1941 research outputs found
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The Living Wage in Iowa: the Effects on Families and Businesses
Full text link37 pagesThis paper explores the cost of living in Iowa. The paper looks at nine communities throughout
Iowa, both urban and rural, in calculating the cost of living in Iowa. This calculation is then used
to determine what an average Iowan would need to be paid per hour to make a “living wage.”
The paper then explores the effect of raising wages on businesses through looking at companies
that currently pay minimum wage, companies that pay more than minimum wage but instead pay
a “living wage”, and through a survey of the attitudes of small businesses in the nine Iowa
communities.Allen Zagoren, Associate Professor of Practice, Public Administratio
Understanding The Lives Of Bipolar Women With Post-Secondary School Experience
Full text link101 leavesUnderstanding the Lives of Bipolar Women with Post-Secondary School Experience
Problem: Bipolar disorder affects 2.6% of the population over age 18 and often presents for the first time during the college years (Lejeune, 2011). Students at this age already face challenges in adapting to a new lifestyle, and those with a mental illness face additional challenges amidst an environment that doesn’t necessarily provide stability for successful management of bipolar disorder. There is a dearth in the literature investigating personal life histories of bipolar adults that identify common themes in early years regarding bipolar disorder onset and later years in coping mechanisms during post-secondary school.
Procedures: This qualitative phenomenological research study examined the lived experiences of six women with bipolar disorder who attended post-secondary school. This study was motivated by the research questions: (1) What are the experiences of one living with bipolar disorder? (2) What are successful coping strategies while navigating a post-secondary degree? Understanding and describing the essence of a lived phenomenon (Van Manen, 1990) was the foundation of my work. Narrative interviews (Seidman, 2006) were used to collect data to allow the participants to tell their stories and share the experiences of living with bipolar disorder.
Findings: Emergent themes included home/family life, the onset of bipolar disorder, school involvement/achievement, and coping strategies, which produced the following findings: none of the participants shared their mental instability during post-secondary school with any educational professional, bipolar disorder for females is at its worst during hormonal cycles, childhood abuse is connected to adult onset bipolar disorder, participants who experienced childhood abuse later abused substances, low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness were factors amongst participants, all participants were high-achievers as youngsters, coping strategies included pharmaceutical intervention, exercise, eating healthy foods, getting adequate sleep, having a strong support system, and cognitive reshaping through therapeutic counseling intervention.
Conclusions: Many people with bipolar disorder lead productive, successful lives. Ongoing research in this field, along with support from family, friends, and educators is essential in helping these individuals find balance, happiness, connection to others, and successful coping strategies during post-secondary school and in life in general.
Recommendations: Educating school personnel on bipolar disorder would lead to greater mental illness awareness, help identify at-risk students, and provide possible accommodations. The link between childhood abuse and bipolar disorder needs to be further explored. The fact that high-achieving youngsters are four times at greater risk for later bipolar disorder than students with average school performance (MacCabe et al., 2010) is worthy of further examination. Teachers and administrators should pay close attention to high-achieving youngsters who exhibit signs of low self-esteem and perfectionism. The link between bipolar disorder and the female hormone cycle should be further examined in order to provide support to women, especially after childbirth
Patron-Driven Acquisitions: Integrating Print Books With eBooks
No full textpg.26 and 28, vol.24 no.6 of ALA's Midwinter issu
Using Reinforcement-Based Models Of Transitive Inference To Stimulate Primate Data
No full textOlga F. Lazareva (Mentor)The ability of reinforcement-based models to predict transitive inference behavior has been extensively documented. However, most of the research on models of TI has relied on data from pigeons. Pigeons are trained sequentially (first A+ B-, then B+ C-, etc.); the number of stimuli is limited to 5; and correction trials are used during training. In contrast, primates can be trained with 7 stimuli (A to G) introduced simultaneously with no correction trials. Would the models still accurately account for these data? We will present the results of simulations with two configural models of TI (Wynne, 1995; Siemann & Delius, 1998) used to predict transitive choices of rhesus monkeys after successive and simultaneous training in 7-item series task, as well as after a list-linking procedure. Our results suggest that reinforcement-based models do not account for symbolic distance effect after backward training (first F+ G-, then E+ F-, and so on). Surprisingly, the models provide a relatively good fit of list linking data, contrary to common belief that list-linking design presents a challenge for such models.Drake University, Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Science
Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Secondary Teachers Instructing In One-To-One Computing Classrooms
Full text link113 pagesThe educational system is changing to meet the needs of 21st century learners, technology
integration has become critical in meeting that need. One-to-one computing may close the digital
gap that exists and equips students with the skills necessary for success in the 21st century
workplace (Lemke & Martin, 2004). While much research exists on the implementation of oneto-
one initiatives, further research is needed to explain the teacher’s experiences and perspectives
in teaching in such environments in order to investigate effective and successful learning in the
classroom. Using a phenomenological methodology, I explored teachers’ lived experiences
(Moustakas, 1994) in teaching in a one-to-one computing environment. Analyses of the data
revealed six definitve key themes from the teachers’ perspectives of teaching in a one-to-one
environment. Those six themes were as follows: 1. Comfort Level with Technological
Knowledge. 2. Importance of the Internet. 3. Student Social Skills and Communication. 4.
Student Behavior and Classroom Management. 5. Student Accountability and Work Completion.
6. Assessment Practices. Teacher participants revealed that they lacked the knowledge and
experience to use technology effectively to enhance the learning process of students. Teachers
expressed appreciation for accessibility to information, student accountability, and customization
of assessments and grading practices. Classroom management and student communication and
social skills were deemed to be impacted negatively by some teacher participants. Further
research should look at the implications of differentiated professional development, gender
differences among teachers when implementing one-to-one computing, and research in
technology integration using the Puentedura’s (2012) SAMR Model would benefit educational
institutions as well as educators in setting the goal of attaining the “redefinition” phase of
technology integration
Recent Volatility in U.S. Equity Markets: A Review of Key Contributing Factors and Relationships
Full text linkThis paper is a review of volatility trends, factors, and relationships in U.S. equity markets, with emphasis on the period of time from 1980 to the present, when volatility has been at higher levels than what had been observed earlier. Both finance academics and investment professionals are affected by this ‘high-volatility’ environment, as it impacts the traditional relationships that connect risk and return, and can therefore alter both individual asset and portfolio allocation decisions. Based on a thorough review of the literature on a stock’s idiosyncratic volatility, we explain why it has increased in recent times, discuss factors that affect volatility level, and provide an overview of the empirical relationship between current volatility levels and future expected return. At the end of each section, we pose a related idea for future research – there are ten such ideas offered. The primary purposes of the paper are to convince the reader that volatility is an important investment consideration, to identify the major findings in recent volatility research, and to highlight some unanswered volatility questions for future academics and practitioners to explore
A Comparison Of Relative Ease of Size Discrimination And Speed Discrimination In Pigeons
No full textOlga F. Lazareva (Mentor)Our earlier data suggested that pigeons learn size discrimination (e.g., which object is smaller or larger) faster than they learn speed discrimination (e.g., which object is faster or slower). However, this earlier conclusion was based on comparing experiments at different institutions using different operant chambers, different programming languages, different operating systems controlling the operant chamber hardware, and different reinforcers. The goal of this study was to use a within-subject comparison to explore this difference in the speed of discrimination learning. In a size discrimination task, the birds were trained to select either a smaller (or a larger) out of the two simultaneously presented. In a speed discrimination task, they were trained to select a slower (or a faster) out of the two vertically moving objects. All birds had to perform each of the tasks for 20 consecutive sessions, and the order in which the tasks were presented was randomized across birds. Preliminary results suggest that pigeons indeed learn size discrimination faster than speed discrimination, possibly because the discrimination
of the relative speed requires attending to the relational cues while sizes can be easily
memorized.Drake University, Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Science
The Contribution Of The Recovery Self Assessment To The Measurement Of Illness Management And Recovery
Full text link157 leavesVariables contributing to recovery from mental illness and substance abuse were
investigated. These variables included empowerment, sense of community, illness
management, self-esteem, self-determination, and the variables of agency, program,
gender, age, general type of service, race, and length of service. The study was entirely
from the person in recovery perspective, emphasizing self-determination. Participants
came from agencies and were currently in recovery programs. The five measures were
the Making Decisions – Empowerment Scale (MDE), the Illness Management and
Recovery Client Self-rating (IMR), the Sense of Community Index-2 (SCI-2), the
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RES), and the Recovery Self Assessment-Revised (RSAR).
Significant correlations existed between the IMR, the RES, and the RSA-R, but not
between the RES and the RSA-R. None of the other variables proved significant in
predicting any of the measures. The IMR Client Self-rating served as the dependent
variable in a hierarchical multiple regression. Once again, the RES and the RSA-R were
the only significant predictors of the IMR. Other hierarchical multiple regressions with
the RES and the RSA-R as the dependent variable supported a new theory of recovery.
Implications for assessment conclude the discussion of these results. In general, the
RSA-R proved itself a valuable measure of recovery in the sample
Middle School Girls' STEM Education: Using Teacher Influences, Parent Encouragement, Peer Influences, And Self Efficacy To Predict Confidence And Interest In Math And Science
Full text link99 pagesReports are clear that there is an underrepresentation of women in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. With the current and predicted future shortage of
STEM workforce, it is more important than ever to encourage young women to enter these
important fields of study. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model, possible predictors of
middle school girls’ confidence and interest in math and science where explored. The factors in
this study included the macrosystems of age and race/ethnicity and the microsystems of selfefficacy,
teacher influences, parent encouragement, and peer influences. Sequential regression
analysis results revealed that self-efficacy was a significant predictor for confidence in math and
science. While, math/science teacher influences and peer influences were significant predictors
of interest and confidence in both math and science. Sequential regression analysis also
indicated age was a significant predictor of math interest. The results of this study provides
information on the systemic connections among the variables and suggestions on how to impact
middle school girls’ STEM development, thus impacting the future STEM workforce
Perceptions of Truthfulness and Communication Anxiety in Online Employment Interviews
Full text linkIn organizations, the past decade has seen an increase in the popularity of Skype as a firstround
employment interview tool. Due to Skype’s speed, quality, and transmittal of sound and
video, it is sometimes thought of as a substitute for face-to-face. However, is this a fair
substitution? In a survey-based study, we investigated the difference between Skype and faceto-
face interviews by examining two critical assessment traits: truthfulness and communication
anxiety. Our results showed that interviewers in an academic setting perceived candidates to be
less honest via Skype than they do face-to-face, even when candidates seemed equally
competent. Our results also showed that interviewers perceived equal communication anxiety
through both mediums, though prior research suggests interviewee communication anxiety
would be higher over Skype