<p> Healthy nutrition is essential for everyone but in some periods, including pregnancy, people are more susceptible and demand attention for nutrition. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approximately 300 extra calories are needed daily to maintain a healthy pregnancy for women. This study analyzes the effects of health education that is provided to pregnant women who are either seeking an office visit for routine or high-risk pregnancy. This study predicted there is no difference in being referred for any type of health education offered to pregnant women between those who received routine pregnancy care and those with high-risk care. It also predicted there is no difference in whether pregnant women are offered nutrition health education/exercise for receiving routine prenatal care and high-risk care. The Statistical Package for Social Services (SPSS) was applied to analyze the 2010 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) data using Chi Square statistics. The results from this study indicated no significant relationship between pregnant women who are either seeking an office visit for routine or high-risk pregnancy, as it relates to health education. These results reassure the importance of health education.</p>

<p> Physical activity during the school day is becoming more important as the health of our children stays below optimal levels. Yoga has been shown to increase physical activity levels and decrease stress. This study, guided by the Social Cognitive Theory's idea of reciprocal determinism, sought to determine the effects of a Yoga Calm^&reg; certified classroom teacher incorporating yoga poses, breathing and relaxation techniques and games into every school day. Quantitative data were analyzed using a series of paired and independent t-tests, and self-reports revealed students receiving yoga decreased scores in stress and fighting, but increased scores in anger. Qualitative data were coded for themes and revealed the student's behavior improved, in particular an increase in focus and attention, and students were less fidgety. Yoga participation and use of breathing techniques increased at home and school, particularly when nervous, afraid, to prevent fighting, decrease anger, and to calm students down.</p>

This intervention study investigated whether children aged seven to ten years, experiencing difficulty developing literacy skills, could increase their phonological awareness and spelling skills by participating in a program lasting for 20 hours. A single subject, multiple base-line design was used with six participants. Phonological awareness blending and segmenting skills as well as single word writing skills were practiced explicitly and systematically in a highly structured program. Written words included mono-syllables, multi-syllabic words and words with derivational and inflectional morphemes. The words in the program focused on words with consistent sound-letter correspondence. All participants scored in the normal range for phonological awareness skills after the first 5 hours of instruction. Gains in phonological awareness skills did not influence spelling skills. Single word spelling only increased when writing skills were specifically targeted. All participants showed improvements in sound-letter correspondence writing skills. Some small, inconsistent gains were made in overall spelling skills.

The purpose of this study is to illuminate and richly describe five Chinese graduate students' learning experiences in subject area classrooms in a Canadian university. Using a case study qualitative inquiry approach, the researcher conducted five individual interviews, one focus group interview and five follow-up interviews on five Chinese graduate students in the Spring 2007. The findings of the current study indicate that the participants encountered difficulty when they were learning in a Canadian university in a second language environment but also they enjoyed support at the same time. Different strategies that Chinese students employed to deal with the course work were reported. The findings also indicate that instructors played a major role in their learning process. When the instructors valued students' input and selected topics where Chinese students could contribute, students were eager to participate in classroom activities. Discussions and implications are included for both teachers and students in the field of second language learning and teaching and for university administration. In the Canadian classroom there is a need to address professional development to prepare the instructors in understanding learning experiences of second language learners.

This study examined if and how participation in a community mapping project influenced grade four students’ environmental worldviews immediately after and three months after the culmination of the project. A mixed methods approach was used as students completed pre-test, post-test, and follow-up New Ecological Paradigm for Children scales and participated in post-test and follow-up interviews. Students’ overall NEP scores were pro-environmental at each point in the study and the students’ scores on the Rights of Nature factor improved significantly from the pre-test to the follow-up. Students’ interview comments suggested improvements in environmental knowledge and attitude, understanding of humans’ environmental impacts, and connection to place. The results of the study have implications for future research and environmental education curriculum and instruction.

Child and Youth Care students were asked: How do you experience gender conversations in the classroom? The participants of this study include three female and two male graduate students at the University of Victoria's School of Child and Youth Care. The study utilized a semi-structured approach, and participants were interviewed by telephone. A phenomenological approach guided the data analysis. Participants reported dissatisfaction with the current lack of gender content in the curriculum and believed more gender content would be beneficial to their understanding of the gender based concerns of their clients as well as the gender realities of CYC practice. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the SCYC implement a variety of strategies to increase the gender content in their curriculum.

This thesis explores how teachers are shown on-screen by asking the following questions: do on-screen, fictional portrayals of high school teachers affect student perceptions of their own teachers and further, how do these perceptions affect student-teacher relations and expectations of the classroom experience? Ten high school students in grades eleven and twelve were interviewed using surveys, one-on-one interviews, and a focus group. The findings revealed that fictional representations affect students in a multitude of ways, namely in student’s expectations of teachers and schooling and in how individual identities are formed and fostered. This study also found that while the participants demonstrated many critical literacy skills, they were noticeably lacking in others, thus speaking to the need for increased critical literacy education in our schools.

<p> African Americans diagnosed with diabetes are less likely to self-manage diabetes-specific modifiable risk factors. As a result, utilization of healthcare services occurs at a greater rate than other racial groups, and thereby incurs higher than expected healthcare costs. This ethnographic study explored the elements of diabetes educational material African Americans in a large city in the southern part of the United States found most useful to facilitate self-management of their disease. Bandura's self-efficacy theory provided the theoretical framework. Research questions addressed the preferred educational content, layout of material, and methods for educational delivery and caregiver support. A purposive sample of 30 African Americans with diabetes who had engaged in diabetes education classes participated in this study. Data were collected through in-depth personal interviews, which were inductively coded and then categorized around emergent themes. A key finding of this study is that participants preferred group learning formats, but perceived educational material to be confusing and difficult to understand. They also expressed some preferences for the use of color, pictures, and presentation of graphical information that may provide the basis for a revision of educational materials. Interestingly, participants indicated a tendency to seek out church members rather than family for support. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to healthcare professionals to adopt educational curricula that reflect cultural nuances and needs of target populations in order to support better health outcomes for at-risk populations and cost efficiency improvements.</p>

<p> Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, was firmly linked to a new subset of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC's) in late 2007. With growing rates of West Virginians affected by HPV-related oral cancers it becomes pertinent to verify that public healthcare professionals of all disciplines are aware of this causal relationship and educating their patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge level, attitudes and behaviors of a convenience sample of West Virginia's public healthcare professionals regarding the oral implications of HPV before and after and educational presentation. A pre- and post- intervention survey methodology was utilized with an additional survey mailed to the sample population four months later. Chi-square tests for independence and binary logistic regression were utilized to determine any significant differences of answer choice on all three surveys. Statistical analysis revealed a significant increase in knowledge concerning oral cancer related to HPV on two of the three survey questions (X2= 6.4, p=0.03, X2=6.3, p=0.02). After the educational lecture participants indicated they were more likely to engage and educate the public about oral cancer caused by HPV (X2= 4.2, p =0.08), encourage their at-risk patients to seek oral cancer screenings (X2=2.1, p=0.18) and claim to have taken every opportunity to speak with patients about oral cancer caused by HPV (X2=14.5, p=0.0001). Knowledge of and patient education efforts by West Virginia public healthcare providers concerning the oral implications of HPV has increased as a result of the lecture. The knowledge gain indicated knowledge deficiencies on the topic which indicates the topics' future application for interprofessional education (IPE). It is recommended that this topic be applied to IPE in other states or within other settings such as the correctional environment or Native American reservations.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-125).