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Do Students in Upward Bound have an Increase in Grade Point Average?
Get PDFTRiO Programs were established by President Johnson in the 1960s and aim to serve at-risk students by increasing their educational opportunities. This investigation looks to determine if there is a change in GPA between the fall semester and spring semester for students in Upward Bound. It also analyzes if the average difference in GPA between the two semesters is different between the three schools that the Hope College Upward Bound Program targets. Using a student t-test, the average differences in GPA (spring-fall) for the 88 students participating in Upward Bound during the 2012-2013 school year were analyzed. The results were found to be insignificant as student t-test produced a t-statistic of -0.971 and a corresponding p-value of 0.365. A simulation based multiple means test was also used to analyze the average difference in GPA between the three target schools. These results were also insignificant as the MAD statistic was 0.19 with a corresponding p-value of 0.611. My analysis is very limited as it only looks over a short time frame and does not account for changes in GPA that occur over the four years the students are enrolled in Upward Bound
Vascular Access Assessment and Device Selection (VAADS) Education
No full textPromoting the application of the Infusion Nursing Society’s (INS) evidence-based practice standards into clinical practice through education transforms a reactive approach into a proactive approach to vascular access assessment. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding appropriate vascular access, pre- and post-education implementation of the Vascular Access Assessment and Device Selection (VAADS) scoring tool, which incorporates INS standards and aims for improved patient outcomes and decreased hospital costs. The study is framed around Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model, which explains change in stages of “unfreezing,” “change,” and “refreezing.” The education aims to make a change in nursing knowledge and practice. The study design is non-experimental and descriptive. A sample of 34 nurses on the Medical-Surgical floor of a 57-bed community hospital in West Michigan received the online education and questionnaire surveys. Scores of pre- and post-tests and other survey questions were analyzed using dependent t-tests, descriptive statistics, and ANOVA tests with IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0. A significant increase was found from the pre-test mean of 9.90/11 to the post-test mean of 10.79/11 (p =.000). Nurses’ educational degree had significant effect on pre-test scores (p =.021) but not on post-test scores (p =.086). Education was significantly effective in increasing knowledge of staff nurses regarding appropriate vascular access and device selection using INS standards. Post-test scores were not affected by previous education level, further supporting education on the use of the VAADS alone as effective in increasing knowledge. Limitations include a small sample size and single setting which restricts generalization of results, and short length of tests and small range of scores. The main implication for this research is support for further education to improve evidence-based nursing practice
The Impact of the Year of Birth Related to Health Literacy
No full textIt is estimated that more than a third of American adults do not have adequate health literacy to undertake and execute needed medical treatments and preventive health care. Health literacy has been shown to impact readmission rates, be associated with health knowledge, behavior, outcomes, as well as a financial impact. The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between age and health literacy scores. The Health Literacy Framework shows literacy as the foundation and health literacy acts as the mediator between individuals and health contexts. This is a prospective-correlational study design on comparing health literacy rates to the age of the patient. Data were collected by patient interviews and completion of the short test of functional health literacy in adults and the new vital signs test. The sample size is 159 and consists of patients over the age of 18, English speaking, and able to consent. This study takes place at two hospital settings, on medical-surgical floors, in West Michigan. This nursing study will use a two-tailed t-test on IBM SPSS software 19. The results of this study showed an increase in age was associated with a decrease in health literacy supported by a significance of p\u3c0.01. Limitations of this study include only having representation of patients from West Michigan, and only patients who were willing to contribute. Implications for the future include developing interventions to nursing practice to help increase the knowledge of health illiteracy among patients
Is Love God?: Kierkegaard and the Catholic Tradition on God and Human Love
No full textAll Christians must accept that “God is love” in some sense, given the claim’s biblical pedigree (1 John 4:8, 16). But the idea that love, especially neighbor-love, is God is a much more controversial claim in the Christian tradition. In his Sentences, Peter Lombard famously thought that the Holy Spirit is the love between the person, God, and the neighbor. Philipp W. Rosemann calls this claim theological dynamite and suggests that it is an important way to understand deeper differences between Protestantism and Catholicism. Søren Kierkegaard appears to endorse a doctrine like this in his Works of Love. The Catholic tradition, however, following Aquinas and continuing into the present day, has tended to side against this view. Aquinas instead holds that love must be a created disposition, though divinely infused, if one is to avoid the alleged dilemma between determinism and Pelagianism. In this paper we will detail Aquinas’s view of charity, articulate how Kierkegaard’s view differs, and finally consider what prospects might exist for rapprochement
Weighty Decisions: The Effect of Weight Bias on the Selection and Election of U.S. Senate Candidates
Get PDFWeight discrimination is well documented in employment, social, educational, and medical settings (Puhl and Heuer, 2009). This study uses data from 2008 and 2012 U.S. Senate elections to examine the relationship between the perceived weight of a political candidate and election outcome. We hypothesized that heavier candidates would be underrepresented in the candidate pool and that heavier candidates would receive a smaller percentage of votes than thinner candidates. In addition, we hypothesized that overweight female candidates would experience a greater weight penalty than male candidates. Thirty undergraduate students used photographs of 190 Senate candidates from the 2008 and 2012 primary and general elections to rate the size of the candidates. We also collected information regarding candidate age, gender, political party affiliation, whether the candidate was from the same political party as the state’s winning presidential candidate, incumbency status, and candidate’s vote share. This study offers evidence that weight is related to the political election process. Obese individuals were rarely chosen as major party candidates for the Senate, only 1% were judged to be obese. Overweight women are also less likely to be selected to run for U.S Senate (only 16%). Regarding voting behavior, the heavier candidate is likely to get a smaller vote share than his/her thinner opponent. More research is needed to examine the mediating processes related to candidate’s weight and resultant stereotypes that affect voting behavior. Further research is also needed to examine the factors that affect the selection process for Senate candidates
The Effect of Parent Education on Children’s Activity Preference, Self-Efficacy, and Screen Time
Get PDFParents and children must be engaged in dialogue about health, exercise, and activity to combat the inactive lifestyle contributing towards the obesity epidemic. A direct relationship exists between inactivity and the time children spend using a screen each day, whether through TV, video games, or the internet (Rideout & Hamel, 2006). Prior research has shown that the education level of parents can have a significant effect on their child’s development and self-efficacy (Bandura et. al, 2001). Rideout and Hamel (2006) stressed the influence of parent education on a child’s media use, suggesting that on average, a child with parents who have a high school diploma spend significantly more time watching TV in a typical day than children whose parents are college graduates. The purpose of the present study was to identify the relationship between parents’ level of education and their children’s activity preference, self-efficacy, and screen time, and to discuss the implication that parent education serves as a preventive and vital step in achieving a healthier lifestyle. Kindergarten and first-grade children and their parents participated in the study. Parents’ education and children’s screen time per day were collected using a parent survey. Activity preference and self-efficacy were measured using worksheets completed by children in the classroom. Mothers’ education was found to be significantly positively correlated with children’s activity preference. Overall, highest parent education was significantly negatively correlated with children’s screen time. It was also found that children’s self-efficacy was significantly negatively correlated with children’s screen time, which was an unexpected result. Implications of this research are that improving parent education may be a beneficial and preventative measure in striving to improve the physical and mental health of children
Fatal Wave
Get PDFFatal Wave is an article concerning the July 1938 seiche that happend in Holland, Michigan and north to Muskegon, Michigan along the Lake Michigan eastern shoreline, taking several lives in its wake
Tell it Like it is: How to Give a (mostly) Jargonless Information Literacy Talk
No full textLofty definitions and academic buzzwords abound, but sometimes you just have to tell it like it is. This was the case at a recent all-faculty conference at Hope College where the library was asked to present on information literacy (IL) and student learning. Forgoing the route of endless eye-glazing charts and statistics overkill, IL was demystified through real life applications and anecdotes—heavy on the humour and wrapped in a coat of urgency. In five minutes, this talk will explain how to illuminate IL in a way that not only makes sense, but also clearly aligns with preexisting institutional goals and mission
Development and Psychometric Testing of New Instruments to Assess Nurse Practitioners’ Provision of Spiritual Care
No full textPurpose:The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of two instruments measuring the frequency nurse practitioners (NPs) assess spiritual needs and provide spiritual interventions. Spiritual care provided by NPs has potential to improve health indicators without increasing costs. Design: Survey design.Method: Concept analysis of the literature supported each item developed for the new assessment and intervention instruments. Content validity was tested with six subject matter experts using Lawshe’s method of content validity ratios. Interitem correlations further supported construct validity of the items with 133 practicing NPs. Cronbach’s alpha supported internal consistency of the instruments and subscales. Data reduction was done using factor analysis. Findings: Content validity ratio analysis provided data supporting revision of the original instruments. Convergent validity and divergent validity were also supported for each item. Both the assessment and intervention instruments had high Cronbach’s alphas that met the required .70 for the entire scale and subscales. Factor analysis identified different dimensions of the tools. Conclusions:Both instruments and their subscales showed evidence of validity and reliability. Continued research to refine the instruments is needed. Implications: The instruments can be valuable for assessing NP practice regarding spiritual care within relationship-based and patient-centered care
Theorizing the Disfigured Body: Mutilation, Amputation, and Disability Culture in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone
No full textTheorizing the Disfigured Body: Mutilation, Amputation, and Disability Culture in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone explores the mutilated body as signifier of possession, control and domination. It examines the interconnections between the wound or mark on the body and the identity of the individual and affirms that wounding is naming and attests to its power to influence the position of the individual in the world and his destiny. This book uses in addition to war memoirs and journalistic narratives published between 1991 and 2001, personal testimonies of victims published in the annual report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone in 2004 to foreground the author’s argument of the body as signifier. It explores the branding and amputation of war victims as both a war strategy and construct of the body that signifies possession, identification, and maiming and argues that the amputated or mutilated body is constructed around ambivalence: as text/signifier of domination and control, but also of resistance, rejection and re-invention. The book interrogates, contests, and re-works the notion of dependency and dysfunction associated with the amputated body by re-thinking the mutilated or amputated body as site where the narrative of oppression and marginalization are contested and reversed. It hypothesizes that the amputated body, through agency, informed by irony and paradox, denies, and subverts its stereotypes. It explores possibilities of reclaiming the body and of engaging both physical challenges and psychological trauma. It amplifies the theory of complex embodiment and argues that the amputated body should be ‘read’ both in terms of its impairment as well as its potentials. Through this theory, the disfigured body is neither constructed entirely from its place in the environment. Rather, it acknowledges the social construction while also embracing the physical impairment