Topics in statistics of spatial-temporal disease modelling

This thesis is concerned with providing further statistical development in the area of space-time modelling with particular application to disease data. We briefly consider the non-Bayesian approaches of empirical mode decomposition and generalised linear modelling for analysing space-time data, but our main focus is on the increasingly popular Bayesian hierarchical approach and topics surrounding that. We begin by introducing the hierarchical Poisson regression model of Mugglin et al. [36] and a data set provided by NHS Direct which will be used to illustrate our results through-out the remainder of the thesis. We provide details of how a Bayesian analysis can be performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) via the software LinBUGS then go on to consider two particular issues associated with such analyses. Firstly, a problem with the efficiency of MCMC for the Poisson regression model is likely to be due to the presence of non-standard conditional distributions. We develop and test the 'improved auxiliary mixture sampling' method which introduces auxiliary variables to the conditional distribution in such a way that it becomes multivariate Normal and an efficient block Gibbs sampling scheme can be used to simulate from it. Secondly, since MCMC allows modelling of such complexity, inputs such as priors can only be elicited in a casual way thereby increasing the need to check how sensitive our output is to changes to the prior. We therefore develop and test the 'marginal sensitivity' method which, using only one MCMC output sample, quantifies how sensitive the marginal posterior distributions are to changes to prior parameter

Helping Young Girls Build a Positive Body Image: A Training Workshop for Parents

Research over the years continue to show a rising number of young girls who develop body image dissatisfaction. Research studies have clearly outlined the negative impact of body image dissatisfaction in females, including its adverse effects on self-worth, mental health, and increasing one’s risk of substance abuse. It was expected that as a result of the 4-session workshop, parents will have a better understanding of the negative impact of body image dissatisfaction, causes of body image dissatisfaction, and how to develop a positive body image in young girls. Parents attended four two-hour sessions held twice a week for two weeks. The main topics discussed included what is body dissatisfaction, the negative impact of body image dissatisfaction, causes of body dissatisfaction, and how to develop a positive body image in young girls. Pre- and post- workshop assessment scores showed an increase in participants’ knowledge of the impact of body image dissatisfaction, causes of body image dissatisfaction, and how to help young girls build a positive body image. Because this information in this workshop was well-received and parents indicated an increase in knowledge across the key domains, it is recommended that the workshop be more broadly available to more parents as well as teachers and others who work with girls in order to promote their well-being and positive development

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge in Low-Income, Richmond, VA Community Dwelling Older Adults

Background: Different populations of individuals demonstrate varying levels of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) knowledge, as well as commonly held misconceptions about the nature of the disease and its risk factors. Older adults often demonstrate lower scores on Alzheimer’s disease knowledge scales and African American adults are often specifically not aware of their higher Alzheimer’s risk status compared to other racial groups. In addition, African American older adults are more likely to receive the fewest AD interventions. Methods: We measured the Alzheimer’s knowledge of twenty community-dwelling elders at two separate time points (baseline and 6 month follow-up) as part of a larger study on AD health coaching. Participants (n=20) were recruited from low-income communities within the Richmond, Virginia (RVA) area; the sample was 85% African American individuals (n=17), 45% female (n=9) and 55% male (n=11). Participants completed demographic measures, true/false AD knowledge measures, a relational ageism scale, and questions about their health and habits. Results: Similar to previous research, this population of older adults held common misconceptions about AD, including the ideas that mental exercise can prevent Alzheimer’s disease (20% answered correctly) and individuals with Alzheimer’s are incapable of making decisions about their care (30% answered correctly). In this sample, the majority of African American older adults were aware of the fact that they make up the population at the highest risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease (80% answered correctly). Analyses also found no significant relationship between AD knowledge and health outcomes, alcohol consumption, or education. Conclusion: AD knowledge needs to be better addressed in low-income, racially diverse older adults.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1073/thumbnail.jp

Social Skill Development of Adults with Disabilities in a Community Drama Group

This thesis investigates whether a community based drama group for adults with disabilities enhances their perceived social and personal development. A multiple-case study approach was used, with each member of the drama program being viewed as a single case. A final summary of the cases was then used to determine the overall effectiveness of the program. Included as participants for this study were: (a) drama group members, (b) parents/guardians, and (c) instructors of this drama program. Data collection included the use of standardized measures, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and observations for each case. The skills which participants improved on the most were initiating conversations, sharing ideas, speaking in front of others, making friends, and confidence. The skills for which there were some improvements were giving feedback, responding to criticism, and listening to/respecting the ideas of others. The skill for which there were no improvements was giving and receiving social invitations

Students’ and Parents’ Perspectives on the Social Inclusion of Secondary School Students with Learning Difficulties

For this integrated-article dissertation, I interviewed three groups of participants, one group for each of three studies, to elicit their perspectives on the social inclusion of secondary school students with learning difficulties in school. The three participant groups were (a) secondary school students without learning difficulties, (b) secondary school students with learning difficulties, and (c) parents of secondary school students with learning difficulties. All participants were asked the following focus prompt “Are high school students with learning difficulties sometimes left out at school? Why or why not?” Following Trochim’s (1989) concept mapping methodology, all unique statements that answered the focus prompt were extracted from interview transcripts, and participants were asked to sort the statements into meaningful categories based on their perspectives. Participants then individually rated each of the statements. The sorting data for each participant group were analyzed using multidimensional scaling, which creates a two-dimensional point map of the participants\u27 sorts, and hierarchical cluster analysis, which groups together statements based on their proximity on the point map. For the first study, 16 grade 12 students sorted a list of 94 statements generated from interviews with 20 grade 12 students. Themes included: social inclusion and exclusion, teacher behaviour, learning environment, hard time relating, behaviour and ability level of students, self-exclusion, negative stigma and attitudes, and physical and social separation. For the second study, I interviewed 12 parents of secondary school students with learning difficulties and extracted a list of 103 statements. Themes included: individual differences, parent influence, the importance of friendships, role of teachers, school board and policy issues, indirect forms of exclusion, mental health, sadness due to exclusion, and social-relational difficulties. For the third study, I interviewed 12 secondary school students with learning difficulties and extracted a list of 55 statements. Themes included: experiences with exclusion and social isolation, social and academic reasons for exclusion, friendships and supportive people, and positive experiences of inclusion. The results of this dissertation demonstrate the importance of including multiple perspectives on inclusion. These participant groups provide varied insider perspectives, which taken together, create a picture of the current state of social inclusion at the secondary school level and ways in which students still need support

Students’ Online Interaction Styles: Can They Change?

Past studies indicate that students demonstrate different online interaction styles, which consist of the ways or habits students acquire knowledge from computer-mediated discussions (Sutton, 2001). Such interaction styles include the active interaction style (Beaudion, 2002), the vicarious interaction style (Sutton, 2001), and the mixed or balanced-interaction style. The purpose of this exploratory study was to further investigate whether students’ online interaction styles changed during a course utilizing asynchronous computer-mediated discussions; and if so how and why they changed. Results indicate that such changes did take place as 44% of participants adjusted to more active learning styles as the courses progressed. This study has implications for the design of online learning environments, instructor’s role in online courses, and educational tools to facilitate students in adapting to more active interaction styles in computer-mediated learning environments

Pedagogical challenges of teaching law to non law students

This article discusses some of the key obstacles faced in the pedagogy of teaching legal problem solving skills to non law students. The literature relating to the teaching of law identifies that the approach promoted to solve legal problems needs to be structured and logical. From a pedagogical standpoint the use of a structured approach allows the teacher to provide meaningful explanations of elements of law and relate the importance of these elements to practical situations thereby supporting deductive reasoning in legal problem solving. A structured approach to problem solving has two key benefits. Firstly, it allows the student to have clear goals. Secondly it also allows the student to feel comfortable that they have the available resources to complete their task. Marzano highlights problem solving as the process of overcoming limits or barriers that are in the way of achieving goals. Indeed, the need for a structured approach to legal problem solving is amplified where the students undertaking studies in law are non law students. Within law schools structured problem solving methods have been used for some time. These methods differ slightly but commonly take the form of Issues, Rules, Application, Conclusion (IRAC) or a similar format. However, in the context of teaching law to non law students within a business faculty, it seemed to the authors that the promotion of a singular structured technique for legal problem solving was not occurring. Indeed, it appeared to the authors that the choice of the methodology for problem solving was occurring in an ad hoc and individualistic manner. This paper considers the benefits of a singular structured legal problem solving technique being promoted to non law students for legal problem solving. To further this discussion this paper examines a pilot study that was conducted at Central Queensland University in 2007 to evaluate the usefulness of different approaches to legal problem solving. Overwhelmingly, the respondents to the pilot study, some 33 students, indicated their appreciation from having some structure to their approach to problem solving in law subjects

Ask a Catbrarian: Marketing Library Services Using a Cat

This case study aims to describe how employees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Undergraduate Library (UGL) utilized a cat mascot as part of a marketing campaign to promote awareness of library resources and services and to overcome undergraduate students’ library anxiety. The authors describe how the idea of a cat mascot emerged, how librarians determined campaign objectives, and the process they undertook for developing videos, social media posts, events and displays for the campaign. This article also describes how the campaign was able to build a sense of community not only among the large university library system but the entire campus community