Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Embracing Every Ability, Jacksiel Colon

Sociology

With time continuing, American education has progressively improved. Though there still remains much-needed improvement and some of that stands in the way of equality within the education system. Special education and special needs students experience inequality with accessibility, funding, and educational quality, on top of daily barriers due to personal limitations. Data from the 2006 General Social Survey (N=652), asked individuals to identify whether they had a mental/emotional disability. They were asked to assess federal spending on education. This study focuses on the factors encouraging individuals to support or not support increased spending on the education system. Mental/emotional ability, affiliated …

School Of Education To Publish Academic Journal, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

Cedarville University’s School of Education is in the process of compiling and editing its first academic journal, scheduled for publication in late spring 2021.

The Fear Of Reptiles And How To Change It, Maxwell Lyman

Honors Projects

Reptile fear is prominent across many cultures. Anti-reptilian attitudes can lead to anti-conservation attitudes towards reptiles. Person-animal interaction has been shown to decrease fear desensitization and increase positive attitudes towards "unpopular" animals. My project demonstrates the effectiveness of live animal presentation in dispelling negative attitudes of reptiles. However, due to the sample size of the project, further research is highly suggested.

Dean's Letter - Education As A Social Act

Insights

Dean Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco discusses the need for education to address the major challenges facing society, including pandemic response, social justice, antiracism. He calls education not simply the delivery of knowledge—it is a social act, through which we help to build a resilient, compassionate, effective and moral community, and outlines how the college is answering that imperative even in a remote learning environment.

The Practical Applications Of Video Games Beyond Entertainment, Jack Martin

School of Professional Studies

Much of the attention directed toward video games is focused on their role as entertainment. However, researchers have found that video games can have other, more practical uses for society. This thesis is designed to examine three specific examples of the practical applications of video games: video games in education, video games as accessible technology, and the social uses of video games. This project is based on pre-existing research conducted by professionals studying the aforementioned subtopics. Anecdotal stories from educators, people with disabilities, and developers are also discussed. The thesis explores specific examples of video games being used practically, and …

Technical Efficiency Of Public Middle Schools In New York City, William C. Horrace, Michah W. Rothbart, Yi Yang

Center for Policy Research

Using panel data and a “true” fixed effect stochastic frontier model, we estimate persistent and transient technical inefficiency in mathematics (Math) and English Language Arts (ELA) test score gains in NYC public middle schools from 2014 to 2016. We compare several measures of transient technical inefficiency and show that around 58% of NYC middle schools are efficient in Math gains, while 16% are efficient in ELA gains. Multivariate inference techniques are used to determine subsets of efficient schools, providing actionable decision rules to help policymakers target resources and incentives.

Nursing Students’ Knowledge And Attitudes About Pain Management And Opioids, Hedieh Hatami Sirjani

Health Services Research Dissertations

Statement of the problem: healthcare professionals’ knowledge of using opioids for pain management safely is critical in preventing opioid abuse and overdose. Undergraduate curricula of health professional schools, including undergraduate nursing programs, need to improve and adopt a comprehensive education regarding this issue.

Method: the first project was a systematic analysis of the literature regarding the educational interventions’ impact on healthcare professional knowledge and practice behavior regarding prescription opioids. The second project was a qualitative study of nursing students to explore their experience, self-efficacy, and knowledge of prescription opioid use for pain management and whether they feel the need for …

National Guidelines For School Re-Entry In Early Learning And Basic Education, Ministry Of Education

Reproductive Health

The Ministry of Education, Kenya, developed these guidelines in collaboration with UNESCO, UNFPA, the Population Council, and the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance. The guidelines provide a framework to enhance reentry for learners who drop out of school, including those with special needs and disabilities, to improve retention, transition, and completion rates at all levels of basic education. They provide an opportunity for all learners to progress and access quality education in basic education institutions. The guidelines are also a prevention and response resource for addressing school dropout for various reasons. Chapter one reviews the background, rationale, legal, and …

An Evaluation Of The Trauma-Informed Approach Implemented At A Title I Elementary School, Aleli Vazquez

Dissertations

An Evaluation of the Trauma-Informed Approach Implemented at a Title I Elementary School assesses the merits of the implementation of an intervention to support the social emotional ability and stability of students within elementary schools; called the Trauma Informed Approach. Many children attending elementary schools bring diverse and complex experiences to the classroom setting. Students with multiple adverse childhood experiences attend the educational system. Many students have a more difficult time concentrating and succeeding due to anxiety and lack of physiological needs being met. These needs must be met to secure positive learning gains for these students.

For data gathering …

Country Report: The Teaching Of Philosophy In Singapore Schools, Steven Burik, Matthew Hammerton, Sovan Patra

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Singapore’s education system is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. In this report, we will focus on education at the primary, secondary, and junior college levels, and will not discuss the education offered in polytechnics (vocational colleges) and universities. We will also focus exclusively on Singapore’s public school system, which Singapore citizens are required to attend unless they are granted a special exemption. In addition to public schools, there are also international schools, which cater to the relatively large expatriate population in Singapore and typically offer a curriculum leading to the IB diploma. All public schools …

Deaf Cultural Capital And Its Conflicts With Hearing Culture: Navigational Successes And Failures, Ashley Greene-Woods, Natalie J. Delgado, Beverly Buchanan, Misty Sides, Abbas Ali Behmanesh, Brian Cheslik, Caroline K. Koo, M. Diane Clark

JADARA

Despite the creation and implementation of laws intended to support and protect Deaf individuals, stories of limited opportunities and oppression within the workplace still exist and are pervasive. Current research in regard to Deaf individuals’ upward mobility includes a discussion of cultural capital, Imposter Syndrome, and navigational capital. To further understand the experiences of Deaf individuals, the research team conducted a mixed-methods study utilizing surveys and interviews. The results provided insight regarding challenges experienced by the participants in either-or-both their education and employment. The data suggests that the use of navigational capital was the most significant predictor for upward mobility.

Initial Program Evaluation Of An Ignatian Leadership Development Program: The Haddix Dean's Fellows Program, Molly P. Loesche, Jennifer Moss Breen

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This chapter shares assessment results from a 4-year undergraduate Ignatian Leadership program. The Dean’s Fellows program consists of several curricular and co-curricular elements, including cohort-based seminars, a common summer read, an annual retreat, social and cultural activities, and a concluding leadership immersion experience. Learning formats throughout the four years included lectures, small and large group discussions, and workshops. For the immersion experience, the Dean’s Fellows participated in preparatory lectures that included information on cultural intelligence, anticipatory reflection, Ignatian Leadership, and discernment, as well as topical information. In order to ensure and improve program outcomes, assessment processes were developed, and data …

Un-Affirmative Action: The Persistence Of Anti-Black Racism In The Higher Education System Of Postcolonial Brazil, Zakiya T. Daniel

Honors College Theses

Public education systems institutionalize the socialization process which directly disseminates cultural and national values and assimilates the population through mass education. But how does colonial-era anti-Black racism persist in the higher education institutions of contemporary postcolonial societies? Using the Federative Republic of Brazil as a case study, I examine the effects of incomplete decolonization, anti-Blackness, and the role of history, economics, and pedagogy on social outcomes that exclude and marginalize Black and other minority groups. The Brazilian higher education system follows a pattern centered around anti-Black racism which serves to disempower Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations during the colonial and …

Bangladesh: Covid-19 Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices & Needs—Responses From Three Rounds Of Data Collection Among Adolescent Girls In Districts With High Rates Of Child Marriage, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob, Sigma Ainul, Md. Irfan Hossain, Forhana Rahman Noor, Iqbal Ehsan, Mehnaz Manzur

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

From April 20–30, 2020, during a nationwide lockdown, the Population Council Bangladesh conducted the first round of a rapid phone-based survey on COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The survey randomly selected girls who had provided phone numbers during enrollment in a skills-building program that began before the pandemic. The survey’s objective was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent lives and to design programs that would contribute to protecting girls and meet social distancing guidelines imposed by the government. Phone interviews were conducted with 479 girls living in the districts of Chapainawabganj, Kushtia, and Sherpur who were participants in …

Kidblog Connects Education Majors With Young Writers, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

COVID-19 regulations have made it difficult for Cedarville education students to gain teaching experience this year. That’s where Kidblog comes in.

Experiences Of Transgender Men Who Joined National Pan-Hellenic Council Sororities Pre-Transition, Sydney Epps

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) - affectionately known as The Divine Nine - are places of support and leadership development for students. However, these groups espouse traditional gender role themes that align with sexual orientation and gender rigidity. This paper explores how four NPHC members negotiate their identity as both nonbinary or transgender, and Greek. Using the narrative inquiry approach, the researcher will explore how sorority members who no longer identify as cisgender women are treated post-gender transition by other sorority members.

The Importance Of Having Properly Funded Art Programs And The Benefits It Brings To Public Schools, Chelsey Brown

Liberal Arts Capstones

This presentation is to help raise awareness towards art education in schools and how these programs are losing their funding. The main focus is to present information on how the arts benefit people in both the school and in more public settings. Politics affect how much money is given to the arts and if the school is not art-rich, they may suffer and have a poorly funded arts program. The arts provide cognitive, health, and social benefits that can help kids learn and can also help those who participate in community programs. Students who participate in art, music, theater, or …

Back To The Future: Assistant Dean Returns To Cedarville University, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

When Dr. Lori Ferguson, assistant professor of education and assistant dean of the school of education, graduated from Cedarville University in 1998 with her Bachelor of Science in early childhood education, she never expected that years later, she’d be back on campus working in a leadership position in the school of education.Ferguson also graduated from Xenia High School.

Tackling Poverty, Mark A. Smith-Micthell

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

For many decades America has been stuck in a loop of having millions of impoverished citizens despite being one of the richest countries in the world. Lack of education, mass incarceration, and failed government policy are just some of the many causes of a very perplexing problem. Poverty is a downward spiral that emphasizes the inconsistencies between government policy and the weakness of the country's economy, which can only begin to be overcome if opportunities to help the less fortunate are developed.

The Future Of Education As A Wicked Possibility, Eric Busser

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Over the past few decades, technology has become more and more integral in education. The online education response to the COVID-19 pandemic shows how capable technology in distance learning has become in recent years. Education still has a lot more room for implementing technology, and this paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of the inevitable implementation of distance learning in education.

Education Professors Explore Effects Of Pandemic Learning: Showing Up Still Matters, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

In an educational era defined by rapid transition and virtual methods, Cedarville University professors are affirming the benefits of academic attendance during COVID-19 through qualitative research.

How Much Is Too Much?: Administrative Burden And Texas State Policy, Dominique J. Baker

Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center Research

Several states, including Texas, have implemented an “excess semester credit hours (ESCH)” policy. State ESCH policies assess a fee to students at public institutions when they exceed a set number of lifetime cumulative credit hours (e.g., students with more than the 120 credit hours needed for a bachelor’s degree). Little is known about the administrative burden the implementation of and communication about state ESCH policies places on students. Therefore, I conducted a document analysis of the websites of all Texas public institutions. I analyzed 120 documents that were collected from November 2019 to April 2020. While some institutions created systems …

A “Heart For Students” Guides School Leader, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

Growing up as a military child, Cedarville University alumna Rachel Reno experienced firsthand the struggles of a student who feels out of place and finds it easy to hide.

From The Editors, Natasha Menard, Kelsie Fournier

Student Journal of Occupational Therapy

This welcome letter from the editors of the Student Journal of Occupational Therapy introduces the inaugural issue of the journal and outlines its mission to engage student researchers at all levels of the research publication process and its commitment to ethical, open-access publication.

It Shouldn’T Take A Pandemic To Increase School Meal Access For Low-Income Students: A Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis Of School Meal Access During Covid-19, Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Pranav Nandan, Laura Mcdermott, Tyler Frank, Dan Ferris, Sarah Moreland-Russell, Stephen Roll

Social Policy Institute Research

COVID-19 created an additional barrier for students who benefit from free school meals. While some schools attempted to provide alternative meal access points, many students lack adequate transportation. Thus, physical proximity to meal access points is particularly important during the pandemic. Taking into account both the “supply” and the “demand” for free meals, we employed a two-step floating catchment area analysis to analyze meal accessibility in St. Louis, MO. Overall, while meal access during the spring 2020 semester was substantially lower than the spring 2019 semester, meal access during the 2020 summer was substantially higher than the 2019 summer. Moreover, …

The Experience Of Learning: Early Adolescents In Organized Youth Programs, Jennifer A. Skuza

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Although researchers and policymakers have focused on school as the critical place in which learning occurs, organized youth programs offer different environments in which early adolescents can learn. However, early adolescent learning in organized youth programs is an under-researched area of learning, which may limit the ability of youth development practitioners to respond appropriately to early adolescent learning needs. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of learning in an organized youth program by finding meaning in early adolescents’ lived experience through a phenomenological methodology. For youth in this study, learning in an organized program is an …

Agricultural Employees’ Use Of And Preferences For Educational And Training Opportunities, L.J. Mcelravy, Nathan W. Conner, Christopher T. Stripling, Jamie Loizzo

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Educational and training opportunities provide individuals with many options when it comes to building their knowledge base. Both formal and informal educational opportunities are available in many different formats, including face-to-face and online delivery methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the type of education and training opportunities in which Nebraska agricultural employees participate and their satisfaction with different delivery formats. The specific objectives of this study were to determine 1) the type of education or training programs rural agricultural employees have participated in over the last two years, and 2) the differences between attitudes toward face-to-face versus …

Healing A Nation Wounded By A Pandemic, Blake Wetzel

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Emerging in late 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the United States. There is still so much about this virus that is unknown. It has had a negative effect on education, the economy, and the lifestyle of Americans. Covid-19 has caused many people to be hospitalized, and has even claimed many lives. There are many things that the American people can do to help America and its people recover. Americans must take social responsibility. They must follow the guidelines, such as mask wearing and social distancing, to stop the virus from spreading. Americans can also help out …

Financial Capability And Asset Building In Social And Economic Development: Advancing The Sustainable Development Goals, David Ansong, Moses Okumu, Jin Huang`, Margaret S. Sherraden, Lissa Johnson, Li Zou

Center for Social Development Research

The concern for economic well-being undergirds most of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This Perspective articulates an agenda for advancing those goals in resource-constrained countries by leveraging financial capability and asset-building (FCAB) strategies. It also specifies a role for financial technology (commonly called “FinTech”) in this work. The authors conclude with a call for better integrating FCAB and FinTech into plans for advancing the SDGs.

Using Data Analytics To Predict Students Score, Nang Laik Ma, Gim Hong Chua

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Education is very important to Singapore, and the government has continued to invest heavily in our education system to become one of the world-class systems today. A strong foundation of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) was what underpinned Singapore's development over the past 50 years. PISA is a triennial international survey that evaluates education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students who are nearing the end of compulsory education. In this paper, the authors used the PISA data from 2012 and 2015 and developed machine learning techniques to predictive the students' scores and understand the …