Human Trafficking in Ghana: A Comparative Analysis

In a comparative analysis of case study, this thesis focuses on the literature behind human trafficking in Ghana and three other comparative countries –Brazil, Indonesia, Cote d’Ivoire. These comparative countries were selected based on specific criteria such as the country’s GDP, the literacy rates of each country, the country’s level of development, and the total population below the poverty line within the country. Case study analysis is the primary focus of this thesis. In order to understand case study, a detailed examination of case studies and misconceptions surrounding case studies was used to understand the literature behind this comparison analysis. Each country used in this comparison experienced sex trafficking and forced labor as the most prominent forms of trafficking. The implications of this thesis is to analysis the differences in human trafficking in similar countries. There is a limitation to this comparative analysis due to the literature only coming from the United States of America Department of the State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report. In future research on human trafficking, this comparative analysis could be used to help find solutions to human trafficking in countries with similar GDP, literacy rates, level of development, and total population below the poverty line

The association between depression and anxiety with COVID-19 outcomes.

Previous studies have shown that mental disorders affect COVID-19 mortality. This study investigated the effect of depression and/or anxiety on COVID-19 outcomes. Depression/anxiety was defined by actively taking medication and/or diagnosis. The outcomes were ICU admission; ventilation; mortality; and time to mortality. Of 698 hospitalized patients, there were 204 (29%) defined to have either depression or anxiety. There were 109 deaths, and of those, 52 (48%) were diagnosed with depression/anxiety. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine associations. ICU admission and ventilation were not significantly associated with depression/anxiety. Depression/anxiety was associated with mortality (OR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.15-2.93, p: 0.01) and time to mortality (HR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.07-2.39, p: 0.02), adjusting for age, sex, and history of COPD. The association seemed driven by patients who were never admitted to the ICU. This study showed that depression/anxiety has a significant effect on COVID-19 mortality

Analyzing the Cognitive Demand of Enacted Examples in Precalculus: A Comparative Case Study of Graduate Student Instructors

The cognitive demand of mathematical tasks is an important aspect of analyzing the impact of instruction on student learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the instructional examples enacted by graduate student precalculus instructors in order to answer the following questions: What is the cognitive demand of the enacted examples? What does a high cognitive demand example look like when an instructor uses direct instruction? And how are examples drawn from the written curriculum enacted in different ways? Using both random and purposeful sampling of precalculus lessons, I conducted classroom observations as well as pre- and post-observation interviews with the instructors. A modified version of the Task Analysis Guide (Smith & Stein, 1998) was then used to categorize the cognitive demand of the instructional examples. As a result, I found that 25 out of the 93 examples (27%) I observed were enacted at a high level of cognitive demand. I also present vignettes that illustrate how three different instructors chose to enact the same example type at differing levels of cognitive demand

Peer Sexual Harassment in Middle School: Classroom and Individual Factors

In recent years, sexual harassment among adolescents has received significant national attention in the media and from behavioral science researchers. Initial research focused predominantly on describing the prevalence of peer sexual harassment (PSH) among adolescents and understanding the associated outcomes. More recently, researchers have begun to examine individual and contextual risk factors for victimization. Using the problem behavior hypothesis, opportunity theory and developmental theory, a theoretical framework to identify risk factors for PSH was developed, namely risky behaviors (i.e., self-reported delinquency, aggression and friend support for counter conventional behaviors) and sexual saliency variables (i.e., flirting, dating and opposite sex nominations). Moreover, this is the first study that has used classroom demographic factors (i.e., percent male and class size) to predict PSH. Thus, the current cross-sectional study adds to the literature by examining the associations of individual variables with PSH using multilevel modeling techniques, taking into account the nested design of students within classrooms, with theoretically based correlates (i.e., classroom variables, risky behaviors, sexual saliency factors) to examine vulnerability factors for PSH. A cohort of 8th grade students from an urban, culturally diverse and low-income school district was used. Self-report and peer-reported data were obtained from 744 students in the fall. Self-report measures include PSH (AAUW, 1993; 2001); self-reported delinquency (Elliot, Huizinga, and Ageton, 1995), a modified friends' support for counter conventional behaviors scale (Schierer and Botvin, 1998); and dating frequency. Peer ratings of aggressive behavior, flirtatious behavior, and opposite sex peer nominations came from the Revised Class Play (Matesen, Morrison, and Pellegrini, 1985). Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that PSH scores did not significantly differ between classrooms. As such, all variables were disaggregated to the individual level. Regression analyses found that classroom variables of class size and percent male were not related to the experience of PSH. Risky behaviors (i.e., self-reported delinquency, friend support for counter conventional behaviors, peer rated aggression) was a significant factor, with self reported delinquency being significant for girls and boys and peer rated aggression was a significant predictor for boys. Sexual salience variables (i.e., dating, flirtatiousness, opposite sex nominations) was also a significant factor, with flirtatiousness being a significant predictor for girls and boys and dating being significant uniquely for girls. Findings indicated that risky behaviors account for a greater variance in PSH victimization in boys, whereas sexual saliency account for a greater proportion of variance in girls. Findings also indicate that 6th grade pubertal status was predictive of 8th grade PSH. These results were discussed within the context of clinical implications for schools and future research directions

High Cognitive Demand Examples in Precalculus: Examining the Work and Knowledge Entailed in Enactment

Historically, pass rates in undergraduate precalculus courses have been dismally low and the teaching practices and knowledge of university instructors have been understudied. To help improve teaching effectiveness and student outcomes in undergraduate precalculus courses, I have studied the cognitive demand of enacted examples. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the pedagogical work and mathematical knowledge entailed in the enactment of high cognitive demand examples in a three-part study. To answer my research questions, I conducted classroom observations as well as pre- and post-observation interviews with seven graduate student instructors at a large public R1 university in the Midwest and used grounded theory to analyze my data. In the first component of the dissertation, I examine what high cognitive demand examples look like and identify three roles that instructors take on when enacting high cognitive demand examples: modeling, facilitating, and monitoring. In the second component, I decomposed the work of enacting high cognitive demand examples into five teaching tasks: attending to the mathematical point, making connections, providing clear verbal explanations, articulating cognitive processes, and supporting student understanding. Finally, in the third component, I examined the mathematical knowledge for teaching entailed in enacting examples and found that there are five domains of knowledge that support the maintenance of cognitive demand: knowledge of connections, representations, unpacking, students, and sequencing. These findings suggest ways in which we can help novice instructors enact high cognitive demand examples by focusing on the work and knowledge entailed in maintaining the cognitive demand. Advisor: Yvonne La

Burnout: Why are teacher educators reaching their limits?

Burnout among our P-12 teachers has been well documented throughout the years. Yet, little research has been conducted into the burnout of higher education professionals in general. Lackritz (2004) found that emotional exhaustion is significantly and positively related to teaching load, grading, office hours, grant money, service time, and number of service activities. This research looks further into the variables that may impact burnout for higher education faculty, specifically in teacher education, seeking to answer the questions: Are teacher educators in NY experiencing stress/burnout? If so, what internal and/or external factors/conditions are contributing to their burnout? And are specific groups of teacher educators more at-risk for developing burnout more so than others. Survey results reveal that teacher educators have a very low to moderate chance of burnout, but experience many of the stressors that can lead to burnout. The findings build on and extend beyond Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter’s (2001) framework which includes factors of workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values

Online Education: Transferring Personal Experiences to Professional Development

In this paper, we discuss how one candidate’s experience as she participated an online mathematics specialist program bolstered her confidence and ability to provide online professional development for her teachers. We include personal accounts by the mathematics specialist program instructors, the mathematics specialist candidate, and an elementary school teacher to illustrate how the experience of completing online graduate courses led to the candidate providing online learning opportunities for teachers. In particular, we highlight the importance of building relationships and using high-quality mathematical tasks in both the online preparation program and the online professional development. This case study provides evidence that exposure to online learning environments as a learner can help lower the barrier of entry for planning and providing online learning experiences as a teacher

Coaching Elementary Teachers in Literacy: Does Feedback Type Matter for Low Implementers?

For literacy coaches and teachers, feedback is an integral component of effective coaching. Yet, little is understood about the interaction between feedback and high/low implementing teachers within coaching sessions. This multiple case study explored the types of feedback literacy coaches provided both high and low implementing teachers over a two-year period. In the first year, the literacy coaches provided at least twice as much instructional feedback as emotional feedback to low-implementing teachers. Those teachers not only received more feedback in general, but the feedback they received was primarily what they needed to do to improve. In contrast, during the same period literacy coaches provided high-implementing teachers more emotional feedback than instructional feedback. Low implementation, or resistance, observed in this study may have been tied to the overwhelming amount and type of feedback the low implementing teachers received.  Coaches seeking to enhance instructional practices could benefit from attending to the amount and type of feedback they provide their learners.