Digital Commons Network^™

Experimental Music And Collaboration: Developing Artistry Through Performance Practice, John Lambert

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project locates collaboration and collaborative performance as a potential site for artistic growth. This study analyzes six collaborative projects: composed pieces for electric guitar accompanying a staged performance of collaged texts, an audio-visual installation, the preparation of several short pieces to accompany choreographed dances, a 90-minute soundtrack to a performance mixed live, an ongoing improvisational duo, and a live visuals performance to accompany Sunburned Hand of the Man at Duke University. It traces the growth of my artistry while also providing a method for both doing and writing about collaboration. In addition, it offers a model for understanding collaborative …

The Correlation Between The Covid-19 Pandemic And Nursing Students’ Academic And Professional Engagement And Performance., Jolie Mathilde Komlan

Honors College Theses

Even without the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, nursing schools are recognized as a stressful environment "that often exert a negative effect on the academic performances and psychological well-being of the students" (Gomathi et al., 2017). Exploring the changes this ongoing pandemic has on nursing students' views and perspectives, along with their perceived threats, failures, and successes brought on by this pandemic will provide good insight into further changes that need to be implemented to better prepare nursing students through their programs. To accomplish this, participants within the nursing program were surveyed via a 21-question survey on Qualtrics. A retrospective analysis …

The Cognitive, Behavioral, Affective, And Physiological Components Of Social Cognition In Esports And Education, Daisy Reyes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prior research has shown that collaborative learning, or groups of two or more individuals working together towards a shared outcome, and Computer-Supported Collaborative learning has the potential to positively impact learning outcomes. This study aims to add to existing literature on collaborative learning by looking at how novices and experts learn and perform in esports (electronic sports) teams, or highly coordinated digital teams that often compete in stressful environments. Based on Carron’s Model of Cohesion in Sports Teams and Hanin’s Model of Individualized Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF), the current study looks at the relationship between cohesion (i.e., task and …

Entities: A Field Of Imaginary Games, Thrasyvoulos Ioannis Kalaitzidis

LSU Master's Theses

With this body of work, I am looking for visual symbols that help communicate unuttered meanings through storytelling and stimulate an affectual response to the viewer. This exploration is presented in two different forms: a surreal sculptural installation and a board game. The installation consists of large-scale sculptures made from light and soft materials (polyurethane foam, plastic waste, paper) that are available to move inside the gallery, while the board game is presented as a set of 3D prints with instructions on how the participants can play it. The materials used in the installation suggest a way to transform waste …

Forming And Performing Online Playback Theatre For Drama Therapy Students And Faculty, Frances Dumar

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As a growing number of university students complete school online, either by choice, or due to the unpredictability and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, new issues have arisen regarding the structures in place to assist students in developing peer support. Within the drama therapy graduate field, students studying online may lack creative ways to express and connect with others in the virtual classroom. Thus, this community engagement project was designed to offer drama therapy students studying at Lesley University opportunities to learn, perform, and watch playback theatre, with the goal of increasing peer engagement, community connection, and clinical insight. Based …

The Hidden Power Of Images: An Allegory Of Chaos And Performance In The Digital Age, Livia Xandersmith

MFA in Visual Art

Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I …

Cycles Of Domination And Resistance: A Performance Autoethnography Of A Black Woman At A Pwi, Savannah Brown

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis is a performance autoethnography that examines and unpacks my experiences as a Black woman who attends a predominantly white institution. Through narratives, letters, and photos, I reveal and analyze the ways in which I navigate both systems of domination and resistance between my interactions with spaces, people, discourses, and objects. As I use Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, and performance studies as my theoretical underpinnings, I can understand how my Black, female body is situated and contested within the institution that I refer to as Everywhere University. While this project shows my experiences with concepts such as racism, whiteness, …

Incipient Games: Restoring The Past Through Play In Historical Reenactment, Luke Konkol

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an ethnography of an historical reenactment group which stewards a living history village portraying the nineteenth-century “Wisconsin frontier.” It analyzes productions from improvisations, to scripted vignettes, to a “whodunit” mystery game. Across their practice, reenactors are met with a host of challenges including ‘authenticity,’ balancing constructionism and objectivism, visitor engagement, educating the public, and the bleeding together of period techniques and modern thinking. Such challenges push against the boundaries of analyzing the project of reenactment (or larger social life) as theatre. Given terms like “play-acting” and “role-playing” in the space of reenactment, this thesis examines this phenomenon …

Prosodic And Deictic Features As Performance Markers In Southern Baptist Sermons, Matt Nelson

Student Research Submissions

This paper examines sermons taken from Southern Baptist churches in Virginia to study how the forms of sermons contribute to the message of the sermons. The data for the study comes from publicly posted recordings of sermons on websites of churches registered with the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia. I took five sermons, transcribed, and analyzed them using methods of discourse analysis. I find that Southern Baptist pastors change their tempo mid-utterance, pause often, change pronouns between themselves and the congregation, and refer to the weekly sermon as a reference point in time. I argue that these discourse features mark …

Trust Building Within And Across Cultures: A Study Of Guinea, Xiushun Sun

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the development of African economy and the increasing Chinese MNCs operating in Africa, there is a need to have a better understanding of the trust relationships between Chinese expatriates and African HCNs in the organizational environment. We adopt both qualitative and quantitative approaches to understand the trust relationships between Chinese supervisors, Guinea supervisors and Guinea subordinates in a Chinese MNC’s subsidiary in Guinea, compare the difference within culture and across culture, and examine how the interpersonal trust and the trust in the organization affect employees’ job performance. In study 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 Chinese supervisors, 20 …

The Effects Of Video Feedback On Running Form, Mariana Morante

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals should use proper form while running to prevent injuries. Running with rear-foot strikes (RFS) are associated with greater injury (e.g., Arendse et al., 2004; Daoud et al, 2012), while front-foot strikes (FFS) and mid-foot strikes (MFS) are found to produce less impact on a runner’s leg. Video feedback has improved athletic skill performance in a number of sports, which frequently targets athletic form (BenitezSantiago & Miltenberger, 2016; Kelley & Miltenberger, 2016; Schenk & Miltenberger, 2019). Proper running form is important for injury prevention and can promote continued engagement in running as a long-term form of exercise. A behavior analytic …

The Impact Of Self-Affirmation On Individuals’ Stress Levels And Performance - A Longitudinal Study, Tarana Jhunjhunwala

Scripps Senior Theses

Abstract

The self-affirmation theory postulates that when an individual is faced with a threat, they have an inherent motivation to affirm the positive beliefs they carry about themselves. (Steele, 1988). The use of these affirmations has been shown to be extremely effective in academic environments, boosting performance in students and also reducing their stress levels. However, there is very little research on the long-term effects of Self-affirmations on performance, and negligible research on its long-term effects on stress. This present study will aim to further understand the immediate effects as well as the longitudinal impact of these affirmations on individuals …

Differences In Performance Anxiety Between Expert And Amateur Dressage Riders, Hanna E. Benne

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Performance anxiety is a challenge most individuals in a sport face. From experts to novices in dressage, various individuals attempt to find harmony between horse and rider. Performance is a large part of dressage sport riding. This thesis will examine the following topics: the differences in expert and amateurs’ performance anxiety; the anxiety level of an expert or amateur who has been involved in a sport related injury; if the individual has a neurotic personality, whether more performance anxiety may occur while riding. A Mini IPIP five-factor personality test, Sports anxiety scale, Sports injury anxiety scales, and dressage questionnaires will …

The Effects Of Transformational Leadership On Sales Performance In A Multilevel Marketing Organization, Alexander Techy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite the rapid growth of multilevel marketing (MLM), there is little research that examines distributor performance in this unique organizational setting. The present study focused on the relationships between individual distributors and the people who recruited them into the organization (i.e., their sponsors). Given the unique structure of MLM organizations and the importance of sponsor-recruit relationships, it has previously been proposed that sponsors should employ a transformational leadership style. This study investigated transformational leadership as a predictor of performance, which was defined using both objective and subjective measures. Participants were 479 distributors at an MLM organization who were instructed to …

Using Scorecards To Improve The Performance Of Behavior Technicians In An Autism Treatment Clinic, Carly M. Ruether

MSU Graduate Theses

Staff performance is important to the success of businesses and employers often use different methods to increase staff performance and motivate their staff. Performance scorecards, goal setting, and feedback are some methods of increasing staff performance. The goal of the current study was to partially replicate and extend Griffin et al.’s (2019) study utilizing performance scorecards to increase targeted behaviors of employees. In the current study, pre-intervention survey results were used to inform the choice of intervention based on deficiencies. Based on the results of the pre-intervention questionnaire, it was concluded that “task clarification and prompting” and “performance consequences, effort, …

Sparking Debate: Private Or Public? The Effect Of Ownership On Electric Utility Performance, Joseph Pazzalia

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The privatization of municipal electric utilities has prompted the public vs private debate among local government leaders. Private utilities want to increase their profits by expanding their territory and municipalities hope to see an influx of cash from the sale of their utility. Public administrators are left with questions about how this will serve their community. This research addresses the topic of performance differences between public and private ownership among electric utilities in Florida. Specifically, the research question is, Does ownership type (public or private) affect the performance of electric utilities in the State of Florida? All of Florida’s 19 …

Stress And Its Interventions In Undergraduate College Students During Covid-19, Katie A. Jones

MSU Graduate Theses

Though stress in postsecondary education is a highly researched topic, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has created many new questions that require answers. It is important to connect total perceived stress in undergraduate students with academic, COVID-19, and distance-learning factors and examine the effectiveness of interventions on stress and anxiety during the pandemic. This research determines the efficacy of mindfulness stress interventions (cognitive-behavioral, guided meditation, and music) for individual differences in stress, self- efficacy, and anxiety and links these variables to performance. This study measures levels of different types of stress (total perceived, distance-learning, academic, and COVID-19) for undergraduate …

Consumer Measures Of Local Food System Performance And Shopping Behavior Across Covid, Azita Varziri

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays: In the first essay, we utilize a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to measure the residents’ perceptions of the local food system performance. Local food system (LFS) components are classified into related measures that may help explain the overall performance scores provided. LFS performance measures are explored across 15 different communities in the U.S. South. The second essay explores the awareness and performance differences toward farmers markets, including the markets themselves and the corresponding local food product quality, product diversity, and markets infrastructure across different age-range groups and community sizes in Southern states. Finally, in …