Digital Commons Network^™

Jrsm 1750: Precision Language (Syllabus), Ashley B. Craig

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Introduction to grammar and writing style for use in journalism and mass communication; foundations of research and information gathering, media literacy, and plagiarism.

Jrsm 2121: Media Writing (Syllabus), Ashley B. Craig

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Basic instruction in journalistic forms and AP style; information gathering and composition of news stories; media literacy. One lecture hour, four laboratory hours per week.

Jrsm 4930: Media Internship (Syllabus), Michael Robinson

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Work in practical assignments at local media and other communication organizations under supervision of qualified practitioners.

Jrsm 6700: Media Law (Syllabus), David Arant

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Origin and development of legal principles affecting freedom of expression and provisions of laws of libel, slander, copyright and other statutes that affect communication in fields of publishing and broadcasting.

Jour 3526: Multimedia Storytelling (Syllabus), Robby Byrd

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Introduction to the basic elements of multimedia journalistic storytelling. Students will produce news-driven multimedia packages for various storytelling platforms, including photography, audio, video, and data visualization.

Jrsm 4700: Media Law (Syllabus), Thomas J. Hrach

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Origin and development of legal principles affecting freedom of expression and provisions of laws of libel, slander, copyright and other statutes that affect communication in fields of publishing and broadcasting.

Pbrl 3400: Intro To Public Relations (Syllabus), Taylor Nicole Ackerman

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Development, scope, and modern role of public relations; emphasis on problem solving, lectures, and application of major public relations tools and practices.

The Queer Performance, Owen Coldsnow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For my project, I decided to make a documentary focusing on the experiences of queer, University of Akron students appropriately called, “The Queer Performance.” As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, it was particularly important to me to document the unique challenges that queer students have to face. One specific challenge that rings true for me is putting on many different personas in different situations, and I wanted to see how this compared and contrasted with other members of the community. According to Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory, everyone puts on an act when they are around people, but each of …

The Impact Of Cognitive Function On Patient Language And Quality Of Life Outcomes For Stroke Survivors With Aphasia Who Participate In An Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program (Icap), Kortney M. Krieger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that impairs communication, across all modalities of language (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension). Aphasia most commonly results from damage to the left hemisphere of the brain (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury). Cognitive function including attention, memory, and executive functioning may negatively impact patient outcomes during post-acute rehabilitation of aphasia. Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs (ICAPs) provide intensive, evidence-based and holistic treatment for a cohort of stroke survivors. The impact of these cognitive functions on language outcomes following participation in an ICAP has not been explored.

Aims: To investigate the impact of extralinguistic cognition …

Comedy, Camaraderie, And Conflict: Using Humor To Defuse Disputes Among Friends, Sheena A. Bringa

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study sought to examine the role humor plays in defusing conflict between friends from an evolutionary perspective. Although a vast amount of research exists on humor, friendship, and conflict, no single study connects all three of these concepts together. This study attempted to fill this gap by examining how different humor styles used between friends in times of conflict relate to friendship satisfaction and life satisfaction. Specifically, the hypotheses predicted that friends who use affiliative humor to deescalate conflict are more inclined to report higher relational satisfaction and improved individual well-being than friends who use maladaptive humor to deescalate …

Reducing Workplace Conflict: A Reasonable Expectation?, Stephen Mark Kominek

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Workplace conflict is a part of everyday work life for many employees, from educationalinstitutions to businesses, and can occur for multiple different reasons. Research has shown that employees spend a significant amount of their life in the workplace and that addressing unresolved conflict is one of the costliest aspects of running an organization. The literature suggests that providing employees with the opportunity to experience greater job satisfaction may reduce the occurrence of workplace conflict. This quantitative study explored the experience of workers employed in various organizations and institutions. The theoretical frameworks applied in the study were Systems Theory and Maslow’s …

Information Use And Decision-Making For Evacuation At Fuego Volcano, Guatemala, Beth A. Bartel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For populations living with risk to rapid-onset environmental hazards, an effective early warning system (EWS) may be the most viable short- to mid-term solution for risk reduction. At Fuego volcano, Guatemala, more than 60,000 people distributed between more than 30 small communities live within the identified hazard zones for pyroclastic density currents (PDCS), highly lethal hot avalanches and surges of volcanic gases, rock, and ash. Despite ongoing risk reduction efforts by scientific and civil protection authorities, more than 400 people died during a paroxysmal eruption on 3 June 2018 when PDCs reached populated areas. A high-end resort, La Reunión, evacuated …

Applications Of Diversity Language To Descriptions Of Collection Development Activities At Academic Libraries: An Exploratory Analysis Of Strategic Plans And Diversity Information Webpages, David Macaulay

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Diversity is commonly invoked as a goal for libraries in a variety of domains, including collections. This study explores how diversity language is used to characterize collection development efforts at a sample of large North American academic libraries, through content analysis of strategic planning documents as well as library webpages providing information about diversity efforts. The topic of collection diversity was found to be not consistently addressed in these documents. While 90% of the institutions whose strategic plans were examined mentioned diversity in some way, less than half of these did so in relation to collections; about one-third of the …

Learning Outcomes And Learner Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles Of Self-Regulated Learning And Dialogues, Sean Eom, Nicholas Jeremy Ashill

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The interdependent learning process is regarded as a crucial part of e-learning success, but it has been largely ignored in e-learning empirical research. Grounded in constructivist and social constructivist theory, we present and test an e-learning success model consisting of eight e-learning critical success factors (CSF) derived from constructivist and social constructivist models. Three hundred seventy-two on-line students from a Midwestern university in the United States participated in the survey. The data collected from the survey was used to examine the partial least squares structural equation model. The results highlight the importance of self-regulated learning and dialogical processes to explain …

Analysis Of The Impact Of Vaccinations On Pandemic Metrics In The New York Metropolitan Area, Oredola A. Soluade, Heechang Shin, Robert Richardson

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study evaluates the relationship between pandemic cases and vaccination usage, ICU bed utilization, hospitalizations, and deaths in the New York City metropolitan area. The study includes variables for the lockdown period and confirmed infections. The evaluation addresses three periods: (1) before vaccinations, (2) after vaccinations, and (3) the lockdown period. In addition, the number of vaccines per day for the manufacturers (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) are included in the study. Comparisons with New Jersey and Connecticut are used to validate that New York statistics are consistent with other states. The results provide a general model of the …

Fakestack: Hierarchical Tri-Bert-Cnn-Lstm Stacked Model For Effective Fake News Detection, Ashfia Jannat Keya, Hasibul Hossain Shajeeb, Md Saifur Rahman, M F Mridha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

False news articles pose a serious challenge in today's information landscape, impacting public opinion and decision-making. Efforts to counter this issue have led to research in deep learning and machine learning methods. However, a gap exists in effectively using contextual cues and skip connections within models, limiting the development of comprehensive detection systems that harness contextual information and vital data propagation. Thus, we propose a model of deep learning, FakeStack, in order to identify bogus news accurately. The model combines the power of pre-trained Bidirectional Encoder Representation of Transformers (BERT) embeddings with a deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) having skip …

Investigating Collaborative Explainable Ai (Cxai)/Social Forum As An Explainable Ai (Xai) Method In Autonomous Driving (Ad), Tauseef Ibne Mamun

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Explainable AI (XAI) systems primarily focus on algorithms, integrating additional information into AI decisions and classifications to enhance user or developer comprehension of the system's behavior. These systems often incorporate untested concepts of explainability, lacking grounding in the cognitive and educational psychology literature (S. T. Mueller et al., 2021). Consequently, their effectiveness may be limited, as they may address problems that real users don't encounter or provide information that users do not seek.

In contrast, an alternative approach called Collaborative XAI (CXAI), as proposed by S. Mueller et al (2021), emphasizes generating explanations without relying solely on algorithms. CXAI centers …

An Arbitrary Aesthetic: Cultural Reproduction And Hegemonic Canonical Formations In The Western Theatrical Academy, Sim C. Rivers

Theses and Dissertations

Theatre as an artistic practice has often been celebrated as an art of and for the people, being a modality that in theory the common person has access to learn, explore and experience. In recent years I have become preoccupied with the growing rarification and privileging of this art form, particularly in how it is cognized and taught in the academic world. As such, I set out to investigate the mechanisms at work at levels structural, artistic, and personal that determine how theatre is taught and understood within the western academy.

This thesis seeks to examine and unpack the perceived …

Social Media, Gender, And Cancel Culture In The Punk Scene, Elizabeth Alexandra Mitchell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis intends to examine the technological, political, and social dynamics surrounding the cancelation of musicians within the punk scene, specifically, modern Bay Area punk band, SWMRS. The technological dynamics involve the internet, networked publics, and digital politics. The social dynamics are not separate from sociality facilitated by social media and the networks they create. The politics of this context involves gender and the struggle over women’s agency to fight against sexual abuse and the social injustice it perpetuates. Because this thesis is interested in these issues within the context of popular music, it draws on the work on music …

The Toolkit For Social Support And Social Anxiety: S*A*S*S*, Cynthia E. Kmety

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to create a toolkit for social support and social anxiety using the Communal Coping method. There was background research conducted on social anxiety and social support, COVID impact, Communal Coping, and resilience and skill building. Before constructing the toolkit, a survey was conducted with 29 Eastern Illinois University students to measure their assessment of their social anxiety and social support. The results of this survey found that students have a need for social support and are affected by their anxiety. Once the toolkit: the workbook and the facilitator’s manual, were completed, a pilot class …

U.S Fans’ Identification With La Liga Teams, Pilar Barrio Sánchez

Masters Theses

This study explores LaLiga fandom in the U.S. by examining fan identification, loyalty, and commitment to their favorite LaLiga team. Moreover, the study explored the reasons why fans first choose their favorite team to support as well as their motives to watch or attend soccer games. To do so, a mixed method approach was used in which participants from LaLiga teams around the U.S. were asked to complete a survey questionnaire and participate in an in-depth interview. Based on the findings, the discussion identifies key strategic considerations and needs of future research for LaLiga to better adjust its communication strategies …

Personal Branding, Reality Television, And Social Media: How Former Big Brother Contestants Create, Maintain, And Alter Their Public Image, Justin L. Richards

Masters Theses

This study interrogated how these theories were potentially used, or aspects of the theories used to create, alter, or maintain, the contestant’s personal brands on two social media platforms. Informed by previous literature on personal branding and impression management, 1,021 pieces of social media communication were analyzed, 499 pieces of communication from Taylor Hale, and 522 pieces of communication from Paulie Calafiore. This study determined that there were up to five different patterns on the kind of content produced that still qualified under these theories for Taylor Hale, and up to four different patterns for Paulie Calafiore. Some patterns appeared …

Aadej Comm 9 1 2023

AADEJ - The Communicator

The Communicator is the official journal of the American Association of Dental Editors and Journalists (AADEJ). It is published quarterly, distributed digitally via email to members, and posted on the Association's website, AADEJ.org. Each issue includes regular updates from the editorial team and AADEJ board, as well as feature articles on current issues in the field.

Aadej Comm 9 3 2023

AADEJ - The Communicator

The Communicator is the official journal of the American Association of Dental Editors and Journalists (AADEJ). It is published quarterly, distributed digitally via email to members, and posted on the Association's website, AADEJ.org. Each issue includes regular updates from the editorial team and AADEJ board, as well as feature articles on current issues in the field.

Marketing Ploy Or Mental Health Crisis? An Analysis Of Fan Responses To Celebrity Narratives, Kayla M. Ostrander

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recently, celebrities have become more candid with their narratives than ever before through use of their social media accounts. While most celebrities use their social media accounts for purposes such as showing a positive or unknown side of them or to promote their work, others have posted narratives that have come under public criticism, especially Kanye ‘Ye’ West with his recent antisemitic-themed posts. In my study I examine what Kanye’s fans and the public believes to be his motivation for his recent narratives in October 2022 and December 2022, and their reasoning for assigning these motives. I collected a total …

Comparison Of The Effects Of Telehealth Versus N95 On Nurse-Patient Communication, Tony Christopher Bloomfield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Telehealth and face masks are some of the infection control measures nurses use while attending to patients. Nurses provide the most patient care in hospital settings and thus spend the most time with patients in their recovery journey. Because communication is paramount to the role nurses play as health care professionals, there is a substantial need to investigate how infection control measures affect the quality of nurse-patient communication. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to describe the relationship of methods aimed at maintaining social distancing between nurses and patients to nurse-patient communication and to compare differences in the …

Employer Perceptions Of The Skills Gap In College Graduates’ Written Communication, Julie Minnaugh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. employers have reported that many college graduates are underprepared in written communication when hired and that lack of preparedness hinders these graduates’ employment success. Higher education institution (HEI) administrators need information regarding which writing skills should be taught across the curriculum to improve student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate employers’ perspectives on the written communication skills gap that hinders college graduates from being successful in their professional practice. Swales’s six characteristics of a discourse community provided a conceptual lens for the study, as graduates commencing employment represent newcomers to a discourse community. A basic qualitative …

Comparison Of The Effects Of Telehealth Versus N95 On Nurse-Patient Communication, Tony Christopher Bloomfield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Telehealth and face masks are some of the infection control measures nurses use while attending to patients. Nurses provide the most patient care in hospital settings and thus spend the most time with patients in their recovery journey. Because communication is paramount to the role nurses play as health care professionals, there is a substantial need to investigate how infection control measures affect the quality of nurse-patient communication. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to describe the relationship of methods aimed at maintaining social distancing between nurses and patients to nurse-patient communication and to compare differences in the …

Perceptions Of Organizational Politics And Interpersonal Relationships In Black Women's Organizations And Sororities, Mitzi S. Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although much research has addressed the relationships between leaders and followers, none has focused on these relationships between Black women—specifically, in the context of Black women’s social service organizations and sororities—and the impact the leader’s chosen style of leadership has on the followers’ use of voice. Self silencing is a prominent response to the power dynamic in many leader–follower relationships. The purpose of this study was to describe the interactions between leaders and followers in Black women’s social service organizations and sororities and identify the influence leadership style has on follower engagement. This study extends the application of silencing the …

Normal Redefined: Exploring Decontextualization Of Lorises (Nycticebus & Xanthonycticebus Spp.) On Social Media Platforms, Luke F. Quarles, Kim Feddema, Marco Campera, K. A.I. Nekaris

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Decontextualization is a concept from psychology whereby new words are learned outside of the context of the here-and-now. Decontextualized language is used for discussing abstract concepts and is crucial to the development of academic language. When it comes to images, a dearth of context can lead to a lack of clarity, such as the use of ambiguous decontextualized images in environmental communication, leading to the promotion of greenwashing. Here we refer to decontextualization as the removal of wildlife from their wild ecological context. Images and videos of globally threatened species are increasingly popular on social media. Showing such taxa …