ScholarWorks (California State University)
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Text To Tactile Communication
No full textThis study explores the feasibility and effectiveness of a vibratory tactile communication device to convey language to those who may have a communication impairment. Due to a lack of existing communication aids for people with hearing and visual impairments this study proposes a compact, noninvasive, and affordable option. The previous study we are attempting to replicate used a solenoid-based tactile system that utilized the entire body. This current study focused on making a wearable device that an individual could strap onto their torso. This device utilized five velcro straps with 26 vibrating motors, each mapped to a letter of the English alphabet. Three participants were trained to recognize the stimuli as a letter and were tested on letters, words, and sentences. Results showed an average letter recognition accuracy of 67.4%. Words with less letters had higher success rates and each letter that was added showed a decline in accuracy. Word and sentence recognition proved to be lower averaging 29.47% for words and at 10.48% for sentences. However, participants demonstrated improved performance in the review sessions indicating that repeated exposure may be important when training with a tactile device. Compared to the previous solenoid-based study, the vibratory system showed reduced accuracy, likely due to dispersion, proximity issues and lack of training. Future research should ensure proper placement of vibratory motors, extend training and explore other forms of tactile communication to combat possible dispersion issues
Mindfulness and Trauma Informed Coloring Book
No full textThis project involved the development and execution of a trauma-informed coloring book as a therapeutic intervention for children who have experienced trauma. By integrating principles from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), the project aimed to provide an accessible, developmental appropriate tools that support children's mental health and healing. Collaborating with Modesto's non-profit agency Sierra Vista Child and Family Services (SVCFS) and working alongside their clinicians on all aspects of the project, the team and I created a 40 - page coloring book that taught nine grounding coping skills. The book was designed on Canva and printed by Amazon. By addressing the limitations in traditional therapeutic approaches, this capstone project underscores the need for innovative, engaging, and evidence-based interventions tailored to the specific needs of children affected by trauma. Future research should explore the long-term efficacy of trauma-informed coloring books and their adaptability across diverse populations and treatment settings, including schools, therapy programs, and community-based initiatives
IMPROVING INSTRUCTION THROUGH GAME-BASED LEARNING PRACTICES
Get PDFThe learning of difficult topics such as mathematics pose a challenge to students who struggle with engaging in the content area. These students experience anxiety or fear of the subject and then disengage from the learning environment. If these students had the opportunity to connect with the subject matter in a relevant and appealing way by using game-based learning techniques, teachers could see a marked improvement in their students. The professional development series featured in the appendix of this project was created to provide teachers with templates, tools, and ideas to use in their own classroom that utilize features of game-based learning
An Intersection Between Social Work and Medicine: Understanding Medical Students' Perceptions, Attitudes, and Knowledge Towards Mandated Reporting
No full textThis study describes medical students' perceptions of preparedness, attitudes towards child welfare, and knowledge on mandated reporting procedures. Using a quantitative survey design, data were collected from volunteer medical students at Clinica Tepati. Univariate analysis provided a demographic overview and descriptive understanding of medical students' perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge, while bivariate analysis explored differences based on demographic variables. Findings indicate that medical students generally perceive themselves as prepared to identify and intervene in cases of suspected child abuse and neglect and hold positive attitudes towards child welfare. Medical students' knowledge on mandated reporting procedures was consistent with their perceptions of preparedness in cases of physical and sexual abuse. However, their knowledge was not consistent with their perceptions of preparedness in cases of child neglect, particularly in distinguishing intentional neglect from poverty. As advocates for vulnerable populations, social workers must engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with medical personnel to address educational gaps. Social workers have an ethical responsibility to guide, support, and educate medical personnel, especially on complex concepts such as neglect. By participating in interdisciplinary collaboration and developing child maltreatment training for medical school curricula, social workers are making diligent efforts to ensure medical personnel are adequately prepared to fulfill their role as mandated reporters
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES: A MANUAL FOR SCHOOLS TO ENGAGE STUDENTS AND FOSTER POSITIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT RELATIONSHIPS
No full textThe purpose of this graduate project was to create a program manual that contains guidelines for an educational support program aimed at fostering a partnership and nurturing relationships between high school students and law enforcement. Social Workers in school settings play an intimate role in this project, as we are trained to understand, support, and address the needs of students and the broader community. A social worker implementing this project serves as a bridge to promote those positive interactions and collaboration between a school, students and a law enforcement agency but also ensure that the program is geared to address the unique barriers within the community. The implementation of this program manual served as a vehicle for high school students to stay engaged in their education, by providing them with an opportunity to explore their career interests and encourage them to grow by collaborating with their local law enforcement. It also served as a mechanism for law enforcement to engage with high school students in a positive and proactive manner, where both experience personal growth. This manual helps encourage students in a rural, underserved school to stay engaged in their education and nurture a positive relationship between law enforcement and the community
PARENTING SELF-EFFICACY AND LANGUAGE BELIEFS/BEHAVIORS IN MONOLINGUAL AND BILINGUAL SPANISH-SPEAKING PARENTS
Get PDFBilingualism is present in the lives of many families across the world and the U.S. Because of this, many families are faced with the challenge of raising bilingual children, whether that is through choice or by circumstance. Parents can actively choose to raise bilingual children in spite of the primary societal language model, or they are driven by their circumstances to teach their children their heritage language first and then introduce them to a second language, often being the primary societal language. Many parents of Hispanic descent fall on the latter category, where they feel the responsibility to teach "their" language, Spanish, to their children to ensure parent-child communication. In order to achieve this goal, parents need to feel confident in their ability to do so, hence relying on their parental self-efficacy (PSE). Previous research studies have focused on collecting qualitative data about Hispanic parents' experiences in supporting their children's bilingualism, whereas this study explored the relationship between PSE and their beliefs, practices, and their children's bilingual outcomes. Results indicated that PSE predicted parents' knowledge about bilingualism but when combined, PSE, knowledge, and beliefs, predicted parents' bilingual practices and children's language outcomes. These findings support the claim of existing complex interactions between PSE, bilingualism knowledge, beliefs, practices, which then can lead parents to engage in practices to support their children language outcomes
Kinematics & Injury Risk Prediction in the Elite Baseball Pitcher
No full text[ABSTRACT ONLY; NO FULL TEXT] Baseball pitchers have steadily increased their throwing velocities over the past two decades. Concurrently, there has been an increase in the prevalence of upper extremity injuries in professional pitchers. The literature has recognized a relationship between the magnitude of internal elbow varus torque and both fastball velocity and ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury. Pitchers who can achieve elite throwing velocities (fastball velocity > 89 mph) may have varying amounts of internal elbow varus torque, which suggests that specific mechanics may alter a pitcher's injury risk. The trends in throwing velocity and UCL injury beg the question: Can pitchers achieve elite throwing velocities while maintaining safe amounts of elbow varus torque? While there may be a relationship between ball velocity and injury rates, employing specific pitching mechanics may allow pitchers to throw at higher velocities in a relatively safe manner. Individual kinematics inducing changes in upper extremity forces have been identified independent of one another, but the combinatory effect on either beneficial or deleterious mechanics have not been quantified. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the combination of biomechanical variables in sequence that are associated with elbow varus torque in elite pitchers. Potential relationships between the mechanics that dictate throwing performance that are similarly observed to increase kinetic measures predictive of upper extremity injury were identified. This investigation hypothesized that (1) a combination of specific mechanical contributions will be associated with high throwing velocities and elbow varus torque and (2) distal extremity kinematics will be more predictive of elbow varus torque. METHODS: The data used in this study was accessed from the Driveline Baseball Research and Development OpenBiomechanics project (link to repository). It includes anonymous baseball biomechanical data in the form of raw or processed data available to the public. Collection procedures were ethically approved by the Western Institutional Review Board (# WB-DLR-115). Data from 21 pitchers was used based on the criteria that pitch velocity must be greater than 89 mph. The sample had the following means and standard deviations: age = 22.74 ± 2.01 years; height = 1.89 ± 0.05 m; mass = 92.56 ± 8.44 kg. The majority of the sample consists of college pitchers (62%), followed by independent (24%), and minor league pitchers (14%). Of the 21 pitchers, 19 (90.5%) were right-handed throwers and 2 (9.5%) were left-handed throwers. The original marker-based data was collected using 15 OptiTrack Prime 17W (NaturalPoint Inc.) motion-capture cameras capturing at 360 Hz. Thirty-nine retroreflective markers were attached to pitchers to form a C3D model (marker set). Full signal data, in addition to participant meta data, were downloaded from the OpenBiomechanics GitHub, and pitchers were filtered to ensure they met the elite velocity criteria. Data filtering, processing, and analysis was performed with Python version 3.12.7 (Python Software Foundation) and accessed the Pandas, NumPy, and Matplotlib packages. The use of a classification and regression tree (CART) was used to assess the characteristics of kinematics utilized by pitchers with high and low internal elbow varus torques. The model split two groups of pitchers based on the kinematic(s) most related to elbow varus torque, then recursively partitioned the data for subsequent relatedness. Mean square error (MSE) reduction was used to determine the optimal split in the regression tree. To predict or relate biomechanical variables to elbow varus, MSE measures the average squared difference between the actual and predicted values for elbow varus torque. At each node in the tree, an optimal split was identified and selected to reduce MSE for subsequent levels in the tree. Cross-validation scoring was used to evaluate the model's performance by identifying predictive error with respect to mean values. As an effect, tree pruning parameters specified a max depth of 3, a minimum of 4 samples per split, a minimum of 4 samples per leaf, and a minimum reduction of MSE of 0.1. For each kinematic variable that was associated with high or low elbow varus, each level of the CART determines how predictive it is of elbow varus torque. Therefore, the CART identified the mechanics employed by elite pitchers to reduce or elevate the risk of injury to the UCL
Music Industry Consulting for a Nonprofit Organization
Get PDF[ABSTRACT ONLY; NO FULL TEXT] The client is a nonprofit organization that has provided youth music education programs in the region for decades. The team interviewed the client, and key areas were addressed throughout this project, including organizational structure, volunteer management, community engagement, and funding sources. The primary goal of this project is to diversify funding sources because the organization mainly relies on fundraising to sustain operations and provide music programs for the local schools. During the research process, the consulting team established a mixed methodology to discover the root causes of the relationship between the problem and goals and to better understand the funding source. Also, the team gathered primary sources through qualitative stakeholder interviews with the key players within this organization, including the education department and volunteer leaders. Secondary sources, such as books and academic journals, were applied as consulting tools for in-depth research on nonprofit structure. Also, the team used benchmarking methods from other similar nonprofit organizations to gain insight from their best practices to manage challenges, identify creative solutions, and enhance organizational effectiveness. My contribution highlighted organizational structure, function, and identity and how these impact funding strategies, especially how organizational identity shapes and influences community engagement to attract diverse volunteers. I also contributed to this project by analyzing organizational funding sources, collecting fundraising data and annual reports. I developed all funding graph analyses related to funding issues. Based on these insights, I created a comprehensive list of recommendations for the client on diversifying revenue streams and strengthening long-term financial stability. The findings identify research gaps for improvement, such as assessing program costs, measuring fundraising efficiency, and offering year-round revenue sources. Therefore, the future direction for creating new funding streams is expanding the music program beyond the academic school year to attract diverse audiences and increase potential funding opportunities. The study of this nonprofit organization concluded the significance of the relationship between fundraising models and administrative efficiency in attracting more donor contributions. The success of this nonprofit organization relies on engaging strategic management, diversifying funding streams, and continuing to provide youth music education programs for schools and communities
Citrus
Get PDF[ABSTRACT ONLY; NO FULL TEXT] Citrus is a collection of poetry that explores grief and personal transformation. The collection delves into experiences of relationships, loss, love, memory, and the complexities of the human condition, using vivid imagery and introspective language. The collection navigates both intimate moments and broader reflections on coping with divorce, offering a deeply personal and evocative speaker. The reader is provided a perspective that moves through the complicated period while the speaker attempts to make sense of a world and life that seems to have abandoned making sense. The conversational tone confronts the situational realities of grief and coping that culminate in the reflection and catharsis. Poems in Citrus often touch on the emotional and psychological process encountered within the surreal, often painful post-divorce world
For Those Left Behind
Get PDF[ABSTRACT ONLY; NO FULL TEXT] For Those Left Behind is a high fantasy collection of short stories about the characters that are left behind when the heroes leave to answer their call to adventure. The story takes place in the Southern coast line of Akoth, an area littered with mountains and forests bordered by the ocean. The gods here are generally viewed with adoration for their generosity and guidance, but there are those who believe that the gods' arrival has only hindered their society with their false omnipotence and self-importance. When a vengeful man sets out to kill the gods with a forbidden magic, the gods each choose a champion to defend them. These characters are called from all over the Southern coast line, no matter their walks of life, but they are not all supported by those closest to them. This home front-style collection explores grief, anger, pride, and love through the lens of religious debates, parental practices, and romantic, platonic, and familial relationships. These themes are portrayed in six points of view to show varying relationships and how they are negatively or positively affected