Arviointi, mikäli sen kaikkia mahdollisuuksia hyödynnettäisiin, olisi tärkeä työkalu avustamaan julkista sekä yksityissektoria ja kansalaisyhteiskuntaa inhimillisen hyvinvoinnin lisäämiseksi. Valitettavasti, vaikka tehtyjen arviointien määrä on maailmanlaajuisesti lisääntymässä, näiden arviointien alhainen hyödyntämisaste on samoin kasvamassa. Tästä esimerkkinä on kehitystyö, jossa lukemattomat tuotetut ja oppimislähteenä käytettäväksi oletetut arviointiraportit kuitenkin todellisuudessa makaavat koskemattomina. Tämä toteutumaton "käyttö" on todellista ajan ja rajallisten julkisten varojen tuhlausta. Arviointien hyödyllisyyden määrittäminen tiukasti näiden julkaistujen arviointiraporttien käyttöön perustuvaksi, mikä useimmiten on tilanne, laiminlyö ja vähentää muiden käytettävissä olevien arviointielementtien, kuten arviointitoimeksiannon tai arviointiprosessin hyödyntämistä ja käyttöä, mikä yhä enemmän supistaa arvioinnin kokonaisvaikuttavuutta. Tämän tansanialaisessa ammattikoulussa, Mwanza Home Craft Centressä (MHCC), toteutetun arviointikokeilun tarkoitus oli hyödyntää arviointia, etenkin sen arviointiprosessia, arviointivaikutusten osoittamiseksi. Kokeiluni, joka toteutettiin suomalaisin kehitystyövaroin käynnistetyssä kansalaisjärjestöhankkeessa, tehtiin kehityshankkeesta rinnan hankkeen edetessä, oli vastakohta kehnosti hyödynnetyille ulkopuolisten arvioitsijoiden vallitsevaa tilivelvollisuus- ja kontrollitarkoitusta varten tekemille, menneeseen fokusoituneille ja kovia tutkimusmenetelmiä käyttäville kehitysarvioinneille, jotka sulkevat paikalliset ulkopuolelle ja ovat heille vieraita, ja siksi saavat vähäistä paikallista arviointivaikuttavuutta aikaan. Noissa arvioinneissa on suosittu hallitsevaa länsimaista ja Eurooppa-keskeistä positivistista tulokulmaa, rahoittajakeskeistä arviointiparadigmaa ja hegemonista kieltä, joka saa alkunsa uudesta julkishallinnon johtamisliikkeestä. Sen sijaan, kokeiluni oli mikrokuvaus ja reflektio hankkeen rahoittajan sponsoroimasta, paikallis- ja asianomaiskeskeisestä, oppimis- ja tulevaisuussuuntautuneesta, paikallisesti hyödynnetystä ja vaikuttaneesta kehitysarvioinnista. Arviointikokeilu koostui kahdesta komponentista. Arviointiosuudessa tutkittiin ammatillisen koulutuksen sosio-ekonomisia vaikutuksia. Arviointitutkimusosiossa fokusoitiin arvioinnin prosessikäyttöön ja arvioinnin vaikuttavuuteen. Ammattikouluhankkeessa kaikkien asianomaisten arviointioppimista pyrittiin tukemaan arvioinnin aikana arviointiprosessia hyödyntäen. Yksilöllisiä, interpersoonallisia ja kollektiivisia arviointivaikutuksia tavoiteltiin henkilökohtaisen ja organisaation osallistumisen, saadun arviointikokemuksen ja valmennuksen sekä dialogin kautta. Mandaattini oli integroida, "arviointimassoja", tarkoittaen avun vastaanottajia, paikallisten arviointivaikutusten aikaansaamiseksi, ja tarkastella arvioinnissa suhdetta valtaan heidän näkökulmastaan. Yleisesti ottaen heillä on vähemmän valtaa ja ääntä nykyisessä kehitysarvioinnissa kuin vahvemmilla, "eliitillä", avun rahoittajilla. Asetin hypoteesikseni, että jokainen tutkimus ja arviointitutkimus on tulokulmasidonnaista, mikä vaikuttaa arvioinnin käytettävyyteen, ja siten myös arvioinnin vaikutuksiin, vaikutustyyppeihin, -tasoon, -ryhmiin, ja vaikuttavuuden kestoon. Tässä tutkimuksessa painotettiin sellaisia arvioinninkäytössä ja arvioinnin vaikuttavuudessa keskeisessä roolissa olevia elementtejä, kuten arviointiparadigmaa, arviointimallia ja metodologiaa, arvioijan asemaa ja näkökulmaa, arvioinnin käyttäjien asemaa, arviointitarkoitusta, arvioinnin aikakehikkoa, ja arviointietiikkaa. Tässä tutkimuksessa käytettiin toimintatutkimuksellisesti suuntautunutta strategiaa. Tutkimusaineisto koottiin kahden Tansanian kenttämatkan aikana useita aineistonkeruumenetelmiä hyödyntäen. Arvioinnin vaikutuksia ja arvioinnin prosessikäyttöä tutkittiin aineistosta, joka saatiin ammattikoulutustapauksen kahdesta MHCC:n henkilöstölle ja komiteanjäsenille organisoidusta seminaarista ja työpajasta, samoin kuin henkilöstön jäsenten teemahaastatteluista ja komitean, henkilöstön antamasta kirjallisesta arviointipalautteesta ja yhdestä 11 hengen ryhmähaastattelusta. Lisäksi, ammatillisen koulutuksen sosio-ekonomisia vaikutuksia kerättiin 115 opiskelijan kirjallisen kertomuksen ja taustalomakkeen sekä 11 opiskelijan ja 20 muun arvioijan teemahaastattelun avulla. Kirjallinen aineisto koodattiin käyttäen teoriavetoista (tai -suuntautunutta) laadullista sisällönanalyysiä, johon pohjautuen johtopäätökset tehtiin. MHCC:n arviointikokeilu osoitti, että valittu arvioinnin tulokulma ja paradigma erilaisten arviointifaktorissa olevien elementtien hyödyntämisen kautta vaikutti arvioinnin käyttöön ja arvioinnin vaikutuksiin. Kokeilu sai aikaan vaikuttavuutta; arviointia automaattisesti hyödynnettiin jo arvioitaessa sen prosessikäytön vuoksi. Arviointiprosessiin osallistuneiden henkilöiden ja heidän instituutioidensa omakohtaisia arviointikokemuksia ei voinut vain "jättää hyllylle". Heidän yksilöllinen, henkilöiden välinen ja kollektiivinen arviointioppiminen arvioidessa kiistatta myötävaikutti, ei vain välittömiin vaan myös pidempiaikaisiin kognitiivisiin, affektiivisiin, sosiaalisiin, toiminnallisiin, jopa taloudellisiin ja kulttuurillisiin muutoksiin kehitysintervention eri tasoilla, jopa ammattioppilaitoksen ulkopuolella. Tämän tutkimusten löydösten perusteella, päättelin, että prosessuaalinen arvioinnin käyttö oli vahva työkalu ja MHCC:n muutosprosessien kiihdyttäjä, etenkin niille arvioinnin asianomaisille, jotka omaksuivat arvioivaa mieltä. Tämä ajattelutavan muutos, valistuminen ("mwanga"), mahdollisti siirtymisen jälki- ja menneisyysorientoituneesta historiaa tarkastelleesta ajattelusta tulevaisuussuuntautuneeseen omaehtoiseen kehittämistoimintaan. Tämä tutkimusaineisto antanee ymmärtää, että arviointiprosessilla ja -tuloksilla samanaikaisesti hyödynnettynä arvioivan oppimisen lähteinä oli pitkäaikaisia vaikutuksia – ehkä pidempiaikaisia kuin vain arviointituloksia yksin hyödynnettäessä voitaisiin aikaansaada. Nämä vaikutukset saattoivat muodostua MHCC:n reflektion, nopeamman ympäristöön reagoinnin ja jatkuvan sopeuttamisen elinehdoiksi. Tämä selitti, kuinka ammattikoulutusinstituutio MHCC on ollut kykenevä jatkuvasti uudistumaan ja muuttamaan toimintojaan tarvittaessa, huomioiden taloutensa ja ympäröivän yhteiskunnan vaatimukset sekä olemaan taloudellisesti itsensä kannattava yli 20 vuotta (mikä on ainutlaatuista koulutussektorilla maailmalaajuisestikin, puhumattakaan kehitysmaista, kuten Tansaniasta). Lisäksi, kokeilun ansiosta saatiin uutta tietoa arviointikohteesta, MHCC:stä opiskelijoineen, sen arviointikäytänteistä ja oppilaitosta ympäröivästä todellisuudesta. Ammattikoulun nimi muutettiin, uusia osastoja, kuten ajoneuvo, sähkö, sekä hotellinjohto ja turismi, lanseerattiin, ja uusia iltakursseja käynnistettiin, metallityön lisäkoulutusta, sekä tietokone- ja englannin kielen kursseja aloitettiin. Tämän tutkimuksen yleisenä yhteenvetona totean, että kansalaisjärjestöjen rooli on edelleen tärkeä ammatillisen koulutuksen järjestäjänä Tansanian kehityshankkeissa neljästä syystä. Ensiksi, koska maan koulutuksen yleistaso on dramaattisesti huonontunut. Toiseksi, koska riittävät ammattikoulutusmahdollisuudet puuttuvat. Kolmanneksi, koska ammattikoulutus on yleisesti ottaen hyödyllistä: se näytti vaikuttaneen ei vain yksilön köyhyyden vähentämiseen vaan laajemminkin yhteiskuntaan. Kuitenkin, tutkimustulokset esittivät yllättävän todisteen, mikä on vastakkaista länsimaalaiselle suoraviivaiselle ajattelulle ja oletukselle ammattitaidon ja ammatillisen koulutuksen valtavasta taloudellisesta voimasta ja hyödystä saajalleen; ei edes kokoaikatyö köyhyyden vähentämis- ja automaattisesti elintasoa nostavana keinona toiminut. Kaikesta huolimatta, minkä ammattiin opiskelleiden elämää koskeva aineisto todistaa, niiden, jotka kokivat positiivisia, merkittäviä, kestäviä taloudellisia, sosiaalisia ja henkilökohtaisia koulutusvaikutuksia MHCC:n koulutushankkeen vuoksi, nämä ammatillisen koulutuksen sosio-ekonomiset materiaaliset ja immateriaaliset positiiviset, tuotteliaat vaikutusketjut näyttivät ulottuneen myös laajennettuun perheeseen, ikätovereihin, yhteisöjen jäseniin ja tansanialaiseen yhteiskuntaan merkittävin seurannaisvaikutuksin. Esimerkkinä mainittakoon valmistuneiden opiskelijoiden sukulaisilleen, ikätovereilleen ja yhteisöjensä jäsenilleen tarjoama "epävirallinen, yksityinen oppisopimuskoulutusjärjestelmä"; jonka kautta yksi MHCC:stä valmistunut on epävirallisesti kouluttanut yli 50 henkilöä. Tosin, näitä sosio-ekonomisia koulutusvaikutuksia olisi voitu tehostaa resursoimalla ja tekemällä säännöllisesti arviointeja sekä syöttämällä niiden tuloksia edelleen ammattioppilaitoksen palvelujen parantamiseksi (esim. työvälineet tai yrittäjyyskurssit ammattiin valmistuneille). Neljänneksi, tutkimus osoitti, että kehitysmaissa työpaikat olivat tarjolla pääasiassa informaalilla sektorilla ja itsenäisenä ammatinharjoittajana työskenteleminen oli useimmille valmistuneille ainoa työllistymisvaihtoehto. Näin ollen, kansalaisjärjestöjen toteuttama ammattikoulutus oppilaitoksen kannattavuudelle välttämättömine tulonhankkimisprojekteineen (jotka yleensä puuttuvat valtion omistamista ammattioppilaitoksista) voi toimia erinomaisena yrittäjyyshenkeä vahvistavana oppimisympäristönä. Tutkimuslöytöjä voitaneen soveltaa seuraavasti. Ensiksi, huolestuttava arviointien käyttämättömyys ja/tai tehoton käyttö tulee tiedostaa. Toiseksi, arvioinnin teettäjien, käynnistäjien, rahoittajien ja avunantajien tulee saada lisätietoa merkittävistä arvioinnin positiiviseen käyttöön ja vaikuttavuuteen tai sitä estävistä kontekstuaalisista, arviointi- ja inhimillisistä faktoreista elementteineen. Esimerkiksi, sellaisia kontekstuaalisia tekijöitä, jotka liittyvät taloudellisiin ja poliittisiin rajoitteisiin ja arviointisysteemeihin ja jotka negatiivisesti vaikuttavat arviointien hyödyntämiseen ja vaikutuksiin, tulee paljastaa. Kolmanneksi, arviointien puutteellista hyödyntämistä vastaan tulee hyökätä muun muassa arviointiprosessia käyttämällä. Neljänneksi, jokaisessa arviointipolitiikassa ja -suunnitelmassa jo arvioinnin toimeksiantovaiheessa tulee edellyttää konkreettisia toimia arviointien hyödyntämiseksi. Jokaiselta julkisin varoin tuotetulta arvioinnilta tulee vaatia arvioinninkäyttösuunnitelma tavoiteltavine arviointivaikutuksineen ennen arvioinnin toimeenpano vaihetta. Viidenneksi, arviointikäyttö tulee uudelleen käsitteellistää arviointipolitiikkojen ja -suunnitelmien sanastossa. Kaikki tarjolla olevat arvioinnin käytön keskeiset elementit — arvioinnin toimeksianto, arviointiprosessi (eikä ainoastaan arviointilöydökset) — tulee maksimaalisesti valjastaa kaikilla arvioinnin tasoilla, myös kansalaisjärjestöissä, rajallisten evaluointiresurssien vuoksi, tuodakseen maksimaalisen arvon arviointikohteelle, sen asianomaisille ja arvioinnin käyttäjille. Kuudenneksi, arviointien hyödyntämistä tulee ohjeistaa, kannustaa ja rahoittaa. Arvioinnin käynnistäjien ja rahoittajien tulisi palkita arvioinnin asianomaisia ja heidän organisaatiotaan, mikäli arviointia hyödynnetään ja se saa aikaan vaikuttavuutta. Seitsemänneksi, arvioinnin vaikuttavuus/vaikutus -termit tarvitsevat selkeyttämistä, ei ainoastaan viitaten vain arvioinnin positiivisiin seurauksiin, vaan myös sen negatiivisiin, tahattomiin vaikutuksiin, joihin täytyy myös puuttua. ; Evaluation, if utilised to its full potential, would be an important tool for helping governments, the private sector and civil society to increase human well-being. Unfortunately, though the number of evaluations conducted is increasing worldwide, a low rate of utilisation of these evaluations is increasing as well. An example of this is the development field, where countless evaluation reports are produced and assumed to be used as sources of learning, when in reality they lie untouched. This non-actualised "use" is a real waste of time and of limited public funds. The usefulness of evaluations, when strictly determined based on the use of the published evaluation reports (as is the case most of the time), neglects the usefulness and reduces the utilisation of other evaluation elements available, such as evaluation commissioning or evaluation process, which further reduce the overall impact of the evaluation. This evaluation experiment, conducted in the Tanzanian vocational education and training (VET) centre, Mwanza Home Craft Centre (MHCC), was designed to utilise the evaluation, especially its process, to show evaluation impacts. My experiment, conducted upon the development intervention of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) established by Finnish funds, was performed concurrently alongside and from within the development intervention, in contrast to the poorly utilised development evaluations conducted for dominating accountability and control purposes by external evaluators using a past-focussed orientation combined with hard evaluation methods, all of which were exclusive and unfamiliar to the locals and thus, had minor local evaluation impact. In those evaluations the donorcentred standpoint, overarching evaluation paradigm and hegemonic language, having their origin in the New Public Management movement were favoured. Instead, I devised a micro explanation of, and provided reflections about, the donorsponsored, local- and stakeholder-centred, learning- and future-oriented, and locally utilised development evaluation with impacts. The evaluation experiment consisted of two components. In the evaluation section, the socio-economic impacts of VET were studied. In the research on evaluation section the focus was put on the process use of evaluation and evaluation impacts. In the VET project, all the stakeholders' evaluative learning was targeted to be supported with the assistance of the process use of evaluation while evaluating. It was aimed at individual, interpersonal and collective evaluation impacts through personal and organisational involvement, evaluative experience and training received, as well as dialogue. My mandate was to integrate into the evaluation process, evaluation "masses," that is, the aid recipients, to generate stronger local evaluation impacts, and to look at the relation to power in evaluation from their standpoint. Generally speaking, they have less power and voice in the current development evaluations than do "the elite," the financial donors. I hypothesised that every research and evaluation research is standpoint-bound, which has influence on evaluation usability, and then, on evaluation impacts, their types, levels, user groups, and duration. In this research, emphasis was placed on those elements playing key roles in evaluation use and evaluation impact, such as the evaluation paradigm, evaluation design and methodology; the evaluator's location and standpoint; the position of the evaluation users; the evaluation purpose; the evaluation time-frame; and evaluation ethics. In this research, the action research-oriented strategy was used. The research data was generated during two Tanzanian field trips by utilising various data generation methods. Evaluation impacts and process use of evaluation were studied through the data received from the VET case, its two seminars and workshops organised for the MHCC staff and committee members, as well as from thematic interviews of some staff persons and written evaluative feedback given by the committee, staff members and an 11-participant group interview. Again, socio-economic VET impacts were collected through the data of 115 former students' written stories and background questionnaires, as well as of 11 former students' and 20 other evaluees' thematic interviews. The written data of the evaluation experiment was coded by using the theory-driven (or theory-directed) qualitative content analysis, on which the conclusions were based and drawn. The evaluation experiment at MHCC indicated that the chosen evaluation standpoint and paradigm, through the utilisation of various elements existing in the evaluation factor, affected evaluation use and evaluation impacts. The experiment contributed to impact; the evaluation was automatically brought into utilisation while evaluating due to its process use. The first-hand evaluative experience of the participants and of their institutions involved in the evaluation process could not "just be left on the shelf." Their individual, interpersonal and collective evaluative learning, while evaluating, inevitably contributed not only to immediate but also to long-term cognitive, affective, social, behavioural, even economic, and cultural changes at various levels of the development intervention, even outside the VET centre. Based on findings of this research, I suggested that the processual use of evaluation was a powerful tool and an accelerator of MHCC's change processes, even for those stakeholders whose evaluative minds were made up. This change in the pattern of thought, enlightenment ("mwanga"), enabled a shift in focus from the post- and past-oriented, history observing thinking, to the future-directed independent line of development action. This research data might imply that evaluation process, with its findings utilised simultaneously as evaluative learning sources, had long-term effects — maybe longer than the findings use alone can generate. These impacts could become the lifeblood at MHCC for reflection, quicker reactivity to the environment and on-going adaptation. This presented an explanation for how the VET institution MHCC could have been capable of being renewed continuously and transforming its activities, as needed, regarding its economy and the demands of surrounding society, as well as being self-supporting for over 20 years (which is unique in the educational sector worldwide, let alone in the developing countries, like Tanzania). In addition, with the experiment, the new knowledge was received about the evaluand, MHCC and its students, its evaluation practices, and MHCC's surrounding reality. Again, the VET centre's name was changed, new departments such as motor vehicle, electricity, as well as hotel management and tourism were launched, and new evening courses, further education and training in welding and fabrication, as well as computer and English language courses, were started. As the general conclusion of this research I state that NGOs still have an important role as VET providers of Tanzanian development interventions, for four reasons. First, because the country's general education level has dramatically deteriorated. Second, because of a lack of sufficient VET opportunities. Third, because in general VET was beneficial: it seemed to have had impacts not only on an individual's poverty reduction, but even more widely on the society. However, this data also provided surprising evidence that, in direct contradiction to Western linear thinking and assumptions about the enormous economic power and benefit of vocational skills for its acquirer gained in VET, even full-time employment did not function as a tool for alleviating poverty and automatically raising the person's living standards. Nevertheless, as was evidenced by the lives of these VET trainees, who experienced positive, significant, sustainable economic, social, and personal education impacts due to the development project MHCC, these material and immaterial socio-economic impact chains were positive and productive and seemed to have had very far-reaching and significant ramifications for the lives of extended families, peers, community members, and the Tanzanian society. A case in point was the informal "private apprenticeship training system" offered by the former students to their relatives, peers and community members; through which one MHCC graduate has unofficially "trained" over 50 persons. Indeed, these socio-economic impacts of education could have been intensified by resourcing and carrying out evaluations frequently as well as by feeding their results forward for the VET institution's service improvements (e.g., equipment or entrepreneurial courses for VET graduates). Fourth, the research indicated that jobs in the developing countries were offered in the informal sector and self-employment was, for the majority of graduates, the sole option to be employed. Hence, NGO-implemented VET, with their essential income-generating projects for the institution's sustainability (generally lacking from government-owned VET centres), could operate as an excellent learning environment, strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit. The research findings might have the following applications. First, the worrying trend towards evaluation non-use and/or deficient use is worth acknowledging. Second, evaluation commissioners, initiators, funders, and donors need to gain further knowledge about significant positive or prohibitive contextual, evaluation and human factors (with their related elements) that lie behind evaluation utilisation and impact. For instance, those contextual factors which are related to financial and political constraints and evaluation systems and which negatively affect evaluation utilisation and impacts must be revealed. Third, an attack against the inadequate use of evaluations could be launched among others with processual evaluation use. Fourth, in every evaluation policy and plan in an evaluation commissioning phase, concrete actions need to be made necessary for evaluation utilisation. A written plan on evaluation use with evaluation impacts intended should be demanded to be produced from every evaluation conducted with public funds before the evaluation commissioning phase. Fifth, evaluation use in the vocabulary of evaluation policies and plans should be reconceptualised. All the available key elements of the evaluation use — the evaluation commissioning, evaluation process (not solely evaluation findings) — should be maximally harnessed at all the evaluation levels, also in NGOs, due to the scarcity of funding opportunities available for evaluations, to bring maximal value to a target of the evaluation, its stakeholders and evaluation users. Sixth, evaluation utilisation should be instructed, encouraged and funded. Evaluation stakeholders and their organisations should be rewarded by evaluation commissioners and funders, if the evaluation is used and it contributes to impacts. Seventh, terms such as evaluation impact/impacts need to be clarified, to refer not only to positive evaluation consequences but also to negative, unintended impacts, which must also be tackled.
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Dirk Messner on the dynamics of global change and the significance of international science and technology cooperation in the post-Western world
This is the fifth in a series of Talks dedicated to the technopolitics of International Relations, linked to the forthcoming double volume 'The Global Politics of Science and Technology' edited by Maximilian Mayer, Mariana Carpes, and Ruth Knoblich
In recent years, the analysis of new emerging powers and shifting global order has become central to the study of international relations. While International Relations, aiming to evolve into a truly global discipline, is only just about to start opening up towards Non-Western perspectives, global power shifts have already led to a restructuring of global governance architecture in large fields of political reality and practice. Dirk Messner illustrates how far global power shifts have to lead to new patterns of international cooperation using international science and technology cooperation as a case in point. He argues that investment in joint knowledge creation and knowledge exchange is vital for managing the earth system. Messner also points to the multitude of tasks related to socio-technical systems which the political sphere is currently facing, particularly with regard to the challenge of managing the climate system.
Print version of this Talk (pdf)
What is the most important challenge facing global politics that should be the central debate in the discipline of International Relations?
The biggest challenge of the next decades which we have to come to terms with is governing the big global commons. When I say global commons I do have in mind the atmosphere, the climate system, and other parts of the earth system, but also international financial markets and global infrastructures, such as the Internet – stability of these and other global commons is a public good much required. We need to stabilize the global commons and then manage them in a cooperative manner.
Three dynamics of global change make it specifically challenging to manage these global commons. The first wave of global change is the globalization wave; the economic globalization, cross-border dynamics, global value chains. It becomes evident that in many areas and especially when it comes to the global commons, regulation exceeds the capacity of individual nation states. The international community is required to institutionalize multilateralism and efficient global governance mechanisms in order to properly address issues arising from global dynamics. The second big global change is the shift from a Western to a post-Western world order. Global power shifts remaking the international system impede governing global commons. The third wave of global change is related to climate change, which adds a new dimension of global dynamics; human beings now have to learn how to steer, to stabilize, and how to govern the earth system as such. We are not only a species living on this planet, depending from resources and ecosystems of the earth systems. With the acceleration of economic globalization during the 1990s and the emergence of new, non-Western economic drivers of change, like China, humankind now significantly impacts the physical structures of the earth system. This trend is new. For the first 4,6 billion years of the existence of the earth system it was driven by the laws of physics, the dynamics of biology and bio-chemical processes. Homo sapiens appeared 220.000 years ago, and the impact of our species on the earth system has been marginal until the industrial revolution started 250 years ago. During the last decades human mankind became a major driver of change at a planetary scale.
How did you arrive in your current thinking about these issues?
I have always been interested in international relations, international policy dimensions, and the global economy. I started at the Free University of Berlin at the beginning of the 80's towards the mid-80's, studying Political Science and Economics. One among those professors who have been particularly important to me is Elmar Altvater. He was the supervisor of my diploma as well as of my Ph.D., and he sent me abroad. This resulted being a pivotal experience to me. I studied the last year of my first degree in Seoul, in South Korea. It was the period, the 80's, when the four Asian Tiger states emerged following Japan's example: South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong, and Singapur. I had the chance to visit these countries, study there and learn a lot about Asia. I was fascinated by the dynamics of emerging economies and what this implied for the international arena. Somewhat later, the Latin American continent became the center of my interest. I did research in Nicaragua, Uruguay, Chile and some other Latin American countries, trying to understand liberalization-movements, how weaker actors come under pressure in Western-dominated global settings, but also how some countries managed it to become dynamic parts of the global economy (like the "Asian tigers" or Chile) and why others failed. I learnt that it is crucial to understand dynamics of global change in order to being able to build solid and inclusive economic structures and legitimate political systems at national levels. There has always been a political impulse that pulled me into certain fields I decided to work in.
What is your advice for students who would like to get into the field of global change research or international cooperation?
My first advice is: visit and work in different countries and different cultural and political settings. It is one thing to learn from scholars or books, but having studied and having lived in different contexts and countries is absolutely a key experience. This is the way to understand global dynamics, to get a feeling for differences and similarities. My second advice stems from my experience and conviction that we need much more interdisciplinary research than we currently have. We talk a lot about interdisciplinarity, however, we do not have career paths that systematically build interdisciplinary teams.
Looking particularly at global environmental changes and the future of the earth system, at the end of the day, social scientists and natural scientists need to learn how to work together and to understand each other. The future of the oceans, for example, is not a question that can be understood by ocean biologists only. They are the people studying how these elements of the earth system are actually working, the dynamics and drivers - focusing on physical, chemical, and biochemical processes. But when we look at the oceans towards 2100 from the perspective of global change, the most important drivers are now us human beings, our economies, our consumption patterns, our greenhouse gas emissions and their impacts on the oceans. And this implies that to understand dynamics of global change, we need to analyze the interactions, interdependences and feedback loops between three systems: the ecological system(s); social systems (our economies and societies) driven by humans; the technical systems and infrastructures. Therefore natural scientists, social scientists, and engineers need to interact very closely. In the German Advisory Council on Global Change we call this approach: Transformation Research. Currently, we do not possess the appropriate university structures to adequately address this sort of problems. This is an immense institutional challenge. If I were a young scholar I would move into this direction, crossing disciplinary boundaries as much as possible.
What is the role of science and technologies in the dynamics of global change?
There are multiple important dimensions, but I would like to focus on some of them by moving through the aforementioned waves of global change. Technology is driving economic globalization, the first wave of global change. So we need to understand the dynamics of new technologies, especially the impact of ICTs, in order to understand the dynamics of economic globalization. The World Wide Web and social communication media are restructuring industrialization processes and global value chains. ICT infrastructure is also displaying a big potential for less developed regions. In Africa, for example, we saw many African countries jumping from the old telephone technologies to smartphones within less than a decade, because the old, maintenance and capital intensive communications infrastructure was no longer needed. Many African people now have access to smartphones, thus to communication- and information networks, and begin to reshape prize constellations and the global economy. Because of its restructuring effects, the impact of ICTs is relevant in all areas of the global economy. The global trend towards urbanization is similarly related to ICTs. Currently, we approach the global economy via data on national economies. But this might be about to change, as global mega-cities develop into global knowledge and financial hubs, building their own networks. In 2040, 80 percent of the global production, global GDP, global consumption, global exchange might be concentrated in 70 to 80 global cities or city regions.
Technology is also linked to the second wave of global change – the tectonic global power shift – in the way that investment in technology and knowledge in emerging economies are growing rapidly. We are not only facing economic and political power shifts, but also a remaking of the global science and research system itself. From my perspective, international cooperation in the field of science and technology research between "old powers" and "new powers", between Western countries and non-Western countries is extremely important for two reasons: First, we need to pool know-how in order to solve core global challenges and to develop patterns for managing the global commons. Interaction and cooperation in the field of science and technology is especially important for the creation of knowledge that is "better" in any way. For instance, in the field of adaptation policies to the impacts of climate change, most of the knowledge on how societies and local communities actually work or respond under these conditions exists in non-Western societies. The generation of knowledge is context dependent. We need to interact with colleagues from the respective countries for mutual learning and common knowledge improvement. My second argument is that, as an effect of the global power shift, traditional development cooperation is losing legitimacy. Many of these societies, from China to Peru, from Kenya to Vietnam, are no longer interested in our usual business, in our "aid-packages", our money, our experts or our concepts. What they are more interested in is true and reciprocal knowledge exchange and joint knowledge creation. Therefore, investments in respective forms and institutions of knowledge exchange and creation will be a central pillar of/for future oriented development cooperation or international cooperation and beneficial for all partners involved. Joint knowledge creation is a precondition for joint action and legitimate global governance initiatives.
The role of technologies with regard to the implications of climate change is crucial and multifaceted. In the German Advisory Council on Global Change we put forth suggestions concerning the transformation towards a low-carbon global economy. We are relatively optimistic in a technological sense. This statement is partly based on the Global Energy Assessment (GEA) research, which has been driven by Nebojsa Nakicenovic, one of our colleagues, who is working on energy modeling. The perspective there is that we know which kind of technologies we need for the transformation into a low-carbon or even zero-carbon economy. We can even calculate the investment costs and structures of different countries and regions. But we do know relatively little about the transformation processes of entire societies, economies and, eventually, the international system towards low-carbon systems. The transformation towards a low-carbon society is a "great transformation". In the entire history of mankind there might be only two examples for such a profound change: the industrial revolution 250 years ago and the Neolithic revolution 10.000 years ago, which induced the practices of agriculture. Today, we thus witness the third great transformation: the decoupling from fossil resources, from high-carbon to zero-carbon. To achieve the 2° Celsius goal, a complete decarbonization of the basic infrastructures of the global economy (the energy systems, the urban infrastructures and systems, the land use systems) is required – within a very limited period of time, until 2070. Comprehensive knowledge is key to achieve this. Let me emphasize once more the significance of international cooperation in the field of science and technology research, particularly in the IPCC context. I am sure that politicians from China, India, or Brazil only accept what the IPCC is presenting as objective knowledge, as the stand of the art knowledge, because their national scientists are deeply involved. If this were a classical western-based knowledge project it would have resulted in a lack of legitimacy. In the case of global climate policy, it is obvious that investment in joint knowledge creation is also about creating legitimacy for joint action.
What are the main obstacles of the low-carbon transformation?
The first two great transformations have been evolutionary processes. No one "planned" the industrial revolution, not to mention the Neolithic revolution. These have been evolutionary dynamics. The sustainability transformation instead needs to be a governed process right from the beginning. In our institute, we looked at different transformation dynamics, not only the really big ones, the Neolithic, industrial, and the current sustainability transformation. We also examined structural adjustment programs in Latin America and Africa, the collapse of communism at the end of the 80s, the abolition of slavery, and similar other key transformations of human societies. Based on this historical perspective, we have identified four main drivers of transformation: The first one is crisis, this is the most important one. Confronted with strong crises, society and probably also individuals react and change direction. The second important driver is very often technology and scientific (r)evolution. The third driver is vision: If you are confronted with a problem but you do not know where to go to, transformation becomes very difficult. The European Union is the product of a fresh vision among elites after World War II; the United Nations is a result of the disasters of the first half of the 20th century. Advancing a vision is an essential means to move or to transform in a goal-oriented manner. Sustainability, of course, is also a vision. The fourth and last driver of transformation is "knowledge": you know that you have a certain problem constellation, and though the crisis is still not there, you react based on your knowledge in a preventive way.
For the low-carbon transformation, the fourth driver currently is absolutely key. We are able to address problems which would otherwise become much worse in the future, although the climate crisis is latent still – in contrast to, for example, the financial crisis, which is more visible in its effects. The impacts of a global warming of 4 or 5 degrees are still not visible. This makes for a huge difference. In fact, humans are not very good at acting and transforming significantly based on knowledge only. In combination with visible, tangible crises, knowledge is a strong driver of change, but without crisis, it is merely sufficient. Transformations based on knowledge and preventive action only are rare. The ozone hole is one positive example; solving the problem was possible because it required less complex technological change, affecting few industries only. Human beings are risk-averse in a sense, we are conservative, we do not like to change rapidly; we are path-dependent. John Maynard Keynes once said: "It is easy to develop new concepts and ideas. The difficult thing is to forget the old ones". Therefore, scientific tools are needed in order to sketch out future scenarios. Based on scientific knowledge, we need to convince our societies, our political decision-makers that it is necessary and possible to transform societies and economies towards sustainability – in order to avoid disruptive change in the earth system. Pushing towards sustainability at a point where the crisis has not yet materialized implies a specific and new role for science in managing global dynamics. Organizing a deep transformation towards sustainability avoiding significant crises driven by Earth system changes would be a cultural learning process – a civilizational shift.
What are the effects of growing multipolarity for global governance processes?
To start optimistically, I would argue that in contrast to historical situations in which this kind of tectonic power shifts led to conflicts or even wars, the current situation is different. The world is highly interconnected and economic interdependencies are stronger than ever. Charles Kupchan is differentiating between "war", "cold peace" and "warm peace". I think that a big "war" is not very probable, and "cold peace" is what we are in actually. "Warm peace" would be cooperative global governance: we identify our problems, have a joint problem analysis, and subsequently start acting cooperatively on them. But this does not describe the contemporary situation. While there are no severe global conflicts, we do not solve many of the global interdependency problems.
There are many barriers to global cooperation and I would like to mention two or three of those. The first one consists of power conflicts and power struggles. Hopefully realists such as John Mearsheimer are not right in claiming that "a peaceful rise of China is not possible". But the fundamental point remains that the re-organization and shuffling of power resources is rendering cooperation extremely difficult. The second point is that all the important global actors currently have severe domestic challenges to manage. The European countries are coping with the European dept crisis. Similarly, the United States is concerned with financial turbulences and rising social inequalities. China has to keep its annual growth rate of about 8 to 12 per cent and meanwhile stabilize its rapid modernization process. In India, there is still a large group of people suffering from poverty. So, managing that and trying to be a responsible global actor at the same time is not easy at all. In brief, all actors that we would like to see taking on a more responsible role on the global level are overcommitted domestically.
There is consensus among different disciplines on what cooperation is actually about. At the Centre for Global Cooperation Research we did a study on The Behavioural Dimensions of International Cooperation (2013) based on insights of very different disciplines – evolutionary biology, social anthropology, cognitive sciences, psychology, political sciences, behavioral economics – to find out what the basic mechanisms are which help human beings to cooperate at any scale towards global corporation in a world of nine billion people. Finally, we identified seven factors promoting cooperation: trust, communication, joint we-identities, reputation, fairness, enforcement – and reciprocity, which is the most fundamental prerequisite. These factors form an enable environment for cooperation and they are manmade. In contexts, actor constellations, systems, in which these basic mechanisms of cooperation are strong, they help to embed power dynamics, to solve social dilemma problems and to manage interdependencies. In contrast, contexts, actor constellations, and systems in which theses basic mechanisms of cooperation are weak, will be driven mainly by power dynamics and struggles. By looking at these factors one immediately understands why the G20 context is so difficult. We have been able to create and to well establish these factors in our old settings; in the European Union, the Western world, the transatlantic community. But now we are sitting together with new actors rather unknown. The G7/G8 world – the OECD driven and the western driven global economy and global politics – has moved towards G20 since it was acknowledged that one cannot manage any global turbulence without emerging economies. The G20 was created or rather called to meet in 2008, a few days after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers when many feared the collapse of the world's financial markets. Most western economies were highly indebted, whereas the emerging economies, especially China, were holding large currency reserves. From a behavioral perspective we have to invest in these basic factors of cooperation in the G 20 context in order to create the essential preconditions of joint action to solve the big global problems. This represents a long-term project, and unfortunately many of these global problems are highly challenging from the time perspective: a tension derives from the gap between time pressure in many of these areas and the time it probably needs to build up these basic mechanisms of cooperation. In fact, the major feeling is that international cooperation is even weaker now than a decade ago. I usually visualize the current situation of the G20 as a round table with 20 seats but no one is sitting there. Charles Kupchan's "No one's world" or Ian Bremmer's "The G0 world" deal with the same problem: international cooperation, global governance is currently so difficult, although all these interdependency problems rendered the problem of managing the global commons fully obvious. If you talk to our Foreign Ministers or Finance Ministers or Chancellors and Presidents, they of course all know exactly what is out there in terms of globalization impacts. But organizing the necessary global consensus and the governance and cooperation structures is tremendously difficult.
How far is the discipline of development research affected by global change?
This is a complex question, to which I do not have a definite answer. The whole field of development research is currently about to get redefined. In the past, the concept of development was clear: On the one side, there was the developed world, the OECD-world, consisting of 35-40 countries and on the other side, the "underdeveloped" part of the world, all other countries. Understanding the differences between developed and developing, along with thinking about the basic drivers of modernization and wealth creation in less developed countries was at the core of development research for a long period. How can poor countries become rich and as developed as OECD countries already are?
Today, it is highly questionable if even the broader categories of "development research" still serve to analyze the new realities. Do we currently still need "development economists", and how would they differ from classical "economists" doing research in those European countries suffering most from the debt crisis, high unemployment and weak institutions? Situations in many OECD countries nowadays look like what one would expect from a still developing or emerging economy, and the other way around. So, what distinguishes development research? This is an important question. Studying non-OECD countries, do we still need development research based governance theories or democratization theories – thus, theories that are systematically different from those we apply in our research on OECD countries? The discipline of development research is under immense pressure. This debate is linked to the second wave of global change we talked about: the post-western world order, emerging economies catching up, convergence trends in the global economy.
If you look at the role of international technology transfer, the same scenario arises: the North-South, donor-recipient categories have dissolved. Technology transfer has lost its distinct direction, and it is much more reciprocal and diffuse than it used to be. There are several studies currently pointing to the fact that investment rates in R&D and in technology creation are growing fast in several regions around the globe, whereas in many OECD-countries, investment is stagnating, or even decreasing. The whole map of knowledge, if you like to say so, is about to undergo deep changes. This implies that the common assumption that knowledge is based in OECD countries and transferred to the South via development cooperation is just not working any longer. We need new patterns of cooperation between different countries in this area. And we need research on global development dynamics which will be different from classical development research which has been based on the assumption of a systemic North-South divide for a long time.
How do institutions such as the World Bank react to the emerging and redefined agenda of development?
The current reorientation of the World Bank as a Knowledge Bank originates from the assumption that knowledge is just as important as money for global development. The second point is that more and more of their partners in non-OECD countries, classical developing and emerging economies, are more and more interested in the knowledge pools of the World Bank and less in their experts. And: dynamic developing countries and emerging economies are even more interested in investments in their own knowledge systems and joint knowledge creation with the World Bank. The old North-South knowledge transfer model is eroding. You might say that there currently are two contradictory global trends: on the one hand via social media and the Internet, knowledge is being widely distributed – broader than ever before and actually, theoretically accessible at any point in the world –, on the other hand the proliferation of knowledge is accompanied with access restriction and control, and the growing privatization of knowledge. Aiming to play a constructive role in collaborative knowledge generation, the World Bank invests a lot in building up freely accessible data bases and open research tools, including the provision of governance or development indicators of any kind. However, this is a difficult process that is developing slowly.
The World Bank is currently undergoing several basic re-orientations. The structures inside of the World Bank are about to become less hierarchical and more horizontal. Originally, the World Bank has been a much more western dominated organization as the Bretton Woods institutions were formed by the United States and its allies. If you look into the governance structures of the World Bank today, it is still largely dominated by OECD countries, but you can notice that this is changing. It is a global organization but 90 % of people working there have been studying at Anglo-Saxon universities. Actors especially from emerging economies have been criticizing that for long, claiming that the World Bank as a global organization should have to be represented by a global citizenship. Although this had slowly started to change already, all the knowledge and all the qualification procedures still remained very western dominated. So they asked the World Bank to diversify its partner structures, to reach out and cooperate with research institutions from around the world. This is what the World Bank is trying to do at the moment, which is really a break with its culture. Because even though the World Bank is a global organization, it has always been a very inward-looking organization. The World Bank was strong, with fantastic professionals and researchers inside, but without cooperating tools. Now they are trying to broaden their cooperation structures and to learn from and together with other institutions.
What are the opportunities and difficulties of big data analysis for global development?
Access to any kind of data is important for any kind of knowledge creation. It has been very limited for many developing countries over a very long time. So, thinking about how to assure access to serious data is significant. This would be my first point. My second point is that, when it comes to big data and the question of managing large amounts of indicators on, for example, cross-country or cross-sector modeling, I think the new technologies are opening up new research possibilities and opportunities. Big data provides the opportunity to identify patterns. Looking for similar dynamics in very different systems is a very interesting exercise, because you get deeper insights into the basic dynamics of systems. This is what I have learned from my colleague Nakicenovic, whom I have mentioned before, and who is working on the Global Energy Assessment, or from Juergen Kurths, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who is studying basic structures and dynamics of very different complex systems like air traffic networks, global infrastructures and social media networks. Managing big data allows you to see patterns which cannot be seen if you only work with case studies. However, to understand the dynamics of countries and sectors, new actor constellations or communities, you need to go into detail and in this specific moment, big data is only the starting point, the background: you also need qualified, serious, very often qualitative data on the ground. Big data and qualified, specific data: they complement each other.
For sure, an important aspect of big data is that for the most part, it is gathered and stored by private businesses. We started this interview talking about global commons and we actually just defined a global commons: data on development should be a global commons, and we need standards and rules of managing those. Private actors could play a role, but within a set of rules defined by societies and policies, and not the private business sector.
Dirk Messner is the Director of the "German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)" since 2003 and teaches at the Institute of Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen. He is Co-Director of the "Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research (KHK/GCR)", University Duisburg-Essen, which was established in 2012. He furthermore is Co-Chair of the "German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU)", member of the "China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development", member of the "Global Knowledge Advisory Commission" of the World Bank and member of the "European Commission's Scientific Advisory Board for EU development policy". Dirk Messner's research interests and work areas include globalisation and global governance, climate change, transformation towards low carbon economies, and development policy. He directed many international research programs and thus created a close international research network.
related links:
Profile at German Development Institute Messner, Dirk / Guarín, Alejandro / Haun, Daniel (eds.) (2013): The Behavioural Dimensions of International Cooperation, Global Cooperation Research Papers 1, Centre for Global Cooperation Research (pdf)
Read Jing Gu, John Humphrey, and Dirk Messner's (2007) Global Governance and Developing Countries: The Implications of the Rise of China here (pdf)
Messner, Dirk (2007): The European Union: Protagonist in a Multilateral World Order or Peripheral Power in the »Asia-Pacific« Century? (pdf)
Eating habits develop during the first years of a child's life, children learn what, when, and how much to eat through direct experience with food and by observing the eating habits of others. The aim of this study is to get a clear picture of the Eating program Healthy, starting from the planning, implementation, supervision, and evaluation as a case study of nutrition education; to get information about the advantages, disadvantages and effects of implementing a healthy eating program for children. This research was conducted through a case study with qualitative data analysed using Miles and Huberman techniques. Sample of children in Ananda Islāmic School Kindergarten. The results showed the Healthy Eating program could be implemented well, the diet was quite varied and could be considered a healthy and nutritious food. The visible impact is the emotion of pleasure experienced by children, children become fond of eating vegetables, and make children disciplined and responsible. Inadequate results were found due to the limitations of an adequate kitchen for cooking healthy food, such as cooking activities still carried out by the cook himself at the Foundation's house which is located not far from the school place; use of melamine and plastic cutlery for food; the spoon and fork used already uses aluminium material but still does not match its size; does not involve nutritionists. Keywords: Early Childhood, Eating Healthy Program References: Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Bandura, Albert. (2004). Health promotion by social cognitive means. Health Education and Behavior, 31(2), 143–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198104263660 Battjes-Fries, M. C. E., Haveman-Nies, A., Renes, R. J., Meester, H. J., & Van'T Veer, P. (2015). Effect of the Dutch school-based education programme "Taste Lessons" on behavioural determinants of taste acceptance and healthy eating: A quasi-experimental study. 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IntroductionRapidly-growing enterprises (RGEs) can play a crucial role in emerging economies with lasting impact on their economic growth. This type of enterprises must manage the change to remain both competitive and flexible in order to survive. Similarly, the emerging economies are characterized by rapid structural change in their socio-economic institutions and traditional practices for gaining competitiveness to face the competitive pressures of the increasing globalized economy. In general, SMEs have the requisite flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, to become a vehicle for enhancing competitiveness by upgrading their capabilities in a country, and thus become major contributors to economic growth. The added feature of RGEs is that they grow faster and achieve higher growth while facing more constrained resources than their SME counterparts. We posit that emerging economies face similar barriers and challenges and RGEs can provide valuable lessons for more effective management. Change in emerging economies is inevitable and will manifest itself at the firm, industry and institutional levels. Regardless of the original source, the instability resulting from rapid change need to be managed with a view to long term growth. For a firm to succeed in a dynamic emerging market, the lessons from other firms managing in dynamic emerging industries can be highly instructive. Emerging industries are characterized by a rapid change in terms of the definition of industry, member firms' production function, relation with buyers, suppliers and competitors. This dynamism is in part due to evolutionary changes in technology, knowledge and also is an inevitable outcome of specialization, which allows for faster growth; but results in higher interdependence of firms internationally. Emerging economies will inevitably compete with the members of those new industries; and therefore it may be efficient to learn from the players that are creating and shaping the new competitive structure. RGEs contribute to enhancing technical progress by increasing the rate of invention and innovation, and the speed with which new technology is disseminated and adopted by other firms. Globalization has forced countries to interlink their economies (Armijo, 2008), increasing their interdependence and thus forcing them to react to, and respond to change, accordingly (Hoekman and Porto, 2010). Therefore, emerging economies are facing similar situations to those of RGEs: a changing reality resulting from technological advances and shifts in macroeconomic policies due to internal and external factors such as the dynamics of WTO, Trading Blocs, among others. Given the present need of emerging markets to raise their competitive levels, RGEs are highly-suitable models from which to learn how to cope with and take advantage of the new emerging environments. In this paper we describe RGEs ´characteristics in order to learn about the crucial tasks of managing the complexity of rapid change due to the emergence change. We also explore how the emerging economies can bridge, and even close, the gap with the industrialized economies and whether or not the rapidly-growing enterprises may play an important role. The Characteristics of the Emerging Economies Emerging economies are a group of countries that play an increasingly important role in the global economy. The term "emerging economies" was originally coined by the IFC to describe a fairly narrow list of middle-to-higher income economies as a subset of developing countries. According to Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, and Wright (2000), "emerging economies" are those newly industrializing countries that have adopted market-based policies. Khanna and Palepu (1997: 42) suggest that in defining emerging economies, "the most important criterion is how well an economy helps buyers and sellers come together." They point out that the lack of proper institutions—relative to developed countries—make emerging markets more inefficient and incomplete, whereby information problems, misguided regulation, and inefficient judicial systems hamper communication between buyers and sellers. Bureaucratic judiciary systems, for example, make registration processes lengthier and costlier than in developed economies with a negative impact on transparency and providing fertile ground for favoritism and corruption. Labor markets are frequently highly regulated imposing additional costs on SMEs making them less flexible than otherwise (see Table 1). Table 1: FIRM-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS IN EMERGING ECONOMIES Output marketInput marketLow competitiveness Limited international experienceLiberalization policiesGlobalization Asymmetric access to information & to technologyLimited access to local and international capital marketsPoor dissemination of information related to international marketsLabor marketManagerial constrainsOwnership structureLack of managerial expertiseLack of consulting servicesLack of administrative structureSocial ties between senior managersFamily-owned business Sources: Adopted from Hoskisson et al. (2000), Khanna and Palepu (1997) and Mody (2004)The institutional aspects of the emerging economies Mody (2004) proposes another definition that emphasizes a) a high degree of volatility due to the transitional nature of their economic, political, social, and demographic conditions, b) the inherent trade-offs between flexibility in policy commitments, and c) the transition from transaction-specific to institutional commitments. The idea of a transition from transaction-specific to institutional commitments is appealing in view of the fact that such institutions must also subsume the socio-cultural dimension of the problem. According to North (2005), economic performance depends on institutional heritage, economic rules and, how those rules are devised and enforced, and the specific institutional constraints of each market. In order to reduce rent-seeking, free-riding and morally hazardous behaviors, it is desirable to evolve from a transaction-specifics situation to a rule-based situation, whereby the agents involved in the situation are not relevant to, or cannot influence, the due-process. Having strong and clearly-defined institutions that enhance the performance of firms is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition to guaranty economic growth. Clague (1996) finds that the characteristics and stability of political regimes have an impact on economic institutions. Similarly, Mauro (1995) argues that bureaucratic and institutional efficiencies are positively correlated with political stability and that poor countries tend to have cumbersome bureaucracy and inefficient institutions. Not only the rules need to be adequate for the circumstances, but also they must be enforced. As North (1990: 107) points out, institutions "are the underlying determinant of the long-run performance of economies". The greater the transparency in terms of information and access to efficient judiciary systems the lowers transaction cost of engaging in productive activities. Artificial national asymmetries and deficiencies, for example, limited governmental support and/or biases in favor of large companies that lobby the government, creates barriers for smaller firms to access to key resources, hence, hindering their competitiveness Characteristics of Rapidly-Growing Enterprises Delmar, Davidson, and Gartner, (2003), Ala-Mutka and Etemad (2006), Fischer and Reuber (2003), Birch, Haggerty, and Parsons (1993) and Keen and Etemad (2011 and 2012) have identified a very interesting group of companies called Gazelles or, in this paper, RGEs. These companies are characterized as smaller firms experiencing explosive growth for a sustained period of time. There are not industry-specific and are found in many industries, ranging from shoes manufacturing, construction to knowledge-intensive and pharmaceutical development. Their main common characteristic is fast growth in revenues, number of employees and revenue per employee. Naturally, this rapid growth in employment and revenues are the consequents of their expansion and further penetration in local and international markets. Most of them internationalize rapidly as well by climbing over international entry barriers effectively. These aspects should be of particular interest to developing economies because of their impact at least in three ways: i) Primary and direct impact. Not only do they generate employment and incremental income but they also increase the total production of goods and service, as well as wealth, in a much shorter period of time than other enterprises. ii) Secondary impact by providing a model to learn from and emulate their action -- the spill-over effects of their success to the rest of the economy would further contributing to the well-being of their region and possibly beyond, otherwise absent (i.e., when normally growing firms are inspired, learn from and emulate local RGEs) iii) Benchmarks for best practices and world-class competitiveness. By aiming to succeed in international markets from the very beginning, these companies need to set their strategic horizons very high adopting the best managerial practices and strategies to achieve the competitive that would enable them to compete internationally at the outset. They tend to select partners, whether suppliers or buyers, that share the same working philosophy and follow similar strategies to complement them. They function collaboratively and interdependently mainly as members of networks as opposed to operating independently. RGEs are in many cases the fundamental core of potential industrial clusters that radiate their momentum to the rest of the economy. They may or may not be a part of a regional industrial cluster; but they actively manage a smaller cluster of their own value net: i.e., an efficient network of buyers and suppliers involved in the both the supply and value chains that collectively generate higher value than their counterparts. This paper will return to the topic or RGEs in the next section. It will present and briefly analyze RGEs in order to examine their main patterns of strategic operations and rapid growth for adoption by the emerging economies to speed-out the transformation of their economic growth and developments. Discussion This discussion builds on the arguments presented earlier and explores the possibility of emerging economies learning from, and emulating, RGES in the developed economies to shorten the time and the path of transformation. In so doing, five broad influential topics will assist in examining different aspect of this examination, as follows. The Need for Re-evaluation and Re-configuration of Advantages In changing environments, property-based assets lose their potency relatively faster than elsewhere. As Miller and Shamsie (1996: 522) observe ¨most competitors will be aware of the value of a rival's property-based resources, and they may even have the knowledge to duplicate these resources¨. However, the knowledge-based resources, more likely to have a higher potentials for generating competitive advantages and growth. Furthermore, the firm has more effective control over the creation and deployment of knowledge–based assets than those of property-based assets. As mentioned earlier, in dynamic environments, firms are forced to gain productivity and meet world-class standards to keep pace with others. A key suggestion of this paper, based on the experience of RGEs, is that without learning and knowledge acquisition to give rise to knowledge-based assets, capabilities and competitiveness, the probability of closing the technological gap and reducing the income inequality will simply not be feasible. Technological gap can be viewed primarily as knowledge gap combined with the lack of process know-how to exploit the technology in a timely manner. Income inequality is in part due to comparatively inefficient of firm operation characterized by their growth rates. In to the case of property-based resources, where competitor may develop the knowledge of how to replicate such resources and thus reduce the competitors' advantage, the traditional barriers (such as legal constraint or historical endowments) did not allow firms to acquire those resources easily. As discussed earlier, those barriers are eroding rapidly. In contrast, knowledge-based resources cannot be easily imitated by firms that do not already posses the requisite know-how. It would be difficult, costly or risky to replicate and time may not favour imitators. As Miller and Shamsie (1996: 522) argue, "knowledge-based resources allow organizations to succeed, not by market control or precluding competition, but by giving firms the skills to adapt their products to market needs and to deal with competitive challenges". Firms in emerging economies will have to learn how to adapt and to respond to international market needs relatively fast to reduce the risk of falling further behind. The relatively static characteristics of the closed-economies, firms were not forced to possess the requisite capabilities to deal with complex situations. Aspiring firms will have to develop collaborative skills to develop and share knowledge to devise new routines and processes to deal with increasing more complex situations. Therefore, the transitional period can be characterized by an ongoing process of unlearning the old routines and the learning the new ones, mainly from more progressive firms such RGEs in order to cope with the new requirements of increasingly more sophisticated demand conditions and tougher competition. The Need for Change in Managers Mindset and the Firm's Out Look. On the one hand, there is a need to understand the implications of the changes in order to develop potentially different courses of action available and how they affect the industry and business practices. On the other hand, according to Weick (1995), the strategic decisions of managers depend on their cognitive structures and how they make sense of the environment. Enterprises need to understand any pending or intended change in a way that "makes sense" to them, fits into some of their interpretative scheme or system of meaning (Bartunek, 1984; Ranson, Hinings, and Greenwood, 1980). When firms face a different environment, such as new international competition, new suppliers and customers, there is a need for a thorough revision because previous symbols, values, and historical attributes may no longer be relevant to the organization that faces the new reality. It is likely that there will be irreconcilable inconsistencies between key labels used in the organization and the key concepts needed for comprehending and dealing with the new reality. The awareness of alternative actions is the key to proper action "in regard to the changes occurring in the data of the markets" (Mises, 1949: 255). Past actions, thinking and experiences that were concretized in norms, standards procedures, and job specifications of the near past need to be revised and in some cases unlearned because they do not reflect the emerging reality anymore. In the entrepreneurial literature, the entrepreneur is the person who has the ability to make the transition possible, to develop new ideas and to set the strategic directions. Firms need to be alert (Kirzner, 1973) to the signal from the markets. The alertness of managers to take advantage of new opportunities and to meet changing market conditions through discovery may be considerably reduced if firms do not change their dominant logic (Prahalad and Bettis, 1986) in order to develop novel strategies. Firms that conducted business for years in a closed economy without much pressure to innovate and to reduce costs, face insurmountable pressures to reinvent themselves. They cannot remain indifferent because their customers will be more demanding, their supply sources will be evolving as well as the competition becoming less forgiving. (continuará en la próxima edición de Letras Internacionales)*Dr. Christian Keen, Coordinador Académico de Finanzas FACS, Universidad ORT Uruguay
PI'S RELIGIOSITY IN YANN MARTEL'S LIFE OF PI Yektiningtias English Literature, Art and Language Faculty, State University of Surabaya yektiningtias@gmail.com Drs. Much. Khoiri, M.Si English Literature, Art and Language Faculty, State University of Surabaya Much_choiri@yahoo.com Abstrak Agama merupakan istitusi mengenai ketuhanan. Agama berisi sekumpulan pengertian dan kebiasaan yang mengacu pada individu. Individu tersebut adalah individu yang religius, pernah religius, atau bisa jadi religius. Partisipasi dalam suatu hal yang berbau religius didefinisikan sebagai religiusitas. Individu yang memiliki religiusitas tidak berarti mereka menganut sebuah agama. Selagi mereka melakukan hal hal yang sebuah agama perintahkan terhadap para pengikutnya, seperti percaya kepada Tuhan, mencintai ciptaan Tuhan, dan melakukan tindakan religius, individu tersebut dapat dikatakan religius. Life of Pi, sebuah novel karya Yann Martel, menggambarkan religiusitas seorang anak laki –laki, Piscine Molitor Patel atau Pi. Sejalan dengan hal tersebut, tujuan dari pernelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan religiusitas dari Pi dalam hidupnya dan mengungkapkan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi religiusitas tersebut. Metode analisis secara tidak langsung berdasarkan teori psikologi remaja karya Frederick Tracy karena sebagian besar novel tersebut menyuguhkan kehidupan Pi ketika dia masih dalam masa remaja. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Pi telah memenuhi tiga komponen religiusitas-keyakinan, perasaan, dan tindakan. Terlebih, ada lima faktor yang mempengaruhi religiusitas Pi. Faktor tersebut adalah pengaruh keluarga, pengaruh pekerja professional, kebutuhan, ketertarikan, dan rasionalitas. Kata kunci: agama, religiusitas, komponen religiusitas, remaja Abstract Religion is the institution of godness. It contains a set of meaning and behavior referring to individuals. The individuals are religious, were religious, or could be religious. The participation in religious things is defined as religiosity. Individuals who have religiosity do not mean they commit to a religion. As long as they do what a religion tells its followers to do, like believing God, loving God's creation, and doing religious action, the individuals are considered religious. Life of Pi, a novel by Yann Martel, depicts the religiosity of a boy, Piscine Molitor Patel or Pi. In line with that, the purpose of this study is to depict religiosity of Pi in his life and reveal the factors that influence it. The method of the analysis indirectly works mostly based on Frederick Tracy's psychology of adolescence theory because mostly the novel presents the life of Pi when he is in adolescent period. The result of this study shows that Pi has fulfilled three components of religiosity—knowing, feeling, and doing. Moreover, there are five factors that influence Pi's religiosity. They are family's influence, professional workers' influence, needs, interest, and rationality. Keywords: religion, religiosity, component of religiosity, adolescence INTRODUCTION Fiction, by its definition, is describing imaginary events and people. The contents of a prose literature which are included in fiction are drawn from imagination that shows creativity or original thought. An unrealistic plot like a boy who flies by a broom, talking animals, aliens, or monsters that attacks the earth often cause delusion. Thus, an author puts truths to make the work more realistic although as the mentality history, a work of art can be a manifestation of reality, critic of reality, and alternative thought of reality (Supaat, 2008: v). A modern literature has a notion that art or literature is a matter of creativity. Often the creativity is bounded with the legalistic and formalistic doctrines of religion. Thus Western societies put the religion aside from their literature. The literature is free and free from religious matters. On the contrary Y.B Mangunwijaya in Supaat (2004: 175) stated that basically all literatures are religious. T.S Elliot in Supaat (2004: 166) added that the value of literature must be seen from the ethic and religiousness. If there is an idea or agreement of a society of a religious ethic so the literature must be 'good' like the religious ethic. Religion within a fiction is based on religious ideas from the real world. The religious ideas can be included into a fictional prose because basically fictional characters are imaginary. Although the characters are made up, they still have people's same willingness, needs, and drives in the real world. What people do in real world includes seeking religious understandings. (http://altreligion. about.com/od/artandculture/a/Religion-And-Fiction.htm retrieved on March 7th 2013). Based on the explanation, art works often raises religious issues to make the story becomes more real. The issues contain the truths from real religious ideas. The authors put more understanding to the issues from the facts. A character seeks for religious understanding for some reasons. The character may find peace and satisfied feeling towards his or her life in religion. Although religion is a term for conceivable religions whether formal or informal (Ferm, 1959: 647) a character does not always practice what a particular religion that he or she commits' rules. A satisfaction is found deep inside a feeling. Because it is related to feeling, it can be related to religiosity. Stolz (2009: 347) defines religiosity as what an individual chooses, feels, believes, and acts that refer to a religion that already exists or to a self-made religion. Religion itself is a cultural symbol-system that responds to problems and possibilities that are related to a very important reality. This system influences everyday life and cannot be controlled directly. Stolz continues with religiosity is when an individual prays, sacrifices, believes, loves or fear his god while the religious symbol-system or religions are like Christianity and Islam (Stolz, 2009: 347). An author may put his understanding about religious things to his works. 'Literature going behind God' is an effort of a man in letter by his works in which nuances in religious with his total comprehension of faith , so that he could comprehend fully of his seeking of God, his Creator, and literature is a dynamic, productive, and creative media (Supaat, 2004: 176). Yann Martel puts his idea of religion and religious things into his fictional work, Life of Pi. "Pi is interested in religions: so am I. Pi is open to all faiths: so am I. Pi is comfortable in different Godhouses: so am I. There is a sociocultural component to religions. Just as there are different ways of feeding the body, there are different ways of feeding the soul. Each religion is one group of people's attempt to understand ultimate reality. I think in each one there is a portion of truth and a portion of error. So I see in all great religions the same frame of being, only seen from a different perspective." (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=124838&page=5 retrieved on March 7th 2013) Life of Pi mostly presents such unrealistic things and events. The carnivorous trees and an impossible 227 days survival of a boy together with a Bengal tiger floating on a boat in Pacific Ocean seem hard to dissolve by mind. Although these things are in some ways unrealistic, Martel puts Gods and religions ideas into this work. The Author's Note in the beginning of his novel states that the story comes up from a man named Mr. Patel. Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, was in India in searching for inspiration here he met a man in a café who then tells him to meet a man with great story i.e. Piscine Molitor Patel. He then says that the story will make him believe in God. Life of Pi is uniquely presenting its adventurous content with religious values and zoology. Yann Martel was intelligently put those different things into synchronized single unit. The coordination of the true story of Mr. Patel told in first person is incredible. The story begins about Mr. Patel's education and working life which serve with the fact that he was a student of religious studies and zoology. Then it shifts to his life when he was a boy, son of a zoo owner. In this part, the story provides facts about some animals' life inside the cage or out there in the wild. The story next progress is story about Pi's religious life when he was in his teen that reveals his strange religious practice. The 227 days survival in Pacific Ocean on a boat with a Bengal tiger is the next part of this incredible story and it is closed with he is survived. This novel once comes up with controversy of its originality. Some critics come up with their idea that this novel resembles Scliar's Max and the Cats, a story about a family of German zookeepers sets sail to Brazil. The ship is shipwrecked and only a young man survives after floating at sea with a wild jaguar. This issue then goes down as a discussion between Scliar and Martel done. But Martel had been firstly mentioned Scliar's name in his Author's Note part of his book. (http://www.sparknotes.com /lit/lifeofpi/context.html, retrieved on February 12th, 2013). This issue affects the outstanding content of this novel. Some critics, however, still appreciate the novel. This novel makes the reader recalls the story of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea Yann Martel was an author of seven awards in literature. His first book entitled The Facts Behind Helsinki Roccamatios and Other Stories was a collection of four short stories published in 1993 deals with themes like illness, the anguish of youth, grief, and loss that blend with the lunacy of 20th century history. This book achieved Journey Prize in Canada. Martel's second book, his first in the form of novel Self published in 1996. This book succeeded to win Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. This novel's theme was study of sexual orientation and identity. Also Martel was the author of a collection of letters to the prime minister of Canada, What Is Stephen HarperReading? (http://Literature.britishcouncil.org/ yann-martel on 17 oct 2012) After the publication of his novel in 2001 Life of Pi, his name was widely recognized by literature world. This novel was able to win five different awards. In 2001, this novel won Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction in Canada and also Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. A year later, it won Commonwealth Writers Prize in Eurasia Region as the Best Book although it won over the shortlist. Also in the same year, Life of Pi was able to get the Man Booker Prize for Fiction that made him create much of literary splash rather than with his first two books and it also won the Boeke Prize in South Africa. As the recent achievement, Life of Pi has been filmed in 2012 and achieved a great success. Martel's works have been praised seven different literary awards although his life began with various odd jobs after he graduated for a degree in philosophy in Trent University in Ontario. He ever became a tree planter, dishwasher, and security guard before he committed in writing at the age of 27. Although he began his life with various odd jobs, his decision to write books after that was a right decision. He got praised for his ability to make multi themes and problems that are not common to be bound in to one. For his ability to combine uncommon multi themes and problems, he succeeded to make Life of Pi to become a novel of great combination of religious values, zoology, and adventurous life. As the opening of the novel, it is told that the novel will make you believe in God. This story reveals Pi's journey of life since he was child until he was mature and graduated from university. This story provides about Pi's religious life which is strange and it affects his understanding about his life and God's destiny for him. The combination of religious theme and zoology of the novel is purposely done for enriching Pi's religious life portraits. Pi is kind of person with maturity in his mind to combine his understanding about God of his religions towards the objects around him although he is still young. As human life is divided into four divisions (Tracy, 1920: 10) in which the first period is the period of childhood. The second is period of youth where this is the period of procreative function to the process of self maturing. The next period is the period of manhood and the last is the period of decay that is being dead. As the character of Pi in Yann Martel's Life of Pi is in the second period of life, he experiences great things in his religious life. In his adolescence that is ranged from 12 up to 24 years of life, Tracy (1920: 187) points out that, youngsters seek for spiritual meaning in religion as well as from the objects of nature, events, and their relationship with other fellows. Piscine Molitor Patel or Pi is originally a Hindu. He lives in a Hindu neighborhood when he was kid until he is adolescence. His religious practice has become strange when he meets two religious people i.e. a priest and an imam. Thus, this introduction constructs his understanding about other religions, Christianity and Islam. His decision to commit three religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam simultaneously is also influenced by Bapu Gandhi who said that the most important thing is to love God. Pi has a strong love towards God although he is still a young man. Pi is having a disliking towards his biology teacher who does not believe in God's existence. Pi sees the doubt on the important of religion and the existence of God as just a while. Every man will pass it someday and reach a happy life. Although Pi is still young, he has already experienced his deep feeling about being religious and to religion itself. The feeling creates him to experience religious flaming. This deep religious feeling or religiosity happens in his teen. His religious feeling seems have mutualism with his personality as adolescence. His life whether they are individual or cultural and social more or less influence personality and affect his decision in understanding religions as the way to love God and being a religious on his multi religions practices. This religiosity that is seen from his religion combinations stresses the importance of individual factors, including social background and personal history. Those backgrounds are to build up his mind of committing three different religions at the same time. Thus this study is to reveal the form of his religiosity in the novel and the influencing factors. RESEARCH METHOD The source of this study is taken from a novel by Yann Martel, Life of Pi reprinted and republished in New York in 2012. The data collection is by analyzing the quotations, phrases, dialogues, or monologues in which reveal thought, speech, action, and attitude that reflects the idea of religiosity of the main character, Pi, from the novel Life of Pi. This study of religiosity will be applied by the concept of religiosity with its components, modes, dimension, orientation, and changes that often experienced by people. The religiosity used to determine and explain about the main character Pi issues of religiosity. To analyze the background of his commitment, it is used psychology of adolescence concept that consists of several psychological points of view about relationship between adolescence and family and religious life of adolescence. Close reading of the novel is done first to determine the major issue of it. The major issues are collected and proposed into a topic of the study by seeing the conflict, the monologue, the dialogue in the novel. After the topic is already decided, it is tried to figure out what should be analyzed with the topic. Thus it is collected two statements of problems. There are the depiction of Pi's religiosity and the factors that influence his religiosity. The next step is searching related information about concept of the topic and to figure it out, it is used religiosity concept and theory of psychology of adolescence for the analysis and the conclusion. CONCEPT OF RELIGIOSITY Religiosity is a concept that has a bound with religion. This concept of religiosity can be defined in some definitions that relate to the religion itself. Supaat (2008: 175) defines religiosity as an aspect which lies inside the deep heart, flaming in the inner heart, personal attitudes which more or less are mystery for the other people, because are based on intimate psychology i.e. universal totality, that includes human's ratio and feeling, inside the personal being. This religious attitude is pointed on personal side of an individual toward his God, and having attitudes as what God wants. Stolz (2009: 347).continues with religiosity is when an individual prays, sacrifices, believes, loves or fear his god. Religiosity can also be defined as participation in religious rituals, various behaviors, and attitude in group or society by an individual (Theodorson, 1969: 345). Rituals are usually what a religion tells the adherents to do. Whitehouse (2004: 4) explains rituals as actions that have lack of intrinsic meanings although there are possible interpretations or symbolic motivations that may be the background of the rituals. Although these actions are lack of intrinsic meaning, the ordeals are ritualized and the speculation of their significance and meaning are still present. Focusing on implicit motivations of people doing the behaviors has some tactical merits (Whitehouse, 2004:24). The explicit religious concept that ethnographers interpret is often difficult to differentiate that the concept is the interpretation of the ethnographers or the people's actual explicit religious concepts. The other reason is from the psychological point of view, implicit concepts are better predictors of behavior. The people can also be manipulated to do the actions because they are not consciously aware and will of their response to the stimulus. This leads to explicit reason to do the behaviors instead of the real motivation of them. The explicit knowledge is likely consisting of post hoc rationalization rather than a guide of the motivation for the behavior (Whitehouse 2004: 25). On the contrary, Fazio stated in Whitehouse (2004: 25) says that the conflicts between the implicit concept and explicit concept are not always true all the time. He says that explicit belief can also be a guide to the motivation. People who do the same ritual procedures regularly results in habituation. Those automated habits can make the people to have less reflection of the symbolic meanings of the rituals (Whitehouse, 2004: 6) for example in religious speech. People can be feeling bored of the doctrinal repetition. Rituals are the main things to do in order to get merits and not being sinful. As Tracy (1920: 183) stated that religion involves man's attitudes towards the Supreme Being without age differences and the main thing is to do positive attitudes towards the Being. To support these, an adherent often does various behaviors like fasting and to behave or keeping his or her good attitude by helping other people and doing good things. God is the invisible but owns the highest power and attitudes towards the Being, as sacred and profane. Durkheim (1915: 37) states that there are two divisions of world. They are sacred in which is the one containing all and profane which is the other all. These are the distinctive characteristics of religious thought. Sacred thing is not only about the personal beings called gods and spirits but a rock, a house, a tree, or anything can be sacred. Profane is what relates to daily life experience of human beings. For example, it is about someone's attitude that results in sins or the way a religion teaches human being to have a meaningful life by giving charity and helping one another so it will result in man's goodness. The representations which express the sacred things, the virtues and powers that they have, or the relation with profane things are like beliefs, myths, dogmas, and legends (Durkheim, 1915: 37) As well as Theodorson, Tarigan (2007:11) supports that. The definition of religiosity for him is as the human attitude which comes from God's blessing. God blesses human to believe in God, to enjoy modest life, to give charity, to help other people, to be lovable, and to be friendly. Because of the participations, behaviors, and attitudes based on particular religion that an adherent must do, sometimes these will cause strain to the adherents. They may feel under pressure because if they are not doing them, there will not be merits that they will get but sins and being afraid of God. God is someone who watches you to see that you behave yourself. (Powell, 1963: 289) The concept of religiosity is also generally accepted as multidimensional phenomenon. The phenomenon happens in the society related, influenced, or caused by many dimensions. The dimensions come from cultural, social, or individual contexts. Religious as the result of practicing and believing religion is also influenced by the religion's system of beliefs, rituals, and practices. Thus, individual actions are often influenced by the religion. Because of factors like afraid of being sinful person or to be considered as a religious person, adherents may do more than what a religion tells. This actualization of excessive religious, religiosity (Concise Oxford English Dictionary Eleventh Edition), besides to show that they are religious by doing it excessively, it also can be deviated from the real doctrines. It is agreeable that religion has to do with the relationship between man and his Maker or specifically it is the relationship between man's attitudes towards whatever he believes to be the owner of the highest power in universe (Tracy, 1920: 183). Because of the existence of attitudes, it needs to differentiate religion and religiosity although they bound each other. Religiosity is something that adherents do from what a religion orders. Then, religion defines as follows A religion is a set of meanings and behaviors having reference to individuals who are or were or could be religious. (Ferm, 1959: 647) The statements means that a religion is a container of what an individual must do or must not do either the individual is religious, was religious, or could be religious. Thus, it is only a term that contains all formal or informal religions in the world (Ferm, 1959: 647). Religion is the institution of godness which is unified system of beliefs, rituals, and practices that typically involve a broader community or believers who share common definitions of the sacred and the profane. (freebook.uvu.edu/SOC1010 retrieved on 18th October 2012) Supporting Ferm, Evans (1978: 305) has a definition of religion in which also has relationship between things or power which are uneasy to explain. Because religion freely allows a man to relate himself to the outer power that cannot be explained with science, quality and intensity of man's religiosity of his religion can be low or high. A man considered himself as religious man not only because he believes on religion , he can be considered as religious without doing religion's doctrines or a man who does it but is considered as not religious one as explained as follows that it needs a deep understanding to consider a man as religious person or not. To be religious is to effect in some way and in some measure a vital adjustment (however tentative and incomplete) to whatever is reacted to or regarded implicitly or explicitly as worth of serious and ulterior concern. (Ferm, 1959: 647) Supaat (2008: 175) stated that someone who is religious is defined as human being who has serious inner heart, pious, careful, and with deep spiritual considerations. GENERAL COMPONENT OF RELIGIOSITY For the social psychologist, religion has five main facets. They are the ideological or beliefs, the ritualistic or practice, the experiential or feelings, the intellectual or knowledge and the consequential or effects (Watts and Williams, 1988: 10). These facets bound into one dimension of religiosity. On the other hand, Duke (1988) defines the general components of religiosity seen from social psychologist are knowing or cognition, feeling or affection, and doing or behavior. Knowing or cognition is abstract. Knowing about things that are related to religiosity and religions are inside every man's mind. This is an ideology. The people believe what he believes that the things are true and good for him. Because ideology is only idea in this context in idea of religious things, the only thing that can be seen from this is the realization of this belief in the real world. For example a person believes that a religion is true. People cannot see his belief but can only see how the person shows his belief true religious doings like doing rituals. The feeling or affective is the feeling dimension of religiosity towards the social situations. The social situations contain things that God has created. Human being, animals, plants, goods, or institution are the creation of God. People who have religiosity are feeling grateful of the existence of His creations. Doing or behavior is the action of showing religiosity. This action aims to get positive effect. Religious doings are the realizations of religion as ideology and the feeling towards the God and His creation in the world. The behaviors are like attending religious rituals like servings God as a duty, studying about religion as the feeling to enlarge his knowledge and religiosity to his God, doing charity as the praise for his sufficiency and love feeling towards fellow, and helping the others to tighten the fellowship. In the matter of religious behavior, cognitive scientists more or less ignored the roles of explicit religious ideas and sentiments as the motivations of people doing the religious behavior (Whitehouse, 2004: 24). Boyer stated in Whitehouse (2004: 24) says that people are feeling the compulsion to participate in rituals because the natural environment often produces contaminants so the people use the rituals as the detection of and protection against them. These specializations are actually just normal cognitive systems. Of these components of religiosity, many researchers still hopes for more developed ways to measure religiosity of someone that the participation in institutional religion because there are differences in religious attitudes and experiences between dominations and between different people with the same denomination and there are fact of the equivalency of average attendance figures (Watts and Williams, 1988: 11). Some people may define themselves as religious in some sense although they play no part in organized religion. From a survey on religious scale items from Independent Television Authority Survey stated in (Watts and Williams, 1988: 11), individuals scored high on religiosity because they classified themselves as very religious or fairly religious, are certain that having some religious beliefs lead a good life, without belief in god life is meaningless, religion helps to maintain standard and morals of society, there is God, god watches each person, are very likely to think of god when they are worried or happy, religious belief affected their everyday lives. MODES OF RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT Individual participation on religion consists of two modes of religious involvements. Duke, in his journal, states that the modes are personal mode and institutional mode. The personal mode is built of religious beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. These are found in personal and individualized religion. The person accepts doctrinal orthodoxy from the cultural society around (Duke: 1998). In institutional mode, the religious beliefs, feelings, and behaviors are found in formalized and institutionalized religion. This mode accepts them in which related to religious rituals and worship services like in a particular church or other religions. While Duke divides an individual involvement is a religion as personal and institutional mode, the others like Davidson stated in Duke, separates it to private and public modes. RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION People's interest toward particular religion that makes them religious depends on their own decision. It is whether they are extrinsically or intrinsically oriented (Allport, 1967: 144). Allport's point of view of extrinsic religious is caused by outer reasons or influence. The reason why an individual is committing religious acts aims in seizing mundane goals like feeling comforted and protected and also is like to get a social status and approval. To measure an individual religiosity based on extrinsic orientation is by seeing the influence given by peers, family members, or professional workers. Durkheim demonstrates how process that influence by society motivates individual action. The only source of life at which we can morally reanimate ourselves is that formed by the society of our fellow beings; the only moral forces with we can sustain and increase our own are those which we get from others. (Durkheim, 1915: 425) It is different from intrinsic orientation which assumed without achieving a mundane goal even self denying quality as the reason of religious involvement. This orientation arises from the goal of the contents of the religious tradition itself. To measure this orientation is by seeing the personality. CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT AND PARTICIPATION Life events relate to religiosity. Peter Berger stated in Cornwall (1998) states that plausibility structures i.e. family, church, or voluntary organizations and conversations with the others are important and can give influence to religiosity. Because there are many life events that will influence someone's religiosity, there is chance of the change of his or her commitment and participation in religion. The changes are change in belief and activity over the life cycle, religion disaffiliation and dropping out, religious conversion and reactivation, religious change as personal development. The changing of religious belief and activity can be related to life cycle. Teens or early twenties may have less religious belief and activity than they who are in late twenties or thirties. This changing is caused by several backgrounds like family backgrounds, early socialization, and to developmental issues of adolescence and young adulthood (Albrecht and Cornwall: 1998) In religious disaffiliation and dropping out, an individual decides to not join one organization because she or he chooses to join another or decides to stop his religious involvement in the organization. Even though this is action of switching, it does not mean they loose their religious faith. They only choose the best belief for them. Religious conversion has often been defined as a rather sudden process consisting of new religious insight or experience which leads to greater religiosity on the part of individual involved (Donahue taken from Albrecht and Cornwall: 1998). Supporting Donahue, Starbuck (1900: 21) added that sudden changes of character like from evil to goodness, sinfulness to righteousness, and indifference to spiritual insight or activity. In the adolescent period, the conversion is an awakening. The conversion can happen in many motifs: conversion from private investigation of alternative ideologies to highly social, emotionally arousing experience (Lofland and Skonovd stated in Albrecht and Cornwall: 1998). Starbuck (1900: 49) states that the motives and forces behind the religious awakening is based on the nature of conversion. To study the motives and fears, the people are grouped into their likeness and differences. They are fears, other self-regarding motives, altruistic motives, following out a moral ideal, remorse and conviction for sin, response to teaching, example and imitation, urging and other forms of social pressure (Starbuck, 1900: 49) Religious development changes as the individual goes matures. This maturation process is primarily seen through psychological study without focuses on the impact of normative events like marriage, first job, child bearing, and death (Albrecht and Cornwall: 1998) PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE Adolescence is the second stage of human life. In this stage, adolescents will experience a period of the birth of procreative function until the full maturity of their powers (Tracy, 1920: 10). This stage is begun in the second dozen period of human life. The first dozen period is childhood, the third is manhood and the fourth or the last period is the beginning of decay of the powers until death. In other word, the adolescent period started from the age of 12 years. Supporting Tracy, Goldenson (1984: 17-18) explains further about the beginning of adolescent of girls and boys. He stated that adolescent period of girls is begun when they are 12 until 24 years. Boys have a year later the beginning of adolescence than girls, which is from 13 until 22 years. The period of adolescence is subdivided into two periods but some writers divided it into three. In the three divisions of this period, there are early, middle, and later adolescence. In this division, the beginning of adolescence happens in the four or five first year while the rest divisions follow this. In two divisions, the period of adolescence is subdivided into early and later adolescence. Both are lined when the adolescents are in their sixteen or seventeen years of life. During the period of adolescence, adolescents will experience a period of puberty. Puberty is a period when sexual life is born and it is also the beginning of procreative quality of them. Although puberty will happen to every person, the birth is varied between an adolescent to the other adolescents. This means that an adolescent can have it when he is 12 and the other may have it in his 14. Besides puberty is the birth of sexual maturity, in some civilized people, puberty is a sign of social and religious obligations of individual. … Frequently by some new emphasis on the social and religious obligations of the individual, evidently with a half-conscious recognition of the close association between the racial and the religious life. (Tracy, 1920: 17). The same thing happens to adolescents in Christian Communions. In this community, adolescents are hoped to take new step of their religiousness and begin to take their religious responsibility. This will lead them to the closer and more open relationship with their church. As well as Tracy, Goldenson (1984: 17-18) stated that during this period, adolescence will experience major various changes that have different rates one to the other. The changes include changing of sexual characteristic, body image, sexual interest, social roles, intellectual development, and self concept. Tracy (1920: 18) stated that in the matter of thought and feeling, adolescence is the period of 'deepening'. The feeling of adolescents will experience a flaming where they will find deepest meaning of things. All experiences of them will make them to interpret them deeper and bound them into a higher thought. In this case Evans (1978: 93) supports Tracy. He explained that in period of operational thinking, adolescents will not face conflict in thought process from the concrete to the abstract form. The adolescents will be aware of logical of basic things and the formulation of hypotheses (Evans, 1978: 93). Thus, they will seek for the logical reasons behind some things, conditions, or situations around them then they began to understand them as something that they have known or purposely introduced when they were kid. The mind of the adolescent reaches out to that which is implicated or involved in the presentation. In a deeper sense than ever before, the mind now takes hold upon the ideal, builds castles, lays plans, and indulges in day dreams, with all kindred psychic adventures (Tracy, 1920: 18) The feeling of adolescents will be richer than when they are children. This will also become actual. The combination of feeling, thought will result of the birth of emotion. Adolescence has primary emotions. They are love, fear, anger, and curiosity. The adolescence does not learn the emotions. The emotions are inborn. Other emotions are built on those primary emotions. Love is a feeling of strong affection or attachment. This emotion makes adolescence concerns for someone or feels delight in an object, person, or situation. This primary emotion builds some secondary emotions like affection, joy, pleasure, and delight. Adolescence will feel alone and insecure without love. Fear is an emotion which ranges from worry. Hurlock stated in Kapunan (1971: 55) categorizes fear into three: fear of material objects, like animals, airplane, elevator; fear of social relationship, like being alone, meeting people for the first time, making a speech; general fear, like poverty, death, darkness, physical incapacity, marriage. Gates and Pressey stated in Kapunan (1971: 56) say that fear has positive values. Fear causes someone to be cautious and careful, thrifty, sober, and the fear prevents one from doing wrong. But, fear also can make one from going a head and can lead to failure. There are three ways to overcome fear. They are forewarning in which the adolescence should be cautioned of something they are afraid of, assurance in which they are told that nothing is to fear, and to live the experience. Some secondary emotions of fear are moods, anxiety, and worry. Anger is an emotion from resentment to rage. This emotion is caused by inability to do or get what is wanted. It may be being teased, treated unfairly, and being bossed. The expressions of anger are like disobedience, resistance, sneers, threats, satire, gossip, or oral attack. This anger also has positive effect. This can make one accomplish more, make one pause and re-examine his practices and limitations. Curiosity is the beginning of knowledge and learning when one starts asking question. This interest or curiosity makes children being aware of the changes around them. This makes their interest aroused. The birth of emotions of adolescence makes the adolescents becoming aware of the combination of those emotions. After that, the action rises. When children's action is imitative, habitual and automatic adolescents' action will be less imitative, habitual, and automatic. It will be controlled by the will although it is not fully controlling the action. It is because their intelligence control is spasmodic and intermittent. FAMILY AND ADOLESCENCE Family condition whether it is related to the parents' attitudes influences the attitude of adolescence. Since many of attitudes or values own by children are well structured in their eight or nine years that are difficult to change, this means the home environment is the primary factor involved in structuring them. Powell (1963: 266) added that although parents have strong role of structuring children's attitudes and values, the home environment also influences them. It is including children's observation of his parent's interaction with each other and with other adults. According to Warnath in Powell (1963: 267) home is the place for children of learning developmental social skill and the desire to participate in activities related to other individuals. THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF ADOLESCENCE Everyman is basically a religious being. They are capable of religion not at this age or that age. They are always capable of this. Although everyman's naturally religious, they are not capable of it in the same sense. It is not also the ideas and feelings towards a religion are the same in every man. An immature man does not have the same things as a mature man has of the ideas and feelings. It can be said that child's capability of religious experience is not the same in form and content as youth's and adult's. Since religion is a matter of thinking, feeling, and acting, children who are not mature, they themselves have intellectual power over their feeling and behavior (Tracy, 1920: 186). As long as they are given early introduction to God, their life is genuinely religious (Tracy, 1920: 186) as they easily absorb things around them. Thus, the character of children's religious life is based on their mental life and this progress. As everyone knows, child absorbs things around him but without the knowledge of his sense. Although the child tries to look deeper about the knowledge he gets from his surroundings, there is not larger degree of understanding that he will get. Although child may comprehend and speak bout the un-sensed for example the unseen and untouched things, there is not understanding about it. They only know that they can see the unseen if they have keener vision and where to look them. During childhood, children are told that God sees them but they cannot see God and God is near to them but they still cannot see God. They may ask such questions but without understanding. Thus, they will be satisfied to any answers given to them. Religion of child and the religion of youth have much in common but there are still features that differ one from another. The religion of youth is more subjectively personal than the religion of children. Religion of children is natural religion but the youth's is spiritual religion. Youth tries to find spiritual meaning of objects, events, and relationship of human life. Religion influences moral values as well as social attitudes not only for adults but also children and adolescents. Children know about religion early from the one closed to them like from parents. Since the children's religion is natural, as long as they are given early introduction about this, they will likely be religious. This differs to adolescent. Early introduction to concept of religion that is relationship between God and man often creates conflict in adolescence. They begin to question the concepts they have absorbed (Powell, 1963: 284) because they start to find out the hidden meaning of something, like no children. For in childhood there is a simple, direct response to the impressions of the environment, on the sensori-motor reflex plane, without the possibility of the deeper and stronger emotions, and with a minimum of logical interpretation or critical analysis. In youth this naive outlook gives way by degrees to one in which the subjective elements play a more prominent part, with the simple feelings giving place to the profounder emotions, mere sense-perception being supplemented by the more ambitious processes of cognition, and the instinctive and habitual motor reactions by deliberate choice and higher volition. (Tracy, 1920: 189) Adolescence is an important period of dedication in participation of organized religions in the world even in primitive form (Ferm, 1959: 378). Ferm also states that When the religious nurture of childhood must issue in personal commitment if significant religious maturity is to follow (Ferm, 1959: 378) Tracy (1920: 191) distincts two distinctive features of adolescence's religion. The first are the experience of intellectual doubts and difficulties whether it is accompanied by emotional tension and upheaval or not. The second is the experience known as conversion. Doubts and difficulties are related to religious questions. As children is very dogmatic which means they greatly absorbs what others say and answer based on questions that they ask, the mind of adolescence begins to criticize that. Ideas which have heretofore dwelt side by side in consciousness without any sense of clash or conflict, may now reveal to the more alert mind of youth certain incongruities and contradictions. (Tracy, 1920: 193) If the adolescence cannot deal with the idea that they have with the reality that they face, there will be conflict which leads to doubts of what they have believed. In some researches stated by Powell (1963: 286) relating to loss of religious interest with adolescent, show that young people do not loose 100 percents the interest of religion but they do not seem feeling satisfied with traditional religious belief and ritual. In this period, he added that confusion seems to happen that may lead to guilt feeling. Family environment which is included attitudes of father and mother influences the development of young people's religious attitudes, Parents often give their children with strict adherence to specific religion. This habit can make confusion to the children when they come to a more liberal home (Powell, 1963: 286). However, children with less religious even irreligious parents will make them insecure and envy of seeing their classmates involved in religious experience denied them. A better point of view of religion will be in the attitudes of children whose parents are religious and liberal. These combinations seem to make result in developing more mature religious views (Powell, 1963: 288). According to Allport cited in Powell (1963: 290) religious sentiments occur from needs, interests, temperament, rationality, and cultural response. Young people seek for new experiences, awareness of the presence of God, to be useful and unselfish, to participate responsibly, and become members of a wholesome fellowship (Powell, 1963: 291) Kuhlen and Arnold cited in Powell (1963: 289) agrees that religious beliefs become increasingly abstract with the increase of age. The more age he has, the more likely he becomes religious. For many adolescents, leaving religious practice is temporary since they will enter their adulthood that makes them likely to become affiliated with religious practice. DEPICTION OF PI'S RELIGIOSITY Three general components of religiosity are depicted by Pi. The depictions are Pi's knowing about God's existence, knowing about religion, feeling grateful of animals' existence, grateful of goods' existence, Pi's doing like serving God through personal prayer, committing three religions, loving the fellow, and loving animals. As adolescence, Pi has knowledge about the great power of God. Pi thinks that it is only a very serious disease that will kill God. What is meant by serious disease is a real serious disease that infects a human being. Pi thinks that God, the Supreme Being who has super power over all things in the world will not die or never dies because of thing like suffering disease like a man can. God is the creator of human being and all other creatures in this world. He disagrees with his teacher's opinion that God died during partition in 1947. He might also die during the war or when he was in orphanage. Pi believes and knows it so he thinks that it is an impossible thing for God to die that way like a human being does. He also thinks that if God's existence in a man's heart is dead, this condition will lead to terrible things. In other words this is a very dangerous condition. Pi states this because he does not want God disappears from every human being's heart. He compares the terrible things that will happen because of that condition with terrible disease. He attempts to say that the effect of both things towards human beings and other creatures in the world is vey dangerous. Someone who suffers a not-dangerous disease still can infect the people around him then imagine if the disease is terrible. This will have greater effect towards them. Then, if someone does not recognize his God anymore, this will make destruction. For example, if human beings are the highest God's creature compared to animals and plants do not have God inside their minds then the God's blessing like mercy towards the other will be lessen and the worst is disappearance of that. If the people do not have mercy anymore, they will damage the environment. Relating this to Pi's life that is closed to animals, Pi knows and believes that by keeping God inside his heart will make the world and its contents peaceful. Pi has a positive point of view of religion. For him religion is light. The light will guide human beings to the right way along their life's way. When Pi met his teacher, Mr. Kumar at his father's zoo, Pi was so happy to see him there. Mr. Kumar said that he often went to the zoo and thought that other people might think that it was his temple although he was indicating to the Pit of goats' and rhinos' cage. He later talked about politic that lead to religious debate between him and inside Pi's heart. Mr. Kumar thinks that the world will be peaceful if the politicians are like the goats and rhinos. But the real condition is reversed. Pi does not know anything about politics although his parents often complained about Mrs. Gandhi. He bluntly said that religion would save them. After Pi mentioned that they will be saved by religion from the political condition that was terrible, Mr. Kumar's response was not very good. He admitted that he did not believe in religion. He thought that religion is darkness. He thought that there were no grounds for believing thing like that. He only thought that religion was a superstitious bosh. He did not believe in God's existence. Hearing this Pi was only thinking that Mr. Kumar was only testing him for his knowledge of religion. He thought that he was like purposely saying that mammals lay eggs. After that Mr. Kumar is an atheist was in his mind. He was then surprised when he was told that God may have died somewhere some when. Although he was surprised of this, Pi did not hate the fact that Mr. Kumar is an atheist but Mr. Kumar's agonistic made Pi upset. Mr. Kumar spoke that God never came when he needed Him. When he was Pi's age, he was racked with polio. The God never came and saved Him but the medicine did. Pi did not respond anything about it although it was a bit much for him. Pi chooses not to argue with Mr. Kumar not because of his anger but more afraid of loosing someone he loved. The depiction of Pi's gratefulness of animals' existence is found when he was in the zoo. Pi's father was the owner of a zoo in Pondichery. He was feeling very happy of growing up in a zoo. Almost every animal in the zoo left an impression to Pi. In some case, Pi did not have to depend on his activity to the mundane thing like alarm clock for example. Pi did not have to have the clock because he could use the voice of animals around him to wake him up, to remind him for breakfast. He used the roar of a pride of lion who usually roar off between five-thirty and six every morning. The loud voice of howler monkeys punctuated his breakfast time. The animals in the zoo also give Pi a happy feeling. Besides from his mother's gaze, he also got a benevolent from bright-eyed otters, burly American bison, and also orang-utans. Pi was living his life as prince who had the fondest memories of living in a zoo because of the animals. The animals brought him advantages. From morning until dark, Pi was always welcomed by them. Every animal in the zoo has different characteristics, habits, and action. There are animals which voices are very disturbing but there are animals which are not. The habits or the actions of the animals whether they are annoying or not, has brought him to think that they are the graceful gifts from God. Seeing their action made Pi feeling as a lucky boy. Pi has always been feeling grateful of what God has given to him. Once when he is in trouble when floating on the Pacific Ocean, he finds goods that will make him survive. Although he is in trouble, he still remembers about the relationship of the goods' colour with one of the religions he has committed. In Hinduism, saffron is the most sacred color for the Hindu. This color represents fire and symbolizes purity. Wearing this color symbolizes the quest for light. If this color is related to what Pi finds in the lifeboat, this means the goods are source of light for Pi. The light is his survival from the fear. The boat makes him safe from the Pacific Ocean beneath him and the tarpaulin separates him with his Bengal tiger. At first, Pi does not think that the goods he has found will become his lifesaver. But, he then thinks that with the lid, he is separated from Richard Parker. This means he is protected from carnivore that is in the same boat with him. He is feeling grateful of that. Then if the tiger is managed to attack Pi from below, he should push the lid and it will warn him and make him fell backwards to the water. And here it is the function of the lifebuoy. The existence of the goods has caused joyful feeling for Pi. He even cannot compare them with all giving occasions that he has experienced before even the occasions bring great pleasure. Although Pi is floating on the Pacific Ocean, he still does prayers. Pi does the religious rituals adapted to the circumstances. He does all three religions rituals he commits. Pi still does the prayers because he has felt that doing prayer will bring him comfort. But, in practice, doing prayer is very hard for him. He thinks that to have faith in God is difficult. He has to have an opening up, trust, and act of love towards God. It is because he is not in a save condition. There are dangerous problems that he faces on the ocean. He sometimes fills with anger, desolation, and weariness. He is angry at the God who puts him in this kind of situation. In that kind of situation, Pi ensures himself that everything around him is God's, even the hat he is wearing, the attire, the cat, the ark, the wide acres, the ear. Pi has a very strange religious practice. Although he is still adolescence, he has already practiced three different religions. They are Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. At the age of fourteen years old, Pi meets Jesus Christ and becomes a Christian although he was born Hindu. He is admired by the God's Son's sacrifice. He willingly sacrifices Himself for the goodness of humanity. He pays the humanity sins. The reason is because of love. Although Pi is a Hindu, he also commits to Christianity. He does both Hindu and Christian prayers even right after becoming Christian. Pi commits to Islam a year later. Again he is introduced to Islam by a professional worker. He is a Sufi who is a Muslim mystic. His name is Satish Kumar, person with the same name as his biology teacher. Pi is attracted to Islam because of the brotherhood and devotion that are told in Islam. Pi also feels good when he brings his forehead to the ground. He feels a deep religious contact then. After all those introductions to new religions, Pi practices all of them. Pi's love toward the fellow is depicted through his relationship with his biology teacher. Although Pi is born Hindu and is a well-content Hindu, he still respects anyone who does not have the same faith with him including his biology teacher, Mr. Satish Kumar. One day Pi sees Mr. Kumar in the zoo. He is a regular visitor of the zoo. When he is visiting zoo, he always reads labels and descriptive notices of every animal. He feels scientifically refreshed after visiting the zoo. In the zoo Mr. Kumar and Pi have a talk about political things in India. Mr. Kumar imagines if they have politicians like two rhinoceros and a goat, that live together in harmony that they are watching, India would not have faced many problems. Then Pi says that religion will save them. Mr. Kumar's response is out of Pi's mind. He thinks religion is darkness and God does not exist. Pi is surprised about this. Pi only thinks that he is testing him. But it is not. Mr. Kumar is an atheist, someone who does not believe in God's existence. Although Mr. Kumar's point of view about religion and God is not the same as Pi's, he still accepts this. He only thinks that anyone has doubt like Christ who ever doubts God for forsaking Him. Pi still makes Mr. Kumar as the reason he choose zoology as one of his major in university. Because he is the first atheist person that Pi meets, he is able to think that atheists are his brothers and sisters. He considers Mr. Kumar as a person of blood-relationship with him no matter what faith he has. The faith is their faith. They are free for it like Pi himself. Pi's love towards animals has made him to become a vegetarian. When Pi is in trouble finding the source of food on the boat on Pacific Ocean, he is finding many flying fish, Dorado fish, have flown into the lifeboat. He is finding this event as happy event because Richard Parker has had some food supplies to fill its hungry stomach. Pi also takes one of the fish. He covers the fish with blanket in order to not make him hurt. After that, he tries several times to kill the fish but he could not complete the action. Pi cannot make it because he feels pity of the fish. He even feels a bit responsible of the rat's death because he threw it to Richard Parker. To kill the fish, he thinks that he is between the affection feeling towards animals and the need to have meal. In his lifetime, he is a vegetarian. When Pi has been succeeded in killing the fish, the tears come down his cheeks. He cannot feel the life fighting anymore. He feels sad knowing that there is blood on the fish. Although fish is a common animal that human even other animals eat and they rarely think that the fish is a creature that has soul, Pi's aware that there is soul inside the fish. He is very sorry toward the soul living things that he has killed. The fish cannot enjoy its life anymore. Pi thinks the fish and him are the living creation of God. They should not kill each other. Because he loves it, he is feeling guilty. Then, he promise to pray for the fish in his prayer. FACTORS INFLUENCING PI'S RELIGIOSITY The religiosity of a person can be begun since early life of that person. This can appear to the mind of people when they are children. Not all people will experience religiosity since in their early age. Usually the forms of religiosity are based on religion. The moral values and social attitudes of the people will be likely influenced by it. Early introduction of religious things to people are mostly from the people around them but this religiosity can also come from inside the individuals. The factors that influence religiosity of Pi are family's influence, professional workers' influence, needs, interest, and rationality. Pi's religiosity comes from the influence of his parents because they are the closest figure for the children. Although Pi is from Hindu family, he defines his father as person who does not have strong belief about religion. He later explains that all new animals in the zoo owned by his father are blessed by priest. In the zoo there are also two small shrines. They are to Lord Ganesha and to Hanuman. But, the reason behind this is only to please the zoo director. His father thinks the existence of the shrines is good for his business to build a better relationship with the public, not personal reason like personal salvation for him. It is true that Pi is religious because he has been falling in love with Hinduism. But, the children's mental life grows. Pi sees his father as a less or lesser religious than him. Then he might think that committing two new other religions is okay for him. Because of this reason, he begins to think it won't be any problem with my family if I commits to these new religions. Besides of the religious life of his father, Pi also feels that when he was kid, he has never prohibited reading comic and other papers that contain anything about gods of any religion. Pi thinks that his mother was pleased to see him reading any books so long it was not naughty, because she herself is a big reader. Professional workers have a great influence towards Pi's religiosity. Pi was originally a Hindu because he was born in Hindu family. During his childhood, he was familiar with everything about Hinduism. Later on when he enters his adolescence period that is in his fourteen years old, he begins to know about Christianity. Pi is on a holiday trip in Munnar. In Munnar there are three hills. The hill on the right has a Hindu temple, the hill in the middle has a mosque, and the left hill has a Christian church. Pi is a school boy who attends a Christian school but he never goes inside a church. Then, because of curiosity he decides to hide around a corner of the rectory of the church because he is afraid. Inside the church he sees a figure, a priest who is sitting quietly and patiently waiting for anyone who wants to talk to him. On the next day he manages to enter the church and is welcomed by the priest, Father Martin. Pi thinks he is very welcoming. In that church he was told some story about Christianity including God's son who was willing to pay the humanity sins. Pi cannot accept this. He always questions this thing to Father Martin. He always answers it is because of love. Pi does not feel satisfied of the answer. On his last day in Munnar, Pi decides to come to the church again. At first he thinks that the priest is not in but he is. He says to Father Martin that he wants to be a Christian. He says that Pi already is. Before Pi leaves, he finds Father Martin smiling to him. It is the smile of Christ for him. From these, Father Martin's patience and kindness to give explanation to Pi and answers his questions too have made Pi to feel that Christian is not as what he thinks as people with great violence. He has seen the sincerity of Father Martin. He is feeling comforted about what the man is telling. These makes him understands about the religion and finally commits in it. Another professional worker that influences Pi to Pi's religiosity is an imam of a mosque in Mullah Street. At that time, Pi is also in his adolescent period. He is sixteen years old when he knows Islam. Pi actually does not have good impression about Islam. Islam has a reputation worse than Christianity. Islam has fewer gods but greate
This report is a part of larger welfare and social policy work agenda which the Turkish State Planning Organization and the World Bank are carrying out collaboratively. The work agenda includes the preparation of a number of conceptualized, and in part of co-authored, analytical studies on topics ranging from examines the equity determinants to investigating the links between poverty, employment creation, and growth. Further, the work agenda comprises a number of human development dialogues for which we are inviting international experts and practioners to share their experiences about social policy reforms with the Turkish government and the wider academic and non-governmental public. This report examines life chances. Life chances for today Turkish people, most importantly future generation, today's children. The results presented in this report show that life chances differ in important dimensions today, and that Turkey could immensely improve its human and economic development potential by maximizing such opportunities.
The World Bank has produced this policy Toolkit in response to a growing demand from our government clients and partners for advice on how to create and implement effective policies for at-risk youth. The author has highlighted 22 policies (six core policies, nine promising policies, and seven general policies) that have been effective in addressing the following five key risk areas for young people around the world: (i) youth unemployment, underemployment, and lack of formal sector employment; (ii) early school leaving; (iii) risky sexual behavior leading to early childbearing and HIV/AIDS; (iv) crime and violence; and (v) substance abuse. The objective of this Toolkit is to serve as a practical guide for policy makers in middle-income countries as well as professionals working within the area of youth development on how to develop and implement an effective policy portfolio to foster healthy and positive youth development.
The objective of this rapid assessment is to inform the design of an Urban Youth Empowerment Project by providing information on youth and youth serving initiatives. Terms of reference crime and violence in Port Moresby and the National Capital District (NCD) are widespread and costly. In 2004, 68 percent of households reported that they had been victims of crime at least once in the past year and 51 percent had been victims of multiple crimes. Violence against women is pervasive, with domestic violence and rape, including gang rape, routine. By 2005, there had been small decreases in reported victimization; however, 61 percent of households still reported being victims of at least one crime and 46 percent reported being victims of multiple crimes. At the same time, costs associated with security and theft amounted to an estimated 15 percent of business turnover and law and order problems serve as a deterrent to investment. Young people account for the greatest share of crime and violence, so tackling the problem means addressing the underlying causes of youth crime and violence. This report provides a rapid assessment of youth and youth serving institutions in Port Moresby. The report relies on extensive consultations held in Port Moresby from July 23, 2008. Meetings were held with over 100 young people, their parents, community leaders, government officials, researchers, youth workers, leaders of youth groups and youth serving agencies, and representatives of the international non-governmental and donor agencies.
El objeto principal de este trabajo de investigación es el debate sobre la justificación de la pena en el pensamiento de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo (1922-2014), como el autor más representativo de las ciencias penales y criminológicas y ponderado como "el más destacado penalista de la segunda mitad del siglo XX" y uno de los más altos valores de la democracia ecuatoriana. En primer lugar, abordamos la cuestión desde la perspectiva que exige este tipo de investigación. Para ello, exponemos algunas cuestiones particulares sobre la selección y definición del tema, planteamiento y formalización del problema, hipótesis, pregunta de la investigación o punto de partida, objetivos generales y específico, justificación metodológica, justificación práctica, una pincelada del Ecuador como un país intercultural y pluricultural, un resumen profesional del doctorando, el marco teórico y metodológico de la investigación, antecedentes, estado del arte o de la cuestión, definiciones conceptuales, bibliografía preliminar y cronograma. En segundo lugar, presentaremos este tema en la formación y progreso de la figura vital de Zavala como punto de partida, incluyendo sus manifestaciones, como heredero de la cultura liberal radical ecuatoriana, analizando las causas del mismo, su desarrollo y consecuencias; trataremos de establecer cuáles son los factores que inciden en la construcción de su ideario, en concreto, aquellos procedentes de la académica, de la docencia, de la doctrina jurídica, de la política, entre otros. En tercer lugar, expondremos el desarrollo de este tema en Zavala y la cuestión analítica de académico y docente, producción intelectual y publicaciones, jurista y político, presentando algunas tesis de su concepción del derecho, del individuo y de la sociedad. Finalmente, abordamos unas breves conclusiones en las que pretendemos revelar y dar más voz a nuestro autor, dar más a conocer y promocionar su obra ante la comunidad científica internacional, para esclarecer algunas cuestiones centrales sobre el problema de la justificación de la pena desde la perspectiva del autor. La finalidad perseguida en esta investigación que se presenta como tesis doctoral es sobre todo la de exponer el pensamiento jurídico y político de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, respetado como el más eminente jurista y político de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en Ecuador. No hemos pretendido realizar un estudio de todo su pensamiento sino que nos centramos en ciertos aspectos esenciales de su filosofía jurídica como son el concepto, el fundamento y los fines de la pena. Lo primero que tratamos es la relación que para Zavala se da entre el castigo y la pena, observándose que para él coexiste una continuidad entre ambos saberes considerados en la sistematización de su aquilatada obra jurídicopenal, que merece ser rescatada de los garfios del olvido, tanto por su valor ético, como por su valor histórico. Dentro de este contexto, la ciencia jurídica y la filosofía del derecho también son para el maestro ecuatoriano dos formas necesarias y complementarias para comprender la realidad de los fines de la pena. Luego del abordaje de este itinerario, nos introducimos en la cuestión sobre el concepto, el fundamento y los fines del castigo o pena defendidos por el autor. El trabajo intelectual y político de Zavala se distingue por sus valores éticos fundamentales y su defensa de la racionalidad, así como por un gran bagaje epistémico y cultural que, sin duda, le permitió adoptar posiciones nada comunes en el liberalismo radical de su época, así como comprender los problemas del velasquismo y de las dictaduras emergidos antes, durante y después de los años 70. En la misma se pone al descubierto la axiología jurídica en relación con su formación humana dentro del contexto de una estructura lógico-filosófica, cuya expresión se manifiesta a través de una relación armónica en el seno de la actividad humana y su concreción e inserción en la cultura jurídica, política y académica ecuatoriana. En esta propuesta académica partimos de la premisa mayor de que la obra científica, académica y política de Zavala tiene un propósito, el de vislumbrar una imagen más evidente de él y su argumento humanista. De esta forma hay que revelar y dar voz a Zavala, dar a conocer y exponer su obra, como objetivos específicos de esta investigación. Por último, hemos prestado mucha atención a los autores y doctrinas que consideramos influyeron de una manera decisiva en el pensamiento de nuestro autor. El trabajo de investigación sobre el itinerario jurídico y político de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, está estructurado en cinco capítulos bien diferenciados, a saber: En el capítulo primero se muestran los aspectos en concreto que han motivado el desarrollo de este estudio partiendo de la situación del problema que se presenta en la comunidad científica al reconocer al profesor Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, como el más destacado penalista de Ecuador en la segunda mitad del siglo XX y uno de los valores más altos de la democracia ecuatoriana. Se presentan las preguntas y los objetivos de la investigación, así como las decisiones metodológicas realizadas para diseñarla. Y, además, cuenta con el cronograma y organización de esta tesis doctoral. En el capítulo segundo centramos una mirada poliédrica a la biografía de Zavala Baquerizo como punto de partida, incluyendo una referencia de su itinerario personal e intelectual: grandes cosas; una breve caracterización social, política y económica del Ecuador durante el siglo XX y algo del XXI; el pensamiento político-social de Jorge Enrique: ideología y política social, posición ideológica y la quinta parte del siglo XXI, una caracterización económica, aproximación a los valores e influencia de Alfaro en Zavala. Se examinan aspectos relevantes sobre la sistematización de la obra científica del autor de nuestro estudio. En el capítulo tercero se expone la justificación axiológica de la pena, en el que se sistematiza la obra del autor. Esta relación ofrece nuevos elementos enriquecedores del debate gracias al análisis de distintas variables y factores que inciden en la problematización del contenido, fundamentación crítica y el discurso iusfilosófico-penal sobre el fundamento y las finalidades de la pena, que se constituyen en componentes ineludibles. En el capítulo cuarto se realiza el análisis teórico del capítulo anterior y se construye una formulación teórica atribuida al autor. Aquí se estudian algunas cuestiones generales en el ideario de Zavala Baquerizo, el concepto castigo-pena y su finalidad, y se concluye con los enfoques de los juristas Nicolás Castro Benites, Edmundo Durán Díaz y Guillermo Bossano Valdivieso, distinguidos profesores y contemporáneos del ilustre profesor ecuatoriano. En el capítulo quinto se discuten resultados y reflexiones finales con lo que se deja constancia de las conclusiones y aprendizajes obtenidos de la investigación, permiten avizorar futuras líneas de investigación. Y, finalmente, optamos por una exposición axiológica del discurso que promueva en lenguaje sencillo el itinerario del ilustre autor ecuatoriano –como jurista, docente, publicista y político–, capaz de generar la atención de lectores hispanoparlantes que, a fin de cuentas, son aliados estratégicos para, sin duda, dar voz a Zavala Baquerizo en la comunidad científica. Como bien se sabe, las conclusiones son constructos teóricos a través de los cuales se exponen aquellos datos confirmatorios o limitaciones finales de la investigación, es decir, son las ideas de cierre de la investigación ejecutada a fin de colaborar con el acervo académico. Por lo tanto, de acuerdo con la discusión de resultados que se constaron entre en el capítulo segundo, tercero y cuarto de esta tesis doctoral y de acuerdo con la metodología empleada y particularmente el diseño de la investigación, las conclusiones son las que se exponen a continuación. A pesar de la falta de información, es posible vislumbrar la inteligencia poliédrica de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo en su itinerario personal e intelectual que incide positivamente en su formación individual, razón por la cual se destaca como buena persona, ciudadano ejemplar, maestro de las ciencias penales y criminológicas, publicista, excelente padre, ecuatoriano ilustre. No obstante, nosotros compartimos como discípulo sus enseñanzas; mucho más que simples enseñanzas, en realidad son un torrente impresionante de ideas que parecen liberarse luego de un largo cautiverio para apoderarse de nuestras mentes, como aquel hombre modelado en la mística suprema que llega a la profundidad de las cosas y de los hechos. De este modo, se identifica que las cuestiones y los escenarios que incidieron en el pensamiento y obra de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo objeto de estudio, demuestran con mayor seguridad y frecuencia que son la docencia universitaria, el ejercicio profesional de penalista y criminólogo, la publicación de su obra aquilatad y la política lo que le permite ocupar diversos cargos públicos de elección popular, tales como consejero, diputado, vicepresidente de la república y presidente del H. Congreso Nacional, entre otros cargos importantes. De igual forma, creemos importante tener en consideración la descripción de la sistematización de la obra jurídica y científica del profesor Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, especialmente, La pena, en donde no es evidente únicamente el penalista, sino que razona y escribe el iusfilósofo. En definitiva, se percibe que la pena es un mal, y debe ser administrada con prudencia, con mesura, sin perder jamás el punto de vista imprescindible de que vaya dirigida contra seres humanos e impuesta por otros seres humanos, de manera que el autor tiene interés por los mensajes de humanización patrocinados por Voltaire y Montesquieu, que se yuxtaponen a su pasión y erudición de escribir sobre las ciencias penales y criminológicas. Es apasionante decir que el castigo es tan antiguo como la humanidad y la historia del castigo es historia también de la crueldad humana. En consecuencia, la crueldad humana es tan antigua como la humanidad. Así, el autor en su obra desarrolla y sustenta su teoría que bautizamos como castigo-pena. Dentro del análisis expuesto, es posible percibir las revelaciones de juristas como León Roldós Aguilera, Alfonzo Zambrano Pasquel, Hernán Pérez Loose, Víctor Hugo Sicouret Olvera, Lenin Arroyo Baltán, entre otros, cuyas orientaciones jurídicopenales son consecuencias de las enseñanzas de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, que lo distinguen y posicionan de modo individual como el más destacado penalista ecuatoriano. No obstante, nosotros compartimos por experiencia y convicción las revelaciones hechas por los juristas en el presente informe. En conclusión, todos podemos realizar un itinerario personal e intelectual si contamos con las herramientas adecuadas para ello, en este caso, es posible indicar que a través de los instrumentos metodológicos de investigación se determina que Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo es el más destacado penalista ecuatoriano de la segunda mitad del siglo XX y uno de los valores más altos de la democracia ecuatoriana, debido a su larga trayectoria académica como docente de derecho penal y derecho procesal penal en las universidades ecuatorianas, el libre ejercicio profesional, la publicación de su abundante obra jurídica y científica, así como la política. Efectivamente, se cumple con la expectativa trazada en los cinco objetivos específicos de esta investigación, lo que nos permite establecer la construcción del objetivo general y la demostración de las preguntas iniciales o hipótesis de investigación. Como consecuencia de lo expuesto en el informe, hemos de refutar las hipótesis o preguntas iniciales de investigación, afirmando que las cuestiones específicas que influyen en el reconocimiento del profesor Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo como el más destacado penalista de la segunda mitad del siglo XX y uno de los más altos valores de la democracia ecuatoriana, son las de jurista, docente, publicista y político, todo cuanto se encuentra debidamente documentado. Y fue un penalista modelado en la mística suprema que lo llevó al fondo de las cosas y de los hechos. Para lograr este cometido queda en evidencia la relación causa efecto, las pruebas que son analizadas de manera lógica y se verifica las consecuencias deducidas a partir de la hipótesis de esta investigación. Se delimita con cuidado las generalidades respaldadas en las pruebas pertinentes, por lo tanto, en el informe final no existen contradicciones, incongruencias o enunciados confusos, vagos o exagerados. En efecto, se aprecia también que las opiniones, inferencias y contrastación de la hipótesis, no se confunde con los hechos investigados. Las referencias bibliográficas que más contribuyen en las contrastación de los hechos son la obra de Jorge Enrique; la obra escrita sobre Zavala, particularmente, las opiniones de los juristas contemporáneos de Zavala como Nicolás Castro Benites, Edmundo Durán Díaz y Guillermo Bossano Valdivieso, así como también las obras y opiniones afectivas de los juristas discípulos y amigos del profesor ecuatoriano: Roldós Aguilera, León (2014); Pérez Pimentel, Rodolfo (2014); Zambrano Pasquel, Alfonzo (2014); Pérez Loose, Hernán (2014); Rodríguez Vicéns, Antonio (2014); Echeverría Gavilanes, Enrique (2014); Sicouret Olvera, Víctor Hugo (2014); Solís, Jeremy (2014); y, Arroyo Baltán, Lenin T. & Albert Márquez, José J. (2018), entre otros. Además, para comprobar este objetivo se relacionaron los hallazgos del Análisis de la teoría de la pena en la obra de Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo. Un enfoque desde el saber criminológico y su influjo dogmático en el foro jurídico penal ecuatoriano (Trabajo Final de Máster, presentado en la Universidad de Córdoba, en septiembre de 2016), realizado por el autor de estas líneas y dirigido por el Dr. José J. Albert Márquez –profesor de Filosofía del Derecho de la Universidad de Córdoba–. Y, finalmente, logramos establecer un nexo cognoscitivo entre el profesor Jorge Zavala Baquerizo, y los profesores Luigi Ferrajoli y Juan Bustos Ramírez, por cuanto, entre ellos confluye derecho penal (garantismo penal), filosofía del derecho, derechos humanos y, además, son de izquierda, tal como hemos señalado en el devenir del discurso de esta tesis doctoral. ; The main purpose of this research paper is the debate on the justification of the penalty in the thinking of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo (1922-2014), as the most representative author of criminal and criminological sciences and weighted as "the most prominent criminalist of the second half of the twentieth century" and one of the highest values of Ecuadorian democracy. First, we address the issue from the perspective required by this type of research. To do this, we present some particular questions about the selection and definition of the topic, approach and formalization of the problem, hypothesis, research question or starting point, general and specific objectives, methodological justification, practical justification, a brushstroke of Ecuador as a country intercultural and pluricultural, a professional summary of the doctoral student, the theoretical and methodological framework of the research, background, state of the art or issue, conceptual definitions, preliminary bibliography and schedule. Secondly, we will present this theme in the formation and progress of the vital figure of Zavala as a starting point, including its manifestations, as heir to the Ecuadorian radical liberal culture, analyzing its causes, its development and consequences; We will try to establish what are the factors that influence the construction of your ideology, specifically, those coming from academics, teaching, legal doctrine, politics, among others. Thirdly, we will present the development of this topic in Zavala and the analytical question of academic and teacher, intellectual production and publications, jurist and politician, presenting some theses of his conception of law, of the individual and of society. Finally, we discuss some brief conclusions in which we intend to reveal and give more voice to our author, to make his work more known and promoted before the international scientific community, to clarify some central questions about the problem of justification of punishment from the perspective of the author. The purpose of this research presented as a doctoral thesis is above all to expose the legal and political thinking of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, respected as the most eminent jurist and politician of the second half of the twentieth century in Ecuador. We have not intended to conduct a study of all your thinking but we focus on certain essential aspects of your legal philosophy such as the concept, the basis and the ends of the penalty. The first thing we are dealing with is the relationship that Zavala has between punishment and punishment, observing that for him a continuity coexists between both knowledge considered in the systematization of his quarrelsome legal work, which deserves to be rescued from the hooks of oblivion, both for its ethical value, as for its historical value. Within this context, legal science and the philosophy of law are also for the Ecuadorian teacher two necessary and complementary ways to understand the reality of the ends of the sentence. After approaching this itinerary, we introduce ourselves to the question about the concept, the basis and the purposes of the punishment or punishment defended by the author. The intellectual and political work of Zavala is distinguished by its fundamental ethical values and its defense of rationality, as well as by a great epistemic and cultural background that, without a doubt, allowed it to adopt positions not common in the radical liberalism of its time, thus how to understand the problems of Velasquism and the dictatorships that emerged before, during and after the 70s. In it, legal axiology is revealed in relation to its human formation within the context of a logical-philosophical structure, whose expression is manifests through a harmonious relationship within human activity and its concretion and insertion in the Ecuadorian legal, political and academic culture. In this academic proposal we start from the main premise that the scientific, academic and political work of Zavala has a purpose, to glimpse a more evident image of him and his humanist argument. In this way we must reveal and give voice to Zavala, publicize and expose his work, as specific objectives of this research. Finally, we have paid close attention to the authors and doctrines that we believe had a decisive influence on the thinking of our author. The research work on the legal and political itinerary of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, is structured in five distinct chapters, namely: The first chapter shows the specific aspects that have motivated the development of this study based on the situation of the problem that arises in the scientific community by recognizing Professor Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, as the most prominent criminal in Ecuador in the second half of the twentieth century and one of the highest values of Ecuadorian democracy. The questions and objectives of the research are presented, as well as the methodological decisions made to design it. And, in addition, it has the schedule and organization of this doctoral thesis. In the second chapter we focus a polyhedral look at the biography of Zavala Baquerizo as a starting point, including a reference to his personal and intellectual itinerary: great things; a brief social, political and economic characterization of Ecuador during the twentieth century and some of the twenty-first; Jorge Enrique's political-social thought: ideology and social policy, ideological position and the fifth part of the 21st century, an economic characterization, approximation to the values and influence of Alfaro in Zavala. Relevant aspects of the systematization of the scientific work of the author of our study are examined. In the third chapter the axiological justification of the sentence is exposed, in which the author's work is systematized. This relationship offers new enriching elements of the debate thanks to the analysis of different variables and factors that affect the problematization of the content, critical foundation and the iusphilosophical-criminal discourse on the foundation and the purposes of the penalty, which are inescapable components. In the fourth chapter the theoretical analysis of the previous chapter is carried out and a theoretical formulation attributed to the author is constructed. Here some general questions are studied in the ideology of Zavala Baquerizo, the punishment-punishment concept and its purpose, and it concludes with the approaches of jurists Nicolás Castro Benites, Edmundo Durán Díaz and Guillermo Bossano Valdivieso, distinguished professors and contemporaries of the illustrious Ecuadorian professor. In the fifth chapter, final results and reflections are discussed, which records the conclusions and lessons learned from the research, allowing us to anticipate future lines of research. And, finally, we opted for an axiological exposition of the discourse that promotes in simple language the itinerary of the illustrious Ecuadorian author -as a jurist, teacher, publicist and politician-, capable of generating the attention of Spanish-speaking readers who, after all, are allies strategic to undoubtedly give voice to Zavala Baquerizo in the scientific community. As is well known, the conclusions are theoretical constructs through which those confirmatory data or final limitations of the research are exposed, that is, they are the closing ideas of the research carried out in order to collaborate with the academic heritage. Therefore, according to the discussion of results that were recorded in the second, third and fourth chapters of this doctoral thesis and in accordance with the methodology used and particularly the design of the research, the conclusions are those that are exposed to continuation. I. In spite of the lack of information, it is possible to glimpse the polyhedral intelligence of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo in his personal and intellectual itinerary that positively affects his individual training, which is why he stands out as a good person, exemplary citizen, teacher of criminal and criminological sciences, publicist, excellent father, illustrious Ecuadorian. However, we share his teachings as a disciple; much more than simple teachings, in reality they are an impressive torrent of ideas that seem to be released after a long captivity to seize our minds, like that man modeled on the supreme mysticism that reaches the depth of things and facts. II. In this way, it is identified that the issues and scenarios that influenced the thinking and work of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo object of study, demonstrate with greater security and frequency that they are university teaching, the professional practice of criminal and criminologist, the publication of his aquilatad work and the This policy allows him to hold various public positions of popular election, such as counselor, deputy, vice president of the republic and president of the H. National Congress, among other important positions. III. Similarly, we believe it is important to take into account the description of the systematization of the legal and scientific work of professor Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, especially, La Pena, where not only the criminalist is evident, but he reasons and writes the iusphilosopher. In short, it is perceived that the penalty is an evil, and must be administered with prudence, with restraint, without ever losing the essential point of view that it is directed against human beings and imposed by other human beings, so that the author has interest in the humanization messages sponsored by Voltaire and Montesquieu, which juxtapose their passion and erudition to write about criminal and criminological sciences. It is exciting to say that punishment is as old as humanity and the history of punishment is also history of human cruelty. Consequently, human cruelty is as old as humanity. Thus, the author in his work develops and supports his theory that we baptize as punishment. IV. Within the above analysis, it is possible to perceive the revelations of jurists such as León Roldós Aguilera, Alfonzo Zambrano Pasquel, Hernán Pérez Loose, Víctor Hugo Sicouret Olvera, Lenin Arroyo Baltán, among others, whose legal orientations are consequences of the teachings of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo, which distinguish it and position it individually as the most prominent Ecuadorian criminalist. However, we share from experience and conviction the revelations made by the jurists in this report. V. In conclusion, we can all make a personal and intellectual itinerary if we have the appropriate tools for this, in this case, it is possible to indicate that through the methodological investigation instruments it is determined that Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo is the most prominent criminalist Ecuadorian of the second half of the twentieth century and one of the highest values of Ecuadorian democracy, due to his long academic career as a teacher of criminal law and criminal procedural law in Ecuadorian universities, free professional practice, the publication of his abundant legal and scientific work, as well as politics. Indeed, the expectation set in the five specific objectives of this investigation is fulfilled, which allows us to establish the construction of the general objective and the demonstration of the initial questions or research hypotheses. As a result of what is stated in the report, we have to refute the initial hypotheses or research questions, stating that the specific issues that influence the recognition of professor Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo as the most prominent criminal of the second half of the 20th century and one of the highest values of Ecuadorian democracy, are those of jurist, teacher, publicist and politician, everything is properly documented. And he was a criminal modeled on the supreme mysticism that took him to the bottom of things and facts. To achieve this task, the cause-effect relationship, the evidence that is analyzed in a logical way and the consequences deduced from the hypothesis of this investigation are evidenced. The generalities supported by the relevant evidence are carefully defined, therefore, in the final report there are no contradictions, inconsistencies or statements that are confusing, vague or exaggerated. Indeed, it can also be seen that the opinions, inferences and contrast of the hypothesis are not confused with the facts investigated. The bibliographical references that contribute most to the contrast of the facts are the work of Jorge Enrique; the written work on Zavala, particularly the opinions of Zavala's contemporary jurists such as Nicolás Castro Benites, Edmundo Durán Díaz and Guillermo Bossano Valdivieso, as well as the works and emotional opinions of the jurist disciples and friends of the Ecuadorian professor: Roldós Aguilera, León (2014); Pérez Pimentel, Rodolfo (2014); Zambrano Pasquel, Alfonzo (2014); Pérez Loose, Hernán (2014); Rodríguez Vicéns, Antonio (2014); Echeverría Gavilanes, Enrique (2014); Sicouret Olvera, Víctor Hugo (2014); Solís, Jeremy (2014); and, Arroyo Baltán, Lenin T. & Albert Márquez, José J. (2018), among others. In addition, to verify this objective the findings of the Analysis of the theory of the penalty in the work of Jorge Enrique Zavala Baquerizo were related. An approach from the know criminological and its dogmatic influence in the Ecuadorian criminal legal forum (Master's Final Project, presented at the University of Córdoba, in September 2016), carried out by the author of these lines and directed by Dr. José J. Albert Márquez –professor of Philosophy of Law of the University of Córdoba–. And, finally, we managed to establish a cognitive link between professor Jorge Zavala Baquerizo, and professor Luigi Ferrajoli and Juan Bustos Ramírez, because, among them, criminal law (criminal guarantee), philosophy of law, human rights and, in addition, are on the left, as we have pointed out in the future of the discourse of this doctoral thesis.
THE EFFECT OF INFORMATIONAL GAP ACTIVITY TO THE UNMOTIVATED STUDENTS' ABILITY OF 8th GRADERS AT MTS AL HASANAH 1 SLAHUNG, PONOROGO Diyan Novika English Education Department, Language and Art Faculty, Surabaya State University. ndidy71@gmail.com Drs Fahri, M.A English Education Department, Language and Art Faculty, Surabaya State University. fahri@englishunesa.com Abstract The aims of this research is to find out the improvement of unmotivated students' speaking ability after treating by using Informational Gap Activity in teaching English of the eight grader of Mts Al Hasanah 1 Slahung Ponorogo. The method that is used in this study is a quantitative method. This design of study had more potential threat to internal validity as the time between pretest and posttest increases and as experimental situation become less controlled and contrived (Mc Millan, 1992 : 175) the design of single group of pretest and posttest. The data on students' English speaking ability were collected with a performance test. The hypothesis were tested with two-ways analysis using statistic calculation of T-test formula with significance degree 5% and 1%. And the other one is using questionnaire. The results of analysis showed that: (1) there were differences of the English speaking ability between the unmotivated students who learned through and that of the unmotivated students who learned through conventional method The result is 2,045 2,756 (2) and the other one is from their responses based on the questionnaire. The conclusion is that the implementation of Informational Gap Activity method has an effect on the English speaking ability viewed from students' verbal aptitude. Keywords: Unmotivated students, Informational Gap Activity INTRODUCTION English becomes the most essential language in the world. Almost all the people from many different countries around the world use it to communicate. The area of English has always become a special interest. It is spoken by millions of people all over the world. Genc (2007, p. 6) says that "when we learn a language, there are four skills that we need for complete communication. When we learn our native language, we usually learn to listen first, then to speak, then to read, and finally to write. These are called the four "language skills". As a consequence, English serves for many times many more people as a barrier between themselves and those some fields of interest, many people in their own countries will not be able to become doctors, for example if they cannot learn enough English. That's some reasons why English is important. Actually, learning process becomes the primary reference for determining success in learning. But, the more we get in our nation nowadays are most teachers do not pay attention and assume that this is not an important thing to discuss. On the contrary, it is very important for our education. According to the 2006 National Study of Junior/Senior High School Student Engagement (Yazzie-Mintz, 2007), two of three high school students are bored every day in class—typically, they say, because the work isn't interesting, challenging, or relevant for them. It seems that the classroom activities didn't interesting anymore for them. One more thing that we have to know is that the classroom is a social construct that is designed to facilitate learning. While learning can occur even when the only active participant is the student-as is the case when a person is reading a user manual the most effective learning scenarios are those that involve the proactive involvement of both instructors and students. The fundamental benefit of a personal student-teacher type of interaction is that the feedback and control mechanism is firmly established and can always be invoked to maintain the learning direction towards pre-set objectives. Moreover, the learning process is essentially affected by peer-group relationships within the classroom environment. That is, the interactions between teachers and students as well as among students constitute the learning network within which lesson concepts are shared, affirmed, and built upon. When disconnect occurs between teachers and students, the class becomes ineffective. Sutherland and Singh ( 2004 ) said "states that passive learning contributes to the failure of students". The lack of adequate student involvement almost certainly spells cognitive failure, especially when the opportunities to learn and practice English outside the classroom are rare or isolated. We can imagine what will happen with the student in that condition. Sure, unmotivated student will really increase just because of passive learning. And the more problem frequently found caused from that condition is that because of motivation lack to practice the second language in daily conversation. They are also too shy and afraid to take part in the conversation and afraid to make mistakes. Many factors can cause the problem of the students. Speaking skills here namely the students that learning language. Interest the material and the media among others including the technique in teaching English. Educator in general will agree with the importance of motivation as a key to success in language acquisition as it's both of condition and a result of effective interaction (winne and mark, 1989) "journal of information management education volume 11, 2012" Now, let's compare between what Yazzie-Mintz and Genc. Yazzie-Mintz said based on their research that there are two of three high school students are bored every day in class and the typically cause is that the work isn't interesting, challenging, or relevant for them. It seems that the classroom activities didn't interesting anymore for them. The second is about Genc statement (2007, p. 6) he said "when we learn a language, there are four skills that we need for complete communication. In the other hand, the class activity should be continuing as well as possible to make the student able to speak English, at least they have braveness to speak. Especially for the unmotivated student, and there should be good activities to face them. Of course the methods/activity should be interesting. One of them is by giving students information – gap activity which might make the students interact easily in speaking activity. Sari (2008,p. 3) says, "the core of information gap method is a corporation between groups and pairs". Information gap activities involve the learners in sharing the information that they have in order to solve a problem, gather information or make decisions (Rees,2005, p. 156). So, English language learning students should be involved in as many situations as possible where one of them has some information and another does not, but has to get it. In other words, situations containing an information gap between the participants are very useful. Neu and Reeser (1997, p. 127) said that in an information gap activity, one person has certain information that must be shared with others in order to solve a problem, gather information or make decisions. Information gap is a useful activity in which one person has information that the other lacks. Another advantage of information gap activities is that students are forced to negotiate meaning because they must make what they are saying comprehensible to others in order to accomplish the task (Neu and Reeser, 1997, p. 128). For these reasons, the writer is interested in analyzing the effect of Information Gap Activity to the unmotivated students' speaking ability of 8th graders at Mts Alhasanah 1 Slahung, Ponorogo METODE This section presented the steps how the researcher conducts the study. It covers the research design, participant of study, research instrument, procedure of collecting data, and data analysis. This research was an experimental research. It was done to find out the effect of Information Gap Activity to teach the unmotivated students speaking ability of the eight graders junior high student of Mts Al-Hasanah 1 Slahung. The method that is used in this study is a quantitative method. The study is based on both library and a field research. In the field research, the writer collected the data by using observing teaching and also treat the student (teaching English using information gap activity) learning the subjects. In this study, the researcher just used one group an experimental group. It is called as single group pretest-posttest design. And the results were determined by comparing the pretest and posttest scores. This design of study had more potential threat to internal validity as the time between pretest and posttest increases and as experimental situation become less controlled and contrived (Mc Millan, 1992 : 175) the design of single group of pretest and posttest is presented below: Table 2 Single group pretest and posttest design Group Pretest Treatment Posttest A Y1 X Y2 In which: A : The group of subjects Y1 : The pre-test given before treatment X : The independent variable or treatment where information gap activity was applied Y2 : The post-test given before treatment There were two variables in this study. There were dependent variable and independent variable. In this case, the independent variable is the teaching technique "informational gap activity". And the dependent variable would be the students' speaking ability. Based on (Mc Millan, 1992:22) stated that independent variable is the first thing that influence or predict the result. As the dependent variable is the students' speaking score. According to Mc Millan (1992:22), dependent variable is something that affected and predicted by the independent variable. The Participants of the study is ninth graders of mts Al Hasanah 1 Slahung, Ponorogo. It is located at Jalan Ponorogo-Pacitan. The researcher chose the place because the researcher graduated from there so that it makes the researcher easier to conduct the research there. There is one instruments use by the researcher in his study. There is: speaking performance (which is the score of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension) that would be applied using pre-test and post-test. The data from the score of speaking performance test are collected from two tests which are pre-test and post-test. And the data is presented in quantitative manner since the study is experimental research. These tests are to find out the unmotivated students' speaking ability. Before implementing the technique, the researcher teaches them without using Information Gap Activity. Then the researcher administered pre-test to the students. The students are asked to perform their speaking in front of the class with their friend then the researcher asked the some question about the materials about telling the time. In the next day the researcher gives them two times treatment or teaching speaking using Information Gap Activity then he gives the post-test to know the result by using rubric of speaking as below: a. Accent Pronunciation frequently unintelligible. Frequent gross errors and a very heavy accent make understanding difficult, require frequent repetition. "Foreign accent" requires concentrated listening and mispronunciation lead to occasional misunderstanding and apparent errors in grammar or vocabulary. Marked "foreign accent" and occasional mispronunciations which do not interfere with understanding. No conspicuous mispronunciations, but would not be taken for a native speaker. Native pronunciation, which no trace of "foreign accent". b. Grammar Grammar almost entirely inaccurate except in stock phrases. Constant errors showing control of very few major patterns and frequently preventing communication. Frequent errors showing some major patterns uncontrolled and causing occasional irritation and misunderstanding. Occasional errors showing imperfect control of some patterns but no weakness that causing misunderstanding. Few errors, with no patterns of failure. No more than two errors during the interview. c. Vocabulary Vocabulary inadequate for even the simplest conversation. Vocabulary limited to basic personal and survival areas (time, food, transportation, family, etc.) Choice of words sometimes inaccurate, limitation of vocabulary prevent discussion of some common professional and social topics Professional vocabulary adequate to discuss special interest; general vocabulary permits discussion of any non-technical subject with some circumlocutions. Professional vocabulary broad and precise; general vocabulary adequate to cope with complex practical problems and varied social situation. Vocabulary apparently as accurate and extensive as that of an educated native speaker d. Fluency Speech is so halting and fragmentary that conversation is virtually impossible. Speech is very slowly and uneven except for short or routine sentences. Speech is frequently hesitant and jerky; sentences may be left uncompleted. Speech is occasionally hesitant, with some unevenness caused by rephrasing and grouping for words. Speech is effortless and smooth, but perceptibly non-native in speed and evenness. Speech is on all professional and general topics as effortless and smooth as a native speaker's. e. Comprehension Understanding only slow, very simple speech on common social and touristic topic; requires constant repetition and rephrasing. Understanding little for the simplest type of conversation. Understanding careful, somewhat simplified speech directed to him, with considerable repetition and rephrasing. Understands quite well normal educated speech directed to him, but requires occasional repetition and rephrasing. Understands everything in normal educated conversation except for every colloquial or low-frequency items, or exceptionally rapid or slurred speech. Understands everything in both formal and colloquial speech to be expected of an educated native speaker. To know the result of teaching speaking by using Information Gap Activity, the writer gives oral test to the students. Because the test is oral test, the writer divided the score into five criteria, which are the scores of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Then, the data from pre-test, they were analyzed and processed by using statistic calculation of T-test formula with significance degree 5% and 1%. The formula as follows: To = TO : Test observation MD : Mean of differences; the average score from the differences gained scores between I variable and II variable, which are calculated with the formula; MD = ΣD : Total score between I variable (X variable) and II variable (Y variable). And D is gained with formula; D = X-Y N : Number of cases SDD : The standard deviation from differences between score of X variable and Y variable, which is gained with the formula; SDD = -[ ]2 SEMD : The standard error from mean of differences that is gained with the formula; SEMD = DF : Degree of freedom with formula: N-1 The other data will be done by giving questionnaire to students, and giving the some causes that usually make the boring and ask them to make list based on their opinion. From the questionnaire that had been answered and the list had been arrange it will answer question number one and. Table 3. Conversion Table Total score FSI Level 16 – 25 0+ 26 – 32 1 33 – 42 1+ 43 – 52 2 53 – 63 2+ 63 – 72 3 73 – 82 3+ 83 – 92 4 93 – 99 4+ RESULT AND DISCUSSION Result In this chapter the researcher presented and analyzed the data. Dealing with analyzing the data, the researcher used t-test formula. The data were obtained from the test had been done previously. A. Description of Data After conducting the research, the writer obtained two kinds of data the scores of pre-test and the scores of post-test. And the other one is questionnaire. 1. Pre-test and Post-Test data a. The Pre-Test Scores The data of the pre-test scores can be seen in the table 4 below: No P G V F C T 1 75 53 52 63 52 295 2 76 73 60 68 73 350 3 74 75 68 70 73 360 4 60 85 74 65 86 370 5 72 95 73 77 93 410 6 64 76 73 73 74 360 7 56 48 55 43 45 250 8 56 48 55 43 45 250 9 - - - - - 10 64 76 73 73 74 360 11 77 93 83 78 90 421 12 55 45 60 45 47 252 13 55 56 77 54 54 296 14 53 55 52 53 50 263 15 64 66 62 62 66 320 16 64 66 62 62 66 320 17 72 95 73 77 93 410 18 64 76 73 73 74 360 19 62 74 60 66 68 330 20 63 57 55 60 65 300 21 55 90 65 65 90 365 22 65 84 86 73 82 390 23 63 57 55 60 65 300 24 58 55 55 50 55 273 25 58 55 55 50 55 273 26 65 84 86 73 82 390 27 55 67 55 58 63 298 28 55 67 55 58 63 298 29 64 66 62 62 66 320 After the data is analyzed, it shows that the mean ( x ) is 328 the standard deviation is 15,55 the median is 350 the highest score is 421 and the lowest score is 250. b. The Post-Test Scores The data of the post-test score can be seen in the table 5 below: No P G V F C T 1 82 93 90 80 93 438 2 82 96 80 81 91 430 3 82 92 80 74 93 421 4 74 90 82 74 90 410 5 83 90 82 75 90 420 6 75 90 70 71 90 497 7 82 80 74 72 80 388 8 72 74 72 75 72 365 9 - - - - - 10 82 93 85 72 93 425 11 76 90 82 82 90 420 12 74 90 82 74 90 410 13 80 84 75 75 80 394 14 84 90 83 83 90 430 15 66 70 70 64 72 342 16 74 80 82 74 80 390 17 82 92 80 76 84 416 18 75 90 76 73 90 404 19 75 80 74 71 80 380 20 80 90 82 76 90 418 21 73 90 80 65 90 398 22 82 92 90 84 92 440 23 74 90 82 74 90 410 24 64 72 70 65 72 343 25 72 62 70 55 60 319 26 72 84 80 74 82 392 27 74 70 64 62 70 340 28 74 70 64 62 72 342 29 73 80 65 72 80 370 After the data is analyzed, it shows that the mean ( X ) is 398,28 the standard deviation is 67,684 the median is 394 the highest score is 497 and the lowest score is 319. c. The Comparison of the Test Result The comparison of the test result can be seen in the table 6 below: No Pre Post D D2 1 295 438 -143 20449 2 350 430 -80 6400 3 360 421 -61 3721 4 370 410 -40 1600 5 410 420 -30 900 6 360 497 -137 18769 7 250 388 -138 19044 8 250 365 -115 13225 9 - - - - 10 360 425 -65 4225 11 421 420 1 1 12 252 410 -158 24964 13 296 394 -98 9604 14 263 430 -167 27889 15 320 342 -22 484 16 320 390 -70 4900 17 410 416 6 36 18 360 404 -44 1936 19 330 380 -50 2500 20 300 418 -118 13924 21 365 398 -33 1089 22 390 440 -50 2500 23 300 410 -110 12100 24 273 343 -70 4900 25 273 319 -46 2116 26 390 392 -2 4 27 298 340 -42 1764 28 298 342 -44 1936 29 320 370 -50 2500 N:29 ΣX = 9184 ΣY = 11152 ΣD = -1976 ΣD2 = 203480 Based on the data in table 5, the researcher calculated the result of ΣD = -1976 and ΣD2 = 203480. Then, he tried to find out the standard deviation of differences (SDD) with the formula: SDD = 2 SDD = 2 SDD = SDD = SDD = SDD = 48,72 To find out the mean of differences (MD) between variable X and Y, the researcher used the formula: MD = ∑ MD = MD = 68,13 After gaining the result of SDD = 68.13 the researcher calculated the standard error from mean of differences (SEMD) between variable X and Y: SEMD = SEMD = SEMD = SEMD = SEMD = 9,22 The last calculation is determining the result of t observation (to) of the test with formula: To = To = To = 7,389 The result 7,389 indicated that there was a difference of degree as much as 7,389. Regardless the minus, it doesn.t indicate negative score. Then, to complete the result of the research, the writer finds out the degree of freedom (df) with the formula: df = N - 1 = 29-1 = 28 df = 28 (see table of .t. value at the degree of significance of 5% and 1%) At the degree of significance 5% = 2,045 At the degree of significance 1% = 2,756 The result is 2,045 2,756 The result of analyzing the data by using the above formula shows that the coefficient is 7,389. It means that there is a significance improvement after the informational gap activity is used to teach speaking. B. Discussion After doing the research and analyzing the data. Let me analyze in other way as below : Table 7. The Result of Pre-test and Post-test Group Pre-test Post-test Observed-t Pre-Test and Post-test Single Group 328 398.28 7,389 From the table above, it showed the mean score of pre-test is 328 and the mean score of post-test is 398.28 It means that there was really significant difference and improvement of the score between them. Based on the result of the data analysis, it is proven that the students. Score of speaking taught by using Informational Gap Activity is better. It means that the use of information gap activity in teaching speaking is quite effective. Another reason based on the students. Responses are because most students find that information gap activity is enjoyable. This reason leads to better attention in learning and stimulate them to participate in information gap activity. But the problem that they faced mostly is lack of confidence and lack of vocabulary. In the early stages of the Informational Gap Activity the students were uncomfortable and uncertain. This led to initial lapses of silence. But soon they began helping one another to decide who should speak. Towards the end, their shyness left them and they began prompting each other with ideas. It can be told that "Informational Gap Activity" is the one of methods that can be used to teach and improve unmotivated students' speaking ability. The prove is that there is improvement of students' speaking score after treated by using Informational Gap Activity and that is really good effect of Informational Gap Activity. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Conclusion Based on the research, the writer concludes that: From the result of the analysis of the research, it is proven that the students. Score of speaking taught by using Informational Gap Activity is better than before. And based on the result has answered by the research question, shows that using information activity in teaching speaking is quite effective. The use of information activity makes teaching learning and speaking activity more enjoyable and interesting. Simply that the technique the teacher use is quite attracting them and helps the shy students by providing a mask, where students with difficulty in conversation are liberated. In addition, it is fun and most students will agree that enjoyment leads to better learning. Here, the students have to practice speaking and find the answer themselves of course by asking friend. It will make them confident to speak. In information activity, the world of the classroom is broadened to include the outside world. This offers a much wider range of language opportunities. So, the students can be anyone and in any situation they wish. The use of information activity makes the class more active and alive. Students are willing to participate without any forces from the teacher. The use of information activity makes the students more motivated in learning and easier to grasp the lesson. Problems that the students faced mostly in Informational Gap Activity are lack of confidence and lack of vocabulary. B. Suggestion The success in teaching doesn.t depend on the lesson program only, but more important is how the teacher presents the lesson and uses various techniques to manage the class more lively and enjoyable. Regarding to the teaching speaking by using Informational Gap Activity, the writer gives some suggestion for the teacher and students as follow: For the teacher: The teacher should choose the materials that are appropriate and not too difficult for the students. Before assigning the information activity to the students, the teacher should make sure that the students have fully understood and have the information they need. The teacher should keep control the student activities. The teacher should present the language in an enjoyable, relaxed and understandable way. For the students: The students are hoped not to be shy in acting out their role. The students are hoped to be active and creative in enriching their vocabularies. The students are hoped to use English when they practice Informational Gap Activity although it is hard for them. The students should take part REFERENCES Sasson, Dorit. 2008. Information Gap Activities: Working in Groups or Pairs during Cooperative Learning Lessons. Available on http://lesson-plan-help.suite101.com/article.cfm/ learning games Bartz, HE. 1976. Basic Statistical in Education and Behavioral Sciences. Burgess Publishing Company. Mc Millan, J. H. 1992. Education Research Fundamentals for the customer. New York: Harper Collin Publisher Beard, P. R. (2008, November Thursday 13). What is the Role of the Teacher Today? Teacher's quality. Brewster, C. &. (October 22, 2007). Increasing Student engagement and motivation. Donald ary, l. c. (2006). Introduction to research in education. Dornyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom.The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 273-284 . Hicks, C., & Glasgow, N. &. ((2005)). what successful mentors do. Leech, B. L. (2003). Techniques for Semi-structured Interviews. Political Science and Politics, Vol. 35, No. 4. Defrioka, A (2009). Improving Students' Interaction in Speaking Class Through Information GAP Activities, Vol.3 No.2 33-45 Richards, k. (2003). Qualitative Inquiry in tesol. Qualitative Inquiry . Schmidt, B. &. (1996). Foreign Language Motivation: Internal and external connections. Path Ways to the New Century. Fitriah, M. 2010. Improving Speaking Ability of Descriptive Text Use "Three-Step Interview for Eight Graders of SMPN 26 Surabaya". Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Principal of Language Learning and Teaching. Third Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Tudor, Ian. 2001. The Dynamic of the Language Classroom. UK: Cambridge University
Memoria de Tesis doctoral presentada por Guillermo Asín Prieto, para obtener el doctorado (Mención en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Automatización) por la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), realizada bajo la dirección de Juan Camilo Moreno Sastoche y José Luis Pons Rovira .-- 186 páginas. ; This doctoral thesis presents, after reviewing human gait, the main pathologies and conditions that affect it, and the different rehabilitation approaches with the corresponding neurophysiological implications, the research journey that leads to the development of the rehabilitation robotic tool, and the therapies that have been designed, within the framework of the European projects BioMot: Smart Wearable Robots with Bioinspired Sensory-Motor Skills and HANK: European advanced exoskeleton for rehabilitation of Acquired Brain Damage (ABD) and/or spinal cord injury's patients, and tested under the umbrella of the European project ASTONISH: Advancing Smart Optical Imaging and Sensing for Health and the national project ASSOCIATE: A comprehensive and wearable robotics based approach to the rehabilitation and assistance to people with stroke and spinal cord injury. Initially human gait is presented, characterizing it according to its stance and swing phases, and the spatiotemporal, kinetic and kinematic parameters, without neglecting the physiological parameters; followed by a review of the main pathologies or conditions that affect human gait: spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, neuromuscular impairments, osteoarticular diseases, aging, and stroke or cerebrovascular accident. Next, the robotic tool that is developed in this thesis is framed in the context of rehabilitation for stroke, based on its use in this widespread pathology, as it affects 13.7 million people every year, since there are about 80 million survivors, affecting all age ranges. In addition, 80 % of people affected by a stroke find also compromised their motor abilities, motivating the need to develop tools focused on the rehabilitation and recovery, as far as possible, of the independence lost due to the disease, with gait as a fundamental component of that independence. After reviewing gait and the characteristics of the pathology, an explanatory review is given for the three phases of therapy for gait rehabilitation: T1) preparatory training based on mobilization of the lower limb joints; T2) gait recovery; and T3) improvement of gait with the aim of recovering mobility for activities of daily living. This classification of the therapy phases is presented to frame the work of this thesis in phases T1 and T2. Motor recovery is based on motor learning, and thus, I provide a brief introduction to it, exposing its relationship with neuroplasticity, and establishing that, in order to enhance all types of learning, it is essential to establish a challenge, i.e., an acceptable difficulty, not only making the training less monotonous, but also enhancing retention. Motor learning, like all kinds of learning, requires the occurrence of neural plasticity. Neural plasticity can be described by these four factors: 1) evolution of neuronal representation for movements that require skill, which were latent before the injury; and recruitment of healthy areas that were used before the injury occurred, when the difficulty of the task was greater; 2) greater excitability of neurons and more efficiency of synaptic connections; 3) morphological changes associated with long-term potentiation and depression (LTP and LTD) phenomena; and 4) adaptation of cortical, subcortical and spinal networks that still function to the learned movement. There are different non-invasive methods that allow the evaluation of neuroplastic changes (Hoffman reflex, F-wave, motor evoked potentials, etc.), and since in this thesis the motor evoked potentials (MEPs) have been assessed, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is presented as the technique used to evoke potentials in the motor cortex associated with the muscle or muscles whose excitability is being evaluated, collected by means of superficial electromyography. The TMS technique allows to observe changes in corticospinal excitability before and after a treatment that potentially induces motor learning, being able also to evaluate if these changes are related to the treatment, as well as allowing to observe if they are long-lasting. In the literature review chapter, the differences between traditional rehabilitation approaches, and those robotic technology-aided are also introduced, showing that there is no clear winner in such a battle, but showing the advantage of robot-aided approaches, as they allow objectively measuring and help characterizing the recovery process. Once the robotic technology has been introduced as a rehabilitation technology, exoskeletons are presented as the most appropriate robotic technology involved in rehabilitative approaches for gait, and a review of the relevant existing devices, with their characteristics and limitations, is given to show the motivation of this work. The limitations presented by current devices are: they use pre-recorded patterns; they do not have visual feedback systems, or their feedback systems are too simple, not presenting the potential of a video game: entertainment and adherence to the treatment, allowing the difficulty to be modified. Some, on the other hand, are so complex that they demand a high cognitive effort for patients, or are even complex to configure and command, leading to the abandonment of the technology by both patients and therapists. In addition, most of them lack the ability to introduce randomness in the treatment, potentially leading to boredom of the patient, and ultimately abandonment of the therapy. Last but not least, the tasks are not adapted along the treatment to the capacities and the recovery of the subject. Therefore, the tool proposed in this thesis consists of the integration of a robotic ankle fixed to a platform, with a visual feedback comprised of a video game designed to train movements in the sagittal plane of the ankle: dorsiflexion and plantarflexion; with the subject sitting. The tool is capable of generating controlled torque patterns that disturb the trajectory followed by the subject, increasing the difficulty to collect the items on the screen. In addition, the magnitude of these disturbances depends on the performance during the task, increasing the difficulty when the performance is rising, managing to impose a continuous challenge, enhancing the adherence to the treatment as well as its effectiveness to promote the retention of what has been learned. After presenting the review of the literature, I present the development of the rehabilitation tool, describing the journey from the test of the control algorithms, to the development of the video game and design of the experimental protocol, through the adaptation of the control to the compliant actuator on which the tool is based, or tests first on a test bench and then with healthy subjects wearing the device. The first study presents the application of a bioinspired algorithm for autonomous learning, used in bipeds (providing them with the ability to learn to walk without prior knowledge of the task nor the environment, only knowing some points of the angular trajectory), to a six degrees of freedom actuated exoskeleton, with rigid actuators, in the sagittal plane, corresponding to the three main joints of the lower limb, i.e., hip, knee and ankle. This adaptation of the algorithm allows to modulate the rigidity of a rigid actuator with a simple implementation. The term tacit adaptability (TAd) was coined to refer to this control strategy. The third study extends the results to subjects on a treadmill, showing that the algorithm allows to absorb the deviations that the subject may have on the trajectory imposed by the controller of the robot. These studies have demonstrated the use of TAd with a position controller. For the development of the tool, its use is also tested with a torque controller, in order to modulate the amplitude of the applied torque. Then, the following chapter shows two protocols applicable to the T2 phase, just before starting free overground gait rehabilitation. The same robotic tool is used, varying the angle at which the subject's leg rests, to be used standing up. This study aims to explore the application of torque controllers to the rehabilitation robotic tool. In the first training, the robot applies a torque downwards, during the time equivalent to the swing phase, to force the subject to make a higher dorsiflexion torque to be able to follow a natural ankle angular trajectory profile. At the end of the training, during the final 15-20 % of time, the torque is removed. It is observed that the subjects have a greater dorsiflexion when the effect is removed, as well as a minor activation of the dorsiflexor muscles (in the absence of the force to be compensated), and tend to normalize the patterns over time. We also observe that when the torque downwards is removed, there is a trend to anticipate the maximum dorsiflexion peak angle in the swing phase, a trend that tends to disappear over time. In the second training, the robot exerts a torque upwards, similar to that exerted by the ground in the stance phase (ground reaction force), but at a lower magnitude, throughout the training. A lower activation is observed in the gastrocnemius medialis (plantarflexor muscle) than during a free walking over ground. This indicates that the reduced force made by the robot is similar to that experienced when wearing a body weight support. Next, the development of the visual feedback based on a video game is presented. The game consists of a gyrocopter whose position on the vertical axis can be modified by means of the dorsi and plantarflexion of the instrumented ankle (the horizontal axis advances automatically). The aim of the game is to collect the gas bottles that appear on the screen, following the optimal trajectory between bottles. The following study, whose objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of using the tool integrated by the robotic ankle fixed to the platform and the rehabilitation video game, prior to applying the TAd, exposes that applying a training without modulating, and modulating progressively and with a simple rule, the maximum torque applied by the robot, learning is promoted in healthy subjects, being greater the learning with the modulated approaches. Once the viability of the tool to promote motor learning in healthy subjects has been proven, the adaptation of TAd to MACCEPA, with a torque controller, is presented, giving rise to what we have dubbed as haptic adaptive feedback (HAF). This paradigm makes use of the performance in the task to modulate the maximum amplitude of the torque exerted by the robot, depending on the capabilities of the subject. In this way, the concept of challenge is maintained, without excessively exceeding the subject's capabilities, and adapting to the improvements in the execution of the task. The last study I present, corresponding to the development phase, presents the results when testing the feasibility of the final protocol with a healthy individual. For five consecutive days, the subject received a training with the robotic ankle consisting of playing the video game designed to encourage motor learning. We observed that the subject learned throughout the days, showing a significant reduction in the error when following the best trajectory between bottles, as well as a significant increase in the score, understood as the number of collected bottles. The study shows that the protocol is capable of generating learning in a healthy subject. The following chapter shows an extension of the previous study to a sample of ten healthy subjects, applicable to the T1 therapy phase. The subjects trained for three consecutive days. In addition, corticospinal excitability was recorded by means of TMS, focused on the tibialis anterior muscle, before starting the training on the first day, just after the training on the third (and last) day, 30 minutes later to see if the effects were maintained along time (LTP-like), and 24 hours after, to see long-lasting effects. An increase in both score and error was observed throughout the days. Likewise, a significant increase in the corticospinal excitability of the tibialis anterior was obtained, but not in the other two registered muscles: soleus (as a muscle involved in the task) and rectus femoris (as a proximal muscle, and, therefore, not involved in the task of dorsi/plantarflexion). The lack of significant changes in the soleus may be due to the fact that being a muscle whose action is in favor of gravity, it has been less potentiated. Another possible reason is that, because the tibialis anterior receives a higher density of corticospinal projections than the rest of the lower limb muscles, it needs a lower intensity to be recruited compared to the soleus. We extended this study in a case study with a pathological subject to test the feasibility of applying the protocol with patients. To do this, we modified the torque profile exerted by the robot so that it only forced dorsiflexion, preventing the patient from having to compensate for a movement of the robot downwards, focusing on training the dorsiflexor muscles. We observed a significant increase in the score in the task of the video game, as well as a significant decrease in the error, throughout the five days of the experiment. In the case of the patient, clinical scales were also recorded, observing improvements in resistance, speed, distance and transition time to standing position. Finally, the range of motion and speed of dorsi/plantarflexion were also recorded by means of an ad-hoc designed test, in which the subject was asked to move the foot up and down as quickly as possible to vertically move an onscreen ball to the limits of the screen. These metrics also shown improvements throughout the treatment. Nonetheless, these positive results cannot be extrapolated to the population of pathological subjects, as the effects of our training cannot be isolated from the rest of the patient's daily therapy; but it is concluded that it is a viable training for use in clinical scenarios. ; Esta tesis doctoral presenta, tras repasar la marcha humana, las principales patologías y condiciones que la afectan, y los distintos enfoques de rehabilitación con la correspondiente implicación neurofisiológica, el camino de investigación que desemboca en la herramienta robótica de rehabilitación y las terapias que se han desarrollado en el marco de los proyectos europeos BioMot: Smart Wearable Robots with Bioinspired Sensory-Motor Skills y HANK: European advanced exoskeleton for rehabilitation of Acquired Brain Damage (ABD) and/or spinal cord injury's patients, y probado bajo el paraguas del proyecto europeo ASTONISH: Advancing Smart Optical Imaging and Sensing for Health y el proyecto nacional ASSOCIATE: A comprehensive and wearable robotics based approach to the rehabilitation and assistance to people with stroke and spinal cord injury. Inicialmente se presenta la marcha humana, caracterizándola en arreglo a sus fases de apoyo y balanceo, y a los parámetros espaciotemporales, cinéticos y cinemáticos, sin dejar de lado los parámetros fisiológicos; para pasar a mostrar un repaso por las principales patologías o condiciones que afectan la marcha humana: lesión medular, parálisis cerebral, lesión cerebral traumática, deficiencias neuromusculares, enfermedades osteoarticulares, envejecimiento, e ictus o accidente cerebrovascular. A continuación, se enmarca la herramienta robótica que se desarrolla en esta tesis, en la rehabilitación para el ictus, fundamentando su uso en esta extendida patología debido a que afecta a 13,7 millones de personas cada a˜no, y a que hay unos 80 millones de supervivientes, afectando a todos los rangos de edad. Además, el 80 % de las personas afectadas por un accidente cerebrovascular ven asimismo comprometida su capacidad motora, motivando la necesidad de desarrollar herramientas enfocadas en la rehabilitación y recuperación, hasta donde sea posible, de la independencia perdida por motivo de la enfermedad, con la marcha como componente fundamental de esa independencia. Después de dar un repaso por la marcha y las características de la patología, se da un repaso explicativo por las tres fases de la terapia para rehabilitación de la marcha: T1) entrenamiento preparatorio basado en movilización de las articulaciones del miembro inferior; T2) recuperación de la marcha; y T3) mejora de la marcha con el objetivo de recuperar la movilidad para las actividades de la vida diaria. Se presenta esta clasificación de las fases para enmarcar el trabajo de esta tesis en las fases T1 y T2. Debido a que la recuperación motora se basa en el aprendizaje motor, se da una breve introducción al mismo exponiendo su relación con la neuroplasticidad, y estableciendo que, para potenciar todo tipo de aprendizaje, es capital establecer un reto, esto es, una dificultad asumible, y que no sólo hace que la tarea de entrenamiento sea menos monótona, sino que además potencia el proceso de retención del aprendizaje. El aprendizaje motor, como todo aprendizaje, para poder tener lugar, requiere que haya plasticidad neuronal. La plasticidad neuronal se puede describir por medio de estos cuatro factores: 1) evolución de la representación neuronal para movimientos que requieren habilidad, que estaban latentes antes de la lesión; y reclutamiento de áreas sanas y que se usaban antes de que la lesión ocurriera, cuando la dificultad de la tarea era mayor; 2) mayor excitabilidad de las neuronas y m´as eficacia de la conexión sináptica; 3) cambios morfológicos asociados a los fenómenos de potenciación y depresión a largo plazo (LTP y LTD de sus siglas en inglés, long term potentiation y long term depression respectivamente); y 4) adaptación de las redes corticales, subcorticales y espinales que aún funcionan al movimiento aprendido. Hay distintos métodos no invasivos que permiten evaluar los cambios neuroplásticos (reflejo de Hoffman, onda F, potenciales motores evocados, etc), y dado que en esta tesis se han usado los potenciales motores evocados(MEPs, de sus siglas en inglés, motor evoked potentials), se presenta la estimulación magnética transcraneal (TMS, de sus siglas en inglés, transcranial magnetic stimulation), como la técnica utilizada para evocar en la corteza motora asociada al músculo o a los músculos, cuya excitabilidad corticoespinal se desea evaluar, un potencial motor, recogido por medio de electromiografía superficial. La técnica de TMS permite observar cambios en la excitabilidad corticoespinal antes y después de un tratamiento que potencialmente induzca un aprendizaje motor, para poder evaluar si estos cambios están relacionados con el tratamiento, as´ı como permitiendo observar si son duraderos en el tiempo. En el capítulo de la revisión de la literatura se introducen también las diferencias entre los enfoques clásicos de rehabilitación, y los ayudados por las tecnologías robóticas, mostrando que no hay un claro ganador en tal batalla, pero manifestando la ventaja de la tecnología al permitir medir de manera objetiva y ayudar a caracterizar el proceso de recuperación. Una vez introducida la tecnología robótica como tecnología para la rehabilitación, se presentan los exoesqueletos como la tecnología robótica más adecuada implicada en los enfoques rehabilitadores para la marcha, y se da un repaso por los dispositivos existentes, con sus características y limitaciones, para mostrar la motivación de este trabajo. Las limitaciones que presentan los dispositivos actuales relevantes son que: utilizan patrones pre-grabados; no tienen sistemas de retroalimentación visual, o sus sistemas de retroalimentación son demasiados simples, no presentando el potencial de un video juego: entretenimiento y adherencia al tratamiento, permitiendo modificar la dificultad. Algunos, por otro lado, son tan complejos que demandan un esfuerzo cognitivo difícil para los pacientes, o incluso son complejos de configurar y comandar, llevando al abandono de la tecnología tanto por parte de pacientes como por parte de terapeutas. Además, la mayoría de ellos carecen de la capacidad de introducir aleatoriedad en el tratamiento, potencialmente desembocando en el aburrimiento del paciente, y en el abandono de la terapia en última instancia. Por último, pero no por ello menos importante, las tareas que proponen no se adaptan a lo largo del entrenamiento a las capacidades y recuperación del sujeto. Por ello, la herramienta que se propone en esta tesis consta de la integración de un tobillo robótico fijado a una plataforma, con una retroalimentación visual por medio de un video juego diseñado para entrenar los movimientos en el plano sagital del tobillo: dorsiflexión y plantarflexión; con el sujeto sentado. La herramienta es capaz de generar patrones de par controlados que perturban las trayectorias seguidas por el sujeto, dificultando la tarea de recoger los ítems en pantalla. Además, la magnitud de estas perturbaciones depende del rendimiento durante la tarea, incrementando la dificultad cuando el rendimiento va mejorando, consiguiendo imponer un reto continuo, potenciando la adherencia al tratamiento así como su eficacia para fomentar la retención de lo aprendido. Tras exponer la revisión de la literatura, se presenta el desarrollo de la herramienta de rehabilitación, recorriendo el camino desde la prueba de los algoritmos de control, hasta el desarrollo del video juego y diseño del protocolo experimental, pasando por la adecuación del control al actuador compliant en que se basa la herramienta, o las pruebas primero en banco de pruebas y después con sujetos sanos vistiendo el dispositivo. El primer estudio que se presenta consiste en aplicar un algoritmo, bioinspirado, de aprendizaje autónomo, utilizado en b´ıpedos (los cuales presentan la capacidad de aprender a caminar sin conocimiento previo de la tarea ni del entorno, únicamente conociendo algunos puntos de la trayectoria angular a realizar por las articulaciones), a un exoesqueleto con seis grados de libertad actuados, con actuadores rígidos, en el plano sagital, correspondiendo con las tres principales articulaciones del miembro inferior, esto es, cadera, rodilla y tobillo. Esta adaptación del algoritmo permite modular la rigidez de un actuador rígido con una implementación sencilla. Se acuñó el término adaptabilidad tácita (TAd, de sus siglas en inglés, tacit adaptability) para referirse a esta estrategia de control. El segundo estudio que se presenta tiene como objetivo aplicar el TAd a un actuador compliant: el MACCEPA (de sus siglas en inglés, mechanically adjustable compliance and controllable equilibrium position actuator). El MACCEPA es un actuador basado en un elemento elástico en serie, cuya pre-compresión puede variarse, ofreciendo distintos grados de rigidez. La ventaja de este actuador es que permite aplicar un control de par sin necesidad de un complejo sensor de par, conociendo la constante del elemento elástico y las posiciones del motor y del ángulo articular del sujeto. En el estudio, se presenta adaptación del TAd al MACCEPA, en el banco de pruebas, mostrando que, mediante este algoritmo, y sin modificar la pre-compresión del elemento elástico, se puede modular la rigidez del actuador tanto en condiciones estáticas como dinámicas, demostrando que el control puede adaptarse a las capacidades del sujeto, de manera automática y autónoma. El tercer estudio extiende los resultados a sujetos sobre la cinta de marcha, mostrando que el algoritmo permite absorber las desviaciones que pueda tener el sujeto sobre la trayectoria impuesta por el control del robot. Estos estudios han demostrado el uso del TAd con un control de posición. Para el desarrollo de la herramienta, se prueba también su uso con un control de par, para poder modular la magnitud del par aplicado. El siguiente capítulo muestra dos protocolos aplicables a la fase T2, justo antes de empezar un entrenamiento de marcha libre. Se utiliza la misma herramienta robótica, variando el ángulo en que reposa la pierna del sujeto, para poder ser utilizado en bipedestación. Este estudio tiene como objetivo explorar los controladores de par con la herramienta de rehabilitación robótica propuesta. El primero de los entrenamientos consiste en que el robot aplica un par negativo (hacia el suelo), durante el tiempo equivalente a la fase de balanceo, para forzar a que el sujeto haga un par de dorsiflexion superior al habitual para poder seguir una trayectoria angular de tobillo natural en caminata. Al final del entrenamiento, durante el 15 - 20 % final del tiempo, se quita el par negativo. Se observa que los sujetos tienen una dorsiflexión mayor al quitar el efecto, así como una activación menor de los músculos dorsiflexores (en ausencia de la fuerza a compensar), y tienden a normalizar los patrones a lo largo del tiempo. Observamos también que cuando se deja de aplicar el par, hay una tendencia a anticiparse al efectuar el pico máximo de dorsiflexión en la fase de balanceo, tendencia que va desapareciendo con el tiempo. En el segundo entrenamiento, el robot ejerce un par positivo, similar al ejercido por el suelo en la fase de apoyo, pero de una magnitud inferior, durante todo el entrenamiento. Se observa una activación inferior en el gastrocnemio medial (músculo plantarflexor) que durante una caminata normal sobre suelo. Esto indica que la fuerza reducida efectuada por el robot es similar a una caminata con un sistema de suspensión del peso. A continuación, se presenta el desarrollo de la realimentación visual a modo de videojuego. El juego consiste en un autogiro cuya posición en el eje vertical puede modificarse por medio de la dorsi y plantarflexión del tobillo instrumentado (el eje horizontal avanza de manera automática). El objetivo es recoger las botellas de gasolina que aparecen en la pantalla, siguiendo la trayectoria óptima entre botellas. El siguiente estudio, cuyo objetivo es demostrar la viabilidad de uso de la herramienta integrada por tobillo robótico fijado a la plataforma y el videojuego de rehabilitación, previo a aplicar el TAd, expone que aplicando un entrenamiento sin modular de ninguna manera, y modulando de manera progresiva y con una regla simple, el máximo par aplicado por el robot, se promueve aprendizaje en sujetos sanos, siendo mayor con los enfoques modulados. Una vez probada la viabilidad de la herramienta para fomentar el aprendizaje motor en sujetos sanos, se presenta la adaptación del TAd al MACCEPA, esta vez controlado en par, dando lugar a lo que hemos bautizado como retroalimentación adaptativa háptica (HAF, de sus siglas en inglés, haptic adaptive feedback). Este paradigma hace uso del rendimiento en la tarea para modular la máxima amplitud del par efectuado por el robot en cada momento en función de las capacidades del sujeto. De esta manera, se mantiene el concepto de reto, sin sobrepasar en exceso las capacidades del sujeto, y adecuándose según se producen mejoras en la ejecución de la tarea. El último estudio presentado, correspondiente a la fase de desarrollo, presenta los resultados a la hora de probar la viabilidad del protocolo final con un sujeto sano. A lo largo de cinco d´ıas consecutivos, el sujeto recibío el entrenamiento con el tobillo robótico consistente en jugar al videojuego diseñado para fomentar el aprendizaje motor. Se observó que el sujeto aprendía a lo largo de los días, mostrando reducción significativa en el error a la hora de seguir la mejor trayectoria entre botellas, así como aumento significativo en la puntuación, entendida como número de botellas recogidas. El estudio demuestra que el protocolo es capaz de generar aprendizaje en un sujeto sano. El siguiente capítulo muestra una ampliación del estudio previo a una muestra de diez sujetos sanos, aplicable a la fase de terapia T1. Los sujetos entrenaron a lo largo de tres días consecutivos. Además, se registró la excitabilidad corticoespinal por medio de TMS, enfocado en el tibial anterior, antes de empezar el entrenamiento el primer día, justo después del entrenamiento del tercer (y ´ultimo) día, media hora después para ver si los efectos se mantenían con el tiempo, y 24 horas después, para ver efectos a largo plazo. Se observó, a lo largo de los días, un incremento tanto en puntuación como en error. Así mismo, se obtuvo un incremento significativo en la excitabilidad corticoespinal del tibial anterior, pero no así de los otros dos músculos registrados: sóleo (como músculo involucrado en la tarea) y recto femoral (como músculo proximal, y, por tanto, no involucrado en la tarea de dorsi/plantarflexión). La falta de cambios significativos en el sóleo puede deberse a que al ser un músculo cuya acción es a favor de la gravedad, se haya visto menos potenciado. Otra posible razón es que, debido a que el tibial anterior recibe una mayor densidad de proyecciones corticoespinales que el resto de músculos del miembro inferior, necesite una intensidad inferior para ser reclutado en comparación con el sóleo. Se extendió este estudio con un caso de estudio con un sujeto patológico para probar la viabilidad de aplicación del protocolo con pacientes. Para ello, se modificó el par realizado por el robot para que sólo forzase dorsiflexión, evitando que el paciente tuviera que compensar un movimiento del robot hacia abajo, centrado en entrenar los músculos dorsiflexores. Se observó un incremento significativo en la puntuación en la tarea del videojuego, así como un decremento significativo del error, a lo largo de los cinco días de experimento. En el caso del paciente se registraron también escalas clínicas, observando mejoras en resistencia, velocidad, distancia recorrida y tiempo de transición a bipedestación. Por ´ultimo, también se registró el rango de movimiento y velocidad de dorsi/plantarflexión por medio de un test dise˜nado ad-hoc, en el que se pidío al sujeto que moviera el pie arriba y abajo lo más rápido posible para tocar con una bolita los extremos verticales de la pantalla. Se observó una mejora en esta métrica a lo largo del tratamiento. Aunque se ven mejoras, no puede extrapolarse este resultado a la población de sujetos patológicos, así como no se pueden aislar los efectos del juego del resto de la terapia diaria del paciente; pero se concluye que es un entrenamiento viable para su uso en entornos clínicos. ; The research presented in this thesis has been funded by the Commission of the European Union under the BioMot project - Smart Wearable Robots with Bioinspired Sensory-Motor Skills (Grant Agreement number IFP7-ICT - 611695); under HANK Project - European advanced exoskeleton for rehabilitation of Acquired Brain Damage (ABD) and/or spinal cord injury's patients (Grant Agreements number H2020-EU.2. - PRIORITY 'Industrial leadership' and H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges' - 699796); also under the ASTONISH Project - Advancing Smart Optical Imaging and Sensing for Health (Grant Agreement number H2020-EU.2.1.1.7. - ECSEL - 692470); with financial support of Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the ASSOCIATE project - A comprehensive and wearable robotics based approach to the rehabilitation and assistance to people with stroke and spinal cord injury (Grant Agreement number 799158449-58449-45-514); and with grant RYC-2014-16613, also by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
The study of the military veterans' experience in higher education has coincided with the history of the GI Bill® and the various iterations of the benefits of this program, beginning with the original version following WWII. With the latest version, the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, institutions of higher education have experienced the highest enrollment numbers of veterans since the conclusion of the Vietnam Conflict. Institutions have historically been reactive in support of new waves of veterans entering higher education. This study sought to gain the perspective of veterans, as to how the institutions have been serving veterans by creating a veteran friendly campus through the admission, enrollment, and veterans services processes. The study also sought to gather the veterans' perspective related to how well faculty and staff understand the military experience, and how well veterans have been integrated into the classroom environment and into higher education in general. In addition, the study sought to measure the perspective of veterans with disabilities and their specific experience in higher education. A survey of the veteran experience was conducted in 2-year and 4-year institutions in a western state. Results indicated that although improvements have been made in relation to veterans in this study, there are still areas that need addressing in order to improve the veteran experience in overall. The veteran, the institution, and the community in general can benefit immensely as veterans use their GI Bill® benefit to pursue higher education, and then put that education to work upon graduation. It is incumbent on institutions of higher education to ensure that a veteran friendly process is in place, in order to attract and retain veterans through graduation. ; MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my parents, Robert E. and Janice D. Czech, for their sound example, for instilling proper values, and for exemplifying good character. Without them and who they were, I would not be where I am or who I am today. I would also like to express appreciation to my family and friends for their unwavering support to me during the process of completing my graduate degree. Without their support I do not believe I would have endured my many struggles to meet this goal. My appreciation to Dr. Peggy Saunders for her guidance throughout this process, and to my many professors for their patience and understanding throughout each semester. Their wisdom and intuition allowed me to flourish as a non-traditional student, in an environment that seemed foreign. I would like to acknowledge the foundation of hard work, leadership, and service that I learned during my 22 years in the United States Anny. It was not always easy, but the lessons learned have helped me to endure this graduate degree process. Finally, thanks to my graduate committee chair Dr. Natalie Williams. She was my guide, advisor, and champion during this final project. Without her outstanding patience, understanding and depth of knowledge I would have never made it to my goal. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 3 Table of Contents NATURE OF THE PROBLEM . 7 Literature Review . 9 Introduction . 9 Historical Foundations . 10 WWII Era GI Bill® (Original) . 10 Korean Era GI Bill® . 11 Vietnam Era GI Bill® . 12 Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Education Assistance Program (VEAP) . 12 Montgomery GI Bill® and Reserve Programs . 13 Post 9/11 GI Bill® (Current) . 13 GI Bill® Use (as of Fiscal Year 2013) . 14 Effects of the Post 9/11 GI Bill® on Higher Education . 15 Veterans with combat related disability issues . 19 Accommodating veterans with disabilities on campus . 20 Veterans' with disabilities . 25 Reintegration into Society . 28 Higher education: Weathering the perfect storm . 30 Summary . 32 PURPOSE . 34 METHOD . 36 Participants . 37 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 4 Instruments . 38 Procedure . 3 8 Data Analysis . 41 RESULTS . 43 Demographic Data . 43 Overall Experience in Higher Education . 44 Website Navigation . 44 Admissions . 45 Enrollment Services . 46 Veterans Services Office . 47 Faculty Awareness, Classroom Environment, and Campus Life . 48 Service-connected Disability . 51 DISCUSSION . 53 Implications of Results . 55 Limitations . 61 Future Research . 62 Summary . 63 REFERENCES . 65 APPENDICES . 69 Appendix A: Veterans Survey . 70 Appendix B: IRB Approval . ; . 74 Appendix C: Survey Results Spreadsheet. . 76 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 5 List of Tables Table I. Respondents by branch and years of service, and by branch and gender . 37 Table 2. Summary of Survey Responses by Section, with Totals by Section and Response Type . 52 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 6 Abstract The study of the military veterans' experience in higher education has coincided with the history of the GI Bill® and the various iterations of the benefits of this program, beginning with the original version following WWII. With the latest version, the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, institutions of higher education have experienced the highest enrollment numbers of veterans since the conclusion of the Vietnam Conflict. Institutions have historically been reactive in support of new waves of veterans entering higher education. This study sought to gain the perspective of veterans, as to how the institutions have been serving veterans by creating a veteran friendly campus through the admission, enrollment, and veterans services processes. The study also sought to gather the veterans' perspective related to how well faculty and staff understand the military experience, and how well veterans have been integrated into the classroom environment and into higher education in general. In addition, the study sought to measure the perspective of veterans with disabilities and their specific experience in higher education. A survey of the veteran experience was conducted in 2-year and 4-year institutions in a western state. Results indicated that although improvements have been made in relation to veterans in this study, there are still areas that need addressing in order to improve the veteran experience in overall. The veteran, the institution, and the community in general can benefit immensely as veterans use their GI Bill® benefit to pursue higher education, and then put that education to work upon graduation. It is incumbent on institutions of higher education to ensure that a veteran friendly process is in place, in order to attract and retain veterans through graduation. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM With the passing of the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (2008), also known as the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, colleges and universities are seeing higher enrollment by military veterans than they have since the conclusion of the Vietnam Conflict (Cook & Kim, 2009; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009), and the intricacies and implementation of this new GI Bill® has caused confusion and frustration for both the veterans and university staff. After WWII, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (or GI Bill®) granted unprecedented educational and economic benefits to veterans. Other GI Bill® programs and adjustments have been made over the years, but the Post 9/11 version was said to be the most generous since the WWII era GI Bill® (Radford, 2009). 7 With the most recent changes to the GI Bill®, veteran presence was expected to grow on campuses across the country and therefore schools have had to adjust to meet the new demand (Cook & Kim, 2009; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). Many of the veterans, active military and active military reservists (92%) currently enrolled in university indicated that education should play a role in post-service transition (Zoli, Maury, & Fay, 2015). Many veterans currently enrolled in higher education were exposed to direct and indirect conflict and suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and other physical and psychological challenges. Church (2009) said that "returning veterans will have a wide range of medical diagnoses and related health problems that will have a temporary or chronic impact on their living, working, learning, MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE and relationship functions" (pg. 44). These issues make it difficult for veterans to adjust to a higher education setting, and cause tangible problems for their academic progress. 8 Although there are many positive qualities that veterans bring to an institution of higher education, many also bring with them these battle related issues. These issues make it difficult for veterans to adjust to this setting. The American Council on Education (ACE) found that veterans reported problems meeting academic expectations, while managing service connected injuries, including PTSD and TBI (Steele, Salcedo, and Coley, 2010). Not all veterans will openly disclose the visible and invisible injuries they have, so it is incumbent on colleges and universities to develop welcoming programs that meet these challenges (Church, 2009). This lack of self-disclosure could lead veterans to underutilize traditional campus disability services and therefore not receive the accommodations that may make their experience more manageable. Unfortunately, most post-secondary schools are ill prepared to meet the needs of these Veterans, creating lost opportunities for both the Veteran and the institution. Schools that are slow in meeting the challenges that the veterans present, find they are reacting rather than being proactive in meeting veteran needs. If institutions of higher education do not work to understand this veteran population, then it is likely to lead to an unsuccessful experience for the veteran and the institution (Brown & Gross, 2011). There are areas where higher education is generally meeting the needs of veterans, like including veteran issues in strategic planning, offering specific programs and services for veterans, recognizing prior military experience with college credit, assisting veterans with finding counseling services, providing financial accommodations, and providing counseling on veterans' educational benefits. But there are many areas that still show MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE room for improvement including assisting veterans' transition to college, developing faculty and staff awareness of veteran specific issues, meeting the needs of veterans with military related disabilities, assisting re-enrolling veterans, and providing peer to peer experiences for veterans (Cook & Kim, 2009). Literature Review Introduction This literature review will first establish some historical background relating to the GI Bill®, including changes that have taken place since its establishment following WWII. It will highlight the benefits of each version, especially the original version and the most recent version known as the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, and demonstrate the problems caused by the large influx of new veterans in higher education. Next, it will highlight some of the issues veterans have in a higher education setting related to their combat related disabilities and experiences, and the lack of preparation and forethought by colleges and universities related to these new veterans. Historical IFoundation~1office1] 9 The relationship of higher education and the military dates back to the 1862 Morrill Act, which established military training programs at land-grant institutions (Rumann & Hamrick, 2009, 2010). Subsequently, just prior to WWI, Congress passed the 1916 National Defense Act (NDA) which provided colleges a leading role in training soldiers. The NDA also established the three components of the military: the active duty military component, the military reserve component, and the state National Guard component. In addition, it created the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) that standardized what had been solely independent military training programs at colleges and MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 10 universities. These were the fotmdations of the relationship between the military and higher education. Even though the NDA was established prior to WWI, many veterans were unsatisfied with the benefits offered to them, which resulted in significant economic and social unrest. This dissatisfaction prompted the writing of Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). WWII Era GI Bill(RJ (Original). With the large numbers of military veterans returning home after WWII the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (i.e., GI Bill®) granted unprecedented educational and economic benefits to these veterans. After much strnggle, this act was passed by congress and signed into law by President Roosevelt on June 22, 1944 (Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). When signing the GI Bill®, President Roosevelt said "It gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down" (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2013, para. 24). This trnly generous WWII era GI Bill® provided many financial and educational benefits to veterans and their families. Additionally benefits included living stipends, Veterans were given loan guarantees for homes, farms and businesses (e.g., nearly 2.4 million loans from 1944 to 1952), as well as unemployment pay and employment assistance (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2013). By the time the original GI Bill® had ended in 1956, 7.8 million of the nearly 16 million WWII veterans had used education benefits to some extent. In the peak year of 1947, veterans made up 49% of all college admissions. One interesting fact is that although there was an unemployment benefit available, less than 20% of the funds set aside for this benefit was used by the veterans. The total cost of this original version of MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE the GI Bill® was $14.5 Billion (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2013; Military.com, 2006). 11 Many names have been given to this generation of veterans that served in WWII, such as the Greatest Generation, the G .I. Generation, and the Civic Generation. Regardless of the label, the impact of this generation due in large part to the GI Bill® education benefits, is immeasurable and can be felt to the present. In her book, Mettler (2005) stated that ''.just as the G.I. Bill transformed the lives of veterans who used it, they in tum helped change America" (p. 11 ). This GI Bill® opened up educational opportunities to those other than the privileged in America. Higher education that had previously been reserved for mainly white, native-born, Protestant Americans prior to WWII, was now a possibility for those that were Jewish, Catholic, African American, immigrants, and the working class. This changed the landscape of America forever (Mettler, 2005). Korean Era GI Bill.® The Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952, or Korean Conflict GI Bill®, was instituted to carry on the tradition of taking care of those who served and fought for their country. It was approved by President Truman on July 16, 1952. It was available for use by veterans who served between June 27, 1950 and Febrnary 1, 1955. Although this GI Bill® still provided education benefits and living stipends, as well has loan guarantees, it left the employment assistance up to the individual states. By the time this program ended in 1955, some 43% of the over 5.5 million veterans of the Korean Conflict had used their education benefits to some extent. Total cost to the country was $4.5 Billion and over 1.5 million loans were guaranteed, meaning the MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE government guaranteed a portion of the loan to the lien holder in case of default (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2013; Military.com, 2006). Vietnam Era GI Bill.® 12 The Veterans Readjustment Act of 1966, or Vietnam Era GI Bill®, was signed by President Johnson on March 3, 1966. It retroactively covered post Korean Conflict veterans who served after February 1, 1955 and continued for veterans who served until May 7, 1975. It again provided education benefits, for the first time including active duty military members, and again loan guarantees. Between 1966 and 1989, 6 million Vietnam veterans, 1.4 million Post-Korean veterans, and 7 51,000 active duty military used this education benefit to some extent. More than $42 Billion was spent on this version of the GI Bill®, and 4.5 million loans were guaranteed (Military.com, 2006). Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Education Assistance Program (VEAP). VEAP was a transitional program that bridged the gap between the Vietnam Era GI Bill®, and the Montgomery GI Bill®. Veterans, who entered after December 31, 1976 were eligible for education benefits under this version, but unlike the previous versions this one required a contribution by the military member and they had to choose to participate upon enlistment. The participant contributed through payroll deductions up to $2700 and the government then matched two dollars for every dollar contributed for a maximum of $5400. If one chose not to participate, then they had no money for education available at the end of their service. In addition to this money for education, the loan guarantees continued (Military.com, 2006). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 13 Montgomery GI Bill® and Reserve Programs. The Montgomery GI Bill®, named for its sponsor Representative G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery, was established in 1984. Representative Montgomery was the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and worked to support veterans. For the first time a version of the GI Bill® also included education benefits for those serving in the reserve components, although at a reduced benefit to their active duty counterparts. A reserve member had to enlist for 6 years, and after serving 6 months they could begin using their education benefit. It again required the active military member to contribute toward their future education, with matching funds by the military. An active duty veteran was eligible if they served after 30 June, 1985 and had to enlist for a minimum of 2 years. This program continues to be used by veterans up to this day, and overlaps with the new Post 9/11 GI Bill® (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2013; Military.com, 2006). Post 9/11 GI Bill® (Current) The newest of the GI Bill® education and benefit programs is called the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Program (Post 9/11 GI Bill®). It was signed into law in July of2008, and became effective August 1, 2009. The Post 9/11 GI Bill® is the most comprehensive bill since the original in 1944. It provides benefits to service members, both active and reserve, who served at least 90 aggregate days of active military service after September 10, 2001. This means that an active duty member and a reserve component member serving the same amount of active duty time will receive the same benefit. The benefit can be used while still in the active military or reserve component and after discharge (Post 9/11 GI Bill Overview, n.d., Department of Veterans Affairs, 2014). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 14 The Veterans Administration (VA) pays up to 100% of the student's tuition and fees for their education, based on the amount of service after the date of eligibility. The tuition and fees provided under this version of the GI Bill® are sent directly to the educational institution. This GI Bill® also includes up to $1000 per year for textbooks, a living stipend while emolled in school, based on cost ofliving which averages $1368 per month nationally, a one-time relocation payment of $500 for those relocating from a rural area to attend school, and for those still on active duty in the military the opportunity to transfer some or all of the benefit to their children (Post 9/11 GI Bill Overview, n.d.; Department of Veterans Affairs, 2014). The benefit is tiered depending on how much active duty service was rendered after September 10, 2001. For instance if the member served at least 36 months of active duty service, then they receive 100% of the benefits. For 30-36 months it is 90%, 24-30 months is 80%, 18-24 months is 70%, 12-18 months is 60%, 6-12 months is 50%, and 90 days to 6 months is 40% (Post 9/11 GI Bill Overview, n.d.). GI Bill® Use (as of Fiscal Year 2013). With the increased benefit of the Post 9/11 GI Bill® came a new wave of college bound military veterans and reserve members, and in some cases their family members to whom they have transferred benefits. The higher educational institutions around the country will need to prepare for this new wave, just as they had to prepare and react to the wave of veterans entering school following WWII. The Institute for Veterans and Military Families, at Syracuse University, conducted a multi-pronged study to gain a better understanding of social, economic, and wellness concerns of the newest generation of veterans. There are over 3.9 million MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 15 veterans identified as disabled by the Veterans Administration (VA). Of those, 43% were from the Gulf War era and beyond. Additionally, of the more than 8,500 respondents in that study 58% reported a service related disability. Of those in the survey that reported service-connected disability, 79% said that the disability created obstacles for them when they transitioned to civilian life. In fact, 12% indicated the disability hindered starting higher education, and 28% said the disability created obstacles in completing their higher education. These same veterans indicated that of the many motivations to join the military, 53% said that educational benefits were a reason they joined, followed by a desire to serve their country at 52%. In the research 92% of respondents indicated that education should play a role in post-service transition. The response to this particular question indicated how overwhelmingly important education is to the most recent service members and veterans, and showed intent to further their education. A study of GI Bill® usage by veterans was published providing data through fiscal year 2013. The study indicated that in the Fiscal Year (FY) of2009 the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) reported just 34,393 students using the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, but in FY 2013 the total was up to 754,229 students. If all of the current GI Bill® benefit programs are included, there were 1,091,044 students (FY 2013) using benefits. Payments from the Post 9/11 GI Bill® in FY 2013, to students and colleges, was over $10 billion, with the total from all GI Bill® programs being over $12 billion (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2014). Effects of the Post 9/11 GI Bill® on Higher Education. Military veterans are likely to enroll or reenroll in higher education following military service. It is incumbent upon these institutions to be prepared, in order to make MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 16 the veterans' transition easier (Rumann and Hamrick, 2009). This is especially the case with the advent of the generous benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill®. The researchers further pointed out that because of generational and societal perspectives, many current administrators and faculty have most likely not experienced military service. This has caused issues with how faculty and staff at institutions relate to veterans. Rumann and Hamrick (2009) suggested that building relationships with outside veteran organizations could bridge the gap that may exist. In addition, they suggested that campus administrations could provide opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to better understand aspects of military service, complimenting a broader focus on diversity on campuses. In their more recent study, Rumann and Hamrick (2010) focused on a small group of National Guard and reserve veterans who had returned from wartime deployments to re-enroll in school. The veterans experienced things such as lingering high stress levels related to their deployments, a maturity gap that had developed between them and traditional undergraduate students, personal relationship issues, and identity related issues. Cook and Kim (2009) took a broader look at easing the transition of service members on campus. Their study involved surveys returned by 723 institutions across the country. The study found that there was a varied approach to serving veterans, with no obvious pattern as to which programs and services were provided, or what entity on campus was responsible, and reported that nearly two thirds of colleges and universities that did offer veteran services have increased those services since September 11, 2001. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 17 In the same study, researchers came to the conclusion that there were areas where higher education was generally meeting the needs of military students, and areas where institutions could improve. Some examples of areas where institutions met veteran needs were including veteran issues in strategic planning, offering specific programs and services for veterans, recognizing prior military experience with college credit, assisting veterans with finding counseling services, providing financial accommodations, and providing counseling on veterans' educational benefits (Cook & Kim, 2009). Areas that needed improvement included helping veterans transition to a college environment, providing professional development to faculty and staff on veteran transition issues, training of staff on meeting the needs veterans with brain injuries and other military related disabilities, streamlining of administrative procedures for veterans enrolling or re-enrolling, and providing opportunities for veterans to connect with peers on campus. With the expected influx of students using the Post-9/11 GI Bill®, institutions need to address these areas of weakness when it comes to veteran services and programs. In their report, Brown and Gross (2011) stated that successful management of military students brings benefits to all involved: the student; the academic institution; and the community. Part ofthis management includes understanding the characteristics of veteran and active military students. Radford (2009) detailed many characteristics of veterans and military undergraduates. The study states that: Slightly more than 3 percent of all undergraduates enrolled during the 2007-08 academic year were veterans, and slightly more than 1 percent were military service members. Among these military undergraduates, about 75 percent were MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE veterans, 16 percent were military service members on active duty, and almost 9 percent were military service members in the reserves. (p. 6) 18 The researcher also detailed issues faced by military undergraduates who wished to attend college: Difficulty transitioning to life after military service; experiencing psychological and/or physical post-war trauma; readjusting to personal relationships; and adapting to a new lifestyle. Radford also highlights that veterans can face bureaucratic red tape from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) relating to their education benefits as well as from the college or university staff who were often not well versed in the details of those benefits. Many veterans face obstacles and challenges in using the Post-9/11 GI Bill® and transitioning to college (Steele, Salcedo, & Coley, 2010). Challenges noted included expectations different from their military experience, balancing academics and other responsibilities, relating to non-veteran students, managing service-connected injuries and disabilities. They also noted institutional efforts to adapt to the new GI Bill® benefits. Schools reported increased staff workloads of 50% to 200% related to the new influx of veteran students. The researchers (Steel, Salcedo, & Coley, 2010) noted some of the reasons behind this influx were, increases in total GI Bill® enrollment over previous years, lack oflmowledge in details of the new law, coordination with student accounts offices with respect to receipt of payments, the need to submit enrollment verification of each veteran student, and the need to assist veteran students in understanding their benefits. Institutions could more effectively serve veteran students according to the results ofa focus group study (Steel, Salcedo, & Coley, 2010). Institutions that encourage MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 19 veterans to self-identify early, ensure veteran program administrators are adequately trained, and that other staff and administration are trained on the new GI Bill®, tend to have more effective programs for veterans. The institutions should employ disability and mental health staff who understand veterans' issues, have consistent policies for college credit for military training, have veteran specific orientations and informational sessions, and encourage veteran student organizations on campus (Steel, Salcedo, & Coley, 2010). Veterans with Combat Related Disability Issues One challenge America faces as the more recent conflicts wind down, is that there will be more veterans with disabilities returning from military service, and these veterans will be seeking higher education. It will be important for staff and faculty of associated schools to be prepared to assist these veterans with disabilities in their transition (DiRarnio & Spires, 2009). The veterans that find it especially difficult to adjust to higher education are those with combat related disability issues, including hidden issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Survivability from combat injury has increased and therefore an increase in veterans with disabilities on campus is inevitable. In the most recent conflicts, nearly 85% of those receiving combat injuries are surviving due to advances in protective body annor, use of coagulants, and advances in the military medical evacuation system (Madaus, Miller II, & Vance, 2009). The Veterans Administration (VA) reported that in 1986 there were 2,225,289 military veterans with service-connected disabilities. By 2013 the number of veterans with service-connected disabilities had climbed to 3,743,259, mainly due to exposure to the MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 20 most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the increased survivability from combat injury (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2014b). Researchers from a study of veterans with three major conditions (e.g., PTSD, TBI, and major depression) reported that 18.5% of those returning from the most recent conflicts had PTSD or depression, and 19.5% reported experiencing TBI during their deployment. Of the veterans responding to the study, 11.2% reported PTSD or depression but no TBI, 7.3% reported PTSD/depression and TBI, and 12.2% reported just TBI (Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008). More recent casualty statistics reported to congress indicate that, approximately 118,829 military members/veterans deployed between 2000 and 2014 were diagnosed with PTSD. During the same period 307,283 were diagnosed with some form ofTBI (Fischer, 2014). Colleges and universities across the country need to find ways to accommodate these new military veterans that may be coming to their institutions, but especially those with these sometimes unseen disabilities. The Disability Services (DS) offices on campus will need to take a leading role in this accommodation. Accommodating Veterans with Disabilities on Campus. In a study of the role of the DS staff in accommodating veterans with disabilities, 237 members of the Association on Higher Education and Disabilities completed a survey, responses indicated that only 33% were comfortable or knowledgeable about campus efforts to serve these wounded warriors. Additionally, only 17.3% felt they had above average ability to serve these veterans (Vance, Miller II, 2009). There is a need to develop veteran friendly programs that reduce red tape, and have a designated point person or office. Other recommendations were to have an ongoing campus dialogue MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 21 which includes members of the DS staff, work on collaboration with other campus professionals, and work to collaborate in educating faculty and staff on the unique needs of these veterans (Vance & Miller II, 2009). There have been many discussions on how to accommodate veterans with disabilities on college and university campuses. The American Council on Education (ACE), with support from the Kresge Foundation and the Association on Higher Education and Disability and America's Heroes at Work conducted a "Veterans Success Jam" in May of2010. The "Veteran Success Jam'', was a three-day online collaboration that brought together thousands of veterans and their families, active service members, campus leaders, nonprofit organizations, and govermnent agencies from around the country. Recommendations were generated for colleges and universities accommodating veterans with PTSD and TBI (American Council on Education, 2010). During discussions at the Veterans Success Jam it was determined that overall veterans bring a lot of good qualities with them to campus, such as a higher degree of maturity, experience and leadership qualities, familiarity with diversity, and a level of focus not seen in their peers. Unfortunately, these qualities have been earned at great personal expense, and may well affect their educational goals. Campuses that are prepared to handle these challenges will rnake the transition of these veterans much easier, and the schools will benefit from being seen as veteran friendly (American Council on Education, 2010). Part of preparing to properly serve and accommodate these veterans is to understand what PTSD and TBI are, and what effect they may have on the academic MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 22 progress of these students. It is imperative that faculty and staff be educated and aware of these possible challenges (American Council on Education, 2010). Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in veterans usually involves a blow or concussion to the head which may include a penetrating head injury, which disrupts the function of the brain itself. These are most often associated with contact with an improvised explosive device (IED). Generally TBI can result in long and short-term issues, but most people get better over time. For those with mild cases of TB I, about 80% of the cases from the most recent conflicts, the recovery time can be as little as 3-6 months (American Council on Education, 2010). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological injury that develops in response to exposure to an extreme traumatic event or events over time. PTSD trauma may include threatened death of oneself or others, serious injury, and even just the constant threat of personal injury. This creates a feeling of fear and helplessness that actually changes the brains chemical and hormonal balance. For some victims the symptoms will disappear when they are no longer exposed, yet for others they persist over a long period of time. Flashbacks or reliving events can happen in PTSD cases, which bring the stresses back to the forefront. These victims can sometimes avoid these feelings by avoiding events or situations that may trigger them. Usually PTSD symptoms manifest themselves within a few months, but they can take years to appear (American Council on Education, 2010). Staff and faculty may find it helpful to know what cognitive difficulties may be manifested in a veteran with PTSD or TBI. Each person manifests symptoms differently, so it hard to generalize. These symptoms can be things such as: difficulty in MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 23 concentration and attention; challenges processing infonnation; learning and memory deficits; sluggish abstract reasoning; and slowed executive functioning including problem solving, planning, insight, and sequencing. These veterans may also experience stressors outside the classroom involving home life, work, sleep disturbances, trouble managing time, and panic attacks (American Council on Education, 2010). When considering how to accommodate veterans with these types of disabilities it is best to understand that PTSD and TBI .symptoms are expressed in very unique ways. Standard procedures for accommodating a student with disabilities may not work with these veterans. In addition, in extreme cases, PTSD and TBI may also lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms can be aggravated by academic pressure, health concerns, relationship issues, sleep problems, and substance abuse issues. Some factors that may have a positive effect on these veterans are social support by other veterans, professional medical treatment, good health and eating habits, and participation in recreational activities (American Coimcil on Education, 2010). Institutional faculty and staff should also be aware that not all veterans with PTSD or TBI will require disability accommodations to be successful in education, while others may. If they do require and qualify for special accommodations they will normally fall under either the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or Section 504 of the Vocational and Rehabilitation Act of 1973. So adjustments may be made for these veterans, as they are with others with disabilities, as long as the accommodations do not change the overall academic program in question (American Council on Education, 2010). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 24 Another factor to consider is that these veterans are less likely than their peers on campus to access special accommodations for which they may qualify. There are many reasons this may occur such as pride, lack of understanding campus resources on their part, or the feeling that faculty and staff do not understand PTSD or TBI. It is necessary to realize that most staff and faculty have not experienced anything close to what these veterans have been exposed to in combat (Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). Faculty and staff must be informed in other ways because of the lack of exposure to military experiences and lifestyle. Increased awareness by faculty and staff can also meet the needs of broader commitment to diversity on campus (American Council on Education, 2010; Rtunann & Hamrick, 2009). Faculty and staff should know that the manifestation of symptoms, and even the diagnosis of these conditions, may not occur until well after they leave the military. Therefore, they may come to the campus undiagnosed. Becoming aware of the outward signs of PTSD and TBI could present opportunities to counsel veterans on possible accommodations, for those that have not already made arrangements with the DS office on campus. Of course, veterans must be willing participants and never be coerced (American Council on Education, 2010). Faculty and staff would also find it useful to become aware of other veteran resources on campus and in the community that may be helpful in the veterans' transition to the college or university setting. These could be resources such as the Veteran Student Services office, Veterans Upward Bound (VUB), the local Student Veterans of America chapter, or various community veteran resources like the Veteran Service Organizations (American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and Disabled American Veterans MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 25 (DAV)), the Veterans Administration (VA) hospital, and others. Partnering with outside organizations would help university staff in handling veteran specific issues (American Council on Education, 2010; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). In general faculty and staff should understand that most veterans are new to their disabilities as well and may be unaware of their rights as disabled students to receive accommodations for an identified disability. The process of getting and accepting help can take time for these veterans. Sometimes their military background can hinder them, mainly due to the stigma of weakness that can be placed upon someone in the military with disabilities or shortcomings. Faculty and staff should also be aware that there are many other disabilities that veterans may bring to campus in addition to PTSD/TBI such as loss oflimb(s), severe burns, deafness, vision issues, and general learning disabilities (American Council on Education, 2010). Veterans with Disabilities. In a study published in 2012, focus groups were held involving 31 veterans who had self-reported PTSD symptoms. Transcripts of the sessions were analyzed to establish dominant themes in the responses of these veterans. Findings indicated that veterans with PTSD. needed services in a variety of different areas, and they also had some specific recommendations for easing their transition (Ellison, et al., 2012). The veterans in the study found it important for the schools to provide services for educational planning, including helping them to prepare for the rigors of higher education. The reality is that many of these veterans went into the military because they felt they were not ready for college. The veterans felt they needed help with counseling on the educational goals, and in choosing an appropriate major (Ellison, et al., 2012). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 26 Another concern for these recent veterans is being able to reintegrate into society after their military service. Many of them left from their parents' homes right after high school without learning to live civilian life on their own. The veterans indicated the sudden change in social, psychological, and environmental norms from the military to civilian life created concerns. These concerns included homelessness, lack of family support, medical and/or addiction needs, physical disability needs, financial difficulties, and the how to balance their education and living needs (Ellison, et al., 2012). One theme that manifested itself across the veterans was the need for guidance and counseling regarding their GI Bill® and VA benefits. The veterans indicated that when calling veterans services they had difficulty reaching an actual person who could answer questions for them. When they did reach an individual, this person lacked proper knowledge of benefits, or could not properly cotmsel them on the pitfalls of choosing one educational benefit over the other. The staff at these offices need to be knowledgeable and infonnative (Ellison, et al., 2012). These veterans were concerned over the impact that their PTSD would have on their educational attainment. They indicated high anxiety dnring classes which could be triggered by things such as loud and sudden noises, hypervigilance while traveling to school, or anything that might remind them of their combat experience. Some indicated that they coped with these difficulties by using medication, positioning themselves at the back of the class, trying to choose classes with fewer students, or even evening or online classes. The veterans also expressed concern with perceived difficulties in memory and concentration in class, and the need for special accommodations (Ellison, et al., 2012). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 27 The veterans provided some possible ways that institutions could mitigate some of the difficulties that they face. They indicated the need for on campus outreach services from VA facilities where the veterans normally gather. The younger veterans also expressed a need for more outreach by veterans their own age and not just by groups of what they perceived to be veterans old enough to be their fathers (Ellison, et al., 2012). Peer support was another area where they felt services could be utilized to their benefit. The veterans felt that being able to interact with veterans who have had similar experiences, would help them to navigate the difficulties of the environment. There is an unseen trnst bond that fellow veterans feel from each other, especially if they know they have each served in similar combat situations. The veterans thought that a program of veterans providing counseling to veterans would be ideal and that one-on-one service settings would be best (Ellison, et al., 2012). These veterans also suggested that there should be some coordination between services received with their VA education benefit and with the clinical services related to their PTSD treatment. Veterans were concerned with the logistics of managing their schooling and the case management involving their treatment. The veterans suggested that there be some coordination between the schools and the VA to have school representatives available at the VA facilities for question and answer sessions related to higher education, as well as maybe some workshops related to college preparation. The veterans also wondered if it were possible to have individual advocates that would walk them through the processes such as admissions, financial aid, and enrollment (Ellison, et al., 2012). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 28 The veterans also suggested that there is a big change between the structured life of the military and the less structured civilian culture. Veterans felt in the military they had less autonomy and flexibility, and were concerned that their dependence on the military structure could hinder them in college persistence. Veterans felt that the process on campus needed to be streamlined and clear in order for them to better cope with the process. A one-stop-shop for veteran student services was suggested (Ellison, et al., 2012). Another concern was the perceived disconnect from the social networks the veterans relied upon prior to serving in the military. Having experienced many traumatic combat related experiences, and feeling a veteran no longer fit into groups or social settings that veterans may have been included in prior to their service. The veterans' social networks had become those that were fonned in the military and the transition back to civilian social networks was difficult. Veteran student groups on campus and national student veteran organizations could help ease these concerns (Ellison, et al., 2012). Reintegration into Society As veterans return from conflicts they have difficulties reintegrating into work environments, educational environments, social interactions and relationships, general physical functions, and sound emotional well-being. This is especially true for veterans that return with disabilities such as PTSD and TBI (Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011). As related specifically to (re)integration in education, veterans find both challenges and opportunities await them. The challenges come in many different forms and veterans need help navigating them upon entering the higher education environment. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE The opportunities depend on the approach to veterans established in each school (Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011). 29 One of the challenges faced in educational (re )integration is the loss of the direct benefits veterans were used to receiving in the military. Veterans are used to their day to day needs being taken care of for them with relative ease for the most part. Veterans' educational benefits can sometimes be delayed. The veterans are encouraged to apply for their GI Bill® benefits soon after discharge, yet the process of receiving these benefits is not immediate. This urgency in using the education benefit may cause the veteran to feel rushed into college enrollment and amplify things such as anger, irritability, and poor concentration in school. Classroom settings can also be a challenge and veterans may be affected by class size and noise, placement in the room, and attention and concentration issues. The veterans themselves report problems with the rigors of the curricuhun, social interaction with other students, and their perceived limits to services on campus (Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011). Educational satisfaction of veterans relates to how the respective institution of higher education works to become veteran friendly. Colleges and universities need adapt to the needs of new veterans as they transition. A veteran friendly campus is one that collaborates all services related to the (re)integration of veterans with disabilities. The services should include veteran centers on campus, veteran specific orientations, intramural programs for disabled students, and a campus-wide focus on veteran services. In addition, a student veteran organization should be established on campus. These organizations may improve interaction between veterans and traditional students, and between veterans and faculty and staff (Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 30 As has been the pattern of past generations, social and political change has occurred when veterans return from the fight, including those that return with disabilities. Following WWI the change came in the form of what was called the Commission on National Aid to Vocational Education and Disabled Veterans Act. Following WWII the change was known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act. Then after Vietnam the program was called Veteran's Readjustment Assistance Act. Our newest veterans with disabilities are covered under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (AD AAA) of 2008 (Ostovary & Dapprich, 2011 ). Higher Education: Weathering the Perfect Storm. It has been said that the return of veterans from recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the passage of the ADAAA, and the comprehensive benefits of the new Post 9/11 GI Bill® have created a so-called perfect storm that higher education has to overcome (Grossman, 2009). How higher education reacts will detennine how well they navigate the storm. Veterans with disabilities have historically been seen as assertive when it comes to their civil rights and educational benefits earned during their service. Many have been through traumas of the battlefield and will have been diagnosed with PTSB, TBI, and other issues (Grossman, 2009). Institutions of higher education will have to adapt to and learn to accommodate these veterans. Postsecondary institutions can become overwhelmed by this new influx of veterans with disabilities, or it could see this as an opportunity for positive changes. These new veterans could become the wakeup call that higher education needs, or a stumbling block. To weather the storm they will need to look at this challenge from a MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 31 new perspective and come up with new solutions that include a campus-wide response to accommodating veterans, and a Universal Design (UD) approach to their education (Burnett & Segoria, 2009; Grossman, 2009). The researcher (Grossman, 2009) lays out the challenges that come along with this perfect storm, and that higher education institutions will have to decide how they meet the challenges. First, they have to decide to prepare for this new population of veterans, of which they have had little if any experience dealing with. This will require training of faculty, staff, and DS staff on the characteristics and needs of these veterans. Although the AD AAA makes it clear that institutions are not required to fundamentally change their programs, but when it comes to veteran accommodations they may need to determine what really is fundamental. Veterans with PTSD and TBI require adjustments (accommodations) to the status quo, yet at the same time they do not want to be coddled (Grossman, 2009). The second challenge for colleges and universities is to develop veteran outreach activities that encourage them to enroll in college, take advantage of earned accommodations, and persist to graduation. They will need to address veterans with disabilities that hesitate to self-identify, that bristle at even being called or considered disabled, but that still need to be informed of campus benefits. Outreach activities should take place at locations where veterans may congregate (on and off campus), on social media cites, and at local military base education centers where possible. Veteran-specific student organizations, clubs, and fraternities may also be developed to inform veterans. For the most part these veterans are not used to the academic culture surrounding MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 32 disability accommodations and need help reviewing their documented disabilities or help obtaining proper documentation (Grossman, 2009). The next challenge noted is that veterans need someone on campus that can support them when the challenges and rigors of academic life arise. Ideally this would be someone with military experience generally similar to the individual veteran experience. Veterans with disabilities need to have someone they know can relate to their specific needs, and challenges, and be sympathetic to their cause (Grossman, 2009). Finally, colleges and universities need to be up to the challenge that this is an ongoing opportunity to help these current veterans and those that may come in the future. The higher education institutions should realize that America has made a commitment to these veterans and that part of that commitment is to their proper education. The commitment to this opportunity has to stay consistent, perpetual, and always focused on meeting the needs of these veterans with disabilities (Grossman, 2009). Summary There has been a long history established of federal assistance for veterans leaving military service, especially since WWII concluded. The GI Bill® has become a major part of those benefits. The original GI Bill® was a very generous benefit that provided an educational opportunity to millions of veterans following WWII, and literally changed society for generations. The newest version, the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, once again offers a tremendous benefit to veterans transitioning from the military and entering higher education environments around the country. This new GI Bill®, along with the large number of veterans leaving service following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have facilitated the need for change MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 33 and adaption of student services at these institutions of higher education. Some of these colleges and universities have done better at adapting than others, but the need for all to make the change is required. Reintegration of these veterans into society, and more specifically into education, is critical for their well-being. These veterans almost always need help navigating the challenges faced in a higher education environment. Colleges and universities must change and adapt as society does in relation to veterans. Many of these new veterans coming to higher education have been exposed to combat and may have disabilities, including PTSD and TBI, which will need to be accommodated. Adjustments will need to be made by faculty and staff in order to address the educational needs of these veterans with disabilities. How these adjustments are made, and how effective they are in helping the veterans transition, will impact the experience of both the institutes of higher education the veterans they serve. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 34 PURPOSE With the passing of the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, colleges and universities have seen the greatest influx of veterans in higher education since the end of the Vietnam conflict (Cook & Kim, 2009; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). This new GI Bill® benefit is the most generous since the end of WWII (Radford, 2009) which has resulted in higher veteran enrollment, and has required colleges and universities to adjust policies and procedures to meet the needs of these veterans. In research by Zoli, Maury, and Fay (2015) of more than 8,500 military members and veterans, 92% said that education should play a role in post-service transition. Unfortunately most colleges and universities were inadequately prepared to meet the needs of this new influx of veterans and have been reactive in making the necessary adjustments to meet their needs (Brown & Gross, 2011). Many of these new veterans have returned with disabilities related to their wartime experiences, such as PTSD and TBI, which require additional considerations and accommodations. These veterans with disabilities have both temporary and chronic health issues that have affected their educational experience (Church, 2009). Faculty, staff, and related student services offices need to work together to meet the needs and special accommodations of these veterans with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to detennine veterans/veterans with disabilities perspectives on how well they have been integrated and accommodated at the community college and university level in a western state. The study sought to determine how veterans with disabilities perceive overall services for injured veterans on campus, accommodations and disability services for veterans, and supportive services that allow veterans to persist and graduate from a post-secondary school. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 35 The primary research questions were: 1. To what extent do veterans feel that their respective college or university has developed a veteran friendly campus by streamlining the admission, enrollment, and veteran services processes? 2. To what extent do veterans feel faculty and staff have an adequate understanding of the experiences of military veterans and are faculty and staff aware of helpful ways of integrating or reintegrating them into the classroom and into higher education in general? 3. To what extent do veterans perceive that colleges or universities adequately understand and accommodate veterans' with disabilities, specifically those disabilities related to combat related issues such as PTSD and TBI? MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 36 METHOD To address the purpose of this study, a needs analysis through survey research was conducted using the perspectives of veterans at both a university and community college in a western state. Veteran attitudes and perspectives were gathered related to their experiences during the admissions and emollment processes at their institutes of higher / education. Additionally the participants considered disabled, due to PTSD or TBI, were further queried relating to their specific experiences on campus. The study was conducted using a survey consisting of 4-point Likert scale questionnaire (Appendix A), with follow-up open-ended questions. The Likert scale questions were used to measure the overall perception of veterans' experiences in higher education. The open-ended questions were used to identify common themes and opinions from these same veterans. Additional survey questions were provided for veterans who self-identified as having PTSD and/or TBL The study was of particular interest to the researcher due to past experience in the military, work experience serving veterans on campus, and experience as a student having used GI Bill® benefits for graduate studies. The researcher served in the U.S. Army for over 22 years retiring in 2005, was grandfathered into the Post 9/11 GI Bill® benefits after retirement, and used those benefits in pursuit of a Master of Education degree at a university in a western state. Additionally the researcher is a service-connected veteran with disabilities. The researcher worked with veterans at a university as a staff member in a Department of Education program called Veterans Upward Bound (Department of Education, 2014), and was a member of a university committee of concerned faculty and staff, dedicated to creating a veteran friendly environment. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 37 Participants The study surveyed veterans attending a university and a community college in a western state, who were associated with the Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) program at each campus. The survey was distributed to 158 veterans who participated in VUB between 2013 and 2015. Total respondents to the survey were 33, a 23% response rate. As with the military in general, it was anticipated that the majority of the respondents would be male (see Table 1). Part of the survey allowed the veterans to identify whether they had a serviceconnected disability for PTSD and/or TBI. Those that identified themselves as disabled due to PTSD/TBI were further queried, to gather information related to their particular experiences regarding disability accommodations and services on campus. Table I. Respondents by branch and years of service, and by branch and gender. 0-5 years 6-10 years 11-19 years Retired 20+ Male Female Army 4 4 1 1 8 2 Navy 2 1 NIA 1 3 1 Air Force NIA 4 NIA 4 5 3 Marine Corp 5 2 NIA NIA 6 1 Nat. Guard NIA NIA NIA 1 NIA 1 Reserve 1 2 NIA NIA 3 Total 12 13 1 7 25 8 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 38 Instruments This research was conducted using a survey of questions related to the veterans' experiences and satisfaction level with campus services, including questions specifically for those veterans who identified themselves as having a service-connected disability (Appendix A). The questionnaire measured levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with each topic. No neutral response was offered to the respondents. The researcher's rationale being that the veterans were either satisfied or not with each aspect of their experience on campus. The open-ended questions required a written response that allowed the respondents to express deeper feelings related to the topics. These were used to further identify common themes. Procedure The study identified veterans enrolled in VUB using program specific database software known as Blumen® (Compansol, 2012). The database is used to track the progress of veterans in VUB and was readily available to the researcher. Although the researcher had access to the veterans in the VUB program, Institutional Review Board (IRB) permissions were requested in accordance with institutional procedures. The IRB request included all survey instruments and informed consent forms required for the study. Once approval of the study was given (Appendix B), the researcher obtained a current number ofVUB participants served between 2013 and 2015, and began the survey process. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 39 An email was sent to 158 veterans emolled in VUB between 2013 and 2015. The initial email introduced the study and asked each veteran to participate in the survey. The email made clear that their participation in the survey was consent for their data to be used in the study. The veterans were instructed that these surveys would include descriptive information such as background, age, and sex, but that no identifiable information would be published in the results. Of the initial 158 emails sent, 15 were rejected due to invalid emails, and two veterans specifically requested not to be contacted further and were removed from the participant list. The final pool was 141 veterans. One week after the initial email, a second email was sent to each veteran with a link to the survey and they were asked to complete it as quickly as possible. After a two week response period the researcher sent the link again, to offer those veterans who have not yet responded the opportunity to participate. Due to minimal response, the survey link was then sent out two additional times before it was determined that the maximum voluntary response was likely reached. There were a total of 33 completed surveys received, or a 23% response rate approximately. Of those received, eight women veterans completed the survey, or 24%. Unfortunately researchers have found that response rates to online surveys are significantly lower than paper surveys, despite various practices used to lift total responses. It was reported that online surveys had response rates 23 % lower than that of paper surveys (Nulty 2008). Nulty suggests the following procedures as a way to boost response rates from online surveys such as: MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 1. "Pushing" the survey using an easy access URL sent directly to the participants. 2. Frequent reminders to the participants, at least 3, however some researchers in the study were concerned with irritating the survey population. 3. Involving academics with a vested interest, to remind possible participants. 40 4. Somehow persuading participants that the data from their responses will be used usefully and taken seriously. 5. Providing rewards of some sort, prizes, points, extra credit, etc. But some cautioned that students should do it because it is worth their time, versus extrinsic motivators that may skew the sample. 6. Help students to understand how to give constructive criticism, which can help their open-ended responses. 7. Create surveys that seek constructive criticism, which encourages participation and avoids the pitfalls of simple numerical rating surveys. During the data collection process, some of these tactics were employed to increase response rates. As indicated earlier in this research, multiple emails with an easy to access URL were used, providing frequent reminders, participants were informed that their data would be used to improve the situation of current and future veteran students, and the survey was constrncted in a way that would allow the veterans to provide constrnctive criticism using both a Likert scale survey and follow-up open-ended comments. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 41 Based on the researcher's work with veterans for over 10 years prior to this study, the response rate for the current research was not a surprising. Most veterans have been reluctant to participate in extracurricular activities and assignments given through VUB, due to their busy life and their focus on the requirements of their education which effect their grades. In addition, female veterans seem more likely to participate than male veterans. Female veterans made up only 16% of the initial pool of veterans to whom the survey was sent, but responded at a rate of 24%. Additionally, of those who responded 33% indicated they had been diagnosed with PTSD and/or TBI. Data Analysis The survey was administered and gathered over the course of a semester and the results were analyzed. Data were reviewed on a regular basis as the surveys were returned by the respondents. The researcher reviewed the responses for overall concepts, emerging patterns, and overarching categorization. The data were described and interpreted to answer questions posed by the research on the military veteran experience in higher education in a western state. An ecological psychology approach was talcen to analyze the participant's perspectives related to their environment (Boudah, 2011). Ecological psychology is the study of the relationship of humans and their environments, and how that enviromnent affects the inhabitants. In this case the higher education environment and military veterans. The researcher collected the data over time and then coded the data for analysis. During coding the researcher worked to identify patterns, developed categories, and MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE looked for common themes and trends. As new responses crune in, patterns categories and themes were changed and adjusted as necessary. 42 The researcher then moved beyond the patterns, categories and themes to develop a theory based on a review of the causes, consequences, and relationships of the veteran perspective. The researcher brought a theoretical sensitivity to the subject based on past experience in the military and current work with veterans on college and university crunpuses. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE RESULTS 43 The survey questions were broken down into demographic data, and seven survey sections: (a) overall experience in higher education, (b) website navigation, (c) admissions, (d) enrollment services, (e) veterans services office, (f) faculty awareness/classroom enviromnent/campus life, and (g) service-connected disability. Likert scale answers were gathered, and the respondents were also given the opportunity to comment on each section as well. See the Likert scale results (Appendix C). Demographic Data Based on the survey answers in this section, the researcher received a good mixture of military veterans. Of the respondents, seven indicated they were retired military (typically a minimum of20 years served), one had served 11-19 years, 13 had served 6-10 years, and 12 had served in the military 0-5 years. As to the question of how long each veteran had been out of the military before starting college, nine veterans had been out just 0-6 months, only three 7-12 months, seven had been out 1-2 years, three had been out 3-5 years, and 11 had been out of the military over five years. Of the veterans who responded, 25 were male and eight were female. Combat zone experience was high among respondents, which reflects the fact that the military has been involved in one conflict or another for over a decade. Of the 33 respondents 25 had been deployed to a combat zone, including six of the eight female veterans. There was a fairly even mixture of veteran students attending two or four year postsecondary institutions as well. Of the respondents, 10 were attending a 2-year institution and 13 were attending a 4-year institution. The rest were either imminently MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 44 graduating, starting school the following semester, or were just not enrolled in school at the time of the survey. The military branch breakdown of the respondents were 10 that had served in the Army, four from the Navy, eight from the Air Force, seven from the Marines, and four who had served in a reserve component. Overall Experience in Higher Education When asked iftheir overall experience in higher education had been positive, nearly 73% either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, and the remaining 27% disagreed or strongly disagreed. As to whether their school was working to accommodate veterans, 66% either agreed or strongly agreed and the remaining 33% disagreed or strongly disagreed. And finally as to whether veteran programs/benefits have improved since they have been at school, nearly 56% either agreed or strongly agreed, while 44% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Open ended comments from this section included one from a veteran who said, "Seems to be more difficult once you've been identified as a veteran." Another veteran commented, "Some departments are set up in such a way that Veterans who use their G .I. Bill do not get the full benefits. ([e.g.] the Automotive Department) Some of the classes have 25 hours of seat time for 1 week with homework and is considered part time." Website Navigation The respondents overwhelmingly agreed that their respective college/university website was easy to find online, with 100% that either agreed or strongly agreed. Once they found the site 75% either agreed or strongly agreed that the site was easy to navigate, MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 45 while 25% reported a negative experience and either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the website was easy to locate. When it came to veteran-specific webpages, 60% either agreed or strongly agreed that it was easy to locate veteran-specific webpages and that they were either in one location or easily linked. Yet 40% disagreed or strongly disagreed, and found the webpages more difficult to locate. The respondents that either agreed or strongly agreed that veteran webpages were clear and understandable was about 73%, with about 27% that disagreed or strongly disagreed. Finally, over 93% of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that contact information for Veterans Services was easy to find on the website. When asked to comment about website navigation, one veteran said, "Veterans Services website need[s] a complete makeover. Veterans Upward [B]ound need[s] some life to it, graphics. Still have very old pictures. Out of date. Its 2015 folks." Admissions A clear 100% of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that online admissions application was easily fotmd, clear, and understandable. Over 68% either agreed or strongly agreed that the application clearly asked them to identify as a military member or veteran, with approximately 31 % that either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the application clearly asked them to identify as a military member or veteran. The vast majority of the veterans, over 96%, either agreed or strongly agreed that the admissions office was easy to locate on their campus if needed. Approximately 63% either agreed or strongly agreed that the admissions staff was helpful, were able to answer MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE veteran related questions, and understood veteran related procedures while over 36% disagreed or strongly disagreed. 46 Just over 53% of the veterans either agreed or strongly agreed that the procedure to transfer in credit for military experience was clear and understandable, while nearly 47% disagreed or strongly disagreed. As to whether their respective school offered veteran-specific orientations or information sessions, approximately 53% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Nearly 47% agreed or strongly agreed. When asked whether the overall admissions process was veteran friendly, nearly 70% either agreed or strongly agreed that it was, while about 30% disagreed or strongly disagreed that the process was veteran friendly. Comments on admissions included one veteran who said, [About the application] "the box that asks if you are a vet is a small box that most vets don't see." [As to whether the staff was helpful] "When you ask any questions on the phone, as soon as you say you're a vet, they transfer you to Veteran Services, even though your question is about admissions." [In reference to veteran orientation] "Some orientations include a portion for vets, but most don't." Another veteran commented, "I honestly can't remember if Veteran status was an option on the application. The local VA office had to add me as Veteran with school. There is a disconnect somewhere." Enrollment Services When asked about enrollment services, over 85% ofrespondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the online registration process was clear and understandable, with just over 14% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Nearly 94% of the veterans either agreed or strongly agreed that the registrar's office was easy to locate on their respective campus. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 47 The veterans were also asked if they had access to an advisor for help planning and choosing courses, as well as assistance in enrolling. Approximately 74% of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed, with just about 26% that disagreed or strongly disagreed. As to whether the registrar office staff were familiar with veteranspecific needs, only about 45% either agreed or strongly agreed, and 55% didn't feel their needs were met. Over 78% of the veterans surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that enrollment deadlines, add/drop periods, and the semester schedules were made clear, while approximately 22 % disagreed or strongly disagreed. One veteran said concerning enrollment services, "I specifically had to ask for an adviser with a military background to assist me. It was difficult to process to figure out what classes I needed to finish my degree with the military. The other advisers gave a generic tutorial on general education classes which was helpful to a point. To be fair it was extremely difficult to get assistance from the military." Another veteran commented, "I could find no specific counselor to meet with to plan a course schedule. That was left up to the advisor for the degree you majored in. Getting a meeting with that person is absolutely ridiculous and time consuming. Not easy in the slightest." Veterans Services Office When it came to ease of locating Veterans Services on campus, almost 85% either agreed or strongly agreed that it was no problem, with the remaining 15% who either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Some 78% ofrespondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the staff was friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable on GI Bill® benefits, but the 22% remaining either disagreed or strongly disagreed. The majority of the veterans, just over 77%, either agreed or strongly agreed that procedures for certification of GI MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE Bill® benefits clear and understandable, or they were explained adequately. The remaining 23% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Nearly 81 % of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the Veterans Services staff helpful in giving guidance for registration each semester, with the remaining 19% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. 48 When asked if problems with GI Bill® benefits were resolved for them in a timely manner, over 84% indicated that they either agreed or strongly agreed, with 16% that either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Comments about Veterans Services Office included one veteran who said, "The Veterans Student Services were very helpful, lmowledgeable and professional." While another commented, "The Veterans Services Office was able to answer my questions and refer me to the appropriate services I required, however, I wondered why other school officials hadn't referred me to Veterans Services first. I could have avoided a lot of confusion and wasted time." Faculty Awareness, Classroom Environment, and Campus Life When asked about whether their school had offered a reintegration program to help with transition, about 57% indicated that their school did not offer this type of program, and either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Only 43% either agreed or strongly agreed that a reintegration program was offered. Over 63% of the respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed that their professors were aware of veteran resources on campus, with the remaining 3 7% who agreed or strongly agreed that professors were aware. Some 70% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that their instructors/professors interacted well with them, and MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 49 honored the veterans' confidentiality requests. The remaining 30% disagreed or strongly disagreed. When asked if veterans were aware of instructors being trained about what the military experience is like, over 60% either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the instructors had been trained, and only 40% agreed or strongly agreed that they were. As to whether the respondents felt they were treated fairly and respectfully on campus, almost 82% agreed or strongly agreed. The remaining 18% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. About 87% agreed or strongly agreed that they were allowed to share their military experiences when appropriate, while the remaining 13% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Of the veterans that responded, 80% agreed or strongly agreed that allowances were made for specific veteran seating needs. Nearly 82% agreed or strongly agreed that classroom populations are manageable in size and encourage learning, while the remaining 18% veterans disagreed or strongly disagreed. Peer mentoring programs allow veterans to get assistance with coursework, directly from other veteran students. Just over 64% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their school had a peer mentoring program for support of veterans, while almost 36% disagreed or strongly disagreed. In addition, over 65% of the veterans agreed or strongly agreed that their school had a relationship with veteran service organizations, such as The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and the Veterans ofForeign Wars, that can assist veterans in obtaining further benefits, with the remaining respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed. Also, about 87% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their school allowed the Veterans Administration (VA) to have a MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE presence on campus to assist with things such as mental health counseling, education benefits, veterans with disabilities' benefits. 50 In regards to Student Veteran Organizations (SVO), about 47% agreed or strongly agreed that they were aware their school had a SVO on campus, but about 53% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Many colleges offer a "one-stop-shop" for any resource on campus related to veterans, such as Veteran Services, VUB, Admissions, Registration, and Disability Services. This helps the veterans by providing a streamlined process for administrative offices and support resources needed while applying for and attending college. Just 58% of veterans agreed or strongly agreed that their school offered such a resource, while the remaining 42% disagreed or strongly disagreed. When asked to comment on faculty awareness, classroom environment, and campus life, a veteran commented "A one-stop shop for veterans/military issues would be very beneficial." Another veteran commented, "The VA office was moved from the student services building to a building on the outskirt of campus. It should be co-located with other student services. Their current facilities are inadequate for study or parking. I pushed hard to assist and establish a veteran student organization with no luck. Finally, it was hard transition from the "military life" and it would have been nice to have a fellow Vet as a mentor." Another veteran said, "Veterans services are on opposite ends of the campus and not located "on campus" per se. The Veterans Services Office used to be located in the administration building on campus and it was more convenient to walk between the registrars, cashier, and Vet services when problems or questions arose, but MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE last summer is was moved outside of the building and it now seems disconnected from the school." Service-connected Disability Of those that responded to this question of the survey, just over 35% (11) indicated that they had been diagnosed with PTSD, TBI, or a combination of the two illnesses. Nearly 83% of these veterans with disabilities agreed or strongly agreed that the staff of Disability Services, at their campus, were friendly, welcoming, and had an understanding of veteran-specific disabilities. 51 About 71 % of the veterans with disabilities agreed or strongly agreed that Disability Services staff had an understanding of the cognitive difficulties related to PTSD/TBI, and were trained to counsel veterans, while the remaining veterans with disabilities disagreed or strongly disagreed. As to whether Disability Services helped veterans deal with the stigma related to being "disabled", almost 74% agreed or strongly agreed, and the remaining 26% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Over 82% of the veterans with disabilities agreed or strongly agreed that Disability Services coordinated with the VA to properly accommodate the veterans with disabilities on campus, while almost 18% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Just over 83% of veterans with disabilities agreed or strongly agreed that classroom accommodations are given to veterans with PTSD/TBI diagnoses, while nearlyl 7% disagreed or strongly disagreed. About 84% agreed or strongly agreed that test-taking and test location accommodations were given to veterans with these diagnoses, with the remaining that either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Finally, when asked whether Disability Services collaborates to educate other campus professionals MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 52 about veterans with disabilities' needs, 80% of the veterans with disabilities agreed or strongly agreed that they did, and 20% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Of those veterans that indicated they had either PTSD or TBI, one commented "If provisions are available at Weber State University for Disabled Veterans I am not aware of them." And finally, another commented "I experienced Sexual trauma in the military and received disability accommodations finally after three years at college. It would be helpful to have a female Psychologist for female veterans. I don't feel comfortable sharing my anxiety issues with a male." Table 2. Summary of responses by survey section, with the totals by section and response type. Section Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Survey Sections Responses Agree Disagree a. Overall 93 27 34 14 18 Experience (3) b. Website 155 36 88 22 9 Navigation (7) c. College 224 48 111 43 22 Admissions (7) d. Enrollment 152 29 86 26 11 Services ( 5) e. Veteran Services 153 57 67 20 9 Office (5) f. Faculty 388 82 167 92 47 Awareness/ Classroom Environment (13) g. Service- 147 64 53 12 18 connected Disability (7) MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE DISCUSSION 53 As seen in the review of previous research on this subject, the study found that with the passing of the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, colleges and universities have seen the greatest influx of veterans in higher education since the end of the Vietnam conflict, some 40 years ago (Cook & Kim, 2009; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). In research by Zoli, Maury, and Fay (2015) of the more than 8,500 military members and veterans who participated, 92% indicated that education should play a role in post-service transition. This new GI Bill® has resulted in higher veteran enrollment, and has required colleges and universities to adjust policies and procedures to meet the needs of these veterans. The previous research found that most colleges and universities across the country were inadequately prepared to meet the needs of this new influx of veterans and had been reactive in making the necessary adjustments to meet their needs (Brown & Gross, 2011). Research also showed a need for improvement in areas related to veterans such as assisting veterans' transition to college, developing faculty and staff awareness of veteran specific issues, meeting the needs of veterans with military related disabilities, assisting re-enrolling veterans, and providing peer to peer experiences for veterans (Cook & Kim, 2009). Previous research also suggested that institutions that encourage veterans to selfidentify early, ensure veteran program administrators are adequately trained, and that other staff and administration are trained on the new GI Bill®, tend to have more effective programs for veterans. The university should employ disability and mental health staff who understand veterans' issues, have consistent policies for college credit for military MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE training, have veteran specific orientations and informational sessions, and encourage veteran student organizations on campus (Steel, Salcedo, & Coley, 2010). 54 The current study provided an opportunity to obtain the perspective of the veterans, in one western state, as to how their respective college or university was adapting to this change. The study sought to determine veteran/veterans with disabilities' perspectives as to what extent they have been integrated and accommodated at the community college and university level. In addition, the purpose of the study was to also determine how veterans with disabilities perceive overall services for injured veterans on campus, accommodations and disability services for veterans, and supportive services that allow veterans to persist and graduate from a post-secondary school. Specifically the study sought to determine to what extent the institutions of higher education have developed a veteran friendly campus, determine to what extent does the institutional faculty and staff have an adequate understanding of the military experience, are reintegrating veterans into the classroom and into higher education in general, and to determine to what extent do the institutions adequately understand and accommodate veterans with service-connected disabilities such at PTSD and TBI. What the current study demonstrated is that progress has been made in relation to this study group but there is still room for improvement, and that colleges and universities should continue to move in a positive direction. These institutions should focus on improving all aspects of interaction with military veterans to include improving the veteran experience through proper integration, user friendly web-based resources, veteran-specific admissions and registration procedures, proactive veteran services, faculty and staff awareness and training, developing a welcoming classroom MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE environment, improved veteran integration in campus life, and also improved disability services and accommodations for veterans witb disabilities. Implications of the Results 55 There are very meaningful reasons why institutions should do tbe best job possible when serving, managing, and educating veterans. As pointed out in the previous research reviewed, Brown and Gross (2011) showed that successful management of military students brings benefits to all involved: the student; the academic institution; and the community. The study sought to measure how the veterans felt that the institutions of higher education were doing in that respect. Overall, the results of tbe current research on the veteran perspective was quite positive. The survey results indicated that, in general, there were 949 (72 % ) positive responses to survey questions and 363 (28%) negative responses (Appendix C). This by no means indicates that there have been no negative impacts on veterans at the institutions involved, but it demonstrates tbat strides are being made in a positive direction when it comes to the veteran experience at the these schools. A portion of the survey addressed the research question related to how the veterans felt their respective college or university had developed a veteran friendly campus through streamlining the admission, enrollment, and veteran services processes. When it came to the admissions process, most of the survey participants felt that the admissions process was generally smooth and could be viewed as veteran-friendly, but over one-third of the veterans thought that the admissions staff was not helpful and lacked understanding of veteran-specific issues. Also a clear procedure for transferring credit for military experience is warranted, based on tbe nearly one-half of veterans MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 56 unsatisfied with that process. This would indicate that staff training related to veteranspecific issues and problems that arise could reduce that level of dissatisfaction. Another possible option would be to have a staff member with military experience available to assist veterans. The admissions process is likely the first stumbling block that these veterans have in starting their higher education journey, so it is incumbent on the institutions to ensure veterans are welcomed, treated fairly, and that veteran needs are being addressed. Once admitted to an institute of higher education, veterans must tackle the enrollment process and find coursework suited for their chosen academic major. This can be a daunting task for veterans, many of whom have never been in a higher education environment. Over one quarter of the veterans responding to the survey felt that they did not have access to an advisor that would work with them in choosing and enrolling in courses. It is critical that veterans are advised properly, given the fact that their GI Bill® benefits are finite. Veterans cannot afford to waste time or money on coursework unrelated to their major. In addition over one half of the respondents felt that the registrar staff was unfamiliar with veteran-specific needs. If a staff member is unaware of the VA policy (e.g. against paying for courses unrelated to the veteran's major) and improperly advises the veteran, then it may create financial for the veterans. Again, training on veteran related issues and/or the presence of a veteran staff member may mitigate these kinds of problems. Veterans Services is a critical part of the veteran experience on the community college and university campus, especially for those veterans using GI Bill® benefits. It can become financially difficult on veterans if they have issues with receiving their MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE educational benefits, so Veterans Services must be efficient when certifying veterans' benefits. 57 Most survey responses relating to Veteran Services were positive, but some found that veteran services was hard to locate, that the staff was unfriendly, and that the process for obtaining GI Bill® benefits was not clear or explained properly. Some also had trouble getting proper guidance from Veteran Services during registration each semester, or when veterans experienced problems with receiving GI Bill®benefits, the problems were not resolved in a timely manner. Not all veterans will be satisfied with how a particular process unfolds, but veterans utilizing Veteran Services on campus should feel that the staff there are on the veterans' side to the best extent possible. Veteran Services should viewed by the veterans as an ally on campus, and staff should do the utmost to accommodate veteran needs. This office should be a safe haven where veterans can come for support when they are frustrated by other campus services and procedures. Interaction with instructors and professors make up most of the personal contact veterans have in higher education. Ideally they should have some knowledge about veteran issues and resources available. The second research question attempted to determine if veterans felt faculty and staffhad an adequate understanding of the experiences of military veterans. Additionally, the study attempted to determine veterans' perception as to whether the faculty and staff were aware of helpful ways of integrating or reintegrating them into the classroom and into higher education in general. Some of the difficulties that veterans face in higher education involve under informed MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE faculty, their negative classroom experiences, and general non-involvement in campus life and activities. 58 The researcher believes that it is critical to the long-term viability of veteran students, for them to be understood, accommodated, and integrated into these institutions. Over one half of the veterans indicated that their respective school either did not have an integration program, or if it did they were unsatisfied with results. In addition, nearly two thirds of veteran respondents indicated that their instructors and professors were unaware of veteran resources on campus. All staff and faculty should be aware of resources that benefit veterans, which can serve to make things easier on the veteran, staff, and faculty. The study results indicate that over one half of the veterans in the survey perceived that the faculty were not adequately trained to understand the military experience. Some colleges across the country have establish a "basic training" type program for faculty to help them be more aware of different aspects of the military experience, to help them to understand and be sympathetic. For example Purdue University, and the Veterans Success Center there, offers "Green Zone Training" to discuss what it means to serve and what veterans bring to campus. With fewer and fewer staff and faculty having military experience themselves, a program like this would be beneficial and enlightening as more veterans pursue higher education. On a positive note, the veterans overwhelmingly felt that they were treated fairly and respectfully, and were given the opportunity to share their experiences when they felt comfortable doing so in class. Approximately 30 % of the veterans who responded did not feel that the faculty honored the veterans' confidentiality requests. Some veterans really want to blend into MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 59 the fabric of the campus and do not feel comfortable being singled out or identified as a military veteran. Faculty should be sensitive to this on an individual basis, and avoid calling attention to a veteran who may not want to be identified that way. Some veterans are uncomfortable speaking of their military experiences in class, or relating it to their education, especially if it involves combat experiences. Although if comfortable in sharing, veterans' experiences can contribute to classroom learning environment and to the learning experience of all students overall, so faculty need to be sensitive and aware. Peer mentoring and student veteran organizations are other programs that have been beneficial to veterans on campuses across the country. Veterans learning and being mentored by other veterans can be another way to increase retention of veterans at the respective college or university. Organized student groups can give similar kinds of support to veterans (e.g. Student Veterans of America). An experienced veteran in college can help newer student veterans get through the difficult times by showing these fellow veterans how they survived themselves. Over one third of the veterans in the survey did not feel that there was a sound peer mentoring program, or at least an effective one at their respective schools. In addition, over one half of the veterans in the study indicated that their school did not have an adequate student veteran's organization. This study also attempted to determine how veterans with disabilities perceived their college or university understood and accommodated veterans' disabilities, specifically those related to combat related issues such as PTSD and TBI. Recent casualty statistics reported to congress indicate that, approximately 118,829 military members/veterans deployed between 2000 and 2014 were diagnosed MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 60 with PTSD. During the same period 307,283 were diagnosed with some form ofTBI (Fischer, 2014). In the study by Zoli, Maury, and Fay (2015), the researchers reported over 3.9 million veterans had been identified as disabled by the Veterans Administration (VA). Of those, 43% were from the Gulf War era and beyond. Additionally, of the more than 8,500 respondents 58% reported a service related disability. Of the veterans that reported a service-connected disability, 79% indicated that the disability created obstacles for them as they transitioned to civilian life. In regards to pursuing higher education, 12% indicated the disability hindered beginning higher education, and 28% said the disability created obstacles in completing higher education (Zoli, Maury, and Fay, 2015). It is critical that colleges and universities across the country find ways to accommodate these military veterans who may be attending to their institutions, but especially those with these unseen disabilities. The Disability Services (DS) offices on campus will need to take a leading role in this accommodation. The DS staff should be at the forefront when it comes to service-connected veterans with disabilities. In this study, of the veterans who identified as being disabled due to PTSD and/or TB!, over 82% agreed that DS staff at their campus were friendly and welcoming, and had an understanding of veteran-specific disabilities. It was by no means unanimous, with about 18% disagreeing, so there is room for improvement. The DS staff also seemed to have at least some understanding of the cognitive difficulties of those veterans experiencing PTSD/TBI issues, and these veterans felt the staff had adequate training to counsel them in relation to these issues. The DS staff was also widely viewed as being helpful to veterans struggling with the stigma that is felt by being called "disabled". MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 61 The results indicate that most of the veterans with disabilities were receiving accommodations in the classroom, and for test-taking, as well as these veterans feeling positive about how the DS staff educated other campus professionals about veterans with disabilities' needs. There were some veterans that disagreed, but the majority seemed to have had a positive experience with Disability Services. There were 14 7 combined responses to survey questions related to veteran disability, with 117 (79%) being positive in nature. The DS office and staff seem to be serving veterans adequately, with room to improve. Limitations Although the surveys were conducted in only one western state, the researcher believes that the results can be viewed in the broader context in that improvements are being made in higher education for this new influx of veterans. Others may argue that the results of the research are not adequately generalizable based on the sample size. The researcher agrees that the response rate for the survey was not ideal, but given that overall response rates for online surveys are traditionally low, the researcher felt that there were enough data to proceed. Veterans tend to focus on what directly effects their education, and therefore if the veteran does not see a relation to coursework and grades they tend to be less interested in extracurricular inquiries (Quaye & Harper, 2014). In reviewing the demographic data, it appears that there was a well-represented sample of our military, in years served, branch of anned service, deployment to combat zones, and gender. There appeared to be few if any over-represented veterans in the specific categories, other than females (see Table 1). MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 62 Future Research The study can be expanded by conducting future research to include more colleges and universities in different regions of the country. Including more veterans in varied geographical and demographically diverse areas of the country would build a broader picture of how higher education is doing in serving, managing, and educating veterans. Future research could also include the use of varied survey tools including online surveys, mailed surveys, convenience surveys, one-on-one interviews, and group discussions. The study sought to measure only the perspective of the veterans from the beginning of the research project, using a convenience sample of Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) participants. Future research could also measure the perspectives of institutional staff and faculty as well as a broader spectrum of veterans, in order to identify any possible disconnects and common ground between veteran and institutional perspectives. An institution of higher education may believe that it is doing all it can to adequately serve veterans, whereas the veterans feel that there is room to improve. This needs analysis was undertalcen to inform the institutions of higher education regarding the perspectives of military veterans. It will infonn universities, and the entities that support those veterans, ways to improve the veteran experience. Additionally, the results will provide a veteran perspective in hopes of better meeting the needs of college and university veterans. It is recommended that future research will review these data and aslc additional questions of the veterans and university faculty and staff to better support those who have served on the country's behalf. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 63 Summary The study began with historical background and context on the GI Bill® from the beginning in 1944, to the present configuration. With the newest iteration of the GI Bill® and the generous benefits to veterans, colleges and universities are seeing higher enrollment by military veterans than they have since the conclusion of the Vietnam Conflict (Cook & Kim, 2009; Rumann & Hamrick, 2009). The literature review showed that institutions of higher education were ill prepared to meet the needs of this new influx of veterans, and had been reacting to the challenge rather than being proactive and anticipating changes that needed to be made. In addition, due to higher rates of survivability in combat, many of the veteran students entering higher education now have returned from conflict with injuries and illnesses such as PTSD and TBI. Previous research showed that nearly 85% of those receiving combat injuries are surviving due to advances in protective body armor, use of coagulants, and advances in the military medical evacuation system (Madaus, Miller II, & Vance, 2009). In the current study, the researcher sought to measure the veteran perspective as to how the institutions of higher education are doing in relation to serving veterans in general, as well as veterans with disabilities. The study findings were more positive than expected, based on prior research, with 949 (72%) positive responses to survey questions and 363 (28%) negative responses (see appendix A). This could plainly be an indicator that the institutions of higher education in the western state involved are doing better than elsewhere, or a broader indicator that the veteran experience is improving generally. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 64 The current research showed that improvements were being made, based on the perspective of the veterans involved. The responses to the research survey were generally positive, with some exceptions. This indicates that the institutions where these veterans have attended, are making strides in a positive direction. Responses from the survey participants did show that there are many areas relating to veterans that have room for improvement though. It is the intent of the researcher to make these results available to higher education institutions, in order to facilitate the needed improvements. The results also indicated that most of the veterans with disabilities were mostly positive about the institutions meeting veterans with disabilities' needs. There were some veterans that disagreed, but the majority seemed to have had a positive experience with Disability Services on campus. As reported earlier in the study, there were 14 7 combined responses to survey questions related to veteran disability, with 117 (79%) being positive in nature. The DS office and staff seem to be serving veterans adequately, with room to improve. The researcher has concluded that there are still challenges ahead for veterans in higher education, but that the process in moving in a positive direction. Veterans are seeing these improvements and are becoming more optimistic in their outlook. The more optimistic that veterans become, the better the retention and graduation rates will become. Colleges and universities must work hand-in-hand with the veterans to improve the experience for faculty, staff, and student veterans in the future. The individtial veteran student, the higher education institutions, and the community at large will benefit from these improvements. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE REFERENCES 65 American Council on Education (2010). 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MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE APPENDICES Appendix A: Veterans Survey Questions Appendix B: IRB Approval Letter Appendix C: Survey Results Spreadsheet 69 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE APPENDIX A Veterans Survey Questions Veteran Experience Questions and Comments All survey questions (except open-ended comments) will have one of the following responses: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree, Not Applicable (N/A). a. Overall Experience in Higher Education 1. My overall experience on the campus has been positive. 2. My school seems to be working to accommodate military veterans. 3. Veteran programs/benefits have improved since I've been at my school. b. Website Navigation 4. The website for the college/university was easy to find online. 5. Once fmmd, the website was easy to navigate once found. 70 6. It was easy to find veteran specific web pages, they were one location and/or were easily linked. 7. Information on the veteran pages was clear and tmderstandable. 8. Contact information for Veteran Services was easy to find. c. Admissions 9. The online admissions application was easy to find, and was clear and understandable. 10. The application clearly asks individuals to identify as a military member or veteran. 11. When needed the admissions office was easy to locate. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 12. The admissions staff was helpful, able to answer veteran related questions, and understand veteran related procedures. 71 13. Procedures for military experience transfer credits were clear and understandable. 14. The college/university offered veteran specific orientations of information sessions. 15. Overall the admissions process was veteran friendly. d. Enrollment 16. The online course registration process was clear and understandable. 17. The registrar's office was easy to find on campus. 18. Veterans have access to an advisor to help plan, choose proper courses, and enroll in classes. 19. Staff from the registrar's office is familiar with veteran-specific needs. 20. Enrollment deadlines, add/drop periods, and semester schedule were made clear. e. Veteran Services Office 21. The Veterans Services Office was easy to find on campus. 22. The Veterans Services staff were friendly and welcoming, were knowledgeable with all aspects of the GI Bill®. 23. Campus procedures for GI Bill® certification were clear and understandable or were explained. 24. The Veteran Services staff were helpful in giving guidance for registration each semester. 25. Problems with my GI Bill® benefits were resolved in a timely manner. f. Faculty Awareness/Classroom Environment/Campus Life MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 72 26. The college/university offered a (re)integration program to help veterans transition into higher education. 27. Instructors/Professors are familiar with veteran resources on campus. 28. Instructors/Professors interact well with veteran students and honor veterans' confidentiality requests. 29. Instructors/Professors have been trained on what the military experience is like. 30. Military veteran students are treated fairly and respectfully on campus. 31. Instructors/Professors allow veterans to share military experiences when appropriate. 32. Allowances are made for specific veteran seating needs when necessary. 33. Class populations are manageable in size and encourage learning. 34. The college/university has a peer mentoring program providing veteran to veteran support. 35. The college/university has a relationship with Veteran Service Organizations (American Legion, DAV, VFW, etc.). 36. There is an established veteran student organization on campus. 37. The college/university allows the Veterans Administration (VA) to have a presence on campus. 38. The college/university has a "one stop shop" where veterans can go for services. Disabled Veteran Experience Questions and Comments g. Disability Services 1. The Disability Services staff was friendly and welcoming, and understands veteran specific disabilities. MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 2. Disability Services staff understands cognitive difficulties related to PTSD/TBI, and have been trained to counsel veterans with PTSD/TBI. 3. Disability Services helps veterans to deal with the stigma related to being "disabled". 4. Disability Services coordinate with the VA to properly acconnnodate disabled veterans. 5. Classroom acconnnodations are given to veterans with documented PTSD/TBI diagnoses. 6. Test taking and testing location accommodations are given to veterans with documented PTSD/TBI diagnoses. 7. Disability Services staff collaborates well with other campus professionals to educate them on disabled veteran needs. 73 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE APPENDIXB WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY Institutional Review Board April 29, 2015 Daniel Czech MC 4401 Weber State University Ogden, UT 84408 Daniel, Your project entitled "The Military Veteran Experience in Higher Education" has been reviewed and is approved as written. The project was reviewed as "exempt" because it involves using curriculum and assessments which would normally be used. Subjects are considered adults and may choose not to participate. Informed consent is required for participation. Notification of the study and how data will be reported are appropriate. No individual subject data will be revealed. All subject information will be confidential. Dr. Williams is the chair of the committee who will oversee this study. Anonymity and confidentiality are addressed appropriately, and the type of information gathered could not "reasonably place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects' financial standing, employability, or reputation" (Code of Federal Regulations 45 CFR 46, Subpart D.) You may proceed with your study when district/site approval is given. Please remember that any anticipated changes to the project and approved procedures must be submitted to the !RB prior to implementation. Any unanticipated problems that arise during any stage of the project require a written report to the !RB and possible suspension of the project. A final copy of your application will remain on file with the !RB records. If you need further assistance or have any questions, call meat 626-7370 or e-mail me at lgowans@weber.edu. Sincerely, Linda Gowans, Ph.D. Chair, Institutional Review Board, Education Subcommittee 74 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE Title of Project: Primary Investigator(s): Approval Number: Reviewer: Date: April 29, 2015 The Military Veteran Experience in Higher Education Daniel Czech 15-ED-088 Linda Gowans, Ph.D. Chair, Institutional Review Board Education Subcommittee COMMITTEE ACTION YOUR PROPOSAL (PROJECT) AND CONSENT DOCUMENTS HA VE BEEN RECEIVED AND CLASSIFIED BY THE HUMAN SUBJECTS IN RESEARCH COMMITTEE AS: _High Risk __ Moderate Risk _X _Low Risk BY THE FOLLOWING PROCESS: _Full board review_ Expedited review_X_Exemption THE PROJECT HAS BEEN: _x Approved __ Not Approved COMMENTS: See Attached Approval Letter Linda Gowans, Ph.D. --- IRB EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR INVESTIGATOR'S RESPONSIBILITY AFTER COMMITTEE ACTION 75 The federal regulations provide that after the committee has approved your study, you may not make any changes without prior committee approval except where necessary to eliminate apparent immediate hazards to the subjects. Further, you must report to the committee any changes that you make and any unanticipated problems involving risks to subjects or others that arise. 4/29/2015 REVIEW DATE MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 76 APPENDIXC Su rvey R esul tsS > prea ds heet Survey Section Question Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly N/A Total (excluding Number Agree Disagree N/A) a. Overall . . ·· .·.I ••••• . ·:· ' -' . ·. .·· .· . . . Experience . · . . ' . . . . .·· . . • 1 12 12 5 4 0 33 2 11 11 4 7 0 33 3 4 11 5 7 6 27 b. Website . . . . ·. ·.· . . . · . . •. Navigation . ··. . . . . . 4 10 22 0 0 1 32 5 5 19 8 0 1 32 6 5 13 9 3 3 30 7 6 16 4 4 3 30 8 10 18 1 2 2 31 College . ·. . · . c. . . . ' • . Admissions ·.·. . . · . . I . .· . 9 7 22 0 0 4 29 10 6 16 8 2 1 32 11 10 22 1 0 0 33 12 4 17 8 4 0 33 13 6 11 10 5 0 32 14 7 8 10 7 1 32 15 8 15 6 4 0 33 d. Enrollment . I . . ' ': < ·. I . I ' I . Services . .• . · . . .· . . . ·.· . ' . 16 5 19 2 2 4 28 17 9 21 2 0 0 32 18 7 16 7 1 0 31 19 1 12 11 5 3 29 20 7 18 4 3 0 32 e. Veteran Services Office 21 11 17 4 1 0 33 22 12 13 5 2 1 32 23 12 12 5 2 2 31 24 13 12 4 2 2 31 25 9 13 2 2 7 26 MILITARY VETERAN EXPERIENCE 77 f. Faculty Awareness/ Classroom Environment 26 1 11 9 7 5 28 27 3 8 13 6 3 30 28 8 13 4 5 2 30 29 2 5 14 6 6 27 30 6 21 5 1 0 33 31 8 19 3 1 2 31 32 7 13 4 1 8 25 33 11 16 4 2 0 33 34 7 11 8 2 4 28 35 5 14 8 2 3 29 36 5 10 10 7 1 32 37 9 18 2 2 1 31 38 10 8 8 5 1 31 g. Service-connected Disability 1 10 9 1 3 9 23 2 9 6 3 3 11 21 3 9 8 3 3 9 23 4 10 9 1 3 9 23 5 8 7 1 2 14 18 6 10 6 1 2 13 19 7 8 8 2 2 12 20