Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Students’ Epistemological Understanding Of Atomic Structure Models, Claire V. Ward, Morgan Balabanoff

The Cardinal Edge

Developing a robust understanding of atomic structure and the nature of matter is foundational across chemistry and STEM courses. The development of this concept is challenging because it relies on models to illustrate something not directly observable. Scientific models are important tools used to explain phenomena, particularly phenomena that are not directly observable. In general chemistry, students are typically asked to consider four different models: (1) the particle model, (2) the nuclear model, (3) the Bohr model, and (4) the Quantum model. Each depiction has its own advantages and limitations, where instructors introduce each model to explain specific parts of …

Exploring Retrieval Difficulties And Self-Confidence In An Assessment Of General Chemistry Students, Karen Julian, Morgan Balabanoff

The Cardinal Edge

Developing self-assessment skills is an important aspect of learning. Framed by assessment developed for the year-long sequence of general chemistry, students were asked to rate their ability to answer conceptual questions. Using cognitive interviews, this study revealed that people rely on a range of characteristics other than content knowledge to assess their confidence, including doubt, retrieval difficulty, and test-taking methods. These findings imply that more explicit instruction may be required to encourage correct self-assessment. Students can develop their metacognitive skills and calibrate their perceived ability by completing examinations meant to emphasize content knowledge gaps.

Prevalence And Risk Factors For Anxiety In Medical And Allied Health Students In The United States And Canada, Samantha A. Scott

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the current known prevalence and risk factors for anxiety in medical and allied health profession students. The framing question for this systematic review was, “What is the prevalence of and mitigation of risk factors for anxiety among medical and allied health profession students?” Method CINAHL, Medline, PsychInfo, and SportDiscus were searched for peer-reviewed English-language articles published between January 2000 to October 2020 reporting primary data on anxiety in U.S. and Canadian medical and allied health students. Searches used combinations of Medical Subject Heading terms students, allied health, nursing, medical, athletic training, …

An Investigation Into Posttraumatic Growth And Resilience After Trauma In African American Women, Britney A. Mitchell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among posttraumatic growth, resilience, and trauma in African American women. Posttraumatic Growth Theory was used as the theoretical foundation for the study. A correlational survey design was used to investigate the relationships among the variables of posttraumatic growth, resilience, and trauma among African American women. Four instruments were used in this study, including a demographic survey developed by the researcher, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10), and the Life Event Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5). This study will investigate how spirituality is used as a coping skill …

Shared Experiences Of Novice School Principals' Mentor Training: A Phenomenological Study Of The Experience Of Peer Educators, Bryan Martyn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the shared experiences of novice school principals’ mentor training and to gain an understanding of the experience of peer educators. This dissertation employed a qualitative case study methodology to interview Arizona principals with less than three years of experience who did not receive district-provided, formal mentorship training during their first years as principals to determine their experiences and support needs. I assessed the current literature on inexperienced principal mentorship programs in the United States via the lens of Kram’s Mentoring Model and then linked this literature to the principals’ reported concerns. …

The Effect Of A Psychologically Informed Video Series To Treat Adolescents' Patellofemoral Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial., Mitchell Selhorst, Jessica Hoehn, Laura Schmitt, Jason Benedict, Alicia Fernandez-Fernandez

HPD Articles

OBJECTIVE: To test whether a series of brief, psychologically informed educational videos added to physical therapy improved function among adolescents with patellofemoral pain (PFP). The secondary aims were to assess pain and psychological beliefs.

DESIGN: A double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

METHODS: Sixty-eight adolescents with PFP were randomly assigned to view brief, psychologically-informed videos (n=34) or control videos (n=34) in addition to usual care physical therapy. The psychologically-informed videos targeted fear-avoidance beliefs, kinesiophobia, and pain catastrophizing. The control videos conveyed basic anatomy, biomedical factors, and lower extremity mechanics. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, three weeks, six weeks (primary endpoint), and three …

Grounded School Choice In Uganda: Community Building From The Bottom To The Top, Jennifer Bennett, Joe Bishop, Shima Tondar

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

The non-profit organization, From the Bottom to the Top, has been working with the people of west-central Uganda to rebuild the education system, develop increased access to sustainable schools, and promote community involvement in school decisions. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of students, parents, teachers, and community members related to their choice of specific schools in a rural area of Uganda, which have been working in cooperation with From the Bottom to the Top. Interviews focused on students and families’ motivations to choose the school their children attend and observations of sustainable development efforts in their …

Leader-Member Exchange And The Effect Of Deaf Identity On Relationship Quality, David Hylan Jr., Melissa J. Hawthorne

JADARA

The focus of this study was the relationship between leaders and their team members and how Deaf identity can predict the quality of that relationship. Employment and personal identity are often linked, and this is true of Deaf identity. This study explores how Deaf identity impacts leader-member exchanges and seeks to identify components of Deaf identity that promote better workplace experiences. The results of a Pearson r correlation analysis supported a significant positive correlation between the Deaf Acculturation Scale score and the Leader-Member Exchange 7 questionnaire score. A linear regression analysis indicated that Deaf identity was a significant predictor of …

Evaluating The Benefits Of Mindfulness Based Practices In The Hospital Setting: A Case For Mindful Communication Interventions For Nurses, Annie Kaplon

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Recent stressors, such as COVID-19, have provided new challenges for healthcare workers, especially nurses, and have contributed to the increase in burnout rates in the hospital setting. Therefore, relief in this space is critical. Ample research demonstrates that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may help to improve well-being among healthcare providers more broadly. Literature supports that the practice of mindful communication, in particular, is helpful, not only in improving patient outcomes, but also in decreasing interpersonal stress among healthcare workers. This paper analyzes and synthesizes relevant studies, both qualitative and quantitative, and argues that mindful communication training improves the workplace environment for …

Equity Among Equity Workers: Public Service Motivation In An Educational Nonprofit Organization, Russell C. West Jr

Theses and Dissertations

What opportunities and challenges arise when an equity-focused educational organization aims to support employee’s individual equity practices while simultaneously developing the organization’s equity practice? In this study, employees of a non-profit educational organization were asked what rationales and expectations played a role in their decision to volunteer in an equity working group. Their responses were used to understand whether Perry’s (2000) process theory of Public Service Motivation helped describe their decision. In a second round of interviews, employees were asked what outcomes they perceived came from their participation. These responses were used to understand whether the outcomes aligned with those …

Affective Domain Development In Virtual Education: Visual Thinking Strategies And Art Pedagogy, Jayne Josephsen

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Development of the affective domain is linked to increasing self-awareness of internal dialogue, such as biases and assumptions, which can affect the ability of nurses to engage in person-centered care and meet the identified patient outcomes. Through visual thinking strategies (VTS) paired with art-based pedagogy to examine grief, loss, and bereavement concepts in a hospice and palliative care nursing virtual education course, affective domain development was advanced. Foundational to this virtual educational intervention was using the VTS framework of questions and pairing them with art-based pedagogy promoting open-ended interpretation and response to the art presented. This assisted the students in …

Recap Report: Girls Deliver Pre-Conference On Adolescent Girls At The Women Deliver 2023 Conference, Girl Center

Adolescents and Young People

The Girls Deliver: Pre-Conference on Adolescent Girls was held on July 16, 2023 in Kigali Rwanda to kick off the Women Deliver 2023 Conference. Girls Deliver was led by the Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning Center (GIRL Center) and co-hosted by AFIDEP, Amplify Girls, Baobab Research Programme Consortium, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Coalition for Adolescent Girls, Exemplars in Global Health, FP2030, Girl Effect, Girls First Fund, Hilton Foundation, NDI, Plan International, PMNCH, Purposeful, Together for Girls, UNICEF, Women Deliver, and The World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab.

This recap report presents an overview of Girls Deliver, a summary …

The Experiences Of Children On Sri Lanka's Tea Plantations: Labor And Sexual Exploitation, Violence, And Inadequate Education, Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Bandaranayake, Glenn M. Miles, Jarrett D. Davis, Madeline Stenersen, Anjum Umrani

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article explores the difficulties faced by children living in Sri Lanka’s tea plantation areas. Data from 150 children reveal high rates of poverty, violence, and school dropout. Children in tea plantation schools report bullying and stigma from teachers and students. Many children do not envision completing school due to inadequate resources, family income pressures, and the need to work. Children who drop out of school face abusive labor conditions and poor pay. Over 30% of all children report experiencing sexual abuse, often in their own homes. Those working face discrimination, physical abuse, and wage theft. Initiatives are needed to …

How Do We Teach Social Justice? A Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis Of Social Justice Andragogy, Bagmi Das, Isabel Farrell, Kriti Vashisht, Alexandra Gantt, Elisabeth Simpson, Adrianne Johnson

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Social Justice is a critical component of many of the helping disciplines. Similar goals govern these different disciplines, which are reflected in the scholarship of their professional training. However, the crossover in scholarship is limited. This review of social justice andragogy literature from various fields in the United States creates a conversation among these helping disciplines so that they may be able to learn from each other. From these separate realms of scholarship, the authors have derived terms and recommendations of what these disciplines may learn from one another through their shared obstacles and through processing of their work.

Understanding Recidivism: A Phenomenological Study Of Repeat Offenders' Lived Experiences Under Placer County, California Probation Supervision, Andrew Stephenson Beasley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study aimed to explore the lived experiences of repeat offenders under probation supervision within Placer County, California. The hierarchy of needs theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The central research question was: What are the lived experiences of the repeat offenders under Placer County, California probation supervision? The three guiding questions asked the following: 1) How do offenders describe their lived experiences as a repeat offender? 2) How do offenders describe the support or lack of support from correctional intervention? 3) How do participants perceive the challenges experienced after being released back to the community? …

Impact Of The Russia-Ukraine War On Education And International Students, Fakir Al Gharaibeh, Ifzal Ahmad, Rima Malkawi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study examines the effect of the Ukraine crisis on the national and international economy, which is intrinsically tied to education, research, and science. As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country’s economy plummeted sharply. This displaced many local and international students, teachers, and educators at Ukrainian universities, schools, and institutes, including girls and women. In this paper, we have highlighted the global effort to sustain higher education and accommodate displaced students. We have adopted an exploratory, descriptive analysis of media coverage of the Russia-Ukraine War and other statistical studies and articles generally addressing …

Gender Affirming Anesthesia: It’S More Than Pronouns, Matthew Klimesh, Angela Kurth

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Transgender individuals experience healthcare-related discrimination, resulting in significant disparities and negative health outcomes in comparison to the general population. Many CRNAs do not receive formal or adequate education before being expected to care for transgender patients that contributes to these negative health outcomes. To correct this problem, an educational intervention was created to improve anesthesia providers' knowledge of genderaffirming therapies and to survey anesthesia provider attitudes towards transgender patients and knowledge, beliefs, and preferences towards treating transgender patients. A sample of anesthesia providers was collected (n=27) that included SRNAs and CRNAs at varying levels of professional experience from diverse sociodemographic …

Trust, Transgression And Surrender: Exploring Teacher And Send Student Perceptions Of Engagement With Creative Arts Project-Based Learning (Capbl) Pedagogies, James Tarling

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

CAPBL is an example of a student-led, Creative Arts/Project-Based Learning (CAPBL/PBL) curriculum approach to working with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) learners. This mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study seeks to explore staff and student perceptions of working in this way and establish key themes for practice in relation to equity and inclusion. Although the literature on PBL is widespread, CAPBL is novel in that it brings these ideas to a specialist SEND, Creative Arts, post-16 context, Further Education (FE), with a particular focus on arts education currently absent from the existing literature. This small-scale research project is positioned as a participant-led …

Identifying Student Challenges In Organic Chemistry: Supporting Student Understanding Through Eye-Tracking, Think-Aloud Interviews And Alternative Questions, Lisa Ann Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Think-aloud interviews are a strategy used to identify misconceptions held by students. We incorporated think-aloud interviews and studied representational competence of novice and expert participants with identifying alkyl halides with multiple representations. We hypothesized that the participants would approach representations differently and think-aloud interviews would reveal misconceptions. Eye-tracking results showed that novice and expert participants differ in their approaches to representations and that novice participants spend more time on representations. Think-aloud interviews revealed that novice participants contain misconceptions on alkyl halide identification. This research provided insights on student understanding in identifying alkyl halides and representations, allowing instructors to use student …

Face Peace Design Brief #2: Education And Training Programs In The Digital Age, John Porten

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

This FACE Peace Design Brief considers education and training programs among peacebuilders in the digital age. Recent advances in technology, and cultural shifts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, have allowed program and event designers to consider a wide variety of tools and practices that allow education to happen at a distance or asynchronously.

Peacebuilding organizations often facilitate programs designed to train or educate. In some cases, these programs seek to impart specific technical skills to professional members of the peacebuilding community; in others, the seek to impart broader skills and knowledge to informal, grassroots peace practitioners. In some cases, …

The Effect Of Message Framing On Parents Of Youth Athletes Attitudes Toward Messages Promoting Healthy Athletic Training Recommendations, John Capra

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

Each year within the United States 73% of children and adolescents participate in some form of organized sport (Aspen Institute, 2020). This participation results in a high rate of injury necessitating 2.6 million emergency room visits each year (Merkel, 2013). Over half of these injuries incurred in youth sport are deemed overuse injuries (Valovich McLeod et al., 2011), which are a leading cause in the high attrition rate seen in youth athletics today (Persson et al., 2020; Mangan, 2018). In order to decrease the prevalence of these overuse injuries, the proper education of, and adherence to, certain recommended sport behaviors …

Equipped For Change: A Grounded Theory Study Of White Antiracist School Leaders’ Attitudes And Perceptions Of Racial Consciousness In Educational Leadership, Thomas Joseph Peterson

Education (PhD) Dissertations

There is substantial evidence that issues of race and racism and are common in U.S. public schools, especially those greatly impacted by poverty and racial segregation. Unfortunately, it is highly likely many of these occurrences either go unrecognized, unacknowledged, or are perpetrated unknowingly by White educators and administrators—many of whom are well-intentioned, but lack the critical lens necessary in challenging and dismantling them. For White people, the enculturating normativity of White racial dominance, maintained by the social conditioning of Whiteness, facilitates an environment of racial ignorance and insignificance, leaving most painfully oblivious to the damaging complexities of racism in contemporary …

Liberation And Inclusion Through The Voices Of Trans Youth: A Phenomenological Approach, Klaudia Neufeld

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this phenomenological study is to elevate trans youth voice to understand the essence of their individual and shared lived experiences within school systems designed for them to be silenced, excluded, and erased. In alignment with Eve Tuck’s desire-based research, this study is designed to counter deficit narratives of trans youth. Participants include six racially and ethnically diverse trans youth, ages 13−17 in the U.S. state of Colorado. Analyses revealed four themes: a gender-identity transition journey; navigating geography; safety and the impact of school culture; creating belonging through a coalition of community and friendship; and youth lessons …

The Effects Of The Diversion Program On Student Resilience, Mandi L. Merrill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The current study examined whether The Diversion Program is associated with an increase in student resilience. Fifty-one students 10- 18 years old participated in this study. Participants completed a resilience measure reflecting the multiple pathways and processes embedded in different contexts. A pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate the effects of the Diversion Program on students' resilience. As predicted, students’ resilience increased significantly from the pretest to the posttest. Results demonstrated the promise that resilience depends more on what we receive than what we have. This study serves as a beginning point to guide future resilience research, practice, and implementation …

“Oh, That’S For Girls”: Barriers To Men’S Enrollment In College Sex Education Courses, Savannah Burke

All Theses

American teens have diverse experiences with sex education that may leave some inadequately prepared for navigating their sexuality as emerging adults. For those who seek higher education, college-level sex education classes could fill this void. Yet, there is a notable gender gap in enrollment in college-level sex education classes across the US, with men being reluctant to taking these courses. Thus, it is important to understand what barriers prevent men from taking these classes. This study explores the roles that masculine ideology plays in dissuading men from enrolling in college-level sex education courses. Interviews with 17 masculine-identified college students who …

Student Identity In The Secondary Orchestra Classroom: An Ethnographic Study, Kelton Burnside

Music Theses and Dissertations

Identity formation, as a critical process during adolescence, has been found to impact the musical and non-musical lives of students. As students rise to secondary education in the United States, they are navigating complex intersections of identity and the presentation of those identities within complex social environments. Marginalized communities are navigating many of these identities with a lack of support from those in their lives, whether from family, friends, peers, teachers, coaches. The historic underrepresentation of people of color, women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals in the Western Classical Tradition adds another layer of complexity to student identity in the orchestra classroom. …

Redefining “Lgbtq+ Interculture” In Academia, Samantha Winterberg, Michelle Mccraney

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Members of the LGBTQ+ community often face discrimination, harassment, and exclusion in academic settings, which can negatively impact their academic and personal success. Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ students are more likely to experience negative mental health conditions, drop out of school, and struggle to find employment after graduation. Cultural humility fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is critical to ensuring an equitable educational experience for all students, particularly those from marginalized communities. Intercultural understanding is essential to develop cultural humility so that attitudes reflect empathy and tolerance of differences, including sexual or gender orientation variances or ambiguity. Understanding how …

Konig, Irene, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Irene Konig’s mother was born in Ukraine, coming to the United States at 2 years old, while her father was born on the Lower East Side. Konig grew up with her parents and brother in a one bedroom apartment on Morris Avenue across from Taft High School. At 15 years old, they moved to East 180 St near Tremont Avenue because their apartment building was sinking and condemned by the city, before moving to the Highbridge neighborhood, later. She recalls the Bronx deteriorating, with burning buildings and trash on the streets, as she got older.

On Morris Avenue, the neighborhood …

Multilingualism At The Margins, Estrella Olivares-Orellana

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article is a book review of The Multilingual Reality: Living with Languages by Ajit Mohanty.

Black Women And Theoretical Frameworks, Laschanda Johnson

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Despite the upsurge in the number of woman students as well as novice faculty /administrators, there are still too few women leaders to inspire the shifting demographics. The growing number of female undergraduate students in most parts of the world has created the erroneous perception that gender equality in higher education has been attained. While women's contribution to higher education has increased, the attainment of leadership positions is practically unknown from the global perspective. Given that higher education is becoming a more complicated global enterprise, gender equality in leadership is not only an issue of impartiality but also a need …