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Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Masters Theses

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Is On Site Evaporation A Feasible Solution For Produced Water Managment For Oil And Gas Development?, Travis Walla May 2024

Is On Site Evaporation A Feasible Solution For Produced Water Managment For Oil And Gas Development?, Travis Walla

Masters Theses

The last decade witnessed a major transformation of global energy balances. A prime example of is the oil market shift from an era of high oil prices and concerns about short supplies to an era of lower oil prices and supply abundance. This paradigmatic shift in supply dynamics was triggered by the U.S. shale oil revolution; this massive boom in unconventional oil production has turned the U.S. into the world’s largest producer, ahead of both Russia and Saudi Arabia. The result has been an upending the global oil market, aside from geopolitical issues, the shale revolution has had far-reaching implications …


Thermal Physiology Of Sceloporus Olivaceus And Sceloporus Variabilis In South Texas, Ian Rockel May 2024

Thermal Physiology Of Sceloporus Olivaceus And Sceloporus Variabilis In South Texas, Ian Rockel

Masters Theses

This study explores the thermal physiology of two sympatric lizard species, Sceloporus olivaceus (Texas spiny lizard) and Sceloporus variabilis (rose-bellied lizard), in South Texas. I document the metabolic rate and its temperature sensitivity, thermal limits, and performance at different temperatures to better understand the impact of rising temperatures and urbanization on these ectotherms, whose body temperature and, consequently, metabolic rate, activity level, and reproductive success depend on their thermal environment. We hypothesize that S. olivaceus will exhibit greater thermal resilience owing to its broader latitudinal range, variable habitat usage within Texas, and presumed more versatile thermoregulatory strategies. Scelorporus olivaceus's higher …


A Systematic Review On The Efficacy Of Video Modeling On Social Interactions Among Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Miguel Cantu May 2024

A Systematic Review On The Efficacy Of Video Modeling On Social Interactions Among Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Miguel Cantu

Masters Theses

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of video modeling in increasing social interactions with individuals with ASD (IwASD) in transitional or postsecondary educational settings. The study inclusion criteria included (a) quantitative data must be present, (b) an objective or research question must be stated, (c) video modeling must be an intervention in their study, (d) a minimum of one target behavior must focus on social interactions, and (e) all studies must be published within the last six years. This systematic review analyzed the purpose, sample, methodology, settings, discussion, and results to find the effectiveness of the intervention, resulting …


Agent-Based Modeling And Air Sampling Methods For Studying Aerosol Transmission, Lyndsy Stacy May 2024

Agent-Based Modeling And Air Sampling Methods For Studying Aerosol Transmission, Lyndsy Stacy

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


Navigating Early Literacy Instruction: An Autoethnographic Exploration, Turquoise Martin May 2024

Navigating Early Literacy Instruction: An Autoethnographic Exploration, Turquoise Martin

Masters Theses

This autoethnography explores early literacy instruction through the lens of a Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) teacher in a high-quality Pre-K program in South Central Texas. The author highlights the benefits and challenges associated with explicit and systematic early literacy instruction using critical reflections, anecdotal stories, and content analysis. The research examines instances in which curriculum interpretation led to less effective lesson planning and a desire for early literacy resources. The study shares the impact of teacher collaboration, instructional support, and misinterpretation of a used curriculum, shedding light on the experiences of teaching early literacy instruction.


Utilizing Educational Technology For Financial Literacy Learning Outcomes, Eliasz Mccullen May 2024

Utilizing Educational Technology For Financial Literacy Learning Outcomes, Eliasz Mccullen

Masters Theses

Undergraduate college students were surveyed during education courses at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, Texas A&M University- San Antonio, to investigate whether there is a difference in learning objectives of financial literacy between two types of instructional methods: a simple slide show and a more interactive form of instructional technology. The results of the study indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups, however, the control group fared slightly better on the posttest. Possible explanations for these findings include limitations in the quasi-experimental design and factors related to the sample characteristics. Nonetheless, the study provides valuable insights into …


An Autoethnography Journey: Social And Emotional Learning In A Post-Covid Classroom, April Edwards Dec 2023

An Autoethnography Journey: Social And Emotional Learning In A Post-Covid Classroom, April Edwards

Masters Theses

In this autoethnography journey, we explore the question, "What resources are available for teachers to use to guide SEL instruction, and how effective are those resources post-pandemic?" Post-COVID-19 pandemic, we noticed that our students needed more social interaction time in the classroom. Student behaviors increased alongside teacher frustration. Districts immediately began to see this struggle in the school systems and the growing concern from parents and teachers. Our children were not taught how to respectfully express their social and emotional needs due to the lack of opportunity to practice with others. During this study, we found that teachers …


How Has Military Service Affected Veteran Who Become Teachers, Jason Opalinski Dec 2023

How Has Military Service Affected Veteran Who Become Teachers, Jason Opalinski

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


Connecting With Their Students: Understanding The Impact Of Teachers Using Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices In Elementary Classrooms, Beatrice Acosta Dec 2023

Connecting With Their Students: Understanding The Impact Of Teachers Using Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices In Elementary Classrooms, Beatrice Acosta

Masters Theses

Despite extensive research indicating the importance of educators connecting with their students, a significant number of teachers fail to associate classroom curriculum with their students’ cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. Even with the best intentions, teachers frequently encounter difficulties in establishing connections with students and seamlessly integrating their diverse cultures and experiences outside of the classroom into lessons. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is one method teachers use to incorporate their students’ culture into the classroom so that students see themselves in the lessons and become more engaged in their learning. This study was designed to explore teachers’ feelings of cultural competency …


Decolonization Of The Writing Classroom: Creating Space For Decolonial Theory, Tools, Anti-Racist Pedagogy, And Methods To Improve The Emerging Bilingual Student Experience, Desiree L. Brown Dec 2023

Decolonization Of The Writing Classroom: Creating Space For Decolonial Theory, Tools, Anti-Racist Pedagogy, And Methods To Improve The Emerging Bilingual Student Experience, Desiree L. Brown

Masters Theses

In this thesis, the author addresses the colonial roots of the secondary writing classroom and the origin of standard academic English which enables strict standardized testing and writing assessment requirements that in-turn incite linguistic violence towards emerging bilingual students. The author frames her study within the framework of April Baker-Bell and Asao B. Inoue through a reflective/reflexive study of her teaching in a ninth grade writing classroom in a primarily Hispanic school district in South Texas, which is assessed by the state of Texas through STAAR. This study seeks to identify instances of linguistic violence being perpetuated in the writing …


Social Justice Mathematics: Classroom Practices That Give Students Rigor While Building Agency, Emily Marquise Dec 2023

Social Justice Mathematics: Classroom Practices That Give Students Rigor While Building Agency, Emily Marquise

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a social justice approach to mathematics instruction. While many students have math aversion, students in low socioeconomic communities exhibit this to a higher degree putting them at a disadvantage as they progress through their educational career. More than 3.4 million K-12 students in the United States come from families that earn less than the median income yet achieve scores in the top percentile (Wyner et al., 2007). This raises the question of why so many students in low-socioeconomic settings are not given rigorous content that will keep them competitive …


“My Job Is To Teach”: How Teachers Approach State Laws In A Culturally Relevant Classroom, Clayton Jaskinia Dec 2023

“My Job Is To Teach”: How Teachers Approach State Laws In A Culturally Relevant Classroom, Clayton Jaskinia

Masters Theses

The murders of James Bryd. Jr, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland led to the Black Lives Matter movement. Following these deaths, schools across the country that were named after Confederates and statues of them were taken down, causing backlash against more substantial steps to address white supremacy in the curriculum. This qualitative study investigates how social studies teachers are reacting to laws that restrict the teaching of history and deny Texas students the right to be represented in their education. The findings demonstrate a link between teachers’ understanding of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and their solidarity with students of …


How Do Staff And Families Perceive The Effects Of After School Programs On The Overall School Experience?, Selena Alonzo Dec 2023

How Do Staff And Families Perceive The Effects Of After School Programs On The Overall School Experience?, Selena Alonzo

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


Are Elementary Teachers Prepared To Teach A Stem Focused Curriculum: A Needs Assessment Of An Inner-City Elementary School, Erica Willie Dec 2023

Are Elementary Teachers Prepared To Teach A Stem Focused Curriculum: A Needs Assessment Of An Inner-City Elementary School, Erica Willie

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


Targeting Macrophytes: Increased Water Quality Through Optimized Vegetation Considerations For Constructed Wetlands, Austin Mcbrady Dec 2023

Targeting Macrophytes: Increased Water Quality Through Optimized Vegetation Considerations For Constructed Wetlands, Austin Mcbrady

Masters Theses

This study of constructed wetland design investigated relationships between macrophyte species selection and planting density for water quality improvement. A lab-scale wetland was compared against a pilot-scale wetland in San Antonio, Texas at Mitchell Lake to measure differences in effluent water quality improvement using three native macrophyte species. Using a novel, two-phase method, a targeting macrophyte was identified from among other species based on its marked capability for improving water quality factors, then was planted in varied majority densities to compare differences in treatment effectiveness. The results of this study showed that this complimentary approach to wetland design displayed significant …


Synthetic Produced Water Treatment By Directional Solvent Extraction In A Semi-Continuous System, Pablo Vicaria Dec 2023

Synthetic Produced Water Treatment By Directional Solvent Extraction In A Semi-Continuous System, Pablo Vicaria

Masters Theses

Directional Solvent Extraction (DSE) is a system used to remove salts from brine water, utilizing organic solvents such as Diisopropylamine (DIPA); it is a well-studied system where the results obtained are promising because the removal of salts can be greater than 94%. The high demand of pure water for the oil and gas industry increases each year as access to fresh water is becoming complex and expensive. It is necessary to develop new technologies with higher recovery rates and environmentally friendly waste disposal. With a proposed semi-continuous system, divided into four stages, an analysis on retention times (RT), and a …


Supporting A More Equitable Learning Environment: Implications Of Person-Centered Practices On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Angela Menchaca Dec 2023

Supporting A More Equitable Learning Environment: Implications Of Person-Centered Practices On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Angela Menchaca

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


Analyzing The System Features, Usability, And Performance Of A Containerized Application On Cloud Computing Systems, Anoop Abraham Aug 2023

Analyzing The System Features, Usability, And Performance Of A Containerized Application On Cloud Computing Systems, Anoop Abraham

Masters Theses

This study analyzed the system features, usability, and performance of three serverless cloud computing platforms: Google Cloud’s Cloud Run, Amazon Web Service’s App Runner, and Microsoft Azure’s Container Apps. The analysis was conducted on a containerized mobile application designed to track real-time bus locations for San Antonio public buses on specific routes and provide estimated arrival times for selected bus stops. The study evaluated various system-related features, including service configuration, pricing, and memory & CPU capacity, along with performance metrics such as container latency, Distance Matrix API response time, and CPU utilization for each service. Easy-to-use usability was also evaluated …


Detecting Ai Generated Text Using Neural Networks, Jesus Guerrero May 2023

Detecting Ai Generated Text Using Neural Networks, Jesus Guerrero

Masters Theses

For humans, distinguishing machine generated text from human written text is men- tally taxing and slow. NLP models have been created to do this more effectively and faster. But, what if some adversarial changes have been added to the machine generated text? This thesis discusses this issue and text detectors in general.

The primary goal of this thesis is to describe the current state of text detectors in research and to discuss a key adversarial issue in modern NLP transformers. To describe the current state of text detectors a Systematic Literature Review was done on 50 relevant papers to machine-centric …


The Effects Of Urban Landscape, Soundscape, And Light Pollution On Avian Diversity And Nesting In South San Antonio, Texas, Alfredo Llamas May 2023

The Effects Of Urban Landscape, Soundscape, And Light Pollution On Avian Diversity And Nesting In South San Antonio, Texas, Alfredo Llamas

Masters Theses

As critical habitat continues to dwindle due to the expansion of urbanization, alternative habitat in urban ecosystems becomes a necessary natural resource for the survival of birds. In the last decade, local San Antonio environmental authorities have focused their efforts on restoring the San Antonio Mission Reach. Ecological revitalization of the San Antonio Mission Reach could increase avian, and flora biodiversity with ongoing restoration, yet how birds use restored habitat has not been assessed. Additionally, south of the Reach, two more peri-urban sites have great potential to be high quality habitat for birds but have not been surveyed for nesting …


Security Challenges In Cloud Computing, Sashikumari Ramayan Singh May 2023

Security Challenges In Cloud Computing, Sashikumari Ramayan Singh

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


The Effects Of Anthropogenic Sensory Pollution On Arthropod Diversity And Pollinator Behavior, Sierra Dee Rodriguez, Jennifer N. Phillips Phd May 2023

The Effects Of Anthropogenic Sensory Pollution On Arthropod Diversity And Pollinator Behavior, Sierra Dee Rodriguez, Jennifer N. Phillips Phd

Masters Theses

Pollinators provide a key ecological function in terrestrial ecosystems, yet in recent years, they have encountered unprecedented declines, likely due to anthropogenic change. Light and noise pollution, which can interfere with the visual and auditory systems of animals that regulate daily behaviors, are important factors to consider when communities are encroached by human development. While many researchers have looked at how vertebrate species behaviorally react to human caused habitat degradation and sensory pollution, little is known about how invertebrates, including arthropod pollinators, are affected, and whether there is a negative cascading effect on the plants that they pollinate. This research …