Learning Showcase 2014

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  Interactive, Holistic, and Experiential Criminal Justice Online Learning Environment

  Karen Miner-Romanoff, Lewis Chongwony, and Jonathan McCombs

  The study is designed to test the effectiveness of specific experiential e-learning strategies for criminal justice students, this study seeks to determine how a comprehensive series of videos that includes a criminal trial and interviews of the judge, defense counsel, prosecution, investigators and court director discussing their roles enhanced course and learning outcomes. The second study purpose is to test the effectiveness of a comprehensive and interactive criminal justice computer model that allows the students to work within the multifaceted and complex system and explore descriptions, concepts, theories, relationships, and sequences in order to enhance learning outcomes regarding the system(s) of justice, its challenges, and opportunities. The study will be a mixed methods study concentrating on both focus groups and a survey instrument for evaluation of effectiveness variables. The analysis will help to discern the quality and effectiveness of the digital learning tools both from the student perspective and the field expert perspective.

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  Institute of Criminal Justice Excellence: Providing Information through Innovation and Dialogue

  Karen Miner-Romanoff, Jonathan McCombs, and Norman Robinson

  The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Deputy Director for Re-Entry Programs and Dr. Karen Miner-Romanoff at Franklin University have partnered to create a one of a kind Institute of dialogue, information sharing, and non-partisan evidenced-based practice communication.

  The Franklin University Coalition for Criminal Justice Excellence (CJE) is a partnership with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and is a nonpartisan effort to join lawyers, legal scholars, social science experts, government officials, nonprofit leaders, judges, administrators, corrections and law enforcement professionals, stakeholders and practitioners in the form of roundtables, forums, events and speaker series to address the pragmatic issues faced by professionals and communities today. It seeks to educate the general public on criminal justice issues toward data-driven laws and policies that increase public safety and promote cooperation among diverse stakeholders through community discussions and education.

  Its mission is to provide a holistic, nonpartisan forum for diverse stakeholders and criminal justice practitioners that encourage the exchange of ideas, experiences, and data sharing while providing a professional forum for cross-agency information flow and discourse. It seeks to improve the quality and delivery of criminal justice services, advance knowledge of administrative best practices and the educational and civic mission of Franklin University and its criminal justice programs through consensus-driven best practices.

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  Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio Evaluation

  Karen Miner-Romanoff and Kelly M. Swope

  This evaluation reviewed the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio (BBBSCO) Project Mentor program, specifically the program’s incorporation of AmeriCorps members as Project Coordinators during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years. The evaluation was focused on answering the following questions:

  1. Did the AmeriCorps members serve the target audience identified in the original grant application? If not, why not?
  2. Were the AmeriCorps members utilized in the manner described in the original grant application? If not, how did the utilization of the members change from the original plan? Did these changes have a positive or negative impact on the program?
  3. What problems were encountered in implementing the program? How were these problems resolved?
  4. Were all planned activities implemented? Were they accomplished on schedule?
  5. What costs were incurred? Did they exceed initial projections?
  6. How did the AmeriCorps members impact the Project Mentor program?
  7. What lessons/best practices have been learned to guide future implementation of this program?

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  Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make me a Match: Does Cognitive Style Make a Difference?

  David Ni, Raymond L. Forbes, and John S. Brent

  The question of how to better match students’ individual learning capabilities with instructional modalities, with a view to improving student performance, has increasingly attracted researcher and educator attention. Consistent with this trend, a team of faculty from the College of Arts, Sciences and Technology at Franklin University conducted a study that investigated whether differences between instructor and student learning styles may account for performance disparities as well as how students might perform differently as a result of their individual learning preferences. The research sample consisted of 161 college students attending a basic statistics course. Instructor and student learning styles, using the Learning Style Inventory (LSI), as well as students’ course grades, were collected and analyzed over the course of a year.

  Study results indicated that there was insufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that students’ performance differs significantly as to whether (or to what degree) their learning styles matches that of their instructors. However, the data did suggest that two different learning style groups do appear to perform differently and that the LSI may be sensitive on select learning dimensions. Information in this poster should support educators who give attention to the feeling and doing dimensions of learning when planning instructional activities.

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  Building the Future of Healthcare

  Gregory D. Norton

  The Wexner Medical Center (WMC) at The Ohio State University (OSU) is a non-profit, academic medical center serving central and southern Ohio. WMC is a large system with 6 hospitals and a vast support network of healthcare providers and researcher. This presentation contains an overview of OSUWMC and its strategic plans, key result areas and challenges it will face during its ongoing growth and development as a premiere health system.

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  OhioHealth: A System Overview

  Meghan Parsley

  The OhioHealth health system is a network of not-for-profit hospitals and healthcare organizations in central Ohio. The growing system is expanding regionally, which leads to a variety of challenges. The major challenges faced by the organization relate to the overall size of the organization, competitive market, external environmental factors such as healthcare reform, and physician alignment. The organization pursues a cost leadership strategy and while still offering state of the art equipment and facilities.

  OhioHealth’s central operating location is Franklin County, Ohio. They compete against two major healthcare providers, The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and Mount Carmel. To build their brand and increase awareness, OhioHealth launched their “Believe in We” marketing campaign in 2011. Like other providers, OhioHealth is faced with a difficult regulatory and legislative environment. They are also focused on improving outcomes for patients through a patient-centered approach.

  The main operational challenge at OhioHealth is being addressed by the implementation of a new system called Aligning Process Excellence with Systemness (APExS). This tool is used to streamline processes and reduce costs to improve the patient experience. They are also in the process of rolling out a new electronic medical records system to improve patient outcomes and increase productivity. OhioHealth is also identifying ways to combat the shortage of physicians in the area by building a high performance workplace and recruiting talented physicians and staff. Finally, the organization faces financial challenges as they acquire new physicians, staff, and facilities in an effort to maintain and grow their market share. OhioHealth is well positioned to meet these challenges and continue to meet the needs of their patients.

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  An Examination of Violation Behavior Among Participating Offenders Involved in the Grant-Funded Rural Reentry Initiative of Ohio Within Six Months After Release from Prison

  Douglas Patrick and Brian Martin

  Prisoner reentry services currently face multiple implementation challenges when providing parolees an access to resources in rural communities. As an extension of existing evaluation efforts on Ohio’s Second Chance Act Grant-funded Rural Recidivism Reduction Program (OR3), this project will investigate post-prison violation behavior among a sample of offenders under supervision in a rural setting. Specifically, the project will serve as an examination of violation behavior among participating offenders involved in the grant-funded rural reentry initiative of Ohio within six months after release from prison.

  Utilizing quasi experimental methods to compare outcomes among grant-funded participants and an appropriately selected comparison group, the research design will employ descriptive comparisons of violation frequency and types of behavior between both groups. Findings from the analysis are expected to inform case management and contribute to organizational decision-making in reducing violation behavior as it is considered detrimental to future engagement in new crimes. Additionally, the findings will provide implications of whether specialized reentry services help reinforce the role of the existing substance abuse referral process in reducing relapse behavior among ex-offenders. The project will hopefully expand on early evaluation work and existing literature, building on our understanding of rural reentry.

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  Mandated Personal Finance Education

  Martina Peng and Souren Soumbatiants

  The urgency of implementation of financial literacy education has been recognized in the recent years. This study evaluates the recent progress on state financial literacy legislation and the effectiveness of personal finance education mandates in high schools. The three common approaches to the mandatory personal finance education policy take forms in setting education standards, personal finance courses, and required testing. Course mandates appear to be the most effective in raising financial literacy scores. State policy requiring testing personal finance concepts has been the least effective. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers, educators and researchers considering personal finance mandates to address deficiencies in youth financial literacy.

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  Application of an Ecological Model to the Labeling of Sexual Aggression

  Wendy Perkins

  Many women enrolled in college experience rape and other forms of sexual aggression. Afterwards, women must make sense of what occurred and often place a label on their experiences. Research indicates that even when the legal requirements for rape are met, most women do not apply this label to their experiences. This study examines predictors of labeling an incident of sexual aggression as being rape, using data that was collected from university women as part of a longitudinal study examining risk and protective factors related to sexual and relationship aggression. An ecological model is used to test the hypothesis that individual, situational, relation, community, and societal variables predict the decision to label an experience with sexual aggression as being rape. The results of this exploratory analysis are encouraging and suggest that situational factors are particularly important in the labeling decision. Other variables that reached significance in the study may impact the interpretation of situational factors, thus lending support to the proposition that the decision to apply the rape label can be studied through the lens of an ecological framework.

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  Anticipators Job Stressors of Nurses Returning to the Workplace: A Mixed Methodology

  Carol Peterson

  Multifactorial reasons have produced a growing nursing shortage. One possible group that could reverse this shortage in inactive nurses. Many stakeholders wonder about allocating scarce resources to identify, locate, educate, and redeploy this group into active practice. The purpose of this one-phase embedded validating quantitative mixed methodology was to identify the anticipated job stressors of registered nurse (RN) refresher students as they prepare to enter the work force following a career break. The Likert-type Expanded Nurse Stress Scale (French, Lenton, Walters, & Eyles, 2000; Gray-Toft & Anderson, 1981) was used. The independent variables were the job stressors of RNs. The dependent variable was the anticipated level of stress experienced by the RN refresher students during the refresher course. Forty-five out of 201 refresher students anonymously participated in the online study—a 21.4% response rate.

  The findings of the study revealed three areas of stress. Uncertainty regarding patient treatment, supervisor problems, and conflict with physicians were ranked as always stressful. Discrimination, peer problems, and emotional preparation were the lowest rated, above occasionally stressed. The four qualitative thematic analysis results were preparedness, age-related concerns, emotions, and employment. Triangulation of the data revealed additional concerns of ageism, stamina, computerized health care, cultural bias, making errors, contracting patient illnesses, and self-confidence from continuing education in nursing.

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  Cristo Rey: Working to Learn and Learning to Work

  James Ragland

  Helping to rebuild the community by investing in under-served youth in central Ohio, Cristo Rey Columbus High School offers students a college-preparatory high school curriculum that prepares them to graduate from college and achieve a lifetime of success. In 2013, Columbus became one of 26 schools in the United States operating in the Cristo Rey Network. Students benefit from the unique Professional Work Study Program that exposes them to financial benefits that contribute to their education and reinforces in them the thinking strategies and lifelong learning behaviors emphasized in the classroom. Integrating academic knowledge and real-world experiences, students learn connect the classroom to the world of work that help mold them into outstanding professionals.

  *Outstanding Industry Poster Winner

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  Transfer Students: Helping with the Transition

  Blake J. Renner

  A significant number of students transfer from institutions of higher education which creates challenges for both the student and the institution of higher education. The purpose of this study is to investigate transfer students, provide challenges for transfer Students, and provide recommendations for student affairs professionals of how to best serve transfer students. This study provides insight into previous research on this topic, recommendations focused on student success (graduation) of transfer students, and barriers experienced by transfer students to prepare student affairs professionals with the information to assist this student population.

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  Prostitution, Sex Work, Transmitted Disease and Regulation: A Global Analysis

  Sam Romanoff

  Prostitution:

  Prostitution, formally said to be “sex workers who receive money or goods in exchange for sexual services” is often called the world’s oldest profession. However, despite this statement, the world has yet to figure out the best way to regulate the act of prostitution. For years, different countries around the world have tried different ways of regulation. Some countries, such as Amsterdam have opted for making it legal in order to tax it and better regulate it. Other countries, such as America, have chosen to criminalize the act making it illegal throughout the country. Regardless of how each country deals with prostitution, one fact is certain, prostitution is going to happen. Although experts argue on the best way to deal with prostitution, they all agree that when it is not regulated, many of the problems associated with prostitution, such as health risks and legal issues, are exacerbated.

  Transmitted Diseases:

  Since every country has prostitution, despite acts of regulation or non-regulation, every country must deal with the abundance of problems the job brings. The biggest problem, health wise, is the spread of infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. Sex workers are extremely high risk for these diseases due to the large number of sex workers, the unsafe working conditions, the neglect of condom use, the social marginalization and often criminalized work environments and alcohol, drug use and violence in the workplace. With over 13 million people in this industry, and an estimated sex trade revenue of 186 billion worldwide, this is a serious problem. Countries have tried different ways of preventing the spreads of these diseases, and different ways of trying to make the industry safer for the workers. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the profession, its continues to be difficult to track whether certain interventions, laws, penalizations or regulations are effective at reducing the number of people who have and spread these diseases to not only people in the industry, but clients on the outside, as well.

  Regulation:

  As said above, dealing with the issues prostitution presents as an industry is difficult to combat due to many setbacks and obstacles that must be faced. Regulation wise, this industry is very hard to track. Even with laws, and penalizations, the industry can still act in a way that is hard for law enforcement to stop. Still, to this day, it is unclear, whom to penalize, what to legalize, what to enforce and what regulations to put in place because there is no clear goal, across the countries, of what everyone want’s the prostitution market to look like. Also, the industry has been a certain way for such a long time; it’s difficult to try and go in and change the dynamics and the way the industry operates. Health speaking, it is hard to prevent these diseases from being spread; due to location, the environment and the people involved, it is hard to get resources to the sex workers. Coinciding, due the factors named above, it will be impossible to treat, screen or help every worker, making it difficult to find complete success. Lastly, new programs and health and clinical services will help the sex workers, but the people who run these industries may not be as cooperative in letting the workers gain more power as they may see it as a threat to the profitability of their businesses.

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  Educating the Auditors: Recommendations for Addressing General, Behavioral Competency Needs in Collegiate Accounting Programs

  Charles T. Saunders

  The continuing evolution of the business world has a direct impact on the landscape and curriculum of higher education, where business professionals are trained. The needs of the business world influence not only what is taught (i.e., business curriculum content), but also how we, as educators, teach foundational skills and core competencies.

  Recent research published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation suggests that there is a discrepancy between stakeholders’ and auditors’ perceptions of internal auditor competency levels and value to the organization. The survey identified the following four competencies with the lowest ratings overall:

  1. Conflict Resolution/Negotiation Skills;
  2. Business Process Analysis;
  3. Ability to Demonstrate/Promote the Value of the Internal Audit Function; and
  4. Data Collection and Analysis Tools and Techniques. Survey results also included competencies in which internal auditors rated themselves significantly higher than their stakeholders rated them.

  How should educators interpret and address these results? Specifically, if internal auditors are perceived as having low skills in specific competencies, what is the impact on the design, development, and implementation of our instructional programs? What should be changed or improved? How can higher education assist in closing the perception gap between internal auditors and stakeholders and in turn enhance the value and brand of future internal auditors?

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  Doctor of Business Administration at Franklin University

  Wendell Seaborne

  This poster highlights doctoral education at Franklin University, and more specifically, within the Ross College of Business with our proposed Doctor of Business Administration. We define and show the areas where Franklin University and Ross College of Business are addressing the difficulties that students face in more traditional settings and how we intend to facilitate, along with the faculty from the Doctor of Professional Studies, a community of learners at Franklin University. This poster showcases the joint research core courses for all doctoral students and highlights the major area courses within the Ross College of Business, as well as a listing of our proposed majors for near-future implementation.

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  Respect Learned or Earned: A Misinterpretation Between Generations

  Ashton Sellers

  Respect, whether viewed as value by some or a specific point of reference by others, causes one to wonder whether it is a learned behavior or detail that one earns. In review of this topic and asking groups of individuals from multiple generational eras, the results vary as to whether respect can be taught or even deserved based upon one’s behaviors and actions.

  Many youth of today, do not take the ‘view of having respect for others’ serious enough to know that it is has been taught, it can be taught, and should remain a generational life lesson. Youth have lost respect for their peers, adults, family members, and even themselves so, we need to find ways to help them grasp and reconnect the respect concept which must begin internally in order to produce a generational effect.

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  Minding the Gap: Connecting Students to Academic Support Resources

  Heather Sherman and Elisha Teague

  Delivering academic support to the students who need it the most is a constant challenge for the Student Learning Center. Although, we know students tend to be more successful in a course if they participate in some type of academic support (tutoring, workshop, etc.), we still see a large number of students who never seek out any type of assistance even when they are struggling. Knowing this information, the question then becomes how do we to “Mind the Gap” or connect students who need additional assistance to the academic support resources. In order to gain a better understanding the who, what, when and how often student are or are not utilizing academic support services, we analyzed information collected in the 2013 Math survey, grade reports data, and SLC academic support utilization data for the past academic year and compared it to our current marketing/publicity practices in order to identify ‘The Gap.’

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  The Marketing of Global Entertainment through Brand Building

  Jasmine RaeLynn Spence

  The strategies of global marketing for entertainers require a more sophisticated marketing approach in order to obtain a successful level of international fame. Due to the marketing efforts of global branding, the increased level of ‘celebrityhood” in American entertainers who have expanded their brand internationally, have reached a prominent level of notoriety; thus creating a powerful celebrity.

  This poster will examine how marketing and public relations specialists can market an entertainer to gain fame in both a foreign country and in America at the same time. This study also investigates the art of marketing for global entertainment and provides direct insight on America’s effective way to brand and market their entertainers to an international audience.

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  Assessment for Learning: A Systematic Approach

  Yuerong Sweetland and Souren Soumbatiants

  Are students learning? It is a fundamental questions that all colleges and universities have to address. This poster will provide an overview of the comprehensive assessment system that Franklin has built for more than a decade. This system is built upon cascading structure of outcomes, from the program level down to the course, module and assignment levels. Each academic program has mapped its outcomes with courses and uses a variety of direct methods to measure learning, such as exams, rubric-based projects and portfolios. To help inform decision making, results from direct methods are coupled with indirect methods that help to provide understanding of learning processes. Commonly used indirect methods include surveys, as well as instructor and learner analytics data, which are becoming available as technology advances. Findings from both direct and indirect assessment and improvement plans are systematically documented through the annual assessment report, which are integrated in periodic program reviews.

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  Preserving Central Ohio’s History: A Study of Why IT Must Be a Consultant to the Business

  Gregory J. Syferd

  Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) introduced digital images as part of its website nearly 10 years ago. The initial collection featured local artists, historical photographs, and newspaper articles. Since 2012, the collection has continued to grow to include nearly a dozen distinct repositories and hundreds of thousands of unique records. Furthermore, CML has created partnerships with local organizations to preserve Columbus’ unique and rich history.

  In 2015, CML looks to further scale its digital collections. Through a grant, which provided specialized large format and a book scanner, CML will share historical photos and artifacts, many of which are generously provided by local citizens. Finally CML is looking to partner with the Digital Public Library of America, a large repository of images from libraries all across the nation, furthering the discovery of our local history.

  The presentation I am proposing will share how my studies at Franklin, as a MIS student, are helping to build collaboration with internal and external customers. It will also discuss the use of technology to integrate various systems to catalog and present information to users. Finally, it will share the vision of how CML will increase accessibility to Columbus’ local history.

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  Teaching Science as Critical Thinking

  Isidoro Talavera

  Science education helps students indirectly by pushing them to develop the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate all kinds of phenomena, scientific, pseudoscientic, and other. Accordingly, the means and methods employed in science are defined and determined by any procedure [of analysis and evaluation] that serves systematically to eliminate reasonable grounds for doubt. Using a conceptual map I developed that highlights the acquisition of scientific knowledge, a new approach to teach science as critical thinking is presented to foment a skeptical attitude in our students so that they do not relinquish their mental capacity to engage the world critically via analysis and evaluation. For, without a skeptical attitude, natural human biases and limitations would inevitably lead a person to hang on to a preferred hypothesis and ignore or resist all other alternatives. This could lead to a gradual hardening of beliefs that would seriously impede scientific inquiry and the attainment of scientific knowledge.

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  Learner Interest, Reading Comprehension and Achievement in Web-Based Learning

  MaryEllen Tancred

  The web-based learning environment provides access to education for those who are unable to be physically present in a classroom. In situations where comprehensive learner analysis is cost prohibitive, fiscally prudent guidelines for learner analysis that include learner interest and the cultural attribute of language may be feasible alternatives to omitting learner analysis altogether as an online instructional design consideration. Community colleges routinely collect student data during the college admission process, such as the COMPASS reading score, which may be useful in predicting student success in web-based courses.

  Therefore, learner characteristics such as the COMPASS reading score, learner interest in course topic, and interest in web-based learning were examined to determine their utility as predictors of achievement in an online introductory health care course. Learner interests were measured using the Course Interest Scale and Web Interest Scale developed in 2008 by Nummenmaa and Nummenmaa. Simple and multiple regression analyses were utilized to determine potential associations. The results demonstrated that the COMPASS reading score positively predicted achievement and was statistically significant, F(1, 17) = 8.05, p = .011 when considered solely, when combined with course interest, F(2, 16) = 4.42, p = .030, and when combined with web interest, F(2, 16) = 3.79, p = .045. These findings indicated that the COMPASS reading score and other data routinely collected on community college students may be useful as predictors of success in online courses and may be effective for guiding student learning format design selections. Using familiar measures such as the COMPASS test score to predict achievement in web-based courses may promote learning outcomes, course completion rates, and graduation rates in community colleges.

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  Madison County Indiana Sheriff’s Department

  Kimberly Valentine

  The organization structure of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department implements both merit police officer and a civilian employee structure. This all fall under a military type of chain of command. The Patrol Division, Detective Division, and Court Division are all maintained by sworn police officers. The Jail Division is maintained by both civilian employees, and sworn merit police officers. There is also a Clerical Records Division that is maintained by civilian employees.

  The agency’s relationship to other elements of the criminal justice system would be the first step in the system. First, the sheriff’s department investigates complaints, makes both misdemeanor and felony arrests, and houses the arrested in the Madison County Jail. The arrested then become part of the Judicial System when he or she is criminally charged. From there the arrested is either found guilty or not guilty or pleads to the crime. If he or she is found guilty or pleads guilty he is put on probation, sent to prison, sent to a work release program, or put on in-home detention.

  As I learned in CJAD 240, law enforcement agencies are in charge of peacemaking, deterring people away from crime, and arresting law violators. The traditional role of a police officer is to investigate crimes, patrol public streets and highways, responding to calls that have asked for assistance, and identifying criminal suspects. In recent strategies, police have been using strategies to prevent crime rather than reacting after crimes occur. These policies are called the community policing and problem-oriented policing (Siegel, 2011). The Madison County Sheriff’s Department is geared more toward community policing.

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  Amplifying Our Impact: Exploring Technology-Enhanced Approaches to Extraordinary Citizen Diplomacy

  Christopher Washington

  Across the world, leaders face complex challenges that threaten the vitality and well-being of communities. Many of the challenges cross borders, such as disease outbreaks, air and water pollution, social-political uprisings, and economic instability, to name a few. When faced by difficult challenges, one natural human tendency is to retrench within borders, view problems from within cultural and national perspectives, and to view outside viewpoints and people as threatening. The result can be fractured relationships, suboptimal strategies, and divisive conflict. The complex challenges of our time can only be solved by promoting mutual understanding of the causes and consequences among stakeholders, and by pursuing collaborative solutions across cultural, geographic, and national boundaries.

  Citizen diplomacy is the concept that every global citizen has the right, even the responsibility, to engage across cultures and create shared understanding through meaningful person-to-person interactions (Jennifer Clinton, retrieved from http://centerforcitizendiplomacy.org/). Citizen diplomacy has the power to lead to more interdependent forms of engagement between citizens of different countries. Citizen diplomats conduct much of their formal work through short duration visitor programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Citizen diplomacy is recognized by many governments around the world as a powerful force in building and sustaining a secure, economically sound, and socially interconnected world. Many world leaders have participated in these visitor programs.

  While the important work of promoting mutual understanding among citizens of many nations is performed, in part, by a dedicated and passionate core of staff and volunteers citizen diplomats, their work is often constrained by event schedules, geography, and program design. These limitations may result in “Sprinter’s Diplomacy,” whereby a great deal of energy is focused on short term visitor experiences, with little if any attention focused on driving creativity and innovation in addressing challenging problems, or building extraordinary partnerships and alliances that last over time. Clearly more can be done to extend these relationships and amplify the impact of citizen diplomacy efforts.

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  Tai Chi and Stress Reduction in Premedical Students

  Joseph G. Weber, Suzanne Coleman, Mark Johannsson, and Libby Hill

  A randomized, controlled pilot study was performed to determine the correlation between the practice of Tai Chi exercise and anxiety scores, among full-time pre-med undergraduate students who reside in college campus housing. The sample (N = 14) was recruited from 70 pre-med students enrolled at Lake Erie College (LEC) located in Painesville, Ohio. Participants included: (a) full-time LEC pre-med students; (b) between 18 and 25 years old; and (c) residents of either on-campus housing or within two miles of the college campus. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: (a) Tai Chi (n = 8); (b) control (n = 6). The Tai Chi group received instruction from a certified instructor, three times a week for five weeks. The control group received no training. Both groups completed a basic health history questionnaire including blood pressure and pulse measurements, maintained a physical activity log, and completed a pre and post measure of anxiety using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)© scale. The p-value of .334 between pre-study control and Tai Chi groups was greater than the alpha level at 0.05. The p-value of .101 between post-study control and Tai Chi groups was greater than the alpha level at 0.05. The small sample size of this pilot limited the generalizability of this study. Therefore, there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the true mean anxiety change between the pre-test and post-test in pre-med students taking Tai Chi was greater than the true mean anxiety change between the pre-test and post-test in pre-med students maintaining normal daily activities. However, this was a small pilot study, and research suggests the anxiety lowering effects of Tai Chi, therefore this research will be expanded for a multi-center study.