Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of Student Support Services: The Impacts They Have On The Lives Of Two-Year College Student, Sonya Yvette Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study aimed to understand and discover the impact that student support services had on the lives of two-year college students during the duration of college and after graduation. The central research question was What are the experiences of college students, in South Arkansas, who utilized student support services at two-year institutions and how did they impact their lives? The study also focused on the services provided to remove barriers so students could remain in school long enough to earn a degree and how they can continue to be successful after graduation. The theory that guided this study was …

Societal Gender Norms' Influence On Music Education, Lindsey N. Folsom

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study uses a phenomenological design to answer the question: How do students and educators perceive the influence of gender on instrument choice, ensemble participation, and student socialization opportunities inherent to ensemble participation? The theoretical framework for this study is Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory. Data was collected using interviews and surveys from K-12 teachers and college instructors. The data is analyzed using qualitative methods such as coding and triangulation. The results of this study and its potential to significantly inform and shape music education practices will provide research on teacher and student perspectives on the influence of societal …

A Phenomenological Study: The Role Of The Elementary School Counselor, As Perceived By The Elementary School Teacher, Krista L. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the phenomenological qualitative study is to describe elementary school teachers’ perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of elementary school counselors within the Greenbrier County School District. E. G. Williams’s trait-factor theory is the guiding theory for this study. Three research questions guide this study: How do elementary school teachers perceive the role of school counselors, what roles and responsibilities of elementary school counselors do elementary school teachers feel they utilize most in their school, and what do elementary school teachers perceive to be the needs of their school related to counseling? Eight to fifteen teachers from nine …

Staff Education On Documentation For Hospice Registered Nurses, Sharon Spencer Cunningham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Summary Documentation is a part of a daily task that all nurses undertake. Its purpose is to provide validation of care rendered to patients. In the hospice setting, nurses’ documentation is crucial, as it supports whether a patient qualifies to receive hospice services. If proper documentation is not recorded, patients can lose services and organizations can face a loss of revenue and potential fines. At a hospice organization in the Southeast United States, there was little emphasis of the importance of documentation that adheres to guidelines set by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Therefore, nurses’ documentation lacked the …

School Principals’ Perceptions Of Hiring School Counselors, Wendy Carol Vaughn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School principals are the primary hiring authorities in U.S. K-12 public schools when employing school counselors. Despite the expansion and diversification of schools’ qualifications, characteristics, and roles, there is a gap in knowledge about principals’ hiring perspectives, priorities, and specific criteria. These elements provide vital information for school counseling educational programs and organizational advocacy for hiring school counselors based on current standards and qualifications. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of school principals regarding the hiring of school counselors. Targeting the research question “What are the perceptions of principals interviewing and hiring school counselors …

Increasing The Educational Attainment Of Youth In Extension Of Foster Care Through Positive Youth Development Centered Programming, Julia M. Rossmiller

Senior Capstone Papers

Approximately 20,000 young adults age out of the foster care system in America each year. Of these 20,000 individuals, less than one-quarter will choose to participate in Extension of Foster Care services. Even fewer will complete a bachelor’s degree by age 26. Extension of Foster Care provides financial support for housing and education for young adults pursuing an education or working. However, most young adults have received little or no education on post-secondary options despite having the financial resources available for these programs. Low levels of protective factors further raise the barrier to entry for young adults to pursue an …

Transforming Education: The Impact Of Dance/Movement Therapy In School Settings, Emily Viprino

Expressive Therapies Theses

Abstract

The author will examine the application and effectiveness of Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) programs in school settings. DMT offers a unique, non-traditional approach to therapeutic counseling that may be more accessible for some students and could help reduce barriers and hesitation to participate in counseling for others. By integrating movement and other forms of art expression, DMT uses a multi-modal approach to therapy. It also provides opportunities for students to engage in physical movement during the school day. The literature explored in this thesis will include studies on expressive therapies in schools that aim to improve student learning and behavior …

Preparing Meals As A Metaphor For The Use Of Arts In Worship: A Liturgical Arts Curriculum For Nourishing Chinese-Indonesian Congregations, Carolien Eunice Tantra

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Food plays an essential role in human life. It is of paramount importance to consume an adequate quantity of food to maintain good health, nourish the body, and provide the necessary energy for daily activities. In addition to its role in providing nourishment, the visual appeal of food can bring delight to the eyes, desire to the heart, stimulate the appetite, and prompt humans to consume it. Liturgical art is like food. The metaphor of food or meals, as employed in liturgical arts, serves to emphasize the significance of artistic expression and integration within worship services to nourish and reach …

Risky Business For The Almighty Roi: Alternative Assets In Higher Education Endowments, Clayton Ellis

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions (HEI) are heavily reliant on alternative revenue streams to mitigate rising operational costs. One alternative revenue source is the endowment, an aggegation of assets invested to support the institutional objectives of an HEI through generated income. Before the 21^st century, institutions have typically sought after more conservative investment strategies via traditional asset classes like bonds and equities. The growing financial obligations to educate students has led endowment managers to make a shift in their investment strategies towards alternative assets classes – private equity, venture capital, secondaries – in order to gain advantage in generating alpha (α) …

Heart Failure And The Need For Better Patient Education, Amber Ball

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

Heart failure is becoming a more prevalent condition, evidenced by the fact that 25% of patients who are diagnosed with heart failure are readmitted within 30 days of being discharged due to exacerbation of this disease process. Heart failure symptoms can worsen due to inadequate patient education and other issues with patient self-management of the disease process leading to readmissions and increased hospital stays—adding to an already burdened healthcare system.

The aim of this project was to address the gap in nurse led patient education early on during hospitalization of patients admitted with a new diagnosis of heart failure or …

Connecting Through Context: A Culturally Relevant Mental Health Resource For K-12 School Counselors, Erica Knebel

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project, Connecting Through Context: A Culturally Relevant Mental Health Resource for K–12 School Counselors, explores the intersection of decolonial theory, culturally relevant pedagogy, and school-based mental health practices. Rooted in both personal and academic experiences, the project addresses the significant gap in culturally responsive mental health resources for immigrant and refugee students, with a personal emphasis on those from Southeast Asian backgrounds. With nearly 27% of the U.S. student population being immigrants, traditional Western mental health models, centered on talk therapy and medication, often fall short in effectively supporting culturally diverse students. Through a literature review grounded in …

Evolving Discipline Strategies: The Effects Of Police Removal On School Discipline In San Francisco, Eliza Grace Giroux

Master's Projects and Capstones

As conversations about equity and student well-being continue to shape public education, longstanding approaches to discipline in schools are being reevaluated. One major area of focus has been the presence of police on school campuses, especially when punitive systems have disproportionately harmed marginalized students. In San Francisco, this shift culminated in the 2020 passage of Resolution 206, which formally ended the school district’s partnership with the San Francisco Police Department and removed armed officers from campuses. This capstone examines the impact of that decision by exploring how school discipline practices have changed in the years since. Through interviews with members …

A Tale Of Two Organizations: San Francisco & Tokyo, An Analysis Of Urban Youth Poverty In The Developed World, Arturo Paredes

Master's Projects and Capstones

This study analyzes the experiences of low-income youth in terms of their access to educational opportunities in connection to their social mobility, the study focuses on two highly prosperous cities: San Francisco and Tokyo specifically dwelling into some affected population groups and overall neighborhoods where low-income populations are clustered in. The study delves into youth poverty as a complex phenomenon facing communities and its direct implications for the lives of youth in the context of educational experiences and its connection to socio-economic outcomes. By focusing on two organizations addressing this issue in each of the contexts, the study highlights interventions, …

Cultural Competence Among Nursing Faculty And Staff Utilizing An Educational Course To Promote Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Individually And Within The Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Jessica Shippee

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

Nurse educators play a pivotal role in fostering cultural competence among nursing students. The purpose of this quasi-experimental project was to provide an educational course to help nursing faculty and staff identify implicit bias, develop cultural competence, and recognize the importance of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into practice. A pretest-posttest design collecting demographic data and the Healthcare Provider Cultural Competence Instrument (HPCCI) was given to 21 participants, the course was six-hours and delivered over two days. Participants were asked the day of, before the intervention, to complete the instrument and immediately after the intervention on the second day. Varying …

Breaking Barriers: How Reusable Menstrual Products Can Enhance School Attendance And Education For Girls In Kenya, Talia Jacobson

Master's Theses

In Kenya, statistics show that at least one in ten girls who are of the age of puberty miss school during their menstruation hindering their ability to finish schooling, secure a stable employment, and live independently. This thesis aims to highlight the issue of girls missing school due to their menstrual cycle, a problem that persists globally despite being solvable. The primary focus is on how reusable sanitary products, such as reusable pads, can aid girls to stay in school longer by addressing affordability and accessibility issues associated with commercial products, while also offering environmental benefits. The question guiding my …

Downstream Delays: Effects Of Flooding On Childrens Education And Time Use In Peru, Miki Robert Izu

Master's Theses

Flooding is a major cause of destruction and economic loss affecting over 80 million people annually. Flooding during childhood can lead to educational setbacks with long term economic impacts. This study investigates the causal impacts of flood shocks on educational achievement and children's time use using the Young Lives Survey, a panel dataset surveying children in Peru over 19 years of childhood. This study finds that flooding causes a temporary positive "spike" in girls hours of labor immediately after a flood which subsides by three to six years after flooding. The additional hours of labor does not reduce hours of …

Climate Shocks, Crop Yields, And School Enrollment In Rural Ethiopia, Mallika Matharu

Master's Theses

This study investigates how climate-induced shocks to agricultural productivity affect school enrollment in rural Ethiopia. Using five waves of panel data from the Ethiopia Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) and satellite-derived weather indicators, I estimate the causal effects of crop yields, specifically Teff, Sorghum, and Maize, on children’s school attendance. To address the endogeneity of agricultural output, I instrument crop yields with agro-climatic measures such as growing degree days (GDD), harmful degree days (HDD), and soil moisture during the Meher growing season. The main empirical strategy uses a two-stage instrumental variable approach with region and wave fixed effects. Results suggest …

Decolonizing Education In The Post-Independent Madagascar By Utilizing Malagasy As The Primary Language Of Instruction In Schools, Patric R Razafimahafaly

Doctoral Dissertations

When the French colonial power structured the education system in Madagascar during colonization (1896-1960), they oriented it toward French needs and interests (Rosnes & Rakotoanosy, 2016). One of the relics of the French colonial influence that significantly affected Madagascar since its independence in 1960 is the choice of language of instruction in its domain of education. Even though Madagascar has its sole spoken and written language, “Malagasy,” that people use every day, it has decided to borrow French and utilize it as the language of instruction and administration for its people (Dahl, 2011; Rosie, 2012; McCaughey, 2020; Pirbay & Rosenboom, …

Mary Easton Sibley’S Envisioned Societal Roles Through Education, Andrea Gentry

The Confluence

Mary Easton Sibley, the founder of Lindenwood University, was an ambitious and strong-willed woman who promoted educational opportunities for women and minority groups. Biographers of Sibley tend to portray her promotion of education as an effort to empower (and equalize) women and minorities. However, while Mary promoted education for all, she did not promote the same education for everyone. Instead, she imagined education tailored to women, African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants that would reflect what she considered the “proper” roles played by each in society. This research explores what social movements in the 19th century influenced Mary Sibley in …

Entrepreneurs In The Making: A Qualitative Exploration Of Entrepreneurial Mindset In Engineering Learners, Ethan C. Howard

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

A prominent statistic within the field of entrepreneurship is the relatively low business failure rate of entrepreneurs holding engineering degrees compared with entrepreneurs holding other degrees. Engineers, particularly with software engineering and mechanical engineering backgrounds, account for approximately 20% of all billionaires and are similarly overrepresented among millionaires. The underlying reasons for how entrepreneurs achieve success has been explored in a number of ways, including in research on Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM). A collated model of EM highlights four key areas on the likelihood of entrepreneurial success for an individual: 1) cognitive perspective, 2) creating value by recognizing and acting on …

Capturing The Intersection Of Black-American, Muslim Males And Education: Exploring Their Attitudes, Perceptions, And Lived Experiences Within An Islamic Consciousness, Kirk A. Talib-Deen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation explored the lived realities of Black-American, Muslim males and their attitudes, perceptions, histories, and endurances toward higher learning in America. It attempted to join and contribute to the more significant, historical, and extant conversations and literature on Black-American males and education, as well as their successes and failures. This dissertation adds to the dearth of literature on the intersection of Black-American, Muslim males, and education, and using jazz as an epistemological way of navigating and organizing the content, the research works to uncover, locate, and define an Islamic consciousness. While negating racist histories concomitant with the American narrative …

Being In Community With Children And Engaging Their Full Range Of Civic Capabilities. A Response To "Learning To Talk And Listen In Elementary Social Studies: Exploring A Third-Grade Teacher’S Decision To Use Classroom Talk For Community Building", Katherina A. Payne

Democracy & Education

Early childhood social studies should open opportunities for children to make sense of their social world; the civic question of how we live together is central to the social world. Elementary classrooms are uniquely positioned to support democratic civic education given the amount of time children and adults spend together, the emphasis placed on cultivating a positive classroom community, and children’s capabilities to cultivate relationships full of care and concern for people from outside their close familial relations. In response to Lo’s (2025) examination of a third-grade teacher’s use of discussion to engage in contentious topics while cultivating a sense …

The Roles Of Productivity, Emotions, And Identities In Classroom Discourse. A Response To "Productive Discussion Across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences With Comfort And Discomfort Within Structured Discussions Of Public Policy Issues", Anne-Lise Halvorsen, Thomas (Tomás) Aviles

Democracy & Education

“Productive Classroom Discussion across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences of Comfort and Discomfort within Structured Discussion Strategies” offers a fresh perspective on high school classroom discussions by centering the role of emotions–in particular comfort and discomfort–and their relationship to students’ identities. In this response, we describe how this perspective on emotions and identities is vital and humanizing. We then build on the study’s considerations of emotions and identities in discussion, particularly for students from marginalized backgrounds, and offer additional perspectives about the purpose, format, and framing of these kinds of discussions.

Toward Discussion Facilitation That Enacts Collective Care. A Response To “Teaching Dobbs Where Divisive Concepts And Abortion Are Restricted”, Jenni Conrad

Democracy & Education

For both teacher candidates and teacher educators, facilitating discussions of contested issues in hyper-polarized climates remains a heavy lift. This response to “Teaching Dobbs…” celebrates the successes apparent in Geller’s team’s work and identifies key features that supported it. While cautioning readers against adopting avatar rehearsals elsewhere, I distill four themes of planning and enactment that show clear promise for broad transference in teacher education. Drawing from research exploring the interfaces of justice-oriented, practice-based, and democratic social studies scholarship, I offer pedagogical and logistical considerations for other teacher educators and researchers engaged in this ambitious and necessary work to sustain …

Learning To Talk And Listen In Elementary Social Studies: Exploring A Third-Grade Teacher’S Decision To Use Classroom Talk For Community Building, Jane C. Lo

Democracy & Education

With mounting polarization in the political arena and media sources, trust of one’s neighbors and of teachers are facing increasing strain in the United States. Furthermore, teachers continue to struggle with how to teach high-quality, nuanced, social studies, especially in the elementary setting, where time and resources for social studies has been depleting for decades (e.g., Fitchett et al., 2014; Heafner, 2018). Within this context, this study presents a case of a third-grade teacher who chooses to use discursive talk as a way to support high-quality social studies and to build community in her classroom. Findings suggest that classroom talk …

Productive Discussion Across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences With Comfort And Discomfort Within Structured Discussions Of Public Policy Issues, Gregory E. Mcavoy, Paula Mcavoy, Rachel Waltz, Emily Grace

Democracy & Education

This study investigates the effectiveness of two pedagogical strategies—deliberation and debate—in fostering productive political discussions among high school students, with a focus on overcoming affective polarization. Paying attention to students’ comfort, engagement, and willingness to participate, this study employs a mixed-method approach using data from surveys, observations, and interviews with students participating in a civic immersion program in Washington, DC. Using deliberative theory and the concept of “productive classroom discussion across political differences,” the research explores the extent to how students perceive each strategy as productive, as well as their experiences of comfort and productive and unproductive discomfort. Additional attention …

Fostering Open-Minded Political Engagement Through Online Interscholastic Discussions: Toward Reducing Affective Political Polarization, Brett L. M. Levy, Alina Lewis

Democracy & Education

This study explores how political discussions among diverse youth can support students’ open-minded political engagement. For this study, we collaborated with two teachers to adapt and enact instruction aimed at supporting students’ discussion of controversial issues across political, geographic, and cultural boundaries. During an instructional unit exploring various ways to strengthen our election system, students engaged in discussions with their classmates and with peers from another school via an online video discussion board. We collected data through observations and interviews. Our findings indicate that the instruction enhanced students’ understanding of their political bubbles and their motivation to engage in boundary-crossing …

Experiences Of Low-Risk, Low-Need Participants In A Gender-Neutral And Inclusive Domestic And Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Program, Kenneth W. Robison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traditional batterer intervention programs often prioritize male-perpetrator-female-victim models, thereby overlooking diverse relationship contexts and marginalized populations. Understanding participants’ experiences is essential for researchers, policymakers, counselor educators, and practitioners to develop alternatives to one-size-fits-all gender- specific strategies, which aligns with the call for more robust evidence-based practices. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study, guided by van Manen’s framework, was to explore the lived experiences of low-risk, low-need participants who completed a gender-neutral and inclusive domestic and intimate partner violence intervention program. The research answered what essential themes emerged from the participants’ lived experiences. Data were collected from (n=8) participants …

Teachers’ Beliefs About Asl And Its Impact In The Classroom, Cecilia Echevarria

Honors Scholar Theses

This study explores American Sign Language (ASL) teachers’ beliefs and experiences, and how they influence their instructional approaches and goals for their students. Despite ASL’s growing presence in education as a world language, minimal research has examined ASL teachers’ perspectives and how they shape classroom practices. Through semi-structured interviews, six ASL teachers – three Deaf and three hearing – this research identified four major themes: challenges teachers face in the classroom, cultural takeaways, best teaching practices, and persistent systemic issues affecting ASL’s status in education. Findings suggest that regardless of hearing status, teachers prioritize cultural awareness and respectful engagement with …

Law School News: Rwu Law Ranked #11 Nationally For Most Graduates In Public Interest Law Careers 4-15-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.