Digital Commons Network^™

Cleft Lip And Palate: An Educational Guide For Families, Ciara Woods

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Cleft lip and palate are craniofacial anomalies affecting more than 200,000 infants in teh United States per year. Although this condition is quite common, parents are often confused and uninformed when they discover their newborn has a cleft lip and/or palate. In time, parents can learn of the surgical repairs and therapies, but what about the management, treatment, effects on education, risk factors, genetics, and any other lasting effects on the newborn? Many parents often wonder if their baby can be fed properly, if the child will have trouble learning to talk, or how to tell relatives and friends about …

Creating Bridges Between Health Care Professionals: Interprofessional Collaboration Between Respiratory Therapy And Speech-Language Pathology And Its Importance For Patient Outcomes, Nafiah Khan

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

In a changing health care industry, it is imperative that different healthcare professionals collaborate to address the state of the patient. Respiratory therapists (RTs) and speech-language pathologists {SLPs) frequently work with the same general patient population in the healthcare setting; however, while RTs typically provide emergency interventions, SLPs work with the patient in the rehabilitative domain. Each profession has a unique understanding of the patient and may encounter an overlap in responsibilities for performing a particular task, including management of tracheostomy tubes and prevention of aspiration pneumonias. This study investigated SLPs' and RTs' perspectives on their interprofessional collaboration. The findings …

Collaboration Across The Curriculum: Urban Planning & Public Health, Lula Geyre

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The way our communities are designed impacts our health. and there is an increasing need for collaboration between urban planners and public health professionals. Yet, it is not clear to what extent universities are preparing public health and planning students to work together. Our research will shed light on this important topic by evaluating the course requirements for both of these disciplines in accredited institutions and look at how they are addressing interprofessional issues such as land development, transportation policies, air/water quality, and community growth issues. The current study explores the availability of interdisciplinary courses in accredited undergraduate and graduate …

Leading Effective Change In Schools Of The 21st Century: The Attributes, Behaviors, And Practices Of Effective School Principals, Jennifer Lynne Ferrari

Dissertations

In a period of tremendous change, as the educational landscape shifts to ensure our students are well prepared for new and unknown futures, the role of school principal is more essential than ever. The principal, as primary driver of change, sits at the helm of school improvement. He/she is charged with leading the complex orchestration of school efforts to develop and nurture the next generation of thinkers, problem-solvers, and innovators.

This study explored the attributes, behavior, and practices of effective K-12 principals through a mixed method design. Nine principals from the suburbs of Chicago participated in this study. Using 5Essential …

An Analysis Of Teacher Perceptions Of The Current Evaluation Systems In The State Of Indiana: Understanding Which Components Are Most Beneficial In Building Teacher Capacity And Increasing Student Academic Growth, Steven Bruce Bair

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine what Indiana K-12 public school classroom teachers believe are the critical components of new evaluation systems in increasing their self-instructional capacity, which research (e.g., Hattie, 2003) indicated should lead to increased student achievement in their classrooms. Independent variables for this study included the respondents grade-level teaching assignment and years teaching experience. The dependent variables in this study included the respondents composite scores from four areas—collaborative feedback, pedagogy, embedded professional development, and performance-based compensation. There were five statistically significant findings from the study. First, the survey data indicated that Indiana public school …

Private Sector Perception Of Northeast Indiana Teacher Salary Levels, Bradley Donald Yates

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine public Indiana K-12 teacher salary levels through a quantitative analysis of private sector opinions. Research questions framing the study included significance between private sector perceptions and actual annual earnings of Indiana K-12 teachers. Private individuals throughout the state of Indiana were surveyed to determine perceived and suggested salary levels based on varying years of experience and Education levels. A literature review was conducted to research funding available to, compensation systems for, working conditions for, socioeconomic status of, and perceptions of public school teachers. The design methodology of the study involved a four-section …

An Exploration Of The Instructional Strategies And Personality Traits Utilized By Highly Effective And Successful Teachers, Brent Kinsey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the instructional methods and personality traits of highly effective and successful teachers. Three research questions guided this study: How do highly effective teachers recognized as Teacher of the Year candidates define highly effective teaching? What are the instructional methods used by highly effective teachers? And what are the personality traits exhibited by highly effective teachers? Five highly successful teachers, chosen by their recognition as teachers who were candidates for the Indiana Teacher of the Year award, were selected for this study. Once the selection of the five candidates was completed …

How Does Grant Funding Impact A Campus's Prevention And Response Programming And Education Compared To A Campus Without Grant Funding? An Exploratory Case Study, Aimee Janssen-Robinson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With regard to sexual violence prevention and response programming and Education, what are the differences between a campus receiving U.S. Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women Campus Grant funding and a campus that is not receiving funding? This exploratory case study provides insight about sexual violence prevention Education at higher Education institutions through document review and in-depth interviews with key personnel at two institutions. The findings provide some insights that can deliver some guidance and direction for those higher Education institutions seeking to improve their current sexual violence prevention and response Education and programming. The five themes—collaboration, communication, …

School Finance In Indiana: Predicting Referendum Success In K-12 Public School Districts, Brandon Heath Penrod

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the outcome of two different types of referendums, operating fund and construction, could be more accurately predicted by using certain predictor variables. Furthermore, if the outcome could be more accurately predicted, which predictor variables were statistically significant in that prediction, thus allowing school district leaders to more precisely target specific variables. The two research questions studied were the same question applied separately to an operating fund referendum and a construction referendum, and centered on the following variables and their ability to predict the outcome of each referendum: Average daily membership, …

The Phd In Studio Arts: An Examination Of The Parameters Of Practice-Led Research In The United Kingdom, Sujata Gopalan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Doctorate of Philosophy in Visual Arts has been a subject of debate in the United States, where the currently accepted terminal degree in visual and fine arts is the Master of Fine Arts. In the United Kingdom, as in much of Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia the PhD in visual arts has been well developed and accepted. In a global economy, where students in the higher Education marketplace will have to compete on an international level, it may be inevitable that the higher Education system in the United States ultimately create and adopt a PhD in visual …

University Students’Willingness To Assist Fellow Students Who Experience Alcohol-Related Facial Flushing To Reduce Their Drinking, Lanyan Ding, Lok-Wa Yuen, Ian M. Newman, Duane F. Shell

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study explored bystanders’ willingness to help a friend who flushes when drinking to reduce his/her drinking. Alcohol-related facial flushing is an indicator of an inherited variant enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), that impairs alcohol metabolism and increases drinkers’ lifetime risk of certain aerodigestive cancers. Individuals who flush should reduce their alcohol exposure, but they may continue to drink if social pressures and rules of etiquette make not drinking socially risky. The analysis used data from 2912 undergraduate students from 13 universities in southwestern, central and northeastern China from a survey asking how they respond to someone’s flushing in various scenarios. …

Emotional Intelligence And Transformational Leadership Of K-12 Principals, Christopher A. Kates

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether or not a K-12 principals self-reported emotional intelligence predicted associated certificated teachers perceptions of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership has been validated across a multitude of settings and contexts, including schools (Bass & Avolio, 1994). However, the scientific integrity of emotional intelligence is debated by psychologists (Van Rooy & Viswesvaran, 2004). The study sought to discover whether or not emotional intelligence was an antecedent of transformational leadership. The data analysis involved descriptive data regarding the emotional intelligence levels of K-12 principals in Indiana and teachers perceptions of their principals transformational leadership. …

Prinicpals' Knowledge Of Special Education Implementation, Carol Wetherell

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine principals knowledge of special Education policy under the guidelines set forth in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) and the method by which knowledge of policy and practice was learned. Specific focus areas included the six pillars of IDEA: (a) free, appropriate public Education, (b) individual Education program, (c) least restrictive environment, (d) nondiscriminatory identification and evaluation, (e) procedural safeguards, and (f) parent participation and shared decision making. Principals in Indiana were surveyed over their implementation knowledge of the six pillars. The research design involved a two-part survey …

Postprofessional Athletic Training Students' Perceptions Concerning The Health Care Competencies, Cailee E. Welch Bacon, Bonnie L. Van Lunen, Dorice A. Hankemeier

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: Over a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine indicated that all health care professionals should be educated in several health care competency areas (quality improvement, health care informatics, interprofessional education and collaborative practice, evidence-based practice, and patient-centered care). Despite this initiative, athletic training has only recently incorporated these competencies throughout education.

Objective: To assess postprofessional athletic training students' perceived abilities and importance regarding 6 core competencies.

Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Self-reported paper survey. Patients or Other

Participants: A total of 221 from a convenience sample of 258 postprofessional athletic training students (85.7%) completed the survey (82 males, 138 females; age …

The Systemic Multigenerational Implications Of Education: Second-Generation Haitian- American College Graduates’ Perspectives, Daphney Farah Lundi

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Similar to other immigrant populations in the United States, Haitians have a migratory history of escaping from political turmoil, natural disasters, and extreme poverty (Zephir, 2004). However, Haitian Americans remain one of the underserved populations in the United States. Marginalized yet resilient, Haitian families in the U.S. continue to display strength in the face of adversity. Second-generation Haitian-American college graduates are the evidence of such strengths. There is very little research focused on second-generation Haitian-American college graduates’ perspective on the possible familial influences pertaining to education. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) design and Bowen’s Family Systems Theory as a …

The Relationship Of Underrepresented Minority Status With Choice Process When Considering The Physician Assistant Profession, Christina Hanson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Representation of African Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives in the Physician Assistant (PA) profession is not growing at the same rate as in the general population, leaving these groups underrepresented in the PA profession. To increase the diversity of the PA profession, the diversity of matriculating PA students must first increase. The purpose of this study was to investigate the choice process of underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM applicants and matriculants to PA school, to identify trends in the choice processes of URM individuals considering the PA profession. In this quantitative, retrospective study, chi-square analysis was performed …

A Qualitative Study Toward Understanding Educators’ Perceptions Of A Talent Development Program Designed To Address The Underrepresentation Of Historically Marginalized Students In Advanced Programming In A Large Virginia School Division, Christopher Mark Sumner

Theses and Dissertations

This study extends the limited, existing research on Sunnydale Public School’s (SPS’s) SOAR program. For clarity, SOAR is a talent development (TD) program that aims to not only enhance students’ reasoning and problem-solving abilities but also to remedy the racial/ethnic disproportionality of SPS's gifted and talented program. More specifically, I used interpretive, qualitative methods for this investigation to understand participants’ perceptions of SOAR, in hopes of adding to the talent development knowledge base and informing SOAR policy and practice. Ultimately, participant views converged on several topics (i.e. racial and ethnic disproportionality, brain malleability, multiple intelligences, etc.) and diverged on others …

Experiences Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder In Mississippi Community Colleges, Krystal Michelle Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Student Perceptions Of Environmental Quality While Attending Accelerated Medical Technology College Courses, Ralph L. Westbrook

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Regional weather patterns in the southwestern United States frequently test the engineering involved in indoor air handling equipment in college facilities. Although an adequate indoor thermal environment has been found to affect student learning, little is known about students' perceptions of classroom heating and ventilation and impacts on learning. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how students in accelerated medical technology courses perceived the environmental quality in their classrooms and discern whether these conditions affected overall gains in knowledge, persistence, and retention in their learning. Fourteen participants from 2 local community colleges were interviewed using purposeful sampling. …

It's A Dangerous World In There: Leadership Methods And Actions Of School Administrators During Emergency Situations And Times Of Crisis, James J. Drake

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the past twenty years, shootings and other violent incidents, acts of terrorism such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, and natural disaster events such as hurricanes or floods have occurred with increasing frequency. Situations like these pose significant challenges for school administrators when a normally-peaceful educational environment is quickly transformed by significant acts of aggression from within, or by external threats that impact the educational domain with little or no advance warning.

Contingency-based, situational leadership has proven to be effective when used in both educational and non-educational settings during normal, non-emergency periods. The purpose of this study is …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Children Living In Conditions Of Poverty, Terri J. Robinson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed elementary teachers’ perceptions of their challenges working with children who live in conditions of poverty. This study found that teachers often work with children from very difficult situations, including exposure to alcohol, drugs, violence, and abandonment. This study found that no matter the challenges teachers encounter daily, they remain motivated, dedicated and determined to take the necessary steps to meet the needs of their students. One way they do this is by using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, which attempts to include various aspects of their students’ daily lives and interests in the curriculum. The teachers in this study …

District Strategic Teaming: Leadership For Systemic And Sustainable Reform, Thomas L. Alsbury, Margaret R. Blanchard, Kristie S. Gutierrez, Chris M. Allred, A. Dell Tolin

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Reform efforts in schools have become increasingly focused on the nature and direction of teamwork in efforts to achieve sustained and systemic districtwide capacity for innovation and needed change. The six-year study reported in this article involved development, implementation, and assessment of a unique collaborative process for districtwide reform in some of the most challenging and fluid educational settings in the United States of America. This reform process, called District Strategic Teaming, involved a representative vertical cross-section of members from the district office to school-based support staff. Participating schools are located in isolated, rural communities in the south-eastern region of …

Differences In The Use And Perceptions Of Evidence-Based Practice Between Occupational Therapy Students And Practitioners, Alison Nichols, Paige Creighton, Annie Derolf, Shelby Hale, Leann Vandeman, Kersten Laughlin, Kelsie Long

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

This study explored differences in perceptions of evidence-based practice (EBP) between occupational therapy (OT) students and practitioners. Researchers aimed to understand student and practitioner perceptions of barriers, knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in EBP. Occupational therapy students (n=61) and practitioners (n=21) completed an online researcher-created survey and the Evidence-Based Practice Confidence (EPIC) Scale survey. Results indicated practitioners were more confident in utilizing EBP than students, particularly when identifying a gap in knowledge related to a patient (p = <.001) deciding on a course of action for a client (p = <.001), and assessing the efficacy of EBP on client outcomes (p = <.001). This finding was inconsistent with previous research, which may be due to more practitioners receiving formal education on EBP. It is critical for OT education to support student learning and application of clinical reasoning throughout the EBP process in order to increase confidence. This study was limited by the use of a homogenous population from a single university.

Governmental Funding Of K-12 Arts Programs, Elizabeth Abbick

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Among the significant political debates of our time is how to dedicate resources to different programs, and what types of ideas will be funded and subsidized by the government. Unfortunately, even the United States is not a nation of unlimited resources. In general, arts programs are one of the first to be cut from schools, as they are not seen to be equal to math, reading, or even sports. However, arts programs could be an integral part of the successes of the elementary, middle, and high school student. In my thesis, I will explore the differences between students who have …

Becoming Active Citizens: Motivations To Volunteer Among Undergraduate Students In A Liberal Arts College, Jessica Washington

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Nonprofit organizations exist to meet community needs—often competing against 1.5 million other nonprofits for resources (e.g., money and staff). Consequently, these charitable organizations rely on volunteers to support critical functions, such as fundraising and service provision. Without effective volunteer recruitment strategies, nonprofits may fail to attract the human capital needed for these functions. Furthermore, undergraduate students—conduits of the democratic purpose of higher education—represent a special group of volunteers (who also volunteer at twice the rate of their non-college attending peers). Understanding the volunteer motivations of undergraduate students enrolled in liberal arts colleges provides implications for future research, volunteer recruitment efforts …

The Impact Of Outdoor Education On Health, Tessa A. Leake

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

I studied the effect that outdoor education and experiential learning has on health by interviewing students who participated in the University of Montana’s Patagonia study abroad course during winter-session 2018. I interviewed participants before and after the course and asked them a series of questions about their health. Questions included how they defined health, what the greatest determinants of health are, if they have control over their health, and if they considered themselves to be in good health. Students were also asked to rate their levels of health overall, mentally, and physically in regard to both themselves and in comparison …

High School Blended Learning Courses : Teacher Beliefs, Perceptions Of Experiences, And Recommendations, Pamela Culbertson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Increasingly, more high school teachers are providing instruction using blended learning. This provides benefits to students such as having more time flexibility in their learning as well as the ability to work through assignments at their own pace (Oliver & Kellogg, 2015). However, this also involves student challenges, such as the need for self-motivation and time management.

Aspiration, Attainment, And Assimilation : A Critical Ethnography Of Newcomer Youth In An American High School, Aaron Leo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As immigrants and refugees constitute an increasingly large proportion of public school students across the United States, much scholarly attention has focused on the variables which promote and hamper academic success of these students. Specifically, the high aspirations and optimistic attitudes towards schooling and the effects of assimilation pressures have been identified as two important features contributing to the academic performance of newcomers.

Girlsread! Girls’ Rights: An Empowerment Curriculum, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Nicole Haberland, Barbara Mensch, Pamela Nyirenda, Diana Bulanda-Shalala

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This curriculum guide is designed to help female mentors in the GirlsRead! program in Zambia to directly engage girls in critical thinking about gender inequalities and discrimination, and help them build the assets and confidence needed to act on their own behalf and as progressive voices in their communities. GirlsRead! participants are girls in grade 7—the last year of primary school—when they are at high risk of leaving school. The curriculum includes 19 sessions that cover a range of topics from gender equality to sexuality to rights, in meetings that provide a space and opportunity for girls to regularly interact …

A Study Of Employment Outcomes Among Technical And Vocational Secondary Education Graduates In Egypt [Arabic], Salma Nasser, Ali Rashed

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Egypt, some 450,000 students graduate from technical and vocational schools each year. Yet just over 50 percent are employed immediately following their graduation. This brief explores the kinds of jobs that are available to these graduates, and the factors that affect the remaining 50 percent who do not join the work force. The report aims to understand the types of training that best prepare students for the available jobs, differences in opportunities for male and female graduates, and connections between work and the home and/or community circumstances that may hinder employment. The report offers recommendations for improving the education …