Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

Employers indicate their new employees lack the employability skills to be successful in the workplace. These skills are integral to the career and technical education (CTE) curriculum in Ohio. CTE teachers are responsible for grading and assessing student mastery of employability skills. This study examines Ohio CTE teachers' grading and assessment practices to determine student mastery of employability skills and provides an analysis to determine whether a relationship exists between their grading and assessment practices and demographic variables. The researcher sent a Google Survey to colleagues who completed the survey or forwarded the survey to eligible participants. Ninety-nine respondents completed the survey. Results indicate CTE teachers use behavior, work habits, and professionalism/employability often to determine students' grades for employability skills. Authentic assessments are used quite a bit or more by 93 percent of respondents. The cognitive level of assessments to measure employability skills focuses on having students apply what they learn quite a bit or more by 93 percent of respondents. The survey items were grouped into four factors for a multivariate analysis, revealing a significant interaction between a CTE teacher's career field and the multivariate factor, p < .001. Further research can examine why these interactions exist and how teaching and learning of outcomes related to employability skills are impacted. Many CTE teachers use grades as a measure of accountability, which can obscure a clear understanding of students' strengths and areas for improvement. Career and technical education teachers need professional development on research-based grading practices.

Committee: Karen Larwin Ph.D. (Committee Chair); James Powell Ed.D. (Committee Member); Mara Banfield Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Vocational Education

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2024, Business Administration

The United States Air Force (USAF) purchases billions in arms, equipment, and services to support the Department of Defense and its mission to defend the public from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Program Managers (PM) are the leaders appointed to develop, deliver, and sustain a solution for the capability gaps identified by operational leaders. PMs oversee programs of all sizes across many domains. A substantial proportion of programs fail to meet the triple constraint of cost, schedule, and performance. It is in the interest of the public who funds these purchases to identify the skills that can help PMs deliver programs within the triple constraint. PMs require skills to lead an effective program. The researcher used Katz's (1955) framework to identify the technical, human, and conceptual skills PMs need. The researcher interviewed nine retired USAF acquisition members and identified seventeen PM skills required to deliver programs within the triple constraint alongside other observations about the acquisition field. The seventeen skills include (1) General Military Knowledge, (2) Programmatic Knowledge, (3) Functional Knowledge, (4) Program-specific Knowledge, (5) Technological Proficiency, (6) Leadership, (7) Mentorship, (8) Communication, (9) Relationship Management, (10) Emotional Intelligence, (11) Political Skills, (12) Stakeholder Management, (13) Requirement Management, (14) Problem-solving, (15) Critical Thinking, (16) Outlook, and (17) Continuity. PMs can use the seventeen skills from this study as possible competencies to identify where they excel and need improvement and create a plan of action to improve performance at their current job and prepare for the next. Career managers can use the skill set as criteria to consider in selecting, developing, and retaining PMs to meet today's and tomorrow's needs. Additionally, the USAF should incorporate the seventeen skills into professional development, education, and training. The study further se (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leo Sedlmeyer (Committee Chair); Charles Fenner (Committee Member); David McCurry (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

DNP, Otterbein University, 2024, Nursing

Medical errors are considered one of the top causes of patient death. Closed claims analysis reveals an estimated 50% of claims are associated with preventable events by the anesthesia provider. Errors in anesthesia leading to critical incidents are associated with errors in situation awareness (SA). Identification of human factor variables, such as SA, provides an analysis of observable behavior and intuition necessary to guide crisis management, maintain clinical performance, and mitigate errors in patient safety. The human factor components of human error and SA play critical roles in patient safety and overall clinical anesthesia practice. The viability of simulation assessment delivers a consistent evaluation of learner progression and identifies areas of improvement to provide safe clinical practice and minimize adverse outcomes during patient interaction. Incorporating high-fidelity simulation into a multimodal admissions process for nurse anesthesia programs may provide a vital assessment of candidate SA in managing stressful scenarios and predict overall program progression and success. The evidence-based project serves to evaluate current literature for evidence-based strategies to provide a direct assessment of SA on prospective applicants during applicant interviews to nurse anesthesia programs.

Committee: Kacy Ballard (Advisor); Chai Sribanditmongkol (Committee Member); Amy Bishop (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Medicine; Nursing; Surgery

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2019, College of Education

This study examined how a technical college can best meet the needs of engineering technology-based employers to address the current workforce gap. The study also explored what engineering technology-based employers see as the largest skills gaps in the current workforce, as well as how a technical college can address the concerns. Using a multiple case study design, six employers within the engineering technology sector were interviewed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, field notes, and document analysis. Major categorical themes were clearly identified through the data as both skills gaps, and also technical college solutions to the workforce gap. The skills gaps were characterized as soft skills and technical skills; then, also clarified further as skills commonly sought by employers, along with skills commonly lacking in applicants or new hires. The emerging themes of technical college solutions to the workforce gap were identified as: recruiting and attracting more learners into the engineering technologies; training and education models designed to meet employer needs; and building stronger networks and relationships between industry and education.

Committee: James Olive (Committee Chair); Constance Savage (Committee Member); Judy Alston (Committee Member) Subjects: Community College Education; Education History; Engineering

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Medicine : Epidemiology (Environmental Health)

Objective The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable tool to objectively measure surgical skill necessary for repair of 4th degree perineal lacerations and then to use this tool to measure improvement. Methods We measured baseline surgical ability and clinical knowledge of twenty-six residents (PGY-1 to PGY-4) using Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) examination as well as a written examination. The OSATS consists of a global surgical skills assessment, a procedure checklist, and a final pass / fail grade. Five weeks after our baseline evaluation, a 1.5 hour workshop was administered to approximately half of the twenty-six residents (n=14). One week after this intervention, the residents were re-examined using the same assessment tools. Results The OSATS demonstrated construct validity as scores on the examination increased on both the OSATS-G as well as the OSATS-C from PGY-1 through PGY-4 (p = .001 and p = .041, respectively). Reliability indices for the OSATS were high. Eighty-one percent of the residents failed the OSATS before intervention because of failure to identify and repair the internal anal sphincter. After educational intervention, senior residents (PGY-3 + PGY-4) improved on all assessments (OSATS-G, p= 0.41, OSATS-C, p =0.004, written examination, p = 0.008) and all residents passed the OSATS. Conclusion A valid and reliable OSATS and written examination was developed to assess surgical skills, knowledge, and judgement necessary to properly manage 4th degree perineal lacerations. Residents improved on the OSATS and the written examination after receiving a structured educational workshop.

Committee: Erin Haynes PhD (Committee Chair); Rao Marepalli PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Obstetrics

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Music Education/Comprehensive Music Education

The purpose of this study was to determine elementary, middle, and junior high school orchestra directors' presentation sequence of technical skills to beginning and intermediate string students. Surveys were distributed to 209 public school orchestra directors from Illinois (n = 57), Texas (n = 53), California (n = 51), and North Carolina (n = 48). A total of 60 teachers from Illinois, North Carolina, and Texas responded to the survey. Since only three teachers responded from California, data from this state were removed from analysis in order to allow for a more reasonable comparison among the other three states. The survey consisted of four sections: director profile, school profile, skills, and method books. Results of the director profile indicated that 76.7% of respondents were female, 55% have a masters degree, 50.85% play the violin, and 18.6% have taught for more than 25 years. School profile indicated that 51.72% of respondents teach at a middle school, 84.4% teach in a suburban setting, and 50% start their students on a string instrument in the sixth grade. The skills section of the survey asked respondents to supply data pertaining to nine technical skills for the developing string player: (a) placing the bow on the string for the first time, (b) note reading, (c) low second finger, (d) low first finger, (e) students tune their own instruments, (f) vibrato, (g) shifting (violin/viola), (h) shifting (cello), and (i) shifting (bass). Seven of these nine skills are currently introduced by 48.2% of directors in the sixth grade. The method books section of the survey indicated that Essential Elements was used by 86.67% of directors. Implications for music education included encouraging orchestra directors to introduce vibrato before high school. Suggestions for further research included compiling a handbook describing the effective teaching techniques orchestra directors use to teach the nine technical skills to their developing string players.

Committee: Vincent Kantorski (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Music; Music