Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

From The Gas: Publications, Congratulations, And Presentations, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D., Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Includes book reviews by the graduate assistants for Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd, Wild Dreamers, and The Blonde Dies First. Highlights what SLIS faculty are reading, alumni updates, faculty publications and presentations, and student congratulations.

Spotlights: Faculty, Alumni, Festival, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D., Mary A. Osborne, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Meet Dr. Kaeli Gretter, alum Miranda Loper, and learn about the keynote speakers for the 2025 Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival.

Slis Director's Report, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Welcome to the Spring/Fall issue of SLIS Connecting.

Beyond Fear: Opportunities And Positive Use Of Ict Among Children And Adolescents, Mariana Buenestado-Fernández, Rosa García-Ruiz, Estefanía Jiménez-Iglesias, Rosario Barba-González

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study aimed to understand the advantages of digital connectivity in children and teenagers up to 18 years. Utilizing the PRISMA protocol, a decade’s worth of literature was reviewed, analyzing 128 articles from WOS and Scopus databases. The research highlighted five key areas where digital connectivity can exert a positive impact on children: 1) Entertainment, information, and communication; 2) Emotional and social development; 3) Healthy lifestyle; 4) Citizen participation; and 5) education. Recent trends show a rise in studies related to education and training, mainly employing qualitative methods, and predominantly focusing on European adolescents (12 to 18). The research’s goal …

Media Literacy, Trust In Government And Vaccine Readiness: A Study Among Vietnam’S Youngsters, Van T. Vu

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study examines the correlation between youngsters’ media literacy and their trust in government, support for anti-pandemic regulations, and vaccine readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. The findings show a statistically significant positive correlation between youngsters’ media literacy and their trust in government, support for anti-pandemic regulations, and vaccine readiness. The more media literacy youngsters have, the more likely they trust the government, comply with anti-pandemic regulations, and take the COVID-19 vaccines. The findings emphasize the importance of media literacy and media literacy education as the core solution to construct a media-literate society, in which youngsters use media for …

Exploring Critical Thinking Of Smartphone Use From Elementary School Students In Kosovo, Muhamet Jahiri, Gëzim Qerimi, Dren Gërguri

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study examined smartphone usage behaviours of elementary school students and media literacy. Data were gathered from a survey with a sample of 450 students from different schools in seven main regions of Kosovo, aged 10-15. There is no difference between males and females in smartphone access, while there is a slight difference between them in time spent using smartphones. This research clearly shows that elementary school students’ smartphone use is very high, but on the other side, it is not reflected at all in the school curriculum. There is a low level of getting advice from parents and a …

Vulnerability Profiles And Educational Demands Of Spanish University Students In The Face Of Fake News, M. Esther Del Moral Pérez, Jonathan Castañeda Fernández, Nerea López-Bouzas, M. Carmen Bellver Moreno

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study is part of the Surfing the Waves of Fake News (SURFake) project, involving 543 Spanish university students. Its purpose is to understand the variables related to potentially risky practices students engage in on social media and their educational shortcomings. An opinion questionnaire was used to establish levels of vulnerability to fake news. The results show that the most vulnerable are the youngest and those who spend more time exposed to social media, limit themselves to consuming content, read their news superficially, and lack specific education or training. Respondents who are aware of their limitations request training to recognize …

“That’S Plagiarism!”: The ‘Filmed Vs. Found Footage’ Continuum In A Pedagogical Video Composition Teacher Professional Development Program, Nathan Smith Jones

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This paper describes a qualitative case study conducted in the Intermountain Western United States during the Fall of 2020. Though a few years old, the study remains relevant due to its esoteric subject within research on media production professional development education. Study’s purpose was to explore the processes and participants of an independent, pedagogical video composition (PVC––a.k.a. educational filmmaking) teacher professional development (PD) program. The primary sources of data were interviews of staff of the PD program and teacher graduates of the PD program. This paper focuses on a conclusion from the study: an alarming discrepancy between the attitudes of …

Ela And Social Studies Teachers’ Perspectives On The Importance Of Media Literacy For Student Learning, Hillary Gould, Sam Von Gillern, Matthew Korona, Alicia Haywood

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In this study, researchers aimed to develop an understanding of how English Language Arts and social studies teachers of middle- and high-school students perceive the value of media literacy skills and competencies for their students. The research team reviewed how these teachers rated various media literacy skills utilizing a set of 15 media literacy strategies categorized into three constructs, authors and audiences, messages and meaning, and representations and reality, in a survey demonstrating their perspectives on aspects of media literacy and their importance for student learning. The 860 teachers overwhelmingly recognize the importance of media literacy competencies for their students. …

How To Design An Effective Mooc To Promote Media Literacy: A Study Based On The Educational Design Research Approach, Lílian Tropiano, Pedro Reis

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The research aims to establish a conceptual framework to design a MOOC to promote media literacy in the context of information disorder. Information disorder is a phenomenon that mainly occurs from the large flow of false or incorrect content posted on the internet. Promoting media literacy is a way of helping citizens to face the challenges of disinformation processes. The educational design research involves the development of a MOOC prototype based on the literature review and improvement through successive iterations with groups of experts and MOOC participants. The first stage of investigation is the literature review for the development of …

Subvertising In The Classroom: A Comparative Study On Fostering Critical Media Literacy, Inés Leal-Rico

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Subvertising, traditionally linked to counterculture and anti-consumption, is utilized in education to reveal the manipulative strategies of corporate messaging to students. Classroom use of cut-and-paste methods deconstructs advertisement messages, fostering an understanding of how needs and desires are constructed through appropriation, incorporation, and transformation tactics. This research aims to comprehend fully the implementation and impact of subvertising workshops in educational settings by analyzing six scholarly articles on applied workshops. The data, sourced from a previous scoping review on subvertising, enabled a comprehensive evaluation of methodologies and effective techniques. The study compares these cases to the ten key steps proposed by …

Children Negotiating Meanings In Kidfluencers’ Channels, Patricia Digón-Regueiro, Concepción Sánchez-Blanco

Journal of Media Literacy Education

YouTube is a commercialised digital environment that provides profitable opportunities for content creators. Children’s channels have proliferated in recent years on this platform. Children YouTubers become kidfluencers when they reach an important number of subscriptions and brands start to show interest in their channels. Following a qualitative methodology with focus groups, in which 263 primary education pupils participated, we examined these pupils’ use of social media and their relationships with the influencers followed, together with their media literacy skills and negotiation of meanings upon watching a Spanish kidfluencer’s channel. Pupils were encouraged to express and communicate their experiences, thoughts, feelings …

Attack On Titan Anime Memes: Possible Meanings And Interpretations By Young Adults., Yee-Lin Teo, Sze Seau Lee, Xin Jie Lim

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Memes have unpredictable and diverse interpretations because of their tendencies to be parodies, remixes, or mashups. This study aims to examine the possible meanings which memes may express and the interpretations of memes by young adults within the affinity space of Attack on Titan anime memes. The two-phase methodology involves analysing the memes using Shifman’s analytical dimensions of content, form, and stance, before conducting in-depth interviews with ten young adults who represent insiders and outsiders of the affinity space. The findings discuss how Attack on Titan memes normalise sexualisation, violence, and struggles such as suicidal intentions in young adults. The …

The Camden Study - A Pregnancy Cohort Study Of Pregnancy Complications And Birth Outcomes In Camden, New Jersey, Usa., Stephanie Shiau, Xinhua Chen, Ayana April-Sanders, Ellen C Francis, Shristi Rawal, Megan Hansel, Kehinde Adeyemi, Zorimar Rivera-Núñez, Emily S Barrett

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is a unique stage of the life course characterized by trade-offs between the nutritional, immune, and metabolic needs of the mother and fetus. The Camden Study was originally initiated to examine nutritional status, growth, and birth outcomes in adolescent pregnancies and expanded to study dietary and molecular predictors of pregnancy complications and birth outcomes in young women.

METHODS: From 1985-2006, 4765 pregnant participants aged 12 years and older were recruited from Camden, NJ, one of the poorest cities in the US. The cohort reflects a population under-represented in perinatal cohort studies (45% Hispanic, 38% non-Hispanic Black, 17% White …

"Does Anyone Believe Me"?: The Traumatization Of Domestic Violence Survivors In The Criminal Justice System, Olivia Depalma

Master of Arts in Human Services

Survivors of domestic violence are often subject to chronic trauma as well as a heightened risk of injuries and mental health problems and disorders. The intention of the author is to focus on how trauma impacts a survivor’s ability to maneuver and interact with the criminal justice system (CJS). Prior studies have shown how survivor’s behaviors, usually the result of trauma, can lead to misconceived notions and beliefs in court officials and those involved in the CJS. Survivors will often face judgment, doubt, and criticism in the CJS, and this can impact their willingness to come forward, report the abuse, …

Reaching College Readiness: Barriers And Effective Interventions For Parents And Students Of Low Socioeconomic Status, Kailee Johnson

Counselor Education Capstones

Navigating the college application process can be a stressful time for students and their parents. The college application process can become an even more difficult time for students and parents from low-socioeconomic status (SES), as many colleges and universities often reflect the norms of middle to high incomes. This literature reviews research study findings that many parents and students from low SES experience in regard to their child’s future college education. Common barriers that are experienced by families from low SES regarding college are negative parental attitudes, a student’s lack of knowledge about the college process, and the financial burden …

New England Is Gaining Population Due To Immigration, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, author Kenneth Johnson reports that New England’s population gain of 123,000 (0.8 percent) between July 2023 and July 2024 was its largest in recent years, according to new Census Bureau estimates. International immigration accounted for the entire population gain, offsetting an excess of deaths over births and an outflow of domestic migrants to other U.S. destinations. Immigration was also an important source of population gain nationwide accounting for 84 percent of the U.S. population gain of 3.4 million. This produced the largest population gain in the United States in more than 20 years.

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New …

Rethinking Total Body Wellness: Physical, Financial, Spiritual, Mental, Social, And Nutritional Health In Adults For Graceful Aging, Pierre Devoseur Elzie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study aims to describe the lived experiences of participants’ graceful aging journey in West Tennessee, USA. This study is grounded in wellness theories such as Wellness and Lifespan Development, drawing on insights from theorists like Halbert Dunn, Bill Hettler, Alfred Adler, and Erik Erickson (globalwellnessinstitute.org, 2022; Kornadt et al., 2020; Meyers & Sweeney, 2007). Notably, their work is instrumental in understanding how health encompasses more than nutrition and exercise alone and involves a connection within the community (Clark, 2015; Meyers & Sweeney, 2007). The data for this research will be gathered from fifteen questions during the semi-structured interviews …

Addressing A Lack Of Counseling Programs To Diminish The Psychological, Emotional, And Mental Impacts Of Church Closure Grief, Marcel Berrios

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Besides spiritual activities, the social activities that happen in church buildings are vital to the functioning of most communities; therefore, churches play a central role in the social fabric and social infrastructure of communities in ways not necessarily thought about until they are no longer around. The looming absence of this role or function of the church becomes the overarching focus to address when an announcement is made that a church is permanently closing. Lost in navigating the business and community aspects of a church closure is the congregation's metamorphic spiritual, emotional, and psychological journey. Subsequently, many church members are …

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) Interventions For Group Therapy For College Students Experiencing Depression, Ty Ogren

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This group manual was created to support college students struggling with a depressive mood disorder such as Major Depressive Disorder. The instance of mental health concerns, including depression, have increased greatly over the last several years. Depression is the most common mental health concern for college students, and the rate at which they experience depressive symptoms has exceeded that of the general population. Depressive symptoms in college students can lead to many concerns like poor academic achievement, self-isolation, poor diet and nutrition, and suicidal ideation (Liu et al., 2022). This group manual aims to equip college students struggling with depression …

The Impact Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Juvenile Delinquency, Abigail Holmquist

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Abstract

Youth that have been exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are at a much higher risk of delinquent acts and involvement in the juvenile legal system. This study includes discussion on two studies of ACEs, conducted by Felitti et al. (2019) and Cronholm et al. (2015), reviews the impact of ACEs on juvenile delinquency in certain demographics, and includes case examples of how I have seen ACEs impact previous clients I had on my caseload. Discussion includes examples of how Social Control Theory and General Strain Theory apply to the relationship of ACEs and juvenile delinquency. Future research recommendations …

Community Networks, Entrepreneurship And The Process Of Economic Development, Ruochen Dai, Dilip Mookherjee, Kaivan Munshi, Xiaobo Zhang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This research examines the determinants of entrepreneurship in China’s transition from agriculture to domestic production in the 1990’s and the subsequent transition to exporting in the 2000’s. The model that we develop and test to describe these transitions incorporates a productivity enhancing role for community (birth county) networks, which emerge in response to weak market institutions at early stages of economic development. Using administrative data covering the universe of registered firms over the 1994-2012 period and the universe of exporters over the 2002-2012 period, we provide causal evidence that these networks of firms were active and effective in increasing the …

Life Skills Program For Young Adult Males In A Transitional Living Facility, Victoria Burleson, Lesley Khan-Farooqi Phd, Otd, Otr

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

This capstone project was created to bring awareness and provide skills to young adult males living within a transitional living facility to increase their independence, well-being and quality of life. The role of OT in transitional living facilities exists however the lack of literature allows for OT services to be expanded in non-traditional setting. This project and others similar benefit the young men to have positive outcomes and address obstacles this population faces,

The Importance Of Adopting A Neurodiversity Affirming Approach: A Training For School Counselors, Emily Bauer

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Consisting of a literature review and a training presentation, this project investigates the concerning mental health crisis affecting the autistic community and educates school counselors on how to shift to a neurodiversity-affirming approach to better support student needs. Research shows that autistic individuals subjected to applied behavioral analysis (ABA), social skills training (SST), and other behaviorist treatments experience significantly poorer mental and physical health outcomes as well as lower quality of life, indicating a critical need for change (Aral et al, 2023; Cassidy et al, 2020; Stewart et al, 2023). Supported by modern research, a neurodiversity-affirming approach is a better …

Computer-Mediated Communication And Artificial Intelligence Strategies In Arts Entrepreneurship, Anna Blake

Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education

This study analyzes the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) using computer-mediated communication (CMC) theory to prospect areas for innovation in an emerging field that is rapidly becoming integrated within our everyday lives as well as in the marketplace. In order to demonstrate how arts entrepreneurs can effectively and ethically leverage AI technologies to communicate with their audiences and stakeholders, I examine as case studies the work of individual artists including Grimes. The CMC framework is used to examine art as a form of communication, illustrate how AI changes the nature of art, challenge the extant concepts of identity and intellectual …

Navigating Transdisciplinary Communication: A Graduate Student's Perspective, Sirimuvva Pathikonda, James Lipuma, Cristo Leon

STEM for Success Resources

Discover "Navigating Transdisciplinary Communication: A Graduate Student’s Perspective," a comprehensive exploration of how diverse disciplines converge to tackle complex challenges. This study, presented at WMSCI 2024, employs a Constructivist lens to highlight the co-construction of knowledge, innovative teamwork tools, and practical strategies for research in STEM and beyond. Co-authored by Sirimuvva Pathikonda, MEM, and James Lipuma, Ph.D., the paper underscores the value of Transdisciplinary Communication (TDC) in fostering collaboration, innovation, and holistic problem-solving across fields. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.54808/JSCI.22.06.151.

Health Equity Innovation In Precision Medicine: Data Stewardship And Agency To Expand Representation In Clinicogenomics, Patrick J Silva, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Reid Powell, Junaid Husain, Scott Grossman, Adam Hansen, Jennifer Hinkel, Rafael Rosengarten, Marcia G Ory, Kenneth S Ramos

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Most forms of clinical research examine a very minute cross section of the patient journey. Much of the knowledge and evidence base driving current genomic medicine practice entails blind spots arising from underrepresentation and lack of research participation in clinicogenomic databases. The flaws are perpetuated in AI models and clinical practice guidelines that reflect the lack of diversity in data being used. Participation in clinical research and biobanks is impeded in many populations due to a variety of factors that include knowledge, trust, healthcare access, administrative barriers, and technology gaps. A recent symposium brought industry, clinical, and research participants in …

Succession Planning And Situational Leadership: The Perceptions And Experiences Of Pastors At Charismatic Bahamian Churches, Kedeisha Aleicia Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental-hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore and understand the succession planning experiences for pastors at charismatic churches in New Providence, Bahamas. The central phenomenon of succession planning is a complex, intentional, continuous, and systemic organizational process that seeks to identify, develop, appoint, and transfer authority to potential leaders (Barbu, 2024; Lacey, 2003; Rothwell, 2016). The guiding theory was Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership II (Sbeih & Jones, 2021). The theory’s primary styles were directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating, and they were integrated with succession planning to consider the charismatic nondenominational Bahamian pastoral experiences. The method of …

School Structure As A Mechanism For Crime Deterrence, Daniel Glenn Hennigan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

An examination of the relationship between school structure and community strength will be conducted. School structure will be categorized based on the organizational structure of the institution. Schools are conceptualized and categorized as Kindergarten-12th grade (K-12th), 9th-12th grade schools (9th-12th) and Combination schools. Combination Schools are defined as any school that does not meet the criteria of either K-12th Grade or 9th-12th Grade, generally 6th-12th, 7th-12th or 8th-12th. Community strength will be examined through property crime rates, violent crime rates and individual crime statistics. Analyses will also include proportional or ratio examinations per 1,000 students. A literature review will be …

The Effectiveness Of Christian Accommodative Mindfulness In Christian Women Of African Descent Who Suffer From Depression And Anxiety, Claudia Isaac Kidd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While existing research has indicated the effectiveness of Christian accommodative mindfulness (CAM) to lower symptoms of depression and anxiety, no CAM studies have focused specifically on Christian women of African descent (CWOAD). The aim of this exploratory, case-series study was to examine the effectiveness of the CAM protocol by addressing the participants’ intervention comparison outcomes time (PICOT) question: Among a clinical sample (N = 3) of CWOAD recruited from the waitlist of a Christian counseling center (P) how effective was the CAM protocol (I) indicated by changes over time (C) in the participants’ scores for (1) depression, (2) anxiety/stress, (3) …