Digital Commons Network^™

How Do Immigration And Technological Growth Affect One Another? Providing Guiding Principles For Policymakers, Nate Karren

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The relationship between immigration and technological growth is more nuanced than a simple statement of positive or negative correlation. How one affects the other varies depending on the skill level of the immigrant and the field where they work. Conclusions drawn by the literature form patterns that can be used to best understand the relationship between immigration and technology. High-skilled immigration boosts technological development through a complementary relationship, but low-skilled immigration can be a complement or a substitute with technological growth depending on the sector. Policymakers interested in promoting long-term economic growth through technological growth should have a clear picture …

Mental Help-Seeking: Barriers Among African Americans: The Role Of Technology In Addressing Those Barriers, Charneka Edwards

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The topic of mental health among the African American community is not often examined on its own, despite nuanced differences contributing to their reluctance to seek mental health services. The study is to examine, through data collection, the various barriers that have contributed to the prevention and reluctance of African Americans regarding mental health help-seeking, and how technology can circumvent those barriers. African Americans make up 12% of the US population and, of the 47 million who identified as African American, only 8.6% sought traditional mental health services, while 56% reported underutilizing mental health services in the United States due …

Ai Usage In The Insurance Industry: Future Or Fad, Carrie Stetler

Honors Projects

AI has garnered the attention of professionals from every industry and Insurance is no different. Join me to analyze the many ways AI is affecting this industry and others, as well as to answer the question, “Is AI really the future?”

Zeitgeist Of The 2010s And Impact On Fashion Trends, Sophie Scott Anderson

Senior Theses

The zeitgeist of the 2010s can be examined through shifts in technology, politics, economy, environment, religion, and entertainment. This research explores how fashion serves as both a mirror and a driver of societal change during this transformative decade. Trend diffusion itself evolved from the traditional theories of trickle-up and trickle-down because of the prominence of influencer culture, giving average consumers the platform to influence numerous like-minded consumers. Defining the 2010s zeitgeist requires an analysis of the significant patterns in the technological and sociocultural environment through as many sources as possible for a holistic approach. Sociologically, fashion has been accepted as …

The Shifting Landscape Of Adolescent Wellness In Boarding Schools: Can Time Spent Off Screens And Outdoors Improve Adolescent Wellbeing?, Kristen H. Peterson

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

For nearly twenty years I have worked directly with adolescents as an independent school educator. Whether in the classroom, on the field, or in the dorm, I have observed and supported students through their middle and high school experiences. During this time, I have witnessed an alarming shift in adolescent physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Concurrently, I have observed a dramatic increase in the amount of time students spend using screen-based devices, and a decrease in their time spent outdoors.

Using research to ground my anecdotal accounts in empirical understanding, my thesis examines whether or not screen use might help …

Municipal Pathways Towards Digital Government: Ontario’S Municipal Modernization Program And The Determinants Of Technology Adoption, Owen Jaggard

MPA Major Research Papers

Ontario’s municipalities exist at various stages of e-government adoption. Municipalities are faced with the challenge of adopting new technologies to meet expanding services demands. Both municipalities and the Provincial government face the challenge of developing policies to support information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption. Understanding the unique determinants of technology adoption can assist with this policy making. The study answers how organizational factors affect ICT adoption in small and rural municipalities; and how Ontario’s municipal modernization funding interacts with these determinants. The study examines the determinants of ICT adoption for ICT policies, online services, and electronic records management systems. Focusing …

Socio-Economic Determinants Of Gender-Based Violence [Gbv]: Sdg Analytics On The Global Gbv Scenario With Special Reference To Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence And Adolescent Birth Rates, Chandra P. Daniel

NYMC Student Theses and Dissertations

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a multifaceted problem. The most rapidly increasing modern form of violence is the intertwined epidemic of ‘Technology Facilitated GBV’ [TF GBV] and sexual violence against women and girls. It was critical to investigate the global impact of this epidemic during COVID-19 since a disproportionate impact of violence was observed among women and girls in low and middle-income countries. A retrospective cross-sectional research design was adopted using linear regression analysis (univariate and multivariate) on SDG 5.2, a set of global indicators, to elicit the socioeconomic determinants of GBV. Phase-I results exposed the top-four socio-economic determinants …

Digitally Rural: Identifying How Technological Inequity Impacts Rural Students In First-Year Writing Courses, Jo Anna M. Nevada

English Language and Literature ETDs

To teach composition in this era means to engage students with technology; it is all but an unspoken requirement at the majority of universities. This dissertation theorizes, however, that the imbricated use of technology in first-year writing (FYW) classrooms places rural students at an inherent disadvantage, with issues of inadequate technological proficiency and inconsistent access causing a substantial learning disparity between this student population and their urban peers. Through mixed-methods data analysis of student survey responses and final FYW course portfolios, this study reveals that the expectation of technological access and presumption of digital literacy is detrimental to rural student …

Foster Parent Knowledge And The Need For Information - Sharing Technology, Amy Lynne Averbuch

Dissertations

In 2023, the United States child welfare system suffers from disorganization, role ambiguity, and deficient transparency. With 12 contempt of court strikes for the system’s Director in 2022, it is clear why child welfare actors are unable to successfully perform. Foster parents, a key stakeholder in the proper care of children, report being unable to successfully perform because they are raising children with significant needs and trauma while having to locate and navigate child welfare system laws, policies, and procedures on their own. The purpose of this research project was to 1 ) identify whether foster parents know who is …

New Commandments, Jacob Sussman

Masters Theses

I reach into the earth, pull out mud-encrusted objects, and recombine them to define new meanings. With every object transposed, the past breaks down; new potentials form. “New Commandments” recombines historical symbolism through an intuitive building, destroying, and merging to reimagine or re-establish meaning.

The work critiques rites of passage, masculinity, and stereotypes by deconstructing how histories, ideologies, and preconceptions form.

As a queer person raised in-between Judaism and Christianity, social preconceptions and religious expectations festered my formation. Our choice is taken away at this moment of conception. To take back autonomy, I reimagine historical, and religious symbolism and transmute …

Utilizing New Technologies To Measure Therapy Effectiveness For Mental And Physical Health, Jonathan Ossie

Dissertations

Mental health is quickly becoming a major policy concern, with recent data reporting increasing and disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, increased substance abuse, and elevated suicidal ideation. One specific population that is especially high risk for these issues is the military community because military conflict, deployment stressors, and combat exposure contribute to the risk of mental health problems.

Although several pharmacological approaches have been employed to combat this epidemic, their efficacy is mixed at best, which has led to novel nonpharmacological approaches. One such approach is Operation Surf, a nonprofit that provides nature-based programs advocating the restorative …

Predicting Our Own Demise: How Media Has Played Nostradamus To The Future Of Artificial Intelligence, Connor Denny-Lybbert

Honors Theses

In this paper, I argue that we should be hesitant and skeptical of the applications of AI technology in government due to the possibility of, and ongoing abuses of this technology by political actors. I do this by first analyzing various pieces of sci-fi media in three parts: how this media approaches crime and punishment, personhood, and human happiness. Then, I explain how these themes intersect with the above framework and how we can use the themes to guide future policy. This is followed by an analysis of what these pieces of media tell us regarding artificial intelligence and how …

Refigured: Separations In Portraiture, Caroline Myers

All Theses

Utilizing traditional painting techniques embedded with digital syntaxes, Refigured: Separations in Portraiture, serves as a catalog of my experiences with communication in a hyperconnected world. Processing illegible information caused by my hearing loss informs the process of imposing similar boundaries within my paintings. Like a technical glitch, these obstructions create an illegible visual experience, with evidence of my process remaining as a clue for the viewer’s understanding of the image.

Though personal in nature, I expand from my experience with auditory communication to employ pertinent explorations into the sustained unpredictability of today’s ever-expanding medium that is technology. My paintings …

Examining The Relationship Between Technological Skills And Success In Higher Education Among Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Ebony Cubias

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background and purpose: Research has tended to focus on the outcomes of how digital inclusion for incarcerated individuals has helped reduce the rate of recidivism rather than the success rate in higher education for formerly incarcerated individuals. This study was implemented to examine the relationship between technological skills and academic achievement amongst formerly incarcerated individuals in higher education. Methods: This observational study used cross-sectional data from participants recruited from Project Rebound in California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB). Participants were recruited using purposive sampling method. Students who participated were over the age of 18, formerly incarcerated, and currently enrolled in …

A New Test Of The News: An Examination Of The New York Times And Cnn Coverage Of The War In Ukraine, Hannah Ross

LSU Master's Theses

Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, setting off Europe’s largest war since World War II. The war captured the attention of American news organizations, which gave the conflict unprecedented levels of coverage. This thesis tested the coverage of the war in Ukraine by two major American news outlets: The New York Times and CNN. This study used qualitative content analysis to examine the top four front-page stories of the Times and CNN Newsroom show. Two timeframes were used to analyze these materials: February 24, 2022, to March 9, 2022, and September 17, 2022, to September …

Development And Evaluation Of Interactive Computerized Training To Teach Practitioners To Implement Safety Skills Training, Rasha R. Baruni

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children can experience unintentional injuries due to safety threats found in their environments (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). Researchers have shown that children can be taught safety responses using behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST). Within the safety skills literature, there is evidence that manualized interventions are effective for teaching parents and teachers to deliver BST (Gross et al., 2007; Novotny et al., 2020). An approach that has not been evaluated for teaching safety skills is interactive computerized training (ICT). The ICT approach employs technology to deliver trainings in the absence of a trainer (Gerencser …

A Race-Police Regime: Nypd Technology And Urban Governance In New York City, Elliott Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation draws on three years of ethnographic and archival research to explore the relationship between technology, policing and race at the NYPD. In focusing on the ways problems are constructed and police power enacted, I explore the more-than-human entanglements in the production of race and the governance of cities under racial capitalism. My overarching claim is that urban governance works through contentious techno-political arrangements I call race-police regimes, which sanction and elicit race by enacting forms of exclusion and belonging. Racial capitalism in New York City, I argue, is governed through a technocratic mode of policing which leverages …

Increasing Mental Health Treatment-Seeking In Emerging Adult College-Student Survivors Of Sexual Assault: A Randomized Controlled Trial Of An Online Intervention, Jessica Huntt

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of sexual violence, particularly in emerging adult women, is alarming (Sinozich & Langton, 2014; Smith et al., 2017), and rates of treatment seeking are low (e.g., Smith et al., 2010). Engagement strategies and motivational interviewing have garnered support in mitigating barriers to mental health treatment-seeking (e.g., Lerch et al., 2017). However, young college women often do not seek treatment for symptoms following sexual violence due to additional barriers such as shame and institutional betrayal (Holland, 2019; Logan et al, 2005). Lack of treatment can lead to long-term detriments (e.g., Halpern et al., 2018) and there is little research …

Islamic Studies Teachers' Perspectives Of Applying Technology In Saudi Arabia Elementary Schools, Amal Abdulmohsen Alsaif

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the use of technology in education has been on the rise around the world, and Saudi Arabia is no exception. The integration of technology in Saudi education has the potential to enhance the quality of education, increase access to education, and provide students with the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. It also has the potential to facilitate collaboration between students and teachers, both within and outside the classroom, and to promote lifelong learning.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate Islamic Studies teachers' perceptions of using technology in their classrooms …

Teachers’ And Education Leaders’ Perspectives On Using Technology To Develop Vocabulary Among Kindergarten English Learners, Nelsy J. Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractResearch has shown that technology-mediated interventions in education can increase students’ understanding of academic vocabulary. However, it is not known how teachers provide opportunities for kindergarten English learners (ELs) to learn vocabulary using technology, and school leaders support teachers in this endeavor. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand teachers' and school leaders’ perspectives on opportunities for kindergarten ELs to use technology to develop vocabulary in an urban school in the southwest United States. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Cummins’s theory of basic interpersonal communication skills and cognitive academic language proficiency. Using purposeful …

Cutting The Puppet Strings: Confronting The Singularity, Gabriel Joesph Weiss

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Modern technology has excelled at an unprecedented rate. The rise of artificial intelligence raises many ethical questions and concerns for humanity, as it has incited many pressing debates between philosophers, computer scientists, and social critics who share concerns for the future of humanity but conflict with one another regarding whether or not we should rely on technology to govern human affairs and control society's infrastructures. Drawing from Martin Heidegger, Jacques Ellul, Hubert Dreyfus, and others, this project weighs out the probabilities and problems of the technological singularity posited by Ray Kurzweil, confronting our habits of addressing technology and the way …

Teachers’ And Education Leaders’ Perspectives On Using Technology To Develop Vocabulary Among Kindergarten English Learners, Nelsy J. Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractResearch has shown that technology-mediated interventions in education can increase students’ understanding of academic vocabulary. However, it is not known how teachers provide opportunities for kindergarten English learners (ELs) to learn vocabulary using technology, and school leaders support teachers in this endeavor. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand teachers' and school leaders’ perspectives on opportunities for kindergarten ELs to use technology to develop vocabulary in an urban school in the southwest United States. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Cummins’s theory of basic interpersonal communication skills and cognitive academic language proficiency. Using purposeful …

Consumers’ Responses To New Technologies In The Marketplace, Umair Usman

Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain

Chapter 1. This research examines whether the use of blockchain technology to back a brand’s claims (i.e., blockchain augmented claims) influences consumer preference for sustainable products. Consumers are demanding higher levels of transparency from brands and are also showing keen interest in consuming sustainable products, which includes products that promote social, environmental and economic sustainability. Recent advancement in digital technology, specifically blockchain, is offering an opportunity for brands to meet both these consumer demands. In five laboratory studies, I demonstrate that blockchain augmented claims, as compared to traditional industry practices (i.e., use of third-party labels and brand’s self-made claims), increases …

The Digital Divide: The Path Towards Digital Inclusivity, Angelica Gonzalez Almanza

Social Justice | Senior Theses

The gap between those Americans who use or have access to ICTs and those who do not is referred to as the digital divide (PACEs, 2002). The pandemic has increased dependence on technology and exacerbated the digital divide, which perpetuates existing systems of racism and poverty (Early et al., 2021). In this study, a mixed-method approach was conducted to understand what digital literacy skills parents need to overcome the digital divide and support their child's education. Specifically, the study explored how the program Impact Technology training has affected parents' involvement with their child's education. There were 175 Latinx parents that …

The Valley Of Science And Fiction: Capitalism, Labor, Race, And Environment In The Silicon Valley, Juliette R. Zicot

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Multidisciplinary Studies of Bard College

Machines With Heart: Utilizing An Sts Framework To Analyze Implementation And Design Of Social Eldercare Robots In Germany And Japan, Lucy Conover

Pitzer Senior Theses

Robots are everywhere from car factories to cafes, but many people may not realize robots are quite popular in assisted living residencies for older adults. Social eldercare robots (SER) provide care to older adults without relying on human labor, offering a lucrative promise of technological efficiency during global labor crises. However, their adaptation into care settings is not this simple. Human trust in robots is rooted in nuanced social, cultural, and historical factors, making SER a highly interpretively flexible technology. This thesis analyzes social eldercare robot implementation in two countries, Germany and Japan, using a "Science, Technology and Society" (STS) …

Practicing Re-Enlightenment : Technology Revisited In The Age Of Climate Change, Gyuri Kang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In the age of climate change, the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh asks whether humanity is prepared for the unthinkable nature of climate events. The Earth’s climate is changing faster than humans can expect and adapt. Ghosh warns that modern people are too deranged to imagine in what forms of changes are approaching. His term, derangement, suggests that humans are no longer able to imagine the future world shaped by climate change. The signals of the unexpectable realities of climate change, however, may be hidden in existing knowledge. Here, technology can help us access this hidden knowledge through its ability to …

Digitalizing Religion In The Age Of Covid-19: A Uses And Gratifications Perspective, Abdulaziz Altawil

Dissertations - ALL

The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people’s religious behavior around the world. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, most in-person religious services have shifted to virtual platforms. The online religious transition amidst the outbreak has alleviated many issues for worshippers as it provided them with a sanctuary space to connect with their faith and community. According to a 2020 Pew Research analysis, the pandemic has made many Americans change their religious habits by watching religious content online instead of physically engaging with their local religious institution. This dissertation provides a preliminary examination of this phenomenon by exploring the role of digital …

Lost In Digitization: Physical Products Are Vessels For Social Meaning, Oden H. Groth

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The explosion in digitization means that consumers increasingly have the opportunity to choose between digital and physical versions of products — for example, between an eBook and a paperback book. However, despite the popularity of digital objects, many people nonetheless prefer physical equivalents. This dissertation explores one reason why this may be the case; namely, that physical versions of objects and products are better vessels for social meaning. In chapter 1, explore the specialness of physical objects, and posit that materiality is critical for holding and embodying significance. In chapter 2, I investigate the effects of product format on perceptions …

Digital Agriculture In Africa: An Ethnographic Study Of Global Online Networking And Resource Mobilization On Mfangano Island, Ian James Muir Smith

Senior Theses

In one of the most isolated parts of Kenya, on an island in Lake Victoria, small-scale farmers are using newfound internet access in a unique and innovative way. New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming agriculture around the world, and due to a political, infrastructural, and entrepreneurial environment conducive to ICT innovation, Kenya leads the African continent in this field, known in the media as “Digital Agriculture”. In the face of the climate crisis and environmental degradation, people living on and around Mfangano Island are using self-managed volunteering platforms, crowdfunding sites, and social media in order to network with …