Antitype: An Exploration of Self and Poetry

Antitype is a collection of poetry that examines childhood and adolescence through a lens of place and loss, while exploring both poetry and creative processes. The work presented begins by contextualizing antitype within the history of poetry, assessing influences of specific poets and poetic movements on my own work. Next, I share excerpts from my poetry collection to illustrate connections from its five different sections, each investigating facets of this overarching theme: my childhood affected by loss and as it contributes to my development as a poet. Section one examines how my childhood was shaped by place and family heritage. Section two delves into the loss of my sister, while also addressing, more generally, death and our reactions to it. Section three looks at the influence of my sister’s death on me as poet. Section four focuses on coming of age after loss, with poems that characterize my life during college. The final section examines romantic love, with poems that highlight the fears of loving and possibly losing someone when one’s life has been shaped by such a loss. This highly autobiographical collection aims to showcase the shared effects such loss, particularly loss in childhood, that people experience

The Effects of Acute Exercise and Learning Strategy Implementation on Episodic Memory Performance

Over the years, a growing body of research has shown that exercise has beneficial impacts on various types of memory function. However, most of these studies have focused on children or older adults, with less research conducted among young adults, despite research demonstrating that memory function may start to decline in early adulthood. This thesis provides background information regarding the effects of exercise on memory function, as well as different learning-based strategies to help facilitate learning and memory retention. Furthermore, the research I completed for this thesis specifically evaluated the experimental effects of acute exercise, a specific learning strategy (3-R technique), and their combined effects, on short- and long-term memory function. The results of this experiment demonstrate that memory function was enhanced, to the greatest extent, among those who engaged in an acute bout of exercise (brisk walking) and also implemented the 3-R learning technique, when compared to those who only exercised, only implemented the learning technique, or those doing neither

Reaching New Heights: An Examination of Cognitive Dissonance and the Attitude Toward Height and Leadership

Cognitive dissonance is the theory that when someone holds two conflicting cognitions they will feel internal discomfort and will be motivated to reduce this discomfort. They reduce the discomfort by changing one of the cognitions, either by intensifying the original cognition or by diminishing the original cognition, making the new cognition the dominant cognition. The present experiment examines the role that cognitive dissonance plays in intensifying or diminishing prejudices within the attitude domain of the association between height and leadership. I attempted to induce dissonance by showing 20 Bard College students the discrepancy between their explicit and implicit attitudes about the connection of height and leadership. I measured the magnitude of dissonance produced after they viewed a discrepancy score, using skin conductance response equipment and a self-assessment of dissonance scale. Ten subjects then received an educational intervention describing fifteen world leaders whose heights were below average, which was predicted to diminish implicit prejudices. Subjects’ implicit attitudes were then measured again to determine if there had been a change in attitude. I expected that dissonance would be created when subjects viewed their discrepancy score and that the educational intervention would then further diminish implicit prejudices. The results showed that dissonance was created when subjects viewed their discrepancy score, but that the educational intervention did not significantly diminish the dissonance. The dissonance assessed by the selfassessment scale, however, was connected to the diminishment of implicit attitudes. These results show that cognitive dissonance can lead to the diminishment of implicit prejudices

Student belonging, mental wellbeing, and help-seeking at Durham University

Previous research suggests there is a positive correlation between belonging and mental wellbeing, and that among students, belonging is associated with improved academic performance and positive experiences at university. This mixed methods research explores relationships between and experiences of students’ sense of belonging, mental wellbeing, and help-seeking at Durham University. Durham is commonly referred to as an ‘elite’ institution, with a predominantly White student population, a relatively low number of international students compared to other Russell Group universities, and bad publicity around reports of inequality and lack of inclusivity. An online survey was completed by students (n=119) and semi-structured interviews were carried out with students (n=9) and staff involved in support provision (n=3). A range of theoretical and conceptual lenses are explored, with theories of structural violence, cultural/social capital and habitus, and broad understandings of mental wellbeing being especially relevant when assessing the findings. A key finding is that belonging was found to be a significant predictor of mental wellbeing. Several aspects of university life were seen to impact belonging, mental wellbeing, and help-seeking. The research contributes some detailed insight into student wellbeing and makes suggestions for improvement and further study

The Effects of Acute Exercise and Learning Strategy Implementation on Episodic Memory Performance

Over the years, a growing body of research has shown that exercise has beneficial impacts on various types of memory function. However, most of these studies have focused on children or older adults, with less research conducted among young adults, despite research demonstrating that memory function may start to decline in early adulthood. This thesis provides background information regarding the effects of exercise on memory function, as well as different learning-based strategies to help facilitate learning and memory retention. Furthermore, the research I completed for this thesis specifically evaluated the experimental effects of acute exercise, a specific learning strategy (3-R technique), and their combined effects, on short- and long-term memory function. The results of this experiment demonstrate that memory function was enhanced, to the greatest extent, among those who engaged in an acute bout of exercise (brisk walking) and also implemented the 3-R learning technique, when compared to those who only exercised, only implemented the learning technique, or those doing neither

Race, Gender, and Domestic Violence

Race and gender, as significant social locations, have an impact on many facets of life. One of these areas is the experience of victimization, particularly Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Race and gender impact who perpetrates, their views towards IPV, who is victimized, the victim\u27s experiences with the Criminal Justice System, and the preparedness of supportive services to assist these victims

Perceptions of University Students on Entrepreneurship; A South African Case Study

South Africa currently suffers from high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment. However,the involvement of citizens in entrepreneurship is still very low for the country to rely on entrepreneurshipas a solution to curb its socio-economic crisis. Survival rates of established businesses have also proved to beworrisome in the country with lack of skills cited as one of the most contributing factors. The country is inneed of more entrepreneurs with better skills and understanding of business as that can facilitate jobcreation, poverty alleviation and economic growth. The objective of this paper is to analyse how Universitystudents perceive entrepreneurship in South Africa. Using random sampling, the study used a structuredquestionnaire to gather data from University of Zululand students. Employing the probit logistic regressiontechnique on 152 observations, the study finds Age, family business background, business course andentrepreneurial interest statistically significant on influencing perceptions of students towardsentrepreneurship. The study recommends that the South African Universities’ curricular be revised so as tostart equipping all registered students with entrepreneurship skills as this impact on their perceptions tostarting their own businesses after graduation. Also Universities should start acting as innovation andentrepreneurial hubs for both their students and the business community

Evaluating a Daily 90-Minute, Remedial Reading Intervention for Influence on Students’ Reading Achievement

Evaluating a Daily 90-Minute, Remedial Reading Intervention for Influence on Students’ Reading Achievement. Loretta Faith Harris, 2011: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler School of Education. ERIC Descriptors: Achievement Level, High School, Reading Fluency, Remedial Reading, Criterion Referenced Tests. The goal of NCLB educational reform was to bring all students to a level of academic proficiency by 2014-2015. Tenth-grade students are expected to show success in meeting the state standards by achieving a passing score of 1926 DSS on the reading section of the criterion-referenced test. Level 1 students demonstrating need in the areas of decoding or fluency are required to have an extended block of reading intervention with the same teacher for the entire 90-minute period of instruction. The research examined the effects of such extended time on Level 1 tenth-grade students’ reading-achievement levels as indicated by the state-mandated criterion-referenced test scores and oral reading fluency. The study revealed a daily 90-minute high school remedial reading program influenced Level 1 tenth-grade students’ fluency scores as measured by oral-reading fluency probes. On the other hand, a daily 90-minute high school remedial reading program did not adequately prepare students to demonstrate success in terms of state standards as measured by the state criterion-referenced test. A recommended change to the current reading program included the use of grade-level texts with increasing levels of complexity during whole-group and small-group instructions. Exposure to grade-level texts heightens students’ comprehension proficiency, essential for the increasingly complex texts encountered on the state-mandated criterion-referenced test. Overall, the results of the 90-minute high school remedial reading program confirmed the sustainability of the program

Reducing Inequities in Adverse Birth Outcomes among African American Women in the United States: A Focus on the Life Course Perspective

Adverse birth outcomes are the leading cause of death among infants globally, and the second leading cause of infant deaths in the United States. African-American women have disproportionately higher rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality compared to other racial groups. This is due in part to social inequities, as well as differential exposures to and experience of risk and protective factors before, during, and after pregnancy. The life course perspective framework posits that adverse birth outcomes are not primarily due to experiences during pregnancy, but experiences (environmental exposures, biological, social and behavioral factors, as well as life experiences) across the life course. These experiences negatively affect birth outcomes in current and future generations. Reducing the adverse birth outcome gap between African Americans and other racial groups requires not only increasing access to prenatal care, but also addressing the differential cumulative impact of social inequities and early life disadvantages experienced by the former. It is therefore critically important to focus on the life course perspective when framing solutions to bridge racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes