Liberal Studies Commons^™

Paralleled Support Models For Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Lucy Ellen Klym

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the State of Indiana, for students over the age of 14 who have been diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the transition from special education to Medicaid waiver oversight should occur seamlessly, but gaps in integrated and aligned goal development strategies remain. As a consequence, students who need adult-based support may not be receiving the full scope of services to which they are entitled. Using common-pool resource theory as a foundation, the purpose of this explanatory case study of transitional services to Indiana Medicaid was to understand, from the perspective of disability support service staff, the barriers to effective …

Blown To Bits Project, David Schmidt

Informatics Open Educational Resources

The book, Blown to Bits, uncovers the many ways that the new digital world has changed and is changing our whole environment. Some changes are incremental but others are more revolutionary. Some of the changes that we welcome are slowly eroding our privacy and are changing the rules of ownership. This book illuminates the complexities of these changes. I have attempted to capture the central points in selected chapters, and in some cases I have added new material or new examples to replace dated material. I picked chapters to summarize that address the following topics (and more). There are many …

Staff Member Perceptions Of Bullying In An Afterschool Center, Sherrich Monsher Thegg

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Peer-to-peer bullying negatively impacts over 20% of school-aged children annually. While much literature exists on bullying on school premises, peer-to-peer bullying outside of the classroom is still relatively understudied. Despite states' implementation of antibullying legislation, peer-to-peer bullying has continued in schools and other areas such as afterschool centers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate staff perceptions of peer-to-peer bullying in afterschool centers. It specifically investigated bullying and the hierarchical imbalance of power using Sidanius and Pratto's social dominance theory. The research questions were designed to investigate the staff members' knowledge of bullying at the Boys and Girls …

Differentiation Of Self As A Predictor Of Vicarious Trauma In Mental Health Professionals, Denise Purvis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health professionals in all settings work with clients who are affected by trauma. Traumatic events expose mental health professionals to the negative psychological and emotional impact of witnessing and listening to client stories. Vicarious trauma is the emotional consequence of this empathic engagement with clients. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify predictors of vicarious trauma in mental health professionals that had not been studied before. The theoretical framework guiding the study was the Bowen family systems theory and the construct of differentiation of self. A regression analysis was conducted with a purposive sample of 83 licensed …

Familial Factors Predicting Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence In African American Adolescents, Cassandra Clarke-Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teen dating violence is more prevalent among African Americans than any other racial group in the United States leading to serious health consequences for victims. However, limited data exists on how African American adolescents' attitudes and perceptions regarding dating violence are formed, and whether they are influenced by family members. The purpose of this nonexperimental correlational study was to determine whether nonverbal or verbal communication from family members predicted adolescents' attitudes and perceptions toward dating violence. Survey data from 84 African American men and women ages 18 to 24 were collected using the Normative Beliefs About Aggression Scale, the Acceptance …

Teacher And Student Variables Affecting Special Education Evaluation And Referral, Lorenzo Adrian Woodson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research has revealed that African American/Black boys are referred for special education evaluation at disproportionately higher rates than boys of other racial/ethnic groups. This correlational study used survey methodology to examine whether student and teacher demographic variables predicted how likely a teacher would refer boy students for special education evaluation. The following questions guided this research: 1) To what degree does student race/ethnicity, teacher gender, teacher race/ethnicity, and teacher attitude toward inclusion predict how likely a teacher would refer boys' to special education after controlling for teacher's years of experience in general and special education? 2) What are the …

Racial Ethnic Health Disparities: A Phenomenological Exploration Of African American Adults With Diabetes Complications., Florence A. Okombo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Racial/ethnic minority groups experience a higher mortality rate, a lower life expectancy, and worse mental health outcomes than non-Hispanic in the United States. There is a scarcity of qualitative studies on racial/ethnic health disparities. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the personal experiences, attitudes, and perspectives of 6 African American adults with chronic health issues related to diabetes through a face-to-face interview. Social cognitive theory and health belief model guided the study. The participants were recruited through purposeful sampling. The data were coded using axial and thematic coding and subsequently analyzed through phenomenological interpretive inquiry. The …

'Stand By Me' Designated Tobacco Areas On U.S. Military Installations, Robert Thomas Gobble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. Air Force (USAF) active duty Airmenshowunusually high tobacco prevalence rates (TPR); i.e., smoke, smokeless, both(SSL-B), when compared to civilian publics in the United States. Tobacco control efforts have proven largely ineffective inlowering nicotine habits among Airmen, while outdoor designated tobacco areas (DTAs) sited near worksites and popular localeson USAF bases (USAFBs) likelyswayAirmen to continue riskynicotine habits. The aim of this inquiry was to assess whetherquantities of DTAs on USAFBs and U.S. airbases (USABs) with 4 mediator variables(quality of DTAs,sites of DTAs, execution of a tobacco cessation program, and types of tobacco cessation programs) wereassociated with TPR (SSL-B) among Airmen …

Hopeful Thinking: Conceptualizing A Future Beyond Domestic Abuse, Henri Zombil

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence is a continuing public health problem. Immigrant women facing domestic violence have additional challenges in dealing with domestic violence and accessing services. Hopeful thinking has been identified as a strategy for intervening and surviving beyond domestic violence. The purpose of this multiple descriptive case study was to explore hopeful thinking in Haitian immigrant women domestic abuse survivors' (HIDAS) conceptualizations of the future beyond domestic abuse. The framework for the study was resilience theory, which emphasizes the individual's ability to bounce back from stressful situations. This framework was used to investigate how HIDAS in the United States experience hopeful …

Benefits Of Counseling Services For Elementary School Students, Sarah D. Fuentes

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The aim of this capstone study was to identify how elementary school counseling services benefits students, academically and emotionally. The interest in this study was a yearning to gain deeper insight into elementary school counseling and how their services impacts students. Through research and field study it has proven that elementary school counseling has been beneficial for young students. Understanding the role of the elementary school counselor is vital to comprehend the services school counselors provide. The collaboration counselors have with teachers, administration, parents and most importantly, the students, reflect how beneficial the counseling sessions are and the conflicts that …

The Library And Undergraduate Research In The Liberal Arts: Present Contributions And Future Opportunities, Todd J. Wiebe

Faculty Publications

This study sought to describe library value as seen through its various contributions to the mentored undergraduate research experiences of students in the arts, humanities, and social sciences at Hope College. Concurrently, it explored new opportunities for how librarians might become more directly connected with students involved in this hallmark of the academic program. Findings were intended to both highlight existing library contributions and initiate a well-informed movement toward aligning library priorities with the greater institutional academic mission.

Educating The Under Empowered For Tolerance Of Satire And Participation In Young Democracies, Judith Puncochar, Don Faust

Conference Presentations

Drawing from experiences in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States, a relationship appears to exist between tolerance for satire, freedom of expression, and academic freedom in higher education. Empowering the under empowered for participation in vibrant democracies and rational public discourse seems to coincide with an increasing tolerance for satire. We posit vibrant democracies must contain educational elements essential to empower the under empowered for democratic participation, in particular, to provide new democratic citizens with an understanding of the role of satire to cultivate rational public discourse in new democracies. New Southeast Asian democracies need growing evidence of dynamic strivings …

Does Gender Still Matter? Child Custody Bias In The Illinois Family Court System, Derek K. Ronnfeldt

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last several decades, nearly all of the states have formed task forces to look at the perception of a gender bias within the family court systems as they pertain to child custody. This self-scrutiny has included the attitudes of judges and attorneys within the system and the need of reform of our family courts. This research focused on replicating a study conducted by Dotterweich and McKinney that was completed in 2000 that compiled statistics from four different state task forces in Maryland, Missouri, Texas, and Washington. This research focused on Illinois judges and attorneys, using the same questions …

Review Of Sustainable Energy -- Without The Hot Air By David Mackay (2009), Kira Hamman

Numeracy

David MacKay. Sustainable Energy: Without the hot air. (Cambridge, England: UIT Cambridge Ltd., 2009). 384 pp. ISBN 978-0954452933 (also available as a free e-book).

Physicist David MacKay transforms what has historically been a debate fraught with skepticism and hysteria into an informed conversation. He does this by providing clear, accurate quantitative information on energy production and consumption in a form that allows comparison and invites thoughtful analysis. By recalibrating power into kilowatt-hours per day per person, he makes the numbers meaningful on an individual level. He then meticulously estimates the productive capacity of various renewable energy sources, explores alternative …

Undergraduate Library Internships And Professional Success, Clinton K. Baugess, Kathryn Martin, Katherine Mattson, Qin Zhang

All Musselman Library Staff Works

This poster reports on an assessment completed of former undergraduate library interns to explore the impact their internship had on the development of career goals, acceptance to and preparation for graduate education, and their early career. Through an online survey (n= 45) and six semi-structured telephone interviews, respondents reported a positive impact on the above areas.

Confessions Of A Media Literacy Scholar-Practitioner: Job Market Advantages, Research Agenda Challenges, And Theory-Driven Production, Christopher Boulton

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This essay explores how higher education’s move away from the liberal arts tradition of learning by thinking and towards more vocational “experiential” approaches has implications for media literacy educators’ career options, scholarly identities, and teaching strategies. Specifically, I consider my own negotiation of increasing administrative and student demands for “hands-on” production courses by confessing both my advantages on the job market and my post-hire challenges in articulating a clear research agenda. I then conclude with a case study of how I repurposed my scholar-practitioner identity and used critical theory to drive production by bringing film students into a cultural studies …

Development Of Utility Theory And Utility Paradoxes, Timothy E. Dahlstrom

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Since the pioneering work of von Neumann and Morgenstern in 1944 there have been many developments in Expected Utility theory. In order to explain decision making behavior economists have created increasingly broad and complex models of utility theory. This paper seeks to describe various utility models, how they model choices among ambiguous and lottery type situations, and how they respond to the Ellsberg and Allais paradoxes. This paper also attempts to communicate the historical development of utility models and provide a fresh perspective on the development of utility models.

Bullying And Development, Caitlin O'Hare

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project looks into the developmental aspects behind bullying. Cyberbullying, suicide and long term effects are presented along with how schools have been handling bullying within the classroom. Adding a personal touch, to show a prime example of how one can overcome substantial obstacles and see the light at the end of the tunnel. This project also looks in depth of the effects of cyberbullying as it has increased over the years with the strong use of technology. Additional information was gathered by conducting an interview with teachers from a Bay Area elementary school along with a high school …

For The Dreamers, Mariajose Gomez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

"For the Dreamers" reflects the author's experience on a De Colores immersion trip to Casa de Migrantes in Mexico, Tijuana. This was Gomez's first time traveling out of the country, and the experience helped her realize that no human being should be considered “illegal” simply because of man-made barriers. The piece exposes the complex social dynamics that inform the experiences of both immigrants and citizens of the United States. The purpose of the poem is to challenge readers' views on immigration and highlight the role social constructs and stereotypes play in establishing preconceived ideas about immigrants. The author hopes readers …

Immersions In Global Equality And Social Justice: A Model Of Change, Kevin Guerrieri, Sandra Sgoutas-Emch

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

In the work for global equality and social justice, how should “change” be understood? Who determines what must change or be changed? In the efforts to carry out social change, what is the academy’s relationship with the community, society at large, and the broader world? This article parts from these and other key questions and then proposes a model of change that can be used as a lens for examining any project, program, or organization with the aim of creating positive change that is meaningful, sustainable, and holistic. The article provides both an explanation of the underlying interdisciplinary theoretical framework …

The Spirituality Of Immersion: Solidarity, Compassion, Relationship, Michael E. Lovette-Colyer

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

While the term spirituality can be problematic, obscuring as much as revealing, immersion experiences cannot be understood fully without exploring the contours of what can only be described as spirituality. To the extent that they work, immersions effect change when they speak to the deepest longings of the heart. While manifesting in many different ways, the spirituality of immersion revolves around three major components: solidarity, compassion, and relationship. The spirituality of immersion is a developed relationality, a desire to enter into richer, wider, more expansive relationships with others, which naturally leads into deeper relationship with God.

Reflections On Skipping Stones To Diving Deep: The Process Of Immersion As A Practice, Judith Liu Dr

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

Reflecting upon over 30 years of teaching courses with a community service-learning and engagement component, this article is a personal piece that explores the author’s journey through voluntarism, community service-learning and civic engagement, and how that path has led to embracing immersion as a critical pedagogical practice for community engagement.

Engaged Pedagogy: Reflections From A Barriologist, Rigoberto Reyes

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

This essay offers advice to University faculty and administrators on how best to implement the work of engaged pedagogy and community development work. The author is an established activist and community organizer for the past 40 years. His most important recommendation when doing the work of community engagement is to begin work that starts and benefits the community.

The "We-Ness" And Empathy Of Liberalism, David Sparkman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most research in Social and political psychology focuses on the psychological antecedents to conservatism; the primary aim of this work was to investigate antecedents to liberalism. This led to an examination of we-ness and empathy as underlying mechanisms to liberal attitudes. Using perspective taking as a cognitive process common to both we-ness and empathy, I tested a model of we-ness and empathy as serial mediators of the effect of perspective taking on political attitudes. Results suggested that we-ness and empathy serially mediated the association between perspective taking and liberalism (and its Social and economic sub-attitudes), and empathy independently mediated the …

From Gettysburg To Townsville, Australia And Back, Caroline A. Ehrhardt

Celebration

I studied abroad in Townsville, AU in the Fall 2014 and had the semester of my life. I am biology major, who has always wanted to pursue a career with animals and I got to run hands on experiments at James Cook University. I collected research on wild rock wallabies, I got Open Water Padi Dive certified and dove throughout Australia and Bali, Indonesia. I got up close with wild sharks, eels, jellyfish, and a variety of tropical fish. I joined the co-ed soccer and disc team. Most importantly, I became friends with amazing people from all over the world.

Boleto Y Entrada: A Roundtrip Ticket To A Year Abroad, Elizabeth M. Belair

Celebration

A presentation to illustrate my work with the Global Leaders of Gettysburg College (GLGC) program at Gettysburg College.

Kickact: The Implementation & Evaluation Of A Youth Empowerment & Leadership Program, Crystal M. Denny

Capstone Collection

KickAct is a program that combines martial arts and performing arts to empower youth and engage them in creative social change. Youth experience a lack of community engagement and partnership with the adult. Many youth face additional challenges, ranging from lack of support in school to violence at home, that can negatively impact their life. KickAct is designed to provide youth with the necessary skills and experience to thrive as active participants in their communities. Due to inconsistent attendance and participation, it was not possible to determine whether the workshop format was a successful method for youth empowerment. However, the …

Fearless Friday: Taylor Bury, Taylor B. Bury

SURGE

This week, SURGE is pleased to feature Taylor Bury ’16 as Gettysburg’s Fearless Leader!

Taylor is a senior at Gettysburg College. She is a Biology Major from York, Pennsylvania. She has been involved with Student Senate since her first year on campus, rising through the ranks to serve as its President. [excerpt]

Spectators Or Patriots? Citizens In The Information Age, Amrita Dhawan

Publications and Research

In theory, a strong democracy rests on robust citizen participation. The practice in most democracies is quite different. This gap presents a challenge, which can be narrowed by augmenting civic education to bring it up to date with the current information environment and thus give citizens the opportunity to participate. Robert Dahl’s work on democracy provides a model that looks at this problem structurally. He writes about the ideals and the actual institutions necessary for a democracy and if we situate his model in the modern information environment we get a better idea of how to improve civic education. Successful …

Mentoring: A Strategy For Professional Development Of Librarians In Nigerian Universities, Nkechi, Anthonia Idoko, Richard Ndubuisi Ugwuanyi Phd, Ngozi Eunice Osadebe Mrs

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigated mentoring strategies in use for professional development of librarians in federal Universities in North-Central Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. Population of the study was 107 professional librarians. Four research questions guided the study. Instrument for data collection were: structured questionnaire and an interview schedule. Data obtained were analyzed using mean ratings. Major findings include: informal mentoring strategy is the main strategy in use for professional development of librarians in these universities, many benefits accrue from mentoring, yet there are challenges affecting it. Suggested ways to combat these challenges were given. The implication of the study …