Communication Commons^™

Why Can’T They All Be Best In Class?, Malik Hall

The Scope

Researchers at VCU and the University of Florida are developing positive-reinforcement intervention techniques to address problem behavior that may be more prevalent among schoolchildren from low-income homes. The research has an appropriate name: Best in Class.

Glove’S A Perfect Fit For Patients With Raynaud’S Disease, Riley Murtagh

The Scope

For a senior project, VCU engineering student Jessica Bishop wanted to help people like herself who suffer from Raynaud’s disease, which constricts blood flow in fingers and other extremities exposed to cold environments or stress. So she invented a pair of “magic gloves” that regulate hand temperature in cold environments.

Buying Sex On-Line From Girls: Ngo Representatives, Law Enforcement Officials, And Public Officials Speak Out About Human Trafficking—A Qualitative Analysis, Sriyani Tidball, Mingying Zheng, John W. Creswell

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Federal agencies report the high level of sex trafficking of minors in the United States. This trafficking often occurs on-line with the Internet. Pimps commonly advertise children for sexual exploitation online, and they search social networking sites for young victims. Thus, the high rate of trafficking minors and the increased use of technology have led to a need to better understand purchasing young girls for sex on-line. This qualitative study focused on learning from NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and public officials their experiences about how men buy girls on-line for sex, and the words that the men use in …

Finding Common Ground: Identifying And Eilciting Metacognition In Eportfolios, Susan C. Reed, Julie Bokser, Caryn Chaden, S. Brown, M. Moore, Michelle Navarre Cleary, Eileen Seifert, Kathryn Wozniak, L. B. Zecker

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Faculty and Staff Works

Research has suggested ePortfolios reveal and support students’ metacognition, that is, their awareness, tracking, and evaluation of their learning over time. However, due to the wide variety of purposes and audiences for ePortfolios, it has been unclear whether there might be common criteria for identifying and assessing metacognition in ePortfolios across varied contexts. The purpose of this study was to identify evidence of metacognition across ePortfolios of three distinct populations of students: traditional-age undergraduates, graduate Education students, and adults returning to school to complete a bachelor’s degree. We set out to explore if and how ePortfolios could support these different …

The Role Of Patient And Physician In Establishing Patient-Physician Communication In The In-Patient Environment, Tamanna Sahni

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Communication in the in-patient environment is crucial, and the relationship between a patient and physician can enhance patient health and improve overall wellness. Patients need to feel confident with their abilities in order to feel comfortable conversing with physicians, which would thus improve health and treat symptoms more effectively. This communication has decreased over time, hence patients are often are unable to obtain medical information from their healthcare providers. Are there psychological factors involved in a patient’s inability to communicate with a physician? What is the relationship between self-esteem and quality of patient-physician communication? In addition, what can physicians do …

Effects Of Familiarity And Presentation Mode On Auditory-Visual Speech Recognition In Adults With Aphasia, Rachel Hahn Arkenberg, Mary Gospel

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

No abstract provided.

Forum Magazine, Spring 2016

Forum Magazine

No abstract provided.

Forum Magazine, Summer 2016

Forum Magazine

No abstract provided.

Dining With The Cyborgs: Disembodied Consumption And The Rhetoric Of Food Media In The Digital Age, Maggie Cotto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores digital media productions based specifically on food and cooking in order to demonstrate that new communication technologies are increasingly incorporating all five of the bodily senses. In doing so, they contribute significantly to the emergence of new ideological apparatuses appropriate for a global community. These apparatuses – including the formation of a posthumanist subject, the use of technology to support embodied cognition, and the establishment of entertainment as an ideological institution – have become the harbingers of a rhetorical evolution. Based on the work of Gregory Ulmer, along with Jacques Derrida, N. Katherine Hayles, Donna Haraway, and …

Wounded Warrior Or War Hero? Or Maybe, Neither?: Resisting Common Tropes Of The Veteran And Developing Digital Literacy Practices Via Narrative Building And Identity Presentation In Social Networking Spaces, Cassandra Branham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project reports on the results of a study that investigated the social networking use of student and non-student veterans, with a particular focus on the narrative building and identity presentation practices involved in this use. In this dissertation, I argue that stereotypical and exclusionary tropes of the veteran, such as the veteran as war hero and the veteran as wounded warrior, are damaging to our veterans and to others, in both the society and the classroom. However, through the detailed analysis of survey data and data collected from an interview and social networking profile tour with one student veteran …

I Fight Crime In My Sleep, Ronald S. Green, Mary Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Pornography On The Genital Body Image And Sexual Self-Efficacy Of Female College Students, Monica Elizondo

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Given its accessibility and growth in the past decade, internet pornography appears to be influencing the sexual scripts of young adults. That is, sexual expectations and behaviors are likely to be impacted by the consumption of online sexually explicit material. Pornography research documents more harmful effects (e.g., lower body image) in women viewing pornography compared to men (Albright, 2008). This experimental study aimed to explore the effects exposure to online sexually explicit material would have on the genital body image and sexual self-efficacy of 90 college women randomly assigned to three exposure conditions. Results indicated that group membership did not …

Nbc Peacock North Winter 2016, Peacock North Staff

NBC Peacock North Newsletter

Highlights include: Willard Scott Retires -- Mike Noseworthy and Anthony DeRosa Retire -- Linda Ellerbee Retires -- Peacock Profile: Rod Prince -- Jeff Samaha's 50th Anniversary at NBC -- Silent Microphones

An Analysis Of Domestic Violence In Mass Media & Motion Pictures, Renee Delcambre

Undergraduate Honors Projects

Mass media have a curious and powerful position of influence within our culture making it a critical component in creating, altering, and/or mimicking current ideologies within society.

Motion pictures often incorporate life‐like situations or plots into their stories which can contain controversial or taboo topics. One of these situations involves abuse within intimate, adult relationships. Choices made in how the abuse and characters are depicted is called framing. This strategy is a deliberate means of including and excluding certain information and/or details. It is a tactic used to provide the viewer with a carefully “framed” picture.

This analysis reveals the …

Building Hope: An Experiential, Interfaith And Peacebuilding Leadership Curriculum Design For American, Israeli And Palestinian Teenagers, Jack M. Karn

Capstone Collection

This research explores the design, implementation, and results of an interfaith and peacebuilding leadership curriculum prepared for the 2015 Jerusalem Peacebuilders Leadership Camp in Brattleboro, Vermont. Drawing upon different theories of moral and transformative leadership, experiential education, youth leadership, and peacebuilding and conflict transformation, this curriculum design offers a new and unique approach to leadership development for Israeli, Palestinian, and American teens. Spanning six 1.5-hour units, the curriculum includes: icebreaker and teambuilding activities, theory and practice connections, dialogue, and opportunities to practice leadership and peacebuilding skills on several small group projects. Supported by a literature review, eight interviews from youth …

My Friendship Story: Tanzanians’ Tales Of Friendship Analyzed Through Knapp’S Relational Model, Dorcus Nakalembe

Masters Theses

From both theoretical and practical considerations, there is a critical need to study friendship development processes within different sociocultural worlds, because today’s world has become a crossroads for a diversity of cultures. To date, research in friendship development mainly addresses cognitive and psychological implications to the process and rarely gives attention to the stages/ processes individuals of different sociocultural backgrounds experience as they build friendship. The present study aimed at comparing friendship development in a non-Westernized group to the stages of relational development suggested by a Western psychological theoretical framework. Tanzanian friendship experiences were analyzed through Knapp’s Relational Model to …

Analysis Of Speeches From Mary Fisher, Steve Jobs, And Barak Obama, Hye Tae Kim

A with Honors Projects

For this honors project, the student viewed three well-known speeches by socially influential people to assess organization, language, materials, analysis, and delivery and found that the speeches have identical characteristics and common delivery skills that made them more persuasive and interesting.

Informational Efficiency And The Reaction To Terrorism: A Financial Perspective, Nicholas Roland

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study is to measure the message terror organizations hope to convey using the financial markets as a proxy of measurement to determine patterns within the marketplace and the effects on the terrorists’ ability to deliver a desired message due to the increased use of digital devices and access to instantaneous news, seen over the past decade. Using death count, geographic location, and event type, this study identified 109 attacks between 1985 and 2015 to be analyzed against 5 market indices and 5 securities. Measuring the effects within a 10-day sample window from the time of the …

Alcohol Analysis Of Breath And Urine To Support Drink Driving Awareness In Students, Megan Haverty

Students Learning with Communities

No abstract provided.

Sherlock Fandom Online: Toward An Ethic Of Advocacy, Jennifer Wojton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study applies theories of texts and technologies to examine ways in which fan culture and mainstream entertainment media can shape and be shaped by each other through digital interactions and negotiations. Further, it considers ways in which these interactions have potential to foster community building and advocacy efforts beyond the limitations of the screen. The analysis focuses, in particular, on the subject of asexuality as it is represented in BBC's 2010 television series, Sherlock, tracing the multiple ways in which the traditional boundaries between fans and entertainment professionals have been breached as each group works to engage the other …

Graduate Record 2016: Life Is Short Capture Every Moment, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

SWOSU Yearbooks

The 2016 Graduate Record was designed by SWOSU students of the Specialized Publications Class in the Communications Department.

All In The (Prison) Family: Genre Mixing And Queer Representation, Kyra Hunting

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Canadian Cinema 12: Bonnie Sherr Klein’S Not A Love Story, Gordon Alley-Young

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Information Technology On Patient Engagement And Health Behavior Change: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Suhila Sawesi, Mohamed Rashrash, Kanitha Phalakornkule, Janet S. Carpenter, Josette F. Jones

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Advancements in information technology (IT) and its increasingly ubiquitous nature expand the ability to engage patients in the health care process and motivate health behavior change.

Objective: Our aim was to systematically review the (1) impact of IT platforms used to promote patients’ engagement and to effect change in health behaviors and health outcomes, (2) behavior theories or models applied as bases for developing these interventions and their impact on health outcomes, (3) different ways of measuring health outcomes, (4) usability, feasibility, and acceptability of these technologies among patients, and (5) challenges and research directions for implementing …

Bumpers College Students In Action, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Secondary Interview : Ethical Concerns Regarding Social Media Scanning In The Commercial Hiring Process, Christopher Pollpeter

Honors Program Theses

As more and more of our daily lives take place online, it is becoming critical for our society to decide how we deal with ethical issues in an online context. The study of ethics has existed for millennia, but only recently have two people on opposite ends of the globe been able to communicate and collaborate on a project in real time. One of the most prominent places this change has affected the daily lives of Americans is in the world of business.

Binge-Reviews? The Shifting Temporalities Of Contemporary Tv Criticism, Myles Mcnutt

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

The article explores the object of the film theory and the practice of Third Cinema whose contributions are seen as a theoretical inquiry into the subject of Film Studies. Topics include the unfortunate dead-end at which the theory of third cinema has arrived, the orientation of third cinema towards openness and action in a political project, and the continued evaluation of third cinema while its status in the academy remains unchanged.

Intervention E-Mails And Retention: How E-Mails Tailored To Personality Impact An Undergraduate Student's Decision To Return To School Or Not, John Kelly Heffernon

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Universities and colleges constantly face a costly problem: low student retention rates. One potential solution to low student retention is a personality-tailored e-mail intervention. The researcher tested this idea with a sample of 59 first-year students from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Participants took a personality assessment in order to measure their personality trait of sociability. Then participants were split into an experimental group and a control group based on a matched-sample paradigm that ensured sociability was not significantly different between the two groups. Participants in the experimental group received four different intervention e-mails throughout the course of the 2015 fall …

Mutable Means: An Exploration Of Communication And Identity Through Visual And Verbal Deconstruction, Reina Castellanos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly defined by my status as a Nonimmigrant Alien, I have lived longer in the United States than in my native Venezuela. Knowing my stay in this country will be temporary, I examine feelings of uncertainty about my future by deconstructing communication—both visual and verbal. Through ambiguity I express anxieties on my personal circumstances and retain objectivity in regard to my process through intellectual inquiry. I layer words, images, and sound to mirror my frustrations, and project the conflict of my internal dialogue.

From Ashes To Ashé: Memorializing Traumatic Events Through Participatory Digital Archives, Patricia Carlton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic, cataclysmic events, whether caused by man-made or natural forces, threaten the safety, stability, and resilience of a community or state. Additionally, massive media exposure given to documenting and providing information, place the media consumers at psychological risk. As an alternative to broadcast news reports, online memorials and disaster archives provide the public the means and central locations for witnessing catastrophic events, as well as collectively commemorating and mourning the tragic losses. According to psychological and ethnographic research, narrativizing the trauma through shared memories and artifacts of mourning produce multiple therapeutic benefits, including the likely development of cognitive awareness, empathy, …