Archeota, Spring 2016

https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/saasc_archeota/1002/thumbnail.jp

Perception of the Universal Design for Learning in Online Higher Education

The application and analysis of online education have grown in higher education. However, the paradigm completely and suddenly shifted to online education in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The sudden shift to online education did not allow instructors or students with disabilities (SWD) to systematically adapt their teaching and learning strategies to fit a new education environment. The SWD population faces unique challenges in online education and transitioning to online education changed these challenges and created new barriers. One inclusive education paradigm, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), is considered the best practice for inclusive learning in contemporary education. This thesis explored the instructors’ and SWDs’ perspectives on UDL in online higher education. Specifically, the instructors’ and SWD’s perceptions regarding the application and barriers to implementing the UDL guidelines online were investigated. To address this aim, virtual focus groups were conducted with 14 participants from two populations: instructors (n= 6) and SWD (n= 8). A virtual poll was embedded into the focus groups’ discussions to allow the participants to summarize their experiences, rank UDL Guidelines, and then discuss the outcomes. It was found that SWD had both critical and positive perceptions and experiences with UDL in online higher education while instructors primarily noted positive perceptions. However, instructors faced barriers to implementing the UDL Guidelines online including time and effort, resources, and values. Further research is necessary to address the use, implementation, and barriers of UDL in online higher education

Academic improvement in elementary school students with movement and no desks

My project was designed to address the potential academic improvement through adding movement in an academic classroom setting. I believe that movement is crucial for a child to learn. To have the most opportunity for movement in the classroom a room with no desks would be best. For my project I created lesson plans that incorporated movement in the academic subjects, outside physical education classes. I also designed classroom layouts that provided more open space. I designed rooms that still have desks, but moved out of the way as well as classrooms that did not use desks at all. For this project I implemented movement lessons and assessed their progress and success afterward with an individual in the field

Metaphors of Reading: Cognition and Embodiment in Contemporary Metafiction

This project brings together methodologies from sensory and cognitive approaches to literature to posit that Conceptual Metaphors of Readings mediate the experience of readers with fiction and provide an organizing framework for scholars and readers alike to consider the diverse sensory and cognitive phenomena that are used to describe the experience of reading. These conceptual metaphors are culturally and historically developed and can be used in combination with each other by authors to achieve desired effects on readers; however, there are clear patterns in metaphor blends. I demonstrate the robustness of this framework by analyzing metafictional readers, scenes of reading, and reader/writer relationships within nine metafictional novels of the modern, postmodern, and contemporary periods. In particular, I locate the figure of the metafictional reader in works of fiction as a cipher through which the actual reader presses and exerts herself and her reading practices in configuring her own experience of a text. Due to the sophisticated interplay of convention and novelty at work, the metafictional reader should be understood as an embodied metaphor of reading in which the author explores, with the actual reader in tow, an original conception of reading through a familiar configuration: the reading self. Although many metaphors of reading exist and have existed throughout literary history, in this project, I examine six that are especially relevant in contemporary works: (1) reading as an encounter with sensory bodies, (2) reading as journey, (3) reading as sexual intercourse, (4) reading as contact with the past, (5) reading as performance, and (6) reading as an encounter with nature. I organize these readings and combinations of metaphors according to four popularly touted abstract understandings of why readers read: (1) Reading as Connection, (2) Reading as Challenge, (3) Reading as Pursuit, and (4) Reading as Escape

Evidence Based IM Injection Practice

Abstract This evidence-based study of literature investigated best IM injection practice. The review was based on evidence from 3 main sources, all found on the CINAHL database. The three studies were reviewed and assessed, and best practice was found to be recommended. The first article found that several healthcare workers use different methods and techniques when administering IM injections, this leads to incorrect administration or injections not evidence based. The second article found that in order administer IM injections effectively, 5mm penetration into the muscle is needed. Therefore, skin bunching is not recommended for the reasoning that it creates a greater skin to muscle distance, with the possibility of not reaching the muscle. The third research article examined decreasing pain whilst administering IM injections. The results found that skin traction and pressure, opposed to skin bunching or no traction at all, decreases pain when administering injections IM. With mass vaccine administration taking place around the world this very moment, it is an absolute necessity that IM injections are being performed correctly and in accordance with evidence-based practice. Needle size selection must be chosen based on the patients BMI. Skin traction, opposed to skin bunching is the proper way to administer IM injection to ensure the medication or vaccine reaches the muscle. Making IM injection as painless as possible is important to ensure adherence to the full completion of vaccine doses. Keywords: Vaccine, IM Administration, COVID, Evidence-based practic

TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE VIOLENT NEIGHBOURHOODS OF THE CAPE FLATS

This research consists of the presentation and analysis of focus group data obtained from a non-probability sample of foundation phase teachers from a primary school in a middle-class community on the Cape Flats. Like other communities in this area, the ordinary citizen is subjected to constant territorial gang wars, with the ever-present danger of being caught in the sudden crossfire of a violent uprising. Violence exists not only on the boundaries of school children’s areas, but also intrudes into the schools, including the school playground. Cognisant of the difficulties of teaching and learning in a perpetually unstable environment, a local non-profit organisation, Think Twice, provides training programmes in life skills in a pilot project called Circle Time to schools. Prior to this study, the programmes had not been evaluated. Think Twice consequently committed itself to researching programme effectiveness and to involve the teachers who are presenters of the programmes as co-researchers in the generation of data. Using a participatory design, the research aims to: 1) identify the precise need for life skills programmes in schools; and 2) institute relevant changes to the programmes in collaborative action. The researcher-facilitator is a representative of the organisation which designs and provides the training programme

The misuse of convenient care and importance of establishing a primary care provider

Over the last decade, there has been substantial increase in the use of urgent care (UC) and convenient care (CC) clinics nationwide. While these clinics are valued and serve a purpose in our communities, more patients are utilizing their services exclusively in place of primary care (PC), resulting in millions of Americans not receiving essential preventative care and chronic disease management. An extensive literature review evaluated current and effective interventions used to decrease inappropriate use of CC clinics, while simultaneously exploring strategies in increasing patient compliance with routine comprehensive health management. Based on literature review findings, an education-based project was implemented at a rural CC clinic that serves a large volume of patients without a primary care provider (PCP). Over an eight-week implementation phase, an educational template was electronically incorporated into patient discharge instructions and reviewed verbally by the convenient care provider (CCP). The template explained current definition and scope of practice of emergency departments, UC, CC, and PC clinics. Additionally, the template outlined which respective establishment to visit for numerous common ailments and important health care needs. A total of forty-six patients were identified without a PCP. The patients were counseled and given the printed education. Through initial interview, thirty percent of these patients were found to misunderstand the purpose of the CC clinic. Following counsel and education delivery, forty-eight percent of patients without a PCP reported new motivation to establish care with one. The CCP, who dually served as project stakeholder, reported positive feedback regarding the educational tool and found it valuable, despite COVID-19 barriers and limitations. The CCP continues to use the tool in daily practice and has shared it amongst fellow providers for use. It is recommended that our exploration into the misuse of this CC clinic be furthered with future project implementations that may focus on the role of the current patient advocate coordinator

Effects of Letter Transposition in Subliminal Primes on Perceived Content of Abstract Images

Subliminal presentation of a stimulus can influence responses to later stimuli. This effect is known as priming. The current study used Microsoft PowerPoint as a novel, low-cost paradigm to present experimental stimuli. Thirty-one undergraduate participants viewed a PowerPoint presentation that contained conditions with no, with unscrambled, and with center-scrambled sexually-themed messages. The effects of gender, counterbalancing, and type of message on perceived sexual content in experimenter-made inkblots was assessed. The current study failed to find any significant differences or interaction effects between any of the variables. A post-hoc analysis revealed a significant priming effect. Possible confounding variables and suggestions for future research are discussed