K-12 Teacher Professional Development on Concussion and the Return to School Guidelines Tool, Changes in Knowledge and Self-Efficacy: A Mixed Methods Study

Groman, Michael Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers experienced a change in knowledge of concussion symptoms and self-efficacy based on the type of professional development in-service they received. The mixed methods sequential quantitative-qualitative explanatory study methodology used a two-group pretest-posttest design without an untreated control group. The research was conducted at school districts in western and central Pennsylvania, with the teacher participants recruited by purposeful sampling. Volunteers within the participating schools were involved in either an on-site instruction learning intervention, termed "case-based professional development in-service (case-based)" or an independent electronic education learning session, termed "non-cased-based professional development in-service (non-case-based)." The two professional development intervention styles completed a modified version of the knowledge item index of the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (RoCKAS) (Rosenbaum, 2007; Rosenbaum & Arnett, 2010) and the Teacher Self-efficacy Scale (Schmitz & Schwarzer, 2000) for quantitative data collection component of this research. Ten study participants supplied the qualitative data component of this study.The research study revealed five key findings from the data analysis. Teachers perceived an increase in self-efficacy following a professional development that focused on active engagement and incorporated concussion case-based learning opportunities. Teachers with increased self-efficacy became more active participants in student concussion classroom management, employing teacher-student communication as a means of custom prescribing academic adjustment strategies and symptom management. Teachers were receptive to more consistent and formal concussion training to remain current in professional practice. Teachers prefer concussion training that focused on academic adjustments and concussion classroom management strategies. Teachers who were not associated with coaching did not generally receive scheduled and structured concussion training.The study concluded that by demystifying concussion, teachers felt empowered to do what they do best, which is to help students learn. This study revealed the importance of concussion professional development focused on academic accommodations and adjustments to provide teachers the needed tools to support academics. The research discovered that teachers desire practical, interactive training to complement the skills they currently possess to promote self-efficacy and empower teachers to change the culture surrounding the current return to learn practices.

A case study of systemic change from failure to success in select Pennsylvania schools

Minnick, Michael A Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

It was the intent of this qualitative multiple-case study to pinpoint the reasons for school success in the contemporary age of school accountability measured through the advancement of student achievement test scores. After reviewing the literature related to systemic change, successful organizations, and effective leadership a conceptual framework that was developed by Senge (2012) emerged. This framework defines the following five elements necessary for successful systemic change: (1) shared vision, (2) systems thinking, (3) team learning, (4) mental models, and (5) personal mastery (Senge, 2012). This conceptual framework was used to analyze the responses and examples given by the research subjects during two individual interview sessions with the building principal and two focus group interviews with teachers. The study supports that the systemic change that ultimately led to increased test scores at two of the three schools were was successful due to the presence of shared vision, systems thinking, team learning, mental models, and personal mastery. The participants relied on these components of successful systemic change to accomplish their ultimate goal of school improvement demonstrated by increasing test scores. Building principals and teachers who emerged as leaders at the classroom level displayed an awareness for the importance of the five core components of systemic success. The building principals from both high performing schools were credited by teachers for the creation of a shared vision, and guiding teachers from the level of systems problem solving through the personal mastery of instructional effectiveness. The participants relied on the core components of systemic change to build school community and nurture leadership throughout numerous levels of the organization. Recommendations for future studies include examining the influence of systemic change elements on school performance indicators like graduation rates and attendance. Can the elements of systemic change reduce disciplinary incidents in a school setting? Are systemic change elements valued differently based upon the position or experience level of the administrator or teacher? Does systemic change theory influence policy and hiring practices? Are schools better at developing resiliency and versatility throughout the organization as a result of the five systemic change elements?.

A Comparative Program Evaluation: PA ACT101 and a Summer Bridge Program

Harris, Rebecca Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this dissertation is to compare outcomes of students participating in a Summer Bridge Program, which provides access and support to conditionally admitted students at a mid-sized, rural, state university (MRU). Students in this program need both academic and financial support through college and many are funded by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Equal Opportunity Act of 1971 (PA ACT101) grant. In addition, this study will compare students receiving the treatment of the summer bridge program with those who did not receive the program but have a similar academic and financial profile. I will identify successful components of both programs so they can be expanded to support students who come from the lowest income brackets and underserved academic backgrounds. Based on the theoretical framing of existing literature on persistence, I propose a new model that considers how individual, academic, and environmental factors affect student success outcomes. Individual factors (race/ethnicity, sex, age) and environmental factors (family income, distance from institution, and high school quality indicators) may influence academic factors (high school grade point average and scholastic aptitude test scores). I hypothesize that all factors considered together may affect overall student success outcomes on the college level, including semester grade point average, academic standing, and persistence semester-to-semester. The treatment of the Summer Bridge Program for PA ACT101 summer students may help to mediate individual, environmental, and academic factors, ultimately making students more successful at the postsecondary level. Quantitative methods were used in this dissertation to statistically test the predicted hypotheses regarding first-year success for students who participated in MRU’s programs. Due to the large number of covariates in the model, statistically analyzing persistence, grade point average, and other categorical variables requires multivariate methods. Data analysis consists of descriptive analysis to compare summary statistics across groups and identify a comparison group. Secondly, multivariate regression was employed to examine the statistical associations between the programs and outcomes while controlling for other factors. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were performed on grade point average and logistic regressions on persistence and academic standing.Summer Bridge Program students at MRU face a constellation of factors that impact their grades and ability to persist towards graduation. Prior individual, academic, and environmental factors all come to bear on a student’s post-secondary performance. This dissertation inquired how the intervention of a summer program could impact grade point average, academic standing, and persistence. Results of multivariate exploration imply that the Summer Bridge Program does have a positive effect on academic standing and grade point average. Summer Bridge Program students were found to have 62% (p < 0.05) higher odds of persisting to the spring semester and 76% (p < 0.01) higher odds of persisting to the second year than their comparison group, controlling for all other factors. The findings of this study are an encouragement that given the right support system, students who face significant academic and financial barriers can be successful and persist towards graduation.

I Do What I Have to Do: Perceptions of Family Leave among Low-Wage Workers Largely Left Out of FMLA

Hedden, Jennifer M Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

This study examines the challenge of work-life balance for U.S. parents who must tend to both full-time earning and full-time household duties. The current U.S. system of weak and patchwork laws protecting worker leave makes such leave inaccessible to a large part of the population, especially low-wage workers. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how low-wage workers in Western Pennsylvania make decisions concerning the need for paid family leave. This research will investigate how workers care for family members while holding down a low-wage job and consists of 18 in-depth interviews with low-wage workers in Western Pennsylvania, a state without universal paid family leave. The data collected will add to the existing literature, which has largely consisted of quantitative studies. Understanding the reasons workers do not use family leave could help officials improve policies to better address worker needs. In a state like Pennsylvania with no paid family leave program, the data collected by the study will help inform policy design by including a previously neglected population; low-wage workers.

Establishing Normative Data for the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation on a Younger Population

Metzger, Christopher T Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME), developed by Pamela Fuld in 1980, is a measurement of memory that was specifically designed for use with older adults. The measure was uniquely designed to help mitigate potentially confounding factors found in neuropsychological assessment with older adults such as sensory impairment, anxiety, and inattention. Accounting for these factors is accomplished through examinees processing memory stimuli through multiple sensory modalities (e.g., touch, vision). The FOME has been demonstrated to be both sensitive and specific in differentiating individuals diagnosed with dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and those who are cognitively healthy, in individuals aged 70 years and older. Although there has been considerable research on the FOME for individuals over the age of 70 , and adequate normative data exists for adults in this age range, there is a dearth of normative data available for younger adults. The current study collecting normative data on the FOME for 49 participants between the ages of 60 and 69 years old yielded ceiling effects. To establish convergent and divergent validity the Wechsler Memory Scale-4th edition, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Trails A, and Trails B tests were administered. Within this sample, the FOME demonstrated convergent and divergent construct validity. Further, FOME demonstrated no relationship with level of education, which is consistent with the literature. Results suggest limited utility of the FOME in those under age 70.

Self-contained autism support classrooms: Identifying perceptions of strengths and areas in need of improvement in three public western Pennsylvanian districts

Griffith, Susan E Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

The topic of this study is parent and teacher perceptions of autism support classrooms in three public western Pennsylvanian school districts. Research questions were: (1) How do parents and teachers perceive working together to ensure successful academic programming for a student with autism? (2) What factors do parents and teachers perceive to be important when deciding on appropriate academic placements? (3) What supports are provided to teachers and parents in an attempt to enhance the academic programming for students? (4) How do parents and teachers perceive the unique needs of students with autism are met through autism support classrooms?. Participants were both parents and teachers associated with identified autism support classrooms. Each participant was interviewed on their perception of the quality of the special education program. Results showed parents and teachers to have an overall positive perception of the quality of programming for students, with identified areas that were perceived to need improvement. Recommendations for improvement include: (1) providing an orientation to parents specific to special education documents, (2) conducting parent intake interviews, (3) investing in current, research-based curriculum, and (4) working for increased inclusivity. Data were analyzed using derived themes throughout interviews, student Individualized Education Plans, and demographic information.

Chasing the Guild Princess: How Avatar Identity Affects Addictive Tendencies

Elinich, Rebecca Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how players perceive themselves in virtual worlds through avatars. This specific study utilizes the virtual world, World of Warcraft as the primary world reference. Players experiences were quantitatively explored in areas including influences of the virtual world, addictive tendencies, and measurement of being a Guild Princess.Guild Princess is a player who through flirtatious behavior attempts to obtain favors from other players, thereby having to do very little work in the virtual world. Through the theoretical lens of Queer Theory, the researcher examined these three areas and their relationship to gender representation in World of Warcraft. Queer Theory helps to examine how gender relationships through power struggles and cultural impacts can happen in virtual worlds and helps to understand players who participate in them.This study utilized a pre-existing research instrument that contained survey questions and statements that were grouped to create measurable areas of influences, addictive tendencies and being a Guild Princess. From the data collected through Internet surveys and snowball sampling, the researcher examined and compared the different areas and avatar identification to gain a better understanding of how players perceive themselves in virtual worlds, and provide a launching point for future research into these areas.

The Everyday Challenges Faced by Young Adults with Autism and Their Parents

Dembosky, Jacob W Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Autism spectrum disorder (hereafter, autism) is a serious and potentially debilitating neurodevelopmental condition that affects millions of children and adults in the U.S. An estimated 1 in 54 children (18.5 per 1,000) eight years of age had autism in 2016, up from 1 in 150 in 2000 (6.7 per 1,000) (Maenner et al., 2020). People with autism exhibit substantial social communication deficits, narrow interests, and repetitive patterns of behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These deficits or impairments are typically evident at a young age and persist throughout one’s life. Although there is an extensive body of research that concerns children with autism, fewer studies have focused on adults. In this study, I investigated the challenges faced by young adults with autism and their parents, and how they addressed these challenges. I also examined what autism in the stage of young adulthood meant to young adults with autism and their parents. Employing a symbolic interactionist theoretical framework, I conducted a qualitative study to gather rich information about the lived experiences of young adults with autism and their parents. Using a purposeful sampling strategy, I conducted in-depth interviews with 21 mothers of young adults with autism, 11 fathers, and 13 young adults with autism themselves. In addition, I interviewed three adult siblings. I also conducted follow-up interviews with six mothers, two fathers, and three young adults. My approach to data collection, analysis, and interpretation was based on Charmaz’s (2014) constructivist grounded theory method. As part of the social constructivist research paradigm, this method assumes that reality is socially constructed as people interact with each other on a sustained basis (Blumer, 1969; Charmaz, 2014; Goffman, 1959).Mothers assumed the roles of protector, advocate, and case manager for their adult children with autism, continuing the work they put into parenting when their children were younger. In a few cases, fathers took on these roles. Upon leaving high school, young adults with autism lose access to many of the services for which they were eligible as children (Turcotte, Mathew, Shea, Brusilovskiy, & Nonnemacher, 2016). Researchers and practitioners have referred to this sudden loss of services as “falling off the services cliff” (Leiter, 2012). My study reveals how young adults with autism lose more than access to services; they lose the structure and routine of school, along with childhood friends and connections. Many of the young adults I studied fell off the cliff and landed on an island. In some cases, parents—or entire families—found themselves on the island, disconnected from friends and family. Parents and young adults with strong social support networks, including those who were involved in the disability advocacy community, were less likely to be socially isolated and may have been better able to meet the challenges of adulthood. Parents often moved the bar—lowering or raising their expectations for their adult children with autism. Parents whose adult children had relatively less severe autism symptoms tended to lower the bar, and parents whose adult children had relatively more severe symptoms tended to raise the bar. Finally, parents and young adults with autism constructed complicated meanings of “autism,” drawing from both a medical perspective that views autism as a biological and neurological condition and a social perspective that emphasizes the barriers imposed on people with autism by society. Making sense of autism also involved trying to disentangle it from co-occurring disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Chronic Environmental Stress Impact on DHEA(S) Levels and Executive Function in Children

Bean, Akanksha Mittal Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

Though we know the function of stress on many of the body’s natural resources, we remain uncertain of the neurological function of the steroid precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its’ sulfated component. Some studies have shown DHEA to have a neuroprotective effect on cognitive functions, such as executive functions, though limited work has been done exploring this relationship in children. Cortisol is a well-established neurodegenerative factor associated with stress. The relationship between chronic stress factors of socioeconomic status (SES) and marginalized racial backgrounds with biological correlates is understudied. The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between chronic environmental stress factors of marginalized racial status or lower SES and its association with DHEA to cortisol ratios, as well as the relationship of DHEA to cortisol ratios with indirect and direct measures of executive function in children, as executive function is a cognitive domain that remains particularly sensitive to chronic stress. Analysis of a sample of 345 children from the NIH Pediatric MRI Database found that neither marginalized racial status, nor SES was associated with lower DHEA to cortisol ratios. Analysis of children (samples varying between 212 and 345 cases) found that DHEA to cortisol ratios did not predict performance on indirect or direct measures of executive function. Limitations, future directions, and clinical implications are discussed.

Adventure-Based Counseling with Combat Veterans: Experiences, Perceptions, and Its Impact on Mental Health Symptomology

Uphold, Heather J Indiana University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Disser 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

Veterans are returning from contemporary conflicts with clinical levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), leading researchers to focus their attention on identifying actual and perceived barriers that veterans face in accessing mental health therapy. Though veterans may be at increased risk for mental health issues, intervention services are underutilized (Hundt et al., 2014) and stigma toward traditional mental health interventions (Fox et al., 2015; Vogt et al., 2014b) exacerbate veterans’ mental health needs. The exploration of evidence based mental health interventions for veterans is a critical need given their exposure to stressful and traumatic warzone events and the mental health risks that accompany this exposure. Although adventure-based counseling (ABC) programs have become increasingly available to veterans, there has so far been a lack of sufficient evidence available to draw conclusions about their efficacy. This study serves to fill this gap in existing literature. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of combat veterans who participated in adventure-based counseling, including how this experience impacted their mental health symptomology. A convergent triangulation one-phase design was used to validate and expand upon quantitative results obtained through the statistical analysis of participants’ pre- and post-test scores on the BDI-II, PCL-5 and B-IPF, with qualitative data obtained via semi-structured interviews with five participants. Stress reduction theory (SRT) and attention restoration theory (ART) were used to interpret collected data and identify how the natural environments in which ABC experiences unfold ultimately facilitate the reduction of mental health symptoms. Data analysis supports prior research demonstrating that participating in therapeutic adventure improves veterans' psychological well-being. Results of this study indicate that veterans who participated in adventure-based counseling experienced a number of important benefits with respect to psychological well-being, social functioning, and life outlook. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided.