DTheses (Athabasca University)
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Exploring how clinical nursing instructors understand and facilitate clinical judgment in nursing students
Get PDFClinical judgment is recognised as an essential skill for competent nursing practice. The clinical setting is an ideal place for students to explore clinical judgment. Clinical judgment is often used interchangeably with clinical reasoning, critical thinking, and clinical decision-making. There is limited information from the perspective of clinical nursing instructors. This study was undertaken to explore the experiences of clinical nursing instructors with regards to their understanding of clinical judgment, their perspectives on what enhances and what hinders its development, and to obtain their recommendations for new instructors. Five study participants answered questions regarding these topics. Of interest, was the discussion on hindrances to the development of clinical judgment and participant recommendations for new clinical instructors. Study results can help new and experienced instructors explore and expand their practice, and could be used to help support new instructors during their first couple of years of practice.2019-0
MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES TO UNVEIL AND UNDERSTAND PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA SURVIVAL MECHANISM IN NUTRIENT DEPLETED WATER
Get PDFPseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative organism that is ubiquitous in the ecosystem and antibiotic resistant. Capable of long-term survival, it is a common cause of hospital-acquired infections. The focus of this thesis is to unveil P. ae-ruginosa genes interactions and identify those that are pivotal to its mechanisms of survival. With unlabeled data collected from P. aeruginosa gene expression in response to low nutrient water, a Bayesian Networks Machine Learning methodology was implemented, and a static regulatory network of its survival was modeled. Subsequently, node influence techniques were used to infer a dozen genes as key orchestrators of the survival phenotype. Among these genes, PA0272 was identified to be the root node in the learned network model. Water survival experiments were conducted in the lab on PA0272 mutants, and it was interestingly found that their survival declined by 10-fold compared to the wild type PA01; 10-fold or higher being significant.December 31 201
GENERIC EARLY WARNING SIGNALS FOR CRITICAL TRANSITIONS: An assessment of the signals’ utility as a predictive management tool through an application on the undergraduate distance student’s program withdrawal problem
Get PDFComplex systems range from business entities, the human brain, to the climate. These systems have tipping points at which a small perturbation can trigger a critical transition leading to an emergence at an alternate stable state. Although there are differences in the nature of different complex systems, their behaviors exhibit universal characteristics as they near a tipping point. Among such characteristics are the common generic early warning signals that precede critical transitions. The signals include: critical slowing down in which the rate of recovery from perturbations decreases over time; an increase in the variance and skewness of the state variable; an increase in the autocorrelation of the state variable; flickering between different states; and an increase in spatial correlations. The presence of such signals has significant management implications, as the identification of signals prior to the tipping points could allow management to identify intervention points. A review of literature did not identify any applications for the signals in managing undergraduate program student withdrawal at distance universities, hence the research gap. This research assessed the signals through an intensive case study of undergraduate program student withdrawal at a Canadian Distance University by comparing the incidences of the signals among inactive students to the incidences of the signals among graduates. Findings showed support for the signal on the rise in flickering, represented in the increase in the student’s non-pass rates prior to withdrawing from a program; moderate support for the signal of critical slowing down, reflected in the longer time a student spends in a course; and moderate support for the signals on increase in autocorrelation, skewness and variance in the grade variable. The research also extended knowledge by investigating whether the emergence of a program withdrawal status is self-similar at the program level and the course level. Findings moderately supported self-similarity as a potential signal. In conclusion, the research into the signals and self-similarity suggests that the signals could be potentially utilized as a predictive management tool. These findings represent the beginnings of future research into the creation of program withdrawal Complexity based models and the possible identification of intervention points.2018-0
Developing a conceptual framework for planning distributed education within Alberta’s comprehensive community institutions
Get PDFPrevious research has revealed challenges faced by post-secondary institutions (PSIs) seeking to add or expand distributed education options within institutional contexts originally developed to support more traditional, face-to-face classroom learning. The qualitative study described in this dissertation used grounded theory methods to develop a conceptual framework to guide planning for of distributed education delivery within such institutions. The study is set within the context of an evolving regulatory, institutional, and technological environment and focuses specifically on those PSIs classified by the Government of Alberta as Comprehensive Community Institutions (CCIs) within the Alberta post-secondary system (defined within the dissertation). Like many other PSIs, these CCIs have gradually evolved to offer distributed delivery modes of varying structures and effectiveness and must now address gaps, inconsistencies, new opportunities, changing technologies, and potential efficiencies that may exist in their distributed education program and support service offerings. Although other work on planning for distributed education has been published, none of this earlier work has been specifically developed or tested for use within the unique context of the Alberta CCIs, which include in addition to the Alberta regulatory, financial, and historical context, the constraints and advantages of a regional stewardship mandate and, until recently, membership in an online learning consortium. This study therefore offers a unique and practical contribution to the field of distance education by building on previous work to develop a conceptual framework for the planning of distributed education delivery, grounded within data derived from within Alberta CCIs and their immediate provincial context. Such a conceptual framework for planning may become a useful tool in Alberta CCIs and may eventually form one small part of a more general theory of planning for distributed education in post-secondary education.2018-0
Exploring the Process ePortfolio for Graduate Students in an Online Environment
Get PDFThis concurrent mixed methods study explored some of the factors that characterize student perceptions of the ePortfolio process as a capstone project in an online environment. Factors include: knowledge attainment, the understanding and application of critical reflection, and sharing of this knowledge with the broader community. The study also attempts to determine the influences that may have impacted these students in their decision to pursue the process ePortfolio versus the traditional thesis route. Through reflective processes and critical reflection on various digital artefacts collected, students demonstrate the attainment of various competencies that are mandated in this program. The epistemology and strategy of inquiry in this research incorporates a pragmatic paradigm (worldview) obtained through practical experiences. Recommendations to the program include incorporating ePortfolio preparation and overt critical reflective activities earlier in the Master program; both of which can be accomplished through improved communication and enhanced support.2018-0
Shifting paradigms: A critical pragmatic evaluation of key factors affecting learner-empowered emergent technology integration
Get PDFThis dissertation used a critical pragmatic research paradigm, transformative mixed methods research methodology, and a paradigm shift framework to explore online graduate level students’ perceptions of what key government, institutional, curricular, instructional, and environmental factors and, ultimately, what educational paradigm most empowered them to integrate emergent technologies for learning on demand. Voluntary respondents came from two semester-long online graduate courses on educational technology that blended traditional and learner-centered policies, structures, and practices. The study employed in-depth interviews supplemented with online questionnaires to capture students’ perceptions before, during, and after their courses. One quarter of respondents expressed a consistent preference for one paradigm, while three quarters reported a paradigm shift from the beginning to the end of the term under study. Early term results indicated that nearly half of the respondents felt that a behavioural paradigm most empowered them to integrate emergent technologies for learning on demand. By the end of the term, over 90 percent perceived that a blended or learner-determined paradigm was most empowering. Furthermore, changes in respondents' pre- to post-term emergent technology integration level scores indicated that the most empowering paradigm was the perceptual paradigm. Throughout the term all respondents indicated that instructional, followed by environmental factors were most empowering. Nevertheless, those who preferred a learner-determined paradigm identified environmental factors more often; they also rated personal responsibility and self-motivation highly as well. Lastly, across all factor categories, three prevalent empowerment themes emerged: use of emergent technology was most cited, followed by relevancy, and then accessibility.2018-1
Childhood Lived Experiences of Short-Term Employment-Related Paternal Absence: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Get PDFFor many Canadian families, having a parent work away from home for extended periods of time has become an accepted way of life. This employment arrangement is especially prominent within Canada’s resources extraction industry. However, despite employment-related parental absence being experienced by thousands of Canadian families, little research exists that examines the effects on the children involved. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological analysis was to understand the experiences of young adults who grew up in families where their father worked away from home on a short-term rotational basis. The childhood experience of four young adults was characterized by: Experiencing Paternal Absence, Adjusting to Paternal Absence, Temporal Adjustment, and Perceiving the Experience of Others. The results suggest that employment-related paternal absence families are able to harness the advantages of this life-style, while adjusting to and coping with the disadvantages. Counsellors are positioned to support the adaptive capacities of these families.2018-1
#Fitspo: Adolescent Girls' and Mother's Narratives on the Impact of Fitspiration via Social Media
Get PDFThis research explores adolescent girls’ (age 16 to 17) and mothers of adolescent girls’ (age 15 to 17) storied experiences of viewing, guiding, and communicating about fitspiration on visual-based social media networks. The feminist-narrative research puzzle is, “What are the storied experiences of adolescent girls (age 15 to 17) and mothers of adolescent girls (age 15 to 17) of viewing, guiding, and communicating about fitspiration on visual-based social media?” Five common threads in the four narratives emerged as (1) culture of valuation contingent on appearance; (2) viewing fitspiration resulted in body dissatisfaction; (3) possessing coping resources does not guarantee immunity to body dissatisfaction; (4) mothers recognize impact of fitspiration on daughters; (5) mothers guide through various methods but remain uncertain; (6) alternative body messaging aids in resistance to body ideal influence. A differing thread emerged as (1) mothers differ in fitspo knowledge; (2) mothers differ in communication and regulation intrusiveness.2018-0
The Contribution of Pathologies of Conversation Toward the Manifestation of Opposition to Landfill Siting
Get PDFPurpose
This research has been carried out in an effort to answer the question “why do community opposition groups form?” It is posited that the identification of the mechanisms that promote the formation of community opposition groups might provide insight into the future design of collaborative platforms that might be more equitable, ethical and have a higher probability of success.
Design / Methodology / Approach
The research begins with a review of current literature concerning community engagement and flows through to a review of contemporary literature related to the explanation of opposition groups. The theories of NIMBY, NIABY and pathologies of conversation are explored and reviewed. Three case studies follow, all of which are presented following the “pattern matching” methodology, and are based on the collection of primary and secondary data used for triangulation in the case analysis. A cross case analysis is then presented and conclusions, implications and future research are explored.
Findings
The researcher arrives at substantial support for the theory of pathology of conversation as the impetus for opposition group formation. The NIMBY and NIABY theories when matched for “fit” with the data are insufficient in their explanation for the formation of opposition groups in all of the three cases. Emergent from the data are themes of threat to normalcy, moral hazard and an important temporal aspect regarding the formation of the community opposition groups. It is also concluded that the geographic proximity variable is essential to the formation of the groups and that the best explanation of the phenomenon lies in the combination of different aspects of the explanations.
Value
A model of opposition group formation based on pathologies of conversation is presented for use in engagement strategies for business, government and community. The identification of the mechanisms of opposition group manifestation namely pathology of conversation allows for a clear path to avoidance of these mechanisms in the designing of collaborative platforms.2018-0
The Transient Spaces of Studio Learning: Building a Theory of Online Studio Pedagogy in Graphic Design Education
Get PDFThis research study sought to create a theory describing how graphic design educators are using the internet to augment and extend studio pedagogy in graphic design education. The Replication-Collaboration Continuum, the theory that resulted from this study, can aid future design educators in decision-making about potential course delivery options. This study used grounded theory methodology and gathered data through solo interviews, focus groups, and memos. Research participants were graphic design educators located around the world. This study contributed to the general body of knowledge on graphic design studio pedagogy and addressed specifically how studio pedagogy, a phenomenon traditionally enacted in a face-to-face setting, has been translated to an online environment.2018-0