Education Commons^™

Library Resource Usage And Student Success At Eastern Kentucky University, Kelly Smith, Jens Arneson, Matthew Irvin, Kwan Yi

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Library impact studies at many universities have indicated a correlation between library resource usage and student success; for example, the University of Wollongong, the University of Minnesota, Murray State University, the University of Huddersfield, and York University have all found that increased library usage correlates with student success, and that students who do not use the library at all have significantly lower outcomes. To add to this growing body of evidence, Eastern Kentucky University Libraries analyzed undergraduate usage of online library resources and found a similar effect: on average, EKU students who logged in to access the Libraries’ online resources …

Embracing Change: Adapting And Evolving Your Distance Learning Library Services To Embrace The New Acrl Distance Learning Library Services Standards, Heather K. Beirne, Sarah Richardson, Brad Marcum, Karen Gilbert

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Distance learning continues to grow by leaps and bounds and almost all academic libraries are struggling to evolve and adapt to offer quality equivalent services and resources to their distance students. This interactive presentation will offer participants an in-depth analysis of the new ACRL Distance Learning Library Services Standards, offer forecasts regarding the future of distance learning, and will draw distinctions between the previous 2008 Standards for Distance Learning Library Services and the new standards. Practical advice on how to update distance learning library services to meet the new standards will be offered, and participants are encouraged to bring their …

Project-Based Science For General Education College Students And Seventh Graders: Pitfalls And Pointers, Walter S. Borowski, Malcolm P. Frisbie, Tara Shepperson, Linda Frost

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

We teach a general-education science course for honors students, who in turn mentor disadvantaged seventh graders through a water quality investigation of a local stream. Activities for both groups involve all aspects of a scientific project: scientific background, local context, project design, data collection and analysis, and communication of scientific results. On successive weeks, we first lead our college students through each step in the process then the honors students mentor middle school students through those same steps. College and middle school teachers act as facilitators, and each honors student is responsible for about 6 to 8 middle schoolers. The …

Compassion Leads To The Creation Of The Backpack Program In Kentucky, Katrina Sexton, Sherwood Thompson

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty and Staff Research

Children all over the United States currently endure food insecurity, which presents significant issues for their academic performance and general quality of life. This paper examines how the generosity of compassionate individuals and agencies helps to improve the wellbeing and self-motivation of students who go without food. To this end, we review the literature on compassion, particularly how it is theoretically described by positive organizational scholarship (POS). We also review some of the major programs and agencies that have arisen in recent decades to counter the problem of food insecurity and its related concerns—programs such as the Backpack Food program, …

The Role Of Occupational Therapy In Primary Care, Priti Patel

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

The Capstone Project is focused on communicating, influencing and educating other health care professionals regarding the role of occupational therapy in the future model of primary care delivery initiated by the adoption of the Affordable Care Act and the Triple Aim Initiative. Currently, primary care, the largest health care platform in United States, is not inclusive of occupational therapy services. Occupational therapists have the scope, knowledge and understanding to be part of the redesigned team model of primary care. Educating those currently working in primary care about adding occupational therapy services can have a significant impact on the profession of …

Whose Standards Are These? A Chronological Glossary Of Standards In P-12 Education, Richard E. Day

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The elementary and secondary education system was created in the early 1900s to serve a different time when people had different needs. Although the idea of human capital is as old as education itself, the concept of college readiness was hardly a concern when access to college was limited to a relatively few privileged individuals who had the wherewithal to attend. Illiteracy was seen as the state’s educational problem. There was no concern that high school graduation rates were too low at a time when very few jobs required knowledge workers.

Whose Standards Are These? A Chronological Glossary Of Standards In P-12 Education, Richard E. Day

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Whose Standards Are These? A Brief Historical Timeline of the Development of the Common Core State Standards with References to Next General Science Standards, and the C3 Framework for Social Studies.

A Study Of Academic Performance In Police Basic Training, Robert Ramsey

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of formal education and the effect it has on academic performance of the police recruits that attended the Department of Criminal Justice Training (DOCJT) for their basic training academy in Richmond, Ky. This study focused on the academic portion of recruit training only. This study assessed whether education level is a valid predictor of a recruit officers academic performance and will answer if higher education levels give a recruit officer an advantage academically while they are in basic training.

The sample chosen was from recruit classes that attended basic training …

Creating Culturally Considerate Schools: Educating Without Bias, Samuel Hinton

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This book review first discusses the book’s major content divisions and follows with a general analysis of concepts. The book is structured into phases of equity development namely, selfexamination, reflection, integration, actualization, and educational equity (p. 12). The phases are further subdivided into eight manageable steps of personal and professional growth that would empower teachers to operate in culturally considerate classrooms, galvanized by school climates and cultures that support individual and collective student achievement. The eight stages of personal and professional growth are: acknowledgement of bias, assessment of current equity skills, acceptance of limitations, cognitive restructuring, expanding knowledge base, skill …

Kentucky Principal Preparation Programs: A Contemporary History, Thomas Henry Hart

Online Theses and Dissertations

In this era of expectation that school principals will lead continuous improvement initiatives in their schools, this study investigates if principals receive instruction in continuous improvement concepts, methods, and tools through their formal principal certification program. This research evaluates the evolution of school principal preparation programs in Kentucky over the period from 1994 to 2014, a time of great change in academic expectations and accountability in American public schools. Using the report of a national study begun in 1975, Preparatory Programs for Educational Administrators in the United States (Silver and Spuck, 1978), as a baseline, accredited principal preparations programs in …

The Relationship Between Administrative Support And Burnout In Turnaround Schools, Kevin Scott Crosby

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study looked at the relationship between administrative support and teacher burnout in two federally funded turnaround middle schools. Teacher burnout indicators include signs of lacking accomplishment, mental and physical fatigue, and depersonalization. Administrative support factors include positive communication, vision, district support, and school support. The major findings of this study showed that school level support played a significant role in predicting teacher burnout. Professional development support played a significant role in predicting teacher burnout, but not to the same extent as school level support. Central office support was not a significant factor in predicting teacher burnout or any burnout …

The 21st Century University President: Building Blocks For Effective Rural Leadership, David Thomas Mcfaddin

Online Theses and Dissertations

This paper was written to examine the fundamental areas of influence that can help to shape effective leadership for the 21st century college or university president in a rural setting. In the last few years, centuries of long held traditions, behaviors and expectations inside and outside of the university community have quickly and radically changed. The new and evolving knowledge-based economy of America has created an exceedingly competitive marketplace for higher education that has forever changed the social and financial contract between higher education and the American public. This new world features extremely complex and competitive organizations that must exist …

Effectiveness Of Mandatory Driver Training Programs For Fire Service Drivers, Ryan Neil Pietzsch

Online Theses and Dissertations

This research attempts to measure the effectiveness of mandatory driver training programs for fire service drivers. Effectiveness is defined by a decrease in the number of crashes per number of runs. Two states were identified for comparison, one with mandatory driver training requirements, Washington State (WA) and the other with no requirements, Pennsylvania (PA). Data was collected from state Department of Transportation (DOT) databases and state National Fire Incident Reporting Systems (NFIRS). A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare raw and adjusted crash rates calculated from state DOT crash numbers and NFPA run numbers. The WA effectiveness rate was then …

Service Learning In A Collegiate Recreation Program: Understanding The Impacts On Personal Understanding And Academic Success In Therapeutic Recreation Vs Non-Therapeutic Recreation Concentrations, Eden Ernestine Fisher

Online Theses and Dissertations

Service Learning is steadily becoming a more utilized method of teaching in collegiate settings and thus the purpose of this research was to (1) Examine how service learning in a collegiate recreation program may or may not benefit students academically and personally and (2) Determine if therapeutic recreation students perceive service learning to be more beneficial than other concentrations in the recreation field. It was hypothesized that service learning would benefit undergraduate and graduate students both academically and personally and that undergraduate therapeutic recreation majors would perceive service learning to be more beneficial than other concentrations. The findings supported both …

Occupational Therapists' Perceived Experiences Implementing Response To Intervention (Rti) In Early Education, Mckenzie Dawn Katzman

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to gain a better perspective of occupational therapists’ perceived experiences when implementing Response to Intervention (RtI) in early education. RtI is an emerging practice area in Occupational Therapy. Three Kentucky occupational therapists, working in the school system in different counties, were recruited through email and snowballing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in person with participants. Information gathered was transcribed verbatim and transcripts were examined for purposes of coding. Coding was compared across cases and examined for themes. Despite commonalities, three distinct experiences of RtI emerged. Implications for occupational therapists working in the school …

The Effect Of Web-Based Learning On Retention Of Non-Traditional Students In A Rural Comprehensive University, Treva Gail Macy

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects web-based courses effect retention of nontraditional students. Gender, student classification, first generation, and ACT composite scores were used as predictor variables for the purpose of this study. Data were collected from the university's BANNER system. The analysis of the results revealed that the retention rates of students who participated in online courses were higher than their in-person counterparts. Recommendations for policy and implications for future research are provided.

Sedentary Behaviors And Physical Activity In Relation To Class Standing In University Students, Codie Monhollen

Online Theses and Dissertations

The researcher studied sedentary behaviors and physical activity (PA) of university students in relation to class standings. Participants were 294 university students for the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) and 264 students for the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) selected from the College of Health Sciences. Sedentary Behaviors were analyzed using the SBQ, consisting of 9 behavior items, separated into weekday and weekend behavior. Additionally, PA was assessed using the IPAQ. On average students spent 37hr in sedentary behaviors during a normal 5 day week. Statistical significance was found between class standing for playing computer/video games, paperwork/computer, and transportation for weekday …

The Current Status Of Safety In High School Chemical Laboratories In Kentucky, Ahmed Rashed Alyammahi

Online Theses and Dissertations

This project is construed as a follow-up of the study conducted by Dr. Jack Gerlovich and his team to assess the status of science safety in Kentucky high schools in 2003-2004. The current study gathered online responses to an expanded survey from 57 high school chemistry teachers in Kentucky. The survey was developed to find answers to four main questions: What is the current status of safety in high school chemical laboratory in Kentucky? To what extent has this status improved or deteriorated since the creation and publication of the Total Science Safety-The Kentucky Edition CD in 2003? What are …

Dual Credit In Southeast Kentucky: Accelerating Appalachian Success Or A Mode To Regress, Roger A. Bowling

Online Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative study about high school student participation in dual credit programming in the rural Appalachian setting of Southeastern Kentucky. The research region is comprised of resource extraction based communities and the coal markets have plummeted. Void the once robust coal industry, Southeast Kentucky will have to reconstruct a new economy. Today’s students in this region can no longer be prepared to enter an established workforce, they must be able to acclimate to and/or forge new jobs. Sustainability requires a refocusing on education. This dissertation provides a qualitative research contribution to the statistical literature available on Kentucky’s …

A Study Of Factors That Influence Partnerships Between Universities And Nonprofit Organizations, Vicki L. Jozefowicz

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined factors that influence partnerships between universities and nonprofit organizations. Specifically, the study examined how nonprofit leaders characterize “effective” University-Nonprofit Partnerships; strategies that nonprofit leaders have employed to develop effective relationships with universities; and barriers that nonprofit-leaders perceive as inhibiting these partnerships. The study utilized qualitative analyses to learn strategies that have contributed to effective University-Nonprofit Partnerships, to recognize barriers to these partnerships, and to identify strategies for overcoming the barriers. The study examined the experiences of seven nonprofit leaders who had worked in partnership with universities.

The results of this study show evidence that while University-Nonprofit Partnerships …

A Phenomenological Study Of Participation In Specialized And Inclusive Recreation Programs, Charles Keith Mullins

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand whether participation in specialized recreation programs, which are designed for individuals with disabilities, increases opportunities for participation in inclusive programs, which are designed for both individuals with and without disabilities. Regardless of the popularity and growth of inclusive services, specialized programs persevere in numerous recreational service settings and continue to be used by individuals with disabilities and their families. This study helps to clarify why individuals with disabilities and their families choose to participate or not participate in these programs. The research questions focused on the connection between participation in specialized …

First Responder Training Transfer: Does Training Delivery Method Matter?, Brian Keith Simpkins

Online Theses and Dissertations

Technology-based training solutions are increasingly being utilized by organizations to achieve training objectives at lower costs as compared to traditional instructor-led training (ILT). This is especially true for the Nation’s first responder agencies that continue to face difficulties related to expanding training requirements that are pitted against limitations in agency financial and human resources. Despite the proliferation in the use of technology-based training solutions, such as web-based training (WBT), there is little research within the first responder community as to whether WBT is as effective as ILT in enabling trainees to transfer essential knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) from a training …

Experiences Of Lgbtq Students Attending A University In Rural, Bible Belt America, Eric Joseph Weber

Online Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) students currently attending universities in rural, Bible Belt areas in the United States are unknown. Additionally, there is disconnect noted in the literature between the purpose of a postsecondary educational institution and what is actually experienced by LGBTQ students. While the college experience should promote personal and academic growth that allows students to reach their full potential, LGBTQ students have historically experienced ill-treatment on campuses which accounts for at least some disconnect noted in the literature. This qualitative phenomenological study offered a group of LGBTQ students the opportunity to tell …