What's in a Name? Exploring the Impact of Naming Assignments

Past research has examined how various elements and style of a syllabus influence students’ perceptions of the class. Furthermore, students’ learning and grade orientations have been shown to impact academic performance and effort. We sought to add to this literature by exploring how an assignment’s name might impact estimates of time to be spent on and the importance of the assignment. We also explored the separate interaction effect of the attitudes and behaviors subscales of these orientations on students’ perceptions separately. In total, 159 undergraduate students completed a survey with a written assignment called “Quiz,” “Exam,” or “Journal.” Participants answered questions from the LOGO-II scale, and regarding their anticipated effort, time to be spent on, and the importance of the assignment. We found that the quiz and exam were perceived as more important than the journal even though participants reported spending the least amount of time on the quiz. Significant interactions between name and learning/grade orientation suggest that for students with high motivation to learn (attitudes and behaviors), all assignments are perceived as an opportunity to learn. However, for students focused on grades (grade orientation behaviors), all graded assignments are opportunities for grades and hence equally important. These results support analyzing attitudes and behaviors separately. Results are discussed in light of previous research and directions for future research.Dans le passé, la recherche a porté sur la mesure dans laquelle le style d’un plan de cours et des divers éléments qui le composent influencent la perception qu’ont les étudiants du cours. La recherche a effectivement démontré que l’orientation des étudiants relative à l’apprentissage et aux notes a un impact sur les efforts qu’ils investissent et sur leur performance. Nous avons voulu contribuer à cette recherche en nous penchant sur l’impact que pourrait avoir le nom d’une évaluation sur le temps que les étudiants pensaient y consacrer et sur leur impression de son importance. Nous avons également étudié, séparément, l’effet de l’interaction des sous-échelles des attitudes et des comportements sur ces orientations. Au total, 159 étudiants du premier cycle ont complété un sondage portant sur une évaluation nommée ou bien «quiz », « examen » ou « journal ». Ils ont répondu à des questions de l’échelle LOGO-II, ainsi qu’à des questions au sujet de l’effort et du temps qu’ils prévoyaient consacrer aux évaluations et de l’importance qu’ils attribuaient à chacune. Les résultats indiquent que les étudiants perçoivent le quiz et l’examen comme étant plus importants que le journal, même s’ils indiquent avoir passé le moins de temps sur le quiz. Les interactions significatives entre le nom et l’orientation relative à l’apprentissage et aux notes portent à croire que les étudiants qui sont hautement motivés à apprendre (de par leurs attitudes et leur comportement) perçoivent toutes les évaluations comme des occasions d’apprentissage. Toutefois, pour les étudiants qui se concentrent surtout sur les notes, toutes les évaluations notées représentent des occasions d’avoir de bonnes notes et elles ont donc la même importance. Les résultats appuient l’analyse séparée des attitudes et des comportements. Ceux-ci font l’objet d’une discussion dans le contexte de la recherche antérieure d’une part, et en fonction de l’orientation de la recherche à l’avenir d’autre part

Ethics and the Primacy of the Other: A Levinasian Foundation for Phenomenological Research

This paper compares Heidegger’s “dasein-centric” existential hermeneutic to Levinas’s primacy of the Other and the importance the latter places on the ethical relationship. Invoking the concepts of totality and infinity, the paper discusses the ways in which one encounters the Other and how signification arises from the ethical relationship. This is followed by a discussion of how Levinas’s ethics might influence existential phenomenological research methodology, pointing to the ethical demands described by Levinas as seeming to have priority over the praxis of research insofar as the Other calls us beyond the methodological framework. Finally, the paper considers the extent to which the ethical demands of Levinas’s phenomenology are met by the special place of the research participant and the attitude of empathic presence prescribed within the Heideggerian framework. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, Volume 10, Edition 2, October 2010: 11-2

Beyond The Skin: A Case Report Of Vaginal Melanoma

Mucosal melanomas are rare, accounting for only 1.4% of all melanomas. Only 18% of mucosal melanomas are vulvovaginal in origin, making it exceedingly rare. Mucosal melanomas typically carry a worse prognosis than those arising from cutaneous sites with a higher risk of recurrence and disseminated disease. We report a rare case of vaginal melanoma presenting as postmenopausal bleeding and discuss management of this disease

Expressions of Grief and Change in the Poetry Projects of Bereaved VCU Students

A large proportion of college students, (40%) have experienced the death of someone close to them (Holland, Currier, & Neimeyer, 2006), but little is known about how college students experience and cope with loss. Expressive writing has been posited as a method for dealing with traumatic experiences (Pennebaker, 1997), but its use with the bereaved has been called into question (Stroebe, Schut, & Stroebe, 2006). A stress management course at VCU allows students to complete loss-focused writing exercises, including acrostic “alphabet poems” for course credit. The current study aims to test the hypothesis that stages of grief (based on Rando’s (1993) popular “six R’s” theory) are expressed by college students in these writing exercises. A further hypothesis was that student would show progress through the stages from the beginning of their exercises to the end. Eighty undergraduate students completed a writing assignment. Students were allowed to focus their writing efforts on any type of loss experience, not just a loss due to the death of a loved one. Of these, 56 students (mean age: 21.9 years; 80% female; 33.9% African American, 32.1% Caucasian, 12.5% Asian and Latino, respectively) completed an end-of-semester feedback survey regarding the usefulness of these exercises (a 70% return rate), and 48 produced code-able alphabet poem writing projects. Two teams of two undergraduate students are independently coding the alphabet poems using a coding scheme based on Rando’s “six R’s” theory of grief. Rando’s theory suggests that the bereaved complete six processes while grieving: Recognizing the loss, reacting to it, recollecting/reexperiencing it, and finally relinquishing it, readjusting to the outside world, and reinvesting in new relationships. As we read through each poem, we analyze each line or set of lines and decide whether or not it represents one of the stages. We then compare our codes with our teammate for agreement, and have a graduate student supervisor act as tie-breaker. So far, we have found many examples emotions and of Rando’s six stages in each of the poems we have coded. Recognizing the loss, reacting to it (with negative and positive emotions) and recollecting the loss are the most common stages expressed in the poems coded so far. Most of the poems show some kind of a change in stage expression by the end of the poem. The last two stages showed up in several of the poems analyzed. We have also noted that poems tend to progress from showing the first few stages in the first half, and the last three stages in the second half of each poem. These findings suggest that qualitative analysis of expressive and creative writing processes can be a useful window into the college student grieving process. Future studies should examine how poems that progress through all or most of the stages differ from those that do not on outcomes such as grief severity.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1059/thumbnail.jp

Prolonged encounters

This thesis chronicles my journey as an observational landscape painter exploring how to contend with the constant change that fascinates me as an observer, but previously frustrated me as a painter. Investigating my subjects through series and repetition, my work becomes a record of my experience of sustained engagement with consistently fluctuating environments

¿Por qué Enseñar? Un Proyect-ivo del Mundo de la vida para Entender qué Significa la Enseñanza para los Maestros

Previous literature has examined teachers’ motivations to teach in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic motives, personality dimensions, and teacher burnout. These findings have been cast in the rubric of differences between teachers and non-teachers and the linear relations between these measures among teachers. Utilizing a phenomenological approach (Giorgi, 1970) to analyze data generated in structured interviews with four tenured professors from small, liberal arts universities whose central mission is teaching, this paper presents the telic or project-ive horizons of teaching – those motives aimed at what is ‘not yet’ (Heidegger, 1927/1962). Results revealed that teaching is understood by teachers to be a dialogical enterprise between a teacher and learners across dimensions of transformation, knowledge, and personhood. This dialogue entailed an abiding tension between self and other, activity and passivity, giving and receiving, preparation and spontaneity, instructing and learning, leading and following, asserting and withdrawing. It comprised an orientation to a teachers’ vision for the possible future personhood of the teacher and their students and to the character of the world which teachers and learners inhabit together. These findings are discussed in terms of the reviewed literature and as a case in point for a vital complementarity of research approaches.La literatura ha examinado las motivaciones de los docentes para enseñar en términos de motivos intrínsecos y extrínsecos, las dimensiones de la personalidad, y el desgaste. Estos hallazgos han sido expuestos mediante diferencias entre maestros y no-maestros y las relaciones lineales de este indicativo entre los maestros. Utilizando un enfoque fenomenológico (Giorgi, 1970) para analizar los datos generados en entrevistas estructuradas con cuatro profesores titulares de una pequeña universidad de humanidades cuya misión central es la docencia, este trabajo presenta los horizontes telic o proyect-ivos de la enseñanza - esos motivos que apuntan a lo que "no es todavía" (Heidegger, 1927/1962). Los resultados revelaron que la enseñanza es entendida por los maestros como una relación dialógica entre un maestro y sus estudiantes a través de dimensiones de transformación, conocimiento y personalidad. Este diálogo implicaba una tensión constante entre el yo y el otro, la actividad y la pasividad, el dar y recibir, la preparación y la espontaneidad, instruir y aprender, dirigir y seguir, afirmar y retirar. Esto comprendía una orientación de los maestros hacia su posible futura personalidad y la de sus estudiantes y sobre el carácter del mundo en el que profesores y estudiantes cohabitan. Estos hallazgos se discuten en términos de la literatura revisada y como ejemplo de una complementariedad vital de los enfoques de investigació

Deaf individuals’ bilingual abilities: American Sign Language proficiency, reading skills, and family characteristics

The current study investigated the bilingual abilities of 55 Deaf individuals, examining both American Sign Language (ASL) competency and English reading skills. Results revealed a positive relationship between ASL competency and English skills, with highly competent signers scoring higher on a measure of reading comprehension. Additionally, family characteristics (e.g., parental education level, family hearing status) were entered into the analysis to ascertain their effect on Deaf individuals’ bilingual abilities. The findings support the theory that competency in ASL may serve as a bridge to the acquisition of English print. Moreover, the findings provide support for the critical period hypothesis for first language acquisition and its later impact on other cognitive and academic skills

Urban American Indian Community Health Beliefs Associated with Addressing Cancer in the Northern Plains Region

American Indians residing in the Northern Plains region of the Indian Health Service experience some of the most severe cancer-related health disparities. We investigated ways in which the community climate among an American Indian population in an urban community in the Northern Plains region influences community readiness to address cancer. A Community Readiness Assessment, following the Community Readiness Model, conducted semi-structured interviews with eight educators, eight students, and eight community leaders from the American Indian community in Omaha’s urban American Indian population and established the Northern Plains region community at a low level of readiness to address cancer. This study reports on a subsequent qualitative study that analyzed all 24 interview transcriptions for emergent themes to help understand the prevailing attitude of the community toward cancer. A synthesis of six emergent themes revealed that the community’s perceptions of high levels of severity and barriers, paired with perceptions of low levels of susceptibility and benefits, lead to low levels of self-efficacy, all of which are reflected in minimal cues to action and little effort to address cancer. These findings, interpreted through the lens of the Health Belief Model, can inform the development of more community-based, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate approaches to address the multilevel determinants of health behaviors in relation to cancer among American Indians in the Northern Plains region

Nativity Differences in Stress among Asian and Pacific Islander American Women

According to the Stress Process Theory, people who are marginalized in society encounter more stress than those in more advantaged positions. Immigrants are one such marginalized group in the United States (US) who may experience greater psychological stress than their US-born counterparts due to (1) severing of social ties; (2) social disadvantage and marginalization; and (3) adaptation to a new environment. This study examines the disparity in stress by nativity, and how social factors contribute to this disparity for Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women. Data come from the Asian Community Health Initiative, which included a sample of 291 foreign-born and 155 US-born API women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Multivariable linear regression was used to estimate associations between nativity status and stress, measured using the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale, accounting for various social stressors. Foreign-born women had higher levels of stress compared to US-born. Stress was greater among women experiencing fewer socioeconomic resources, more discrimination, more acculturative stress, and low English proficiency. English proficiency accounted for much of the disparity in stress between foreign-born and US-born API women. This study contributes to our understanding of how stress among APIs is influenced by social disadvantage and marginalization in US society. Future research should further study how aspects of the immigrant experience are associated with stress among APIs over time

Turning I into me: Imagining your future self.

A widely endorsed belief is that perceivers imagine their present selves using a different representational format than imagining their future selves (i.e., near future=first-person; distant future=third-person). But is this really the case? Responding to the paucity of work on this topic, here we considered how temporal distance influences the extent to which individuals direct their attention outward or inward during a brief imaginary episode. Using a non-verbal measure of visual perspective taking (i.e., letter-drawing task) our results confirmed the hypothesized relation between temporal distance and conceptions of the self. Whereas simulations of an event in the near future were dominated by a first-person representation of the self, this switched to a third-person depiction when the event was located in the distant future. Critically, this switch in vantage point was restricted to self-related simulations. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered