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Select one of the three mixed methods research articles (#1-3) in [Reading]. You can select other mixed methods research articles. 

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Mixed Methods Research.

This module introduces the basic concepts of research approaches and research design. We will review different philosophical views, the types of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs, and the relationships among philosophy, designs, and methods. We will also discuss how to select a research approach for your future research.

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

  1. State the definition and the characteristics of mixed methods research
  2. Explain the 3 core mixed methods designs and compare them.
  3. Select the appropriate design, based on outcomes, data, timing, and researcher.

To achieve these objectives: read [Chapter 10 of the textbook]; review/watch [Module 7 Resources]; and complete the [Final Project][Discussion Forum].

Reading_Mixed Methods

  1. Sparr, J. L., Knipfer, K., & Willems, F. (2016). How leaders can get the most out of formal training: The significance of feedback‐seeking and reflection as informal learning behaviors. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 28, 29-542.  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hrdq.21263
  2. Yawson, R. M., & Greiman, B. (2016). A systems approach to identify skill needs for agrifood nanotechnology: A multiphase mixed methods study. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 27,517-545. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hrdq.21266
  3. Jara, I., Claro, M., Hinostroza, E. J., Martin, E. S., Rodriguez, P., Cabello, R., et al. (2015). Understanding factors related to Chilean students’ digital skills: A mixed methods analysis. Computers & Education, 88,387-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.07.016
  4. Reio, T. G., Jr. & Werner, J. M. (2017). Publishing Mixed Methods Research: Thoughts and Recommendations Concerning Rigor. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 28, 439-449. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hrdq.21291

Discussion Question

Provide your responses.

  1. Select one of the three mixed methods research articles (#1-3) in [Reading]. You can select other mixed methods research articles.
  2. Analyze the article by using the attached sheet and the guideline from Reio and Werner (2017) (#4 in Readings).

Why were language and religion so important to the creation of a unique African American culture?

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Discussion: How Language and Religion Shape Culture.

Directions

Respond to these prompts:

  • Why were language and religion so important to the creation of a unique African American culture?
  • How do language and religion continue to shape all different cultural identities in America today?

Module Readings:

https://cel.fscj.edu/LOR/amh/2092/5

Research and discuss measures the community does, or fails to do, to protect or ensure the sector’s and asset’s resiliency.

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Part 1
Consider the value of illustrations for understanding priorities, the reinforcement of critical infrastructure (CI), and critical infrastructure protection. This week, look around your own community and consider what CI sectors and assets are likely to be particularly vital to its functioning. For example, in Los Angeles, California, the Port of Los Angeles as an asset is considered crucial to the transportation sector, as it is used for commerce. For this assignment I will use Colorado’s Aviation Sector– the Denver International Airport. The link is for the States report on CI for aviation.
https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Full_Report_CO_2020.pdf
• Choose 1 sector and an asset within it, and describe their specific value to the community.
• Research and discuss measures the community does, or fails to do, to protect or ensure the sector’s and asset’s resiliency.
• Provide a preliminary assessment of the primary threats, vulnerabilities, and risks your highlighted sector and asset might be most exposed to.
Part 2
In the field of homeland security, and especially within critical infrastructure protection (CIP), not everyone agrees that protection and resiliency are separate functions or actions taken. For this assignment, complete the following:
• In your own words, define protection and resiliency.
• Explore how the concepts and actions necessary to implement measures for protection and resiliency reinforce each other, or are achieved independent of one another.
• Take a position on whether professionals who claim the concepts are inextricably tied are correct or not, and make a critical argument to support your claim.
• Use critical analysis, real-world or hypothetical examples or cases, and graduate-level cogency in your answer.

Identify a particular real-world problem using a PICOT template that you have used in previous courses.

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Case Report: What Does the Research Say?  

 

General Requirements:

Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment:

  • Use at least three additional scholarly research sources published within the last 5 years. Provide citations and references for all sources used.
  • Use APA style for their writing assignments.

Directions:

Identify a particular real-world problem using a PICOT template that you have used in previous courses. Include the particular clinical setting and potential health/disease issue you will examine. Identify and fully describe the research that has taken place within the last 5 years.

Your case report must include the following:

  1. Introduction with a problem statement.
  2. Brief synthesized review.
  3. Description of the case/situation/conditions.
  4. Proposed solutions describing the validity and reliability of the research you have read.

PICOT QUESTION: How does emergency wait time greater than two hours compared to those less than two hours affect the rate of LWBS/patient’s satisfaction rate?”

REAL LIFE STORY CAN BE PATIENT LEFT EMERGENCY ROOM WITHOUT BEING BY DOCTOR FOR COMPLAIN OF STOMACH PAIN===HAD RUPTURE APPENDEX AND DIED—-OR CHEST PAIN AND HAD HEART ATTACK.

YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE ANY EXAMPLE AS LONG AS IT ALIGNS WITH THE PICOT .

Why are Americans more accepting and satisfied with various body types for males, but tend to endorse only the ectomorph body type for females?

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Female American adolescents (and adults) are more often dissatisfied with their bodies than are male American adolescents (and adults).

Discuss some reasons why females in American are less satisfied with their bodies than males are. The media is a large reason for this, but why does the media emphasize more strict body ideals for women than it does for men?

Why are Americans more accepting and satisfied with various body types for males, but tend to endorse only the ectomorph body type for females?

Describe your own beliefs/needs surrounding power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity.

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  • What values do you have that are very rigid?
  • Describe your own beliefs/needs surrounding power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity.

 

 

What are your current social connections and influences? Use Bronfenbrenner’s model of micro-, meso-, exo- and macro-systems.

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  • What are your current social connections and influences? Use Bronfenbrenner’s model of micro-, meso-, exo- and macro-systems.
  • What is a micro-aggression? Give an example of a micro-aggression. How might micro-aggressions emerge in the counseling relationship?
  • How is any client’s diversity orientation (i.e., religion, economic background, personal style and education, ethnicity, lifespan changes, family background, and location of residence, as well as other aspects sexual orientation, spiritual identity, ability status, socioeconomic or class issues, age, gender orientation, etc.) related to counseling?

 

 

Does the organization employ the ADDIE, RID, or Agile approaches to design training? 

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Onboard Assignment

STRATEGIC TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT

This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade.  It gives you an opportunity to investigate, analyze, and report on the strategic role of training and development in an organization.  You must complete this assignment individually, without contacting other students, and you may not use a paper or any part of a paper from a previous class or from another person.  If you have questions about this assignment, please post them in the Ask the Professor discussion forum so that everyone can benefit from the answers.  The assignment addresses Course Objectives 1, 2, and 3.

 

The Training Top 125 for 2019

For the past 19 years, Training magazine has ranked organizations based on their employer-sponsored training and development programs (Freifeld, 2019).  The list below contains the top five organizations for 2019.

 

Company 2019 Rank 2018 Rank
Dollar General Corporation, LLC 1 5
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World 2 1
Best Buy 3 10
Nationwide 4 7
BNSF Railway Co. 5 4

 

Details about the selection process and about all 125 organizations ranked by Training can be found at the magazine’s website at
https://trainingmag.com/training-magazine-ranks-2019-training-top-125-organizations/

You can obtain a link to a PDF with profiles of all of the Top 125 companies here (scan down to the bottom of the article):

https://trainingmag.com/trgmag-article/training-top-125-2019/

You should also browse the trainingmag.com website for additional articles related to the 2019 Top 125 list.  The March/April 2019 issue, which you can find in Training’s digital archives, has feature articles on the top five companies for 2019.

 

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Choose one of Training magazine’s top five organizations and investigate the organization’s strategic training and development initiatives.

In addition to researching articles on Training’s website, you should explore the organization’s web site for business information (hint: look for the organization’s annual report, which can be a source of information about financial expenditures, company priorities, and competition) and use the UMUC library to conduct a search for references to the organization.  Don’t forget to look for YouTube videos by or about the organization.

Prepare a 3-5 page report based on your research.

Using the criteria Training uses to rank organizations as well as information from your own research, prepare a 3-5 page report about strategic training and development in your chosen organization.  Your report should include, but is not limited to, the following elements:

  1. A description of the organization and its major products and/or services (a brief description — no more than two or three paragraphs). Try to find information about the organization’s mission and/or goals and how its training function is organized.  The organization’s website and its annual report, particularly the letter to shareholders at the beginning of the annual report, are good sources of information.  Be sure to cite the specific web page where you found information used in your report.
  2. An assessment of the characteristics of the organization that help it excel in training and development. Include factors such as (but not limited to) the total budget for or amount of money spent on training and development; the level of employee involvement in training and development activities; the type(s) of training and development opportunities offered; the organization’s investment in and/or use of technology for training; and the availability of benefits such as tuition assistance.
  3. An assessment of how the TD function operates in the organization. How is the TD function organized?  For a description of three training organizational models, read Organizational Models in Training (Training Industry, 2013), available at http://www.trainingindustry.com/wiki/entries/organizational-models-in-training.aspx.  Does the organization use training needs analyses (TNAs) to identify performance gaps or the need for new skills to support business strategies and initiatives?  Does the organization employ the ADDIE, RID, or Agile approaches to design training?  Does the organization embrace any of the TD competencies described in the ATD competency model mentioned in the Week 1 lecture?

Support your opinions and statements with a minimum of four references from sources published within the last ten years.  You can cite scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals, course materials, newspaper articles, YouTube videos by or about the organization, the organization’s annual report, and the organization’s web site, but not Wikipedia, vendor websites, or other non-academic sources.  The UMUC library can help you identify appropriate sources.

Use APA format for citations, references, and quotations.  This means your list of references should start on a separate page, and should be double spaced, with a hanging indent and no spaces between entries.  For help with APA format, please consult the Writing Resources module in the Course Resources section of our classroom.  Your report should be three to five pages (not counting the cover or reference pages), double spaced with one inch margins and a font size of at least 11 points.

Submit your assignment.

Add the following statement to the cover of your paper:

This paper is my own work that I created specifically for this course and this section.  All research or material I used in preparing this paper has been properly acknowledged within the assignment in accordance with academic standards for complete and accurate citation of sources.

See the next page for the grading criteria for this assignment.

References

Freifeld, L. (2019, February 26). Training Magazine ranks 2019 Training Top 125 organizations. Retrieved from https://trainingmag.com/training-magazine-ranks-2019-training-top-125-organizations/

Training Industry. (2013, May 23). Organizational models in training. Retrieved from https://trainingindustry.com/wiki/strategy-alignment-and-planning/organizational-models-in-training/

Criteria for Grading the Strategic Training and Development Report.

Note: The strategic training and development report should be 3-5 pages long, excluding the reference and cover pages.  Most organizations value efficient communication.  Busy managers and executives do not have time (and most do not have the inclination) to read long reports.  However, you will not be penalized if you exceed the page limit slightly.

Criteria
  A B C F Points Earned
Knowledge and Application of Relevant Theories and Concepts

(55 pts)

 Student demonstrated exceptional knowledge and application of relevant theories and concepts; all statements and opinions were supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

 

55 – 50 points

 Student demonstrated satisfactory knowledge and application of relevant theories and concepts; most statements and opinions were supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

 

49 – 44 points

 Student demonstrated less than satisfactory knowledge and application of relevant theories and concepts; some statements and opinions were not supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

 

43 – 39 points

 Student demonstrated unsatisfactory knowledge and application of relevant theories and concepts; many statements and opinions were not supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

 

38 – 0 points

  
Comments  
Quality of Research

(30 pts)

 Student did an exceptional job of researching the organization and integrating course readings with the additional research.  Student cited more than the required number of references; sources listed were all scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

 

 

30 – 27 points

 Student did a satisfactory job of researching the organization and integrating course readings with the additional research.  Student cited the required number of references; sources listed were primarily scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

 

 

26 – 24 points

 Student did a less than satisfactory job of researching the organization and integrating course readings with the additional research.  Student may not have cited the required number of references; some sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

 

23 – 21 points

 Student did an inadequate job of researching the organization and integrating course readings with the additional research.  Student did not cite the required number of references; many of the sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

 

 

20 – 0 points

  
Comments  

 

 

 

Presentation of Ideas and Mechanics

(10 pts)

 Student presented ideas in a well-organized, compelling manner with no distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement was met.

 

 

10 – 9 points

 Student presented ideas presented in an organized manner with few distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement was met.

 

 

8 points

 Student presented ideas in a somewhat organized manner with several distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement may not have been met.

 

 

7 points

 Student presented ideas in a poorly organized or incoherent manner with many distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement may not have been met.

 

6 – 0 points

  
Comments  
APA formatting

(5 pts)

 All citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained one or two minor errors.

 

5 points

 Most citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained a few minor errors.

 

4 points

 Some citations, quotations, and references were not properly formatted or contained major errors.

 

3.5 points

 Many citations, quotations, and references were not properly formatted or contained many errors.

 

3 – 0 points

  
Comments  
        Total Points Earned

(100 points max)

  
 

 

 

 

 

Locate a recent article (published within the last year) that discusses capitalism and economic market systems in the United States.

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Module 2: Is Capitalism Alive and Well in the U.S.?

Discussion

Select & Determine

Understanding the different types of market systems and policies will help you have a better idea of the effectiveness and relevance each market system has on our economy to include capitalism, market, and economic systems as well as the role of policies.

Locate a recent article (published within the last year) that discusses capitalism and economic market systems in the United States. You can use the Hunt Library, economic journals, newspapers, new stations, or other credible sources to locate an article. Analyze your article, review the assigned readings and then discuss the concepts of capitalism, market, and economic systems and policy. Address the following in your discussion.

  • Explain how capitalism began.
  • Discuss different market economic systems.
  • Evaluate the pros and cons associated with capitalism and market economic systems including answers to these questions:
    • Which type of economic systems you believe are most effective and why?
    • Does capitalism best describe the economy of the United States?

Summarize your findings using at least 250 words and provide a minimum of one reference. Use current APA formatting to document your sources.

 

What topic in the course helped you the most? What information was the most enlightening for you? How did you relate this to your everyday life?

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As the term draws to a close, the last writing assignment in the course you will ask you to take some time to reflect on what you have learned in the course. This reflection should follow the proper formatting that has been the standard thus far (including appropriate citations). You may write in the first person but when you discuss material from the course, cite the book. Please address the following questions throughout your reflection:

1) How would you describe the science of psychology to someone unfamiliar with the topic? What do you think is most important for people to understand about psychology?

2) Why is it important to emphasize the science of psychology?

3) Think back to when you first started the course. What were your expectations for what we would learn in the course? How has the course differed from your expectations? Do you think others share your misconceptions about psychology?

4) What was the most challenging topic for you to learn? Did you use your new knowledge of learning and memory to overcome these challenges?

5) What topic in the course helped you the most? What information was the most enlightening for you? How did you relate this to your everyday life?

6) Highlight at a time since you started learning about this topic where you were able to use your knowledge.