The article that I found “Does music influence stress in mechaniically ventilated patients?” explores if music can reduce stress in patients who are very ill. The purpose of this study was to see if two controlled conditions in their patients, people who listened to music and people who didn’t listen to music, would lower their patients stress level. For this study they used urinary cortisol to measure the stress, urinary measures of stress hormones have been used as biomarkers of chronic stress. So, they would go on daily 24hr urine collection to measure the levels of stress. The data that was collected was on gender, race, ethnicity, age, length of time being ventilated, and all medications. There were a total of 70 participants but 5 of them were not able to get urine collected due to a medication that had steroids in it and would effect the study. There were 65 patients who got the daily urine collection. When analyzing the data that they found in their tables and graphs they found no big signicance or pattern that help support their research question. However, the one thing they did see was a pattern in the PDM (patient directed music) that showed they had less stress related values in one of the figures.

Chlan, L. L., Engeland, W. C., & Savik, K. (2013). Does music influence stress in mechanically ventilated patients? Intensive & Critical Care Nursing, 29(3), 121-7. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.redlands.edu/10.1016/j.iccn.2012.11.001

How a Conceptual Framework Shaped a Mixed Methods Study is a piece written by Barbara Brown and Michele Jacobsen. Their study was conducted over a one year span in three different school jurisdictions in a Canadian province. Through the research they discovered that instructors needed more insight into three topics, learning sciences, pedagogies based on knowledge building, and growth oriented leadership. Their topic is that the industrialized models of schooling from the past are not designed to meet the needs of the learners today in the technological age. The research question is, of the three different ways that are being taught across the three schools jurisdictions, is one more beneficial in educating the children from the digital era? The type of data they will need to collect would be quantitative and in-depth interviews as well as expert opinions. The authors used online surveys to get masses of information and they went in and interviewed the principals of the schools for expert opinions. Personally I think this research is credible and well executed. They seem to have gone through all of the obstacles and conducted very through research. I think the online surveys would be a good way to get mass information and might interest classmates who need that type of surveys conducted.

Brown, Barbara, and Michele Jacopbsen. “Principals’ of Technology Leadership, How a Conceptual Framework Shaped a Mixed Methods Study.” Improving School Leadership, 2009.

This article was written by Manuel Hassassian in 2018. Hassassian is the executive vice president of Bethlehem university, a Catholic college founded in the Israeli-occupied West Bank which extends service to the Palestinians. This article was found in the Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture. The full citation is:
Hassassian, Manuel. 2018. “The Palestinian Christians Are Integral in the Palestinian National
Movement.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 22/23, no. 4/1: 57-64. Business Source Complete. EBSCOhost (accessed February 16, 2018).

This article details the effects of Israeli occupation on Christian Palestinians in the Middle East and why they have emigrated. Hassassian also makes it clear that Muslim Palestinians are not interested in the ethnic cleansing of Christians. The topic of the article centers around the Palestinian National Movement, and Hassassian’s research question could be asking how Christians in Palestine have been integral to the Palestinian National Movement. Hassassian uses expert knowledge and reports of acts, behaviors, and events as his data types. In order to collect the data, he used ethnography and public and private records. His method of data analysis is qualitative. I believe this research is credible because it was written in a peer-reviewed journal by someone with a high scholastic standing. I do believe that it is a biased article, but a substantial amount of literature researching the Israel/Palestine conflict is. This article could be interesting to my classmates because most people assume that Palestinian Muslims are the only group that is at the forefront of the Palestinian movement, but in fact, Palestinian Christians contribute significantly to the movement as well.

Sufrinko, Alicia. “Family History of Migraine Associated With Posttraumatic Migraine Symptoms Following Sport-Related Concussion.” Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, Jan. & feb. 2018, 7-14.

For This week’s research example I chose an article titled “Family History of Migraine Associated with Posttraumatic Migraine Symptoms Following Sport-Related Concussion” in the “Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.” The question this article attempts to answers is: Does a family history of migraines increase the likelihood of posttraumatic migraine symptom (PTM) following a Sports Related Injury? PTM is when one experiences severe chronic headaches after experiencing trauma to the head or neck area. After surveying 232 kids between the ages of 12 and 18 with a published family history of migraine document, it was concluded that 33% of athletes with no family history of migraine met criteria for PTM, meanwhile 57% of athletes with a familial history of migraine met criteria. In conclusion, participants with a family history of migraines are 2.6 times more likely to experience PTM symptoms after experiencing a sports related injury. As a result, family history of migraine may be regarded as a secondary risk factor to consider when one experiences head trauma. There are limitations to this research however. First, there is a possibility of a selection bias because patients were recruited for this research from a specialty concussion clinic with a large interval (1-13 days post injury). Also, the severity of each individuals head injury was different, which also brings up another flaw. It is impossible to research 232 kids with the same severity of concussion, because each concussion is different. All in all, I believe it is hard to ultimately predict whether or not genetics play a significant role in this research.

The author mentioned that he used Chi-square analyses and t tests to determine whether groups differed on any demographic and injury characteristics. Surveys and questionnaires is a data collection method needed for this research, as well as public and private records. Reports of acts, behavior, or events, and demographic data are two types of data needed to conclude this research.

I have been trying to build a basic curriculum for the research process itself which is why I have been trying to expand my research from simply encouraging more community involvement. Along with community involvement, a place-based education should also include a good amount of environmental submersion. Nature is very much a part of the place that children grow up and they should learn and interact with that through academic avenues. I found a great book that talks about “ecophobia”, Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart of Nature in Education. Although the title would have one believe that the book is about eliminating a fear of nature, the book talks a lot about how to make classroom lessons more tangible/interactive.

The basis of the text refers to the way that children are to young to understand abstract concepts. So in the classroom, when a teacher is teaching students about the weather, plant growth, forests, oceans, etc, it will be difficult for them to fully absorb the material because they cannot physically touch it or see it with their own eyes. Children in younger elementary still learn best by experience. Teaching abstract thought to this age range of students is like teaching to a wall. It, of course, isn’t impossible to teach students the different shapes of clouds or types of weather, but without the hands-on experiences, students will only learn to memorize facts.

The information I find in this book will be especially helpful in creating the very basic curriculum/ units that I would plan on introducing to a select group of classrooms for observational research. I will use this book to enhance my knowledge on various methods and ideas that will create a more interactive classroom environment and, hopefully, create a greater understanding of subject matter. Not only will this aid in the absorption and application of subject matter by students, these methods will help ELL students (English Language Learners). Because of their lack of English language skill, it can be very difficult for students to grasp concepts. Lessons with a more interactive component greatly help ELL students because they don’t necessarily need a strong English vocabulary to succeed in the lesson.

Overall, this book was a great find for me and I am looking forward to delving deeper into the information to learn more about how this can aid in my research.

Sobel, David. Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education.
Orion Society, 2013.

I found this research using the reference list of an article I also found useful on google scholar. The title of this research is “Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Incidence of Cardiovascular Events in Women” it can be found in The New England Journal of Medicine. My topic is whether pesticide particulate matter from agrochemical using farms is affecting the health of people who live nearby. In this research example the long-term exposure of particulate matter (PM2.5) and cardiovascular events is monitored and analyzed. I discovered in my last research example that women were least affected by pesticide particulate matter. Meaning there was no correlation between pesticide residues and heart disease. In this research example 65,893 postmenopausal women without previous cardiovascular disease were studied. In this research example however, the effects of air pollution as a whole were being monitored. To narrow the test group women from 36 U.S. major cities from 1994 to 1998 were studied, the women were followed up for 6 years. In order to determine a women’s exposure to air pollution the nearest monitor to each of their locations was used; each of their first cardiovascular event took into account a variety of demographic factors. 1816 women had either several cardiovascular events or passed away. The results showed that levels of PM2.5 ranged from 3.4 to 28.3 μg per cubic meter. With each increase of 10 μg there was an increase of cardiovascular events by 24% and a 74% increase of death. When reading the research, the results turned out as I expected, with an increase in PM2.5 come an increase in heart disease for both men and women. However, this research was conducted in cities, the air pollution in cities must be vastly different that air pollution in rural areas where pesticide using farms are mainly located. This research still leaves me wondering why males are more susceptible to heart disease due to pesticide PM2.5 than women, perhaps in the last research example the women being studies were mostly spouses of male pesticide applicators or farmers and were therefore exposed less.

Miller, Kristine A. “Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Incidence of Cardiovascular Events in Women.” NewEnglandJournalofMedicine, 1 Feb. 2007, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa054409

I found an article using google scholar which stresses the importance of integrating technology and new teaching strategies at all grade levels. Through the analysis of integrated technology, there was evidence that showed the impact of technology on student learning outcomes. There was a greater difference at the younger levels when it came to integrating technology and more mathematical teachings. There was less of a change when it came to integrating more technology, math, and engineering subjects at  higher levels of education because there was less interest in the subjects. The study found that the children benefited the most from STEM at an early age because it was able to provoke their curiosity in the subjects and challenge them in a different way. The meta-analysis was used to show the differences in the integration of STEM into the educational process and show how it changed the students learning abilities. This helped me to find more information on the effects of technology in the classroom and how it can benefit or harm student learning outcomes. The study used quantitative and qualitative data from various research articles to produce a more statistical analysis of the effects of STEM in the classroom. It was interesting to learn about the differences that technology can have on different grade levels and that the integration of technology in the classroom has proved to be more beneficial among younger age groups.

Becker Kurt; Park Kyungsuk. “Effects of integrative approaches among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects on students’ learning: A preliminary meta-analysis.” Journal of STEM Education : Innovations and Research; Auburn. Vol. 12 Iss. 5 (Jul-Sep 2011): 23-37

The article I found for Research Example #2 is called “Impact of moving into poverty on maternal and child mental health: longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study” by Sophie Wickham, Ben Barr, and David Taylor-Robinson. This study was done in response to ambiguity regarding whether or not poverty is related to maternal and child mental health issues because while it is usually assumed that they are, there have not been enough studies or analyses on studies on the matter to come to a conclusion. The UK Millennium Cohort study that was analyzed consisted of 5877 individuals being occasionally tested for poverty levels, maternal psychological distress, and child socioemotional behavioral problems as they aged from 9 months to 11 years old. The study had found that maternal psychological distress from the individuals’ mothers and socioemotional behavioral problems in children were related to  household income dipping below 60% of the national average. This specific analysis of the study adjusted for confounding factors to find that the transition into what was defined as poverty was linked to direct increase in maternal psychological distress and socioemotional behavioral problems in children. Maternal psychological distress was then also controlled for and it was found that transition into poverty and socioemotional behavioral problems in children were not correlated, as the statistical findings were nonsignificant. Therefore, the maternal psychological distress that mothers were experiencing during their transition into poverty was affecting the expression of socioemotional behavior in their children. I found this article really interesting and useful to my topic because it dealt with the relationship between mother and child and poverty. Distinguishing between what is causing psychological or emotional distress within those groups is important to studying the relationship between poverty and mental health

Wickham, S., Barr, B., Taylor-Robinson, D. (2016). Impact of moving into poverty on maternal and child mental health: longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study. The Lancet, suppl. Supplement 2. (Vol. 388, pp. s4).

Research Example 2:

The title of this peer reviewed journal is called, “Journal of Interior Design”. The article within this journal is called “Soft Skills versus Hard Skills: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Interior Design Interns”.

The article talks about how the field of interior design is always changing. To become a successful interior designer, a person needs specific education and a long line of internships and experience within the carrier. Since interior design is ever changing, it is hard for academic programs focusing on this subject, to keep up and have an accurate updated curriculum guide for students.

A study was constructed, using a social constructivist approach to try and better understand practitioner’s perceptions of soft and hard skills that are needed for aspiring interior designers. The study uses survey questions, directed towards evaluate senior- level interior design students at a mid sized Southeastern university. The survey also only used open ended questions. Once the study was completed the data was analyzed. The findings showed that soft skills were considered to be more positive and beneficial than hard skills.

I believe that this was a smart study to conduct, allowing for educational institutions to narrow their teachings to focus more on “soft skills” since it was found to be most beneficial. I think my classmates would find it surprising how much interior design changes every year. It is kind of like fashion, changing all the time, something that was “cool” could be considered bland and boring in a matter of weeks/ months/ years. This information would be a primary source, because the authors conducted the study and analyzed the data themselves, it was not taken from another source.

Citation: Gale, A., Duffey, M., Park‐Gates, S., & Peek, P. (2017). Soft Skills versus Hard Skills: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Interior Design Interns. Journal of Interior Design, 42(4). doi:10.1111/joid.12105

For this week’s research example, I decided to read literature written by political activist Angela Davis who has done extensive research on the prison system and is an advocator for the abolition of the prison. In her book, Are prisons obsolete?, she writes a chapter titled “How Gender Structures the Prison System” which speaks largely to my research topic in examining the difference in how female and male prisoners are treated by prison staff. The data that Davis gathers comes in the form of writings and memoirs of incarcerated women, specifically women of color. In these excerpts, the women described the inadequate medical attention they received, the constant sexual violence they experienced by prison staff in the form of verbal and physical abuse, and use of drugs to control their behavior. She uses past published reports, such as the 1996 Human Rights Watch Report and All too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons, to illuminate the violations of power exerted by male officers that used their privileges to engage in sexual relations, threat, verbally degrade and harass women prisoners. Although her research does not produce original data, she utilizes the records of experiences of incarcerated women as well as published reports to expose the harsh and unjust treatment of women in prisons, treatment that is not just confided in prison walls, but also lives in the greater society. Thus, one of the major reasons to abolish the prison system is because of the institutionalized abuse of women in prisons that is seen as obsolete in the larger society.

Davis, Angela Y., and Angela Y. Davis. Are prisons obsolete? an open media book. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2010.