The Influences Of The Public Health Care System And Education System On The Economic Growth Of Swaziland, Grace Greer

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Kingdom of Eswatini, also known as Swaziland, has one of the youngest populations in the world with over 70% of citizens being under the age of 18 years old. This creates a substantial opportunity for economic, social, and educational growth in a country previously plagued with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, poor health care infrastructure cutting off thousands from basic care, and an educational system with a very low attendance rate and an even lower graduation rate. By evaluating the root causes of such issues dating back to the colonial era there is an opportunity to reprioritize health care ...

Challenges And Adaptations Of Higher Education Music Faculty During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Terrie Sanders

School of Education Doctoral Projects - Higher Education

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the risks of singing or playing instruments were identified as an obstacle concerning face-to-face instruction in university performing arts departments because of the respiratory droplets expelled while performing (Spahn & Richter, 2020). This study investigated the instructional and pedagogical challenges that music faculty at nine colleges within the University of Louisiana System encountered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Using qualitative phenomenological research and individual interviews with faculty members, this study sought to identify challenges specific to music teachers in higher education and the ways in which they adapted to these obstacles. The results of this study revealed that online music lessons and virtual ensembles were implemented and proved to be successful to some degree, but music faculty asserted that these adaptations were inferior to the traditional collaboration characterized by in person vocal and instrumental lessons as well as instrumental and vocal ensembles (McCoy, 2020; Naunheim et al., 2020). Although all educators encountered challenges during the pandemic, the primary focus of this research was on the challenges that were unique to music faculty in higher education and the innovations that resulted from their experiences. This study provides insight into the unique instructional technique of music faculty as well as best practices used during the pandemic. As such, it is of particular interest ...

Practicing Abolition: A Digital Roundtable On Abolitionist Pedagogy, Samantha Lilienfeld

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project explores education and pedagogy as sites for abolitionist practice, and approaches abolitionism as a method by building on the idea of abolition democracy. Using the framework of abolition as a pedagogical practice, I see teaching and learning as urgent tasks of contemporary abolitionism. My project integrates research and scholarship on the abolition of prisons and policing with practices of pedagogy, in part by thinking interdisciplinarily with students and scholars working within CUNY. Practicing Abolition: A Digital Roundtable on Abolitionist Pedagogy incorporates voices from students and scholars about how they practice abolitionist pedagogy in higher education by presenting ...

Pop/Art: The Birth Of Underground Music And The British Art School, 1960–1980, Andrew Cappetta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Pop/Art: The Birth of Underground Music and the British Art School, 1960-1980” argues that the British art school became a training ground for underground musicians in the 1960s and the 1970s because of changes in art school pedagogy and policy in the post-war period. New educational philosophies propagated during the late 1950s and 1960s, above all Basic Design and Behaviorism, redefined the artist as an intermedial experimenter, collapsed distinctions between fine art and design, and theorized the art object as a dynamic and interactive matrix between the maker and viewer. These initiatives, which evolved from art school reforms that ...

The Cop In Your Head: Criminal Justice Education, Liberalism, And The Carceral State, Nicole Haiber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis centers policing ideology in higher education and the way it is constructed and fortified through criminal justice programs. In 1968, the Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) made funds available to police officers to attend college and awarded grants to universities to create criminal justice programs. The program effectively funneled federal money into the project of professionalizing the police and developed criminal justice as a field devoted to conducting crime research, as defined by the federal government. Criminal justice programs exploded across the country with the availability of LEEP funding, and the City University of New York’s (CUNY ...

Examining The Cross-Cultural Competence Of United States Christian Missionaries Engaged In Developing Indigenous Leaders: A Mixed Methods Study, Craig W. Goodman

Dissertations

For the past two millennia, missionaries have crossed from one culture to another to bring the Christian message to all cultures of the world. Questions about the effectiveness of these mission efforts have been asked and researched by many; however, one key question remains unanswered: what personal attributes help a person to be more competent at crossing cultures as they interact with people from other cultures? Although cross-cultural competence has been studied in a variety of fields over the past 50 years, the models and assessments used have never been applied to Christian missionaries.

To address this deficiency, this parallel ...

A Qualitative Study On Nurse Facilitators Of Mind-Body Skills Groups, Paula D. Blake-Beckford

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), founded by Dr. James Gordon, provides communities with evidence-based Mind-Body Skills Groups (MBSGs) that foster self-care, self-awareness, and self-expression. MBSGs range from 8 to 12-week series on various mind-body practices wherein group members meet, practice, and reflect on the impact of mind-body skills in their lives. Research has demonstrated that participants in MBSGs have positive outcomes. Healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially nurses, gain resiliency from MBSGs. As facilitators of MBSGs, nurses develop essential skills transferable to clinical and educational settings. MBSGs are therapeutic for adult participants with chronic stress. Prior to this thesis, only one ...

An Embodied Drama Therapy Approach To Restorative School Practices: A Method, Sarah Harmer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Restorative School Practices offer schools a circle structure to shift the punitive mindset and power dynamics commonly found in America’s schools, to a model that focuses on relationship, connection, and mutual respect. Drama therapy interventions utilize embodied or active work that engage the entire person. The purpose of this thesis was to create a method to explore the addition of embodied drama therapy techniques to deepen the experience of the restorative school circle process. Three community-building and social emotional learning focused circles, in a second, fourth, and sixth grade class, were compared using the traditional scripts and then the ...

Where I’M From: Internal Manifestations Among Cambodian Women Using The Expressive Arts A Literature Review, Noeun Chhim

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Chronic mental illness has affected many Cambodian people, but, culturally, Cambodians aren’t accustomed to opening up and discussing their feelings, rather defining mental illness to craziness and seeking help is presumed taboo. Thus, Cambodians are often reluctant to talk about their experiences and/or their related illnesses. Though Cambodians have experienced inconceivable suffering and violence during the Khmer Rouge era, for the purpose of this thesis, I will be discussing the role of Cambodian women and investigate the extent of what they’ve witnessed and experienced. Cambodian women have suffered through many years of trauma and grief, during and ...

God’S Plan For Life: Training Drill Sergeants To Better Serve Their Neighbor By Developing Moral Character Utilizing The “Transformational Moral Leadership” Model, Matthew Christensen

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Instances of moral failure within the U.S. Army raises the question of whether an individual’s character may be developed and improved by utilizing a moral decision-making process. If so, is it possible to measure this improvement? From a Lutheran perspective, is it possible to improve moral character without appealing to the boundaries provided by God’s Word and a Christian community influencing the spiritual dimensions of one’s life.

This project set out to build upon an eighteen-hour Transformational Moral Leadership training model being utilized to strengthen the moral character of drill sergeants at Fort Benning, Georgia. The ...

God And Satan: A Look At Martin Luther’S Titles For Satan And What They Reveal About The Relationship Between God And Satan, Alexandria M. Shick

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Shick, Alexandria M. “God and Satan: A Look at Martin Luther’s Titles for Satan and What They Reveal About the Relationship Between God and Satan.” M.A. Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2022 87 pp.

The relationship between God and Satan is complex and intertwined. There is a tendency in Christianity to overemphasize Satan’s power and his place in the realm of evil and in so doing neglect and disregard what it means for God to be truly omnipotent. Luther understood Satan as being under God’s will, only having the ability to act where, when and how God allowed ...

Cultural Formation Of Place: Making Yourself At Home, Olivia Arratia

Art Theses and Dissertations

The environment you grow up in can become a pivotal part of your existence. The sights, smells, people, and places you experience every day can transform the way you see the world. Growing up in a Mexican-American household has brought its own set of experiences that have made me the artist I am today. I am one of many contemporary artists building on the foundations of their heritage and the Chicano movement. I am also a Mexican-American artist expanding the identity and extending the legacy in the 21st century. This paper will investigate how Mexican-American heritage has influenced my artistic ...

Sheltered Math Curriculum For Middle School English Learners, Jasmine Ercink

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Language barriers have shown a need for differentiation and sheltered instruction in the classroom for English Learners (ELs) to be successful in the United States public school system. This project proposes a mathematics curriculum using SIOP so that both groups of students in the middle school level can increase their proficiency in the mathematics content area as well as experience opportunities for academic and social language development. The purpose of this report is to describe the processes, methods, data, and intent of the mathematics curriculum for these learners. The curriculum acts as an effective intervention to fill gaps in both ...

Food Insecurity Among Niu College Students, Hannah Schaumberg

Student Projects

Many people with certain privileges never notice them, because they are so fixated on the hasty generalizations of what is seen on the surface rather than the interior aspects. For many students, understanding and recognizing privileges is the main concept to understanding their surroundings. The concept of reflecting on their interactions and knowledge of food insecurity will be curasol among communities. By researching the concepts of food insecurities among NIU students, we can bring awareness of the topic within society. The focus is to understand which intersectional groups are affected by food insecurity and to bring awareness of the subject ...

Finding Their Chrysanthemum: Linguistic Representation In Children's Literature, Marielena Zajac

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Children in America today struggle with finding themselves in the books they read due to societal expectations. From an early age, children are dictated on the correct way to speak and write in “American,” which can leave children and their home languages feeling unseen and dismissed. To help further the conversation and promotion of linguistic diversity in American society, this capstone analyzes dialectal representation in children’s books, with a heavy focus on attitudinal linguistic principles rather than prescriptive mechanics. The secondary research explores current literature and resources that discuss literacy acquisition in adolescents, trends in dialects in America, and ...

Justification For An Apparel-Based Sustainability Course At The University Of Arkansas, Sydney Taylor

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

The University of Arkansas' Apparel Merchandising and Product Development program does not currently offer a course on sustainability in the apparel and textile sector. Due to a lack of sustainability information, students may not have a thorough understanding of their degree. If students had the opportunity to learn about current sustainability-related topics before entering the workforce, they would have a new perspective and a deeper understanding of the industry, allowing them to potentially make good change.

By elaborating on the need for an apparel-based sustainability course to be offered at the University of Arkansas in the Apparel Merchandising and Product ...

Exploring Women’S Sizing Chart: A View Into Psychosizing, Patience Billingsley

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

The apparel industry lacks a universal sizing system and has created tactics to group consumers under a few generic sizes. The inconsistency in sizing has led to a struggle of consumers trying to find pieces of clothing that are not only their size but fit their measurements as well. An analysis of the sizing charts of 5 different women’s clothing private labels ranging from sizes 0-16 within two major department stores was assessed. The sizing charts within each individual store were evaluated, and then compared to one another. After calculating the sizing differences, an average of both store A ...

Gender Perceptions And Female Students' Academic Engagement And Success In Stem Fields, Rheanna Morgan

School of Social Work Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite an increase of females in higher education and the workforce, fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continue to be male-dominated. One explanation for this trend is the lack of gender representation and counterstereotypical role models to encourage female engagement in these fields at the university level. Previous research has looked at instructor gender, classroom gender composition, and involvement in extracurricular activities as possible factors influencing students' engagement and success in the classroom. However, few studies have investigated how gender perceptions influence female students in STEM fields. This study uses self-report data from a voluntary survey to ...

A Whole New World: Understanding The International Student Experience In The United States Through Acculturation, Identity, And Support, Maria W. Nessim

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

This study explores the feelings and opportunities that international students experience while they are studying abroad. Specifically, it investigates acculturation and adaptation to the host country, the students’ cultural identity and sense of belonging, as well as implications for support provided by the host institution.

In order to evaluate these components, an online survey, compiled of 24 open-ended and multiple-choice questions, was distributed to international students at the University of San Diego, asking them to describe their experiences and any indications of challenge and support from the institution in relation to their sense of belonging. The outcomes of this research ...

Innovative Behavior; Raising Awareness For Creative Behavior In Education To Cultivate An Innovative Approach In Vocational Education., Jeanette Janine Matser

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Projects

_{Innovative Behavior; Raising Awareness for Creative Behavior in Education to Cultivate an Innovative Approach in Vocational Education.}

The development of a rubric for innovative behavior in teachers is related to encouraging the status of creativity in the innovation process. It is powerful to use feedback to create a more creative approach in schools, it helps teachers to think creatively and how to cultivate a more innovative approach in the classroom. It creates and structures conversations among teachers interested in teaching and assessing creativity.

This project presents a background and the development of a rubric and a complimentary booklet to self-test ...

The Effects Of Explicit Instruction Targeting Social-Emotional Learning Competencies On The Improvement Of Expressive And Receptive Vocabulary Development For First-Grade Students Identified With Speech-Language Deficits, Anna Perry

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background/Introduction: Studies have shown that both social-emotional and behavioral aspects are deeply intertwined with academic success (McClelland et al., 2007). This study was designed to examine the effects explicit instruction targeting social-emotional learning may have on the vocabulary skills of first-grade students identified with language deficits, behavioral disorders, and developmental disabilities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of explicit instruction targeting social-emotional learning competencies on the improvement of expressive and receptive vocabulary development in children identified with language deficits, as well as behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities. By implementing and teaching social-emotional competencies through ...

Student Centered Language Teaching: A Focus On Student Identity, Rachel Mano

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports

This portfolio is a compilation of essays that describe what the writer has come to see as essential topics in second language acquisition. It begins with a professional environment piece, and then a teaching philosophy statement focused on student identity and interaction in the classroom. This is followed by an essay on observations of teaching. The next two sections focus on pragmatic resistance among advanced learners and the importance of preparing learners for peer interaction. The portfolio concludes with an annotated bibliography outlining the main concepts associated with Communicative Language Teaching, a method that is commonly employed in second language ...

Barriers To The Use Of Palliative And Hospice Care Among The Latino Population, Diana Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Patients suffering from irreversible and terminal illnesses may benefit from the services provided by Palliative and Hospice Care to control any symptom burden and assist in navigating complex medical decisions. Many patients may express hesitation in accepting and enrolling to this service due to misconceptions. Language barriers may add an additional layer of complexity. This study explored the challenges Palliative Care providers encounter when introducing concept of hospice to Spanish-speaking patients their families for the first time. This study implemented qualitative research methods by using semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Ten members of an In-patient Palliative Care Team at a University Hospital ...

Authorial Agency: Investigating Composition Pedagogies Under A New Lens, Tyler Hurst

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports

This essay considers the work of three prominent composition scholars through the lens of authorial agency, which I define as a form of agency that focuses on the individual voice and self-determination of students in the writing space. Though the concept of agency has been previously considered by composition scholars, this contribution might aid in understanding various pedagogical approaches by analyzing how authorial agency is already being engaged within composition pedagogies and investigating how authorial agency aids teachers in understanding their pedagogy so that students learn to take back control of their own authoritative voice and self-determination. By re-investigating writing ...

Representation Of Women & Bbia Composers In The Teaching Music Through Performance In Band Series, Alicia M. Turnquist

Honors Thesis

One problem seen in music education curriculum today is the underrepresentation of Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian (BBIA), and female composers in the band ensemble repertoire. Throughout history, these composers have been excluded in the curriculum causing an overrepresentation of white non-Hispanic male composers. Some music education organizations are beginning to address this issue but, few, if any, have addressed the problem in the band classroom setting. This project examined the repertoires selected in the first ten volumes of the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series to examine how representative the composers included in the series were to the K-12 ...

The Journey Of Unlearning: A Close Reading Of Civil War Pedagogy In Alabama And Virginia, Michaela Hill

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis is a close reading of Civil War pedagogy in Alabama and Virginia with special attention given to Black history during the Civil War era. Through an examination of Civil War history, it is evident that slavery was the main cause of the War. The development of the Lost Cause narrative, a reaction to Blacks gaining Civil Rights that aimed to prove the Confederate war effort was honorable, is still promoted in southern schools. Alabama and Virginia both provide state standards, outlines of the minimum required knowledge to be obtained on a given subject by the end of the ...

Quickwrites And The Quest To Reverse Writing Reluctance, Jenna Dunn

Honors Projects

Current research suggests that students’ enjoyment of writing will positively impact their writing achievement (Graham, 2007; Bulut, 2017). Given this trend, the following study explores the extent to which quickwriting, a teaching strategy developed extensively by Donald Graves & Penny Kittle (2005) as well as Linda Rief (2018), impacts the attitudes of reluctant writers. A total of nineteen eleventh-grade students were interviewed in three focus groups. All of the students within the study experienced three weeks of regular classroom quickwriting along with one week of a quickwriting extension workshop prior to participation in the focus groups. Students were asked about their ...

How Rhythm Affects Prosody, Mckenzie Ward

Student Research Submissions

Music interventions and how they benefit reading fluency have been researched, but there is more to be done in discovering the benefits of rhythm and prosody. This quantitative research study looked at how rhythm-based interventions affect student prosody in a second-grade classroom. Data were gathered from a music experience survey, a prosody pre-assessment, and a prosody post-assessment. The music intervention in this study involved three rhythm-based interventions called “DeeDee games.” This research analyzed and compared the growth between the prosody pre-and post-assessments and the results between students with musical backgrounds and students without musical backgrounds. This study found insufficient evidence ...

Press Any Button To Get Started: Approaching Japanese Culture And Society Through Video Games, Amanda Weber

East Asian Studies Honors Papers

This project argues for inclusion of video games into the liberal arts curriculum alongside more traditional texts. Three Japanese-developed video games are analyzed in terms of their appropriateness for the Ursinus Quest curriculum while also exploring their appropriation of characters, themes, and values from Japanese mytho-history. My approach incorporates the methodology introduced by the scholar James Paul Gee who studies video games through the lens of semiotics and gaming theory. Gee defines key elements presented in video games as ‘lifeworld domains,’ which incorporate cultures, societies, and individual and group experiences. The value of video games resides in the players’ development ...

Teaching Music In The Age Of Zoom: How To Run A Multimedia Piano Studio, Anna Grace Leicht

Honors Theses

This work explores the effects of Covid-19 on teaching and details how to set up and market an online piano studio.