Digital Commons Network^™

Repairing The Teacher Pipeline For People Of Color: Three Essays On Minority Teacher Scholarships, Jeremy Landa

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite near consensus agreement about the importance of increasing the presence of teachers of color in schools, there is limited research on how public policy can solve this problem. Drawing on federal and one university’s teacher education data, this dissertation addresses whether a Minority Teacher Scholarship (MTS) can alter the labor supply of teachers of color. The first essay evaluates whether five states implementing MTS programs increase the proportion of candidates of color earning teacher education bachelor’s degrees. Using event study and difference-in-differences frameworks, I find that implementing states stabilized the share of Black candidates relative to non-implementing states, a …

Virtual Reality Self-Modeling As An Intervention For Stuttering, Johanna M. Deleyer-Tiarks

Doctoral Dissertations

Virtual Reality Self-Modeling (VRSM) is a new self-modeling intervention. It is the coming together of two well established interventions, Video Self-Modeling (VSM) and virtual reality (VR) and can be described as using 360 degree VR videos, viewed through a VR system headset or smartphone, to depict individuals self-modeling a desired behavior. By using 360-degree video, individuals who watch VRSM interventions will be able to view themselves eliciting a desired behavior while feeling as if they immersed within the environment being watched. The distinction between traditional VR treatments and traditional Video Self-Modeling (VSM) treatments is that VRSM delivers both self-modeling and …

Applications Of Random Effects In Dependent Compound Risk Models, Himchan Jeong

Doctoral Dissertations

In the ratemaking for general insurance, calculation of the pure premium has traditionally been based on modeling frequency and severity separately. It has also been a standard practice to assume, for simplicity, the independence of loss frequency and loss severity. However, in recent years, there is a sporadic interest in the actuarial literature and practice to explore models that depart from this independence assumption. Besides, because of the short-term nature of many lines of general insurance, the availability of data enables us to explore the benefits of using random effects for predicting insurance claims observed longitudinally, or over a period …

Fighting Obesity Through Communication: A Longitudinal Study Examining The Association Between Communication, Relationships, Stress, And Weight-Loss, Ambyre Lp Ponivas

Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity is one of the greatest health challenges in the world today. As such, there is a large focus on weight-loss in order to improve health outcomes for those who are overweight or obese. One area that has an impact on obesity and weight-loss is communication. Communication behaviors are directly tied to health outcomes. Positive, constructive communication can help to improve health directly by improving physiological outcomes, including stress, which is in itself a factor co-morbid with obesity. Communication also helps to build and strengthen relationships, which in turn often lead to better health outcomes. Conversely, negative and destructive communication …

Intimate Partner Violence Screening Among Barbadian Primary Care Professionals: An Exploratory Study Of Practitioner Attitudes, Beliefs, Knowledge And Screening Intention, Janelle Bryan

Doctoral Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), the most prevalent type of violence against women, has been recognized as a human rights violation by intergovernmental organizations and international law. Due to its physical and psychological sequelae, the World Health Organization has considered IPV a major global public health issue since 1997. Primary care health care professionals (HCPs) are considered especially well-positioned to identify women experiencing IPV, yet screening rates are low. Utilizing the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) and Intersectional Feminism as guiding theoretical frames, this mixed method study (qualitative, N = 35; quantitative, N = 176) explored Barbadian HCPs’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge …

There’S An App For That? Assessing The Efficacy Of Sexual Violence Mobile Apps On Reducing Victimization, Increasing Feelings Of Safety And Support, And Improving Mental Health Of College Students, Maria Delgreco

Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual violence, including street harassment, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape, is a ubiquitous problem, particularly for college-aged women, with wide-reaching effects, such as increased anxiety, depression, stress, self-blame, guilt, and poorer sleep quality and lower self- esteem. Although there are federally-mandated sexual violence prevention efforts on college campuses, they are generally ineffective, thus, a new approach is needed to address this issue. One such approach is through the use of mobile applications. Studies have shown that there are over 200 sexual violence-related mobile apps currently on the market, but that the majority of them fall short when it comes …

On Being Woke And Knowing Injustice: Scale Development And Psychological And Political Implications, Aerielle Allen

Doctoral Dissertations

The present dissertation examines how being woke, that is, having in-depth knowledge about the historically rooted and endemic nature of anti-Black racism can increase individuals’ perceptions of present-day racism. The first paper outlines the development and validation of a modern-measure of critical consciousness, the Critical Racism Awareness Woke Scale, which can be used to understand knowledge and beliefs regarding issues of anti-Black racism among both Black and White individuals. The remaining papers in the dissertation demonstrate that having critical racism awareness can increase the tendency to perceive anti-Black racism within interpersonal and structural incidents of racial bias. Across these …

An Experimental Study On The Acquisition Of Impersonals In Brazilian Portuguese, Karina Bertolino

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the acquisition of null impersonal structures in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), a partial null-subject language (PNSL). PNSLs allow definite null subjects under more restricted conditions than consistent null-subject languages (CNSLs). However, PNSLs are characterized by having impersonal constructions with generic null subjects which are absent in CNSLs.

Using the Truth Value Judgment Task, I investigated whether BP-speaking children know that they are acquiring a PNSL, in which null subjects should be understood as generic. The results show that children as young as 4-years-old correctly reject the definite reading of null subjects in impersonal structures and correctly accept …

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Talker-Specific Influences On Distributional Learning For Speech, Nicholas Monto

Doctoral Dissertations

There is no one-to-one mapping between speech acoustics and individual speech sounds. The acoustic cues produced for individual speech sounds show wide variability both within and across talkers. Nonetheless, listeners perceive the speech of familiar and novel talkers with ease. It is theorized that listeners achieve this by maintaining a degree of flexibility in how acoustics are mapped to speech sound categories. Building on previous work demonstrating that listeners are sensitive to individual talker differences in speech production, we test the hypothesis that distributional learning for input statistics is contextually governed by talker identity. Listeners (n = 320) completed two …

End-To-End Structure-Aware Convolutional Networks On Graphs, Chao Shang

Doctoral Dissertations

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are powerful tools to model data of a grid-like structure, such as image, video, and speech. However, a broad range of scientific problems generate data that naturally lie in irregular grids with non-Euclidean metrics, such as knowledge graphs, molecular graphs, and traffic networks. The generalization of CNNs to non-Euclidean structured data such as graphs is not straightforward. The classical convolutions cannot be applied directly to graphs, due to the lack of global parameterization, a common system of coordinates, and shift-invariance properties. In this dissertation, we propose several structure-aware convolutional neural network models to calculate graph convolutions …

Domain-Specific Creativity And Vocational Interests: How Do Creativity And Related Factors Relate To Vocational Interests And Different Latent Riasec Profiles?, Xiaochen Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Creativity has potential as a key element in understanding students’ vocational interests but has yet to be fully studied. Two questions were proposed: (1) Can potential predictors (demographics, academic achievements, domain-general and domain-specific creativity factors, and the interactions between gender and creativity-related factors) significantly predict vocational interests as derived from Holland’s RIASEC Model and (2) do domain-general and domain-specific creativity factors exhibit differential mean levels across distinct latent vocational profiles?

This dissertation drew on a dataset that collected 4,052 valid responses from grade 9 to 12 students who registered American College Testing (ACT) in the United States for the June …

Perceptual Learning Of Noise-Vocoded Speech, Julia R. Drouin

Doctoral Dissertations

A challenge in the cochlear implant adaptation literature is accounting for wide variability in speech perception outcomes following implantation. While many preimplantation factors contribute to the variance observed in outcomes, formal auditory training has been proposed as a way to maximize speech comprehension benefits for cochlear implant users. However, there is currently no standardized set of recommendations as to how training should be implemented in the patient population. The goal of this dissertation was to examine two potential training variables of interest: time of day in which the training occurs and the task structure of training. This dissertation examined these …

Development Of A School Climate Walkthrough Assessment, Jesslynn Rocha Neves

Doctoral Dissertations

School climate measurement is an increasingly important component of data-driven school improvement efforts. The present study involved the development of the School Climate Walkthrough Assessment (SCWA), a measure for evaluating environmental indicators and oral student reports of school climate alongside the Georgia Elementary School Climate Survey (GESCS), a validated self-report survey of school climate. The SCWA is administered by an adult who rates features of the school environment and then selects a subset of students for a school climate interview. It is meant to provide a snapshot of the general school climate in conjunction with school climate data obtained via …

Persisting In Unfamiliar Grounds: A Study Of Black Males Living In A Learning Community While Attending A Predominantly White Institution, Ngozi Taffe

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Black males encounter significant microaggressions and race related challenges as students in Predominantly White Institutions. These encounters negatively impact their college learning and social experiences. In the face of these challenges, college retention rate of Black males falls behind those of other racial and gender groups (Toldson, 2012). Notwithstanding, statistics point to the success and persistence of Black male students in such oppressive environments. Using an Anti-deficit lens and Community Cultural Wealthy framework, this qualitative study explores the learning and social experiences of eight Black males living in a same race same gender learning community while attending a PWI. …

Automatic Depression Screening And Depressive Symptom Prediction Using Smartphone Sensing Data, Shweta Ware

Doctoral Dissertations

Depression is a common, yet serious health problem. It has significant detrimental impacts on both physical and psychological functioning. Current diagnosis techniques rely on physician-administered or patient self-administered interview tools, which are burdensome and suffer from recall bias. Additionally, these techniques incur higher medical costs. There is an urgent need for an accurate, objective and easily accessible depression screening tool for mass usage. In this dissertation, we explore the usage of smartphone sensing data, collected directly on smartphones or meta-data collected from a WiFi infrastructure, for automatic depression screening and depressive symptom prediction.

In the first part of the dissertation, …

Self-Monitoring With Goal-Setting: Decreasing Disruptive Behavior In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Kara Mckenna

Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to investigate the effects of a self-monitoring with goal-setting intervention on students’ disruptive behavior. A multiple baseline A-B-BC design was implemented across five elementary school-aged participants diagnosed with ADHD to examine the use of a behavioral intervention combining self-monitoring and goal-setting techniques to decrease disruptive behavior. The results of this study suggest that self-monitoring with goal-setting appears to be an effective intervention package for decreasing the disruptive behavior of students with ADHD and that these behavioral decreases sustain after intervention completion. Results also suggest moderate benefits of the use of a self-monitoring with goal-setting intervention over a …

A Geography Of Repression. The Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of The First Years Of The Special Tribunal In Fascist Italy, 1925-1928, Antonio Barocci

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the spatial and temporal patterning of political arrests during the initial years of the fascist regime in Italy, from 1925 to 1928. These were crucial years because Italy’s fascists acted rapidly to consolidate their power and to suppress their opponents. A key element of this takeover was the creation of a political court, the Special Tribunal. I argue that while the Special Tribunal did target political enemies, it was also used as a sophisticated system of control of territory and population.

In the first part of the research, it considers the spatial patterning of political arrests from …

Mdma-Assisted Psychotherapy For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Examining Ethnoracial Differences In Efficacy And Safety, And A Mixed-Methods Case Study Of A Participant Of Color, Terence Ching

Doctoral Dissertations

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy was shown in previous clinical trials to be efficacious and safe for alleviating treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, due to low ethnoracial diversity, the question remains as to whether ethnoracial minority participants would benefit similarly. Thus, in Study 1, ethnoracial differences in PTSD symptoms, secondary outcomes, and suicidality were examined for a multisite, open-label trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. A total of 11 ethnoracial minority and 26 non-Hispanic White participants formed the modified intent-to-treat (ITT) set. General and generalized linear model analyses were used to test group differences. Correlational analyses were conducted to test relationships between changes in …

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Investigation Of Conditioned Auditory Percepts, Timothy Michaels

Doctoral Dissertations

The neurobiology of hallucinations is complex, and despite over a century of research it has yet to be fully characterized. The observation that auditory hallucinations occur in healthy individuals may provide new avenues for understanding its neurobiology in psychopathology. Bayesian approaches to perception suggest that aberrant experiences can be conditioned, with stronger effects in those prone to hallucinations. Through a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the present study investigated whether differences in the endorsement of conditioned hallucinations was associated with differences in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) glutamate and GABA levels in a healthy, college-aged sample …

Stem Identity Authoring: Intergenerational Collaborative Learning In Informal Stem Programs, Laura Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

The problem this research addresses is the lack of opportunities for many people to develop positive identification with STEM fields (i.e., science, technology, engineering and math). This multiple case study will investigate STEM identity authoring in three intergenerational collaborative learning partnerships in an informal STEM program. Adults and high school teens were paired in two-day workshops to learn conservation science and geospatial technologies with the goal of designing and implementing community conservation projects and further developing their identification with STEM. This research examined how the design and implementation of intergenerational projects provided opportunities for: (1) adults and teens to demonstrate …

Development Of A Facebook Group Intervention To Increase Health-Promoting Self-Care Among Primary Caregivers Of Children With Developmental Disabilities, Emily Auerbach Iovino

Doctoral Dissertations

Primary caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) are critical for supporting the development of the children for whom they provide care. In order to most effectively provide care, caregivers of children with DD need to be physically and psychologically healthy. However, caregivers of children with DD can experience challenges in these areas as a result of stress. Health-promoting self-care and social support can mediate the stress process to influence health outcomes. Given that a lack of social support is a barrier to engaging in health-promoting self-care, social support is needed for caregivers to engage in health-promoting self-care and together …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between School Climate, Self-Determined Academic Motivation, And Academic Outcomes Among Middle And High School Students, Daniel T. Volk

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore connections among student perceptions of specific school climate-factors, self-determined academic motivation, and academic outcomes in a sample of middle and high school students (sixth through eleventh grade). Structural equation modeling techniques were used to identify meaningful grade specific associations within a sample of 2,463 students. The school climate factors of perceived teacher support, peer support, and school bullying emerged as the most salient school climate-based predictors of academic motivation factors. Perceived teacher support positively predicted academic competence and relatedness, whereas school bullying negatively predicted relatedness. Student academic competence, in turn, was found …

Autism And Avatars: An Investigation Into The Unique Effects Of Avatar Anthropomorphism On Instructor Satisfaction For People On The Autism Spectrum, Brenda Lynn Rourke

Doctoral Dissertations

The rates of autism diagnoses are increasing, as is the use of technology and online interactions, both inside and outside of the classroom. These online interactions frequently include a digital representation of the individual or avatar. Avatars can take a variety of forms and they can influence an individual’s perception of the source as well as the message presented (Nowak, Fox, & Ranjit, 2015). While research indicates that human-looking avatars increase learning and attention in typically developed populations, initial research suggests that this may not be true for those with autism (Begum, Serna, & Yanco, 2016; Moore & Calvert, 2000; …

Aging Women With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Narrative Analysis Of Stigma, Seja Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations

Aging Women with Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Narrative Analysis of Stigma

Seja Jackson, Ph.D.

University of Connecticut, 2020

Over 50 % of people living with HIV are over age 50 (CDC, 2019a). Older women face unique challenges due to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stigma, which leads to complications including late diagnosis and poorer outcomes. Despite the transition of HIV to a chronic disease, HIV stigma remains.

In alignment with feminist principles, this author used Catherine Riessman’s (1993; 2008) method of thematic narrative analysis to illuminate the stories of aging women living with HIV. I interviewed 12 women over 50, aging …

Women’S Experiences Of Disability And Community-Based Rehabilitation In Sri Lanka, Carmen R. Britton

Doctoral Dissertations

The majority of people with disability (PWD) live in the global South. Over the last four decades, community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programs have dominated the way development programs operate and intercede in the lives of PWD, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This research uses participant observation and in-depth interviews to gather women’s experiences of disablement and CBR in Sri Lanka. Major findings detail ways CBR programs fail to address larger social inequities, specifically centered around ableism and sexism, and how these barriers are embedded in societies. Thus, these programs continue to target rehabilitation efforts at the level of the individual, …

Influence Of Physical Characteristics And Chronic Statin Therapy On Thermoregulation And Cardiovascular Responses In Runners, Rachel K. Katch

Doctoral Dissertations

Archival abstract submitted

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Employers’ Personal Dispositions And Their Implicit Gender And Racial Bias During Hiring Processes For Entry-Level Sport Management Positions, Junyoung Cho

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between employers’ personal dispositions associated with implicit biases (race and gender) and their perceptions of applicants to entry-level sport management positions. Two sections were formulated in relation to the overall conceptual framework. Based on implicit bias, social role theory and intersectionality, section 1 focused on the tendency to prefer higher social status groups (i.e., white men). Section 2 focused on subjective uncertainty reduction theory and social identity theory which posit that employers tend to prefer candidates in the same gender and racial groups. Simulated employment procedures were applied in the …

Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Development Of Open-Mindedness And Cultural Competence During An Education Abroad Program: A Qualitative Case Study, Blair Izard

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a long-standing issue in mathematics education regarding the support of equitable learning outcomes. As there has been significant attention from professional organizations, including NCTM and others, to address issues of access and equity within mathematics education, there has been an emphasis on creating mathematics classrooms that are responsive to students’ backgrounds, experiences, cultural perspectives, and traditions. However, in order to best meet these needs, we must prepare teachers that have a deep understanding of self, society, culture, and equity, which is no small challenge as it’s essentially calling for shifts in mathematics teachers’ identities. Experiential learning, in particular, …

Executive Functioning And Adherence To Antihypertensive Medications Among A Sample Of Older Adults, Lauren Strainge

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Consistent medication adherence is critical for the effective management of hypertension among the elderly. Executive functioning (EF), higher-order cognitive abilities that include set-shifting, information updating, and inhibition, have been associated with medication adherence among other populations, but the role of these processes in adherence to medications in older adults with hypertension is unknown. A conceptual model of the ways in which specific executive processes could impact adherence is presented, and specific executive processes and broad EF were examined as predictors of adherence to antihypertensive medication over a 3-month study of hypertension and cognition in the elderly.

Method: 76 adults …

Effects Of Stereotype Threat On Intra- And Interpersonal Coordination Dynamics, Andrew Tucker

Doctoral Dissertations

Great progress has been made on both intra- and interpersonal coordination by recasting them as the product of distributed parts and processes, in terms closer to those of physics than psychology. However, insofar as coordination is an a posteriori product of competing and cooperating forces defined across an organism-environment system, the full breadth of forces present must be considered. This requires approaching the consequences of the organism’s embedding within higher-level social and cultural systems.

Across three experiments, Stereotype Threat (ST) manipulations were used to affect the sociocultural context or meaning of coordination. These experiments were intended to address complementary issues …