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Connect 217 - February 2016

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Nebraska Libraries - Volume 4, Number 1 (February 2016)

Nebraska Libraries

Editor’s Message

Featured Nebraska Library: Do Space -- Rachel Kenny interviews Rebecca Stavick

Making Makers -- Christine Haeffner

Hastings Public Library Makerspace -- Erica Rogers

Council Bluffs Public Library’s Adult Makerspace -- Creighton Cammerer

Making Space -- Denise Harden

Making Your Own Makerspace: Success of the UNO Criss Library’s Creative Production Lab -- Jacqueline Mitchell

Technical Services Round Table -- Emily Dust Nimsakont

The Knee Bone’s Connected to the... -- Dana Abbey & Christian Minter

Digital Watercooler -- Emily McIllece

Book Bites: Book Reviews (and More!)

Editorial Policy

Submission Policy

Upcoming Events Calendar

Picture This: Cochrane-Woods Library

Managing Lead In Drinking Water At Schools And Early Childhood Education Facilities, Horsley Witten Group, Inc. And Commissioned By The, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Mickey Leland Center Information Portal

This report on managing lead in drinking water at schools and early childhood education facilities is an important tool for educators and community leaders to limit children’s exposure to lead. It’s intended to help people learn about the harmful effects of lead and how to test, detect and reduce waterborne lead levels.

Designing Prenatal M-Health Interventions Through Transmigrants Reflection On Their Pregnancy Ecology, Hana Aljaberi

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation presents the findings from three participatory focus group and co-design sessions with Caribbean transmigrant women in the United States. Informed by their focus group discussions regarding their pregnancy experiences in the United States, the participants produced design ideas that reflected on physical, emotional, informational and social gap themes. The purpose of this study was to understand the challenges affecting the women’s prenatal wellbeing practices, and to conceive a set of recommendations and opportunities for mHealth technology design to assist with prenatal preventative care and management. The study uses the theoretical concept of pregnancy ecology to identify gaps in …

The Courier, February 2016, Tennessee. Historical Commission.

Tennessee Historical Commission

No abstract provided.

Introducing Entrepreneurship Into The Public University Scheme In Egypt, Ahmed Abbas

Theses and Dissertations

The overall study of available literature regarding entrepreneurship in Egypt reveals several gaps and barriers in the ecosystem. Human Capital represented in: education institutions, availability of skilled labor, and culture norms come at the forefront. Absence of entrepreneurship in the educational curricula in schools and most universities is a contributing factor of t the lagging entrepreneurship activities. This research investigates, explains and analyzes the existing situation of entrepreneurship, specifically social entrepreneurship in colleges of commerce in Egyptian public universities. Colleges of commerce are chosen for being the natural home of entrepreneurship education. Description and evaluation of the status quo are …

Accepting Evolution And Believing In God: How Religious Persons Perceive The Theory Of Evolution, Katherine F. Manwaring

Theses and Dissertations

Students frequently hold an incorrect view of evolution. There are several potential barriers that prevent students from engaging evolutionary theory including lack of knowledge, limited scientific reasoning ability, and religiosity. Our research provides tools for overcoming barriers related to religiosity and diagnoses the barriers preventing students from fully engaging in learning the theory of evolution. This was a two-part study. The first part of our study addressed two hypothesized barriers to learning evolutionary theory among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon): (1) religious views stemming from incorrect understanding of the Church's neutral stance …

A Product Evaluation Of The Selective Abandonment Process For School Budgeting, Christopher M. Loofe

Student Work

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree to which the Selective Abandonment budget process objectives were achieved by analyzing stakeholder perceptions. Use of this evaluation may enable the district to become more effective, efficient, and more fiscally responsible when developing future program budgeting plans. Program evaluation was used as a guideline for collecting data about the district’s newly created Selective Abandonment budgeting process. Defined, Selective Abandonment is a process aimed to reduce or eliminate programs or services that fail a cost-benefit analysis and lack a clear, mission-related need. Specifically, this research will focus Daniel Stufflebeam’s CIPP Model. …

Issues Associated With The Use Of Untreated Roadside Springs As A Source Of Drinking Water, Bryan Swistock, James Clark, Susan Boser, Diane Oleson, Amy Galford, Gary Micsky, Mark Madden

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

Roadside springs are prevalent across Pennsylvania, but little information has been available about their public use or their suitability as a drinking water source. Penn State Extension conducted research to document roadside spring use and drinking water quality between 2013 and 2015. A survey of over 1,000 Pennsylvania residents found that 30% have consumed water from a roadside spring and 12% consume water every year, mostly because they perceive the water as natural with a good taste. A synoptic survey of 37 springs in 2013"“2014 found that more than 90% failed one or more health-based drinking water standards. A more …

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

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Media Literacy Education: A Media Literacy Campaign On The Social Significance Of Media Literacy And Its Educational Need, Agnes Poliquin

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Research has shown that the amount of media that today’s youth is exposed to continues to rise dramatically each year. Averaging 11 hours a day, youth are encountering new challenges like miscommunication and risking becoming a less productive citizen by the time they finish secondary school. Media literacy is a tool that combats this overexposure of media to educate, create and develop ways youth can combat this influence of mass media messages. This project promotes media literacy education, based in the use of the Jon Piaget’s constructivist learning theory and George Gerbner’s cultivation theory. The project is a media literacy …

Training For Research And Teaching In Geropsychology: Preparing The Next Generation Of Scholars And Educators, Brian D. Carpenter, Erin Sakai, Michele J. Karel, Victor A. Molinari

Aging Studies Faculty Publications

For geropsychology to flourish in the years ahead, we need scientists to advance knowledge and teachers to draw new professionals into the field. In this project the authors surveyed 100 geropsychologists who completed a doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology about their experience with training for research and teaching. The majority were currently conducting some degree of research (38%) and some form of teaching (45%). The majority of ratings for components of research training were in the “very good to excellent” range, whereas elements of teacher training were rated in the “poor to good” range, though there was variability …

Review Of Our Children And Other Animals, Corey L. Wrenn

Between the Species

Cole and Stewart’s 2014 release, Our Children and Other Animals: The Cultural Construction of Human-Animal Relations in Childhood, offers an important sociological contribution to liberatory vegan research. The book's primary value is its critical examination of childhood socialization processes that habituate humans to speciesism through the institutions of family, education, and mass media.

Google Classroom For Third Grade Writing, Jessi Fallon

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and evaluate the effects of using the technology of Google Classroom in writing personal narratives in a third grade classroom. Specific aims of the study are to analyze how the technology will affect students’ motivation, engagement, and overall writing skills. Previous research indicates that integration of technology allows for more collaboration among students as well as an increase in motivation in the classroom (MacArthur, 2009). This study advances our understanding of technology to see how the application of Google Classroom will benefit students in the capacity of motivation and writing skills due …

Our Best Hope In A World Filled With Emergencies? Education, Barry Jason Mauer

UCF Forum

When we die, the knowledge stored in our brains disappears. But through education, each generation of people can pass their knowledge to the next via spoken language, books and other media, and this knowledge can accumulate through the ages.

Web-Based Media Literacy To Prevent Tobacco Use Among High School Students, Jane S. Phelps-Tschang, Elizabeth Miller, Kristen R. Rice, Brian A. Primack

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Facilitator-led smoking media literacy (SML) programs have improved media literacy and reduced intention to smoke. However, these programs face limitations including high costs and barriers to standardization. We examined the efficacy of a Web-based media literacy program in improving smoking media literacy skills among adolescents. Sixty-six 9th grade students participated in a Web-based SML tobacco education program based on health behavior theory. Pre- and post-test assessments demonstrated statistically significant changes in the primary outcome of total SML as well as each of the individual SML items. However, there were inconsistent changes in other theory-based outcomes including attitudes and normative beliefs.

Guide For Lay Spiritan Assocaites, Congregation Of The Holy Spirit

Spiritan Education Collection

Table of Contents – Index – I. Introduction - (p. 5) -- II. Vision – (p. 8) -- III. Mission – (p. 10) -- V. Forms of Engagement - (p. 14) -- V. Formation – (p. 19) -- VI. Some Organisational Elements – (p. 21) -- VII. Conclusion – (p. 24)

A Critical Review Of The Literature Of Social Media’S Affordances In The Classroom, Olivia G. Stewart

Education Specialties Faculty Publications

Even though the use of social media in education is a now widely-studied topic, there still does not seem to be a general consensus for what social media may afford students or how best to use them in the classroom. In this article, I aim critically discuss some of the most prominent qualitative studies that explore the use of social media in the classroom. I critically consider some of the claims for affordances that social media can offer in the classroom, in particular the affordances of the interactive features that are unique to social media, the affordances for authoring to …

Audio Documentary Script: Heroes Behind The Scenes., Farah Hany Tawfeek

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

Audio Documentary: Heros Behind the Scenes This Audio Documentary tells the story of two physically disabled people who made it in life: Magdy Shahir who became a motivational speaker and Amr Osama who, after a horseback riding accident became a ping pong player. It also focuses within their stories on the people who supported them through their journey: for Magdy this was his mom Christina Smith as for Amr this was his coach Mohamad Sakr. Special Thanks to the interviewees: Christina Smith, Magdy Sahir, Mohamad Sakr and Amr Osama. This Documentary tells the story of the struggles of disabled people …

Emotional Intelligence And Empathy Of Nursing Students In An Immersive Capstone Clinical Course, Michelle L. Finch

Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Background. Today’s baccalaureate nursing students need to be prepared to care for patients in an ever-changing, high acuity environment. Many programs offer a capstone immersive clinical experience. However, the benefits of this experience have not been fully explored, and the effect on patient care is unknown. Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a change in levels of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and empathy in senior students who completed a capstone immersive clinical experience in the final semester of a baccalaureate nursing program. Theoretical Framework. The theoretical framework for this study was the Mayer and Salovey’s …

A Correlational Study Of Self-Regulation And Fine Arts In Education, Rachel D. Hendricks

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Self-regulation positively relates to student behavior and achievement, and fine arts participation has demonstrated similar improvements in behavior and achievement. It was hypothesized that participation in school-based fine arts would positively correlate with self-regulation, and the intensity of students’ fine arts participation would also correlate with self-regulation. Students aged 15 to 19 were administered a self-regulation questionnaire. Responses from students currently participating in fine arts were compared to students with no fine arts participation to find if a relationship exists between fine arts and self-regulation. This study found no significant relationship between fine arts participation and self-regulation, and no significant …

Movin' On In Montana: Year Two: Summer 2016 Replication Guide, Kaitlyn Page Ahlers, Bronwyn Troutman, Martin E. Blair, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Education

Movin’ On in Montana was a four-day, three-night on-campus experience for high school students with disabilities sponsored by the University of Montana, specifically the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities, Disability Services for Students, and Vocational Rehabilitation. The purpose of Movin’ On in Montana was to introduce high school students with disabilities to the college experience with the intent of helping students recognize that college (e.g., university or technical college) is a possibility if they choose to pursue postsecondary education. Further, Movin’ On in Montana provided students with disabilities with critical information regarding resources and supports to increase their likelihood of …

Teaching Climate Change Concepts And The Nature Of Science: A Library Activity To Identify Sources Of Climate Change Misconceptions, Charity Flener Lovitt, Kristen S. Shuyler

Libraries

A library activity was developed in which students found information about climate science misconceptions from popular and scientific literatures. As part of the activity, students developed a rubric to evaluate the credibility and type of literature sources they found. The activity prepared students to produce an annotated bibliography of articles, which they then used to create a training document about a climate science misconception for staff at a local science center. Evaluation of annotated bibliographies showed that students were able to distinguish between popular and scholarly literature but struggled to identify primary and secondary sources within the scholarly literature. In …

Aarash, Aarash, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

As an anti-corruption journalist in Afghanistan, Aarash’s family’s life was threatened by warlords. His car was shot at, their guesthouse was bombed, and later when they were threatened at gunpoint, they tried to make a new life in India. But in India, they discovered difficulties in obtaining permanent visas so they had return to Kabul where they hid at a friend’s house for 20 days while obtaining documentation to flee to Turkey. Once in Turkey, they learned that Afghan registries had been closed since 2010. They determined that they needed to either apply for asylum in Turkey or leave for …

Determinants Of Adopting Handheld Mobile Devices To Assist Learning Outside Of The Classroom: Learning Styles And Motivation, Jun Wang

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the motivation orientation towards using handheld portable devices (HPDs) among U.S. Millennial college students with different learning styles outside the classroom. It also aimed to identify students behavior and perception towards using HPDs for Educational activities. The sample consisted of 404 undergraduate students who were currently enrolled at Indiana State University and had taken at least one course required by the Foundational Studies upper division integrative elective. Participants were asked to complete a survey that consisted of three parts: demographic questions to explore current usage, perception, and activities of HPD use among the participants; Felder and Solomans …

Building Administrators' Literacy Expertise And Student Achievement, Tamara S. Swarens

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the building administrator on student achievement in literacy. Students from high-poverty backgrounds face many hardships in their personal lives which may dramatically impact their academic achievement. Achievement gaps are prevalent between students of poverty and students from more affluent backgrounds beginning in Kindergarten, and these gaps continue to grow over time. Effective school supports help to close these achievement gaps and this study examined if the building administrators experience can overcome the barriers for students of poverty. A survey was created to quantitatively measure building administrators understanding of best …

A Study Of An Innovative Business School Curriculum, Robert D. Schuttler

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A concern of business Education in colleges and universities for many years has been the preparation of young men and women for the professional business world. Business curricula have adequately addressed the technical aspects of business preparation but have fallen short of the development of 21st century skills such as teamwork, communication, technical literacies, achieving high productivity, higher-order thinking, creativity, and risk taking. Innovative Curriculum College (ICC), the invented name of a Midwestern college, has introduced and is implementing an innovative curriculum that features the development of 21st century skills within the confines of core and upper-level academic classes. This …

Studying Abroad: Understanding The Factors Influencing The Study Abroad Decision, Country, And University Choice Of International Students From India, Zachariah Mathew

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify which push factors influence the decision of Indian students to leave their home country to pursue their Education abroad. Specifically, the study was designed to identify which pull factors (a) influence their country of choice to pursue their Education abroad, (b) influence their university choice for consideration of applying for admission, and (c) determine the final decision to matriculate at a chosen university. The data for this quantitative research study were collected by surveying international students from India currently attending large residential and nonresidential public, four-year research universities in the Midwest. A …

Impacting Factors On Elementary Students Who Have High Levels Of Success In School While Living With Low Socioeconomic Status, Casey Patterson Smitherman

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to deliver a better understanding of an impoverished students perspective of school success and, in particular, what factors lead students to be successful. In an effort to better understand why some students beat the odds, I met with groups of fifth and sixth grade students who have experienced school success on a variety of measures to hear directly from these preadolescents about what they believed has fostered their success. Three overarching themes emerged from the focus groups held at two different intermediate level schools in metropolitan suburban districts in Indianapolis, Indiana (a) …

How Successful Female Elementary Principals Effectively Balance Their Personal And Professional Lives, Janel Bonomo

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case-study was to understand how successful female elementary Educational administrators from Indiana defined their roles in order to obtain personal and professional balance. Specifically, this study identified successful female leaders and the strategies, talents, and skills that they use. This study also sought to provide insight into self-efficacy used by successful female leaders as a personal resource. As a result of this study, common themes were discovered. When life is out of balance, conflict, stress, and unhappiness occur (Goodchild, 2006). The utilization of helpful strategies, talents, and skills by participants in this study adds predictability …