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RESEARCH
conversation of new nurse stories linked themes, concernful
practices (patterns) and interpretation of the experience of being
a new nurse in an internship program. This study amplifies the
importance of the new nurse-preceptor relationship that supports
new nurses’ transition to practice.
MARIA MUÑOZ
, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Coordinator, Emphasis in
Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology
AND KINDRA SANTAMARIA
, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of French
“Use of Processing Instruction to Reteach ‘a’ Comprehension in
Spanish Speakers with Aphasia”
Processing instruction (PI) is an educational approach to teaching
specific skills to adult learners of a second language. PI alters
learners’ processing strategies by teaching learners to make
better form-meaning connections. The purpose of this study
was to use a curriculum designed on PI principles to train “a”
comprehension in adult learners of Spanish and re-establish “a”
comprehension in persons with aphasia. Sixty college-students
enrolled in first semester Spanish participated in the “a” training
experiment. Comprehension of “a” improved on post-test for the
trained groups. Case studies of three participants with aphasia
who completed the training demonstrate varying responses.
DEBORAH J. RHEA
, Ed.D.
Professor of Kinesiology, Associate Dean for
Health Sciences and Research
“Racing to the Finnish Line”
There has been much publicity since 2011 about Finland and its
ability to go from an F to a A+ in the past decade on the PISA
assessments (Global math, science and reading assessments).
The country is ranked second, third and sixth in those three areas
as a result of some changes made 10-20 years ago. As a result
of a six-week leave of absence in Finland to learn from the best
in K-12 education during the Fall 2012 semester, the purpose
of this presentation was to discuss the four-fold initiative from
the Finland visit: 1) Observe, interview and collect data from
teachers, administrators, government officials, students and the
community; 2) Develop a model based on the most necessary
Finnish strategies in order to create a successful public school
system in Texas; 3) Contact school district superintendents to
identify interested parties for a pilot project to test the proposed
model; and 4) Integrate/test the model in a pilot program in three
school districts of committed superintendents. The four-step
model developed from Finland education was also introduced:
1) Increase the amount of physical activity/recess in the schools;
2) Create equality across content areas/Add ethics as a content
area, 3) Assess students differently and 4) Restructure the school
day (less hours in classroom for K-6 students; extra time in
play/creativity).
JANIE WELLS ROBINSON
,
Ph.D., RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing
AND
GLENDA DANIELS
,
Ph.D., RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing
“African Americans with End Stage Renal Disease: A
Multifocal Study”
The rate of cases of end stage renal disease (ESRD) has increased
25 percent since 2000 along with increased rates of African
Americans and those aged 65 to 74. Lack of knowledge, poor
dietary practices and overall unhealthy lifestyles may contribute
to the ESRD increase, while as many as 28-78 percent of patients
with ESRD fail to adhere to the important aspects of care. Another
growing problem faced by those with ESRD is malnutrition due to
decreased food intake as a result of gastrointestinal disorders. The
purposes of this study were to 1) utilize a qualitative approach,
phenomenology, to determine the African American older adult’s
experience living with ESRD, 2) utilize quantitative methods to
assess ESRD non-adherence in African Americans and 3) to identify
the role or significance of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients
undergoing hemodialysis. Preliminary findings of this study
showed that nearly 53 percent of the participants were married
and 47.6 percent were not married. Approximately 86 percent
completed high school and 14.3 percent did not. More than half
of the participants were diagnosed with hypertension as well as
diabetes. All of the participants had adherent potassium level (<
6.0 mEq/L) and 76.2 percent had adherent phosphorus levels (<
6.0 mg/dL). The other 23.8 percent phosphorus levels were greater
than 6.0 mg/dL. Nearly 48 percent were adherent with interdialytic
weight gain (weight gain between each hemodialysis session <
2.5 kg) while 52.4 percent were not adherent. Only 9.5 percent
of the participants rated their overall health as being poor, while
90.5 percent rated their overall health as being fair or good.
MEENA SHAH
,
Ph.D.
Professor of Kinesiology
“The Effect of Changing the Eating Speed on
Energy Intake: A Randomized Cross-over Study”
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether eating a meal
slowly compared to eating the same meal more rapidly would
lead to lower meal energy intake, lesser feelings of hunger and
desire to eat and higher levels of fullness. Also investigated was
if the response to the two meal conditions was different between
normal and overweight or obese individuals.
RESEARCH
The Harris College Magazine
- 2013 ·
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