Digital Commons Network^™

Comparing University Student Performance In Online V. Face-To-Face Offerings Of The Same Course, And Investigating Student Perceptions Of Satisfaction In An Online Course, Kristin Davidson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Online education in the United States has seen dramatic growth for the past decade, outpacing any other growth in higher education. The concurrent mixed-methods study that was conducted for this research used data from a survey geology course taught in both environments, online and traditional face-to-face. The quantitative research focused on comparing student performance in an online course relative to the same face-to-face course, while the qualitative research investigated how students described their experiences taking an online class. Previous work in online education has been limited by relatively small sample sizes, conducting studies over just one semester, comparing dissimilar courses …

Does Degree Matter? : An Exploration Into The Stigmatization Of Mental Illness By Social Workers And Other Mental Health Professionals, Alexandria R. Huber

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This quantitative descriptive study sought to explore any differences in stigmatization by social workers and other mental health professionals. The second research question explored whether mental health professionals felt their degree program actively challenged them to explore stigma towards those with mental illness. Fifty participants completed an anonymous online survey that included the Community Attitudes Towards Mental Illness scale, measuring stigma of mental illness. There were an additional four Likert scale questions exploring stigma of mental illness, and the participants perspectives of their education about stigma. The findings indicated that social workers had a lower mean score on the subscale …

Players, Consumers And Creators: Literacy Orientations Among Adolescents Attending A Small, Rural School, Christina Marie Robison

Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological study identifies three distinct literacy orientations among ten eighth and ninth grade students who attend a small, rural school in Northern New England: Game Players, Critical Consumers, and Aspirational Creators. In order to understand ongoing challenges for rural students in post-secondary life, students’ literacy practices, values and beliefs are examined within the context of students’ lived experiences and analyzed through the lens of literacy sponsorship. Their literacy practices, which are superficially uniform, are shown to have varying significance depending upon their literacy orientations. These underlying philosophies represent the purpose students perceive their literacy practices serve: to further their …

A Mixed Methods Study Of The Effects Of Family-­‐Centered Transition Planning On The Quality Of Transition Individualized Education Plans Of Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Alan James Kurtz

Doctoral Dissertations

Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have typically experienced poor outcomes as they have transitioned from school to adult life. Quality school-­‐based transition planning has been found to improve outcomes for youth with disabilities in general. This mixed-­‐methods study was designed to examine the effects of a family-­‐ centered transition planning project on the transition Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) of youth with ASD. Thirty-­‐nine youth with ASD and their families were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or control group. Pre-­‐ and post-­‐intervention IEPs were collected for each youth. The IEPs were analyzed to determine differences in changes to …

Distress Among Psychologists: Prevalence, Barriers, And Remedies For Accessing Mental Health Care, Kimberly Patterson-Hyatt

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study completed a critical review of psychologists’ mental health by developing a conceptual analysis based on the current empirical literature of the mental health needs of clinical psychologists. Distress among psychologists was explored by examining the following domains: (a) examining the prevalence of mental illness and psychological distress that exist among them, (b) examining the barriers they encounter to seeking treatment when experiencing this distress, and (c) reviewing current interventions and integrating remedies for access to mental health care that best meets psychologists’ needs. Results included several themes within each domain shaping a contextual picture of some of the …

Best Storytelling Practices In Education, Calvin Bonds

Theses and Dissertations

Effective teaching strategies can be defined as utilizing the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, which include understanding, application and analysis (Flynn, Mesibov, Vermette & Smith, 2004). Teachers that use effective teaching strategies can significantly impact the future earnings of their students. Students that are recipients of these strategies receive a higher quality of K-12 education, which leads to a higher caliber of colleges and universities chosen. As a result of the higher education institutions attended, students become more competitive when entering an evolving workforce, earning higher salaries. This study explores the effective teaching strategy of storytelling. It identifies best practices …

To The Memory Of R. Freivalds, Efim Kinber

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

The paper contains author’s memories of his mentor and teacher R. M. Freivalds.

Enhancing Entry-Level Physiotherapy Student Learning In Interpreting Radiology – An Action Research Project, Courtney R. Clark, Andrea Bialocerkowski

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: In Australia, the ability to interpret orthopaedic x-rays is an entry-level skill for physiotherapists. Yet there is a paucity of evidence in the literature which details effective learning and teaching methods to optimise confidence and competence in x-ray interpretation. The aims of this study were to describe the content contained in an orthopaedic radiology module within an Australian 2-year graduate entry Master of Physiotherapy degree; approaches to learning and teaching used in this module; student satisfaction associated with this module over a 2-year period. Method: The University’s framework for quality assurance, which is based on the Plan-Implement-Review-Improve underpinned this …

Homeschooling: Choosing Parental Rights Over Children's Interests, Martha Fineman, George B. Shepherd

University of Baltimore Law Review

Homeschooling, the most extreme form of privatization of education, often eliminates the possibility of the child gaining the resources essential for success in adult life. It sacrifices the interests of the child to the interests of the parents, allowing them to control and isolate the child’s development. In addition, homeschooling frustrates the state’s legitimate interest in the child’s receiving a sound, diverse education, so that the child can achieve her potential as a productive employee and as a constructive participant in civic life. This Article uses vulnerability theory as a heuristic frame both to reexamine the dominant rhetoric of parental …

How I Got Over : Young African American Men Tell The Story Of How They Achieved Academic Success : A Descriptive Study, Rebecca M.C. Ramer

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

African American males fall behind their White counterparts in almost every measure of academic success. College completion rates for Black males are the lowest among all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. This exploratory study interviewed 13 African American men who were currently enrolled in college or who had graduated college. The goal of the study was to identify factors that these successful men identified as having contributed to their academic achievement. Thirteen men between the ages of 18 and 40 who identify as African American participated in semi-structured interviews that were recorded and then analyzed using a grounded theory …

The Adjustment Of First Year African American Women To Predominately White Institutions: Implications For Best Practices, Maisha Beasley

Doctoral Dissertations

Currently, both scholarly literature and educational practice are lacking depth and scope about the lived experience of African American (AA) female students, and, as a result, they lack effectiveness for this population of students. In particular, they do not address the varying ways AA female students adjust to the university during their first year, the most critical year for student retention and persistence in the college experience (Pike & Kuh, 2005), nor do they recognize how intersectionalities of identities in AA women are salient to successes and challenges at PWIs. This study addresses this gap in the research by not …

College Readiness Of Tennessee Students, Tennessee. Comptroller Of The Treasury.

Office of Research and Education Accountability

No abstract provided.

Pembangunan Modul Bioteknologi Bagi Mata Pelajaran Biologi Sekolah Menengah / Rashidah Begum Gelamdin, Gelamdin Rashidah Begum

Student Works (2010-2019)

Kajian ini bertujuan membangunkan Modul Bioteknologi bagi mata pelajaran Biologi sekolah menengah. Kajian pembangunan ini berasaskan Model Pengajaran Isman yang melibatkan fasa input, proses, output dan maklum balas serta Sembilan Langkah Pengajaran Gagne berkaitan dengan proses pengajaran. Dalam fasa input, analisis keperluan melibatkan sesi temu bual guru Biologi Tingkatan empat dan lima dan soal selidik kepada pelajar Tingkatan lima; penentuan tahap pengetahuan teknologi, pedagogi dan bioteknologi guru Biologi serta analisis kandungan sukatan pelajaran Biologi dari negara Indonesia, China (Hong Kong), Singapura dan Malaysia. Fasa proses melibatkan proses pembangunan Modul Bioteknologi melalui penggunaan dua pusingan satu Teknik Delphi Ubahsuaian. Fasa output …

It's Time To Talk About Sex And Social Work : Why Human Sexuality Education Matters For Social Work Practice, Sophia R. Glass

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This researched investigated human sexuality training received in social work programs and its impact on clinical practice. Specifically, it examined clinicians’ comfort and competency addressing sex and sexuality related topics with clients. 67 participants were recruited via a nonprobability snowball sampling technique, and data was gathered anonymously through a secure web-based survey instrument. The findings supported the author’s hypothesis that there is a substantial lack of human sexuality training in social work programs despite the finding that sexuality is highly relevant to clinical work. Barriers to social workers effectively addressing these topics with clients were identified as inadequate education and …

Testimonio And Re/Membering: A Case For Latcrit In The Latina/O Educational Crisis, Anthony R. Zariñana

Research Papers

In this paper, I outline the present educational crisis facing Latina/o students in the U.S. I then trace the emergence of LatCrit out of Critical Race Theory as a particularly powerful theory accounting for Latina/o minority experiences in educational contexts. I offer my own Testimonio, centering my raced body in order speak back to everyday racist practices of educators. I conclude by offering a dream imperative to continue the work of Testimonios.

Best Practices In Museum Education, William W. Fleming Jr.

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Museums are visited more often than ever before, and as a result, are offering far more educational and interactive experiences to draw in a greater audience. As such, it is important to define how learning takes place in the museum setting, and also, how the museum experience can be refined in order to better accommodate visitor learning and their experience. The problem is, however, the museum setting is a nontraditional and unstructured environment, far different than the classroom, and museum staff, usually reserved to maintaining the collection and nothing else, are now being forced to build the museum experience around …

High Wire, No Net: Emergence From Generational Poverty Without Higher Education, Corey Alan Caugherty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Existing literature indicates that education is vital to overcoming poverty, yet educational prospects for those in persistent, generational poverty (GP) are often limited. This qualitative phenomenological study centered on the emergence from GP of individuals without formal education beyond 12th grade or a high school equivalency certificate, and explored how those who have done it perceived their experiences. Rutter's resilience theory was the conceptual framework for examining this phenomenon and its challenges and processes. A sample of five adult participants from the United States were recruited using a snowball method, completed a screening survey, and then participated in in-depth interviews. …

Effects Of Early Childhood Education On Kindergarten Readiness Scores, Janis Monrose Modeste

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this correlational study, which took place in a Central Florida school district, was to investigate the relationship between the quality of the early childhood education (ECE) programs and students' kindergarten readiness scores. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which states that a child's environment, culture, and language are related to academic and social development, was the theoretical framework for this study. Many ECE centers have been rated using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Additionally, some children in those centers have been rated for kindergarten readiness using the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) developed by the Florida Department of …

Socioeconomic Status As A Predictor Of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Hilaire Saint-Pierre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While epidemiological research has generated new knowledge about the treatment and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) through smoking secession, the socioeconomic status (SES) of people with the disease has been under investigated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the predictability of association between SES and COPD. This study was based on the ecological theory, which states that health and disease may have multiple underlying factors. This study was a secondary analysis of archived data from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). The dataset was collected for the National Survey of Midlife Development …

Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book 2014-2015, Tennessee. Higher Education Commission.

Higher Education Fact Book

No abstract provided.

Examining U.S. Middle School Students' Achievement In A Blended Learning Environment, Bernadette Ortiz-Brewster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

U.S. middle schools are increasing offering blended learning curricula that integrates virtual and face-to-face instruction, but the effectiveness of this mode of instruction at the middle school level has not been adequately explored. This investigation provides additional data to the current body of knowledge related to blended learning as a viable option for middle school students. The theoretical framework for this investigation derives from Lev Vygotsky's social development theory and Jean Piaget's constructivist theory of knowledge. The central research question focused on the difference in achievement scores between 6th grade students participating in a virtual course as compared to …

An Analysis Of Education Reform In Sub-Saharan Africa, Katharine Eger

CMC Senior Theses

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to fall behind other developing regions regarding educational attainment, despite recent progress in enrollment. This thesis examines a variety of external conditional factors that could contribute to a country’s relative success, in terms of years spent in school using a prediction model that compares years enrolled in secondary education as a foundation to determine over- and under-performing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

By exploring various educational policies, historical patterns, and projects executed in Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, and Botswana, this thesis sheds light on four main challenges that can impact educational attainment: ethnic and racial tensions, an acute …

In Pursuit Of Women Scientists: Using Science Plays To Promote Women Entering Stem Disciplines, Danielle Hartman

Theses and Dissertations

Higher education currently seeks to increase female enrollment in STEM. Women face many challenges attempting to breach this male dominated arena with misconceptions, gender stereotypes, and few female role models. With the recent trend in higher education to encourage more women to enter the STEM disciplines and K-12 schools cutting funding for arts programs, theatre may be losing its value in the education system. The value of interdisciplinary studies is beginning to be forgotten during the grade school years as school boards battle budget cuts, but we can remind society of it through science plays. Theatre artists use other disciplines …

Population Health Science: A Core Element Of Health Science Education In Sub-Saharan Africa, Robert A. Hiatt, Natalie J. Engmann, Mushtaq Ahmed, Yasmin Amarsi, William Macharia, Sarah B. Macfarlane, Anthony Ngugi, F. Rabbani, Gijs Walraven, Robert Armstrong

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa suffers an inordinate burden of disease and does not have the numbers of suitably trained health care workers to address this challenge. New concepts in health sciences education are needed to offer alternatives to current training approaches. A perspective of integrated training in population health for undergraduate medical and nursing education is advanced, rather than continuing to take separate approaches for clinical and public health education. Population health science educates students in the social and environmental origins of disease, thus complementing disease-specific training and providing opportunities for learners to take the perspective of the community as a critical …

Chiropractic Student Infection Control Practices And Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Skin Infections, Jonathon Todd Egan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Chiropractic training involves many hours of skin contact, and chiropractors have manual contact with millions of patients annually, but chiropractic has only had professional clinical hygiene guidance since 2010. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most common cause of cultured skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) in the United States. Using the epidemiologic triad of person, place, and time as a framework, this quantitative, cross-sectional study obtained the first assessment of MRSA SSTI incidence among chiropractic students and its association with infection control behaviors (hand and table hygiene, sharing gowns, and sharing lotion) and initiation of patient care. The study …

Single-Gender Education At An Urban Middle School, Calvin Rogers Hooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several recent studies have critiqued the cognitive science behind single gender education, and social cognitive theory has demonstrated that gender inequality in the classroom may inhibit students' academic achievement. This study examined a single-gender education program for both middle school boys and girls established to remedy academic achievement deficiencies at a public charter school, to be identified as Urban Charter School (UCS), located in an urban area. The key research questions examined the trend in mathematics and reading student outcomes over a 6-year period, the relationship between gender and outcomes in mathematics and reading, and the comparison of outcomes between …

Improving Pain Management For Hospitalized Patients, Ronda Sweet

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Uncontrolled pain has proven effects on both physiological and psychological responses of hospitalized patients. These incapacitating sequelae most often negatively impact patient outcomes resulting in unnecessary suffering and prolong hospitalizations. First line nurses often have preconceived notions about a patient's pain without developing an individualized patient context that considers appropriate pain management knowledge translated from best practice standards. Guided by Bandura's social learning theory and Lippitt's change theory, the purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if use of the Curriculum Outline on Pain for Nursing from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) improved nursing …

Yuli's Story: Using Educational Policy To Achieve Cultural Genocide, Katrina Johnson Leon

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

All children residing in the United States have the right to a quality education. At least that is our collective expectation. Through the lived experience of Yuli, a Native American woman from the Southwest, you will discover, due to her birth on a remote reservation, she was not given the same access to education you or I would expect. On Yuli’s reservation, the school system is managed by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Rather than provide K-12 schooling, the BIE operates K-8 on her reservation and then Native youth who want to go to high school must move off-reservation. …

Design Thinking For The Development Of Formal Operations: A Team-Based Middle School Design Curriculum, Stephanie K. O'Dell

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I propose a team-based design curriculum that aligns with the cognitive development of middle school age students. The ability to think abstractly develops at a specific time in development, according to widely accepted cognitive theory. The middle school years are the launching pad of abstract thinking. At this age, students are also primed for learning through social activity. The design process often includes abstract problem solving challenges, and working within a team structure. These ideas build a foundation for a research question—could a team-based design curriculum in middle school strengthen students’ natural cognitive development by providing opportunities …

Experiences Of Neurotypical Siblings Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Exploration, Stacie R. Keirsey

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In recent years, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been on the rise, prompting a simultaneous increase in scientific study regarding cause, impact, and intervention (Hughes, 2009; Ravindran & Myers, 2012). Research has proposed advances in the treatment of the individuals diagnosed and focused efforts on scholastic, parental, and professional intervention and supports. However, the siblings of ASD children have largely been neglected in this scientific investigation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore neurotypical siblings’ experiences in living with a child diagnosed with ASD. Seven adolescents were selected using criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling. …