Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of A Breastfeeding Class Specifically For Working Moms, Maryleah S. Needels

Master's Projects and Capstones

Successfully breastfeeding mothers who are planning to return to work and remain exclusively breastfeeding their infants have a knowledge deficit as to the federal law protecting their rights along with the basic skills for pumping, storing, and bottle-feeding of breast milk. There is a significant drop in breastfeeding rates at both the 3 and 6-month marker, which coincides with maternal return to employment. After attending the Working Moms Breastfeeding Class, 100% of mothers reported an increase in knowledge surrounding the law and the CDC’s basic skills for handling pumped breast milk based on a pre/post questionnaire. Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy …

Nebraska Libraries - Volume 4, Number 3 (August 2016)

Nebraska Libraries

Editor's letter -- Willa Bitney-Garay

Student spotlights -- Rachel Kenny, Dana Still, and Kristine Woods

La Vista Public Library & Sarpy Center: Serving students and the community -- Rose Barcal

Arbor Day 2016 — Morton-James on Main: Transforming Nebraska City's library for a day -- Tom Boeche and Denise Davis

Technical Services Round Table: Technical services competencies and library science education -- Emily Dust Nimsakont

The Knee Bone's connected to the ...: Educational games from the National Library of Medicine -- Christian Minter

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Integrating Food Science Lessons In High School Biology Curriculum In Comparison To High School Chemistry Curriculum, Lauren Elizabeth Ivey

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, high school chemistry has been the predominate venue for introducing food science curriculum to students. The purpose of this research was to determine if high school students in a biology class without a chemistry background could comprehend eight basic food science principles equally as well as students in a chemistry class that were taught the same principles. This study assessed baseline knowledge of high school students, determined the effect of food science-based lessons on baseline knowledge and level of understanding, and determined the effect of food science-based lessons on students’ awareness of and interest in food science. Baseline knowledge …

The Impact Of Nutrition And Physical Activity Education On The Knowledge, Attitude, And Behavior Of Muslim Youth From Various Ethnic Backgrounds, Hana L. Jaber, Zainab Rida

UCARE: Research Products

The Islamic Foundation of Lincoln is a growing population within Lincoln including many different racial backgrounds, ethnic identities, and languages. Due to these various backgrounds communication may impair the education of families as well as their attitudes and behaviors. Although there are programs developed for many other minority groups, the Muslim (population comprising the Islamic Foundation of Lincoln) population does not have any data obtained from the community in terms of nutrition and physical activity behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge. This study seeks to understand if there are barriers to communication and if the intervention enhanced nutrition knowledge. This poster reflects …

Connect 220 - August, 2016

Connect

Click the DOWNLOAD button to obtain a PDF of this issue

Effects Of Pediatric Emergence Delirium Education On Analgesic Administration By Pacu Nurses, Melinda C. Nwanganga

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Emergence delirium (ED) is a behavioral disturbance as a result of general anesthesia that commonly occurs in pediatric patients. Adverse effects of ED lead to a complicated recovery from anesthesia due to the risk of self-inflicted injury of patients, the disturbance of surgical incisions, the development of postoperative maladaptive behaviors, and the increased use of sedatives and analgesics resulting in prolonged recovery time and delayed discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Due to the multiple ramifications of ED, appropriate care is needed to promote a safe recovery from anesthesia and an optimum perioperative experience for these patients. As PACU …

A Study Of Applications Of 3d Animation For Emergency Medicine Pedagogy, Huilong Zheng

Open Access Theses

There is ample precedent for the use of 3D animation in education, though little research on specific applications in the field of medicine. An experiment was carried out to assess the suitability of 3D animation for educational purposes in emergency medicine courses. Two groups of experimental participants were assessed on their ability to respond to three emergency medical situations in simulated test scenarios. Both groups received equivalent information on how to treat the three different medical emergencies. The control group received the information in traditional lecture format. The experimental group instead received the information from a set of 3D animations. …

A Usability Assessment For A Career Planning Educational Video Game, Jiaqi Wang

Open Access Theses

This study focused on the design, implementation and usability assessment of an educational 2D iPad job matching game The Place You’ll Go (TPYG), which meant for matching student skill sets with career profiles. The development of the game is conducted in collaboration with Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and Polytech Institute. A total of 7 subjects, as high school teachers, participated in the usability study. TPYG as one possible solution for job matching data visualization, did not provide players with a good experience. However, conclusions and findings can be used in similar education game development. Based on survey and …

The Acquisition Of Bare Nominals By Three Populations Of Spanish-English Bilingual Adults, Lauren Elizabeth Miller

Open Access Dissertations

The present study contributes to our understanding of cross-linguistic influence by studying three different groups of Spanish-English speakers’ knowledge of the distribution of definite articles in both of their languages using a battery of tests that require them to draw on different linguistic abilities. These three groups include native English speakers who learned Spanish after adolescence, native Spanish speakers who learned English after adolescence and simultaneous bilinguals who grew up in the United States speaking both English and Spanish from birth. Specifically, this study explores interpretation, production and intuition regarding the acceptability of definite articles in different contexts. Since the …

Evaluation Of American Indian Health Service Training In Pain Management And Opioid Substance Use Disorder, Joanna G. Katzman, Chris Fore, Snehal Bhatt, Nina Greenberg, Julie Griffin Salvador, George C. Comerci, Christopher Camarata, Lisa Marr, Rebecca Monette, Sanjeev Arora, Andrea Bradford, Denise Taylor, Jenny Dillow, Susan Karol

Project ECHO Bibliography

We examined the benefits of a collaboration between the Indian Health Service and an academic medical center to address the high rates of unintentional drug overdose in American Indians/Alaska Natives. In January 2015, the Indian Health Service became the first federal agency to mandate training in pain and opioid substance use disorder for all prescribing clinicians. More than 1300 Indian Health Service clinicians were trained in 7 possible 5-hour courses specific to pain and addiction. We noted positive changes in pre- and postcourse knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitudes as well as thematic responses showing the trainings to be comprehensive, interactive, and …

The Uganda Youth Survey Report, Alex Awiti

East Africa Institute

Uganda is the most youthful country in East Africa. The median age is estimated at about 16 years, and about 80 % of the population is below the age of 35 years.

Uganda’s youth, defined as individuals between the ages of 18 and 35, will determine and shape the country’s future. With that in mind, the East African Institute of the Aga Khan University commissioned a survey to understand the values, attitudes, concerns and aspirations of this critical segment of the population.

We interviewed 1,854 respondents aged 18–35 years from across the country, including both urban and rural areas. The …

Teacher Bias In Elementary School And The Factors That Aid It., Camara Uras Douglas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines teacher bias in elementary school through a thorough investigation of prior research focused on this topic, along with historical accounts of African American education. The basic question of the thesis is: To what extent does teacher bias affect the educational experiences of African American students and lead to a persistent educational gap between African Americans and whites? The study found that teacher bias of African American students does exist particularly those from low-income neighborhoods. Moreover, the biases are based on certain assumptions that can be traced to the historical discrimination of African American in education, as well …

Sexual Health Education Among The Intellectually And Developmentally Delayed Populations: An Examination Of Medical Providers Perspective, Sarah E. Nota

Masters Theses

Sexuality is a recognized human right as it influences mental, social and emotional wellbeing. Despite this, individuals with intellectual or developmentally delays (ID/DD) rarely receive the necessary sexual education. ID/DD persons are also at an increased risk for sexual abuse, further demonstrating the strong need for education. A natural setting in which to receive unbiased and informative sexual health information is through their medical provider. The purpose of this research was to examine current clinic standards, education, and perceptions of medical providers in regards to sexual education for ID/DD adolescents. Medical providers and students within West Michigan were surveyed with …

High School Students' Motivations And Views Of Agriculture And Agricultural Careers Upon Completion Of A Pre-College Program, Andrea K. Scherer

Open Access Theses

Pre-college summer residential experiences hosted by a College of Agriculture have the potential to expose high school students to new career opportunities and fields of study that they may not have considered, and may influence agricultural literacy, perceptions of agriculture, and interest in agriculture. Engaging these students is important for meeting the demand for more students graduating with agriculture degrees prepared to solve 21st century challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the outcomes of two separate pre-college experiences, the Molecular Agriculture Summer Institute (MASI) and the Purdue Agribusiness Science Academy (PASA), and participating high school …

Experimental Evaluation Of An Ipad-Based Augmentative And Alternative Communication Program For Early Elementary Children With Severe, Non-Verbal Autism, Ariana Azzato

Open Access Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment package including a modified protocol of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) implemented via an autism-specific iPad application. A multiple probe design (Horner & Baer, 1978) was replicated across four individuals with severe, non-verbal autism to investigate effects on requesting skills, natural speech production, and social-communicative behaviors. Results suggest beneficial effects, if implemented with high fidelity. The largest effects were on the participants’ requesting skills. All four participants were able to consistently request for desired items by activating the tablet device, and this skill was maintained after …

Farmers' Use Of Mobile Phone Technology For Agricultural Information Services In Lilongwe District, Malawi, Benjamin F. Chisama

Open Access Theses

Mobile phone technology can be a useful tool to provide farmers with relevant and reliable agricultural information for critical farming decisions in developing countries such as Malawi. An increasing number of rural farmers have been faced with information asymmetry challenges due to some pitfalls in the extension systems. In addition, knowledge gaps on farmers’ use of mobile phone technology; their awareness and use of MAIS; and their preferred topics to be delivered using mobile platforms were identified. However, little was known on how farmers were using existing MAIS. This study’s aim was to explore the potential of providing mobile agricultural …

An Examination Of The Employment Of The Pair Programming Methodology As A Collaborative Instructional Scaffold On College Student Procedural Learning And Programming Self-Beliefs, Ronald Erdei

Open Access Dissertations

Using a concurrent mixed methods case study approach, this study investigated the impact of employing the pair programming methodology as a collaborative instructional scaffold on student programming procedural knowledge and programming-related self-beliefs in an introductory computer programming course offered at a large university located in the Midwestern United States. Employing a design research theoretical perspective in a natural educational setting, the study used course performance data, survey data, and researcher observations to educe that employment of the pair programming methodology as a collaborative instructional scaffold facilitated a more efficient learning process as well as a learning process less reliant on …

Methods To Facilitate Community Participation In Humanitarian Engineering Projects: Laying The Foundation For A Learning Platform, Andrea Mazzurco

Open Access Dissertations

Humanitarian engineering (HE) is a new interdisciplinary field that is rapidly emerging worldwide. Many not-for-profit organizations such as Engineers Without Borders, Practical Action, and International Development Enterprise have been flourishing with the goal of providing technological solutions to those who need them the most. In engineering programs across the U.S., HE, service-learning, community engagement, and similar programs are gaining popularity because they offer an efficient way to meet ABET accreditation criteria, while also teaching valuable technical and professional skills to engineering students. However, the cultural, social, and political differences among communities and engineers often add degrees of difficulty that cannot …

It Is "Broken" And "Accented": Non-Native English-Speaking (Nnes) Graduate Students' Perceptions Toward Nnes Instructors' English, Hyo Jung Keira Park

Open Access Dissertations

This study investigates the perceptions of non-native English-speaking graduate students towards non-native English speaking (NNES) instructors’ accented English. Students (N=161) who were enrolled in an oral English course at Purdue University participated in a survey. Follow-up interviews were conducted with voluntary participants (N=9) to examine the perceptions of NNES graduate students towards NNES instructors in depth. The findings in the survey showed that more than one third of the participants experienced difficulty with their NNES instructors due to their limited intelligibility and restricted command of English. Furthermore, one third of the participants expressed that they would transfer to another section …

An Analysis Of The Current Strength Of The Academic Relationship With The Aerospace Industry, James A. Stratton

Open Access Dissertations

The objective of this research was to discover which methods of technology transfer were most commonly accessed within the Indiana manufacturing sector in an effort to best serve companies in the Hoosier State. Previous work has explored the perceived importance of various academic sources, but there has not been an investigation to identify the specific preferences of industry professionals. If these preferences can be identified, university assistance programs and other academic engagement programs will be able to predict, and hopefully influence how to grow and develop the domestic manufacturing sector, ultimately strengthening the channels of knowledge transfer between academia and …

Parental Educational Involvement In High School: Practice, Policy, And Implications For Low-Income And Minority Youth, Elizabeth Wehrspann

Open Access Dissertations

Parental educational involvement has become a key factor in policies and practice aimed at improving academic achievement, particularly for low-income and racial/ethnic minority youth. While much previous work has explored parental educational involvement for younger children, few consistent findings have emerged regarding parental educational involvement strategies with adolescents. Further, extant literature has shown mixed findings regarding the effectiveness of parents’ school choice (i.e. selecting a school regardless of geographic location) for increasing parents’ educational involvement and social capital more broadly. This dissertation addressed these findings in the literature by using two large nationally representative datasets – the Education Longitudinal Study …

Educational Technology And Innovation Capacity In Arkansas Public Schools, Allie Nicole Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We all have high hopes for our educational system. As they stress the need for 21st century learning, governments recognize the importance of innovation and creativity in schools and invest resources to develop learning environments that foster these qualities. This thesis adapts Crosling, Nair, and Vaithilingam’s (2015) model to provide a framework for studying factors that contribute to a creative learning ecosystem (intellectual capital development, 21st century literacies, climate for innovation, and integrity of the system), the quality of the educational system, and the system’s innovation capacity. A survey of 126 Arkansas high school teachers, indicates that two variables, student’s …

Teaching Food Systems In Alaska, Jessika Beam

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

The health of Alaska’s food systems relies on the maintenance of food availability, food access, and food utilization overtime to ensure that food security exists. The Teaching Food Systems in Alaska educational modules were created to offer an opportunity to provide expert information and education to Alaska youth on the importance of food systems literacy in Alaska. The educational modules were created to engage youth in the food system. The goal is to inform and educate Alaska youth about food systems in Alaska through the development of a series of educational learning modules organized to address the three primary components …

End-Of-Life Heart Failure Education With Staff Nurses; A Quality Improvement Project, Carisa Battah

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

Heart failure (HF) is a serious diagnosis and a major public health concern. The symptoms can be exhausting and can vary from person to person with periods of acute exacerbations requiring hospital admission. It is important for hospital staff nurses to be able to speak with knowledge and comfort about end‐of‐life planning. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase nurses’ awareness of the functional classification systems of HF, options and timing for palliative care, and describe nurses’ intent to use the information in practice. Nurses reported planning on using the information to “Be more Sensitive and Listen.” …

Teachers And The Development Of Student Noncognitive Skills, Albert Cheng

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars of education policy are increasingly aware of the independent role that noncognitive skills (e.g., self-regulation, Social skills, and other personality or character traits) play in long- and short-run student well-being. However, little is known about how these skills are effectively developed. One theory is that noncognitive skills are developed through role modeling by teachers. A student, by virtue of observing and sharing a Social connection with his or her schoolteachers, begins to emulate noncognitive skills that they exhibit. In this dissertation, I test this theory. I focus specifically on noncognitive skills related to conscientiousness and measure them using new …

A Study On The Effect Of Higher Education Branding On Student's College Decision, David E. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

All around us we are inundated by brand marketing. Logos and labels with trademarks surround our lives. With marketing being part of our society, higher education institutions have created a brand marketing scheme all their own. This new form of branding has caused many students to make their decision based on the logo, mascot or social lifestyle. The purpose of this study was to test whether attitudinal brand loyalty has a statistically significant effect on college decision through academic and athletic factors. Based on multiple regression analysis, results show that attitudinal brand loyalty does have a significant effect on college …

Hispanic Bilingual Learners' Perceptions And Educational Experiences Of Spanish-Speaking In South Texas, Isela B. Stephens

Theses and Dissertations

The present study focuses on a subset of data obtained from a larger interdisciplinary project, Proyecto Posible, which investigates how sociocultural and instructional factors predict positive outcomes among Spanish- and English-speaking Hispanic bilingual learners. As one part of Proyecto Posible, interviewers asked learners to speak in their language of preference about their experiences in school and feelings developed during interactions with others, as bilinguals. This study examines the qualitative component on bilingual learners’ perceptions of their own language proficiency in English and Spanish, perceptions of language use across a broad range of contexts including school, home, and community, …

A Manual For An Evangelical State Prison Chaplaincy, Aaron Mobley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis will include the practical guidelines for prison chaplaincy in local state Department of Corrections. The goal would be to develop an instruction manual for new evangelical ministers entering into the State Prison Chaplaincy. Prison chaplains are frequently unprepared for ministry to incarcerated individuals. Chaplaincy is a difficult position and the prison environment adds to the difficulty. Too often Chaplains are under trained which magnifies the complexity of the position. In the prison environment they are trained in security issues but the religious issues are left untouched. This manual will assist newly hired Chaplains to become better acquainted with …

Mental Toughness, Grit, And Motivational Differences In Single-Sport And Multi-Sport Athletes, Cole Justin Shewmake

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Whether it is at work, school or sports, mental toughness (MT), grit and motivation are essential to accomplishing goals. Sports can be an integral platform for developing MT, grit, and factors that increase motivation levels, and it is during childhood and adolescence that these characteristics may develop. All of this could prove beneficial into adulthood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine MT, grit and motivational orientations of single-sport and multi-sport athletes at different levels of competition. Considering MT, a 2 x 2 ANOVA indicated no significant interaction effect between athlete type and competition level, F(1, 387) = …

Culinary Competence: Skills And Knowledge Assessment For Dietetic Students, Nancy Harris Buckley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduates of didactic programs in dietetics are entering internships with little cooking experience. The Food and Culinary Professionals’ Dietetic Practice Group (FCP DPG) has identified 11 core competencies that were developed as a recommendation to dietetic educators to include more culinary knowledge into existing programs. The purpose of this study was to determine if developing and incorporating experiential learning targeted to the competencies would increase dietetic students’ culinary skills and knowledge at a southern land-grant university. Food and Culinary Professionals’ DGP core competencies were used to guide the development of curriculum, experiential learning, and assessment in the Principles of Foods …