I led a participatory action research (PAR) project with the staff and homeless clients of Ahope Day Center in Asheville, North Carolina, which was meant to evaluate client satisfaction with services and attitudes about certain issues. Project is led by an inquiry group consisting of members of Ahope staff and Ahope clients. The project is a co-designed, co-implemented, and co-interpreted mixed-method evaluation of Ahope's services, client attitudes about education and the environment, client adaptive strategies, optimism levels, and a mapping of client daily routines. The data was collected through participant observation, document analysis, surveys, a listing activity, and informal interviews. Documents were coded using grounded theory and themes emerged related to the value of the intangibles of security, community, and ‘being seen' at Ahope while some suggestions were also made. Findings included client attitudes indicating the importance of the environment and education to clients, high optimism levels among clients, and a number of suggestions for the improvement of Ahope's services.

This study involved examination of the processes employed in tailoring fourth-grade reading instruction to increase levels of student motivation. A participatory action research approach was utilized to design and conduct reading instruction that fourth-grade students perceived to be motivating. The reading instructional program was designed using the five key components of the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation (eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring; Jones, 2009) and was implemented daily in an elementary classroom. Students were interviewed to identify their perspectives about the reading program and student input was used by the teacher to inform instruction and adapt the program to increase motivation. The fourth-grade students in this study were motivated to read for a variety of reasons and enjoyed participating in numerous reading activities. The common theme among all of these motivating activities was personal choice or empowerment, such as selecting a book or choosing a topic of interest. When students made suggestions for improving reading instruction, most of the suggestions related to having the ability to make more meaningful choices. After the teacher implemented the suggestions and changes, the inventory scores for all five components of the MUSIC Model increased, with empowerment increasing slightly more than other components. Findings indicated that it was particularly important that students' voices were valued. The teacher finely honed the reading program based upon students' needs and ideas, resulting in increased reading motivation and achievement during a time when the motivation and achievement of fourth-grade students tends to decline. / Ph. D.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Traditionally, gender has been viewed through an essentialist lens with fixed biology-based traits or polarized gender norms between women and men. As awareness of gender diversity grows, increasingly more people identify as nonbinary – or not exclusively a man or woman. Despite a growing literature on the experiences of binary transgender individuals, little has been explored regarding experiences unique to nonbinary individuals. The research that does include nonbinary individuals focuses primarily on adverse risks and outcomes. As such, a dearth of empirical research exists to understand the unique experiences of nonbinary people and how they relate to wellbeing. A qualitative participatory action study using PhotoVoice was conducted virtually to address the identified gaps in the literature on nonbinary individuals concerning gendered experiences and wellbeing. Prevailing theories of wellbeing informed the study along with minority stress theory and the resilience literature to account for environmental factors of oppression and individual and community resilience. A sample of 17 nonbinary adults in the Midwestern United States was recruited using convenience sampling and participated in online group discussions and individual interviews. The findings were reported in sections corresponding with the three study aims: 1) Explore core dimensions of wellbeing as defined by nonbinary individuals, 2) Identify promotive and corrosive factors of that wellbeing, and 3) Provide recommendations to bolster nonbinary wellbeing. The findings provided a thorough description of how nonbinary individuals perceive their wellbeing concerning their gender and as part of a marginalized population. Thematic analysis identified nine wellbeing themes for how participants conceptualized their wellbeing (e.g., Exploring gender identity and expression, Being connected to community, etc.), seven themes of promotive and corrosive factors of wellbeing (e.g., Positive, accurate, and nuanced representation, Coping skills to manage minority stressors, etc.), and three themes of recommendations (e.g., personal, interpersonal, and professional) with eighteen strategies to bolster wellbeing among nonbinary individuals and communities. The significance of the findings to social work was discussed, including practice application and advocacy. This study contributes to PhotoVoice methodology, wellbeing literature, and trans literature.

No description available.

The National Science Education Standards (1996) support inquiry-based instruction. According to the National Science Education Standards. When children or scientists inquire into the natural world they: ask questions, plan investigations and collect relevant data, and organize and analyze collected data. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based instruction on third-grade students' attitudes and participation in an elementary science classroom. Students were encouraged to ask and answer their own questions. In this study, analysis of data gathered form: pre and post survey, student journals, teacher field notes, and student interviews were triangulated to provide the support for findings reported in this study. Findins showed that inquiry-based science experiences positively affected students' attitudes in science and their participation. In addition, student worked collaboratively, made connections to other experiences, and demonstrated confidence in their ability to ask and answer their own questions through inquiry-based experiences.

The purpose of this study is to describe the effect of a curriculum rich in spatial reasoning activities and experiences on the ability of my fifth grade students to spatially reason. The study was conducted to examine 1) the effects of my practice of incorporating spatial reasoning lessons and activities in my fifth-grade mathematics classroom on the students' ability to spatially reason and 2) the effects of my practice of incorporating spatial reasoning lessons and activities on my students' ability to problem solve. Data were collected over a ten-week period through the use of student interviews, anecdotal records, photos of student work, student journals, pre- and posttests and a post-study survey. In this study, students demonstrated a statistically significant increase on all pre- and posttests. The student interviews, anecdotal records, photos of student work, and student journals all revealed spatial reasoning was used in mathematics problem solving. The study suggests that spatial reasoning can be taught and spatial reasoning skills can be used in problem solving.

Healthcare information systems (HISs), as a class of systems, are not currently addressed in the MIS literature. This is in spite of a sharp increase in use over the past few years, and the uniquely qualified role that MIS has in the development of, impact and general understanding of HISs. In this project the design science paradigm frames the development of a set of design principles derived from the synthesis of the design literature, ethics literature, and professional guidelines, from both the medical and computing professions. The resulting principles are offered to address the design of healthcare information systems. Action research, a widely accepted methodology for testing design principles derived from the design science paradigm, is employed to test the HIS principles and to implement change in a healthcare organization through the use of an HIS. The action research project was a collaborative effort between a Central Florida hospice and the researcher, the result of which was an advanced directives decision support system. The system was design to meet a number of organizational goals that ranged from tracking compliance with federal regulations to increasing the autonomy of the patients that used the system. The result is a set of tested design principles and lessons learned from both anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the action research project.

Yes / This paper aims to seek to contribute to current debates about the effectiveness of different types of gender equality interventions in the academic context. This paper presents an argument for the need to move beyond an individual-structural dichotomy in how such interventions are perceived. The paper draws on an action-research case-study, the Through the Glass Ceiling project, to challenge the idea that “individual”/single-actor interventions serve only to reinforce underlying inequalities by attempting to “fix the women”.It is suggested that actions that support women in their careers have the potential to achieve a degree of transformation at individual, cultural and structural levels when such actions are designed with an understanding of how individuals embody the gendered and gendering social structures and values that are constantly being produced and reproduced within society and academia. The case study highlights the benefits of supporting individuals as gendered actors in gendering institutions and of facilitating the development of critical gender awareness, suggesting that such interventions are most effective when undertaken as part of an integrated institutional equality agenda. By calling attention to the ongoing mutual construction of actors and practices in organizations, this paper seeks to make both a conceptual contribution to how we understand the (re)production and potential transformation of gender relations in academia and to influence wider policy dialogues on diversity at work. / FP7

Yes / Market competition is fierce and has been intensified due to globalization, therefore companies have experienced increase pressure to improve cycle and delivery times and achieve a high level of customization. Lean principles have been designed and implemented to respond to market changes. However, these principles are commonly aimed to aid low-mix high-volume (LMHV) manufacturers. This paper aims to develop a systematic approach to implement a lean framework in a high-mix low-volume (HMLV) manufacturing environment. An HMLV manufacturing environment, currently produces a variety of products which differs in terms of shape and size and different sequence of operation and as a much smaller batch size. Additionally, analysis of the manufacturing assembly shows there is a substantial variation in cycle and changeover time from product to product. In this approach, an action based study has been completed. This study uses data collection methods to be applied in order to calculate timings to be used in a Discrete Event Simulation (DES). The simulation uses lean tools to study material movement and facility layout to minimize bottlenecks and eliminate waste from the process. An introduction of lean supermarket is considered within the simulation whereby an operator withdraws products in an specific amount needed by a downstream process before introducing it across the assembly floor and an action plan is created. As a result, a lean manufacturing simulation study has been implemented to evaluate the effects of a supermarket concept within the current manufacturing environment. Initial results show a variation within the cycle and setup times for each of the different products due to the nature of the process. The paper, is limited to applying the approach to a singular production line and a singular manufacturing plant. The practical implications to implement this approach into a manufacturing environment is that there should be a need from the company. This approach should be driven by senior members within the organization as the resistance to change would increase the risk of failure. Another implication of the proposed approach is to ensure the accuracy of the data collected and to introduce a series of briefs within each stage of the approach. This is important as all stakeholders would need to be kept up-to-date with the project. However, the approach is applicable to any organization and can be applied to any sector. This paper, develops a systematic approach to implement a lean framework in a high-mix low-volume (HMLV) manufacturing environment. The approach is validated in an automotive manufacturing organization competing in global markets.