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A Quantitative Causal-Comparative Study of Occupational Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Acquisition Professionals after Completing Professional Credentials Designed for the Knowledge or Performance Dimension
Get PDFThe purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study is to explore the impact between credential programs designed for the knowledge or performance dimension and whether there is a difference in how those designs affect defense acquisition professionals’ occupational self-efficacy beliefs and whether the years of professional experience affect those results. This study endeavors to contribute to the field of education by shedding light on the relationship between the design of professional credential programs and occupational self-efficacy beliefs within the approximate 19,000 members of the defense acquisition workforce who have attained a credential since 2019. The occupational self-efficacy short-form (OSS-6) questionnaire was used to collect data electronically and analyzed using a two-way ANOVA followed by the Scheirer-Ray Hare test. The results of this study included the failure to reject both two of the three null hypotheses and revealed significant differences significant differences in occupational self-efficacy scores between individuals with under 10 years of professional experience and those with 10-15 years (p = .021), as well as a significant difference between individuals with under 10 years of professional experience and those with 20 or more years (p \u3c .001). The study concludes that years of professional experience significantly impact occupational self-efficacy among defense acquisition professionals, while credential type has a limited influence. Recommendations for future research include exploring the broader implications of occupational self-efficacy, the role of professional credentials, and the application of Bloom’s taxonomy in classifying credentials
Illuminating the Damascus Road Journey in Modern Times - Traveling the Road to Servanthood
Get PDFServanthood focuses on serving and prioritizing others’ needs. Research shows that servanthood is associated with higher levels of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and performance, leading to improved individual spiritual well-being and team performance. Research also shows an upward trend within the last four years of companies sponsoring faith-based employee resource groups. However, there has been limited research on a servanthood model for a faith-based employee resource group in a global secular company. This Doctor of Ministry action research project conducted a groundbreaking case study and successfully developed a Bible-based servanthood model called the Seven Paths along the Road to Servanthood Model for the Christian Faith Chapter (CFC), a faith-based employee resource group for CBRE, a global secular company. The purpose of the servanthood model is to enable CFC members, whether in a leadership position or not, to transform spiritually so they might become servants of the Lord at CBRE. The Seven Paths along the Road to Servanthood Model represents seven servanthood characteristics modeled by Jesus: authenticity, excellence, humility, integrity, patience, respect, and service. Analogous to apostle Paul’s immediate spiritual transformation during his Damascus Road journey (Acts 9:3–9), this project’s purpose is to transform CFC members spiritually so they might become long-term servants of the Lord at CBRE
“Mommy and Me”: A Phenomenological Study into the Experiences of African American Parents in their Child’s Teletherapy Session
Get PDFThe purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of African American parents involved in their child’s teletherapy session. The study seeks to describe how these experiences occurred in the context of transitional change as these parents and children transitioned from in person therapy to telehealth due to COVID-19 or other major life circumstance. The theory guiding this study is Schlossberg’s transitional theory which highlights how change impacts the lives of people through unique individual experiences. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews that were administered to 10 participants. From these interviews four themes were created. These themes focused on the time span that participants were in therapy, benefits of therapy, advantages and disadvantages of therapeutic delivery, and overall effectiveness of telehealth on the parent – child relationships. The data analysis and development of themes will allow the researcher to provide insight into the lives of those who have experienced this phenomenon firsthand
A Phenomenology of the Importance of Protection as It Relates to the Father and Daughter Relationship
Get PDFThe purpose of this phenomenological study is to better understand the lived experience of a father’s relationship with his daughter(s) and how the central theme of protection impacts that relationship. Protection will be generally defined as a father’s ability to provide boundaries physically, spiritually, and emotionally around his family, created by safety and trust, in developing stability for healthy development. General research questions include but are not limited to, what necessitates a family to need protection. What is the impact on a daughter when the father does not protect her? The purpose of this phenomenological study is to investigate the concept of protection in the father-daughter relationship and to primarily do so from the perspective of father participants at a community meeting location. The theory guiding this study is Attachment Theory in the framework of a Judeo-Christian worldview. A foundational principle in Attachment Theory is that those that provide safety and foster trust for an individual allow for positive and secure attachment bonds to occur. This is most crucial at an early age for the further development of a child. The methodology and data collection included one-on-one interviews with participatory fathers and a focus group with all participatory fathers
Effect of Multiple Simulation Exposures on Nursing Students\u27 Critical Thinking in First Direct Patient Care Practice
No full textCritical thinking is a core competency essential for nursing practice, and nursing students must develop these skills to become competent nurses. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design is to determine the effect of multiple simulation exposures on nursing students\u27 critical thinking during their first direct patient care practice. A convenience sample of 39 first-year nursing students enrolled in an associate degree nursing program in the western United States participated in this study. Participants completed a demographic survey and the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) to measure critical thinking skills before multiple simulation exposures, two exposures, or four exposures and two weeks after direct patient care practice. Paired t-test was used to assess differences within groups. Independent samples t-test and two-way mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare differences between groups. The results revealed the multiple simulation exposures improved critical thinking in first direct patient care practice. The two simulation exposures had a statistically significant (p = .043) positive effect on critical thinking. The four simulation exposures (p = .106), the difference between two and four exposure conditions (p = .604), and the difference in change over time between the two and four simulation exposures (p = .604) were not statistically significant. Although not statistically significant, the results revealed increased critical thinking scores pretest versus posttest. Recommendations for future research include conducting studies at multiple nursing program sites, increasing the sample size, using an alternative testing instrument, and conducting longitudinal studies
What are the Games For?: The Hunger Games and Reality TV
Get PDFIn Suzanne Collins’ series, The Hunger Games, a dystopian Capitol holds an annual televised gladiator-style competition in which child participants fight to the death. These Games function as a psychological tool of propaganda that influence both viewers and participants to sustain an oppressive government. Collins prominently explored the Games’ medium as a reality television show through the way it reinforces an ideology of oppression and control through visual messaging and emotional complicity to create division between classes of people. Real world reality TV also has ideological underpinnings that can negatively influence both viewers and participants through its depiction of a narcissistic, glamourized, and unattainable version of reality. Collins’ critique of reality TV illustrates the importance of discernment in media consumption and the ways in which audiences may be responsible for the content of the media they support
The Southern Strategy: A Study of Southern Voter Change
Get PDFThe American South was a political stronghold for the Democrat party until 1972. The Democrat hold over the South began to slip in the 1950s and 60s, due to Democrats embracing liberalism and Republicans embracing conservatism. In 1972, President Richard Nixon implemented the ‘Southern Strategy,’ a political strategy that appealed to Southerners through social conservatism and economic freedom. This election broke the South’s loyalty to the Democrats and flipped the region’s vote. Throughout the following decades version of the ‘Southern Strategy’ have been used by Democrats and Republicans alike, showing that Southern voters gravitate toward socially conservative and economically populist candidates. This thesis seeks to answer the question of how the ‘Southern Strategy’ changed voting patterns in the South, and how these ideas were implemented. Primary sources from important elections are analyzed to identify how each candidate appealed to the South, and what policies would win Southern support
Border Crisis Impacts on United States National Security
Get PDFThis thesis addresses how the United States (U.S.) currently faces various homeland and national security threats. A specific and substantial threat to the U.S. is the border crisis that began to escalate in later 2020 but has been an ongoing issue for decades. Several elements encompass the border crisis such as the political circumstances, policy passed by Congress and endorsed or drafted by the President, resources at borders, and law enforcement or security implementation. However, two vital elements to analyze within the current border crisis are the border security and immigration policies of the Trump and Biden administrations as well as the severity of drug trafficking. The elements are critical when implemented and show how border security influences globalization. Creating and using effective policy and security in border operations is significant to the success of a strong national security system and the safety of American lives. The strength of U.S. national security is vulnerable requiring law, policy, technology implementation, and enforcement to be fully examined and enforced to sustain strong borders
EMDR Future Template Study
Get PDFEye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapeutic modality designed to reduce the emotional impact of distressing experiences using bilateral stimulation (Shapiro, 1999). Social anxiety remains a widespread mental health concern with social and personal consequences (Asakura et al., 2023). This study examined whether three EMDR Future Template sessions could reduce mild to moderate social anxiety. Seventeen adults, ages 18 to 65, who either self-reported or were clinically diagnosed with social anxiety completed three weekly telehealth sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes each. In each session, the seventeen participants focused on anticipated future social scenarios and visualized adaptive responses while receiving bilateral stimulation. The participants also completed pre and post intervention surveys using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self Report (LSAS-SR). A paired samples t-test identified a statistically significant reduction in social anxiety, yielding a large effect size. An additional ANCOVA, controlling for demographic factors, confirmed that the intervention’s effect was not confounded by age, sex, or education. These results suggest that a short, focused EMDR Future Template intervention protocol may help reduce mild to moderate social anxiety and highlight the value of EMDR’s future focused component. Future research with larger, controlled designs is warranted to expand upon and confirm these findings
Sense of Belonging in the Workplace: Development and Validation of a Scale
Get PDFIn this dissertation, I describe the development and validation of the Sense of Belonging in the Workplace Scale (SBWS). A comprehensive, multidisciplinary review of the belonging construct revealed five key components of a sense of belonging in the workplace: (1) accepted/liked, (2) known/understood, (3) purpose/status, (4) respected/voice, and (5) safety/trust. Scale validation began with a review of 40 initial items by a panel of 12 subject matter experts (SMEs). The items were then revised, and a pilot study involving 67 participants was conducted to test these 40 items through exploratory factor analysis and construct validation. The top-performing 25 items were then tested in a third study with 347 participants for confirmatory factor analysis and construct validation. The five components were supported by the SME review and the confirmatory factor analysis mean factor loadings but did not result in distinct subscales on the SBWS. I used exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring and parallel analysis to determine the 25-item SBWS’s unidimensionality. This was confirmed with a confirmatory factor analysis; despite the significant Chi-square value [χ 2 (275) = 325.82, p = .019] indicating model misfit, other fit indices (CFI = 0.971; TLI = 0.968; RMSEA = 0.024, 90% CI [0.012, 0.032], SRMR = 0.043) supported an excellent fit. Factor loadings ranged from 0.342 to 0.630, all significant (p \u3c .001), providing further support for the scale’s unidimensionality. Cronbach\u27s alpha tests indicated good inter-item reliability of the scale (α = 0.91, N=345-347, k = 25). The SBWS also demonstrated good convergent validity using Cockshaw and Shochet’s (2010) Psychological Sense of Organizational Membership scale (ρ (345) = .59, p \u3c .001) and Chung et al.’s (2020) Workgroup Inclusion Measure – Belongingness Component (ρ (345) = .81, p \u3c .001), as well as moderate discriminant validity using Coelho et al.’s (2020) six-item Need for Cognition Scale (ρ (345) = .35, p \u3c .001). The SBWS provides a robust tool for both theoretical exploration and practical applications in assessing workplace belonging