Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Analysis Of Education Reform In Sub-Saharan Africa, Katharine Eger

CMC Senior Theses

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to fall behind other developing regions regarding educational attainment, despite recent progress in enrollment. This thesis examines a variety of external conditional factors that could contribute to a country’s relative success, in terms of years spent in school using a prediction model that compares years enrolled in secondary education as a foundation to determine over- and under-performing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

By exploring various educational policies, historical patterns, and projects executed in Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, and Botswana, this thesis sheds light on four main challenges that can impact educational attainment: ethnic and racial tensions, an acute …

Escaping The Poverty Trap: Formal Savings And Asset Accumulation In Rural Malawi, Audrey Breitwieser

CMC Senior Theses

Formal savings accounts can be an effective device for households to accumulate assets over time and thus have more funds available to better afford an expensive one-time payment, in the form of either addressing an economic shock or paying for an important life event. I explore this relationship using a field experiment in rural Malawi conducted from 2008-2010, and find that adoption of a formal savings account has no effect on the frequency of economic shocks that a household experiences, nor does it affect how households respond to shocks. However, I find that account adoption does significantly increase the frequency …

Old New Media: Closed-Circuit Television And The Classroom, Amanda R. Keeler

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This article explores closed-circuit television (CCTV) and its ‘bright promise stage’, as it was contemplated, marketed, and implemented as a low-cost classroom tool. After the Federal Communications Commission issued the 1952 Sixth Report and Order, many schools and communities sought to bring educational television to the classroom. However, this model was financially out of reach for most. CCTV was a more affordable version of educational television that could cater to specific classroom needs and allow schools to create their own in-house network. CCTV represents just one of many new technologies that have been promoted as ideal for classroom instruction over …

Improving Children's Academic Performance Through Parent Engagement: Development And Initial Findings From The Your Family, Your Neighborhood Intervention, Stephanie Lechuga Peña

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Your Family, Your Neighborhood (YFYN) is an educational intervention with families in low-income and subsidized housing communities. YFYN supports households facing issues associated with poverty. These include supporting low-income families as they navigate their children's experience in poor performing schools, barriers and access to healthcare and role in addressing the challenges of living distressed neighborhoods they live in. Through the 10-week manualized curriculum, families work on connections that affect multiple systems in their lives with a focus on the family, school and neighborhood. This mixed methods study describes the development and provides results of the YFYN intervention on parental involvement …

Social Justice And Human Rights In Education Policy Discourse: Assessing Nelson Mandela's Legacy, Abrehet Gebremedhin, Devin Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Twenty years after South Africa's democratisation, Nelson Mandela's passing has prompted scholars to examine his legacy in various domains. Here we take a look at his legacy in education discourse. Tracing Mandela's thoughts and pronouncements on education we find two major emphases: a view of education as a practical means to economic development, and education as a means to social justice, human rights, and democracy. Assessing the legacy of these twin emphases, we conducted qualitative and quantitative content analysis of turning point documents in education policy and annual reports from the respective South African ministries of education over the last …

An Educational Initiative To Prevent Unnecessary Hospitalization For Hospice Patients, Alkeisha Hill Mims

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Avoidable hospitalizations of hospice patients cost Medicare $3 billion a year. When hospice nurses are able to identify early signs and symptoms of acute illness and provide appropriate interventions to prevent such admissions, 20-60% of the hospitalizations are preventable. The practice problem addressed in this quality improvement doctor of nursing project was the 30% hospital admission rate of hospice patients as evidenced by chart review, admission data, and revocation data. The first purpose of the project was to identify evidence-based nursing care paths in the literature for the top 5 medical diagnoses related to avoidable hospital admissions. The second purpose …

Effect Of The Criminal Justice Curriculum On The Attitudes Of 12th-Grade Students Toward The Police, Willie Howard Bradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While the use of criminal justice courses and law-related education programs have been shown to serve as a crime prevention and deterrence mechanism against school crime and violence, and help students to gain positive experiences and attitudes toward law enforcement, many high schools still do not offer criminal justice courses. The purpose of this quasiexperimental study was to compare the attitudes of 12th-grade students from a school district in Massachusetts who took a criminal justice course to 12th-grade students from another school district in Massachusetts who did not to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the groups. …

Evaluative Feedback: How K-12 Teachers Respond, Deetta Lorick Andersen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This sequential mixed methods study addressed the need for research that both described and explained how teachers of varying experience respond to administrative evaluative feedback. Formative evaluation theory of Scriven and professional growth models of Steffy and Fessler served as theoretical models for data analysis. An online survey asking teachers how they changed their practices and what accounted for their response was received from 270 teachers in 1 Midwestern state. Of these, 9 teachers of varying experience were interviewed. The quantitative data showed that most teachers do not change practices on the 8 state teaching standards in response to feedback. …

Interprofessional Collaboration For Children With Special Healthcare Needs: A Review Of Effective Education Integration, Catherine Giroux, Julie Corkett

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

With the innovation of technology, increased medical knowledge, and improved treatment techniques, the education of children with special healthcare needs is no longer restricted to hospitals. The current paper examines issues surrounding interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between educators, medical professionals, and allied health professionals in the school setting. Specifically, this paper disseminates the literature on interprofessional collaboration through the examination of the current state of IPC between the health and education sectors when accommodating students with complex medical needs. The aspects of IPC that are in need of improvement are identified along with recommendations for the improvement of IPC in the …

Yuli's Story: Using Educational Policy To Achieve Cultural Genocide, Katrina Johnson Leon

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

All children residing in the United States have the right to a quality education. At least that is our collective expectation. Through the lived experience of Yuli, a Native American woman from the Southwest, you will discover, due to her birth on a remote reservation, she was not given the same access to education you or I would expect. On Yuli’s reservation, the school system is managed by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Rather than provide K-12 schooling, the BIE operates K-8 on her reservation and then Native youth who want to go to high school must move off-reservation. …

Experiences Of Neurotypical Siblings Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Exploration, Stacie R. Keirsey

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In recent years, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been on the rise, prompting a simultaneous increase in scientific study regarding cause, impact, and intervention (Hughes, 2009; Ravindran & Myers, 2012). Research has proposed advances in the treatment of the individuals diagnosed and focused efforts on scholastic, parental, and professional intervention and supports. However, the siblings of ASD children have largely been neglected in this scientific investigation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore neurotypical siblings’ experiences in living with a child diagnosed with ASD. Seven adolescents were selected using criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling. …

Pedagogy In Performance: An Investigation Into Decision Training As A Cognitive Approach To Circus Training, Jonathan Burtt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project represents the first formal research conducted into the potential application of Decision Training in an elite circus arts school environment. The research examines the effects of the introduction of Decision Training—a training model developed for sports applications—into the elite circus arts training program at the National Circus School (NCS), a key circus arts school in one of the world’s most vital circus domains, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Decision Training, a cognitive-based training model, has been shown through extensive sports-based research to support the development of decision-making ability and self-regulatory learning behaviour, both of which are fundamental for the …

Audio Tours Of Fish: Angling For An Effective Mediated Speech, Sally Blomstrom, Barbara Hayford, Lori A. Mumpower

Publications

Public speaking is a course required in many degree programs traditionally taught in a face to face setting. Online and hybrid courses are now offered by many institutions in addition to traditional courses, and they are more likely to include mediated speech assignments. Mediated speaking situations include webinars, videoconferences, video recordings of speeches on DVD or YouTube, and other options that students may well find themselves using in their personal and professional communication. Online and some hybrid courses assign mediated speaking situations for the submission of speeches, not as a genre unto itself. In traditional face to face public speaking …

Meyer, Pierce, And The History Of The Entire Human Race: Barbarism, Social Progress, And (The Fall And Rise Of) Parental Rights, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Long before the Supreme Court’s seminal parenting cases took a due process Lochnerian turn, American courts had been working to fashion family law doctrine on the premise that parents are only entrusted with custody of the child, and then only as long as they meet their fiduciary duty to take proper care of the child. With its progressive, anti-patriarchal orientation, this jurisprudence was in part a creature of its time, reflecting the evolutionary biases of the emerging fields of sociology, anthropology, and legal ethnohistory. In short, the courts embraced the new, “scientific” view that social “progress” entails the decline and, …

Leading For Diversity Video-Facilitator's Guide, Rosemary Henze, Gilberto Arriaza, Edmundo Norte

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This guide is designed for facilitators who wish to use the Leading for Diversity Video as a tool for professional development of educational leaders. The guide includes notes about the content of the video, principles for the use of the video, and three sample facilitation plans.

Visionary Sociology In Action, Luke Castle

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purposes of this dissertation are to provide research that will further facilitate an understanding of two matters of sociological interest: public sociology and video ethnography. In order to achieve this overall objective, a video ethnographic case study was conducted with eight undergraduates at an elite southern university. The students in the study self-filmed week-to week thoughts, feelings, and experiences to provide a methodical comparison of past and current literature of the lifestyles students construct while on campus. A qualitative approach, such as the video diary protocol established for this dissertation, is unlike most research protocols because informants (in this …

Essays In Economics Of Institutions And Culture, Luiza Valeriyevna Pogorelova

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I present two distinct essays in economics of culture and institutions that can be read independently from one another. In Chapter 2, using the European Social Survey data, I investigate the impact of increased educational attainment, induced by compulsory schooling reforms, on religiosity and superstitious beliefs. I find consistently negative effects of education on religiosity, superstitious beliefs, social religious acts (attending religious services) and solitary religious acts (the frequency of praying). In Chapter 3, I examine the impact of “culture of leisure” and tax rates on labor force participation and hours worked of second-generation immigrants residing in …

Why The American Superpower Has Mediocre Educational Rankings, Madeline R. Hays

Undergraduate Research Posters

Although education holds implications for economic growth, scientific progress, and political participation, the United States remains on the lower end of educational quality compared to other industrial and first-world nations. Despite substantial efforts by the American government to mend this issue, reforms have yielded minimal improvement in results. Identifying the reasons for the declining nature of US education is essential in understanding how to improve the current academic state. Why has there been a decline in education quality in America compared to other first-world countries since World War II? In order to distinguish the characteristics correlating with low-achievement in the …

Promoting Sexuality Education In Tertiary Institutions: Expected Roles Of Women Librarians In Nigeria, Nkechi N. Amaechi Dr. (Mrs.), Linda I. Anyalebechi, Ifeyinwa Aidah Ariole

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper aimed at x-raying the expected roles of women librarians in promoting sexuality education on within the Nigerian context. The study adopted the desk-research approach where extensive literature review was used in generating data for the study. The findings reveals that women can organize talks for women and young people in the rural areas, organize sex education seminars in collaboration with students Affairs Division in tertiary institutions, use social media platform to disseminate information relating to sexuality education among others. Challenges relating to cultural, religious factors, low literacy level among rural women were identified in the paper. The paper …

Social Emotional Learning And Mindfulness: Learning To Be Human, Jena-Lee Rogers

Master's Projects and Capstones

I am a teacher. I always have been and always will be. As a little girl, I developed a passionate need to see fairness and justice in my world, which of course outside of my family of origin revolved around my life at school. If one of my friends could not understand something, even if I was not totally sure about it myself, I would endeavor to help them learn it in a way that made sense to them. A small act of friendship helped me learn and develop my own a belief in the oneness that connects all of …

Experiential Learning And The Basic Communication Course: A New Path To Assessing Forensic Learning Outcomes, Ben Walker

Speaker & Gavel

Scholars have often touted the educational benefits of forensics (e.g.: Bartanen, 1998; Beasley, 1979; Brownlee, 1979; Ehninger, 1952; Gartell, 1973; Jensen, 2008; McBath, 1975; Millsap, 1998; Schroeder & Schroeder, 1995; Stenger, 1999; Yaremchuk, 1979). Critics, most notably Burnett, Brand, and Meister (2003), have argued forensics is only a competitive game with the idea of education used as a crutch to uphold the activity in the eyes of schools. While attempting to counter critics, many forensic educators have scrambled to find proof of student learning. Besides theoretical approaches to potential learning methods (e.g., Dreibelbis & Gullifor, 1992; Friedley, 1992; Sellnow, Littlefield, …

Preserving Personhood In Individuals With Cognitive Impairment: A Caregiver's Role, Maren Legg

Honors Projects

This project consists of an educational program for informal caregivers in the Bowling Green community on preserving personhood in individuals with cognitive impairments through caregiving experiences. The program was based on a copious amount of research regarding personhood, how personhood relates to individuals experiencing cognitive impairment, and how care provided by caregivers can be provided in a way that promotes and preserves an individual’s personality, personhood, and selfhood.

The program was developed over the span of four months and incorporates models of personhood, behaviors that threaten and preserve or promote personhood, as well as practical suggestions for strategies in how …

Fearless Friday: Chentese Stewart-Gartner, Christina L. Bassler

SURGE

This week, SURGE is proud to showcase the wonderful work of Chentese Stewart-Garner!

Chentese is a sociology major with a minor in education. She’s a sophomore and originally hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently, Chentese is the program coordinator for the Black Student Union, serves as the public relations liaison for the African Student Association, is a Diversity Peer Educator on campus, and works hard as a Career Outreach Assistant for the Center for Career Development. [excerpt]

Blacks In Massachusetts: Comparative Demographic, Social And Economic Experiences With Whites, Latinos, And Asians, James Jennings, Barbara Lewis, Richard O’Bryant, Rachel Bernard, Linda Sprague Martinez, Russell Williams

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

This report describes the social and economic, and education status of Blacks in Massachusetts, within a comparative framework with Whites, Asians, and Latino/as. A range of population, household, and economic variables are highlighted under the following categories: Population Characteristics; Families and Households; Education and Schooling; Housing; Health Characteristics; Labor Force, Occupations and Employment; and Income and Poverty. The information presented in this report is based on data from the 2010 Decennial Census; the American Community Survey 2009 – 2013 5 Year Estimates; the American Community Survey 2009-2013 5-Year Estimates Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) as well as PUMS for the …

Renaissance Fair, Richey Piiparinen

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

As Cleveland moves forward as a city on the rise, we risk leaving too many behind. Creating solutions for greater equity may be our best chance at a sustainable future.

From Text To Context: Literacy Practices Of Native Speakers Of Arabic In Arabic And English, Ghada Gherwash

Open Access Dissertations

Previous studies that looked at the written product of native speakers of Arabic in their second language (L2), English, have identified traces of Arabic rhetoric (L1), mainly Classical Arabic, in their writing (e.g., Atari, 1983; Kaplan, 1966; Ostler, 1987). These studies focused primarily on the L2-written texts, where the written product is used to make inferences about the rhetorical structures of the writers’ L1. The results from these studies portrayed the native-Arab writer’s text as highly influenced by Classical Arabic. This was evidenced by “foreign” rhetorical structures that Arab writers employ when producing texts in their L2 that are considered …

Portion Size Communication By Means Of Package Design, Tami J. Strickland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study assessed consumers’ current methods of determining portion sizing of chicken products and examined their perceptions of how effectively three package designs communicate portion size. Everett M. Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations (DI) Theory analyzes the characteristics of the consumer of the innovation (adopter) and the impact these characteristics have on adopting new innovations. The innovation in this study will be the prototype packaging. Focusing on Rogers’ adopter characteristics and defined proprietary consumer segmentation characteristics, this study will be pivotal for future package design projects targeting nutrition education.

Focus group questions were scrutinized through a pilot study and revised …

School Counselors Lived Experience Of A Rampage School Shooting, Carleton H. Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Minimal research has been conducted to examine school counselors’ lived experiences of rampage school shootings. The purpose of this research is to increase school counselors’ knowledge and skills in responding effectively to such a crisis. A single-case qualitative dissertation study was completed at a rampage school shooting site, a middle school, and the immediate surrounding area in Bono, AR, located in the northeast part of Arkansas. School counselors’ decisions, perceived expertness, and lessons learned were investigated. Data collected included relevant research literature (including comparison research), archival records, direct observation, media reports, and interviews. Participants interviewed were individuals who lived through …

A Comparison Of Athletic Identity And Career Maturity Of Female Student-Athletes At Different Levels Of Competition, Simeon Hinsey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between the athletic identity and career maturity of women’s basketball student-athletes. Differences in athletic identity and career maturity were also investigated based on a women’s basketball student-athlete’s level of competition, race, year in school, socioeconomic status, and professional athletic career aspirations. In order to examine the relationship between these variables, a convenience sample of 209 women’s basketball student-athletes from NCAA Division I (n = 62), NCAA Division II (n = 40), NCAA Division III (n = 50), and NAIA (n = 57) institutions located in the southeastern region of the United States participated in the …

Community-Based Rehabilitation Supports For Social Inclusion And Work Participation Of Young Adults With Visual Impairment In Kenya: A Case Study, Philomena Jepkemboi Tanui

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young adults with a visual impairment (VI) experience less interaction with the community that impacts the way they relate to the world as they transition to the larger society where they face significant barriers of adjustment, exclusion, and work participation. Young adults with VI contend with cultural stigma, inequality, poor self-esteem caused by marginalization, a low quality of life (QOL), and lack of Social support systems that exist beyond the home. The aim of this study was to understand the perceptions of young adults with VI in Elgeyo-Marakwet and Kisumu Counties of Kenya concerning the barriers to community inclusion and …