<p> The purpose of this descriptive research was to create awareness and an understanding of how participation in campus recreation contributes to students&rsquo; wellness, and how students can create healthy lifestyles throughout and after their college experience. This study was designed to examine the benefits of participation in campus recreation for undergraduate and graduate students at the University of South Florida. This study investigates the dimensions of wellness in campus recreation and explains how the wellness components of campus recreation have the ability to benefit a student&rsquo;s quality of life during their college years. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and used to help determine the benefits of participating in campus recreation facilities, programs, and services. A random sample of students was chosen to participate in the NASPA Recreation and Wellness Benchmark used to gather data about campus recreation users and their attitudes and opinions on campus recreation at the University of South Florida. A purposeful, convenience sample of students participated in focus groups providing qualitative data. The data showed that students at USF receive benefits from participating in campus recreation; several questions stand out to show students attitudes, opinions, and beliefs about how and why participation in campus recreation is benefiting their wellness and quality of life. This study may leave a footprint for other growing universities in evaluating the importance for students and the benefits of campus recreation departments.</p>

<p>Not since the Cold War and the launch of Sputnik has there been such a focus on producing college graduates in fields related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As manually driven careers disappear, new diverse careers are created and they have one thing in common, STEM. As students move into these challenging curriculums they will need to have faith in their abilities to achieve their goals. This self-efficacy is vital component for their collegiate and career success. This mixed methods study examines the unique pre-college STEM outreach phenomenon called Mind Trekkers. Mind Trekkers uses the `WOW? of experiential learning in the areas of STEM to motivate K-12 students to engage in STEM related fields. The focus of the study is on the first-year college freshmen that join this program, becoming STEM serviceteers, and how being part of this STEM phenomenon impacts their self-efficacy. The findings can be summed up in a quote I get to help people understanding in a different way than I would if I was just doing volunteering like I did in high school. It?s cool. I just love it and it gives me the confidence that what I am doing is the right thing here at (the university). (Jean) The results of the study indicate that the Mind Trekkers program acted as a catalyst to increase the self-efficacy of the students that participated in it, through personal social and academic impact.

<p> The current study examined the effects of gender, ethnicity, number of years enrolled in a current university, number of years in graduate school, number of years enrolled in a current graduate program, Conscientious Perfectionism, Self-Evaluative Perfectionism, and satisfaction with life on campus connectedness among a sample of 345 graduate students. The number of years enrolled in a current university, Self-Evaluative Perfectionism, and satisfaction with life were all significant predictors of campus connectedness. Interaction effects indicated that students with high satisfaction with life scores but low Self-Evaluative Perfectionism scores were more likely to experience greater campus connectedness and White students were more likely to experience greater campus connectedness when satisfaction with life scores were high. No significant differences in campus connectedness were found among Non-White students. Limitations, future directions, and implications for both counseling and graduate programs are discussed.</p>

A literature search revealed that there is a dearth of research exploring the needs of girls in pupil referral units (PRUs). This research focuses on the concept of ‘student engagement’ as a framework for investigation of the needs of girls in PRUs. It utilises an exploratory approach. Student engagement is a malleable characteristic and is therefore an appropriate focus for interventions. A constructionist paradigm is used and data are subject to thematic analysis. A deeper latent level of analysis is used to interpret and draw inferences from the data. The findings identify a number of direct strategies for engaging learners both affectively and cognitively. In addition, a working model is produced to diagrammatically represent the relationship between aspects of affective and cognitive student engagement, enabling practitioners to dynamically employ individually tailored interventions for engaging girls in PRUs.

<p> The current study examines California special education hearing officer (SEHO) case records for due process hearings held to settle disputes between families and the juvenile justice system. A mixed methods research design was used to explore trends and characteristics of the youths, families, types of disputes, and prevailing parties. Results indicate most of the cases involved male students aged 12-18 who met eligibility for emotional disturbance, seven types of complaints were filed, and families prevail more often in both substantive and procedural cases. The results of this study raise ethical concerns about juvenile justice agencies' ability to provide special education resources for court-involved youth.</p>

<p> This mixed methods study examined the proactive personalities of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Survey responses from first- and third-year cadets were analyzed to examine the influence of a cadet&rsquo;s proactive personality on several factors, to include perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange, affective commitment, job performance, job satisfaction, and intention to quit. Findings indicated that cadets&rsquo; proactive personalities significantly predicted their levels of perceived organizational support, the quality of their leader-member exchanges, their emotional commitment to the Academy, their job satisfaction, and their job performance as measured by their Military Performance Average. In addition, social desirability moderated the relationship between the cadets&rsquo; proactive personalities and their intention to quit. Furthermore, experiences and perspectives of cadets were captured using open-ended survey questions which addressed how cadets define proactivity, how cadets engage in proactive behavior, how naturally proactive cadets are perceived, how being proactive is important to leader development, and how being proactive benefitted the cadets. The collective responses contributed to the overall essence of what it means to be proactive at the Academy from the perspectives of cadets. Overall, findings supported the notion that encouraging cadets to be proactive and helping them gain access to being proactive may contribute to their leadership development. As such, the proactive personality construct should be considered as part of the CCLD&rsquo;s (2011) Conceptual Framework for Developing Leaders of Character, specifically within the area of cadets owning their development, the first step in the deliberate process of leader development at the Academy.</p>

<p> The history of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is visited in this dissertation, as well as different types of equestrian therapy programs that are being used in a variety of settings. Although there is limited research available regarding these types of studies, the research that does exist promotes an awareness and need for different therapeutic treatments, while acknowledging and promoting the benefits of equestrian psychotherapy. The purpose of this applied research study was to develop a proposed EAP school-based intervention program designed to work as a collaborative therapeutic program, using mental health workers, school personnel, and other paraprofessionals, working with children with emotional and behavioral disorders, in rural community public school settings. An evaluation of the program's efficacy by validity judges concluded that this program is potentially effective for working with these populations in this setting.</p>

<p> Key concepts in liberation psychology describe the treatment and regard for children in public school: oppression, colonization, hegemony. This study asked whether public education is experienced as oppressive, creating students who are colonized. Through a frame of liberation psychology and a depth psychological perspective, the study examines whether children are systematically "civilized" by the dominant adult population. Is the indigenous child&mdash;the child born with unique intelligence, knowledge, and desire to learn&mdash;systematically stifled within the existing educational paradigm? </p><p> Findings revealed that several practices at the Middle School enhanced learning, personal empowerment, self-esteem, and happiness, and were termed Liberatory. Most significant was whole-child value, where nonacademic strengths, intrinsic worth, and creativity were valued. Mutual, positive, connected relationship between teacher and student was primary, enhanced by trips outside of school with faculty, emphasizing character and life lessons. Acceptance permeated the peer environment. </p><p> Practices at the public High School, referred to as Oppressive, contributed to alienation, separation, fear, boredom, and disincentive to learning. Focus on right answers on tests encouraged memorization/forgetting, paradoxically described as "academic" by students, and creativity was not valued. Students cited teacher overwhelm as the main reason for the absence of connected relationship between educators and students. Judgment permeated the peer environment. </p><p> Participants were 10 females between 18 and 20 years old who attended a private middle school that practiced humanistic, whole-child learning, and a public high school in Santa Barbara, CA. A Likert survey asked 25 identical questions regarding experience of both schools, followed by in-depth interview highlighting the difference between the subject's experiences of both schools. Using hermeneutic data evaluation, Findings fell into 4 strong themes at 2 poles of experience and practice: Liberatory and Oppressive. </p><p> There was 1 significant exception to the clear pattern in Findings: a teacher within the Oppressive system used Liberatory practices effectively. Simple changes like respect, care, listening, and personal connection could increase learning and happiness in school.</p>

<p> Monitoring bodies in the District of Columbia articulated that people diagnosed with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) who reside in community-based group home settings are vulnerable to safety issues, poor quality of care from registered nursing services, and poor oversight. Those monitors have identified the lack of knowledge of roles and responsibilities among registered nurses (RNs) in these settings as a significant risk factor. The District of Columbia Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) has no formal orientation or training for RNs that encompasses the multifaceted needs of people diagnosed with IDD. This capstone project aimed to identify the effectiveness of an educational intervention and the effect of continuing education on RNs' perception of their practice in the field of IDD. After review of current literature, an educational presentation addressing all facets of entry-level registered nursing was developed. The presentation focused on the fundamentals of IDD nursing. A group of RNs working in the District of Columbia IDD community participated in an all-day educational program and completed a pre- and posttest evaluation to measure their knowledge prior to the intervention and their knowledge gain immediately after the intervention. A standard five-point Likert scale survey was delivered on the third and sixth months after educational intervention (EI). The survey asked the participants to rate the impact of the EI at three and six months post intervention to measure their perceived confidence level and actual practice changes. Eighty-seven percent of the RNs that participated in the EI and responded to the questionnaire reported that their role as an IDD nurse had changed because of participating in this training, and 93.8% reported that they would recommend this training to other RNs entering or working in this subspecialty.</p>

<p> The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study contributed a wealth of knowledge regarding the differences across national/societal cultures. However, it did not attempt to measure the potential variations in implicit leadership theories (ILTs; leadership prototypes) that could occur due to individuals being influenced by more than one national culture within countries, such as bicultural individuals. Variations found within a country can be described by their extent of acculturation or adoption of one or more cultural influences. The extent of a person&rsquo;s acculturation may predict individual ILTs, which are the patterns of attributes that bicultural persons associate with good leaders. In addition, the extent of a person&rsquo;s cultural intelligence (CQ) may interact with acculturation in impacting ILTs because CQ influences a person&rsquo;s ability to understand and adjust mental modes to cultural norm. This study explored the relationships among acculturation, CQ, and ILTs in a sample of respondents from Mexican descent living in the United States. The results of the study provide a better understanding of how variations in national culture impact ILTs. In addition, the findings suggest interpretation of cultural dimensions is complex. Significant findings include (a) differences across acculturation levels regarding expectation for a leader to be characterized by the ILT dimensions of sensitivity and tyranny; (b) very Mexican-oriented individuals (acculturation Level 1) showing more expectation for a leader to be characterized as well-dressed, well-groomed, compassionate, understanding, sympathetic, and sensitive and less expectation for a leader to be domineering and demanding than Anglo-oriented individuals (acculturation Level 3), acculturation serving as a predictor of metacognitive CQ; (c) acculturation and metacogntive CQ clearly interacting thus complicating the picture of cultural effects occurring during adjustments to a new cultural setting; and (d) metacognitive CQ serving as a partial mediator between acculturation level and the ILT dimension of sensitivity.</p>