Western Connecticut State University
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The Awakening
No full textThe Awakening follows the path of four individuals who find themselves subject to an ancient legend. When Justice, Parker, Declan and Londyn come together for the first time, their powers surge and they discover they can manipulate the elements. In the legend, they are called Chosen Ones, protectors of good magic and human life. Working together, they must defeat an old threat with new intentions of casting the Earth into darkness, if they can only overcome their own differences.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES: AN EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON PROFESSIONAL CONVERSATIONS AND STUDENT LEARNING
No full textProfessional Learning Communities (PLCs) have emerged in the last 20 years as a popular professional development initiative. However, despite a wealth of PLC literature available, researchers have found that forming teacher communities does not automatically result in improved teaching practices that support student learning. This qualitative study was used to explore the ways in which humanities teachers perceive their work in existing PLCs. Specifically, it examined the ways teachers experience their work together related to subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and the influence the work within the PLC has on changing instructional practices. Using an embedded unit case study design with each PLC representing a unit, data were gathered from a sample of 19 English, social studies, and world languages teachers who belonged to five PLCs that met regularly during the school day in a Connecticut high school. The researcher completed an interview with each teacher, the high school principal, and the high school assistant principals (n = 23) and each of the five PLCs were observed three times for the duration of a full meeting block (81 minutes). Interview transcripts, participant observations, and field notes were coded to allow themes to emerge within and across cases, triangulation of the data was essential for developing themes. The researcher concluded that although the feelings about peer collaboration in PLCs were positive, teachers believed their work was limited because they needed training in several areas. This was communicated through interviews and supported by observations that identified several areas of insufficiency. To increase the likelihood that the PLCs make an impact on improving teaching practices and student achievement, it is recommended that the district develop a shared vision about PLC work, increase the participation from school leaders around the PLC work, and provide teacher training on the use of data and on the dynamics of group discourse.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS: EXPLORING THE PERCEPTIONS OF RECENT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES WHO ENGAGED IN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Full text linkThis study was used to explore the perceptions of recent high school graduates about their levels of preparedness for post-secondary life after they engaged in experiential learning while in high school. The source of the participants was the graduating class of 2016 of an experiential learning high school program in Dutchess County, New York called the Career and Technical Institute (CTI).
A qualitative, phenomenological methodology was utilized whereby data were collected through a researcher-created three-level interview protocol applied to a sample of participants (n = 10). Participants were selected from the original 237 CTI graduates through key characteristics on a demographic survey. Four of the participants were attending a two-year community college, three were employed in their area of interest, and three were both employed and attending college. Interviews and follow-up interviews were conducted to gather data until theoretical saturation occurred.
Using the analytical procedures of phenomenological reduction, constant comparison analysis was employed whereby ongoing data collection informed recursive data analysis. As a result of a reductive coding procedure that included open coding, axial code grouping, major thematic identification, ultimately a major finding statement and four sub-finding statements emerged that included experiential learning as a readiness factor, exposure to college and career experiences, college and career planning, skills and dispositions, and learning. The findings were detailed in a rich, thick description of the phenomenon of college and career readiness and the implications and recommendations that resulted from the study were offered.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
MINDSET, SELF-EFFICACY, AND FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS: PERCEPTIONS OF PERFORMANCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Full text linkCollege-bound students move from various high school environments to a collegiate setting; this transition requires acclimation. There is increased interest in the understanding of college student adjustment to decrease student attrition, thus adjustment to college has been studied in different contexts, including social and academic. The construct of self-efficacy, or students’ judgments of their capabilities to organize courses of action to perform tasks, attributes to college adjustment. Another construct, mindset, defined as a person’s self-perception or “self- theory” effects learning, skill acquisition, success, and other aspects of life. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the use of mindset language in the college classroom, on student’s perceptions of self-efficacy and mindset. For one fall semester, this study required treatment participants to participate in classes where mindset language was delivered by professors. Terms were derived from the Growth Mindset Framing and Feedback tools, and treatment professors received training to deliver the language in the subsequent 15-week semester. The treatment group completed eight Self-Assessment Prompts on Performance Accomplishments and Mindset (SAPPAM). The researcher also measured first-year students’ self-efficacy and mindset using two qualitative instruments to explain perceptions of collegiate abilities (i.e., exam preparation and time management). Focused interviews and fidelity of treatment observations were conducted; the mixed-methods convergent parallel design was used to understand students’ perceptions. A MANOVA was used to examine academic, social, and social integration self-efficacy of students who participated in classes infused with mindset language and those who were not in these classes. In addition, an ANOVA was used to understand differences in mindset for each group. Quantitatively, there were no significant differences for either procedure, though the data collected from student responses provided information pertaining to the college experience.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
Children of Khaos
No full textMalika Andrews has no magick powers, no knowledge of the skeletons rattling in her family's closet, and no idea of the forces on the shadows gathering against her and those she cares about.
All that is about to change...Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
SHHH! NANA'S TALKING
No full textShhh! Nana’s Talking centers on important incidents, discussions, and confrontations, as well as the personal achievements of one African-American family. Individual essays guide the intention of these narratives to invite the reader into the legal slavery experience of the 1930s known as sharecropping.
Having survived lynchings and killings initiated by the KKK, police and government entrapment, African-Americans walk daily in a minefield of do’s and don’ts. Jim Crow and the Great Migration north teach that history always repeats itself even amidst greater strides toward acceptance.
Shhh! Nana’s Talking is one family’s narrative to record the pain of history inflicted on this Black family and its determination to turn the hand of racism that once tied the hangman’s noose into the hand that unlocked the power of education and turned the key to the executive suite.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
Killing It
No full textThough Sloan has graduated college, she still lives with her parents in suburbia. It’s the late aughts and the economy has faltered. Poor job prospects dim Sloan’s view of life. She fights for a decent job and creative recognition, but both remain elusive. Two romantic relationships, welcome distractions, end badly. Sloan becomes sullen but more careful.
Unable to hit certain milestones, Sloan instead clings to her precious few interests. She powers through solitary creative work. Her creative work is partly what saves her; her new friendships do the rest. After throwing herself into social situation after social situation, she has met the right kind of people: Olivia and Abe. They are true friends.
Surprisingly, Sloan’s creative work leads to (moderate) financial success.
Though her life reaches equilibrium, her anger still rages, and her sense of injustice is still inflamed. By now, she has accepted that she is a woman perpetually dissatisfied. Sloan feels restless and longs to be with a crowd of people she can relate to. She and Abe move from a small town to a city.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
THE EFFECTS OF DEBRIEFING ON DIAGNOSTIC REASONING DEVELOPMENT IN FAMILY NURSING PRACTITIONER STUDENTS
Full text linkThis dissertation explores the effect of simulation and the debriefing method of Debriefing for Meaningful Learning (DML) on diagnostic reasoning development in family nurse practitioner students (FNP-s) as measured by the diagnostic thinking inventory (DTI). A total of 13 FNP-s participated in this exploratory descriptive pilot study. All students completed both the pre-DTI survey prior to the start of the study, and the post DTI survey at the study conclusion followed by the Debriefing Assessment for Simulation in Healthcare-Student Version (DASH-SV) survey. Students participated in three urgent care simulations followed by the debriefing method of DML. The results of this study used mean comparisons in a repeated measure analysis given the small sample size. Dependent groups t tests revealed significant gains on the knowledge subscale but not on the flexibility items of the DTI, suggesting that the improvement in diagnostic thinking skills evidenced in this sample was due to the increase in knowledge gained from participation in the simulations and associated DML debriefings but not to any significant changes in the flexibility subscales. The effect of the simulations followed by DML method was also evaluated on reaction time (RT) indices. Although the total DTI scores did not show evidence of a significant improvement in time related to the RT to the diagnostic questions, the knowledge subscale of the DTI showed evidence of a significant improvement in RT. The observation that these FNP-s responded to the knowledge subscale of the DTI significantly faster after the intervention than before, provides additional evidence that suggests that the diagnostic knowledge of these FNP-s was improved by this intervention. Knowledge (non-analytic reasoning) was improved by participation in the simulations followed by DML as evidenced by improvement in knowledge decision efficiency (shorter RTs) in this subscale, however, there was not a similar improvement in the RTs in the overall total DTI scores or in the flexibility subscale. Overall scores on this debriefing method using the DASH-SV were positive. Simulation with the debriefing method of DML was found to significantly increase knowledge structure in this small sample of FNP-s.Doctor of Education (EdD)Nursin
The Battle for Elyria
No full textJacob is a simple farmer living with his mother and siblings on the outskirts of the Elyrian Empire, when Alyssa, wearing member of the Order’s livery, the kingdom’s network of militant agents, arrives at his home and holds his family hostage. Alyssa is wounded and on a mission, but before she has the chance to continue, her pursuers arrive.
The Brut, a species of newly corrupted wildlife, swarm Elyria. Jacob’s family perishes to the Brut’s attack, and he loses an arm in the battle. Alyssa promises to bring Jacob to the heart of Elyria, a land more secure from the flood of beasts that terrorize his country.
Jacob’s journey inland gives him a glimpse into the condition of his country, and he begins to understand the nature of Elyria. He also learns more about himself and the man he must become to survive. Jacob sheds his naïve mindset as his trust is betrayed and his companions are threatened. With no last resort, Jacob must defend himself and his friends against enemies from all sides.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Proces
Nursing Students' Attitudes Towards Virtual Patient Simulation
Full text link The Carnegie Foundation Report (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard & Day, 2010) calls for profound changes in the education of nurses. These changes include immersing students in the discipline and enhancing student competency. When clinical settings are sparse, the use of Virtual Patient Simulation (VPS) to enhance competency for today’s multigenerational, multicultural student can be used. Student attitude is pivotal in predicting student success, and a student’s attitude addresses his/her engagement and will impact the way a student sets goals. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the attitudes of nursing students towards VPS. Seventy-eight surveys were returned from undergraduate, RN to BSN and master’s degree nursing students who use VPS. Results demonstrated that students had a positive attitude towards VPS. Students who were thirty years or older had a more positive attitude towards VPS then their younger counterparts. There was no statistical difference between attitude towards VPS and program type and other demographic variables.Doctor of Education (EdD)Nursin