Moral Dimensions of Grading in High School English

Thesis (PhD) - Indiana University, School of Education, 2005Moral issues are deeply embedded in the grading practices of high school English teachers. The problem of giving the right grade for each pupil is central to the study's examination of grading practices of the English department in an upstate New York high school. Arriving at a fair grade, weighing in both achievement and non-achievement factors such as effort and attitude in determining grades, and the role of teachers' expectations in terms of perceived student ability and progress are examined using a theoretical framework derived chiefly from Jackson, Boostrom, and Hansen's The Moral LIfe of Schools (1993). The framework considers the grading process in terms of truth, worthwhileness, trust, and intellectual and moral attentiveness. A series of semi-structured interviews conducted over the course of an entire school year provide the data for examining the teachers' grading practices and perspectives. Results indicate that English teachers struggle with issues of fairness, but are confident that their grades communicate the messages they hope to send. Grading strategies are adjusted depending on purpose, and are sometimes altered due to school district grade reporting procedures. Early in the school year, grading is used to help establish expectations. Later in the year, grading is based on the expectations developed from both earlier student performance and personal interaction with students. Grades are subtly influenced by issues of effort, attitude, and conduct, and thus may unconsciously reflect judgments made by the teachers on the moral character of their students. While the teachers acknowledge English class as a proper forum for the exploration of moral issues and the development of character, they hesitate to make direct judgments about the moral development of their students, even as they attempt to influence it

Effects of Directed Movement on Focus

The purpose of this study was to determine if directed movement would positively affect the focus for all children. Children with underdeveloped executive functions frequently disrupt the learning of others. This study was implemented in a mixed-age lower elementary classroom populated by 27 children ages 6 to 9 years. The project covered a total of six weeks, four of which included directed movement for at least three days of the week. Prior to implementing movement into the classroom, three lessons were presented that related to brain function, focus and mindfulness. Pre-study student work samples, teacher observations of the work period and student self-assessments provided baseline data. Throughout the duration of the directed movement portion of the study weekly self-assessments and teacher observations were conducted. A post-study student-assessment was provided and student work samples were again collected. Upon completion, the majority of the students reported having enjoyed the directed movements incorporated into the classroom routine. The results showed an improvement in the ability to focus and in productivity indicating that frequent directed movement has a positive impact on executive functions

OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND HEALTH AMONG HOME HEALTH CARE WORKERS

Home health care workers fill an essential role in the daily lives of elderly persons. However, the work is physically and emotionally exhausting. This mixed-methods study explicates sources of stress found in agency-based caregiving in the post-industrial economy. Agencies operate under a highly regulated legal and organizational framework, but little is known about how to reduce sources of job strain to better protect workers’ health. Drawing on existing occupational health stress theories (Karasek; Siegrist; Landsbergis) and sociological stress theory (Pearlin; Fenwick & Tausig), this study explores how workers’ experiences and agency characteristics are related to home health care worker’s occupational health and self-rated health. Multinomial logistic regression models estimate the health impacts of occupational stressors among home health care workers using data from the CDC’s National Home Health Aide Survey (n=3,235). Qualitative analysis feature the analysis of both agency executives’ and home health care workers’ narratives (n=45) from nine upstate New York home care agencies. By interrogating upper and mid-level management in addition to the workers, the agency’s inner workings were made more transparent. Detailed results upheld Demand/Control/Support and Effort-Reward Imbalance theories while also demonstrating that discrimination on the job and double burden care routines are negatively associated with health. Unexpectedly, blacks were less likely to report injuries than whites. The finding suggests black are under-reporting and may be at risk for occupational health inequality because they are not accessing workers’ compensation. Aides report financial strain, exposure to poor working conditions and lack of respect on the job as centrally important. Agency leaders’ responses vary, but generally concede that high-level stressors “trickle down” and can become work-related stressors for home health aides. Lack of training and low-quality training are also implicated in impeding progress in addressing home care workers’ health. Demand for home health care workers is urgent as the baby boomers age into later life. Policy work in a changing health care system requires coordination at the federal, state, and agency levels to achieve appropriate compensation, updated training, greater access to occupational health care and healthier work conditions - leading to improvement in the quality of home-based long-term care

Virtual Teams Affect, Performance and Interpersonal Perception with Unexpected Leadership Change

Traditional ways of doing business and communicating in the workplace are changing. With frequent mergers, shifting operational demands and underlying economic pressure, computer-mediated communication has been increasingly employed. To achieve greater flexibility in workforce configurations, working virtually is often more the norm than the exception. With continuously improving internet technologies, frequently work-teams are formed when members are not geographically co-located. Both internal and external pressures combine, in the corporate setting, to produce an unprecedented velocity of change which seems especially related to globalization. (Held, 2007) Just exactly how does the virtual team handle abrupt change? While many researchers focus on the differences between face-to-face teams and virtual environs (Olson & Olson 2000), formation of trust (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999), leadership (Kayworth & Leidner , 2001/2002), emergent leadership (Wickham &Walther, 2007), status differences (Weisband, Schneider, & Connolly, 1995), knowledge integration (Hartmann, Piontkowski, Keil, & Laus, 2002) (Malhotra & Majchrzak, 2004) (Zakaria, Amelinckx, & Wilemon, 2004), crossing cultures (Gibbs, 2009) and innovation (Nemiro, 2002),there has been relatively less focus on how the virtual experience influences the emotional state, cognitive functioning, and metaperceptions of teams who work virtually. It would be assumed that instability would affect the virtual teams negatively; however, there could be something different about virtual teams that uniquely position them for better sailing in shifting winds. In the laboratory we simulated the workplace virtual team structure in a streamlined way, assembling 40 groups from the community. This study examined how a quick change of leadership influences the virtual team across measures of affect, cognitive performance, group process performance and evaluative concerns. The teams experiencing leadership change experienced lower positive affect and blunted positive metaperception. Cognitive performance, negative affect, evaluation, and perceptions of team processes were remarkably stabl

Using Social Relations Analysis to Examine the Impact of Role Change on Interpersonal Perceptions in Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are susceptible to disruptions such as role changes. Due to inconsistent conclusions in the current literature, it is difficult to predict how role disruptions might affect interpersonal perceptions in those environments. We recommend using a social relations analysis to uncover interpersonal processes within virtual teams that might be hidden in the complex multilevel structure of teams. We demonstrate this technique using data from a study involving 40 virtual teams configured in a laboratory; half of the teams experienced a change in leader role during the collaboration. The analysis revealed significant perceiver (individual differences in rating tendencies) and relationship variance (differentiation among team members) in evaluations of team members. Teams experiencing role change showed more differentiation of partners in evaluations and accuracy in guessing how team members evaluated them, compared to teams without role changes. Implications for future research on interpersonal processes in virtual teams are discussed

Training Creative Teams

This master’s project presents creative principles, frameworks, materials, and online methodologies for the development of a new or updated training program within a team environment. Inspiration for the project was sourced from creativity research papers, publicly available training guides, popular business books, and my personal experience co-leading the Global Citizen Leadership program in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership at two universities in India. The tools and materials shared throughout the project were focused towards the personal development of facilitation and core skills for the 55 person staff at SEEK Company. Creativity principles of autonomy, team resource, and failure were used for the creation of all materials and training frameworks. Key findings have been shared to help extend the project’s impact to a broader set of organizations and learning environments

Evolvable Cryogenics (eCryo) Project Technology Workshop with Industry: Thermal Venting System (TVS)

No abstract availabl

Investigation of Vapor Cooling Enhancements for Applications on Large Cryogenic Systems

The need to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of heat interception methods for use on a relevant cryogenic propulsion stage at a system level has been identified. Evolvable Cryogenics (eCryo) Structural Heat Intercept, Insulation and Vibration Evaluation Rig (SHIIVER) will be designed with vehicle specific geometries (SLS Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) as guidance) and will be subjected to simulated space environments. One method of reducing structure-born heat leak being investigated utilizes vapor-based heat interception. Vapor-based heat interception could potentially reduce heat leak into liquid hydrogen propulsion tanks, increasing potential mission length or payload capability. Due to the high number of unknowns associated with the heat transfer mechanism and integration of vapor-based heat interception on a realistic large-scale skirt design, a sub-scale investigation was developed. The sub-project effort is known as the Small-scale Laboratory Investigation of Cooling Enhancements (SLICE). The SLICE aims to study, design, and test sub-scale multiple attachments and flow configuration concepts for vapor-based heat interception of structural skirts. SLICE will focus on understanding the efficiency of the heat transfer mechanism to the boil-off hydrogen vapor by varying the fluid network designs and configurations. Various analyses were completed in MATLAB, Excel VBA, and COMSOL Multiphysics to understand the optimum flow pattern for heat transfer and fluid dynamics. Results from these analyses were used to design and fabricate test article subsections of a large forward skirt with vapor cooling applied. The SLICE testing is currently being performed to collect thermal mechanical performance data on multiple skirt heat removal designs while varying inlet vapor conditions necessary to intercept a specified amount of heat for a given system. Initial results suggest that applying vapor-cooling provides a 50 heat reduction in conductive heat transmission along the skirt to the tank. The information obtained by SLICE will be used by the SHIIVER engineering team to design and implement vapor-based heat removal technology into the SHIIVER forward skirt hardware design

Inbound Marketing

This study looks into inbound marketing practice through the process of secondary research. This insight on best practices and market examples have been employed in order to identify the benefits of Inbound Marketing for the School of Professional Studies at Clark University. Through the research, this team has consolidated a number of recommendations for the SPS marketing strategies moving forward. A focus has been placed on identifying solutions, which were effective and financially feasible. The primary solutions are internally sourced; with a future long term recommendation of seeking advice from a third party firm to automate the process

Structural Heat Intercept, Insulation and Vibration Evaluation Rig (SHIIVER)

The Structural Heat Intercept, Insulation, and Vibration Evaluation Rig (SHIIVER) is a large scale cryogenic fluid management (CFM) test bed designed to scale CFM technologies for inclusion on large, in-space stages. A part of the evolvable Cryogenics (eCryo) project, SHIIVER is a technology development task that is supportive of future exploration propulsion needs. Technologies developed under the eCryo Project will play a critical role in enabling increasingly longer duration in-space missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO)