Digital Commons Network^™

Healthcare Practitioners’ Views Of Social Media As An Educational Resource, Adam G. Pizzuti, Karan H. Patel, Erin K. Mccreary, Emily Heil, Christopher M. Bland, Eric Chinaeke, Bryan L. Love, P Brandon Bookstaver

Faculty Publications

Social media is increasingly utilized as a resource in healthcare. We sought to identify perceptions of using social media as an educational tool among healthcare practitioners. An electronic survey was distributed to healthcare administrators, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians, and physician assistants f hospital systems and affiliated health science schools in Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Survey questions evaluated respondents' use and views of social media for educational purposes and workplace accessibility using a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Nurses (75%), pharmacists (11%), and administrators (7%) were the most frequent respondents. Facebook® (27%), Pinterest® …

The Great Turning: A Call For Systems-Thinkers, Gabriella M. Demarce

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

David Orr, in an article on ecological intelligence reminds us that the modern world was shaped by people who did not understand that our social and economic systems could not coexist with the rest of the biological or natural systems on Earth (Orr, 1994). My research is rooted in Orr’s argument and discovering ways to shift this degrading paradigm. With my belief in the power of education in empowering youth and my background in environmental and climate change studies, I see a future in great need of people who holistically understand the functions of all types of systems and can …

Faculty As Global Learners: Off-Campus Study At Liberal Arts Colleges, J. Gillespie, Lisa Jasinski, D. Gross

Faculty Authored and Edited Books & CDs

This co-authored collection offers valuable insights about the impact of leading off-campus study on faculty leaders’ teaching, research, service, and overall well-being. Recognizing that faculty leaders are themselves global learners, the book addresses ways that liberal arts colleges can more effectively achieve their strategic goals for students' global learning by intentionally anticipating and supporting the needs of faculty leaders, as they grow and change. Faculty as Global Learners offers key findings and recommendations to stimulate conversations among administrators, faculty, and staff about concrete actions they can explore and steps they can take on their campuses to both support faculty leaders …

“Distance Learning” In The Ninth Century?: Micro-Cluster Analysis Of The Epistolary Network Of Alcuin After 796, William James Mattingly

Theses and Dissertations--History

Scholars of eighth- and ninth-century education have assumed that intellectuals did not write works of Scriptural interpretation until that intellectual had a firm foundation in the seven liberal arts.This ensured that anyone who embarked on work of Scriptural interpretation would have the required knowledge and methods to read and interpret Scripture correctly. The potential for theological error and the transmission of those errors was too great unless the interpreter had the requisite training. This dissertation employs computistical methods, specifically the techniques of social network mapping and cluster analysis, to study closely the correspondence of Alcuin, a late-eighth- and early-ninth-century scholar …

Why Does The Importance Of Education For Health Differ Across The United States?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jennifer Karas Montez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement …

Connections: Social Media And Parents Raising Children With Profound Multiple Disabilities, Amy Ann Terra

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Parenting plays an important role in many adult lives. Parenting a child with profound multiple disabilities results in a distinct parenting experience. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the role of social media in the lives of parents raising children with profound multiple disabilities. Five parents raising children with profound multiple disabilities were interviewed, and resulting themes were identified.

Consistent with previous research, parents described the initial adaptation to their child’s disability-related needs as the most challenging period of their parenting to date. Adaptation was followed by an acclimation to a new normal of their parenting experience. Parents described moving from …

Using Social Media As A Platform For Increasing Knowledge Of Lung Cancer Screening In High-Risk Patients, Aimee Strong, Michelle Renaud

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background: Uptake in lung cancer screening for high-risk patients remains low. Eligible patients may not know that this preventive service is available and covered by insurance.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore using social media to educate patients about lung cancer screening and assess motivation to discuss lung cancer screening with health-care providers after viewing the educational program. Methods: Subjects ages 55 to 77 who were current smokers or former smokers who quit in the past 15 years with a more than 30-pack-year smoking history were recruited via a Facebook advertisement. Subjects completed a demographic survey and …

Special Education Disparities Are Social Determinants Of Health: A Role For Medical-Legal Partnerships, Karen Bonuck, Leah Hill

Faculty Scholarship

Problem: Education is a key social determinant of health. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) purportedly affords children the right to a free and appropriate education. Yet, racial, ethnic, and economic disparities exist regarding appropriate identification and classification of children with needs for special education, and access to services.

Purpose: This article first highlights gaps and disparities in special educational services, and their structural linkage to poverty. The second section describe the first years of a medical–legal collaboration between a University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Fordham University, focused on special education.

Key Points: The …

Honors Research Project: A Textbook Analysis, Nathan Barto

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper attempts to look at the use of The Human Odyssey: Volume Three not only as a potential educator, but as a historian as well. This paper examines the book for inaccuracies, American and European bias, as well as potential usability for educators

Barriers To Digital Equity: A Case Study Of King County, Supanee Mclean, Victoria Frazier, Tony Vo

Educational and Organizational Learning and Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore how schools educate students in the use of digital technology. Using a concurrent mixed methods case study approach, the researchers identified potential barriers for schools in educating students in the use of digital technology. Additionally, this study identified factors that provide effective use of technology in schools, which can educate students with the necessary skills to serve their community and society in the future. Researchers sampled school leaders and district administrators of all school districts within King County. Data was collected from a document review and online survey questions to conduct a …

They Decided To Graduate: A Study Of Collegiate African American Men’S Transformational Experiences In College And Beyond, Kathy Marie Freeman

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This is a study of African American men alumni who were members of a Black Male Initiative (BMI) organization at a predominantly white institution (PWI) in the Midwest. The research explores the motivation and transformational experiences of BMI alumni and how their participation in the organization provided the support and motivation they needed to persist and graduate. Self-determination theory and transformational learning theory formed the theoretical frameworks that inform this study. This qualitative study obtained data from 10 African American men by using a 60-90 minute in-depth interview structure with 10 open-ended questions. This dissertation builds on the growing literature …

Early Childhood Quality Of Education And Late-Life Cognitive Function In A Population-Based Sample From Puerto Rico, Cheyanne Celine Barba

All ETDs from UAB

In general, greater years of education is associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment in older adulthood, but the strength of this association has been found to differ by study population. Additionally, quality of education is understudied, despite evidence that quality of education and, in turn, literacy, may be additional indicators of cognitive reserve. This thesis examined years of education, literacy, and childhood quality of education indicators in relation to late-life cognitive outcomes in an older Puerto Rican population. We hypothesized that greater years of education, literacy, and quality of childhood education would be positively associated with each other, as …

Unpacking "Giftedness": Research And Strategies For Promoting Racial And Socioeconomic Equity, David B. Naff, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Amy Jefferson, Michael Schad, Morgan Saxby, Kathryn Haines, Zoey Lu

MERC Publications

Giftedness as a construct continues to be contested in academia, in the classroom and around kitchen tables. It means different things to different communities and, as a result, acquiring the "gifted" label looks different around the country. Once labeled, student giftedness produces different responses depending on state and district guidelines. A constant among the patchwork of defining, identifying and responding to student giftedness, though, is a serious racial and economic disparity in who is considered gifted and who is not. This report provides key takeaways from research literature on gifted and talented (GT) programs. It is organized according to five …

The Experience Of The Local Control Accountability Plan, Angela Carter Pascual

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In 2013 the California Legislation passed a new K-12 School accountability mandate.

The Local Control Accountability Plan was sought to increase the educational equity for targeted student groups in addition to allowing school districts to mine a diverse set of local school data to develop goals in the 8 priority areas that speak to the needs of their local students. A requirement of the LCAP was that school districts include a diverse set of stakeholders to work in a collaborative manner to develop, critique, and refine local goals. Stakeholder groups are required to consist of district-level administrators, teachers, staff, students, …

Construction Of Classroom Community In A Full-Inclusion District: Comparative Case Studies With Elementary School Teachers, Tri Nguyen

Dissertations

This research documented how elementary school teachers build, structure, and maintain classroom community in a full-inclusion district. Specifically, this study applied Invitational Theory to investigate the relationship between a full-inclusion school model and the construction of classroom community. The study focused on the teachers’ behaviors to structure and maintain an environment of inclusion, care, and belonging. This qualitative comparative case study documented teachers’ behaviors over a series of 10 weeks at the start of the school year. Documentation evidence of classroom community- building were collected in two formats: classroom observations and teacher interviews. By the end of the observational period, …

Fighting Food Insecurity For Nyc Children And Youth: Urban Agriculture And Food Justice, Devin C. O'Mara

Student Theses 2015-Present

The positive benefits of urban agriculture go beyond just providing fresh and healthy food to metropolitan areas. As the practice of urban farming has become increasingly more popular over the last decade or so, it has proven to develop community relations and aide with metropolitan and global issues such as poverty. Children and teens especially benefit from urban agriculture, specifically those that comes from underprivileged homes that may not have the resources to obtain fresh food every day. A shocking number of kids can go hungry every day due to lack of available food. Many children that live in metropolitan …

Exemplary Human Resources Administrators Leading Through Storytelling, Colleen Slattery

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe how exemplary human resources administrators use storytelling to lead organizations using Denning’s (2011) model. In addition, it was the purpose to understand how they use storytelling to create transformational change. Denning’s The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling highlights eight storytelling narrative patterns: to ignite action and implement new ideas, build trust, build your organizations’ brand, transmit organizational values, foster collaboration, share knowledge, neutralize rumor, and create and share vision.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study described the lived experiences of exemplary human resources administrators in Northern California. The researcher was …

Developing Sociolinguistic Awareness Through A Digital Lexicon Project In A Fifth Grade Classroom In Rural Alaska, Julia F. Boynton

Linguistics

This teacher action research examines how teachers can build student awareness of language variations in order to help students make meaning during the learning process thus bridging the gap between home discourse and school discourse. In this study students built a digital lexicon using a class generated list of Village English terms that are present in Aniak, Alaska. The purpose of this study was to build students' sociolinguistic awareness through explicit instruction and the Aniak Digital Lexicon project. The findings showed that providing students with explicit instruction helped develop students during their meaning making process and students were able to …

Conceptualizing The Promise Of Life Skills Education For Adolescent Girls In The Global South: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Olivia Casey

Master's Theses

In recent years, international development organizations have increasingly championed life skills education as a crucial tool for empowering girls in the global South. However, while life skills education continues to gain momentum and popularity within the international development landscape, the heterogeneity of life skills interventions remains significant. In this study, I aimed to uncover how key global actors differently conceptualize life skills and the promises they are understood to hold for adolescent girls in the global South at the current moment. Utilizing the methodology of critical discourse analysis, I examined key documents on girls’ life skills education published by central …

Strategies Exemplary Unified School District Superintendents Use To Work With The Political Styles Of School Board Members, Bradley Tooker

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to identify the political styles of superintendents and school board members as perceived by unified school district superintendents. In addition, it was the purpose to identify and explain the political strategies unified school district superintendents use to work with the different political styles of school board members.

Methodology: This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study analyzed quantitative surveys to identify the political styles of superintendents and school board members and qualitative interviews to identify political strategies using a political styles framework.

Findings: The major strategies exemplary unified district superintendents used to work …

Mosquito-Borne Illnesses And Their Disproportionate Impact On Variant Infrastructures: A Gis Map Comparison Of Three Regions., Jenna N. Price

Honors Theses

Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on earth and they spread diseases through their bites. Chikungunya, Dengue, Malaria, Yellow Fever, West Nile Virus, and Zika are six diseases of concern that are transmitted by mosquitoes. This honors thesis will attempt to provide relevant information and a critical analysis of current literature. Disease descriptions of the aforementioned illnesses and country evaluations for Niger, South Sudan, and the United States of America are included for comparison and evaluation. A Geographic Information System was used to create several maps comparing the three regions of the earth specified. The models are used to show country …

Connect 240 - December 2019

Connect

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Employment Outcomes Of The Clarksdale Hope Vi Program, Ramona Stone

Public Health Sciences Faculty Publications

The HOPE VI initiative aimed to reshape neighborhoods in terms of their resident socioeconomic characteristics, business activity, levels of community collaboration, and economic growth. The goal of this research was to examine the relationship between education and employment while controlling for the type of housing received at relocation. This paper is part of a larger quasi-experimental research evaluation. Data sources included administrative records, baseline and follow-up surveys. The survey data was collected from the main adult in the family during face-to-face interviews two years apart. The questionnaire collected information about residents’ demographics, socioeconomic, health, housing, and satisfaction with the support …

Globalizing Sustainable Education: Environmental Literacy Connecting Cultural Literacy, Sofia Maciel

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This Capstone project aims to increase the integration of both a sustainable and globalized education. This is an important issue for students and teachers worldwide because without a more globalized and environmentally aware educational focus in schools, there will be little to no improvement in the suffering and changing climate of the planet. It is argued that after decades of neglect, nations are finally becoming aware that the natural health of the earth is in a delicate state. We are all stakeholders facing the risk of environmental dangers, but for this project the focus is on teachers and students. These …

Assessing The Impact Of 3d Printed Terrain On Teaching Topography In Introductory Earth Science Labs, Jay Alan Cockrell

Masters Theses

Learning to effectively read topographic maps is challenging for students, as these maps contain 3D representations of terrain displayed on a 2D surface map. This project assessed student learning when 3D terrain printed from a portion of the laboratory quadrangle map currently in use was introduced into an earth science course for non-science majors. Using a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent groups across two semesters, performance on the Modified Topographic Map Assessment (MTMA) administered as a pre- and posttest was used to compare learning outcomes between the traditional lab and the 3D print lab intervention. Students in the traditional (n = …

Online Ultrasound Programs: Program Directors’ Perspective, Ashley Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on opinions of diagnostic medical sonography program directors concerning online education within an allied health field that is clinically based. Although the study is centered around sonography, the findings can be applied to many online programs with clinical aspects. There was limited information concerning online education within a clinically based healthcare field, therefore the literature review focused on distance or online education in general. The participating program directors used online/distance learning terms interchangeably. The objective of this study was to identify factors that attributed to or hindered the progress of an online program in diagnostic medical sonography. …

What Do College Students Have To Learn From The Amish?, Caroline Brock

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This paper presents the results of a survey of college courses taught on the Amish. It is based on a series of interviews with instructors at other institutions of higher learning whose courses focus on the Amish, an examination of their syllabi, and analysis of student writing from the course I teach at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The survey was designed to ascertain the goals of professors who teach a class about the Amish and how they best achieve their course objectives. Secondly, the survey explored what attracts college students to a course about the Amish, and what prior knowledge, …

Red States, Blue States, And Media Literacy: Political Context And Media Literacy, Kristal Curry, Todd S. Cherner

Democracy & Education

This paper examines the ways that political contexts affect the perceptions and practices of social studies preservice teachers (SSPSTs) being prepared in a conservative “Red State” compared to those being prepared in a liberal “Blue State.” The researchers analyzed how controversial the SSPSTs in each context considered the practice of teaching media literacy by exploring their beliefs about media literacy using a survey, analyzing practices related to media literacy through a targeted lesson plan assignment, and facilitating focus groups to member check emerging themes. Survey data indicated that both groups believed teaching media literacy skills was essential, but the assignment …

Multi-Tiered System Of Support In California Rural School Settings, John P. Schilling

Dissertations

Rural schools face a different set of challenges that most urban school do not,

such as geographical proximity to qualified staffing, educational and student resources, budgets based upon a smaller student population, access technology and isolation. The purpose of the research was to examine how rural schools and rural school leaders are confronting the challenge of implementing MTSS with limited resources. The researcher used the lens of implementation science as a methodological framework for examining the implementation of MTSS. The researcher used a mixed method design to collect survey data from thirty-eight rural school educators and to collect data from …

Disrupting Dichotomous Traps And Rethinking Problem Formation For Rural Education, Amy Price Azano, Catharine Biddle

The Rural Educator

This article highlights various paradoxes and false dichotomies in rural education research. Using Paulo Freire's theories of oppression and critical awareness, the article delineates a theoretical framework designed to explore a reframing of rural education. We propose that this reframing would serve as rural praxis for school leaders and teachers, and we make use of these theories to discuss school leader and teacher preparation programs. This reframing for the field of rural education research proposes a way through contradictions and dispels deficit narratives underlying conceptions of rurality and theoretical constructs in rural education research.