Private Catholic University Research Articles

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGLISH OF THE FOURTH YEAR EDUCATION STUDENTS IN A PRIVATE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Recognizing oral communication as a critical component of functional literacy. This study identifies the extent of the factors on the oral communication skills in English of fourth-year education students at a private Catholic university during the Academic Year 2020-2021 and analyzes the relationship between these factors and their proficiency levels. A descriptive research design was employed, involving thirty-seven (37) students. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire and analyzed using weighted mean and Pearson product-moment correlation. Results indicate that the overall oral communication skill of students was rated as "Good," with strengths in addressing questions and clear pronunciation. However, areas like vocabulary, confidence, and grammatical accuracy require improvement. While factors such as practice, self-confidence, vocabulary, and school environment were identified as significantly affecting communication skills. Despite these findings, no significant relationship was found between the overall level of oral communication skills and the extent of factors affecting the students' communication skills. The study concludes that while students demonstrate adequate communication skills, targeted interventions are essential to address weaknesses. Recommendations include integrating vocabulary-building activities, confidenceboosting exercises, and frequent opportunities for practical language use both inside and outside the classroom to enhance proficiency.

Reflecting on the Reflections: Using Word Clouds to Assess a Catholic University Core Curriculum and Community-Engaged Learning Course

The current research utilized a modern word cloud tool to assess the effectiveness of course objectives and outcomes of a community-engaged learning and core curriculum course at a private Catholic University. The foundational course revolves around social justice using the setting of sport and physical activity. Beginning with a final reflection of the course and inserting data into word cloud tool, results indicate that this assessment technique offered insight into future enhancements of college course assessment by breaking down and focusing on specific words or phrases that may or may not be meeting the needs of the instructor and students.

Remarkably reproducible psychological (memory) phenomena in the classroom: some evidence for generality from small-N research

BackgroundMainstream psychology is experiencing a crisis of confidence. Many of the methodological solutions offered in response have focused largely on statistical alternatives to null hypothesis statistical testing, ignoring nonstatistical remedies that are readily available within psychology; namely, use of small-N designs. In fact, many classic memory studies that have passed the test of replicability used them. That methodological legacy warranted a retrospective look at nonexperimental data to explore the generality of the reported effects.MethodVarious classroom demonstrations were conducted over multiple semesters in introductory psychology courses with typical, mostly freshman students from a predominantly white private Catholic university in the US Midwest based on classic memory experiments on immediate memory span, chunking, and depth of processing.ResultsStudents tended to remember 7 ± 2 digits, remembered more digits of π following an attached meaningful story, and remembered more words after elaborative rehearsal than after maintenance rehearsal. These results amount to replications under uncontrolled classroom environments of the classic experiments originally conducted largely outside of null hypothesis statistical testing frameworks.ConclusionsIn light of the ongoing replication crisis in psychology, the results are remarkable and noteworthy, validating these historically important psychological findings. They are testament to the reliability of reproducible effects as the hallmark of empirical findings in science and suggest an alternative approach to commonly proffered solutions to the replication crisis.

Academic Expectancy Stress and Mental Toughness of Senior High School Honor Students in a Private Catholic University in Negros Occidental

Academic Expectancy Stress and Mental Toughness of Senior High School Honor Students in a Private Catholic University in Negros Occidental

Reflective journaling of nursing students on weight bias

BackgroundSelf-reflection, combined with clinical experience, has been shown to enhance clinical and didactic knowledge among undergraduate nursing students. Reflective journaling is a valuable educational tool that builds critical thinking skills and raises self-awareness through the purposeful inspection of beliefs and attitudes. However, there are little data available on reflective journaling during clinical education exploring weight bias as part of a weight sensitivity training program. ObjectivesThe study aimed to explore the use of reflective journals as a tool to raise self-awareness and self-reflection of weight bias as part of a weight sensitivity training program. SettingsThe project was conducted at a four-year pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing program with third-year clinical students in a private Catholic university in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA. ParticipantsAll third-year students enrolled in a medical-surgical clinical practicum were eligible to participate from August to December 2017. Design & methodsFor this qualitative study, data were collected during the 15-week medical-surgical clinical practicum, in which students completed five journal entries. De-identified data were analyzed using thematic analysis. ResultsA total of 98 students, 18 years of age and older consented, and 280 journal entries were analyzed. Four themes emerged from a majority of the journal entries: 1) increased self-awareness of personal weight bias; 2) acknowledgment of obesity as a chronic disease and not a choice; 3) insufficient resources or training may perpetuate weight bias; and 4) opportunity for weight sensitivity training to improve patient care. ConclusionsThrough reflective journaling, nursing students were able to periodically self-reflect on their personal weight bias as it pertained to caring for patients with obesity. This introspective self-reflection as part of a weight sensitivity training may lead to not only improving clinical competencies in patient care but also in reducing weight bias in clinical practicum.

Revisiting religious higher education in China: comparative analysis of Furen University narratives

Established in the 1920s, Furen University was a private Catholic university in China. Just as in the case of other Christian colleges in modern China, Furen was taken over by the communist government soon after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and incorporated into the new state-controlled higher education system. Since the beginning of China’s reform and opening up, Chinese scholars have shown growing interest in exploring the religious history of the country’s pioneering higher education institutions. Focusing on Furen University, this study draws data from various sources to examine critically some popular Furen University narratives proposed by contemporary Chinese scholars in China. These narratives suggest that this Western Catholic university underwent substantial changes during its decades-long operation in Chinese society, becoming more Sinicized, secular, and patriotic. However, our analysis indicates that Furen University’s history in modern China might be more complex than these narratives suggest.

Harnessing Student Leadership in Building a Center for Students in Recovery at a Private Catholic University in Central Texas

This presentation describes the different processes and steps taken by two faculty members from the social work department and a group of students to start a Center for Student Recovery (CSR) at a small private university in central Texas serving mostly first-generation Hispanic students. The presentation highlights the unique history of the university and how its mission and values align with the creation of a CSR, making it the first private catholic university with this type of service to its student population. Additionally, the presentation showcases the different stages undergone by the stakeholders to get to the point of student involvement. The stages include the social work department obtaining part of an SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) grant which allowed for training to be embedded in certain classes which sparked conversations of substance and alcohol use among the student population. It also included a student health survey that provided a snapshot of the state of substance and alcohol use on campus, and the approval of a proposal presented to the University’s board of trustee and president. Emphasis is given to the process of recruiting the student leadership, the student’s motivation and their role in the creation of the CSR.

KIRCHE IN LIEBESDYNAMIK – INTEGRALES MISSIONSVERSTÄNDNIS... MIT PRAKTISCHEN KONSEQUENZEN. SKIZZE EINER EXISTENZANALYTISCHEN PASTORALTHEOLOGIE

The church in a dynamic of love – an integral understanding of mission with practical consequences. A draft of an existential-analytical-pastoral-theology. If we want to discuss an integral term of mission, we will have to talk about existence in a three-fold way: about God’s existence, the church’s existence as well as the human’s existence. Only within the context of these interdependent definitions we will be able to talk about an integral term of mission. To this day, there has not been any theoretical foundation within the theology which would have explained how these three-fold differentiation of existence could be considered in ecclesiastical action plans, especially with regard to the practical consequences evolving from ecclesiology (the church’s existence), the trinity (God’s existence) and anthropology (human’s existence). Subsequently, I venture to conceptualise a new approach for pastoral theology which is aware of the practical consequences of those three interwoven realities of existence as well as the consequences of a sustainable, existential action plan for a church in light of an integral mission term. This newly developed foundation of an ecclesiastical praxis I call ‘Logo-pastoral and existential-analytical-pastoral-theology’ which is inspired by theologians and philosophers such as Paul Michael Zulehner, Karl Rahner, Romano Guardini, Max Scheler and last but not least Pope Francis. This published suggestion is supposed to be understood as a first draft which was presented for the first time on the 28th of May 2018 at the Private Catholic University in Linz (Austria).

Actitudes y conocimientos frente a la donación de órganos y tejidos

Objetivo: analizar la fuerza de asociación entre los conocimientos y la actitud hacia la donación y trasplante de órganos y tejidos en internos de enfermería de universidades privadas de Lima Norte. Metodología: el estudio fue de corte transversal. La muestra estuvo conformada por 82 internos de enfermería. Las variables del estudio fueron: conocimiento y actitud hacia la donación y trasplante de órganos y tejidos. Asimismo se incluyeron variables sociodemográficas. Se empleó el modelo de regresión logística ordinal donde se calcularon Odds Ratios (OR). Resultados: del total de los encuestados el 98% tenía un conocimiento medio sobre la donación y trasplante de órganos y tejidos y un 62.98% tenía una actitud indiferente. Tener un conocimiento alto (OR:11.21) se asoció con tener una actitud positiva hacia la donación y trasplante órganos y tejidos. Asimismo los factores disponibilidad de donar órganos y estudiar en una universidad privada católica se asociaron con una actitud positiva. Conclusiones: los internos de enfermería con un conocimiento alto sobre donación, con disponibilidad a donar órganos y tejidos y que estudian en una universidad privada católica tienen más posibilidades de presentar una actitud positiva. Estos resultados muestran una necesidad de políticas efectivas, de mayor educación con el fin de tener una aceptación y disponibilidad de donar órganos y tejidos cuando se es un donador potencial.

Organizaciones educativas, el poder en el aula. Estudio de caso en el Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano y en la Institución Universitaria Salazar y Herrera

Acquiring knowledge must be the most motivating feature for learners in any field of study. However, this can be a complex issue and sometimes tortuous, because power relations are immersed inside the most evident or subtlest aspects of the classroom. The objective of this research is the analysis of power and its involvement in the classroom, using multiple theoretical approaches (Machiavelli, Parker, Weber, Foucault, Redorta, Mintzberg and Morgan) to see the incidence of power on two colleges in the City of Medellin, Colombia: Instituto Tecnologico Metropolitano (ITM), a public educational institution and the Institucion Universitaria Salazar y Herrera (lUSH), a private Catholic university institute. Both institutions were selected for having non similar social characteristics. The research had a qualitative approach; subsequently, following the methodological recommendations of Galeano (2009) for this type of studies, a categorical system was created resulting in 9 categories of analysis. As a methodological tool in the field work, a structured interview was chosen and applied to 10 teachers and 10 students in both institutions selected. Twenty nine open-ended questions were used for interviews with teachers, and fourteen open-ended questions as well for students. The data were analyzed descriptively, taking each one of the nine conceptual categories: learning, authority, institution, environment, classroom situations, forms of power inside the classroom, knowledge, recognition of agents in the class, interests. It was found that in both institutions there was a latent desire for learning by students. Also, students considered that ITM had higher academic demands than IUSH. However, IUSH had a greater influence in the process of decision making, which makes the teacher sometimes feel they should give up to pressure to lower the level of academic demands. Initially, teachers exert authority in the classroom in both places, but they should corroborate it by demonstrating their knowledge and pedagogy in front of students. ITM students feel they are living in a more hostile environment as a result of the social problems in which they live (more vulnerable population). The classroom of both places remains as a political stage, framed by different interests. Researchers have observed that in both institutions power has a bigger role than knowledge; students, in their vast majority, expressed a short-term vision in the learning process, they are happy with having higher grades, but their knowledge learning level is minimal or non-existent.

Factors related to academic success among nursing students: A descriptive correlational research study

The current rise in employment is improving forecasts for the future supply of registered nurses; however sizeable shortages are still projected. With the intention of improving academic success in nursing students, related factors need to be better understood. The purpose of the correlational study was to describe the relationship between emotional intelligence, psychological empowerment, resilience, spiritual well-being, and academic success in undergraduate and graduate nursing students. A descriptive correlational design was utilized. The study was set in a private Catholic university. There were 124 participants. There were 59% undergraduate and 41% graduate students. Background data, in addition to the Spreitzer Psychological Empowerment Scale, the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, was collected from students who met study criteria. In a combined sample, academic success was correlated with overall spiritual well-being, empowerment and resilience. Although academic success was not correlated with overall emotional intelligence, it was correlated with the emotional intelligence branch four (managing emotions) score. When undergraduate and graduate students were considered separately, only one correlation was found to be significantly related to academic success in the undergraduate sample, namely, emotional intelligence branch one (perceiving emotions). When examining the data from just graduate level nurses, significant relationships were found between total emotional intelligence with academic success, resilience with academic success, and psychological empowerment with academic success. The significant relationship between psychological empowerment, resilience, spiritual well-being and academic success in this study supports the statements in the literature that these concepts may play an important role in persistence through the challenges of nursing education. Research is needed to examine if strategies to enhance empowerment, resilience, and spiritual well-being can increase academic success in a test-retest design.

Academic/Clinical Partnership and Collaboration in Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Education

The Institute of Medicine and the Carnegie Foundation for Health Education have called for significant changes in nursing education to reduce medical errors and improve health outcomes. In response to this call, a small private Catholic university undertook an innovative bachelor of science in nursing curriculum revision based in large part on the competencies described by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative. Part of the curriculum revision involved an innovative model of clinical education. The model emphasized integration and application of concepts across multiple didactic courses and envisioned the student as an active member of the health care team. Instead of exposing students to numerous clinical placements, the goal was to increase student exposure to one site to appreciate system issues and effectively work with a stable health care team. Implementation of this model required a strong academic/clinical partnership between Lourdes University and a large integrated regional health care system, ProMedica. Supported by a program grant from the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services Nurse Education Practice, Quality and Retention, the practice-based role of the clinical integration partner (CIP) was developed to implement the new clinical education model. This article describes the academic/clinical partnership and the role of the CIP in implementing a QSEN-based clinical education model.

Religiosity and Spirituality: A Psychometric Evaluation of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire

The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) was administered to 124 undergraduate college students attending a private Catholic university and the result was compared to measures of spirituality, religious behavior, religious coping, and affect. The present study found that the SCSORF was strongly related to spirituality, in particular, seeking support from one's spirituality. However, the SCSORF was not correlated with an openness to new spiritual experiences. The SCSORF was also related to religious behavior and religious coping. The SCSORF was not related to affect, indicating that scores on the SCSORF were not affect-dependent. Results from this study provide additional evidence that the SCSORF is a reliable and valid measure of religious faith.

Impact of mobile computing on the learning environment: A case study at Seton Hall University

SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATING COMPUTERS into colleges and universities continues to be a significant challenge. This article describes an undergraduate Mobile Computing Program at Seton Hall University, a private Catholic university in New Jersey, covering the period of Fall 1998 through Spring 2000, with survey analysis being completed in 2001. Faculty, staff, and administrators, concerned with technology use, learning outcomes, and student satisfaction, focused on an evaluation of the program to discover what works and what needs to be improved. This paper describes their findings. Overall, the program received satisfactory marks from the surveyed students in all areas. Specific recommendations were based on the evaluation and assessment reports. The researchers believe that this case study can be useful for others involved with the integration, evaluation, and assessment of a laptop program in higher education.

Information literacy across the wired university

Librarians at a private Catholic university utilized a grant enabling them to team up with members of other campus constituencies to create an information literacy program aimed toward incoming students, in order to actuate a quality educational experience while improving students’ ability to do research. The participants employed various pedagogues and assessments designed to address diverse learning styles. A combination of fortunate elements: a university of optimum size, a ubiquitous computing environment, a desire to improve information literacy across the curriculum, and enthusiastic partners have promised to make this project a success.

A Comparison of Academic Dishonesty Among Business Students in a Public and Private Catholic University

A questionnaire on academic dishonesty was administered to junior and senior business administration majors at a public and a private Catholic university. Students were asked their extent of participation in 16 dishonest academic practices; their ratings of the ethical levels of the practices; their ratings of the likelihood of reasons for participation in the practices; and their sex, grade point average (GPA), and class rank. Though the catalog of the Catholic university indicated a greater emphasis on ethics and values education than did the catalog of the public school, the two groups of students reported very similar levels of academic dishonesty. Possible reasons for the disconnect between the emphasis on values and morals at the Catholic university and the students' academic behavior are discussed.

Leadership for Positive Change: Perspectives of 12 Liberal Leaders

This qualitative study investigated perceptions of 12 liberal contemporary leaders regarding the role of the moral leader as a positive change agent. The leaders were selected by graduate students at a private Catholic university in South Florida based on a moral leadership rating-scale survey. The leaders were asked about their perceptions of themselves as positive change agents and how they empower others. The results indicated that the interviewees all believe that they are positive change agents and that they empower others by getting them to participate, by encouraging, by being examples, by raising their consciousness, and by helping them to discover their own power and interests.

The Gladding, Lewis, and Adkins Scale of Religiosity: Differences among a Sample of Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Nonaffiliates

Comparisons with respect to age, sex, religious affiliation, and worship attendance were made using the Gladding, Lewis and Adkins Scale of Religiosity. The sample was comprised of 107 graduate students in education from a private Catholic university; students were categorized by religious preference. Those who attended religious services most often scored highest on the scale regardless of religious affiliation. Implications for use of these findings in counseling are discussed.

The Canadian Research Centre for Anthropology

Centre (C.R.C.A.) was established in the early 1950s by Rev. Joseph E. Champagne, O.M.I. [Oblates of Mary Immaculate], Director of the Institute of Missiology at the University of Ottawa, with the help of the National Museum of Canada. It now forms part of St. Paul University, a small private Catholic university run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Oblates have a long history of missionary work in the Canadian North. St. Paul University is federated with the University of Ottawa. Until recently, the Centre functioned mainly as an informal clearing house for anthropological research in Canada. In the last two years, its research and publishing activities have been expanded. It has a particular interest in: social science and community development (socio-economic development and change) with specific emphasis on social, cultural, and applied anthropology; community development in large, sparsely populated frontier areas; and traditional peoples in situations of change and poverty. geographic regions in which the Centre operates include the Canadian Middle North and Arctic, particularly the Yukon Territory and Northern Ontario. northern research program is financed almost entirely by a grant from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development under its program of assistance to northern institutes and expeditions. Centre has a vigorous publications program. It started in 1955 with the publication of Anthropologica, a bilingual journal in the social sciences, and has received support in the past from the Council. journal has carried a number of papers on the North. ... In its monograph series, it has published: Townsmen, a study of Eskimo adaptation to town life at Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, by John and Irma Honigmann; The Metis of the Mackenzie District, a study of people of Indian and White ancestry in the Northwest Territories by Richard Slobodin; and Kabloona and Eskimo in the Central Keewatin, by Frank Vallee. ... first of the Centre's Document series dealt with Community Development in Canada and included reference to activities in northern Canada; it was written by Antony Loyd, now with the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. Centre's Handbook series was initiated with Aleksandrs Sprudzs' Co-operatives: Notes for a Basic Information Course, which is a guide to establishing and running co-operatives, with particular reference to Eskimo co-operatives .... Centre issues a small bilingual monthly newsletter called Information, which describes its activities. ...