support, promoting collaborative learning spaces, demonstrating out-of-class academic availability, acknowledging and integrating diverse student experiences, and encouraging metacognitive …

Chinese Athletes’ And Parents’ Motivations For U.S. Collegiate Sports Participation, Wenting Sun, Russell D. Ravert, Simran Kaur Sethi

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

To gain an understanding of international student recruitment and retention in collegiate athletics, this study examines the motivations and decision-making processes of Chinese high school athletes and their parents in pursuing U.S. collegiate sport opportunities. Using the push–pull framework and an ecological perspective, it explores how individual aspirations, family priorities, institutional resources, and national policies shape transnational mobility. Semistructured focus group discussions with 10 athletes and eight parents revealed six key motivational themes and highlighted the influence of recent collegiate sport-related policy changes in China. The findings suggest that while both groups value U.S. sport pathways, athletes and parents may …

Predicting Student Academic Performance Using Behavioural And Parental Engagement Data From Learning Management Systems, Saeed Alfalasi

Theses

This paper explores how behavioral, academic, and parental engagement data provided within the xAPI-Edu-Data dataset can be used to predict the academic performance of students when training on machine learning models with supervised learning. Due to the developing demands of the data-driven initial selection of the learners under risk, the study will create a valid and explainable predictive model that can consider the most significant factors of student success in Learning Management System (LMS). The research is based on behavioral engagement and self-regulation learning theories; the observations included in the analysis of student interaction, i.e. resource usage, classroom engagement and …

The Ideological Work Of Penal Reform: How Reformers Justify Penal-Welfare Hybridization, John Halushka, Brandon Miller

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This article uses the Santa Clara County Reentry Resource Center (RRC) as a case study to explore the cultural content of penal reform. Specifically, we explore the discourses that officials use to publicly justify projects of penal-welfare hybridization, or the linking of state systems of punishment and welfare to manage criminalized populations. Our qualitative analysis draws on a dataset consisting of county planning documents, budgets, videos, press releases, and newsletters published online between 2011 and 2023. By examining these materials over time, we are able to chart patterns of consistency and variation in how officials justify hybridization. We find that …

Availability And Utilization Of School Library Resources And Its Impacts On The Academic Excellence Of Secondary School Students In Edo State., Iyobosa Ewere Mrs., Ben Asuquo, Glory Mbah Mrs.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examines availability, and utilization of school library resources and its impacts on the academic excellence in secondary school libraries in Edo state. The descriptive survey research was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 2162 senior secondary school students from Idia Girls’ College, Boiling Point Academy and UNIBEN Demonstration Secondary School. The sampling techniques used for the study was Random Sampling Technique, a total of 216 respondents was used as the sample size representing 10% of the total population. A well structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to respondents .A total of 216 copies of …

Creating Community Through Walking The Talk For Dementia, Kate Irving, Fernando Aguzzoli Peres, Walter D. Dawson, Jonathan Adrián Zegarra-Valdivia, Lingani Mbakile-Mahlanza, Iracema Leroi, Sherril B. Gelmon

Institute on Aging Publications

Objectives

Creating community is not only therapeutic—it has been described as essential. This study explores a process of community-building among people with lived and professional experience in the dementia field, during Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD), a week-long, immersive event on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Absence of community can lead to fragmented support for both people living with dementia and their care partners and for those working in the field. Achieving a sense of community, however, can be complex.

Methods

A qualitative evaluation was conducted with 79 participants from 27 countries, incorporating pre-, during and post-event reflections. …

The Statewide Standard, 2026, Illinois State University, College Of Education

The Statewide Standard

Annual newsletter of the Illinois State University College of Education

Empowering Students To Engage With Climate Change Action: A Project-Based Module For Artificial Intelligence Literacy And Sustainability Thinking, Gabriel Granco, Yu Chen, Heather Macias, Yunfei Hou, Frank A. Gomez

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

There is a growing need to prepare students to address complex environmental challenges, particularly climate change and the expanding role of artificial intelligence (AI). This article examines the adaptation of the Artificial Intelligence for Social Good (AI4SG) Ideation module, a pitch- and project-based teaching framework designed to integrate AI literacy and sustainability education. Implemented in an upper division climate change course, the module combines project-based learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and geographic thinking to guide students in developing community-oriented AI proposals aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students were encouraged to approach their communities not through deficit lenses, …

Civil Rights Microviolations, Michael Kagan, Alissa Cooley Yonesawa

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Memoir: The Brain, Neuroethics, And Bioethics, Leslie C. Griffin

Scholarly Works

This Essay examines how developments in neuroscience (or brain science) affect our views of law, medicine, ethics, and religion. Part I shows how lack of clarity about brain death can lead to premature organ donation. Part II argues that health care too often provides inadequate brain care and incomplete rehabilitation. Part III explains why recovery may be possible for those braininjured patients who are told it is not. Part IV demonstrates how the fear of a brain-injured patient oddly affects my perspective on Tort and Criminal Law, which are being influenced by neuroscientific advances. Part V examines the new developments …

From Passive To Powerful: Creating Engaging Resident-As-Teacher Modules, Anna E Rueda, Stephanie V Sherman, Sherita J Love, Glenn C Bridges, Wesley A Mayer, Mark J Harbott, Teri L Turner, Bani M Ratan

Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: We aimed to design, implement, and evaluate three novel institutional resident-as-teacher (RAT) e-modules for postgraduate year (PGY) 1, 2, and 3 and compare them to previously utilized online trainings.

Methods: We utilized PICRAT, a model examining both students' relationship with technology (passive, interactive, creative) and instructors' use of technology (replaces, amplifies, or transforms) to create interactive experiences that amplified teaching methodologies. We compared evaluations of the previous and new trainings with an unpaired t test. New modules were assessed with one-way analysis of variance for specialty-based acceptability and content analysis of two open-ended questions.

Results: Response rates averaged 93.2% …

Can I Get A Witness? The Ethical Dimensions Of Family Presence In Patient Suffering, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Trevor M Bibler, Holland Kaplan, Adam Omelianchuk, Joanna Smolenski

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

For patients who are suffering, the bedside presence of a family member can provide comfort, and many people hold that there is moral value in being present with a conscious, suffering patient. Yet what is the moral significance of the absence of family members when a patient is minimally conscious or unconscious and not aware of their absence? Clinicians are often troubled when family members and surrogate decision-makers who are able to spend a significant amount of time at an unconscious, seriously ill patient's bedside do not do so. Clinicians feel frustrated that they must bear the burden of witnessing …

Anything But Endo: Diagnostic Buck-Passing In Endometriosis Diagnosis, Rita Dexter, Megan Kitts, Heather Welty, Melanie Jeske

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

People living with endometriosis, a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows elsewhere in the body, often experience prolonged diagnostic journeys because of symptom variability, normalisation of period pain and other symptoms, and lack of awareness of the condition. In this article, we analyse the endometriosis diagnostic journey through the lens of epistemic injustice. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 52 people living with endometriosis in the United States, we introduce the concept of diagnostic buck-passing to characterise the phenomenon wherein individuals who seek treatment for their symptoms end up stuck in a cycle of seeing …

Psychometric Properties Of A Novel Affective Bias Task And Its Application In Clinical And Nonclinical Populations, Prathik Kalva, Kourtney Kanja, Brian A Metzger, Xiaoxu Fan, Brian Cui, Bailey Pascuzzi, John Magnotti, Madaline Mocchi, Raissa Mathura, Kelly R Bijanki

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

To mitigate limitations in self-reported mood assessments, we introduce a novel affective bias task (ABT). The task quantifies instantaneous emotional state by leveraging the phenomenon of affective bias, in which people interpret external emotional stimuli in a manner consistent with their current emotional state. This study establishes task stability in measuring and tracking depressive symptoms in clinical and non-clinical populations. Initial assessment in a large non-clinical sample established normative ratings. Depressive symptoms were tracked relative to task performance in a non-clinical sample, as well as in a clinical cohort undergoing surgical evaluation for severe epilepsy. In both cohorts, a stronger …

Prevalence Of Clinically Relevant Nightmares And Their Differences By Sex And Diagnosis In Psychiatric Inpatients, Katrina A Rufino, Michelle A Patriquin, Courtney B Worley, Michael R Nadorff

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Nightmares have been shown to be associated with numerous forms of psychopathology, but the vast majority of this research has taken place in the general population and very little is known about their relation with psychopathology in those requiring inpatient hospitalization. In a sample of 1170 voluntarily admitted psychiatric inpatients, this study explores the frequency of reported nightmares in psychiatric inpatients with the aim of examining the prevalence of psychiatric diagnosis in those with and without clinically relevant nightmares. Participants completed the Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index (DDNSI) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID-5) at admission. …

Tau In Alzheimer’S Disease: Shaping The Future Patient Journey, Catherine J Mummery, Christopher Chen Li-Hsian, Cristian A Lasagna-Reeves, Rik Ossenkoppele, Christopher C Rowe, Douglas W Scharre, Huali Wang, Simon Kyaga, Jeffrey L Cummings

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Alzheimer's disease is a complex and multifactorial disease characterized by two key pathological hallmarks: amyloid-beta plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles. Recent progress has led to the development and approval of disease-targeted therapies for Alzheimer's disease in the form of anti-amyloid-beta monoclonal antibodies. However, findings suggest that amelioration of multiple pathological drivers may be required to maximize clinical effect. An increasing body of evidence suggests that tau is a critical player in Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology, contributing significantly to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. There are now several tau-targeting drugs in clinical development. In this review, we build on research and advancements in …

Integrating A Project-Based Learning Methodology Into A Department-Wide Quality Improvement Curriculum: A Nine-Year Experience In Pediatric Subspecialty Training, Venessa Lynn Pinto, Danny Castro, Constance M Wiemann, Liza Bonin, Cagri Yildirim-Toruner, Nicholas A Ettinger, Sharada Hiranya Gowda, Joyee Vachani, Mehmet Fatih Okcu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Quality improvement (QI) training of subspecialty fellows is an essential component of graduate medical education, yet often delivered in silos within departments through a variety of instructional methodologies.

Objective: We applied project-based learning (PjBL) as a guiding methodology for a QI curriculum for pediatric subspecialty fellows and describe our curriculum development, instructional design, and its implementation.

Methods: We integrated the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Model for Improvement with the 6 key features of PjBL: a driving question, defined learning goals, active participation in educational tasks, collaboration among learners, scaffolding with learning technology, and production of tangible artifacts. The …

The Lived Experience Of Pediatric Pain Management: Insights From Families And Providers, Samrithaa Balakrishnan, Annesha Dey, Aarti Bavare, Paul Checchia, Katherine Shwetz, Natasha Afonso

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Pain represents a subjective experience that manifests with emotional and physical discomfort. In pediatric care, pain management is especially complex due to communicative limitations, which creates a unique point of entry for parents to contribute to their child's treatment process. In this study, we explored whether families' perceptions of their child's pain and preferences for treatment were aligned with healthcare providers' pain management decisions. Using narrative-informed techniques in interviews with families and healthcare providers in pediatric care settings, we analyzed areas of concordance and discordance in pain assessment and treatment priorities. Our findings show that trust is built over time …

Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Foundations In Physics And Image Acquisition: An Innovative Hands-On Active Learning Workshop, Cherie Tator, Saul Flores, Alan Riley, Kiyetta Alade

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: We developed an innovative, active learning workshop to introduce foundations of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) physics and instrumentation. The workshop design aimed to reduce cognitive load and encourage learner-centered engagement through hands-on exploration that reinforces key principles and connects theory to practice.

Methods: First-year medical students participated in small-group, student-driven exercises to explore POCUS machine controls, transducers, and image acquisition skills. Each group was supported by a faculty member to guide activities and ensure accuracy. Students scanned pickles, hard-boiled eggs, and olives with pits; these items were selected for their low cost, sonographic characteristics, and recognizability. Later in the semester, …

Predictors Of Inpatient Rn Turnover In Rural And Urban Vha Hospitals, Katherine G Bay, Chase S Eck, Melissa K Knox, Paras Mehta, Laura A Petersen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: The rising demand for health care delivery and an aging workforce is of particular concern in rural areas, where health care access depends upon an adequate nursing workforce. To address this shortage and optimize care, it is essential to measure when registered nurses (RN) leave inpatient direct care positions (ie, inpatient RN turnover) and identify modifiable factors correlated with RN turnover.

Objectives: Apply a novel method for characterizing inpatient RN turnover to understand factors associated with variation in RNs leaving inpatient positions at rural and urban Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals.

Project design: Retrospective cohort study.

Subjects: Direct care …

Relationship Between Number Of Assigned Patients And Rn Time To Administer Medications During The Peak-Time Medication Pass, Chase S Eck, Melissa K Knox, Paras D Mehta, Christine Yang, Laura A Petersen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Inpatient nurse staffing affects patient outcomes. Less is known about the mechanism of this relationship and how lower overall staffing in a unit affects individual RN activities at the bedside.

Objectives: Estimate the relationship between the number of patients assigned to an RN and time spent on medication administration at the peak-time medication pass (PTM), a common nursing task.

Research design: Estimate the association using multivariable linear regression to adjust for patient severity and staff and unit fixed effects.

Subjects: All 9272 RNs administering medications during the PTM on 243 inpatient units in 113 VHA hospitals in 2019.

Measures: …

Phase I Study Of Niraparib With Radiotherapy For Treatment Of Metastatic And Locally Advanced Invasive Carcinoma Of The Cervix (Nivix), Piyush Pathak, Eunji Jo, Susan Hilsenbeck, Matthew L Anderson, Alfredo Echeverria, Shelly Sharma, Jan Sunde, Tracilyn Hall, Anthony Costales, Claire Hoppenot, Michelle Ludwig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: This Phase I study evaluated the safety and tolerability of concurrent niraparib, an oral poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1/2 inhibitor, with definitive radiotherapy in women with locally advanced or platinum-sensitive metastatic cervical cancer. Dose escalation followed a Bayesian Optimal Interval (BOIN) design with a target dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) rate of 30%.

Methods: Women ≥18 years with FIGO stage IIIC2 (bulky nodes >1 cm) or stage IV cervical cancer demonstrating response to platinum-based induction chemotherapy were eligible. Niraparib 100 mg was administered daily concurrent with pelvic radiotherapy (45-57.5 Gy via IMRT with nodal boosts) and brachytherapy, continuing 28 days post-radiation. Per …

Decreasing Risk Factors For Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Using Nurse-Led Rounds And A Novel Icu Liberation Bundle, Jennifer Kepler, Kenneth Moller

Publications 2026-present

Background: Critically ill patients are more likely to survive today than at any other time in history. As more patients recover from critical illnesses, however, many experience health impairments known as post-intensive care syndrome. The Society of Critical Care Medicine developed the ICU Liberation Bundle to decrease the risk of post-intensive care syndrome.

Problem: An audit of 100 patient charts identified complete ICU Liberation Bundle documentation in only 20% of eligible patient days, highlighting the need for increased consistency in bundle implementation. Since the ICU Liberation Bundle addresses modifiable post-intensive care syndrome risk factors, lack of consistency implementing bundle interventions …