Browsing by Author "Swinford, Rachel"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    2023 IUPUI ePortfolio Report
    (2024-02-12) Carrison, Sophie; Oesch-Minor, Deborah; Swinford, Rachel
    The ePortfolio Studio at IUPUI has been supporting students as they build, update, and publish their ePortfolios since the Studio opened in the summer of 2021. This support comes in the form of student consultations, either in-person, online, or asynchronous where students submit their ePortfolio links and the ePortfolio Studio consultants will provide skilled feedback on how to include best practices in their ePortfolios. The purpose of this report is to reflect on how many student consultations and kickoffs the ePortfolio Studio had between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 semesters, as well as the ways that the Studio has supported faculty in the past year.
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    A Six-Year Retrospective of ePortfolio Implementation: Discovering Inclusion through Student Voice and Choice
    (WAC Clearinghouse, 2024) Urtel, Mark; Fallowfield, Stephen M.; Angermeier, Lisa; Swinford, Rachel; Exercise & Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Sciences
    Designing then implementing ePortfolios as a High Impact Practice (HIP) (Watson et al., 2016) across an academic program in kinesiology presents many opportunities and challenges. The authors document their six-year journey and ensuing lessons along the way, as they strive to uncover and enact best practices for department-wide implementation. After a first attempt implementing the ePortfolio when they realized their efforts fell short, this faculty team immersed themselves in comprehensive professional development and worked together with students to recast how each knew and understood an ePortfolio. To achieve the newly crafted outcomes of an ePortfolio project, the authors found that promoting student voice and choice is essential to fostering student engagement and inclusivity. Informed by findings of a mixed methods study, the faculty team hopes to provide a meaningful perspective that supports faculty exploration within ePortfolios and offer guidance to be sure students are partners in this journey.
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    Adapted Dance and Individuals With Down Syndrome: A Phenomenological Approach
    (Sagamore, 2022-06-01) Swinford, Rachel; Noerr, Kyra; Exercise & Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Sciences
    Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) often experience lower levels of physical activity (PA) and social participation when compared to peers without DS. The purpose was to examine the lived experience of participating in the dance program and interpret the meaning of the dance program. Dancers participated in a 6-week adapted dance program and were interviewed after the program. This study investigated the lived experience of a 6-week adapted dance program for 20 individuals with Down syndrome (DS) using interpretive phenomenology. Dancer interviews revealed a primary theme of dancers experiencing joy and happiness while dancing. This research helps advocate opportunities for individuals with DS to experience dance as a social, physical, and intellectual activity. Findings can support future PA and sports initiatives for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
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    A Case Study in ePortfolio Implementation: A Department-Wide Perspective
    (2019) Fallowfield, Stephen M.; Urtel, Mark; Swinford, Rachel; Angermeier, Lisa; Plopper, Allison S.; Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Sciences
    This case study documents the trials and tribulations over a 3-year span of one academic department in implementing the ePortfolio as a high-impact practice to its undergraduate students. Failures and successes will be introduced with the resulting lessons learned applied to our current efforts. Pivotal instances that allowed the project partners to gain clarity about the design and implementation of an ePortfolio will be expressed to better understand our journey. The root of our collaborative efforts was based on the product versus process conversation around ePortfolios. Once our mindset shifted, we were able to embrace a more student-centered process ePortfolio that is threaded throughout our curriculum and not sporadically addressed as an add-on assignment.
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    EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: SELF-EFFICACY OF STUDENTS—INSTRUCTORS IN AN ADAPTED DANCE PROGRAM
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Kline, Kyra L.; Swinford, Rachel
    Objective: Experiential learning (EL) within an adapted dance program may produce increased self-efficacy in instructing or working with different populations such as disabled or culturally diverse individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine responses in participation with an adapted physi-cal activity (PA) dance program for young individuals with Down syndrome. Methods: To explore the experience of the student-volunteers, self-efficacy surveys were conducted before and after the six-week dance pro-gram. Using a Likert scale, students scored their perceived self-efficacy in individual and team instruction of PA in a variety of populations such as ur-ban settings, cardiac rehabilitation, children, and individuals with disabilities. Additionally, journal reflections were used to explore the question, “What did/does this experience mean to you?” Journal reflections were analyzed for themes and patterns using the guidelines for interpretative phenomenologi-cal analysis. Results: Results indicated that self-efficacy increased in instructing PA to the population involved in the dance program. Significant increases (P<.005) were also noted in one’s perceived ability to team instruct cardiac rehabilita-tion, high school students, general population, and children; as well as one’s perceived ability to individually instruct high-risk individuals, cardiac rehabili-tation, and children. Qualitative data from journal reflections suggest the fol-lowing themes: dancers taught student-volunteers life lessons, student-volunteers gained experience with different populations, student-volunteers gained teaching experience. Conclusion: Students involved in an EL program working with adapted populations, self-efficacy may increase not only in working with individuals with disabilities but may also increase self-efficacy in working with other populations. Students’ perception of the experience suggests that the EL ex-perience within the dance program through structured activities is impactful to personal and professional growth. Findings suggest that further studies may be needed to indicate the minimal duration of an EL experience needed to improve self-efficacy. Overall, students’ feelings toward the population suggest growth toward more civic-mindedness.
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    The influence of assistance in home-based exercise programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities
    (2017-03-08) Noerr, Kyra L.; Stanton-Nichols, Kathleen A.; Bahamonde, Rafael; Munk, Niki; Streepey, Jake; Swinford, Rachel
    Intellectual disability (ID) is considered a high-incidence disability affecting approximately 1.2 million adults in America (Brault, 2012). Diagnosed before the age of 18, ID is characterized by poor intellectual functioning, difficulty with adaptive behaviors, and problems with activities of daily living. Adaptive behaviors include practical, social and conceptual skills. Individuals with ID may lack the ability to personally care for themselves, self-direct and display naïve decision-making capabilities. Activities of daily living, such as maintaining one’s health, are influenced by poor adaptive behaviors. Between the years of 1997 and 2008, the prevalence of developmental disabilities, including ID, has increased 2.2% and while there is research dedicated to determining the risk factors causing ID, there is a continued need to research adaptive behavior management (Boyle et al., 2011). Current research in adaptive behavior focuses on determining best practices in order to help adults with ID thrive in schools, the workplace, home, and in the community. Adaptive behaviors related to healthcare, self-direction, and personal care still continue to be an area of adversity for the population and research on prevalence of healthcare-related problems are growing (Ervin & Merrick, 2014). Health concerns increase with the severity of the ID as well as age (Moss et al., 1993; Schrojenstein et al., 1997). Over 40% of adults with ID will develop four or more chronic diseases with an increase in age (Hsieh, Rimmer, & Heller, 2012). In the typical population, there is a plethora of evidence demonstrating that regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk for chronic diseases, specifically all-cause mortality, colon and breast cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression (American College of Sports Medicine, 2013). However, the number of adults with ID participating in regular PA is considerably lower than the typical population. This lack of participation increases individual risk for secondary health conditions. With diminished capabilities in adaptive behaviors, there are significant issues that affect this population’s ability for self-care and independence in health-related care. Additionally, there are limited opportunities for individuals to take steps to improve his or her ability for self-care. Improving the availability of quality instruction for PA and adherence may increase overall PA and reduce incidence and prevalence of chronic disease in adults with ID.
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    A One-Week, Unique, and Authentic Leadership Development Camp for Undergraduate Students
    (2019-05) Swinford, Rachel; Plopper, Allison; Bradley, Jay; Urtel, Mark; Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Sciences
    Annually, students from the Department of Kinesiology attend a 1-week residential leadership camp. Prior to attending the camp, students complete a self-evaluation of perceived leadership skills. Students are in small teams in which they lead their peers through a series of problem solving activities. For this study, students (N=314) completed the survey again at the end of the 1-week leadership development camp. Paired t-test statistical analysis revealed a significant change in 14 out of the 20 dimensions (p < .001). Findings of this study suggest students perceive an increase in their leadership skills following a 1- week leadership development camp.
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    Outcomes of Individualized Personal Training Programs for Three Adult Siblings with Autism
    (2014-04-11) Sermersheim, Mitchel; Stanton, Kathleen; Swinford, Rachel
    The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of three 6-week individualized personal training programs for three adult brothers who have autism. Using a single subject design, physical activity levels, basic fitness measures, and interviews were used to construct three individualized training programs to fit the subjects needs. Findings from this study can guide professionals in the adapted physical activity field who work with adults who have autism. Individualized personal training programs may provide an avenue for treatment or behavior modification for adults with autism. In conclusion, the benefits of individualized personal training programs for adults with autism are not well established. However, the results of this study indicated that providing adults with autism with an individualized training program can be beneficial for the individual in more ways than one way. All three subjects saw improvements upon starting the program.