Digital Commons Network^™

Mapping Anti-Racist Pedagogy Through Endarkened Storywork: Towards A Critical Race Trauma Reducing Pedagogical Framework, Jessica Michelle Schwind

Doctoral Dissertations

A critical attribute of an anti-racist English Language Arts (ELA) classroom is a curriculum that includes literary works that represent the full Black experience and readings of authentic storytelling (Toliver, 2022). When educators lack the autonomy to select their own classroom texts and/or lack the efficacy to navigate classroom discourse surrounding race and racism, an anti-racist pedagogical framework for literature instruction is critical (Johnson & Neville, 2018). My dissertation addresses the relationship between personal perceptions of literary representations of experience, relationships to race, and implications for pedagogy. The study investigates the choices teachers make when engaging students in Black authored …

Development And Feasibility Studies Of Ai-Powered Socially Assistive Robotics To Promote Wellbeing Of Persons With Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias, Fengpei Yuan

Doctoral Dissertations

The number of persons living with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (PLWDs) has been keeping growing. In 2024, it is estimated that there will be approximately 6.7 million individuals living with Alzheimer's Dementia. This number will increase to about 14 million in 2060. Due to the damage in neurons, the capabilities of memory, thinking, and language will decline as the disease progress. As a result, persons with dementia will gradually withdraw from their social activities and become more dependent on others during their activities of daily living. Making it worse, our society is not ready for the increasing requirements of …

The Voices Of Veteran Women Shared With The World: Experiences Of Military Sexual Trauma, Kerri Alaine Qualls

Doctoral Dissertations

Through the cumulative work of this dissertation, I sought to provide a new perspective on the experience of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) through the voices of veteran women who shared their stories with the world through the internet. This approach had three sequential segments: (a) an integrative literature review, (b) an innovative methodology approach involving the application of the netnographic method, and (c) a qualitative research study. First, I present an integrative review of current MST literature. After the evaluation of thirteen studies common findings were the numerous barriers to disclosure that women veterans encountered, as well as the negative …

New Geographies Of Electronic Commerce: An Appraisal Of Omni-Channel Strategies In The United States Grocery Industry, Connor Reed

Doctoral Dissertations

This body of doctoral research investigates the unique geography of e-commerce [electronic commerce] offerings among major grocery chains in the contiguous United States. Prior research has made efforts to understand the demographic and spatial dynamics that may influence consumers’ decision to shop online or in-store. Far less emphasis, however, has been placed on how firms have made key strategic decisions across space regarding e-commerce. This work leverages spatial econometric modeling and machine learning to understand how the characteristics of trade areas inform grocery chains’ decisions about whether to offer pickup, delivery, both, or no offering at a given store location. …

The World Reborn: A Phenomenological Study Of 12th Unnamed Cave, Tennessee Through Photogrammetry, 3d Gis, And Archaeoacoustics, Jordan L. Schaefer

Doctoral Dissertations

Traditional methods for analyzing rock art locations within caves tend to rely on two-dimensional (2D) mapping methods. While useful, these techniques do not effectively capture the phenomenology, or experiential characteristics, of caves as physical spaces. This dissertation therefore adopts a three-dimensional perspective to study the distribution of rock art inside 12th Unnamed Cave, a dark-zone cave art site in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau region, with the goal of identifying why certain types of images appear in their respective contexts. Photogrammetry is used to produce a three-dimensional (3D) model of the cave’s interior, on which surveyed rock art locations are georeferenced for …

Harming Groups: A Reflection On Long-Term Harms Of Climate Change, Jingsi Teng

Doctoral Dissertations

This project examines Derek Parfit’s (1984) non-identity problem, which suggests that our actions cannot harm future people if they would not exist without those actions. David Boonin’s (2014) non-identity argument proposes that if distant future people’s lives are worth living, our current actions, such as burning fossil fuels and causing climate change, cannot be bad for them. This argument relies on the person-affecting view, which is the belief that an action can only be bad if it is bad for some particular person(s). Therefore, if an action does not affect any particular person(s), it cannot be considered a harm. Boonin’s …

A Qualitative Case Study Examining Teacher Perceptions Of Servant Leadership In Private K-12 Schools, Leighton Ray Upton

Doctoral Dissertations

Teachers’ values and beliefs are a key motivation to how teachers will perform in the classroom, interact with students and their colleagues, and influence the culture of a school (Borg, 2015; Davis, 2018; Finley, 2016). However, teachers do not always instruct students based on their personal values and beliefs (Fives & Gill, 2015; Diehl & Golann 2023). In this qualitative case study, the theoretical framework of servant leadership was used to understand teachers’ values and beliefs and how those beliefs influenced the culture of a school. Thirteen teachers from three private religious schools in the southeastern part of the United …

Tuned In: How Novice Teachers Navigate Personal, Professional, And Political Influences, Mary Katherine Bentley

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to begin to unlock how novice teachers navigate the tensions between their personal beliefs and those demonstrated or experienced through interactions with people and their environment. It should be of particular interest to administrators, schools, and teacher education programs that seek to support novice teachers. This study examines novice teachers' identity as seen through the stories they tell about their experiences to answer the research questions: How do new teachers interact with the stories of teaching and teaching identities? How do they embody, refuse (act against), or disregard (ignore) stories of teaching and teaching …

Discriminative Nursing Care Practices Towards Patients With Opioid Use Disorder In The Hospital Setting: How Knowledge And Social Attitudes Impact Care Delivery, Jeanne Adam Bernier

Doctoral Dissertations

Discriminative nursing care (DNC) practices towards patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) is a current phenomenon negatively affecting patient care and patient outcomes. It leads to delays in care, insufficient pain control, and feelings of guilt and shame, and it is linked to self-isolation, social isolation, social rejection, and even unemployment and housing disruption which perpetuate a dangerous cycle of inequity that is hard to overcome. In some cases, OUD stigmatization even increases morbidity and mortality rates. OUD stigmatization and discrimination are real problems in today’s health care climate due to the vast number of people affected by OUD and …

Two Essays On The Board Of Directors, Dipesh Bhattarai

Doctoral Dissertations

The board of directors plays a crucial role in corporate governance, serving as a vital mechanism to oversee and guide firms towards achieving their goals. Given the importance of boards in the corporate governance framework, we still do not have clear understanding of how directors' characteristics influence the governance and performance of firms. This dissertation ties together two chapters that contribute to this area of research, each focusing on different aspects of directors' influence on corporate governance and firm value.

The first chapter, "The Effect of Director Wealth on Corporate Governance and Firm Value," examines the impact of a director's …

Introjection, Mentalization, Ego Functioning, And Lacan’S “Name Of The Father”, Chloe T. Cohen

Doctoral Dissertations

Psychoanalytic literature has traditionally focused on the theoretical explanations of psychological phenomena rather than empirical research to support those ideas. One such theory is Lacan’s “Name of the Father” (NOF), which recast Freud’s Oedipal situation, positing its representation in language use and situating it even earlier in psychological development. Lacan suggested that the NOF construct (establishing psychological structure and preventing psychosis) was best represented by metaphor use and linguistic structure. The current study attempted to measure the NOF construct (1955) through linguistic structure and metaphor use. We examined the relationship between an indirect measure of NOF functioning and overall personality …

“Sometimes Giving Up Is The Strong Thing:” How Women Charter School Teachers Remain Resilient In An Educational Marketplace, Gretchen N. Cook

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this three manuscript dissertation is to explore the habits and enduring patterns created by neoliberal structures that dictate how women teachers should behave within the culture of a charter school and uncover how participants resist and describe their own resiliency within the charter school institution. Specifically, this work is grounded in the assumption that teacher success in the labor force is inhibited by institutional rules that are ultimately harmful, and cause teachers to leave the field of teaching (Boe et al., 1997; Olsen & Anderson, 2007; Peske et al., 2001; Standeven, 2022; Wenk & Rosenfled, 1992). To …

“It’S A Fine Line To Walk:” Rural Identity And Global Citizenship Education Gatekeeping, Dylan Tyler Edmondson

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite growing calls for global education in the United States (NCSS 2016b) and the popularity of global citizenship education (GCE) programs internationally, education for global citizenship has not caught on in the United States (Rapoport, 2020). In this context, teachers wield considerable influence as curricular instructional gatekeepers. They may promote or resist GCE in individual ways in relation to the context in which they teach. Little is currently understood about the curricular gatekeeping practices of rural teachers regarding GCE (Moffa, 2020). Research that does examine rural GCE gatekeeping situates analysis in terms of the rural as a place but not …

Educational Experiences That Lead To Transition And Postsecondary Programs For Students With Intellectual Disabilities And Complex Needs, Alison A. Gauld

Doctoral Dissertations

This study researched Tennessee self-contained teacher perceptions of educational experiences that lead to students’ applying to Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSIDs). This quantitative study utilized a survey, completed anonymously by Tennessee self-contained high school teachers to investigate what self-contained teachers do and what educational experiences lead a student to apply to a TPSID. A chi-square test of independence resulted in one significant result; students are more likely to apply to a TPSID if they participated in non-academic school events and/or activities. There was no significant result for any of the nine events or activities included …

Physical Activity On Multiuse Trails And In A Novel Bike Park Within An Urban Wilderness, Douglas Gregory

Doctoral Dissertations

Research has shown that the presence of, access to, and use of parks and trails is associated with increased levels of PA. However, little research exists on nature-based, recreational multiuse trails and bike-specific amenities within parks and their impact on PA. Therefore, to explore the effect trails and bike parks have on PA, this dissertation conducted three investigations to: 1) determine the impact of trail/greenway interventions on PA, 2) investigate how seasonality and weather influence nature-based recreational trail use, and 3) develop a demographic and PA profile of bike park users.

Investigation 1 (Chapter 4) systematically reviewed the literature specific …

The Opposite Of Subaltern Agency Is Not Agency, It’S Listening: Self-Guided Anti-Racism Investigation For Aspiring White Anti-Racists, Lauren Elaine Specht

Doctoral Dissertations

This research project examines the rhetorical relationship between oppressed and privileged communities, first to look at how oppressed communities can have more success in their outreach to change privileged points of view, then to examine that “success” of social advocacy is as bound up in the listener’s ability to hear as it is in the speaker’s ability to persuade and that the oppressed community is already using the most successful rhetorical tools available—privileged audiences are just not participating. To complete the first process, I used textual analysis to understand how an oppressed rhetor—represented by Toni Morrison—thinks of privileged perspectives in …

Physical Health, Transportation And Sustainability Impacts Of Shared Micromobility Services, Yi Wen

Doctoral Dissertations

Electric scooters (e-scooters) have reached a wide popularity since launch in 2017. Key questions around their mobility, safety and sustainability impacts have been raised and partially addressed by the existing literature. However, the physical activity aspects of riding an e-scooter have not been assessed. We recruited 20 subjects from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville network to measure the physical and muscle activity of riding an e-scooter, in comparison to walking and driving, the two common substitutes by e-scooters on a designated route. We used Cosmed Fitmate PRO for the physical activity measurement and the Delsys EMGworks Acquisition Software for the …

Someone To Keep Me: Emotions, Labor, Trauma, And Orphanhood In Haiti, Hannah Mackynzie Archer

Doctoral Dissertations

In Haiti, the orphan occupies an important place in humanitarian discourse and practice as the key figure underlying the institution of the orphanage. Crucial to the orphanage and the orphan is work done by house mamas as nannies for the children, drawn primarily from the same communities and economic backgrounds as orphans. This ethnography explores how interactions between orphans, nannies, and volunteers are woven into a system of emotions produced by orphans, managed by nannies, and consumed by volunteers. Furthermore, how the intricacies of racial, gendered, and age-based inequalities, underlying these emotional exchanges, presume to reproduce discourses about the proper …

Essays On The Economics Of Federal Programs, Diego A. Guerrero

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays in public economics and the political economy of the public sector. The document contributes empirical evidence on the impact of public policies on households, firms, and government. This first essay revisits the evidence on the intergenerational effects of the earned income tax credit (EITC) on the adult income of individuals who received the tax credit during childhood. The empirical strategy exploits formulaic changes localized across socioeconomic status in the tax schedule, and finds that tax credit transfers during early childhood increase adult income between 1.7 and 2.7 percent per \$1,000. Furthermore, the paper links …

Building Upon Alternative-Academic Professionalization Opportunities For Phd Humanities Students, Amber J. Kent-Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation titled, “Building Upon Alternative-Academic Professionalization Opportunities for PhD Humanities Students,” I have interviewed 10 UTK English PhD alumni who graduated from the program between 2013 and 2023 to understand: (1) what they’ve experienced in their transition from academia into alt-ac careers, (2) what skills from their time in UTK’s English PhD program have transferred into their alt-ac careers, and (3) what forms of alt-ac professionalization support participants recommend adding to the UTK English PhD program. Participants were initially given a short survey to determine if their careers coincided with this study’s definition of alt-ac; that they were …

How To Bridge Materialism And Ethical Behavior: Exploring The Influence Of Scarcity Appeal, Minjeong Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

This paper explores the complex dynamics of consumer behavior, particularly focusing on materialistic individuals' propensity towards unsustainable consumption practices and their reluctance to engage with brands' purpose-driven initiatives. Drawing on existing literature, the study highlights strategies to minimize the detrimental effects of materialism on environmental concerns. It also aims to enhance ethical product preferences by examining consumers' consumption patterns. Materialistic consumers prioritize product acquisition for status display rather than practical utility. They often overlook the societal and environmental implications of their choices.

In response to this challenge, the research aims to investigate scarcity strategies as a means to incentivize materialistic …

A Relational Ontological Framework For Identifying Unstated Assumptions In Scientific Datasets, Kathryn Elizabeth Knight

Doctoral Dissertations

Every field of modern science relies on data as something foundational, the basic material that provides researchers with evidence of all recordable phenomena. Data carries an epistemic weight, linking various sensory experience as proof to our propositions, supporting scientific pursuit to get to the truth of something and justify scientific belief. However, to measure or count amounts to categorization, and the categories we create emerge from the models and cognitive schemes constructed in the minds of human beings. Our data is collected, measured, divided, and otherwise organized according to how we think about the world, and retains inherent unstated assumptions …

Instigators And Partners: Young Adult Literature’S Role In Readers’ Identity Formation, Cammie Jo Lawton

Doctoral Dissertations

This instrumental case study explored self-identified YA readers’ formative experiences with YAL and how their reading experiences contributed to their holistic identity. Using reader response theory, conceptualizations and varying layers of social imagination, and identity as theoretical foundations, the purpose of this dissertation is to inquire into YA readers’ experiences and determine how they describe YAL’s role in their sense of self over the course of their lives. The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What types of transactions with YA texts have occurred with self-identified YA readers? Why have these transactions proved meaningful for the reader?
2. In …

Uniting Cognitive Models And Ai: Early Alzheimer’S Screening Through Language Analysis, Ziming Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and related dementias (PwADRD) often lead to memory issues, language difficulties, and cognitive impairments. These symptoms can cause social isolation, anxiety, depression, accelerating cognitive decline, and negatively impacting quality of life. Traditional diagnostic and rehabilitation methods, relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI) or clinical observations, sometimes lack transparency and explainability for the growing population affected by AD. My research aims to address these challenges by developing AI systems that analyze affective states and cognitive deficits in PwADRD interactions. This involves creating more precise diagnostic tools and rehabilitation methods, as well as trustworthy AI agents to improve PwADRD's quality …

An Examination Of The Incentives To Issue Spring-Loaded Equity Awards, Kory Davis Maag

Doctoral Dissertations

A spring-loaded equity award is an award granted to an employee while the firm possesses non-public, positive information that is released shortly after the equity award is granted. Generally, shareholders oppose these awards, but firms see them as valid rewards for executives. In my study, I examine factors associated with the issuance of spring-loaded awards. I identify potential spring-loaded awards (SLAs) issued to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) by examining returns shortly following the grant date of equity awards to CEOs. I assign awards to differing levels of potential to be spring-loaded based on these returns. I find that firms are …

Postsecondary Opportunities For Young Black Males From Urban Communities: The Barriers Of College Entrance Exams, Steven J. Mitchell

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines the experiences of young Black males from Tennessee urban communities regarding their postsecondary opportunities shaped by college entrance exams. Through a narrative qualitative approach, this study explores the challenges and triumphs faced by these individuals as they navigated the complex landscape of higher education admissions.

The research site encompassed urban public high schools in West Tennessee, providing a context rich in diversity yet full of systemic barriers to equitable access to postsecondary education. The participants included three young Black males who are freshmen at three different Tennessee postsecondary institutions, each offering unique insights into their journeys through …

Perceptions Of School Administrators On The Effectiveness Of Career And Technical Educator Teacher Preparation, Sheila K. Morris

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the perceptions of school administrators regarding the effectiveness of career and technical educator (CTE) teacher preparation programs. As the landscape of education continues to evolve, the importance of CTE programs in preparing students for the workforce has gained significant attention. Central to the success of these programs are the educators who deliver instruction. However, limited research exists on how school administrators perceive the preparedness and effectiveness of CTE teachers.

Utilizing qualitative research methods, this study explores the perspectives of school administrators through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis reveals themes related to the perceived strengths and weaknesses of CTE …

School Leaders' Ethical Decision-Making Related To Student Cyberbullying: A Multi-Case Study Of Two Tennessee School Districts, Jeana M. Partin

Doctoral Dissertations

This multi-case study was designed to explore cyberbullying issues and how school leaders handle student issues related to cyberbullying. I explored how ethical decisions related to student cyberbullying are processed within two school districts in Tennessee. Furthermore, understanding how districts implement and interpret Tennessee Bullying and Harassment Policies helps in exploring school leaders' ethical decision-making process regarding student cyberbullying. Shapiro and Stefkovich's (2021) multiple ethical paradigms, care, critique, justice, and the profession, provided a comprehensive framework for analyzing how school leaders process complex 21^st-century ethical decisions related to student-centered cyberbullying issues. A multi-case study supports the research questions …

World Language Teachers' Perceptions Of Efficacy In The Modern, Communicative Classroom, Valerie M. Schmidt-Gardner

Doctoral Dissertations

Approaches to second language pedagogy have evolved from their earlier iterations. Methods that once focused purely on the translation of a document from its original language into the student’s own have been replaced by communicative approaches that require students to produce the language (ACTFL, 2014b). To that end, world language teachers must create an environment in which the second language is used as much as possible (ACTFL, 2014b). Creating the environments necessary for the acquisition of language (Aljohani, 2017) depends on teachers’ beliefs about themselves (Cooke & Faez, 2019) and the pedagogical approaches they find valuable (Brown, 2009).

Through the …

Transportation System Performance And Traveler Behavior In The Context Of A Systemwide Shock: Applications Of Data Science Toward A Sustainable Future, A. Latif Patwary

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic, a systemwide shock, has left a long-lasting and significant impact on transportation systems. It has contributed to a shift in travel behavior, with many people turning to work from home (WFH) and online shopping. This shift has led to a reduction in vehicular travel. However, the pandemic witnessed increased crash fatalities despite a reduction in overall crashes, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged communities (DACs). The main question arising from these pandemic-related issues is what we can learn to improve transportation systems and shape future travel behavior. Therefore, this dissertation aims to investigate how the transportation system changed during COVID-19 …