Digital Commons Network^™

Bryn Mawr Digital Competencies Framework, Bryn Mawr College

Blended Learning Research and Open Educational Resources

The digital competencies outlined here are the fruits of both top-down and bottom-up initiatives at Bryn Mawr College. The Board of Trustees' Digital Bryn Mawr Task Force Report has charged Library and Information Technology Services and the College generally with ensuring that students develop the digital competencies needed to succeed in and beyond college. In 2014, Bryn Mawr College received a three-year, $800,000 grant from the Mellon foundation to create curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students to develop these competencies. In working with faculty and students on projects supported by that grant, members of the Educational Technology Services team began …

Make The Connection: Personal And Institutional Identity In The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs Ptsd Campaign, Staci B. Smith

Open Access Theses

The common procedure in a health campaign is to use fear and guilt appeals to influence health behaviors among target populations (Mattson & Lam, 2016). The use of identity, identification, and reframing in a health campaign has been relatively under-explored. This study examines invitations to identification and reframing in a specific health campaign, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “Make the Connection” campaign. With the issues of mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reaching high levels of attention in media and society, the VA’s Make the Connection campaign encourages military veterans and their families to seek help for …

Techniques For The Construction Of Meaning And The Elicitation Of Emotion In The Hunger Games, Tyanni Niles

Communication

This thesis analyzes techniques for the elicitation of meaning and emotion within The Hunger Games. It takes a look at the ways in which a story is told and the different elements found within a story that when put together are likely to produce reactions from audience members. This paper draws principally from ideas about film techniques described by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson (2008) in Film Art: An Introduction, and ideas about how films elicit emotions discussed by Carl Plantinga (2009) in Moving Viewers: American Film and the Spectator’s Experience. Plantinga’s work complements Bordwell and Thompson’s. This is because …

If We're Mocking Anything, It's Organized Religion: The Queer Holy Fool Style Of The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence, Christina L. Ivey

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Asking questions in and about the often rough terrain at the intersection of sexuality/gender and religion/spirituality, this dissertation seeks to excavate the concept of queer holy fool style as a fitting response to dominant Judeo-Christian narratives that marginalize LGBTQ individuals. To do so, I utilize the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), a drag performing community of “21^st Century Nuns,” as a synechdoche; pulling examples of their communication and performances as evidence of queer holy fool style. In exploring three facets of stylistic study (embodied, textual/hypertextual, and sociological), I blend queer theoretical concepts (like camp, performativity, and disciplining) with rhetorical …

"Glued To The Sofa": Exploring Guilt And Television Binge-Watching Behaviors, Charles N. Wagner

Communication Honors Theses

In order to better understand the various aspects of television binge-watching behaviors and determine how guilt coincides with binge viewership, researchers administered a survey to 530 adults. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of responses suggested that viewers who watch less TV overall feel guiltier about binge-watching. Comedies and dramas were the most often binged genres, though viewers who binge-watched teen dramas felt guiltiest. Streaming services and digital video recorders (DVRs) were the most common platforms used for binge-watching television; those who used streaming services felt high levels of guilt afterwards, while those who used DVRs felt very little. Results indicated that …

"Nobody Can #Dragmedown": An Analysis Of The One Direction Fandom's Ability To Influence And Dominate Worldwide Twitter Trends, Nicole Kelsey Santero

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With more than 25 million followers and counting, One Direction is currently the biggest boy band in the world, and its fans—known as “Directioners”—have become one of the most visible and recognizable fandoms to utilize social media, especially Twitter. Drawing upon an updated version of a fan theory highlighting the interpretive community and social hierarchy that exist within a fandom, this study examines the participatory culture among One Direction fans online that helps them create and dominate worldwide Twitter trends, as well as overshadow what is regarded as more serious news topics. Although previous research studies have examined Directioners and …

The Revolution Will Be Computed: Fantasy, Apple Computer, And The Ethos Of Silicon Valley, Misti Yang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My thesis undertakes a rhetorical analysis of the discourse surrounding the development of the personal computer and Apple Computer as a case study in Silicon Valley discourse. The analysis spans twenty years (1964-1984) starting with San Francisco-area computer hobbyist clubs and ending with the release of Macintosh by Apple Computer. Symbolic convergence theory (SCT) and fantasy theme analysis (FTA) provide the primary methodology for my work. Because SCT/FTA developed from small group communication research, they are fitting tools for understanding how small groups of people impassioned about building something new can impact public discourse. I connect SCT/FTA with a materialist …

The Voice And Action Of Service: Exploring Nonprofit Volunteerism From A Dual Perspective, Colleen L. Mestayer

Dissertations

Key factors emerged for communicating with volunteers and staff in the nonprofit sector using a mixed methods approach in two phases. Phase I sought to explain volunteer satisfaction through the development of a new model that included motivation, identification with the nonprofit organization, attachment to the nonprofit organization and its mission, and the impact of interpersonal relationships formed between staff members and volunteers. Findings indicated that the model was an accurate predictor of volunteer satisfaction, and all variables were significantly correlated to volunteer satisfaction. Phase II sought to discover the communication patterns used by internal stakeholders of the nonprofit organization …

Smartphones And Cognition: The Case For An Updated Theory Of Electronic Eloquence, Omar Adams

Masters Theses

As Marshall McLuhan first proposed, humanity has progressed through several stages of communication technology that have each fundamentally changed the way people think and behave within society at large. Electronic media redefined society in the 20th century, and now we stand at the cusp of a new revolution. This paper examines the changes brought about by the Internet and new media, with a particular focus on the effects of smartphone and social media use, through the lens of Kathleen Hall Jamieson’s theory of electronic eloquence. An anonymous survey was conducted to determine participants’ preferences on different forms of media as …

An Examination Of Teacher Understandings Of Technology Integration At The Classroom Level, Shawn M. Carlson Phd

All Student Scholarship

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe and understand how teachers describe the changes in their practices as a result of ten years participation in a one-to-one environment. This research study focuses on one successful middle school’s adoption of laptops to support teaching and learning. A qualitative study using interviews of key participants was undertaken with teachers and administrators. The Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was used in conjunction with Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation framework to understand from the participants’ perspective changes to their practice. The results indicate teachers underwent changes in their use of technology to …

How Android App Developers Manage Power Consumption? An Empirical Study By Mining Power Management Commits, Lingfeng Bao, David Lo, Xin Xia, Xinyu Wang, Cong Tian

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

As Android platform becomes more and more popular, a large amount of Android applications have been developed. When developers design and implement Android applications, power consumption management is an important factor to consider since it affects the usability of the applications. Thus, it is important to help developers adopt proper strategies to manage power consumption. Interestingly, today, there is a large number of Android application repositories made publicly available in sites such as GitHub. These repositories can be mined to help crystalize common power management activities that developers do. These in turn can be used to help other developers to …

Female Gender Role Representation Between 1990 And 2010 In Imported Childrens Cartoons And Their Implications For Conservative Yemeni Culture, Fatima Al-Hattami

Communication ETDs

This thesis explores the female gender role representations in imported cartoons across the years 1990 and 2010 and their resonance with the conservative Yemeni Muslim culture. The two selected cartoons are A Little Princess Sara (a Nippon Animation production) and Totally Spies (a Marathon Media production), both of which are imported to the Arab countries, dubbed into the Arabic language, aired on Arab childrens channels and popular among girls. The study is inspired by theories of media and cultural globalization and imperialism, which were developed to explain media policies and flow around the globe. The study also draws on the …

Exploring Ethnic Stereotypes Through The Production Of Five Short Films, Ines Galiano Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a nontraditional thesis that combines social research in ethnic stereotypes in TV and film with the creative process of film production. This paper contains the formal step of research, in addition to the details on the production and creation of five original short films related to the issue of ethnic representations.

Access Magazine, May 2016, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Access Magazine

No abstract provided.

Doulas Could Improve Foreign-Born Women’S Perinatal And Postpartum Satisfaction And Increase Health Providers’ Cultural Competency In A Multicultural Urban Area Of The United States., Crystal Kazik

Sustainability and Social Justice

Doulas act as a cultural bridge between clients and providers through the support, advocacy, and education they provide. Unfortunately, migrant women may be at a disadvantage for accessing and benefiting from their services due to a variety of socioeconomic and cultural factors including predisposed ideas of care and structure based on experiences in native countries, language barriers, lower health literacy, and a lack of awareness and understanding from hospital/clinic staff.

A strategic multifaceted approach utilizing doulas, such as Boston Medical Center’s collaborative and culturally competent model, may greatly improve foreign-born women’s experience and satisfaction with healthcare when pregnant and giving …

A One Health Message About Bats Increases Intentions To Follow Public Health Guidance On Bat Rabies, Hang Lu, Katherine A. Mccomas, Danielle E. Buttke, Sungjong Roh, Margaret A. Wild

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Since 1960, bat rabies variants have become the greatest source of human rabies deaths in the United States. Improving rabies awareness and preventing human exposure to rabid bats remains a national public health priority today. Concurrently, conservation of bats and the ecosystem benefits they provide is of increasing importance due to declining populations of many bat species. This study used a visitor-intercept experiment (N = 521) in two U.S. national parks where human and bat interactions occur on an occasional basis to examine the relative persuasiveness of four messages differing in the provision of benefit and uncertainty information on intentions …

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

Spartan Daily, April 26, 2016, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2016

Volume 146, Issue 34

The Legacy, April 26, 2016, Lindenwood University

The Legacy (2007-2018)

Student Newspaper of Lindenwood University

The Jjie Virtual World Journalism Project: Experimenting With Virtual Worlds As An Emerging Journalism Platform, Claire M. Bohrer

Symposium of Student Scholars

Although immersive journalism in the virtual world was pioneered by journalist and documentary filmmaker Nonny de la Peña years ago, traditional journalists are just now discovering its potential as an alternative platform to report the news. This study explores the singularities of immersive journalism in virtual worlds using the "Marginalized Youth Voices Amplified on Virtual Worlds" project, which a journalism professor at a southern public university received a grant to develop. The grant came from an Online News Association Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education, and has been involved in efforts to produce 3D-scenario machinimas (action videos inside virtual …

News In Virtual Reality, Samantha Macy

Honors Theses

Virtual reality (VR) is the next frontier of news media, but we know little about the impact is has on viewers. The goal of this experiment is to gain a better understanding of the social presence and information retained by watching news in VR. Participants will either consumer news in a VR setting, a highly interactive online format, or print. Then, using a survey, social presence and information retention were assessed. Research participants were undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. It is expected that VR news will result in higher social presence and information retention than news in highly …

Spartan Daily, April 21, 2016, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2016

Volume 146, Issue 33

Protecting Plato, Ashley N. Putnam

Senior Year Experience Student Projects

The purpose of this project was to raise $1,200 to purchase a bulletproof, shatterproof vest for the newest member of the Pataskala Police Department K9 Unit. Recently, there have been many stories of K9s being killed in the line of duty. By providing a vest for a K9, we are hoping to protect him and allow him to continue what he does to protect the community. To raise money, we created a GoFundMe page that we shared on Facebook. We ended up raising $320 on the page and were very grateful that an anonymous donor stepped forward and donated the …

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

Perceived Interactivity And Uses And Gratifications Of Online Interactive Advertising, Anna Hermes

Student Theses and Dissertations

The internet supports interactive online advertisings which allow viewers to engage. By conducting a survey among university students, this study examined experiences, perceived interactivity levels, and the appeal of the advertising features hyperlinks, share options, surveys, branded games, downloads, mouseovers/hover effects, and chats or feedback forms. Participants who had seen one of these features reported to use it. Participants who had seen hyperlinks, branded games, download, mouseover/hover, as well as chat/feedback forms in online ads found them more interactive. Share option, survey, branded games, downloads, mouseover/hover and feedback forms seemed appealing to participants who had seen it. Applying the Uses …

The Guardian, April 20, 2016, Wright State University Student Body

The Guardian Student Newspaper

Sixteen page issue of The Guardian, the official student-run newspaper for Wright State University. The Guardian has been published regularly since March of 1965.

"In The Land Of Tomorrow": Representations Of The New Woman In The Pre-Suffrage Era, Natalie B. O'Neal

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This digital anthology explores feminism in selected short fiction by women writers from the 1911 run of the popular women’s magazines Woman’s Home Companion, Ladies’ Home Journal, and The Farmer’s Wife. This fiction furthered the women’s rights movement by allowing women to imagine a world similar to their own with a heroine who voiced their desires and enacted change. Rather than the more experimental, inaccessible literature of avant garde high modernist writers consumed by the upper class, popular fiction reached a wider, middle class audience and was more effective at producing a progressive zeitgeist following the stilted Victorian …

Spartan Daily, April 19, 2016, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2016

Volume 146, Issue 31

2nd Place Contest Entry: From A Chat In The Parlor To Viral Music Videos: An Analysis Of Music As A Social Occasion, Emma F. Plotnik

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Emma Plotnik's submission for the 2016 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. She wrote about the impact of salons on the musical world in past centuries, and created a modern virtual salon of her own.

Emma is a senior at Chapman University, majoring in Music with a minor in Law, Justice, and Social Control. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Jessica Sternfeld.

Spartan Daily, April 14, 2016, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2016

Volume 146, Issue 30