Digital Commons Network^™

Georgia Public Fire Investigators’ Behavioral Approach To Fire Scene Investigation, Kyle R. Bradshaw

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Wrongful prosecutions for the crime of arson are occurring. An identified cause of this problem is the investigation processes used by public fire investigators. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to identify the targeted behaviors that influence public fire investigators when conducting fire scene investigation. Street-level bureaucracy theory indicates public fire investigators are street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). The intent of this study was to identify behavioral interventions that can be implemented to aid public fire investigators in their approach to fire scene investigation. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 10 public fire investigators in a metropolitan …

Offshore Wind Industry Interorganizational Collaboration Strategies In Emergency Management, Rodney L. Brady

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some health and safety (HSE) managers within the offshore wind industry lack effective interorganizational collaboration strategies in emergency management (EM) for successful disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The failure and the reluctance of neighboring offshore wind industry organizations to share knowledge or resources during a disaster could hinder successful disaster response operations resulting in preventable loss of life, extensive property damage, or damaged company reputations. Grounded in the interorganizational collaboration theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies HSE managers in the offshore wind industry use for successful disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. …

The Nutrition Environment Among Young San Children In Oshandi: A Case Study, Evelyn Ndinelao Breuer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractUndernutrition among young San children under the age of five remains prominent in Namibia, despite nutritional intervention programs. Guided by the model of community nutritional environment conceptual framework and social-ecological model, this case study involved exploring perceptions of San parents and local nutritional service providers regarding the nutritional environment of San children in Oshandi Village. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to conduct this research with 12 participants, five local nutritional service providers and seven San parents who had children under five. Irregular and unreliable nutritional support was a factor leading to not explicitly addressing needs of the San people, …

Intimate Partner Violence In Women Of African American And African Cultures, Patricia Brooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent social problem that results in a high number of deaths, psychological trauma, and physical mutilation. Previous research showed African American women as having elevated rates of intimate partner violence attributable to a lack of representation in epidemiological studies due to low socioeconomic status and cultural norms. In Central and West Africa, IPV is associated with childhood marriages, lack of education, cultural norms, and socioeconomic status. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and cultural views of both African American and African women and how they use these cultural …

Strategies For Implementing Successful Mentoring Programs, Valerie Denise Brooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations face challenges with leadership succession in the healthcare industry because of the enormous number of baby boomers retiring. Leaders in the healthcare industry are concerned with the large number of employees retiring in leadership roles and finding replacements for these roles. Grounded in social learning theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies healthcare leaders use to implement mentoring programs for early-career leaders. The nine participants were managers and leaders in health care agencies in South Carolina who had at least ten years of experience implementing successful mentoring programs. Data were collected using semistructured …

Prodigy Game And Third-Grade Mathematics Achievement In An Urban Setting, Christina D. Brooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students in Urban District 1 were not meeting grade level learning outcomes in mathematics on state- and district-administered benchmark assessments. The purpose of this study was to determine if including a specific educational video game (EVG), Prodigy, in mathematics instruction with third-grade students would influence students’ math achievement as measured by the districts quarterly Star Math benchmark assessments. The research question looked at the difference in students’ benchmark assessment scores for mathematics between third-grade users and non-users of the video game learning software Prodigy during the 2017–2018 school year. The use of EVGs as an instructional strategy was examined through …

Wholistic Healing: The Physician Perspective Of The Tibetan Medical Philosophy, Emma J. Brooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Western medicine, anatomy is divided into multiple disciplines with specialists focused on their specialization, thereby limiting the whole system medical approach within the diagnosis, practice, and treatment of illness. The purpose of this qualitative study with an emergent design was to explore how physicians of Tibetan medicine viewed treating the whole person through the lens of Sowa Rigpa. Inquiry and analytical thinking were viewed through the lens of Otto and Knight’s principles of wholistic healing, Wilber’s integral model, and the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty. Phase I consisted of key informant interviews with four participants that were recent graduates of Tibetan …

Human Service Professionals’ Perceived Ability To Support Title I Schools During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michael Dewayne Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human service professional practitioners (HSPPs) who work in Title I schools help students overcome challenges including absenteeism and behavioral problems and serve as liaisons between the school, family, and student. The pivot to online education during the COVID-19 school shutdowns meant that HSPP services also pivoted. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to understand how HSPPs perceived their ability to serve Title I students during the pandemic through the lens of Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 HSPPs who delivered services to Title I students before and during the pandemic. Participants reported their service delivery …

Campus Administrators’ Perceptions Of Their Influence On The Success Of Instructional Coaching Programs In Urban Elementary Schools, Sakinah S. Burroughs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Walden University

College of Education and Human Sciences

This is to certify that the doctoral study by

Sakinah S. Burroughs

has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made.

Review Committee Dr. Robert Flanders, Committee Chairperson, Education Faculty Dr. Kenneth McGrew, Committee Member, Education Faculty Dr. Cleveland Hayes, University Reviewer, Education Faculty

Chief Academic Officer and Provost Sue Subocz, Ph.D.

Walden University2022

Remote Work And Organizational Commitment In The Food Manufacturing Industry, Terry Scott Byers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Limited research exists on the effects of remote work on the organizational commitment of managers working in the food manufacturing industry. This quantitative study was guided by the three-component model of organizational commitment coupled with relational cohesion theory to examine the organizational commitment of managers working remotely in the food manufacturing industry. The purpose of the study was to determine to what extent, if any, remote work has affected the organizational commitment of managers in an often overlooked and under-researched food manufacturing industry. Using the Three Component Model Employee Commitment Survey, data was collected from 143 anonymous respondents. Statistical analyses …

Tourism Marketing Strategies To Sustain Small Resorts In The British Virgin Islands, Rosemary Callwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business owners are often ill-equipped to implement tourism marketing strategies needed to drive successful businesses. Ineffective marketing strategies can negatively impact small resorts’ viability and result in premature business failure. Grounded in Porter’s five forces theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore tourism marketing strategies that business owners use to achieve sustainability in their business successfully. The participants were owners of three small resorts in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) who successfully achieved sustainability in their businesses. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews, archival records, and social media websites. Through thematic analysis, four themes …

Adoption Of It Governance Strategies For Multiproduct Devops Teams: A Correlational Quantitative Study, Russell Camilleri

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many multiproduct delivery organizations have difficulty adopting Information Technology (IT) governance practices within their Development and Operations (DevOps) teams. IT leaders who are managing DevOps teams, need to understand the factors influencing IT governance (ITG) adoption; otherwise this may impact DevOps maturity, resulting in reduced product delivery capabilities. Grounded in the technology acceptance model, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), and facilitating conditions (FC), as moderated by experience (EXP), gender (GND), age (AGE), and voluntariness of use (VOL) with behavioral intention (BI) to adopt …

An Exploration Of The Longevity Of High School Principals Tenure In California, Steven David Caminiti

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has focused on the various reasons why high school principals leave their positions, yet minimal research has been done on the reasons why they stay. The problem of inconsistency of high school principals’ tenure within the first 4 years of service was addressed in this study. Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory was used in this exploratory case study to explore the perspectives of eight high school principals in one region of California who continued to serve for 4 years or more through a strengths-based approach to the problem. Research questions were focused on the motivators that high school principals …

Patients’ Perspectives Of Quality Care With The Use Of Health Technology, Stacie Lois Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More and more patients are using health technology to monitor their care and collaborate with their health care team. However, few studies address the patient’s perspective on the benefits of these health technologies. This descriptive qualitative study aimed to explore how health information technology contributes to the quality of care received from the patient perspective. The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM's) conceptual framework of quality care informed this study. Five participants were interviewed by telephone and resulting transcripts were coded using Tesch’s eight steps of coding. Themes emerged that were aligned to the six concepts identified by the IOM. From the …

Nutrition And Physical Exercise Prevention Strategies To Reduce Obesity During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carmesha Vajill Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity has reached an epidemic level of 75 million obese adults and 15 million obese children in the United States. The research problem addressed in this study is the lack of information on how obese people manage their weight-loss strategies to prevent or reduce obesity during shut-in place restrictions for the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study included the Prochaska and DiClemente Trans-Theoretical Model of Behavioral Change and the Stage of Change Theory. The phenomenon approach using phenomenology described participants' lived experiences of being obese. The researcher completed data collection and evaluation among sixteen participants using email questionnaires to analyze participant's responses …

The Impact Of Mindfulness On Communication With Health Care Providers For Older Adult Quilters, Mary Peyton Cauthorn Gill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractActive aging plays a pivotal role in countering the effects of multimorbidities and enhancing mental and physical well-being of individuals. Prior research supports the benefits of mindfulness, a key component of active aging, in enhancing older adults’ physical and mental health, but the effect of mindfulness on older adults’ communication with medical social workers and other health care providers has not been studied. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of how older quiltmakers experienced mindfulness and how this affected their communication with their health care providers. The study, which drew from empowerment theory, …

Correctional Officers’ Lived Experiences Of Stress When Working In Solitary Confinement Units In U.S. Prisons, Labianca Q. Champion

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to shed light on the lived experiences related to the stressors that a sample of nine correctional officers (COs) encountered while working in solitary confinement (SC) units in U.S. prisons. Cognitive behavioral theory served as the theoretical framework to help to explain different ways that COs can manage their work stressors. These stressors, including lack of a sense of belonging, lack of reward, negative perceptions of policies and procedures while conducting daily duties, lack of independent decision making, and perceived danger, were addressed by the research question. Data were obtained from a semistructured online …

Strategies Small-Business Leaders Use To Prevent Employee Fraud, Israel Chand

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee fraud is a crime committed against an employer and results in the loss of a small business's assets, revenues, and reputation. Leaders of small businesses who fail to prevent employee fraud may experience decreased profitability and reputational loss in their community. Grounded in Bandura’s social cogitative theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies that leaders of small businesses use to prevent employee fraud. Data were collected from five small-business leaders in the southeastern United States who applied strategies to prevent employee fraud through interviews and reviews of business documents and archival records. Applying Akinyode …

Women Superintendents’ Mentoring Experiences And Attainment Of The Superintendency, Araceli Chavarín

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The underrepresentation of women in the school superintendency in the United States may be attributed to a lack of role models, mentoring, and educational networking. The problem that this study addressed is the lack of insight into how mentoring influences women’s attainment of the superintendency. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the mentoring experiences women superintendents identified as important in their lives and work. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Higgins and Kram’s developmental network. The research questions in the study explored how women superintendents describe mentorship experiences in their careers and describe …

Probation Department Culture And Promotion Policies, Paul Chavez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With management influence evolving in organizations, changes occur slower than anticipated. The problem in my study addressed how management controls promotional policies for probation officers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate whether management has control over probation promotional policies. Maslov’s theory of self-realization was incorporated into the theoretical framework for my research. Audio interviews were conducted with 15 participants who were non managerial probation officers who had no subordinates. Data analysis included key elements impacting morale in the workplace, employee evaluations, training, and communications. The conclusion showed there was a need to improve several promotional policies based …

Teachers’ Experiences Using Phonics Instruction In Korean Elementary School Classrooms, Jung-Hye Choi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public elementary schools in the Republic of Korea (Korea) do not reliably include phonics in their third and fourth grade English language curriculum. Therefore, examining how teachers are currently including phonics instructions in the classroom could significantly impact the level of reading skills acquired in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes in Korea. This basic qualitative study addressed what teachers needed to reliably and competently teach phonics in Korean public elementary school districts, what difficulties they encountered, and what kind of support could effectively ameliorate said difficulties. The conceptual framework for this research was provided by Vygotsky's sociocultural theory …

Infrastructure As Code Strategies And Benefits In Cloud Computing, Jeffrey Chijioke-Uche

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hybrid and multicloud infrastructure implementation without automation and versioning strategy can negatively impact organizations’ productivity. Organization leaders must ensure that infrastructures are implemented using the infrastructure as code (IaC) strategy because implementation solutions, including automated and DevOps procedures, provide assets for repeatable infrastructure implementation use cases. Grounded in the disruptive innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry study was to explore strategies solution architects use to implement IaC architecture using repeatable assets with DevOps procedures in cloud computing. The participants were seven solution architects in the information technology (IT) industry within the United States who have successfully implemented …

An Educational Program For Hospice Nurses About End-Of-Life Protocols, Rhonda Coleman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Palliative care is specialized care for people living with a serious illness. This type of care is centered on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness with a primary goal to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family. A gap in nursing practice was identified in a hospice facility in the South Central United States.; the nurses did not use palliative care or end-of-life (EoL) protocols. This project focused, therefore, on the development of a nursing staff education program for hospice nurses to increase knowledge about the use of EoL protocols. …

The Relationship Between Community College Instructors’ Perception Of Andragogical Orientation And Instructional Style., Renea P. Coley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community colleges in Northern and Southeastern Virginia have struggled with enrollment and retention of adult learners. Addressing adult learners’ needs is an important focus for instructors, yet few studies have addressed how instructors can use andragogy, the art and science of adult learning, to influence their instructional practices to support adult learners. Based on self-determination theory, this quantitative, cross-sectional study examined the extent that 75 community college instructors’ perceived andragogical orientation predicted an autonomy-supportive instructional style controlling for instructor years of teaching, highest degree earned, and gender. Instructors from 10 community colleges in Northern and Southeastern Virginia teaching in the …

An Operations Manual To Replicate A Playground Program For Children With Special Needs In Global Regions, Terry Collier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Physical disabilities restrict children’s motor abilities, affecting their participation in physical activities and play. But play area equipment can give children a way to participate in play regardless of their disability. The purpose of the study was to explore the need for an operations manual for nonprofit organizations when designing and developing inclusive play areas for children with special needs worldwide. The research question examined what processes during the design and development of inclusive play areas could be standardized with an operations manual. Interviews were conducted with two members with historical and operational knowledge of the organization. Transcribed data were …

The Role Of Self-Efficacy Against Workplace Stress, The Intent To Leave, And Burnout In Nursing, Alexis Collier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare administrators must sustain the nursing workforce by minimizing workplace stress, the intent to leave, and burnout while maintaining a safe, accessible, high-quality, patient-centered care environment. This quantitative study examined the relationship between the independent variable of self-efficacy and the dependent variables of nurse burnout, workplace stress, and the intent to leave. The theory that grounded this study was the theory of self-efficacy. The research questions were formatted to determine the correlation between the self-efficacy levels of nurses and burnout, workplace stress, and the intent to leave. A quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional (analytical) design addressed the research questions. The secondary data …

Lived Experiences Regarding Family Relations Of Latina Undocumented Immigrants, Lissette Colon-Perez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Familismo is a complex multidimensional core cultural value in Latinx culture. But there is a lack of information related to Latinas who are undocumented immigrants and their experiences of familismo and family relations after the immigration experience. In the present study, a feminist hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to examine these lived experiences. The purpose of study was to explore family relations as a core value in the lived experiences of Latina undocumented immigrants. The participants consisted of Latina immigrants over 18 years old who immigrated from Central America and who were living in a state from the Northeast without …

Social Workers’ Role In School Discipline Of Black Male Students, Teresa L. Cooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School administrators enforce various forms of school discipline, including office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, as strategies to maintain safe learning environments for students and staff. Over four decades of research indicate Black male students experience more consequences and receive tougher school discipline than their peers of other races. School discipline potentially causes adverse outcomes for students. Schools employ social workers to support behavior and academic needs of students. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of school social workers in their role in school discipline of Black male students. The theoretical framework used for this study …

Principals’ Leadership Role In Supporting Culturally Responsive English Language Learner Programs, Lawrence Cowger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English language learners face different challenges in accessing relevant curriculum content compared to native English speakers. There is limited research on effective strategies that teachers use to ensure learning outcomes among English language learners. The purpose of this case study was to explore the leadership strategies that principals implement to support teachers’ culturally responsive strategies when working with English language learning (ELL) students. Culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) was the basis of the conceptual framework, using research from Walker and five CRSL concepts. The research questions focused on school leadership and how administrators support teachers of ELL programs using CRSL. …

Relationship Between Mentorship And Career Advancement: African American Women In Higher Education Leadership, Torialyn Draper Crook

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed through this study is the underrepresentation of African American women in higher education leadership positions in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore to what extent mentorship predicts the career advancement of African American women in higher education leadership positions in the United States. Guided by Kram’s mentoring framework, 74 African American women who applied and obtained career advancement in the past 5 years in higher education leadership positions completed Toland Mentoring survey. The logistic regression model results showed statistical significance X2(1) = 38.911, p < .001, meaning mentoring was a predictor of career advancement for African American women. The Nagelkerke R2 = .54 indicates that 54% of the variation in getting advancement or not was based on mentoring. The recommendations for further study include comparing female and male mentoring, establishing best practices at institutions where the presence of African American women in higher education is increased, and exploring the effectiveness of formal mentoring programs at institutions of higher education. Mentorship can lead to positive social change by cultivating an institutional climate that reflects the overall student population proportionally. From a social change perspective, increasing the mentorship opportunities of African American women within higher education institutions can provide crucial role models and reveal new approaches to address the populations they represent.