Spirituality and Social Climate in the Context of an International Learning Community

The spiritual development of college students has recently become a greater concern for student affairs professionals in higher education. This study was designed to discover if the social climate of living-learning environments would contribute to the spiritual development of college students. More specifically, this study was conducted with freshmen students involved in an international living-learning community and tested the students\u27 perceptions of their social climate, along with their growth in spiritual maturity over a semester. Freshmen students experiencing traditional on-campus living arrangements were the control group for this study. Social climate was defined as the unique characteristics of a specific group environment. Rudolph Moos\u27 Group Environment Scale was utilized in order to measure the social climate of the living-learning environment. Craig W. Ellison\u27s Spiritual Maturity Index assessed the change in spiritual maturity over the semester. Spiritual maturity was defined as possessing Christ-like characteristics. It was predicted that the study abroad students would experience higher levels of social climate dimensions and that these dimensions would be a predictor for growth in spiritual maturity. Thus, it was anticipated that the study abroad students would have greater growth in spiritual maturity than students on-campus. The subscales of independence and self-discovery were more statistically significant within the study abroad students than the on-campus students. The independence subscale was also a significant predictor of student spiritual maturity. Students in the international living-learning community did not higher growth in spiritual maturity than on-campus students as predicted. However it was found that the students participating in the study abroad program entered their freshman year significantly more spiritually mature than on-campus students. These results raise significant implications for student affairs professionals working in study abroad programs. Specific programming and mentoring relationships may need to be directed toward students at a higher spiritual maturity level

“I Don\u27t Really Look Very Asian”: Transracially and Transnationally Adopted Asian Youth in Rural Appalachia

Transracially adopted Asian children in rural Appalachia find themselves adopted into places where there is little or no racial and ethnic diversity. In this context, it may be difficult to transgress the model minority stereotype and systemic racism in schools and the community. There are particular issues and concerns related to racial identity for TRAAs that may make the task of becoming fully integrated members of the community challenging. Building on the literature on transracial and transnational adoption, this study aims to better understand the lives and perspectives of two transracially adopted Asian (TRAA) girls living in rural Appalachia and how they are constructed and positioned in their families and their education community. In order to receive a clearer picture of these students, two research questions were posed: °How do transracially adopted Asian (TRAA) youth see themselves within the contexts they negotiate in rural Appalachia? °How do teachers and administrators position TRAAs? A case study was conducted and the data analyzed using third space theory and additional critical and sociological theories of identity and agency such as funds of knowledge and border pedagogies. Participants included the girls, their parents, their school administrators, and many teachers at their schools (total n=23 participants). Data were collected through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations. A traditional case study analysis using coding and memoing was completed. Analysis of the information revealed five major challenges for the students in schools that served nearly all White students yet were growing in cultural and linguistic talents and racial/ethnic diversity: (1) Assuming assimilation, (2) deflecting race talk, (3) exoticizing particular differences, (4) minimizing bullying, and (5) positioning teachers and administrators in schools. The challenges supported school and community homogeneity instead of heterogeneity, which transferred to how TRAAs saw themselves in the context of rural Appalachia in complicated ways. The dissertation concludes by considering positive curricular and pedagogical supports for rural and Appalachian communities. These supports are necessary to co-construct third spaces of understanding in communities to support TRAAs and all students

An analysis of U.S. history textbooks: The treatment of primary sources

This dissertation examines the treatment of primary sources in three of the most widely adopted secondary U.S. History textbooks. Specifically examined were the types of primary sources, location of corresponding questions, classification of corresponding questions according by the Depth of Knowledge and the Library of Congress steps in examining primary sources, and presence of answers in the narrative. An instrument was created to assure transparency in assessing the textbooks. The results were examined through the interpretative frame works of historians and the various perspectives within the social studies. All texts incorporated many primary sources but varied greatly in their presentations of the documents. Recommendations for changes were made for each of the stakeholders with interests in publishing and using textbooks

"We are Dumbledore's Army:" Forging the Foundation For Future Upstanders

The profusion of human rights atrocities and purported incidents of genocide across the globe in recent decades has increasingly forced multiple and complicated issues associated with combating these violations onto the political agendas of world leaders and institutions. Scholars are united in recognizing the growing importance and need for critical instruction on the complex issues related to human rights and genocide studies to inspire high school students toward a global, democratic citizenship for the 21st century. Therefore, how do educators and student programs prepare students to critically examine these complex questions in a way that encourages global citizenship? This study, conducted during a two-week intensive summer institute on human rights and genocide studies in western New York state, assessed the ability of a human rights and genocide educational institute to foster higher levels of self-efficacy among the participating students and their ability to be "upstanders," rather than bystanders in their daily lives. We argue that the students felt empowered to pursue their short- and long-term goals regarding becoming human rights upstanders through the role models in their lives who influenced them to come to the Institute and the various experiences they had during the Institute’s workshops and field trips.

Program Model for Women’s Leadership Development and Career Success

In our work with students in the residence halls, we identified a need for additional education regarding professional identity formation among female students. We have found a naivety in students regarding the current climate of the American workforce and potential challenges women may encounter in their career fields as it pertains to gender norms, gender-bias, and inequity. In thesis research by Timmerman (2013), it was found that the workforce climate remains bleak for female professionals. While women make up the majority of the American working population, very few hold management or senior-level positions within their field. Current research indicates that colleges and universities by and large do not prepare female students for navigating the difficulties of gender-bias in a contemporary workplace. In response, a women’s leadership event was designed to provide one programmatic step toward addressing this educational gap

Dynamic Study of Flexible Sensors to Reduce Motion Artifacts

The field of wearable electronics is changing healthcare and increasing possibilities for human-machine interfaces. Soft electronics stretch with the skin to monitor long-term heart rate trends or direct the motion of smart prosthetics. The capabilities are only as good as the signal quality. A significant challenge for these devices is that by their very definition – wearable – these flexible sensors suffer from motion artifacts not previously found when measured in a stationary setting. This thesis investigates three significant sources of motion artifacts for flexible sensors: relative motion between sensor and signal source, the unique challenges of skin strain, and change in contact impedance. Relative motion is not a unique problem for wearable electronics. Still, human tissue's elastic nature means that most body-mounted sensors undergo more relative motion than on a comparable rigid machine. Device design and placement are analyzed to reduce the movement between the sensor and signal source. Dynamic effects of jogging are numerically simulated for a chest-mounted device showing a small form factor, and lightweight designs reduce device motion. Human skin is an unstable platform to mount devices. Skin strain causes device movement and changes the biopotential during measurement. Experimental examples show material and design solutions to increase adhesion, reduce strain within the device, and maintain breathability for long-term recordings. Flexible sensors measuring biopotential are susceptible to changes in contact impedance. Skin strain and vibrations create motion artifacts that can mimic or disrupt many biosignals, making them hard to filter out. A prototype device is presented that uses a strain isolating layer to reduce skin strain at the electrode, which stabilizes contact impedance and reduces motion artifacts. Experimental data from the device compensating for these three sources of motion artifacts is presented for quantitative comparison.M.S

Visual art-making as a resource for living positively with arthritis: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of older women’s accounts

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Journal of Aging Studies. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This study explored whether and how visual art-making, as a leisure activity, provided a coping resource for older women affected by arthritis. Twelve older women (aged 62–81) were interviewed. They had lived with arthritis for many years, and engaged in arts and crafts regularly. Transcripts were explored through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three main themes were identified. Firstly, most participants experienced art-making as a powerful means of controlling arthritis pain, through deep concentration, and through use of color and imagery. Secondly, participants experienced art-making as encouraging sustained attention to the outside world, offering psychological escape from the confines of the body and home. Thirdly, art-making protected and promoted identity, for example, through integrating current and former selves, enabling participants to express and re-experience certain valued memories, and engage in personal development. Some participants felt able to celebrate positive difference from others, on the basis of their art rather than their illness