Education Commons^™

The Impact Of The Graphic Communications Outreach And Recruitment Program On The Gc Identity, Riley Dekrafft

All Theses

The present study evaluates the impact of Clemson Graphic Communication's Outreach and Recruitment program on high school students' perceptions of the major and their college and post-college opportunities. Through surveys and events sponsored by Outreach, the research aims to determine the overall influence of the GC program. Participating students, accompanied by their instructor and guardians, will visit Godfrey Hall, Clemson University's Graphic Communications building. Before the trip, students must complete a comprehensive survey gauging their understanding of the Graphic Communications program and its industry. During the visit, students will engage in rotational activities to experience the daily practices of Graphic …

Efficacy Of Virtual Reality-Based Simulations In Training Aviation Maintenance Technicians On Maintenance Procedures, Gayatri Anoop

All Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic forced institutions of higher education (IHEs) to halt in-person classes and transition to online platforms. Given the intricate process of adapting hands-on experiments to the online environment, this transition seemed particularly challenging for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) labs. The abrupt nature of this transition added to the difficulties, given that the IHEs were inadequately prepared for seamless continuity during the pandemic. In the first phase of this project, a literature review was conducted to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on education. Specifically, the review explored the challenges that institutions of higher education faced, …

Radiation Exposure Calibration Of The Al2o3:C With Radium-226 And Cesium-137 Using The Osl Method, Selma Tepeli Aydin

All Theses

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry was utilized to calibrate Al₂O₃:C powder dosimeters, available commercially as the nanoDot® from Landauer Inc., and compare the dosimeter response to radium-226 (²²⁶Ra) and cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). The signal from the OSL was quantified using a microSTARii^® OSL reader also produced by Landauer Inc. Dose-response curves were developed for ²²⁶Ra and ¹³⁷Cs experiments (5 dosimeters each) at thirteen absorbed doses. Individual dosimeter response was tracked by serial number. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine if there were significant differences between the intercepts of the …

“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 …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Entrepreneurship Programs On Student Interest In Entrepreneurship Competitions, Toni Sharp

All Theses

According to a survey by ACNielsen International Research, over half of Americans want to start their own business to build wealth and achieve independence (Bygrave & Zacharakis, 2011). In the research community, most entrepreneurship education research happens in business schools (Matlay, 2006). As a result of continually researching one form of entrepreneurship, less attention has been paid to other forms contributing to the “definitional obscurity with important consequences for the direction of the field” of entrepreneurship (Baker & Welter, 2017). This has created a need for research on entrepreneurship at the college level in fields outside of business.

Clemson University …

Physical Accessibility And Historic Preservation In Historic House Museums Of The Southeast, Abby Milonas

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Museums are a public good, as they provide educational recreation and preserve cultural history, and so it is crucial that they are physically accessible to as many visitors as possible. The aim of this study was to understand what architectural features of historic house museums are the least accessible and what has been done to ameliorate these challenges. The survey used in the study was developed using the guidelines for making historic buildings accessible as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards. It was distributed by email to representatives of 220 historic sites, of …

Learning To Reason About Code With Assertions: An Exploration With Two Student Populations, Sarah Blankenship

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Code tracing is fundamental to students’ understanding of a program, and symbolic reasoning that entails learning to use assertions with abstract input and output values, as opposed to concrete values, enhances that understanding. Symbolic reasoning teaches students valuable abstraction and logic skills that will serve them well in all aspects of programming and their software
development careers.
We use lessons integrated into an online educational tool to supplement classroom instruction to help students learn symbolic reasoning. We explore two ways for students to learn about assertions: Writing assertions to capture the behavior of given code and solving Parsons-style problems in …

Evaluating The Impact Of Intersecting Research And Outreach Marine Science Programs On Elementary And Undergraduate Students, Randi J. Sims

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Climate change is one of the most destructive forces our ocean is currently experiencing. Despite this, many students are not taught the basics of climate change science and ocean literacy in public school systems. My work seeks to combat these deficits through educational experiences in marine science for undergraduate and local elementary students through three studies incorporating marine-science based research and outreach. (1) Through undergraduate marine science research and outreach, students enrolled for long durations or with positive mentorship increased their conceptual understanding of marine science concepts, altered their attitudes towards climate change and science, and were more likely to …

Framing The Needs Of School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers To Meet Twenty-First Century Programs Demands, Kayla Marsh

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Teacher attrition is a historic problem that globally is considered to be an educational crisis. SBAE is not exempt from this crisis with teacher shortages dating back to the passing of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917. For the past three decades, researchers have studied this phenomenon to better understand the needs of SBAE teachers in order to increase recruitment and retention as well as improve work-life balance.

While several needs are recurring current efforts are not resulting in actionable change for SBAE teachers. To gain perspectives on the problem, qualitative interviews were conducted with SBAE teachers as well as an …

Age-Specific Effects Of An Early Grade Literacy Intervention In Asia And Africa, Doris Suzuki Esmerio

All Theses

Education has been widely recognized in the economic literature as a fundamental element in the economic development of nations and individuals. In this study, I focus on literacy acquisition for young children in poor communities in South Asia and Sub- saharan Africa. Literature on cognitive skill formation, neurobiology and psychology have found converging evidence that returns to investments in education differ by age. This is explained by the fact that neural circuits are more receptive to environmental influences at sensitive periods of brain development. Using data from a RCT experiment conducted between 2012-2016 in Bangladesh, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Ghana, India, …

Inclusive Pedagogy: Connecting Disability And Race In Higher Education, Meredith Persin

All Theses

Higher education was never made for marginalized people. The academy was created based on the privileged white, able-bodied, males who preoccupied higher education for the longest time. While that has certainly changed over the years, the institution itself is still in the past resulting in BIPOC students and disabled students continuing to struggle within higher education. While instructors have begun to take interest in the need for inclusive pedagogy within the last decade, it still has a far way to come in order to help the marginalized students with intersecting identities and students who may not benefit from a one …

Creating A Printed Electronic Tangible User Interface Suitable For Primary Education Settings, Lauren Toler

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With the growing popularity of interactive learning, an experiment developing a tangible user interface made of paper was performed. Screen printing was utilized to print conductive traces that would connect to a device that has capacitive touch capabilities. A color mixing program was coded to accompany the tangible interface. It was found that a tangible user interface can be successfully made of paper. Further research with development, construction, and testing of this paper tangible interface was proposed.

Moving Beyond Scientific Fact-Only Environmental Education In The United States, Erica Meier

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There is debate regarding whether environmental education (EE) programs should focus exclusively on teaching science or on teaching and encouraging pro-environmental behaviors through civic engagement, advocacy, and action/behavior change (CEAA) techniques. To assess which CEAA techniques EE providers feel are appropriate to utilize in EE programming for youth and the extent to which they utilize them, we designed and distributed a survey to members of several North American EE organizations. Based on the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Excellence (2019) and input from professionals and practitioners, the survey included a list of 32 CEAA techniques. Respondents (N …

The Effects Of Audio/Visual Stimulation And Virtual Reality To Increase The Rate Of Retention In First Semester Freshmen Graphic Communications Students, Hanna Gibson

All Theses

In March of 2020, the world entered the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving educators to answer the question, "how do we teach in a virtual environment?". This was especially difficult for deeply rooted STEM programs such as Graphic Communications at Clemson University. This research aims to analyze multiple methods of virtual teaching for correlation between enhanced retention rates.

This thesis attempts to solve the problem facing global STEM educators when they are attempting to prepare material for students in a virtual environment. This is achieved by presenting them with how different methodologies impact the retention rate on freshmen level students enrolled in …

Associations Between Travel Behavior And The Academic Performance Of University Students, Qianying Wu

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Purpose: Different travel behavior, particularly the choice of commuting modes, will have different impacts on students. On one hand, it has been suggested that active commuting (walking, cycling, and taking transit) will add routine daily exercise. Moreover, health benefits (improved cognitive function and reduced anxiety) from physical activity might increase students' academic performance. Nevertheless, too much physical activity may reduce the time for students to study. Travel time may shorten study time, and study time has been identified as positively contributing to academic performance. Considering that there is limited research examining travel behavior and academic achievement of university students, this …

Cooking Healthy, Eating Smart (Ches): Evaluating The Feasibility Of Using Volunteers To Deliver Nutrition And Food Safety Education To Rural Older Adults, Morgan Getty

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Due to their limited resources, rural, older adults in the United States are at risk for poor diet-related health outcomes. Nutrition education is a key component in improving health outcomes in older adults. Cooking Healthy, Eating Smart (CHES) is a nine-lesson curriculum designed to teach rural, older adults culturally appropriate nutrition and food safety information. Funding to hire health professionals to deliver such a curriculum is limited, presenting the need to explore a less expensive mode of dissemination. In this community-based, participatory research study, a formative evaluation and feasibility study were conducted to examine the use of volunteers to deliver …

Is It Culturally Appropriate? Evaluation Efforts For Measuring The Cultural Appropriateness In Nutrition Education Programs Targeting The Hispanic Population, Andrea Aguilar Corrales

All Theses

Background: In the United States, nearly 70% of the population is overweight. The U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey says Hispanics have the second prevalence of obesity, thus, increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes in the largest minority group in the U.S. (U.S. Census, 2010). This requires effective and culturally appropriate interventions to promote healthy lifestyles. (WHO, 2003). Objective: The purpose of this study was to design and pilot-test a culturally appropriate tool to assure the nutrition information provided to the Hispanic population is appropriate. Design: The research design consisted of a triangulation of methods …

Teaching Methods For A Holistic Computer Graphics Curriculum Incorporating Active Learning Techniques, Zachariah Inks

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This paper presents various concepts and techniques for creating an educational pipeline targeted at the field of computer graphics. This proposed pipeline focuses on the teaching of core concepts, core methodologies and finally core techniques employed within the field of computer graphics. Each component is then paired with an example of an active learning strategy used to enlighten and reinforce the abstract ideas behind these components. Throughout this document outlines the importance of supporting a holistic and platform agnostic approach, which sets the foundation for learning of all core computer graphics concepts, methodologies and techniques. The end result is a …

Imagining A Common Ground: Place, Community, And The Possibility For Place-Based Education Through Flannery O'Connor's 'Greenleaf', Christine Mahoney

All Theses

Through literature, news outlets, media, parents, teachers, and peers, youth are currently being made aware that there are severe problems in the environmental and social realms. However, the imagined but representative stories found in literature also offer opportunities for students to learn how to combat these crises, and instilling the value of place in students through pedagogy will help them become proactive adults. The particular dynamic between community and place is one we see at work in “Greenleaf” by Flannery O'Connor, an author who has been left out of ecopedagogical conversations but can be useful in finding imaginative connections between …

Evaluating Best Practices For Interpretive Programs In The National Park Service, Emily Martin

All Theses

Since its inception, interpretation in parks and protected areas has been used to achieve a variety of desired visitor outcomes, including enhanced satisfaction, visitor experience, and behavioral change. A large body of literature has been developed regarding effective techniques and desirable styles for conducting interpretive programs. However, despite the amount of this literature, as interpretation progresses into the 21st century, a gap has been identified between empirical support for interpretation's “ best practices ” and their links to desired outcomes. This study aims to isolate those practices that are necessary for producing desired outcomes in national park visitors. National Park …

Just Tri: Examining The Transformative Experiences Of Women Amputees Who Participate In Paratriathlons, Amy Baczurik

All Theses

The United States has approximately 1.7 million people living with limb loss. The majority of studies focus on general disability related to limb loss rather than specifically focusing on women with amputations. Women amputees can experience difficulty in accepting the disability, which in turn may lead to decreases in life satisfaction. Often women amputees may experience varying levels of depression, negative perception of body image, as well as decreased self-confidence and decreased sense of self-efficacy. The researcher used a phenomenological lens to examine transformative experiences of women amputees who participate in paratriathlons, specifically focusing on participants lived experiences related to …

Cooking And Menu Planning Confidence Of Children Participating In A Cooking Camp, Elizabeth Dixon

All Theses

Childhood obesity has been steadily increasing in recent decades. This study was conducted at cooking camp to analyze the cooking and menu planning self-efficacy of children and to determine if these skills could influence healthier eating habits. Four surveys were used to evaluate the participants. The Let's Eat Healthy Questionnaire observed significant increases in MyPlate and food group knowledge (p-valueCooking Skills and Food and Nutrition Skills Questionnaire reported significant increases in the ability to sautŽ (p-value=0.0026) and how to stir fry (p-value=0.0015), and significant increases in agreement for actions like limiting fat intake, limiting sugar intake, and eating more fiber …

Quantitative Workload, Physical Activity, And Quality Of Sleep: An Investigation Of Nurses Working The Night Shift And 10 Hour Or Longer Shifts, Kyle Stanyar

All Theses

Approximately 30% to 40% of adults suffer from some form of insomnia in any given year. Insomnia-related productivity losses for organizations are estimated at $5 billion dollars annually. Long work weeks, shift work, and high workload have been linked to poor sleep quality. Currently, there is a gap in research on how physical activity affects quality of sleep among nurses who work long hours and nurses who work the night shift. Therefore two samples of nurses were examined; nurses who work 10 hour or longer shifts (N = 222) and nurses who work the night shift (N = 97). This …

The Degree Of Peer Influences On Children's Food Choices At Summer Camp, Erin O'Neill

All Theses

Research has shown that peers influence each other in social situations. With childhood obesity becoming more prevalent in society, studying the influence peers have on their friends eating behaviors is important. National campaigns and laws have been promoted for the changing of food standards in schools but not recreation programs. Through direct observations of the foods children choose while amongst friends, the degree to which peers influence other children during a mealtime setting at camp is analyzed. When conducting research to test whether peers influenced children's food choices, noting the societal reasons and atmospheres in which children choose meals with …

The Open Source Composition Space, Carly Finseth

All Theses

This paper integrates composition theory with pedagogical practice in order to redefine what is traditionally viewed as the `writing classroom.' Specifically, it explores a new way of considering composition as both a term and a cultural ideology that encompasses many forms of creative expression: traditional alphabetic texts, digital alphabetic texts, multimodal texts such as videos and podcasts, and programming code. The work explores a pedagogical model that can be used to teach composition in its various forms. It also examines what it means to instruct in a classroom in today's digital age by incorporating ideas from traditional classroom teaching, online …

Electrate Language Learning: An Analysis Of Foreign Language Acquisition In Virtual Environments, Anna Wilkerson

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This thesis delves into three different virtual platforms that have potential to promote foreign language learning using a constructionist, personal approach: Second Life, a three-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (MUVE); Livemocha, a social networking site; and World of Warcraft, a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Each platform is built on varying levels of pedagogical influence. Livemocha, for instance, is built entirely around the principle of tandem language learning whereas Second Life is not designed around such principles but has the capability of incorporating them. Lastly, World of Warcraft does not contain the ability for players to build pedagogy into the platform, …

An Investigation Of Fundamental Competencies For Printed Electronics, John Jacobs

All Theses

A survey was taken of professionals in the printed electronics industry to determine the basic educational requirements the industry had of a student graduating with a degree in graphic communications or printing sciences. A test was conducted of graphic communication seniors graduating in May 2010 to determine their fundamental knowledge of printed electronics. Data obtained from the industry survey was used to determine the relevant components of a basic printed electronics education. The data obtained from the graduating senior examination determined their areas of knowledge of printed electronics. The needs identified from the industry survey were compared to the areas …

Game-Street: Rhetoric And Critical Play For Business Ethics Instruction, Glen Southergill

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This thesis explores business ethics instruction as a rhetorical problem and discusses critical play as a means of learning. Artistotle's concept of phronesis, or practical wisdom, is used as a way of demonstrating the problematic nature of business ethics pedagogy theory and practice when viewed through a lens of social epistemic rhetorical theory. Rather than attempting to quantify business ethics, this work argues for a subversive paradigm achievable through critical play.

Game space is observed in two domains of ethical learning. I argue that the business ethics classroom space of Clemson University is a form of remediated non-space constrained by …

The Relationship Between The Use Of Written Symbols In Preschoolers And Exposure And Use Of Art Media, Helen Prince

All Theses

The Visual Arts are an important part of the daily life of an early childhood classroom. Through drawing, painting, and other expressive media, young children develop early representational skills. These skills are an important component of early literacy development. This paper documents an action research project that took place in a 4K classroom. The aim of the project was to understand why the children in this classroom did not voluntarily spend time writing and drawing in the arts center while also working on strategies for promoting the children's use of the arts center and representational experiences. This research provides support …

Increasing Student Motivation To Become A Successful Industrial Engineer, Danielle Lanigan

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This paper explores the use of the VIE theory of Motivation in the field of Industrial Engineering Education. This work focuses on two different populations of students, college students who have chosen Industrial Engineering as a major and middle school students with a predisposition toward engineering. To start, we used a mixed methods sequential explanatory study to learn more about Clemson University department of Industrial Engineering students. Quantitatively, the study found that differences exist among different subsets of Industrial Engineering students. Female students have a higher motivation than male students do, and students with university sponsored project experience have a …