Community-Based Research Commons^™

Implications For Child Welfare Teaching And Human Services Personnel Perspectives Experiences Of Children With Special Needs, Sarah Huesmann

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

What Should We Be Doing To Reduce Or End Campus Violence?, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

Over the last several years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of violence on college and university campuses. These have precipitated discussions and new initiatives on campuses and within our professional organizations intended to prevent and respond to violence.

Seward Casa Board Development Workshop, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Agenda from the Seward CASA Board Development Workshop, February 21, 2009, presented by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development.

A Call To Community: Some Thoughts For Student Affairs About Identity And Diversity, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

College Males: Keeping Them Engaged On Your Campus, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

There has been much discussion in the popular media over the last few years to the effect that there is a “crisis” with regard to men in higher education. There have been several angles in these reports, including arguments suggesting that men are declining in student ranks, or that women are outpacing their male counterparts. In any case, these reports have asked questions about where the men are if not in college; and what will be the consequences of this problem in terms of the workforce, families, or the potential nature and future of higher education. One could easily be …

Comparing Net And Eri Standardized Exam Scores Between Baccaulureate Graduates Who Pass Or Fail The Nclex-Rn, Mary D. Bondmass, Sheniz Moonie, Susan Kowalski

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

In the United States, nursing programs are commonly evaluated by their graduates success on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The purpose of this paper is to describe a change in NCLEX-RN success rates following the addition of standardized exams throughout our program's curriculum, and to compare these exam scores between graduates who pass NCLEX-RN and those who do not. Our results indicate an 8.5% change (p < 0.000) in the NCLEX-RN pass rate from our previous 5-year mean pass rate, and significant differences in standardized test scores for those who pass the NCLEX-RN compared to those who do not (p < 0.03). We conclude that our selected standardized exam scores are able to significantly identify graduates who are more likely to pass NCLEX-RN than not.

Branding Your Community, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Connections: Using a Brand Creation Approach to Community Identity

Origins of the Branding Concept

Even far back in the middle ages when artists and artisans began to form guilds or associations together, many hallmarks or identifying symbols were used as a signatures by artisans to lay claim to the result of his or her work. Another important, and American reference, comes from the days before fences divided up the frontier and cattle owners found a way to mark and identify their own cattle by branding them with a personalized symbol. Even today, many purebred horses are carefully inspected and only …

Branding Your Community, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Branding Your Community

Table of Contents:

Connections: Using a Brand Creation Approach to Community Identity

Case Study: Superior, Nebraska

Mapping Community Assets: An Overview

SOAR Analysis

About Appreciative Inquiry

The Marketing Process: Attention, Attraction and Action

Marketing Your Community

Back Home Ideas

Tips for Creating Community Brands

Workshop Evaluation

Housing As A Community Asset, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Slides of a presentation, Housing as a Community Asset, presented by Milan Wall, Co-Director of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, created December 19, 2007.

How Would You Describe Housing in Your Community?

Board Of Directors Training, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Board of Directors Development

Roles and Responsibilities

Time Devoted to Six Basic Elements

Obstacles

Strategies

Ethics

Recruitment

Masculinity In The Quad, M. Kaufman, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review. One Size Does Not Fit All: Traditional And Innovative Models Of Student Affairs Practice, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Building A Better Board: Springboard Into Action, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Building a Better Board: Springboard into Action

Roles and responsibilities

Time devoted to six basic elements

Obstacles

Strategies

Ethics

Recruitment

Clarifying The Role Of Self-Efficacy And Metacognition As Indicators Of Learning: Construct Development And Test, Trevor T. Moores, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang, Deborah K. Smith

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Research

We propose extending our understanding of self-efficacy by comparing self-efficacy with a related construct called metacognition. Metacognition involves the monitoring and control of one's thought processes and is often related, as is self-efficacy, to performance on a task. We develop an instrument that attempts to measure both self-efficacy and metacognition with respect to one's performance on a test covering declarative and procedural knowledge (knowing that, and knowing how) of DFDs and ERDs. With data collected from a sample of 124 students, we use partial least squares (PLS) to show that self-efficacy and metacognition are distinct yet related constructs. While self-efficacy …

Dropout And Graduation Rates In Nevada, Sandra D. Owens-Kane

Social Health of Nevada Reports

This report spotlights the high school graduation and dropout rates in Nevada, shows how the trends in our state compared to the trends in other states, and outlines community resources available to Nevadans seeking to improve their educational achievements. High school dropout and graduation rates are key indicators by which we judge an educational system. The importance of these indicators stems from the fact that higher educational achievement correlates positively with individual and community social health – e.g., the higher the graduation rates of individuals within a community, the greater the level of personal fulfillment and community development. Conversely, high …

Academic Achievement And School Resources In Nevada, Teresa Jordan

Social Health of Nevada Reports

For several decades there has been a growing concern in the United States over the student achievement in our public schools. In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a report, A Nation at Risk, http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html, that called for educational reform. As student achievement scores declined, even with increased investment in education, the business community, policy makers, and educators rallied to address a vital issue for our future: how to improve student achievement and ensure that the 21st century workforce has the knowledge and skills to compete in a global economy.

Prepare Your Mind For Learning, Deborah K. Smith, Trevor T. Moores, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Research

The learning process must evolve and expand throughout one's IT career. Most would agree that's often easier said than done. Here are some ways professionals can overcome mental blocks that may prevent learning.

Kellogg Foundation Chooses Nebraska Initiative For National Grant: Hometown Competitiveness, Jeff Yost

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Lincoln, Nebraska, USA—HomeTown Competitiveness, a Nebraska initiative currently working in seven counties and communities in Nebraska, has been chosen as one of six recipients of grants provided through the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s 75^th Anniversary Entrepreneurship Development Systems for Rural America.

The $2 million award, over three years, was approved by the Kellogg Foundation Board of Directors meeting at Battle Creek, MI last month. More than 180 applications were received for the grants to develop six national models in rural entrepreneurship.

HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) provides a framework for rural communities to help them identify reachable goals and strategies focused …

Activism Through Music, Cherry Muhanji, Jack C. Straton

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article discuses the pedagogy behind a University Studies freshman inquiry class taught at Portland State University. Portland State University has been engaged in a 10-year revolution in general education (Journal of General Education, 1999) that has inculcated activist education as central to instruction. In addition to the Critical Thinking and Communication instruction that any general education program must provide, Portland State’s University Studies Program promotes Social Responsibility and Diversity as central goals of its efforts.

His Story/Her Story: A Dialogue About Including Men And Masculinities In The Women’S Studies Curriculum, B. Berila, J. Keller, C. Krone, Jason A. Laker, O. Mayers

Faculty Publications

The article discusses the issue of inclusion of men and masculinities in the Women's Studies curriculum. Women's Studies programs were started to compensate for the male domination in the academics. Women's Studies presented a platform where scholarship for women was produced and taken seriously, female students and faculty could find their say or voice, and theoretical investigations required for the advancement of the aims of the women's movement could take place. If the academy as a whole does not sufficiently integrate Women's Studies into the curriculum, integrating Men's Studies into Women's Studies might end up further marginalizing Women's Studies by …

An Examination Of The Theoretical Orientation To Reading Profile (Torp): Results Of Selected Graduate Students In A Literacy Course, Guadalupe Sotelo

Graduate Theses

This survey research study was utilized to explore participants’ views and knowledge of balanced literacy programs before and after a 45-hour graduate level literacy course and to document any changes using the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP; Deford, 1985) questionnaire. The TORP’s main purpose is to designate the philosophical position of individuals on their preferences to teaching reading. The TORP examines orientation to phonics, skills, and whole language. Twenty-seven participants who designated themselves either as established school administrators or graduate students pursuing Master’s degrees in Educational Leadership or Reading were surveyed at the beginning and end of the course …

Board Of Directors Training, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Board of Directors Training

Roles and Responsibilities

Time Devoted to Six Basic Elements

Obstacles

Strategies

Ethics

Recruitment

Involving Undergraduate And High School Students In Research: Opportunities, Challenges, And Rewards, Shashi S. Nambisan

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Historically student involvement in research at Universities and Colleges has primarily revolved around those in graduate programs. However, the NSF’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program and ABET’s evaluation criteria regarding undergraduate participation in research are examples of efforts and initiatives over the last decade to target and include undergraduate students in research efforts. Going one step further would be including high school students in such efforts. This paper summarizes efforts, experiences, and initiatives over the last six years at the UNLV Transportation Research Center to include undergraduate and high school students in research projects and lessons learned from the same …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2000, James V. Koch, Aditi Agarwal, Vinod Agarwal, Rebecca Bowers, Steve Daniel, Michele Darby, John Gawne, Beth Herders, Jeffrey Harlow, Tatiana Isakovski, Sharon Lomax, Helen Madden, Stephen Medvic, Deborah L. Miller, Wayne Talley, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

Those who know and love the region of Hampton Roads wish to make it an even better place to live than it is currently. In order for us to achieve that end, we must know literally "where we are" in critical areas. This first "State of the Region" Report is designed to provide citizens with a detailed, though not burdensome, look at several critical aspects of the lives we live in Hampton Roads. The Report focuses on topics such as the regional economy (including the tourist and military sectors), the workforce, K-12 education, technology, and of course, government and regional …

Counting Quality, John Strassburger

Publications

This is the fifth in a series of occasional papers about the challenges confronting students and what Ursinus is doing to help them enter adult life.

Transforming Experiences: The Benefits Of Intellectual Risk, John Strassburger

Publications

This is the fourth in a series of occasional papers about the challenges confronting students and what Ursinus is doing to help them enter adult life.

Parents' And Teachers' Family Involvement Perceptions In Elementary Schools, Isabel S. Gutierrez

Graduate Theses

The perceptions of X.I.S.D.'s teachers and parents are studied to understand why a negative teacher attitude, concerning family involvement, seems to dominate the district. Participants perceived limited parents' support in special school activities, home tutoring, teacher-parent communications, preparing and organizing materials for teachers, and volunteering in committees that require parent representation. Parent participants that were experienced in the schools perceived parent involvement as assisting in the classrooms. Those individuals that perceived limited involvement probably get their attitudes in part from the concerns of administrators about parents' criticism as well as their belief that the district is financially able to provide …

Rural Education And Rural Community Viability, Patricia Cahape Hammer

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis addresses the following research question:

In what ways do rural schools support or undermine rural community viability in the United States?

Following a methodology first recommended by C. W. Mills, the study was organized to include historical, cultural, social, and economic dimensions, which are explained in the first chapter. Chapter 2 looks back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to explore how such a diverse people--originating from Asia, Africa, North American, and Europe--all came under the power of a single ideology of progress and the superiority of urban, modified English culture. The chapter then investigates the …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Parental Involvement Programs, Cindy Tucker Harbour

Graduate Theses

This report examines many recent cultural and family unit changes that have affected the home-school relationship. It addresses reasons for implementing parental involvement, the different programs available and assessment procedures. There are several key components in a parental involvement program: promoting parents as educators, training teachers to cooperate with families, promoting cooperation among families, involving the larger community and presenting family learning activities. These aspects have shown significant benefits to school staff members, students, and parents. How these relate to each other, identifies the positive expectation of the responsibility of education for all concerned. There are a variety of ways …

An Evaluation Of The Norfolk Interagency Consortium's Community-Based System Of Care For At-Risk Youth, Melody Bingman Wilt

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The primary purpose of this research was to design and to implement an evaluation model for the Norfolk Interagency Consortium (NIC). The research design employed in this study focused on four areas of investigation: program clarification, processes and activities, outcomes, and cost. The study utilized qualitative and quantitative methods and procedures.

The program clarification stage of the research served as a pre-evaluative phase. An evaluability assessment was incorporated to define and clarify the NIC'S program components and goals, and determine which goals were evaluable. Data regarding the target population also were collected.

The processes and activities investigation used a survey …