Digital Commons Network^™

La Incidencia En El Desarrollo De Competencias Digitales De Los Estudiantes De Una Universidad Virtual En Texas, Elga D. Sepulveda Suarez

Theses and Dissertations

El propósito de este estudio cuantitativo fue indagar en la incidencia en el desarrollo de las competencias digitales de los estudiantes de una universidad virtual en Texas. Durante el mes de marzo del año 2023 se administró un cuestionario a los estudiantes subgraduados con el fin de conocer sobre el desarrollo de las competencias digitales. El estudio reflejó la importancia en buscar herramientas que ayuden a que el estudiante pueda estimular su creatividad, desarrollar su pensamiento crítico y discernir sobre el uso y manejo de herramientas digitales. Esta fue una investigación tuvo un diseño cuantitativo no experimental, tipo transeccional descriptivo. …

La Efectividad En La Integración De Una Biblioteca Virtual En Una Biblioteca Escolar De Una Institución Educativa Privada En Puerto Rico, Racaly Hernandez Calderon

Theses and Dissertations

Esta investigación fue diseñada para evaluar la efectividad en la integración de una Biblioteca Virtual en una biblioteca escolar. Para este proceso investigativo se utilizó el modelo de evaluación desarrollado por Kirkpatrick. Este modelo le presenta al investigador cuatro niveles de evaluación: reacción, aprendizaje, comportamiento y resultados. A través de este se puede identificar la efectividad de las acciones formativas. La muestra que se seleccionó fue una no probabilística por conveniencia. Por lo tanto, participaron 15 docentes que imparten cursos en la Escuela Intermedia de la institución privada localizada al norte de Puerto Rico. El diseño fue uno de corte …

Evaluating The Greet-Stop-Prompt Intervention In Decreasing Racial Disparities In School Discipline, Alexandra Utley

Theses and Dissertations

Exclusionary discipline practices are often considered to be generally ineffective and inequitable, however, they are one of the more common disciplinary practices used in schools today. Although there are many positive alternatives to school exclusion, there are limited disciplinary practices specifically intended to target discipline with racial equity in mind. The GREET-STOP-PROMPT (GSP) intervention, developed by Cook and colleagues (2018), is one intervention found in the literature explicitly created to reduce racial discipline disparities. Although there is currently limited research evaluating the GSP intervention, the results indicate it to be a potentially promising method of equitably addressing student behavior. The …

Toward Truth And Reconciliation: Public Memory, Philosophical Pairs, And The Edmund Pettus Bridge, Allyson K. Hayden

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis connects the rhetoric of Bryan Stevenson which advances truth and reconciliation for racial healing in the United States to a case study of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. I examine common cultural invocations of the bridge that support the persistence of a blurry public memory that occludes visibility of its original memorial dedication to a known white supremacist and instead celebrates it as a landmark of the civil rights movement. I also analyze arguments for both changing and keeping the name of the bridge that occurred between 2015-2020, illustrating ways in which Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca’s philosophical …

Big Data Applications And Challenges In Giscience (Case Studies: Natural Disaster And Public Health Crisis Management), Amir Masoud Forati

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the application and significance of user-generated big data in Geographic Information Science (GIScience), with a focus on managing natural disasters and public health crises. It explores the role of social media data in understanding human-environment interactions and in informing disaster management and public health strategies. A scalable computational framework will be developed to model extensive unstructured geotagged data from social media, facilitating systematic spatiotemporal data analysis.The research investigates how individuals and communities respond to high-impact events like natural disasters and public health emergencies, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. In particular, it assesses the impact of socio-economic-demographic …

Examining Factors Among People With Opioid Use Disorder And Comorbid Mental Health Disorders, Tori Denae Livingston

Theses and Dissertations

Opioid use disorder (OUD) affects over two million Americans, and over 42,000 Americans perished of opioid overdoses in 2016 (Volkow et al., 2019). During the initial years of the opioid crisis, overdose deaths were primarily attributed to prescription analgesics, heroin, and synthetic opioids. However, it was illicit prescription opioid painkiller use that ranked highest in terms of fatalities (Volkow et al., 2019). The increasing prevalence of opioid use among individuals with mental health disorders is in stark contrast to the ongoing opioid crisis (Prince, 2019). Additionally, there is evidence that individuals undergoing substance use treatment and concurrently suffering from a …

The Association Between Immigration And Recidivism Among Juveniles: Exploring The Effects Of Acculturation, Moral Disengagement, Employment And Community Involvement., Juanita Mirekuaa Sefa

Theses and Dissertations

The topic of immigration remains a highly debated issue, particularly in light of rising worldwide migration and its potential impacts on crime rates. This study aims to investigate the association between immigration and recidivism among juveniles and the mediating effects of acculturation, moral disengagement, employment, and involvement in community activities on recidivism. The data for this study is drawn from the Pathways to Desistance study of serious adolescent offenders. It follows approximately 1354 serious adolescent offenders, of which 210 are second-generation and 83 are first-generation immigrants. Recidivism was measured using a period of twelve months. Findings indicated that second-generation immigrants …

Assessing Organizational Policy: Preferred Practices For Regulating Vaping In The Work Environment, Ayesha T. Kirk

Theses and Dissertations

Employee vaping negatively affects organizations in terms of costs, productivity, employee health, and workplace safety. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation study was to assess organizational policies to determine preferred practices to regulate vaping in the work environment. Open-ended questionnaires with 18 human resources administrators, combined with a literature review, yielded data on best practices for organizational policies regulating vaping in the work environment.

The data collected in this qualitative dissertation study were extracted from a structured survey questionnaire comprising 16 questions about vaping and tobacco usage in the workplace. The findings demonstrated that vaping and the use of tobacco …

A Comparison Of Defensiveness In Mmpi-2-Rf Profiles Of Male Sex Offenders And Child Custody Litigants, Kyla M. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical evaluations have had a long-standing role in criminal and civil legal proceedings due to the intersection between various legal criteria and aspects of psychological functioning. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) and its subsequent versions have been among the most commonly utilized and empirically supported measures of personality and psychopathology in assessing forensic populations. One application for which MMPI instruments have been particularly useful is in the evaluation of sex offenders. This is in part due to the tests’ built-in validity scales, as MMPI underreporting scales are found to be effective in assessing sex offenders’ …

Criminalization Of Environmental Harms In Bangladesh And The United States, Md Lokman Hussain

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores and compares the nature, features, and measures of criminalization of environmental harms in Bangladesh and United States. The exploration is based on the descriptive and analytical comparison of the legal frameworks addressing the environmental harms in these two countries. To explore how are environmental harms criminalized in Bangladesh and United States, following aspects were described and compared: the criminalizing power of the state, criminalization of environmental harms regarding air pollution, water pollution, protection of biodiversity, waste management, and use of pesticide, theoretical frameworks in explaining criminalization, role of constitution and international law.

Docker Technology For Small Scenario-Based Excercises In Cybersecurity, Zeinab Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to better prepare students for cybersecurity roles by providing practical tools that bridge the gap between theory and real-world applications. We investigate the role of small scenario-based exercises for students’ understanding of cybersecurity concepts. In particular, we assess the use of Docker technology to deliver training that includes a simple small scenario on html code injection. The effectiveness of scenario-based learning has long been defined and by using SBL, we are going to create hands-on activity that involves the fundamental topics in cybersecurity using Docker technology, allowing students to see the exploitation of the vulnerabilities and defense …

Broken Bottles: Understanding The Relationship Between Alcohol Outlet Availability And The Proximity To Alcohol Outlets With Binge Drinking Behaviors In College Fraternity Men At Southeastern Public Universities, Jarod Alan Holt

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use among fraternity affiliated men presents a concerning trend with harmful consequences (DeSimone, 2009; Hingson et al., 2017; McCreary et al., 2021; Nuwer, 2001; Patrick et al., 2022; Ranker & Lipson, 2022). The availability theory of alcohol-related problems suggests alcohol use could be influenced based on the availability and proximity of alcohol outlets in the environment (Dimova, 2023; Kypri et al., 2008; Scribner et al., 2008; Single, 1984; Weitzmann et al., 2003). However, no existing studies of fraternity-affiliated students have examined the relationship of binge drinking and access to alcohol through alcohol outlet availability or proximity. This study examined …

Family Mass Murder: An Exploratory Study Of The Role Of Arson, Rachel Rori Rodriguez Spradley

Theses and Dissertations

The current literature on the use of arson in homicides analyzes the role of psychosis and mental illness, detection avoidance, and fire-setting as a precursor to violent crime. Only recently have researchers examined the connection between arson and family violence through the means of coercive control. Remaining unanswered is the role of arson in family mass murders occurring in a private residence. Using the Mass Killings in America database compiled and maintained by the Associated Press, USA Today, and Northeastern University (2006-2022), I compare characteristics of family mass murders that are arson-related to those that are non-arson-related. While family mass …

An Examination Of Mmpi-3 Score Patterns Of Sex-Trafficked Women, Edleen De Jesus-Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

Sex trafficking is a hidden crime that affects many vulnerable groups such as women and children. Prior research has demonstrated that individuals currently or formerly engaged in sex trafficking experience heightened levels of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health concerns. Most of these studies relied on structured interviews and, to date, no empirical studies have evaluated the psychological difficulties of sex trafficking victims with an empirically valid measure. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2020a) is a personality assessment measure widely used to assess sexual abuse survivors, substance abusers, and various inpatient and …

Development And Validation Of The Contemporary Sexual Violence Scale, Corey Frederick Doremus

Theses and Dissertations

College students face an increased risk of sexual violence victimization and perpetration compared to the general population. Although sexual violence experiences within this population have received substantial attention by researchers, studies typically focus on male perpetrators and female victims. Although a number of measures have been developed to assess male sexual violence perpetration, comparatively few have been developed to measure other types of SV such as female perpetration. The current project aimed to develop an empirically supported measure of sexual violence perpetration which assesses the frequency and severity of engagement in discrete sexual violence behaviors and tactics among individuals of …

Who Is Talking About The Children? A Systematic Literature Review Of The Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis Effects On Children, Angela Marcel Fields

Theses and Dissertations

The ongoing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis has affected thousands of families throughout the United States and Canada, resulting in probable trauma to children in the families and communities for generations. Although awareness of the crisis has been growing in recent years through avenues such as social media (#MMIW, etc.), little action has been taken to stem the crisis and its effects. The effects of the crisis on the children left behind is a compelling question that is not often addressed in the media, however. A systematic review of the scientific literature from the United States and Canada …

School Psychologists' Recommendations For Tiered Interventions That Target Social-Emotional Competencies, Brandi Alise Bezzant

Theses and Dissertations

Many schools advocate for addressing the diverse needs of students through a multi-tiered model of prevention and intervention known as the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. This framework often incorporates the use of universal screening to obtain data concerning students' academic and/or social-emotional and behavioral needs. School teams are expected to design and implement tiered strategies in response to data concerning students' social-emotional needs; this can be a challenging facet of MTSS. To aid in this endeavor, this qualitative study elicited school psychologists' recommendations for (a) tiered interventions that target secondary students' social-emotional competency needs and (b) professional learning …

The Social Construction Of Sex Trafficking Among Three Agencies Seeking To Address The Problem, Alexis Lange

Theses and Dissertations

Since 2000, there has been a growing interest in human trafficking by researchers, governments, organizations, law enforcement, and the general public. One form of human trafficking that has captured the most interest and awareness is sex trafficking. However, despite the growing research and understanding of the problem, there is no shared, collective understanding and definition of sex trafficking. Various constructions and approaches have made it challenging to prevent sex trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers. For this research, I will take a social constructionist/social problems perspective by interviewing three agencies about how they identify, define, frame, and approach to the …

“Who Will Guard The Guards Themselves ”: A Phenomenological Discourse Analysis On How Whiteness And White Supremacy Are Upheld By White Hearing Officers On Community College Campuses, Amanda Jane Mesirow

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how whiteness and white supremacy are upheld by white hearing officers on community college campuses. The literature shows that racial bias exists in K-12 discipline systems, that no reporting mandates on demographics exist in higher education conduct, and that community colleges often serve minoritized students. Therefore, the problem statement centers on the connection between community colleges conduct systems and whiteness/white supremacy.Data was collected via interviews with three community college conduct practitioners, as well as a review of documents from their institutions’ conduct offices. The study’s research methods were phenomenological discourse analysis and …

Black American Men's Resiliency And Persistence To Grow Old: A Midwest Qualitative Study, Kimberly Ann Walker

Theses and Dissertations

AbstractAs Black American men continue to experience the highest premature morbidity and mortality, few studies have centered on the intersection of class (low-income) and race (middle-aged and older Black men) with multiple morbidity from a critical race approach in the Midwest region of the U.S. Middle-aged Black men have 31% higher death rate than their White counterparts. A qualitative study was conducted by a community health nurse in the spring of 2021 in a metropolitan city. Thirty-one, low-income Black American men were interviewed focusing on their understanding and perceptions of their complex comorbidities, symptom management for quality of life, short …

Latino Career Choice And Prestige: Examining Prestige, Cultural Values And Family Influence In Predicting Career Choice, Edwin Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

Career choice continues to be a principal area for career development research, as finding ways to determine what contributes to career choices, and how those choices impact individuals’ micro and macro systems, informs best practices in vocational psychology. The field of vocational psychology can benefit from exploring myriad variables that may have an impact on career choice, career congruency, and persistence in the world of work; and highlighting the unique experiences and needs of diverse populations can produce new insight about different groups and people that the field should endeavor to improve. To this end, this study sought to uniquely …

Latino Men’S Barriers And Obstacles Towards Treatment Seeking Attitudes, Rebecca Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

There is a drastic difference in the number of Latino men utilizing mental healthcare as only 24 percent of Latino men with a severe mental illness ever receive treatment. Previous research has revealed stigma and attitudes are important factors in the help seeking process, but with limited Latino participants. The current study gathered survey data from Latino male university students about their levels of stigma, attitudes towards both tele – health and in person counseling, perceived barriers and benefits, treatment history, and current levels of depression. It was revealed that in contrast to previous studies, Latino men’s social stigma is …

Presenting Issue Agreement And The Therapeutic Alliance In Family Therapy, Emilee Oldroyd

Theses and Dissertations

Research has consistently shown a positive association between the therapeutic alliance and family therapy outcome. Theory and preliminary research suggest that parent and adolescent agreement on the presenting problem would be a significant predictor of the therapeutic alliance in family therapy. This study used de-identified data from the Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network. The presenting problem was assessed at the first session, and agreement in presenting problems was determined by matching the responses between the parents and adolescents. The within-system alliance item of the Intersession Alliance Measures-Family (IAM-F), assessed at the fourth session, was used to measure the …

The Historical Evolution Of State Capacity And Its Effect On Democratization: A Case Study Of Egypt, Ashley Elizabeth Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Why are some states able to democratize while others are not? This thesis examines the connection between state capacity and democratization utilizing a case study of Egypt and a controlled comparison with Tunisia. Via process tracing, I determine that Egypt has a deeply institutionalized, strong coercive state capacity and a weak administrative capacity. These iterations of state capacity developed during Egyptian state formation from 1805-1840 and were further institutionalized at two critical junctures: early British occupation from 1883-1907, and Nasser’s presidency from 1952-1967. Path dependency makes successful democratization unlikely because of the significant legacy left in Egypt during these critical …

The Impact Of A Literacy Program On Summer Reading Setback: Providing Access To Books And Project-Based Learning, Tiffany Gayle Robles

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined the impact of a summer literacy program on summer reading setback. Gaining Ground is a summer intervention program designed primarily for economically disadvantaged students in Grades K–5. By granting access to self-selected books and implementing project-based curriculum, Gaining Ground aims to improve reading proficiency during the summer break. Faucet theory illuminated the challenge of reaching and maintaining proficiency over break, and constructivism and self-determination theory framed the program’s efforts to resolve this problem.

As the curriculum director, I used mixed methods to assess Gaining Ground’s impact. Quantitative methods revealed maintenance, improvement, or decline in student …

Comorbid Adhd And Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease: Prevalence And Risk Factors, Sarah Bills

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood condition that places youth at increased risk for deficits in attention and executive functioning suggestive of increased rates of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There is pronounced inconsistency in reported prevalence rates for attention deficits and ADHD diagnoses among youth with SCD, which is due in part to variability in methodology of previous studies. The primary aim of the present study is to use systematic screening to identify the prevalence of inattentive ADHD symptoms and ADHD diagnoses in a pediatric SCD population seen at a large hematology clinic. A secondary aim is …

Prosecutorial Discretion: District Attorneys, Public Opinion,And The Localized Rule Of Law, Yu-Hsien Sung

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses three fundamental questions regarding the politics of prosecutorial behavior. Specifically, it examines how the selectors of prosecutors influence prosecutorial decision-making under different selection methods, including electionbased systems and appointment-based systems. By using a political responsiveness framework and utilizing empirical strategies, including an experiment and the construction of prosecutor policy position data, this study offers novel insights into the subject. First, I find that voters care about prosecutors’ issue positions and rely on various cues to identify candidates whose policy positions align with their preferences, even in low-information elections. Second, elections show promise as a mechanism for holding …

Reparation For The Irreparable: Is Punishing International Crimes A Universalist Hoax?, Kholoud Hafez Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis challenges the conventional discourse on international punishment that emphasizes the development of a single, unified system of international criminal justice. Instead, it advocates for a pluralistic approach that recognizes the fragmented nature of international punishment, which involves various actors, including permanent courts, special tribunals, internationalized tribunals, and domestic courts exercising universal jurisdiction. The sui generis nature of international crimes demands a comprehensive approach to punishment that considers multiple perspectives and norms of diverse actors involved. Rejecting the notion of universalism in determining punishment rationales and promoting accounts of sentencing consistency, the author asserts that a global framework can …

Case Study: Reading Multicultural Literature To An Emergent Reader In The Home, Kiyna Twisdale

Theses and Dissertations

This case study was conducted to find what happens when a parent reads multicultural books to their young child at home. The qualitative data collected was used to determine the child’s reactions to the similarities and differences between them and the characters, as well as how multicultural books can be used to address sensitive topics and complex themes in the home. A caregiver, the researcher, collected data from read aloud sessions with her five-year old daughter. After reading seven multicultural books together, the research found that the child was able to make simple and concrete connections with the physical appearance …

Transition Planning And The School To Prison Pipeline: A Phenomenological Study Investigating The Lived Experiences Of Alternatively Placed High School Black Males With High Incidence Disabilities, Brandon Garrett Thornton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better inform researchers and practitioners on best practices to ensure that their transition planning practices are person-centered and culturally responsive. Using a phenomenological approach, purposeful sampling was used to conduct semi-structured interviews regarding the shared educational lived experiences of two alternatively placed Black high school males with high incidence disabilities with respect to their transition planning. Participants perceived their transition planning to be student-centered, and expected favorable employment outcomes. Additionally, the participants’ choice to be alternatively placed played a role in their perception of transition outcomes. School personnel also played a pivotal …