<p> Poor mathematics and science skills are one of the leading challenges for advanced STEM career preparedness. There is currently a national deficit in prepared STEM career interest and readiness. A national decline prompted plans for the development of more rigorous standards. Changes in K-12 education were developed through Common Core and New Generation Science Standards. These changes were expected to better prepare students for post secondary educational opportunities such as college or technical school. This research studied effects of perceptions of the impact of high school STEM classes on career choices in two Tennessee schools that are actively participating in the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network and have actively implemented a STEM program since 2012. There is no evidence of research regarding student perceptions of STEM classes regarding STEM implementation in the state of Tennessee since 2012. According to the results of this study, students&rsquo; perceptions between subgroups showed no statistical significance regarding readiness or interest in STEM regarding college and career. The subgroups studied included race/culture, gender, classification by grade, and school attended.</p><p>

<p> A general aviation industry segment member known as a Certified Non-scheduled Air Taxi Operator (CNATO) conducts passenger flights on-demand for hire. While airline accidents have reached historic lows, CNATO accident rates remain above one per 100,000 hours (NTSB, 2015b). Unlike airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration has not made safety management system implementation mandatory within CNATOs. As a result, there has been no decrease in CNATO organizational accidents over a 6-year period since 2009. Study goals strove to find a predictable method of variable identification influencing at-risk CNATOs. </p><p> The study utilized a sequential transformative design comprising quantitative surveys and aviation accident databases to answer four research questions. Research questions used explanatory correlational methodology of independent and intervening variables examining descriptive, relational, and comparative results. Safety Culture Indicator Scale Measurement System (SCISMS) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Form 5x served as survey instruments that gathered leadership and safety culture information. Accident data was obtained from government sources through the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASAIS) database. </p><p> An inclusion criterion, stratified random cluster, and systematic random sampling narrowed the entire 2,046 CNATO population to a sample size of 25 participants from three FAA flight standards regional offices. Each participant had 3-weeks to complete an online survey containing 106 questions. Twenty participants completed the survey. Data analysis followed a discriminant function analysis to develop quantitative correlations between multiple variables. Characteristics of each participant yielded no conclusive data to suggest CNATOs share common safety culture dimension dominance. Study results concluded there was no relationship between leadership style, safety culture dominance, and accident rates. A comparison of CNATOs using safety management systems and accident rates also showed no relationship exists. The final research question sought to find a relationship between leadership style, safety dimension, and accident rate. None was found, however, a statistical trend emerged outside the research questions as a result of sequential research design. Data indicated a relationship among transformational leadership characteristic scale and SCISMS mean score. While the study yielded seminal individual results, research questions proved safety culture remains difficult to define and found relationships to identify at-risk organizations remains elusive.</p><p>

<p> Institutions of higher education have faced many challenges over the last few decades. Though many large institutions have the resources needed to respond to these challenges, small institutions have had to be innovative in the ways in which they are adapting. There are similarities between the external challenges that institutions face today and the challenges they faced in the 1960s and 70s, and it is worth examining whether or not the predictions and suggestions made by scholars in this time period offer insight in regards to the innovation found in small institutions today. This dissertation explored Erich Jantsch's 1969 report in the context of innovation in higher education today. This qualitative, multicase study found that Erich Jantsch's five crucial innovations can be found to some extent in the innovations of four small institutions of higher education.</p><p> Keywords: Erich Jantsch, higher education, disruptive forces, innovation, self-renewal, integrative planning</p><p>

<p> Concerns related to the protection of personal identification information, graphic user interface, patient privacy, and consumer acceptance, to name a few, have plagued the implementation of telemedicine. Advocates of telemedicine have gained the interests of consumers but failed to recognize the true nature of consumer attitudes towards the use of telemedicine. This research was a significant step towards understanding consumer unwillingness to use telemedicine. Understanding and acknowledging what customers feel is detrimental to improving the telemedicine implementation process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore consumers who may have experienced cognitive dissonance between their interest and the use of wireless body area networks. The interpretative phenomenological method was employed to understand and contribute knowledge about the phenomenon. The research participants were randomly selected patients, physicians, nurses, paramedics, and healthcare professionals. The findings contribute to knowledge by exposing the relevance of understanding cognitive dissonance, and its underrated affiliations. Such alliances play a meaningful role when embracing or rejecting the use of telemedicine. Future research may consider aligning and employing use behavioral models, such as the social cognitive theory, or the social capital theory, to help increase knowledge and understanding of consumer cognitive dissonance towards the use of telemedicine Advocates planning to implement telemedicine in rural areas could use these findings to help diminish or subdue indigenous consumer anxiety towards the use of telemedicine.</p><p>

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1939.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1975.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1975.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1939.