Digital Commons Network^™

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

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

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

A Manual For An Evangelical State Prison Chaplaincy, Aaron Mobley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

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

Preparing For 1:1 Technology: Impact On Collaboration, Instruction, And Student Learning, Pamela R. Schwallier

Masters Theses

The purpose of this action research project was to examine how the preparation of a 1:1 technology initiative, through professional development and early access to devices, in secondary (6-12) schools affected personal computing skills of teachers as well as collaboration, instruction, and student learning. This study takes place at West Ottawa Public Schools where district educators received personal Chromebooks and had ongoing professional development throughout the 2015-2016 school year to prepare specifically for the successful adoption of the 1:1 technology model in the 2017-2018 school year. The district is able to provide personal Chromebooks for all students entering grades 7-12 …

Equitable Student Engagement: A Correlation Between Personalized Learning, Student Engagement, And Poverty Level, Andrea Yeager Neuzil

Student Work

The student population in classrooms across America is growing increasingly diverse in socio-economic background, schema, and learning styles; however, far too many academic programs are designed for a “one size fits all approach” that does not engage students. Educational leaders who promote new ways to personalize instruction in order to improve student engagement reap benefits far beyond what is expected. The researcher investigates the relationship of personalized learning and student engagement and socio-economic status. Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of student engagement as a means to improve academic achievement, school climate, and family and community involvement. The researcher includes …

Teachers And The Development Of Student Noncognitive Skills, Albert Cheng

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

Towards Building A Computer-Aided Accreditation System, Emmanuel Alejandro Santillana Fayett

Theses and Dissertations

Accreditation is a big subject. What is accreditation? Why should it matter to us? How many types of accreditation can an institution have? Is the government involved? What issues are present? How can we improve the accreditation process? All these questions will be covered in this paper. In addition, I will build towards a software that will apply the most important points in this paper, like applying the mission, objectives, and outcomes expected from the students in the form of a syllabus. This will help the faculty with the accreditation process and will help the students know what is expected …

Making A Difference Through Parental Involvement: Techniques Teachers Can Utilize In Kindergarten Bilingual Classrooms, Monica I. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of parental involvement in the education of all children is essential in schools. The schools that promote parental involvement prepare students for excellence in their education. Parental involvement, gives students opportunities and advantages by reinforcing and fortifying their learning. Different perspectives and viewpoints were examined, focusing on bilingual students and some Spanish speaking parents in a school in south Texas.

By finding what is causing low parental involvement and by listening to strategies used by educators that help increase parental involvement, this research provides answers on how to help parents get involved in their children’s education. Empowering parents …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Social Learning Remixed: Peer-Based Learning And Social Status In An Online Community Of Practice, Christopher Erin Mikkelson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People have engaged in peer-to-peer learning within communities of practice (CoPs) for centuries. Thanks to web 2.0 technology, people in the 21st century can now learn together and enact Social status even if they have never met face-to-face. Online communities of practice have since formed around a wide variety of activities, one of which is remixing. Remixing is defined as combining or editing existing materials to produce something new, but leaving each part recognizable as a separate entity. Remixing has recently been recognized as form of digital literacy because users must understand each component to make a good remix. Much …

Black Male Emerging Adults: Investigating Inequalities In Adult Transitions, Social Learning, And Criminality, De Andre' Terrell Beadle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emerging adulthood is a life stage that developed as a result of numerous macro-structural changes in recent decades (Arnett 2015), and which has implications for life course criminality and identity formation (Massoglia & Uggen 2010). Much research has been done in the area of the new life stage known as “emerging adulthood,” however little to no research has been done on how emerging adulthood relates to or changes classic findings in criminology, especially about the importance of disadvantages embedded in racial inequalities. This mixed method study analyzes data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) to examine Social …

Law Library Blog (August 2016): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Digital Games Used In Irish Schools: The Drill And Practice Has Turned Digital, Mariana Rocha, Brendan Tangney, Pierpaolo Dondio

Conference papers

Widespread studies show learning through games stimulates students’ engagement, motivation and enthusiasm. Moreover, games could improve abilities like information assimilation and retention, motor coordination, and capacity of thinking quickly and concentrating (Koh et al., 2012). While previous surveys have showed how digital games are commonly used as educational tools, the present study aims to analyze the features of the digital games that are being used. To this aim, we first developed a survey to collect a list of digital games used in Irish classrooms. Then, those games were classified by means of a framework developed by the authors, considering technical …

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

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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

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

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

Designing Place-Sensitive Professional Development: A Critical Ethnography Of Teaching And Learning Argumentative Writing, Sarah N. Holland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the experiences of teachers participating in a two-year professional development program designed by the National Writing Project and funded by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant. Informed by New Literacy Studies’ ideological model of literacy as a Social practice and rural literacies’ notion of pedagogies of sustainability, this study employs critical ethnography and discourse analysis to analyze the discourse of teachers participating in the College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP) in order to understand how professional development might be adjusted to re-empower teachers. Data sources included field notes, interviews, lesson …

Verbing History: A Textualist Approach To Gendered Politics In U.S. History Curriculum, Ginney Patricia Norton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using three curricular interventions from World War II, I employ an alternative rhetorical history to understand how Social studies curriculum has become a space for the simultaneous deliberation of both national identity and gender politics. In working through the propaganda of Rosie the Riveter, the stories of the women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the experiences of gay men and women in the military during the war, I suggest that Social studies curriculum normalizes and reifies gendered, racial, and queer citizenship in relationship to white, masculine, and heteronormative citizenship. It also utilizes epideictic rhetoric to rhetorically and historically construct problematic …

Discretion And The Implementation Of Federal Disability Policy In Postsecondary Education, Katy Annette Washington

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disability Services Providers (DSPs) have historically been the personnel tasked with implementing federal disability policy at postsecondary institutions primarily since the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The model adopted by the majority of DSP offices is student-driven and requires students seeking academic accommodations must go through a formal process to determine eligibility for services, and then play an active role in their provision. Disability-related policies at the campus level are usually authored by DSPs who are seen as experts by the institution and its stakeholders. However, sometimes …

Calculus Problems, Joshua N. Cooper

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Bringing Students Back To Mathematics: Classroom Knowledge And Motivation, Giang-Nguyen T. Nguyen, Joel B. Goodin

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper reports part of a larger research study that investigated how teachers motivate students to learn mathematics at the college level. Findings from the study indicated that teachers have the power to influence and reinvigorate students who had given up learning mathematics. In the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the researchers analyzed five students’ motivational levels based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to see how each student was motivated by their teacher. Findings from the study could provide some directions for future research on students’ motivation to learn mathematics.

Assessing Male Vs. Female Business Student Perceptions Of Plagiarism At A Southern Institution Of Higher Education, Daniel Adrian Doss, Russ Henley, Ursula Becker, David Mcelreath, Hilliard Lackey, Don Jones, Feng He, Mingyu Li, Shimin Lin

Georgia Educational Researcher

Plagiarism, cheating, and academic dishonesty affect institutions of higher education. This study examines student perceptions of plagiarism within a Southern, Division-II teaching institution. This study employed a five-point Likert-scale to examine differences of perceptions between male versus female business students. Two statistically significant outcomes were observed between males and females involving the notions that plagiarism is perceived as a necessary evil and that plagiarism is illegal. Respectively, the analyses of the means showed that both male and female respondents tended toward disagreement concerning whether plagiarism is a necessary evil and neutrality regarding whether plagiarism is illegal.

Convening Experts On Children And International Criminal Justice, Diane Marie Amann

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Literacy And Citizenship: Helping Students Learn The Importance Of Being An Informed And Educated Citizen, Luke H. Schlegel

English and Creative Writing Summer Fellows

My project utilizes the concept of Understanding by Design, as outlined by education experts Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, to craft a 12-week curriculum for high school junior and senior English students. McTighe and Wiggins use backwards planning to create long-term learning goals for students. Rather than superficially trying to cover a wide range of material in class, which results in short-term acquisition of knowledge mostly forgotten in the long run, McTighe and Wiggins focus on “big ideas,” that generate conceptual understanding. Ultimately, students will be able to transfer this knowledge to settings outside of the classroom. To help them …

Amref Health Africa: Lasting Health Change In Africa, Diana Mukami

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Special Session presented on Friday, 22 July 2016: This session will describe in detail a program delivered by Amref Health Africa (Amref Flying Doctors in The Netherlands) and supported by The Elsevier Foundation. Both organizations share the passion to support nurses to do their, often challenging, job. We both do this by providing them with knowledge and skills. Amref Health Africa, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK), Rutgers, and nurse training institutions has been implementing a mobile learning initiative to support the professional development of health providers. Dubbed 'Jibu', a Kiswahili word meaning …

How To Publish: An Author Workshop, Nelouise Geyer, Judith C. Bruce, Deliwe Rene Phetlhu

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Workshop presented on Thursday, 21 July 2016.

This two-part workshop will first explain the process nurses should follow to publish their research in a qualified journal. Writing for publication in scholarly journals can be considered a 'journey.' But writing for publication has, for most, become a requisite of professional practice - for educators, nurses and managers - as a means of communicating the findings of research; sharing new developments, innovations and best practices; and stimulating discussions on local, national and international stages. Knowing what to expect from journal editors and publishers is a good way to make sure the process …

Deconstructing The Diagnosis: Making The Case For A New Discourse On Childhood Cancer, Jessika Carmen Boles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Childhood cancer is both a medical ailment and a cultural phenomenon created within dominant discursive notions of childhood/adulthood, health/illness, and life/death binaries. Research to date on the learning and development of children with cancer has primarily focused on quantifying the knowledge they possess about their illness and treatment and recommendations for medical staff based on the child's assumed capabilities and limitations. Little is known about how children with cancer actively negotiate discursive beliefs in this context. Therefore, the purpose of this Foucauldian (1970) post-structural case study research was to deconstruct the ways in which children with cancer learn about their …

Emotional Intelligence And Graduates - Employers' Perspectives, Ailish Jameson, Aiden Carthy, Colm Mcguinness, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

Research has demonstrated that employers favour graduates who possess higher levels of emotional intelligence. Many

initiatives to increase students’ levels of EI have involved ‘whole school’ approaches, whereby generic EI skills programmes are

delivered to all students in a third level institute. This paper details an initial survey of employers’ (n = 500) opinions on the

importance and current level of graduates’ social and emotional competencies. The survey was completed across five sectors:

engineering, IT/computing, professional services (including accounting, business, finance, HR, law, retail), science (including

pharmaceutical and life), and social science which are identified growth industries in Ireland. It …

One Perspective On Harriet Cuffaro: A Story Of Engagement And Experience, Celia Genishi

Occasional Paper Series

The author presents her learning process in creating this essay, by highlighting some of Harriet Cuffaro's many insights, which she offers within the context of an unfolding story. She also takes the liberty of weaving her story together with Cuffaro's, interwoven with aspects of John Dewey’s philosophy.

How Challenged And Overwhelmed Faculty Become Supported And Empowered In Curriculum Development, Evaluation And Revision, Meredith L. Roberts

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Session presented on Sunday, July 24, 2016:

Purpose: To discover the perceptions of faculty related to their preparedness and confidence in developing, evaluating, and revising nursing curriculum and to use faculty's constructions to develop a theory (challenged and overwhelmed) and model of understanding (Supported and Empowered) to support faculty's growth and competence in curriculum development, evaluation and revisio.

Methods: Constructivist Grounded Theory explored and compared the perceptions and processes of nursing faculty regarding their preparedness and confidence in developing, evaluating, and revising curriculum and the processes used for preparation. The Excellence in Nursing Education Model (NLN, 2006) assisted in providing …