Digital Commons Network^™

The New Bully: Online Racism, Online Sexual Harassment, And Their Association With Aggression And Stress, Cody Allen Cloud

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a great deal of study related to the impacts of traditional bullying and cyberbullying on mental health and similarities found between these variables have led researchers to question whether cyberbullying is a form of traditional bullying or its own distinct variable. By further analyzing the forms of cyberbullying, online racism and online sexual harassment, the present study aims to add to this discussion. Furthermore, there has been little research on these variables since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering changes in work and school lifestyles during the pandemic, analyzing the associations of online racism and online …

When Social Media Recruiting Goes Wrong: A Cautionary Tale Of Sample Engagement, Ezra N. S. Lockhart, Joel B. Goodin

The Qualitative Report

Doctoral candidates’ experiences with recruiting participants vary in many ways. While some execute plans with ease, others implement their strategic plan for recruitment only to find that it does not work well or does not work at all. While successful recruitment is rarely reflected upon, the candidate who experiences unexpected difficulty with recruitment has several potential negative effects including increased time to degree completion, increased program and recruitment costs, and increased potential for dropout. In this case study, we present a cautionary tale of sample engagement from the gaming community where a doctoral candidate experienced doxxing, social media banning, and …

Paycheck-To-Paycheck: How Public Service Loan Forgiveness Inhibits Generational Wealth Attainment For Black Women, Ashley Patrice-Rose Sherman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black women who attend college in the United States are more likely to borrow to cover the cost of attendance and carry the largest amount of student loan debt than any other racial and gender group. Federal student loan borrowers are encouraged to work in public service to take advantage of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), an income-driven repayment program established by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) of 2007. PSLF offers total debt relief after ten years of uninterrupted full monthly payments based on an income-driven repayment plan. The significance of this qualitative study will …

Dental Modification Among The Classic Maya Of Chac Balam And San Juan, Ambergris Caye, Belize, Katherine Kelly

Honors Theses

Perceptions of beauty and health are embedded within everyday actions, even a simple smile. How do dental modification practices among the Classic Maya from Ambergris Caye, Belize relate to these perceptions and a person’s identity and status? This thesis analyzes the practice of notching, filing, and placing inlays in maxillary incisors and canines through a qualitative analysis of Classic period AD 250-1000 Maya teeth from the sites of San Juan and Chac Balam. A lack of patterns related to sex, socioeconomic status, and the type of modification in the dentition of five individuals, including two males, two females and one …

Influences On Small Business Leaders’ Decisions About Supportive Policies And Practices For Employees Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Abuse, Marilyn Lucille Brock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner abuse affects millions of individuals from all segments of society, and existing literature demonstrates that it has extensive impacts on American companies through loss of workplace productivity, reduced workplace safety, and employee turnover. While several supportive policies and practices have been suggested for implementation in business environments, many business leaders do not perceive the utilization of such measures as having business value. Thus, this study addresses the question, What influences business leaders’ decisions about whether and to what degree to adopt policies and practices for responding to employees’ experiences of intimate partner abuse? This dissertation is a qualitative …

Fostering Awe To Enhance Public Well-Being: Proposed Interventions For A Nature And Science Museum Setting, Zach Calo

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Several scholars consider awe to be a universally experienced emotion that is associated with a variety of well-being outcomes. In the last two decades, research has revealed the many complicated, and often beneficial, effects of this self-transcendent emotion. In this paper, a review of the current theoretical and empirical understanding of awe is first discussed. This review is meant to provide context for the next section and primary aim of this paper, which is to propose a pilot study for implementing and evaluating awe-inducing interventions in a museum setting. The primary research question of this proposed pilot study is to …

Investigating Servant Leadership Measurement: A Mixed-Methods Study Integrating Content Analysis And Meta-Analysis, Kai Torsten Schramm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to understand the similarities and differences among servant leadership measures and the variations in their effect sizes on job performance and job satisfaction. This paper explores how the items in servant leadership measures portrayed the servant leadership construct and how these relate to the outcomes. The researcher used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. Which involved a qualitative content analysis of the measurement items and a meta-analysis of outcomes, considering the findings from the content analysis. Six key categories determined the three main themes: selfless generosity, inspiring influence, adaptive humility, integrity, empowering, and harmonious engagement. The three …

The College Of Science, Technology, And Health Welcomes New Faculty, Lindenwood University

Archived Lindenwood Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Networks Using Hypergraph Centrality Measures And Other Properties, Sathyanarayanan G

Theses and Dissertations

Network analysis explores the connections between nodes and evaluates their characteristics across diverse fields such as biological, chemical, social networks and so on. Identifying key nodes within a network is crucial for grasping how information spreads, which has significant applications across multiple fields. This includes studying disease transmission, managing rumours, understanding social leadership, enhancing viral marketing strategies, and monitoring public opinion. Influential nodes play a pivotal role in effectively distributing information throughout the network. The centrality measures are paramount in network analysis that uses various metrics to evaluate the importance of the node. The centrality predicts the characteristics and significance …

Configurations Of Blackness: Stories Of British Actvists, Jala A. Grant

Theses - ALL

Configurations of Blackness: Stories of British Activists explores the configurations of Blackness amongst contemporary Black British activists and their significance in resistance against injustice. It employs oral histories, archives, and participant observation to document narratives of Black Britons whose activism has employed varied configurations of Blackness and sits within a history of resistance amongst Black people in Britain. The thesis is particularly concerned with three primary themes: the localization of racial oppression within global anti-Blackness, the incorporation and challenging of the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, and the implications of political Blackness in Black activist realms. While Black activism …

Macroeconomic Shock Effects On Beef Carcass Premiums, Scott W. Fausti, Hernan A. Tejeda, Matthew A. Diersen

College of Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

An overview of how macroeconomic shocks affect beef quality-grade premiums and discounts in the U.S. fed cattle market is discussed. We review the shock transmission linkages along the beef industry supply chain and determine the economic implications for the finished cattle market. The analysis provides insight into how the fed cattle market responds to macroeconomic shocks. The economic implications of financial risk associated with the behavior of beef carcass quality-grade premiums and discounts associated with the Great Recession and the COVID pandemic are contrasted and assessed.

Data analysis indicates that macroeconomic shocks affect the quality-grade premium pricing mechanism for finished …

The Shaping Of Masculinity In Jamaica: A Historical Perspective, Jovanne Josephine O'Connor

Theses - ALL

ABSTRACT Jamaica, strategically located in the Western Caribbean, has historically been a coveted prize for European colonial powers due to its geopolitical positioning and reliance on tourism and agriculture (The World Factbook 2023, pg. 23). This research delves into the complex dynamics of masculinity in Jamaica, exploring how historical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors intersect to shape gender identities and behaviors. The colonial history of Jamaica, transitioning from Spanish to English rule, has left indelible marks on its culture, including language and social hierarchies. The evolution of Jamaican Patois reflects a history of linguistic and cultural exchange, serving as a marker …

Pulling Up The Tangled Roots Of Rural Nostalgia: A Rhetorical Study Of Story And Space, Nature And Nation, Emily Pifer

Dissertations - ALL

Drawing from queer and feminist methodologies, Pulling Up the Tangled Roots of Rural Nostalgia engages rhetorical analysis of popular culture texts, specifically the film The Power of the Dog (2021) and television shows Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020) and Reservation Dogs (2021- ), and material spaces, specifically Yellowstone National Park, to develop a framework for tracing how particular constructions of rural nostalgia (such as “the small town,” “the frontier,” “the cowboy,” “the Indian Other,” “the wilderness”) circulate back and forth across widely consumed digital texts, collective imaginaries, political structures, and material spaces. As my dissertation pulls up and examines the tangled roots …

Three Essays On Socio-Spatial Exclusion Of Disabled People, Fitore Hyseni

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of three papers that document socio-spatial exclusion of disabled people. In the first paper, titled “The Disability Penalty: Evidence of Housing Discrimination from a Correspondence Audit Study,” I investigated disability discrimination in the U.S. rental housing market. Access to housing is a necessity that can further exacerbate socio-economic challenges experienced by disabled people. Despite reports of differential treatment of disabled tenants by landlords being on the rise, there have been no rigorous studies investigating them. Using a correspondence audit study, I investigated if landlords in the U.S. discriminate against disabled people. Findings show that disabled applicants were …

Subcultural Textuality: Skateboarding And The Politics Of Subcultural Media, Simon Vangel

Dissertations - ALL

Subcultural Textuality: Skateboarding and the Politics of Subcultural Media analyzes skateboarding media from the mid-1970s to the present, tracing how different textual strategies, material media formats, and discourses have formed shifting understandings of skateboarding’s potential meanings as well as what identity positions are presented as “authentic” within the subculture. Skateboard media rely on what I term a subcultural textuality, a set of narratives and aesthetics which, by engaging with material media form, distribution processes, and historically specific understandings of both genre and mode, present engagement with the text as a subcultural act in and of itself. As a result, such …

Exoneree Self-Esteem And Self-Compassion During Reintegration, Jessica Eleanor Arneson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Exonerees (i.e., wrongfully convicted individuals) experience difficulties during the reintegration process when gaining employment, housing, healthcare, and financial compensation. External factors are known to negatively impact reintegration. One internal negative consequence of wrongful convictions and the reintegration process for exonerees is identity changes. Less known is the impact of internal factors on reintegration. Self-esteem and self-compassion are two known constructs that comprise personal identity. The relationships between these two constructs with reintegration difficulties of DNA-exonerees were researched. The social identity approach is useful in this quantitative, nonexperimental exploration of the relationship between self-esteem and reintegration difficulties. The social identity approach …

Titans Assist In Relaunch Of West Bloomington Barbershop Program, Julia Perez

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Motivation And Treatment Readiness Of Those Participating In Correctional Educational Programming, Kelly Eileen O'Bryan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined what motivated male inmates in a private Oklahoma prison to participate in general education diploma or the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program. Research questions explored, what factors motivated program participants to participate in educational programs while incarcerated? Next, whether those who were eligible to participate in the program exhibited treatment readiness? Finally, were those who exhibited higher levels of treatment readiness and motivation were more likely to participate in and complete the program? A survey was used to collect demographic information and assess treatment readiness and motivation through the Corrections Victoria Treatment Readiness Questionnaire for 48 inmates. …

Reimagining The Faculty Role In Community Engagement, Nadine Dolby

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this Forum commentary, I discuss my experience as a faculty member starting a community-based nonprofit organization, Animal Advocates of Greater Lafayette. Since founding the organization in 2019, I have moved between the roles of faculty and organization president, finding ways to create new pedagogical spaces that lead to community-based social change. I suggest that establishing nonprofit organizations are one avenue for faculty community engagement to address social injustices and inequities

Making Sense Of The Borderlands: Short-Term Immersions And Communicating Upon Returning, Joseph B. Johnston

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Educational immersions provide opportunities for students to experience a lot in a short time. How do instructors aid students in processing and meaningfully reflecting on their experiences? I describe the development of an immersion—and an accompanying pre- and post-trip class—to sites along the U.S.–Mexico border. Then, I analyze student reflective writing assignments to see if and how the students were able to communicate their learning.

University Students Pilot A Community Survey At Ciclovia, Joseph Herzog, William Crawley, Erin A. King

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Social work students at a southeastern university piloted a community perception and attachment survey during a local Ciclovia event. Results indicated that a majority of participants held a generally positive view of the community (91%), while perceptions of specific aspects of the community and neighborhoods varied depending on individual items. Implications for use of students in community surveys are explored in addition to a presentation of the overall results of the survey.

Utility Of The Global Engagement Survey (Ges) To Quantitatively Evaluate A Unique Undergraduate Community-Based Global Learning Program, Mathew H. Gendle, Amanda Tapler

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this preliminary study, the Global Engagement Survey (GES) was used to assess developmental outcomes in undergraduate students enrolled in a multi-year community-based global learning program. Statistically significant growth was observed on the Civic Efficacy (CE) scale of the GES (p = 0.01). The GES appears to have significant utility in the quantitative assessment of undergraduate community-based global learning programs, even when small sample sizes and pretest ceiling effects exist.

Virtual Service Learning: An Exploration Into How Physical Therapy Students Make Meaning Of Professional Skill Development Online, Pamela Donlan, Ann Golub-Victor

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study explores the perceived effect of a virtual service-learning (SL) experience upon the development of professional skills among physical therapist students. A qualitative case study approach was used to analyze reflection papers through the lens of the constructivist learning theory. Data revealed that virtual SL strengthens communication, fosters adaptability, and cultivates leadership practices. Findings suggest that virtual SL may be less likely to enhance certain affective skills that are crucial to patient-centered care.

Reflections On A Faculty Learning Community In Service Learning, Catherine Stemmans Paterson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This editorial focuses on a Faculty Learning Community in Service Learning at Indiana State University. The learning community was a result from a partnership between The Center for Community Engagement and the Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence.

Improving Students’ Mineral And Rock Identification Skills Through Service-Learning, Josphine Chaumba, Jeff Chaumba

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper reports on a service-learning component introduced in an upper-level undergraduate geology course. Students identified rock types used by a local countertop manufacturing company and made fliers describing their mode of formation. Students then completed a final rock identification exam. To assess the effect of participating in the service-learning on students’ rockidentification abilities, an Independent Samples t-test was used to compare scores of students that completed the course to those from previous semesters who did not participate in service-learning. Students who participated in service-learning achieved higher final rock identification exam test scores (M = 91.71, SD = 1.59) in …

Mapping Moral Development: A Case Study Of Service Learning In The Midwest, Daniel Casebeer, Jessica Mann

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study explores the relationship between service learning and moral development. During a phenomenographic examination of a service-learning project in the Midwest, researchers identified ways that participants conceived of justice. These conceptions were analyzed with a Neo- Kohlbergian approach to post-conventional moral thinking and mapped using social cartography. Findings indicate that immersion programs can provide participants with nominal opportunities for moral development and that there is a need for additional supports and future research on the longitudinal effects of service learning.

Exploring The Impact Of Community-Engaged Programs On Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability, Jennifer L. Jones, Kami L. Gallus, Amber Manning-Ouellette

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Positive outcomes for students have motivated educators to identify effective strategies for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in people with intellectual disability (ID), a minoritized population often excluded from DEI efforts. The current study investigated undergraduate student attitudes toward ID and compared changes in attitudes following participation in one of two community-engaged programs alongside adults with ID. Findings indicate both programs were effective in changing all three components of students’ attitudes: affect, cognition, and behaviors.

Writing And Publishing Community-Engaged Scholarship: Advice For Junior Faculty On Promotion, Publishing, And Craft, John Forester, Anna Sims Bartel

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article offers research-based advice on how to write and publish community-engaged scholarship (CES), with special emphasis on success in career-building and academic publishing contexts. It further offers a snapshot of a program designed to build a faculty community of practice for advancing publication of CES. Publishing CES throws into stark relief the tensions between what’s accessible and valuable to communities and what’s recognizable and admirable to academics who hold power over community-engaged scholars’ careers.

Assessing Outcomes Of Service Learning: Student, Instructor, And Community Reflections, Emily Feuerherm, Kazuko Hiramatsu, Nathaniel S. Miller, Kenneth Williams

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study investigated the impact of service learning using quantitative and qualitative methods. Forty-one First Year Experience and capstone students completed the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ) at the term’s beginning and end. Although the CASQ total and subscores did not differ, capstone students scored higher on CASQ measures, suggesting better civic attitudes and skills. Community partners completed an impact survey, reporting overall benefits. Instructors’ journals revealed benefits and challenges to implementing service learning.

Dissonance During International Service-Learning: “You Can’T Go Back To The Way You Were Before”, Diane Ceo-Difrancesco, Leah S. Dunn, Maggie Truitt

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study investigated pre-occupational therapy students’ descriptions of dissonance during a twoweek service-learning immersion program in Guatemala. Thirty-one students participated in studentled group reflections during two program iterations. Qualitative analysis of transcripts yielded three themes: context, experience, and outcome. The interconnectedness of all three themes illustrates the interdependence of intense, international service-learning experiences, critical reflection, and transformation. Findings suggest the impact of international service-learning experiences on student development.