WPSphere Repository (William Paterson University)
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“Melba’s Tune”: An Examination of the Life and Work of Trombonist-Arranger Melba Liston
Full text linkArranger and trombonist Melba Liston was called upon to work for such jazz legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Clark Terry, and Randy Weston. Not only was she praised as one of the best arrangers in jazz during her lifetime, but she was also a sought-after trombone player. However, her inclusion in the jazz historical narrative is limited. Liston worked behind the scenes as an arranger and faced extreme adversity as a Black woman in a male dominated profession. She was seen as a gimmick by audiences and treated as a caretaker and an object by her peers. Audiences, musicians, and now our historical narrative have viewed her as the exception to the rule of successful male jazz musicians. This is why an in-depth overview of her life and work is needed. This project compiles information about Melba Liston’s career and discography into an exhaustive document, analyzing articles, newspaper clippings, oral histories, research at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, research at Melba Liston’s Archive at the Black Music Research Center at Columbia College in Chicago, one interview with Geof Bradfield, Professor of Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University, and several email correspondences with members of the Melba Liston Research Collective, Dianthe Spencer, Lisa Barg, and Sherrie Tucker. Findings include explication of Liston’s genius and analysis of her unique way of arranging for a wide range of ensembles and styles, her complex personality traits and how she used them to gain success, her aversion to the limelight, the many adversities she faced including abuse and lack of promotion, and the effects of the male-centric culture of jazz on Liston’s career and remembrance in jazz history. This thesis will include a biography, a musical analysis, and a selected discography of Melba Liston
Inviting Knowledge: Enhancing Archival Discovery through Information Design
Full text linkInformation design—incorporating research in graphic design, typography, visualization, and usability—is a user experience practice directly applicable to contemporary museums, libraries, and archives. Information design principles and guidelines improve engagement at every point of service, effectively and efficiently complementing the mission of knowledge organizations. This historical survey explores information design in the context of contemporary user experience design, and provides an overview of information design principles and guidelines developed over 40 years of research and professional application. Applying elements of information design to archival finding aids enhances usability, while also preserving descriptive and contextual structures
Connecting Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: A Curriculum and Activity Chart
Full text linkCurrently, students are in need of emotional education. After the Covid-19 pandemic, students have been left stressed and overwhelmed by their surroundings. As an elementary music teacher that worked during the pandemic, I’ve heard stories from countless students as well as other staff that have suggested this need for help. Since elementary classroom music educators work with all of the students in a given school, the music classroom may be uniquely situated to address this need.
Many schools have adopted Social Emotional Learning (SEL) to address this need. An approach to teaching inter- and intra-personal social and emotional skills, SEL has a deep research base. While there are materials available to implement SEL into secondary music programs, there is not yet a published approach to implementation of SEL into the elementary classroom. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to create a curriculum for music teachers that incorporates Social Emotional Learning (SEL) for elementary grades.
After a review of scholarly literature and practical teaching sources, a full-year curriculum and activity guide for grades K-5 that combines music with SEL related activities was created. The activities are designed around music skills developed through Orff’s Schulwerk method using performance, listening and creativity with the additional implementation of elements of SEL by grade level. The goal is for students to be able to use both musical and SEL skills beyond the music classroom
The Use of Math Journals to Impact the Mathematical Word Problem Solving Skills of Self-Contained Middle School Special Education Students
Full text linkThis study investigates the impact of incorporating writing, specifically through math journals, on the problem-solving skills of middle school self-contained special education students. This study is intended to answer the question of how the utilization of a math journal impacts the problem-solving skills of middle school self-contained special education students when addressing math word problems. Motivated by the need to instruct students on mathematical problem solving strategies and address low standardized testing scores in mathematics, the study proposes a Daily Math Journal intervention to enhance critical thinking and writing skills. The central research question revolves around understanding how the utilization of math journals influences the problem-solving skills and perceptions of special education students when solving mathematical word problems. The study examines the research question using a mixed method approach to data collection and analysis. Educationally, the study offers insights for teachers, highlighting the advantages and challenges of using math journals to enhance problem-solving abilities. The findings underscore the cognitive benefits of expressing critical thinking through writing and engaging in collaborative discussions, extending beyond the mathematics classroom. Through this investigation, three key conclusions emerge: (1) Math journal use increases student engagement and enjoyment in solving mathematical word problems, (2) students' attitudes and confidence levels improve, and (3) problem-solving in mathematical word problems is positively influenced by incorporating writing in math journals. The research highlights the need for further investigation on this topic and the conclusions of this study and underscores the advantages associated with integrating writing into mathematics instruction
A Revised Comfort Care Order Set Incorporating Symptom Assessment Tools: A Quality Improvement Project
Full text linkHospitalized patients in the last stages of their natural lives needed excellent symptom management to ensure comfort at the end of life. The use of Revised Comfort Care Order Set (RCCOS) that incorporated validated, evidence-based tools was paramount in guiding clinicians in recognizing, identifying and properly managing symptoms. It also served as a reminder to the clinicians to incorporate other non-pharmacological interventions such as holistic/alternative healing modalities and spiritual involvement to the standard of care of the patients at the end of life based on their discussions of patient’s goals and wishes. This was a comparative descriptive, retrospective study. The primary goal was to determine whether the revision of the comfort care order set would have an effect on the documentation and management of pain and dyspnea and increase the utilization of non- pharmacological interventions such as integrative and spiritual care in patients at the end of life. The Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms (TOUS) was used as a framework for this study. TOUS stated that the symptoms were additive and multiplicative and affected one another. If symptoms were controlled, an individual would perform better (controlled symptoms). This study showed that the RCCOS had a positive effect on the nurses’ documentation of the symptoms particularly dyspnea (x2= 44.938; p= .000). Furthermore, the documentation of reasons for administering medications was nearing statistically significant result (x2= 5.938; p= .051). The use of alternative therapies such as integrative care was improved with a statistical significant result (x2= 81.777; p= .000). The final disposition had statistically significant result (x2-20.165; p= .000). There were various limitations due to the length of time allowed with regards to the use of the RCCOS. The recommendation was to allow more time for the RCCOS use before collecting data
Screening Children with Behavioral Problems for Adverse Childhood Experiences
Full text linkBackground: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) includes events such as neglect, witnessing or experiencing emotional, physical abuse, or sexual misconduct, and living in a household with parental divorce or separation, household member incarceration, or a parent with serious mental illness or substance use disorder. Problem: Recurrent trauma exposure between birth and age eighteen can have lasting harmful effects on the developing brain. ACEs have been associated with long-term, negative social outcomes as well as physical and mental illness in adults, including increased risks for mental illness, substance misuse, and fatal conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide. Purpose: The purpose of this DNP project was to identify the level of provider awareness of ACEs and the use of the ACEs tool. Method: This project utilized a descriptive, cross-sectional, non-experimental design through the collection of quantitative data via a Qualtrics online survey tool. Results: Data from 75 surveys were analyzed. The majority of the participants were female (75%) who ranged in age from twenty-eight years to sixty-eight years. 40% were Registered Nurses, in practice between one year and forty-nine years. 59% of the participants were extremely familiar with the term ACEs. 79% of respondents use an ACEs screening tool for every child, during every visit 32% of the time. Most screenings (40%) are administered to the child and parent/guardian, together. Nearly 60% of respondents use a screening tool to determine the need for further referral, assessment, and/or treatment. Implications for Practice: Implementation of an ACEs screening tool could improve health outcomes and mitigate the risk of premature death through early intervention and disease recognition
Revision Strategies: Developing Independent, Motivated Writers
Full text linkMy study centers on ways revision strategies impact student writing development and motivation to improve 12th grade students’ self-efficacy as they prepare for post-secondary writing activities. This led to my two research questions concerning how revision strategies can impact students’ writing development, and how students’ feelings about revision impact the steps they take during the revision process.
I devised a mixed-method study that triangulated quantitative data (collected from rubric scores of three drafts per student) with qualitative data (collected from questionnaires, observation notes, peer feedback forms, self-evaluations, and conference notes) to understand the impact of revision strategies on students’ revision behaviors and what impact students’ feelings have on their motivation to improve their writing abilities. Based on my findings, several conclusions can be surmised: student accuracy in identifying writing weaknesses affects their revision choices, specific feedback impacts their revision behaviors, and interpersonal revision strategies can impact students’ motivation to develop as writers. One implication from this research is that multiple opportunities for writing discourse and student-assessed activities help students recognize weaknesses in their own writing
