Digital Commons Network^™

Social Media And Professional Learning, Tiffany Truitt

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Although research indicates professional learning could positively influence both teacher retention and student achievement, many educators continue to express dissatisfaction with professional learning experiences. In a Virginia Department of Education (VDOE, 2019b) survey, teachers at Roth High School expressed issues with misalignment between the content of professional learning offerings and their specific learning needs, a lack of follow-up implementation support, and a failure to see an effect on student achievement. Using Guskey’s (2000) Five Levels of Professional Development Framework, which uses a leveled approached to assessing professional learning, this action research study sought to achieve a better understanding of the …

Using Professional Development As A Tool To Build Teacher Capacity For Recognizing Giftedness In African American Students, Dr. Jacqueline D. Drye

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

African American students are underrepresented in gifted programs in American public schools. This is due in part to the teachers’ role in the gifted identification process. Classroom teachers are asked to refer students for evaluation for gifted services. To effectively do this, teachers must understand the unique challenges faced by gifted students from diverse populations, be able to recognize potential and be willing to explore their own perceptions about giftedness. When considering the historical plight of African Americans and their quest for an equitable education, coupled with current statistics on income, employment and educational attainment, the need to address this …

Policy Recommendations For Tire Additive 6ppd And Its Derivative 6ppd-Q, Ashley E. King

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Around 3.1 billion tires are produced around the world annually1. The antioxidant additive, 6PPD (i.e., N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine) is widely employed in passenger and commercial vehicle tires at 0.4-2% by mass to impede tire degradation2. Antioxidants are intended to migrate to tire surfaces and form protective films to prevent rubber oxidation. 6PPD is designed to react with oxidant species like ozone, intentionally forming chemical transformation products that can then escape from the tire and into the environment. 6PPD-Q (i.e., 2-anilino-5-[(4-methylpentan-2-yl)amino]cyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione) is one such transformation product.

After release and disbursement in the environment, 6PPD-Q is bioavailable to aquatic animals and mammals and acute …

A Program Evaluation Of I-Ready Implementation In A North Carolina Middle School, Juliana Irene Owen Thompson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Aurelius School District used Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready program, which was philosophically aligned to the science of reading and included i-Ready Diagnostic, i-Ready Instruction, and Teacher Toolbox, to improve Cole Middle School students’ reading achievement. Because of the high monetary cost of i-Ready, the school district was considering changing or ending this program. This pragmatic, mixed methods design, CIPP (Stufflebeam, 2003) program evaluation analyzed the fidelity of implementation of the i-Ready program through descriptive statistics (frequencies); assessed the effectiveness of the i-Ready program in increasing student achievement (on the Diagnostic, NC Check-Ins, and NC EOG) through descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, …

From Rain Drops To Rivers: Unraveling Aridification's Influence On Coastal Stream Ecosystem Dynamics, Sean Kelly Kinard

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This dissertation addresses the escalating threat of aridification to global freshwater ecosystems due to anthropogenic climate change, focusing on South-Central Texas, USA, using a space-for-time approach along a precipitation gradient from semi-arid to sub-humid. Over the 2017-2020 survey period, I integrated community, stable isotope, climate, and hydrologic data.In Chapter 2, my initial assessment of fish and invertebrate communities along the precipitation gradient unveiled compositional shifts and other nuanced responses. Positive correlations between fish diversity and rainfall, coupled with unexpected invertebrate diversity patterns, underscored the role of water quality in shaping fish assemblages. Drier conditions imposed abiotic filters, reducing diversity and …

Considering Tidal Flooding To Provide A Holistic Approach To Nutrient Input Management, Mary Beth Armstrong

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This report explores the integration of tidal flooding impacts into nutrient management frameworks for the Chesapeake Bay, a potentially large gap in current strategies. Coastal communities in the Chesapeake Bay, face an increasing threat from tidal flooding—also known as sunny-day flooding—which occurs without rainfall. In 2023, Norfolk, Virginia experienced 10 days of tidal flooding, but forecasts indicate that by 2075 the area could be experiencing tidal flooding every day. Recent research highlights that even a single tidal flooding event can introduce substantial nutrient loads into the Bay, sometimes exceeding the annual nutrient allocations. This significant increase in both the frequency …

Accessibility And Inclusivity In Marine Science Education: A Suite Of Collaborative Marine Science Lesson Plans, Amy Nicholson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Excerpt from capstone: "Marine science education is oftentimes sparse in formal education. This is due to a myriad of factors, including but not limited to: minimal state marine science curricula standards, geographic restraints, and lack of resources. This problem is not just unique to marine science, either. In 2018, it was found that only two states required environmental science in secondary education, with just eight requiring general earth and space science (American Geosciences Institute 2018). To further this disparity, marine science curricula are often focused on upper grade levels, with most marine science curricula being focused on the 10th grade …

Ecosystem Transitions And State Changes Rapidly Alter The Coastal Carbon Landscape: Evidence From The Chesapeake Bay Region, Alexander Jason Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The coastal landscape is a naturally shifting mosaic of distinct ecosystems that are rapidly migrating with climate change. While directional changes in climate, such as warming and sea level rise, are fundamentally reorganizing the coastal landscape, ecosystem function, especially carbon storage, is affected to an unknown degree. This dissertation presents four chapters that examine the role of ecosystem transitions in coastal carbon dynamics across a range of spatial scales – within individual ecosystems, between two ecosystems, and at the landscape between an array of ecosystems. Ghost forests, or the marsh-forest ecotone, serves as an ideal example of a migratory ecotone. …

Appearance Driven Reflectance Modeling, James Christopher Bieron

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Creating realistic computer generated imagery is essential for modern movies and video games. Recreating the appearance of materials is integral to generating such photo-realistic images. While the problem of how to model materials is well studied, here we will focus on the question of how to recreate the appearance of specific materials found in the real world. In this dissertation we will begin with a short introduction to rendering, followed by a discussion of various material models, techniques for measuring reflectance, and strategies for fitting these models to reflectance data. We will then introduce a novel two-stage process for fitting, …

Artificial Illumination Of Trawl Gear Components To Reduce Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus Stenolepis) Bycatch In The U.S. West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Fishery, Derek Jackson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) is a prohibited species for the U.S. West Coast Bottom Trawl Fishery and in the last decade, there has been a concentrated interest in the use of artificial illumination serving as a potential bycatch reduction device. Previous studies conducted off the coast of Oregon have found that the addition of green light-emitting diodes to the bridles of low-rise, cutback trawls greatly reduced the number of Pacific halibut caught. However, recent regulation changes now permit high-rise trawls, a gear configuration that fishes a very different volume of water than the previously permissible gear profile, in areas where …

An Action Research Approach To Workplace Inclusivity For Operational Employees In Higher Education, Carrie Lynn Cooper

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This action research study implemented an intervention, the Learn at Work program, for operational employees in facilities management at William & Mary earning less than $19 an hour. One of eight dimensions in the Workplace Inclusion Scale, developed by Lennox et al. (2022), is “access to opportunity” (p. 27). This study’s theoretical framework included feelings of individual belonging, coupled with workplace learning, as powerful factors in shaping workplace experience. The program offered various opportunities: (a) health, computer, and financial literacy classes; (b) university-led workshops; and (c) individual tutoring. Two research questions guided the study: (a) What training and learning opportunities …

Environmental Education In The Classroom: Selected Early-Career Teachers' Experiences Navigating Pre-Service And In-Service Activity Systems, Sarah Mcguire Nuss

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Recent publications argue that to prepare teachers of all grade levels to be confident and competent in incorporating environmental education into their classrooms, pre-service teacher training is effective (e.g., J. T. McDonald & Dominguez, 2010). But the systems in which teachers learn and work are complex, making professional learning about, and implementation of, environmental education both disparate and limited (Franzen, 2017). This study sought to understand the nature of participants’ experiences within and between teacher preparation and in-service learning systems as they relate to environmental education. Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) provided a framework to allow for deeper understanding of …

Engaging Families In The Academic Lives Of Preschool Children: An Action Research Study, Denise Fultz

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The practice of family engagement enables families and school staff to share responsibility for child development in a partnership characterized by mutual respect for the influential role each plays in a child’s academic life. Unsatisfactory outcomes of family engagement practices with families of preschoolers warranted the implementation of a family engagement intervention program central to this action research study. The Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles framework guided family-school collaborative efforts to increase family efficacy for engaging preschoolers in developmentally appropriate learning activities at home. Engagement activities were provided in the form of virtual workshops and collaboration on social media. …

The Role Of Stereotype And Moral Values In Predicting Victim Blaming, Jihye Choi

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Exposing participants to a victim with different racial identities (Asian American vs. African American vs. White American) under two different types of misfortunes (poverty vs. disease), the present study aimed to find whether the victim-blaming patterns differ depending on the victim’s race and whether the difference in victim-blaming tendency could be explained by the interaction between pre-existing stereotypes and situational relevance.

Constraining Of The Minerνa Medium Energy Neutrino Flux Using Neutrino-Electron Scattering, Luis Zazueta

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments rely on the flux from accelerator-based neutrino beams. As experimental neutrino physics moves to the next generation of experiments a precise characterization of the neutrino flux on a given experiment becomes crucial to the goals of the experiments: to precisely determine the neutrino oscillation parameters.This work takes advantage of neutrino-electron scattering processes for their precisely predicted cross section. The observed number of scattering events can be used as a benchmark to constrain the neutrino flux. A measurement was made of the energy spectrum of neutrino-electron elastic scattering (νe-→νe-), using data from the antineutrino-enhanced run period …

Professional Learning Communities As A Framework For School Counselor Collaboration And Data Use: An Action Research Study, Adam Rixey Southall

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) calls on school counselors to take part in collaborative work experiences using data to address problems of practice. School counselors experience professional isolation leading to underperformance (Elliot et al., 2004; Stone-Johnson, 2015). School structures that lack collaborative experiences for school counselors leads to isolation (Bardhoshi et al., 2014). The purpose of this action research study was to assess the influence of a professional learning community (PLC) on the perceptions of school counselors to perform the elements of a PLC, their use of data to solve problems of practice, and their perceptions of benefits and …

The Effect Of A Positive Story Intervention On Positivity, Stress, Hope, And Trauma Symptomatology: A Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial, Allison Dukes

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought many adverse effects to the global community. One effect was decreases in the mental health of college students due to forced isolations. College counseling centers, which had been experiencing long waitlists pre-pandemic, struggled to meet the demand as most had to switch to offering telehealth therapy services. Thus, the field of college counseling made a call for additional clinicians and interventions to support this population during this period of heightened need. The field of positive psychology, made popular in 2000 by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, focuses on how positive emotions and positivity influence our wellbeing. Additionally, …

Elevating Joy In Education Through An Investigation Of How Teachers And School Leaders Make Learning Joyful, Stephanie Lynn Mcguire

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Joy in education is an underexplored construct that could serve as the key ingredient to cultivate positive learning environments and inspire innovation. The purpose of this study was to determine how joy might flow to students and what teacher efforts, instructional decisions, and administrative supports might influence the level of joy in the classroom. The central research question was, how do schools and teachers foster joy in their students? This research was explored from a strengths-based, positive perspective with theoretical foundations in organizational flourishing and positive psychology. This study used a survey research design with a school district that was …

A Case Study: Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Influence Of Proessional Development On Self-Efficacy Related To Implementing A Balanced Literacy Model, Kathryn Theresa Kryscio

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Researchers have known for several years that when a child is reading below proficiency by the end of third grade, it is likely the child will continue to struggle learning to read through the child’s academic career (Dickinson & Porche, 2011; Wasik & Hindman, 2011). Yet, the problem of children falling below third grade reading proficiency continues. If teaching a child to read is a moral purpose, and it is essential for a child to read proficiently by the end of third grade, then literacy instruction in kindergarten through third grade is pivotal. In this case study, the researcher sought …

Succession Of The Late Summer Phytoplankton Blooms In The York River Estuary, Va, Heather Kathleen Corson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The influence of bottom-up and top-down controls on the formation and persistence of phytoplankton blooms has been well studied. However, the relative importance of these bottom-up and top-down controls vary spatially and temporally. In the tidal tributaries and mainstem of Chesapeake Bay, the summer dinoflagellate population follows a succession of bloom-producing species. The dinoflagellate species Margalefidinium polykrikoides and Alexandrium monilatum are currently considered the end of this succession. These species form near-annual blooms in the lower half of Chesapeake Bay and are considered harmful algal bloom (HAB) species due to their negative ecological impacts. However, analysis of long-term monitoring data …

Impact Of Substrate Type On Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Recruitment And Benthic Community Structure And Productivity In The York River, Jainita Patel

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Restoration of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries is important, as oyster reefs provide habitat for temperate estuarine communities and shoreline protection. Oysters that settle in crevices, such as those found on natural shell substrates, suffer low mortality, but natural shell is becoming a limited resource in the Chesapeake Bay. Finding an alternative settlement substrate that is complex like natural shell and mimics the benefits of shell substrates with less expense could be the best way to encourage oyster recruitment and survival. The two main goals of this experiment were to (1) understand which …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Hbcus And Their Place In Science And Technology From 1979-80 As Told By Four National Newspapers, Asia Renée Randolph

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study was an investigation of how national newspapers contributed to the reproduction of racism as they reported on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the need for more Black Americans in STEM programs. The existence of racism in newspaper discourse reaffirms the long-standing perception that HBCUs, and the Black Americans they serve, do not deserve full educational participation in society. The lack of diversity in STEM fields represents a key area where a critical exploration of how HBCUs are described is needed. Specifically, four national newspapers, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, …

The Cost Of Curls: Discrimination, Social Stigma, And Identity Oppression Of Black Women Through Their Hair, Sydney Baylor

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis analyzes the discriminatory practices facing Black women in a multitude of arenas and spaces as a result of their hairstyles and texture. A marker of, as well as a way to express, identity, Black women’s hair is more heavily policed than that of their White counterparts and manifests itself in the form of decreased job opportunities, public humiliation, and restricted stylistic choice. The highly visible nature of hair makes it a prime target for unfair targeting by authoritative bodies, working to further ‘other’ the Black female body along with skin-tone. Looking first at how Black women navigate the …

Empirical Valuation Of Primary And Alternative Nursery Habitats For The Blue Crab Callinectes Sapidus In Chesapeake Bay, Alexander C. Hyman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is a commercially and ecologically importantspecies found along the Atlantic coast of North and South America. These crustaceans play a critical role in coastal ecosystems, serving as both predators and prey in the food web. The blue crab supports a major fishery in Chesapeake Bay, where the species is a cultural icon. Juvenile blue crabs, the smallest and most vulnerable size classes of individuals, are reliant upon structurally complex habitats. Population dynamics of this species are therefore influenced by spatiotemporally fluctuating environmental variables, such as habitat availability. Understanding blue crab ecology is essential for managing …

Characterizing Changes In Participation And Diversification In Virginia's Small-Scale Commercial Fishing Industry, Shelby Brooke White

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Small-scale fisheries represent a diverse and dynamic portion of the global commercial fishing population and serve as a source of food security, income, and livelihood for many individuals and contribute to the development of local community and regional identities. Virginia’s small-scale commercial fisheries offer similar benefits, accounting for a significant portion of the state’s total annual landings and employing thousands of individuals. Despite the value of these fisheries, the number of commercial licenses has declined over the past few decades. Declines are attributed to various factors but indicate potential shifts in participation and resource dependence that may be consequential. Similar …

Experimental Studies Of Neutral Particles And The Isotope Effect In The Edge Of Tokamak Plasmas, Ryan Chaban

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The H-mode plasma edge is a region of steep gradients in density and temperature known as the “pedestal” which greatly increases energy confinement. The complex links between neutral-plasma interactions and both diffusive and convective transport in the pedestal must be understood to model, predict, and achieve the high performance required for a fusion power plant. This dissertation explores the effects of different hydrogenic isotope neutral particles and plasma transport from the edge pedestal region into the Scrape-Off Layer. Current experiments typically use deuterium (H with amu=2 or D), however future fusion power plants may startup with hydrogen (H), and eventually …

The Experiences Of Colorism For South Asian Women: A Qualitative Study, Aishwarya Nambiar

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Research has limitedly explored how colorism shapes the mental health and well-being of South Asian women across the diaspora. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenology study was to understand how South Asian women experience colorism and how these experiences shape their mental health and well-being. A total of 14 participants were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews and an artifact symbolizing experiences of colorism served as the methods of data collection. Critical Race Theory and Womanism were employed as the theoretical framework and the lens in which data was analyzed. A total of six main themes emerged in the study. The themes and …

Is Diversity Dammed? Analysis Of Fish Diversity In Dammed And Undammed Estuary Streams Within The Virginia Peninsula Using Environmental Dna (Edna), Melinda Ann Spence

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Anthropogenic activities are the leading cause to biodiversity decline worldwide. It has been well documented that large dams disrupt dispersal and alter local habitat often leading to less diverse aquatic systems. Yet, it is not well known how much more numerous smaller dams impact fish communities in estuary systems where dispersal is a critical part of the ecosystem, or how dams affect variation in species composition across sites (beta diversity). Coastal waterways of Virginia are impounded by hundreds of small dams. Here we used eDNA (environmental DNA) to assess the alpha, beta, and gamma diversity of fish species within the …

Examining Racial Differences In Psychophysiological Responses To Exposure To Police Brutality, Autumn Scarborough

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

​​​​​Despite the prevalence of police brutality videos online, research examining the effects of exposure to such videos is extremely limited. The current work examined racial differences (among both participant and victim) in psychophysiological responses to videos of police brutality. Over the course of three sessions, participants (total N = 56) responded to questionnaires measuring attitudes toward police legitimacy, trait empathy, and justification of police use of force. EEG activity was recorded while participants watched four short videos depicting real-life incidents of excessive police use of force (two with Black victims and two with White victims). We examined mu suppression, commonly …

Mapping The Contemporary American Public Sphere With Habermas, Deleuze, And Soderbergh, Hunter Main

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

However infirm “the public” may be as a political body in America today, its presence as idea in American life is still potent. This thesis seeks to take a first step in developing an idea of what a contemporary American public looks like and how it functions, using concepts developed by Jürgen Habermas, Chantal Mouffe, and Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari. The Habermasian “public sphere” is a major reference point for popular thinking about the public, and The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere is indeed an exemplary historical and critical account of the wide range of forces that cohered …