Digital Commons Network^™

Experiences Of Black Francophone Students Entering The United States For Higher Education, Anu Nifemi Ferguson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Advocating For A Care-Based Ethic: Stories Of Pregnancy And Birth From Caregivers Of Children With Down Syndrome, Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg, Nayma Sultana Mim

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Down syndrome (DS) impacts about 1 in every 640 childbirths in the United States. While quality of life has improved for people with DS, systemic inequities and deficit-based perceptions have persisted throughout history, with material impacts on people with DS and their caregivers. Researchers have documented how caregivers of children with DS have had negative experiences with healthcare providers and genetic counselors, whose biased views about DS translate into subtle and overt pressures. Few studies explicitly focus on the experiences of Caregivers of Color, multilingual families, as well as families with varying economic experiences who have children with DS. This …

Toward A Metric For Disciplinary Learning In The Age Of Ai: The Unblooms™ Metacognitive Awareness Scale And Discernment Rate In Ai-Mediated Learning, Tina R. Austin

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

Telling students to “reflect on their own thinking” has become insufficient in AI-mediated learning environments. When students are rewarded for polished outputs, cognitive offloading to AI tools becomes rational, and traditional snapshot assessments (single-moment evaluations of task completion) produce false signals about whether durable learning has occurred. This problem is sharpened by the broader shift in AI learning tools toward Socratic tutors, study modes, Khan Academy's Khanmigo, and agentic systems that can shape the learner’s process over time. Lodge and Loble (2026) distinguish beneficial cognitive offloading, which frees working memory for intrinsic learning, from detrimental outsourcing, which bypasses the cognitive …

Metacognition As Disciplinary Infrastructure In Ai-Mediated Learning, Tina R. Austin, Jason Gulya, Nick Potkalitsky

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

Metacognition is often presented as a response to generative AI’s disruption of teaching and learning, yet the term has become too generalized to guide practice. In AI-mediated environments, asking students merely to “reflect on your thinking” is insufficient. Because AI tools can redistribute cognitive labor, their educational value depends on how students use them and whether that use supports disciplinary forms of reasoning. This essay argues that metacognition must be understood as disciplinary infrastructure: students cannot effectively monitor their thinking without understanding the epistemological and ontological demands of the field in which they are working. Classrooms therefore become sites where …

Optimizing Human Capital In Ai-Enabled Architectures: A Systems Constraint And Capability Analysis, Jeremy A. Schlegel, Jennifer Daffinee

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

Artificial intelligence (AI) comprises not only models, but full socio-technical systems involving data pipelines, instrumentation, human-machine interfaces, deployment architectures, and organizational processes for design, monitoring, and evaluation. Using a systems-oriented analytical framework, this paper argues that despite accelerating advances in AI capabilities, human capital remains the enduring and dominant system constraint. Human interfaces define throughput limits in areas such as prompt engineering, data-stream curation, adjudication of model outputs, and the orchestration of hybrid automation workflows including robotics, scraping, and digitization. Synthesizing emerging research across human-AI interaction, machine-learning lifecycle management, organizational adoption, and adult learning theory, we present a socio-technical evaluation …

Redesigning An Intercultural Communication Course To Build Power Skills For An Ai-Augmented Global Economy, Nitin Deckha

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

This case study reports a full redesign of an undergraduate Intercultural Communication seminar in Toronto, repositioning the course to foreground power skills as durable differentiators in an AI-mediated economy. The redesign shifts an asynchronous distance format into a seminar-based model with weekly applied learning, scaffolded assessments, and a four-week COIL partnership with a Turkish university to create authentic intercultural collaboration under real constraints. Students practice creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, decision-making, verbal and nonverbal communication, cross-cultural competence, and self-reflexivity, while also learning to use AI tools in ways that remain accountable to disciplinary standards. Assignments include debates, peer assessment, …

About The Contributors

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

Early Intervention: Perspectives On Training And Practice, Christina M. Mirtes, Jessica A. Grimone-Hopkins, Audrey Farrugia

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

Early Intervention (EI) Specialists/Professionals serve children from birth through age three with developmental delays/disabilities, and their families. They conduct assessments, create Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs), collaborate with adjacent professionals, and use play-based interventions at home or in natural settings to support children’s development across the cognitive, communication, physical, sensory, social–emotional, and adaptive skills. The present study uses a mixed-methods approach, gathering qualitative data (focus group interviews) and quantitative data (survey) to evaluate participants’ perceived preparedness and self-efficacy of currently practicing Early Intervention (EI) Specialists/Professionals based on their higher education experiences, across various aspects and responsibilities of their jobs. Results …

Anti-Racist Teaching Today, Melissa Brooks-Yip

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

Anti-racist teaching has a long history in education and there have been recent changes in DEI policy for public education. This article reviews equity-based pedagogies, whiteness in education, racial literacy, and the implications for teacher professional learning moving forward.

Digitize And Discard: A Campaign For Sustainable Av Stewardship, Cory L. Nimer, Ben Harry, Abby Beazer, Miya Jensen, Michael F. Gates

Faculty Publications

Archives and libraries face growing preservation challenges from aging audiovisual collections due to carrier degradation and playback equipment obsolescence. As the media becomes more difficult to access, its archival value decreases, leading to questions about its ongoing storage. One proposed solution has been to digitize and discard the original media, preserving the recordings as digital masters with derivative files for public access. The suggestion to reformat audiovisual materials raises questions for cultural heritage professionals, and each stakeholder group may have its own concerns. Yet as media capture and digital preservation technology improve, to maintain our program’s sustainability, we have begun …

Disclosing Hunger: Predictors And Screening Strategies For Food Insecurity In Undergraduate University Students And Adults Contexts, Jocelyn Emily Jarvis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity is a growing public health concern among college students in the United States, with prevalence estimates exceeding those of the general population. Despite the availability of campus, community, and federal food assistance resources, utilization remains low, suggesting that barriers extend beyond structural access. This dissertation examines the psychosocial, behavioral, and institutional factors that shape food insecurity disclosure and help-seeking behaviors among undergraduate students, guided by the Social Ecological Model (SEM).

This work includes three complementary studies. Study One presents a scoping review synthesizing 16 U.S.-based studies to identify psychosocial determinants of food assistance utilization among food-insecure adults. Findings …

Data Walks That Drive Results: Using Data To Build Impact, Jenrose Fittzgerald, Sara Mohamed, Kameke Payne

Center for Social Development Research

Urban Strategies, Inc. (USI), works to ensure that every family served is stable, thriving, and progressing across six impact areas: Family and Housing Stability, Education and Careers, Economic Contribution, Health and Wellness, Civic and Community Engagement, and Community Partnerships. Because USI employs over 200 staff members spread across more than 60 community sites, coordinating data to understand impact is both critical to advancing the organization’s work and a challenge. To address this, USI has developed a performance-measurement approach that brings everyone at the organization into the work and builds a sense of ownership at every level: quarterly data walks. This …

An Unsolved Theft, Tim Pyatt

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This article explores the mysterious theft of Civil War narratives from the libraries of the University of North Carolina and Duke University in the late 1970s while the author was an undergraduate at Duke. Using records preserved in the Duke University Archives and personal accounts, the author pieces together how the theft was discovered and the investigation was conducted. Potential suspects included the notorious thieves James Shinn and Stephen Blumberg as well as individuals identified during the investigation. The secrecy around the investigation as well as the effort to protect institutional reputation may have ultimately led to the theft never …

A Scoping Review Of Preventive Interventions To Reduce Violence Against Women And Girls In The Islamic Republic Of Iran, Wahiba Abu-Ras, Leena Babiker Idris, Shahira Amin, Ashley Butler, Patricia J. Kelly, Basil H. Aboul-Enein

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

In Iran, violence against women (VAWG) remains highly prevalent, with reported rates ranging from 22.9% to 66%, underscoring the need for effective, contextually grounded interventions.   This scoping review aimed to systematically identify, map, and critically appraise intervention strategies addressing VAWG in Iran.   Guided by PRISMA-ScR and the PICOS framework, comprehensive searches were conducted across nine databases from 2000 to September 2024. Eligible studies included intervention-based research conducted in Iran that reported outcomes related to violence reduction, psychological well-being, or empowerment. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria.   The included studies demonstrated heterogeneous designs, theoretical frameworks, and outcome measures. Four interventions targeted …

Disability Stigma, Disability Identity, And Psychological Distress Among Young Adults With Disabilities, Dylan G. Serpas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disability discrimination is positively associated with psychological distress. Internalized disability stigma or the extent to which negative beliefs about one’s disability become personally adopted is implicated as a mediator. Moreover, disability identity processes, including identity affirmation and rejection may shape downstream consequences of navigating disability discrimination and internalization processes. These relationships are particularly relevant among young adults with disabilities (YAWD) who navigate a critical developmental period characterized by identity formation and heightened perception to social evaluation. In this study, 233 YAWD aged 18 to 25 completed a cross-sectional survey measuring disability microaggressions, internalized disability stigma, disability identity (rejection and affirmation), …

Split Alliance And Relationship Satisfaction In Couples Therapy: Examining Split Alliance As A Process Variable, Kyla Yetter

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined how different patterns of alliance development impact couples' relationship satisfaction, with a particular emphasis on split alliances. The retrospective sample of 1149 couples was taken from the IRB approved Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network. Alliance was measured at each session with the Intersession Alliance Measure- Couples version (IAM-C). The outcome variable, relationship satisfaction, was measured before the first and last sessions of therapy with the Couple Relationship Scale (CRS). Split alliance was operationalized using standard deviation differences in partners' alliance scores, and couples were divided into three groups: 1) Never had a split alliance, …

Respect And Aggression In Intimate Relationships: A Grounded Theory Of Relational Responsiveness, Aaron T. Fife

Theses and Dissertations

The negative effects of aggression in intimate relationships have been well documented through research and clinical literature (Lawrence & Bradbury, 2001; Shortt et al., 2006). Conversely, the positive effects of respectful behavior are well-known (Gottman, 1994; Dew & Wilcox, 2013). This important dimension of relationships is crucial to understanding what makes up healthy and unhealthy relationships. However, little is known about how couples understand the varying types of respect and aggression within intimate relationships, nor how they are lived and experienced relationally. The purpose of this study is to explore the dyadic processes behind respect and aggression as well as …

A Lesson In Class: How Parents' Class Identity Changes Relate To Children's Exposure To Social Classes -- A Latent Profile Analysis, L. Caroline Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Class inequality in the United States has reached levels not seen since the late 1920s. This inequality has been linked to numerous harmful societal outcomes and may be particularly detrimental for children, who often experience limited intergroup contact with individuals from different social class backgrounds. Drawing on Social Identity Theory and the significant role parents play in shaping children's social environments, this study examined how White and Black parents' changes in perceived social class from childhood to adulthood relate to the ways they prioritize exposing their children to different social class environments (N = 702, U.S. sample). Latent Profile Analysis …

Likes, Lies, And Body Esteem: The Moderating Effects Of Age, Concealment, And Gender Between Social Media And Body Esteem For Utah Adolescents, Talise Hirschi

Theses and Dissertations

Social media use has become common among adolescents and contains many messages about one's body such as the thin and muscular ideal. Many parents are learning how to help their adolescent learn how to use social media, and some adolescents may conceal their social media use for various reasons. 588 adolescents (ages 11-18; 77% White; 55% female) from Utah filled out surveys about their social media use and body esteem each school year. In a two-wave cross lag panel model, specific aspects of social media use such as time spent on social media, problematic media use (PMU), and social media …

I Will Defend My Self, Emily Ward Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines caregiving and motherhood as forms of load-bearing infrastructure. Cultural narratives often portray motherhood through sentimental images of joy, tenderness, and devotion, obscuring the structural labor that sustains family life. This project examines maternal labor as a largely unseen system of support that organizes family life while often remaining backgrounded. Caregiving reorganizes time, space, ambition, embodiment, and future orientation within maternal life. Through sculptural works using architectural materials and construction systems, such as oriented strand board, blueprint racks, metal armatures, and graph paper, the project visualizes caregiving as a structural condition. These materials reference the language of architecture …

Urban Indian Parents' Occupational Perceptions Of Play And Governance Of Children's Excessive Screen Time Preferences And Behaviours In This Digital Era, Joanna Priyadarshini Udaykumar, Tony Sam George

International Journal of Playwork Practice

Abstract

Children’s innate urge to engage in joyous, self-directed, meaningful, iterative activities embodies their unique play experiences and facilitates their holistic development. However, the exponential growth of digital technology in an urbanized world has transformed their social landscape by offering them a plethora of novel play opportunities that ‘pushes children away from the outdoors and pulls them indoors’. Moreover, the radical transition from nature-based recreation to media-centric activity insinuates the surge of a global pandemic characterized by low physical activity, sleep deprivation and sedentary, lifestyle diseases. This emerging trend reflects children’s predilection for videophilia over biophilia due to the dominance …

Teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence (Icc) At The Afl Novice Level: Teachers’ Practices And Constraints, Nancy Fahmy

Theses and Dissertations

Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) is widely recognized as a core objective in language education; however, its implementation in novice-level Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) classroom remains insufficiently examined. This study explores what strategies do AFL teachers use to integrate ICC principles at the beginner level (A1–A2), the constraints that shape classroom practice, teachers’ assessment approaches, and perceived professional development needs.

Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, quantitative data were collected through a bilingual (Arabic–English) online survey completed by 54 AFL teachers working across instructional contexts in Egypt, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Qualitative data were subsequently gathered …

Factors Influencing Tourist Interest In Walking Tours In The Kota Tua Area, Novi Handayani, Adrian Hartanto

Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Policy Studies

This study aims to analyze the extent to which the variables of Attraction, Accessibility, Cost and Tarif, Facilities, and Information contribute to Walking tour Interest, both individually (partially) and collectively (simultaneously).  As previous research states that Indonesia has one of the lowest levels of mobility. The average Indonesian walks only 3513 steps per day, while the recommended daily step count for maintaining good health is 5000. This study uses Multiple Linear Regression Analysis as its analysis method using partial hypothesis testing (t-test) and simultaneous hypothesis testing (f-test).. Data were collected through an online questionnaire distributed via Google Form to …

A Conceptual Model Of The External Costs Of Truck Overloading On Road Damage, Emissions, And Traffic Congestion: A Systematic Literature Review, Aleksius Sitepu, Sutanto Soehodho, Andyka Kusuma

Smart City

Freight transport services cannot be separated from the infrastructure and facilities involved, each of which faces its own challenges in delivering optimal performance in the logistics sector. A common challenge in Indonesia’s road sector is the presence of overloaded freight vehicles, which has become a national issue. This phenomenon has a negative impact not only on road infrastructure but also on the environment and traffic. This study aims to develop a conceptual model of the external costs caused by truck overloading practices in terms of road infrastructure damage, increased exhaust emissions, and traffic congestion through a systematic literature review. This …

Social Media And Health Information Sharing In Nigeria: Trends In Weight Loss And Cosmetic Procedures, Victoria Ochanya Agbo

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of social media in facilitating (mis)information on weight loss and cosmetic surgeries in Nigeria. Utilizing the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the study examines information shared by influencers, audience engagements with such messages, and the factors influencing audience receptivity of the messages. Using a qualitative design, a thematic analysis was conducted on influencer posts and audience responses to such posts across major social media platforms. The findings show that influencers frequently framed cosmetic surgery and weight loss as aspirational lifestyle choices and downplayed the medical risks using means such as testimonials, visual transformations, and authenticity cues. …

Education For Sustainable Economic Development – Insights From Brazil, Ozéias Rodrigues Da Rocha

Doctoral

Purpose: This doctoral thesis examines the impact of Education for Economic Sustainable Development (ESD) in the municipality of Turmalina-MG, Brazil, with a focus on how primary education contributes to sustainable economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social equity. The research is guided by the central question: What is the impact of Education for Economic Sustainable Development (ESD)? The study also evaluates the extent to which local educational initiatives align with specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

Methodology: Data were collected from one dominant primary school in Turmalina-MG through semi-structured …

Where Diagnosis Meets Daily Life: Testing Theoretical Models Of Social Anxiety, Jessica A. Birg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is thought to persist through self-reinforcing cycles linking threat perception, fear of evaluation, avoidance, and social behavior. This dissertation examined whether the nature of these daily processes generalize across individuals, cluster into subgroups, or vary by social anxiety severity. Two ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies were conducted: a community sample with and without SAD (Study 1: N = 96; five prompts per day across two 14-day bursts) and an undergraduate sample (Study 2: N = 129; six prompts per day across 14 days). Momentary variables included social anxiety, avoidance motivation, and threat and safety cues (hurt …

Identifying Existing Barriers To Equitable Transportation In Birmingham, Alabama, Brandy Rose Mckinney

ETDs from 2020-2029

A transportation system is designed to connect people to essential community resources and support their mobility needs. However, transportation facilities and services in lower-income communities often fail to meet local demands, restricting access to jobs, healthcare, recreation, and other critical services. These gaps disproportionately impact lower-income and vulnerable populations, reducing mobility and overall quality of life. This study aims to (a) define transportation inequity and the measures used to assess it; (b) summarize existing inequities across the United States; (c) examine travel choices, needs, and barriers in lower-income communities in Birmingham, Alabama; and (d) propose strategies to address transportation inequity …

The Medicalization Of Rapists In Psychiatry From 2000-2024, Lily Plowden

ETDs from 2020-2029

The process of human problems coming to be defined as medical conditions and thus under the purview of medical professionals is called medicalization. This study examines how psychiatrists medicalize perpetrators of sexual violence, looking particularly at debates around whether to include a new disorder, Paraphilic Coercive Disorder, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. Using a content analysis of n=102 articles, it finds that discussions of the pathology of sexual violence perpetration were prevalent among psychiatric journals from 2000-2024. Psychiatrists medicalize rapists through three pathways: advocating for a new medical disorder; attributing the cause of sexual …

An Untapped Resource: Exploring The Role Of Spirituality In The Psychological Healing Of African Asylum-Seekers From A Counselor’S Perspective, Brittany A. Duncan

Dissertations

This qualitative study explored how counselors perceive and integrate spirituality into the psychological healing of African asylum-seekers, a population facing compounded cultural, legal, and existential challenges. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study examined the lived experiences of eight counselors working with this population. Findings revealed that counselors’ personal sense of religion influenced their comfort and approach in broaching spiritual topics, with both positive (e.g., spirituality as a source of support and community) and negative (e.g., religion as a source of suffering) associations shaping clinical engagement. Many participants reported limited access to trainings geared towards increasing their cultural competence related to …